KNEE UPDATE:

right now I'm just learning to be a normal person.

Cortisone shots are amazing but they weaken muscle tissue so I can't get one every 1-3 months for the rest of my life. 

The pain in my knees were honestly doing a lot better until the last cortisone shot wore off. 

In the picture is an electrotherapy device. It's really really sweet. It's basically my favorite thing in the world. It helps me with pain management. 

FAQ's:

Q: Why/How are you teaching dance?

A: teaching dance is very different then the dancing I did in high school and college. The doctor the dancing I have to do when I teach is easier on my knees then walking, running, hiking, and marching 

Q: How are YOU doing?

A: I'm doing great. This whole experience is teaching me a whole lot of life lessons. I'm learning to trust more. I still know I'm where I need to be. 

Q: are you getting married?

A: no. 

Q: are you still doing physical therapy?

A: no graduated. It really helped me build muscle. I still have exercises I do at home.

Q: how are you adjusting to post-mission life?

A: it's hard but I'm doing it. I learned a lot of skills on my mission that is helping me.

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