Hermana Kaylee Widdison

Oh, halfway there....truly living on a prayer :)

HELLO :)

Wow, today I am halfway done with my mission.

I have been out 9 months.. haha and it sure doesn't feel like it!
But before I share with you a little of what I have learned in these short 9 months, let me share the moments from this week :)

THIS PAST WEEK :)

-Well, first off I thought I was going to be able to go my whole mission without having to talk in sacrament meeting.. bummer, I had to give a talk on Sunday! but hey it was good! I almost made it ;)

-We have some awesome, like awesome investigators who I would love for y'all to pray about!! their names are R and C !! oh my goodness, they both have been researching this church for years.. well like 2 years, and R randomly texted us and was like, hey when would a good time to be baptized? You know I freaked out! haha it was cool! It is amazing how the lord prepares people, when they are ready, and they are ready! We have been teaching them, and they both came out of nowhere, so pray for them, because they both know that the church is true, they just need to feel ready to make that covenant with Heavenly Father :)

- Monday.. we biked 18 miles.. haha to go do 8 hours of yard work for our branch president! When we saw how little his lawn was, we were like well this is only gonna take an hour, boom sike! it was 8 hours later.. haha it was fun though! Doing service and being able to get to know him and his wife and talk about the needs of the branch :)

- I LOVE THIS BRANCH.. that is a side note ;)

- We were able to go to the temple on Saturday to do baptisms with Josh, a recent convert.. who seriously is the coolest kid. He has such an eternal perspective on everything, he has such a strong testimony. I think he is the coolest person I have met on my mission so far.. and this is cool! So we were doing family history for Josh, so he could take a family name to the temple, and seriously we were doing it for two hours and we couldn't find a single name. Its like 8:40 at night and we all decide to kneel and pray to just find one name.. and so then.. of course it is 9:10, and we find one name.. IT WAS A MIRACLE! and a huge answer to our prayers! It was really powerful to know Heavenly Father knew we needed to find that name! so cool :) and plus I got to go do baptisms.. which is the closest thing I get to swimming on the mission ;) hehe

- We went to the temple as all the sisters in the mission yesterday :) WHICH WAS AMAZING!! we had a big study with our mission president and temple president, and we are so blessed to be able to have opportunities like that.. wow so cool! I got my mind blown of course! Its amazing how much we can learn the more and more we go to the temple! So that was fun. It was cool, our mission president was the only man in the session.. WHAT! cool.

- OH can y'all pray for NATE AND ZACH. They are members in our branch.. well basically my favorite people in this branch.. They were in a serious car accident on Friday night, and they need prayers. Thank you :)

Oh I am sure y'all have been hearing of the flooding going down here in Texas.. well, yeah its flooding for sure! want to hear a story.. okay haha

sooo, not to make you worried mom.. but hey its crazy!!

Since we had a big temple trip scheduled for Tuesday, me and Sister Rhoton had to go over night to Houston (since we are far away) We had to carpool with two other sisters, so we left our apt and went to Houston around 7:30. Around 8:40 we were within two minutes of where we were supposed to be going, and while we were driving, it was pouring rain, and lightening and thunder, basically a strobe light! haha cool.. but it was 8:40 and we were lost!! We couldn't see, and the rain was getting to the point where we couldn't even see the curb, so when it gets to that point we have to drive up to high ground! Therefore we found a parking lot and just waited.. haha it was about 9:00 pm at this time and we had to be at the other sisters apartment where we were going to be staying that night. Oh and little side note, we had to be at our mission office at 4:45 am to drive to the temple because it is an hour away.. haha sooo.. anyways, its 9:00 pm and we are just sitting watching the water go up and up and up.. its about 9:40 and the water had risen about 2 inches, so we were just waiting, basically trying to sleep or do something. Let me remind you this happened Monday, the same day me and Sister Rhoton decided to do 18 miles of biking and 8 hrs of yard work. We were tired! It was 10:30 when we decided to call the AP's and tell them we were stuck, and just waiting out the rain. They told us to just keep waiting, so we did, we were just sitting watching cars try and drive through 2+ feet of water.. haha watching cars get stuck, then people climbing out of their sunroofs. It was entertaining for us because we were on high ground :) we were being smart. 11:00 pm rolls around and we are exhausted so we call our housing coordinator and ask him what to do, and he says wait it out and that it would roll over. WELL... its now 12:30 and hasn't rolled over, so we call him again and then he finally comes in his big ol truck and tells us to follow him. Now, its around 1:00 am and we finally made it out of the parking lot and made it to the other sisters apartment. It was around 2:30 am when we finally got inside an apartment hahaha WHAT A BLESSING!! Then we got a good solid hour of sleep and had to wake up around 4:00 am to get to the mission office to be to the temple on time. When we were driving to the mission office the roads were still flooded and there were cars stuck everywhere, it looked like a movie, like a natural disaster had happened! It was cool but hey we were safe and were able to go to the temple :) So it is raining a lot here in in Texas and flooding. We get flash flood warnings on our phone all the time :) but don't worry mom I'm safe and taking lots of videos to show you when I get home! but its cool because its great service opportunities, with all the trees and branches that are everywhere, we get to help clean up :) WOO!

okay.. now onto the good stuff :)

Its officially been nine months since I have been on my mission! I cant believe how fast its gone by. I feel like I just got here. I always thought I would be fluent in Spanish by nine months.. haha Nope!

I would love to share with you some of the things I have learned thus far in these short nine months. I have learned so many things, but the amazing thing is, I am still learning, constantly everyday, learning learning learning :) Its AWESOME

I have learned of Heavenly Fathers plan for us. How he truly has such a divine and thought out plan for each and every single one of us. He has specifically made it for us, because he knows us, we lived with him before this life. He studied us and he knows exactly what we need and when we need it. He is there waiting for us, when we slip and fall, he is waiting with arms stretched out wide waiting to help guide us back to him.

I have learned how to pray. I never knew how to pray before my mission. To truly just pour out my heart and talk with my Heavenly Father. To know that he is there listening to all I have to say, knowing exactly what is going on and that he is always waiting for me to come to him, to ask him for help. I never knew what it felt like to pray until I had nothing else to say, to just plead with him.. because he is there.

I have learned that Heavenly Father has a sense of humor.. haha he truly does. things happen.

I have learned how to recognize when the spirit is speaking to me. Being able to be in the right place at the right time, to hear the spirit, to feel it, to have it with me constantly and to receive answers to my prayers, to just be still and listen.

I have learned the grace of God is real... how when we do all we can, then a little bit more, it's not going to get us there, but we need his grace in order to make it there. His grace is what makes up which we lack. I am so grateful for grace, because I need a lot. There are so many days where I know it's grace that has brought me through that long day.

I have learned how to ride a bike in a skirt.... haha and how to rip a skirt riding a bike and how to sew up a hole. hahaha

I have learned the importance of the message that I bring as a tool for Heavenly Father. The message of Christs church here on the earth again, it's truly amazing and so powerful. I've learned how we need it so much in these times.

I have learned how to listen to people, to truly listen.

I have learned to not judge at first glance, that people have stories and hard lives, and they are that way and who they are for a specific reason.

I have learned how blessed we are to have bodies of flesh and bone and how jealous Satan is that he doesn't have one and how Satan will do anything he can to destroy our bodies.

I have learned how real Satan is.

I have learned being with someone for 24/7 is something I will never do ever again, but I do know how important it is that we teach the gospel 2 by 2, and how being with someone for 24/7 is hard. I have learned a lot of patience, sacrifice, love, charity, service and how to comfort someone, and how to listen, how to trust, how to bite my tongue.. haha and how we have to be with specific companions for specific reasons, and how some companions need saving, and how sometimes you need saving, and how we have to teach with the spirit as a companionship!!

I have learned how to see Gods children as he has created them, I have prayed and prayed and prayed to be able to see just a sliver of Gods love for his children, and it has been so overwhelming to feel that power and love, to look in these peoples eyes and to know that their Father in Heaven loves them more than they will ever comprehend.

I have learned to love complete strangers with all my heart, and to put others first, to just constantly be thinking of others, to just forget about myself and focus on the needs of others

I have learned how the atonement of Jesus Christ changes people. Not just their lives, but them as a person, their spirit, their being. To know how they can be changed through his sacrifice.

I have learned Gods way is a whole lot easier than my way, how when I just trust in God he is going to make me be the person I need to become. That's why we are here on earth to become as he is and to know he has something better than what I ever could imagine. I want to trust him. He wants to make me into something, and its so easy but yet so hard to trust in him, to know his way is the best.

I have learned the mission is the hardest but most amazing experience I could ever have in my life up till this point. I know there is no better place I could be.

I have learned the mission is a silent battle within my heart and mind, between Gods will and my own will.. to trust God or Satan.. and its hard.

I have learned a lot, yet I am still learning. I am learning a lot more than what I could ever imagine.

I am grateful to be a missionary.

I love this work.

Have a kick butt week everyone :)

go spread the gospel ;)

Love,

Hermana Widdison

I should buy an English name tag because I am really Sister Widdison.

but I am still too prideful, I love having a Spanish tag. hehe