Recognizing the Hand of the Lord

May 25,2015

From the Letter to the President:

What a marvelous week it has been! I feel like this week I have been able to learn so much and recognize the Hand of the Lord every single day!

My family is doing so wonderful! When you have the gospel in your life, life is good! My brother just graduated from high school and is going to the temple to receive his endowments tomorrow. I'm so excited for him!

This week we had a wonderful lesson with N and our new ward mission leader. We retaught the restoration and N really seemed to understand. He was asking more questions and making more comments. We watched the Restoration video with N and afterward we asked him what he thinks he needs to do to receive an answer. He told us that he feels he needs to pray with more faith. We are planning on fasting with N this next fast Sunday so that he can receive his answer. 

We are also teaching a 15 year old girl named E. The English Elders starting teaching her, but they handed her over to us, because her parents do not speak English. E has been coming to church for a couple weeks now. She has been to the temple visitor center in Los Angeles. E wants to be baptized! We still have some things to teach her, but she truly wants to become a member of our church. E still needs to get her parents' permission to get baptized. Her mom wants to learn more about our church, so that she can know what her daughter is doing. E's dad is in Mexico (the parents are separated) and he is planning on coming here in June. We are planning on talking with him also when he comes. E already shines brightly with the light of Christ. I can definitely see her serving a mission! :)

Working with Hermana Costilla has been so delightful! I feel that we are able to help magnify each other's strengths and help each other with our weaknesses. I love being companions with Hermana Costilla. She is constantly looking for ways to improve herself and become more like Jesus Christ. I love that about her!

This week I feel like my studies have been so insightful. Heavenly Father has truly been blessing me to be able to understand and apply the things that I have been learning. I really like a verse that I read in 3 Nephi 13:22 "The light of the body is the eye; if, therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."

As a representative of Jesus Christ, I want to shine with His light. I know that as I have my eye single to the glory of God, I will shine more brightly. Christ is the perfect example of having His eye single to the glory of God. He said, "I receive not honour from men." (St. John 5:41) I absolutely love that scripture! I also am striving to say, "I receive not honour from men, but from my Heavenly Father."

Words cannot adequately describe the joy it is to be a missionary for this church. I am ever grateful and amazed at the love and mercy that Heavenly Father shows to me!

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MOM! I always love hearing from you! I hope you all have an amazing day! :)

I'm so excited that you are going to the temple tomorrow. I wish I could be there! I'll be thinking about all of you! I'm excited for Papa too! :)

 

That's good to hear about the apartments. I remember I looked at them once too! I loved them, but I was poor and didn't think I could pay for something so nice haha. 

Yes, I think I'll be staying (dying) in Santa Maria. I am really excited to find out who my last companion will be. I have been praying a lot for her.

We have gotten a little bit of rain, but we need more. It was kind of sprinkling this morning. We heard that there is supposed to be an earthquake on Wednesday. Is that true? Haha don't worry, we'll be safe! :)

The Elders pretending they are tough. Hahah

By our house there is a drive-through doughnut place. I was more excited to go through the drive-through than actually eat the doughnut. Just having a doughnut drive-through is awesome!

A member in our ward gave us flowers! (and cake) She told us, "Sometimes you just need to feel loved." So true! Haha it was so sweet of her! :)

We saw these trucks outside of our apartment the other day! Crazy!

Benefits of living in Santa Maria. So many people work in las fresas, so we never have to buy strawberries! We even gave some away this week!

Soooooooo cute! On my fridge where they belong! :)

Andrew looks so good in his pictures! Who took them? Grandpa is adorable! :) Tell him happy birthday from me!

Thanks for sending me Haylee's letter. I'm glad that she's doing good!!

Well thanks so much for your love and prayers! I love you all so much! Please have the best week ever! I know that I will! :)

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Killpack :)

Service and Saving Souls

May 18, 2015

From the Letter to the Mission President:

Como siempre, esta semana ha sido lo mejor! This past week just flew by! We loved the hike on Tuesday! It was so much fun to focus on being led by the spirit! We also had exchanges on Wednesday!

My family is doing well! My brother graduated from seminary last night and is graduating from high school next week.

This week we were able to have some powerful lessons with N. We got to meet his family and they are so nice! We were also able to have an amazing lesson about the spirit and how it works. We can see that N truly is beginning to understand more. He is asking us more questions. As we have focused on the spirit and how we receive answers through the spirit, N has been able to understand more clearly. As always, N reads in his scriptures everyday and comes to church every Sunday. He is doing great!

We have also been working with la familia J. They are so wonderful! We watched the Testaments with them this past week! They loved it! They truly love Jesus Christ and desire to follow Him. 

Yesterday we were able to have a lesson with la familia R. They are such a special family! We love them all so much! They are planning on getting married in the next couple of weeks. We are having a family home evening with them tonight! We are planning on studying out of Preach My Gospel with them! It has been so amazing to be able to help this family come to church to be able to enjoy all the blessings of the gospel. 

Working with Hermana Costilla is always a blast! We really have so much fun together. I feel that because we are united as a companionship we are able to teach powerfully! She is always so humble and a wonderful teacher! :)

I have absolutely loved learning more about the spirit this week! As I come to understand the spirit better, I feel that I am better able to follow the promptings that I receive. I always want to be in places where I can feel the spirit.

When I was on exchanges in Arroyo Grande, we got to do some service! We got to help paint a water park! (Don't worry, it's not open yet.) The missionaries have been helping an Australian man who recently bought a water park and is trying to fix it up to open it to the public. It was so much fun. I know this man really appreciated our service!

This week has been so much fun! It just flew by! I am so grateful for every day that I have to learn more. I was able to give a talk in church yesterday about el amor y la caridad. I am really trying to develop the charity that Christ has. I know that Heavenly Father has blessed me with so many opportunities in my mission to develop this Christ-like love. :)

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MOM! I LOVE YOU! Yes, I do! You are just the best! Thanks for being so amazing! Like really, you are the best!

This morning I was thinking about apartments and I was thinking about Kensington. I would like to live there if there are still spots available. I remember that I had gone and looked at them once and I really loved them. Yes, sign me up! Also, question. What classes have you signed my up for? Any yet? I trust your judgement, I would just like to know what I am taking. Thanks :)

Has Andrew gotten taller? He looks taller! And older! He's changed too! I wonder how different he will look in another two years! His suit looks nice. Is it new?

We went on a hike this past week and I got some sun! 

#Selfiesunday (I am just kidding btw) hahah!

I gave a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday sobre el amor y la caridad.

WIth V and her daughter! :) We love them so much! :)

Nice job on playing the piano! Yes, that is definitely a talent that I need to develop better. I was asked to talk a couple weeks ago in Sacrament, but they needed someone else to speak. They told me that I didn't need to speak anymore. ( I was supposed to have spoken on Mother's Day.) This past Saturday, they called and asked me to speak. Someone had gotten sick. I really only had a couple minutes Sunday morning to prepare. I know, however, that as we try to develop the talents that Heavenly Father has given us, He blesses us everytime. I truly felt that yesterday as I was talking. I was saying words that I really haven't said before. It was awesome! 

I bet Aubs did a great job dancing! I wish I could've seen it! :)

Funny story! So this past week we were teaching a family about the Plan of Salvation. We were talking about Adam and Eve when the husband made a comment. (Note: There are 4 women in the house and 1 man.) He said, "We all know that women are weak." I just said "Uh... no" and starting laughing. Hahah :) We then explained why women aren't weak. After we explained he said "I guess I was wrong" Hahaha yes! So wrong! It was so funny! :)

Well Mom and family, I wish I had enough time to tell you everything! I am so behind in my journal too because we are always just so busy. Which is good! There is always something to do! Thanks so much for your love and prayers! 

I love you all so much! Oh, also I was thinking, I would still love it if everyone could write me their testimonies. I know you all have testimonies! That would be awesome! That would really make my day! Thanks so much! Love you! :) 

Con amor,

Hermana Killpack :)

P.S. We met someone yesterday who spoke a dialect called Zapoteco! I'm learning that one next ;)

The Day After...the Mother's Day Phone Call

May 11, 2015

From the Letter to the Mission President:

What a wonderful week it has been! With MLC on Tuesday, exchanges on Wednesday, a baptism on Saturday, and Mother's Day yesterday, we have had a busy week!

My family is doing wonderful! It was such a delight to be able to talk with them. My younger brother is excitedly preparing to serve his mission. I am so proud of him! He wanted me to talk to you about letting me take a visit to Irvine my last day. Haha he is so funny!

I loved the focus at MLC of being led by the spirit as we find and teach. I was blessed with an amazing experience on exchanges that really strengthened my testimony of being led by the spirit.

I was working in Morro Bay with Hermana Young. We had an appointment that fell through in the morning. Hermana Young said that she really wanted to go and visit a woman named Maria. Hermana Young had only been in Morro Bay for 3 weeks. I had only been there a day. We didn't have Maria's address. Hermana Young had been there a couple times before. All she remembered was that you had to make a lot of turns to get there. I thought for a minute then I had an idea. I suggested to Hermana Young that we say a prayer to have the spirit guide us to Maria's house.  I offered a simple prayer and then began to drive. It was amazing to feel the spirit guiding me. I would come to a stop sign and ask Hermana Young which way she thought we should go. Whether she felt left or right, I always felt the spirit guiding me the same way. After about 15 turns we got to Maria's house! It was a humbling experience for me. The spirit really is here to guide us. Sometimes with all the technology that we have, GPS's, computers, cell phones, etc we forget that the best guide is the Holy Ghost. I know that I will never forget this experience.

We have been seeing so many miracles here in Santa Maria! M's baptism was Saturday!

It was wonderful! The spirit was so definitely present. It was a joyful day!

Yesterday, we had 6 investigators at church! We are teaching a family! We were excited to hear yesterday, that our branch president is planning to go visit them this week. The branch is really getting involved to help fellowship our investigators.

Also, we got a new ward mission leader. Hermano Bumstead is amazing! We had our first correlation at his house. It was so much fun! Hermano Bumstead is so concerned about each of our investigators. He shared his testimony with us during correlation. The spirit was there. I know the work with move forth even more rapidly with the help of Hermano Bumstead.

Hermana Costilla and I love working together. She is such a wonderful teacher! She always has creative ideas! I truly learn so much from her every single day.

I have loved focusing, as a mission, on being led by the spirit. This week, I feel like Heavenly Father has blessed me with so many opportunities to exercise my faith, and be led by the spirit. I love it!

Life does keep getting better and better! We have so much work here in Santa Maria! I love the people here! They are wonderful! :)

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Mom! I LOVED talking with you all too! I thought it was so cute that you screamed when I called. Haha thanks for making me feel loved! Benson and Owen sound so old! Yes, it was surprising! How old are they both now? I can't wait to play with them again! :)

Hmmm, cilantro, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and any other spices. I made some salsa a couple times and it was so good! I need to practice! I love gardens! :) And yes, I do like spicy food now! :)

It was so good to hear from everyone! It strengthened my testimony even more of the importance of families! Thank you for being the best fan club! I love you! Sorry, I don't have more time. You are all the best!

Aubrey looks so good! I can't believe how old see looks! I love the decorations in the house! That is so adorable! :) 

And the cake you made Mom! That is beautiful! You have to teach me more of your skills when I get home!!

Exchanges with Hermana Young! Their apartment is huge!

N, our investigator gave Hermana Costilla and I flowers yesterday! So sweet! :)

Made, espero que tenga un dia feliz manana! Feliz cumpleanos! Te quiero mucho! 

Que tengan una buena semana! Les quiero! :)

Con amor,

Hermana Killpack <3

P.S. I love that I can see you in the mirror taking the picture. Looking good mom :)

M and her mom and brother!

P.S. I LOVED talking with all of you too! It was so much fun! The time passed by too quickly! Also do you have a picture of this friend of Josh's? What do you think about her? Do you like her?

Morro Bay is gorgeous!

Marvelous May

May 4, 2015

From the Letter to the Mission President:

What a wonderfully busy week it has been! We love working here in Santa Maria! We have so much work here, we never have time to see everyone that we want to. This past week was so amazing!

My family is doing wonderful! I know that they are being abundantly blessed for faithfully living the gospel. I am so grateful for that. 

We have been working with M to prepare her for her baptism! She is getting baptized this Saturday and is so excited. We have been meeting with her every day to help prepare her for Saturday. She has already learned so much. It has been wonderful teaching M with her mom in the church. M's mom is a less-active member. As we have taught M, her mom, A has been learning too. A will ask us questions and we are able to explain the doctrine clearly. I truly love being a missionary! I love teaching! It is so much fun teaching M!

We also contacted a member referral this past week. P is 18 years old and so sweet! We passed by the other day to get to know her. We were able to teach P about prayer. We invited her to pray, but she said she wanted to practice first. The next time we went back, P prayed. She told us that she really didn't know how to pray before, but P offered one of the most beautiful prayers I have heard. She thanked Heavenly Father for sending us to her home to teach her. She started to cry a little during her prayer. It was precious! I am so grateful for the power of prayer!

We also had an amazing lesson with la familia J! We were able to have a fun activity during our lesson and involve the whole family! They loved it! We taught them about obedience. We are starting to know the family better. They have pure desires to follow Christ. I know that they will accept the gospel! :)

Yesterday M came to church with her three sons! We thought that she had to work, but she came! 

We have been so blessed this past week! We see so many miracles every single day! The Lord truly has been so merciful to us! 

My love and admiration for Hermana Costilla grows every day! We have so much fun together! We have been striving to help one another become better. We have worked to have good communication and I feel that whenever I need help, my companion is always there for me. Hermana Costilla is wonderful! :)

Recently, I have been reading in the Book of Mormon in Alma and Helaman. I have noticed how quick the people are to forget the Lord and fall into pride. The pride cycle repeats countless times in the Book of Mormon. The people worship the Lord and thank Him for their blessings. They prosper for a time. As time goes on, they begin to forget the Lord and begin to care more about their wealth and riches. The Lord is not pleased with His people. As a result, the Lord chastens His people and gives them trials so that they will repent and remember Him. 

There is a lot that we can learn from the Book of Mormon. I strive to remember Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in all that I do so that I won't fall into my own pride cycle. I know that the success I have had on the mission is truly the Lord's success.

I absolutely love being a missionary! I am so grateful to be able to learn so much every single day! 

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MOM! Yes, it's crazy that we'll be talking in 6 days! Haha yes, I remember your phone number! Thanks! 

Hmm as for the Willows I heard that they had underground parking. Perhaps I don't want to be with younger girls? Or perhaps I should to be a good example to them? Hmmm I'm not sure. I'll think and pray some more. I was also thinking about La Jolla and Kensington. I'm not really sure if I like the location of Kensington though... Yeah, I'll keep thinking. Any suggestions or words of advice?

As for calling... I'm not sure, but I think I'll call around 6pm California time. I never remember if Idaho is ahead or behind...

We went bowling last Pday! It was so much fun!

We had 2 exchanges this week! Hermana Zarate from Lompoc and Hermana Johnson from Santa Barbara! I got to work in Santa Maria both days! :)

Only in California... hahah ;)

Also about the English classes, I wish we had a book or something to use to teach English. A member here might be able to get us one. We have just been teaching people one on one in their homes English, but It would be awesome to start a class in the church or something. 

Well sorry I don't have much time! I love you so much and appreciate all that you do for me! 

Con mucho amor!

Hermana Killpack :) 

Super Busy, Super Fun

April 27, 2015

From the Letter to the Mission President:

This past week was wonderful! It was a busy one! I always love the first week of the transfer! Super busy, but super fun! 

My family is doing wonderful! My sister had her baby last Tuesday!!! I now have my third nephew! He is so cute! I am so excited for them!

We have continued to have so much work here in Santa Maria. The work never ends and we love it! We have been working with M to help prepare her for baptism. There are still some things that we need to teach her. We are planning on her baptism for May 9th. If we are able to meet with her frequently we will be able to keep that date. She is doing well and is excited to be baptized.

We also have been working with a less-active family that came to church yesterday! E and V have a beautiful family! We have had some powerful lessons with them this week! One of the lessons that we had with them was so inspired. We said exactly the things that they needed to hear. It was definitely guided by the spirit. I am always thrilled when I am able to work with the spirit to teach the things that the people need to hear. It is so humbling! E and V have such a desire to change their lives and come back to church. We already love them so much!

We also had a great lesson with G and D. We had a member with us. We didn't have much time with G and D before we needed to head off to another lesson, so the member offered to stay with them and continue teaching them. It was amazing! They were able to read in the Book of Mormon together. I am so grateful for this particular member and her understanding of what it really means to work together with the missionaries. :)

Hermana Costilla is so wonderful! She is always looking for ways to serve me! Whether it's by making me breakfast or folding my laundry, she is always serving me. I love her so much! :)

This past week I have been studying the talk, Jesus the Perfect Leader. I have loved studying more about the Savior. There is so much that I can work on! It is so exciting! I know that I am not perfect, but I love to try and be more like the Savior. It will surely be a life-long goal of mine to try and become more like Jesus Christ. :)

This week we participated in Mormon Helping Hands! It was so much fun! We got to paint food barrels for a food bank. It was such a great opportunity to get to know the members better! 

This past week we saw so many miracles! I wish I had time to write down the countless miracles that we see everyday! I am so grateful to be serving here in Santa Maria. I know this is where the Lord wants me! Life truly is wonderful! :)

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MOM! 

YAY!!!!!!!!!! HE IS SO CUTE!!! 

(Note from the Mom...she is referring to her new nephew.)

Tell Amber Congratulations for me!

This week was great! I took lots of pictures as you can see! It's been a good week! Crazy, but good. 

Something that I forgot to mention last Monday that I wanted to tell you was that David Archuleta told us that when he recorded the song Glorious he was still a missionary. He still had his name badge on! When he sang Glorious for us, he got choked up a couple times. It was so good! 

Okay so down to business. I think that I would like to stay at the Willow Apartments. The other day I was writing that down and I almost wrote "Los willows" haha. I have heard that sometimes there is a waiting list for the Willows so if I can't get in to that my next choice would be La Jolla or Kensington. So yeah, let me know what happens. 

This is our district... we were trying to be serious. It was hard! haha

These are literally called Jesus Sandels. A friend of Hermana Costilla sent them to us. I love them so much! :)

Carmen teaching me how to knit! She is so cute! :)

Hermana Costilla was taking pictures of me while I was driving back from Ventura!

TRANSFERS!!! :)

Elder Hernandez and Sister Kemp! They both left to go home!

Hermana Tauiliili and Hermana Price!

Sister Woodland and Elder Moreno!

Elder Lopez and Elder Robinson!

Was Dad excited that Grant was born on his birthday? That is so cute! He really is a doll! I am so excited to hold him! :)

How is Amber feeling? I am so excited for her! 

So this past week I woke myself up because I was talking in Spanish again. That is when I realized that I was dreaming in Spanish! Haha as far as I can remember, I have had a couple dreams in Spanish. YES!!! :) It's so much fun!

Also, they other day, a couple that we were talking with were asking us what ethnicity that we were. The husband told me that he thought I was hispanic. The wife told me that when she heard me talk she thought I was Mexican! Yes again! Haha don't worry, I'm not that good! Still learning lots every single day! I'm excited to keep learning! :)

Ah! Benson is so cute! He will be a good missionary for sure one day! Well thanks so much for your love and prayers! I love you all so much! We have been working hard here! 

Have a great week! 

Love you all! 

Con amor,

Hermana Killpack :)

How Glorious to be a Missionary

April 20, 2015

From the Letter to the President:

How glorious it is to be a missionary!! It was so much fun to be able to listen to David Archuleta last night! The spirit was amazing! It truly inspired me to work harder with the talents that Heavenly Father has blessed me with. 

My family is doing well! My sister is still waiting to have her baby. Hopefully I'll have a new nephew soon! Congratulations on your new grandson! :) Babies are so much fun! :)

We have been working hard here in Santa Maria! We were able to have a lot of success this week! We set our investigators G and D with a baptismal date! We set them for the 23rd of May. They have been to church 5 times and love learning. They have 3 children. We are working to also teach the children. We are thinking that we will teach the children in English so that they can understand better. 

We also have a recently new investigator named Y. We are helping her to learn English. When we first met her, she told us that she is looking for a church. Her family is Catholic, but she does not believe in the Catholic religion. We have helped her learn how to pray, (because we start all our English lesson out with a prayer) and she is doing great! Our last lesson, she mentioned how she really likes us. She is 20 years old and has a 2 year old son. We have become friends with her and are excited to teach her the gospel.

We have also been working with M this week! She is doing great! We know that by small and simple means are great things brought to pass. We know that as we continue to serve her, help her learn English, and teach her the gospel, she will accept it. 

S, a man who is renting a room from M's house came to church yesterday! He brought A, M, and A, M's sons! S is present when we teach M English, (He already knows a lot of English) so he helps us teach her, and he also listens to our brief gospel messages. M had to work yesterday, but we were thrilled to see S and the boys there.

Hermana Costilla and I were thrilled that we got to be companions again this transfer!!! We are excited to continue working together. I am so grateful for Hermana Costilla and her love for me. She is simply wonderful!

This week, I have been focusing on truly applying the scriptures into my daily life. I have been reading in Alma about Captain Moroni. He was always prepared for whatever happened. He fortified his people and the Nephite cities. I want to be more like Captain Moroni, prepared for whatever comes my way. Captain Moroni was proactive, he acted as soon as he noticed a problem. I want to be more like that. He is one of my Book of Mormon heros!

This week for service, we had the opportunity to paint a room in M's house. It was so much fun! I am grateful that we are permitted time to serve. It truly builds trust and friendship.

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MOM! It's good to hear from you! I hope Amber has her baby soon! We have been praying for her all week! Let me know when I have a new nephew!

I'm still thinking about apartments. When should I let you know by, asap probably, huh?

Also, I sent in my TB results. Don't worry, it was negative. I shall live!

That's so exciting about Ashley G.! What? Let's just work on the whole family! Then they can all go to the temple together! That is awesome! That's crazy that Cody's leaving too!

Hmmm ideas for Andrew. I'll think on that. I'm not sure yet. I can't remember if I've told you, but down here, it's "in" to have brown shoes (and maybe a brown belt) with your black suit. But they have to be nice shoes. Haha not sure if any of that would matter to Andrew, but I have just seen it a lot and it's looked good. Not sure if it would look any different because he has red hair. haha sorry, that probably didn't help much...

Well I hope that everyone is healthy and well. I will keep praying for Amber and everyone else. Keep me update! Sorry, I don't have much more time. I love you all! Please have the best week ever! 

Con amor,

Hermana Killpack :)

Sorry I really don't have a lot of pictures this week. Here is one of my messy desk.

Oh p.s. David Archuleta came to our mission yesterday! 

It was a surprise! We were all supposed to meet in Ventura, but we didn't know why. David Archuleta came and talked and sang. It was AMAZING! He sang 5 songs. He sang Come, Come Ye Saints, I Believe in Christ, Amazing Grace, Be Still my Soul, and Glorious. Yes, it was truly glorious! I loved every minute of it!

Also, a woman named Brooke that was in the session of American Idol (also a member) sang last night with David. Afterwards we got to take a picture with David and shake his hand. He has a really powerful testimony. It was so awesome! Music is so powerful! :)

Her name is Brooke White. Also, David's manager Kendra Lowe played the piano for him as he sang. It was so beautiful! Yes, I cried!