Pictures of the Week!

The first three pictures are from This past Monday. It was my recent convert Clarissa's baby Emerick's first Birthday. She just started a new job and is kind of having a rough time right now finacially and she was not going to be able to do anything for her son's bday. Well when I heard about that I decided that we were gonna do something! So Sister Johnson and I with the help of Mama Swaim, made a cake for him and Clarissa loved it! She was so happy. Eemerick wasn't so sure about the cake. He like the frosting at first but then just drooled orange and green all down his shirt! lol!



The last pic is from this past Tuesday. We went on exchanges, SIster Johnson went up to Windcrest to spend a day with SIster Dodge and Sister Christensen (SIster Dodge's Greenie) came down to experience a day of P-town with me! Fun Fun. This pic was taken as we were about to exchange back- we all look awful, that's what happens at the end of a summer day in San Antonio! Lol

Here is me and Sister Johnson with our cute cake for Emerick

Then this week Sister Johnson and I did some service for the Partridges and helped them clean out the garage, it was hot and sweaty and we were getting attacked by giant dead animals! Ha ha but ya if you notice the waves in my hair- it's not a new hair style, it's the HUMIDITY! ha ha

Preparing for Departure

Hey Y’all!

So this is prolly my last week in P-Town. I am pretty sad about it actually. Believe it or not I truly have come to love this crazy country town!!! I am gonna miss Sister Johnson big time as well as some of the members here who I have developed close friendships with! But onward and upward as President always says. I have no idea where I will be transferred to, I guess technically I am not even sure I am leaving, but ya I am pretty positive. I have some hopes of places I really want to go and I have been BEGGING president for months now to send me to a Spanish area, so we will see what happens. It all depends on what the Lord needs of me. I’ll go where you want me to go- right? :)

Well there isn’t much in the way of news for this week- this will be a short but sweet email. This past week has been SLOW. We ran out of people to teach and are now 100 percent in finding stage. Every day all day- knocking doors! Ugh. Can’t say it’s my favorite thing, especially in the super hot humid weather, but I am for sure “building character” as President would say! I should be oozing with character by the time I get home! Sister Johnson says we will be Disney Characters by the time we finish our mission!!! Ha ha Yesterday as Sister Johnson and I were knocking doors at about 4 o clock in the afternoon we were discussing the possibility of actually melting right there on the spot. We then were coming up with all these great conversion stories of what would happen if we melted, for example, we would melt right there on the sidewalk into pasty white puddles and then someone would find our backpacks and take them. They would read the Book Of Mormon that they found inside and then search for the church that the Book belonged to. Then they and their entire families would be baptized! Ha ha all while we were melted puddles. Ya that’s what goes through our minds when we are knocking doors in the blazing heat! Lol SO we have another week of knocking ahead of us and luckily I have learned my lesson about the attitude thing- so positivity is the key and we will get through this week of finding leaving Sister Johnson with a huge teaching pool! Yay!!!

All right well there isn’t much else to tell. We have been sweating and working and smiling all the while! Ha ha

Love Y’all Mucho!!

This is y’alls last week to write me at my Pleasanton address- so send some letters!!!!!

SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler

Pics from Pleasanton!

I have always wanted a classic missionary picture with two missionaries walking down the road to knock doors- now I have it! But it's not just any set of missionaries. it's me and Sister Johnson!

We found a sacred grove in Floresville!!! Ha ha it was gorgeous so we had to stop and take some pics!

On Wednesday after new member lessons we were saying goodbye to people before heading out to go knock doors before it got too dark, then I saw it, Papa Swaim's cowboy hat! He wears that thing everywhere- he wears it to church but then takes it off inside the building. That hat along with his boots and his spurs is like an appendage of his. Ha ha So anyway I saw it sitting on a chair with his briefcase outside the bishop's office. So I swiped it! I put it on and some of the members thought it was pretty funny, then I left and took it with me!! I was gonna pull a prank on 'ol Papa Swaim. Ha ha we went and parked the truck to knock some doors and I had Sister Johnson take some pics of me wearing the hat real quick before we knocked. Well as she was taking the pics a lady came outside of her house and started talking to us. She was not interested in teh gospel but real friendly. She told us to hang on a second and then she came back out with a sombrerro cowboy hat!! She told Sister Johnson to put it on and then take a pic with me! Ha ha so we did!!!! Then after knocking doors I took Papa Swaim's hat to his house, he wasn't home yet but I gave it to mama swaim, she couldn't believe I took it! She laughed!!!! Then later I got a phone call from Papa Swaim, he said I was the only one that could have gotten away with that prank, anybody else would have been in big trouble! Ha ha Always got keep thing interesting in P-Town, that's my job! lol

Me with a giant strawberry

Last Pic is another one in the sacred grove!

Story Time!

Hey Y'all!!!
This week has been really great thanks to two things: MAIL and ATTITUDE.Ha ha let me explain! So this week I have gotten some more mail- YAY!!!!But the best piece of mail I got this week was a BOX FROM DENMARK!!!!!!!I was so excited! Kevin sent me a cool Danish shirt with writing that noone here can understand- so sweet! And also some yummy Danish waffley thingys and a rock from the Danish land and the best part was... a cassette tape! Oh man it was SUCH A TREAT to hear my baby brother's voice!!! I haven't heard that in over a year! So ya that was the coolest thing from this week! All of that mail and the love and support really helped to keep me going this week, so thanks y'all!!!! I think I can remember all who wrote me so I will give ya a shout out- C, Jennie, Aunt Elaine, Moran, Elder Kleisler and Jessica Robins. Thanks Y'all!! (Sorry if I missed anyone)

Ok so the other thing that made this such an awesome week was- my attitude. Mama Swaim told me the other day that she saw a sign when she was out shopping that said "attitude is everything!" she said she had the hardest time resisting to buy it for me! Lol That punk!! But it made me think and she was right, I have been pretty negative lately. So these last couple days I have been trying to just look at the good stuff and forget the bad stuff. It has been a VERY good thing!!! If you focus on all the cruddy things that happen of course you are gonna feel cruddy, but if you choose to look on the bright side then you are a much happier person, and so is your companion for that matter! Ha ha So ya Love and Support from Home and having agood attitude can make a lot of difference for a missionary!! So this week was better than the others, not because we found lots of new investigators or had anyone come to church, but because I had a good attitude and saw the little miracles and tender mercies that occurredthroughout our week.

I have lots of little stories to share with y'all so here it goes- Story Time!!!

The first are Dog Stories!!!! So I always remembered even as a little kid that missionaries would always have jokes about the dogs and stuff.I never thought much of it, and mostly thought it was an exaggeration until I got to Texas!! It is true- Dogs HATE missionaries, it's like they can sense the spirit and they want to destroy it! Sister Johnson thinks that the dogs are all on a contract to work for Satan. Ha ha so anyway, this week we had a few close calls with dogs. The first was on Thursday night, we were knocking in a bit more "ghetto" area and not having any success, we were getting pretty tired and a bit discouraged. We were towards the end of the street and I approached a house that had a fenced in front yard. Lots of yards are like that here, so I thought nothing of it. I opened the fence and Sister Johnson proceeded to walk in. Before I could follow her this big scary dog came dashing out from behind the house and chased after Sister Johnson she SCREAMED and ran back out towards the gate. I closed it real quick and we walked away. Sister Johnson had to get a hold of herself for a second after that, she said her life flashed before her eyes! Ha ha I just thought it was hilarious! I guess that's cause I knew I was safe. But don't worry I got my own run in with a dog later on in the week.

Yesterday we were up in the very southern most tip of San Antonio (which is part of our area)and once again were in the "ghetto" (you'd think we would have learned our lesson by now! Lol) and we were knocking doors. We once again were having no success, no one was answering the doors and we were tired and it was like 4 o clock so it was HOT!!!!! We were getting further down the street and were about to walk up a driveway to the next house when all the sudden I jumped about 5 feet in the air!! There was a dog underneath the truck I was walking past and it growled at me. I began to back away slowly and then It started walking towards me bearing its teeth. Then two more big dogs came out next to it and so there were three dogs backing sister Johnson and I into a corner. I about freaked out, I had only one thought in my head- RUN! But I then countered that thought with another one, If I run they will prolly follow and attack. So Sister Johnson and I were about ready to pee our pants and cry cause we knew we were done for, but we just decided to slowly side step and walk very slowly down the street away from the house. We walked super slow and the dogs didn't follow. As soon as we got far enough away we took off running back to the truck. So ya, I will be honest- Dogs are NOT a missionary's best friend!!!!!

We had a pretty cool little miracle that we got to see the other day. It was just one of those things where you KNOW the Lord had a hand in it. So we got a headquarters' referral the other day- it's a text message from Salt Lake with the name and address of someone who ordered a DVD or something off of the TV or a pass along card or the internet. We get a couple of those every transfer and a lot of the time they don't turn out to be people who are too interested but we still get excited about them anyway. So this week we got one and we called him and set upan appointment. We went over to his house and sat down to teach him, but first I asked him how he found out about the DVD he ordered. He said that just last week he had a friend talk to him about God and how George (the referral) needed to find Jesus and get that help in his life. Well this all hit George pretty powerfully and he felt like he had a "spiritual awakening", as he called it. So then just two days after this he was at the park and he found a card sitting on one of the picnic tables and it talked about Jesus so he called in for the free DVD. Then along came us! Well we know exactly how that mysterious card got there- it was a pass along card that we had handed out to one of the numerous people we EBP at the park. So when we gave it somebody they decided they didn't want it so they left it there and then bam George found it! Cool Stuff. It taught me a really good lesson- we don't always know what happens with all the work that we do, we don't always get to see the end result, but no effort is wasted in the eyes of the Lord. SO ya pretty cool!!

Another one of those head quarters referrals that we got a few weeks ago lives up in a town called Von Ormy which is further north of Pleasanton close to San Antonio. We went and saw him a few weeks ago and he really didn't seem that promising. We taught him a lesson but he wasn't all that interested, so we gave him the DVD he ordered and went on our way. We didn't plan on going back to see him, especially because he lives so many miles away and our miles are precious!!! But this week we were coming back from District Meeting in San Antonio and we were driving past the place where this guy lived and felt impressed to stop. He wasn't there, but his family lives on the same property. We talked to them and asked if we could teach them. They said yes. They gathered the whole family around. Two moms (sisters in law) and a bunch of kids. 3 of the Kids were baptismal age. So anyway they said we could teach them, BUT one of the moms only understands Spanish and everyone else speaks Spanish and English. So Sister Johnson and I tag teamed it. I had to whip out my rusty Spanish that I hardly EVER use!!! Sister Johnson would teach one principle in English and I would teach the next one in Spanish and also reteach parts of the one she taught. It was a crazy and tiring experience but it was so neat because I got to speak Spanish!!!! They are actually a pretty cool family that seem pretty interested, but they didn't come to church this week. We are gonna gosee them tomorrow though. More Spanish practice for me! Yay!!!! Well I have more stories but this is long enough as is.

I love y'all mucho and appreciate your letters- PLEASE keep them coming!!!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler

Best Thing for My Life!

Hey Y’all!!!

Well this week has been another crazy ones with ups and downs and everything in between but lots of lessons were learned and lots of cool experiences happened along the way! So the first thing I want to tell you about was one of the highlights of my mission. Yesterday in sacramnet meeting my recent convert Clarissa gave a talk!!!! She has been a member for only one month and she was asked to give a 5 minute talk in sacramnet meeting. It was AMAZING!!!!! I saw Papa Swaim looking down at us on the stand (he’s in the bishopric) and smiling big as he saw our eyes full of tears and the giant grins on our faces! I can’t even describe what it feels like to have someone you baptized, someone you watched change their lives to be a member of the church, to see them taking hold of the gospel and becoming so strong, well…. It’s the best part of being a missionary!!! Her talk was great and her attitude and sprirt are contageous! I love that girl!!! So ya that was an awesome experience, I AM SO PROUD OF HER! So other things that happened this week, we had zone confrence- it was fantastic!!! We were trained on lots of awesome things. President and Sister Cutler taught us more about answering people concerns using the Book Of Mormon, the assistants taught us about improving our door approaches when knocking. Then they split us up into three groups. One group went with one of the assistants, another with the other assistant and the last with President. Guess which group Sister Johnson and I were in… President’s. So ya, we had to do role plays with President- so terrifying!!!!!! We had to “knock” on his door and get in. It was scary, ha ha cause man he’s PRESIDENT! But it was cool. He taught us all a lot and the main thinig was to focus on getting in the door! He said we teach too much at the doorstep, we need to focus on getting inside and then teaching. SO he taught us to say things like “Hi we are missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints and we have a very important message to share about Jesus Christ. Will you allow us to come into your home and share this with you and your family?” So anyway we learned all of this really cool stuff and then throughout the week we have been applying it, and guess what, WE HAVE GOTTEN IN THE DOOR!!! Ha ha it was so sweet the day after zone confrence we went knocking and only had 5 people answer the door and we got into 2 of those doors and taught lessons! SO sweet!!! So ya that was cool!!! I have been learning a lot out here!!!!!
So I also learned a very important lesson from President this week. We had our interviews after zone confrence and I told president that I was having a really hard time not falling into depression every time one of our awesome investigators burned us. He then taught me a very good lesson. He asked me what doctrine that I teach to my investigators could help me out with this problem. I thought about it for awhile and he gave me a hint. Think about the second lesson. I was like, oh AGENCY!! He then went on to tell me how we can not force anyone to do anything. They get to choose. So I can teach these investogators and love them so much, but ultimatly they get to choose. And if they choose not to follow the path that will bring them happiness, well then, there is nothing I can do about it. This lesson hit me very hard and came in handy yesterday! We were supposed to have 4 investigators at church, all of which we had talked to on Saturday and confirmed and everything and then Sunday came and NONE of them came to church. That was a devistating blow, but then I thought about it, and you know what they made their choice. And I can make mine. I can choose to be depressed about it, or I can choose to move on and conitnue to cheerfully go about doing good. I learned that the second option is always a better choice! So anyway I am learning a lot out here and loving it!!!

I have said it before and I will say it again. My mission is the BEST thing for my life!!!!

SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler

Pictures!

I only have two pictures from this week.

The first is sister Johnson and I with our thrift store clothes! My skirt and my shirt and SIster J's shirt are all from the thrift store in San Antonio! Oh and Sister Johnson is wearing the necklace gma made her.

Next is me with some graffiti- it says P-town which is what we call Pleasanton, so we thought it only appropriate to snap a pic!

Under Construction!

Hey Y’all

I think I will start out this email by writing the lyrics to the 3rd verse of Sister Johnson and my Pleasanton song. We wrote these last night and they perfectly describe my week.

Verse 3:
Sometimes we get into a rut
And get very very stuck
Or else were flying on a roller coaster ride
But on the scriptures we will feast
And our prayers will bring us peace
We’ll turn to the Lord; the Lord is on our side

Chorus:
Pleasanton is full of Lessons
We’re learning the ups and downs of life
We’ll stand firm in unity
For this is where we’re called to be
We’re becoming better mothers and better wives!


So if those lyrics didn’t give it away then let me spell it out for you- my week was full of: ruts, getting out of ruts, lots of ups and many many downs. It was another rough week!!!! But as the lyrics say- we are learning lessons from all of this. On Tuesday after district meeting Sister Johnson called President- she was lost, she had no idea how to help me get out of my rut, so she called president for help. Well guess what President said- “Let me talk to Sister Kleisler!” I thought the man was gonna slice me into pieces, but nope he was very loving and patient and he told me to grab my scriptures. He said we were going to have some companionship study on the phone. SO he told me to look up Moroni chapter 9. He explained the back story on it all- Mormon was writing to his son Moroni and telling him about the wickedness of the people. He was telling him that the people were so far gone that it was ridiculous! Then president told me to read verse 6 to him. In Moroni 9:6 it says “And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God.” So then President asked me- what does this mean. I was like um…. He said it means KEEP GOING!!! He said that Mormon just talked about how awful these guys were but then he says we must labor diligently. President then went on to tell me that everyone gets in ruts. He said that he was coming out of a rut himself and he read that very scripture earlier that morning in his personal study. He said it helped him out. I then told President that I didn’t believe that he could get in ruts- He is President, to me he is Superman! He then went on to tell me about his rut. Then he asked me how I get out of ruts. I told him I didn’t know. He said that wasn’t true cause he knew that I have had many ruts before, my mission has been full of ruts. So then we went on to talk about the things that can get you out of a rut and again he turned to scriptures- this time to Moroni 6:4 which says “And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.” So then he pointed out the three key principles in here –Studying the scriptures, prayer, and the sacrament (The relying on Christ part). He said if I were to do those three things then I would be able to get out of my rut. Now those things seem really simple but guess what, I can testify that they work. President told me that the gospel in NOT complicated!! He was right, It is almost a week later since I have put those things into practice and I am now… out of my rut!!! Yay, but now I am on a rollercoaster! Ha ha I am up and down. But that’s ok because President told me that it is all for a reason. I am learning how to deal with life in a very intense 18 months out on the mission. President has told me a ZILLION times that my mission is going to make me a better mother and a better wife someday. I finally realized that this week. President was right, my mission is making me better! Sometimes I think my mission truly is for me, not for the people I teach. Sister Johnson and I were talking about that the other day and we came to the conclusion that Heavenly Father doesn’t need us. He is doing us a favor by letting us serve as missionaries. I mean honestly he is God, if he wanted the whole world to be converted he could easily do some much grander things than send out 19 and 21 year olds two by two. No, he has sent us out here for us- to help us to grow. The mission is a construction zone!!! I am under construction out here and I am growing to become a better person. It is HARD and it is INTENSE!! But it is a blessing!!! The Lord knows who I need to become, I just need to have faith in him and HOLD ON and as Mormon says- Keep going!!!


I want to leave y’all with my testimony. I will tell you that missionary work is the HARDEST thing I have done in my entire life! It truly is a roller coaster!!!!! Ups, downs, ruts… you name it! But it is the best thing ever FOR my life. As I am along for this ride I am growing closer to my older brother Jesus Christ. I know that he has felt every pain that I have felt. The disappointment of a person turning away from the gospel, the feeling of being stuck in a rut with only a puddle of investigators to teach, the feeling of frustration that you can’t keep your emotions in control and just be happy. All of these feelings and many more are things that I know my savior has been through, and he didn’t do it just because he was told to, he did it for ME!!! He did it cause he loves me and wants me to return to live with my father in heaven again. I know that the way that we can return is by standing strong in this life and turning to the gospel to help us. That is why we have a prophet today on the earth. He is here to lead us and guide us, to give us the extra help that we need to get back to our Father above. I know that Thomas S. Monson is truly a prophet of God and that he receives revelation directly from God. I know that we can find true happiness through the gospel of Jesus Christ. It isn’t instantaneous and it isn’t easy, but it is attainable!! I am so grateful to be out here in the Construction Zone because I know that my Father in Heaven is molding me, he is smoothing my rough edges and teaching me the lessons now that I need to know to help me for the rest of my life. What a blessing it is to be a member of Jesus Christ’s true church! How thankful I am to my parents for raising me with this knowledge and never giving up on me when I went astray. I want y’all to know that I LOVE MY MISSION!!! I have gone through some extremely tough times, harder than anything else I have ever been through in my entire life- and you know what, I wouldn’t take it back for anything!!!! Not anything!!!! My mission is for me and I am under construction- and for that I am eternally grateful!

SMILING ALL THE WHILE

Hermana Kleisler