Week 3

Dear Family,

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!! Wow, I can't believe we are having our first holiday away from each other! Have fun with the Burrs, that will be so fun to get to see the whole family again!

 

Well not too much happened this week really, compared to last week. But I'll tell you everything that did happen!

 

Saturday:

Ok, this was actually pretty big, we went proselyting!! Can you believe it?! We go every Saturday from now on in the CCM. We were the only group that went out. So a bus picked us up and we drove about maybe 30 minutes out and the bus dropped us off and we each had a map of where we were supposed to go.  So Hermana Lindsay and I started off. We had knocked (or clapped or rang a doorbell) for a while and we came to the next house and the lady comes outside and we talk to her for about 30 minutes.  We teach her and we give her a Book of Mormon and get her refrence. It was pretty cool, and it was cute, like everyother sentence she would say "entiendo", understand? Ha and every time we would be like "mas o menos" and keep talking.  We ate our sack lunch and kept going.  Later in the day we had been walking around for a long time and nobody really wanted to listen (we were out from 12:30-5) and so I had a pray in my heart not to get discourage, just keep going and stay positive.  Well the next door it's this girl, maybe a little older than me.  And she just peeks through the windows and asks who it is and we say the missionaries and she opens the door and comes out and talks to us!! And turns out she has a friend who is mormon, and we end up giving her a Book of Mormon to read too! Now it's like 4:30 and we decided to knock on one more door and this lady comes out and says she'll listen cause she listens to lots of different churchs, and we give her a Book of Mormon, and she says she'll read it and we will discuss it next week!

 

Sunday:

Sundays are always really good.  I forgot to tell you, but I gave my first Spanish talk the second week I was here. When they choose who will be giving talks they tell you during sacrament meeting so everyone writes a talk, or just gives it on the spot.  And also on Sundays they are just really good because I get to learn a lot about the gospel, this week we really focused on the Patriarchal Priesthood (you can teach everyone about it Dad :) ). So that was neat to learn about that. 

 

The rest of the week was pretty much the same from every other week.

 

I do want to share a part of a General Conference talk that me and Hermana Lindsay read together, from the Priesthood Session by President Uchtdorf, "You Can Do It Now!" Everyone should read it!

"When our attention is mainly focused on our daily successes or failures, we may lose our way, wander, and fall. Keeping our sights on higher goals will help us become better sons daughters and brothers and sisters, kinder fathers and mothers, and more loving husbands and wives. Even those who set there hearts upon divine goals may still occasionally stumble, but they will not be defeated. They trust and rely upon the promises of God. They will rise up again with a bright hope in a righteous God and the inspiring vision of a great future. They know they can do it now...We acknowledge that your path will at times be difficult. But I give you this promise in the name of the Lord: rise up and follow in the footsteps of our Redeemer and Savior, and one day you will look back and be filled with eternal gratitude that you chose to trust the Atonement and its power to lift you up and give you strength."

 

Ah so good!! We should all focuse on divine goals, yes it will be hard but it will truly bless us.  Turn toward the Savior for help, He Atoned for each of us, now we need to accept it!

 

Sorry I keep forgetting to tell you about Hermana Lindsay. She is from Meridian Idaho. And is 21. She was attending BYU Idaho and has been for two years. She is great.

 

I love you, and hope you have a great Thanksgiving Day! (Thanks for eating it with me before I left!!!!)

 

Love,

Hermana Louder

 

HOLA!!!! (Week 2)

Dear Family,

This week has been great and gone by so fast. I cant believe P-day is here again! I'm letting you know that I wrote part of this out the night before because last p-day the email was huge and I didn't have time to write anyone else ha! Also I don't have time to read emails so we print them off and I will get them later in the day, and answer the questions next week.

I can't believe I forgot to tell you what was going to happen this past Saturday, it was amazing!!! SO this past Saturday and Sunday I had the opportunity to listen and meet, ELDER HOLLAND! On Saturday we got to leave the CCM and everyone from the north, east, south, and west Buenos Aires Missions came too, we met in a chapel. We listened to other general authorities and then Sister Holland and then Elder Holland.  She talked on her and Elder Hollands scripture, D&C 88:63-68. We need to do the work in the way He wants us to, and keep your eye single to God´s Glory.  Then Elder Holland and pretty much summarizing/ almost exact quotes ha "You are not free to damage this image (missionary) in the church." Be true to it today, tomorrow, and forever. This is Real Life! This is the closest you will come to Real Life. You are appastolic right now. Us as missionaries and general authories: we are tyring to figure out how to save a life.  You are never ever to forget what you felt and what you learned here.  This will be engraved in your sould forever.  It was so funny, he was like I´m just going to say what we´re all thinking "who could walk away from being an apostle" Don´t loose that witness.  Savor every minute of this, it was meant for you personally. D&C 88:33 if you refuse the gift, you reject the giver.  If you ever walk away, if you ever reject his amazing gift of the mission, you reject the giver of the mission.  We need to have true, genuine, deep conversion.  We all need to solve our own problems.  "We care more about what you are, than to tell you what you should do.  I need to be what I am suppose to be. A deeply converted person!

Why is it called "Preach My Gospel"? Three carefully chosen words. Open your mouth and always teache. Gospel-teach and preach what saves.  Nothing short of the gospel can save.  We're going to save every sould. God: "My Gospe¨!" I am only interested in Gods Gospe, His truth.  If you have one ouce of integrity you can be converted! Then he said something like "It´s the most tedious thing if I have to work with a missionary who says I want it my way, the burger king theme, because you can´t have it your way! D&C 50:13-22 22: win win, teacher and taught receiver and edified and rejoice. vs 25 do what he wants, you will chase darkeness away. 28 we can't chase other darkness away if it's in uus.27 I am a possessor of all thisgs righteous. Claim your blessings! We all live beneath our privilege. just read all of D&C 50 I can't touch on everything he said but it was so great! Every mission was hard because Salvation is not eassy. Take up your cross, embrace the atonement.  Take all the mission. You will see great blessings, because you´ll be close to him, what he edid.  It wiill make you more Christ like. Remeber what you are, not what you sawy.  Do it his way, because you believe it, and NOTHING can take that away.

Sorry it's all really choppy, pieces from my journal but they are are really good points, and then on Sunday he came to the CCM (MTC) and talked to us and then we all got to shake is hand!! and literally I imagined that it will be like meeting the Savior, He will greet me with open arms and love.  I can´t wait for that day.

In personal studay I was reading Moroni 8:2-3 and I felt like you guys could have been saying this to me.  You are always there in my heart and praying for me and in my prayers.  Ah random, but sorry I forgot, I will send pictures next week!

Everyone left the CCM excpet for my district and we got mcdonalds ha and all the new missionaries come today so it should be fun.  On tuesday night the lights went out so my district went down stairs and we had like a testimony meeting and all shared why we are out. Then Elder Webber told us something he heard, it's great to know why you came out, but it is better to know why you stayed/ are staying out.

Sorry this is crazy, I LOVE YOU GUYS and I'm always praying for you. I'll try to be more spiritual ha! Love you love you love you!

¨"Some of the best angels that God has put on this earth are missionaries mothers and fathers."

Love,
Hermana Louder

I Love You and Miss You!! (Week 1)

Hola Familia!!!!

 

Wow.  Everything is just wow.  Thank you so much for all the emails ah I opened mine and everyone saw and was like wow, you got a lot! Ha I have lots of love and support coming my way and I really appreciate it.

 

I'll just start out with going through security so I went through and the lady was like come here we need to have a talk, and of course I had just said goodbye to you so I'm about to break down again and she says that I can only have quart size bag of liquids and I had a quart so right there I have to seprate all my things into what I really need.  As I'm doing this a guy came over and was like I'll take here liquids, I don't have any.  Tender mercy of the Lord right?! Well I keep seperating and she says that I don't have to count my eye supplies because it´s medical and what not, and in the end almost all of it fits in the quart size (even though it wasn´t zipped) so she threw away like one finer nail polish and 2 or 3 germ x's ah but from there it went well.  I went to where my flight was and right when I got there they said if you have carry ons bring them over here so I did and it's like they put it with my other suitcases cause they came all the way to Argentina and I didn't have to worry about them! I met up with Elder Webber and then I saw another Hermana and I asked her if she was going to the MTC and she said yes! So we all just stuck together.  I saw by the Elder on the plane not near Hermana Lindsay and then we when we landed in Dallas we went to our place and it was perfecft timing we only had to wait maybe 20 minutes.  At the airport we met up with 4 other Elders. So on the flight, SO LONG, but it was fine.  I sat by myself really and they had a pillow and a blanket and good thing cause I was freezing the whole time, I almost put on my coat.  And we got dinner and lunch on the plane.  It was really hard to sleep on the plane but I think I got about 5 hours? So pretty good. We all got off the plane and went through customs, good thing I wrote the mission home address cause they wanted that.  And we got our luggae, and everything was there!! Whew, a little nervous about that.  And we walked out when through security and there was a taxi guy waiting for us when we got out. 

 

FIRST DAY: We got to the MTC and gave them our immunizations got out TAGS!!!! Ah I love it. Hermana Louder ahhh... and my companion is Hermana Lindsay! Our district (named Amulek) it pretty much everyone we flew with and some others that wern't on our flight.  Had an interview with President Openshaw right when we got there and shared how I decided to serve a mission, and of course, I cried. President Openshaw says that we are an un usually strong group. The very first day we had an investigator but in English and it was a really cool experience.

 

Second day: We had classes today . I've got a lot of work to do, humble myself, come to Christ. He will help me.

 

Third day: The days are going by faster. That day we taught our investigator for the first time, Alejandor (he is our teacher).  It was alright... We are continuning to learn how to pray and bear testimony! It can be so hard to remember everything.  I gave the room pray in Spanish that night and all the Latinas were like muy bien! Oh and I tried and alfajore today and it was delicious!

 

Fourth day: Personal revelations was the topic for Sacrament meeting. I already can't remember what I learned in the meeting from Presidente y Hermana Openshaw but I know it was really good! We need to have the Spirit, and we need personal revelation.  I need it so that I am able to teach investigators and to know what do do, to follow the Spirit.  We got our district leader and we each had an interview with him, and he said the closing prayer and he truly is called of God.  In my morning prayers I had prayed that I could really learn the language.  And in the prayer he said "to be at peace, learn Spanish, and be happy with the progress she is making" or something like that. We had relief society with Hermana Openshaw and the North Americans, it was so amazing. We started reading Mosiah 4, how we should use prayer and not make it a habit to say the same things over and over again but to be sincer.  So we started reading the chapter and in verse 2 and 3 I had the impression to share part of my farewell talk about the Savior forgiving me with.  HE IS ALWAYS THERE, always.  Waiting for us to come unto him. The sunday classes were also very good, I learned that we need to prepare or we won't be able to teach.  Like trying to find someone follow the scripture in D&C where you 1 study it out-think 2 make a decision and 3 ask if it be right, bosom will burn, or wrong stupor of thought.  Sunday nights and Wednesday nights we also have firesides with President Openshaw and it is so cool!! You literally ask any question, and he uses the scriptures to answer.

 

Today we went to the temple and it was so amazing and I did it all in Spanish and it was so amazing I miss going to the temple so much.

 

The rest of the days I haven't written in my journal yet..... I'm still working on writing every day, it is so hard, and we have no time! So I´ll just write all the things that are coming to my mind right now!:

 

Spanish: It is so hard! But it is coming along.  Everyone I talk to tells me my Spanish is really good for North Americans and I catch on fast.  Like in Argentina and Uruguay they have an accent of sort when you say like yo your me llamo, it sounds like sho or me shamo I like it haha.  I have learned how to pray and testify, and am learning how to teach.  It's great.

 

Food: The portions are HUGE!! I have yet to finish a meal.  And in every meal I try to eat a fruit and or salad because there is always potatoes and meat.

 

Things I might want: My scriputre book marks! From personal progress, I might want them....

 

Hermana Lindsay: We have a lot in common, and we both kinda a like to be in charge, so it's a little hard but I love her! She is teaching me a lot.

 

Las Hermanas: I love them all!! All the north americans are great and we are always with them it seems.  And las latinas and the ones in our room!! I love them! and they love me ;)  They are really helping me to learn spanish and it is so funny, because I am always acting for them.  Ah it's great.  I had a random thought that they might now High School Muscial so I brought it up and was signing and dancing for them and they were laughing so hard and singing along with me! They love is.  Just all the sisters and people here are great.

 

Exercise: We exersice every day, which is nice, but it's in the middle of the day so that's not good.

 

Thank you for the emails! EVERYON, I cried when I read them.  I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!

 

Love,

Hermana Louder

Day 1

This is Katelyn's sister, Emily. I'll be posting weekly emails to the blog and updating her facebook account, so let me know if you have any questions!

 We said goodbye to Sister Louder at the airport yesterday! Her flight was delayed about 30 minutes, so she left Salt Lake around 2:30 yesterday. We got an email from her this morning saying she arrived in Argentina safely! Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers you have been sending our way. We're grateful to know that Katelyn is so loved.

Saying Goodbye

Katelyn will be leaving for the MTC on Wednesday, and while we are beyond excited, this might be our toughest missionary to send out. I know for me it will be. A year ago, I couldn't imagine Katelyn on a mission. But she has grown immensely in the past year. Katelyn is going to be an incredible missionary and I can't wait to hear about her experiences in Uruguay!