Jan 5, 2014: A Week of Joy

Hey everyone. Thanks for still being alive.

I've felt so many different versions of joy this week, that I don't even know where to start.

New Years Eve:

Joy is looking up from personal study and seeing snow. Yes. Snow. In Las Vegas. It lasted a total of five minutes. But I touched snow! Needless to say, I had a very hard time focusing for the rest of studies because I was hoping that it would snow again.

Saturday night:

We are teaching a family of three. M, T (14), and A (7). Their dad was a member and he died about a year ago. We don't know how active the dad was or anything. We got them as a referral from a bishop. M went to the bishop and got food and he gave her a BOM and referred her to us. A is very anti-us. Really he just wants the attention. He complains and says that our games are stupid and that we won't read, but he really likes us. We can tell. T is along those same lines. Always busy, always wants to leave, and never says he'll read or pray. But on Saturday, HE TOLD US HE READ. THREE CHAPTERS OF THE BOM. We did not see that coming. That was joy.

Monday:

You guys are alive. That's joy.

What else happened this week? A lot. We'll start with the car. But that takes some backtracking.

So wayyyyyy back in November, we had to get a smog check for our car. When we did that the guy told us that our fan was really loud and going on for a really long time and that we should get that checked. We called Elder B (who's in charge of car-ness) and he told us to just get our smog checked. So we just got our smog checked. Then a notification came up that the AC was turned off due to engine temperatures (the AC wasn't on). We were like, well, they are going to check the car soon so we don't need to worry about it. But we worried. We called Elder B a little while later and he freaked out and told us to put water in the radiator. He told us not to drive it and put water in it. We were like, how are we getting home . . .? So we found some nice guys to put water in it. They might have been a bit drunk. We're not sure. (Oh ya, this was back with Hermana S by the way.) Anyway, Elder B told us to take the car in. Down in Henderson. So we drove alllll the way down to Henderson, sat in the dealership for like four hours, for them to tell us they could not find a leak. Elder B told us to keep an eye on the car. So, fast forward to this week. We had to fill the radiator again. So, Elder B told us to take the car in again (this time close by, thank goodness!). They told us that the water pump is leaking and something else needed to be fixed that was making a mysterious clicking noise. They shuttled us home and we called them later and they told us, that IF they have the parts, we can get it back Tuesday. This was Friday. A.K.A we were going to be without a car until Tuesday. At the earliest. So guess what we did. We biked! But when our district leader saw us biking down the road, and the members found out that we were biking, they decided that that was an abomination. They took it as a personal offence. So Saturday, we borrowed the district leader's car when he had members who were driving him around, and we got a lot of rides from members. Yesterday all of our appointments were close enough to walk, so we walked around. Except for when we needed to go to the projects, then we got a ride. Today the sister training leaders are driving us around so we can go shopping and email and stuff. We haven't quite figured out what is happening tonight. The problem is that if we bike for part of the day, we either have to go ALL the way back to our apartment to drop off the bikes or leave them somewhere when a member gives us a ride. So it's really not effective to do that. So we have to figure out the perfect balance of walking, biking, and rides. It's quite complicated.

For New Years Eve we had to be in our apartments by 6 o'clock. I had plans to be super productive and organize and all this stuff, but, I was super tired. So I watched like an hour of Bible Videos and then went to bed. I took like two mini naps in there too.

I think New Years Day is my new favorite holiday. People were home because it's a holiday, but they weren't busy because they did all their celebrating the night before. It was great!

Well. I think that's all I got for right now. Please don't die in the next week. That would be greatly appreciated.

Hermana Leete

The Worth of Souls: July 17, 2014

Jessica!

Exact obedience is hard. Really hard. I'm trying so hard but I fail all the time. But, I'm trying. I want to be obedient. Not just conveniently obedient, but exactly obedient. It is the only way I can be more Christlike, and that exactly what I want to be. 

I love what you said about that. I can't believe people think that this church is sexist. In no way do I feel like I am prevented from receiving blessings because I am a girl. It's ridiculous! The Elders are so nice, they always let you go first in line. Some people would think that is sexist in itself, but I think it shows respect. It is telling us that they respect us enough to put aside their own feelings of hunger so that we can satisfy our hunger. It's charity, it's love, it's respect. I have the opportunity here to have the priesthood authority to preach the gospel. It's amazing! I may not hold the priesthood, but I can still serve. I couldn't give my companion a blessing when she was sick, but they could. She, and I, could still be blessed by the priesthood without holding it. I don't think I can express my feelings well enough. Here, we work together. I, as a Sister Training Leader, work with the District and Zone Leaders to make sure the needs of the hermanas are met. We work together. That is how it is supposed to be. I don't need to do what they do to have worth. I don't need to be a man to have worth. That idea is ridiculous. We're not the same, and there is a reason for that. We can't have 7 billion architects in the world, it just doesn't make sense! I hope that people some day will be able to understand that. I know I have worth, I know you have worth. I don't think I am worth more than any man, nor is any man worth more than me. We are all children of God. We all have separate roles. These roles even change from sister to sister and brother to brother. It's ridiculous to  think one person is worth more than another, simple because of gender.

This is something that has slowly been working it's way into my heart over the past years. Everyone, and I mean EVERYone is worth more than anything in this world in the sight of God. It is only us who don't see it that way. It is us to say, "oh he's righteous he's worth more" or "she's so pretty so she's better". That's a lie. Let me say that again. THAT IS A LIE. Satan wants us to think that way. Satan wants us to judge and demean other people, other children of God. But we can't let him. We need to let everyone know that they have worth. We need to tell everyone their true identity. We are children of God! What greater knowledge can we have than that. He loves us, he has a plan for us so that we can live with him, and our families for eternity! What a blessing it is to learn more about this and to have the opportunity to share it with the world. To share it to people in their own tongue. What other church sends a bunch of 18 and 19 year-olds to learn a foreign language so that they can teach people the truth, in their own tongue. It's amazing. 

I hope school is going well for you. I hope you know that you are loved and that you have great worth, to God, to this world, and to those around you. You can do great things with your life.

I love you,

Hermana Leete

In the MTC

Melissa flew to the Mexico MTC on June 25, and today was her first p-day, which means e-mails!

Hey Jessica!

The flight was pretty boring. I mostly just slept. On both of them. But it was fun being in the Phoenix airport because there were a ton of missionaries on the same flight! We all kind of sat next to each other and talked about where we were from and where we are going. It was really cool. I can't really describe it. It's really amazing the sisterhood/brotherhood that you feel here.

My companion is Hermana J. She is amazing! I love her and the two sisters I share a room with, Hermana C and Hermana M. They are amazing! We are all going to the Nevada, Las Vegas mission together, except for Hermana M who is going to New Jersey. I'll miss her when we leave. The Elderes in my district are awesome! Like seriously, I couldn't have asked for a better district. We like to do stuff together, we work well together, we have fun together. It's just amazing. The best part is when we are learning Spanish. We have people who didn't know any Spanish when they came in and people who took four years of Spanish before they came. We all help each other learn. It's also so amazing to see how fast everyone improves. Hermana J didn't know any Spanish when she came here a week ago (she took six years of German though) but last night, when we were teaching our investigator, she spoke nearly completely in Spanish! It wasn't very complicated, or totally correct Spanish, but it was Spanish. I'm so proud of how far she has come in such a short amount of time.

Love you! I would write more but I have to make sure I write to Mom and Dad too.

Hermana Leete

To see more of Hermana Leete's e-mails, our mom is posting her letters home here.

Guess What?

Hey Melissa!

Being home now is a very different experience then before. First of all, even though it is summer I am intent on getting things done! I am not going to spend 4 months sitting around watching tv. I am trying hard to get a job, but it seems like no one will even look at me because I have no work experience. I haven't even babysat consistently because I was so busy with band and winter percussion. But maybe I'm being impatient. I've only been home for like a week or so. Also, I'm am going to take organ lessons, read lots and lots, and try out tons of new recipes so I won't end up always eating the same things in college.

Guess what? Today is Kevin's one-year-on-a-mission-day! He has been serving in Londrina Brazil for one year today! I am so proud of him and the work he is doing. I love reading his e-mails home every week. Mom has been putting them in a blog. You can read them here. I sent a snail-mail letter to him a few days ago. I wanted to send him a paper crane, so I made a red one and named him Eduardo. Unfortunately, the letter came back. Apparently the post office doesn't like sending paper cranes in normal envelopes. So sad... So I took Eduardo out, updated the letter and re-sent it! I hope he actually writes me back this time! (He's only written me back once, but that's ok, he's super busy)

Funny story... Today Mom is going to a relief society party and is bringing a cake, so I helped her make a cookie monster cake. The funny thing is that for Kevin's first birthday, Mom also made a cookie monster cake. (And it's his one-year-on-a-mission-day. Funny coincidence, right?) So Mom made the cake and the frosting and somehow I ended up frosting it all with her guidance. It looks so cute!

More fun stuff: Mom's birthday was a few weeks ago!! Happy Birthday Mom! Her favorite cake is carrot cake, so I made her favorite recipe of it. We've eaten this recipe many times before, but this was the first time I made it. And guess what? I'm going to share it with you! I don't understand how, but the picture seems to have gotten lost. I'll put it up when I find it!

Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

4 eggs, well beaten
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups unbleached flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 cups finely grated carrots
1 cup coconut (optional)
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Oil 3 8 in pans. Set out butter and cream cheese to soften (for frosting). Put pineapple in strainer to drain.

Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Add oil and mix well with whisk.

In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Beat in flour mixture into first bowl until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Pour batter into oiled pans. Bake for 40 minutes or until knife comes out clean when inserted in center of cake. Cool slightly and frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/2 cup butter
8 oz cream cheese
1 1lb. box powdered sugar
3tsp vanilla

Mix together till smooth. Frost between layers and on top. Try toasted coconut for decoration.

So much fun food! I love it!

--Jessica