September 18, 2015 It's A Girl!

​It was a beautiful, Tuesday morning. The birds were chirping and the morning dew was settled on the thick, green blades of grass. There was a sense of new life in the air. This was the day that Sister Krummenacher gave birth to her first, beautiful, brand spankin new, baby missionary!

WOW I love my new companion! THIS IS SISTER THOMPSON!!

Sister Thompson is from Las Vegas and she loves to dance and sing with me all day! She is a fantastic missionary. We have so much fun together freezing our lil tooshes off. This was a kitten that a lady we teach has. There are baby kittens everywhere!! I know what you're all thinking.. "Why not puppies??" I really don't even know. I'm a lil ticked like I'm sure all of you are.

ANYWAY, I am loving being a trainer. It has been a little stressful but I am managing quite easily and I just take big ole breathes if I ever start to freak myself out. I really do love it though!

Not much else happened this week! Just a bunch of getting used to the way Sister Thompson and I teach and work together. She is a great teacher and hard worker and I am excited to see all of the work we do together.

When I went to pick up my new missionary, my whole missionary family was there! Here's my geneology picture for you. From Left to Right. Sister Tennant is my Grandma ( she trained sister Johnson), then there's Sister Johnson my momma (She trained me), then me, then sister Thompson my new baby! Super fun to have all of us there for a pic.

Here's another picture of Sister Johnson and Tennant's new companions too:

 Super sad day because Elder Rein Jes(not sure how to spell it) left  for Taiwan on Tuesday and a bunch of the other Elders in our district. We tried to make our picture as awkward as possible because we cant touch in any way so we thought we might as well go with it. We became really good friends with the zone leaders and Elder Rein Jes was in a three pack with them waiting for his visa to go through. Well it went through and now he's gone! Kinda sad, but Our new district has sisters in it! YAY!! Friends!!

I got one of the sweetest packages in the mail this week! A ton of craisins and letters from the students I taught at home! I cried with joy. I love my kiddos and miss them terribly! Thank you so much Marcela!!!

Last night we were talking about how cold it gets in our basement with a less active family we teach and the lady was so nice and gave us some crocheted blankets and a Disneyland Tigger sweater to wear! Seriously some of the nicest people you'll ever meet here in Arlington. I highly suggest paying a visit sometime. Now we're warm!!!

Living in the basement of a house really isn't that bad. We have a separate door that we go through and its pretty much the same as If we lived in an apartment. The only things that are a little annoying about it is that the lady who lives there gets to control the heat. We literally freeze in the mornings but this morning we were talking about how when she turns the heat on we will have to celebrate with guacamole. SHE TURNED THE HEAT ON LITERALLY 30 MINUTES LATER. hahaha no guacamole though.

 I LOVE MY NEW COMPANION! We seriously get along so well. President usually asks what we want in a trainer and Sister Thompson said she wanted someone with a sense of humor. haha When I went to go get my new companion, they do a big ceremony type thing where the trainers are on one side of the chapel and the new missionaries are on the other side and president calls the trainers and companions together and you sit together in the middle. When he called sister Thompson and I together I ran over there and gave her a huge hug and literally swept her off her feet. quite magical actually. Everyone laughed but I shed a tear.

Thought this was funny. The other day we were walking and this field totally looked like the default Windows background with the green grass and clouds. Hope you all know what I'm talking about. We laughed.

Just another fantastic week as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! I love it! Sister Thompson shared one of her favorite scriptures with me this week and I love how simple it is:

"Believe in God; believe that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." (Mosiah 4:9)
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BELIEVE IN GOD! There is nothing more joyous than that simple message. God lives, and he has provided a way for us to return and live with him and our families forever. We can't even comprehend the blessings that await us for eternity when we heed that message.

I love you all so much and I cannot wait for general conference this weekend! Come listen to a prophet's voice on BYU TV this Saturday and Sunday!

 I pray for you, and love each one of you so much! Have a WONDERFUL week!

Love,

Sister Becca Krummenacher

September 21, 2015 Training!

Guess who's training??? ME!!! I'm taking over Arlington and I get a new baby missionary straight off the plane tomorrow! I'm so excited you have no clue! Sister Johnson is leaving me to fend for myself but I think I can manage. Still gonna baptize the whole town so.

With transfers this Tuesday and all the craziness going on, our district is getting all split up :( Love these guys a whole lot. Just a bunch of weirdos sharing the good word. Also, the two Elders who were both from AZ are both leaving me so I'm pretty sad about that. I've realized a mission is pretty much just a bunch of goodbyes. Goodbye family! Goodbye trainer! Goodbye Elders! Goodbye Ward! Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye!!!! Sad way to see it but let me be sad for a second okay?

My sad second is over because I had a great week. It felt like it lasted five billion years but nevertheless, still great. (scripture language) side note: read your scriptures.

This is the Carter family! Words cannot describe my love for them. Brother Carter is the most hilarious guy I've met. We read the Book of Mormon a lot with them and he says that the words in there are super weird. He told us that he was at work the other day and someone made him mad so he thought " I'M GONNA SMOTE YOU!" hahaha We laughed for a while about that one. He also thinks its funny that Nephi refers to himself as a man "large in stature". Brother Carter puffs his chest and says " I NEPHI, BEING LARGE IN STATURE.." lol. He enjoys reading it though so that's all that we could ever want. Sister Carter is my mom out here. She feeds us dinner once a week and she loves us so much. She is going through the temple in October and I am so so excited for her. I LOVE THEMMMMM.

We had exchanges again this week and I was with Sister Jackson in Lake Steven again! She is my favorite ever!! She just got here last transfer and she is amazing. I hope we get to be companions someday. HANG LOOSE.

Oh man we did so much service this past week and we also had to move all of our stuff to our new home!! I love it though!! only one bathroom but that's okay just a lil more stinky. We helped pick up trash at the park and clean out all of the homeless peoples "homes". Kinda sad actually. To me, I was throwing away an old beat up chair, but to them I probably threw away their lazy boy recliner. It had to be done though. Dismiss my ratty hair. Brother Rushton laughed at me for "posing with garbage". I was proud of my yellow vest and full bag of trash. Back up.

This morning we said our goodbyes to most of our district and zone leaders. We shared pancakes, laughs, and tears :(

​Well that's about it for this week! Next time you see me I will be a trainer!! IM SO PUMPED!!! Pray for me.. Read your scriptures, say your prayers, be a good example, and endure to the end! Smile all the while. You are all loved. BE GOOD AND DO GOOD!
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​Until next time,

Sister K

Xoxo gospel squirrel.

September 20, 2015

I (Rebecca's mom) found this post on the Washington Everett Missionary Moms' page that I'm apart of.  I love finding extra tidbits about what Rebecca is doing!

"Sister missionaries teaching my son about the gospel. He is a little delayed spiritually because of his autism. They are helping him understand things, one principle at a time, to help him get ready for baptism. He loves his sister missionaries."

September 14, 2015 Hey Hey Hey It's a Beautiful Day!

Hello friends, family, and Charlie! Another great week in Arlington, Washington!

On Monday we went hiking with our district and our zone leaders to a super cool waterfall. You can see the ghost of Elder Maun behind us and Elders Luebke and Lyons playing the part of "King of the Rock". It was way fun and good to get outta Arlington for a little bit. I feel like I know every inch of this place now.

Speaking of Arlington, I saw another great front page article in this week's newspaper! The Council really wants to know how they can help a dog. I suggest they give it a treat or somethin.

I got to get out of Arlington for a day this last week because of exchanges! Yay! I was in Lake Stevens with Sister Mahoni. She is seriously the greatest. She works so hard but has so much fun while doing it. We ended up getting a bunch of new investigators in the same apartment complex who were all friends. It was hilarious. We went back there later that night and found them all hanging out after we had just met with each of them separately at their doors. Quite funny actually. I'm excited for transfers next week. I will find out if I'm leaving or training someone. I am excited for whatever happens!

People here are nuts about the Seahawks. It's kind of hilarious. We see houses like this all the time. What is even funnier is that the Seahawks just lost their game yesterday. You could almost feel disappointment in the air. I couldn't care less about the Seahawks or football in general but as a missionary in Washington, I'm a die-hard Seahawks fan.

We are moving! They are putting some Elders in our apartment and kicking us out in the streets. No. We are living in a basement of a less active (soon to be really active) family. I was kinda bummed at first but now I'm kind of excited! the Elders told us they have a hot tub. If only I brought my suit.

I am in love with these two. These are the Rinkers. They were recently baptized and we go and visit them every Friday. They are crazy about missionary work and practically teach us a lesson when we go over there. They LOOVVEE us! it is the cutest thing. Brother Rinker raves about us to the Ward and it really helps us get referrals and stuff. They are working toward being sealed in the temple together and it makes me so so happy to think about them being together forever. My testimony of families has grown so much out here. After they were baptized, their daughter and her whole family were baptized because of his enthusiasm for the gospel. I LOVE THEM!!

Meet Peggy! Peggy is one of our investigators right now. We went with her to go visit Elvi (the woman in the hospital) She is quitting smoking and changing her whole life around. Her dog's name is Mona and I have never met a sweeter dog in my life. Peggy has the biggest heart of anyone I know. She cares so much for others before herself and I have learned so much from teaching her. I always sit next to her in church and I help her sing the hymns. That is her favorite part of church. The music. MINE TOO!! Weird!

This is Dee Dee! She is hilarious. I really don't understand her too much but all I can say to describe her is that she is sly. I feel like she is full of secrets and I want to know them all. She knows something that we don't... You can see it in her eyes even. Good ole Dee Dee.

I also got to sing in church this Sunday! there is a man in our ward who passes out "I like you because.." notes. You know you have made it in the cool club when you get one of those and guess who got one? Sister K. The ward is actually in love with us. When I got here they were kind of cold and not very welcoming but I have seen so many fruits from just serving them and working hard. I love my ward!

I love you all so much. If I had to tell you one thing today, it would be to BE GOOD AND DO GOOD!! Have a great week!
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​Love,

Sister K

September 9, 2015 Thought You'd Seen the Last of Me!

Hey everyone! Its Wednesday if you couldn't tell! This whole Labor day holiday is a real bummer when you're a missionary. The library was closed Monday and Tuesday. Lame. Still thankful for the army, navy, air-force and marines though. Thanks guys. This last week was great though! Let me tell you all about it! EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

First of all, I'm cold. Seriously though I'm dying over here. I am realizing I'm not as tough as I once thought I was. I'm definitely from Arizona. In the mornings we go running and it's been way cold out. I love that I get to run though! The whole workout video thing really doesn't work for me. Hate those. Every morning after we get ready to do studies I freeze to death and wrap myself up in all of my blankets. We found a hot tea mix in the cupboard that Sister Johnson and I have been warming ourselves with. Now as for the tea, its herbal. Cool your jets.

We went to a member's house this week to help her clean after she had helped us out a ton with a less active member. Her daughter, Audrey, loved us. She kept asking if we could stay and watch a movie with her. They had some good movies too. Probs the hardest thing I've done since I got here was turn that offer down. She's adorable. She had a "Future Missionary" name tag so we had to take a picture of course.

We may get transferred soon and I don't know if I will be leaving Arlington or not so we are making an effort in taking more pictures with the people here. This is Sister Permenter. We teach her every week and she is the sweetest lady you'll ever meet. She has like 5 dogs in her little trailer home and I am in love with a little black lab puppy they have so I had to include her in the pic. Memories. So precious.

​This is Sister Alejandre. She is hilarious and she is one of my "Mission Mom's". She takes such good care of us and helps us out a ton with our investigators. Her son, Dominique, is the biggest gentleman I think I have ever met. What a lady killer. Sister Alejandre is also dutch so she's got a really cool, thick, Dutch accent. Wow I love them.

Oh my goodness. I am so excited to tell you about Elvi. She is an older woman with dementia that we visit at the hospital. Her insurance doesn't cover a senior home so the hoapital is letting her rent a room there. Very sad situation. She is from the Philippines and you can barely understand her but when you do, you will die laughing. This last time we visited her we painted her nails sparkly pink. She would not stop staring at them and then as we walked her back to her room she showed them off to everyone we passed. So cute. We usually take her out to the Garden at the hospital and just chat with her while we look out at the mountains. We gave her her very own Book of Mormon and she quickly grabbed it and said "OOOO!!! I LOVE IT HONEY!!" She then began to hug it and kiss it repeatedly. I wish everyone reacted that way when we hand out Books of Mormon.. Isn't she the cutest???

We were weekly planning this week and it started to hail outside! I did the classic joke, "WHAT THE HAIL??!!" and Sister Johnson laughed. Success. Lots of thanks to dad for that joke.

I finally went shopping!! Still no winter coats yet.. Bummer..

Well, I love you all so much! I can't tell you how much I missed hearing from you all until today! I am sorry again if I don't get back to your emails this week but I've only got an hour! BE COURAGEOUS! share the happy message that you have. Spread the love and ruin Satan's day! LOVE YOU!! SEND ME LETTERS!!! I LOVE THEM!!! I WILL ANSWER YOU!!

P.O. Box 13390

Mill Creek WA 98082

Double peace. Swag. Have a GREAT week!

Love,

Sister Beccaroni

August 31, 2015 Sister Krummenacher and the Spooky, Scary, Baptism

Yet again, another AWESOME week. I think it may have been one of my favorites out here so far. Wanna know why? Well, I'll tell you why!

Sunflower lady (Joanne) gave us some of her loot! We ran into her while we were tracting around her house and she was just handing out her sunflowers to her neighbors and people on the street. Sweetest woman ever.

I don't know if you knew this, but I think I'm hilarious. Every time we pass this sign that says "CHICKEN FRIES ARE HERE!" I turn to Sister Johnson and say " THERE THEY ARE SISTER JOHNSON!! THE CHICKEN FRIES ARE THERE!!" Every day since then I say "Oh good, the chicken fries are still there, phew!". This has been going on since I got here.

We got the chicken fries.

I can't tell you how happy I am that the alpaca house people are taking lessons from us. There are two main reasons for that:
1. Its an alpaca farm
and
2. Sister Brill (the woman who lives there) gives us scarves almost every time we go there. Its the best thing ever.
This was this week's scarf. A mix of pinks and white. High quality. High fashion. Model: Sister K

Something super exciting happened this week. I GOT MY FIRST BAPTISM! or I guess I should say baptismS😎. We planned the baptism for Saturday and we woke up to a crazy storm outside. We got a text from a man in our ward that said that his power was off. He lived near the church building so we were all a little nervous as to whether the church would be out of power or not. We pulled out of our apartment complex and found a tree that had blown over right in front of our mailboxes. I call this picture: "Mail Model part 2".

It was super windy and the trees here aren't very strong because of the lack of rain lately so there were trees falling right and left. People were freaking out about their power going off (luckily ours never did #blessed).
Here's a picture of downtown Arlington at the end of the storm:

We drove to the church and said a prayer that the power would stay on for the baptism. We went inside and the lights were flickering on and off but we still had power! Power of prayer, that is. The baptism went on without a hitch! The lights flickered a little so it was a spooky situation. You could even say it was the HOLY GHOST!!!ooOoooOOoooOoO!!!
anyway, It was awesome and the spirit really was strong in the room.
You may be wondering, "who the hay got baptized??" Well let me tell you!

​This is Grace and Ella! They are the cutest little girls ever. They have been taking the discussions forever but they finally decided on a baptism date! We were so excited. They were so excited. The whole ward was so excited. This day was long awaited by many. We call them our twins because Ella is a brunette and Grace is blonde. We thought that was pretty cute.
What was super fun, was that I got to write the baptism symbol on their teaching record!! YAY!! 2 down, all the rest of Arlington to go!

Another tree in the church parking lot

Biggest miracle of my mission so far also happened yesterday. On Friday we got a call from our sister training leader and she challenged us to "hit standards" this week. Hitting standards means that you need to get a certain amount of lessons, investigators, people attending sacrament, etc. every week. We have only hit standards once. Sister Johnson has only hit standards once and she has been here for almost 6 months! Pretty sad, I know, but ITS HARD!
 It was already Friday and we had only 3 more days to hit our goals. We still needed 2 people at sacrament meeting, 3 lessons with a member present, and 2 new investigators. haha we had pretty low expectations considering how busy the next three days were already going to be. BUT, we still prayed for help to hit standards every day.
 It got to Sunday and we hadn't made any progress except for 2 investigators that made it to church. It was 6pm and we had 2 and a half hours to get three lessons with members and 2 new investigators. Sounds ridiculous, I know. We went forward with faith regardless of the seemingly impossible task ahead of us.
 At 6 we asked a member who fed us dinner if they would come to a lesson with us. She said yes and we started driving to teach Peggy. Peggy texted us literally on our way over and told us she was feeling sick and not to show up. We quickly thought of another young girl that we could possibly get a lesson with. We drove there and there was nobody home. As we walked back to the car to take the member home, we saw a former investigator outside his trailer. We ran over there quicker than you can say "Sweet, spicy chicken fries!". We talked to him for a little bit and found out that he was moving. We shared a quick message and prayed with him that he would be safe in his travels and then we ran back to the car! One member present lesson down, 2 to go, and 2 more new investigators.
We dropped our member off and we started bookin it over to a part-member family. We realized halfway there that we wouldn't have any time to teach them because of how far away they lived. We decided this right as we realized we were right in front of another part-member family's home. We knocked on the door, they let us in, we taught a lesson, set up another lesson, and went on our way. Because we had an appointment to meet with them next, and because there was a member there, that made one new investigator and one member present lesson!
 We now only needed one more member present lesson and one new investigator! We ran to the car, drove to another part-member family's home, taught them a lesson, and set up a future lesson. THAT WAS ANOTHER INVESTIGATOR AND ANOTHER MEMBER PRESENT LESSON!!  WE HIT STANDARDS!! We literally hit standards for the week in 2 and a half hours. amazing. We realized that if we have the faith to hit standards in 2 and a half hours, then we can definitely have the faith to hit standards in a whole week of teaching. This was a lesson that we needed to learn greatly. We now have 8 investigators when a week ago we had only 2. We realized that the Lord's will is greater than anything that seems completely impossible to us. This is the Lord's work, and if we trust in him, we can accomplish amazing things and work miracles. I love being a missionary. I can feel the my Heavenly Father guiding me in every step I take.
I love you all! Be good and do good!

Love, Sister K

P.S. As it is Labor Day next Monday, the library will be closed so I will not be emailing. I will probably email Tuesday but I only have one hour instead of the normal 2 so don't be offended if I don't write you back! :)