Hola todos,
Wow.
Okay I have SO much to tell about in this email that I am trying to
figure where is best to even start here...lets start with Necie. So last
week we had exchanges and I got to work in my area, Riverview (Kansas
City) with a sister named Sister Bingham(I pronounce it
Biiiiiinghaaaaam, picture it with a nasally british accent and you will
better get the idea). Previous to this day of exchange excitment I had
kept having the name of this woman come to my mind that we had already
contacted and she had told us that she was open to learning more but her
husband is "a mean drunk" and that we could not meet with her at her
house. Well we were not entirely sure what to do because her schedule is
pretty conflicting and without the eventually okay of her spouse
baptism is out(per Preach My Gospel). I could not help but think about
her so Sister Bingham and I went and she actually allowed us to set up a
time to come back to her house! And we did! The very next morning
Sister Méndez and I went back to her house. Can you possibly guess the
kind of questions that she asked us? She asked us if it were possible
that she be forgiven of her sins, and she also asked us what happens
when we die and where we were before we were born. She told us that she
has been to MANY different religions but they all left her with the same
"holes". We taught her lesson two and are going back to teach her the
Plan of Salvation tomorrow. She said so many things that made me feel so
blessed to know that the Lord is preparing people for us to meet. I
already love her so much!
A
quick update on Kathy. She is doing SO well! She is now in chapter 55
of Alma. Last week when we got to her house she had a bunch of jewelry
out that she had made herself and she gave it to Hna Méndez and I. After
our lesson she said the prayer and in the prayer she said "Dear Lord,
thank you for the chance that I had to give Sister Thorne and Sister
Méndez that jewelry, it made my heart so full of joy to see them enjoy
it". She is so stinkin cute! Such a lovable cat lady, and she is so
proud of it. She is continually looking forward to her baptism next
month.
I
know I told you all about how we were going to sing for the Prophet at
the cultural celebration...well WE DID!!!! This last weekend was one of
the best in my entire life. On Friday night as Hna Méndez and I were
walking to an appointment that we had in the middle of the big city we
walked past the marriot hotel(where the Prophet would be staying and
where we would be meeting the next day to practice our performance) and
we wondered if the Prophet was already there. Then on Saturday after our
shift at the VC we headed with a couple of other sisters into the city.
I have to tell this funny little side story. The other sisters that
were with us were Sister Whittier and Sister Allen. Neither of these
sisters had been to the big city but they had heard stories about our
area and the crime in Kansas City(don't worry Mom, I am fine!) so I
might have taken this to my advantage...no, not might have. I did. ha
ha! I told the sisters that before Hna Méndez and I were able to serve
in this area we were told that there was one rule that was most
important when you are serving in Kansas City. You NEVER under any
circumstances look anyone AT ALL in the eye. You look at the ground or
the sky but not at ANYONE. They then were all like "Oh really? Okay..."
and I was like "It's to keep bad things from happening..." and Sister
Whittier then said "Okay we can't look them in the eye? Wow...it's like
they are animals..." You should have seen their faces! They were
terrified to be going to the city. Then I followed it up with "Also,
mutants live in the city, so watch out for them too." This was proceeded
by them calling me a jerk and then us all laughing for quite awhile.
Okay it was a bit grosera(rude) but we are still laughing about how for
just a second they thought they as missionaries we could not even look
at anyone because we are in the city... ha ha:D
Okay
so on to the big event. All of the missionaries in our mission(200, 42
of them being sisters) met at the Marriot hotel to practice right before
the cultural event that was held a few blocks away at the Municipal
Center. We all sat down in one of the ballrooms of the hotel and for the
first time with all of us from our WHOLE mission together, we sang
"Army of Helaman". Wow. I have not felt that much power since I was at
the MTC singing with all of the other missionaries. Honestly this was
even more powerful because of the love that I have developed for my
mission and the missionaries serving with me. President and Sister Keyes
were sitting up at the front on this stage type thing and as we started
to sing Sister Keyes had tears running down her face and she was not
even able to sing along with us. I felt tears well up in my eyes too as I
hear the emotion in the singing of all of my fellow missionaries and as
I remembered the once in a lifetime opportunity that we were blessed
enough to be experiencing. President Keyes then spoke to us, telling us
how there is normally never an occasion when a whole mission will gather
together, especially not for the opportunity to sing to our beloved
Prophet. I felt so blessed at that moment and my whole being felt that
at this time and at this place I am supposed to be a missionary and had I
served any sooner or any later I would not have been there. My heart
still feels overwhelmed with gratitude to my Lord for this calling as
His missionary.
After
our practice we headed over to the Municipal Center and we were blessed
enough to have had seats reserved for us in the nose-bleed section(we
actually originally were not going to have seats at all, but to have to
stand through the whole thing so these seats were AWESOME). Our time to
go down and walk out onto the stage was closer to the end of the two
hour performance so we were able to fully enjoy most of the show from
our seats. When the Prophet came in and we all started singing "We Thank
Thee Oh God for a Prophet" the spirit was incredible. There was a total
of 3,500 youth performing and about 10,000 0f their family and friends
there to watch it. The kids did an AMAZING job. It was one of the
coolest things that I have ever seen. Kenneth Cope performed my favorite
song of his "Broken". You all should try to find it and watch it. Our
signal to start heading down finally came and so we all got up and filed
out. We ended up having to full on run down the empty hallways to where
we would enter. As my heart was beating 100 miles a minute while we
were waiting in the opening to go on and looking at the thousands and
thousands of people that would be watching us sing to the Prophet, my
companion pulled on my arm about ripping it out of the socket trying to
get my attention. I turned around to see what was the matter and there
right in front of me, waiting to shake my hand, was Kenneth Cope! He
shook my hand and I said "Oh my gosh! Hi! Uh...You are awesome!" ja ja!
and then he said "No! You guys are awesome!" :D. ja ja! So. I met
Kenneth Cope, he told me I was awesome, and then directly after we
walked out to an arena of almost 15,000 people who all stood for us
right as we walked out. The Prophet was actually the first one to stand.
As we walked out singing those sacred words and I saw everybody get to
their feet and the kids who were performing get down on their knees, I
can say that I have NEVER in my entire life felt anything close to what I
was feeling in those few short minutes. As we got to the place where we
were asked to stand I turned and sang with all of my heart to the
Prophet of the Lord. Even thinking about it now gives me goose bumps.
The Prophet stood for us missionaries. I have never felt so honored in
my entire life, and I know that all of the other missionaries were on
the same page as I was. The Lord has blessed my so abundantly.
Wow.
So I have already written a ton, I know, but I need to talk about the
dedication. Yesterday my companion and I got to go to all 3 of the
temple dedications. This was fantastic. I will never forget the spirit
that I felt while singing the Spirit of God. I felt the joy of the early
saints who have passed on coupled with the saints who now live in this
area who will be able to attend the temple frequently now. It was
amazing and I never will forget it. With all of my heart and soul I love
the Kansas City Missouri temple. Whoever I marry better be ready to
drive here to get married. Just putting that out there. It's must. My
heart is here.
Okay I have to go. Remember who you are!!! I love you all very very much! Smile, you know the truth!!!
con amor,
Hermana Thorne
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