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!