Hey Y'all!
In case you couldn't tell the subject line is a take off of the board game "Clue". That is the way I am going to kill Hermana Moran!! Ha ha yup that's right, I've got another transfer here in San Marcos with Sister Moran and I will be killing her off cause she goes home in February. So I got my very first transfer call last night- the suspense of waiting for those is so intense! But yay, I am so happy to be staying here in San Marcos, I love our ward and I would be so sad to leave before Christmas! So ya I will be here prolly for 2 more transfers (Sisters usually serve for 4 transfers in an area) which is awesome cause like I said, I love the Ward!! The area is cool too and we are going to get some work going on here! I have already decided that I am going to kill Hermana Moran by exhaustion!! We are going to get up every morning and before we head out the door I will tell her "Hermana Moran, because I love you so much I am going to work you to death today and there will be no way that you can get trunky!" (sound familiar Adam, lol I take your advice!!) so ya I am excited for this new transfer!
As far as the work in San Marcos, all is well! We have a lesson tonight with Sirenia and Aurellio, a Hispanic couple that have a little 1 1/2 year old boy, Diego. They are way cool and tonight we are teaching them the Plan of Salvation with the law of chastity. They have been living together for 3 years and have Diego together, but are not married. SO we are working towards a weddism (wedding and a baptism). They both have said that they will be baptized if they feel that this is the true church. They are keeping their commitments and reading in the book of mormon and praying about it. Aurellio always has lots of questions and is way into it and that is helping move Sirenia along also. Our main concern with them though is church. They both have crazy work schedules and often work on Sundays, so we have not been able to get them to church yet. So if you would, please pray for them. I have Faith and Hope that it will work out- they are both so prepared!!! We also have Minerva still- she is going to get baptized, it is no longer a question of if, but a question of when!! She has been going to church regularly and now has come to our ward 5 times, three times before I got here, and 2 with me here. So ya she is just hung up on having her husband perform the ordinance and he is not worthy. So another one to pray about, but it will work out! :)
So Christmas is upon us!! Here in San Marcos we have a super awesome day planned out! Once again because our ward is so amazing we are splitting up our festivities with several different families! Everyone wants a piece of the missionaries! ha ha jk SO anyway on Christmas eve we are going to this hispanic family's house and in their culture the 24th is the big day of celebration, so we are having a feast over at their place!! Then on Christmas morning we are getting up and taking all of our presents over to the Wilde's to open our present altogether as a family, us the Elders and the Wildes (aww how cute! lol) and then we are having a big Christmas Brunch. Then we are gogin to the San Marcos River where several members of the ward are meeting up to go for a swim! Yup that's right, those crazies swim the river on Christmas day!! We get to watch that, should be pretty funny! Then over to the Smith's house for as Brother Smith likes to call it- A Giant Spread!! More food!! Then over to the Davis' house for Christmas Dinner and yet again more food. Then home to the apartment to make our Christmas phone calls home!!! :) So ya should be an awesome Christmas!!
So all is well in San Marcos! This past week we taught Seminary which was way fun!!! Mom you will be getting a video here prolly in the next couple weeks that I took of us practicing our song/skit for the lesson. It was hilarious and the kids LOVED it!! I have to say that I love the youth of the church!!! Ha ha but apparently with some of the boys in our ward the feeling is mutual. I guess I am just too cool for my own good. One of the bretheren in the ward told me his son has a crush on me, which my comp and I already figured out cause he kept flirting with me! Dude I am a missionary and your 17, back off! ha ha And apparently the Seminary has it that a few more of the priests have me on their secret crush lists! lol man what is all this about! SO my comp and I have been very professional like around the Young Men lately so as to snap it into their heads that I am a servant of the Lord! lol It is funny!
Alright, well I am loving the mission, loving San Marcos and loving Christmas! Y'all have an awesome Christmas now ya hear!
Love ya much,
Hermana Kleisler
Always- SMILING ALL THE WHILE!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
If you chance to meet a frown do not let it stay!!!
Hey Y'all!!!
So let me tell you I have learned a lot this week!! The other day I could tell something was just eating at my companion and she was not being herself. I told her to tell me what was bugging her. She was real hesitant and I told her- SISTER TELL ME!! I don't get offended easily and if there is something I can do better, than just let me know! So finally she told me that I had been being pretty negative lately and it was having an effect on me and the work and other missionaries. So we talked about it and realized that I had unconsciously gotten pretty negative over the past 2 weeks or so. It had been hard to have no success and just feel like we were getting no where and I let that bring me down. I was still working and everything but I had kind of lost hope I guess you could say. SO once my comp mentioned that to me I got right to changing that frown upside down!! It has been amazing ever since! I can't say that we have had more success or that our numbers are better- they are actually even worse than last week, ha ha- but when I take it all with a positive attitude and with hope and Faith it is amazing what a difference it makes!! SO ya I learned that lesson this week with the help of the Lord. I tell ya the mission is where you really figure out yourself. I have grown and changed so much since last March when this all began!! I am so grateful to the Lord that he has given me this incredible opportunity!!!
So some things that happened this week. We got a car- yay!! We don't have to share with the Elders anymore! Which is so awesome, it also means we only have to ride our bikes when we want to. This way we can put our bikes on the bike rack, drive our car across the scary freeway that we should NOT be riding our bikes on, and park then get on our bikes in the neighborhoods. Makes much more sense! so YAY for our little 2007 Silver Toyota Corolla, we love it! Ok so also I had my first ever investigator at church!! Woot woot! It was Minerva- she is the one that has backed out of two baptismal dates and we dropped her about 2 weeks ago because she hasn't been progressing and she hasn't even been coming to our ward- she would go to a ward up in Austin that is all Spanish Speaking. SO ya she turns up at church yesterday- sweet sauce! SO we go talk to her and she is all- so when are you going to come teach me again(she loves having us teach her) so I answered her (In Spanish mind you) Well when are you going to be baptized? (How is that fro being bold- ha ha) So she was like well, why don't you come over this week and we will plan it! Hna Moran was like we already planned it 2 times, it's all planned! Ha ha but ya we will see her this week and see where it goes. I am not sure if anything has changed yet and if she is going to be baptized- but I will have hope!! :) So other cool things from this week- we made cookies!! My comp and I made a TON of sugar cookies and decorated them and everything and we have been taking them to less actives and stuff! It has been a lot of fun to bring holiday cheer to people!!
Things are going well here in San Marcos and I am learning all about how to have FAITH and HOPE!! Seriously along with the toughness I have to have hope! Ha ha funny concept- well I am glad I at least got it figured out!
Until next week- much love!!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler
So let me tell you I have learned a lot this week!! The other day I could tell something was just eating at my companion and she was not being herself. I told her to tell me what was bugging her. She was real hesitant and I told her- SISTER TELL ME!! I don't get offended easily and if there is something I can do better, than just let me know! So finally she told me that I had been being pretty negative lately and it was having an effect on me and the work and other missionaries. So we talked about it and realized that I had unconsciously gotten pretty negative over the past 2 weeks or so. It had been hard to have no success and just feel like we were getting no where and I let that bring me down. I was still working and everything but I had kind of lost hope I guess you could say. SO once my comp mentioned that to me I got right to changing that frown upside down!! It has been amazing ever since! I can't say that we have had more success or that our numbers are better- they are actually even worse than last week, ha ha- but when I take it all with a positive attitude and with hope and Faith it is amazing what a difference it makes!! SO ya I learned that lesson this week with the help of the Lord. I tell ya the mission is where you really figure out yourself. I have grown and changed so much since last March when this all began!! I am so grateful to the Lord that he has given me this incredible opportunity!!!
So some things that happened this week. We got a car- yay!! We don't have to share with the Elders anymore! Which is so awesome, it also means we only have to ride our bikes when we want to. This way we can put our bikes on the bike rack, drive our car across the scary freeway that we should NOT be riding our bikes on, and park then get on our bikes in the neighborhoods. Makes much more sense! so YAY for our little 2007 Silver Toyota Corolla, we love it! Ok so also I had my first ever investigator at church!! Woot woot! It was Minerva- she is the one that has backed out of two baptismal dates and we dropped her about 2 weeks ago because she hasn't been progressing and she hasn't even been coming to our ward- she would go to a ward up in Austin that is all Spanish Speaking. SO ya she turns up at church yesterday- sweet sauce! SO we go talk to her and she is all- so when are you going to come teach me again(she loves having us teach her) so I answered her (In Spanish mind you) Well when are you going to be baptized? (How is that fro being bold- ha ha) So she was like well, why don't you come over this week and we will plan it! Hna Moran was like we already planned it 2 times, it's all planned! Ha ha but ya we will see her this week and see where it goes. I am not sure if anything has changed yet and if she is going to be baptized- but I will have hope!! :) So other cool things from this week- we made cookies!! My comp and I made a TON of sugar cookies and decorated them and everything and we have been taking them to less actives and stuff! It has been a lot of fun to bring holiday cheer to people!!
Things are going well here in San Marcos and I am learning all about how to have FAITH and HOPE!! Seriously along with the toughness I have to have hope! Ha ha funny concept- well I am glad I at least got it figured out!
Until next week- much love!!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Some more pictures from Hermana Kleisler!
Two Amazing Hermanas!
Getting ready for Christmas!
She was so excited to see a real-live armadillo!
Hermana Kleisler!
Hermana Kleisler and her trainer, Hermana Moran
Getting ready for Christmas!
She was so excited to see a real-live armadillo!
Hermana Kleisler!
Hermana Kleisler and her trainer, Hermana Moran
Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming
Hey Y'all!!!
I'd love to tell ya that this past week has been amazing and things have totally turned around, but truth is they haven't. I still haven't got my 2nd lesson yet. We had 5 total lessons taught for the entire week! That is some kind of bad! BUT on the up side we are still going! Man it seems that nothing can bring us down and I am realizing that I am tougher than I thought I was!!! So this week we had interviews with President Cutler. My first real interview with President- it was AWESOME!! That man is amazing! I was able to just talk to him- tell him everything that was on my mind and he listened and poured out great advice and constantly told me of his love for me. President Cutler is on the top of my list of some of the most awesomest (not a word I know) people in the world. So anyway during our interview we talked about the work here, he knows how bad our numbers are and everything and then also I told him about how we got pulled over by the cops the other night! Yup that's right, we got pulled over while riding our bikes!! I told President about how it really isn't safe for us to be riding our bikes all the time because we have to cross some major highways and to get to parts of our area we have to ride on the access roads and stuff. So ya he wasn't really aware of that situation. Sister Moran also told him of her concerns about the bikes. So then later this week I found out that this coming transfer President has to close a sister area and because we just told him how dangerous our area is for us, because we aren't having any success and also because a lot of the times they like to transfer greenies if they don't have a baptism in their first transfer. So ya Sister Moran and I have been worrying that we are going to be doubled out (both be transferred) and President will put Elders in our area. But then we had an ET (Emergency Transfer) go down here this week so we lost poor Elder Sloan and got an Elder who had to leave his area for some reason or another. SO anyway our new Elder had an interview with Pres yesterday and told him how we were worried that we were going to be doubled out and President told him that he was thinking that our area is kinda dangerous the way it is so they are prolly going to give us our own car and we will both stay here. SO ya that's what's going on here in San Marcos! lol So I don't really know what is going to happen cause everything I hear is just that- hear say! lol We will find out for sure in two weeks.
SO other things going on here. We had exchanges this week- my very first exchanges!!! SO cool! It was a lot of fun- Sister Cuenallo came down from Canyon Lake and spent the day with me riding bikes around San Marcos. She hated the bikes lol, which cracks me up cause I love them!!! We also coached the YW in b-ball this week, it was our first practice and it was A LOT of fun!!! The girls are awesome and the whole thing is just a really neat experience for us and them! So ya also we had enrichment night this week and that was cool, it has been neat getting to know the ward better.
So ya yesterday was Fast Sunday and I fasted for help in knowing how we could best go about the work here in San Marcos. Well we have an answer, we are really going to focus on the members. Knocking and talking to everyone just isn't working right now, so we are goign to turn our focus to the members. We are going to spend most of our days visiting members and Less Actives and encouraging all to do missionary work. I have faith that this will produce results. If we do end up staying here next transfer and getting a car that will greatly help this effort because a lot of our members live in the elders area and are too far to bike to. So ya, I have hope for San Marcos and I think with this new way we can get some work done here!!! :) I am excited for the up coming week as we dig into our new strategy!!
This truly is the Lord's work and we can't do anything without him. I hope y'all have a fabulous week!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE,
Hermana Kleisler
PS- Thanks Aunt Elaine for the package- I LOVED IT oh and also for the record, the junk food ban has totally been lifted! lol I have been eating junk left and right!!! :) Gotta have my comfort food!
I'd love to tell ya that this past week has been amazing and things have totally turned around, but truth is they haven't. I still haven't got my 2nd lesson yet. We had 5 total lessons taught for the entire week! That is some kind of bad! BUT on the up side we are still going! Man it seems that nothing can bring us down and I am realizing that I am tougher than I thought I was!!! So this week we had interviews with President Cutler. My first real interview with President- it was AWESOME!! That man is amazing! I was able to just talk to him- tell him everything that was on my mind and he listened and poured out great advice and constantly told me of his love for me. President Cutler is on the top of my list of some of the most awesomest (not a word I know) people in the world. So anyway during our interview we talked about the work here, he knows how bad our numbers are and everything and then also I told him about how we got pulled over by the cops the other night! Yup that's right, we got pulled over while riding our bikes!! I told President about how it really isn't safe for us to be riding our bikes all the time because we have to cross some major highways and to get to parts of our area we have to ride on the access roads and stuff. So ya he wasn't really aware of that situation. Sister Moran also told him of her concerns about the bikes. So then later this week I found out that this coming transfer President has to close a sister area and because we just told him how dangerous our area is for us, because we aren't having any success and also because a lot of the times they like to transfer greenies if they don't have a baptism in their first transfer. So ya Sister Moran and I have been worrying that we are going to be doubled out (both be transferred) and President will put Elders in our area. But then we had an ET (Emergency Transfer) go down here this week so we lost poor Elder Sloan and got an Elder who had to leave his area for some reason or another. SO anyway our new Elder had an interview with Pres yesterday and told him how we were worried that we were going to be doubled out and President told him that he was thinking that our area is kinda dangerous the way it is so they are prolly going to give us our own car and we will both stay here. SO ya that's what's going on here in San Marcos! lol So I don't really know what is going to happen cause everything I hear is just that- hear say! lol We will find out for sure in two weeks.
SO other things going on here. We had exchanges this week- my very first exchanges!!! SO cool! It was a lot of fun- Sister Cuenallo came down from Canyon Lake and spent the day with me riding bikes around San Marcos. She hated the bikes lol, which cracks me up cause I love them!!! We also coached the YW in b-ball this week, it was our first practice and it was A LOT of fun!!! The girls are awesome and the whole thing is just a really neat experience for us and them! So ya also we had enrichment night this week and that was cool, it has been neat getting to know the ward better.
So ya yesterday was Fast Sunday and I fasted for help in knowing how we could best go about the work here in San Marcos. Well we have an answer, we are really going to focus on the members. Knocking and talking to everyone just isn't working right now, so we are goign to turn our focus to the members. We are going to spend most of our days visiting members and Less Actives and encouraging all to do missionary work. I have faith that this will produce results. If we do end up staying here next transfer and getting a car that will greatly help this effort because a lot of our members live in the elders area and are too far to bike to. So ya, I have hope for San Marcos and I think with this new way we can get some work done here!!! :) I am excited for the up coming week as we dig into our new strategy!!
This truly is the Lord's work and we can't do anything without him. I hope y'all have a fabulous week!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE,
Hermana Kleisler
PS- Thanks Aunt Elaine for the package- I LOVED IT oh and also for the record, the junk food ban has totally been lifted! lol I have been eating junk left and right!!! :) Gotta have my comfort food!
Monday, December 1, 2008
The Hunt for The Elusive Second Lesson
Hey Y'all!
I am so glad to hear all is well with everyone and y'all had good Thanksgivings! Things are well in San Marcos- it sure is a good thing I have that "Smiling All The While" Motto cause things continue to be rough! No one will let us back for second lessons! Or if they do it is cause they could really care less and they are not keeping commitments and are not progressing. We keep dropping investigators because no one is progressing. I'll tell ya the day we have an investigator show up to church I will prolly jump out of my seat and jump for joy! Ha ha seriously though! My trainer and I were talking the other day and I was like, is it just me or does it really stink right now? She said not to worry it's not just me- she said this is the hardest she has ever had it on her mission. Yup my first three weeks in the field are the hardest that my comp has had in her 16 months! ha ha Hopefully there is no correlation lol! But hey no negative stuff- I am always honest with y'all, you know me I say it like it is, so this is what it is. We currently don't have any progressing investigators. But we are working and staying positive!!! We found some people this past week that have potential, there is Jobita- we found her while we were riding our bikes to an appointment. She speaks Spanish and so we get to teach her in Spanish (always fun for me ha ha, every time we walk out of a Spanish appointment I am like- man I need to work on my Spanish!!!) lol so anyway we taught her the first lesson, but she has not come to church yet- we have another appointment this week with her. We also taught Fransisco, another Spanish lesson, he was a media referral, ordered Joy to The World- he's Catholic. They always like to say ya, but I am catholic so I'm good to go. Then I am all like, well my dad was catholic! ha ha but now he's a Mormon! You can be like him! lol okay so I didn't really say that, but I thought it! Ok so we are gonna see him again next week but I don't think he is really all that interested. We are also teaching George. We ran into him while we were riding our bikes (This is one of the reasons I love bikes- I think I will be sad when I am out of the bike area) and we taught him in his front yard, then went back and taught him with a member present. Then last night taught him again with a member present, but his kids were really being obnoxious so he didn't get too much out of it so we just reviewed the restoration again. Tomorrow we are going back while the kids are in school and we will hopefully teach him the SECOND LESSON!! Ha ha ya I have never taught a second lesson yet- lol funny!! People either just don't show up for their appointments or decide they aren't interested. SO anyway we have some prospects and we are working hard and I KNOW the Lord will make something happen, if anything else we are out planting a lot of seeds right now. I am thinking that I am getting a lot of work as a farmer right now- with a little bit more hope and Faith hopefully soon I will be a harvester!! :) Until then I will keep on Keeping on and putting all of my faith in my Heavenly Father.
Ok so my Thanksgiving was awesome! Of course I missed the family- I missed my mommy most of all- I always do. But we had a great time with the Wildes. They are this great young married couple, he is a tv news reporter and she is a ballet teacher and she is studying for the LSAT so she can apply to law school. They are both return missionaries, he served in Houston Texas and she served in Honalulu Hawaii. They had us over around noon and we were there all day! I kinda wanted to go out and work- I knew no one would listen to us if we went knocking but I figured we could ride our bikes around our neighborhood and talk to people who were outside. But that is just my greenie spirit- I always want to work, I would prolly run my trainer into the ground if she would let me! lol OK so anyway we had a great turkey dinner and then watched legacy and played phase ten and helped them set up their Christmas tree and looked at sis Wilde's mission scrapbook. It was a lot of fun. They are having us over for Christmas and New Year's Eve as well. Oh ya and I forgot in the morning we went over to Texas State and played in a little Turkey Bowl with the Student Branch. Fun fun, flag football- but once again I didn't want to go- it was during our study time so I wanted to study! Ha ha look at me, the work-aholic, study bug, obedient kid- the mission really has CHANGED me! lol :)
Ok so now I will tell you about my favorite part of this past week! We got to do service!! No one ever lets us do service!! They always have the Elders help them but never want the sisters to do anything. SO anyway we came up with our own service! Of course I was so excited to concoct a secret service project!!!! We went and bought rakes at Wal-mart (we would have borrowed them from ward members but all the members who live near us are in apartments) and we went out hunting for members and less actives yards to clean! It was so much fun! We went to this old lady in our ward's house and her yard needed to be mowed and we knew she was out of town- so we went into her shed and got out her lawn mower and I mowed her lawn and then we raked leaves and everything! We left her a little note and she called us last night when she got into town and she was so HAPPY!! She was so grateful for our service! Man I loved that!!!! So ya if you are every feeling down go out and serve somebody!!! It is the best feeling ever!! I love service!! :)
Ok well I had better wrap this up! I want y'all to know that I LOVE Texas!! I am coming home a full blood Texan for sure!! This place is awesome! I know that I have been sent here for a reason and that even though right now times are REALLY tough, the Lord has a plan for me. I am so grateful for this trial that I am currently going through. It has helped me to become a stronger person and to take rejections and also to stay positive no matter what. Most of all I am learning to rely on my Savior!!! Oh man am I ever! It is amazing what a blessing it is to have trials in your life. I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to learn and grow. :)
Love ya,
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler
I am so glad to hear all is well with everyone and y'all had good Thanksgivings! Things are well in San Marcos- it sure is a good thing I have that "Smiling All The While" Motto cause things continue to be rough! No one will let us back for second lessons! Or if they do it is cause they could really care less and they are not keeping commitments and are not progressing. We keep dropping investigators because no one is progressing. I'll tell ya the day we have an investigator show up to church I will prolly jump out of my seat and jump for joy! Ha ha seriously though! My trainer and I were talking the other day and I was like, is it just me or does it really stink right now? She said not to worry it's not just me- she said this is the hardest she has ever had it on her mission. Yup my first three weeks in the field are the hardest that my comp has had in her 16 months! ha ha Hopefully there is no correlation lol! But hey no negative stuff- I am always honest with y'all, you know me I say it like it is, so this is what it is. We currently don't have any progressing investigators. But we are working and staying positive!!! We found some people this past week that have potential, there is Jobita- we found her while we were riding our bikes to an appointment. She speaks Spanish and so we get to teach her in Spanish (always fun for me ha ha, every time we walk out of a Spanish appointment I am like- man I need to work on my Spanish!!!) lol so anyway we taught her the first lesson, but she has not come to church yet- we have another appointment this week with her. We also taught Fransisco, another Spanish lesson, he was a media referral, ordered Joy to The World- he's Catholic. They always like to say ya, but I am catholic so I'm good to go. Then I am all like, well my dad was catholic! ha ha but now he's a Mormon! You can be like him! lol okay so I didn't really say that, but I thought it! Ok so we are gonna see him again next week but I don't think he is really all that interested. We are also teaching George. We ran into him while we were riding our bikes (This is one of the reasons I love bikes- I think I will be sad when I am out of the bike area) and we taught him in his front yard, then went back and taught him with a member present. Then last night taught him again with a member present, but his kids were really being obnoxious so he didn't get too much out of it so we just reviewed the restoration again. Tomorrow we are going back while the kids are in school and we will hopefully teach him the SECOND LESSON!! Ha ha ya I have never taught a second lesson yet- lol funny!! People either just don't show up for their appointments or decide they aren't interested. SO anyway we have some prospects and we are working hard and I KNOW the Lord will make something happen, if anything else we are out planting a lot of seeds right now. I am thinking that I am getting a lot of work as a farmer right now- with a little bit more hope and Faith hopefully soon I will be a harvester!! :) Until then I will keep on Keeping on and putting all of my faith in my Heavenly Father.
Ok so my Thanksgiving was awesome! Of course I missed the family- I missed my mommy most of all- I always do. But we had a great time with the Wildes. They are this great young married couple, he is a tv news reporter and she is a ballet teacher and she is studying for the LSAT so she can apply to law school. They are both return missionaries, he served in Houston Texas and she served in Honalulu Hawaii. They had us over around noon and we were there all day! I kinda wanted to go out and work- I knew no one would listen to us if we went knocking but I figured we could ride our bikes around our neighborhood and talk to people who were outside. But that is just my greenie spirit- I always want to work, I would prolly run my trainer into the ground if she would let me! lol OK so anyway we had a great turkey dinner and then watched legacy and played phase ten and helped them set up their Christmas tree and looked at sis Wilde's mission scrapbook. It was a lot of fun. They are having us over for Christmas and New Year's Eve as well. Oh ya and I forgot in the morning we went over to Texas State and played in a little Turkey Bowl with the Student Branch. Fun fun, flag football- but once again I didn't want to go- it was during our study time so I wanted to study! Ha ha look at me, the work-aholic, study bug, obedient kid- the mission really has CHANGED me! lol :)
Ok so now I will tell you about my favorite part of this past week! We got to do service!! No one ever lets us do service!! They always have the Elders help them but never want the sisters to do anything. SO anyway we came up with our own service! Of course I was so excited to concoct a secret service project!!!! We went and bought rakes at Wal-mart (we would have borrowed them from ward members but all the members who live near us are in apartments) and we went out hunting for members and less actives yards to clean! It was so much fun! We went to this old lady in our ward's house and her yard needed to be mowed and we knew she was out of town- so we went into her shed and got out her lawn mower and I mowed her lawn and then we raked leaves and everything! We left her a little note and she called us last night when she got into town and she was so HAPPY!! She was so grateful for our service! Man I loved that!!!! So ya if you are every feeling down go out and serve somebody!!! It is the best feeling ever!! I love service!! :)
Ok well I had better wrap this up! I want y'all to know that I LOVE Texas!! I am coming home a full blood Texan for sure!! This place is awesome! I know that I have been sent here for a reason and that even though right now times are REALLY tough, the Lord has a plan for me. I am so grateful for this trial that I am currently going through. It has helped me to become a stronger person and to take rejections and also to stay positive no matter what. Most of all I am learning to rely on my Savior!!! Oh man am I ever! It is amazing what a blessing it is to have trials in your life. I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to learn and grow. :)
Love ya,
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler
Hermana Kleisler Pics
Here are some of the pictures that Hermana Kleisler sent me from Texas.
Hermana Kleisler with Elder Leonard, who was in her first group at the MTC
Hermana Kleisler, her companion Hermana Moran, and their District Leader Elder Squire on p-day
Still a Suns fan!!
Hermana Kleisler on a bike!!! Hee Hee! Just had to post this one!!
Hermana Kleisler with Elder Leonard, who was in her first group at the MTC
Hermana Kleisler, her companion Hermana Moran, and their District Leader Elder Squire on p-day
Still a Suns fan!!
Hermana Kleisler on a bike!!! Hee Hee! Just had to post this one!!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Green Things Grow
Hey Y'all!
A "super" friend of mine used to always tell me "Green things grow" and what do you know, he was for sure right!!! I have been doing a lot of growing this past week!! I don't even know where to start with everything. First I will start off with our numbers from this week- I won't give you the actual numbers, most of you prolly won't even know what they mean. lol But I will tell you that they were LOW, really low, lots of zeros and stuff. So basically that means we haven;t baptized anyone or even got baptismal dates or actually investigators for that matter. Our missionary "work" is a slow go right now. We actually got a little lecture from our district leader who got chewed out from our zone leader about the numbers. Our whole district had bad numbers. The fact of the matter is, we are working HARD, but people just don't want to listen. That's ok though because we will just have to work harder and then we will really get San Marcos booming!!
Throughout this really rough week I have grown a lot! The Lord has taken this opportunity to teach me so much and to really rely on him. We currently have 0 investigators. We had Minerva, but she just wasn't progressing and wouldn't commit to a baptismal date, so she is dropped. We do have a guy named Brian who ordered a bible from one of the church's commercials and he is going through a lot of tough stuff in his life right now and he is really looking for answers. We went over and taught him last night, we brought a member couple with us- the Whitesides, they are AWESOME!!!! They help us out so much, feeding us, giving us ride, coming to teaching appointments and many more things. So anyway the four of us went over and taught Brian yesterday and it went really well. We are teaching him tomorrow and he tells us he is really looking forward to church on Sunday, he is going to sit with the Whitesides, he likes Brother Whitesides because they both have their birthdays on Halloween. Ha ha ya but anyway Brian is our one glimmer of hope right now. We have a few more potentials, but no one golden. I am not worried though, we will just have to dig in and push harder. I am getting my comp going for sure, ha ha all of my greenie spirit doesn't let us sit in one place for too long- I like to get out there and work!!!
So the ward here in San Marcos is pretty much awesome! We have a wide variety of people that is for sure!! I already have a few "favorites" I guess you could say. People that I go to when we need something, there are several members who are really there for us missionaries, which is awesome!! So yesterday in our ward council meeting (missionaries sit in on all of those ward welfare and PEC and the like every Sunday before church) the YW President said that their YW were going to start up a basketball team for the stake YW B-Ball tournament in February. They want to start practicing right away, but they need a coach. Right away I was like...light bulb... I could be their coach. So I suggested it and they thought that was a great idea. We got the idea approved through the zone leaders and everything. So now for a half hour every Wednesday night my comp and I are going to go down to the church and coach the YW. I am so excited!! It is a great way for us to do service. We are always looking for service opportunities but no one ever has anything for us to do- they always ask the Elders instead. SO anyway this can be a service project for us and also a great way for us to develop relationships with the young women and build relationships of trust with the ward. Also we will encourage the girls to bring non-member friends and hopefully that can lead somewhere. So ya that is the fun and exciting things happening in the San Marcos ward. Oh and also Bishop had some fun with me on Sunday. Let me explain. Our ward has English and Spanish, but mostly English, so they have someone translate during sacrament meeting and the Spanish speakers wear the headphones and listen. Well every 2nd and 4th Sunday they have a seperate Spanish Sacrament meeting. They hold it at the same time as the English one, it's in the relief society room and there are usual about 20 people who attend. So yesterday was a Spanish Sacrament meeting and my comp and I went to it and the Elders went to the English one. They never come to the Spanish one- I guess cause mostly only are half of the ward are the Spanish speakers. SO anyway after the two speakers spoke the Bishop got up (he speaks Spanish but he is a total Gringo) and he said (in Spanish) "We have a new sister missionary in the ward and I would like to have her come up and bear her testimony to you and tell you some of her thoughts and feelings on Missionary Work." Luckily I understood him- that would have been really embarrassing if I had just sat there staring of into space. Ya so I walked up there and bore my testimony and talked a little about missionary work- all in Spanish and then sat down. Ha ha well I guess I have been broken into the ward now. lol
SO who wants to hear about the funny things that have happened this week? I am sure y'all do!! Ha ha ok so here is my very first big "Greenie Mistake"- Thursday night I was tired and we were getting ready for bed. Sister Moran was in the shower and I was in charge of taking District Call (the DL calls every night to see how our day went, see if we are ok and all that jazz) well we have been switching off taking DL call every night and I was used to it, but since we had just seen the Elders not even two hours before bed I was not surprised when Elder Squire did not call. I figured it was no big deal and I went ahead and turned off the cell phone, put it on the charger and went to bed. Well in the middle of the night sister Moran and I were jerked awake by the sound of pounding on our apartment door. We woke up and sister Moran said "I am going to answer it" I said "are you crazy?!?" we had no clue how late it was, we were in a deep sleep before we were rudely awakened and both thought it was like 3am. Well we sat there on our beds, not knowing what to do, and then heard pounding on our window! We were both a little freaked out. Then I heard the Elders voices, so I went and opened the door and there stood the Elders and Brother and Sister Whitesides. My comp and I grumpily looked at them and were like "what the heck do you want? We were SLEEPING!!!" Then Elder Squire says he got so worried when he tried to call us for District Call and it went to voice mail. They tried calling several times, then they called the Zone Leaders and then they called the Assistants to the President. The ap's told the Elders to find a member to give them a ride and come check on us, make sure we were home and safe. So at 11:30 at night the Whitesides went and picked up the Elders and came to check on us. Ya my bad- lol. So the next day was zone conference. We drove up to Austin and met with all the other missionaries in the Austin area (about 60 of us in total) and with President Cutler, his wife and the AP's. As the meeting started President got up to the pulpit and was giving announcments and then randomly out of nowhere stared straight at me and with a big smile on his face said and we all nkow that we never turn off our cell phones right? I smiled and sheepishly said "Yes President". I learned my lesson for sure- ha ha and Sister Moran says that she tole me that we never turn our phones off, but I honestly don't remember hearing that! lol maybe it was my selective hearing kicking in. Ha ha
Well I will leave you with one of the cool things I have learned as a greenie. We had a tough week, a really tough one and as I was thinking about it I was able to not get discouraged and know that the Lord would help me (the old Kristi would not have been able to do that- I would have broken down on the third day out here prolly) I am constantly amazed at how strong the Lord has helped me to be and how positive I can be- I know that I am only doing so well because the Lord is right there by my side. So this week as we were striking out constantly the Lord found little ways to throw me a bone and give me the little boost I needed. One of those ways was y'all's mail- that helped me so much!!! Thanks to Jennie, Max, Allison, Lindsey Frost, KT, Uncle Jeff and Cristina for your mail!!!!!!! I loved it so much!! Another bone that was thrown to me came while we were having dinner with a member family. We were teaching them about the Book of Mormon and I was bearing my testimony of it, and the neatest thing happened to me, I can't really even put it into words, but as I was teaching and bearing my testimony I had this overwhelmingly powerful feeling that made me almost want to cry. I was testify of these things and the spirit was so strongly reassuring me that they were true. I was blown away by the amazing feeling that I felt that I really do know these things to be true. Like I said, it's hard to explain, but it was so totally the Lord reaching out to me saying I love ya kid, keep working hard, you know what you stand for and you know why you are here.
Well I truly have learned so much this week and I am so grateful for the amazing opportunity to be a missionary. I also am grateful for the fact that my very first week was so hard. Now when I have success and things go really well I won't take it for granted and I will know that it came from God.
I love y'all so much and am truly grateful for your support!!!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE-
Hermana Kleisler
A "super" friend of mine used to always tell me "Green things grow" and what do you know, he was for sure right!!! I have been doing a lot of growing this past week!! I don't even know where to start with everything. First I will start off with our numbers from this week- I won't give you the actual numbers, most of you prolly won't even know what they mean. lol But I will tell you that they were LOW, really low, lots of zeros and stuff. So basically that means we haven;t baptized anyone or even got baptismal dates or actually investigators for that matter. Our missionary "work" is a slow go right now. We actually got a little lecture from our district leader who got chewed out from our zone leader about the numbers. Our whole district had bad numbers. The fact of the matter is, we are working HARD, but people just don't want to listen. That's ok though because we will just have to work harder and then we will really get San Marcos booming!!
Throughout this really rough week I have grown a lot! The Lord has taken this opportunity to teach me so much and to really rely on him. We currently have 0 investigators. We had Minerva, but she just wasn't progressing and wouldn't commit to a baptismal date, so she is dropped. We do have a guy named Brian who ordered a bible from one of the church's commercials and he is going through a lot of tough stuff in his life right now and he is really looking for answers. We went over and taught him last night, we brought a member couple with us- the Whitesides, they are AWESOME!!!! They help us out so much, feeding us, giving us ride, coming to teaching appointments and many more things. So anyway the four of us went over and taught Brian yesterday and it went really well. We are teaching him tomorrow and he tells us he is really looking forward to church on Sunday, he is going to sit with the Whitesides, he likes Brother Whitesides because they both have their birthdays on Halloween. Ha ha ya but anyway Brian is our one glimmer of hope right now. We have a few more potentials, but no one golden. I am not worried though, we will just have to dig in and push harder. I am getting my comp going for sure, ha ha all of my greenie spirit doesn't let us sit in one place for too long- I like to get out there and work!!!
So the ward here in San Marcos is pretty much awesome! We have a wide variety of people that is for sure!! I already have a few "favorites" I guess you could say. People that I go to when we need something, there are several members who are really there for us missionaries, which is awesome!! So yesterday in our ward council meeting (missionaries sit in on all of those ward welfare and PEC and the like every Sunday before church) the YW President said that their YW were going to start up a basketball team for the stake YW B-Ball tournament in February. They want to start practicing right away, but they need a coach. Right away I was like...light bulb... I could be their coach. So I suggested it and they thought that was a great idea. We got the idea approved through the zone leaders and everything. So now for a half hour every Wednesday night my comp and I are going to go down to the church and coach the YW. I am so excited!! It is a great way for us to do service. We are always looking for service opportunities but no one ever has anything for us to do- they always ask the Elders instead. SO anyway this can be a service project for us and also a great way for us to develop relationships with the young women and build relationships of trust with the ward. Also we will encourage the girls to bring non-member friends and hopefully that can lead somewhere. So ya that is the fun and exciting things happening in the San Marcos ward. Oh and also Bishop had some fun with me on Sunday. Let me explain. Our ward has English and Spanish, but mostly English, so they have someone translate during sacrament meeting and the Spanish speakers wear the headphones and listen. Well every 2nd and 4th Sunday they have a seperate Spanish Sacrament meeting. They hold it at the same time as the English one, it's in the relief society room and there are usual about 20 people who attend. So yesterday was a Spanish Sacrament meeting and my comp and I went to it and the Elders went to the English one. They never come to the Spanish one- I guess cause mostly only are half of the ward are the Spanish speakers. SO anyway after the two speakers spoke the Bishop got up (he speaks Spanish but he is a total Gringo) and he said (in Spanish) "We have a new sister missionary in the ward and I would like to have her come up and bear her testimony to you and tell you some of her thoughts and feelings on Missionary Work." Luckily I understood him- that would have been really embarrassing if I had just sat there staring of into space. Ya so I walked up there and bore my testimony and talked a little about missionary work- all in Spanish and then sat down. Ha ha well I guess I have been broken into the ward now. lol
SO who wants to hear about the funny things that have happened this week? I am sure y'all do!! Ha ha ok so here is my very first big "Greenie Mistake"- Thursday night I was tired and we were getting ready for bed. Sister Moran was in the shower and I was in charge of taking District Call (the DL calls every night to see how our day went, see if we are ok and all that jazz) well we have been switching off taking DL call every night and I was used to it, but since we had just seen the Elders not even two hours before bed I was not surprised when Elder Squire did not call. I figured it was no big deal and I went ahead and turned off the cell phone, put it on the charger and went to bed. Well in the middle of the night sister Moran and I were jerked awake by the sound of pounding on our apartment door. We woke up and sister Moran said "I am going to answer it" I said "are you crazy?!?" we had no clue how late it was, we were in a deep sleep before we were rudely awakened and both thought it was like 3am. Well we sat there on our beds, not knowing what to do, and then heard pounding on our window! We were both a little freaked out. Then I heard the Elders voices, so I went and opened the door and there stood the Elders and Brother and Sister Whitesides. My comp and I grumpily looked at them and were like "what the heck do you want? We were SLEEPING!!!" Then Elder Squire says he got so worried when he tried to call us for District Call and it went to voice mail. They tried calling several times, then they called the Zone Leaders and then they called the Assistants to the President. The ap's told the Elders to find a member to give them a ride and come check on us, make sure we were home and safe. So at 11:30 at night the Whitesides went and picked up the Elders and came to check on us. Ya my bad- lol. So the next day was zone conference. We drove up to Austin and met with all the other missionaries in the Austin area (about 60 of us in total) and with President Cutler, his wife and the AP's. As the meeting started President got up to the pulpit and was giving announcments and then randomly out of nowhere stared straight at me and with a big smile on his face said and we all nkow that we never turn off our cell phones right? I smiled and sheepishly said "Yes President". I learned my lesson for sure- ha ha and Sister Moran says that she tole me that we never turn our phones off, but I honestly don't remember hearing that! lol maybe it was my selective hearing kicking in. Ha ha
Well I will leave you with one of the cool things I have learned as a greenie. We had a tough week, a really tough one and as I was thinking about it I was able to not get discouraged and know that the Lord would help me (the old Kristi would not have been able to do that- I would have broken down on the third day out here prolly) I am constantly amazed at how strong the Lord has helped me to be and how positive I can be- I know that I am only doing so well because the Lord is right there by my side. So this week as we were striking out constantly the Lord found little ways to throw me a bone and give me the little boost I needed. One of those ways was y'all's mail- that helped me so much!!! Thanks to Jennie, Max, Allison, Lindsey Frost, KT, Uncle Jeff and Cristina for your mail!!!!!!! I loved it so much!! Another bone that was thrown to me came while we were having dinner with a member family. We were teaching them about the Book of Mormon and I was bearing my testimony of it, and the neatest thing happened to me, I can't really even put it into words, but as I was teaching and bearing my testimony I had this overwhelmingly powerful feeling that made me almost want to cry. I was testify of these things and the spirit was so strongly reassuring me that they were true. I was blown away by the amazing feeling that I felt that I really do know these things to be true. Like I said, it's hard to explain, but it was so totally the Lord reaching out to me saying I love ya kid, keep working hard, you know what you stand for and you know why you are here.
Well I truly have learned so much this week and I am so grateful for the amazing opportunity to be a missionary. I also am grateful for the fact that my very first week was so hard. Now when I have success and things go really well I won't take it for granted and I will know that it came from God.
I love y'all so much and am truly grateful for your support!!!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE-
Hermana Kleisler
Monday, November 17, 2008
Hermana Kleisler's MTC Pics!
Hermana Kleisler and her roommates. 3 of them went to San Antonio with her and 1 went to New Mexico.
Some of the missionaries in Hermana Kleisler's zone at the Provo Temple.
Hermana Kleisler's district on Halloween. All the hermanas dressed up with the elders' ties.
The same old Kristi!!
YIKES, BIKES!!
Here is Hermana Kleisler's first e-mail from Texas. So..... whoever tattled on me about not posting her e-mails, now you can tell her that I posted her e-mail!!
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Hermana Kleisler with her Mission President and his wife on her first day in San Antonio
Howdy Y'all!!!
It's time for the much anticipated e-mail..... I've got three words for you...... SAN MARCOS TEXAS!! So where the heck is that you might ask, well it's about half way in between San Antonio and Austin. A little bit closer to Austin than San Antonio. San Marcos has a population of about 50,000 when school is in session, it's main landmarks or points of attraction are: Texas State University, A Giant Outlet Mall and Hermana Kleisler riding a bike in a skirt with a dorky helmet!! Yup that's right, at the current moment there happens to only be one area in my entire mission that has sisters on bikes- and it is San Marcos! lol So ya I have been blessed with the pleasure of riding a bike! ha ha Honestly it is quite a sight to see.
So more about my area, my trainer my ward, everything....
Well first of San Marcos has one ward for the entire city and they have two sets of missionaries, us and a set of Elders- the District Leader Elder Squire (my dad- that's is what you call your first DL in the field) and his comp Elder Sloan. We see them ALOT because we cover the same ward and also we share a car. They get the car the first part of the week and then we have it for the last. The days we don't have the car we ride our bikes. So anyway we are San Marcos A and they are San Marcos B. We cover the same ward but we have it split in two. They cover the half that is over by the University because they also are over the University Student Branch. We only have the San Marcos ward and we cover the other half which is more ghetto(for lack of a better term). So ya the area of San Marcos has it's nicer areas and um more ghetto areas. The nicest being about like where we live, our neighborhood and stuff- so like middle class. Most of our area though is hole in the wall places, lots of mobile homes and trailer parks. I am actually quite grateful that I was born (that's what they call your first area- the place you were born on the mission) in a poorer area. Although I'll tell ya I felt like a spoiled rich kid when we were knocking in a trailer park the other day. Ok so ya because we've got the more ghetto side of town we've got more Spanish- ha ha yes! Take that Elders, lol, ya our Elders don't have much Spanish on their side. I have spoken Spanish every day since I have been here and I am sure for as long as I am in San Marcos I will be speaking Spanish. Which should be quite awhile. See my Trainer goes home at the beginning of February so she only has one more transfer after this one. President likes to keep the sisters in their areas for at least three transfers usually. So once I kill (that's what it's called when you are the companion they have right before they leave the mish) my trainer I will prolly stay in the area at least one more transfer so they don't have to double in (that's what it's called when you have two new missionaries in the area, Kevin's mission calls it "White Washing") So ya I will most likely be here about 6 months, at least until my B-day in March. So ya cool stuff- I better get fit what with riding a bike for 6 months!! lol I have to say I find it quite hilarious cause both my brothers never had to ride bikes on their missions, but their sister does- ironic!! Ok so about my trainer. Her name is Hermana Moran and she is from Santa Anna California. Her parents moved here from Mexico before she was born so she was raised speaking Spanish. She speaks both Spanish and English fluently. It is so cool cause her Spanish is perfect, but so is her English, she doesn't have an accent or anything when she speaks English. She is 24 and graduated with a Bachelor's in Government from Cornell. She is super cool- we get along great. She is pretty chill and relaxed, not very girly or lovey touchy feely, I love her! ha ha Ya so our companionship is going great, We have a lot of fun together and she teaches me ALOT!! Ok so our apartment isn't too bad it's not the Ritz or anything but it's nice enough for how often we are there!
Now for something very important- MY ADDRESS!!! Ya'll need to send stuff straight to my apartment because the city of San Antonio will not forward anything to us from the mission home. So if you send stuff to the mission home I won't get it till Zone Confrence or Transfer meetings. SO send packages and letters to the apartment. My address won't be changing for prolly six months so go ahead and put this on the blog and give this address to everybody mom. I want mail!! lol My comp and I have checked the mailbox every night after a long days work and we get sad when we see it sitting there all empty. So here is my address PLEASE SEND ME LETTERS!!!!
Hermana Kleisler
520 Linda Dr. Apt. 2403
San Marcos, TX 78666
Ok cool so now I expect to see things in my mailbox late this week! :) I think it only takes 3 days from Arizona and/or Utah (Adam, Downy, Mortimer)
More stuff to tell you. Well the members here are great- they feed us pretty much every night so yay for that!! I am really coming to appreciate FOOD! I have decided that while I am in San Marcos I can eat dessert because I am biking around so much I am working off the calories. Oh btw our bikes are actually pretty nice, they are the missions bikes that they let us use. My happens to be a baby blue color- blah, but they are girl bikes which means the cross bar goes down lower so we are able to get on easier with our skirts. There are several members who are pretty cool so if we need to go to a further part of our area on a day that we don't have the car we can usually get a member to drive us.
Ok well I am sure there are more things I have forgotten to tell y'all so write me and ask me some questions!!! I will quickly tell y'all about the work out here. In our area we are going to really blitzkreig it this week. It used to be San Marcos plus the Kyle ward in the sisters area so this past transfer they changed the assignment and know they put some Elders in Kyle and have the sisters only doing San Marcos. So ya Sister Moran was here last transfer but they spent a lot more of their time in Kyle so there is not a whole lot going on here in San Marcos. We have one investigator who has had a baptismal date twice (she is Spanish so I have taught her in Spanish, woot woot look at me teaching in Espanol my first week) but both times she backed out. This last time, the day before I got here she said she didn't feel ready and thought she should be happier about her baptism. SO she canceled it again. So ya we are working with her. Other than that we have a few luke warm investigators. We did knock into someone this week and taught him on Friday- he is for sure a possibility I think. SO anyway the work is going slow here in San Marcos but it is about to pick up because Sisters Kleisler and Moran are going to GET TO WORK!!! :)
Alright well that's all for now. I will leave you with a little blonde moment I had the other day.
-We were sitting in the car looking at the Ward list for members to visit (it was at night and we can't do too much once it gets dark here- no one wants to talk to us past 6, but we have to be out till 9, so we usually visit members or less actives at night) I was looking at the list and I turned to Sister Moran and said "Sister we need more people in our ward!!!" and she looked at me and said in a stating the obvious type voice "umm Sister Kleisler that is kinda our job, that's why we’re here" Then I laughed at myself and said "oh yeah!" lol So ya I am gonna get to work getting more people in our ward! Hope y'all have a great week and I hope to see some letters in my mailbox soon!!!!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler
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Hermana Kleisler with her Mission President and his wife on her first day in San Antonio
Howdy Y'all!!!
It's time for the much anticipated e-mail..... I've got three words for you...... SAN MARCOS TEXAS!! So where the heck is that you might ask, well it's about half way in between San Antonio and Austin. A little bit closer to Austin than San Antonio. San Marcos has a population of about 50,000 when school is in session, it's main landmarks or points of attraction are: Texas State University, A Giant Outlet Mall and Hermana Kleisler riding a bike in a skirt with a dorky helmet!! Yup that's right, at the current moment there happens to only be one area in my entire mission that has sisters on bikes- and it is San Marcos! lol So ya I have been blessed with the pleasure of riding a bike! ha ha Honestly it is quite a sight to see.
So more about my area, my trainer my ward, everything....
Well first of San Marcos has one ward for the entire city and they have two sets of missionaries, us and a set of Elders- the District Leader Elder Squire (my dad- that's is what you call your first DL in the field) and his comp Elder Sloan. We see them ALOT because we cover the same ward and also we share a car. They get the car the first part of the week and then we have it for the last. The days we don't have the car we ride our bikes. So anyway we are San Marcos A and they are San Marcos B. We cover the same ward but we have it split in two. They cover the half that is over by the University because they also are over the University Student Branch. We only have the San Marcos ward and we cover the other half which is more ghetto(for lack of a better term). So ya the area of San Marcos has it's nicer areas and um more ghetto areas. The nicest being about like where we live, our neighborhood and stuff- so like middle class. Most of our area though is hole in the wall places, lots of mobile homes and trailer parks. I am actually quite grateful that I was born (that's what they call your first area- the place you were born on the mission) in a poorer area. Although I'll tell ya I felt like a spoiled rich kid when we were knocking in a trailer park the other day. Ok so ya because we've got the more ghetto side of town we've got more Spanish- ha ha yes! Take that Elders, lol, ya our Elders don't have much Spanish on their side. I have spoken Spanish every day since I have been here and I am sure for as long as I am in San Marcos I will be speaking Spanish. Which should be quite awhile. See my Trainer goes home at the beginning of February so she only has one more transfer after this one. President likes to keep the sisters in their areas for at least three transfers usually. So once I kill (that's what it's called when you are the companion they have right before they leave the mish) my trainer I will prolly stay in the area at least one more transfer so they don't have to double in (that's what it's called when you have two new missionaries in the area, Kevin's mission calls it "White Washing") So ya I will most likely be here about 6 months, at least until my B-day in March. So ya cool stuff- I better get fit what with riding a bike for 6 months!! lol I have to say I find it quite hilarious cause both my brothers never had to ride bikes on their missions, but their sister does- ironic!! Ok so about my trainer. Her name is Hermana Moran and she is from Santa Anna California. Her parents moved here from Mexico before she was born so she was raised speaking Spanish. She speaks both Spanish and English fluently. It is so cool cause her Spanish is perfect, but so is her English, she doesn't have an accent or anything when she speaks English. She is 24 and graduated with a Bachelor's in Government from Cornell. She is super cool- we get along great. She is pretty chill and relaxed, not very girly or lovey touchy feely, I love her! ha ha Ya so our companionship is going great, We have a lot of fun together and she teaches me ALOT!! Ok so our apartment isn't too bad it's not the Ritz or anything but it's nice enough for how often we are there!
Now for something very important- MY ADDRESS!!! Ya'll need to send stuff straight to my apartment because the city of San Antonio will not forward anything to us from the mission home. So if you send stuff to the mission home I won't get it till Zone Confrence or Transfer meetings. SO send packages and letters to the apartment. My address won't be changing for prolly six months so go ahead and put this on the blog and give this address to everybody mom. I want mail!! lol My comp and I have checked the mailbox every night after a long days work and we get sad when we see it sitting there all empty. So here is my address PLEASE SEND ME LETTERS!!!!
Hermana Kleisler
520 Linda Dr. Apt. 2403
San Marcos, TX 78666
Ok cool so now I expect to see things in my mailbox late this week! :) I think it only takes 3 days from Arizona and/or Utah (Adam, Downy, Mortimer)
More stuff to tell you. Well the members here are great- they feed us pretty much every night so yay for that!! I am really coming to appreciate FOOD! I have decided that while I am in San Marcos I can eat dessert because I am biking around so much I am working off the calories. Oh btw our bikes are actually pretty nice, they are the missions bikes that they let us use. My happens to be a baby blue color- blah, but they are girl bikes which means the cross bar goes down lower so we are able to get on easier with our skirts. There are several members who are pretty cool so if we need to go to a further part of our area on a day that we don't have the car we can usually get a member to drive us.
Ok well I am sure there are more things I have forgotten to tell y'all so write me and ask me some questions!!! I will quickly tell y'all about the work out here. In our area we are going to really blitzkreig it this week. It used to be San Marcos plus the Kyle ward in the sisters area so this past transfer they changed the assignment and know they put some Elders in Kyle and have the sisters only doing San Marcos. So ya Sister Moran was here last transfer but they spent a lot more of their time in Kyle so there is not a whole lot going on here in San Marcos. We have one investigator who has had a baptismal date twice (she is Spanish so I have taught her in Spanish, woot woot look at me teaching in Espanol my first week) but both times she backed out. This last time, the day before I got here she said she didn't feel ready and thought she should be happier about her baptism. SO she canceled it again. So ya we are working with her. Other than that we have a few luke warm investigators. We did knock into someone this week and taught him on Friday- he is for sure a possibility I think. SO anyway the work is going slow here in San Marcos but it is about to pick up because Sisters Kleisler and Moran are going to GET TO WORK!!! :)
Alright well that's all for now. I will leave you with a little blonde moment I had the other day.
-We were sitting in the car looking at the Ward list for members to visit (it was at night and we can't do too much once it gets dark here- no one wants to talk to us past 6, but we have to be out till 9, so we usually visit members or less actives at night) I was looking at the list and I turned to Sister Moran and said "Sister we need more people in our ward!!!" and she looked at me and said in a stating the obvious type voice "umm Sister Kleisler that is kinda our job, that's why we’re here" Then I laughed at myself and said "oh yeah!" lol So ya I am gonna get to work getting more people in our ward! Hope y'all have a great week and I hope to see some letters in my mailbox soon!!!!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler
Monday, October 6, 2008
Hermana Kleisler Made it BACK to the MTC!!
Kristi left this morning on a flight bound for Provo. It was both happy and sad at the same time! She was in such good spirits, though, and so happy that it was easier to say goodbye this time. She had a great flight and got to speak to a couple of people about the church, something she never would have done before! But, she did have an issue with her luggage. Her largest suitcase had a big rip in it when she picked it up from baggage claim. Jennie's friend Pam picked her up along with her son Kyle, who will be entering the MTC at the end of the month headed for Mexico City. They had lunch at Olive Garden and then headed to Target to get new suitcases. So she arrived at the MTC with SIX suitcases and got to meet her new companions. I really wonder what they thought when they saw her standing there with that big pile of luggage!! She is happy and excited and will do so well!! Good luck Hermana Kleisler- go get 'em!
Hermana Trunnel, Hermana Kleisler, and Hermana Allred
SIX SUITCASES!!!!(The red ones are full, and very heavy, and the black ones are the empty new ones)
I updated her address on the top right of this blog, so please write her!!! She'll really appreciate it!
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Yet Again More Goodbyes
Don't fret my friends, my blog will be updated frequently so keep checking back. My mom will once again be putting updates and pictures of "Hermana Kleisler" on here.
Goodbye to my friend Kendra- ya I know we're silly!
Goodbyes at Kendra's Bachelorette dinner
Lindsey came over to say goodbye to me but she couldn't leave without givig dad a hair cut!! Ha ha
In a few hours I will be set apart as a missionary once again so I thought I would write a final goodbye. I am so grateful that I have had this opportunity to come home from my mission, even though it was quite a trial I learned so much and became a better person. I am so excited and ready to serve now. I hope that you all will write me and keep me up to date on things that are going on in your lives. One of my friends came up with the idea of printing out her blog posts and sending them to me- that way she didn't have to re-write things she'd already typed. I would love to receive blog posts in the mail or letters, postcards ANYTHING! Also for the first 5 weeks I am gone I will be in the MTC and you can write me a Dear Elder (dearelder.com- so easy!!!) Thank You all for all of your love and suport- I will be back in a year and a hallf- and no sooner this time!! lol :)
Goodbye to my friend Kendra- ya I know we're silly!
Goodbyes at Kendra's Bachelorette dinner
Lindsey came over to say goodbye to me but she couldn't leave without givig dad a hair cut!! Ha haIn a few hours I will be set apart as a missionary once again so I thought I would write a final goodbye. I am so grateful that I have had this opportunity to come home from my mission, even though it was quite a trial I learned so much and became a better person. I am so excited and ready to serve now. I hope that you all will write me and keep me up to date on things that are going on in your lives. One of my friends came up with the idea of printing out her blog posts and sending them to me- that way she didn't have to re-write things she'd already typed. I would love to receive blog posts in the mail or letters, postcards ANYTHING! Also for the first 5 weeks I am gone I will be in the MTC and you can write me a Dear Elder (dearelder.com- so easy!!!) Thank You all for all of your love and suport- I will be back in a year and a hallf- and no sooner this time!! lol :)
Friday, October 3, 2008
Hey Everyone, so I won't be able to e-mail y'all (practicing my "Texas") on my mission but when I write my e-mails to my family my mom forwards them to some friends and extended family. If you would like to keep up to date on the happenings of a Texas missionary then leave me a comment with your e-mail address and I will add you to the list. This does not mean I won't still write you snail mail, I am very good at writing letters- I have a motto "If you write me I will write you back". But anyway if you want my weekly missionary news and experiences sent straight to your inbox then leave me your e-mail address. :)
Thursday, October 2, 2008
More Goodbyes
Last night I gathered a few family members and friends to go to a temple session with me and then we all went to Red Robin after wards and were joined by more friends and family. It was pretty fun to be taking up half of the restaurant with 22 people there to say goodbye to me! I am so grateful for all of the amazing love and support I have!
The gang's all here!
Best Friends don't like saying goodbye- so we wait until the last possible minute, so for us this was a see you tomorrow! ha ha and we'll say goodbye on Sunday :)
More amazing friends! I am so blessed! Chels and Steph are so much fun!!!
And more friends who I will miss dearly, Jennie and Erin.
The gang's all here!
Best Friends don't like saying goodbye- so we wait until the last possible minute, so for us this was a see you tomorrow! ha ha and we'll say goodbye on Sunday :)
More amazing friends! I am so blessed! Chels and Steph are so much fun!!!
And more friends who I will miss dearly, Jennie and Erin.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
The beginning of the Goodbyes
Last night the Skousens took me out to Dinner at Joe's BBQ just like they did the first time I left on my mission- I promised them that this would be my last mission farewell dinner! ha ha We had a yummy dinner and then the girls and I played on the grass (and of course Amy was on the phone- can't get her off of that thing! lol). I had so much fun just goofing around with my girls and I am so grateful I was able to spend some time with them since I have been home. I love them so much and I will miss their adorable little faces, but in 18 months I will see them again. Until then I am expecting LOTS and LOTS of letters!! ;)
MY girls!!!
Love the shirt Annie!!
Showing some tongue Kiley!
Hailey are you always this silly, or is it just around me?
Then there is Maicy- so sweet now a days, but some of us remember your fiesty years, ha ha!
I had to put this pic of my Chubba Bubba up here too- she is just TOO cute!!
MY girls!!!
Love the shirt Annie!!
Showing some tongue Kiley!
Hailey are you always this silly, or is it just around me?
Then there is Maicy- so sweet now a days, but some of us remember your fiesty years, ha ha!
I had to put this pic of my Chubba Bubba up here too- she is just TOO cute!!
Gma Betty's Birthday
On Sunday night we went over to Grandma Betty's house to bring her some birthday cheer!!! She loved her presents and cake but most of all enjoyed seeing us- her amazing family! ha ha :)
The family with Grandma Betty
Mom and dad
Grandma opening her presents
Keith and Sarah
The family with Grandma Betty
Mom and dad
Grandma opening her presents
Keith and Sarah
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Rainy Adventure
Last weekend the family and some friends went out riding up on the rim. We packed up and made a day of it- we had such a great adventure especially when it started hailing!! We had to ride back to our base camp quick, but to no avail, by the time we got to KT's covered trailer we were all soaked to the bone and freezing!! It was a fun trip anyway... even if we had to go home early because of the weather!!
The rim is absolutely gorgeous!!!
Mikey hanging out on the cliff
KK and Brad having a little "moment" he hee
Me- duh! :)
My folks
Hanging out- Jeff and Jake
The crew getting ready to go back out for another ride
Hmm I don't know if I should be flattered or dissed that they are mocking my signature pose! ha ha
Brad enjoying the scenery
My dad- the Tree Hugger!! ha ha
Mikey and KT
Chilling in the trailer trying to keep from freezing to death
Mom attempting to get dry!
A cute couple making out in the trailer? Ha ha Brad and KK
The rim is absolutely gorgeous!!!
Mikey hanging out on the cliff
KK and Brad having a little "moment" he hee
Me- duh! :)
My folks
Hanging out- Jeff and Jake
The crew getting ready to go back out for another ride
Hmm I don't know if I should be flattered or dissed that they are mocking my signature pose! ha ha
Brad enjoying the scenery
My dad- the Tree Hugger!! ha ha
Mikey and KT
Chilling in the trailer trying to keep from freezing to death
Mom attempting to get dry!
A cute couple making out in the trailer? Ha ha Brad and KK
Monday, September 29, 2008
One Week From Today!!!!!!
So I got a phone call this morning from my stake president and I have a flight booked for 10:10 AM on Monday morning the 6th of October!!! I am going back to the MTC!!!! I am so excited, but it is so soon and I have a lot to do still. I will be joining a group of missionaries who have been in the MTC since September 10th and are also going to San Antonio Texas Spanish Speaking! I will be in the MTC until the second week of November. I will write more later but for now that is the breaking news!!!!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
My Parents Took Me To Disneyland!!!
I have been gone all week because my amazing parents up and took me to Disneyland!!! Yes I know, I am so spoiled and I love it!!!!!! :)
It was so fun to spend a whole week in Cali with just my mom and dad
We went to Disneyland for 3 days and two of the days we got these! Dream Fastpasses! They are pretty cool- you get a fast pass for every ride that has one. We enjoyed them, even though the two weekdays we went there were like no lines! We walked on almost every ride. But on Saturday these came in handy- it was for sure crowded!!
My friend Erin met up with us one of the days. She lives in Cali and came to Disney for a few hours to hang with me!
It was so great to see Erin. It didn't take long for us to get back to our goofy ways! I met her when she was a Kindergarten teacher at Neely and I was her assistant. She was my boss, basically but became my friend too! She is the one that made me want to become a Kindergarten teacher instead of first grade- she truly is AMAZING!
My new favorite ride at Disney is the Toy Story ride at California Adventures! It is so fun!! Here are mom and dad modeling their 3-d glasses right before getting on the ride.
I got mom to go on the tea cups with me!!
Dad and I in front of the waterfall at Grizzly River
Me and my mommy
We got dad to go on Space Mountain with us twice- he doesn't like it much! I love it, but dad thinks the music in the headrests is too loud (hence why he is covering his ears in the picture) but I always say if it's too loud- you're too old!
The fam in front of a Brother Bear statue
On our last day there I told dad that I hadn't taken enough pictures of the trip yet, so he would make me pose in front of random things and take a picture! ha ha
As I was posing in front of random things dad found that there are several of these old stoves at Disneyland! So we went on an old stove scavenger hunt! lol It was pretty funny!!!
My silly daddy with his Poncho- he loves the Rapid ride, but he won't go on it with out his emergency poncho! lol
This was me on the drive home. On the way there mom and I flew since dad had driven out there for a business trip the week before and was still there. So the return trip was a road trip- dad and mom and I squished into Dad's little Toyota Yaris with all of our stuff and drove home on Sunday. I felt like an animal cracker stuffed into the little circus box!! Those cars were not made to carry three people and a bunch of luggage on a 6 hour drive! lol
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