Love 3/28/16

My People,

So this week was pretty dope. We had zone conference with the boss and it was so good and uplifting. And then yesterday we took our recent convert to the women's conference and that too was amazing. I loved it. I don't know but for me the message I got out of it was the
importance of really serving people with love. To really learn to love and accept people, and the way to do that is though service. But serving them because you like to, and because you want to. I totally agree with that. The members of the church could serve a little more with love. I too being included. Love is the gospel. When Christ came to the Americas he talked about the importance of loving and forgiving. It's something I'm really trying to work on, because without charity we are nothing.

It was a really Easter for me as well. Me and my comp bought chocolate eggs and then hid them in the piso for each other to find. (Yes I'm 20, and no I'm not a child) we also made pancakes and homemade syrup for breakfast...correction my comp made pancakes and syrup and I ate them. But they were like little droplets of heaven. Yum.

This week we taught these two 15 year old boys that I contacted with another Hermana when we were on splits. SO when Hermana Stephenson saw
them for the first time she turned to me and said 'Hermana they're punks! They don't wanna listen!' Ha ha ha ha ha. But it actually turned out really good...and they said they would read and they seemed excited to meet again. It was a little sad, because at first when we were talking to them, (getting to know them better, and all) we learned they are two kids who both live with one parent and just really (I feel) like have never been cared for. They said they spend most their time in the streets. So when we explained that God was their father who cared about them and loved them, their faces changed. As if for the first time, they heard that there really was someone out in the world who really cared for their well being. I mean, I'm sure, and hope it's not true, but I don't know it was a strange experience, and got me thinking. I'm really grateful for the knowledge I have of my Father in Heaven.

Thank you so much for everything,
Love Hermana Kelemen

Andre The Giant 3/21/2016

My people, 

This week was a bit crazy. 

On Sunday night I got a call to get on a plane, early Tuesday morning and head back to Madrid.️ So for about two days my companion and I went to Madrid and after 10 months, after being robbed, at last I have my card!!! My residency card! Hoot! (It's about time). 

Also when we were in Madrid, we got permission to go to the temple. That was my very last time going to the temple as a missionary. But I lucked out, and I am so glad I got to go. We got to walk all around see the sealing rooms and baptismal font. I love the temple, and especially the temple in Madrid, I have so many good memories there, and I have grown so much through my time in that temple. Often when I am inside the temple, I think of other people. The people who never, in their lives, been in the temple and I want to cry, because the temple is the best. I am so grateful for it. 

We also had a two day exchange with the Hermana in the other island, right next to ours, because tomorrow we have a big conference with 'the boss' aka, our mission president. So that was wild. We did splits in our area with them. And it was super funny, because me and Hermana Workman (the girl I was doing splits with) stopped these two boys in the street. We were introduced ourselves and everything, and then asked if they had seen missionaries before, and they said yes...so we thought 'cool', and then asked 'how long ago was it, when you saw the missionaries?' and they said "like five min ago walking in the other street..." Ha ha ha ha, it was super funny. But we got their number in the end.

Also funny story, we were trying to work though the old investigators this week. We went and passed by this old investigator named Fifi. She wasn't home so we left a note on the door, like 'hi Fifi it's the missionaries, give us a call when you can.' We then went back a couple of days later, and this time a little boy answered the door and we asked for Fifi, and he said, "Fifi doesn't live here, but Judith does, let me go get her." ???? So then the little boy comes back and tells us we can come in? We were so confused. Then this lady comes out and gives us hugs and tells us to sit down, and tells us her name is Judith. I then told her we were looking for Fifi, and she said no one by that name lives here, so at that point I wanted to ask her, 'then why did you let us in lady?' We then asked if she had met with the missionaries before and then she told us she had never seen missionaries before!!! Like what the, what the, what just happened here??? I then, being so lost, I  pointed to my name tag and started, "We're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter..." Then she cut me off laughing and said, "Hermanas I'm a member! I'm kidding" *hand to the face* I have never seen them before, and her husband and three kids are all menos activos. We got to know the whole family and they thought it was really funny that we thought her name was Fifi. They then pointed to the fridge, and there in the middle was the note I had written in big letters HOLA FIFI! I then quick jumped up and ripped that note off the fridge and shoved it in my backpack really speedy quick... And then they all laughed at that. 

So awkward, but it broke the ice and we are going to go visit them again this week. 

Still I am so lost why it said in our records, her name was Fifi—and that she was an investigator—so so lost. Anyway, it was a very Kate kind of a moment. 

I also found the giant in the movie, the Princess Bride, he lives here in Telde. Like no kidding, he is 7'2" and his hands and feet are MASSIVE. We are teaching him and his wife, they are both super cool and love the Church, they are just having a hard time recognizing their answer, to know if the Book of Mormon is true or not. They like it, but they don't know if it is really of God. It's a little tricky. Their names are Ignacio and Maria. But like really this man is from the Princess Bride, next time I'll do my best to sneak a photo with the that fun guy to show you. 

Also this week for pday we went on a hike as a zone. The whole time I thought of my mother, she would love this hike. It was really cool. I love hikes. It's called Roque Nublo, it's a big rock that's in the clouds and it's in the middle of the island, and sorry the photos don't give it justice.

Thank you for everything! I'm loving it. 

Love, The Country Barbie in Radiator Springs, 

(Hermana Kelemen)

Radiator Springs 3/14/16

My people, 

My new comp, Hermana Stevenson, has had twelve companions, in 18 months. I'm her 12th and last. You might be thinking, 'yikes, what did she do?' But as I got to know her better this week, I learned that her whole mission she has been put with the 'harder hermanas'; girls who really struggle, or are the trouble makers. 

So, I don't know what that says about me...

Anyways I love my new comp!!! She is so stinkin' funny and super chill. It's been a little tricky leading the area because the bus schedule is nuts and never really comes on time ever. But it's been good. She came from Las Palmas which is only 30 min away by bus, but the change is HUGE. Las Palmas, the area, is half the island. Telde—is a little town. It's like moving from New York City to Radiator Springs (from the movie Cars). I think that kinda shocked her. No one really quite understands when we say, 'Telde is different from the rest of the islands'. Ha ha ha ha. But it's cool cuz you get to know everyone...really fast. 

We had a lesson that also lasted two hours this week... Madre mía. 

We have this new investigator named Cosme who is pretty cool and has a lot of interest in learning more. This week we taught him the plan of salvation with the help of a member...

(For those of you who never served missions let me just tell you, you teach people simply, and the BASICS.) The lesson started off good, the first 2 min and all, when we were explaining the premortal life, he asked "where is it? do you know?". And then the member who was helping us gave an explanation of Kolob.this was the face my comp made at me when she brought it up. We tried our best to keep the lesson going after that, but it got harder. Later on, when we were talking about how death is part of this life and everyone die—the member brought up the three Nephites, and told him they were still living— again we tried our best to keep-a-going. And then somehow, the member shared her favorite conference talk quotes, and explained a lot of other things. Meanwhile, two hours had passed, so I thought at this point maybe to end it all, we could sing all verses to the hymn 'if you could hid to Kolob' to really ponder what we talked about, and to make our lesson another hour long. 

It was a big hand to the face kind of a lesson. 

But somehow, by the grace of God, he still wants to meet with us.  

I found This story I loved his week so I wanna share it, 

"I know a little girl who was afraid of the dark. Really afraid of the dark. Even when she was old enough to attend grade school, nighttime terrified her. Every night, she and her mother went through a ritual designed to make her feel secure in her room. But inevitably, during the night, the girl would sneak into her parents' room and climb in bed with them, at which point her mother would carry her back to her room. Over a period of time, her mother used every argument and tactic she could think of to wean her daughter from he fear of sleeping all night in her own room. Often she would say something to this effect, "honey, this is your room. You're safe here. Your father and I are just down the hall" And then she would usually add, "Heavenly Father is watching over you. You'll be just fine." 

One night when the cycle repeated itself for the umpteenth time, the mother took her daughter back to her own room, reassuring her once again, " honey, you're okay. Heavenly Father is watching over you." To which the little girl- instantly responded, " mom, don't you know? Sometimes you just need someone with skin on."

I love this story—cuz it's true. So I want to challenge you to reach out to one more person. And be the hands of the lord. Heavenly Father gave us a lot of things to help us in this life, like scriptures, prayer, prophets, conference, but one of the biggest things he gave us to help us get back to him, is each other! 

I love you all. Thank you for your support and your help, I am here on my mission thanks to the people God gave me in my life. Thanks for being, 'that someone with skin on' . 

Love, Hermana Kelemen 

The Countryside Barbie 3/7/2016

Dear my people,

I'm trying to be positive today, but it's been hard. Transfers—no me gusta. Hermana

​Campillo left and I'm super bummed. I knew she was leaving, she had a ton of time here, but yet still when it came, I was so sad. Super super sad. I wish I could relive the last past 13 weeks all over again. She honestly was the bomb, well du she was the bomb—she was me in Spaniard form. Ha ha ha. I don't know I'm still a little  about the whole thing. My new comp is named Hermana Stevenson. She is from Utah.

This last week with Hermana Campillo was amazing. We found this guy named Cosmin. At first we were really scared for the lesson, because at first he was trying to tell us all the things he knew about all the religions in the universe when we were talking in the street. But then when we met with him, he listened and asked really good questions. He even told us at the end, "I don't know why, but I feel like I know you guys, like I knew you before I met you." Oh yeah. Then this week we passed by Carmen's to teach her. She is great and we love teaching her, but sometimes it's hard because there always seems to be some kind of visitor or friend in her house. And this week we met one of her crazy friends, Nilly or something like that I don't really remember. And she is loca. The worst part was we got out of the lesson a little late and we had to run because we had a comida with a family in the branch on the other side of town! So her friend Nilly offered to give us a ride..so we took it. (What were we thinking? We weren't.) Her crazy friend, drove like a mad man as she smoked pot out the window and blasted Elvis music. It was such a weird experience. Sometimes in the mission your plans you make in the morning all go wrong and then all of a sudden, quickly you find yourself in the weirdest situations. *hand to the face*, but we made it on time to the lunch appointment.

It was a good lesson we had with Carmen and she told us she would come to church—but with her friend Nilly. We were so happy she was going to come but deep down we wanted her to ditch her crazy Bonkey friend, because we wanted her to have a good experience.
Then Sunday came and as were waiting and waiting in the doorway of the church—

​they didn't come. We then went and sat down and started the program. But during the opening song, lo and behold, Nilly and Carmen came in!! And they LOVED it! Even

Nilly. It was fast and testimony meeting and after we asked them to stay for the other two classes and Carmen said, "but I don't want to cry anymore!" She loved the testimonies of the members. It was really such a huge huge blessing. It was amazing.

Ugh so many good things happened this week. But it was also so so hard to have Hermana

​

Campillo leave, So hard. I don't know if you know this, but being a missionary is very fun. Often in my prayers I ask Heavenly Father, "how did I luck out?" I really feel so blessed to be a missionary. I love Telde. I love the members here. I love the people.

Thanks for all your support.

Love,

​Hermana ​Kelemen

P.S. Oh yes there is a member who calls me, 'the country side Barbie'. I'm a Barbie because I am tall, skinny, and from the USA. ?? But because I'm crazy and have brown hair, not blond,I'm a country side Barbie. She told me all the ​Hermanas from the USA are Barbies. ? But I'm the only 'country side' she has seen??? Anyways she was calling me that in front of the other members and they loved it! And Carmen our investigator heard it and she loved it.
So now they call me the Barbie country side....

Called To Serve Him 2/22/2016

My people, 

This week was really good; a little more rain like last week, but it was a bit warmer.  so no sweat there. 

There is a menos activo who is now starting to come to church again. Hoot. Anyways, anytime he sees us in the street, he belts out, "CALLED TO SERVE HIM HEAVENLY KING OF GLORY..."and will sing out the song as we walk down the street. Luckily he sings in English so all the people who are starring at him and us don't  understand. It's really quite funny, and fun to have some background music to the work every now and then. 

Cindy our investigator said 'sí' to baptism! We have had some really great lessons with her this week so that's a thumbs up. Also Carmen (the knee problem lady) has been reading a ton in the Book of Mormon and loves it! It's really funny because we got her a giant Book of Mormon, the huge print one, because she can't see very well. The book is so BIG. She told us the other day her son saw the book and was asking about it. In my head I was like, 'of course he saw it, it takes up half your table!' Ha ha ha.

Scripture of the week- 

Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

What I got out of that was, don't be bone dryer. Be happy. 

Love,

Hermana Kelemen

Close Your Eyes 2/15/16

My people, 

We teach a menos activo lady, who is super nice, but sometimes she confuses me. Whenever we ask her to say the prayer, you have to be ready, because she will just go for it, and it's hard to tell, cuz her eyes stay open. It's really quite creepy. I don't know if we need to teach her the lesson in primary that you need to CLOSE your eyes and not beat them across the room back and forth rapidly as you speedily say the prayer. 

We also had a conference with Elder Moriera from the seventy. I loved him. I think he is now my favorite. He is a goof, and so stinkin' funny, and fuerte, and very spiritual at the same time. Something he said stood out to me, he told us never to go to bed angry. Not now in the mission or when we return from the mission back home. Not sure why, but I'm gunna put it to the test. 

He also talked about the fruits of repentance, which are 

1. Change of habit 

2. Change of thought 

3. Change of belief 

4. Change of attitude 

5. Change of behavior 

He also told us we must not just watch our investigators change, we change with them. I don't know, that was a cool thought. 

I actually got to hear from him twice, because last week I forgot to tell you I went back to Madrid for my residency card. At last I'm getting one, after 8 months or so after I got robbed. And when I went back it happened to be the day of the conference there in Madrid. Hoot, hoot. It was weird cuz I traveled alone. So I was alone for a long time. I felt lonely, and I tried to share the gospel in the plane like you hear in all the fast and testimony meetings, because normally it's impossible because you always travel with other missionaries and sit by them. But because I was alone, I tried my best to preach, but no one wanted to listen to my Tarzan grunts, they wanted to sleep.  hey now. 

This week we met with Carmen and taught her the plan of salvation. We then invited her to be baptized and she said  yes!!!! She than began to cry and told us she was getting 'that good feeling again'. It was honestly amazing. We as missionaries did nothing, but the spirit and the Lord prepared her so much. 

celebrate good times come on...du du du du du... 

That song just fits. 

This week I learned a lot about repentance. I can't really explain it. I have seen the power of the atonement work though so many people, and me as well. All week my thought has been the same as Enos, "Lord how is it done?" I still don't fully understand the atonement, and don't think I quite ever will in this life. But this I do know, that it works. In Matthew 11:30, one of my favorite scriptures says "for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Why is it easy? Why is it light? Because of His atonement. 

Love, Hermana Kelemen 

Two Goals Ruined 2/8/16

My people,

First goal:
So for my diet—
We had a lesson with a recent convert named Marcos. He is the best person here on this island!! And when he came to the lesson, he was carrying a huge bag. In our heads we were like, 'what the?' He then told us he brought us a gift...and lo and behold, inside were 36 cartons of juice. *Hand to the face*, he is so nice. So I ended that goal, of not drinking juice. 

Finally, we met with Carmen again. She honestly is so awesome, but she is always in bed, or at the hospital, because she has problems with her knees. But she loves reading in the Book of Mormon. The other day we had the elders come and give her a blessing. Let me just tell you the two elders in our area are very new. One just finished his training, and the other only has one more than him. But the blessing they gave was one of the best I have ever heard. It was so simple, yet the presence of the spirit was so strong.

I think I said this my first week, Hermana Campillo and I are pretty much in a trio because there is a girl in our branch that is always with us named Alejandra. She is amazing, not only is she with us 24-7, but she is always inviting everyone she knows to church. We began teaching one of her friends named Cassandra, but we call her wawa. (Little random fact: wawa in the islands means bus) it's a very long story why we call her that, but we do. (I promise, I'm not a weirdo, and it's a normal thing.) Anyways she is amazing and had some of the best questions. She is very very interested, and really wants to know for herself if there is a God. Can I get a hoot hoot!?

Second goal...or dream:
So I got the worst news in the whole entire world. I wish I could say I'm happy about it, but I'm not. For some reason, due to some problems, no one in my group can extend.Hermana Smith, a hermana I came in with, too was told she could extend and we were so happy. We got a letter asking if we wanted to extend, and then President wrote us an awkward letter saying psych I thought it was possible, but it's not.  Ugh, so my new date is May 31, that's that, and I don't want to talk about ending my mission anymore.

Love Hermana Kelemen

P.S. for p-day today we went to the dunes. It's on a beach and there are a ton of rolling hills of sand. In Moab, we like to run down the sand hills, and it's the same here. It was so much fun!! But I have sand EVERYWHERE. We got sand in our eyes, clothes, bags, food, water,
ears...everything. But it was worth it!