coldcoldcoldcoldcold

I am really cold right now and my hands are freezing. After this I am going to go buy some gloves. Thanks Texas for tricking me and being cold all the time. 

I am going to have to be typing fast, so get ready for some #typos

This week has been an emotional roller coaster! But it has been good and I am learning a lot. I can now run 4.5 miles without stopping! HOO HAH! My companion isn't impressed. I pretend like she is though. 

All is well in Borger. We have had some pretty cool storms lately. Texas skies are UNREAL! I will attach a few photos, but nothing does it justice. 

So I guess it is really uncommon for a blonde haired, blue eyed, white girl to know Spanish (mas o menos), so this week, my Companion and I went up to talk to this old lady sitting on a bench and we start talking to her and she's like "Oh, i don't speak English, sorry." so we started talking to her in Spanish, and she still just kept saying (in Spanish now) "I don't speak any English girls, i am sorry." And I'm like "We are speaking to you in Spanish." and we continued to share a message with her and then I gave her a verse in my Spanish BOM to read, and she just looked away and said that she doesn't read English and that she was sorry.. She just wasn't understanding what was going on.. it was hilarious.

It is also funny because we will go around contacting and people will try to get out of hearing our message by saying they don't know any English (they obviously do) and so we are like, "Oh, hablamos Espanol, tambien!" and then they are STUCK talking to us, ha ha ha. >:)

So remember the two darling twin girls getting ready to be baptized? Well Dolita sent us a text before church saying that the baptism was cancelled and the girls weren't ready. It broke my heart! i cred my little eyes out allll through sacrament meeting! Dolita said we could see them on Tuesday night, so hopefully we can talk to them about it. the date isn't important. Baptism is a huge deal and I want for them to feel confident with their decision. On the other hand, Loy finally started feeling better and we set him up to be baptized on the 14th! Then he let me ride his tracker in his back yard and it was the BEST! I love that 81 year old guy. 

here is a great quote from President Hinkley, "Do you want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause. lend your efforts to helping people, stand higher, lift those with feeble knees, hold up the arms of those that hang down. Live the gospel of Jesus Christ." Isn't that a great quote? I am seeing how wonderfully important service is. We need to go out and help our brothers and sisters. Lighten someones load! Help each other make it safely through this life and back to live with our Father! I know you guys are doing good things. You are all awesome.

We had zone conference this week and i LOVE the president and his wife. I also got to see my BFF from the CMM Elder Padelsky and that way so nice! The president shared something really cool that I want to share with y'all. He is like a Book Of Mormon genius. He has taught a BOM class for like 25 years prior to coming on a mission. He was reading in Matthew 27: 17-26 about the Savior in trial and being sent to be crucified. When Pilot has the guards bring out Barabbas and ask the people who they would rather have released unto them, they say Barabbas! And then Barabbas probably just booked it as fast as he could before someone changed their mind. President Heap expanded on that. He said the Barabbas probably ran and ran and ran.. but eventually he had to stop. And when he stopped, he probably thought to himself.. "okay what just happened..?" He was being sentenced to die, and Jesus just took his place. Jesus answered for Barabbas and literally took his place to die. Every Sunday when we take the sacrament, we see the bread and water under that sheet. It represents a body and the blood. It should be our body. We have sinned, we are sentenced to die. But when a goofy boy offers that sacramental prayer, he asks the Father for another chance to try and keep the commandments and be better. And Christ takes our place. he says, " I will take your place and suffer the consequences. You go try and be like me." Every Sunday we need to think about that sacrifice. We need to always remember him. 

Also, I just read the BEST talk in the world. It is called "His Grace is Sufficient." I will share some points I loved from it, but I STRONGLY encourage y'all to read it. (That means you Hannah and Sophie) 

We don't follow Christ so we can be saved, we have already been saved. So why obey? Our obedience isn't to pay a debt. But it is to show our love and appreciation by trying to live a life like Christ's. In D&C 78:7, it points out that we are learning heaven! We are preparing and practicing to live in the presence of our God! "Latter Day Saints know not only what Jesus has saved us from, but also what he saved us FOR". Brad Wilcox (Speaker) goes on to share that we already know that no unclean thing can dwell with God, but also that no unchanged thing will even want to! The final judgement will not be an unrepentant sinner begging Jesus, "let me stay!". No, he will probably be begging Jesus, "get me out of here!" Jesus will probably be begging the unrepentant sinner, "Please choose to stay. Please use my atonement, not just to be cleansed but to be changed so that you want to stay."

Family, I know that it doesn't just have to be two options, perfection or giving up. If you feel that way, you don't understand grace! Growth and development take time. It is a process! I know that Jesus is with us every step of the way. Don't look for escape or excuse, look for the Lord and His perfect strength. I love you all. i love this Gospel. i am so grateful to be a missionary. 

Have a great week. 

SAVVVV

I was painting this wall and my companion was taking a picture of me, and then this asian guy stops and pulls out his camera and is like "i'll take a picture too!" jhahahahahahha also we had a pizza night

When you ghave to ride forever and a day

Sometimes you have to run 6 miles

Mi Familia! Como estan?!!

I love y'all so much, thank you for all the emails. I want to start this email by apologizing for my bad attitude email last week. I am so happy and I have just had the best week. It get's so much better after you tough it through the bad.

The people of Borger are too awesome. They are so sweet (sometimes) and we have an awesome ward and they take so much care of their missionaries. I am going to come home so annoying, because I am picking up all this Southern small talk and I even annoy myself.. 

My Spanish is still pretty bad. I sort of just make noises in lessons and my companion does all the talking, haha. I am getting so good at mirroring emotions so it looks like I am totally understanding everything that they are saying. It's tricky though because we have had a few instances where they ask me questions and I smile and laugh politely. And times where I nod and agree with completely false doctrine.. Ahh what can you do? :) 

 SO best news EVER, Dolita, remember her? How awesome she is? Well, we are teaching her two little 11 year old twin girls, Ann-Marie and Kay-Leigh, and they are getting baptized on the 30th! Dolita said she has never taught them about the gospel because she wanted them to make this decision on their own.  When we started teaching them, Dolita chimed right in and is helping us so much! This is helpinf her so much too, to remember these lessons and truths. Her girls are darling and they all came to church with us on Sunday! I was just BEAMING sitting with them on the bench. We are teaching this 81 year old named Loy and he is fixin' to get baptized on the 30th aswell, but he has been so sick and we haven't really been able to teach him. Sad. It is in God's hands. 

Everybody things I am from Russia or Scandinavia because of my last name and my hair and eyes. They are pretty disappointed when I say Draper, UT. Haha, me too. 

My companion is still slowly killing me with these 6 AM runs. She starts them out by leading me onto all these confusing pathways and back roads because she knows the SECOND I figure out where we are, I am sprinting HOME! Sad news is, i am still going to come home chubby because of the dang food here! I have the hardest time eating it. It is all PACKED with salt and cheesy and fatty meats... gaihfjdhfa At member's houses, I just have to clench all my lower half muscles together and swallow it. And with the Mexicans here, they get way sad if you don't get seconds. I have had to pray pretty dang hard to be able to eat all my food. My companion is pretty used to it and thinks it's super funny how grossed out I get. 

I had like an hour conversation with some shirtless guy on his porch about the science of God. we both learned a lot. He started talking to us by yelling at us from acrossed the street about how there isn't such a thing as God. We went over and met him and I was able to share a testimony with him that I have never been more certain of anything in my life that there is  a God. And he paused for a second, sat down, and said "I like you. What else do you know?" Hahahah, crazy. 

I love bike days. I scream and wobble the whole time, but they are fun. I look pretty good in a helmet, surprise surprise. 

This week for service we pulled up this huge tree in this ladies garden. It was so hard and we were so hot and she brought out iced tea for us, haha. Silly. I also worked in this soup kitchen helping with their bean and cornbread dinner fundraiser bake sale thing. Texans are obsessed with beans. That's pretty unfortunate for me. I love those people so much. Let me tell y'all something, when I am home from my mission, I am volunteering places to serve. I am having the best time meeting all these cool people. 

Well my hands are cold from typing, so I am going to give it a rest. I wan't to close by telling you how happy I am. This is the HARDEST WORK I have ever done, but the rewards are priceless. God is here in Borger with me and is placing people in my path to teach. He really is there in lessons with me and helps me know how to help these people. I am learning so much about the Atonement of Christ. I thought I was out here with a purpose of sharing the restored gospel with people, but I am not. That is incidental of what i am actually here to share; the mercy and grace of our Savior! How to come unto Him! I get to share with people that His sacrifice, from one who was INFINITELY LOVED, satisfied the demands of justice! We are able, through Him, to live in exultation with our Father in Heaven! WOW! I am so blessed with this opportunity. I want to do a really good job. "Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land."

 i hope you all have an awesome week  I sure love you!!!!!!!

Sister Kynaston

This girl is in Texas!!!!!

OH MY GOSH! I am so happy to be back in America. Real tears fell when I was handed an ice cold diet coke at the Houston airport.. (Which I later found out that Missionaries don't drink caffeine.) I can't even really say much about my traveling here because that seems like years ago.. Let's just say that I spoke in Spanish to a loott of white people by accident. 

SO my first day landing in Lubbock was ROCKIN! It was only me and a few Elders flew in so we got to spend a lot of one on one time with the  President and his Wife, they are so wonderful. Then I got to spend the night with the Sister training leaders in Lubbock and we taught lessons and had dinner with a member family and it was just so amazing. I laid in bed that night with tears streaming from my eyes because I couldn't figure out what i had ever done to be this blessed... 

Aaand then they sent me to Borger... Imagine Borger as the town you come acrossed when you are road tripping with your family and you have to pull over to find a restroom, so you pull over in the middle of no where and you find this run down gas station and the clerk is missing all his teeth and everyone has a lazy eye and cow boy boots on. That is where I am serving, haha. 

My companions name is Sister Vance and she is super cute. She speaks Spanish very well and is VERY diligent and keeps me very busy. Our first lesson was RIGHT after she and I met and drove to our area. The house we were teaching out was a complete hoarders nest.. I have never felt more uncomfortable. I was sitting on a pile of literal garbage.. Then we leave that lesson and go to a member's house for dinner. They served my beets. And they had like a million goats. Then we went knocking. Every person is like a crazy hoarder.. I have never smelled such thick smelling houses... I was terrified. And tears streamed out of my eyes falling asleep, but for a complete different reason. 

Sister Vance makes me get up at 6 to run with her around all of Borger. So my plan to come home super chubby is totally ruined, THANKS Sister Vance ;) As a mission, we need at least 10 hours of service a week. So we have torn up carpets (in hoarder's houses that smell like pee), knocked down walls in old apartment buildings with a sledge hammer, cleaned old folks homes, helped move people in.. My body has never known such pain as this.. I am constantly sore.. Mom I am going to need you to send me some hot pink work gloves, thank you. My girl hands are covered in blisters.

90% of our lessons are in Spanish. There are so many Mexicans who live here, it is awesome. I realized that I actually don't know any Spanish.. I am able to share my testimony in Spanish and that's about all I am good for in lessons, haha. Poor Sister Vance. She is so  patient with me. 

They speak SO FAST here. And I will just look at them inlessons sometimes and wonder what is this noise coming form their mouths.. and then they will speak in English to me and it is this THICK southern accented english.. so basically English or Spanish here, i can't understand anyone. Hahahaha.a.. asfojaihgs

S'all good though. I am learning so much. And it is really weird, because as crazy as the people are here.. I love them. I love them already. Every lesson we have and it seems like they are confused or frusterated.. I have to fight the stongest urge to just get on my knees in front of them and hold their hands and just cry with them and tell them that they are so loved by  their Heavenly Father and that we are here to help them. 

I have been able to share my testimony so much. Everyone here is religious. People belong to religions that i haven't even heard of before.. It is so weird. Knocking doors, I get to meet the mst interesting people. 

We are teaching about 6 investigators right now. They aren't really progressing and that is frustrating. We have SO MANY less actives in Borger.. it is depressing. We seriously have so much work to do as missionaries. 

There are tarantulas everywhere here.

Anyways this week has been the longest and hardest one in my entire life. And to be honest, I didn't think I could make it 17 months. I prayed and prayed so hard and I have been working so hard to be the missionary the Lord wants me to be. On Sunday is was testimony meeting and I got up and shared my testimony to the ward and just told them how much this Gospel means to me. Then we sang Be Still, My Soul. "Be Still, My Soul. Thy God doth undertake. To guid the future, as he has the past. Thy Hope, Thy Confidence, let nothing Shake. All now mysterious, shall be bright at last. Be STill my Soul, the waves and winds still know, His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below." ....Isn't that so beautiful? In Alma 26:27, "...bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." Those words have never meant more to me. Then, that evening, Sis Vance and I prayed about who we should go visit. Then a families names who we hadn't met yet but had been meaning to go see, popped in our heads. We knoced on thier door around and a woman named Dolita answered the door. She invited us in (which was rare), and fed us (rare), and shared her life with us. She was actually a less active memeber from years and years ago. She has had the gnarliest life.. So many trials.. She was so tough. She talked about when the missionaries came to her door.. they changed her life. She looked me straight in the eye and said "Honey, don't you EVER give up. Never quit knocking doors. Never lose your faith. This is the most important work and so many need you." We just hugged and cried and cried. She hasn't been active because of some issues she has had with the Church and their treatment of the Homosexual community. She was so heartbroken because she loves this church so so so much.. So she said Sis Vance and I could come back and talk to her more. The Lord sent us to her because it is time to come back. The Lord loves her so much. When a convert is converted to the Lord, they will never fall away. Not converted to the missionaries, or the bishop, or the apostoles.. The Lord. Through the guidance of the Spirit, I can help her achieve that. So I am super pumped to teach her. The Lord is taking such good care of me. This work isn't about me, but the Lord hasn't ceased to be mindful of me. I have never felt more passion to do anything else in my entire life. This gospel is EVERYTHING, It is the MOST important thing. this is what brings families together, this is what gives you strength. I need to never lose sight of the reasons why i am out here, to help bring others to the Lord by helping them receive the restored Gospel. Joseph Smith IS a prophet, the Book of Mormon was translated by the power of God, that priesthood authority is back on the Earth. THESE THINGS ARE TRUE! And they will never not be. We are sons and daughters of a Heavenly Father. This I know with my whole heart and soul. 

I am sorry this email isn't very funny.. Funny things have happened this week, I just can't really think of them. 

I am going to be the best missionary Borger has had. Attitude is everything. 

I love y'all (yes, y'all.) 

SISTER KYNASTON

my apartment.  the nicest in the mission.

Special Email today!!! She leaves tomorrow morning!! :)

Heyo, 

So did you listen to Hollands talk? You are an amazing mother and I love you. I will be land in Houston airport on Mondayat 8:42 and I will be leaving at 11:20ish and I will be in Lubbock at 1 (this is Mexico city time, so an hour ahead) 

I will be watching the YW broadcast tonight after din-din! YAY! 

Here are the last pictures of my at the best MTC in the world with the best MTC teachers in the worlds and the best district. I am so sad to be leaving, but really really excited also. 

I love you Mom and Daddy. You are AMAZING people. I hope i can be as good as you when I am a parent. 

Love, 

Hermana Kynaston

PS

I am out here representing Jesucristo, but I am also representing the Kynaston Family!

Yesterday's letter.  I'm getting lazy.  :P

Can you even believe it has been a WHOLE MONTH since I left? It seems like my days here at the CCM have just flown by, but at the same time I can´t remember a time not being here... Haha. i am super pumped to be leaving to Texas on Monday (at 2 in the dang morning). It hasn´t really hit me that I am leaving yet. It will be weird to not be surrounded by nametags.. 

This week has been really humbling. I´ve had to come to terms that I am not going to be the best at everything. that´s been challenging. Mom, have I always been this impatient and controlling? How did I function! The language is coming along. This week has been "solo Español" for my zone and it has been rough, but beneficial. Apparently i have just had a lot on my mind because I can´t say that much in Spanish besides palabras del Evangelio (gospel words), so i have been sleep talking. My companion told me last night I said "I've got to get myself to Disneyland..." Clearly my mind is in the right place. :)

I can´t even think about having to leave my district. I have grown so close with all of them. At least 3 of the Elders are coming with me. We started playing this really fun game where I draw something on the board and they have to guess what movie it is from. We all love it. (We study really hard at a different time) 

Taught Erika (morning investigator) about the Law of Chastity, only laughed twice. That´s progress!

So my morning teacher is pregnant and she has been getting really sick lately and during class she'll just run out and start puking in the bathroom and it just echoes into our room and it is so sad. And then she comes back in and is all smiling and continues with the lesson and doesn't mention anything about it.. hahah strange. We love her. We also love our night teacher Hno. Aguiñiga. i know I talk about him every email, but seriously he is the best person. 

OH SOMETHING COOL, so Hno. Aguiñiga has been our investigator, "Luis", for a while now and our lessons with him have been going really well. Every Saturday we teach "TRC" which is when they bring in real people from "outside the wall" and we get to teach them! Hno. Aguiñiga said he is bringing in him NON MEMBER family and that he wants Hermana Huxford and I to teach them! YAY! Missionary-ing is seriously the best. 

Oh mom and dad, in one of our lessons with Luis, we talked about how the gospel blesses families. I shared how you made us get up cada manaña and read scriptures together and pray. I shared how hard it was, but how it brought us so close together and I was able to develope a strong love of the Book of Mormón and a testimony of prayer. I shared how we have family night every Sunday or Monday night, and he was in tears. He felt the spirit so strong from me sharing those experiences. I just wanted to thank you guys and tell you to keep doing what you are doing. You are the best parents in the world and you don't hear it enough. 

(I am sitting behind my District leader and he is emailing this girl Natalie and telling her how cute she is and how they should get married. Hahah duuuuuuumb.) Sometimes I forget all the Elders here are straight out of High School.

So this Sunday I had the honor of being chosen randomly to give a TALK about DIEZMO (tithing). That was awesome, hahaha. I actually did okay winging it. But when I went to bare my testimony, I was talking about how I know that every dollar is used for what the Lord needs it to be, and I was like Yo se que cada.... peso... usará por que el Señor necissita.. blah blah. i didn't know how to say dollar in Spanish, and so everyone laughed and it was embarrassing. 

Also something else that was embarrassing- I needed to call Zions bank to work out some issues with using my card in Mexico and when they answered I said "Hola, mi nombre es Hermana Kynaston y.." and the lady is like "Wait, wait, What?" and I was so embarrassed so I just said "Hi I am a missionary and I need help." HAhaha, seriously I am the worst at speaking to people. My companion was laughing so hard. (P.S. Dad a lady from the bank said she would call you and tell you that I said I love you) 

Honestly not a whole lot happened this week. It has been good though. Filled with fasting and prayer and a strong spirit. This work is so good. The Lord is here with me and is molding me. 

Yo quiero dar mi testimonio en Español. No hablo muy bien el idioma, entonces perseverar conmigo, por favor. Yo se que Dios nos amá nosotros mucho. He sido aprendando mucho sobre el Evangelio y se que ese José Smith fue un profeta. Traves de José Smith, Dios restauró su Evangelio. Yo se que Dios y Jesucristo vivo, porque conozco ellos. Por medio de oracion, podemos sentir el amor de Dios y saber la verdad de todas las cosas. Yo se que Jesucristo es aqui con nosotros. El Libro de Mormón es la palabra de Dios y para nosotros en este dia. Me amo este Evangelio. Me amo ser una missiónera. Estoy tan emocionada ser voy Texas a compartir este mensaje, Dios vive y le amá usted! En el nombre de Jesuscristo, Amen.

Sorry if that is all incorrect Dad, i am still learning,. but I am seriously loving Spanish. You guys probably wont translate that, so I´ll just summerize, I KNOW God amnd Jesus live. I know they know my name and are here with me. I know that through the Holy Ghost (Which testifies of God and Jesus) We can feel of His love for us. It is so wonderful. you guys, this gospel is so true and so wonderful. I am so honored that God is trusting me with HIS children in Texas. 

Alright, request. General Conference is this Sunday and I am going to need some snacks sent to me. Please. :) 

Also, i have a missionary request too. Tonight, or whenever, get on your knees and really pray. Pray to know if God knows you and knows your name. Have FAITH, and wait. I know that you will feel of His love and know that He truly does know you. You are His child. I sure love you all. i hope you have a fantastic week. I hope you do something better today than you did yesterday. And recite this scripture to yourselves when you feel low, D&C 24:8 ( I only have it memorized in Spanish but it goes something like, be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many, but the i am with you, even until the end of thy days.) Sé paciente en los afflicciones, porque tendrás muchas, pero sopórtalas, pues he aqui, estoy contigo hasta el fin de tus dias."