cherkassy

5/18/15

So good to hear from you mama.

First thing I just need to say thank you. You are the sweetest. I hope

I didn't worry you to much. when I tell you things I do not tell you

them to make you stressed, though I know me telling you this will do

no good because you will worry anyway.

Also before I forget: tell carson thank you for making doodle happy

with dedicating that song to him. I don't know why but the small

things just mean the most. And i appreciate that you tell me those

things. Makes me feel like everyone is ok at home.

I already emailed dad and told him this and you can both read both

emails. I am not sending out a big one today, unless you want to

publish this one. I am good with whatever. But I am going to be real

in this email.

I am so far away from home. It makes my heart ache because ya, I have

never really done anything without you guys. This place is wonderful

though I was confused my first few days why my heart wasn't happier. i

mean for goodness sakes I have been waiting and pinning for 8 months

to get here. Then I came to this beautiful "small" city of Cherkassy

and just felt, sad. Because it is hard. We talk in Russian, yes I knew

we would be doing that. Ha! i remember the first time I heard a small

small child start talking in Russian and I panicked. SMALL CHILDREN

SPEAK RUSSIAN. EVEN BABIES. HOW DO THEY KNOW THIS LANGUAGE?! It is

pretty crazy. One of the hard things about Cherkassy is the fact that

we have no investigtors here. We are searching everyday. Doing so

many different activities to try and find. We even teach two levels of

english classes to attract people. Most of the people tell us that

they don't need the gospel here. There have been real moments of

struggle as people warn us to never come back again or scream in our

faces. (Mom don't worry I am ok). But I love these people anyway,

because I know that God loves them and he wants them to come home.

They may just not be ready right now. And that is ok. We will keep

searching. there are rare but beautiful moments when we find people

on the street who will stop and talk and take the book of Mormon. But

they never want to meet later for more information. It is ok. I am

determined and I know that God is preparing at least someone here to

accept the gospel. We may just have to dig through the entire city in

order to find them. As for the Russian! This is crazy stuff. I can't

believe I am actually speaking this language. There is SO MUCH I do

not know. Also people talk a mile and hour here and I think I have

realized why. They have such giant words that no one would actually be

able to speak the language unless they fly over the words. ;P

Mama. The pain is real. I have never experienced anything like this

and I know it will continue to get harder. But all I can do is be

grateful. There is no other way I could so completely turn and rely on

my Savior and grow this much. I feel him with me everyday. I pray all

day and it brings me a lot of peace. Satan is very real. not only to

the people here we are trying to help, but he is real for the

missionaries. He does not want us here. He knows the prophecy that

there will be 100's of thousands of people converted to the Lord here

and temple spires dotting the land and he is persistent. I am learning

that we have to be more persistent than the adversary will be.

Now for a great moment of much importance.

YOU ALL SHOULD BE SO PROUD OF ME:

there was a baby SPIDER in the hair of the Babooshka we were teaching

the other day. I took it out with my BARE HAND. how incredible is

that? President Packer says we need to celebrate and count each

victory we have during the day since this mission is really hard.

Well, VICTORY!!!! It was a huge deal for me. Because I hate spiders so

much. After I took it out I wanted my hand to fall off. BUT there was

no way I could just leave it there. I really love that Babooshka.

Cherkassy is beautiful. everything is so green and the buildings are

just fantastic. Oh, did I mention that my church building is PINK?! It

is. I love it oh so much. We had about 40 members there on Sunday and

there is many inactives as well that we work with. I bore a 5 minute

testimony on the book of mormon in sacrament! Can you believe it? I

was embarrassed because the branch president could see my legs just

shaking behind the podium.

I know it is all going to be ok. I so appreciate your prayers. I feel

them so strongly and hearing from you all really does make everything

ok. This is really hard but I want you to know that I am ok and that

this is worth it. Pray for these people, pray for me and my companion.

It is hard because this is her last transfer and she has to train a

new B who is so reliant on her. I understand it is tough and she is

awesome. Hopefully my Russian will just grow better and better. I love

you guys so much.

Mom read dad's email too because it explains more.

I am so glad AK had a great birthday and you have all been doing so

great. Mom you really do fly up that hill don't you?1 so excited for

you to train me on the bike when I get back :D I know that I can do

this, because God is here. This is his work. I am lucky and blessed to

be a part of it.

I love you so much! Have a wonderful amazing grand week! I will too.

love KY

PS: I will try to send some photos :) <3

PPS: I wish I had more time. :(

cherkassy week 1

5/18/15
Dad my friend Sadey just got called to Fortaleza East

mission!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also reading your email I am just here crying. I am so far away from

you all. It is hard to be so far and the people only speak Russian and

my city is HARD. The people here tell us they do not need the gospel.

but we also have a church building here. It is pink and it is awesome.

We had like 40 some people at church yesterday (all members) we have

no investigators. The members are awesome. I bore my testimony about

the book of mormon for 5 minutes in sacrament yesterday and then I

said a prayer in Sunday School. A man came up to me and asked me how

long I had been in Ukraine (thinking this was not my first transfer) I

told him only a few days and he was shocked at how well I can speak.

It was nice because I don't really feel that way. I know it takes time

but I do not feel that I speak well. But I am happy to be here. I

smile no matter what and it really does help my day be better. i have

only cried 2 days I have been here. Which is a really good thing for

me. Though today we were planning family home evening and I just

started crying for no reason because I am supposed to explain some

foreign concept I never learned how to talk about in the mtc. My heart

sometimes throbs. President Packer warned me it would be painful. I am

started to understand better how Jake felt when he first went out. My

3rd day here my companion was ignoring me and i was sad because

everyone on the street had just yelled at us and I went to the

bathroom and cried because I just wanted you. I wanted my dad because

I know that you experienced this. I don't tell you this to worry you

or to make you feel sad but I tell you because I know that you

understand because you have done this before. I know I will be okay. I

really do love Ukraine and I would not give this opportunity up for

anything. I am realizing now more than ever how much I have to rely on

my Savior. I basically pray all day long. It brings me comfort. It is

really hard for me to just walk up to people and start talking to

people about their salvation in RUSSIAN. But I know that it is God who

called me here to do this and that He knows better than I do and that

these people do need this. One of my goals is to talk to EVERYONE I

CAN. EVERYONE. Talk about facing my WORST fears. It is crazy.

So fun to read your email. You got to eat Brazilian food and talk to

mission guys. My heart is happy. I love the emails. Dear Elders are

good too, but I can only pick them up when I go to Kyiv which is 3

hours away. I will be there thursday though so if you want to send one

before then I can grab it in the office. but then after that I won't

be in Kyiv for I don't know how long. You can do both if you want. I

do not mind catching up on stuff. I love you daddy.

Glad to hear about AK. He is one of my main priorities out here.

Sounds weird cuz I am so far away but I really pray and I study

scriptures for him and I want to be a good example and for him to

realize he needs a mission and so he needs to be worthy. It is hard

but I know that he is amazing person with a really special soul. I

love you and mom so much. Thanks for taking care of each other. I will

try to be patient and happy. I am happy. I will take care.

So great to hear you are visiting grandma and grandpa. I miss them.

Please tell grandma she can't go anywhere until I get back. Grandpa

too for that matter. I need to see them again IN THIS LIFE. It sounds

like you have had a great and eventful week.

Pray for me and my companion. This is her last transfer and I feel she

is ready to go home. She doesn'

t really want to be here and it is hard

because she has to train a new person and I heavily rely on her

especially because she is native. Pray for this area. They need the

gospel.

I will keep going and keep doing!

I love you the most.

Love,

Ky

My Pink Church in Cherkassy

Cherkassy

Sister Fedas

On 5/18/15, Tom Karren wrote:

 Hey bird,

 By the time you get this, you’ll have been gone from Provo for a week (at

 least) assuming your p-day is Monday. We were excited to hear that you got

 there safely and of course anxious to know how things are going for you.

 Sounded like from your letter that things were going to be very real with

 your new area and companion and all.

 I remember how it was when I first arrived in Brazil. Everything so so

 different. It was a real shock and challenge in so many ways. I think that’s

 partly why I turned pale when you got your call. I knew that it meant so

 much change and challenge and I was anxious for you - not because I don’t

 think you are up for it, but just because I know what it is like. So I hope

 it’s going ok for you little, and I know how weird and challenging it may

 feel. We pray for you and think of you constantly so I hope you can feel

 that comfort.

 It’s been raining here non stop for the last week, and really going back a

 couple weeks. This week it rained so much we thought we might need to get

 the boat out. I went on a motorcycle ride with some friends for a couple

 days and we got very wet.

 I might be going to Germany at the end of June to speak at a conference. If

 I do, that would be cool because I’d be closer to you! Mom is super jealous.

 We had a good weekend for AK with his birthday. He is growing and changing

 fast. He went to a party Friday night and had a lot of fun. We found out

 he’s got pneumonia so he’s been really sick from that, but I think the

 medicine is helping and he seems to be improving. It’s a big year for him,

 turning 17 and headed to 18. I remember how much you changed that year.

 I am watching mom write your letter. She has like 5 open screens up on her

 computer. She is watching talks, pulling things from all kinds of places.

 Now that you are out of country, I think she is putting all her 'super mom'

 care into your letters. In case you haven’t noticed, she loves you a lot. I

 do too!

 Mom was at the temple this week and had some special feelings about Austin.

 I have been talking to him a lot about getting more serious about his

 preparation. We will keep reading the Book of Mormon and saying family

 prayers. I hope that as this year goes by AK can grow, mature and prepare in

 quickened ways. I hope he can feel the pull and find within himself the

 person that he needs to become to be ready to serve.

 Parker came by Saturday to give us his graduation announcement and to talk

 to us. He sat in the kitchen as we worked on preparing food for Sunday and

 told us about his mission preparation. He’s made a lot of progress in a

 year. Really glad for him and hope he can have a great experience.

 We had dinner at grandma and grandpas last Sunday for mothers days. The food

 was kinda low tech, but it was fun to hang out there with granny. Faffy, and

 Laura came. The next day we went to the Payson Temple open house. We took

 grandpa and grandma. It was really cool. They have these beautiful stain

 glass windows in the sealing rooms. Very peaceful. After we went to dinner

 with the kids and grandpa and grandma to celebrate Austin and Grandpas

 birthdays. We went to Los Hermanos in provo. It was fun except grandpa

 plugged his ears when they came to sing the birthday song. He is a funny

 grandpa sometimes.

 I went to lunch this week with some guys from my mission at a Brazilian

 restaurant in South Jordan that I like. We talked about the mission days,

 shared some stories and even ran into some Brazilian elders. It was really

 fun and brought back a lot of memories. I have a special bond with those

 guys that goes beyond a lot of even my current friendships.

 Today coming home from Church I noticed Doodle was outside collecting

 rolly-pollies in your old crab tank. He stayed out there for a half hour or

 more collecting lady bugs and rollies. Such a cute little guy. He put some

 leaves and stuff in so they would have a habitat.

 I hope it’s ok that I tell you all this random stuff about how things are

 going here. I know how busy you are and how you just have a little time to

 write, so just enjoy the letters and let me know if you would prefer Dear

 Elders or if the emails are better. I worry that if we do Dear Elder’s you

 won’t get them as frequently. Hopefully you’ll have time to read this - or

 you can just print it off or something!

 I love you sweet girl. Stay strong and stay patient. All things will come to

 you in due time. Please know we love you so much and miss you so much. Take

 care ok?

 Love Dad

just for you guys :)

5/6/15

An email just for you guys this week :) 

Seeing you guys was the best and a reassurance that you are real and love me! I always know that but when you are gone you start to think maybe you are just crazy and you are making your family up. ;) No really though, they usually don't have missionaries see their families because they think it hinders them and makes it harder for missionaries. I don't feel that way. It gave me an extra boast to see you and talk to you and still be a missionary and then I get to head to Ukraine in 4 days time. It was pretty epic. Plus I get to talk to you all again on Sunday for 30 minutes. PS I will be calling at 3:15 Sunday until 3:45. 

Deed yesterday I forgot to ask you how work was doing? Update me please? 

Also dad do you think Scott would read my big emails if he was on the list? Or that maybe I could send missionaries to him? I want him to come back. My heart is really aching for him right now and I am not sure why. Maybe no to all of the above but just know I am praying for him because I just want him to realize he can come home and that he needs to. 

How is grandma doing?

So glad the boys got to hear my testimony in Russian and I AM SO PUMPED TO HEAR THEIR VOICES. Tell Bridger I got his dragon and it is literally amazing. Because of him my whole district decided to be dragons now. EPIC. 

You are all such good examples to me. Life is busy and life is hard but yet you decide to continue to read together in the morning, to talk as a family and eat together, to love one another, and though we all make mistakes, whether big or small I am proud of you all for learning the process of repentance. We all need to repent always, and how beautiful it is we have the opportunity. I used to think repentance was such a scary thing. Especially when you would make the same mistake over and over. Sometimes you feel so guilty it is hard to get down on your knees. But being here and speaking with investigators and studying and learning and trying to become more like my Savior I am starting to understand what a beautiful thing repentance is. Of course you feel gross BEFORE you repent. Your soul is good and does not like it. The feelings of guilt cause you to want to do something to fix it, and then you get on your knees and you pray. When you are praying I don''t know about you but I feel so much peace. Like Heavenly Father is so proud and happy that you are trying to be a better person. Then when you are forgiven it is the best most happy feeling in the world.  Repentance to me feels like this: It is like you have been working hard all day in the hot sun and you are sweaty and dirty, and you come home exhausted and you take a nice shower and you get all clean, then you sit down to a home cooked meal with the people you love. Repentance is happiness and it is joy. Never be afraid to repent. Because it is wonderful and an amazing gift that because God knows we are imperfect He gives us a way to come home.

Well. I don't have much else to say but I am SO EXCITED FOR UKRAINE. I am finally getting to go to this place I keep dreaming about and loving more than life itself. I get to meet her and her people and I get to talk about my favorite thing in the whole world which brings me the most happiness. God's children are made for the stuff of eternities. So let's get going bringing his children home to Him. Our father in heaven is in this work. I truly know that it is His and how glorious it is. I love you all. 

I will talk to you soon. FOR REALS! 

Love Ky

PS scariest email of my life today. I want to smack this elder. Before he left the MTC he found me fasinating I don't know why and asked me for my email like 8 times in many roundabout ways. So finally I gave it to him. He is in Cambodia and he is nice but there is just no chance. So mostly he just sends weekly stuff out to everyone but today he sent me this. First he calls the subject BEAUTY and just gag. Second the reason he wants to get to know me it beacuse I am pretty and cool?! WHAT DOES A LIFETIME FRIENDHSIP EVEN MEAN. and his two main reasons suck. and he doesnt know this but my heart is SO ELSEWHERE AND HE IS A missionary so why even try?! My goodness. I am not writing back. End of rant. Enjoy his stupid email. 

Hey! I just wanted to write you a short little email about you. Being here in Cambodia has made me realize how attractive people are just about everywhere else in the world. And I thought about how pretty you are and how cool you are! Don't ever feel like you aren't pretty enough because you are beautiful! 

     I know this email is out of the blue but I feel like I should tell you that. It's very true. I hope to be able to make our friendship last a lifetime for multiple reasons but the two main reasons are because of how cool you are and how pretty you are. 

     I hope everything is going well. What's going on in your world? How's life outside of the third world country of Cambodia? Also, I want to get to know you more as a person so tell me about some of your interests! Good luck in life! Hope to hear back soon. 

      Love, Elder Lamborn

UKRAINE

5/12/15

So Ukraine is real. And I am really here!!!!! So sad I could not call in the airport. We tried for about an hour and our "International Calling Cards" don't actually work is what we discovered. So we didn't get  to call and that put a damper on things. But the flights were good. We travelled forward in time which was crazy! I am so so tired. We got here yesterday in the afternoon and we went contacting in this gorgeous park where Elder Packer dedicated Ukraine for the work of the Lord many years ago. It didn't go so well when I started to speak Russian to a man who quickly stood up, only wanting to speak Ukrainian. All well. The President stepped in and helped me out. Today I am going to meet my trainer. I already know who she is. Her name is Sister Fedas. She is a native Russian and it is her last transfer (I am so scared) but I am also so excited. I just wanted to send you a quick email letting you know I am alive and well. Ukraine is magical. It is so green and there are plants here I have never seen. We are all doing well. I am going to a city called Cherkassy it is about 3 and a half hours south of Kyiv, and 2 hours from Odessa. I have already been asked to accompany someone at our zone conference next week in front of a 70! I actually don't know if I can even play the song so I may have to say no. awkward. MOM AND DAD I AM IN UKRAINE. 8 MONTHS I HAVE BEEN IMAGINING THIS. I AM FINALLY HERE. THIS PLACE IS MY NEW HOME AND I AM GOING TO SPEAK RUSSIAN AND TELL PEOPLE ABOUT GOD AND HIS SON. CRAZINESS. I AM EMOTIONAL PROBABLY BECAUSE I AM SO TIRED. The President is amazing. His family is adorable and I know I am going to learn so much from him. He is so personable and so in this work. Everyone he runs into he speaks to about the gospel. He tells them, "It is your lucky day! Do you want to know why? Because these missionaries have a special message that will bless your life forever." Grateful to be here. So nervous I can hardly stand it. LET'S DO THIS! GAME ON. 

I hope you are all doing well. Can't wait to hear from you.

Love,

сестра кэррен

PS: Mom I had to send some stuff home and it made me so sad. They only took 50 pounds on the airline we were going to so i would have had to throw stuff away and I couldn't do that. Go through it and see what may be important to send to me? I am so sorry! I don't think I will need the straightener (maybe) because it is so humid my hair is curly. See what you think. I love you!!!!!\\\I 

I LOVE YOU GUYS THE MOST!!!!!! Thanks for being the best family in the whole world.

President and Sister Packer

Sister Young Sister McDermott Sister Rubio

Kyiv Ukraine Temple

always #training4ukraine

I was planning on just sending you a picture of a journal entry... but my camera broke so. Ok :) 

Hello family! I love you guys so much. Can you believe I am almost going to Ukraine. One PDAY LEFT AND I WILL BE THERE. Today we may get our travel PLANS. DO YOU WANT TO SCREAM WITH ME CUZ IM GOING TO SCREAM. UKRAINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quick business:

*Please say thank you to the Christensen's for the donuts and for the sweet note. Best thing ever and they sure tasted delicious.

-Any updates on the world outside the MTC?????

So anyway just an entry for this week:

So me and Cectpa Rubio are teaching a real person named Lisa right?! And she is incredible. We asked her to pray and she was so nervous to do it at home. What if there was a God, what if not? But we just talked about it until she was like ok I will do it. I will pray to see if God is really there. Now she has had a pretty rough life right? So after that I am just begging God to answer her prayer when she got down on her knees. 

(Sorry that was a preface- now my journal entry)

April 23, 2015

"All day I worried. And all day I realized that I just need to have more faith and worry less. I just hoped Lisa had prayed and that God was there and that He told her He loved her. I begged God all day, that he would talk to her. but why did I beg? Of course He talked to her. I told her to pray and promised her an answer beacuse I knew that God would anwer her. I felt it. The spirit was the one prompting me to tell her everything that I did say. 

Anyway, I guess I got nervous because I thought maybe God was preparing me for her to come back and say that she did not feel Him there or she didn't get an answer. Because all day things happened like: 

Casha's Mom (our practice investigator) is against the Mormon church and he was told he has to choose between her and us. He doesn't want to choose. He knows he needs the church but he can not figure out what to do. After we talked for what seemed like ages trying to figure out what to do, crying I told him that he needs to pray everyday, come to church one more time, read his book of mormon everyday, and if he gets and answer that the church isn't true then he can stop listening to our message, but if he feels it is true and he feels he needs to keep talking to us, even though his mom will be upset, he must keep listening. It is salvation! I know God wants him to keep listening and that God will bless his mom. It will be hard but this gospel is worth it. 

Then in class we talked about how to talk to someone when they decide they don't want to hear the message anymore. So I just felt nervous... 

So later in the day we went to talk to Lisa, my mind going crazy. Guess what?! She prayed and she knew God was there and that he was listening. She told us that she didn't really have time to read the book of mormon but that she had anyway and was already to nephi 8 and that she loves it. The first verse in 1 Nephi 1 stuck out to her in a way I had never thought of. It compeletely related to her life: Nephi had many afflicitions yet at the same time he was loved by god. She realized there can be both at the same time and said it completely related to her life. We told her a ton. She asked how if people felt like this how could they ever leave the church? Her ex husband used to be a memeber of the church before she married him and she just doesn't get how someone could ever leave after feeling this way. Golden oppurtunity to ask if she will be baptized. We exaplained all of it (because she has never read bible or really known anything religious besides prayer). She said if she knows it is true she just might :) She clung to everything we said. We invited her to church. Her friend has asked her 14 times to go and she always told him to stop asking, yet now she is going to ask him to go with him. She asked us if you can feel the spirit in the church like you can here at the MTC. YES! she is gonna get baptized :D"

April 28, 2015

"So it has been a few days since I have written. I do not know how I used to have time to write as much as I did everyday...

LISA WENT TO CHURCH. Cectpa Rubio and I sprang forward in our seats when she told us the news. Oh, if only you could meet this woman. She is incredible and is so much our friend.she wants this gospel. Tomorrow we will try to find her again. She is so sweet and contstantly telling us how amazing we are. But I just feel blessed to talk to her and to get to share this! The people in the ward welcomed her and sweet friends took her to church. She was even asked to say the prayer in Sunday School (in sign lanugage)! She was nervous so she didnt but we are still so proud of her. Everytime we talk to her even if it just a quick 5 minutes here and there we bear our testimony and of the gospel and it's importance. She always feels it. I just love that Lisa. :) I am so grateful for my companion and the prompting she recieved to talk to her. I just know, Lisa needs this. She is going to accept it, no matter how long it takes. I am SO HAPPY!"

I am good and the MTC is really a great place. I want to leave to be able to go to Ukraine but I do not want to leave Lisa. She is really making this MTC the very best thing ever. Please pray for my Russian. I felt like I was doing really amazing but suddenly feel like I have hit a wall. I will pray harder and work harder but man it is so hard you guys. The cases and the grammar is basically killer. I love it so much, I hope I can speak it. I have faith he will help me, but added prayers are always the best. I love you guys. So good to hear from you. Send me BUCKETS of Dear Elder this week if you want. It is getting pretty close to not being able to do that anymore. I LOVE YOU! Have a great week. I know this gospel is true and being able to come to our Savior is the greatest gift in the entire world. There is nothing so beautiful as His love for us, which makes all possible. Keep working hard. I know that we can do hard things. It is worth it. REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE. 

And as always, I am training for Ukraine. :D 

Love, Cectpa Karren 

Our teachers in the MTC. 
Brat (Brother) Gill, Cectpa Eyring, Brat Froelich

A REAL HUMAN BEING

Kylie Sighting @ MTC by Kim J

Reddings found my Ky! :D

On Apr 22, 2015, at 1:34 PM, Kylie Karren <kylie.karren@myldsmail.net> wrote:

What is TIME?! Crazy.
2 MORE WEDNESDAY'S UNTIL UKRAINE. <3

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON FRIDAY MY CUTEST MAMA IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. I LOVE YOU!

Shout out: Rasmussens and Rheddings and Kim J because I got to see them at the MTC this week! Please thank the Christoffersons for the best Dear Elder from their cute family. :) And Mama Janeal for the inspiring and happy Dear Elders that make me so so happy!

Ok. Cectpa Rubio and I have a REAL investigator. Did you hear what I just said?! My heart is like.....AAAAAAH! This is the best thing ever. Her name is Lisa and she is old(ish). She is from Wyoming and is going to school and working here right now and her friend told her she had to come to the MTC. So yesterday as we are walking we see her just sitting at a table and so we walked up and asked her if she was waiting for someone. 2 days in a row she has had appointments with missionaries and they did NOT show up. SO SAD. But kinda a gold opportunity for us. So we just sat down right there and began to get to know her and teach her. SHE IS REAL. Talk about awesome. Today we have the first real lesson planned with her this afternoon. Talk about the best PDAY ever. Pray I can teach her in English because every time we practice it comes out in Russian... She thinks we are absolutely nuts because we are going to Ukraine. I told her we kinda are crazy. But why are we doing it? Why are we not afraid? I am like, PLEASE, let me tell you! :D Because this gospel is such a tremendous blessing in my life and has given me so much, and because I know it is true I know that I MUST go tell other people about it. I can not be selfish and hold onto all the blessings for myself. Not when there are people out there who don't know their purpose. Don't know God, don't know that everything bad can be made alright through the Savior. How on earth could we just sit back and not help God, let his children know He loves them!??!!?!?!!?!??!!?!?!?!?!?!??!!?!?!?

I am sorry. I get SO passionate about the gospel. I will probably cry because it is just the most beautiful thing. And we have it! How blessed are we. And what an obligation we have to serve and help others in any way we possibly can. All deserve to know.
So I will go to Ukraine. :D

Random thoughts and quotes:
"Just because something amazing happens everyday, DOESN'T mean you shouldn't mention that it is amazing EVERYDAY!" Missions are amazing. Tough, very tough, but also so fun. Missions take BRAVERY, LOVE, and SINCERITY. It is so worth it. Because people are just simply amazing, everyone!

Wilford W. Andersen from the 70 came and spoke at a devotional here last night. (Same man who spoke in conference about the medicine man and hearing the music when we dance). So I want to tell you a little bit about it. Think about the verb "to know" It is a sacred word!
How do we know something is true about the gospel? Well we need 3 key knowledges in order to know.
1. Head Knowledge:
-it is necessary to our journey or returning to God to have head knowledge.
-we learn with our brains which is very important!
-head knowledge alone does not create desire which is key to know
-Desire comes from heart knowledge
2. Heart Knowledge:
-to learn the things of God we must feel the Holy Ghost in our hearts.
-revelation is a combination of head knowledge and heart knowledge.
-NO ONE can change their hearts without outside help-which comes from the Holy Ghost
-we need to desire a change of heart
*Alma 10:5-6
-We learn true doctrine with the mind, then the Holy Ghost can testify to our hearts it is true.
3. Soul Knowledge:
-more than correct info or feelings and desires. SOUL knowledge requires action.
*John 7:17
-Soul knowledge is PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE.
-Practice serving as Christ serves and loving as He loves.
-We come to know Him by becoming like Him.
-Soul knowledge is digging deeper.
To be truly converted we need to use and have all 3 knowledges, or we will not come to know. We have to always commit to be better and act. If we live our commitments our faith increases.
PRETTY COOL HUH.

I really hope you are all doing well. I need more Dear Elders please. While we can just keep them coming! I love to hear about your lives even if I don't have a ton of time to respond.

REMEMBER TO HAVE FUN!
and always remember who you are as  a child of god and really commit to know Him. Desire to continually change and to continually take upon us the name of our Savior and be born again, over and over and over. no matter out circumstances in life, we can always come to know he Savior which is the ultimate blessing.
Never take the book of Mormon or anything we have or our membership of this church for granted. We need to always strive to go deeper to do more and to rekindle excitement. Never just do, just to do. Always have a purpose and a plan in mind and always talk to God. Always turn to the Savior is good and in bad. Never grow complacent. In the end if we lost everything, if we had nothing-I hope we would all still have our testimonies. Ultimately it is our testimony we need to hold onto. If that is all we have, we can make it through. Have FAITH. Faith is having the courage to go on, no matter what. Remember "we walk by faith, not by sight." There is much to be done before Christ returns. Let us have the faith to do it!

I am doing great and I love you! mom I will send letter about prophets. I love you guys! Have a wonderful week!

Oh and guess what I am practicing the piano today because PEER PRESSURE happens even here and I am auditioning tomorrow to play "I know my Redeemer Lives" with Cectpa McDermott singing. We are auditioning to play in front of the entire MTC at a Sunday Evening Devotional. Since when do I do stuff like that?! GAH! scary. Giant leap of faith.

K I love you and I will talk to you soon!

Love,
Cectpa Karren

MIRACLES

FAMILY.

I am so happy you are all having fun in Hawaii without me. BUT I am kind of in Hawaii too... our room literally is HAWAII now, thanks to my cute mama. BEST PACKAGE ever! 

-and in case you wonder what i look like when you send me GIANT packages... ;P I have included a picture below. 

Stuff:

-Please thank Suzy Hunter for her easter package and note. It meant so much to me. she is so sweet. tell her I love her! 

-OH MY GOODNESS congrats to Ashley and Kim. I opened that letter just SHOCKED! I am so excited. I love them so much. and babies!!! WOWWWWW! 

-Let me know ASAP when you know if AK made chamber choir. :)

-Also please tell Calyn congrats for me. That is truly an amazing thing. I am so happy she got her mission call! Leeds is stinkin' lucky! My mind is blown she is going to be such a great missionary.

-Say hi to Cary Packer for me- tell her I am PUMPED to finally meet her (soon). I have been hearing stories about them here and I am so dying to GO!

-COWS. Pops told me they got cows. Nana and pops are so cute. Go visit the baby cows mom, and at least send me a picture. 

-Please send a picture of the huli trailer I want to see it! 

-I got all the packages you sent. Thank you it made me so happy!

EASTER!

The seostri and I set up and easter egg hunt for our Elders and it was epic. (Later that night us girls had one in our Dom and it was even more epic. I loved this weekend oh so much I was dying. Watching conference with hundreds of other missionaries all eagerly listening to gods word was incredible. honestly you can't even get me started beacuse I could go off forever about it. I loved it so much, I have never loved it more. 

OK: do you want to hear about my miracles on tuesday?! 

So Tuesday I woke up feeling really sick. Sore throat, achy body, stomach, headache, all that fun stuff. I just went on to have a normal day, and it was actually a really good day but all day I just felt awful. That night one of the Elders asked me if I needed a blessing so of course I said sure! My branch President gave me the blessing. It was a healing blessing and it was beauitful and two things really stuck out to me. 

1. I was commanded to be healed and that my body would return to its normal function. I instantly felt better. Pretty incredible right?

2.I was told that many angles would be with me and I was blessed to especially be able to feel their presence strongly. I immediately new that David my sweet Uncle, was right there. I felt it so strong. I was embarssased to cry in front of my President but he said that I should be crying because the veil was thin and that he had specifically felt to bless me to feel my angels STRONGLY. 

SO MIRACLE 1 was I was healed. 

Miracle 2 was I felt David with me.

And Miracle 3 happened a little later that night. Every Tuesday we go and set up and take down the autotorium for deviotionals. IT is a big job. Well after my blessing we headed over and i was very spiritually overwhelmed. We started cleaning up and one of the jobs we do is stack big heavy chairs on this wheel thing and then take this very talk very large very heavy stack to a back room. I was wheeling it back pushing with all my might and as I went to get it through the door, it would'nt roll over the lip in the door. So naturally I push harder. They started to tip. I tried to stablize them and they began to fall right on top of me. I did not have time to move enough to get out of the way. A second later there was a giant crash. I was not crushed by the chairs. Only the toes on my right foot and my left elbow were glazed. Immediately people gathered to help and wondered how in the world I was not crushed by the chairs, because I should have been. I know it is because of my angel, David. I was overwhelmed again and so grateful. 

Earlier that day I had written in my email how I want to notice the miracles in everyday. Now these were really big ones, but I feel so blessed to see the hand of the Lord in my life. I also had so many small miracles I just can't help but cry and thank my God and my Savior for all they do for us, for the help they send us through angels both on the other side and angels here. I had so many angels today here taking care of me. I just love this gospel so much and I feel tremendously happy to know it is true. Our Savior loves us. He wants us to know Him. Everything the Father does is for us to be happy. We are His children. I just know it and love it.

Look for the miracles. I love you guys and I miss you but this is the work of the Lord. This gospel is true, it is good, it is important. I love you guys and have such a great week. Soak up the sun for me. 

All my Love

Cectpa Karren