July 20, 2015 Hi

WOW, missions are cool yall! I know that I keep saying this and it's only been a month since I flew the coop, but I feel like I am growing so much with every email I send! As I sat in bed last night, writing in my journal, a thought came to my head that I thought was pretty funny. I'd like to compare myself to macaroni and cheese. (Many people call me Beccaroni, a name in which I gave myself but am in no way embarrassed by that fact) When I came out on the mish, I was more of the Kraft Macaroni and cheese type. Good.. but not fantastic. Usually associated with kids, immature and not too knowledgeable. BUT, you listen here, as I continue to serve others, forget myself, read the scriptures, and pray more than I have ever done before, I am becoming more and more like the delicious Sauce(Dana Park) macaroni and cheese that I am destined to be. The mac and cheese that we are all destined to be! How exciting! I could just eat myself! Can you tell I miss food from home a little?

 The calendar to feed the missionaries hasn't been passed around for two weeks now so finally we got it out this Sunday and we got fed real food last night!! YIPEE!! It was delicious! I love eating with the members and talking with them! I feel at home. Sister Johnson says that member dinners are usually super awkward but that every dinner she has had with me as a companion has been really fun and not weird at all! That gave me a little boost of confidence for sure! I guess I just like talking to people? Hopefully that's a good thing when you are on a mission.. fingers crossed..

SOOO.. We are teaching a TON of less actives which is good, but I WANT MORE INVESTIGATORS!! waaa! We tract a lot but every really great potential that we have found has been either Spanish speaking, or YSA. Super frustrating. I hope Spanish and YSA start finding some potentials for us pretty soon.. The last one we got from them ended up being some crazy basher lady. LOL thnx guyz.

We teach this family of a less active husband but the wife really wants to go to the temple with him so we have been teaching them and they are my favorite people ever. The dad is hilarious and he a little bit rough but seriously so so nice and he loves us so much. They heard that we weren't getting fed that much and knew that we didn't have much money for grocery shopping this week so they sent us home with some fresh zuchinni, apples, and homemade grape jam. Ahhh so good. I love them!!!

The Elders that are over the YSA are also our zone leaders (Elder Leubke and Tempest) and they also live a few doors down from us which is actually not supposed to happen but that's a whole other story. Today is Elder Leubke's birthday so we promised to make him a cake and we are going to go help them move a few doors down. Their apartment smells like smoke all the time. Kinda stinky. actually really stinky I guess. I love my zone and district so much! We are getting a lot more comfortable with eachother. Because sister Johnson and I are the only sisters in our zone, everyone is a little weird around us but I feel like it's getting a lot better.

HAHAHA So one of our recent converts is the funniest guy ever. We have scheduled appointments with him and his wife every week and we always show up and he is wearing nothing but a towel over his legs in his big recliner. Without fail. He is a pretty hefty guy and for some reason our conversation got turned to embarrassing stories? not quite sure how but it did.. And he told us that a couple mornings ago he was getting up out of bed and he had a big fan on next to his bed. He said that he got up and got his butt cheek stuck in the fan. hahahaha so he JUMPED clear across the room onto the bed and his wife was cracking up as he told this to us. OMG I died.

Not much else to report! I am weirded out that fruit trees are literally everywhere here. Cherries are just growing into the street and Blackberries are so abundant that they are considered weeds here. Sister Johnson is weird about me eating anything though and I'm just like, WHY NOT?? FREE FRUIT??? She also always comments on how amazing the sunsets are here and I am just not impressed. Arizona's sunsets beat all the sunsets in the world. Love her though. She is really helping me to know how to missionary and stuff.

I love you all! the church is very true! if you didn't know that, go figure that out right now. HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!

"Sad excuse for a sunset"

 "I found this place called Absolute Air Park and IT LOOKS JUST LIKE KRAZY AIR!!! I freaked out."

"Finding peace in nature"

 "Sad excuse for a sunset"

"Tracting in the wilderness"

"Stairway to heaven"

July 13, 2015 Hey Hey Hey

I'M NOT EMOTIONALLY UNSTABLE ANYMORE!!!!

The first week in the field was rough, I have to admit, but missions are awesome!!

SO, this week I had a lot of meetings but wifey mission president asked if I would sing at this thing called " Come See For Yourself". It is supposed to be a big fireside where all the missionaries in our mission bring their investigators and recent converts share their conversion stories and testimonies. There is also music and videos and stuff and I am just super excited about it. BUT it is on the 26th so stay tuned. We are inviting the world.

Sister Johnson and I set a goal to baptize all of Arlington while we are here. I'm pretty sure this can happen. Want to know why? WELL, the answer starts with me telling you about another personal goal of mine. It is to have a better understanding and love for the Book of Mormon. I have read it many times but I guess the timeline of everything confused me and I never really understood what was going on half the time. SO, I decided to try something new. I picked up one of those children's Book of Mormon stories picture books and I read through it ( I know, I am a child)( a child of God) but let me tell ya, it was the best decision ever. I never really liked reading unless it had pictures but now I have pictures and I understand everything! I have started re reading the Book of Mormon and I can't tell you guys enough, I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON! holy smokes! You know how we are taught things from when we are little and we knew they were true because it's just true but when you really search and find answers for yourself, things become so much more true and that pattern continues as you keep searching and doing what's right. SO, I will baptize all of Arlington because the prophets in the Book of Mormon show me that it is possible. Just you wait and see people.

So, this week was great but the best part about this week was a first that I had, I had the opportunity to ask Steven if he would be baptized. Guess what he said. HE SAID YES YALL. It was awesome! It's times like those that make me so excited to keep on keepin on.

I have also realized what a special and sacred opportunity it is to have a front row seat in seeing the Atonement work in the lives of everyone I talk to and teach. The Gospel changes lives. It has changed mine. Where would I be without my Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ?

SHARE YOUR TESTIMONIES EVERYONE!! I used to get so annoyed at missionary emails because that's what they would always tell you to do but seriously, you are building bricks to heaven with every time you testify and bring the spirit into your everyday conversations. People will change, and the Lord will help you if you learn to trust and rely on him.

I love you all so much! Each one of you has molded me into the person I am now, the person who is helping others to come unto Christ. be safe and have a baller summer yo.

Love Always,
Sister K-macks
(not sure why I wrote K-macks but it sounds cool?)

"Reunited"

"On our way to zone conference. Washington is pretty.  Still no rain tho so I'm a lil ticked but still kickin it."

ALSO! HERES A BETTER ADDRESS!!  SEND LETTERS HERE!

P.O. Box 13390

Mill Creek, WA 98082

And for Fed Ex and UPS:

16124 35th Ave. SE

Mill Creek, WA 98012

July 6, 2015 I'm In Washington!

Hello! Everyone!! IM IN WASHINGTON!! AHHH!! I got assigned to serve in Arlington with Sis Johnson as my trainer. We don't mesh as well as sis Packer and I did and I really miss sis Packer a lot but every day gets a little better. One of my pictures is of Sis Packer and I on our last night together. Not sure why, but we took pictures of us ironing while crying. Super weird I know. Also, I finally got a picture with the famous MTC map! YEEHAW! My zone sisters and I got really close and I took a picture with them on our last night at the MTC. We also had a chip and dip party in some weird extra room in the residency. It's weird how much you learn to love people so quickly. I miss them already. AND MY DISTRICT!! :( 

We woke up at 2:30 to head out to the airport and the three of us, in our district from AZ took one last pic together. We call ourselves the AZ 3. Super cute. We are gonna hang when we get home. 

We all got on the plane after I got to talk to the fam (I was a crying mess) and I sat by a cool lady and shared a little message with her. Lol. I'm a missionary guys. When we got to Seattle, IT WAS HOT?? why?? I was so excited to cool down a bit but it's in the 90's here and nobody has air conditioning it's ridiculous. We met with the mission president and then they took us to the church in Everett and we got fed and got set up with our trainers. Like I said, my trainer is Sis. Johnson and we are quite different so it makes it really hard for us to connect but I feel like we are getting a little closer as the days go on. It's only been one week so I should cool it. 

We found a nasty mole on our back porch of our apartment. Not sure how it got there. I try not to think about it for too long.

the fourth of July was pretty lame actually. We had to go in early at 7 because of the fireworks and all the drunk people. We pretty much just tracted the other part of the day but Arlington is cute. Every house is adorable with white trim and I swear I've seen every color of house there ever was. It's a rainbow. We also took some pics to celebrate.. sort of..

I love teaching lessons! I was having trouble this whole week with feeling homesick and I've just been getting stressed about the dumbest things. I was stressing about the 3 kingdoms in the Plan of Salvation lesson and I honestly don't know why because I am literally not myself lately but we went to teach one of our investigators that lesson the other day, and I got to teach her about the three kingdoms part and when I finished I asked if any of that confused her or if she had any questions, and she said " that is actually the part that excites me the most". That made my day. Seriously I love sharing the gospel with people. I know the adversary really works on missionaries but I know that when I turn to the Lord, I will always be comforted. All of the struggles I go through are for a reason. I may not know that reason yet, but I know that I will only be strengthened by the trials I receive.

I love you all!! You make me want to be better! I know that I am supposed to be here serving the people of Washington and because of that, I have no reason to dismay! Be good, and share the gospel!

also, here's my address!! SEND LETTERS!!
21119 81st Dr. NE. #B201 

Arlington, WA 

98223

Love, Sis. K

At the MTC map.

With her MTC zone sisters.

Last day with her companion, Sister Packer.  "Crying while ironing".

"The Arizona three"

"The nasty mole"

Rebecca's MTC roommate, Sister Laing drew this picture of the MTC roomies.

Rebecca and her new companion, Sister Johnson on Independence Day.

A Few More Pictures

These pictures were posted in the Washington Everett Missionary Mom's page.  These are Rebecca's MTC roomies.  The sister on the far right is her MTC companion, Sister Packer

These bottom two pictures are Rebecca's first day in Washington. We still don't know who her companion is or where she will be serving.  Can't wait to find out!

June 27, 2015 Hello World!

HELLO WORLD!!

 I miss you all! The MTC life is almost over and it's kind of sad because I'm really going to miss our Elders and being Sis. Packer's companion. We grow every day together and our teaching is getting a lot better. I can't say that it's all because of us though. I had a cool experience this week. You know how missionaries, and the scriptures always tell us that the words will be put in your mouth through the spirit? I always thought that was super cool but I didn't think that it could ever happen for me. Well it did! It was the most amazing and craziest thing ever. We were teaching a lesson to one of our investigators that the MTC gives you, and She is super skeptical about everything and wants to get into deep doctrine all the time. She asked us a question and to be honest, I didn't know the answer, but the spirit was so strong and I just kind of started talking and started listening to myself and learning from what I was saying. I know. It sounds strange. But the more I teach, the more I see that I can't truly convert anyone, unless we invite the spirit. It makes my job a lot easier I guess.. the pressure isn't all on me. I know the Lord will help and guide me in whatever I do.

 My address will change soon! I'll let you know what it is as soon as I find out! 

 As a Sister training leader, I got to introduce all of the new districts in our zone to the MTC.  We played "spin the bottle" with them to freak them out. lol. We really just played like if the bottle lands on you, you have to tell everyone about yourself. WE HAVE PIANO PLAYERS NOW!!! YAY!! and i get to sing in sacrament meeting on Sunday. Our last sister training leaders (STL's) Didn't really put much effort into inviting us to things and including us, so today we get to go to the temple with all of the new Elder's and Sisters and we decided to play sand volleyball all together so we could bond and be friends. I already love them. It's easy to love people when you are serving them.

We took a picture with Joseph Smith. Man, I love that guy.

OH MY GOSH YOU GUYZZZ I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THE MOST HILARIOUS PART OF MY WEEK!!! hahahaha so on Thursday, we were just doing our regular thing, waking up, studying, studying, teaching, studying, class, studying. And then our teacher told us that just the sisters were all told to go to the big meeting building for something that nobody knew about. Some rumors were that it was a modesty check, or that maybe an apostle was speaking to us, or maybe the relief society general presidency. We were all super on edge and kind of excited. We all shuffled into the big room, and a bunch of security guards were there so the rumor about the apostles was exploding. Finally we sat down and waited for a while and the Mission president comes in and gets a mic. He begins and says "Thank you all for coming on such short notice and for being patient with us, but there has been an incident that we need to resolve quickly and orderly." Then he says, "There have been BATS sighted in the 17M residency (which is our residency) and we need you to all pack up your things and move as quickly as you can." HAHAHAHAHA we all started laughing so hard and some girls were crying. We got new keys to move into building 3M and luckily I am with the same sisters but it was hilarious. Everyone was going nuts over a few BATS. HAHAHA 

That was about it for the week. I will talk to you all next from WA-EVR! Being a missionary is awesome. I feel the spirit with me all the time and I love it. I love you all. Be safe and share the good word! THE CHURCH IS TRUE AND THE BATS FLEW!!!

Love, 

Sister K (what everyone calls me because they can't remember how to say Krummenacher)

June 20, 2015 I Love the MTC!

I LOVE THE MTC!!!!!!! I seriously can't even explain how much fun I am having. When we were waiting for the plane at the airport a squirrel (girl) sat next to me and we were talking and she told me that she was also serving in Everett so I was super pumped about it but when we got off the plane I didn't see much of her. Little did this squirrel know that that squirrel at the airport would be my first companion! Her name is Sister Packer and I love her so much. We get along so well and yesterday we gave our first lesson to an investigator. The spirit was so strong as we testified of what we know to be true and Sister Packer and I just mesh so well that when we teach it makes it so easy to be lead by the spirit. It isn't scary at all! 

This is only my fourth day here and I already feel like a completely different person than when I got here on Wednesday. The days are long and we work and study 24/7 but I couldn't be happier. There is this overwhelming peace and happiness here at the MTC. I love it.

 I am rooming with two other sisters named Sister Laing and Sister Hong that are also going to Everett and we are slowly but surely getting closer and bonding more. Sister Packer and I have been trying to get closer to them. I love these squirrels though! I'm just gonna say that I am so glad that I have sister Packer though. She makes life a breeze. My district is awesome too! A few of them were also on the plane. The rest of them are Elders and we are becoming better friends every day as we share our testimonies and stories with one another.

On Tuesday we received callings from our Branch President and Me and Sister Packer get to be the sister training leaders which means that we get to train the new sisters coming in on Wednesday! Not sure if I know enough yet to do that but I guess I'll figure it out.

I found sister Hunt and sister Helmbold!! It's so nice to see familiar faces here. Shelby and I made a huge scene at the cafeteria when we found each other it was hilare.

YOU GUYS THE FOOD ISN'T EVEN THAT BAD??!! Why did you all tell me it was horrible and that I would get a bunch of gas? Is that just some running joke that you all play on new missionaries? I'm not laughing. There are so many different foods to choose from which is super cool because I just choose the better stuff and I feel like here at the MTC I might even loose a couple pounds Lol. Take that doubters and non-believers.

I hope you are all safe and well! I love you all so much! The church is true! and being here and doing the things that I am doing makes it seem truer and truer every day. 

If you didn't notice, my P day is on Saturdays but I only have one more before I leave for Everett. I am too pumped for the mish. But thank you so much for all the letters and packages! Everyone in my district is so jealous because of how much mail I get. It's kind of hilarious. I gotta go!!! Love you all!!!!!

Xoxo, Gospel Squirrel