Kitchen Family,                                                                                              March 18, 2012

Hey everybody. Sounds like ya'll had a pretty normal week. That's pretty funny about Tyler and Cam haha I think it's funny that he is going through the exact same thing that he went through like a 6 months ago with Eric. I hope that he arrives well and everything though. Thanks for sending news and pictures on the S.G house...looks like it's comin along real nice. Also, I just wanted to comment on Lynn and Aunt Paulette and say congrats on the recent news! How's the rest of the family doing? If there is anything I can do for ya'll just let me know.

Well I'm pretty excited to tell you about what has happened this week. It's been a really cool one. We had a lot of really good lessons throughout the week, and we have some pretty good investigators. On like Tuesday I think we went looking for a house in our area because they are going to divide the area into two parts. That means there will be 4 missionaries in the same ward. That's just the start of the interesting news. On Friday we got out of a lesson and we were headed to another.  Then our zone leaders,  Elder Cruz and Elder Prosper, called us and told us to meet them at the church for something important. Elder Prosper took me in another room to give me the news that I'm going to be TRAINING a new missionary starting tomorrow!!! Wow it was big news for me. In some ways I don't feel ready, but I'm reminded that the Lord knows that I am, so I know that I can do it. It is a lot of resposibility that I will have to take on training a new missionary. I just want to do the very best I can and serve my new missionary so that he can start really strong on his mission. I am going to forget myself completely and serve with everything I've got. So on Saturday, everyone who is going to be training a new missionary went to a training meeting with President and the assistants. It was great. My companion, Elder Knowlton, is actually going to train too (for the 2nd time). Since the meeting on Saturday we have been taking care of two new American missionaries that got here a little earlier than the rest. That's been fun. So there is supposed to be like 4 Mexicans, 18 Americans, 2 from the Dominican Republic, and 1 from Costa Rica coming on Tuesday...tons huh! I'm kinda excited to see who I will be training...but nervous too. I was informed last night that I have transfers, but within the zone (they tell you if it's within the zone).  So what we are pretty sure is going to happen is that Elder Knowlton is going to stay in the house we live in now with his new missionary and I will live in the split part of this same area with my new missionary. We'll see what happens...you never know. I only have time to share one cool experience about an investigator that we found this week. He is so awesome! His name is Fernando and his is 35. He contacted us on the street while we were walking because he had recieved a Book of Mormon from someone in the North Mission. We've now taught him twice and he has gone to church once. In church he was taking notes and everthing! He has been prepared by the Lord! An Area 70 came to our ward this week and in Elders Quorum, Fernando was participating really well with the 70's message.  The Area 70 invited him to be baptized right then he accepted!! Haha wow it was awesome. This is the Lord's work.

Welp that's all the crazy news I've got for you this week. Let me know if you have any questions. PLEASE pray long and hard for me because I really need the Lord's help with training a new missionary. I feel inexperienced myself, so I'm gonna need a lot a heaven-sent help for this next couple of months. I love you all and I appreciate all of your love, support, and help that you give me week by week. Thank you so much for the way that you raised me, and the things that shaped me to be who I am. I often reflect on the great experience of being out here on a mission. It's the best experience of my life. Easily. How greatful I am for my Savior, because if it weren't for him and His Atonement, I would be lost. I love you family!

Con amor,

Elder Kitchen

Querida Familia,                                                                                                     March 11, 2013

¡Ey! ¿Cómo le va fam? Wow this week went by really fast out here. Lots of great things happened like always :) Sounds like the annual Park City trip was another success. I'm glad ya'll had a good time skiing and everything. Sounds like you are all still really busy! That's what I like to hear. Hey that's cool that Ty and Cam are in Cancun right now livin' it up. I read that email you forwarded me and it sounds like a cool place. I have two good buds that were in my district in the MTC (Elder Hauser & Hansen) that are serving in the Merida Mexico Mission which has Cancun in their mission haha. I highly doubt they're allowed to go there at least in the resort part of it. Well ya gotta tell em to head on over to Puebla so that I can take them to see some cool stuff and eat some killer tacos ;) I'm glad you all had a good week.

Here in Agua Azul we've been echandole ganas (working hard) and keepin busy. On Tuesday we had a zone meeting with our zone called La Zona Valsequillo. After the zone meeting Elder Knowlton and I went of splits with the zone leaders. I went with Elder Prosper from Uruguay (is that where grandpa E. served?) and I learned a ton from him too. He is really funny. He was the Uruguay Ping pong national champ before the mission, and he sang in a heavy metal rock band...haha he is a cool Elder. During the week we were able to have quite a few lessons to investigators. Right now we have two that are currently progressing: Alberto and Amado, but we also have been working with a bunch of other investigators. We have a lot of new investigators right now that are going to start progressing soon. We have one named Hana, a foreign exchange student from Japan who speaks a little bit of English, and a little bit of Spanish, so it makes it a little bit complicated. We also visited a investigator that is super rich. Her husband is a famous architect here in Puebla who travels all over. Well this Sunday I had my 3rd baptism!! Jose Luis Torres passed his interview this week and we baptized him on Sunday :) it was awesome and I'm so happy for him. It was also Stake Conference here, and so through satellite (Spanish is killing my English) transmission, we heard from Elder Bednar, Sister Dalton, and Elder Scott. He was awesome! The best was Elder Scott though because he can speak Spanish, so we got to hear him speak Spanish, it was cool. When it's translated its just not quite the same when it's their voice. Anyway today we played basketball as a zone, which was really fun. Elder Knowlton and I are the only Americas in the entire zone, and we played two on two companionship....we never lost haha :) Latinos can kick our trash in soccer, but when is comes to basketball they got nothin.

Well I hope this email finds you all safe and happy. If you have in questions, just shoot :) what's the girls been up to? Any date dances lately? If some kid asks them, put me on skype so I can chew em out first haha ;) Anyway I love ya'll con todo que soy. La Iglesia De Jesucristo De Los Santos De Los Últimos Días es la iglesia viviente y verdadera. Lo sé con ninguna duda. I have lived and experienced it in my own life, and in the lives of other people. Never take for granted what we have! Love ya guys. Keep up the good work. 

Con Amor,

Elder Kitchen

Los Kitchens, (Cocinas)                                                                                            March 4, 2013

Buenos tardes from Puebla! ¿Cómo le ha ido familia? Well another week has come and gone (week 2 in ward Agua Azul).  That means that the transfer is already half-way over.   It's half-way over because this transfer is only 4 weeks instead of 6 weeks.  I'm pretty sure because of some of the changes in the MTC.  I'm guessing that in 2 weeks, Elder Knowlton and I will stay together here in Puebla without any changes, but I guess you never know out here in the mission. Sounds like things are going well back at home. I hope you all had a great week.  I'm glad that you all liked all those pictures that you sent you last week. Unfortunately, I don't have the means to send you pictures this week...sorry! Thanks Mom for sharing some experiences from you calling, and the things that you've both been learning from teaching others. Even if the kids don't listen real good, you're right Mom, the teacher often times learns more than the student. I find that to be a truth out here all the time. I really enjoyed the quotes that you sent me about the Atonement, and the testimony that you shared with me mamma :) It's true though, through the atonement we are able to progress and grow to our fullest potential. Haha Dad yeah my shoes got really dirty out in Atexcac just about every day because we would have to walk on dusty dirt paths.  For example, in the picture with Dolores, we were helping him with his sheep and we were walking in dirt fields a lot. Here in Puebla my shoes are nice and shiny, literally it has been a 180 degree change.  Mom have fun up there at Clear Creek, I remember still when I went way back when...it's weird how time flies by right? Also, to answer you question about the package, I really think that it would get here just fine if you sent it like normal. I see missionaries getting packages all the time without any problems. Maybe just a tip to make it even safer: Tape a picture of the Virgen of Guadelupe to the package and nobody will mess with it hahaha it's true. People worship the virgen Guadelupe here in Mexico...like literally. 

Well we had a really busy and interesting week. It started last Monday with a first lesson from a kid named Alberto (16 years old) that Elder Knowlton contacted at a members house. We taught some of the 1st lesson, and taught a whole lot about Jesus Christ. I had a really cool experience with the scriptural promise in D&C when it says that if you treasure the word of God, in the very moment as needed, the spirit will bring it back to remembrance. Alberto had the question of why Jesus Christ had to be hit, bruised, lashed, and smitten; in that very moment the Spirit directed me to Isaiah 53: 3-5. As he read it the Spirit touched his heart and he was moved to believe in the Atonement of the Savior. That same first lesson he accepted the invitation to be baptized! It was a great experience. We also gained 3 new investigators the following day on Tuesday, a small family with the mother and two kids. We didn't have a great lesson with them, but they accepted another visit, so we are excited to continue teaching them as well. We actually had 2 really good investigators (Raymundo y Nadine) and they for going to get baptized for sure, but sadly for us they moved to a different house just outside our area, which is just outside the south mission as well :( Oh well, it's not our baptism, rather the Lord's right? I am blessed to have gotten the chance to teach them a few times. Other days of the week we made visits to less active members and also had a couple of rough days when the appointments fell through one after the other. Elder Knowlton is the District Leader for the Assistants, so we went to their area so that Elder Knowlton could interview one of their investigators. While he did that, I got to go teach some investigators with the Elder Lavato (Assistante [I can't spell in english anymore] who is from Wyoming). Wow I learned a lot from the way that he teaches. We also had a meeting with two zones on Friday and Elder Johnson from the 70 came and talked with us. I learned a lot from him too. It's been a good week, and I'm excited for this week to get going. As for the spanish, I can understand everything now, only a word here and there that I don't know. I'm also speaking well without much trouble at all. I can communicate anything I want now. I have a goal to learn at least 5 new Spanish words every single day (except for P-day) Well that's what is going on out here in Ward Agua Azul (blue water haha).

I better get off now. I love and miss ya'll so much. Keep it up with all the good hard work. Like I always say, do the small and simple things that bring the spirit into your lives. It makes all the difference in the world. I hope that you all enjoy this coming week! Remember this: "Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary use words." I love that quote! May God bless each and every one of you. Thank you so much for the continued love and support. Until next week,

Con Amor

Elder Kitchen  

Querida Familia,                                                                                                 February 25, 2013

Wow! This is another one of those letters that I have a TON to tell you all about! As you already know, I had transfers this week. One Tuesday morning we packed up, said some final good-byes, and headed out to downtown Puebla. I had some mixed emotions leaving, but I'm sure that's how it always is when you leave an area that you've been serving in for a long time. We arrived at the chapel which is located on the street called Valsequillo in Puebla. My life has changed 180 degrees! I am know serving in downtown Puebla...in the City! The ward is called Agua Azul. Our church building is actually the one that everybody meets at for transfer meetings. It is so much different, but I love it already. We have everything in our area! We have two plazas with huge malls, Wal-mart, tons of restaurants, the mission offices, and we actually have El Centro De Puebla which is the very center of Puebla! It is the coolest area. I'm here with Elder Knowlton from Springville Utah and he has 15 months on the mission (my first American comp.) and he is really cool and a great missionary. I already know that I'm going to learn a lot from him. As for the Spanish, don't worry, because we have a goal to speak in Spanish all the time except for nights after planning. We've actually done well with that already. Elder Knowlton is the Leader of our District which consists of us and the Assistants to the President haha. The mission home is in the area right next to ours, but not too far. Also, the missionary couple and secretary of the mission Elder and Sister De La Rosa are in our ward. It's been a big change for me haha. We live in an apartment on Juan Pablo II (street) which is one of the buiser streets in the area. Well that's where I am now! I'm sure you have some questions, so I'll try to answer them next P-day.

Okay so I'm going to attempt to share as much as I can with what we've been up to here in downtown Puebla. On Tuesday afternoon we dropped off my bags and got straight to work. We had an evening full of appointments. right from the start. I'm had to adjust a little bit with my Spanish and we just interacting in general because the people are a lot different in the City, but equally as nice and awesome. Some people call this area the rich area because we have quite a bit of rich people in our ward and in the area. As far as the work, we have a ton of investigators that we are working with and about 4 right now that are progressing really well. We have a lot more work here as far as investigators. I'll have to tell you more about our investigators next week. Wow I just don't know how to explain it. Hmm well we take a whole lot of buses to get from place to place because the area is pretty big. This week we taught a few people for the first time as well which was a new and good experience for me. Well I'll tell you about two more things we were able to do this week and then I've got to wrap it up. President Reeves did give us permission to go to the baptism in Atexcac, so on Saturday we took a little trip back up there for the baptism. On Friday Elder Olvera and his new comp called me and told me that Ennis wanted me to baptize him...so I packed up all the white clothes and we headed out there on a bus. The baptism went really well, and shortly after I said bye to a few more people there and we headed back. It was about an all day trip. It was a great experience! Well today after dropping off our clothes with a member (they wash, dry, and fold all our clothes for us every week!!!! Wooo!) and visiting the mission office for a few minutes, we decided to head over to the Center of Puebla. Whoa. I thought I left the country and I was in Spain or Rome or something. It is such a cool city here we've got to come back to visit. There are huge old churches everywhere. The center has the famous catholic church, and it's massive! So cool. The center is really nice with trees, fountains, cool stores, everything. I saw a ton of foreign people there too. After that we went to what is called Plaza Dorada (golden plaza) and we browsed around the mall because we had some extra time. It's been a way cool P-day. 

I've gotta wrap it up. I hope you like the pictures I sent you all. I think I'm going to send another email with more pictures as well. Oh and before I forget...Dad you're going to be really jealous...but we ate at a taco stand across the street from our house on Juan Pablo II and.....Wow....The BEST tacos I've ever had in my entire life!!! They were incredible. They are called Tacos Árabes which are unique to Puebla only. They cost 14 peso for two huge tacos (that's like a little more than 1 dollar). Anyway don't worry bout me we are doing really well out here. I love getting to chance to teach investigators a lot more. I've already had multiple spiritual experiences here in the new area. I LOVE my mission. It is the best experience ever. One interesting thing to tell you before I get off is that we've found out that there is suppose to be 42 new missionaries arriving in 3 weeks at the end of this shortened transfer. 42! That means that there is going to be a ton of new trainers, so President is really stressing that we all prepare ourselves so that if we are asked to train we are ready. Just in case Elder Knowlton is going to start helping me a lot with my teaching and contacting skills, so that if I'm called to train I'll be ready. Wow I don't feel ready yet, but who knows with all these new missionaries coming. Well I love all of you so much. Keep up the good work in Utah and remind me to share some of the spiritual experiences I've had here already with you next week. Love you! 

Con Amor,

Elder Kitchen