The Spirit Rocks!!

Hey Y’all!!
So sadly I just wrote y’all a big 2 page letter that was super awesome and then the computer freaked out and lost it! Sad!! But that’s ok, luckily I can write you another one- it just might not be as good or as long! But it’s all good it will cover the same topics- cause we had an awesome week that I want to tell ya’ll about!!!

Ok so first off Sister Johnson and I are doing great together! I have never had this much comp unity before- like I will get an idea and then before I can even say it Sister Johnson will suggest the same thing I was thinking. It is just so cool because we are on the same page- we have a lot of oneness going on. Plus we have a lot of fun together- she’s a goof ball and a bit of a drama queen so I make fun of her for that and she makes fun of me for being such guy (all of my burping and putting my feet up on the table, etc) ha ha we have a blast! Also Sister Johnson plays guitar- she learned to play while she was at BYU cause it was a good stress reliever for her. So she was so excited when she found out I was learning to play and had a guitar at the apartment!! She jams away on my guitar all the time she loves to write songs and just plink around. We are doing really great together and I think that has a lot to do with the success we had this week!

So we had zone conference this week and it was fantastic! I especially loved getting to see all the missionaries! I miss that being down here in Pleasanton- I never get to see anyone, so it was great to be around a ton of friends!! Plus there were other sisters there- we had a blast together, ha ha at lunch time the sisters always sit together and our table is always the loudest one in the gym- we had each other laughing so hard this time that even President turned his head to see what was so funny! Lol So ya that part was great, but even better was the trainings. President trained on the value of hard work and it was awesome. Sister Cutler trained on having a positive attitude and how much that can help us. Then the AP’s trained on following the spirit and letting it guide our lessons and also teaching our investigators to recognize it. They also trained on prayer and getting our investigators to pray. These last two topics are ones President said he felt very strongly about that we needed to learn and work on. I am so grateful to have such an inspired mission president because those last two topics- spirit and prayer came into play for us later on in the week!! I’ll get to that later. :)

So just a random tender mercy story I thought I would share with you- so at Zone Conference we always have a clean car contest so we clean our cars super well the night before or the morning before conference so that we can win cause the prize is extra miles!! So the day before conference we went to the Swaims and washed our car and then the morning of conference we went to a do it yourself car wash right by the chapel where we were meeting and we were washing it again (we really wanted to win!) While we were washing our car we got a phone call saying that we were late and that conference had already started. We were told the wrong time by our new district leader. So we rushed over to the conference and didn’t have time to finish cleaning the car. I was so stressed out cause we were late and the car was a mess and we weren’t gonna win extra miles. So once we got into the chapel I Was still upset that we were late- I hate being late to meetings!!!! Well when we got there we were just splitting up for AP trainings and so when I walked into the relief society room President shook my hand but then he held onto it for a second and he looked into my eyes and said. It’s ok, you’re here, that’s all that matters, now forget about it. I was like, wait, what? How did you know? President then just grinned real big and walked away to greet other missionaries. So, that was kinda cool. But the real tender mercy came later- when the clean car awards were announced. We got third place- 40 extra miles!!! I couldn’t believe it! So ya, the Lord looks out for ya for sure! :) Even in the small and simple things.

Another little story for ya, so on Wednesday night we had our new member lessons and Sister Swaim was going to teach about prayer (we picked it especially because Gary said he was gonna come this week and he still has not kept his commitment to pray) So when 7 o clock rolls around we get to the church and Sister Swaim isn’t there, instead one of our ward missionaries, sister Fricke is there and she said Sister Swaim called her and asked her to teach, apparently Sister Swaim got pink eye. But Sister Fricke seemed to think the lesson started at six thirty and so she was there waiting for us so when we got there she said that she had to be somewhere by seven fifteen. So she asked us if we could teach. So we were like ok. Then all the sudden my brain went into panic mode- oh no we have to teach last minute and we aren’t prepared!!!! Then all the sudden something clicked in my mind, um duh, Sister Kleisler, you are a missionary and you do this all the time! Lol So Sister Johnson and I taught the lesson and it was fine, but it was so funny cause I flipped out for a sec and then remembered that I am a missionary! Ha ha

So now time for my investigator update. First off Toby is ready to be baptized, we reviewed the baptismal questions with him and we think he is ready, his dad thinks he is and Toby really wants to be baptized, so his mom said ok, as long as she can take pictures. So he is being officially interviewed by our District Leader, Elder Smith tomorrow. He is all set to be baptized this Sunday! :) So that is great and very exciting, but the even more exciting news is a long story and it is all about Clarissa.

The Clarissa story- Well we had a couple of appointments with them this week. First was on Tuesday and we had the Partridges both come with us and we talked about eternal marriage. It was really great and they were able to ask the partridges questions about marriage and what not. It almost turned into a marriage counseling session and so I had to be careful of that, but it went well and I think Gary and Clarissa came to the conclusion that they are not ready to get married yet. So they are talking about moving out. Having Gary stay at his relatives, and then come over for the day. So then Wednesday night they came to new member lessons- and that was good. Then Friday we decided to pop over and see Clarissa and talk to her about this whole moving out situation and really get the ball rolling. So we go over there and Gary was there too- so we figured all right, not a coincidence. So we shared the same lesson, y’all need to figure out what your gonna do so you can keep the law of Chastity and the way you will know what to do is through prayer. We asked them if they had prayed about it yet and they said no. But Gary said that he said a prayer on the way to work the other day, and that was the first time he had ever prayed since like a little kid or something. So for him that was a major breakthrough. So when it was time to go Sister Johnson asked Gary if he would say the closing prayer. He said no, he wasn’t ready to say a prayer in front of people yet, and he wouldn’t even know what to say. I remembered what we had been taught at zone conference earlier in the week and so I said Gary what are 3 things you are thankful for. He said 1 my boys, 2 Clarissa, 3 My house. I said great, now what is something you need some help on in your life- what would you ask God for? He said, help making these decisions. I said ok, great, you basically just said a prayer- now say it to God!!! So he was like uh, ok. So I said, let’s all get on our knees and you are gonna say the prayer. SO we did and Gary said a great prayer. The whole time I was waiting to feel the spirit and it didn’t really come, so I prayed for it and waited, still nothing. After he finished we all stayed on our knees, I waited a few seconds and then said, now Gary how do you feel? In an answer to prayer and honoring my request the spirit filled that house so thick as soon as the words left my lips. The spirit was so strong in that room it was bursting out the sides!!! I felt it thick encompassing me and it was amazing!!! Sister Johnson and Clarissa were both crying and I looked at Gary and he said- I feel good!!! So we gave Clarissa a hug and Gary a handshake and hopped out of the house real quick so that we left with the spirit still there. We got in the car and thanked the Lord for allowing the spirit to fill their house so thick like!!! It was just a huge break through for Gary and now there is no way he can deny the church is true- he still just isn’t going to progress as fast as Clarissa and that is ok. So anyway we told them we weren’t gonna come over again till they had made a decision about the whole moving out thing and so when we saw Clarissa at church on Sunday with the boys (Gary was working) we asked her if they had prayed together about it. They hadn’t and she was feeling super stressed and she was depressed and awful. They are in a ton of debt and behind on payments to things and etc etc. So after church when we got back to the apartment I laid down on the couch and just felt horrible! I am so attached to my investigators and to have one who is struggling so much, I felt it and I was stressed and I felt so sick. So Sister Johnson being the amazing companion that she is tried to help me work it out, but we just didn’t know what to do about Clarissa. So after a few minutes of laying there I sat up and looked at Sister Johnson and said- I have an idea and it’s totally not mine, it came from the spirit. She was like, no way cause I have a crazy idea in my head right now to. I told her my idea was to move Clarissa’s baptism up to this week- this Sunday! She said that she had the same thought. So we jumped up and put our shoes on and ran out the door!!! I felt so good- all that sick feeling was replaced with pure joy!! We got to Clarissa’s house and she was still all stressed and depressed. We had a prayer and then blurted out what the spirit told me! She was like, Yes!!! Her countenance automatically changed and she said that this is right, she felt so at peace! It was awesome, so we gave her the baptismal questions to make sure she was ready and she passed totally!! So she will also be interviewed by Elder Smith on Tuesday and she will be baptized this Sunday along with Toby. But the story continues. After we left her house we went to the park to EBP and while were there Clarissa called. She said that Gary had just called her and he said that the meat coolers (he works at a grocery store in the butcher part) had all broken down and he had to stay there until they could get them fixed, but they were going to pay him over time for it. Clarissa saw this as an answer to prayers- she was so stressed about their debt and their overdue rent and then right after she commits to being baptized this week, the Lord gives her a way to help pay the bills. What a blessing!! So we were excited for her and went back to work, we got another phone call, but we were in the middle of a contact so we just let it go to voicemail. We listened to it later and it was Clarissa. She said that after she got off the phone with us she said a payer thanking God for helping them and answering her prayers and getting the overtime for Gary. Then after she finished her prayer the phone rang and it was her grandma saying that they wanted to pay her to babysit her nephews for a few days. She was just feeling so blessed that all these things started happening!! We were so happy to tell her that it is all because she is making right choices and following Christ! So ya that is the story- so sweet!! So Clarissa is being baptized and so it Toby both this Sunday- the 5th!! I said that we are gonna dunk Clarissa first so she can be my fist baptism!! He hee I am so excited!!!!!

Thank Y’all for your love and support. I am grateful for ya and all that you do! Keep your prayers coming cause the week before baptism is always hard (so I hear) so both me and my investigators could use your prayers! Have a great week, and next week I will have baptism pictures for ya!!!!!!!!

SMILING EXTRA BIG ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler

P.S. This letter ended up being longer than the first, so y'all are lucky! lol

Texas Style Pics!

Companionship Unity!!

First is Sister Johnson and I in front of the Lake at the Brown's farm (members in the ward).

Next- while at the Mercado for P-day this week, Sister Johnson and I bought our companionship unity shirts and also couldn't resist these cool hats too- we are extra unified! lol

One of the members in our ward who used to be stake president has a world war two airplane museum on his property and a runway. So the other day he and his wife flew to the Pleasanton airport to meet us for a picnic lunch!

Us with President Jensen in front of his plane.

It's our lunch flying into meet us!

Some Less active members in our ward work at a firestation and we went to visit them on Saturday and they took pics of us on the firetruck!! So fun!

This week's pictures from Pleasanton

The first two are pics that we took as were driving along to an appointment Sister Johnson thought it was just so pretty and we had to get out and take a pic- I on the other hand am so used to this stuff, I was like oh fine. Ha ha but they turned out cute so here ya go- first me, then Sister Johnson.


Next is well, Texas. There are dogs in every home and they seem to sense the fact that I don't like them, so they jump on me. Sister Johnson snapped this pic as we were teaching a lesson and this big ole dog was determined to sit in my lap. I wasn't too pleased but I have to be polite and pretend that I like them. Oh life as a missionary. ha ha!

So I was walking through some grass to take a picture with this John Deere tractor and unbeknownst to me there were tons of annoying sticker grass blades just waiting to attack me!!! I hate those stupid things, they are everywhere here and they get me constantly! The most annoying thing is that they REALLY hurt, it's like a paper cut, it's a small prick but it stings! So ya that was not a fun experience. But we got to have a good companion bonding experience as we used some team work to de-sticker my legs! I call these little things- burrs, and I believe that Satan created them! lol


Me aboard my chariot- John Deere Tractor!!!

My permanent grin for the week- all cause Clarissa is gonna be baptized!

Let's Set a Date!

Hey Y’all!!!

Well it has been quite an awesome week! First off I’ll get straight to the awesomeness… Tuesday night we had a lesson with Clarissa and Gary, Aaron was already in bed and so things were much quieter and the spirit could really be there. The spirit was there- thick- and I felt the prompting to set Clarissa with a baptismal date. Clarissa is being baptized on the 19th of July and she is so excited!!! She wants to be baptized more than anything!!!! That night when we came back to the apartment I took a picture of my face because it had a permanent grin on it! :) So this week has been full of thoughts, phone calls, appointments and prayers all for Clarissa and Gary. The biggest obstacle is- they need to get married or separated. At one point this week she had us over there making out an action plan, how she could move out and leave Gary. Then we had a fast with her and prayed for the knowledge of what we should do, and then it turns out she decided that she could make things work with Gary. So now we are talking about marrying them. It is all still a bit hectic and unknown but the most important thing is she has a sincere desire to get baptized- and soon. So everything will work out, I know that, and I am so excited!! Things are going really well with her and also Gary is still coming along, he is willing to support her in her decision to be baptized- he himself has noticed the change in her and he likes it! Also Aaron went to primary yesterday all by himself!! Answer to prayers! I moved him to a different class because the one that is just one age group up has the daughter of Clarissa’s member friend and also the teacher there is super awesome and I knew he would be able to help Aaron. It worked! Aaron LOVED primary yesterday. It was also really cute this week, Aaron has pretty much become my little buddy- he LOVES to be around me!! It is way sweet and this week- he said my name- it caught me totally off guard cause most adults can’t even say my name right!! But Saturday night we were over at Clarissa’s for dinner and then we say down in the family room for a lesson and Aaron was all “Ssssister Kleisler come play a game with me!!!!!” I was like no, I have to talk to your….wait, what did you call me? Ha ha it was so cute, he just grinned- pretty proud of himself. I had never even told him my name before, but he always heard his mom saying it. So ya that was sweet and then when we sat down for the lesson Aaron brought me a chair from his room to sit in. An Elmo chair- and it was tiny! Ha ha I looked hilarious! So then Aaron sat down next to me and was ready for the lesson. I tried to get him to go play, but nope he wanted to be in there with us. So I looked at him and said Aaron, will you say the Prayer. He was like um… I said I’ll help you! He said ok, and then ran off, he came back with his cars chair, I was like, uh what’s that about, he was like it’s gonna be my prayer chair. So he sat in the chair folded his arms and I helped him say the prayer. After he was done there were tears in Clarissa’s eyes and I’ll admit it there were some in mine too. This rowdy little boy who just turned four sat still and said his first prayer ever. It was such an amazing thing to see. I look at Aaron and Emmerick and see two little boys who are gonna grow up with the gospel in their home and are going to be little priesthood holders some day. That just makes me so grateful!! So grateful to the Lord for this amazing opportunity that I have to be a missionary and see miracles like this take place! :0) But that’s not all the miracles aren’t over…. We had a lesson with Toby on Thursday and the spirit was strong and I felt the prompting, and guess what… Toby is gonna be baptized by his dad on July 5th!!!! So July is seriously gonna rock! :) Ya I am so stoked- my first baptisms and they are with the most amazing people ever! I am just so blessed to be serving here in Pleasanton and have the amazing opportunity to meet these people!

So in other news, it is HOT!!!! Oh geez, Saturday was 110!!!! I thought I was gonna die, lol ok so that’s a bit dramatic, but honestly it was pretty bad! We were out knocking doors and people would answer and be like “what are you doing, it is SO hot!!!???” We would say, well the message we share is just so important that we are out here sweating to death because we really want to share it with you. Lol I wish I could say that worked and we got in a ton of doors- but um it didn’t. Lol We are working through the heat and staying hydrated, and we will be working hard all summer long- why….. BECAUSE THIS IS THE LORD’S WORK AND IT ROCKS!!! I love so much my calling to serve and I am so blessed to be growing so much through the hard times and the sweet times.

I want to thank y’all for your love and support and hope y’all keep on rocking!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler

Pics for the week 6/15

Hey here are some pics!!

First is me with my new companion on transfer day! Sister Johnson and Sister Kleisler :)

This is me after a week of so many lessons- Totally exhausted!! lol

"Nothings too hard for the Lord!"

Hey Y'all-
Ahh mi familia y mis amigos- como estan? Sorry, I have a lot of Spanish stuck in my head, I made this crazy deal with a good friend of mine back home. I had to give up English all this week and she had to give up "fluff" aka TV, movies, internet, stuff that gets in the way of focusing on the important things in life. So anyway this deal would have been great had I not just lost my native Spanish Speaking companion! Lol But hey this is an experiment and it will for sure have some interesting results!

So anyway, on to my new companion- Sister Alyse Johnson from Lindon utah! She was called as an English Speaking sister, so when it comes to the Spanish, it's all me! She has been out on her mission for about 5 months and this is her second area. She just came from a very suburbia like area up in North Austin so when we got to Pleasanton she was in shock! So different!!! She loves every minute of it! It is so cute she is always like, oh I need a picture of that, oh my goodness look at that, etc etc. She loves the small town feel down here. Lol She is an amazing missionary who has a great knowledge of the scriptures and a positive attitude about, well everything!! We have had an amazing few days together and already are teaching in such unity. We are so excited for what this transfer is going to bring. This week we taught 25 total lessons- the most I have ever taught in a week, and that is crazy especially since it was a transfer week and those are notoriously bad across the mission. So anyway things are really great here- I miss Sister Larrosa, but she is doing amazing up in Austin and she called me last night and they just committed a family of 5 for baptism! Way sweet!! So yes, good things going on all over the mission!!

As for our week here in Pleasanton- it was FABULOUS!! Our investigators are doing so well. Clarrisa came to church yesterday and she also came to the new member lessons and we went over and taught her and her boyfriend Gary twice this week. Gary is actually coming along now. At first he refused to even listen to us, and I kept hoping she would leave the jerk. But the Lord has softened his heart and there is hope for them and their relationship now. Yesterday we went over to answer all of Gary's questions and concerns- we didn't even plan a lesson we just told him to make a list of questions. After Gary was being kind of non committal and wishy-washy Clarissa looked at him and said, "I have a question for you Gary- Do you know who Joseph Smith is?" He said no, so we taught him and watched the Restoration video. After talking about the Book of Mormon and the importance of it, he said "so what I really got to do is Pray. I have to pray to find out if this is all true" We were like, Yes!!! So ya Gary is finally starting to progress in the gospel. Clarissa is as amazing as ever. Yesterday something came up about our mission calls and how it is decided where we go, so we told them and then Clarissa looked at me and said "I think you were sent here for me" I got all teary eyed cause I had been thinking the same thing all week. It is also so cool because I feel that Sister Johnson is here for Gary. She can answer his questions and talk to him in a logical way that I just don't do as well. I am so grateful that the Lord knows us all and our strengths and weaknesses. I am grateful he gives us companions to help even us out. So also this week we taught Toby and that went well. He came to church as well and loved it. That makes 3 times he has been to church and 2 times for Clarissa. I KNOW that both of them will be getting baptized this transfer. Toby is so excited to get baptized, he told us yesterday that his mom said she wants for him to make his own decisions and if he wants to get baptized then he has to really know that this church is true before he does it. So Toby is doing all he can to find out if it is true! It is so amazing!!! We had a great lesson about the Plan of Salvation with him and tonight we are going to teach the Gospel and also tithing. I am hoping we can double up on the lessons from now on, teaching 2 at once, that way he will be getting the info he wants, sooner! We are working on getting Shaun prepared for the priesthood, then he can baptize his son, how cool is that?! So ya anyway those are our two progressing investigators.

We also have a few other people we are working with, all of them part member families. One of them has a cool story as to how we found them. Yesterday I was thinking about Rudy and Vanessa and whether we should go over and visit them or not. Well as Sister was saying a prayer as we were about to leave the apartment after dinner she asked that the Lord would guide us to the people we needed to talk to. As soon as she said that, I got the distinct impression that we needed to go see Rudy and Vanessa. SO we went over there and we knocked on the door and Shaun answered. We went in and talked with Shaun and the boys for a minute but Rudy and Vanessa weren't there. So we left feeling a little sad that we had felt impressed to go there and they weren't there. For a second I started doubting the impression, but before we got in the truck to leave I had this thought to go visit the across the street neighbors, the wife is a less active member of the church. SO we wen't over there and their home teachers were there and they finished up their lesson and left us to sit and talk with this couple- the Pattersons. We talked with them and they told us that they needed to quit smoking and read the Book of Mormon. We then asked Doug if he wanted to be baptized, he said he did but he wanted to read the Book of Mormon. So we are going over there tonight to get them started in the BoM and to work on getting Doug ready for baptism. It will be a long process but with the Lord's help it will all happen according to his will. So after we left their house and got back in the truck sister Johnson and I looked at each other and were both just so grateful for that prompting I received. I learned a VERY valuable lesson- sometimes we don't quite understand the meaning of our promptings or they don't work out the way we think we should, but we need to just trust in the Lord and follow them. I am so thankful that I was able to follow the prompting to go to Rudy and Vanessa which ended up being a way for the Lord to get us over to the Pattersons. So neat!!!

Well I want to end this week with a thought I learned from Scritpure Scouts- "Nothing's too hard for the Lord!" It's a song that "Nephi" sings right before he leaves to go get the plates. I have had that song running through my head all week and it sure keeps me going. Especially when we are knocking doors in 105 degree weather and the humidity is so high that everything is sticking to me and giant drops of sweat roll down my face as I contact people on the street. This is the Lord's work and He can do it, I am just his instrument and I will trust in him, "cause nothings too hard for the Lord for the Lord, nothings too hard for the Lord."

Love y'all very much, thanks for all your support!!!!!!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler

Pictures from Texas!

A beautiful Morning at the San Antonio Temple! :)


Companionship unity!!!! We LOVE texas!

Check out that shirt- so sweet- Walmart 5 dollars, Ya baby!! :)

We begged the Swaims to let us do some service for them because NO ONE EVER LETS US DO SERVICE!! So they let us mow their lawn! We loved it!! :) Sister Larrosa got to use the riding lawn mower and she loved it- she calls it her "mini tractor".

The downfall of serving in Texas- LOTS OF MOSQUITOS!!!!

Changes happen'n in the Country

Hey Y’all!!

Well first off I want to say that the Lord has plans for each of us and sometimes they are unexpected. What I mean by that is… Sister Larrosa is being transferred. I am pretty sad to see her go- we only got to be together for one transfer, but I know that the Lord needs her somewhere else. She is moving up to Senior Comp and she is gonna be a step mom now (aka she is getting a comp who is fresh off her trainer). I am pretty sure I know who I am getting as my new companion and if I am right then I will be in good shape! Ha ha I will tell y’all the details about my new comp next week after I find out for sure who it is! Lol But for now I will tell you about this week!!!

This week was SWEET! First off… Clarissa. She came to the new member lessons on Wednesday and we took her on a tour of the church afterwards. She loved it all. Then on Friday we went over and taught her. When we first got there her boyfriend wasn’t there yet- so I felt the need to teach the Law of Chastity so that she could start thinking about it and pray about what she should do. She understood the law of chastity and we committed her to Pray about her situation. She says that she and Gary (her boyfriend who she lives with and is the father of her 2 children) will get married eventually. Sister Larrosa and I truly would rather she left him- he is not a good guy, he doesn’t treat her right and we are pretty sure he is cheating on her. But we figure the more she gets into the gospel of Jesus Christ the more she will have the desire to change her life and hopefully dump the jerk. So anyway then after we taught that Gary came home from work and sat in on our Gospel Of Jesus Christ lesson which went well. Then on Sunday guess who showed up to church, Clarissa and the boys!!! Yay! Clarissa’s member friend didn’t even come, but Clarissa did- she is SO AWESOME! So we sat with her at church and helped her with the boys. She was so self conscious that her children were so rowdy during sacrament meeting, but they really weren’t that bad. I brought my little bag of tricks- toys and snacks- and kept the 4 year old busy while Clarissa tried to put the baby to sleep and listen to the testimonies at the same time. Then when it came time for Primary- Aaron (Clarissa’s 4 year old) didn’t want to go, the poor kid had never been to church or day care or anything like that before, so it all was a very new concept for him and he didn’t want to be alone. So because I love my investigators so much and want them to progress in the gospel- I went to Sunbeams! Ha ha Sister Larrosa and I went on “exchanges” and the Sunbeam teacher was my companion for 2 hours. Lol Aaron did just fine in Primary since I was there and he is used to me. Man I have to say though that I am not sure which is a tougher job- Sunbeam teacher or missionary! Ha ha after my two hours with the sunbeams I was EXHAUSTED! Sister Larrosa said that Clarissa did well in her classes and enjoyed them. So that was great! Clarissa said she is going to come to church every week and Aaron will get used to it and I won’t have to stay with him anymore. I don’t care man, as long as she comes to church!! So anyway that was all good and then Yesterday we called Clarissa just to see how she was doing- daily contact is so crucial with progressing investigators- and she said that she was cleaning and organizing all day. I offered to help, but she said no she was fine. –No one EVER lets us do service and we hate that, so I have to FORCE people to let us. So I kept telling Clarissa we wanted to and she finally said we could come over to keep her company while she cleaned. Ha ha well when we got to Clarissa’s I went into Aaron’s room with two trash bags and said ok- one is for garbage (broken toys etc) and one is for goodwill. Let’s get sorting. Sister Larrosa went into the kitchen and started washing the huge pile of dirty dishes and sweeping the floor etc. Clarissa and I worked on Aaron’s room and organized like crazy! Man that kid has TONS of toys. But man when we were done it looked SO good!! And she was SO grateful!!! She kept saying how can I ever thank you, let me make dinner for you, etc etc. Well we already had a dinner appointment that night so we said well, how about you let us teach ya a lesson real quick. She of course said sure! So we sat down and went over the scriptures we had left her to read which of course, she read cause she’s awesome! So anyway then we asked her if she had any questions or comments. She then said “well I wanted to tell y’all something. I told Gary that I am gonna live the law of Chasity and if he doesn’t like it, well then there’s the couch” ha ha man we were so excited! So she is not sleeping with her boyfriend, but she is still living with him, so we are still gonna have to work on that part but man it’s a start!! So she is just progressing way nicely and I am watching as the gospel is taking over and changing her life- it is such a treat!!!! :) So ya Clarissa rocks and I love teaching her!

Next we have… Toby!! He is the 10 year old son of our recent convert Shaun Roberts. Shaun finally moved in to a new place –our apartment complex, ha ha so sweet. And Now he has his boys for the summer (he is divorced) and so yesterday we went over and had Family Home Evening with them! It was so fun!! We taught them the restoration (with my magnet board visual aids- so helpful!) and then we taught them about the Book of Mormon by having them act out the story of Nephi getting the plates. We used props and dress up clothes and everything!! Oh man they LOVED that!! It was awesome. After we finished the lesson they asked, “can we do it again?” Ha ha those kids rock! So then we played a game with them and ate the cookies I baked the night before. The Oldest son Toby is so cool- that kid is elect!! I have never seen a kid be an elect, but he is!! He is so prepared for the gospel and he loves it! He wants to be baptized the only problem is his mom, we have to get her to be ok with the idea. But for now we are just gonna keep teaching the boys and know that God will make everything work out somehow. The other 2 boys, Mallory who just turned 7 and Billy Boy (yes that’s his name- remember we’re in Texas) who is 6 were bummed that they can’t get baptized yet but we are getting them excited for when they turn 8! :) So anyway we have an appointment to teach them again this week and they are so excited- they LOVE to “learn about church”!

So other than that we don’t have any other super sweet investigators, but two man- that is a blessing right there!! I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve down here in the boonies! Lol It is truly an awesome experience and I am learning so much! I think I am becoming a country girl- oh no!! lol So in other news, this week I was able to go to the temple. Our district carpooled up there and since there is 6 of us in our district and our Chevy Colorado has six seatbelts we all squeezed in the truck to the temple. It was pretty hilarious. Sister Larrosa in the middle front seat with her hip jabbing into mine as I drove, Elder Cozza (our district leader) in the front passenger seat squeezing himself as close to the window as possible so as to not be butt-to-butt with Larrosa. Then three big elders in the back seat!! Ha ha when we got to the temple people literally stared as we piled out of the car! Ha ha We looked hilarious! But man it was worth it for the temple. We had a great time and I saw people from my old wards. It was pretty fun being in the celestial room and having people come up to me saying hi, we miss you!! It is pretty cool to have so many great friendships with people here! So ya that was a fun trip and the other cool thing about it was we got to go to the only “church” bookstore in San Antonio. I was so excited cause I wanted to buy a new cd. We get so sick of the same stuff! I was like a kid in a candy store- so many cds all of which I was ALLOWED to listen to… and do you know what I bought… Scripture Scouts!! Ha ha If any of you are familiar with scripture scouts you will be laughing right now. When I was a kid we would listen to scripture scouts tapes as we laid in bed to go to sleep. I LOVED them! They are kids tapes that have songs and stuff about the scriptures and the characters act out parts. Oh man, I have now listened to those cds like 12 times! Ha ha Sister Larrosa woke up one morning and was like um, I think your scripture scouts songs were in my dreams last night! Ha ha I was like um, actually once you fell asleep I went and brought the cd player next to my bed and listened to Scripture scouts to help me go to sleep! Lol So funny!! So ya, scripture scouts- are awesome!

Alright well before I sign off I wanted to leave you with a thought. There is a very interesting little pattern that Sister Larrosa and I have noticed that I want to share with y’all and apply to your lives. Whenever we watch the Restoration DVD with investigators the spirit is of course so strong but the peak point of the spirit comes when Joseph Smith goes into the grove to pray. “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer” plays in the background as he walks through the field- Sis Larrosa and I get goosebumps every time at this point. Then as he kneels down to pray, without a doubt every time while we watch it Satan gets mad!!! Something happens EVERY time, the baby cries and we can’t hear it, the dog barks, the kids run in front of the tv, the phone rings, the dvd skips, SOMETHING happens EVERY time!!!! Sister Larrosa and I were talking about this the other day and came to the conclusion that Satan KNOWS how powerful that part is and he does his best to keep our investigators from feeling it. Now to me I take something very meaningful from this whole thing. As soon as things start to get rough, as soon as Satan really starts to work on you- you know that you must be doing something right!!! He is preventing you from doing whatever it is that you were doing cause he knows that is gonna bring about some good in the world and he HATES that! So the next time Satan starts messing with you, just think “Alright, I must be doing something good cause Satan is mad!” There is a quote I heard at Education Week when Mom and I went a few years ago, this is something I tell myself every night. When I get up in the morning I want Satan to say “Oh no she’s awake again!!!!” Cause he knows just how much good I am gonna do in the world- and he isn’t strong enough to stop me! :)

Well y’all I love you so much and hope you have a great week!!!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler

Pics of the Week!

First- me with my ticket, that night I decided to just laugh about it and so we took a pic. It took awhile for me to not be mad about that stupid ticket, but I finally got over it.

Next- Me at Chili's. Sister Larrosa and I went to Chili's on a night that we didn't have a dinner apt thanks to some awesome people back home who sent me gift cards!!! We had a lot of fun- ooh and p.s. my hair is weird cause Sister Larrosa wanted to play beauty parlor with my head. lol That is how much I love my companion! :)

Every Member an Innkeeper!

Hey Y'all!!

So this week was a pretty busy one. It started out with another run in with the cops- 5th time on my mission, I think this is a record!! But this time it did not turn out so well, I got a speeding ticket. Whoops my bad!! I think you have to be some kind of dope to get a speeding ticket on your mission in the church's car. But well, I did, but at least now I have learned my lesson- I have slowed down and I pay attention to speed limit signs now. SO ya that started off my week, but then it got better after that. My ticket was on Tuesday and then on Wednesday we had this new thing we started up- New Member Lessons. See, in this ward it is REALLY hard to get the members involved in helping our investigators and fellowshipping the recent converts. When a person is baptized they are supposed to receive a series of new member lessons from someone in the ward- usually ward missionaries or the recent convert's home teachers. Well that has not been happening here and the recent converts usually start to slip through the cracks without the love and attention they need. So we were talking about this with the Swaims and Brother Swaim just so happens to be a counselor in the bishopric and he decided that he would do something about this. Since he is always down at the church on Wednesday nights since its mutual night and there are usually always ward members floating around there then he figured we could do a new member lessons type class and try to get all the recent converts to come as well as active members to help fellowship. SO last week we had the first one. Brother Swaim taught the restoration and sadly ym/yw had been canceled that night so there really wasn't anyone at the church but some of our recent converts came. Shaun Roberts came and also Raymond and Vanessa- technically Raymond is not a member yet, he will be, as soon as his divorce goes through he can get married to Vanessa and then he can get baptized. They are a really awesome really strong family!! And so they came and also they brought their friend Clarissa with them and she is not a member. The sisters had taught Clarissa once or twice before whenever she was at Raymond and Vanessa's but she just wasn't ready for the gospel yet and wouldn't come to church. Well on Wednesday she came to church and really enjoyed the lesson. Before we started into the restoration, Brother Swaim had us all go around the room and share our conversion stories. When we got to Clarissa I told her she could just tell us why she came tonight and what it is that draws her to the church. Tears began to flow from her eyes and she said that she knows that this church and the things that we teach can change her life for the better and help strengthen her family. Sis Larrosa exchanged a glance and Smiled REALLY big after hearing that!!! The lesson went great and afterwards everyone mingled. So every week we are gonna have these NMLs (New Member Lessons) at the church, we are gonna get even more people there and we decided that we need to have dessert and also a nursery (last week Raymond and Vanessa's kids and Clarissa's ran around the room while we talked, ha ha) So anyway I am arranging everything and getting these NML's in order because they are awesome!!!

So as far as investigators go- well after the NML we asked Clarissa if we could come over and talk to her some more. She said yes, definitely she wanted to learn more and more about everything. SO we went over on Friday and taught her a bit about the restoration. The sister had already given her a BOM awhile ago but she hadn't read in it yet. But after the NML she went home and read all of the testimony and introduction stuff and then the first two chapters in Nephi! So we talked to her some more about Joseph Smith, then watched the Restoration video. It went very well and afterwards I explained to her about how we pray and asked her if she would be willing to offer the closing prayer and in her prayer ask Heavenly Father to help her to know if Joseph Smith really was a Prophet and if the Book of Mormon is true. She said she would do it! (That never happens; it is hard enough to get an investigator to pray in front of us, let alone about the Joseph Smith and the BOM) She said a great prayer and the spirit was strong. We were pretty darn psyched. She then told us that she wanted us to come to her son's 4th Birthday party on Saturday. Well we didn't really have the time for it, but we felt like we should go. So we went to an investigator's son's b-day party, hmm. Lol No really though it was great, it was awkward at first cause it was just us -the missionaries- and all of her family and her boyfriend's family. Well the Lord truly has blessed me with the ability to BRT (build relationships of trust, also known as just talking to people about themselves and getting them to like us) anyone!! So I played nice nice with Clarissa's family and then Raymond and Vanessa came which was nice cause well, we know them! So us and Raymond and Vanessa sat in the kitchen with Clarissa while all of the family members were in the other room. The whole time Clarissa would stay in there and talk with us as long as she could. It was so interesting to see how much she wanted to be around us and Raymond and Vanessa. We treat her different, we are kind to her and love her and the spirit is with her when she is around us and she notices it! So ya that was cool, she then told us that she would be coming to church on Sunday. Well sadly Sunday morning she and her baby woke up sick, so she didn't make it. But Vanessa told us that the night before Clarissa had gone over to her house to borrow clothes for church. So ya, we aren't sure though cause we called Clarissa and left a message and she hasn't called us back. But hey there is hope for sure- she is elect! Ok so in other news, Elizabeth and Wesley didn't show up to church again and haven't returned any of our calls, our WML (Ward Mission Leader) - the one who referred us to them, said they are really flaky but they want to get baptized. So ya and also Rudy and Vanessa didn't come to church. We went over there yesterday and they hadn't read in the Bom and Vanessa totally had the time to, so we told them how devastated we were and Vanessa felt bad. I was then just going to politely bow out and leave without teaching a lesson because they just aren't ready, but the spirit told me, nope we needed to teach a Plan of Salvation. SO I got out my handy dandy white board (thanks Jennie) and my Plan of Salvation visual aids and taught the lesson. It was exactly what Vanessa needed to hear. I then gave them a mini drop talk at the end, telling them that we love them and enjoy coming over, but our purpose as missionaries is to baptize and so when they're ready to read in the BOM and come to church give us a call and we would be thrilled to come over and teach them more!! After we had the closing prayer and got up to leave Vanessa stopped us pretty much begging us to come back- she said she loves what we tech and it makes her think. I told her great, then you read the chapter we left you in the BOM and then call us! So we left it at that. I know she will call, it's just a matter of time. So ya that is pretty much the story with all of our investigators right now. I have learned that out here in the country things are different. Both Adam and Moran wrote me about that and now I see it. We have to slow things down a bit and be patient, people here don't fit into the typical "teach 'em baptize 'em in three weeks" mold that we are taught to work in. So ya, I find myself having to be more patient and look at the big picture, only time will tell what will really happen. SO ya I am learning a lot out here in the country for sure!!

So now finally on to the subject heading- what does that mean? Well it was the topic of my talk yesterday. We had missionary Sunday yesterday and Sister Larrosa and I spoke as well as one of our ward missionaries, Sister Bourne (she's awesome!). I planned the whole thing and came up with the topics- that is another thing about this ward, if we want something done we have to do it! Lol I don't mind it at all, I plan things and it gets done right. :) So anyway I called Sister Bourne and asked her to speak and gave her the topic of why. Why with all of the many things she has to do in her busy schedule, why does she make time to share the gospel. She gave an amazing talk!! Then Sister Larrosa spoke on how. She spoke on being an example. It was also great, it was her first talk in English and she was so nervous, but she did amazing. Then I spoke on Being an Innkeeper. I related the parable of the Good Samaritan and how he was so awesome and helped the poor man, but what about the innkeeper. The innkeeper also played an important role. He was there when the Samaritan brought the man to him and he took him in. He took care of him. We as members can be innkeepers! Yes of course you are all encouraged to invite your friends to learn more about the gospel, but sometimes there is only so much you can do with that. But there is more to missionary work. We can as members be the innkeepers and be there for the investigators and recent converts who come to church and help them to feel loved and welcomed. We can be the innkeepers and take these people in, we can fellowship and befriend those who truly need us. So I went on to talk about simple ways to be an innkeeper- saying hi to people at church that you don't know. Sitting by someone that is all alone. Invite a less active or a recent convert or investigator over to your house for dinner. Smile at people at church!! Simple things. I then talked about the blessings that come from being an innkeeper. I concluded my talk by sharing a story that is very close to my heart. I told the story of how my parents moved to Washington and my dad was still a recent convert and they didn't know anyone and so they became less active. They didn't go to church and my family lost touch with the gospel for awhile. But one innkeeper changed all that. A man in the ward, who had been assigned to be my family's home teacher, took his job seriously and he became good friends with my dad. He loved and supported him and most of all made my dad feel welcome at church. SO my family started going back, and thanks to this innkeeper when I was three weeks old my family was sealed for time and all eternity in the Seattle Washington temple. I owe so much to that innkeeper and he will never have any idea how long reaching his efforts went. Because of him I am a member of the church, I am serving a mission. I cried a little bit as I related this story because the spirit was so strong. I then ended with my testimony and invited every member in the Pleasanton ward to be an innkeeper. Afterwards we had several people tell us how much they enjoyed their talks. One lady took me aside and told me that my talk hit her so powerfully, she said she has always wanted to do missionary work, but never felt successful in doing so- but being an innkeeper- that was something she could do. I am so grateful the spirit was able to prompt me to talk about such a topic and I want to encourage y'all to think about it as well. Think of whom you can fellowship and try to be an innkeeper- your life will be blessed immensely for it! And remember - by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

Well Y'all I love you so much and I am so grateful for your love and support! Thank you to all of you who wrote me this week- oh man did I feel loved, a full mailbox makes for a VERY happy missionary! Thanks to: Jennie and C, Amy, Hailey, Kiley, and Maicy, Adam and Downy, Moran and I think that's it. If I forgot anyone sorry, but you can be sure that you'll be getting a letter this week! :)

SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler