week 26- Update on my very interesting life

If you haven't heard I've been having major knee pain in my right knee since the last week of July. Over the past 5 months we've been visiting doctors and trying different solutions. I saw a doctor a few months ago who said it's patella tracking syndrome which translation both knee caps are tilted and are causing a decay in the cartilage underneath the knee cap. There are steps to fixing the problem and I've been doing them like taking an anti-inflammatory, wearing a knee brace, icing, and home exercises but they haven't been helping, in fact it's getting worse. Our next step is surgery and/or extensive physical therapy.  

On Thursday I will be flying home to take this medical action there. After everything is taken care of I will come back out to Florida to finish my last year of my mission. 

 

I few FAQ's

Q: Will you still be a missionary?

A: I will be released as a full time missionary but, I have a lot of missionary work to do in Las Vegas so I will be quite busy still bringing people closer to Christ. 

Q: How long will you be home?

A: We're looking at 3-4 months if all goes well

Q: Do you plan on coming back to Florida and finishing your mission there?

A: yes that is the plan. I only have a year left of service so it really won"t be that big of a deal to finish

Q: Did you manage to squeeze in one more baptism?

A: haha. no that would have been a cool story though. We had an investigator come to church though who hadn't in a while and accepted the invitation to be baptized. So that's pretty amazing. She should be baptized before the New Year. 

Q: Do you get to keep your ipad?

A: sadly it belongs to the church still... so no

Q: What do the ward members here know?

A: nothing. They'll all know after Thursday when Sister Packer has a new companion 

Q: Can I call you?

A: Sure!

Q: Can I come visit you?

A: I would love that

Q: What do plan on doing while home?

A: moving into the temple and never coming out, reading the Book of Mormon in 3 months, doing missionary work, reading books, developing Christlike attributes, spending time with my family, staying focused and fighting like a tiger to heal so that I can come back and finish my mission. 

Well that's all I got. I have about an hour left of emailing if y'all have any more questions. I'd be happy to answer them :)

Talk to y'all soon!

Love,

Sister Klein

week 25- Thanksgiving

What Sister Packer and I are Thankful for!

week 24- Baptism Joys!

Well this week has been great! I don't have too much time to email
today because Thursday was technically our preparation day and we have
two hours today to email and shop!

Well I'll just get into the good stuff!
Kirk, Brian, Allan, and Andrew were baptized!!!!  Yes they were
baptized! We set a goal to have 4 more baptisms in the month of
November and we exercised faith and they were baptized! We were so
excited for them. It was a beautiful service and our joy was full. The
gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families :) I've seen it. I had a front
row seat to a miracle!!

I'm attaching a photo of the baptism! Isn't it beautiful? A family :)

Being a missionary was the best thing I ever choose to do! I get to
bring people closer to Jesus Christ.

Well I hope you all have a great week!

Week 23- We suddenly have 6 solid baptismal dates. What?

I don't even know where to begin! I guess the best place to begin is that we're moving! Where? We don"t know yet! So send letters to the other sister's apartment! 

So in way of announcement Blair was baptized in Gainsville last week! Yay! super exciting! If you don't know who Blair is, she was our "golden investigator". We had taught her all the lessons and she had to move suddenly into another mission. well she was baptized! She called me and told me the good news! 

On Monday we were on Tornado watch and we weren't aloud outside or on bikes. So that was a fun adventure in mission life! Also shout out to the person who mailed me knee braces off of amazon! They are greatly appreciated! Thanks :) We also got a new ward mission leader in our ward! He's amazing! Ward mission leaders are super vital! Oh also we went on two exchanges this week. I went to Clearwater with Sister Waters. We got to go to a ward thanksgiving part. There was a lot of non members there. It was really cool! Also Sister Johnson from Seminole came with me to St. Pete. It was also a really good exchange. I love being a Sister Training Leader and learning from all the sisters in the zone!

So on Wednesday we had District Meeting and we talked about our goal of 9 baptisms in our zone for the month of November. Well we had only had 5 so we started naming people who could be baptized by the end of this month and how if we have enough faith we will be able to reach our goal. Well the next day I was saying my morning prayers and I was asking who could we set a date with. A few names came to mind and one of them was just a male who had already been to church and had most of the lessons. Later that day as we were discussing our weekly goals I said another prayer. The name Kirk came to mind. We used to teach Kirk and his 3 boys a while ago. So I called him and asked him if he and his boys wanted to be baptized November 29th. HE SAID YES! We've stopped by every single day since then. They are so prepared! Their interviews are Wednesday and their Baptism is this Saturday! We are so excited for them to be baptized!

We also met this lady while we were walking to an appointment. She said she was looking for a home church we stopped by her house on Sunday and we taught her the first lesson and committed her to be baptized December 13th she said yes and that she wanted her son to be baptized as well. We set another 2 dates last night! 

Well life is good!

Love,

Sister Klein

Week 22- Epiphanies in the Gym and Conquering Mountains

Well this week was interesting to say the least, on Tuesday all 3 of our baptismal dates dropped us... so that was fun. It was a slow week in general because we spent Thursday- Saturday in Tampa at the Metro Training Center. Its basically like a mini- mtc experience but its applicable to our mission. We learned a lot about self confidence and finding it from the real source of confidence and that's God. I seriously feel like I can conquer mountains! We also learned a lot about member missionary work. I hope every single one of you are preparing for someone to take the lessons by the full time missionaries. It's a commandment. Missionary work is equal to paying tithing. It's pretty important. 

We also talked a lot about how we can have the spirit more in our apartments and in our homes. Something that I've been learning on my mission is that if you want the spirit to be in your home and have it feel like the temple get rid of clutter. I can't believe the difference it makes when you put things away from the top of the dresser and things as simple as your desk and bathroom counter. If you put clutter away your home will seriously feel like the temple. If you don't believe me try it for a couple weeks. This realization has changed my life. I will never have clutter ever again because it's not having the strong spirit a clean house can have.

So Monday morning we were working out in the gym and I had an Epiphany! When I get back from my mission I'm going to become an interior designer and help design the inside of temples! It all just clicked in my mind and it feels so good every time I think about it. I'm pretty sure it's perfect for me as well! 

We went on exchanges this week with the other set of sisters in St. Petersburg! It was really fun. I went with Sister Behr to her area! I learned a lot from her as she is a very wise missionary who will be going home at the end of this transfer! Which is crazy. It was also really cool because they live in my old apartment and Sister Behr was my first sister training leader. So it brought back a lot of memories. 

Also I've been getting a lot of friend requests from y'all on my mission facebook and just wanted to let everyone know I'm not ignoring you. But we have a rule that I can only be friends with my parents, brothers, and sisters. Just so your all aware. 

Also I have an ipad so I get emails anytime I have wifi. I really appreciate all the emails and support I get through out the week but if you guys could only email me Sunday- Monday I would really appreciate it. I really want to be a focused missionary and when I get emails all through out the week it distracts me from my purpose. 

Well I love all y'all! 

have a great week!

Love,
Sister Klein

Week 21- Warriors, Surprises, and Embarrassing Moments

Wow! This week was amazing, I don't even know where to start.

On Tuesday I went on an exchange that changed my life. 2 really experienced sister missionaries extended for 30 days so that they could visit all the sister missionaries and share some of their wisdom. The highlight of the exchange is that we learn how to weekly plan according to the guidelines in Preach my Gospel. We also lean how to teach lessons on the street. This exchange changed my mission and my life after. Setting goals and making plans is such an important skill to have. I'm so very thankful for the time these Sisters took to do this. 

This week we taught 19 lessons (which is 17 more than last week), found 8 new investigators, set 3 baptismal dates, and soft committed 2 people to baptism. It was amazing, Next week we plan on teaching 30 lessons. Something I learned this week is that these blessings that we have been recieving have always been there, Sister Packer and I have just had an umbrella up and have been blocking them from coming. Well we took the umbrella down! 

So funny/embarrassing story. I really like to step on dead leaves as we walk down the road, some habit I picked up in Utah. On Tuesday I set a goal to not go out of my way to step on any leaves. So we're walking down the road and I see the perfect leaf. I then go and step on it as I keep moving forward I hit my head on a stop sign and fall backwards. It was just like a moving. Sister Packer and I just fall to the ground laughing! It was hilarious! Moral of the story: don't step on dead leaves.

On Wednesday we found out that we were called to be Sister Training Leaders! Surpirse! I'm so glad I've already done it before so this time it should be a cake!

Mystery of the Lost Book of Mormon Continues: MLC was friday and I followed up with the Sisters I gave the Book of Mormon to. They said that they have a return appointment for the next day! I will freak out if she gets baptized! What a cool story to share. I'll keep y'all updated on what happens next.

Saturday we went to chipolte with one of the ward members, Derrick and his friend Annie. We talked to her for a little bit and asked her if she would be interested in baptism, She said yes! It just goes to show how easy missionary work is. All you have to do is introduce the missionaries to your friends and they can take it from there. Its so simple.

Stake Conference was this weekend. I love receiving revelation at stake conference. Our Mission President was there and spoke Saturday and Sunday. Okay get this! So he's talking about missionary work and said "Our missionaries are warriors. Sister Klein is a warrior, she's walking around with a knee brace" It was hilarious and slightly embarrassing. haha

On our way to Stake Conference!

well folks that's all I got for y'all this week! 

Love,

Sister Klein

Week 20- #JalapenoProbs

Well this week was interesting to say the least. It all started on Monday. Mom you would be so proud of me! at the member dinner we went to I ate shrimp without complaining. It wasn't that bad... okay it was pretty nasty.

Anyways a few weeks ago we were cleaning out our car and we found a Book of Mormon that some lady had written out to a friend trying to share the gospel with her. We realized that because we had the Book of Mormon. It never made its way to the friend. This was a mystery that I had to solve. The Mystery of The Lost Book o f Mormon (coming soon to a theater near you, haha)

The lady who wrote her testimony in the Book of Mormon also wrote a link to her mormon.org profile. So we went there and found a link to her facebook. I messaged her and she let us know that she had written in that book over a year ago, she also told me the missionaries in her ward who I would be seeing Tuesday at the sisters conference.

So I solved the mystery with my abnormal stalking skills and the Sister missionaries in Tampa delivered the Book of Mormon this week. All is well.

Well Tuesday was the Sisters Conference and we went to the beach! 

I saw Sister Davis, Kunz, Loveridge, Coleman, and Brown! It was a joyous reunion! President basically talked about how important we are as Sisters and how important it is that we take the skills we're learning here and apply them to our lives after the mission. 

He also gave the best analogy to missionary work. He said that its basically like the movie Groundhogs Day, Every single day is the same. But you continue to make tweaks and changes until you get it right. It was perfect!

Well on Wednesday was district meeting and the Sister Training Leaders had this awesome object lesson prepared where a few of us closed our eyes and ate a piece of a jalapeno pepper and a grape at the same time. It represented the spirit and how we cant fee; the spirit if we have other things going on. Well after I ate my pepper and grape I went to go get a drink of water and rubbed my eyes on accident not realizing that I had pepper juice on my hand. How many sister missionaries does it take to flush Sister Klein's eye? That would be four. One to video tape, two Sister Training Leaders to feel really bad, and one Sister Behr to pour water and pry my eye open with her hands.

Needless to say it was a experience I'll never forget. haha!

Also Wednesday Night was the ward trunk or treat. There was about 50 nonmembers! It was awesome! We had a hard time talking to all of them! 

Thursday I went to the physical therapist, that was cool. Great way to share the Gospel.

Well Friday was pretty much an adventure day. Right now we have a teaching puddle, instead of a teaching pool. So we contacted every previous investigator we've ever had. Literally. One really cool experience happened. We saw that one Lady Melinda requested a Book of Mormon over a year ago so we went to follow up. We got there and I realized another previous investigator lived here too. Conner. We went and knocked on the door, a 18 year old boy answered. We asked if Conner was home, he said no. Then we asked if a Melinda lived there, he again said no. We then started talking to the kid at the door. He said his name was Collin. We asked him if he had been baptized, he said no but that he wanted to. We then shared with him that our purpose is to increase his faith and prepare him for Baptism. We then had the opportunity to teach him the first lesson. He got it, and loved he. We asked him to pray to know if it is true. He said he already knew it was true! He knew it was true because God wouldn't leave his children in the Dark. He said if God called prophets in the Bible that he would call prophets then. We then made an appointment to come back the next morning. When we came back his mom answered the door and said it was really inconvenient for us to stop by. So we left really discouraged. Collin is so prepared and wants to be baptized. Its really sad that his mom is going to get in the way.

Well for Halloween we went trick or treating with the Bridges family in our ward! It was a really cool experience to be outside with members. Working with the members is my most favorite way to do missionary work. 

Saturday was the worst day of my mission. I'm going to be real with y'all at times I wanted to give up and go home. But Sister Packer and I pressed though. Its really discouraging as a missionary to have 0 investigators and to only teach 2 lessons in a week. That's something I've never had to experience till this week. Sister Packer and I decided that the only thing we could control is our obedience. So we were the most obedient we've ever been. To top the day all off it was freezing and windy outside. Sister Packer and I wore our winter coats and tights.

We don't know how long this drought is going to last but we do know that the Lord is testing us to see if we will continue to be diligent and loyal disciples. I have a strong testimony in the principle of compensation. I know that if Sister Packer and I continue to be diligent even in hard times the Lord will give us what we had and 3 times that. He will never leave us comfortless.

On Sunday Sister Packer and I had a miracle. First of all we were happier because of that extra hour of sleep we got. Second WE GOT 36 MEMBER REFERRALS!!!! HOLLA! How is that even possible! Well the Lord answers prayers and through the Lord all things are possible. 

17 of the referrals came from the Young Women's president of the ward, 2 of them was her Brother and Dad who aren't members. It filled my heart with so much love and gratitude that she knew we were struggling and wanted to do everything she could. That she would trust us with two people who are very near and dear to her heart. I love this ward so much! These people are good people and I love them!

The two people I love the most are the Bishop and his wife. They are so amazing! Bishop always tells us that the four keys to missionary work is love, obedience, hard work, and a good attitude. I think that is so true!

Well I hope y'all have a great week and remember y'all are loved!

Love,

Sister Klein

week 18- Holy Cow! 4 Months, MVT's, Knee Probs, and Saving Souls

Well guys my weekly email is back. A quick update on what happened in that space of time if you haven't already heard yet. I'm training! 3 days after I finished my training I started training. On October 2nd Sister Packer and I became companions. Sister Packer is an amazing missionary the assistants to the mission president told me she was an MVT (Most Valuable Trainy) 

Sister Packer and I pretty much laugh all the time, we're figuring out everything together, its been quite the adventure. 

There's been a lot of changes in our mission. We do things quite differently here and have had a lot of success. We work very closely with members and our numbers are sky rocketing. On an average Sunday in our mission we get 30-40 referrals from members. Last Sunday our mission received 765 and counting referrals from members. That's never happened before, ever. Its insane!

Another thing we do is we only teach people who are 'golden' or who want to be baptized. A few weeks ago we dropped our investigator Sam because he didn't know if he wanted to be baptized. Well last Sunday he came walking into church it was a miracle. After we taught him for a few days about how we receive answers if the church is true and why we are here we decided he still wasn't prepared to be baptized so we dropped him again. Our teaching pool is constantly growing and shrinking. We spend the time that would've been in appointments finding people who are truly prepared. We find them by asking them with boldness "Have you been baptized before?" It seems a little awkward but it works and the more you do it the less awkward it is. I have a strong testimony of bold questions. The baptisms in our mission are tripling and they are people who are truly converted, they don't become less active in a few weeks.

Also for the past couple months my knee has been giving me problems. I went and got an MRI and a x-ray but nothing came up so yeah. I can't bike, run, or jump. So we're on full car or we walk. This week is the best its felt in months which is awesome.

On Monday we went and got flu shots to be obedient to the recommendation made by the missionary medical department, it didn't hurt to bad. But I woke up Tuesday morning sick and exhausted so we spent all day Tuesday in the house resting. I took medicine and drank plenty of water and slept. I woke up at about 5pm feeling so much better so we went out and taught a few lessons. Poor sister packer just cleaned and read all day long. 

On Thursday President Cusick was in our area because he was going to bishopric training that night. He took Sister Behr, Sister Abbot, Sister Packer, and I out to dinner before then at Panera Bread. It was really fun to talk to him about everything going on in our area. 

Friday Sister Packer and I did some finding over by the beach. It was beautiful! I should have taken some pictures! We're going to the actual beach on Tuesday for a sister's conference so that should be lots of fun! 

Saturday was a pretty fun day, we went to do some service for the St. Petersberg free clinic. Well when we got there the doors were locked and as we knocked no one was coming to the door. I suggested we said a prayer that we would have a miracle. I said the prayer and as soon as I said Amen a Lady came around the back of the building to let us know the door was open on the other side. CAN YOU SAY MIRACLE?!? 

We got to talk to the volunteers there about our church and our missions and why we we're doing service in skirts. It was a really cool experience. WE ALSO GOT TO RIDE IN A COOL ELEVATOR! It was just like tower of terror at Disneyland. Just like it.

Elder Ware and Elder Doty had a baptism this week for Kevin. Kevin saw a movie on Netflix about Mormons and it didn't tell him what we believed so he went on to mormon.org conference weekend and requested missionaries. The elders met with him between sessions and set a baptismal date with him and took him to the next session of conference. It was a miracle.

On Sunday I went tracking for the first time ever. Sister Packer and I knocked on the doors outside the church to invite them to the Trunk or Treat our ward is having on Wednesday. We met a lot of interesting people and a lot of really nice people. It was actually really fun, you never knew who was behind the door. We also got to teach a lesson to a man outside his home which was really cool.

Well I better get going!

I hope y'all have a great week!

Love,

Sister Klein

week 17- "If I were an alligator, I would want to live in an organized jungle"

So this Monday Sister Packer and I went to Sawgrass Lake park! Its a park with Alligators and it kind of looks like a jungle, well not really. It just has a lot of green in it. Well the funniest thing happened. We're walking on this boardwalk and Sister Packer just says flat out "If I were an alligator, I would want to live in an organized jungle." So that's our Joke now. Organized Jungles :) haha!

The Lord knows me so well! on Tuesday we were having a rough day and we decided to get a priesthood blessing. We asked the Elders to give them to us. This blessing was seriously an answer to my prayers. The elders said things that only the Lord knows about me and only the Lord knew I was struggling with. It was seriously one of the most spiritual experience of my life. It reaffirmed my testimony of the priesthood. That this really is the Lord's church restored on the earth. It testified to me that God knows me and he is really truly there. 

If you haven't seen Meet the Mormons yet. You have to see it as soon as it is on Netflix. We saw it at our Zone Conference on Thursday! It was amazing! it made me so happy to watch! I basically balled like a baby when it showed one of the characters leaving on a mission. It was such a happy movie! It changed my prospective on the world :) Find a way to see it... Now!

GUESS WHAT?!?!?! Okay! This is the most exciting news of my life! President got us permission to GO TO THE TEMPLE!!!!!!!! We're going to the TEMPLE! He doesn't know when or how and Salt Lake could decide suddenly that we can't leave the mission boundaries to go anymore, But we get to go to the TEMPLE! At least once maybe twice :)

President has been asking for 14 months for us to get permission to go and it finally happened. When he announced that in Zone Conference I cried tears of joy! The temple is my favorite place on this earth! I can teach people the importance of going to the temple more as I experience the temple more!  :)

We had a baptism this week! A sweet 10 year old boy! I'll attach a photo! It was a beautiful baptism! I got to put the year of college I had to use during the baptism. I took a rhythmic training for dancers class where we learned how to count music, read sheet music, and conduct music. So put that knowledge to use and lead the music. and guess what? I didn't fail! I was actually really good at it! haha 

Overall I think its been a pretty good week! I seriously Love missionary work so much! 

Love,

Sister Klein

week 16- Roller coasters are no fun

I'm doing really well. Missionary work is a huge roller coaster. Your teaching pool is up and down. And right now it's down. Like really down. We are teaching no one. So we're going to clean out our area book and start fresh. The Lord will bless us as we do this. We're only teaching people who are prepared so we only teach people who want to be baptized. It's a difficult concept to grasp. Because there are plenty of people who want to be taught. So if we're looking for people who just want to be taught then that's who we're going to teach. But as we look for people who want to be baptized then that's who we're going to find.

The hard part is finding people who want to be baptized is an act of faith. And we learn in Ether that we receive no witness till after the trial of our faith. So we see no fruits of this labor until after it's over. Which is insane if you asks me.

I have strong faith that I'm going to reach my goals this transfer. I also made of my mind in sacrament that I'd rather serve a short mission in which I worked my leg to death because I never stopped moving, then serve all 18 months and give my talents and abilities cheaply because I was afraid of injuring my leg more. So this week I'm going to push my self. I'm going to work so hard I collapse as when I walk in my door. And who knows maybe this is a trial of faith. Maybe if I work my hardest my leg will stop hurting and it will heal.

I don't really know all I know is that the Lord is teaching me lessons here that I couldn't learn in 50 years of being at home.
Well I got to go!
I love and miss you!
Love,
Sister Klein

week 15- The night I stole toilet paper from the gym bathroom...

Well Family Sister Loveidge is training in Lakeland... I may or may not have cried when she left. But that's alright because now I have Sister Packer! She is an amazing missionary! She's basically training me. Sister Packer is from Gilbert, AZ and also comes from a family of nine, was home schooled, and has an abnormal obsession for polka-dots. We're practically twins. Also we're both from the desert so as its getting cold in Florida we're both freezing! 

fun fact: all of my companions have been sorter than me. don't really know how that's possible. I'm pretty short. 

Well you might be wondering about the title... I'll get there.

On Thursday Sister Packer and I did some finding around the church and we found a man who wants to be baptized. We're going to go teach him on Tuesday! We're so excited! He loved the Restoration Lesson and soaked it in like a sponge. He is seriously golden. I have a strong testimony that this is Christ's church restored once again on the earth. 

Sister Packer is a great teacher. This week we taught 18 lessons, it would've been 21 if Blair wasn't sick. But 18 is still really good.

Okay Toilet paper story. So Friday night we get home and I realize we're out of toilet paper. So its too late to run to the store so we go to the gym and steal toilet paper. I seriously felt like Nephi. Breaking a commandment had to be done for a greater cause. haha.

Saturday Morning we had breakfast in one of the member's neighborhood events. It was a really cool experience to have people come up to us and ask us who we were. We're going back next weekend for another event. I love member missionary work! Its pretty much the best thing in the world!

GENERAL CONFERENCE BLEW MY MIND! President encouraged us to have a list of questions to have before it started. I have 17 questions and every single one of them was answered it was insane! I don't know why I didn't do that sooner. Do I have a favorite talk? no, not really. Because every single one of them had multiple answers to my questions. It seriously blew my mind! Also be proud of me! Every single one of you should be proud of me! I didn't fall asleep in conference! What?!? did you hear that? I didn't fall asleep! 

Well I hope y'all have a great week! 

Love,

Sister Klein <3

week 14- Well Smack my Face with a Kansas City Pickle... I'm Training

Hey Family,

So transfer emails came in Saturday evening after the General Woman's Meeting (that was really good by the way) and Sister Loveridge is Transferring and Training and I'll be staying in St. Petersberg and TRAINING! I'm going to be training a brand new missionary. Just to tell you how big of a deal this is I just finsished my training yesterday and only 4 sisters are coming into the mission so President and the Lord chose  and trust me. Its awesome! I am so excited for this opportunity. I know I cannot do this without the Lord's help, but I also know that he will be there for me.

Well This week was record breaking, Sister Loveridge and I taught 23 lessons this week. In the past we had been teaching an average of 10-15 lessons per week and this week we taught 23! The standard of excellence for lessons per week is 20 in my mission. So we finally made it.

So this week was really busy and we were always teaching. It was insane. then on Monday night our missions changed, we got the idea to sleep with our name tags on because the time we have to wear them is so short, I only have 15 more months. That is not nearly enough, I never want to take my name tag off because I always want to be a missionary. We got some training from the assistants to the president on Wednesday before we had our interviews with president. They told us that missionary work is changing and we're not walking the streets anymore. We're using the members and we're using facebook. ever since we started doing this our work has gone crazy. My mission is so much more ahead then any other mission. I'm so thankful for a mission president who is always changing how we do things so we're using the most out of the Lord's time. I don't know what other missionaries do all day and how they aren't bored and what they do in the hour they use for lunch.

The Lord knows me so well he knew that I needed this mission and he knew I needed my mission president.

I'm so excited to meet this sweet missionary I'll be training. I don't even know her name, or what she looks like but I already feel so much love for her! I'm going to miss Sister Loveridge so much but she'll always be my trainer.

I'm so excited for the lessons that the Lord has in store for me as I serve with all my heart, might, mind, and strength.

Love y'all!

Love,

Sister Klein

week 13- We got on a bridge to Tampa!!

So this week has been an adventure for sure. Monday may have been the most stressful day of my mission. we had 2 unplanned meetings that we had to go to. so we had to fit that into our pday schedule and we were late to both meetings because of traffic and car wrecks. it was kind of funny because we literally just screamed the whole drive in the car. It was really stressful. but we got over it. haha

Okay really funny story! so we ordered a large print Book of Mormon for Juanita this week and it got here so we went to drop it off and she just starts screaming with excitement for this Book of Mormon. Like she's a little kid on Christmas! It was so cute! we got it on video too! It was so funny how excited she was about the Book of Mormon.

We set dates with Hope and Sam this week! we're super excited for them to make the steps towards baptism.

Fun mission story on exchanges I got bit by a spider while I was sleeping, so all day Saturday I ran a fever from the spider bite. It was kinda fun to be out proselyting while running a fever. I made it till about 4:00 in the afternoon when I finally decided to call the mission nurse and ask what to do and he told me to go home and rest. haha. It was really hard to rest because the Lord needs me to work my hardest all the time, but after I did I felt a lot better. 

Yesterday we went over to the Bishop's house for dinner and on the way back we somehow got on the bridge to tampa and we couldn't flip a u-turn because we were on a bridge. It was insane. we were freaking out because there was nothing we could do. We got back to the area safely and we got a funny video of us freaking out. So yeah.

I really don't have too much to say this week... 

Life's great. The church is true.

Love,

Sister Klein

Week 12- Eye Single to the Glory of God

Dear Family,

This has seriously been the craziest most amazing week of my life. Every day has been full of miracles and seeing the Lord's hand in my life. We set a baptismal date with the family we're teaching for October 18th! awesome!

Okay funny story!

So we had to run to target to get something that I needed and it couldn't wait till Monday. so we're at target and we ask a worker were the item is located and she tells us the isle and we then talk to her about baptism. She said she hadn't been baptized but that she wanted to. WHAT?! this worker in Target wanted to be baptized! That never happens! We get her contact information and we're going to start teacher her! CRAZY stuff!!!

The Lord is so very aware of me right now in this stage of my life. He loves me and wants me to be happy.

Tomeka and Juanita loved their temple trip to do baptisms. Tomeka kept saying it was better than Disney World. which it is. I cannot wait for them to get to go back and do their family names.

I talked in my last email about Hope. Well she is on full board. We're hoping to set a date with her this week and we're also now teaching her Boyfriend. They're a super cool couple.

 

Whitney is doing amazing! she is progressing wonderfully. We are so excited for her to be baptized! she is making changes in her life for the gospel and the Lord is blessing her so much.

 

We figured out the secret to missionary work. D&C 4:5 is the qualifications to be a missionary. "An eye single to the glory of God qualifieth him for the work"

So the only way you qualify to be a missionary is if your eye is single to the glory of God. If missionary work is your life. Sister Loveridge and I are working hard to make missionary our life right now. We eat sleep and breathe or investigators. They are all we think about and all we talk about. Through doing this the Lord is blessing us. He is literally tripling our work because we are doing our best to qualify to be his servants.

The days are moving so fast. We are trying our best to keep track of them but we can only do so much.

 

Serving a mission was the best decision I ever made because its not about me. For the first time in my life I have been about to not worry about my self and be able to trust that the Lord will take care of me as I take care of his children. I love that I have this short season to take the time to not worry about the future and to not worry about what could happen.

 

Love,

Sister Klein

week 11- knee probs

This has been a great week!
I might have a torn RMA but I'm seeing dr Tuesday and we'll figure it
out. If I need physical therapy I will come home through for a
transfer. But it isn't a big deal at all. More missionaries are doing
this because it's cheaper to fly missionaries home then to pay for
physical therapy. So that's the deal. I don't think I'm will be coming
home for a transfer but if I do it really isn't hat big of a deal.
Also I'm happy! I have laughed more in the past week then I ever have
had on my mission so that's good. I'm always laughing and always
smiling.
I really hate using the iPad so I'm going to call it done for today
Yep that's it.

Sent from my iPad

week 10- New Encouragement

Alright so. This has been a really good week full of really fun memories.
But this week my mission president encouraged us to use email for
family only as much as possible, and to have those who email me send
me emails on Sunday night or Monday. He also encouraged that friends
communicate with through letters instead of emails as much as
possible.
So I'm going to stop the group email for now. But later I might have
my mom forward an email out to all of y'all. Thank you so much for
your support and everything so far.
So yeah letters are going to be the best way to communicate with me
for now but I love you guys
Love y'all
-Sister Klein

week 9- STL?!? BAPTISM?! WHAT?!

So I'm sure y'all are wondering what and STL is, Its a Sister Training Leader. Sister training leaders help out with the sister missionaries and training all missionaries in the zone (a group of about 40 missionaries). They help out the zone leaders because there are some things the zone leaders can't help with for the sisters. Sister Loveridge and I were called as stls this Thursday. Its a little overwhelming and I don't feel prepared at all to giving advice and training saying I still have 6 weeks left of my training. but I know the Lord will help me, he wouldn't have called me if I wasn't prepared. 

Juanita got baptized on Saturday! It was beautiful and I was so lucky God choose me to be her influence and choose me to be her guide in following our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love being a missionary so much. It is so rewarding. Its hard work and sometimes I feel like I never get a chance to breathe because the work here moves so fast, but it is so rewarding. 

I'm so thankful for the opportunity I have to be a representative of Jesus Christ. I know this Church is true and there is no where else I'd rather be then here in St. Petersberg, FL preaching the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ :)

Love y'all! Have a great week.

Love,

Sister Klein

week 8- The Unexpected

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you so much for the condolences and words of encouragement I've already received. Its a hard thing to loose your grandmother unexpectedly while on your mission. When your mission president calls you during church and tell you to call your mother it freaks you out a little bit. Its been hard but I'm surviving I have a great companion who is taking care of me. I am so grateful for a support I've already had. I'm also super grateful for a knowledge of God's plan for us and to know my Grandma is with her Father in Heaven. She was a strong woman, filled with unconditional love. I hope to one day become like her. Thanks again for the kind words from everyone :)

First of all I survived my first transfer of missionary life and I have one more until my training is complete. Crazy stuff here. I feel like I left home yesterday. I have two baptisms on the 23rd, Juanita and JoAnn. I'm so excited about these baptisms! They are two of the most converted people I have ever met. I am so lucky to be the tool in the Lord's had to bring them closer to their Savior. Our Recent converts are on FIRE! Tomeka called us the other day and said she was on the bus with this Lady and the lady wanted to talk to us about the gospel. Then Christy and Emily are 12 and 14 and they called us because they go street contacting for fun on the weekends and wanted to know what questions they could ask people. This amazes me so much! 

Thats about all I have to say right now... sorry haha!

Love,

Sister Klein

week 7- A letter from Siri

So the library was full today so I'm at the church right now I'm on
the iPad we're using Siri so hopefully this goes well and nothings too
weird.
one of our investigators Joanne she's Catholic and she told all the
other missionaries that she couldn't be baptized because she promised
her mom as you stay in the Catholic Church. So Sister Loveridge and I
started praying for that should be able to make the right choice for
her. On Tuesday we taught her plan of salvation and while teaching her
about spirit world we told her about how she family members that were
waiting for her to join this church that she could be baptized for
them. She then said that she would be baptized and that she felt like
her mother really wanted her to be baptizing guided her to our church.
It was a miracle and Joannes like the sweetest lady we know she works
for Disneyworld for years and she gave me an earring and it's princess
Jasmine's. She said that one day princess Jasmine dropped it and
Joanne found it on the next day and she kept it kept for years. That
earring was very special to Joann and Joann gave it to me because she
knew how much I loved princesses.  It's seriously the best gift I
could ever be given, not only that she's going to be baptized and
she's going to receive eternal life but also that she give me
something very special to her.
Okay funny story so walking down the road and we're passing this car
and he rolls down his window and yells "y'all are gorgeous"  and
sister leverage turns around she goes "it's the Holy Ghost" then we
had a great talk with him about baptism, he was just recently baptized
and he talked about how much is changing on his life and how he really
respects what were doing and going out here and doing this.
We had a great conference on Wednesday and learned so much about how
to be better missionaries and it was so refreshing to get personal
revelation, I love learning and I'm so thankful that I can always
become a better missionary.
So Tomeka said the funniest thing so she's on the bus with this lady
and she gets on the topic of religion She explained how she takes
lessons from the sister missionaries and she goes "they're like
perfume scents you know they just leave this aroma of Jesus Christ in
my house"
We have a miracle day on Friday. It was hard for us to leave the house
so we got out a little later then we would like to have. We were kind
of frustrated but as the day went on we realized how much of a
blessing it really was.
So we went to go visit a less active that we've been trying to go see
for weeks now. We were going to try one last time then give up. We
knocked on the door and no one answered. But as we were about to leave
he pulled into the driveway. The same thing happened again twice later
in the day.
We also went and say a less active family and 3 college boys come to
the door they said that family hasn't lived there in years and that we
could send over the elders to teach them. Are they prepared or what?
At our movie night we had 13 non members and 3 recent converts! Which
is a huge miracle. Sister Loveridge and I then took them on a church
tour and taught them the restoration. It was so powerful! I cannot
believe how well it turned out.
Well I got to go. But have a great week everybody! The church is true
Love,
Sister Klein