Message From the Editor

Again, my (Becky, Katherine's mom's) most sincere apologies for the extensive gaps in Katherine's email postings!! She has had a wonderful mission and is in her final week now. We will most likely post all of her back-emails in the near future. She has had a beautiful, miracle-filled mission. Thanks to everyone who has supported her!

12/14/11, Mayfield/Kirtland

Hi everyone,

I can hardly believe I'm going to see all of you next week--wow! Nothing has really sunk in, though, and things are going along mostly as normal here in Kirtland.

So, I was transferred to Mayfield. It is another Cleveland suburb, west of Kirtland and north of Solon. It's a great area! All city, lots of Jewish and black people, and only about 15 minutes from Kirtland. It feels a lot like Solon.

My companions are Sister Scott, from Joplin, Missouri, and Sister Denison, from South Jordan, Utah. They are both great, but it is weird being here and knowing I am leaving in just a few days. I'm trying to work as hard as I can, but I think triple-ups are just slow and cumbersome by nature. I feel a little bit like I'm trying to run, but I have weights attached to my ankles... Oh well, we have found one new person since I've been here, and I'm pretty excited about that! Her name is Latoya and we have a lesson scheduled with her on Friday.

Last week turned out to be a little traumatic with everyone else going home, but yesterday we had our sites training meeting, and it was a really great time to refocus on the work. Have any of you seen the Mormon message, "What shall I give?" They just produced it, and it is taken from President Monson's Christmas devotional talk. It is so lovely!

I've also been calling lots of Spanish referrals from sites--I feel frenzied to get them done before I leave! I'm sure Heavenly Father will help someone else learn how to talk to them, though. I just love Spanish people. Last night there were a few people from Solon at the VC, and I was talking to this one lady who just moved into the ward. I told her how I had been in the ward before they put in Spanish elders, and she said, "Oh yes! We have so many Spanish-speakers in this ward!" Which I loved hearing, because that means more are coming than when I was there! Heavenly Father really does have perfect plans for the missionary work in every area.

I've also been getting ready to sing at the temple this Sunday, and Sister Higbee (one of the senior sisters) has been coaching me a little bit at sites! I love it. :)

Well, I love all of you! I can't wait to see you next week!

Love,

Katherine

Solon/Kirtland, 6/15/11

Hello everyone!

 

I hope you're all enjoying summer vacation! It is STILL cold in Ohio (well, some days it's fine, but some days it's cloudy and cold), but everything is going great. We just have one week left in our transfer and I'm a little worried, because I've been in Solon forever but I don't want to leave! We'll just have to see.

 

A few highlights of this week:

 

--Nini and Nina. Did I tell you about them last week? They are best friends, both 15 years old, and they came to church on Sunday! The very first time that we invited them. They really enjoyed it! The ward did so well with them--the YW teachers completely redid their lesson plan on the spot, and ended up teaching the entire plan of salvation and gospel of Jesus Christ. That makes our job easier...

Then, the best part was last night, when we met Nina's family. They are so special. Nina lives with her mom, a sister, and two brothers--we just met her mom (Tracy) and her sister (Sheray) last night, and taught them the restoration. At the end of the lesson, Tracy said something like, "When Nina told me you were coming over here for a lesson tonight, I didn't think much about it, but now sitting here and listening to you, I've realized I've got a lot to think about." Then she told us that she had been confused for years, and that it was difficult to find a church that she felt comfortable with.

At one point during the lesson, we taught about the church Christ established when He was here on the earth, and then I asked Tracy to explain the difference between that church versus a church established by man. She understood so well, and talked about how even if people are well-intentioned, they can't duplicate the blessings that would be available to us through a church established by God. She said she wanted to be baptized! And so did Sheray. I love finding people like this.

 

-Community of Christ picnic. All the Kirtland sisters were invited to this Monday night. It was so interesting! Sis. Devenport and I sat with one of the Kirtland Temple guides and asked him all about his religion and his life as a temple guide (since they're basically our equivalent). Something I didn't realize was that since the 90's, the Community of Christ has been an ecumenical church--meaning that they do not claim to be the only true church, but rather one "tributary on the stream of Christianity."

 

-Frederika. She is an 89 year old lady from the Netherlands, and she wants to learn the gospel! She came to Kirtland on Friday with 3 other ladies from Hamlet Hills, the retirement center in Chagrin Falls where we have done a lot of service. While they were taking the tour, we said something about eternal families, and she said, "That's so interesting. How is it that you believe that? That's not common to Christianity." We then explained that it came as revelation to Joseph Smith, and she said, "Oh! I'd like to learn more about that," and then she checked the box on her comment card that said she'd like more information about the Church. She is such a cool lady--fluent in Dutch, English, French, and German, and used to work as a translator, translating philosophy books from English into Dutch! She also has a cool accent. We're having another lesson with her tonight!

 

Well, I love you all so much! I love reading your emails and hearing everything you've been up to. Keep writing me!

 

Love,

Katherine

 

P.S. The picture is of Sister Devenport and me on one of our car trips home from Kirtland (we always carpool with the Twinsburg sisters). On this particular one, we accidentally took a wrong turn, so then we got on the freeway to get home fast and correct it, but then we missed our freeway exit....We ended up taking over an hour to get home!

Solon/Kirtland, 6/8/11

Hi everyone!

 

It sounds like you're all doing well--thanks for your emails!

 

Michele was baptized on Sunday and it was wonderful! All of the residents from her Praderwilli's home came to support her! It was a double baptism with Nate, who just turned 8, so the relief society room was packed--some people had to stand out in the hall to watch!

 

I have been worrying a lot about her and if the ward would take care of her once she was baptized, but things have fallen into place. Sister Taylor, the relief society president, sent all the relief society sisters an announcement about Michele's baptism, and in it she included some information about Praderwilli's, so all of the sisters know what's going on. Also, when Michele came to church this past Sunday, she wanted to go up to the front and bear her testimony! She has no inhibitions about anything, apparently.

 

She started off something like this: "I don't know all of the proceedings of this church, or all the proceedings of the life of Joseph Smith, but I do know that it's all true." Then she talked about how much she loves the Book of Mormon, and how it can help her in any situation, and she said that this has brought light into her life. Then she said, "My family doesn't understand why I want to be baptized, but I know that my extended family here understands (here she was pointing toward the congregation), so I want to invite all of you to my baptism tonight."

 

I was so happy for her! She's been meeting with missionaries since 2007 and has had such a long road to travel. And we still have a lot of work to take care of her as a new member!  Anyway, the baptism was wonderful, but we had some funny moments because of all the young children/Praderwilli's patients in attendance. Michele has normal mental capacity (well, better than normal), but some of the other women in her home do not. During the talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost, Michele's friend Yvonne was quite vocal in answering questions that were actually directed to 8 yr. old Nate. And her answers were somewhat off-base, for example:

 

Sister Patterson: "Now, who is the Holy Ghost?"

Yvonne (from the back of room): "It's the devil!!!"

 

Well, enough of that. I've attached a few pictures:

 

Picture 1--Me, Michele, and Sister Devenport before her baptism

 

Picture 5--Sisters Devenport, Wattles, Lyman, Hatch and Edman (the site director's wife). We stay the night in Kirtland twice a week now, and this night, we were celebrating Sister Edman's birthday!

 

PIcture 6--Maple Heights--much nicer without snow :-)

 

Well, I love you all!

 

Love,

Katherine

Solon/Kirtland 6/1/11

Hi everyone!

 

Thanks for all of your emails! I love hearing from all of you. Good news: Demarco was baptized on Saturday! I'm sending you a picture (Picture 3). The man on the far left is Ben, who baptized him, and then it's Demarco, Sister Devenport, and then me.

 

The service went nicely, but none of Demarco's family came! The Rust family has taken him in, though, and brings him to church every week. They are such saints. I was thinking during his baptism about how much he will bring to the ward--he has grown since we first started teaching him, and I just know his comprehension will continue to grow. The Holy Ghost really does enhance increase our capacity to understand things!!

 

Now that he is baptized, we are focusing on Michele's baptism coming up this Sunday!  We met with her on Monday after her baptismal interview, and she was just laughing the whole time because she was so happy. She started meeting with missionaries in 2007, and she has had so many things to overcome before getting to this point, but it just goes to show that people really can overcome barriers and progress! Michele used to think she would never be able to come to church, or she would never get permission to be baptized, but everything has gradually just fallen into place.

 

Pictures 6 and 9 are from our Memorial Day dinner at Kirtland. Picture 9 is from a skit--they had some of us improvise Kirtland-inspired skits using props for post-dinner entertainment. My group did a Wizard of Oz version of the journey to Kirtland, and then this group is retelling the revelation of the Word of Wisdom in the school of the prophets, but with a superstar Joseph Smith (sunglasses removed for this picture). Can you see it? Well, it was all fun, anyway.

 

I love you all!

 

Love,

Katherine

Kirtland/Solon, 5/10/11

Hi everyone,

Sorry, I hardly have any time to email today, so I will just have to send out one email! It was so good to talk to all of you on Mother's Day. 

Mom, today we are going to the Italian section of Cleveland! It's called Little Italy. I will send you pictures!

This week has been wonderful. I will just send you 3 pictures and explain each of them:

1. This is Chente, our Mexican investigator. He doesn't speak any English! But somehow, we are teaching him. We have only had 2 lessons so far, but at the last one, we didn't have a member with us, so it really tested our Spanish skills! We ended up talking a lot about the Book of Mormon, and about the Virgin Mary. He had asked us some questions about her last time, so we read 1 Nephi 11 with him, and he loved it. I love hearing the Book of Mormon in Spanish--it gives me chills.

2. This is Sister Devenport, me, our investigator Michelle, and Sister Patterson, who has become a good friend for Michelle. She came to church for the second time in a row on Sunday! She is the sweetest lady in the world, and her baptism is coming up soon! She bears her testimony of the Book of Mormon to us every time we go over there--she always says that she feels better when she reads it, and she has just been eating it up. I think she's in Mosiah now?

3. This is me at pioneer school! It's that season again, as well as the season for giving more tours at sites-yay! We're starting to see more groups from Utah--people coming out for summer vacation. Lately, I've been trying to focus my tours more on the things that make Kirtland unique--well, not unique, but the main reasons Kirtland is important, like the revelations received here, the Kirtland temple, the stories of the people who were prepared here to accept the restored gospel, and the priesthood offices that were restored here in Kirtland. I love this time in church history, it is so hopeful and is all about restoration of everything! (You should all read up on our ancestor Edward Partridge, by the way--he was one of those people who was uniquely prepared to accept the gospel.)

I love you all so much, and I'm sorry this email couldn't be longer! Have a wonderful week!

Love,
Katherine

Kirtland/Solon 4/27/11

Hi Mom!

 

How was your trip to Disneyworld? I like your idea about contacting the Italian missionaries! I will do that. (I just contacted some Irish missionaries with a similar request the other day, so I'm sure it would be fine.)  When is Jocelyn's senior recital? I'm glad you are teaching yourself, too! When are you going to ID, again?

 

We've had such a good week here! We started teaching another new investigator yesterday (Chente, the Spanish-speaker I told you about) and we now have four investigators with baptismal dates!

 

Just a couple of highlights: I know I've told you about Sister Smith and her grandchildren (CJ and Lati/Ladybug). Well, since Lati officially became an investigator, the tone at their lessons has changed. Before, lessons with CJ and Lati were chaotic, but now that Lati knows she can get baptized, she has started focusing more and asks us more questions. We taught them the plan of salvation on Saturday. I love how you can become great friends with people you never would have expected--that's how it is with Sister Smith and CJ and Lati. When I first met Sister Smith in January, all I knew was that she was a less active lady in the ward who has had the missionaries over every week for ages. But I've come to admire her and love hearing about her life (she grew up in NYC and has some crazy stories), and now we're preparing her grandchildren for baptism! If there were a motto to sum up Sister Smith, it would be: "We shut the door and don't let the devil in here. He stays outside!" (She says that all the time.)

 

Another highlight this week was with our investigator Demarco Sanders. Did I already tell you about him? We found him tracting and had a somewhat sketchy first lesson (he lives in the worst part of town and some rowdy neighbors showed up), but this past Friday, we had the most miraculous lesson with him! We had decided to meet at the waterfall in downtown Chagrin Falls at 5:00 on Friday. Well, Friday came around, and we had forgotten to call and remind Brother Sanders about the lesson, and it was raining hard, so we thought he probably wouldn't show up. But we went to the waterfall at 5:00, and we saw him standing out there in the rain! Not only had he remembered our lesson and found the meeting place, but he had walked straight there from work (he doesn't have a car), and he had thought in advance that morning to pack a change of clothes and his Book of Mormon in a little grocery bag that he brought to work with him. Isn't that cool? He had also read the first 10 chapters of 1 Nephi, even though he doesn't understand much. He doesn't talk a lot either, but we've been so impressed with the effort he's putting into this. Also, we committed him to baptism on May 28th! And we committed him to coming to church on Sunday, and he came!

 

But, back to that lesson on Friday: after we found Brother Sanders, we weren't sure what to do, because we didn't want to sit outside and get soaked. We wandered around downtown Chagrin Falls a little bit, but a lot of the shops were closed. We finally decided to go into this tourist store called the Popcorn Shop, and it was perfect! There were 3 seats in the corner, and it was next to this huge window overlooking the Chagrin River. So pretty! And it was a blessing to find somewhere quiet for our lesson--I was worried that we would have to cancel it. 

 

We also had a great Easter here in Ohio! We had a dinner for all the Kirtland missionaries, and Sisters Debenham, Kingston, and myself sang This Is The Christ, which was nice. In sacrament meeting that day, Brother Norman, a member of the Solon Ward, gave a wonderful talk on doctrines of the resurrection that are unique to latter-day saints. He has a Ph.D. in religious studies from Harvard, and it showed in his talk. I felt like I was back at BYU for a few minutes. Education really does improve your understanding of the gospel! (See D&C 50:24, revealed in Kirtland :-)

 

 Well, that's probably enough from me. I hope you're doing well!

 

I love you so much!!!!!!!!!!

 

Love,

Katherine

Kirtland/Solon 4/20/11

Hi Mom!

 

I like hearing about the business from home, you should keep telling me about that. Also, how neat that the Steidl address is the same! I am excited for you to talk to his son, if that's the right thing to do. It sounds like a great idea to me!

 

We do have some Easter celebrations--there will be an Easter dinner at the sites Sunday evening. Other than that, I don't know..I'd expect the senior couples would give us treats, they often do that for holidays. Your Boston Market and Harry Potter party sounds fun! And, how nice that you don't have a stressful Easter program!

 

The guy in Subway--Antwon? Well, he's not in my area, but Sister Morrell says she hasn't seen him since our companion exchange. That happens a lot with investigators--they have a great first lesson where they commit to be baptized, but then you never see them again.

 

We've had an exciting week in Solon, though! We found five new investigators. Have I told you about Annie Smith? She's a less active lady in the ward, and we've been teaching her the whole time I've been here. She also has a couple of nonmember grandchildren (Ladybug and CJ) I've been wanting to teach, and as soon as Sister Devenport got here, we had a lesson with them about baptism. It got kind of tense, because Ladybug said, "I want to get baptized!" and Sister Smith said, "You know that's not my decision, that's your mama's decision, and just because I'm your nana doesn't mean I can give you permission!"  But then Ladybug got her cell phone out right there and called her dad and got permission to be baptized!  We were still waiting to hear what her mom had to say, but last Saturday when we went over there, we found out that her parents said yes and that we could officially start teaching her! We've set a baptismal date for May 21st. CJ wants to get baptized too, but he's only 7.

 

Our other new investigators are Demarco, Darius, Brandon, and Jennifer--the first 3 found tracting, and Jennifer found via referral. Sister Christenson, a sister who served here a couple of years ago, called in to sites and asked the Solon sisters to look for her. Just a few days after that, we found her old teaching record in our dead pool! We went to the address written there, and it was abandoned, but we searched her on white pages and found her new address, and it turns out she's very interested. And when we were teaching her, she said she wanted her mom to learn too! So we'll be teaching both of them the next time we go back.

 

On another note, have you ever had catfish and waffles? I had it the other day at Mr. Wonderful's Chicken and Waffles, and it was better than I would have thought! You can make it: just put a couple of pieces of fried catfish on top of a giant belgian waffle, and then pour maple syrup on top. :-)

 

Oh, in my scripture reading right now, I'm in 4 Nephi, Preach My Gospel chapter 6 (Christlike attributes), and reviewing the Whitney store in the Kirtland guide.

 

Well, I hope you're doing well! I love you!!!!!! (And happy Easter!!!!)

 

Love,

Katherine

Solon/Kirtland, April 6, 2011

Hi Mom!

 

Thanks for reminding me about Christmas!

 

Let me know how your missionary work turns out, I'm so glad you invited them to watch general conference! You're such a good missionary! :-)  (I'd be happy to call them and offer a missionary visit and the Book of Mormon, if they liked conference!)

 

That conference experience sounds wonderful. I completely agree with you: we can have peace when we're keeping the commandments, and when we're following the Spirit. Then, the Lord can do the rest. Right now, my favorite talk is Elder Oaks's.

 

About the Steidl's: I'm feeling a little hesitant. Have you been praying about it? I must admit I haven't been. I'll keep praying about it this week. Maybe it would be better if you contacted them??

 

We've had so many adventures this week in Solon, I wish I could tell you about all of them! On Thursday, I got to call Switzerland. There were some Swiss members who came to Kirtland last summer, so I called and asked them for referrals! Would you believe they didn't have any? But chatting in German (not Swiss German, thank goodness) for 10 minutes was a thrill.

 

Also, last night we had a lesson with the Berru family on missionary work. It went better than we had expected--maybe because of Sister Devenport's Spanish skills--but Natalia Berru (age 10) told us she has a friend who wants to take the missionary lessons and get baptized! Her name is Destiny. She spends the night with the Berru's most weekends, so she comes to church with them already. I'm so excited to teach her! As long as her mom says yes, which the Berru's are pretty sure she will.

 

Well, I love you!!!!! I hope you're having a lovely spring, I sure am! 

 

Love,

Katherine

March 29, 2011, Solon/Kirtland

Hi Mom!

Did you hear about Rachelle's mission call??? Chile Antofagasta!!!!! I am so excited! I was hoping she would come here, but Chile is perfect for her. Also, when are Hannah and Rachel having their babies? Are they girls or boys?

 

Sister Houston is being transferred tomorrow, so I'm super excited to see who will be my new companion. Also, our only 2 investigators are moving on Thursday, so we really will be starting from ground zero! It will be great, though.

 

Well, Sunday was the 175th anniversary of the Kirtland Temple dedication, so the Kirtland and Cleveland stakes put together a program to hold in the temple at 7am Sunday morning (the same time and date of the original dedication). Sister Houston and I were really blessed and got tickets to sit in the temple for that! It was incredible. They had the most beautiful choir and orchestra. And the speakers talked about the priesthood keys that were restored in the Kirtland Temple, for the gathering of Israel, the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, and the sealing of families.

 

I think about Jerusalem all the time here, because events here so often correspond to events there. For example, the messengers who appeared in the Kirtland Temple are the same ones who appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration to give priesthood keys to Peter, James, and John. And the pentocostal experiences the saints had all the time in Kirtland are like the pentecostal experiences in the early New Testament church--in both cases, it was with people who had just barely received the gift of the Holy Ghost, so I think they were extra sensitive to how that felt and had a special desire for spiritual experiences.

 

I hope you guys can come here to pick me up! I would love to give you a special 4 hour tour and tell you all the stories about Kirtland.

 

In other news, we set a baptismal date with Marlayn for April 30th! She's moving Thursday, but we've been in touch with her elders in Charlotte.

 

And, I'm sending you a picture:

 

Annie Smith, a lady in the ward. She has 2 nonmember grandchildren we've been teaching off and on, because they're often at her house. If only their parents would support them coming to church... (Sister Smith says they want to be baptized.)

 

Well, I love you!!!!  I sure hope you're doing well!

 

Love,

Katherine

XXXOOO

 

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