Week 68 - It's a Major Award

Hey!!!!!! 

Preface: while I was in Pocatello in a trio for a few days we found a snow man, but it's no ordinary snow man!!! It has hair!!!! And it's an igloo!!!!!!!

OK so this week will be short (classic) but I'll talk to you later this week so hopefully you survive... So Rexburg is great, a little sad right now though because all the students are away for break so teaching is a little non existent right now, but it's good because it's gives us time to actually learn the area. Random this week we went out teaching with some old elders from this mission and it was so weird!!! But it was cool!!! One of them was my old zone leader...strange but it was cool 

Sister Poulson is my new companion and she is from Manhattan Kansas. She is super great and really excited to be a missionary. Rexburg isn't going to know what hit them!!!!!!! We are super excited to just getting going and teaching the world!!! I don't know how we've managed it, but some how we are figuring out how to do missionary work in such a big area...it's crazy out here though!!!! 

We were driving around last night and look what we saw!!!!! At first I thought wow false idol...but then I was like "WAIT THAT'S THE LEG LAMP!!!!!!!" It was awesome!!!!!!!! 

Ok, well I have to go...laundry is calling is my name...that's sad. Anyone I think we will be be skyping around 10 or 11, probably closer to 11, so plan on it then!!!!! Hope you have a fantastic week!!!! 

Love, 

-Sister Kaycie Sondrup 

Week 67 - Iceberg

Hello Family!!!!!!

Well this week has brought alot of unexpected things, the first being transfers. OK that wasn't unexpected but still I am excited/super terrified to say that I will be transferred to BYU-I and I will be training a new missionary. AHHHHHHHHHHHH does that make anyone else  terrified? Because it makes me want to cry a bit...Let me paint a picture, me, a greenie, and 13 stakes and 130 wards all for us to cover. YIKES!!!!!!! None the less I know it will all work out! Life goes on and I have no doubt that this is truly inspired of the Lord, I cant lie I am nervous though, but I know good things will are yet to come!!!!!!

So I am sorry to be brief today but life is crazy right now, like I said earlier alot of unexpected things happened this week the main one being that the members we live with son is coming home early from his mission due to medical issues, there's a big chance he can go back out, but for now we cant live in the house because he's a boy and all....so we've spent most of today moving out because he'll be home tomorrow. We now also live in the boon docks so we've been racking up the miles all day ca ching!!!!! But it's alright I feel bad that their son is having to come home early, but it's the Lord's plan right now and they'll be alright.

We also had to do alot of work with our sisters, which brings me to another reason why this will be so short and that's because we have to go to Pocatello because a sister is going home and we have to go be companions with her companion (she's not going home early thankfully) and the roads are terrible and snow covered right now, we'll be good though.

Well I actually ran out of time, but I'll leave you with some pictures:


While driving to Pocatello I looked out the rear view mirror and saw this!!! He had a tumble weed stuck to his car for like 10 miles!!!!! made me chuckle!!!!



Our Christmas Tree this year!!!!!


We went to an investigators house and Sister Wooten got a little "tied" up!!!!




and one of my favorite investigators ever DUNCAN!!!!!!! He's the best!!! I am hoping to get permission to come to his baptism in two weeks so fingers crossed!!!!!!



Well sorry this is lame...hopefully next week is better, that is assuming my fingers wont be frozen off and I'll be able to type...just kidding, I don't know anything about skype yet or really anyone's house I could go to do so so I will let you know when I know!!!! Thanks for being great!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Sister Kaycie Sondrup
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Week 66 - I practically speak spanish

Hello!!!!

This week was super good!!!!

Cool story for you, a few weeks back I emailed one of the Elders serving from this stake, now that sounds weird, but we'd had dinner with his family and they are pretty less active, no missionary should come home to a less active family, so I emailed and asked what we could do to help. Well the result was amazing!!!!!! He's emailed most weeks about his family, but one week he emailed and said he had a friend he wanted us to visit, well that friend didn't live in our area so we said we'd send the elders over. Well can you guess what happened next? 3 days later our boundaries changed and he was moved into our area!!!!! Well Monday night we got to go over and finally meet him and it was amazing!!!!! Can you say miracle?! I can it was super legit!!! And we are going over again tonight!!!! I am super stoked to keep working with him, and on an even cooler note the Elders family is basically active again!!!!! HALLA!!!!!!!! Great things are truly happening here!!!!!

Tuesday was zone conference, our special Christmas one, it was great!!! Although President almost made me cry because he announced it would be the last conference until after the march transfer so I had to stand up and say I was going home, can you say depressing?! IT WAS AWFUL!!!!!!

Wednesday I was on exchanges in Pocatello Spanish, let me tell you how this went, my companion would testify and just beautifully explain the Gospel then she would turn to me and I would be like "Que significa esto para usted?" or "Yo se que lo que dijo mi companera es verdad" it was pretty funny because that's literally all I said the whole time, but I can understand Spanish pretty well now so I put it in at good moments, at least I hope I did...This Spanish guy named Jose Luis who did speak a lick of English asked us out for burritos, and I was like no man I already have a burrito, by happen stance I had a burrito sitting in my bag...to say everyone laughed at my is an understatement, but it was hilarious!!!! I also missed seeing dad by like 20 minutes, when he dropped off food at the mission home, I had to go to a meeting there just missed each other, by hey it's alright!

Thursday we taught like  made people and met some awesome new investigators and talked to everyone and there mom!!! We have pass along cards for the "A Savior is Born" initiative and we've passed 3/4 of a box of them in just talking to everyone, a box is 500 so you can imagine how crazy we've been going!!!!! I LOVE CHRISTMAS SO MUCH!!!!!!!!

Friday we went to Christmas parties and met so many legit people!!!! We were able to meet so many great potential investigators and I am so stoked to work with them!!!!

Saturday we went to a baptism with our investigator and she loved it!!! Sadly it was super long and her son got a little restless and couldn't focus after the first bit, but she at least felt the spirit and that's all that really matters!!!!!

Sunday was fast Sunday and our super amazing beyond prepared and phenomenal investigator Duncan got up and bore his testimony about how he knew everything was true and why he was so excited to get baptized!!!! To say it was touching is an understatement!!! It was really just so amazing and I absolutely cannot wait to see him get baptized!!!! He really is amazing and I cannot wait to see the plans the Lord has in store for him!!! On another note some lady just gave us a 6 foot tall Christmas tree yesterday, and the members we live with gave us tons of decorations!!! Our basement is so festive I love it!!!!!

Well I have to go!!!! But know that great things are truly happening here!! I was studying this morning about how the Book of Mormon can resolve all concerns and it really is so true!!!! When it comes down to it most concerns people have can be answered by a testimony that Joseph Smith is truly a prophet of God and the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. I love this gospel and getting to gain this great testimony this is truly the restored Gospel on the earth today and I am grateful to be apart of it!!!!!!

Love,
Sister Kaycie Sondrup


   

Week 65 - Cold

So this week was a little crazy. Let me sum it up for you in a few sentences...

Monday: We got kidnapped by our investigator. So kidnapped may be the wrong word, but she was like "hey I have some friends who want to be taught they just live out in Riverside can I take you to their house?" uhhhhhh heck yeah!!!! So we get in her car, and we proceed to drive to Riverton, not Riverside. Now let me tell you about Riverton it grabs part of the Indian reservation, you know that thing the Elders aren't allowed to go on without another priesthood holder and Sisters are forbidden to go there...yeah that. So next thing we know Sister Wooten and I find ourselves on the res without a member insight and some crazy dogs about to eat us alive. Good right? Well upside, we survived!!!!! And we ended up getting 4 new super golden amazing investigators from it, for the Elders of course, but hey the salvation of a soul is the salvation of a soul right? Moral of the story, always have a member, and always double check where you're going before you're there.

Tuesday: I went on exchanges in American Falls Spanish, We met a ton of crazy people! We might have followed some people because they looked Hispanic...and then at the end of the chase I ended up getting a fat slobbery kiss on my ear from a drunk Hispanic man who didn't speak a lick of English and if I was following the conversation correctly wanted to steal our car...IT WAS GREAT!!!!!!! OK I don't know if I'd use great but it definitely made for some great laughs! And we met tons of amazing people!! I just love small towns!!!!!! We also found out one of our baptism dates got an unexpected job in Boise (who likes Boise anyway?) and had to pick and move that very day. She's meeting with the missionaries there and is still planning on being baptized on December 19th, but sadly it wont be with us :( We miss her, but she's still being taken care of so it'll be ok.

Wednesday: It was so cold I thought I was going to die!!!!!!!!! We taught one of my all time favorite families and had some great giggles, they are to cute!!!

Thursday: We woke up to a blinding light coming through our window due to the snow, can you say Happy Thanksgiving? We ended up getting about 4 inches of snow, which isn't bad except the weather decided to be super cold this whole week!!!! This winter is already worse feeling then last winter!!!!! case and point check the thermometer




Gross. But it could be worse we could not have a car, or boots, or coats...when I  try and complain about the cold i like to think of the pioneers and what they went through, it makes me feel a little better about myself, if being cold from the car to the doorstep is the worst of my problems then I'm doing pretty good. For Thanksgiving we went to a members home, except Sister Wooten and I were both sick, it was awful!!!!! Never before had I wanted to eat so bad and I just couldn't manage to get food in my system! LAME!!!! I did get to eat jello though...halla!!! So good!!!! After ward we went to the store to get medicine and we were trying not to get sick in the middle of walgreens, thankfully we survived and made it home, but it was a bit of a rough day. But count our blessings, while it stunk to be sick on a holiday it was a p-day which meant we didn't have to miss out on any proselyting, we had all the time in the world to be at home sick! Sounds like a lame blessing but I am definitely grateful for it!!!!

Friday: We had mission leadership council which was great as always!!!! It's really fun to go and council on how we can improve missionary work here in Idaho, I always come away with new ideas on how I can improve and really better myself and the Sisters I get to work with, LOVE IT!!!! After that we taught our baptism date Duncan, he's a stud, and this amazing guy named Wes, he's great!!!!!!

Saturday: We went on exchanges in Firth and they were great!!!! I went out with Sister Kolo from Tonga, and if you thought I was struggling with the cold you should hear her!!! Poor girl...She love it here though and we had a super awesome exchange, she is a stud missionary and I am grateful to have gone with her, and count the blessings again the family we had dinner with was having their Thanksgiving!!! So I didn't get to miss out!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!!




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Sunday: We went Ham. Because of meetings, exchanges, and Thanksgiving Sister Wooten and I were hardly in our area this week so Sunday we had 7 lessons we needed to teach to reach our goals, and we did it!!!! It was great, we usually go to 3 sacrament meetings on Sunday and somehow between them in an hour we managed to find a new investigator, get her to church, and set a baptism date!!!! SAY WHAT?! so legit!!!! It was a great day!!! #miracles We even got all our lessons in! YESSSSSSS!!!!!

Well I don't have more time this week, but I'll leave you with this, go and watch the new video A Savior is Born at christmas.mormon.org  it's super good, go watch it, share it with everyone and love it!!!!!!! A Savior truly has born, now it's time to go and   share that message with everyone!!!! Hope you have a great week!!!





also, this little girls shoes got frozen in the ice...sad day
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Love,
Sister Kaycie Sondrup

Week 64 - The worth of Souls

Hello!!!!

So you know what I've decided? When I go home I am never going to email or text. Seriously though I think it's become the death of me! I hate it, so sorry my emails have been awful lately, but it takes every ounce of focus I have to offer to even get that much. That being said I will try and do better, starting with today...now that it has taken me an hour to write this much it seems like an impossible task, but I'm stilling going to try.

OK, so I really do have alot I can talk about this week, the teaching has been going phenomenal and this week we were able to set two new baptismal dates!!!!!!! Both for the month of December #wintermiracles Tuesday we met this 8 year at activity days, shes not a member of the church and never before have I met a more uninterested child in my life, let me replay the conversation for

Us: So Abigail do you like activity days?
Abigail: Kind of
Us: why do you like it?
Abigail: Because no one tries to convert me
Us: Do you not want to be converted?
Abigail: No, I have a church and dont want another
Us: But what if you learned this church is true?
Abigail: I wont.
Us: Well could we maybe come over and meet the rest of your family and teach and then you could decide?
Abigail: No.
(now some random member piped in) Member: Lets try this again Abigail your address is...
Abigail: ### Collins
Member: That's better, now the sister will come over sometime and teach you.

I was blown away this came from an eight year old, but hey agency is real at any age right? We probably wont ever go over, but it was an interesting conversation for sure! Then that night as we were driving home we get a phone call, and our phone connects to our car so we see whos calling and it's the mission office. To say our hearts dropped was an understatement, because why else does the mission office call that late except for and emergency transfer. Sister Wooten was pushed everywhere last transfer, she ended up sending 2 companions home early and had a total of 4 companions and 3 areas in just 7 weeks, so the thought of another emergency transfer after she finally got a companion she likes and isn't crazy almost had her in tears (why she likes me and thinks I am normal is beside me, but hey I'll take it!! Haha just kidding). Thankfully though it was just Elder Rush who's one of the Assistants, we had a big mission tour with some directors over missionary work and we were invited to a special conference with them. But more on that later, thankfully there was no Emergency Transfer though. Phew, dodged that bullet.

So then Wednesday rolls around and this week because our dinner schedule went crazy we didn't have any dinner appointments, which to be honest I wasn't to sad about...I love meeting the members, but my skirts and waist don't love their food...Anyway since we now had a conference to go to in Idaho Falls all Thursday we decided for our dinner hour we would do our weekly planning, so we sat down to do so and not scarcely 5 minutes afterward we get a text from some of our sisters. Thankfully it wasn't an S.O.S text which seems to be the norm lately, but it was a referral, and they said "The family is waiting for you get there now." Nobody waits for us...So count our blessings we didn't have a dinner appointment and we were able to leave that moment and meet the most amazing person ever! Let me put it this way he is Stud. He had only been in the state of Idaho for 1 hour, he moved in with a member family and requested we come over as soon as possible. So we did. YES!!! Seriously this guy is amazing!!! We sat down with him and he said he is sick of running from God in his life and he is ready to let him back in. It was a bit of a crazy first lesson because there was crazy children EVERYWHERE, but something so amazing happened. As I sat there trying to focus and really trying to listen to the spirit as to what to say and what to do all of a sudden everything went quite and then I saw him, and it wasn't the same man I saw before, I saw him out of his ragged clothes and dressed in a suit wearing a tag that looked exactly like mine, and he was cradling so tenderly the scriptures in his arms, for whatever reason the Lord chose to show me the great potential and plan he had prepared for this young man, I saw the worth of his soul to the Lord that probably sounds ridiculous, but from that small glimpse I  was able to see exactly who he is to Lord and it was amazing. No words could put into perspective how I felt at that moment. We've been able to see him almost everyday this week, and yesterday after coming to church for the first time we were able to set a baptism date with him!!!!! He is preparing to be baptized on December 26th, and I have no doubt that at about this same time next year he will be preparing to go to the temple and to go on his mission. It truly was one of the greatest experiences of my mission and I am so grateful to have been trusted with such an experience.

Thursday we had our big conference in Idaho Falls, and basically I got told I have been being a missionary wrong for the last 14 months...awkward. Ok it wasn't that bad, but they taught alot of great ways I never thought of before so I am super stoked to put them into action. I was super sick for the whole thing so of course that's when I was sitting in the front row, and was trying not to puke the whole time. Thankfully I kept my cookies, but it was close a couple times. One time I left and came back in and they were talking about nightly follow up with the district/zone/sister training leaders and I quote "where in preach my gospel does it say to do that? It doesn't, so stop" uhhhhhhh......just rebuke the whole mission!!!!! It was a strange yet uplifting day to say the least!!!

Friday we met this legit blind lady who plays the piano like a stud!!!! Seriously she is so amazing and she does it all by ear!!!! She plays church music like a boss, and so she asked us to sing along with her, and at that point I felt bad she wasn't deaf...Sister Wooten and I may not be the best singers, but it was such a cool night!!!!!

Saturday we set a baptism date with another amazing investigator!!!! She is so great! Then we drove to Timbuktu and back (aka the Indian reservation) to get a key and it didn't even work!!!!! We were all over the place, but we taught like mad people!!! It was awesome!!!!!!

Sunday was Stake Conference and we had a visiting authority and it was legit!!! I love this stake presidency they are so bold it's amazing!!!!! It was a really great meeting, super uplifting!!! We got to eat lunch with them and they are boss!!!! And super hilarious, although I tend to be the punch line...thanks! We also got to go see an investigator who hasn't had the most fortunate life so far and today being her 18th birthday means she is getting kicked out of the system and moving to a homeless shelter :( We went to have a Birthday party with her and it was one of her first ever. It is so sad, but I know that the Lord has a plan for her, she will find her way and things will only get better from here, after all if this life was meant to be easy everyone would have come. We met a legit investigator the Elders were teaching and he is awesome!!!He wants to be baptized, but his kids don't approve, he will do anything to make them happy, even if it makes him sad. He is just such a good man, he is praying that his kids will let baptism be his Christmas gift, but only time will tell. Then we came home and played battleship until it was bedtime, and lets put it this way I stomped on Sister Wooten, battleship is not her game.

Anyway this week was amazing, I cant begin to explain what I learned, but the best I can put it is with a verse from Doctrine and Covenants 18:10 "Remember The worth of Souls is great in the sight of God". The worth of a soul is greater than we can ever imagine, and it's not just one soul, but every. Many will say that God doesn't care, but in fact it is just the opposite, no one cares more. He is there and he has given us a Savior, scriptures, and a gospel as evidence. It has been such a great experience to teach people this. I got my papers asking about my travel plans to go home today and my heart is crushed to say the least. These last 14 months have flown by, and now as it draws nearer to an end my heart cant help but ache as I think I taking my tag off and setting aside my time as a full time missionary. Thankfully I still have time though and I will help as many people as I possibly can recognize and  understand their true worth in the sight of God.

Well Sister Wooten just made me depressed and said I better make my emails good because I only have like 15 left or something...ugh that one hurt. Well now I am sad and hungry...so I am going to get off, sorry no pictures this week, i hope you have a great Thanksgiving! Thanks for all the support!!!!

Love,
Sister Kaycie Sondrup

Week 63 - Whoa What Just Happened

Hello!!!!! 

Ok so this week was an interesting one for sure...whoa. I don't know if told you but Sister Wooten and I are white washing over 4 wards this transfer. Meaning in addition to our 3 we are now working with those 4 and neither of us have any clue what is going on the wards. To give you some idea of how lost we were this week let me paint you a picture, it's a simple one but it's a good one, here it is, we had to pull out a map and navigate that way. Like full on paper map, this thing is so old some of the streets don't even exist on it yet!!!! We both had to chuckle a little bit because maps are so old school!!!!! It has been an interesting week this week though! 

This week we drove down to work with our Sisters in American Falls and we took the back roads through Aberdeen and as we were driving I looked over and I was like "HOLY HECK THOSE POTATOES ARE GIANT!!!!!!" Lets take a picture with them!!!!! Well we got closer and had to jump a canal in our skirts to do so but we got a picture, only problem, they aren't potatoes!!! They're sugar beets. So it's not as cool but they are giant and there are millions and millions and millions of them! Then I accidentally broke Sister Wooten's camera. Great, I've been with her all of 24 hours at that point and I am breaking stuff...At least she's nice about!!!!  

So Wednesday we got the Elders area information and guess what?! They planned to have two baptism this weekend, way cool right? Well it was awesome and the family is fantastic, only problem is they planned none of it, so this week we ran everywhere trying to meet all the ward council members to try and set up a baptism, and guess what? NOBODY WAS HOME!!!!! Seriously most stressful thing ever. Some how we managed to get everything planned and then Friday night comes and the investigator drops the bomb that his daughter may or may not be showing up the next day, and if she didn't show up he wouldn't get baptized. Great. Well Saturday came and thankfully they showed up, 45 minutes late, but she came. Then some lady yelled at me in the middle of the baptism, yay for me. it was interesting to say the least, and that's just the tip of the ice burg this week!!!! But in the midst of all the crazy that has been going on, we have seen some amazing miracles and it is so great to literally be able to see the Lord working and moving in our life to help others come closer to him. One night we had a member call us saying she had someone for us to teach, we went over that night with her and never have you met someone more prepared for the Gospel. NEVER. We've had everyone just wrap around us and give us so many friends and family members to teach. Even just now I just got off the phone with a lady who requested missionaries on mormon.org, she's prepared, and the Lord helped her find us. Even just having Sister Wooten is a miracle, she is such a hard worker and I cannot wait to see what we can accomplish together, we laugh, and always see the good, the Lord knew what he was doing putting us together and I cannot wait to see what he has in store for us!!!!! Sorry I don't have more time, but I hope you have a blessed week and know that things are going great here!! The work is happening and we are truly progressing and growing as much as those we teach!!!! Well, that's all for now!!!!!

Love,

Sister Kaycie Sondrup 

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Week 62 - Hello

Hey!!!

So sorry this will be a very short email, SORRY!!!! But I'm alive, this week was good, we were able to go and teach a ton!!!!! We even able to set two more baptism dates!!!! Sister Manymules and I killed It!!!!! It also snowed this week...yay...but it hasnt accumulated so we're still good for awhile!!!! Ok maybe not awhile we are supposed to have 4-6 inces of snow this week, yeah for cold!!!!!!!

In other news I will be getting Sister Wooten as my new companion she is a cute little Sister from Georga with the southern accent and everything, although right now she "sounds like a yankee" I am super stoked to serve with her though!!!! In addition to getting Sister Wooten we are actually going to take over the whole stake so we'll be adding 4 more wards and 4x the fun!!!!!!!!

Sorry I really dont have to much more time today we have 2 apartments to clean, and 2 missionaries to complete pack, it will be good though, I dopped Sister Manymules off in Pocatello and it was so sad to see her go but she is going to do great things at home!!!! Keep an eye out for her in Phoenix alright? Hope you have a great week and you arent to hot down there!!!!!

Love,
Sister Sondrup
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Week 61 - The will of God

Hello!!!! 

Well I really have no words for this week...it was amazing...it was one of the hardest weeks so far... and it was memorable, no one word can describe it, and I doubt I can even scratch the surface of it  here in this email, I'll try, but nothing can come close to the feelings I felt this week. 

First things first though! We went to the Idaho Museum!!! We drive by it like everyday seeing as it's smack dab in the middle of our area, but hey we take the easily accessible things for granted right? Anyway it was pretty fun what I basically learned though is that Idaho Produces WAY more potatoes than we think!!!! 

we aslo got to party on Halloween!!! I dressed up as a missionary again this year...and we got to build a giant fort and watch the Cokeville Miracle!!!!!! Finally!!!! That movie is all I ever heard about in Star Valley and it was amazing!!!! 

Fall just barely came last week and now this week brings winter!!! Supposedly we are supposed to be getting our first snow this week, either tomorrow or Wednesday, we'll see what comes though!! I'm not ready for the cold yet!!! But hey it's worth it!!!! 

Well like I said this week was hard teaching people seemed impossible!!! And we found ourselves wandering just praying for someone to teach more often than not!! It also came with so many missionaries going home early. The mission has been so reduced in the last week it is sad!!!! Today brought another piece of sad news, yet another missionary, our fearless zone leader Elder Tidwell will also be going home, tonight in fact. This is actually his second go around on the mission the first time he went home was for prior things, but this one is for medical. He worked for over 8 months to be able to come back out on his mission, and despite the opinions of others telling him it wouldn't be possible he came, and he was made a Zone Leader almost immediately when he returned to the field, and he has easily been one of my best!!!! Now with only 3 months to go on his mission he has to return home for medical reasons. To say my heart is broken is an understatement, but it's not for just this one friend but for so many other missionaries who have also had to go home early for reasons entirely out of their control. I think of my dear friends from the MTC Sisters Hatch and Brimley, Elders Schuelke, and Bergin, then come all the amazing missionaries I have met here in the field Sister Duncan, Sister Hansen, Sister Kremer, Sister Richins, and many others, the list could go forever, especially after this last week, but it continually makes me wonder, why? Is it not God's will to have us here and serving missions? Is it not His plan to use us as instruments in helping all of His children learn of the Savior and the plan he has prepared for them to live again with him? I had a really hard time understanding that this week why is it these things are happening to some of the most amazing people ever? Now don't worry you wont be getting your daughter home early because she lost her testimony, in fact I really think there is nothing in this world that could persuade me to leave this glorious gospel, but there are some things that take more pondering and prayer before we receive our answers. It's a very simple answers to say "Well this is God's plan to face trials" which is 2000% true. We teach that everyday, in order to truly grow and progress in this life we have to face trials. Though I understand that it still is hard to see others struggle. At MLC this week though President Hancock taught something that really stuck to my soul, not only as a missionary, but as an everyday member,

 an everyday disciple of Jesus Christ.

Now let me paint you a picture.  

 That was easy. Hehehe Sorry I have atrocious hand writing. Anyway this is what president drew on the board. So often in the church, or in life in general puts leaders above the everyday persons, but that is not the case. We are all here to build one another up there is always someone to look up to, and someone to rely upon. We have the greatest support system that there can possibly be and that system is made possible because of the Savior, because he has already descended below all things, and it is only because of that that we can continue to reach higher until we are once again living with him, and all those who matter most to us.  Maybe it only makes sense in my head, but for some reason this whole concept gave me all the comfort I needed. I still don't know why it was in all those missionaries plans to go home early, and I do know they are sorely missed, but I know even more than that this is the Lord plans, and he will support them through all of it.

Things get hard and sometimes we fear we cannot reach high enough to overcome our challenges, but that's when we need to realize that there is more than one someone pushing us higher and cheering us on. We do not have to do this life on our own, we have been offered everything we need to overcome all things we face. I am so grateful for that knowledge!! And I am so grateful I get to be here!!! Unexpected things happen and I am grateful that those haven't happened to me, I never realized just how blessed I am to be a missionary day in a day out! I cannot believe how fast the time is flying, and it's scary to think how close the end is coming but I know that this is only a part of my plan, and there is much much more to come! Well I hope you all had a great week!!! And you are staying safe and warm (cant imagine that's hard!!!)!!!

Love, 

Sister Kaycie Sondrup  

Week 60 - Busted

Hello!!!! 

This week was great!!! We were able to set 4 baptism dates!!! Halla!!!! I am so stoked for the work that is happening now! We are really finding great success and I am excited to keep finding what the Lord has prepared here for us!!!!! 

Yesterday we had Elder Sexton of the 70 come to church and he is so amazing! So bold!! We had two investigators in that ward, and at one point he started talking about baptism and why it's so important and he was staring straight at them telling them that they need to be baptized! It was so insane to see from the pulpit! But it was so cool!! And they loved it! After the meeting we asked what they thought and they said the whole meeting was directly for them. LEGIT!!! He also was about to sit down then he was like I just had a prompting from the spirit and I have to say it. He then started talking to someone in the congregation telling them that he knew they were fearful of a mission, that they could never have the confidence needed to go, that they were never going to be good enough to be a missionary. He then very directly said this is the adversary  and that the Lord would have no greater joy than having them be his missionary, that they were more than good enough and that the needed to prepare to go now. It was crazy to hear! I could only imagine how it felt to be the person he was talking to! Half the congregation was in tears and the spirit was so strong!! It was so cool!!!!!! It was a great day at church and I am so glad we got to be there!!!! 

In other news I was driving yesterday and I got pulled over again!!!! SO DUMB!!!!!!! I think it's game they play in Blackfoot though because almost everyone in the zone was pulled over in the last week, they just look for the missionaries and pull us over to scare us!!!! The cop chuckled a little and just said use your blinker when you change lanes!!! I totally did!!! Ridiculous!! It made for a funny Sunday though!!! That makes twice on a my mission, although I would rather get pulled over now than at home, Idaho/Wyoming benefits they don't really give missionaries tickets! Thank Heavens for that!!!! 

In other news I also got an email from Elder Duano (Joseph now) today, dad do you remember him? You went out with him and Elder Wright, anyway apparently him and Elder Ah puck (Vanston) have been hanging out with Jordyn in Hawaii. This picture is so weird looking to me!!! Two worlds just collided my brain doesn't know how to handle it!!! But hey I am glad they get along! It's still odd looking but I wont complain! 

Well we have to go to Idaho Falls so I don't have anymore time, but I will try and write more next week! I hope you have a fantastic week!!!

Love, 

Sister Kaycie Sondrup 

Week 59 - Drawing a Blank

I honestly am having a hard time remembering what happened this week...I know it was good, but I just cant remember right now...I do remember we got to go to the temple though!!!! YAY FOR REXBURG!!!! and in another piece of exciting news I got to see Annie!!!!!

It was so good to see her again and it was so nice to go to the temple again! Oh my goodness it felt like I hadn't been in forever!!!!! SO GREAT!!!!!!

We also got to see Lisa this week and she is just to cute!!! I love that women to death!!! She really is terrific!!!!!!!

We had Jehovah Witnesses come to our door...that was really weird...it was strange to have things be reversed on us but they were super nice!!!

We went on exchanges twice this week and it was super fun. It's really cool to see how other missionaries work and how they teach I get to learn a ton!!!!! In another event their were 50 million emergency transfers this week and now sister Manymules and I work with a set of sisters who are in Aberdeen/American Falls, I thought Star Valley was small, but they valley has nothing on these places! TINY!!!!!! It's going to be super fun though and i am really excited because they are Spanish sisters and surprisingly I am getting so good at understand  it, cant speak it to save my life, but I can at least know whats going on!!!!!

This week we also got to talk to the police, someone broke into the family history center, random I know, and we happened to be the ones who reported it, it was strange and I can only imagine what members thought as they drove by and saw the missionaries talking to the police.

Ok well I know this is scatted, but I don't know really what else to say. The church is true? Just kidding, but really it is, I have had some amazing studies this week and it truly is so interesting to keep learning, we are never done, there is always something new, and I love that fact!!! Hope you had a great week!!! Thanks for writing and I am sorry this letter is so lame!!!!!

Love you lots!
Sister Kaycie Sondrup

Week 58 - McAdoo Street

Hello!!!

This week was great!!!!! The work here is really picking Up!!!! We were able to find lots of new investigators, and just have some fun!!!!!!

Highlights of the week would include...

Yelling at some guy!!!! Hehehe, but really we did...But first back story!!!! A couple of weeks back at district meeting we were talking about street contacting and the Elders asked "Sisters what do you do to start a conversation on the street?" and we told them well we've kind of gotten into the habit of complimenting them, we tell them we like their shoes, or their bike or something and then they like to talk to us, really it works like a charm and I have kind of realized that if you think something nice, you should just say it! So that's what we've been doing, and the Elders said that's cool, we just ask walk up to everyone we see and ask them if they know where McAdoo st. is, then strike conversation from there. I guess it works pretty well for them. Anyway so what happened this week was we were driving, and saw this guy walking on the street and we just knew we needed to talk to him so we sped around the corner, parked, prayed, and jumped out of the car to try and "happen" to run into him. Well he walked faster than we thought and he was way ahead of us, so I didnt know what to do, but I knew we needed to talk to him. So next thing I knew I was yelling at this guy "HEY!!! EXCUSE ME!!!! EXCUSE ME!!!!!" and after what seemed like forever and after chasing him for a minute he finally turned around. Now picture this, I was running after him, and when we caught up I was tired (because running is awful) so I was panting and holding my sides praying I didn't get a cramp because we just ate dinner, and he was like "what do you need?" So I thought of the first thing that came to my head, and as soon as I started to say I was struggling not to laugh, but, I asked him "Do you know where McAdoo Street is?" Sister Manymules was holding in laughter, but thankfully he didn't notice! Long story short we ended up walking this guy home and taught him the Gospel the whole way!!! We even ran into some JW's on the way and they were super nice!!!!!!! Sadly he doesn't live in our area, but he is really excited to hear the lessons and we just know he is going to get baptized!!!!! I felt a little like a crazy person, but hey the salvation of someones soul is worth it right?! Promptings from the spirit are the best, I think my execution may need a little help though...But hey I followed through and we did what the Lord needed! So it was great!!!!!!

So we live out of our area...In fact we live  in the District Leaders area, and this week we were leaving the house and got in the car to find this note

Cracked me up!!!! Especially because the boundary for our area is 4 houses down!!!!! Glad he didn't know we went to Pokey to help the Sisters that morning...It made me smile though, now every night we sit on the boundary line and call him to get permission to go home. Might have backfired on him a bit, but hey I think it's great!!!!

Sorry this is kind of short but I cant focus today, really any day...School will be fun at home...I hope you all have a great week though! Love you lots!!!

Love,
Sister Kaycie Sondrup

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week 57 - Zander

Hello!!!! Ok so I have zero focus today, so this email may be short, but be you should be impressed I'm even getting it off...Anyway this week was something...probably the longest week of my mission, but it was great!

Ok so to start things off we had zone training week which was fun, but the zone leaders decided to do Personal Priesthood interviews as part of it, which was a great idea, until they ran an hour and a half over...Sister Manymules and I were responsible for keeping the other missionaries busy so we had to keep coming up with ideas of practices and practices and practices. It ended up working out though and we had a great time, I was a little nervous there for awhile though!!!! Keeping 20 teenagers entertained is SO HARD!!!! But thanks to the Lord we managed it! I hope they learned something though, I know I did!!!! Thanks to this training though we've set some amazing goals as a zone to have 54 baptisms by the end of the year in Blackfoot alone, maybe that number doesn't seem to daunting, but I know it will make us stretch and I am so excited to start working at it!!!!

Speaking of baptisms...

Lisa has been to sick to meet, and I started to fear that we wont be able to help her get baptized before she passes...But I know whatever happens it's the Lord's will, he has a very specific plan for her, and I know whatever happens is because it's what he needs.

This week though we had an amazing experience concerning baptisms!!!!!! The last 6 weeks I've been in Blackfoot we've been trying to get a hold of this boy named Zander, who supposedly really wants to get baptized, well up until this week I had never met him, and now I certainly wont forget him! On Tuesday Sister Manymules, and I went to the church to pop into mutual, and when we pulled in we noticed a man outside in the church parking lot wearing a tank top practicing his roping, and a boy riding his scooter. Well we really have been applying the concept of talking to everyone lately, and we saw this man and his son and decided we really needed to talk to them, so that's just what we did! Well when they introduced themselves guess who the boy on the scooter was...ZANDER!!!!!!!! MY HEART WANTED TO EXPLODE!!!! Finally I met this great little boy!!!!!! Well the stories were true and Zander is so prepared to be baptized it's insane!!!!! We talked with him and he even started to tell us a dream he had the other day about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and when we asked him how he knew it was them he simply replied "Because I know them, and I recognized them". This little boy is seriously so amazing it makes my heart melt every time I see him!! So this was Tuesday and we went back to his house Thursday and he was sitting on his porch waiting for us. That doesn't happen, normally people hide from us, but not Zander!!! We taught him the first lesson and he asked us "so when can I get baptized?" WHAT?! anyway we set a date with him and we set up another appointment for the next day because he wanted to see us that bad!!! Well come the next day our lesson was at the church at 1:30, and by 1:15 he and his cousin were waiting in the parking lot for us, and when we pulled in they looked up and the biggest smile overtook their faces and an emotion I can only explain as pure joy came across their faces and I truly felt there was no better work in the world that I could be doing than that. Which is so true!!!! Everyday we see this remarkable boy it just gets more and more apparent how prepared he is, the Lord has a great work prepared for him, and I cannot wait to see it!!! Everyday we meet with Zander now his first question it "Can I get baptized tomorrow?", sadly he cant as he has to attend church first, but as soon as he can (oct.31st) I know he will get baptized! I am so excited to keep working with this boy, and I am so grateful to be here to learn from him!!!!!!

In other events this week I was struggling!!!! We just couldn't find anyone to teach, like nobody!!! DARN YOU HARVEST SEASON!!!!!!!!! So one night Sister Manymules and I were driving by the pool, and was like "Sister you know what would be amazing right now and make everything better? just being able to smell chlorine, it smells like home and I miss it" So you now what did? Sister Manymules literally turned the car around, downed a bottle of water handed it to me and said "Lets go get a bottle of water!" WHAT THE HECK?! Probably one of the most random things ever, but it was so great!!!!!!! When we walked in they looked at us really weird, but then after we explained they were like "HECK YES YOU CAN HAVE SOME WATER!!! DO YOU WANT A JOB AFTER YOUR MISSION TO?!"  Hehehe probably not, but now I have a bottle of pool water and it is so glorious!!!!! Like really as far as highlights go it easily goes Zander, and then my pool water, so great!!!!!!!

But I have no focus left!!! I hope you all have had an amazing week and know that you are loved!!!! Keep the faith, and really start applying everything you learned at conference there truly were some amazing messages!!!! Love you all lots!!!!

Love,
Sister Kaycie Sondrup

P.S. Here's my potato facts
1 acre yeilds about 4,000lbs. of potato
the average farmer has 160 acres (this is excluding big companies like non perill)
4,000x160=640,000 lbs. of potato per farmer
in Blackfoot alone there are almost 1000 potato farmers so that make 640,000,000 lbs. of potatoes produced in Blackfoot alone. Crazy right?!

anyway love you!!!!

Week 56 - Harvest

Hello!!!!

Ok so this week has been great!!! To start the week I said goodbye to some of my favorite missionaries ever!! But I know they will do great at home! They also happened to take my camera and this is what I got, thanks sisters...

Anyway, the rest of the week was great! I got Sister Manymules on Wednesday on she is amazing!!!!! She joined the church at age 17, and just over a year after that she came out on her mission!!!! She has a way great story and she is going to make such a huge difference here especially because we serve right outside the Indian reservation and she is Navajo, her nationality alone has already helped us get in tons of doors, and then her understanding of Native American beliefs and Christianity helps even more!!!!! This is going to be a great transfer and I know we are going to see some amazing miracles!!!!!

So apparently in this last week Sister Manymules and I became the zone moms, we kind of already had that role, but it was amplified. The funny thing is the zone is primarily Elders, we have 2 sister companionships in the zone other than us, and everyone else is Elders, well this week we worked with the sisters as always, but the Elders called for help to, instead of emotional issues though they called about physical issues, mainly, lack of food. It was pretty funny Saturday we got a call from the zone leaders and we answered and they were so awkward like hey....sisters...we have a question.... Finally we were just like spit it out what do you need?! And they were like "We spent all our money for the month and now we have nothing to eat!!!!! Do you have anything we can eat?!" What?! first we asked cant a member feed you? Then we felt really bad because they were like "well we only have 15 active members (the cover the Spanish branch that stretches from Pocatello to Idaho Falls with everything in between) and we are allergic to gluten, and the only thing they feed us are Tortillas and they're full of gluten!!!!!" Poor Elders, so feeling a little bad we asked the member we live with if they had anything and together we were able to put together a grocery bag of food, and some chicken in rice for them. When we gave it to them they almost stated crying! They were like sisters if you weren't sisters we would give you a hug right now, and even though you are sisters were still really tempted to hug you, but we'll refrain. Oh thanks Elders, anyway it was pretty funny, now the zone refers to us as mom, that's a little weird, but hey it's always good to help out!

In another eventful story I got to go on a tour of a potato harvest/cellar this week!!!! I had some really cool facts about it but I forgot them at home...so next week!!!!!! But check out some pictures!!!!!!

did you know Potatoes have to be air conditioned or else they'll cook themselves as they sit in the cellar? Also this Cellar is just under 1/4th of the way full, and those potatoes are already stacked 30ft wide and 20ft tall!!!! Crazy!!!! Imagine how many potatoes Idaho produces!!!! NUTS!


On a more spiritual note though, I want to talk about harvest, and not the harvest of potatoes, I want to talk about the Lord's harvest. You see the season and time for His harvest is now. There has never been a greater work than the work now, and I am so blessed to be apart of it!!! We had mission leadership council this week, and it was great, but as a council we set some goals that seem so impossible to meet!!!! But the thing is the Lord has prepared no greater a time than now to reach these goals. Case and point with our new investigator Lisa. She is so amazing! We met her while walking the street trying to find a house, she was outside smoking, and we got to talking. Never before have I met a more amazing and Christ like individual than Lisa. She is so terrific!!! I cannot believe all she's done in her life, and the work she still does despite how sick she is!!!! And when I say sick I mean sick!!!!! She has a pick line, and struggles to even leave her house, she's in the hospital every other week and she is past ready to return home to her Father. In fact the first time I met her I wanted to cry, here was this beautiful amazing spirit who has done amazing things in this life, struggling and telling us she's tired, and ready to be done. That first day we met her you could tell she'd lost her hope for a brighter tomorrow, she's lost her faith in the promise that we can do all things as we put our trust in the Lord. That's whats been so amazing though to see her regain that testimony! To see her very countenance change as she's allowed the light of Christ back into her life. Never before have I felt more compelled to see someone be baptized and confirmed a member of the church than I do for Lisa. I know her time to leave this mortal life is fast approaching, but I know that Heavenly Father still has a great work for her. She will and is an amazing example of Christ like love and service, and everyone can learn something from this dear sister. I just pray we can help her recognize her worth even more so that she will continue to grow and change, and that she will truly be the daughter her Heavenly Father needs her to be when she departs this world. I am grateful to be apart of the Lord's harvest!!!! And I cannot wait to keep finding those prepared souls who are just waiting fro this message!!!

I love this work and I am so grateful to be apart of it!! It scares me to think I only have 6 months of this service here in Idaho left, but I do look forward to going home and putting to use my new skills, and continuing to help others for the rest of my life! For this is the plan my Father has for me, and I do not plan on departing from it!!!! Thank you so much for your constant love and prayers and I hope all is going well for you!!!!

Love,
Sister Kaycie Sondrup

Week 55 - Friends

Ok so like always I dont have time, today we have to go to Pocatello, because all the missionaries who have finished their missions are going home, and we have to say goodbye to some of them!!!! Mainly because they live in Australia and chances are we wont see them again...wow that's depressing to say!!!!!!!!! One of my favorite missionaries, Elder Ah Puck is going home today as well! He's my district leader right now, and he'll be going home Laie Hawaii...I know someone else who lives there...and I may have given him that persons number...I hope she doesn't mind...Anyway he's great!!!! Every night if we didn't answer the phone we'd get a voicemail, and it'd say "SISTER SUNDROP!!! THIS IS YOUR MOM!!!! I REALLY MISS YOU! WHERE DID YOU GO?!?! CALL ME BACK!!!! OK BYE!!!!!" The craziest part though is that he legit sounds like mom, totally freaked me out the first time it happened!!!!! Anyway he was a great district leader, but he'll kill it!!!! SO I got distracted because all my Polynesians just showed up in Blackfoot, plus Sister Kolbo...now I have to go...I will try and write again later...hopefully I have time!!!! Sorry this letter is so lame! Love you lots!!!!!!

Oh P.S. We got transfer calls, Sister Hill will be leaving and going to Rexburg, and I will be getting Sister Manymules, she's from Kirkland New Mexico, and she was in my district in Star Valley, she'll be going home in 6 weeks though so I'll have to do that all over again....Oh well it'll be great!!!!!

Love,
Sister Kaycie Sondrup

Week 54 - 90% Elder 10% Skirt

Hello!!!!

Well this week was great, we went finding galore!!!!! Unfortunately it didn't yield many results, although we did find one new investigator. His name is Johnny, he recently just lost his fiance and we are hoping that the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation will help him with this loss. Well we know it will, but we're hoping he will see and understand that.

This week we had a couple of emergencies we had to deal with, which were stressful to say the least, but thankfully we got through it! And counting the blessings, now this will sound ridiculous, but I am really glad we dont have any investigators to teach, because this week we spent hardly anytime in the area, and if we had investigators they would have all had to have been pushed to the way side. Now I dont want our area to stay like this forever, but I am glad that that's how it worked out this week, really it was the best thing. Because of all the situations that came up this week though the Zone Leaders decided we got to be honorary Zone Leaders, hence the title. Apparently to them we're 90% elder, 10%skirt, Thanks Elders, we really appreciate that one...haha it was pretty funny when they said it though! If only it meant I got to wear pants!!!!!

one of our recent converts this week unfortunately got really sick, and she ended up in the hospital, which is so sad!!!! But I have never met anyone with a better attitude that her! She is so amazing!!! Even as we were putting on all the safety clothing to see her she was smiling and telling us about how her scripture reading was going. While we were there she bore the most amazing testimony of God's plan, though this time is hard she knows, probably better than me, that things will get better, that no matter what happens it is her Fathers plan for her, she has faith that she is living her life how she needs to, and that what happens is what truly needs to, seirously she's the best!!!!!  

Well we have to go drive to Idaho Falls...So I don't have to much more time, but I'll leave you with some pictures!!! This week on exchanges we rescued a little kitten!!!!!! It was so stinkin' cute!!!!! Guess what this is a picture of?! Well the Himilayas but what else...

The Shower, bet you didn't see that one coming!!!!!!! (this is also from exchanges)

number two, what's this a picture of?

A hallway they made into their very own sacred grove!!!! So random, yet so cool!

Alright well I do have to go!!! This week brings transfer calls so I'll let you know if anything is happening!!!! Have a terrific week!!!!

Love,
Sister Kaycie Sondrup
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Week 53 - Spiders, Puppies, and no investigators Oh My

 OK so this week, well....I don't have to much...This week we were out of our area more than we were in...and sadly we dropped every single one of our investigators, like all of them. We kind of got to the point where they just weren't progressing and we know that there are more people here who are ready to progress now, so we decided to clean sweep our area. As scary and as sad as this is, I am so excited for this!!!! Like so excited! I just cannot wait to see the great miracles that are just preparing to happen!!!!! IT"S GOING TO BE SO LEGIT!!!!!!

Ok so I really don't have to much more...and we are going to go watching the indian relay races at the fair!!! WAY COOL!!!!! But fun story for you I saved some puppies they escaped and I rescued them!!!! Also it's starting to get super cold and that means spiders are going  crazy and coming in our house!!! So I've been catching them!!!! It's gross and terrifying and I have a mini heart attack everytime I see them, but hey, here's for overcoming fears! Also I got a birthday card for Alex, it kind of reminds me of Idaho, dont hate me to much for it though....





It sings....

Ok so so cool I just got an email two seconds ago from Sister Parker and Joe, the investigator I was telling you about finally got baptized!!!!!!! My day was seriously just made!!!! My heart is so overwhelmed with excitement right now I just feel like bursting!!!!! AHHHHHHH BEST. NEWS. EVER. Here's pictures!!!!!!!

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​Isn't it glorious?! Ok I really have to go now, love you lots!!!!!!!

Love,
Sister Kaycie Sondrup

Week52 - Deal with it

 Happy Tuesday Family!!!!!!

So a day in a the life of a rancher goes like this...You wake up early in the morning and you think of all you have to do the list never seems to end, but as the day goes on you find a fence is broken, so what do you do? You deal with it. Later you find your cows are out, so what do you do? You deal with it. Still more you find one of your precious steers is sick, so what do you do? You deal with it. This week I learned alot about dealing with it. But first things first, we had a Mission tour with Elder Martino of the 70 yesterday so my P-day is today, so I hope you can deal with it. Haha, Sorry I forgot to mention it last week, hope you didn't think I was dead, or hated you or anything...what can I say I just like keeping things fresh!

Anyway, this week was amazing!!! It was so busy and this week is shaping up to be even busier!!!! Last Tuesday we had Zone Conference, and then I was on exchanges with the Sisters serving in Firth, My companion and I got back together on Wednesday night, Thursday we planned, Friday we had Mission Leadership Council ALL day, but it was so amazing!!!!! Saturday we had to put together an on the spot zone choir for the conference yesterday so we were working with that, and then we got to take a trip up to Idaho Falls to go to the visitors center with an investigator! Sunday was great, church is always amazing, Monday we had Elder Martino all day, and I mean all day, after the mission tour Elder Martino had a special mission leadership council with the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders from the southern zones, so Blackfoot, Chubbuck, and Pocatello, Today he'll meet with North. Now let me tell you, it was probably one of the most legit things ever to get to spend two hours in this MLC with a member of the 70, let me tell you, THE CHURCH IS TRUE! Today we have P-day, and tonight we are going on exchanges again! (don't worry dad I want wont be staying in Blackfoot, so no need to look!) We'll come back tomorrow night, and then plan a training. Thursday we have Zone Training, which I'll train at (YIKES THAT'S SOON!), Friday we can breathe, Saturday we'll have another zone training (not our zone but we are the STL's for that zone so we get to go), Than thankfully Sunday will roll back around and  hopefully things will slow down!!!!!!! The reason I tell you all the small details of my week though has to go along with the story above, of dealing with it. I have found this week especially with every situation that has happened conflicts that needed to be resolved goals to be set and councils to have, training given, and to give that what really need to do most as missionaries and members is to just deal with it. No sense in crying when the cows get out, you fix it, deal with it and move on. I've been thinking back alot to the premortal life (random I know) but really think about it, each of us chose to come to earth, even though we knew it wouldn't be easy. Heavenly Father knew more than we that things would be hard, but he provided us ways to deal with it. He gave us a perfect example to follow, scriptures to read and get strength from, a means of communication with him, baptism, and the Holy Ghost. He truly gave us so many ways to deal with the hard things that come to our life. At the end of the day just like the rancher everything we need to do still isn't done, we will still have to wake up in the morning and deal with it. But we know that if we truly strive to follow the example of Jesus Christ, if we truly look to our Savior in all ways than he will be the greatest ranch hand ever (poor comparison for the Savior, but it's all I have) he'll be there helping us deal with every difficulty, every hardship thrown our way until the very end, when we can stand before our Father and he will say "Well done, thou good and faithful servant". Sometimes the work load thrown at us seems to much to bear, but I am grateful to know that I am never bearing it alone. That's not my Fathers plan for me, or any of us. Out of all the trainings I had last week, the lessons that were given, this is by far the greatest lesson I learned, what the spirit taught me, that I must not only deal with it, but deal with it with my Savior, because than, and only then are we truly successful.

I have so much more to say, but not enough time, I hope this makes sense though. I'll give you one thing that may make you chuckle before I go though. So you know how way back when I took piano lessons for like a year? Well I had to use those skills in front of a general authority because nobody in MLC could play...I don't even play!!!!!! But the Zone Leaders volunteered me.Thankfully we read in D&C that the song of the righteous is a prayer, and not the song of the righteous with an awesome piano player is a prayer because we definitely didn't have that...But I got through it and really didn't mess up, so consider that a miracle!!!! I am counting my blessings for sure!!!!!!

Oh and also I got my packages last week!!! Thank you so much!!! I think you managed to make every missionary jealous though! It's all I heard about all day!!!! Sister Sondrup you know you have like 10 giant packages back there right...yeah I know, but I shared don't worry, the Mexico missionaries were ecstatic to say the least!!!!!!! Thank you so much for sending them I really appreciate them!!!!!!!! Well I got to go!!! Hope you have a super fantastic week!!!!

Love,
Sister Kaycie Sondrup