Boy Scouts Get What Boy Scouts Want

Well, it's been 5 years since I've had a pday and I'm beat.  Beet? No, beat.

We had transfers last week so now pday is Monday again.  I am still serving as zone leader with Sister Vach.  Hooray!  Our specific assignment is to organize the exchanges every Saturday when new sisters from the mtc come to experience a visitor center for a day.  Everyone who is called to a VC gets to come here and so Sister Vach and I get to be in charge of that.  I love it.  Those sisters are so bright eyed and scared so I love scaring them more and breaking them in a bit. 

 

In the last week and a half, Sister Vach and I got to take 3 VIP tours.  All 3 were very different.  Our first VIP tour was with some fancy Europeans.  I still don't really know who they were but I know that I was intimidated by them.  We had a photogropher stalk us the whole tour so I've attached a few pics.  The next VIP tour we took was with the Macedonian Embassador and they were hosted by Elder Hinckley (Gordon B's son) and Sister Hinkley.  We aren't sure if Elder Hinckley trusted us as missionaries at first so he kind of stole the show while Sister Vach and I got in the way until he gave us some air time, 15 minutes into the tour.  He apologized for stealing our show and so then the 3 of us worked pretty well together after that.  Sister Hinkley just kind of twiddled behind.  VIP tours are very strict so we aren't suppose to ask the guests personal questions like we would on any other tour.  We also can't bear testimony (unless of course I decide that rule doesn't apply) and we can't invite them to learn more.  The Macedonian couple was super friendly so it was fun for me to be their friend on the tour while Elder Hinckley took the reigns.  We got to accompany them into the tunnels under the conference center after our tour and I was so badly wishing that we would be stopped by an apostle but that didn't happen.  Side note, Elder Hinckey's ringtone is still a Christmas pop song.  Who knew?  Our last tour was with a group of boy scout executives.  I prayed that they would show up in cargo shorts and matching hats but I was very disappointed.  Most of them were actually from Utah and we knew that a few of the men scouts were members of the Church.  At first the tour felt weird to me because all we could do was teach the history.  I knew they already knew the Utah history and I also knew that the Utah history makes me want to nap but Sister Vach is a whiz at teaching the details.  We figured out pretty early on that only one of the scouts wasn't a member of the Church and he asked a lot of good questions about the Temple and about what we do for regular worship services.  We took them inside the Tabernacle, did a little accoustic demo with the pin drop and then they asked if they could go and see the organ close up.  They neglected to pay attention to the velvet red barrier but boy scouts get what boy scouts want so we showed them the organ.  Richard Elliott, the main organist so happened to be there to help tune the pipes so we had a fun Q and A with him.  We ended our tour at the statue of Christ and we so badly wanted to invite the one non-member scout to learn more about the Church/gospel but we knew we weren't suppose to.  Being the rebel that I am, I decided to get out a referral card and just hold it in an obvious way so that it would be like dangling it in front of the guest so that he would ask for it and sign for up for a missionary visit.  My plan seemed flawless until the host who brought the scouts whipped out a folder with all kinds of Church articles in it.  He didn't give him a Book of Mormon but he gave him the book, "Our search for happiness."  Well, I felt like a secret fool and tucked my referral card away but Sister Vach and I were so happy because the man seemed so interested to learn.  He's been surrounded by very successful/happy people in his line of knot tying work so it's about time he learned where all the happiness and drive come from.  Yay!

 

Last Sunday we had an amazing tour with 2 young man and 1 regular man: Jon, Scott, and Mark.  The two young ones came together and had been working in Utah for a few weeks.  Scott said right away that he was very interested to learn so we took that as a good thing.  The tour went really well.  We had a lot of fun, joking around with the three of them and we taught them about temples and about the restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith.  Mark, the older one was in town for skii gliding or something like that.  He taught us about how he's involved in the snow version of paragliding so I've added that to my after mission bucket list.  Mark asked good questions but declined our offer to teach him more.  Jon and Scott stuck around longer to ask us more questions.  We gave Scott a Book of Mormon and we sat down with the two of them and talked and answered questions mostly about the purpose of life and what happends to us when we die.  Scott was so fun to teach because he studies theology and he's just looking for truth.  We were excited to give him truth in the form of the Book of Mormon.  We taught him a few days later while he was on his way home to California and he's already started reading the Book of Mormon.  Most religiously educated people seem hard-hearted and un-tecahable to me but Scott is so great.  We've already sent him local missionaries to meet up with and he's planning on attending Church on Sunday.  Wooohoooo!  Prepared people really do wander to Temple Square.

 

Here's a short story about a very un-prepared for the gospel, man.  Friends call him Larry.  Larry requested a tour so that is what we gave him.  He's a very socially awkward, above middle aged man.  We took our time diving into gospel teachings with him because he seemed so uncomfortable.  Finally, we felt like we had a decent relationship with him and we taught him about the Book of Mormon.  We stopped at a display of how the Bible and the Book of Mormon work together to answer people's questions.  He picked a good one that seemed to fit our theme about how we can know if someone is a true prophet.  I felt like the Spirit was with us and that our friend Larry was being touched by the Spirit.  I asked him what he thaught about the answer that the display gave and he paused before finally stating that Mormon women can wear makeup now.  WHAT THE HECK, LARRY!  I swear I wasn't wearing a noticeable amount of makeup.  I told him that we never couldn't and he argued that maybe that was true dince I've been alive.  I love it when people not of my faith teach me about the things I believe.  He asked him if he'd like a BoM and he told us that he didn't want to waste our time.  Lame. 

 

Yesterday Sister Vach and I went with my child, Sister Savelio and her Latvian companion to speak in a random Salt Lake ward.  I talked about pray always.  It was a good time.  Our musical number was sub par but they still smiled.  I've been sitting in this chair for too long so it looks like Imma end this thing soon.

Last story: Sister Vach answered an inbound call yesterday and quickly added me to the line to listen in.  She was talking to a woman who asked all kinds of anti-Mormon, deep doctrinal things.  She told Sister Vach that she wanted all these questions answered because her friend who has been on a "gay conversion" was interested in coming back to Church.  She said that her friend was there with her so she'd put her on the line.  Sister Vach said "Wait, is your friend a man or a woman?" "-kind of both."  What the?  So then Sister Vach had a nice chat with a very nervous trans-genered man or woman about his/her gospel related concerns.  We're still confused. 

 

The end.

LOVE SISTER KATIE KYLE

#1 I knew the camera was on me. That's my Enisgn face

#2 my personal fave

#3 preachin it!

"Heck yeah, darn that Lucifer!"

MY PEOPLE!!!

Emailing is a gift from God. 

 

We have a big day today.  The Temple Square sisters are putting on a concert in the Assembly Hall tonight.  I am but a simple choir member but I get to stand in the front row so that's almost like a solo right?  My companion, Sister Vach is accompanying a few numbers and she's playing a really intense 8 hand piano peice.  She only has two hands but 3 other sisters are joining her.  The concert should be good because there is so much talent in our mission.  I think the prep for ths concert has taken too much missionary time so I'm pretty sure this will be a one time deal but maybe the prophet will come.  Probably not.

 

My MTC homies, Sister Elliott and Sister Reynders are in charge of putting together a pump up video for General Conference and they casted me and Sister Nixon to play the part of Rocky Balboa.  Duh nuh nuh... ... ... nuh nuh nuh... In the wee hours of yesterday morning, Sister Nixon and I got all dressed up in our missionary skirts and running shoes to dance around Temple Square while punching the air.  We had way too much fun filming.  It reminded me of the good ole Brookridge Horror days.  Don't worry, I'm sure I'll get a copy of the final product to add to my film portfolio.

 

I love being a leader in the mission.  I feel like being a district leader is the hard job and being a zone leader is the fun job so let's hope I get to stay this way at least for another transfer.  We had a zone leader council yesterday to go over preperations for the busyness of summer.  I have a lot to say and I want to help make this mission even more effective so I love being able to be a voice for my people.  Serving in California and coming back with more work to do at Temple Square has helped me see the bigger picture of what our mission can accomplish.  And that big picture gives me so much more drive.  I love this mission. 

 

We taught our amazing investigator, Ashely the other day.  Sister Vach and I are trying to ween her off of us so that she will feel comfortable and confident with the local elders.  She's made a lot of friends at Church and she's already adapted to the Mormon vocab.  I almost died on the phone yesterday when she said, "Heck yeah, darn that lucifer!"  She rocks.  She reads her scriptures everyday and often texts us about what she understood from her study and how she's going to apply it to her life. 

 

We took a tour earlier this week with a couple from... somewhere in the US of A and I forgot how ignorant people can be.  Is that rude to say?  I said it so there's no going back.  The wife of the little family was talking to me and my companion like we were aliens.  I have felt that many times at Temple Square but this is the first since being back from my Californian vacation.  Maybe she still thinks the Church practices poligamy.  She was so curious about what it was like to grow up Mormon.  My companion told her that it's like any other childhood except we knew we were children of God and that effected us.  I testified about how much I hated seminary but did it anyway and how I chose to have higher standards than the average High school Joe. 

 

I love mormon.org chat.  We found an amazing girl (we're pretty sure she's a girl) on chat this week who wants to read the Book of Mormon real bad.  We taught her a little bit about it and she talked about how she doesn't want ot be a Jehovah's Witness anymore but she can't denounce it I guess officially util she turns 21.  This made us nervous because we can't teach anyone younger than 18 without parental permission.  She told us she was 17 and then our hearts broke a little because we knew we couldn't keep teaching her or hook her up with local missionaries.  Buuuuuut her birthday is today!  (Though she can't celebrate it) So we have an appointment with her over the phone tomorrow morning to teach her the restoration.  One of our less cool chat visitors asked, "What do I do if something like a bee is in pain?  Do I kill it or do I just leave it alone?"  That was a real person with a real concern for bees. 

 

Yesterday I went on exchanges with my friend, Sister Crookston.  We just had 40 minutes of square time before we had to go home so we were excited to find someone to teach on the square.  We walked passed the tabernacle where there was a long line of people waiting to listen to Motab.  We felt so uncomfortable walking past the people.  For some reason, it just seemed like they were looking us up and down and we said hi to a bunch but only got scary faces in return.  We past the huge line and talked about how intimidating they were but also about how ridiculous it was that we were still afraid to talk to people.  We talked through our fears and knew that we needed to be better missionaries by talking to everyone.  We compared the huge line to a general conference huge line except I have more adrenaline going come conference time and these people yesterday were freaky.  So, we built up our courage and went back to the tabernacle.  I was outwardly relieved to see that the line disappeared into the tabernacle but then we saw a man who was so obviously looking for someone.  We made quick small talk with him and he asked us what we do at Temple Square.  He had just barely told us that he is interested to learn about our beliefs when his two daughters came to take him into the concert.  Sister Crookston was bidding him farewell but I jumped at the chance to say, "Hey!  This isn't all we do at Temple square.  We talk to people on the phone and answer their questions about the Church."   I ran the risk of looking like I was hitting on him in front of his teenage daughters but I asked him for his number and he delightedly gave it.  Wow.  Seriously?  This is what happens when you face your fears and Heavenly Father's on your side.  I don't know if this man will get baptized but Imma try to get him there.  It would have been such a shame if Sister Crookston and I didn't open our scardy-cat mouths. 

 

PEACE!

SISTER KYLE

BREAKING NEWS.

BREAKING NEWS.

I can email friends now!  Every mission just received a letter from the first presidency that says we can email friends/priesthood leaders/recent converts just as long as they don't live in our mission boundaries.  AND we get more time to email so our mission president is giving us up to 2 hours to email if we want it.  No one gave any specific reasoning for this change but I have my suspicions/guesses. 

 

Therefore, I'm going to advertize myself because I like having friends.

 

If you're good at life, you will EMAIL ME!

kathleen.kyle@myldsmail.net

(I know, sometimes I forget my own name is Kathleen)

 

If you are the best at life, you will WRITE ME AN ACTUAL LETTER!

**I accept letters from dearelder.com just as much as the hand written ones since I get them during the week. 

50 N West Temple Street

SLC, UT

84150

Unites States of America

 

I'm so excited for extra emailing time that I already wasted 45 minutes..  Woops. 

 

Moving on... to the lastest from the square we call Temple.  This week we had a mission ACTIVE SHOOTER training.  We don't know of any threats coming our way but now every sister knows how to 1. Run, 2. hide, 3. (my personal favorite for obvious reasons) FIGHT! 

 

Now on to people other than myself.  Kind of.  Our awesome investigator, Ashley who said yes to baptism for March 16th has lived a roller coaster for the last two weeks.  Her faith has been mega tested because her parents are against her joining the Church.  They fed her some anti-mormon material recently but now she knows better than to pay any attention to that garbage.  She is 18 so she can legally make her own choice to be baptized but we are very careful not to encourage her to disobey her parents.  Of course, I know she should be baptized and I want her to do it asap but we haven't pressured her at all since that's not our job, it's Satan's.  Wow, no Satan doesn't want her to be baptized but yes, he helps people to feel pressured and tempted.  So, we have been on a fun journey with Ashley and she is learning how to trust the Lord's will and timing.  I'm not sure if the local missionaries have set a new baptismal date for her now but she is attending seminary and her faith is increasing.  Bringing this back to my selfish self, I was frustrated that our perfect Ashely seemed so ready for baptism but got stopped by this huge parental roadblock.  Buuuut I am learning too and it's obvious that Ashley has benefited so much by this roadblock.  She wanted to get baptized pretty quickly because she felt the Spirit testify to her that this is the right Church but now her faith is incredibly solid and it continues to solidify.  I'm sure she wouldn't have such amazing faith if she hadn't experienced opposition.  But Sister Vach and I love putting her parents/friends crazy beliefs about mormons to rest.  Boom. 

 

Have I told you about our Jamaican?  We are teaching Cleon from Brownstown Jamaica (stop laughing).  He is amazing.  Sister Vach met him on mormon.org chat and then I came into the picture in time for the first lesson.  We have taught him 3 times now and he wants to get baptized.  The hard part is that is local congregation is tiny and is at least 45 minutes away on public transport.  He also mentioned yesterday that his other concern about attending sacrament meeting is that he teaches a Sunday school class at another Church on Sunday mornings.  We were so surprised but I took the chance and invited him to get a substitute for his Sunday school so that he could go to a different Sunday school.  He said yes!  He also mentioned that the only reason why he teaches the Sunday school class is because the Church works closely with the school that he teaches at and they needed someone to take control of the Sunday school students.  Precious, I know.  Then he gave us one of his older students to call and invite to meet with missionaries. 

 

There are a lot of changed being made in our mission about how we keep track of our progress.  We used to count every lesson we ever teach on Temple Square but now we only count it if the people we teach accept a return appointment.  This change is kind of freaky for some of the sisters because it makes us look a lot less hard-working.  Mostly all of the success that we reort will be from teaching online even though the hard part of our missionary work is teaching on the square.  I think everyone knows that this new way is very inspired and I have made the simple conclusion that this means that members won't be afraid of sisters so much anymore.  It's easy for sisters on Temple Square to get carried away with numbers that is makes them seem more like sales associates (thank you Lindy for the someimtes accurate title) rather than representatives of Jesus Christ.  This new way will help every sister breathe a little more and focus on what's really important.  I love change.

 

Sister Vach and I had a really good tour with a nice, likely millionaire, 29 year old German.  Germans are typically very closed when they interact with sisters on the square but this guy was a gem.  He agreed to let me and Sister Vach call him over the phone and he wants to read the Book of Mormon.  He was hesitant to meet with local missionaries but hey, that's okay.  We talked a lot about prayer with him and it was SO GOOD.  During the tour, I was thinking about how much I love my mission.  Of course, every mission is always amazing but I am totally built for his one.  I feel like I get to be an artist sometimes.  Sometimes when I play sports and I help create an amazing play or something, it feels like art.  Teaching on the square is so artistic, seriously.  We found this German man drinking coffee while staring at the roof of the tabernacle.  Sister Vach and I just started walking with him as he walked away from the building.  We started up the conversation so smoothly and we put all our teaching skills to work with our making friends skills.  It was beautiful, really.  We taught the first lesson like regular missionaries get to do in a home but we have amazing visuals to help us on Temple Square.  I love my job.

 

New favorite scripture of the week: Moroni 7:48.  It's always been a good one about prayer but it has new meaning for me now because of all the filling-ness of love.  Cute.

I LOVE EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE!

SISTER KATIE KYLE

 

p.s my friend/fellow sister in the zone with the laser eyes has taken out her lasers and loves people now.  We did a re-do pass off with her and it was SO GOOD.  She told her companion that she knows now that she had to be humbled.  Welcome to the mission.  I'm glad that worked out.

 

p.p.s I'm going to Disney on Ice in T minus 30 minutes.  Life it too good.