Week 14 - Fender Bender

Hey!!!! 

OK so this week I have like a crazy like of time!!! the day flew by and 5 rolled around and we had yet to email. So I have all of 30 minutes today because Brock has his Baptism interview and we have to prepare him for that!!!!! He will be getting baptized this weekend and it is going to be so great!!!!

This week was pretty crazy like CRAZY. So we don't know what it is but for whatever reason tons of single men have been taking us out to dinner/lunch lately. It wouldn't be that weird if they signed up to feed us in the YSA ward, but they have been signing up in the family wards. It's so awkward! One guy even texted us out of the blue and asked to take us to lunch, so that'll be tomorrow. I've been teasing that either Sister McPherson and I are just to attractive together that they have to take us out, or the men just all sense that she will be going home in a month and they are trying to make their move before she heads back to BYU-I. Either way I am good with it, as weird as it is, it means I don't have to cook, so I am OK with it!!!

We had so many awesome lessons this week, but one super hard one!! It was with our investigator named Eric, he has such a desire to learn, and to come unto Christ, but he is lost in how to do so. Instead of focusing on the doctrine of the church he focuses on the history, mainly Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and Polygamy. Oh Polygamy, it is so hard because we don't know how to answer any of his questions besides saying, that's how it was you just have to go on faith. He will come around though, you can see how the spirit is really starting to touch him. 

So we went to KFC today(thanks for the gift certificates grandma) and someone hit our car :( poor Matilda. We have a good ol' ding in the bumper and it will more than likely need replacing. I feel so bad because it really isn't that bad, but because it's a church vehicle and they just sell them back after 50,000 miles they are making us get it replaced. The poor guy who hit us felt awful, but don't worry we shared a message about Christmas with him! #heisthegift Funny how you get missionary opportunities in even the most unlikely of times!!!! 

Well that's all I really have time for today, sorry it's short, but hey I'll actually be able to talk to you next week!!!! I also sent a package for you today, so be on the look out for it!!!!! 

Love, 

Sister Kaycie Sondrup  

P.S. I hope this makes sense, I didn't proof read it!

Week 13 - OOPS

Hey!!!

So I failed to mention becoming a Sister Training Leader last week, because I did not become one. I am assuming you got an email from the mission office saying I did, but they made one major slip up last week and emailed every single sister saying that they had become one. Apparently they emailed our families as well. It has caused quite the drama this week among all the sisters, because everybody wants to be it! Honestly though I am so OK with it. While I don't mean to sound braggy I feel like eventually that will be a position I will hold. But I am so not ready for that yet. I still feel like I have way to much to learn, and I am way benefited to just sit and absorb everything told to me like a sponge right now. You can do so much to prepare for mission life, but you cannot ever be fully prepared until you are out on your mission. I am still learning, and I am more than ok with doing just that right now!

So I now cover the entire Ammon Foothills stake, and YSA, all in all that is 12 wards, and about 60 miles of area, probably about 75 if we count YSA because it covers 2 stakes, we actually come pretty close to the Wyoming boarder. OK not that close, but my area is the last bit of area where there are actually people. The Iona stake gets the boarder area, but it is literally all mountains and no homes. It is super strange to be in a new place! Especially because I have so much area!!! I have the city (ammon/Idaho Falls) and then the boon docks middle of no where which is called Bone. There are literally 4 homes in all of Bone, and it is out at the very edge of our area, and of course, we're teaching some one way out there!!!! But it is awesome!!!

 

 

So this area is so windy!!! Like I hate wearing my hair down it is that annoyingly windy!!!! Out on the very tops of the hills are tons of wind mills because it just blows around like crazy out here!!!! I live up right next to them on a street called Solitude Ln. and the name is so fitting because we are pretty much the only ones out there!!! Well us, and the Deer, pretty sure they sleep in our backyard, they always freak me out because I will be studying and then I look up and all of a sudden there are like 5 deer at my door staring me down!!!! CRAZY! You know what I find even funnier? While in Pocatello everyone was complaining about how they got nothing for hunting season, there deer just weren't out. Well apparently they weren't looking hard enough because I could have got at least 2 dozen by now!!!! Seriously we have to be so careful not to hit them that's how many we see roaming around!!!

So driving is great, but way weird. Mostly because we as a mission are test piloting a new church thingy bopper to help promote safe driving from missionaries called Tiwi ( I have no Idea what that stands for). Tiwi receives satellite information on all the speed limits, stop signs, stop lights, yield signs, everything driving related in any area it goes. You have to log in and then anytime (I mean anytime) you do anything wrong he yells at you, and you have to correct it and it goes on your report. So many negative reports results in your driving privileges being taken away. Apparently you have to get ALOT though because it seems like you can never please Tiwi, he's always yelling at you for something!!!!! OK, so this will probably be really hard to imagine, because it's me and all, but I get yelled at like everyday for SPEEDING!!!! He's always like "check your speed" WHA? I'm lucky if I go the speed limit!!!!! OK I guess I do speed, but mostly because Idaho has a lack of signage related to driving, like a crazy lack!!!! I think I have seen all of one speed limit sign in the whole time I have been here 1!!! and if you don't know the posted speed limit the assumed limit in Ammon is 25mph!! Well of course I am going to go faster than that! I have places to go and people to see!!!!! Lets not even get started on stop signs, like literally there are none!!! So sketchy!!! I always assume one because that's the safe thing, but no one else does and it is crazy!!!! I don't even want to think about trying to drive around here in the winter!!!!!! SKETCH! I have found a state that is worse than Utah when driving, didn't see it as possible, but apparently, we all must be proved wrong sometimes!!! OK I am kidding of course Utah isn't that bad, but we all have room for improvement!!!!

So my new companion Sister McPherson is super great!!! I love her so much!!! I so worried about getting a new comp. but not anymore! She is so awesome!! and teaches me so much!!!!! Like I said she was originally supposed to serve in Brazil but her Visa never came, and she became a permanent Idaho Pocatello missionary, which would be so hard!!! Especially considering she went to BYU-I before her mission!!! She only has 6 weeks left, so I will be killing her off, meaning I will have to get yet another new companion next transfer! Dang why cant I just keep the good ones!!!! But that's alright, there is always something to learn from each companion we get and I am so blessed to be with her for even this short amount of time!!!!!

So I really don't know why both of us were white washed out, but I do know Sister Golba-Ingles and Ikimau will have a blast in Highland. It was a little dead when I first arrived, and by the time I left it was a way happening area, the members were really taking initiative and the work was progressing like crazy!!!!! My new area is much like Highland when I first arrived, a little dead, but the work is on the up and up!! We have a baptism in just under two weeks actually!!!!! His name is Brock, and he is 13 and so prepared for baptism!!!! He and his family just moved from Arkansas, and had never heard of a Mormon prior to living here. But they all agree the reason they moved to Idaho was for this exact purpose, way cool!!! It will be a white Christmas for sure!!!! Although at this point it will just be white with baptisms because we have 0 snow right now!!!! In fact dare I say it we are having an Arizona winter!!!! Today's high is meant to be 50, I don't even wear a coat right now!!!! (mostly because mine stinks from all the walking/sweating, and has a nasty dirty dog smell, don't worry I am getting it dry cleaned today!)

So one last funny story we went to knock a door of a part member family this week up in the hills, it was a bit of a drive, but we made it because they are always home. When we got to the door they had a huge window on their front door in which we could see a lady (the member) sitting on the couch. We knocked, and her and I made eye contact. So what did she do next? Slid down the front of the couch, got on all fours, and crawled and hid behind a chair, all done right in front of eyes!!!! a fully active member!!!! What the heck! aren't they the ones who are supposed to answer the door for us?! dang!!!! It was a bit of a bummer, but way funny to, so I'll survive!!!!! Anyway, this is way long, and that's all I really have!!! Hope you have an awesome week! Keep up the good work!! and will you add these people to the email list? Thanks a bunch you're the best!!!!

tingkent@isu.edu

kbibliokat@cableone.net

kchill@cableone.net

Love,

Sister Kaycie Sondrup

Week 12 - Transfers

From:	Kaycie Sondrup (kaycie.sondrup@myldsmail.net) This sender is in your safe list.
Sent:	Mon 12/01/14 12:16 PM
To:	Leigh Ann SONDRUP (sondrupclan@msn.com)

Hey!!!!

Sounds like a crazy week, and I got one dozy of one for you!!!!!

Ok not really but ya know it was so awesome anyway!!!!!!

So last week the snow finally melted! but I woke up to another couple inches this morning which makes me so sad and so scared. Which brings me to my next point I will be getting a car for the winter, because I am getting TRANSFERRED!!!! We got a call from president Wednesday while street contacting a potential investigator. He has a special ring tone, and my heart just dropped as soon as I heard it! So we called him back and sure enough he's not only moving me, but our area is being white washed!!!! So both sister Hallett and I will be leaving. I will be going to the Ammon Foothills, and sister Hallett to Eagle Rock (downtown Idaho Falls). I am so excited, yet so bummed!!!!! I absolutely love Highland!!! And the work is really taking off, I am sad to go, but it will still be awesome and a new experience!!!!! My new companion will be Sister McPherson, she was a visa waiter for Brazil but she as since pulled her Visa, and will be staying in Idaho. But she still gets language study so I hope she teaches me some Portuguese maybe by the time I Skype home for Christmas I'll be able to talk to dad (assuming he remembers it!)

So if you send me anything for Christmas make sure you send it USPS because I wont be in Pocatello to be able to pick it up.

So we went to the Mary Poppins apartment this week and we got another new investigator!!! That's 10 now, and that's not even all of them that live there!!!!! But sadly they are all YSA so we don't even teach them!!! But we find them and it's awesome!!!!! I am trying to think of anything else, but mostly this week has been a bunch of goodbyes! Thanksgiving was great, we ate way to much (just 4 dinners) but don't worry they were spread between a couple of days, I'm still turkeyed out for sure though!!!!! My jello was great as always, tasted of home it was awesome!!!!

So I really don't have much else, there is always tons that happen, but I can never remember by the time I come to write them down!!!!!! Anyway life is so good!!! I am so blessed and I realized this week just how much I love Idaho. We were driving to Idaho Falls and it just hit, I love it here like love it!!! I can never imagine serving somewhere else and loving it as much I do here!!!! It just goes to show that the Lord knows us way better than we ever know ourselves!!! Well I hope all is well and know that I love and miss you!!!!! But hey I'll talk to you in like a month?! that's crazy!!!!! AHHHHHHH Time is flying to fast!!!!! I only have 15 months left!!!!! That's not enough time!!!!!!!!! Any way have a great week!!!!

Love,

Sister Kaycie Sondrup

 

She didn't mention everything about the transfer, we received this from our stake president today as well.

 

Dear Sister Sondrup ,

We are pleased to extend to you the calling to serve as a Sister Training Leader in the Idaho Pocatello Mission.

You will have the opportunity to attend and participate in our monthly Missionary Leadership Council. Your role as a Sister Training Leader will also include training, encouraging, and watching over the sister missionaries assigned to you. Ever six weeks you will conduct a 24-hour exchange with each companionship of these sisters.

Heavenly Father will bless and guide you as you pray to Him in faith. We know the Lord qualifies those whom He calls

Thank you for your example and service in our mission. Your leadership will bless the lives of many sisters and help the work move forward as we invite others to come unto Christ.

Love,



Marvin T. BrinkerhoffMission President

Week 11 - Teaching Explosion

Hey! 

Well I have way less time than usual today because we only get an hour to email, because our actual P-day will be Thursday this week. You will probably have to send that recipe Sister Borgholthaus because I wont be able to get it in time, but that's alright! I hope Texas was great!!! 

So this week exploded with teaching, like exploded!!!! We taught 30 lessons, and got a new investigator!!! His name is Alex, and we got him from the Mary Poppins bag apartment. I kid you not every time we show up there there is someone new living there, and someone new to teach, IT'S AWESOME!!!!! Seriously like a dream, the apartment as a whole has some word of wisdom issues to resolve, but they're so great!!! Alex knows literally nothing about religion it blows my mind!!!!!! Anyway he's to cool, and in the middle of the lesson (Sister Hallett and our member with us were teaching another new investigator Cooper) he stopped me and was like " I am getting such good vibes right now, like everything you're saying just makes me feel awesome, and I feel like it's true, why is that?" So I was like, well let me tell about the Holy Ghost, BOOOOOOOM HE's GOLDEN!!!!! Sadly though that whole apartment is YSA aged, so assuming they want to go to a YSA ward we have to pass them on :( bummer right? but that's OK! Ultimately they'll have the same teacher regardless of the missionaries in front of them!!!! 

So something even crazier, we've been working with this former named Katie, she is to cute!!! (and her son Michael is special needs so we connected so quickly) Well Katie literally just showed up to church yesterday without even being asked! That never happens!!!! TO COOL!!!! Way awesome! We had 4 investigators (out of our 6) at church, SO BLESSED!!!!!! 

Anyway when Elder Martino came he asked us to continually have 10 progressing investigators, which is like a crazy amount!!!! But now we have 6 and I wish I had more faith in his council before, but now I know without a doubt it was inspired, and we are so capable of it!!!! 

So we went laser tagging this week, SWEET!!!! And I lost my tag, Sad life :( but don't worry, I had 2!!!!!!! But I have to order another. So question, is my sister coming home for Christmas? I need to know.....Anyway hopefully I actually hear from you next week......Hope you have a good one!!!! 

Love, 

Sister Kaycie Sondrup 

Week 10 - Brrr it is getting cold outside

HEY!!!! 

 

This week wasn't to bad for me, crazy because of Elder Martino, and p-day Tuesday, plus zone training Friday, so teaching was really slow, but that's ok!!! I have faith it will pick up!!!! 

So this week we finally got a taste of Idaho weather! So not fun!!! Our high was 20 all week. Tuesday was literally torture in that the wind was going nuts!!! Sister Hallett and I thought it was like 30 outside and we wanted to cry because we were so cold. Come to find out the next day it was really 3 with a wind chill of -15, awesome right? it's been snowing all week to, we ended with about 8 inches, which wouldn't be to bad if we weren't walking, but it's horrible, the ice is such a pain!!! But guess what?! I have yet to fall, I feel so accomplished with myself!!!! 

So Friday it was raining, which is ridiculous because it was below freezing!!!! But we ended getting stuck outside and getting soaked! No bueno!!!!!!! I feel a little bad because I looked to the sky and was like "WHAT THE HECK HEAVENLY FATHER! AT LEAST LET IT SNOW I CAN BRUSH THAT OFF!" after I said it though I felt bad, and I humbled myself and said a prayer asking for forgiveness because I was being rude, and almost immediately after wards the rain turned to snow, and life became happier! I love tender mercies like that!!!!! That's awesome!!!!! But I do know now I need to get a warmer coat/boots because mine so aren't going to cut it!!!!

Anyway I wish I had more to say but like I said we didn't teach to much so the cold is pretty much all I have!!!! I hope all is good with you and you are all staying safe!!!!!

Love, 

Sister Kaycie Sondrup

Week 9 Surprise it's Tuesday

Surprise it's Tuesday!!!!!!! 

So I forgot to mention last week that the mission had Elder Martino from the 70 coming into town this week for a mission tour, so my p-day is Tuesday this week, not Monday. Anyway so I here I am, and guess what, everyone and their mother wants to meet with us today, so we really only have p-hours, seeing as we have appointments from 3-9 today. It's horrible because I want to complain because they cut in, but at the same time I am so stoked to have appointments so I'll take it!!!!!! 

Elder Martino was so awesome!!!!! He is such a cool cat!!!! He and his Wife are converts to the church but dang they are spiritual giants!!!!!! He was so bold and talked about having pure intentions in all we do, and how to be the best missionaries possible. He was so flippin awesome!!! He ended the day with stuff about the atonement, and that was so crazy!!!! Such a great day!!!!! We even got to see all the missionaries from the southern part of our mission, and it was so fun!!!! It was like an MTC reunion which was way fun!!!! I forget how much I love all of them until I saw them again!!! They're the best!!! It honestly was probable the highlight of my week, because I'm not going to lie, it was rough!!!! 

I wish I could put it into words, but I really can't last week was just a struggle!!!!!! Which is funny because I feel like some of the brightest points in my mission thus far happened last week, yet things were just hard!!!! I'm so grateful for the STL's who felt like we needed to go on splits, because I did!!!! So Friday I went out with Sister 'Otokolo and that really helped!!!! She is so great and she really lifted my spirits and  gave me some great advice!!! She went through some of the same things I'm going through at the beginning of her mission as well, it was definitely inspired for her to come out with me!!!! In addition to her help I actually came across some notes you and dad wrote me in my wallet, I have no idea when you wrote them, but I found them and some how it was everything I needed to hear, so thanks!!!! You're helping me without even knowing it!!!!!!! 

Grandma sent me a package this week, which was awesome and way cool to get, but so did Tia Pat!!!!! You can imagine how surprised I was to hear yesterday that I had 2 packages!!!!!! I was shocked to see one from her! But so happy!!!! She is way to sweet!!!! That also brightened my day/week! 

Well it's cold here, the high for the week is supposed to be around 30, and the low supposedly in the single digits, if not the negative ones, yay. Kidding of course, we have a snow storm raging outside, so you know, that's fun, I'm just glad we actually have appointments today so we don't have to go wandering around in it too long today!!!! I guess it's time to pull out my real coat :(

storms a brewing!

Also, I was trying to fix something on my family history last week, and I asked one of the lady's here and guess what she did to solve the problem? Delete my line!!!!! Awesome right?! I seriously felt like crying, all of my family gone in a poof! But don't worry I fixed most of it, except for grandma ransdell, it says she's dead, and has 0 ordinances done, so could you send me her birthday, and maybe some other dates in her life so I can fix it? That would be great!!!! 

Well I'm sorry your week was crazy, but things will get better remember Moroni 7:42, it's probably my favorite verse right now!!!! Hope all is well and you're staying warm!!!! 

Love,
Sister Sondrup 

trying to fix jeff's motorcycle

Drink Dat Water

sleep over 

 party with the star valley girls! And sister Hill 

Week 8 First Snow

HEY!!!!!

Sounds like a busy week!!! But I'd rather be busy than not so count your blessings!!!! If you find yourself in Flag again, and you find anything warm, feel free to get me it, we had our first snow yesterday and I live up in the hill's/mountains and it's a tad cold up here. 

Ryan's mom's name is Holly Borgolthaus she's awesome!! She has two kids out on missions right now, one is in North Carolina (I'm pretty sure), and Wisconsin. We're actually going DI shopping with her today, so I'm stoked!!!! 

Halloween gets a little crazy up where I live because it's a really affluent area and everyone out the wazoo comes there for candy. Each house expects 500-600 trick-or-treaters, and from what I hear this year was way worse. Anyway tons of people dress up like missionaries and then do stupid stuff, so to keep us from getting blamed for their mistakes we get locked in as zones.

who's the real missionaries and who is dressed up

We got to watch the Emperors New Groove, and Frozen.
Sister Hallett also taught me to crochet and so I made a hat,
it's not to bad for my first one, especially considering I made it in the dark. 

crocheted my first hat

I heard about Nikita going home, that's a bummer, but better to get it fixed now than later for sure!!! 

So let's think.....This week was not nearly as crazy, and actually not to much happened. All the older people are starting to leave for Arizona (snow birds) and it has greatly lessened our teaching pool. But that's alright we'll find others to teach!!! We had a lesson with Sister Zhang (literally an hour before she went home), and Sister Brinkerhoff, it really helped Ninn and she is starting to progress more and more. 

I really cant think of much else, it snowed, and that's cold. Since I live higher it snowed on us while the rest of Pocatello only got rain, not cool!!! We had like 50 million (ok only 5) trunk or treats we went to, and I'm so sick of candy!!! People feed us way to much here!!!! I'm getting a little sick of eating!!!! Ok not really, food is so good!!!! 

Sorry I don't have anything more to say, this week was just pretty average,fun, but average.  I guess we did have interviews with president, that was cool, we had a whole training on how to properly knock doors, that was a little strange, but always insightful!!! We also moved a LA out and she had nothing packed the day she was supposed to go, so we helped her, and all the boxes, and I mean hundreds of boxes, she had were liquor boxes, nothing fit in them it was horrible!!! and I guess we know what she needs to work on to be reactivated!!! Anyway I hope all is well and tell Ryan he should go out with the Elders, that would  help him a ton!!! And tell him good luck in wrestling!!!!!! 

Love, 

Sister Sondrup 

 notes from the zone leaders in my planning book.