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
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