HEY GUYS!                                                                                                            July 28, 2014

Thanks for the emails and pictures!! Love you guys. It was fun to re-live the moment that I arrived from HT with Jami's pictures. I'm sure she loved it just like you guys have said. It is literally a trip of a lifetime. Like her, I learned and grew a lot on that trip. It was really cool to see Kaylee out there on the northwest coast with Madi. It looks beautiful up there, honestly. Kaylee sure has grown up...she is the one that probably has grown up the most since I've been out here. Mom, Dad, I'm glad you guys had a great time on you anniversary celebration. You deserve it. Haha Dad I got a kick out of the pictures of Brooks that you sent me. He's a cute little kid and I'm sure he'll be really good at sports when he's older. Thanks for the ward missionary news. Our ward is seriously on fire right now. Last night my mind was going a hundred miles an hour. It dawned on me that in 2 weeks I'll be giving my homecoming talk. That is honestly going to be a very strange experience for me. I'm just not used to talked about the Gospel in English...but we'll see how it goes. This Sunday is fast Sunday, so I'm going to head up there and give a final testimony in Spanish :) Tell Jami that I'm also excited to share experiences from HT with her. It'll be fun. Mom, good luck with all the school stuff. I'm sure you an expert now with the years of experience that you now have as a teacher. Dad I'm sure it was weird for you to not have any kids at the Coon reunion...did anyone make fun of you guys?? haha

Anyway you asked me how this week went, and how the work has been going. Elder Conrad and I killed it this week. We taught a ton of lessons to investigators and we also we were able to visit our recent converts. It was a good week. Manuel and Pedro from that reactivating family are doing really good, but they weren't able to get baptized this Sunday. Their dad obviously wants to baptize them, and we also want it to happen that way. He wasn't able to get an interview with the bishop because of his work. We have the goal to baptize them this Sunday the 3rd of August...lets hope and pray!! Also, we saw Leonardo again this week. He got back from Puebla, and we saw him a few times this week. He told us how he was having trials from family and friends telling him not to get baptized and stuff. After some cool experiences with prayer, he is super excited to get baptized again!! He also went to church, and we invited him to be baptized on the 3rd of August as well and he accepted. I'm really excited!! He wants to go on a mission already and everything. He's 22 years old. This week we want to have a super good one. I want to finish well and with no regrets. 

Thanks Dad for what you said. It's true I thought about all the things that I've done and learned and the way that I've served and being able to make it all the way to the end, and honestly I feel great. It's a satisfying feeling, but I still have a wee left, so I'm not done yet! I want to thank all of you for your amazing support, prayers, and encouragement. I couldn't have done it without you. I LOVE MY MISSION and I know I've served where the Lord wanted me to serve. I LOVE THIS PEOPLE, LANGUAGE, AND COUNTRY. Part of me is really sad to be ending..and leaving this place, but obviously I'm excited as well. After all that being said, I still haven't quite understood that fact that I'm on my last week...anyway..the Church is true. Jesus Christ is our savior and Redeemer. I know that we have divine potential to become like our Father in Heaven thanks to our great example and friend; even the Son of the Living God, Jesus Christ. Our Father send His Son because He loves us and wants us to inherit all that he has. What a blessing. 

con amor,

Elder Ryan Kitchen

Family!                                                                                   July 21, 2014

Thanks for the emails. I read them all and found great strength in each one of them. Thanks for all the things you all shared and said. You're all amazing. This week I feel great and I'm super happy and well. I see that you all are doing great as well. What a blessing! I've often thought about how blessed we are with everything. I'm so grateful that the Lord has protected both you all and I while I have been serving. Well to answer some questions, mom Elder Conrad just renewed his visa, so for maybe a few days his old one was expired and that's why I said that. Sounds like a lot of work that you're going to have to get your room ready and everything when school starts. Hmm maybe I can help you out. The ward update was awesome. Thanks for always keeping me informed on how things are going with everyone. That is awesome how much of us "veterans" are coming home. Like you said though, more are leaving. That's really funny that only Kaylee was able to go to the Ellsworth reunion and that none are going to be able to go to the Kitchen one. Sounds like you guys are some empty- nesters right now. Don't worry though, it sounds like it will full up some again soon. Dad thanks for the golf update. I'm really excited to go. Just wait. 2 years is going to have purified my swing and I'm gonna kick your butt...haha....I doubt it. I'm glad your back feels better and everything.

 Well this week was a little rough. A lot of appts. kept falling through. We are still working hard and everything though. We had a good planning session in which we make a bunch of good plans to find some new people to teach and stuff. We weren't able to see our investigators very much. Leonardo had to go to Puebla because his dad is sick in the hospital...:( We hope that he comes back soon though. We have faith that we will be able to see our investigators a lot and get them all ready for their baptismal dates. I feel great this week. I just really want to work hard until the end and return with honor. I've made a goal not to think about home anymore, or talk about it with anyone....well I guess today is the exception. I was able to talk to President Stellmon a bit and get to know him a little better. He gave me some really good advice. 

Well thanks again mom and dad for the advice and for your words. I love each and every one of you. Kaylee, have a great time at girls camp, Jami live it up on HT, and Tyler, keep working your butt off. I'm proud of all the great things you're doing. Staying of the straight and narrow path takes concentrated effort. We should never let ourselves feel too comfortable, because that's when the adversary gets involved. Don't let that happen. Remember Him daily. Give thanks for the MANY GREAT BLESSING that he gives us. Let us have a pure heart and a firm mind. I heard a quote this week that goes like this: "La ociosidad es la madre de todos los vicios" which means "Idleness is the mother of all vices." I don't know I liked it. That's why is always important to be busy and doing good things. 

Well that's all

Con amor

Elder Ryan Kitchen 

Hey guys!                                                                                                                 July 14, 2014

Sounds like everyone is doing fine. Thanks for writing. Hey I got an email from Cole Hegerhorst, and Steve Clarke. That was cool. They just asked me about when I was getting home and all that. I'm glad you guys had a good anniversary. Yeah you should go do something when the house is all empty and everyone is gone doing stuff. That is so great that Jami is having a great experience on HT. I am so grateful for that trip. I experienced so much and my testimony grew a lot. I can't believe I went so all of those places. A few times on my mission as we taught and testified about the experience of Joesph Smith, I have shared how I have walked through the very place where the Prophet saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I often share how I was able to know with a surety that he was a Prophet of God. It is really cool to be able to share a unique testimony like that.

This week we had to go to Puebla on Tuesday to renew Elder Conrad's visa. He completed a year recently, and so now he is legal in this country haha. We are really good friends. It's been really cool to finish off my mission with him in this awesome area that I'd always wanted to serve in. I'm happy about it. We were able to see all of our investigators this week. The family with the two brothers who are going to get baptized are awesome! We love them. We are going over tomorrow with them. We are going to have a little family night type of message and then eat pizza apparently, should be nice. We've also been seeing Leonardo...mom he's the other one that should be baptized. He didn't go to church though, so we are going to have to help him out with that. He needs to go at least two more times before he gets baptized. Well Jonathan and Dulce (those that need to get married) are doing well. They have everything they need to get married, but they need to get a bit of money together. We've been pushing to put a goal with them, but they haven't decided yet. We've done just about as much as we can as missionaries. Lets hope they can get married soon. We really need to find some new people to teach as well. I need to leave the area good.

Well Germany won the world cup, not that America cares very much. Everyone has been talking about it lately here. It was pretty cool to be here during the world cup. I'm going to keep moving forward. They teach you how to be all prepared for the mission, but they never teach you how to end it...haha it's pretty weird/hard sometimes. I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON. Read it everyday please. It's amazing and we really should read it everyday. That's a goal I have. Say your morning and evening prayers. Pray as a family, and individually. Mom and Dad, pray together. It's the way we communicate with God, and it's so important. How are we with God? Let's do all that we can to feel well with Him and to please Him and serve in His church. I read Alma 5 the other day. Read it. It's really strong, but Alma spoke the truth. Love you guys!! Keep up the good work.

con amor

Elder Ryan Kitchen

HELLO!!                                                                                                                        July 7, 2014

Well I'm officially in the last month of my mission. This week went pretty well. Elder Conrad are I are still doing great, and great in our area! Sounds like everyone is busy and enjoying the 4th and all that. We were going to do some stuff, but we ended up not doing anything on the 4th...that's okay, I'm in Mexico so it's not a big deal here. Yeah dad we saw president in a special meeting on Tuesday and they introduced themselves and everything. They are from northern Idaho, actually where there isn't many members. He is really cool! Funny too. It's weird because he is like "Greenie" and us older missionaries feel really really old now. It's cool though, I'll prob get to know him a little bit. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!! Wow guys that's awesome. 25 years...that's great. Now you got at least 25+ to go ;) haha nice! I'm glad everyone had a good 4th. That's pretty crazy that everyone is going on trips or working n stuff. I guess that's always how it gets in the summer. Mom that's cool you talked to Elder Conrad's mom. They seem like a great family. I hope they'll get to go to my homecoming. By the way, when is my homecoming exactly?? I think you told me already, but I don't remember. Has the bishop already told you guys? I'm really excited for Jami and how she's going on Heritage Tours! I know she'll have a great trip and it will help her testimony grow. 

Well this week Elder Conrad and I weren't able to teach as much as other weeks, but we were able to baptize our investigator, Miriam!! We got everything ready and she was baptized yesterday on Sunday. She is awesome!! From the first time we taught her, she was willing to change and to keep the commandments. She already had a desire to get baptized and we were privileged to just prepare her. We are struggling with finding new people to teach with all the ones that we have right now. We still have 3 baptismal dates programmed. One for the 20th, and 2 for the 26th. We are teaching this awesome less active family that finally went to church yesterday!! Their two sons are going to be baptized on the 26th, Manuel, who is 12, and Pedro, who is 10. I'm really happy here and I feel blessed with many great people to teach at the end of my mission. We hope to help Jonathan get married so that he can be baptized round the 3rd of August... like my very last Sunday!! I hope it happens. 

Well that's all for me. Mom, Dad, I hope you have a great anniversary! Have fun, you deserve it. I hope all you guys and I'm so happy to be serving and I'm also so excited to see you all in a month! But like mom says...I'll try not to think about it too much :) Stay strong.

con amor,

Elder Ryan Kitchen

Hey family,                                                                                                                   June 30, 2014

Sorry for not writing very much last week. It was a pretty interesting p day. Dad asked for a quick review of what we did so here it goes. He headed for Puebla on the ADO Travel bus from here in Tehuacan at around 2 o'clock. I had my final interview with President Reeves which went great. It wasn't a full final interview, it was just him giving us a bunch of great advice of what to do after the mission and stuff. He took us out to Chili's after which was great. It was fun to be with the whole generation and everything. Actually President Reeves is already gone! He left like on Thursday when Pres. Stellmon arrived. I thought Pres. Reeves was going to be here longer, but no he is already back in Arizona. Crazy huh? We are having a special meeting with the new Pres. this Wednesday. I'll met him just in time to say goodbye to him basically haha. 

Well thanks for letting me know what's been going on. That's cool that you are having fun on your trips and everything. I'm sure Tyler is super busy. What are the girls doing? I haven't heard from them in a long time. This time of year is always fun right around the 4th and everything huh? It's no big deal here in Mexico. Although, the world cup of soccer has been going on for a few weeks and everyone goes crazy here. It's on every TV in every store and everyone knows about it and watches it. They tell us how teams are doing and stuff. Apparently Mexico lost and everyone is mad about that. USA is still in. It's a really big deal here. Is it that big of deal in the States? Probably no right? 

This week went pretty well. After that cool p day, I stayed in Puebla for Presidents last change meeting and changes (transfers). It was CRAZY! He made quite a few changes for the new president and everything. He explained that many of us older missionaries have all had good opportunities to serve in leadership positions and that the missionaries (elders) just stopped coming and many of us haven't left the mission either. Because of that, there was a lot of good missionaries that haven't had the opportunity to be leaders in the mission. So basically my whole generation of missionaries (there is about 11 or 12) are all either normal senior comps or even junior comps. I'm just a normal senior comp now with Elder Conrad and had been serving as a District leader last transfer. Pres Reeves said it's what he knew was right and needed to be done for the good of the mission in the future. It's really cool though because now we have a ton of time to work in our area. It now gives other missionaries an opportunity to learn in a position of leadership. In our area we have been working hard. Benjamin got baptized on Saturday!! (inv.) It was one of the best baptismal services that I've ever been a part of. I don't have pics right now sorry. Our other investigators are doing good, just that they didn't make it to church. We are going to see why this week. 

Well I'm basically rolling into my last month on the mission. It's pretty weird. I can't really comprehend the idea of being home...honestly. I try not to think about it very much. It's a goal of mine to end my mission really well and with no regrets. Sometimes it's hard to avoid slight trunky-ness though. I'll do my best! The work is true!! I'm so glad to be where I am and to be doing what I'm doing. Stay well and be happy and healthy. Be strong in the church and in the Gospel. Love the Gospel. It's the most important. 

con amor,

Elder Ryan Kitchen

Hey guys!                                                                                                                      June 23, 2014

I don't have much time to write this time. I know I say that a lot, and then I end up writing a bunch, but this time it's true. I'm writing from the offices of the mission right now in Puebla with my whole generation of missionaries all around me. We are here being interviewed by Pres. Reeves because he will be leaving in a few weeks, and he wanted to talk with us one last time. They will be taking us out to dinner in a little bit and that's why I can't write much. 

Well thanks for writing! Mom your trip sounded way cool. I don't have time to comment much about it, but I'm glad you had such a good trip. And dad that's cool you got to play a bunch of golf. 

This week Elder Conrad and I ended up with 5 baptismal dates!! It's so crazy here I love it. We are working hard and being blessed. We will be staying together and I will end my mission with him in this ward in Tehuacan. I'm super happy about it!!

I hope you all have a great week!!

Elder Ryan Kitchen

Hey guys                                                                                                                        June 16, 2014

Wow! That was a cool picture mom! I can't believe you guys are on the Virgin Island. Where is that anyway? I don't remember. Oh by the way, I have a good mission friend from Puerto Rico, and he's actually the assistant to the president right now. His name's Elder Iñesta. Dad I hope you had a great Father's day. You sure deserve a to be honored on that for everything that you have done for our family. I was going to write a few things to mom so that she could print if off for you, but I didn't have time last week at the internet to right. Sounds like you all had a really interesting weekend. Dad I got a kick out of you stroll through the strip in Vegas with Uncle Lindsey. I'm sure Vegas is getting worse and worse as time goes on. Well mom and Jami, be safe and have a great time. I'm glad that you're able to go on a great trip :) That's cool that Tyler's doing so well out in Dallas working. I'm sure it's just super hot out there!! 

Well here in the Tehuacan ward Elder Conrad and I baptized our investigator named Armando!! He is awesome. I'm glad we were able to teach him and get to know him. He had to really make some changes in his life. He used to be a drinker, but about a year before he met us, he stopped drinking and started to change. It's a testimony to me that the Lord prepares those that are ready to listen to the Gospel. We were able to teach a lot of lessons this week, and we have some really good lessons set for this week. I'm not sure if I told you about Jonathon yet. He is the boyfriend of one of the members here in the ward. They're aren't married yet and they have two kids...they are just living together. About a 3 months ago the missionaries were teaching him and he wanted to get baptized. They told him that he couldn't until he got married. He starting having doubts and couldn't accept that he had to complete with man's law before God's law of baptism. The missionaries stopped going for a time. Elder Conrad and I started visiting him again and studied really good to be able to answer his questions with the Spirit. We had an awesome lesson on marriage and the law of chastity. The Spirit was felt and he got his answers. They are now going to get married and he is going to get baptized!!! Awesome stuff. We're happy for them. We're going to help them with the marriage process and even be some witnesses at the wedding. 

Well things are going great over here. Keep telling me what's going on with you guys. I love hearing from you all and being able to see that you're happy and healthy. Keep doing to right things and being strong in the Gospel. We also had this way spiritual experience with this investigator named Benjamin who is 18 years old. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and re invited him to be baptized. He wasn't too sure about baptism before, but his time he said, "I wasn't too sure before, but now I know it's true. He is going to be baptized on the 28th of June :) We have other people on the way as well. I love you guys! Have a great week!!

con amor,

Elder Ryan Kitchen

P.s I'm on the last week before the start of my last transfer...wow.

Hey family,                                                                                                               June 9, 2014
Sorry dad for thinking that you were turning 55...it's because I thought I saw someone say that in a different letter and that's what came to mind first. When I wrote it, it was weird because I remember you turning 50 not too long ago. We'll sounds like everyone had a great week and that you all have some pretty fun stuff planned for the summer. Yeah mom that sounds really fun to be apart of a brand new school and everything. I remember when you first started in a trailer building and it was a really hard year. I'm sure you're all experienced now :) Dad, that course that you sent pictures of seems awesome!! A course right there in the pines.  I forgot that you girls we're going on a cruise soon, that's awesome. Have fun!

We'll this week was just okay. A bunch of appointments fell through and stuff, but we were still able to put two new baptismal dates with investigators. They are awesome and they will be getting baptized this month if all goes well. I'm blessed to be serving here in this place and I'm having a great time with elder Conrad. He is the companion that I've been able to relate with the most out here. He'll probably end up being my favorite companion. We found a couple new people, but mainly some new good referrals from members. We hope to get some more new people to teach. 

Dad happy Father's Day on Sunday!! I hope you have a great day. You have mad a huge impact on my life, more than you know. You are and always have been a great example to me. You have worked hard many countless hours in order to provide everything for us. THANK YOU. You deserve a great dad pops. I'll be thinking about you. Well I hope everyone has an awesome week. Sorry my letter was kinda short.. I don't have much time this week. Love you guys.

Con amor

Elder kitchen

Hey!!                                                                                                                            June 2, 2014

Big what's up from Tehuacán :) Things are going great over here. I loved your emails. That is so crazy that Jami graduated on Friday......wow...you're right dad everyone is growing up really fast. I still remember when I graduated and it doesn't seem too long ago. Thanks for sending the pictures and everything. You all look really good.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPS! I just looked and you'll have you birthday on Sunday, so I have to congratulate you right now. I hope you have a really good day. And you're really not that old at all so don't worry. Mom thanks for telling me about your new school and everything. That's pretty cool that you get to go to the new school and that you'll have less students in the school. Are you going to get a nice classroom inside the building and everything? I'm sure you glad to get a break from work and enjoy the summer. Jami congrats on the graduation! Wow you're so grown up now. That's way cool that you graduated with honors. Nice work. I'm proud of you Jami. That's funny that Kaylee is now an official senior in high school...also hard to believe. Wow in about a year, mom and dad, you'll have two RM sons and everyone out of high school and going to college.

Well this week we baptized the two investigators that Elder Conrad and I found in the first week here!! It was awesome! Rosalba, who is about 50 years old or so, and Oliver, who is 11 years old. It was so cool with Oliver though because his mom and brother that were completely less active have come back to church and they have experienced a strong conversion as well. It was cool to teach a whole family again. The service was great too. They both shared their testimonies during the service and it was really motivating to see brand new converts share their testimonies and especially from 11 year old and how much he loves the Gospel. It was awesome!! Well other than that we didn't have an amazing week with finding and everything. We have some goals to improve and to find more people.

Well we are now in June. This is crazy. I'm glad to find you all happy and healthy. It's important to stay in the center of the Gospel. We need to always be checking ourselves to find that which can set us off course. What comes next is to change it. Humble yourself before God and realize that He knows best :) Scripture study and prayer is also super important. If you go throughout a whole day without any "spiritual bread" your soul will hunger and your spiritual progress will be hindered. Be who God wants you to be because at the end of the day...what else matters? Have a great week!!

con amor

Elder Ryan Kitchen

Hey everyone.                                                                                                           May 26, 2014
 Here we are yet again in another P-day. It comes so fast sometimes. Well sounds like everyone is doing well. Mom sounds like you and your team had a good time in St. George. That's too bad that you are all now going to stay together though. Mom what school are you going to go to?? That's pretty cool...is it like a brand new school? Yeah mom I'm really excited to be here though in Tehuacán. It's awesome I love it. Elder Conrad is way cool we are getting along great. He is just about to complete a year on the mission actually so yeah I'm like way old to him right now haha. Jami congrats on the graduation from seminary! Good work. That's awesome. Hey you guys look really good in the seminary graduation picture, thanks for sending that :) Sounds like a cool system thing for Kit. Does that mean that she can roam around the yard, but when she tries to leave it gives her a little shock? So I individually sent happy birthday emails to everyone :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAY PEOPLE :) Congratulations.

Well this week here in our area was great. Mom you mentioned the investigator that was already here, but also Elder Conrad have found others since I've been here and they are progressing super well!! They've already gone to church several times. Two of the new ones, Oliver and Rosalba are going to be baptized on the 31st with the other one named Armando. It's going to be awesome. That means this week we've got to get everything ready to go and get their interviews and all that. Our goal is to do all that, but also find some new people to teach. I really want to teach a new family. I'll pray for it. This week was great though, we taught SO MUCH. We're having a lot of fun while doing it too. It's been good. Well...I'm closing in on the 22nd month mark and I can hardly believe it. It just really is driving me to find people and to do it NOW because the people I find now will be those I teach last. I don't think about it much...actually I feel exactly the same and sometimes I don't even remember. It's awesome and I know that I'm going to finish my mission well and strong. 

Well I hope you guys have a great week. I have a few pictures, but I forgot my cord for my camera, so I'll send it next week with some baptism photos. YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING! I love you all to death. I'm nothing without you. It's awesome to see all that you're doing in your lives. Be the best you can be and do that which will uplift those around you so that they can feel the light of Christ that is so desperately needed in the world today. Don't settle for anything less than great. Les amo muchísimo...son todo para mí. Los voy a ver pronto ;0

con amor

Elder Ryan Kitchen 

Hey guys!                                                                                                                        May 19, 2014
So I figure if I write where I am down in the other paragraph you'll all just go down to see if first, so I'll let you know right now. A big hi family from Tehuacán!! That's right I'm where I've always wanted to be on my mission. It's awesome down here. It's a little over 2 hours from Puebla and it's the farthest I've been from Puebla on my mission haha. It's a really big place with a population of around 400,000 people...yeah pretty big. Well we've been around a bit already and it's pretty awesome here. They really keep this place a lot cleaner than any other place that I've been here in Mexico. It's awesome. There is one stake here and I'm serving in the Tehuacán ward. It's cool, we have a part that touches downtown and then goes all the way up out of Tehuacán and to a pueblo called Miohuatlan. My companion is Elder Conrad from Draper, UT!! Yeah!! It's my 3rd comp from UT, 5th American. I've had, counting the MTC, 6 American and 6 Mexican comps. Elder Conrad is way cool and we like a lot of the same things. He's a great guy. I'll let you know more about my week here in the other paragraph.

Mom that's cool that you guys went to Trever's homecoming and that you saw a lot of my buds there. Yeah it's kinda funny that I'm the last one out huh? Well you guys did yard work this week. Sounds like a lot a fun ;) haha. That's good that you're planting a garden though. Good work. Maybe you can plant some habanero peppers so that something can be spicy to me when I get home. Dad that's awesome that Jami is going to graduate on the 30th!! Mom's birthday! Awesome.  Kaylee is headed for the big senior year huh? That's mind-blowing. It does seem like time is going by really fast.

So this week was awesome! Something weird...the transfer meeting got postponed because of a storm that blew through here, and kept the Americans from getting here on Tuesday. We had the transfer meeting on Wednesday instead. We got here on Wednesday night. From Thursday to Sunday we were able to put a baptismal date with an investigator that they already had here, and we found two different ones and in the same week put two more dates with them!! It was a miracle. This place is full of great people. Elder Conrad and I are really excited to be here and work together. It's going to be really fun. I feel like it's the perfect opportunity to apply everything that I've learned thus far on my mission. It's going to be great. Well like I'm sure you've already all guessed, this will probably be my last area. I'm going to make it the best. We've got a lot of work to do.

Thanks for always thinking of me and keeping me in your prayers. I love each and every one of you. You are all amazing examples of faith to me. I hope you all have a great week in everything that you'll do. Remember that you're always in my prayers. Let me know if there's anything I can do for you guys. Ask me as many questions as you'd like. Until next week.

Elder Ryan Kitchen

Hey guys!                                                                                                                        May 12, 2014

Well it's been a while huh? ;) it was so fun "Skype"ing with everyone again!! Like you said mom, it was especially fun to see Paulette, Uncle coach, Brooks, and grandma and grandpa. It's pretty awesome that we could do the 3 way Skype for a while even though it didn't work out perfectly. Mom I'm glad a made  your day...you made mine as well thanks! I hope you had a wonderful Mother's day and that you received all the many thanks that you deserve. You're the best mama in the world. Well kinda like you said there isn't a whole lot to talk about because we just talked yesterday. Oh and yeah sorry mom I hope you don't feel bad that I talked for a while with Tyler and Jami. It's cause you guys told me to call him again, and you know how it goes as brothers, we just talked about a lot of stuff. Also you know Tyler, he talks a lot too :) I loved the call thought it was awesome!

Well.....guess what? I'm getting transferred! Wow! I feel like I just got here and now I'm already leaving. It's nuts, I've been here now for two transfers. Like you know, I don't know where I'm going yet or who with until tomorrow at the transfer meeting. I'm really excited to see where I'll be going. It's almost for sure that the next area that I'm getting is going to be my last area and that I'll end my mission there. It's going to be interesting. You'll have to wait until next Monday to find out. Well mom you asked about the people that we were teaching from the reorganized church. Yeah they're doing alright. I think we've seen them one other time since the last time I wrote about them. This has been probably the hardest area that I've serving in on my mission. We have working really hard and just visited tons of people, but we weren't able to see much people progress. I was able to find a bunch of new investigators as well, but they aren't chosen I guess. It's okay thought I know that I've planted some seeds and that German will be baptized someday and that the area will progress in the future. We've got those missionary activities going good in both wards. It was a lot of work to plan out and everything, but now every other week they're doing it and it's successful. I feel like that can really help. I was only able to do about 5 of them, but my comp will continue doing them. Well this morning I just about packed everything. After this we are going to do some other things and then say goodbye to some people I'm sure. I've learned and grown in this town. It's impressive how many members there are and how well the Gospel has been accepted here. It really is a blessed place...but I'm glad that I'm not ending my mission here haha. Well I'll let you know what happens in a week!

Love you guys to death. Like you said sometimes it's a bit tough to get off the call and get back into the work. I couldn't fall asleep last night until late because I was thinking about the call, you guys, and the transfer. I really miss all of you so much. It makes me so happy to know that you are all doing so well and that you're happy and healthy. It's so cool to see all that you are doing in your lives and the great things that you are accomplishing. I'm really excited to see you all in 3 months and to be able to do a bunch of fun stuff together, but until then I will work hard and forget about it...haha. I want to finish my mission really well and not get "trunky." Of course I'll be excited and I miss everyone, but I also know that this is a once in a life time experience and that I need to take advantage of every moment. I Lord still needs me and my testimony in the mission field until the end. I know this work is true and that God lives and loves each of us. It's inspiring to be a part of such a great cause. Seeing and hearing from you has given me motivation to be even better and to reach my goals. Thank YOU. Love you guys. 

con amor,

Elder Ryan Kitchen

Hey everyone!                                                                                                                  May 5 2014

Well it's Cinco de Mayo today, but honestly they don't even do anything at all. I didn't even remember that it was cinco de mayo until mom told me. Well I just had a random thought...9 years ago today I hit my first home run off of Scott Andros in little league with a broken arm..remember that Dad? Time goes by fast. Mom I hope you are excited for the call! It's the last one...wow. I'm also excited to see Lynn, Paulette, and grandma and grandpa. That's going to be fun. That's too bad Jami and Tyler can't be there, but it's okay they're doing important things and we'll see each other soon enough.  That's weird the think about. That's cool that I'll be home before she has it though. I hope that Grandpa Smith gets his 5th generation photo! He is super old, but way healthy that's nuts. Tell him congratulations for me and don't tell him I said he's super old...haha. Tell Aunt Easter congrats of getting her masters degree that's so cool. Make sure you all tell Samantha congrats and everything with her wedding this Wednesday! Take bunch of pictures please. 

Well this week went by faster than any week this transfer! We are now starting week 6 of the transfer which is the last week of the transfer. Who knows what will happen. Things could change up a bit. Well we had some good days this week. We taught a lot more, so things seem to be looking up. We had splits with a district leader on Tuesday, went to a district meeting on Wednesday, had the long leadership meeting on thursday, and stayed overnight with the assistants in order to go to the mission council on Friday. We received a lot of good instruction from Pres Reeves like always. We don't have much time with him. I learned a lot of good things and me and my companion feel ready for our zone meeting this Tuesday. We also have interviews with Pres. on Thursday. They are his last interviews with the mission. Not for us though. He told us that he is going to do final interviews with our generation right before he leaves hehe :P we're special. And then, like you know, we are going to Skype on Sunday. It should be a good week. We have some good appointments set for this week, and two ward activities that we are still putting on, one in Reforma and one in Tetenco. It should be good. 

On...Saturday of this week we taught a few people that are from this apostate group from the reorganized church...yeah it's pretty odd that they are gotten all the way out here too. It's super strange teaching them because they believe in almost everything we do they just are wrong in a few things. One of them said that they had been thinking a lot about he scripture in the bible that says "the truth will set you free" and he asked "I don't know what that means exactly...how can we know what the truth is and how does it set you free?" My comp looked at me and I didn't know what to say on the spot. It was kinda of nerve racking because we thought that they were the leaders of the group and that they were going to say something to us. The spirit helped us so much and we read scriptures in the Book of Mormon and D&C in order to help him. That brought up other subjects and then we were able to talk about how their church (group) is different and that they need to find the truth of all things. It was great. Pretty interesting experience teaching them. Well keep up the good work. SEE  YOU ON SUNDAY!!! WOOO :)

con amor

Elder Ryan Kitchen

Wassup family!                                                                                                    April 28, 2014

Hey thanks for all the letters. Sounds like all is well at home. It seemed like Jami had a good time at prom! Wow she was looking really pretty! That's nuts that she is about to graduate high school...I can't believe it. I'm glad you had a good time Jami. That's soo cool that Spencer and his sister had a double farewell talk on Sunday. Way cool. I'm happy that Spencer decided to go out and serve. He won't regret it. I remember that I wrote him a letter in the MTC and basically told him that he needed to serve...in a nice way of course :) Mom I'm glad you liked the "Because of Him" video it is way good huh? Dad thanks for sending some pictures and a video of Jami. Dad your crazy list of all the big things that are going on in the recent future is pretty nuts. There is a lot of new things going on. It's good though, means that everyone is moving forward and working hard. 

Well this week we didn't have any meeting or anything going on. We were excited because we had a bunch of appointments with investigators set and ready to go for the week. It was kinda sad what happened. Basically all the appointments fell through :( It was a little disappointing, but we are still keeping our heads up and being positive. We have made some goals to help the people remember the appointment and so that they are there when we have made an appointment. We'll see how it goes. It's okay thought sometimes it's the way the work goes. Nobody ever said it was going to be easy. One highlight of the week was that we had another one of our ward activities that we've been doing with our wards (the one with the presentations and Mormon Messages). It went really well! Quite a few ppl came and so that was good. We talked about forgiveness to others. 

Well this week is going to be pretty busy. After the district meeting that we'll have on Wednesday, we have a leadership meeting all day in Puebla and then the very next day we have another mission council all day in Puebla again. I think we're going to just stay in Puebla for both of the meetings. Well I hope that everyone has a great week! Keep up the good work. Hey Ty be careful out there in Texas and I hope you have success. I can't wait for the mother's day call!! It's going to be really fun. I can't believe it's my last one...well have a good week fam!

con amor

Elder Ryan Kitchen

Hey fam!!                                                                                                                       April 21, 2014

Sorry you all didn't get my letter last week. I swear that I sent it…but oh well. I sent it right when I got on today, so it should get there. That means you'll get to read two letters this week :) Let me know if things aren't sending. Well I enjoyed your letters this week. Thanks for those pictures! That Easter dinner looked really good. I can't wait to enjoy your amazing cooking mom!!! You have no idea. Yeah Dad we totally did feel the earthquake. We were studying around 9:30 am and the whole house started shaking and moving, it was way weird. It was the first time that my and comp and I had felt an earthquake like that. It really wasn't that strong, but we've never felt one. Actually all the people here didn't even say anything. They are really used to them.  Mom that's cool how me and Tori might have a homecoming talk together. That would be really cool. I got my package! We went to the offices today to get a ton of material and it was there. I haven't opened it yet, but I'm sure it will be awesome, so I'm excited.

Well this week was pretty good. We have been finding new investigators and we found an awesome part member family this week. We are going to try and invite them to be baptized with dates this week, so pray so that they'll accept!! We are excited because we also have a lot of new appointments for new people. Things are looking up. Also in the zone we had an increase of 10 baptismal dates this week, so things are going pretty good. I love my companion! He is great and we are getting along just fine. He is a really good guy. Today we went to the offices like I said before and they are right by Chile's restaurant. We ate there and then got materials for the work. I took a picture for you guys. We also had a ward anniversary and ward conference this week. At the activity on Tuesday we ate and saw all the organizations do their programs. There is a lot of mariachi here and one of the groups played. It was cool! They are really talented. Things are going good. This week is going to be pretty calm, but the week after that we are going to have a ton of things going on. I'll let you know about it next week.

Well I love you guys. That's way cool that Jami gave a talk in church. I'm sure she did really good. As missionaries over this Easter week we thought of and taught a lot about Jesus Christ and His atonement. We especially focused a lot on the fact that he died and HAS RISEN! What an amazing thing! There are a lot of people here that know that he was resurrected, but don't quite comprehend that HE LIVES. He is the LIVING CHRIST and to our great blessing He guides and directs His church in these latter days. We read the Living Christ with a few people (it's the declaration of the first presidency and quorum of the twelve in year 2000). You should all read it even though Easter has past. Read it as a family and ponder about the great truths found within. Ponder about the amazing gift of the Savior in your own life. Because of Him we can live. Like many who proceeded Him, He was born, lived, and died. Unlike anyone in history He conquered the grave and rose again. He payed the price and because of Him we too will live again. I love Jesus Christ and I know He is my Savior and Redeemer. Watch the video on lds.org called "Because of Him" on the internet. It's great!!! I love you guys! Thank you for everything!!! Do you best each day. Give it all you got, and remember that in the end all belongs to Him and we are nothing without Him. Have a great week.

con amor

Elder Ryan Kitchen

Hey family!!                                                                                                               April 14, 2014

Hey so I decided to just add Grandpa Kitchen and Grandpa Ellsworth's emails into the list with all of yours so that way you don't have to worry about forwarding it Dad. It will just get to their email without any problems. Well sounds like you all have had a great Spring Break. It's funny because here when people hear "spring break" they think of the spring breakers that come down from the U.S. to Cancun and Vera Cruz and all those places to party. Here in Mexico their spring break is all this week. They call it Semana Santa (Holy week) because and Easter and all that. Almost everyone is going to take it off and not work. We may have kind of a slow week because of that. Thanks for the pictures that you sent, dad. It looks like you all have a good time in St. George and at Zion's. I forgot just how pretty that place is. Mom that's CRAZY that our missionaries have so many wards!! 15 wards and 2 stakes...wow I feel overwhelmed with 2 wards haha I don't have anything to complain about. That's cool that Brett came to the ward to speak. Yeah everybody seems to be getting home now. HAHA yes I know Megan Line she was a good friend. We didn't hang out very much, but I know her well. That's cool that Cam is dating her. She is a good girl. Dad that was a pretty funny story about what Kit did. She just ran into the neighbor's house huh? That's funny.

Well this week was pretty busy. On Tuesday we had the zone meeting. We had to get some things together with that last Monday. We only had one day in between to prepare for the zone conference. We had to get a food ready for 40 people and everything. It went really well. President, his wife, and the assistants came. President talked for a moment about something he said "he didn't want to talk about." He talked about how the new President and his wife will be arriving soon and he wants us to pray for them to arrive well. President Reeves is amazing. I'm going to miss him and it will be really strange with a new one, but oh well. The new President's name is President Stellmon...I think that's how you spell it...from Idaho. After the zone conference and all I was reflecting about how we did and I feel like we did a great job. It was Elder Christensen's first one as a zone leader. I've been teaching him "the ropes" to being a zone leader. I realized just how much a mission teaches you. I feel like I'm developing leaderships attributes that I never had before at home. As far as our area...we are struggling a little. All the people that we find end up not being too interested. We had a ton of appointments fall through as well. It's okay though we aren't going to get discouraged. We are going to keep working hard to find those that need the Gospel. 

Well I LOVE YOU ALL. Thank YOU for everything that you are in my life. Each and every one of you have played an important role in my life. I am grateful for all of the support and the blessing that our family receives on a daily basis. I can see the hand of the Lord in our lives. He blesses those that keep his commandments...it's the way it is :) Keep going strong! Conference was great! Study it up! Nothing better than living modern scripture to keep us on the straight and narrow. ¡Adiós!

con amor

Elder Ryan Kitchen

Hey fam,                                                                                                                        April 7, 2014

It's good to hear from all of you! Thanks for always writing me. I'm glad to hear that all is well and especially glad to hear that Tyler is doing better. That was a scare. That's cool that you guys went down to St. George for spring break. I forgot that it was spring break for you guys. I guess at UVU it was like in March right? I still remember that awesome road trip that Tyler and I with a bunch of friends went on. That was a super fun trip. Well I hope you guys have fun down there. I'm still pretty excited to see the house. I'm sure you guys are pretty used to it by now, but I'm still excited about it haha. That's cool to hear about Jami's friend that's going to be baptized this weekend! How cool. Who are the missionaries that teach her? Are there more missionaries in our stake now that more have gone out on their missions, or is it about the same? I think I remember that before I left there was like a pair of sister missionaries for the whole entire stake. You all asked about conference. We tried getting it in English, but we didn't have very much luck this time. The Internet wasn't working very well, so we watched it with the satellite signal in the stake center, but in Spanish. I understand everything just fine, but it's just not the same listening to a translator instead of their real voices. It was good though and I really liked it. We tried our best to get people to it and invited and even passed by for many, but at the end of the day we didn't get anyone there. Oh well. It's apart of the mission :)  

Well this week has blown by really fast. Last Tuesday we went to the transfer meeting and everything. I was anxious to see who my new companion would be. They announced our zone first. I am now with Elder Christensen from Denver, Colorado. He is a great missionary and a way cool guy. He is from the same generation as my last companion Elder Sanchez, so we has around 18 months on the mission. It's been nice being with a people now that doing have quite as much time like the ones that ended their missions with me. Elder Christensen played baseball in high school like me and is really smart and a good singer. He went to BYU Provo for a year before his mission and is going to study mechanical engineering with a focus on like space ships and air planes. Sounds really cool. He is a brand new Zone Leader, so I'm showin' him the ropes. This week after the meeting we had to help the zone get to their areas and all that, so we weren't able to do much on Tuesday. We had a couple of normal days, and then we went to the mission council in Puebla on Friday and that lasted most of the day, then the weekend was full of conference. This week is going to be even crazier. We have the zone meeting tomorrow and then Zone conference on Thursday. Yes there is a difference, dad. The zone meeting is just us the zone leaders and the zone. We give announcements, talk about mission rules, goals, and we teach the zone and do practices. The goal is to transmit was we learned in the mission council and we do it every month. It's a new meeting for missionaries. Now the zone conference is with Pres. Reeves and is only once every three months. It's longer and everything. So this week is going to be really busy as well. In our area we are just really trying to get some new investigators. 

My favorite talk in conference was the talk that President Thomas S. Monson gave during the priesthood session. I loved the question that he asked all of us: "brothers, are we the same person no matter where we are or who we're with?" I feel like it was a really good question and a good talk. I really like it. Well I hope that you all have a great week. Oh, I got grandpa kitchen's letter! It was awesome. Can you send me his email again so I can email him? I would send a letter, but honestly it's kind of a difficult process to find a post office and everything. There isn't one here in the town. Thanks for everything that you guys do and the support. I love you all!! 

Con amor

Elder Ryan Kitchen

Hey guys!                                                                                                           March 31, 2014

Wow dad you scared me with the golf story and Tyler and all. Man I still can't believe that Tyler got hit by a golf ball on the head...poor guy. I'm really glad that he's okay though...man the way you explained it and all freaked me out. That's pretty nuts that he got stapled in the head. So he is doing alright? Let him know that he's in my prayers and that I hope he gets well soon. Sounds like other than that, things went pretty well this week for everybody. Mom good luck with clear creek and all. I remember that I did go around making mischief, but that's kinda just how I was as a kid haha. That's cool to hear about more mission calls in the ward. He will leave just as I get back...wow he won't be done until 2016!! Crazy. Year I'm pretty sure Tyler Cox will also get back around the same time as me too because he was in the MTC with me.

Anyway this week was kinda rough. Like I mentioned before, we dropped some investigators that weren't progressing and have been looking for new ones. It's tough because we'll find some good ones and they'll accept us and everything, but when we go back for another visit they aren't there. There is obstacles in little towns, but it's okay we'll keep working hard to find the chosen. Yeah mom we have been working with the wards we have to do those activities about every two weeks. They should work out pretty good. We did another on Friday, but because of lack of communication with the ward and how fast it came up, there wasn't much success this time. It's okay we learned from our mistakes and we hope to do better next time. We did exchanges (splits)...divisions whatever you what to call them with a companionship that is in their training. I went there with the trainer Elder. We had a great day. We were able to find two new families with a total of 7 new investigators!! It was cool. Well the transfer has come to an end here. SUPER FAST HUH? It seems like yesterday that I arrived here in Nealtican with my new companion Elder Sanchez. Guess what? Elder Sanchez is transferring, so I will be receiving my 5th new companion in 5 transfers. I'm on a streak right now. Maybe I smell bad or something...haha jus messin'. This is a lot of changes in our zone here, so this week should be kinda busy for us. We also have the mission council on Friday. It will be my 6th one now. It should be great as always. 

Well it's good to hear from you guys each week.  Keep up the good work guys. Dad you reminded me to tell that story. It is a story that Elder Montoya talked about in his talk at stake conference, and not from Bishop Mendez. Just as he was finishing up his talk he said that he'd finish by telling an experience and how this experience helps him understand the Atonement of Christ. His youngest son is 25 or something and he said that he was a trouble maker when he was a little kid. When he was 3 years old they were adding on to their house on the second floor. The workers always left their equipment there tucked away each day, ready to be used the next day. One day when on of the workers forgot to put away a ladder, his son went exploring upstairs. He got up on the latter and climbed to the top where he was trying to lift himself up onto a ledge (behind him was an open space that went dropped down to the ground outside). Suddenly the ladder fell and he was hanging for dear life. He began to scream for help "Papi!" "Papi!" Help me!! Elder Montoya was downstairs and was able to hear the cries of his son. He rushed to his aid and just in time as the strength of his son was to give out, he arrived to save him. He explained how glad he was to arrive and to be able to save his son. He continued, another Father, and another Son were found in a similar situation that dark night in Gethsemane. The Son suffered, but so did the Father. As He hung in agony on the cross he cried out: Eloi, Eloi, "Papi!" "Papi!" Why hast thou forsaken me? The Father allowed His Son to suffer for each of us. As much as he may have wanted to save him...he let it happen for the salvation of each one of us. I felt really touched as we testified so boldly of the Atonement. I hope you all can catch the Spirit of his testimony that day. I also know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and friend. Anyway I hope you have a great week!! Love you guys.

Con amor

Elder Ryan Kitchen

Hey family!                                                                                                                 March 24, 2014

Thanks for letting me know how things are going and what everyone is doing. It's insane to think that it's already springtime again. I still remember the first winter and how you would tell me how cold it was every week. I think I said something about it, and then this winter you never said anything about the cold haha. Wasn't it like record breaking cold in the U.S.? Anyway yeah it pretty much stays the same here in Puebla as far as the weather. The rainy season is coming up though. I think it starts up pretty good late April and into may. I'll still get a bunch of the rain season. May 7th huh? Yeah I was just thinking bout how before my mission I really didn't think so many changes could happen in 2 years, but there has been a lot. Sometimes when I think of home and the United States and everything it feels like a weird dream or something that never happened hah I don't know it's weird. I'll be looking for Grandpa's letter, dad. Sounds like the shooting trip was pretty sweet. Yeah we'll have to do it again next year cause I wanna shoot an assault rifle! Tell Jami congrats on her 4.0!! That's awesome Jami!! Good work.

Well this week was pretty nuts. It was super up and down that's for sure. We went to the offices on Friday for materials for the zone. Oh I forgot to tell you guys. You know how the mission is putting more focus on getting referrals from members instead of contacting and knocking of doors and stuff? Well this is still that focus, but we have a new key indicator, which is contacting in the street and stuff. We still don't hake plans to contact, but we look for opportunities to do it throughout the day. On our way to Puebla we decided to contact on the buses. We took three buses and in each either my comp or I would stand in front with a picture of Jesus Christ getting baptized or teaching His Gospel and then we would just preach about it. After we would go around to everyone's seats to see if they were interested in a visit from the missionaries. It was pretty cool! I wasn't even nervous to do it. It was like the old "soap box" scene of the old days declaring the Gospel. We honestly didn't have much success with it, but it was a good experience. So when we got back that same Friday we went over to German's house to see how things were going and his mom Valentina gave us some bad news. His dad who lives in the U.S. right now didn't give permission for his baptism. He said that he couldn't do it. It was pretty sad. German was bummed and so were we. We got down a little bit, but all in all we're fine. He went to church on Sunday so that's good!! We also started our "open house" activities in one of our wards. Basically it's a missionary activity at a member's house. We are doing little presentations about interesting topics like family unity, or adversity and stuff like that. We made a power-point with Mormon messages and we played games and stuff. It was good. 15 non members went. 

Well this Sunday we went to the Nealtican North stake conference. We have 2 stakes in the zone if you didn't remember. It was fantastic!! Honestly I loved it. Elder Montoya came to speak (area 70) His testimony of the Atonement, the music, his stories and everything brought the spirit really strong. I felt touched by the spirit. It was awesome. A ton of the members from Atexcac showed up as well for the conference. I got to talk with a lot of them!! It was so awesome. I could actually talk with them really well now haha they were surprised. It was especially good to see and talk with Bishop Mendez from Atexcac. Cool stuff. Maybe I'll try and tell you the story that he told in it next week. I love you guys!! Have a great week.

Con amor,

Elder Ryan Kitchen

Hey hey hey.                                                                                                              March 17, 2014

What's goin' on peeps? Another week come and gone. Things are going great. I'm glad to hear that all is well in Utah. Dad you're right about Utah being a great state in all. I love how we have 4 seasons and so much outdoor things to do. Being able to golf and ski in the same day is unheard of in most places. Here I am missing the 4 seasons thing. It basically is just hot dry season, semi cold dry, and then super wet rainy. My two Christmases have been quite interesting because it's nice and warm. Kinda like New Zealand when we had that Christmas activity with Tyler's old ward and we were like…"this isn't Christmas!!" Mom that's weird that the missionaries spoke in the ward. In the 19 years of life in the church before my mission, I don't remember even one time when full-time missionaries spoke in the ward. Is there more missionaries in the stakes in Utah county now??  Hey dad congratulations for going skiing finally! Sounds like you skied until you couldn't ski anymore.  That's cool that Ty and Samantha went to St. George and Vegas. I'm sure they had fun. When is Samantha getting married again? I don't remember.

Well this week went well. Dad the baptism is this 22nd not last week. We are going to teach him a couple more times, he needs this interview, and then we're going to have the baptism. It should go well. I'm excited for him and his family. They have going to church together as a family now three weeks in a row!! And that's when before we started visiting them the mom hardly ever went and German didn't want to go. It's cool to see how people can change like that. We've been making some progress in our wards this the activity we want to do to find more investigators. This 21st on Friday we are going to have our first one in the Reforma ward. I hope is goes well. We were able to find two new investigators this week. We had the leadership training like I said on Friday and on Tuesday we had divisions with the Assistants. Elder Iñesta from Puerto Rico came here with me. He is awesome and has been a good friend here on the mission for a long time now. We had a good day together. Our zone is doing well. We have had 7 baptisms as a zone in the month of March and there is still half of the month left. As a mission we are doing really well too. 

Well I probably gotta go. Today we had a zone activity that me and my companion put together. We went up to Popo at that same place I went to over a year ago!! It's called Buena Vista where there was a little pond and all that with a water fall and stuff. I don't know if you remember or not. There was some awesome members that helped us out with food and taking us there and everything. It was really fun and everyone in the zone had a good time. This week I had a good experience in church. I decided to pay extra attention as I took the Sacrament. My thoughts were turned toward the covenants I have made with God. First, to my baptismal covenants and later to my temple ones. It was a blessing to reflect upon the things I've promised the Lord. I know we are blessed as we make promises with God and in turn are obedient to those promises. May God continue to bless our family! Love you guys. Say hi to everyone; friends and family.

Con amor,

Elder Ryan Kitchen

Dear Familia,                                                                                                          March 10, 2014 How's life?! Sounds like all is well, which makes me happy. Thanks for sending me some pictures of Grandpa's birthday and everything. It looks like everyone had a good time. I hope you had a great day Grandpa! Dad your customer meeting sounded like a success. I'm glad you all went skiing finally and that you had a good time. Mom, dad told me about the blue run that should have been a black run and I got a kick out of it :) Don't worry mama. You did say in your other email that you'd probably have a funny story for me this week. So mom you asked me about the cities and stuff that I've been to. I started in Atexcac, which, if you're in Puebla it's on the right side of Popo closer to the other volcano called Ixtalcihuatl. I then went to Agua Azul in Puebla. After I went to Atlixco, which, if you're in Puebla is on the left side of Popo pretty close. I then went back to the city for a while and now I'm in Nealtican which, while in Puebla is directly in front of Popo and closer haha, but don't worry it's not really that close and it doesn't really do anything. It just looks cool. Oh and mom we don't use heaters, I never have of my mission. In the summer we have to use fans at night because it's pretty hot, and in the winter sometimes it's kinda cold, but you just get more blankets :) haha. Oh I got the Valentine's day package finally! Thanks!! It's was great. I already ate all the M&M's that you sent. Thank you family! Oh also to answer your questions about how it takes from here to Puebla. In your own car probably less than an hour, but in public transportation, it takes a good hour in a half to two hours. We don't go very much. I've gone more mom because as a zone leader sometimes we have to get things in the offices, and because of the baptism. This Friday we are going again for leadership training meeting. It should be good. Well this week went pretty well. We are still teaching and seeing German who has a date for the 22nd still. He is progressing so well. We have seem a change in him and his family. We we leave assignments to read in the Book of Mormon and stuff he always reads and even highlights the parts he likes. There is quite a bit of investigators that we have that go to church and everything and want to be baptized, but they aren't married :( It's a problem that we find in the town. That, the permission of parents, and fear of rejection of their families. We might have to drop some, but were are trying our best to find more. We are working on this missionary activity that me and my comp thought of. It should be great and we have been getting good support from our wards. I'll let you know more about it when it actually happens. Things get slightly slow around here sometimes. I think it's because I'm used to being in the city where everything is hustle and bustle. The work is going well. Man I think I'm going to start telling people I have less time on the mission because I keep getting the "wow you're almost done" reaction from members, which isn't true I still have a lot of time ha.  I love you guys! Thank you thank you thank you for allowing me to have this amazing experience. Sometimes it gets rough at times, but I know why I'm here and I'm so grateful to be doing what I'm doing. I am thankful for each one of you in my life. When life gets you down, stop, take a deep breath, kneel down, and communicate with Him who created you; Him who knows you best. I promise that you will find comfort in moments of stress or sadness. God wants each of us to be happy, truly happy. I know we can find that true happiness in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ is the light and life of the world. Let us be disciples of the Lord. May God bless you all in anything that you do!  Con amor, Elder Ryan Kitchen

Hey family!!                                                                                                              March 3, 2014

What's up guys? How's life? How's being in the United States the promise land?? haha jus kiddin'. Sounds like everyone is super busy. That's cool. It's pretty busy over here as well. Oh and mom to clear up we went to find a place for the missionaries of that area really close to Popo. We don't live there haha. We live here in Nealtican. Um and my companion does speak a little English, not too much, but yes some. We speak all the time in Spanish though. That's cool that you guys are going to the annual skiing trip in Park City and staying at the hotel. I always loved that little trip. It'll be something to look forward to next year. I hope you all have a great time. It's about time you all hit the slops!! Oh hey Grandpa Kitchen...HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON THE 6TH! I hope you have a great day. I'll be thinking about you on that day. Thanks for everything you do for me and for my family. You're great. Hey dad good luck with the customer meeting this week. I hope everything goes well for you.

This week went alright. There were a couple slow days, but we were able to pull together a pretty good week. We actually had to go to Puebla 3 times in the week. First on P day to go to get supplies at the offices, then again on Friday for the mission council with Pres and the other zone leaders, and then again on Sunday....for a baptism in my old area!!!! An investigator named Eloisa was progressing really well when I left, but she didn't have a date for baptism quite yet. Yesterday I baptized her! She is awesome. We have also been working with this great family. The dad is a non member, but he is in the United States, the mom a less active, the daughter a super active member, and the son, German, is ten years old and is a non member as well. At first we could see that the less active mom wasn't too interested in going back to church, and German said he didn't want to be baptized and that he didn't want to go to church either. After working with them a few times, they felt the spirit and it's helping them change a lot. They all went to church on Sunday and German accepted baptism. It's a testimony that the Lord can change hearts. We're working with quite a few other people as well here. It's been good. Also just barley we went to Huejo (you probably remember me mentioning this town a year ago) to buy things for the week. Exactly a year ago I was there finishing up with the first area and about to head to the city. I don't know if you all remember that crazy carnival/parade thing that I saw, but I saw it again today. It's just a nuts as I remember. 

Well I hope that you all have a great week. Keep working hard and doing good things in your life. Live in a way that makes our Father in Heaven proud. I am proud to say that I am your son/brother. I love each and every one of you. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA! 

Con amor,

Elder Ryan Kitchen

HEY FAMILIA!                                                                                                February 24, 2014

What's up everybody?! How is everyone doing? Thanks for the letters mom and dad. Mom you're right, it is such a blessing to be able to communicate like this every week! I don't know what I'd do if I had to wait like months between letters...Well it was cool to hear about how the US did in the Olympics. Here is Mexico almost nobody knows about them because their country basically doesn't participate. I'm excited to be able to see some highlights later on. It was really cool to hear about Talon's homecoming and how well he did. I'm kinda nervous for mine because I feel like I can't talk about Gospel subjects in ENGLISH! Haha...but really it's going to be weird. Thanks for letting me know that many of my friends asked about me and said hi. That's cool that you were able to go golfing Dad..sounds like the ski season wasn't good at all! It's good to hear that everyone is happy and well. 

Sounds like you're all dying to hear where the heck I am and who I am with. Last Monday I said goodbye to many loved ones in Mayorazgo and in my ward in 3 Cerritos. Luckily I got to say goodbye to the families and investigators and recent converts and everything. On Tuesday we had the transfer meeting. I was pretty nervous to know my new zone, area, and companion. I am now here in the Nealtican Zone serving in Nealtican! I started my mission in the zone, but in Atexcac, which is in a different town and everything. I am now serving in the bigger town called Nealtican as zone leader still. It's not a city or anything, but it's pretty big. I'm with Elder Sanchez from Chiapas Mexico and he is AWESOME! He played as point guard in the famous Benimerito High School in Mexico City before it was changed to the MTC here Mexico. I haven't seen him play yet, but I heard that he is really good. He is a great missionary and we get along great. He has about 16 almost 17 months on his mission, so I'm finally with someone with less time than me haha. Like you said Mom, I got along with Elder Dzul and we worked really hard, but at times he was a little bit serious and it was hard to be myself. With Elder Sanchez we are working just as hard, but I feel like I can be myself more with him. Nealtican is a famous little town here in Mexico for it's many members. There are two stakes here! They call it mini-Utah. We have two wards that we are serving in at the same time...the Reforma Ward and the Tetenco Ward. We went to 6 hours of church yesterday...pheww. We are the only missionaries in the whole mission I think that have two wards to serve in at the same time. It's nice to be out of the loud and crazy city. I am closer than ever to Popocatepetl!! It's right there! We had to find a house in an area called Xilantcitla, about 30 minutes from Nealtican and up towards Popo. It is the closest town to Popo there is! It is way cool up there and reminds me of Atexcac. Anyway Elder Sanchez and I worked hard this week in our two wards here. We have been working to find new investigators and to put appointments with people. We have already had some great ideas about activities and some awesome miracles happen with references from members. We hope to put a great example for the zone and to motivate, uplift, and help our missionaries the best we can. 

I love you guys!! The mission is going by WAY too fast it's crazy. I can't believe it. I feel like someone put it in fast forward or something. I am going to do my best to keep working as hard as a can knowing that the Lord expects nothing less. Do your best every day the make a difference in the lives of those around you. Love God with all your heart. God bless!

Con Amor,

Elder Ryan Kitchen

Hey guys!                                                                                                             February 17, 2014

Sounds like you're having fun in St. George. Tell everyone hi for me out here. Wow dad your story about going shooting with the cousins is pretty sketchy. Whoops...I'm glad ya'll made it out of there alive. Mom I got a laugh out of how Jazzi is now a toothless granny...hahaha. Well maybe she will still be alive when I get home. Yeah that's crazy that Talon is getting home on Wednesday! That went by so fast. I got an email from him that he sent to family and friends. It was like his last words as a missionary and it sounds like he had a great mission and that he has changed a lot. To answer your question, no I haven't gotten the package yet, but I'm sure I will get it tomorrow at the transfer meeting! Thanks for sending me a love package ;)

Well as you probably have already gathered from my subject phrase, I have transfers and I'm leaving the ward and the zone. I finished 3 transfers here in this area. Like I've said each time that I get transfers...it's partly sad and partly exciting. After 3 transfers though you do get a little sick of seeing the same things everyday. This ward and area has been my favorite on the mission so far. I've learned and grown a lot here. I've had the privilege to find, teach, and baptize many people here and I will miss all of them dearly. We put 4 more baptismal dates with recently new investigators this week, which makes a potential 7 more baptisms in the end of this month and into the next. I won't get to see it all happen, but hopefully I'll get to come back for at least one of them. I'm glad that I was able to participate in finding and starting the teaching process with all of them. It's just as satisfying. We had another awesome week and I've finished strong here. I'm pretty excited to see where I'll be going. There are two zones that I've never been to that I'd really like to serve in. I'll find out tomorrow!! 

Have a great week guys. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers in my behalf. I really do feel super supported out here, and I always have the blessing of knowing that all is well with my family back home. Keep working hard and doing what's right. We all need to constantly look for a lasting conversion in our lives. Read Helaman 15:7-8 and Alma chapter 5. The Lord wants converts. I love you guys!!

con amor,

Elder Ryan Kitchen