Hey Y’all!
So this is my last email to y’all! Wow, how time has flown! It is such a strange experience to be leaving my mission, my home for the past 18 months! It has been so hard to say good byes, I still have not quite come to grips with the fact that I am leaving. It is such a hard thing to do. But alas, there are new things ahead of me and many great opportunities to be had. Seeing as this is my last official email as a full time missionary I thought I would keep it short and sweet by telling you- first how much my mission means to me and second share with you my testimony.
I want y’all to know that with out a shadow of a doubt that my mission is the BEST thing that has ever happened to me. My mission means EVERYTHING to me! Through the rough times and the great times I will be forever grateful to my Heavenly Father for calling me to His work. I have seen people brought closer to the savior then ever thought possible. I have seen miracles, I have seen countless tender mercies being dished out by our loving Heavenly Father in behalf of his children. I have seen baptisms, I have seen people walk away from the truth, I have felt rejection, I have felt utter joy. I have been through my share of trials in my life but my mission was the biggest. It seemed at times that I was being handed more than I could deal with. That is where the real lesson learning begins- just when you think you can’t take it anymore, you turn to Him and he gives you strength that you didn’t even know you had in you! I have learned lessons on my mission that will bless me and my future family not only in this life, but in the eternities. My mission changed me for the better. My Father in Heaven needed to mold me. A good friend of mine once used this analogy and so I will share it with you today. For me my mission was my refiner’s fire. I had to be shaped, smoothed out. Sometimes we think that this is done by Heavenly Father just throwing us in the fire and saying, whelp I guess I’ll take them out when they’re done. But no what really happens is, we are all these precious stones but there is a lot of rock covering up the gem and so in order to help us shine more brightly he is going to melt away some of the rough stone spots. So he carefully puts the precious gem on a stick and holds it in the fire ever so carefully. Constantly keeping an eye on the stone. Now when the stone gets to hot, he pulls it out, cools it off and gives it a break. Then when he feels the time is right and the stone is ready he puts the stone back in again. This process continues until a precious gem is formed. I have thought about this little analogy a lot on my mission and feel that it adequately describes the mission field. My mission has been hard, but when it gets to the point where I think I can’t handle it anymore, Heavenly Father puts me in his loving hands and cools me off. Whenever I was struggling on the mission my President would say to me, “it’s ok Sister Kleisler, you’re in His hands” I have grown so much being in His hands and I have grown so much on my mission. Once again I want y’all to know that my mission means EVERYTHING to me!
Now the last thing I want to leave with you is my testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. I want y’all to know that I know that he lives. That he is there for ALL of us and that he wants to help us in our trials but we must turn to Him. His atonement is for us- it is an AMAZING gift but we must access it. I am forever grateful for my Savior, for the pains he suffered for me and for the way in which he has made it so I don’t ever have to feel alone. The closer we get to him the more peace and happiness we can have in our lives- that I know for A FACT!
I love y’all very much and will see you on Wednesday!!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Sister Kleisler
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
It's Starting to look a lot like Christmas!
Hey Y’all!!
It sure is getting pretty Christmasy around here!!! We even got a Christmas tree for our bedroom. Mama Smith asked us a few weeks ago if we wanted a tree and we said yes. So this week she came home and yelled up the stairs “Sisters come down here quick!” We were like, uh what’s going on? We run down the stairs and there is our Christmas tree- a real live one!! I have never had a real tree before, it smells so good! Ours is more of a Chrsitmas bush- she is short and stocky. I named our tree Shaniqua! Ha ha she is so cute! Other Christmasy happeneings include, the ward Christmas party with non members present- score! Sister Johnson and I made sugar cookies this week and took them to all of our investigators and less actives that we are working with. With the Christmas season you’d think there would be a heightened sense of the desire to hear about Christ, but most people don’t seem to have time for it. We did meet a few people this week that we set up return appointments with so we will see how all of that pans out.
Well this is my last full week as a missionary and it is full of lots of emotion and LOTS of things to do!!! Sorry this has to be so short today but I just have such a jammed packed day that I have no time. But I can justify it all in saying that I will see y’all soon enough!!! :)
Have an awesome week and enjoy what Christmas is truly about!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Sister Kleisler
It sure is getting pretty Christmasy around here!!! We even got a Christmas tree for our bedroom. Mama Smith asked us a few weeks ago if we wanted a tree and we said yes. So this week she came home and yelled up the stairs “Sisters come down here quick!” We were like, uh what’s going on? We run down the stairs and there is our Christmas tree- a real live one!! I have never had a real tree before, it smells so good! Ours is more of a Chrsitmas bush- she is short and stocky. I named our tree Shaniqua! Ha ha she is so cute! Other Christmasy happeneings include, the ward Christmas party with non members present- score! Sister Johnson and I made sugar cookies this week and took them to all of our investigators and less actives that we are working with. With the Christmas season you’d think there would be a heightened sense of the desire to hear about Christ, but most people don’t seem to have time for it. We did meet a few people this week that we set up return appointments with so we will see how all of that pans out.
Well this is my last full week as a missionary and it is full of lots of emotion and LOTS of things to do!!! Sorry this has to be so short today but I just have such a jammed packed day that I have no time. But I can justify it all in saying that I will see y’all soon enough!!! :)
Have an awesome week and enjoy what Christmas is truly about!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Sister Kleisler
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
MARK THE DATE!!!
Hermana Kristi Kleisler's "Homecoming" Talk
Sunday, December 27th, 2009
9:00 a.m.
Woodglen Park Ward
Extension Building
Mesa, AZ
BE THERE!!!
I'll Be Home For Christmas!
Hey Y’all!!!
So the first thing I have to tell you today is……I’ll be home for Christmas!! There is a group of Missionaries going home on December 23 and I am now part of that group! So sweet! My mommy said it is the best Christmas present ever! :)
The next thing I have for you is a story- a story of answered prayers.
So the other day I was feeling sick and so we were at the house just sitting in the family room talking. Sister Johnson had been praying all day that Heavenly Father would throw us a bone. She pleaded with him saying that we might not be able to get out of the house that day but we were doing the best we could and we needed his help to be able to teach some people. Well as we were sitting in the family room there was a plumber upstairs working in our bathroom. He turned on the faucet to our bathtub and then walked off to call a coworker. Well he forgot about the tub and as we sat down stairs talking we were all the sudden interrupted by a waterfall!! The plumber overflowed our tub and water leaked down the vent! Crazy!!! So then the plumbing company had to call in another company that dries up water. So then this “Dry Force” guy comes to the house. He went up stairs to check the damage and saw my Book of Mormon that I keep on the bathroom counter. Then he came down stairs to talk with mama smith and he saw me and my name tag and then told mama smith that he had a Book Of Mormon in his car. She then asked him if he was a member. He said no. I speedy quick found my way over to the table and jumped into that conversation. Turns out his name is Tim Scott and he was taught by missionaries years ago when he was 17 but his mom would not give permission for him to be baptized. He loved the church and still does. Two weeks ago he was at another house drying up water and he started talking to the lady and asked if she knew of a good church he could go to. She said she did and then gave him a Book Of Mormon. He went to church 2 weeks ago at her ward and enjoyed it. So I am sitting there hearing all of this thinking NO WAY! So then I ask well, have you seen missionaries again after that first time? He said actually, I was up in Austin not too long ago and he saw some guys in white shirts and ties and talked to them and gave him his number and they never called. So I said well, I can make sure that some missionaries get to you, what’s your address? He told me and then I said, well I can PERSONALY make sure some missionaries see ya, cause that’s OUR area! So Tim continued to talk with us some more, and he’s been back to the house a few times since to check on the equipment. He is super excited about the church and wants to get baptized, he told us that he wants us to teach him the first lesson today when he comes over to check out the water damage. Man so crazy, I just want y’all to know that Heavenly Father answers prayers! I wasn’t able to go out and work, so Heavenly Father sent the investigator to us, into our house!!!
Well I love y’all and hope you are having a fabulous Holiday season!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Sister Kleisler
So the first thing I have to tell you today is……I’ll be home for Christmas!! There is a group of Missionaries going home on December 23 and I am now part of that group! So sweet! My mommy said it is the best Christmas present ever! :)
The next thing I have for you is a story- a story of answered prayers.
So the other day I was feeling sick and so we were at the house just sitting in the family room talking. Sister Johnson had been praying all day that Heavenly Father would throw us a bone. She pleaded with him saying that we might not be able to get out of the house that day but we were doing the best we could and we needed his help to be able to teach some people. Well as we were sitting in the family room there was a plumber upstairs working in our bathroom. He turned on the faucet to our bathtub and then walked off to call a coworker. Well he forgot about the tub and as we sat down stairs talking we were all the sudden interrupted by a waterfall!! The plumber overflowed our tub and water leaked down the vent! Crazy!!! So then the plumbing company had to call in another company that dries up water. So then this “Dry Force” guy comes to the house. He went up stairs to check the damage and saw my Book of Mormon that I keep on the bathroom counter. Then he came down stairs to talk with mama smith and he saw me and my name tag and then told mama smith that he had a Book Of Mormon in his car. She then asked him if he was a member. He said no. I speedy quick found my way over to the table and jumped into that conversation. Turns out his name is Tim Scott and he was taught by missionaries years ago when he was 17 but his mom would not give permission for him to be baptized. He loved the church and still does. Two weeks ago he was at another house drying up water and he started talking to the lady and asked if she knew of a good church he could go to. She said she did and then gave him a Book Of Mormon. He went to church 2 weeks ago at her ward and enjoyed it. So I am sitting there hearing all of this thinking NO WAY! So then I ask well, have you seen missionaries again after that first time? He said actually, I was up in Austin not too long ago and he saw some guys in white shirts and ties and talked to them and gave him his number and they never called. So I said well, I can make sure that some missionaries get to you, what’s your address? He told me and then I said, well I can PERSONALY make sure some missionaries see ya, cause that’s OUR area! So Tim continued to talk with us some more, and he’s been back to the house a few times since to check on the equipment. He is super excited about the church and wants to get baptized, he told us that he wants us to teach him the first lesson today when he comes over to check out the water damage. Man so crazy, I just want y’all to know that Heavenly Father answers prayers! I wasn’t able to go out and work, so Heavenly Father sent the investigator to us, into our house!!!
Well I love y’all and hope you are having a fabulous Holiday season!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Sister Kleisler
Monday, November 30, 2009
11/30/09
Hello to all of Sister Kleisler’s family and friends.
This is Sister Johnson, her companion. I’ve decided to write her group email today. It was a surprise for me that we were going to be comps again. Sister Kleisler does this thing on transfer night where she calls up all the sisters and finds out if they are getting transferred or not. She creates a transfer tree and then by logical deduction she calculates where everyone is getting transferred to and who their companions will be and so forth. She’s usually pretty accurate. So she calls me and Sister Dodge down in Pleasanton and I tell her I’m getting transferred and then I asked her if she knew who my new companion was going to be. She totally knew we were going to be companions again, but of course she wasn’t going to ruin the surprise, “Oh…I think you’re going with Sister Byrne. Yep, she needs a companion so I’m pretty sure that who you’re going with.” So then for the rest of the time before transfers I thought that I was going to be sister Byrne’s companion and I told everyone that because rarely is Sister Kleisler wrong…So the day of transfers comes…AND…Sister Dodge is super sick—I mean super sick. So we ended up missing the transfer meeting because there was no way we were going to get up to transfer meeting which is an hour away by 8am in the morning. Nope, not going to happen. So we sat at home and waited to go up for the 2nd transfer meeting when Sister Dodge’s companion would be coming down from Austin. So there Sister Kleisler is at transfer meeting and she knows she’s getting me, but I’m no where to be found. The AP’s do the call outs, “And in the Encino Park area we have Sister Kleisler AND……………” AP’s always have to add in this dramatic pause so Sister Kleisler broke the suspense and said, “She’s not here.” I can just see Elder Delio’s jaw drop, “How do you know who your companion is? You always know!” “Yep.”
So Sister Kleisler had to wait for me until 3pm when the next transfer meeting would be. The only problem being that all the Sisters left so she was stuck without a companion. So she went to the office and helped the senior couples with stuff and then when the time came she got a ride back over to the church. During this time I couldn’t handle the suspense so I called the AP’s and asked them who my new companion would be. I guess it was their turn to spoil the surprise. “Who do you think your new companion is?” “I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking you.” “Guess.” Ugh. Elder Hunt always make you guess. “No, just tell me.” “Okay, okay. I’ll give you a hint: it will be a reunion.” “Uhhhhhh…..Sister Kleisler?” “Yep” “No way…whoa” I could go more into my verbal response but it would have just a babbled mess of the words “awesome” and “cool.” My vocabulary has decreased substantially since I’ve been out here.
Anyways, on with this very exciting story…So sister Dodge and I pull into the Church parking lot and Sister jumps out of the car filled with Elders and does her strut over to me and yells, “Are you ready for this?!” I smile, “Yep” Sister Kleisler clarified,“Dude, We’re companions!!!” “I know.” “How do you know? Who told you? Someone’s going down!” So thus it was—united once again. The AP’s came up and shook our hands, “The Dynamic Duo reunited at last.”
For the next few days we were like giggling school girls: We had so much to get caught up on and we stayed up each night talking and talking. It was so cool to teach together again. We taught Elsa who is not a member and who is living with her less active boyfriend. We tried to commit her to baptism in December but there are obviously some lifestyle changes she’ll have to make. She wasn’t against the idea, but it’s a pretty big decision so we’ll see what happens. But the lesson itself was really neat. The spirit was there and Sister Kleisler and I went back and forth pretty seamlessly. Its was cool. We also taught the Oakley family this week. They were sick for two weeks apparently and it has really dampened their flame. We will still work with them, but we’re going to have to do something to rekindle the fire that I guess they used to have. I finally met Emylie which was cool. One of the neatest things about coming here is to see how much the members and the investigators love Sister Kleisler. They just love her. She’s got a real talent of making people feel special and successful and people are attracted to that. A huge chunk of the ward is giving out Book of Mormons because Sister Kleisler and Sister Davenport told them to…getting members to hand out Book of Mormons is not an easy task unless you have mad people skills. It’s neat.
The other night we ran into a guy out in a parking lot. He chatted with him for a bit. I told him a little bit about the history of the church and our basic beliefs. He was kinda if-y and it didn’t really like seem like he was going to be super interested. But then Sister Kleisler jumped in and bore a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon. She taught a little about where it came from and then told him her own personal feelings about it. That was the turning point in the conversation. Suddenly he let us set an appointment with him. We brought Papa Smith to the appointment and it went really well. John, the investigator, told us that he wasn’t really interested in what we were talking about the night before, “But I was intrigued with what you said about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.” As he said that he pointed to Sister Kleisler because he was obviously referring to her testimony the night before. It was cool. Who knows what will happen, but it’s just one more instance where testimony penetrates and touches a soul more than bare facts ever will.
So guess what happened to Sister Davenport? Well according to Sister Kleisler, Sister Davenport was going to be transferred up to Austin to serve in a Spanish area in South Austin. Well, she was right about the Austin part, but instead of getting sent to the Spanish area, she was sent back to her very first area on the mission. She was in that area for 6 months before and that’s actually the same area that her and I served in when she trained me almost a year ago. So by the end of her mission she will have served in the Anderson Mill area for 9 MONTHS! Crazy.
Anyways, there’s not much else to report on. Life is beautiful, not always easy, but beautiful. I love serving with Sister Kleisler because she has touched and strengthened so many people out here with her love, her endurance, her child-like wonder, and her ever-increasing faith. Nothing gets in the way of her love for the Savior—even if it means plowing through heck and back.
She loves you all...a lot,
Sister Johnson
This is Sister Johnson, her companion. I’ve decided to write her group email today. It was a surprise for me that we were going to be comps again. Sister Kleisler does this thing on transfer night where she calls up all the sisters and finds out if they are getting transferred or not. She creates a transfer tree and then by logical deduction she calculates where everyone is getting transferred to and who their companions will be and so forth. She’s usually pretty accurate. So she calls me and Sister Dodge down in Pleasanton and I tell her I’m getting transferred and then I asked her if she knew who my new companion was going to be. She totally knew we were going to be companions again, but of course she wasn’t going to ruin the surprise, “Oh…I think you’re going with Sister Byrne. Yep, she needs a companion so I’m pretty sure that who you’re going with.” So then for the rest of the time before transfers I thought that I was going to be sister Byrne’s companion and I told everyone that because rarely is Sister Kleisler wrong…So the day of transfers comes…AND…Sister Dodge is super sick—I mean super sick. So we ended up missing the transfer meeting because there was no way we were going to get up to transfer meeting which is an hour away by 8am in the morning. Nope, not going to happen. So we sat at home and waited to go up for the 2nd transfer meeting when Sister Dodge’s companion would be coming down from Austin. So there Sister Kleisler is at transfer meeting and she knows she’s getting me, but I’m no where to be found. The AP’s do the call outs, “And in the Encino Park area we have Sister Kleisler AND……………” AP’s always have to add in this dramatic pause so Sister Kleisler broke the suspense and said, “She’s not here.” I can just see Elder Delio’s jaw drop, “How do you know who your companion is? You always know!” “Yep.”
So Sister Kleisler had to wait for me until 3pm when the next transfer meeting would be. The only problem being that all the Sisters left so she was stuck without a companion. So she went to the office and helped the senior couples with stuff and then when the time came she got a ride back over to the church. During this time I couldn’t handle the suspense so I called the AP’s and asked them who my new companion would be. I guess it was their turn to spoil the surprise. “Who do you think your new companion is?” “I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking you.” “Guess.” Ugh. Elder Hunt always make you guess. “No, just tell me.” “Okay, okay. I’ll give you a hint: it will be a reunion.” “Uhhhhhh…..Sister Kleisler?” “Yep” “No way…whoa” I could go more into my verbal response but it would have just a babbled mess of the words “awesome” and “cool.” My vocabulary has decreased substantially since I’ve been out here.
Anyways, on with this very exciting story…So sister Dodge and I pull into the Church parking lot and Sister jumps out of the car filled with Elders and does her strut over to me and yells, “Are you ready for this?!” I smile, “Yep” Sister Kleisler clarified,“Dude, We’re companions!!!” “I know.” “How do you know? Who told you? Someone’s going down!” So thus it was—united once again. The AP’s came up and shook our hands, “The Dynamic Duo reunited at last.”
For the next few days we were like giggling school girls: We had so much to get caught up on and we stayed up each night talking and talking. It was so cool to teach together again. We taught Elsa who is not a member and who is living with her less active boyfriend. We tried to commit her to baptism in December but there are obviously some lifestyle changes she’ll have to make. She wasn’t against the idea, but it’s a pretty big decision so we’ll see what happens. But the lesson itself was really neat. The spirit was there and Sister Kleisler and I went back and forth pretty seamlessly. Its was cool. We also taught the Oakley family this week. They were sick for two weeks apparently and it has really dampened their flame. We will still work with them, but we’re going to have to do something to rekindle the fire that I guess they used to have. I finally met Emylie which was cool. One of the neatest things about coming here is to see how much the members and the investigators love Sister Kleisler. They just love her. She’s got a real talent of making people feel special and successful and people are attracted to that. A huge chunk of the ward is giving out Book of Mormons because Sister Kleisler and Sister Davenport told them to…getting members to hand out Book of Mormons is not an easy task unless you have mad people skills. It’s neat.
The other night we ran into a guy out in a parking lot. He chatted with him for a bit. I told him a little bit about the history of the church and our basic beliefs. He was kinda if-y and it didn’t really like seem like he was going to be super interested. But then Sister Kleisler jumped in and bore a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon. She taught a little about where it came from and then told him her own personal feelings about it. That was the turning point in the conversation. Suddenly he let us set an appointment with him. We brought Papa Smith to the appointment and it went really well. John, the investigator, told us that he wasn’t really interested in what we were talking about the night before, “But I was intrigued with what you said about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.” As he said that he pointed to Sister Kleisler because he was obviously referring to her testimony the night before. It was cool. Who knows what will happen, but it’s just one more instance where testimony penetrates and touches a soul more than bare facts ever will.
So guess what happened to Sister Davenport? Well according to Sister Kleisler, Sister Davenport was going to be transferred up to Austin to serve in a Spanish area in South Austin. Well, she was right about the Austin part, but instead of getting sent to the Spanish area, she was sent back to her very first area on the mission. She was in that area for 6 months before and that’s actually the same area that her and I served in when she trained me almost a year ago. So by the end of her mission she will have served in the Anderson Mill area for 9 MONTHS! Crazy.
Anyways, there’s not much else to report on. Life is beautiful, not always easy, but beautiful. I love serving with Sister Kleisler because she has touched and strengthened so many people out here with her love, her endurance, her child-like wonder, and her ever-increasing faith. Nothing gets in the way of her love for the Savior—even if it means plowing through heck and back.
She loves you all...a lot,
Sister Johnson
Sunday, November 29, 2009
The Return of Sister Johnson
11/23/09
Hey Y’all!
Well this has to be a quick one because this has been such a busy day and I have had no time for anything! I have a bunch of news to share, the first is in the subject line. I am getting a new companion and her name is Sister Johnson- no not a new Sister Johnson, I get MY Sister Johnson back and I am so excited!! Transfers are tomorrow morning and we will be together until I die, on the mish that is. Sister Johnson is killing me- that’s the other news. I am coming home in January!!! This is my last transfer! Crazy!!! My feelings are mixed, I am so sad to be leaving the mish but I am also so glad to be able to be with my family and friends again. It will be bitter sweet for sure. But I don’t have to think about that for now, right now I am just concentrating on having the best 6 weeks of my mission!!!! It is going to ROCK!
The work here continues on steady and sure. Elsa and Marty came to church on Sunday and that was great! The Oakley’s were still sick, so they didn’t come, but they all promised to come next week. We went over there tonight so Sister Davenport could say goodbye and we talked about their Thanksgiving plans. They have a bunch of Potatoes to peel and so Sis. Johnson and I are gonna go over and help with that the day before Thanksgiving. That will be fun! I have always been a good potato peeler- right mom? Ha ha Our Thanksgiving is going to be a ton of fun this year, it might even top my San Marcos Thanksgiving!! Our ward does a Turkey Trot up “temple hill” and it’s a 4 mile run- Sis. Johnson and I are totally doing it! She doesn’t know that yet, ha ha but she is gonna do it! Then we are bouncing around from house to house and STUFFING ourselves with food!!! I am so excited! I think I am gonna fast the day before! Lol :)
Well Today has been crazy busy, Sister Davenport has been packing, then we had some other sisters come over and they were emailing while I was attempting to clean up our room and make it presentable for Sister Johnson. Then we went and played some dodgeball with our zone, then off to do some errands, and then back to work! We saw a TON of people tonight, like all of our investigators and stuff so Sister Davenport could take pictures and say goodbye. Now tomorrow comes the final goodbye. I will really miss Porter (Sister Davenport) and it will be hard to see her go. Especially cause I think she is going up to Austin. :( But it will be alright, I will have my Jo Jo back!!!!! Well y’all sorry this was so short but honestly it is like time for bed! I love y’all and appreciate your support!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Sister Kleisler
Hey Y’all!
Well this has to be a quick one because this has been such a busy day and I have had no time for anything! I have a bunch of news to share, the first is in the subject line. I am getting a new companion and her name is Sister Johnson- no not a new Sister Johnson, I get MY Sister Johnson back and I am so excited!! Transfers are tomorrow morning and we will be together until I die, on the mish that is. Sister Johnson is killing me- that’s the other news. I am coming home in January!!! This is my last transfer! Crazy!!! My feelings are mixed, I am so sad to be leaving the mish but I am also so glad to be able to be with my family and friends again. It will be bitter sweet for sure. But I don’t have to think about that for now, right now I am just concentrating on having the best 6 weeks of my mission!!!! It is going to ROCK!
The work here continues on steady and sure. Elsa and Marty came to church on Sunday and that was great! The Oakley’s were still sick, so they didn’t come, but they all promised to come next week. We went over there tonight so Sister Davenport could say goodbye and we talked about their Thanksgiving plans. They have a bunch of Potatoes to peel and so Sis. Johnson and I are gonna go over and help with that the day before Thanksgiving. That will be fun! I have always been a good potato peeler- right mom? Ha ha Our Thanksgiving is going to be a ton of fun this year, it might even top my San Marcos Thanksgiving!! Our ward does a Turkey Trot up “temple hill” and it’s a 4 mile run- Sis. Johnson and I are totally doing it! She doesn’t know that yet, ha ha but she is gonna do it! Then we are bouncing around from house to house and STUFFING ourselves with food!!! I am so excited! I think I am gonna fast the day before! Lol :)
Well Today has been crazy busy, Sister Davenport has been packing, then we had some other sisters come over and they were emailing while I was attempting to clean up our room and make it presentable for Sister Johnson. Then we went and played some dodgeball with our zone, then off to do some errands, and then back to work! We saw a TON of people tonight, like all of our investigators and stuff so Sister Davenport could take pictures and say goodbye. Now tomorrow comes the final goodbye. I will really miss Porter (Sister Davenport) and it will be hard to see her go. Especially cause I think she is going up to Austin. :( But it will be alright, I will have my Jo Jo back!!!!! Well y’all sorry this was so short but honestly it is like time for bed! I love y’all and appreciate your support!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Sister Kleisler
Jaw Dropper!
11/16/09
Hey Y'all!!!
So guess what?!? On Sunday as we were walking around the chapel waiting for sacrament meeting to start, praying silently our investigators would show up and making small talk with the members, all the sudden I see this white haired guy in a pink polo shirt, black jeans and nikes walk into the chapel. My jaw dropped!!!!!! It was Bruce Oakley!!! Brucecame to church!!! Dun dun nuh nuh....VICTORY!! We were so darn excited to see him there, and he loved the fact that he surprised us, I thinkthat was his plan all along, ha ha what a stinker! But anyway he came,the rest of his family is all sick with the flu so he came by himselfand only stayed for sacrament meeting so he could go home and check on them, but still it was so cool that he came! He seemed to enjoy it and we're pretty sure he'll be back next week with the whole fam! Alright well now there isn't anything stopping them all from being baptized! We will hopefully set a date with them this week but we gotta get them all healthy again cause right now their house is quarantined. We are hoping that we can baptize them on the 29th. They are ready- they just don't realize it yet. So as for other investigator news, bad news with Emylie. I really should be careful what I wish for cause it looks like now we will be teaching her as an investigator all the way till January! Her uncle that was going to baptize her got the swine flu and had to miss a week of work and now he can't take any more days off to go to Utah to baptize Emylie, so now the Scarisbricks are staying here for Thanksgiving and then sometime in January will to Utah for the baptism. Sister Davenport and I are pretty frustrated by the whole thing because yes it is important to have the family there and what not for the baptism, but to keep putting it off is putting off blessings! Baptism is a saving ordinance and shouldn't be preformed only when it's convenient!!! Ok my rant is over. Ha ha so anyway that's what's going onwith our investigators. Elsa is also doing really well, we will be teaching her Law of Chastity tonight so we will see how that goes. Kipper and Sandra have both fallen off the face of the earth so they are no longer progressing, sad day. But we have Faith in the Lord and know he will lead us to more people who are prepared.
So this week I had a neat experience with consistency and the power of it. Let me explain, a week ago President challenged me to read my scriptures EVERY day without fail and have morning and nightly prayers. I had been slacking a bit and so this was a promise that I made to President. Well I started doing it and it had an amazing effect on me. I realized that once I made it a goal to do it and told myself that I couldn't miss even one day, I was starting to become consistent and it rocked! The real cool part though is how the spirit whispered to me to enlist some help in my challenge. We were at the Oakleys about two weeks ago and they weren't really progressing, they liked us coming over but they weren't taking steps to act. So as I was sharing my testimony with them I was prompted by the spirit to extend to them the same challeneg that I was working on. I told them I needed their help ind oing it, if they were doing it at the same time as me it would encourage me to keep going. So all three of them (Max was at school)excepted the challenge. The best part is, it's been 2 weeks and they are still doing it!!! They are loving the Book of Mormon and have really in depth questions and they are progressing now! So anyway it was just areally neat experience to me and such a testimony builder of just how important the Book of Mormon really is!
Have a great week and keep the letters coming!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Sister Kleisler
Hey Y'all!!!
So guess what?!? On Sunday as we were walking around the chapel waiting for sacrament meeting to start, praying silently our investigators would show up and making small talk with the members, all the sudden I see this white haired guy in a pink polo shirt, black jeans and nikes walk into the chapel. My jaw dropped!!!!!! It was Bruce Oakley!!! Brucecame to church!!! Dun dun nuh nuh....VICTORY!! We were so darn excited to see him there, and he loved the fact that he surprised us, I thinkthat was his plan all along, ha ha what a stinker! But anyway he came,the rest of his family is all sick with the flu so he came by himselfand only stayed for sacrament meeting so he could go home and check on them, but still it was so cool that he came! He seemed to enjoy it and we're pretty sure he'll be back next week with the whole fam! Alright well now there isn't anything stopping them all from being baptized! We will hopefully set a date with them this week but we gotta get them all healthy again cause right now their house is quarantined. We are hoping that we can baptize them on the 29th. They are ready- they just don't realize it yet. So as for other investigator news, bad news with Emylie. I really should be careful what I wish for cause it looks like now we will be teaching her as an investigator all the way till January! Her uncle that was going to baptize her got the swine flu and had to miss a week of work and now he can't take any more days off to go to Utah to baptize Emylie, so now the Scarisbricks are staying here for Thanksgiving and then sometime in January will to Utah for the baptism. Sister Davenport and I are pretty frustrated by the whole thing because yes it is important to have the family there and what not for the baptism, but to keep putting it off is putting off blessings! Baptism is a saving ordinance and shouldn't be preformed only when it's convenient!!! Ok my rant is over. Ha ha so anyway that's what's going onwith our investigators. Elsa is also doing really well, we will be teaching her Law of Chastity tonight so we will see how that goes. Kipper and Sandra have both fallen off the face of the earth so they are no longer progressing, sad day. But we have Faith in the Lord and know he will lead us to more people who are prepared.
So this week I had a neat experience with consistency and the power of it. Let me explain, a week ago President challenged me to read my scriptures EVERY day without fail and have morning and nightly prayers. I had been slacking a bit and so this was a promise that I made to President. Well I started doing it and it had an amazing effect on me. I realized that once I made it a goal to do it and told myself that I couldn't miss even one day, I was starting to become consistent and it rocked! The real cool part though is how the spirit whispered to me to enlist some help in my challenge. We were at the Oakleys about two weeks ago and they weren't really progressing, they liked us coming over but they weren't taking steps to act. So as I was sharing my testimony with them I was prompted by the spirit to extend to them the same challeneg that I was working on. I told them I needed their help ind oing it, if they were doing it at the same time as me it would encourage me to keep going. So all three of them (Max was at school)excepted the challenge. The best part is, it's been 2 weeks and they are still doing it!!! They are loving the Book of Mormon and have really in depth questions and they are progressing now! So anyway it was just areally neat experience to me and such a testimony builder of just how important the Book of Mormon really is!
Have a great week and keep the letters coming!
SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Sister Kleisler
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