Miracles in Santa Paula

The top part is what President Felix sent us:

What a great week we just had with Elder and Sister Malm. I hope that each of you felt the urgency to elevate our mission and to broaden our view to include all the "yes sayers" and that our antennas are in tune for those who will not only hear the truth but feel it in their hearts.

Elder Malm suggested a way for you to organize your letters to me that I would like to pass along to you. Just the FACTS. Please organize your letters with the FACTS.

Family - a brief statement of how your family is doing
Area - a summary of your area, miracles and concerns
Companion - what you love about your companion that you will share with him/her
Testimony - what stuck out to you from your study that strengthened your testimony
Service - how service has softened the hearts of others and opened 

From the Letter to the President:

This week has been marvelous!!! I'm not sure how life can keep getting better and better, but it does! My family is doing wonderfully well! My mother had the opportunity this week to drive the missionaries around, who are working in Idaho! Their car was in the shop for a week. I loved reading my mom's letter hearing how she got to work with the missionaries. And they are Hermanas! My mom does not know Spanish, but she was able to help out these sweet sisters. I am always touched by the generosity of members! When we work with members this work is so much more effective! We have a man in our ward that will leave his work just to come to a lesson with us! We truly have faithful saints here in California!

We are seeing so many miracles in Santa Paula! I wish I could give a detailed description of all the miracles we see everyday, but quite frankly that would take all day. Santa Paula is doing great! We were able to meet with Z three times this week! We had a church tour with her and she brought one of her friends! We were also able to watch The Restoration at the church, and she loved it! We also had a very powerful lesson with her about the importance of the Book of Mormon in our conversion. She told us that she wanted to go to the mountains to be alone and reflect on the things we told her and to also read in the Book of Mormon. It has been so miraculous teaching Z. It is joyful!

Hermana Young and I are truly enjoying the work of the Lord! We pray, and think, and talk about our investigators all the time. Hermana Young is so in tune with the spirit. She really ponders on the needs of our investigators. I am so grateful for her love and care for each of our investigators!

I am eternally grateful for my decision to serve a mission! It is a decision that blesses my life every single day and will continue to bless my live forever. I know without a shadow of a doubt that this church is true. I could never deny it. I have been a witness of so many miracles on my mission! I know that this is the Lord's work. Every day, I am guided by the Spirit, a humbling privilege. I am so grateful to know that we have a living prophet in today! I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God who holds all the priesthood keys. That same priesthood that was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. I know that Heavenly Father leads and guides His church today through a living prophet!

This week we had the opportunity to help a family that was being evicted from their house. At times it was difficult not to cry at this family's bleak situation. As we were talking to one of the family members they said with tears rolling down their face, "I don't know where my family would be without the church." I reflected on that statement. This family was receiving a lot of help from ward members, even though they weren't all members. It was a tender mercy to be able to help this family. I feel exactly the same way, "I don't know where I would be without this church." Being a member of this church has blessed my entire life! It is who I am! I am so grateful for the missionaries that knocked on my grandparents door and taught them the gospel. I hope that I can be an instrument in the Lord's Hands to help all my brothers and sisters enjoy the blessings of the gospel! 

This week has been marvelous! Words cannot express the gratitude I feel for this privilege to be a missionary! I love it! It is the best!

Mom! I don't really know what Elder Malm was talking about when he said that I was going to be part of the change here in this mission. But just being here as a missionary is being part of the change in missionary work and I love it. Thanks mom so much for your letters! I absolutely loved them! It was such a joy to read about you driving around the Hermanas! I'm sure they really appreciated it! That is wonderful! 

This week really has been wonderful! Time is just passing so quickly! I absolutely LOVED the woman's session of conference. It was wonderful! I really want to go to the temple so badly. Only a couple more months! :)

Also if you want you can send me more CDs. Hna Young got a really good CD called "The essential collection for missionaries." or something like that. It has Eclipse singing "I believe in Christ," and we just love it! 

Thanks so much for all that you do for me and all the other missionaries! It makes a world of difference! It is so joyous to be a missionary! It is worth any sacrifice to be here. I miss and love all of you but I am doing a great work and cannot come down (up to Idaho) haha. Love you so much! :) 

Love you so much! So excited for General Conference! Enjoy it! :)

Con amor

Hermana Ashley Rae Killpack :)

Our Cali shirts! And I made Hna Young breakfast :)

Being a Spanish missionary is the BEST! They have the best food, and the best parties! :)

Hermana Young and me

Z! She is such a fun and cute girl! Love her!

A and B! They are D's sisters. D is a recent covert! I love these girls so much! :)

Our new district!

G and her daughters! They moved, but we found them walking down the street one day! Such a miracle! :)

Another Wonderful Transfer in Santa Paula

From the letter to the Mission President:

So President Felix has asked us that we do our weekly letters a little bit differently. So here it is:

My family is doing better and better every week is seems. I have been so amazed at the myriad of blessings my family has received due to my missionary service. I was thrilled last week to hear that [here she says something that the person to whom it refers to does not want to tell.  Yet :-)]  . Truly my family brings me the most joy in the world! I love my family so much! I am here because I want my brothers and sisters to be able to enjoy the blessings of eternity with their families as well. 

Santa Paula is doing wonderfully. In the 3 months I've been here, I have witnessed 6 baptisms! What a miracle! This transfer we are planning on more. Hermana Young and I are thrilled to be able to work together again this transfer. We know this transfer will be another transfer full of miracles!

I love Hermana Young so much! I have really learned a lot from her! She has taught me to have greater faith and put my trust in the Lord. One day we needed to find the Elders that are working in our area. We are not allowed to call them and they cover all of Santa Paula. We only cover a portion and we don't often see the Elders. We needed to ask them a couple questions and give them some referrals. Hermana Young suggested that we say a prayer so that we could find the Elders sometime during our day. It was getting close to the end of the day and we were going about proselyting when we turned the corner and saw the Elders. It was such a miracle! I'm sure the Elders didn't understand our excitement. I was so humbled to see our prayer answered. This experience really strengthened my faith. Hermana Young has taught me how to have more faith and be more submissive to Heavenly Fathers will. I love her so much!!!

This week my testimony of prayer has been strengthened. I have been focusing on saying more meaningful and accountable prayers. It can be hard to focus at the end of a long day when it's time to say nightly prayers. My time to say personal prayers in the morning and evening has really become a sacred time. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who listens and answers my prayers. This week I feel as if I have been learning so much! I pray that I may become a more useful instruments in the hands of the Lord. He is answering my prayers. 

Serving those around us has really helped to softened their hearts. There is a less-active member here whose husband is not a member. The missionaries have been able to give this family a lot of service. In the beginning the husband would never listen to the missionaries. Now, he is starting to sit in on some lessons which is HUGE progress. I know that Christ-like service softens the heart of people. One of my favorite scriptures is Mosiah 2:17 'When ye are in the service of your fellow-beings, ye are only in the service of your God." As we serve, it not only blesses those around us, but it also blesses us.

This week has been one of my favorite weeks in the mission! I have learned so much! It was such an amazing opportunity to receive counsel from Elder Malm! I also loved having an interview with him! It was wonderful!

MOM! So Elder Malm of the 2nd quorum of the 70 came to our mission! We had a zone conference with him last week which was wonderful! It really helped me to know where I can improve. It was so amazing! After the conference we had a leadership meeting where we named some specific things we were going to change in our companionship. After that Elder Malm wanted to interview some missionaries and I was chosen. It was awesome! He asked me about my family, what dad does (I told him I could drive a semi-truck and he was amazed and impressed haha), He asked about where I was from. We talked for a couple minutes and he told me that I am going to be a part of the change in this mission. It was really neat. He was so nice!

On Saturday we were having a lesson with a woman and her daughter. The husband is a really strong Catholic and does not like us coming over, but his wife had invited us over. We were in the middle of our lesson when the husband barged out of the house and came over to us and started yelling at us telling us that he had told us to never come back. He told us that they were Catholic and they did not want to listen to us and that we have different beliefs and customs. We listening calmly. He went on ranting for a couple minutes and then I asked him simply, "What part of Mexico are you from?" He then went on to talk about his home town and tell us stories of all the fiestas that he has attended and about his beautiful homeland. By the end of our conversation we were laughing with him. It was quite the enjoyable conversation. We even said a prayer with him and his wife before we left. I have never seen a person change so rapidly. This man may never join the church but he had changed. We saw it. He came expecting an enemy, but we had left as friends. As we went home Hermana Young asked me amazed, "How did you do that?" I just told her that it wasn't me. I just felt to talk to the man about his life. By the time we left their house I just felt such love from this man and his family.

This week has been marvelous. I'm getting better slowly but surely. Hermana Young and I are staying in Santa Paula! This will be a transfer of miracles for sure. I love life! It keeps getting better and better! I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I have been able to learn and grow so much! 

So this week, it got a little hot. Never have I been just standing and have sweat rolling down my back. Haha gross!

Hna Young and I are thrilled we are staying together!  :)

Also the apple juice that I bought...it says it contains concentrate from Chile/China, huh? Interesting. I drank it and haven't died, so I think we are okay. Haha :)

Oh also, yesterday I said that prayer for dinner at a members house. He went to Brazil on his mission. After the prayer he asked me how long I have been out on my mission. I told him and he said that he could hear that I had a little accent. Haha funny! Hna Young says she can't tell but I think that would be awesome to have an accent from speaking Spanish. I'm trying to speak it more. 

Also please tell Josh happy birthday for me! I have been thinking about him and Andrew this week! Please give them both a big hug for me! 

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. It means that world to me! I love you all so very much and hope you have a wonderful week! 

Con mucho amor,

Tu hermana, hija, cunada favorita

Hermana Killpack :) 

A Wonderful Week Amidst the Fleas

From the letter to the Mission President:  

Oh what a wonderful week this was! We were able to have some great lessons and experiences this week.  This week we taught a man named J! J has such a desire to do what is right and to change his life. He wants to be baptized. He wants to find a church to go to. This week we were able to read 3 Nephi 11 with J. We talked about how Christ came to the Americas and taught the Nephites about baptism. J really liked the chapter and would stop us every couple of verses to ask us questions. He really has a pure desire to learn more. We are excited to keep working with him!

We were also able to teach D, a less-active. We were able to talked with him about the priesthood and explain why our church is different than all the others. He is currently attending another church with his mother. We had a member at our lesson, Hermano G, who was able to explain about the priesthood. It was a wonderful lesson and it really helped D to understand. We were also able to teach him about the sacrament. We explained that it is a commandment to go to church and partake of the sacrament weekly. When we partake of the sacrament, we renew and remember the covenants that we have made with Heavenly Father. We committed him to come to church, and he came! He hadn't been to church for about 4 years, but he really liked it. He told us that he is planning on going next week as well!

We also had the chance to teach C and E. They are a mother and her daughter, both are less-active. We read with them in Mosiah 27 about Alma's conversion. We talked about how we as members are striving constantly to become converted, however it isn't easy. We also bore testimony of the Atonement and of the Sacrament. It was a powerful lesson led by the spirit. E was at church yesterday with her granddaughter. It was such a miracle!!! C wasn't able to make it but E said that she would come next time.

As I was sitting in church yesterday I was just filled with such gratitude for the Atonement. What a blessing it is that we can partake of the Sacrament weekly! All of us need the cleansing powers of the Atonement in our life. I love that we go to church, not because we are perfect, but we want to become better. Yesterday was wonderful!

We also had the chance to meet with S this week. We only met with him once because he has been working so much! He was scheduled to be baptized this Saturday. However, if we are not able to meet with him, we will have to change his date again. S really has so much potential and a desire to be baptized. We have been praying to know what we should do about S this week. Whatever happens we are trusting in the Lord and His timing. 

This week we also taught L, a recent convert. She is 16 years old and has been struggling in school. We challenged her to go to seminary and promised her that if she did her grades would improve. We found her a ride to early-morning seminary and are excited to see how it goes.

The other day we were talking to a man and his mother. We started teaching them about the Book of Mormon, but they would not accept it. The told us that they would only believe in the Bible. We respected their beliefs but testified about what we knew to be true. The man and his mother started asking us questions about our life as missionaries. We told them what we do everyday and that we are away from our families for a time. They were both very impressed. They asked us a lot of questions and then the man turned to me and asked, "Are you ever scared?" I told him, "I fear no man" he looked back at me a little surprised. You could tell it wasn't the answer he was expecting. He continued, "What about Satan?" "I know he is real, but I am not afraid of him." I replied. It was a neat opportunity to bear my testimony in a way to let these people know that as servants of Heavenly Father we are protected. I know that to be true.

This week has been wonderful!!! I was reflecting on 2 Corinthians 12:10 "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: For when I am weak, then am I strong." I love this scripture so much! I am weak, but with Christ I am strong. I have loved all the experiences I have had on my mission. I know that through the trials that I have had, I have been able to grow. I have been able to grow in my faith and trust in my Savior, Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for the healing and enabling powers on the Atonement. I absolutely love being a missionary! It is simply wonderful! :)

Mom! Thanks so much for the letters you sent to me! That made my day! So guess what? We got our carpets sprayed. Yeah, pretty sure it was fleas. You are probably wondering why it took so long. For a while there we weren't having any problems so we thought all was well. Apparently not, we started having problems again so we decided it was time to get our carpets sprayed. We were talked with the guy that came to spray our carpets. He told us that he had sprayed our same apartment in January. They had roaches! I'm so glad we only had fleas. I would definitely take that any day over roaches. 

Also more exciting news. This week I got sick... Yeah I'm not really sure what it is. I think just a cold, although some flu has been going around. Sunday morning I could not sleep, I woke up like every hour. Pretty miserable. But last night I slept much better all through the night. I have been making myself drink lots of juice and take cough medicine and its helping. Prayers for my health would be appreciated. I am doing finally and hopefully getting better. I just have to blow my nose like crazy all the time and I have a cough too, but I'm okay. 

Wow, that's crazy all the news about weddings! I'm so excited for Jessica, and Kyle!!! I didn't know that Dallin wasn't already married. It sounds like Hollie has a lot to do in this next couple months. That's great to hear that Tyler is doing well!

I loved reading about Andrew asking Hannah to homecoming. That was cute! I love kittens!

Benson and Owen are adorable! I can't believe how big Owen is getting it is crazy!

Well I hope that you have a marvelous week! I love hearing from you! Thanks so much for all of your love and prayers! Tenga un buen semana! 

Con amor,

Hermana Killpack! :)

Exchanges in Ventura

From the letter to the Mission President:

This week was a phenomenal week! We saw so many incredible miracles! We had the chance to have some great lessons! We also had exchanges with Hermana Brown and Hermana Halliday! It was so fun to be able to work in Ventura for a time. We saw countless miracles and were able to help out many people through service on exchanges! 

This week we had a great lesson with a woman named L. She has 2 children. We were able to teach L about temples, baptism, and eternal marriage. It was amazing because we had a totally different lesson planned for her. We followed the promptings of the spirit and really taught her according to her needs. It was amazing to feel the Spirit of the Lord working through us. She asked us why we don't baptize infants and we were able to read Moroni 8 with her as well. It was a great lesson! We are excited to go back this week and teach her some more.

We also started teaching S again! The English Elders were not ever able to teach him; he has been working a lot. We decided that we would teach S in Spanish. We set him with a baptismal date for the 20th of September. He is keeping the Word of Wisdom now. Last time he was set with a date we had to postpone it because he broke the Word of Wisdom. He is doing great! He is really excited to be baptized and loves coming to church. He loves praying and he loves the way that we taught him. He always used to say to us, "God, take care of you!" But now he tells us, "Heavenly Father take care of you." We are excited to be working with him once again.

We also had an amazing lesson with a woman named A. We were able to stop by and talk with her 11 years old son. He told us that his mom was busy but that we could come back. We were able to go back and meet A. She invited us into her home. We got to know her a little better and were able to share some of what we believe. She is Catholic and isn't looking to change. However, she was so very kind and told us that she believes our purpose in life is to just love other people. She was very sweet and even fed us dinner. We were just amazed at the love of this woman. If only everyone else were like her, this world would be a better place. 

We had the chance to find some less-actives this week. We were able to have wonderful lessons. The Elders found some less-actives that had moved. We did not know where they moved to, so it was a miracle that we were able to find them again. We were able to go over and introduce ourselves. They invited us in and we very kind. They told us that they want to come back to church. We are excited to help them do so. 

This week truly has been wonderful! I love being a missionary! I am so grateful for this time that I have to be here in California! I love working with my Savior Jesus Christ! There is no where else I would rather be! I love this church! I love the gospel! Yo se que esta Iglesia es verdadera!

Mom-Sorry I couldn't send you this from my email. I think that perhaps my lds account information has been changed. I have tried getting on to my email countless times with no success. Hopefully I'll be able to figure it out soon. 

So, last week were got on the computers at the Church in Filmore. I don't know if I didn't log out correctly or if someone changed my information or what. I have been trying again and again my password and it's not working. It's sad because I was looking forward to reading your emails. I was thinking that maybe you would be on the computer right now but I guess you are not. That's okay. Don't feel bad. I did get your letter. Thanks for that. It was interesting to read those talks that you sent me. Haha it changed my attitude about getting I-pads. Now I really want them. And the article on the Old Testament was really good too.

Sorry I can't send you a better email this week. Satan probably wants me to get discouraged that I can't get on my email. But I won't get discouraged. 

I loved hearing about the siblings. That sounds like fun for Amber and Brady and their family! A new car is always an adventure!

We really did have a great week. Today we are going to drive to Ventura and get new tires. Only 2 I think. Should be fun! Haha it's kinda funny how crazy today has been. Nothing has been going as it normally does, which is a little strange because usually every day is the same as the last. But not today I guess. Well you can tell Aubrey to write to me and whoever else. That would be great. I really do love hearing from you! All of you! 

How is the new lawn mover working? You need to send me pictures! Unless you already have and I just can't see them because they are on my email... that could be the case. 

Hermana Young and I are having a great time! She is doing so great and learning so much! It is so fun working with her!

Hermana Young and I made a count down chain until General Conference. I am SO excited! It is going to be amazing! We only have 27 more days!

Here is a picture of Hermana Halliday and I!

I hope that you have a wonderful week! I'm sorry I wasn't able to respond to your email. Hopefully as is well with you. I guess we will have to stick to the old fashioned way and write letters. I love you all so much! Thank you for all your love and support! I pray for you all every single day! Love you lots and lots!

Con amor,

Hermana Ashley Rae Killpack :)

<3

Countless Blessings and Miracles

From the letter to the Mission President:

To say that this past week has been a miracle week would be an understatement! We saw countless blessings and miracles! I was studying more about miracles and I came across something in the Bible dictionary. It said that miracles are simply works or the natural results of the Messiah's presence among men. How humbling this thought is! We see so many miracles every single day! We are working together with our Savior Jesus Christ to help bring about the immortality and eternal life of men! Oh how I love this calling!

This week we were able to find a lot of new people to teach. We found a man named J. He told us that part of his family is Christian and another part is Catholic. He really wants to find a church to go to. He admires the faith of his family and wants to strengthen his own faith. He told us that he wants to have Jesus Christ more in is heart. What an honest desire. We were able to talk about the importance of families as well as teach the Restoration of church. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and he said, "It must be true!" He told us that we answered all the questions that he had. He said that he had questioned prophets before and no one could ever explain it to him. We explained that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. It makes sense that God would still have a prophet on the earth today to lead and guide the people. J really liked listening to us and invited us back to teach him and his brother. Apparently his brother was taking the missionary discussions some time ago before he left to Mexico. J's brother, O, is coming back from Mexico this week. We are excited to go back and teach J and his brother! It was such a miracle finding J.  He even accepted a baptismal invite!

We were blessed with another miracle to find a less-active member named D. We were looking for a potential investigator. We knocked on the door with no success. We were getting ready to leave when we heard someone in the front yard say "Hey!" We turned to look and there was a man just sitting outside. We went over and starting talking to him. We asked his name and he said D. Previously, I have talked with the woman that lives there named JM. She told us that her son is a member of our church. She told me that his name was D. We were able to introduce ourselves and set up a return appointment. D was really excited to talk with us. He told us that he had met with missionaries a lot before in the past. He was excited to learn more. We were able to teach D about temples this past week. We weren't exactly sure how much he knew. He showed us a church program from sacrament meeting the last time he attended church. It said 2010! It's been a while since he's been to church. He told us that he want's to come but he just didn't have a ride. Previously work had interfered with church however now D is not currently working. He also told us that he had received the Aaronic priesthood. It was amazing finding D! We are excited to reactivate him and help him prepare to go to the temple! 

We had another amazing lesson with a family! L, M, and S! They were interested in our message. L is the mother and M is 20 and S is about 22. We felt that S had the most potential. He had a lot of great questions asking us why we don't worship the saints. We were able to explain to him that we can talk to Heavenly Father directly. I created an analogy saying that he did not need to tell me something to tell to his father. However he could just directly tell his father. (His father was there listening to us, but is a really strong catholic and didn't agree with the things we were saying.) I think the analogy really made sense to S. We gave them a Book of Mormon and invited them to read it. We testified of the truthfulness of the book. It was a great lesson!

This week we were able to meet a lot of great people! Heavenly Father truly is preparing His sons and daughters to receive the truth. I love working with Hermana Young! She is doing wonderful! She is learning so much! I am so grateful that I am able to be her trainer! She is an excellent example to me!

Mom, wow you are going to the open house? That sounds like so much fun! Oh I miss the temple so much! I can go again in 4 months. I am so looking forward to it! Wow, a new lawn mower huh? This is big news! What does it look like? I'm sure all my companions think I'm crazy as I tell them how we would fight over who got to mow the lawn. Whenever I hear a lawn mower going its like music to my ears. I would love to hear from you. I really love letters! You can really tell me about anything and everything. Isn't it crazy that it is already September?! Time is flying! This week was a great week! There are so many miracles here in Santa Paula! 

Dad and Grandpa and looking good! How is grandpa doing? How is the rest of the family doing? Any news? 

Haha normally we email at the Library in Santa Paula, but yes that was closed. We are in Filmore (this is where our DL lives) and emailing from the church. 

It sounds like so many fun things are happening! I love hearing about them. I can just picture the excitement of the fair, and new lawn mower, and new puppy! So many fun changes. This past week it was a little bit hotter in the 90's. I guess perhaps that is why I find it hard to believe that it is already September! Haha

Well thanks so much for all your love, support, and prayers. It makes a world of difference. I know I always say that, but it really does. How is Emily and Adam doing? How's Josh? Amber, Brady, Benson, and Owen?  How are the rest of the kids? And how are you mom and dad? Please tell me all! Have a marvelous week! I love you so much! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Ashley Rae Killpack :)

Another service project we did this week. Haha it was fun! Also I made banana muffins! They looked kinda gross but they were really good. Also, I was able to make tortillas this week. It was really fun! Have a wonderful week! :)

O That I Were an Angel...

From the letter to the Mission President:

This week has been marvelous! I love Alma 29:1-2: "O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people. Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the Plan of Redemption that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth." I feel just like Alma! This work brings so much joy! I love it! 

We were able to have some great lessons this week! We have a new investigator named J. We had two lessons with her this week. We taught her the Restoration and about the Book of Mormon. She agreed to read in it. Our second lesson with J was great! We knocked on her door three times with no answer. We were able to turn and leave when J opened the door with the Book of Mormon in her hands. She said that she had read the introduction. We talked about the Book of Mormon, reviewed the Restoration, and were able to read 1 Nephi 1 with her. I felt prompted to ask J to be baptized. She said yes! We then asked her if she would be baptized on September 20th. She went on to say that she had already been baptized. We explained to her that in our church we baptize the same way that Jesus Christ was baptized, by immersion. We also explained about the power and authority from God that our church has to perform sacred ordinances. After our explanation we asked her again to be baptized and she said yes! At the end of the lesson we asked if she would like to say the closing prayer. She told us that she did not know how. We were able to teach her how to pray. She then offered a sweet simple prayer. It was amazing to see her humility and her willingness to try something new. It was such a miracle! She has three cute young daughters. We are so excited to continue working with her and prepare her to be baptized. We are going over this week to teach her more and introduce her to some members. We are excited! 

This week we were also able to have several lessons with G. She does not really have much of a religious background. We have to take our lessons with G really slow and explain everything. We love teaching her! She is very sweet and very shy. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation and testified to her why we are here in the earth. We also talked about why our decisions here on earth are so important. She really liked the lesson. We also read with G in Alma 32. She loved learning more about faith and the comparison of faith to a seed. Alma 32 is one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon. We can also do something more to strengthen and grow our own faith!

We were able to find some other great new investigators this week. We found C. She is a sweet lady with a cute family. We taught her about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. She was excited to get the Book of Mormon because she likes to read. We have a lesson with her later tonight. We are excited to continue teaching her and hopefully her family as well.

We also found another woman named L. She has 2 young sons and was very receptive to our message. She has talked a little bit with missionaries in the past. We taught her the Restoration as well and gave her a Book of Mormon. We are excited to go back and teach her more this coming week. 

This week we found a man named A. He was really nice and interested in our message. He said that one day he would like to come to our church. We hope to be able to get him to church soon and help him to continue to learn more about our message. We taught him the message of the Restoration and about the Book of Mormon. A agreed to read in the Book of Mormon.  

This past week was wonderful! We are really focused on finding new investigators to teach and I know that the Lord has been blessing us to find His prepared sons and daughters. I am so grateful to be a part of this humbling work! What a joy it is to be representatives of our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Alma 29:9 "I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy." 

This is my joy! I am so grateful to be here in Santa Paula, in the Great California Ventura Mission! I love this work with all my heart! 

Mom! It's so great to hear from you! I am sending a letter home this week. Oh that puppy is so cute! Too bad she won't be a puppy by the time I'll get back. What convinced dad to get a puppy? 

Yes, we go to a ward a branch. I already wrote about that in my letter so you'll find out. :)

(A Selfie)

Yes, thank you so much for the clothes! They fit great! New clothes are always welcomed. When you wear the same things over and over again it's easy to get tired of them. 

(My favorite shoes)

I forgot that you were doing activity days! That's probably nice that you can just focus of one calling now. That's a lot of work! 

The English Elders here are doing great! There is so much good English work here. They are now teaching most of our progressing investigators. We are really focused now on finding some new investigators to teach. I think that they might be having some baptisms this transfer. I am so happy for them. They are great hardworking Elders!

(Sister Young and me)

Yeah, I'm doing so great! Just running all the time! Haha every morning (besides Sunday and Monday) I try to run. Mondays our exercise is cleaning our apartment. I just run laps Tuesday-Saturday. I run about 10 every morning and I think it's close to a mile. When I run, I have more energy throughout the day, I am not as tired, and I feel better. So there are many benefits. I want to be able to be healthy on my mission. The reason why a lot of missionaries gain weight on their mission is because eating food is a stress reliever. So they will go home and eat food even if they are not hungry. I feel like running helps my body to relax and I seek other stress relievers besides food. But sometimes cookies are good. haha

(A project we helped a ward member with)

Well I need to go, but thanks so much for all your love and support. I love hearing from you. Letters are the best! They make my day! Thanks so much for being so supportive and loving. I love you all!

Con amor, 

Hermana Killpack :)