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