Kirtland, 11/22/10

Hi Mom!

 

I did get your letter this week, thank you! I like getting your snail mail letters. But, I was glad today to see an email from you again. Thanks for Aunt Debbie's address! I'll have to write her soon.

 

Things have been crazy around here for the last week. It's true, Sister Carter is leaving today. We are together emailing right now, but right after this, she goes back to Cleveland to spend her last night in the mission home. The last week has been a lot of tying up loose ends--packing, goodbye dinners, goodbye pictures, moving. I will have a substitute companion until Wednesday, when I'll get my new one. Transfers are going to be crazy! Every companionship in Kirtland is getting changed, except for two. 

 

Hey, you'll have to let me know about Harry Potter! I  must admit it is a little painful not being able to see it. When we're in the phone room at the visitors' center, we're allowed to go on the internet to find people's phone numbers, so I've been seeing ads for Harry Potter all over the place. It's alright, though.

 

Well, we had an amazing first lesson this week! Did I tell you about the McKenny family last time? They are the ones who have been investigating the Church on their own. Well, they finally let us come over and teach them, and they are the coolest family ever! Intelligent, tight-knit, friendly. They lived on a boat in the Carribean for seven years, just because they wanted to! Well, they were working down there too, but the main reason they went is because they wanted to. They understand all of the doctrine of the restoration, and now the main thing for them is deciding whether it's true or not. So, we talked to them about Alma 32 and encouraged them to judge the gospel by whether or not it "enlarges the soul" and "enlightens the understanding."  They latched onto that principle and said they felt like the seed has been planted, and now they just need to see if it grows into a tomato plant or a weed. So, they're in a good position!

 

Thank you for your advice in your letter this week. It makes me feel a lot better to know that anti didn't stop you from investigating the Church. And, we got a text message from one of our anti-ed investigators this week, so maybe we can be in contact with her again soon!

 

This week at the historic sites, Sister Carter and I got two tours in a row with Lymans! Well, that wasn't their last name, but both of them were Amasa Lyman descendants. Actually, one of those couples used to live in Blanding! Their names were Pam and ____ Young, I just forgot the man's first name. But they lived in Blanding in the 60's, and he taught high school, and she taught dance. And they remembered Grandma and Grandpa, and Aunt Lynette! So fun. Actually, this weekend was full of Blanding connections. One of the young men in the Chardon Branch just got his mission call yesterday to Farmington New Mexico, which Blanding is now a part of. So, I got to tell his mom all about it!

 

Jocelyn's orchestra concert sounds wonderful! Aw, I remember dancing to those pieces too. And Robert Schneider sounds cool! Good luck getting ready for Thanksgiving! I bet it will be wonderful. I will be thinking about you. We have a thanksgiving dinner with all the seniors and sisters at the sites, but then I'm going to an investigator's house for part of the time and a member in the branch for part of the time. It should be nice.

 

I love you! Thanks for updating me! I miss you! I am so glad to be here, though.  I love getting to teach people about the knowledge that has blessed my life, even if some don't want to listen. And some people are ready to change! Happy Thanksgiving, I love you!

 

Love,

Katherine (Sister Lyman)

Kirtland, 11/15/10

Hi Mom and Dad!

 

Dad, thank you so much for the music you sent me! What a wonderful package! I have not gotten to play most of it yet, but I used the Darwin Wolford book to play prelude for zone conference this week, and that was really nice. I'm sure I will use that a lot. Sorry if I sounded impatient about getting music, I was just worrying about not having anything to play at the fireside I'm supposed to play at next Sunday.

 

And Mom, thanks for your letter! I loved reading that! The other sisters here all thought you had beautiful handwriting. (Don't worry, I didn't show them your letter, they just saw it sideways. It's hard to keep letters private around here, because the mail comes to the visitors' center.) Has the heat gotten fixed yet? I'm glad you've been doing some writing and practicing, but I'm sorry you feel like you're falling behind in cello. I heard a cello piece on a CD recently and pictured you playing it the whole time. It's always like that when I hear cello music, but this made me sadder than usual.

 

I'm glad to hear about Aunt Debbie and the echo, though! So, she's not a nun anymore? That's so sad! I loved visiting the convent. Is she still in Athens? Do you know her address? I would like to write her a letter.

 

Also, thanks for answering my questions! Here are answers to yours:

 

1. I did hear about Sister Barney, that's so sad. The ward will not be the same without her.

2. No, nobody ratted on you about the website, but in the email you forwarded me that you had sent to Grandma, you mentioned you were behind. :-) So, that's how I knew. It's okay, I know you're busy.

3. Sister Carter will only be with me for one more week, counting today. She goes back to the mission home next Monday! I have no idea who my next companion will be.

4. Connie and her husband got anti-ed, meaning that someone gave them anti-Mormon material and now they are completely turned against us. This is, sadly, what happens to most of our investigators. I'm thinking a lot about this problem and trying to find ways to avoid it. Do you have any advice?

5. Yes, Chardon is fine, I haven't heard anything about that explosion for awhile now.

6. Dad sent all the music I wanted and more, thank you very much!

 

In other news, things are going great around here, except for our investigators all getting anti-ed. But, we have found some new ones! We had a cool experience yesterday--we stopped by a lady named Donna, whom we found a couple of months ago tracting. She had said we could stop by again, but she didn't set an appointment, and we were beginning to worry we would never see her again. But yesterday, when we went to her house, she was there, and her sister and niece were there visiting, too, and all three of them wanted to learn more about the gospel. The whole situation just felt natural, and I don't even know why they wanted to learn more, but somehow, when we left the house, we left with all of their contact information and had given them the Book of Mormon. One of the ladies had met with missionaries for a few weeks when she lived in Florida, but then she moved and never got around to finding the missionaries again. But she said she would love to start meeting with us. Pretty cool! I love it when people want to learn more before we even say anything to persuade them.

 

On another note, musical opportunities have been falling into my lap recently, which I love. The Community of Christ sponsers a community Thanksgiving musical service in the Kirtland Temple every year, and the Butterfields asked me to play piano for it this year! Also, the four of us living in the Smith Home have discovered that we can sing 4-part harmony, so we're singing for something at the visitors' center tomorrow. And, do you remember the Messiah performance in Chardon I told you about? Well, Sister Debenham, one of the other Chardon sisters, and myself both get to sing in a small ensemble for it! I wouldn't have tried out, but Sister Debenham did, so I did too. I think it will be fun, and the Church in Chardon needs positive publicity, so I'm glad we're involved in something like this. Anyway, I'm grateful that these opportunities have all come up, because being involved with music in the community is such a great way to break down barriers and relate to people and help them see that Mormons are real people!. And these opportunities are all just falling into place.

 

Well, that's a long enough email for now. How is everything going with you? I love you!

 

Love,

Katherine/Sister Lyman

Kirtland, 11/8/10

Hi Mom!

 

Thanks for sending me those poems for Grandma. I love them! Yours is especially good. Let's see, I think it was talking about apple pie, and DaNece, and a few other things. I loved how symbolic it was, though! I really had to think about it.

 

I have a question, though--would you like me to ask DaNece if she could start doing my blog from now on? She's probably settled into BYU life by now. And it probably wouldn't be much extra work for her, since she's on the computer all the time anyway, I'll bet. Just an idea...

 

How is everything going for you? What are you practicing these days? Where is the family going for Thanksgiving? Or who are you having over?

 

Everything is going well here. I started driving this week! Sister Carter's license was revoked because she got too many speeding violations, so they gave me an emergency clearance to drive.  Anyway, the very same day that happened, it started snowing! And now I can tell you that all the horror stories about lake effect snow are true! Saturday night, we were driving home via Chesterland, which is south of Kirtland, to deliver a Book of Mormon. It was so scary because there are almost no street lights in Geauga County, so I could only see a few feet in front of us, as far as the headlights shone. And the roads are all narrow, fast, hilly, and windy, and there are trees everywhere. And then it started snowing hard while we were driving, so the roads were super slick and we were fishtailing all over the place. And then I started panicking, because I suddenly couldn't remember anything about driving in the snow,  and the house we were driving to was at the bottom of a big hill, which ended in a cul-de-sac, and of course the brakes locked while we were going down the hill, etc.... Well, everything turned out alright, and I think I can be level-headed from now on, but it was scary.

 

We found a wonderful investigator this week named Beth. We were at her house delivering a Finding Faith in Christ DVD to her dad, and he really wasn't interested in learning anything, but she was. We taught her about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and she told us that we answered several questions she has been struggling with recently. I hope that nobody gives her anti-Mormon material before our next meeting--that is a big problem around here. And then once it happens, they won't listen to anything else we say, even if the information they found is completely false.

 

In general, though, I love being a missionary. I especially love being in Kirtland, because it is a constant reminder of what this church is all about. The things that were established in Kirtland are the most important parts of the restored gospel: the Saints received revelations, they learned how to use the priesthood, they built a temple, they organized missionary efforts, and they started an education system with the school of the prophets. I love this period in church history! I can't wait until I can give you guys a tour. :-)

 

Well, let me know how everything is going down there! Love you!

 

Love,

Katherine (Sister Lyman)

Kirtland, 11/1/10

Hi Mom and Dad!

 

Which Shakespeare play did you read? I just told Sister Carter about that, and she laughed, but I think we are the coolest family ever. Tell Sophie happy birthday! I will try to send her something soon. I'm sorry I didn't send her anything to be there on her birthday, though. I'm not quite used to having one day a week to take care of letters--I don't look far enough in advance. I did have her birthday written in my planner, though, so I was thinking about her yesterday! Jamie got called as the new teachers' quorum president? Yay! That will be wonderful for him! He will do such a good job, too, and this will give him a chance to be so responsible. Tell James that I say that's an important calling, because if there are young men in his class who he doesn't watch out for, then the missionaries end up having to take care of them, and we already have too many people to take care of.

 

What, Norman played on your recital? You mean he accompanied? Or have you been teaching him little cello parts? Good for him!

 

We've had a great week here. I don't know if I've told you about our investigator Lani yet, but we found her tracting, and we've had two lessons with her in the last couple of weeks. She is a golden investigator. She is a nursing student, currently lives with her parents, and was just sitting outside by herself thinking about life when Sister Carter and I came walking down her driveway. Her first lesson went great, and for her second lesson, she came to the historic sites and we showed her the Joseph Smith movie and took her on a tour. She is doing great! She isn't sure the Book of Mormon is true yet, but she's really trying to do everything we ask her to. And she has been reading so much! It is neat to get to work with her.

 

Our investigators Tina and Jody are also doing great. I love it when investigators call us, and both of those two call us sometimes just to let us know how things are going. Tina called yesterday to apologize for not coming to church, and Jody called us yesterday so we could pray for her while she was dealing with some things. She likes us to pray with her on the phone, too. She calls us her "Mormon girls." But then she corrects herself and says her "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints girls." We hadn't seen her for a couple of weeks, but we stopped by on Thursday, and it turned out to be at a time when she really needed us. She is so sweet and says she wants to come to church with us this week and bring all her friends!

 

Chardon is growing on me. Would you believe they changed Halloween to Saturday? That gives you an idea of how Bible Belt it is around here. And the town is small enough that they were able to have a Halloween parade Saturday night and then cider and donuts afterward on the town square. Cute, isn't it? This was a sad week for Chardon, though, because there was an explosion that caught a lot of storage units on fire at the edge of town. That impacted a couple of the people we're working with right now, actually, and it's been a trial for them.

 

Today as Sister Carter and I were walking into the library, we ran into a couple of members of the Community of Christ putting up a Kirtland Temple exhibit at the front of the library. It is nice having the Community of Christ around--we're not completely the same, but I feel some kinship with them just because we both use the Book of Mormon and we share all the same Kirtland history. And they are so friendly. This is an interesting area, because we see so many split-off groups hanging around Kirtland. The Community of Christ, of course--their guides who work at the Kirtland Temple live in Sidney Rigdon's house, just a few houses down from us in the Smith home. And there is a little church called "The Church of Jesus Christ" down the road from the temple, too. It is also called the Restoration Church, a split-off from the Community of Christ. And we got a group through on tour recently called "The Remnant," another split-off from the Community of Christ with basically identical beliefs to our church. I wonder why more of the split-off groups don't just embrace all of it and join our church, but then again, some of them do.

 

Oh, on a slightly less missionary note, could you please send me some piano music? I would really love to have one of our hymn arrangement books, either the Darwin Wolford or Sonos books, as soon as possible. Also, I would love to have something classical, like a Mozart sonata or Chopin (etudes or nocturnes) or Kabalevsky sonatas. I want to be prepared to play if the need should arise. Thanks! :-)

 

Also, what is Aunt Debbie's current situation? And address? I've been thinking about her lately. Partially because there are nuns who sing with us at Messiah practice. I am loving Messiah practice, by the way! And the other people there are awesome. We don't proselyte, since it's inside a Catholic church, but it's so effective to be seen there.

 

Also, where is the Echo? Just wondering.

 

I love you! Happy November! I hope it's not too cold down there. Keep reading Shakespeare plays! You all should read The Tempest, that is my request.

 

I love you!

 

Love,

Katherine

Kirtland, 10/25/10

Hi Mom!!

 

I hope you're still on the computer. It's so fun when we're on here at the same time. I got your email after I had already logged  in, so I know we were here together for at least part of it!

 

Thanks for the update on everyone. Tell Jocelyn congratulations! I'm so glad she got to be in the play. I agree with you on the Shakespeare alterations, I think they usually just draw attention to themselves. Also, tell James good job on his self-portrait and good luck with his lesson! I like your insights on Job--that's really true that he is similar to the Savior. We talked about Job a lot in my comp lit class freshman year. Brother Peer said that the book was written as a hypothetical situation, and that Job wasn't a real person, but that his story was written as sacred literature that explores all the possible reactions to suffering and then the process by which we can respond to it using the Atonement. Either way, it is a great book! I'll have to reread the chapter you mentioned.

 

Haha, I'm sure Sophie had a huge wish list. I wish I could be there!

 

Why is October so busy for weddings? I'm glad you're starting to get out of that, though. And that you got to go the temple, that is wonderful.

 

Okay, Pioneer School: It's one of our service projects--all of the Kirtland sisters take turns doing it. There is a historical society nearby in Painesville (the town Edward Partridge was from) that sets up a mini-Williamsburg experience for elementary schoolers from all around Ohio and Pennsylvania. The students come in for a day and go to different centers--a log cabin where they learn about keeping house in the early frontier days of Ohio, a schoolhouse, and then a big barn where they learn about candlemaking and make their own candles. When we volunteer there, we get to be the candlemaking ladies. And we wear pioneer dresses! I'll send you a picture. I like it, especially because we get a lot of kids from Cleveland, and they are a fun group. Also, I feel like I am living my dream of working at Colonial Willliamsburg!

 

We took a Kirtland temple tour as new missionaries, our second day in Ohio. So yes, I've been there. Also, LDS family services had an adoption conference in the temple a couple of weeks ago, and we got to sing at it! It was amazing. The meeting was in the early morning, so the sun rose while we were in there, and the way the windows are set, the sun casts lovely patterns on the wall while it's rising. And we got to sing several of the hymns they sang at the 1836 dedication! Well, I played, the other sisters sang. Anyway, the temple is probably my favorite spot in Kirtland, even though it is a little strange, you're right.

 

Visitors' center attendance is down from the summer, but there are lots of "leaf people" who come through because this is peak leaf season, so everything is pretty. Sister Carter and I have spent tons of time at the center lately. Actually, we did zero hours of tracting this week because we were at Kirtland so much. But oh well, I honestly prefer being there most of the time. We usually take 1-2 tours a day. And yes, they're different every time. I read our Kirtland manual a lot, and I try to incorporate something new from it into every tour. The manual is huge, but I'm not sure what I'll do when I finish reading it... Well, there's lots of information in there, it allows us to go into detail about any topic that might be of special interest to a visitor.

 

We got three new investigators this week! Quick story about two of them: Last week we found a lady, probably in her 70's, named Connie. As soon as she saw who we were, she said she and her husband had been to Temple Square and they had loved it. And she invited us to come back when her husband was there, so they could both meet with us. Then, she set an appointment with us and sent us on our way and we had hardly had a chance to say anything! Well, we went back this week, and when we came in, there was a big whiteboard in their kitchen with three balloons tied to it that said: "Welcome, Sisters! Thank you so much for coming!"  And there was old movie music playing in the background, and Connie and her husband were all ready with a notebook and a pencil. Apparently, they have had missionaries to their house in the past, and they just enjoyed talking to them. But they'd never heard the first lesson, so we taught that. It was an unusual situation all around. Connie showered us with gifts when we left, too, she was so sweet.

 

We had dinner with our German family this week, too! I love their house, they were playing German folk music when we walked in and they've got cuckoo clocks everywhere. They are so fun.

 

Well, I should go, but I hope you have a great week! I love you!

 

Love,

Katherine

Kirtland, 10/18/10

Hi Mom!!

 

Thank you for your tracting advice! I will remember that. The fall colors are even better this week. We're rushed for time right now, but I'll send you some pictures next time.

 

Wow, I'm so impressed with Cecilia! I remember trying out for all-state choir and not getting in. :-) I'm so happy that she's enjoying that and doing so well with that. I'm doing choir again  now, too! Sister Carter and I and the other 2 Chardon sisters are all singing with an inter-religious choir that sings the Messiah every year! It is so wonderful, I'm so grateful to be doing it.

And I heard about DaNece's audition! And tell Jocelyn I wish her all the best for her play! I'm so proud of her, too.

 

We had a great week! I have a good missionary story for you...  A few weeks ago, Sister Carter and I were doing our daily planning, and we both felt pulled to tract this one street in Chardon called Grant Street. We didn't get to it until about a week later, though, and when we got there, it only had five houses. So we tracted those five, and nothing happened. But then the next week, we were driving down that same street, and I noticed a house on the end that we hadn't seen the other time. So, I  mentioned it to Sister Carter and we decided to come back and tract it eventually... And then, this week on Tuesday, we were driving past Grant Street, and all of a sudden Sister Carter just turned and pulled into this house and said, "Let's tract it right now!" So we did, and  nobody was home, but as we were walking away, a truck pulled up and this man got out and said "Hey, sisters! I'm an elder! I'm Brother Bob." It turns out he is from Ashtabula and hasn't been active in the church for awhile, but he has been living in Chardon for the last few months and was just thinking about how he wanted to come to church again. I am quite sure he is the one we were supposed to find on Grant Street. It was a good miracle!

 

Our investigator Tina is also making good progress. Oh, we set a baptismal date with her! It's for February and I really think it will happen. We went over the qualifications for baptism with her yesterday, and she is serious about getting ready. I'm so impressed with her!

 

Well, we have to go, sorry this was on the short side. Our car is in the shop all week long and now we're sharing with another set of sisters, so P-day schedule is tricky.

 

I love you, though! Keep writing me long emails, I love to read them!

 

Love,

Katherine

 

P.S. Have I told you about Pioneer School? I will have to next time.

Kirtland, 10/11/10

Hi Mom!

 

How are you? How did everything go this week? How is Norman doing?

 

This has been an exciting week in the Chardon Branch. Yesterday, Sister Carter and I had several important people at church. Have I told you about Billy? He is a less active man in the branch, and Sister Carter and I have been meeting with him every week since I got here. He was baptized about three years ago, but he fell away shortly thereafter. Lately, though, for some reason he has completely turned his life around.  Yesterday was his first day back at church! He was just beaming when we walked in and saw him there in the hall.  He is so sweet and sincere about making changes in his life. I was so proud of him yesterday. The neat thing is that we don't know why he wanted to change, and it was all so self-motivated. We called him to set up the first appointment at the beginning of September, but since then, he's the one who texts us during the week to make sure we're still meeting on Friday. And he texts us sometimes to update us on his progress.

 

Also, our investigator Tina finally came to church yesterday. At our meeting with her this week, we talked about baptism, and she wants to do it! Also, she prayed out loud, and Sister Carter says Tina has never agreed to that before. She is another one who is making some amazing changes all on her own. For our next lesson, she requested that we talk about fasting and tithing, because she said those are the two hardest principles for her, and she really wants to get over them before she is baptized. But then, on Saturday, when we called her about church the next day, she asked if it was alright for her just to eat something small that day to go with one of her medications. Apparently, she had thought it was fast Sunday, and she was already planning on fasting! She keeps surprising me with how willing she is to make changes.

 

This week is transfers, but all four sisters in the Chardon Branch are staying. That's good, because none of us expected or wanted to be transferred. Next transfer I will definitely get a new companion, though, because Sister Carter dies at the end of this transfer! Did you have lots of missionary jargon in Italy? I never realized there was so much of it. For example, I was born in Chardon, I'm growing up in a home (meaning I'm living in one of the historic Kirtland homes for my first few transfers), I'm killing Sister Carter (because she dies while I'm her companion), investigators flame us when they don't show up to lessons, and Sister Hill and Sister Palfrey are my sisters because we all have the same mom (trainer). Funny, isn't it?

 

Also, have I told you about the Ohio accent? It's similar to the New York/Pennsylvania accent, in this area anyway. You can do it if you just change your short a's to "ee-a" dipthongs. For example, the most common thing we hear tracting: "I'm Cee-atholic."

 

Do you have any tracting advice? Most of the people here don't want to talk to us at all. I think that's partially the culture in this area, though, because people are busy and not super-friendly. Oh well, I love them anyway. And we found a few great people this week! I love it when that happens, it's always a miracle in some way.

 

On a side note: If you ever might want, perhaps, to send me a Christmas present, I would really love a beautiful Mormon Tabernacle choir CD. The new mission rule is that we can listen to anything sung by the Mormon Tabernacle choir, so it's not just hymns anymore!

 

Hope everything is going well! Love you!

 

Love,

Katherine

Hi Mom! Alright, I just got your email!

 

I did hear about DaNece, I'm so excited for her! 

Hm, Ceci's mental block... If she were an investigator, I would sit down with her and ask her lots of questions to try to get to the "center of the onion." They teach us that when someone has a question or concern, usually it's just a cover for a concern that's several layers deeper, like layers on an onion! That would be the missionary approach. Oh, and then I would read her a story from the Book of Mormon about someone who has her same concern, and help her relate to that person, and then have her see in the scriptures how that person gets an answer to their problem. And then have her pray out loud! :-) I'm glad Sophie's reading, too.

 

Well, I love you! Have a good week!

 

Love,

Katherine

Kirtland, 10/4/10

Hi Mom!

I'm here right now, and we've got to go in a few minutes! But I'm glad you got here!

 

I'll go ahead and write you while I'm waiting. How did you like general conference? I loved it. I especially liked all the talks about faith and obedience.

 

We had a good week here in Chardon. At conference, we met the mother and the son from one of the families I told you about last week--the ones who had been referred to us by a member. The mother said she didn't want to meet with us yet, because she and her husband were both still reading the Book of Mormon and the gospel principles manual, and they wanted to discuss it together before they decided to meet with us.She seems really cool, though, and I think they will want the lessons eventually.

 

Also, our investigator Tina watched part of conference, which is really exciting, because she hasn't been to church for almost a year, I think. She is definitely making progress.

 

Also, there is a young woman named Christy in our branch who just barely got baptized in June. Anyway, her boyfriend Gino had been investigating the church before I got here, but he stopped. Just this last week, though, she started bringing him to her new member lessons, and he came and watched conference, too! I hope he opens up again, I think it is so great to teach people that age. (Because that's how old you were! :-)

 

We had a rather unusual experience this week with the Amish. It happened on Friday, when Sister Carter and I were eating dinner with the Calandra family. For her job, Sister Calandra taxis Amish people. They can't drive, but they can have other people drive for them, so there are a few Amish who regularly call Sister Calandra whenever they need to go somewhere, and she just goes and picks them up. Anyway, Sister Carter and I were there eating dinner, and Sister Calandra got a phone call from her Amish client Kathryn, who is about 24 years old and who needed to be picked up from somewhere in ten minutes. So Sister Calandra asked us if we wanted to come along, too! We had just been talking about how we wished there was someway we could develop a relationship with the Amish part of the community, and this seemed like a golden opportunity, so we did! And then when we got there, it turned out that Kathryn's friends needed rides too, so we rode in the car with three Amish women and a little Amish boy for about 15 minutes. We talked to them about their language, which sounds a lot like Swiss German, and about our missions--we definitely didn't proselyte, but just explained to them about what we did as full-time missionaries. It was so neat!

 

What have you been up to? I love you! How is the family doing? I hope everything is going great! I miss you a lot!!

 

Love,

Katherine

Kirtland, 9/27/10

Hi Mom!

 

Thanks for sending that letter this morning, just in case. Just so you know, though, I will never get to the computer before 10:30 in the morning.

 

Our week has been really good. I was at the visitors center a lot, because Sister Carter had leadership training (since she's a trainer) two days in a row. When that happens, I just tag along with the other sisters at the VC. Sister Carter calls it day-care. :-)

 

Hm, contacts... Well, we found two new investigators this week! One of them is a lady named Tracy. She is Catholic, married, and has four children. I can't tell yet if she is interested or just polite, because she didn't ask very many questions during our lesson. She did say she would read from the Book of Mormon, though. And the other lady is named Jody. Her husband passed away, but she has a 6-year-old daughter, Jamie. She said that she and Jamie would read and pray about the Book of Mormon together! I'm really excited about her. During her closing prayer at our lesson, she prayed that she would be able to keep opening her mind and heart to our message. That was exciting, because at the beginning of our lesson, she had said she didn't believe there was any one true church, so that was big for her to consider that we might be speaking the truth, after all.

 

We also got some exciting news yesterday. First, you should know that about a week and a half ago, Sister Carter got the idea that we should pray specifically to find a family to teach, because we weren't finding any investigators, and we wanted to find some really good investigators who would join the Church as a family. Anyway, after that, we found Tracy on Tuesday, and then just yesterday we found Jody. And also yesterday, we got referrals from members for 3 more families to teach! Well, one of them is a single lady whose husband passed away. The other 2 families are friends of a brother in the Kirtland Ward. They have already been to church, and they are already planning to come to general conference this weekend. All we have to do is teach them! I hope it works out.

 

I love being in Amish country. We went down there again this week with members for dinner at an Amish restaurant, and it kind of reminds me of being in Jerusalem, because the people there live their religion so fully. I love it.

 

Oh, did I tell you about the Germans in my branch? There are three German families! They are all related. Two of the families are inactive, though, and one is a part-member couple, but they both come to church every Sunday. They are awesome, I love talking to them in German. And we just made contact with their son and grandson this week, and their grandson loves the gospel! He is 12 and hasn't been baptized, and his dad is inactive but not anti-Mormon. We'll see what happens.

 

I hope Jocie goes to BYU, too! Especially since DaNece is loving it so much. It would be fun if they got to room together, maybe? Wow, half our family is going to end up out west in a few years!

 

Tell Norman hello for me.

 

Wow, Ceci is so smart. She is quite the poet! And scriptorian, it sounds like. Tell her to keep emailing me poems, I loved the one I got from her a few weeks ago.

 

Is James particularly enjoying any of his classes?  Tell him I love him and miss him!

 

Hm, for Sophie, I'm not sure, just not East Cary. Year-round sounds like a nightmare. I loved going to Ligon, but I don't know if Sophie wants to do the magnet school thing as much.

 

That's wonderful that you're getting cello lessons! :-) Are you going to perform again anytime soon? What about your writing? Are you reading anything good?

 

I love you and miss you! Thanks for your wonderful emails, they (and Dad's) are the highlight of every Monday!

 

Love,
Katherine

Kirtland, 9/20/10

Hi Mom!

 

Our week went pretty well. We still haven't found any investigators, though. Did I tell you about the one investigator we do have? Her name is Tina. She has been investigating the Church for three years. She is progressing, though! We had a really good lesson with her last week, and she's having some terrible health problems right now, so she's going to get a blessing tomorrow.  We hope she'll get baptized March 5th. We'll see... She knows the Church is true, but she just needed something to help her see how much she needed the gospel.

 

I'm enjoying tracting, but I would rather be teaching. :-( It is pleasant, though, because the weather is perfect, and all the houses are so far apart here that we spend most of the time walking up long, wooded driveways.

 

You have jury duty?? Oooh, I hope you get picked! I mean, I guess I hope you don't get picked, since you don't have time for it. But, if you do, you'll have to let me know the details!

 

I have gotten some Amish cooking! Since half of our branch is in Amish country, we get to go down there every once in a while. Actually, we went to an Amish restaurant for dinner last week! I had cheeseburger soup and homemade rolls and apple pie, it was all very good. And I bought some smoked Swiss cheese from the Amish cheese factory, and I've been eating it for lunch. I haven't found any recipes yet, but I'm pretty sure they sell cookbooks down at that restaurant...

 

The Amish are probably the nicest people around, by the way. Sister Carter and I tracted a house last week where there were a couple of people working on some construction out front. One of them was Amish, but I didn't know, and I offered him a pass-along card, but he didn't seem to be offended. Later, Sister Carter told me you can tell they're Amish if they're wearing a button-down shirt for work clothes, since apparently no one else does that. Hm. Anyway, I guess it's not terrible just to offer a pass-along card.

 

Yes, I'm eating well, I think. I'm trying to eat super healthy! We usually have member dinners about 3 times a week, and they always feed us lots. Also, the senior couples at the visitors' center keep the kitchen stocked with candy and cookies and random things they want us to eat, so we have plenty of food.

 

I'm sorry you were up all night! Are you still really busy? Are you getting back to writing and cello yet? Let me know about everything fun the family is doing! Have you ordered anymore Bollywood movies?

 

I miss you!

 

Love,

Katherine

Kirtland, 9/13/10

Hi Mom!

Oh, I'm so glad you're starting to get back into your own routine. It will be great when you can start practicing and writing again! Everything sounds like it is going so wonderfully at home! Especially with family home evening and weekly family activities. I hope you're still doing that when I get home! Did I tell you that I found out my release date will be Jan. 17th, 2012? So I will have a good three months with you guys before I go back to BYU. That will be fun. When it comes...

Thanks for reading my email to Nana! I would love to hear from her. Oh, and don't worry about finding Mira's address, I don't think she actually emailed it to me. I will just look her up online.

Sorry, I can't write as much today, because we had an all-day activity at the John Johnson farm and now we're rushed. It was cool, though! I got to see the room where Amasa Lyman probably slept when he lived with the Johnsons, according to our guide.

Sister Carter and I have been getting more into proselyting lately, because traffic at the visitors' center is dying down for the fall. We have seen a few little miracles tracting. I am just so surprised every time someone listens to what we have to say! Most people just don't want to have anything to do with us, which I think is pretty normal for missionaries, but sometimes someone will open the door, and we say we have a message about how God has reached out to us again today, and we talk for a couple of minutes, and then Sister Carter says, "If God had called a prophet again today, wouldn't you want to know about it?" And then they say yes! I think it is amazing when they do. Some people are so receptive, they are like the pretend investigators at the MTC. And one woman we found on Saturday, after we pulled out our Book of Mormon and told her basically what it was, said, "Oh, where can I get one of those?"

Anyway, we have about 4 people right now who seemed really promising from tracting last week. I hope they will let us teach them when we go back this week! We don't, however, really have any investigators. Besides one woman who has been investigating for 3 years.

The people around here are so religious, in general. Everyone goes to church. Most people aren't mean to us, but we did run into one woman yesterday who was combative and ran and got her Bible so she could prove to us that we were wrong about the Godhead.

  I'm glad Norman is feeling comfortable getting back to church. Oh, I should probably get going, we need to buy groceries. Love you! Thanks for updating me on everything, I love reading your emails!

 

Love,

Katherine

Kirtland 9/9/10

Hi Mom!!!!!!

 

It has been forever since I've gotten to talk to you! How are you? I miss you so much! I've been missing the family a lot. I'm not homesick, though.

 

Im so glad Jocelyn got a part in the play, how fun! And what a good part! I am proud of her. It sounds like everyone is doing so well from your emails. How wonderful! Did DaNece tell you that she and Rachelle sent me a care package on my last day in the MTC? Chocolate chip cookies...that was a morale booster. And it was so sweet of them, it made my day.

Thanks for the elders' addresses! Jenny Jump made me commit to writing them, so I thought I should probably do it! :-) Oh, tell Jamie good job on  making TYO! Yay! And Ceci in VE and Sophie in orchestra, that all sounds so fun!

 

I have so much to update you on! First of all, this mission is going to be different than I thought it would be. It turns out I will be at the visitors center the whole time. There are 28 visitor center sisters here, and we all work part-time at the visitors center and then part-time in a proselyting area in the Kirtland Stake. So, I will be at this address for probably the whole mission:

 

7800 Kirtland-Chardon Rd.

Kirtland, OH 44094

 

Isn't that cool? I'm so excited to be living in Kirtland!! Oh, and I am living in Hyrum Smith's house! It is just across the street and down a few houses from the Kirtland Temple, which I can see from our front doorstep. And only six sisters live there, so it just feels luxurious. The original house has been expanded quite a bit from the 1830's, but it's all still there. So cool! Especially since our Lyman ancestor, Lydia Knight, boarded with Hyrum Smith's family when she first got to Kirtland! So I feel like I'm following in her footsteps. The house is unfortunately haunted by Hyrum's first wife Jerusha, but that is the only drawback.

 

I absolutely love Historic Kirtland. The first few days I felt like I was in heaven there, because it is so quiet and idyllic and SO well done. Most of it was just dedicated in 2003, and I think it will probably still grow in the future, because the restorations are just amazing and accurate and high-quality.

 

Basically, on the days we're in Kirtland, we go in to the visitors center and sit upstairs in the call center until it's our turn to give a tour. Then, they call us down, and we take the tour group through, which lasts about an hour and a half. The rest of the time, we call referrals. We also take inbound calls for people ordering things from pass-along cards. I've had some interesting experiences, and some really draining ones too. People use the pass-along card number as everything from welfare to crisis hotline to social services to pastoral counseling, etc.

 

The other sisters here are wonderful. Interestingly, most of them went to BYU before their missions. We all get along naturally and there is a comfortable, supportive atmosphere within the visitors center. Also, a good number of us are related. This is why: In D&C 124:83, it says that the Lord will build up Kirtland again someday. Also, Hyrum Smith gave a more detailed prophecy along those lines in 1841 in which he told the Saints that God had placed a scourge on Kirtland, but that someday, the scourge would be lifted, and that their descendants would then reinhabit the area. So, I think that is why a good number of the missionaries here are descendants of the early saints. It's fulfilling prophecy!

 

I have the best trainer I could have asked for. She is like a combination of Sister Maxwell, Aunt Lynette, and Katherine Barton, so that gives you an idea of how cool she is. She is so nice to me and is a really hard-working missionary, but we have fun too. Like, her birthday is on Saturday, so today we went to Applebee's for her birthday lunch with two other sisters. And I got to use my gift certificate!!! :-) 11 years later, still valid.

 

Our proselyting area is in the Chardon Branch, a 40% active branch that covers about 8 little towns around Kirtland. Most of our area is rural, rich, and elderly, but the other sisters in the branch work in Amish country. We see Amish women at the store when we go grocery shopping, and we've seen them out on the roads in their horses and buggies too. It's so cool!

 

Well, sorry, this was way too long. I love you and miss you! Hope you're having a good week!

 

Love,

Katherine

8/23/10, MTC

Hi Mom!

 

It's so good to hear from you! Thanks for the long emails, I love reading them. Thanks for the package, too. Don't worry about the socks, I thought I would need more, but now it turns out I'm not using all the ones I have, so it's fine.

Wow, DaNece is going to BYU, yay!!! Hm, I don't have any advice about the car, I'm sure whatever you decide will be the best.

 

Isn't my book collection great? Most of the best ones came from the D.I. box in the FLSR laundry room. I'm afraid I haven't had time to read most of them yet, but maybe when I get home... Let me know how they are!

 

I'm going up to Temple Square again this Saturday, but I haven't been during the last week.

 

This week has been great. One highlight was on Wednesday, when our district got to host new missionaries. I hosted Emily Bateman, a friend from BYU who is going to Temple Square. Her older sister was also my roommate in Jerusalem (Bethany Bateman), so it was so fun to see her and welcome her in. And Ainsley came in Wednesday too! She lives just down the hall from me, so I see her all the time! We even went jogging together one morning. In general, I have gotten to see a lot of people I know, especially from the FLSR.

 

Oh, exciting news! It turns out I am allowed to call you from the airport! Will anyone be available for me to call them on August 31st (Tuesday) from 7-8:20 am or 12:30-1:00 pm, both your time? Also, if someone is available but won't be home, could you tell me the cell phone number to call? I don't have any of your numbers memorized. We got our flight plans on Wednesday, and I am going to Michigan for a layover and then Ohio. I am so excited to fly back east.

 

Today I got to play the special musical number for the senior missionary orientation, which was fun. The person conducting the meeting thanked me, and then told me to thank my mom, so thank you! :-)

 

Well, I'd better go, maybe I will start writing you paper letters too because this always feels so rushed! I love you!

 

-Katherine

8/16/10, MTC

Hi Mom!!

 

Oh my goodness, my computer is moving so slow and it just took 10 minutes to send the message to Dad! So I'll make this quick. We have gym over here 4 times a week, but they also have 6am classes every morning for sisters, including yoga and pilates. My companion didn't want to do it last week, but I got permission to do it this week with some other sisters on our floor, so I'll do that tomorrow and I'm so happy.

 

Oh, thank you for sending that box! I really appreciate it. Don't worry about the socks, I only need 1 or 2 more pairs, and any kind will work fine. They're just for gym.

 

Thank you for writing me even though you're so busy! I don't know how you're managing with everything over there. I'm glad Norman's getting better, though.

 

I have a request: if you get a chance, could you send me the addresses for Elders Watkins, Anderson, and Mackelprang? I promised Jenny Jump I would write them letters. Also, thank you for having everyone write me emails! It has made my p-day. And my week. :-)

 

Things here are good. I went to the temple this morning. Also, on Saturday, my companion and I got to go be Temple Square sisters! They do that as part of visitors' center training. My companion was a Netherlander who was really nice, and I met a Swiss sister there too who is friends with Piri's family. We gave Temple Square tours to a couple from California and a Polish family who didn't speak English (but one of them was translating). It was so fun! Also, there was an anti-Mormon group there who started taking a tour, but the sisters were all on top of it and paged the girls who were giving the tour and told them to cut it, so they did. Anyway, that was fun!

 

I ahve to run! Love you!

 

Katherine

8/9/10: First Email from MTC

Hi Mom!!!!

 

Thank you for writing me! I would have been so sad if there were no emails here for me to read. Have ya'll gotten my letter yet? They let us send a special letter home because we had just gotten here and they wanted us to be able to let you know we were okay. I asked you to send me a couple of things in my letter--really all I need, though, is that black skirt (the one I took to the dry cleaners) and a couple more pairs of socks. Also, could you let DaNece know that if she ever goes to yoga through Women's Resources in the Wilkinson Center, I think I accidentally left my yoga mat in there with all the BYU yoga mats. It says KL on one end of it, and she can just take it and use it.

 

Oh, also, I have a new mailing address here at the MTC:

Sister Katherine Marie Lyman

MTC Mailbox #195

OH-CLE 0831

2005 N. 900 E.

Provo, Utah 84604-1793

 

That one should work a little faster than the other. Also, you can just delete my blog post from the 3rd, I don't know what that is.

 

Anyway, enough business! I'm glad to hear about Norman's new equipment, I'm sure he's loving that! And how was the Old Saybrook trip?

 

Life at the MTC is crazy. I am sitting in the laundry room right now, and it seems like there are 100 elders in here all doing their laundry. I am surprised how few sisters there are at the MTC. But it's all so fun! The first day, I got in late, so I didn't have my real companion until after dinner. But her name is Sister Shelley Decker, she is from West Jordan, Utah, and she is going to the Los Angeles Visitors' Center. The other two sisters in my district are also going to LA, and their names are Sister Ashby and Sister Thurston. They both have red hair and lots of cute knee-length skirts that I am kind of jealous of, but I just keep reminding myself that I am going to the Snow Belt where I will want to wear the longest skirts possible.

 

Every day we go to class and then have lots of time for independent study, more than I was expecting, actually. I have been doing a lot of reading, I'm working on Our Search for Happiness right now and I really like it. They are trying a new pilot program on our district where we are not actually studying Preach My Gospel, but we're just doing lots of exercises about learning to understand investigators. We are using a cool website called 6 Billion Others, which has interviews with people from all over the world. They talk about their families, meaning of life, politics, God, war, etc. You should go look at the site, it is really interesting. Look up Bruno, he has been my favorite so far. :-)  Anyway, the point is that we listen to these people and then try to figure out where they are on their spiritual journey and what they might need to hear the most from the restored gospel.

 

Something they have been telling us to do that kind of suprised me at first is that they don't really want us to teach lessons from Preach My Gospel. They want us to teach the bits and pieces that an investigator needs, and then maybe later, as they're ready, teach them the full message of lesson 1 or the plan of salvation or wherever we are at that point. I'm kind of hoping we will study Preach My Gospel a little bit at some point, because I feel like I am not prepared to teach someone a coherent lesson on one of those topics even if that is what they wanted to hear, but whatever. I really like how they are getting us focused on the people we'll teach.

 

Besides class, I am mostly enjoying the atmosphere of the MTC. It is fun living across the street from the German House. I feel right at home here! We went to the temple yesterday and walked around, and the same old mountains I have seen every day for the last three years were right there, and it was beautiful and cool like September weather, and I just felt really comfortable and happy.

 

Another fun surprise of the MTC has been seeing my friend Amy Briggs, who went to Jerusalem with me and is now going to the Philippines! She entered the same day I did, and our schedules overlap on almost everything, so I see her about 5 times I day! We took a picture together, but I can't figure out how to load pictures here, that might have to wait until the field. I will also send you the airport pictures then...

 

In general, life is good here, but I have to say I am already pretty excited to go off to Ohio. I want to meet real people! Plus, I kind of feel like I am at EFY here. But, it is great, the elders in my zone are all really nice, my teachers are nice, I feel like I am learning a lot and have transitioned well.

 

How is everything at home now? When do ya'll start school, again? I have to run, but I can't wait to read your email next Monday!

 

Lots of love,

Katherine

August 6, 2010: First Letter

Dear Family:

Surprise!  I'm allowed to write you a letter, since this is my first week here!  I just want to let you know that I am here safe and sound in the MTC.

Life here in the MTC is crazy.  I came rushing in just minutes before the welcome meeting with the president, and I felt all discombobulated the first day and didn't even find my companion until about 8PM that night.

It is fun being here though!  My companion's name is Shelley Decker, from West Jordan.  She is going to the LA Temple visitors' center.  Cool, hm?  Actually, I am the only one in my district going to Cleveland,  The other 3 sisters are going to LA, and the Elders are going to Phoenix and Carlsbad.

There is so much to tell you, I will have to write really fast now and use my whole 30 minutes on Monday.  (Oh yes!  Monday is my P-Day, so if you want to get me e-mails, send them before Monday.)

So far, we've just been in class most of the day, and then we have lots of time for personal and companion study.  The classes are interesting.  So far, it's been a pretty unstructured, free response set of exercises in which we learn how to better understand investigators.  You guys should google "6 Billion Others" and look at it - we've been using that site a lot and it's pretty interesting.

Ah, I have to go!

Love you!

Love, Katherine

Confession and Apology From the Editor

So sorry, everyone, for the lack of posts until now: I (Becky, Katherine's mom) forgot the password!   Katherine had a great time at the MTC and reported to her mission in Cleveland two days ago, on Tuesday.  We got to speak to her briefly; she sounds great and is excited to get to work.  Following posts are taken from the last three weeks (MTC) after which I will post her letters in a more timely fashion!

Katherine entered the Missionary Training Center today.  We sent her off this morning from Raleigh and her Uncle Kelly and Aunt Shauna and family met her in Salt Lake City, ran her around on last minute errands, and brought her to the MTC in Provo.  She called home right before going in and sounded happy and excited.