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Saturday, October 30, 2010

Kelcie can also be reached by e-mailing her at dearelder.com as long as you have her MTC info. It is easy to sign up. She cannot check her blog or e-mail friends but will get printed copies tru dearelder. A;so can write and receive mail from friends. Her p-day is on Wednesdays from 10 to six(I will continue to post her e-mails.) She would love to hear from all of you and thank you for supporting her by letting her know how you're doing.
Kelcie's mom

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

week 1

Thanks for the emails everyone! I got one! :) Thanks Ron! and 1 letter- thanks Cara!

Hola! This week has flown by. I am so glad I made the decision to come! This week has been muoy bueno! Day 2 we started learning Spanish. We learned how to ppray (Oracion), bear testimony (el testimonio), some grammar, and are working on the first vision in Espanol. It has been a challenging week as far as learning the language goes. I was beginning to get frustrated. But now I feel a lot better about it. Elder Richard G. Scott came for devotional last night and talked about being led by el Spiritu (the spirit). It was what I needed. He talked about many life experiences and gave each missionary a handout of what he talked about. One thing that struck home with me was that sometimes God lets us struggle so we can build character and increase our faith. It was great and it was what I have been going through. He also invoked blessings on us, especially the Sister missionaries.

I have a great companion. Her name is Melody Smith from So Cal. She went to BYUI before coming on a mission. She is going to Provo with me as well. She is the youngest of 8 kids. I love her to death. We got along from Day 1. I have a great district as well. There are 10 of us in our district. 5 of us are staying in Provo, 2 are going to Spain, 2 are going to Tuscon, and 1 to Wisconsin. One of the Elders is 6'7" and is very talented with music. We are planning on doing a musical number together sometime in the next year and a half.

Cara asked me the other day in her letter how the food in the MTC is. Well, it's not the best food but it works. The eggs are powdered eggs and taste disgusting! Most of the time the food is overcooked. I have found some really good food though. At least 1 a day. The first day in the MTC Hermana Smith and I were walking back to our dorm and got lost trying to find our way. Now we know where we are going if not we just look up at the numbers on the walkways with arrows. The MTC reminds me of college without all the graded homework. I wish I knew what I know now a few years ago so that I would have taken and been more prepared in my school work.

The spirit is SO strong here I love it! I could not ask for a better place to be at this point and time of my life. I have felt the love of my Savior. I am coming closer to Him through prayer and study. We study pretty much all day long. It gets to be a long day come 8pm and still studying. Richard G. Scott said this last night: "Your love of Heavenly Father and His son will increase. It will be a love of reverence, awe, and gratitude of a child to the greatest of all. It will become a love of total willingness to be obedient to Their will. it will result from a pure desire and willing determination to serve Them above all else." I love it! I love how he says that we will grow to Love Them. I know I have grown to love them and will continue to.

A big thing that is being taught here is that as your testimony of the Atonement increases your desire to share your testimony and the gospel will increase. It is so true! I am grateful that I have the Atonement in my life and have been able to use it. I am grateful to be who I am today and have no regrets about life. I know my Savior lives and that He loves you and me. We are His children. He wants us to let Him into our lives. He knows us, each by name, and knows what we desire and what we need. I know that as we come to let the Savior in our life we will be guided by the Spirit and will feel His love become more evident in our lives. I know that the Restoration of the gospel was necessary and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of called to bring the Restoration of the gospel back on this Earth. I am grateful for everything in my life! I know if we pray and listen, the Spirit will guide us and help us.

I am going to try to upload pictures we'll see if it works- okay I will send them next week! I will have it figured out by then and i have a minute left. I only get 30 minutes on the computer :( But I love you all and am grateful for your love and support. You can use dearelder.com to write me. it is free while I am in the MTC. I love you and miss you! keep writing me but if you send stuff, don't send gum it is not allowed. Oh, it has already snowed but has melted away.. it is too cold already. Okay, I love you! Write me please!

week 1

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

just got our first letter from Kelcie. She is doing great and enjoying the MTC so far. I am impressed with her being able to bear her testimony in Spanish already only having been there for 3 days. Way to go. Kelcie asked for us to let you all know to please use the 'dearelder.com' website to e-mail her. Anyone can use it at any time. She will get the mail the same day. She will not be able to answer but love to hear from everyone. So please pass it on. She will be in the MTC until Dec 22. It is really easy to use. You will need her MTC Mailbox # 317 and the UT-PRO 1221 info. I am just using this blog, since we don't have all of you on our blog.

Love
Joe and Gisela

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

I might be crazy but....

I am going to read the entire Standards Works. How long will it take? It should take about a 1 1/2 years to read all of it. Why the sudden craziness? Well at institute on Wednesday we started a new course of study: scripture study. We were talking about what scripture is and why we have the standard works. The question was then posed how many have read the standards work all the way through? The more I thought about it I have when attending seminary but even then I don't think it covers all 1,579 chapters in all the books. So Rachelle and I decided that we wanted to do this challenge: read the Standards Works in 18 months. Perfect timing because of my mission. I will be gone for that long. It seems like a huge task but when you break it down like Elder McConkie did it doesn't seem so bad. In October 1959 in a conference report Elder McConkie said the following:

"Now in our day we have the standard works of the Church. We have the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. There are in these four books a total of 1,579 chapters. I think it would not be too much to say that we could with propriety, day in and day out, consistently, read three chapters in one or the other of these works: and if we pursued such a course, we would read all of the Gospels in less than a month. We would read the entire New Testament in three months. We would read the Old Testament in ten months, and the whole Bible in thirteen months. We would go through the Book of Mormon in two and two-thirds months, the Doctrine and Covenants in a month and a half, and the Pearl of Great Price in five days. Taken altogether, we would read all the standard works in less than eighteen months and be ready to start over again."

I thought this was amazing and am challenging myself to do it. Rachelle is going to join me in this challenge and if anyone else wants to join us you can. I am looking forward to it and to see what all I gain from this experience as well as being on a mission. I leave in 2 weeks and am all mixed of emotions but know that this is what I am supposed to do.