I Need Thee Every Hour

Dear Family and Friends:

It was a Wednesday of adventures that is for sure. Sister Rossi and I decided to switch things up and we went to the Washington, DC Temple today and then we went to Old Town Alexandria. 

It was a good week but there were some hard times. Sister Rossi and I had some tender moments with some families in our ward that have been hit with some challenges. One evening, while we were with a family, I was able to play my violin. I played, "I Need Thee Every Hour," and "Lead Kindly Light." It was a sweet experience. Hymns mean more to me everyday. Hymns ease the pain when there are hardships. This I know. 

Coincidentally, we have been meeting some people who happen to be friends with members in our ward. This past week, while visiting some people with our ward mission leader, we met a couple who recently lived in Utah and they went to the University of Florida. Go Gators! I know all about Gainesville, FL. I lived there and I am a huge Gator Fan. I love making these connections. We invited them to the Washington, DC Temple Visitor Center's Christmas Light Festival. Who would want to miss that!? So grateful the Visitor Center and the Temple are so close.

What a beautiful sight.

Then today in Old Town Alexandria, Sister Rossi and I met an attorney from Norway. We talked and talked to him then we invited him to the Christmas Light Festival. We are excited that even though it was our Preparation Day, we were planting seeds along the way in Old Town Alexandria. The most of me is Icelandic and Sister Rossi is very Norwegian. We have this "Roots," thing on lock.

My mom wanted me to describe my mission thus far with 3 likes and 3 dislikes. Here goes...

Likes - 

1.  Driving slowly through beautiful neighborhoods in Virginia to see if we can get a glimpse of people's Christmas Trees.

2.  Getting stories from my DC friends who know: Mitt Romney, Ronald Reagan, George Bush and George W., Obama and George Clooney. 

3. The love that I'm surrounded by each day from my family, friends, Virginia family and most importantly, our loving and understanding Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.

Dislikes - 

1. Having a Costco only seven miles away and not being able to go because it is not in my designated area. All I want for Christmas is a Combo Pizza.

2. People giving Sister Rossi and I the wrong address ON PURPOSE. Shout out to "Reese" (if that is even your real name) who made us go on a two hour scavenger hunt to try to find "her house" that didn't even exist. THANKS GIRL.

3. When people think I'm foreign because I come from a mysterious place called...MILWAUKEE. Knocking my hometown hurts. Words hurt.   

  

To wrap it up, I am having an incredible experience studying the Savior in the New Testament during this Christmas Season. It is a scripture reading experience I will never forget.

Merry Christmas Everyone! 

Love,

Sister Kelly 

Photo taken at the end of the day...we still have our smiles.

   

A Great Day in Old Town Alexandria

We Wait Until Wednesday

Dear Family and Friends - 

We received word that Elizabeth will have her Preparation Day this Wednesday...and not the regular day, Monday. So we will wait until Wednesday for news in "her words." We do have some information of her goings ons this week:  she played the violin. (Yet again, proof the violin is not collecting dust.) She performed at the Mission-wide Christmas Conference and the Oakton Ward's Annual Christmas Party. It has been a tender experience for our family to have a missionary during the Christmas Season. Having a child be out in the mission field preaching of Christ and His love has made our hearts more joyous than ever as we celebrate His birth. 

Elizabeth's friend, Karenna (Hermana Meredith) emailed this photo to me today. I love it. It's pure joy sharing the message of Christ at Christmastime. 

The stuff dreams are made of...

This past Saturday, we took our family Christmas photo sans Sister Kelly. We managed. It was a foggy day and we had to change venues. We ended up alongside the Milwaukee River, right smack in front of the Milwaukee Rowing Club's Boathouse. We promised Matt we would not mention the fact that he rows crew or that we were near the boathouse in our Christmas card. We kept our promise. I'm not mentioning the venue in the Christmas card. I am mentioning it in Elizabeth's blog. Side note: We call the Milwaukee River, "Matt's River." We say that when he is not in the car. So, for recording purposes only, here is the "fun" we were trying to have without our Elizabeth. We were sad she wasn't with us for the photo, but so, so grateful she is happy. 'Cause that makes us happy. 

Capturing words of advice from Dad...along Matt's River.

Always good times to be had along the Milwaukee River...ha!

See you on Wednesday,

Love, 

Marya, Craig and Family

I May Be Down...But By No Means Am I Out

Hey Everyone!

This week has been quite the roller coaster. First off, I have came down with this monster of a virus and have had to sloooow things down this week. So, not much happened other than me blowing my nose and eating my weight in popsicles. Three cheers for Sister Rossi for having the best bedside manner ever. 

Highlight:

I don't remember much. My memory has seriously taken a toll this week...probably because I coughed it out.

- We had a training session this week with our Mission President. President Riggs conducted an in-depth discussion on charity. Basically, we were taught how to love EVERYONE! Even if they hate you! Even of they take advantage of you! Even if they don't deserve the benefit of the doubt! This was a hard one to hear since I seriously need to work on loving everyone regardless of how they treat me. Apparently the whole "I'll be nice if you're nice" motto I've been living on isn't gonna fly anymore :) 

Super Highlights: 

- We took our investigator, Haksong, to the light festival at the Washington D.C Temple. 

- Ran into my beautiful best friend, Sister Meredith, at the Washington DC Temple's Visitor's Center!

Sister Meredith + Sister Kelly = Soul-Sister Missionaries
This friendship is one of the best gifts ever. 

This Week's Wrap-up:

This week has not been easy and it's safe to say I wasn't "on game." But going to the Temple's Christmas Light Festival last night was such healing oil. Even though I didn't go inside the temple, I felt such joy on the temple grounds and an overwhelming sense of peace. Something about Christmas Lights and seeing Sister Meredith really does fine-tune the soul. As I wandered through the Visitor's Center, I felt such joy. Joy that the gospel is true. Joy in the love and spirit of Christmas.

Love to All,

Sister Elizabeth Kelly  

The Washington DC Temple's Christmas Light Festival

Make new friends, but keep the old...

Wrong Door...Right Door

Hello Everyone - 

Sister Rossi and I had another wonderful week.  Here's why...

Haksong is getting baptized on December 13th. He is the nephew of Sister Muir, a lady in our ward. We were originally teaching him, then the Elders taught him, and then we ended up teaching him...again. We are really excited. As stated before, the Oakton Ward is so amazing at fellowshipping new members; I know that Haksong will be well taken care of. 

Thanksgiving was a memorable experience. One I will never forget because of the love we felt from friends I know I will have forever. Sister Rossi and I were invited to Thanksgiving dinner by the Hudners. They are empty nesters. They remind me so much of my grandparents. Sister Hudner is a member but her husband, Dennis Hudner, is not. About a month ago, Sister Rossi and I had dinner at their home and he personally invited us over for Thanksgiving with their family. We were thrilled. We did not realize how big of a deal this was until we shared the news at our weekly meeting we have with the bishop and the other auxiliary leaders in the ward. Bishop Burton's jaw dropped when he heard that Dennis Hudner loved us enough to invite us to Thanksgiving dinner. Apparently he has never formed any good relationships with church members. He is always friendly but never reached out to any ward member in the past 20 something years they have been in the area. And all it took was me talking New York City and films (Woody Allen can definitely turn into a gospel discussion...right?) and Sister Rossi exhibiting her fantastic sarcastic wit...who knew? 

This was such a big deal that Bishop Burton sent in a request to our mission president, President Riggs, that neither of us get transferred before Thanksgiving. Bishop Burton's wish was granted! On Thanksgiving, we went to the Hudners and enjoyed a delicious dinner with them and a few of their friends. It was a little odd at first. There we were, two 19 year-old sister missionaries with a gathering of some 60+ year-olds. But thanks to our "gift of gab" (shout-out to our moms) we started chatting with their friends, and the scene became more comfortable and everyone warmed up to us. We were enriched with good food and a lot of wisdom, that is for sure! My grandfather (Poppa) always said, "It's a shame that young people don't have the wisdom that the older generation has." So true! At the end, Dennis invited us to come over any time. He said that after our missions, we better come back and visit. Such a memory. I have grown to love the Hudners. They will be my friends forever.  

And this week we had a MIRACLE HAPPEN!!!  Sister Rossi followed a prompting. This is really HER story. Sister Rossi always explains things better anyway :) 

"A few months ago, Sister Kelly and her last companion met a member, Alex McClain, on the street and he told them he would love to have the missionaries over as his wife and son are not members of our church. For the past month, Sister Kelly and I have stopped by his home many times, trying to contact him. We never received a reply. We just figured he wasn't interested. However, a few weeks ago, we went back to the house and saw him in the parking lot and he invited us to come over Tuesday.  

We showed up Tuesday, and he didn't answer the door. We figured Brother McClain was just being nice but didn't want to really meet with us. Then this week we decided to go back again. When we arrived at the door, the lights were off in the house. We decided to turn around and leave. As we did, I saw that the neighbor's lights were on. I had the thought that we should meet the neighbors but was going to ignore it. We had other people to go visit, I really didn't want to bother him, and it was late. 

Then I remembered...a few days before I had been studying "Recognizing the Spirit" in the "Preach My Gospel" manuel that we, as missionaries study daily.  In the "Recognizing the Spirit" section, it discusses how in order to know if it is a prompting or not...we need to act. It adds, that as disciples of Christ we need to be willing to get out of our comfort zone to follow promptings. I boldly told Sister Kelly that we needed to go back and knock on the door. 

We knocked and someone shouted,  "Who is it?" We said, "The missionaries," and I for sure thought we were going to be ignored after that. But then a woman came and opened the door and quickly ushered us in. She told us to come in and sit down. We were so confused! Never had I been invited into a home at a "door approach." She acted like she was waiting for us. When we got into the family room, it all made sense. Who was on the couch? None other than Alex McClain.  

In short, we had been knocking on the wrong door FOR THE PAST THREE MONTHS.  Brother McClain told us that they had been waiting for us since last Tuesday and just thought he got the wrong time. We ended up chatting with them for quite some time. They fed us and even offered to take us into D.C. sometime. His wife said that she has always wanted to see the Christmas temple lights and wants to go with us! Brother McClain also shared that he wants to take his 9 year-old son to our church because it has been over 15 years since he, himself, has gone. His son had never been. It was such a testimony builder to me that Heavenly Father is taking such great care of this work and His children. And especially, that Heavenly Father's unconditional loving spirit guides His missionaries. Sister Kelly and I love this work. "

Love, 

Sister Kiersten Rossi

Family and friends, what a remarkable story. I am so grateful I was a part of it. What a week!

And as always, I love you all! 

Sister Elizabeth Kelly 

The Hudners

Haksong's Korean friend who we were teaching. He went back to Korea.
Note his outstretched arm...he is a pro at the "selfies."

The snow never bothered us anyway....#Frozen

Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Family and Friends:

BIG NEWS! I am staying in Oakton for another six weeks! I am so excited! So this means that I will be in my 1st area for a solid 6 months! This doesn't usually happen and I want to thank all who were responsible for me staying here for the holidays. 

Sister Rossi (who by the way is a 100% angel) and I looked at our area/planning book and realized that if we want to meet goals, we need to re-vamp EVERYTHING. Here's hoping that with faith and prayers and hard work we can see miracles happen :) 

A transfer is every six weeks. And a new transfer is cause for reflection. Here are some more things I have learned about life these past six weeks.  

- Homemade cheesecake is better than store bought.

- Dogs can live without teeth.

- Working out gives you energy...who knew?

- Tracting at 8:30 pm is never a good idea.

- Raking leaves for Paster Singleton, a Methodist minister = Getting invited to speak to her Methodist congregation about what we as Mormon missionaries do out here in the mission field. Really excited about this opportunity.

- I cannot cook. Therefore, my future family will be going to Costco on Thanksgiving. 

- Just found out that Costco is closed on Thanksgiving Day. So in that case, we will be going to McDonald's. #amurricah

- I love Virginia autumns.

- I love Virginia homes in the autumn.

- Perfection is not expected of us, all that is expected of us is to try.

- Christ understands everything, so venting to Him is always a good idea. 

Love and Happy Thanksgiving...

Sister Elizabeth Kelly

Our new district. The only one that is new is Elder Adair...he is to my left. 

Us! Together for the holidays. 

And Many More Reasons To Love Washington, DC

Hello Everyone - 

This was another wonderful week. More awesome than awkward, and that is just the way I like it.

For recording purposes only, Sister Rossi and I decided to take photos of each other so that we can remember the last of the Fall color. Next post, we will be bundled up in the ice and snow. 

Did I mention I love it out here?!

Just enjoying the last of the Fall color. 

The last of the Fall leaves and I am proud to be a part of it. 

Awkward Notes - 

I will start with my weekly "awkward moments." And they are just a few...

Met a man on the street and he started talking to us. Sister Rossi and I thought to ourselves, "Yes, a new investigator!" Turns out, he has been a member of the Oakton Ward for the past 20 years. Unfortunately, we did not recognize him. A bit uncomfortable when we saw him in church yesterday. We waved to acknowledge him from across the chapel.  

I drove on the WRONG side of the road. Still alive! Still loving the challenge of driving! 


Awesome Notes - 

A few months back, I told you about Tian, who was baptized in August. She lives with the Muirs. Tian teaches the Muir children Chinese in exchange for less rent. Therefore Tian can pay her tithing and continue on going to school to earn her Master's Degree. Sister Muir has a nephew named, Haksong; and, he accepted to be baptized on December 13th. We teach Haksong English at our church building. Recently, we started reading the Book of Mormon with him twice a week. The full-time Elders (male missionaries) assigned to our ward have been teaching him the missionary lessons. We are so happy for Haksong. 

Sister Rossi and I experienced some amazing miracles this week finding people to teach. We received three missionary referrals and are anxious to get started teaching more people. 

Sister Rossi and I also took one of the high school girls in our ward out to teach with us. What an incredible experience. We got a lot done. When it was time for her to go home, we wanted to kidnap her and turn her into a missionary so we could be a trio...

What gets more awesome each week? Sister Rossi. 'nuf said.

But the best of the best this week was seeing one of my BYU soulmates, Sister Karenna Meredith! Last week she emailed me that she and her companion would be at the Lincoln Memorial, Monday, November 17, 2014 at 9:30 a.m. She is in the Washington, DC North Mission (I am in the DC South Mission). We do not know each other's phone numbers. This presented some challenges. So this morning, Sister Rossi and I went on some deep faith and a lot of prayers and off we went on the Metro into DC, in the freezing cold rain, hoping, just hoping Sister Meredith and her companion would be at the Lincoln Memorial at the designated time. And yes! There she was. A dream come true! Karenna is part of my family. She was one of the first BYU friends I had when I arrived for BYU Summer Term 2013. And to think now, as missionaries, we are so close geographically. She knows my grandparents on both sides. Since she is from the Bay Area...she is a SF Giants fan. Karenna saw my Grandma Kay in the Provo Temple while she was in the MTC. Ahhhh! Who knew my mission would have this gem of a memory attached to it? What a day. 

Thank you, again, for your love and support and your prayers and even reading my blog. I love you all!!!

xoxoxo

Sister Elizabeth Marguerite Kelly

Just look at our smiles. 

This is the photo we sent my mom from Karenna's camera.

Star Spangled Spirit - Sister Kelly and Sister Meredith.

How Great Thou Art

Hello Friends and Family:

A quick post with some fun photos. My weeks are busy and that is a good thing. 

I participated in a violin and flute duet yesterday (Sunday) in church. We played "How Great Thou Art." It was a wonderful experience. The girl pictured with me is only 11 years old and she plays the flute beautifully. Impressive. I don't know what was more exciting, us playing "How Great Thou Art" or our coordinating outfits. I was so excited to wear my "saved for only special occasions skirt" that my beautiful San Francisco Grandma bought for me when we went pre-mission shopping in May. Also, please take note at my new hair-do. Chop, chop. It was time for a change. 

Look at our outfits. 

Ready to perform.

And to add to the excitement, Sister Rossi and I were invited to teach the 8-12 year old girls in our ward about what it is like to serve a mission. Being from Milwaukee, I am not used to so many young girls from that age group in a ward. These girls are an impressive bunch.  

Just look at these girls. I love them!

And then there was Saturday (Nov. 8th). Our ward helped Pastor Dawn-Marie Singleton from the Oakton United Methodist Church rake the leaves in her home. Pastor Singleton had all kinds of great questions about missionaries. She told our ward mission leader, Brother Noel, that she was very impressed with what Sister Rossi and I are doing as missionaries. She invited us to come and introduce ourselves to her congregation and explain what we do. We were so excited. 

Pastor Singleton and the Sisters. 

We love the great outdoors.

I have so much joy in my life. (I guess jumping in a pile of leaves has now been crossed off my bucket list. Ha!) But I have this immense joy, continually. I love this work. I am so thankful to be out here. I love my mission so much. I continue to learn something new everyday about myself. Stretching and growing has its many perks.

Love to all,

Sister Kelly