New Jersey Times

Mi FAMILIA y amigos!

Um, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! Hope it was wonderful for all of you.
My day started out with a little run up "the mountain" with one of our awesome members here, Hermana Socorro (it really is just a little hill-ish thing...not at all a mountain. Haha.) Made. My. Day. I could've died and gone to heaven, not even kidding. :) Then I vowed not to eat anymore food...a very wise decision (we had two dinner appointments). I can tell you I was certainly treated to some WONDERFUL food! :) Not even kidding. Like, delicious! We went over to President Castillo's house and ate with his family. Martin and Matilde and Matidle's daughter Janet came too (the investigator I wrote about last week). It was perfect. Hermana Castillo knows her stuff. (I'm attaching pictures...hopefully it all works). Then went to Hermana Sara's house and ate with one of our investigators, Herminda. Loved it.

As far as a little story from this week...we've been stopping by every once and a while for one of our less-active members. Her name is Melissa. Awesome lady. We went by on Friday, but her car wasn't there. After knocking a couple other houses, I asked Sister Evens if we could go back. I didn't know why, but her name would not leave my mind. Turns out she was home (her car was at the shop). She'd been having a rough couple of days. We read with her portions of Elder Holland's conference talk, after which she said "I found something today and this talk just reminded me of it." She ran to her room and brought out her patriarchal blessing. She had been cleaning off her bookshelf trying to find her Book of Mormon (because we had invited her to read it the time before) and her blessing fell out of her Bible. She read a part of it to us and began to cry. Melissa knew that God loved her, but I think she was reminded of the significance and the power of that love on Friday. I can tell you I was. There was an absolutely undeniable spirit in that room. We invited her again to read the Book of Mormon. Right before we left, we gave her "homework." Melissa got SO excited when we told her it was homework (she's studying to be a teacher). She even put reminders in her phone and everything to make sure she gets it done. It's been ten years since she and her husband stopped going to church, but she knows there's a different feeling in her home when we come to visit.

You know what, it is interesting to me how hard Satan tries, how subtle he is in his plan to stop the power of a companionship. Now, before you start to worry, nothing is wrong. Sister Evens and I are as happy as ever. :-) But, I was able to see this past week a portion of "his little ways". Sister Evens works hard, she is a living example of charity, she IS a missionary. But for whatever reason those tiny little things that we don't even realize we do decided they wanted to bug me this week. Time and time again, I sat there praying to my Father in Heaven that He might take those thoughts away, those thoughts of frustration or sadness. The words of an Elder Holland talk came to my mind over and over and over again, "Too often we think...that they must've meant to hurt us, must've meant to do us wrong...Assume the good and doubt the bad." I knew she wasn't intentionally doing things to bug me or 'hurt' me; in all reality, they were the littlest of things anyways. After much prayer and pondering, I'm happy to say I'm doing better. This companionship is stronger. The work is moving forward.

I have been feeling lately that I haven't been doing all that I can or should be doing in order to be the BEST missionary the Lord would have me be. As Sister Evens and I were walking the other day, I thought to myself, "I don't want to just be doing missionary things, I want to BE a missionary." I want to BECOME someone the Lord can trust with His children, someone He can trust to fulfill each prompting that He gives. I'm not here for a year and a half just to knock some doors and learn some Spanish. No. There are people in New Jersey, even right now in Paterson, who have been or are being prepared to hear the Gospel from ME and I will not allow laziness on my part to keep me from finding them--because the Lord can't trust me to listen to His promptings. I have been CALLED, and now I must go and DO. I know that this is the work of the Master. I know that these are His children. I know that each has a potential greater than anything I could imagine, and I will give all that I have if it means that one of them is able to reach that potential.

Scripture: 2 Nephi 27:23
"I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today and forever." He reallyl DOESN'T change, and I'm so grateful for that. I feel that if the people today just understood the nature of God, it wouldn't be so hard for them to accept the Gospel..."I work not among the children of men, save it be according to their faith." Faith is so incredibly essential. It's not that He doesn't want to work among us, but we have to show Him we want Him to, we have to show Him we believe and have full confidence in Him.

Family and friends, I love you. I truly do hope all is well. To all my missionary friends, Keep it UP! People need this Gospel. To all of you: remember your potential as children of God.
My invitation to you this week is to sit down and read your scriptures, even if only one verse each day. I promise you that you will be able to see more and more the blessings God has given you, and you will be able to feel more and more the love He has for you.

Until next week,
Hermana Kaity Word


Citas de mis amigos de la mision
“I've been working harder on trying and trying and TRYING to figure out exactly what it is Heavenly Father has guided me to do in this exact spot right now, because of all the places in the world that I could be, Heavenly Father wants me HERE. So I've been searching and searching to try and figure out what He wants me specifically to try and do for Him that could help His children...Heavenly Father has [so much] in store for him...every single trial and weakness we go through builds our character to be able to make us strong enough to do what Heavenly Father wants us to do.” – Hermana Batchkoff

New Jersey Times - Poniendo Dios primero

Familia y Amigos,

SO, I may or may not kind of cheat with these emails. You see, I write a letter to my Mission President every week...and since I spend a great deal of time on those, I've decided to copy and paste parts from it (mainly to save me time). BUT, I love you all still the same (just in case there was any question at all).

The Power of Faith.
Matilde is wonderful. She knows who Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are, she has a solid testimony of the Gospel, she reads and prays frequently, attends church, has had all the lessons...the only thing holding her back from baptism is a marriage to her boyfriend. And the only thing holding her back from that is a court date with her ex-husband over the custody of her children. Apparently the court has told her she cannot marry or get a job until after that date (doesn't make sense at all). They're struggling for money, as in: they have none. Friday after the training we were going to help one of our members set up for the activity that night. When we ended our companionship prayer, we got a phone call from the member and found out she didn't need help yet. SO we decided to head over to Matilde's to teach her a little about 3 Nephi (she had had questions). When we got there we found her terribly saddened. Apparently things had happened with her kids, she had gotten thrown in the back of a cop car, her boyfriend Martin hadn't been home all day because of something that had happened with them the night before--her life was falling apart. We sat down. We listened to her. We prayed with her. We read with her. We loved her. She knows what she needs to do--"seguir adelante"--and she's going to do her very best to do that. It is absolutely 100% miraculous to me just how having a knowledge of this Gospel can bring peace in a life full of difficulties. Elders Wall and Davies came and gave both her and Martin Priesthood Blessings of comfort last night. What an incredible experience that was! She spoke with us afterwards, asked us how we knew to come over Friday night. "I didn't tell anyone. No one knew what was going on." I can't tell you that our impression to go over there was anything more than "Oh, well we can't go set up now so we'll visit Matilde." And that, to me is a miracle in and of itself. It's a testimony to me that we don't need to wait for some grand sign in order to move our feet. If we live as we should, we should trust that the Lord will guide our feet. I do not know why we went over there, but I can assure you that Heavenly Father knew His precious daughter was suffering...and we got to be angels that night. We may know what the Lord would have them do, how all the situations are going to pan out, but we know that all will be well...and she knows that now too.

When He is First
This week I have come to see a little bit more how wonderful my Father in Heaven is. Remember last week when we tried and tried and TRIED to reach our 5 SINCERE new investigators? This week, we had 4 by Tuesday night. We taught the family of a former investigator (who, might I add, had no reason for being "dropped"). She is awesome, her kids are awesome. Each one of them has offered a prayer now...and they're excited to do it. And, in each prayer they've given thanks for their family (which just brings a smile to my face everytime). They came to our Branch activity Friday night, attended church yesterday, and last night we invited them all to be baptized on December 26 (we want to teach the dad too)...and they accepted--Marina and her 4 "baptizable" children: Amy, Kelger, Shayla, and Mario. Miracle? YES! It's incredible what happens when we put the Lord first, isn't it? I've learned a least a little more this week about the significance of making sure He is FIRST in our lives. I know that this is His work, I know that He has a plan for each and every one of His children, and I'm ever so humbled to have the opportunity to be apart of it. When we put the Lord first, miracles happen. End of story. They can be big and grand, or small and seemingly insignificant (at least in the eyes of the world), but they will happen.

Scripture - Come Unto Me - 2 Nephi 26:25
"Come unto me all ye ends of the earth..." Christ's invitation to all of us is to come unto him. When I read this, I thought to myself, "I may be baptized into His Gospel, but there's so much more 'coming' that I must do." Coming unto Him doesn't end at baptism, it doesn't end when we die, it doesn't EVER end. Either we choose Him always, or we choose Him not. So what will it be?

Anyway, I love you all. I've got to get going (mom needs an email! :-) Keep it up, like I always say.
OH, and do me a favor, will you? Trust in your Heavenly Father. Put Him First...and write down your experiences so you can always remember them.

I'll be back in a sec!
- Hermana Word

Also, I've decided to add little parts from emails I recieved from my fellow missionary amigos! They are ever-so-wise, and I am grateful for their dedication to this wonderful work as well.

"Similarily I testify that God knows each of us personally and loves us more than we can possibly comprehend. He rejoices over our triumphs and weeps with us when we struggle. Our Heavenly Father knows our weaknesses as well. He knows we are not perfect, but he does not love us any less. No matter who we are or what we have done his hand and heart is streatched out still. When we see him again we will be suprised by how familiar he looks, by the warmth of his embrace, and by the overwhelming love that we feel. Love beyond our comprehension. Satan is real, and he is mean. But God is stronger." - Hermana Jarman, Albequerque New Mexico

"Giving up your life to find the Lords work. I love my family and friends. That is honestly the hardest things to give up. However, as the Lords continually shows me: when I try to put my letters and my wants first, He says nope. I'm sorry if this crushes the hopes of some to receive a letter from me, but the Lord comes first for me now...However far the distance though, I know I'm in good hands. Mostly beacuse they're the hands that save us all. They may not appear the most beautiful with mud caked in every pore from a tear wiped away and a fallen brother pulled from the dust. It seems at times that I'm not worht enough to even look at those hands with the scars proclaiming the work he's done for me, but the hand is stretched out still and He begs I'll take that hand." Elder Justin Stucki, New Jersey Morristown

New Jersey Times - Una semana de milagros

Familia y Amigos,

How are you?! Thank you again for all of your awesome letters of support and encouragement. I want you to know they keep me going (as do the scriptures and prayer and, well, preaching the Gospel :) I hope life is treating you well. Christmas is just around the corner and I am entirely elated, and somewhat impatient. What an awesome time to teach about our Savior, Jesus Christ! :)...and what an awesome time to experience the bitterly cold winter of New Jersey? Haha.

Pues ("well" in Spanish), another week has flown by, and OH, have I seen miracles!

My Daddy wrote me a letter!!! Yup. Miracle Number 1 (first one since I've been out).

Miracle Number 2: The faith of the people here. I am and will forever be impressed with the faith these members and investigators have. Even amongst all the dedicated (and sometimes hard-hearted) people here, we're able to find those who are just waiting to hear His Word. We visited a less-active member this week, Melissa. She and her husband haven't gone to church in years because of misunderstandings with people in their ward (Please show love to everyone. I get kind of tired of hearing about people leaving the Church because members were inconsiderate. Granted, they shouldn't let that affect them, but we shouldn't treat them in a way that it would affect them. I know we're human, but we've been asked to overcome that - Mosiah 3:19.) Anyway, we taught her a lesson on how God will bless her even more if she takes time for Him. It was incredible to watch the change in her countenance throughout the lesson, and then to hear her prayer when all was done. Our investigators seem to be doing well. Danny (our Puerto Rican) has decided he's moving to Las Vegas for work (Tyler Payne and Devon Graff, I've decided you're befriending him...and you're going to help him with his smoking problems. K thanks! Love you!). Luz and Alex know the Church is true, they're just hesitant to be baptized. Martin and Matilde were ready 4 weeks ago, but they need their marriage license. We taught them an awesome lesson about temples and how in them they can be married for time and ALL OF ETERNITY. That those aren't just words people say, but that they're giving by God and performed by men who have the authority to do so. I was able to show them pictures I had taken of different temples and then one of my family when I received my endowments. It was absolutely wonderful!

I want you all to know that Heavenly Father has a plan for you. And that plan is made possible through the ordinances of His restored Gospel. And those ordinances and the authority to perform them resides in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are called Saving Ordinances, because they do just that--they allow you to be saved, to return to His Presence. Without them, you cannot enter into His Kingdom. First is Baptism and Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. The other ordinances are performed within the walls of His sacred temples, His dedicated temples. In them, and ONLY in them are families sealed for eternity. I urge you all to plan to partake of these ordinances yourselves. Uncle Dean, if you want to be with your awesome wife and your precious little girls forever, this is how it is done. Grandma Julie, Aunt Pam, Grandma Rosaline...any and all of you...this is how it is done.

Miracle Number 3: Our Goals. We had set the goal to get 6 new investigators this week (yes, 5 is now the mission standard). By the end of Saturday, we only had 1. We had been praying and praying all week. We had taught a couple new people, but they were English Speaking, or not within our boundaries (friends of Rosana, one of our investigators), or we didn't have a return appointment for a lack of commitment. SO, we had 5 new investigators we needed to find yesterday. All our appointments were with potentially new investigators, people with families as well. The first two fell threw. Even our backups were not happening. By 9:00 last night, we had a total of 4 for this week. We may not have actually MET the mission standards; but, OH what a miracle those 4 people were!

That was a huge huge HUGE trial of faith. I was brought to my knees night after night asking for His help, pouring out all that I had, telling Him that I had "commandments" I had been given and that I was going to be His hands and His feet and His voice in order to fulfill those commandments. I knew that there is not any commandment given that the Lord does not help us accomplish. I knew that I couldn't just pray and not do. I asked for strength, I asked for knowledge, I asked for hope. I was determined to do what was asked of me. I wanted so badly (and want even now) to find those people who are READY. That is what our goal is all about, is it not? Yesterday morning as I ate my breakfast, I decided to read from the Ensign. At the very end of President Eyring's talk "Trust in God, Then Go and Do" he says, "You show your trust in Him when you listen with the intent to learn and repent and then you go and do whatever He asks. If you trust God enough to listen for His message in every sermon, song, and prayer in this conference, you will find it. And, if you then go and do what He would have you do, your power to trust Him will grow, and in time you will be overwhelmed with gratitude to find that He has come to trust you." That is what it is all about. Covenants are a two-way promise, that's something I've known since I was a little girl. Why would something like faith not be the same. I am asked to trust HIM but I must also be someone HE can trust. That means doing all that is asked, no matter how out-of-the-box it may sound. It means stopping and talking to the lady you waved hello to. It means showing love even when others don't seem to show it back. It means having a smile not only on your face, but in your heart. That is my testimony today. That God answers prayers, He always does. And, He answers them in accordance with our faith, with our trust in Him and His trust in us.

Miracle Number 4: Hermana Evens. She's just awesome. End of story. A trooper, really. She's been sick the past couple days, she has a little cold and what not. She's been smart about keeping warm and taking medicine, it's just something she has to wait out. BUT, despite it all, she's continued to give this work her absolute best. AND, I am ever so grateful for that, to have a companion who doesn't give up because she has somewhat of a valid excuse. Love her!

Scripture: 1 Nephi 2:19-20. This week I started reading from my Spanish Book of Mormon each day, outloud. I came to this scripture the other night and suddenly felt an overwhelming amount of love and gratitude. I didn't entirely know what it said, actually I really hadn't any more than the slightest idea. BUT, I knew it was an answer of peace given to me from my Father in Heaven. I looked it up in English yesterday, and it hit me even harder. "...Blessed art thou [Sister Word], because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart. Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to [the land of New Jersey]; yea, even a [people] which I have prepared for you; yea, a [people] which [are] choice above all other [people]." Talk about an answer to a prayer. My Heavenly Father knows me. He knows what I need in order to continue moving my feet. He and I both know that I am not perfect, but scriptures like this help me to know that He looks past my imperfections and blesses me more than I "deserve" to be blessed.

I want to promise you I will continue to do all that I can. I'm learning more and more and more about truly giving all of my heart, might, mind, and strength to this work. I promise you as I promised Him, that I will do just that. It will take some work, but I am here to help my brothers and sisters enter the waters of baptism, and I will do it. End of story.

I love you all, I truly do. Keep it up out there in that oh-so-awesome world we live in. Never lose your faith, no matter how hard Satan tries.

- Hermana Kaity Word

Primero Semana en Nuevo Jersey!

Sent November 1, 2010

Okay family and friends! I thought I'd have more time in the field to write to you, but this week I do not. You see, I accidently erased my entire letter to my Mission President right before I sent it...so I had to write it all over again. The Lord certainly has His ways of teaching us those ever-so-important principles, doesn't He? Haha, I love it! :-)

SO, what is it like here? Beautiful. They don't have mountains; but, I knew that before I came so I think I'm almost at peace with that. BUT, they do have TREES! And, the trees have LEAVES! And, the leaves are a BILLION different colors. Whoa!

Um, want to hear a cool story? I got to go to Ellis Island on Thursday. Turns out the Sisters in the Morristown Mission get to serve there every other week. They have a little Family History Search area and I got to help people search for Ship Manifests with names of their ancestors. Just like Grandma Rosaline has at the end of her hallway! Neat, huh? I guess the Church helped them develop the program they use or something. We're the first sponsor listed on the first page. The Church is True! I never knew how much the world loved family history. I hope we're all working on our own right now. I promise you'll receive blessings for doing so.
Also, might I mention that that place is fantastic?! Ellis Island. It's so full of history! Hopefully next week I'll remember my little camera cord and I'll send you some pictures.

Leaving Salt Lake was an adventure last week. Our flight was delayed an hour and a half-ish. When we finally got to New Jersey we met our Mission Presidents and set off to the heart of Newark to do the "Fearbuster." If you don't know Newark, just liken it to Watts in LA or the ghetto of Las Vegas or Fairfield, CA. :) Each of the 18 new missionaries were paired up with a temporary companion and we went contacting. Met some super interesting people. Boy was it an adventure! Not as scary as I had thought it would be. But fun, that's for sure. I was able to sleep in my own queen-size bed at the Mission home last Monday night. That was wonderful. Tuesday I got my NEW COMPANION! Hermana Evens. She is absolutely, 100% fantastic. I couldn't have asked for a better missionary to train me. We are serving in Paterson, New Jersey. Lots and lots of Spanish speaking people. So far I've met people from Peru, Mexico, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Colombia...and I don't even know where else. And, they all speak Spanish differently. SO, that's fun. :-) It's been absolutely great. I'm happy to finally BE HERE! I'm going to be honest with you though, I don't understand but 10% of what the people say. BUT, I know I will eventually. I pray for faith each and every day. If I remember to have faith, everything else will fall into place. I have been blessed with the gift of tongues; but, I'm must show my Father in Heaven, through my faith, that I am able to receive it in its fulness. Missionary work is not easy. Faith is so essential. My Savior has always been, is now, and will forever be Right. By. My. Side. This is His Work. I wear His Name. I've been called to help His Children remember. And, the only way I'm going to be able to do that is if I HAVE and EXERCISE faith. Spanish will come. Understanding what they say will come. Listening to their heartfelt words and applying the Gospel to their needs will come. Knowing what to study will come. But, only if I exercise that faith. I have a testimony of it. It is the First Principle of the Gospel for a reason. At times when I feel down, at times when I feel terribly inadequate, I just remind myself that I have faith...and any sort of doubt or fear seems to find its way out the door. I know it takes time. I know I need to have patience. I know He will help me.

Family and Friends, this Gospel is REAL. This Church is TRUE. I had my first Church experience all in Spanish yesterday. I may not have understood a whole lot, but I know what I felt and I can testify of that. The Holy Ghost speaks to each of us in the same way, no matter what the language. Cool huh?! :)

I want to leave you with a couple quotes from a talk from President Hinckley (February 21, 1999). It's about member missionary work. Family and Friends, might I say with all that I can muster, You get out there and you HELP those Missionaries. You have a duty. I never quite understood it before now, but we as missionaries need you. You all have friends that don't know the Gospel. All of you! SO help. Please? I challenge each one of you to talk with at least one person this week, someone new. Talk with them about your beliefs. Don't be afraid, just do it. I will be checking up on your progess next week. Thank you. :)
K, so President Hinckley:
"Let there be cultivated an awareness in every member's heart of his own potential for brigning others to a knowledge of the truth. Let him work at it. Let him pray with great earnestness about it. Let each member pray, as did Alma of old (Alma 31:34-35)"
"People must be taught until they are fit candidates for baptism" - Joseph F. Smith
"Now, my brethren and sisters, we can let the missionaries try to do it alone, or we can help them. If they do it alnoe, they will knock on doors day after day and the harvest will be meager. Or as members we canassist them in finding and teaching investigators."
"We have full confidence in your capacity and willingness to do it."
"If you do not know what it is like, you try to imagine waht it is like"...here he is talking about fellowshipping new members. If you don't know what it's like to jump into a new religion with new phrases and ways of life, then you try to imagine. Do all that you can to help them feel welcome. ALL that you can!


Anyway, that's all I've got today. I love you all! Keep it up. There will be more next week, promise!

LOVE YOU!
Hermana Word!

My Address (for at least the next 5 weeks)
99 N 12th St
Prospect Park, NJ 07508

Scripture - 1 Nephi 17:3 "...and thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled..."
If we keep the commandments, God has promised that he will nourish us, strengthen us, and provide a means by which we can accomplish His will. Over and over again it says this. I need to remember it, especially here, especially in New Jersey. I know that God will help me to keep His commandments, I just need to do remember and do all that I can. Satan will try to discourage me; if he didn't he wouldn't be doing his job. I have a knowledge of this; but, like the scripture says "the commandments of God MUST be fulfilled." Satan will not win. I will not let Him. I'm on God's team and I can promise you I will not ever drop my jersey and walk off the field.