Nov. 25 - Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hola Familia,

The weather here is still sunny and warm but it does get a little chilly in the evenings. I am warm enough at night and during the day if it is chilly I wear my jacket. I am wearing my boots and my jacket. 

Our next transfer is next Tuesday, so next Monday I will tell you if I am staying or if I am going. I wasn't joking when I said the sun has turned my hair colors. It is so white that my roots show. Sometimes i really just want to dye my roots but I know that you would kill me. It is so long but I don't want to cut it, I want to see how long I can let it grow. haha. Only on Sundays, do I really get a chance to curl my hair. 

That's so great that everything at home is going well and that class is going great too. Sometimes I wish I was at school and then I kid myself. I wouldn't want to be at school now, because i would have a lot more stress!  

Everything in Ventura is great. This week while teaching people, we were explaining to a man the mormon.org website and he gave us the Christ card we ha given him back and said that he was Christian. It was kinda funny but sad. Our investigators our good. We are very close to getting one of our investigators to Church it is hard because she is by herself and only a couple of the members live in our area and a bunch of less actives.   She is so close we can feel it. 

For Thanksgiving, we are having dinner with a member and going on as a usual day in a missionaries life. We will go visit our less actives and investigators and probably knock a little.  We will stay out until about 8:00 like our normal schedule as a missionary.  

We aren't doing service really anywhere. We ask everyone we talk to if there is something we can do to help them.  They just say all is good.  It is the Mexican culture as well to not have help from anyone.  They are kinda stubborn and want to do things themselves. 

I haven't seen Hermana Rubow but I get a letter from her about every week or so. She tells me her mom asks a lot about me. 

This week was so great. Spiritually uplifting, filled with new knowledge and revelation. I loved Zone Conference. It was so great and so inspired. I especially loved the panel part. It was so good to have some questions answered by missionaries who have great experiences. I loved the EDPEP parts as well. I received guidance on things that i need to work on in my teaching skills and how to use the scriptures by explaining it more fully and not just rushing into it. 

We taught a little bit this week. We taught C. who is progressing at a snail's pace because she works a lot. This week she worked from 2 in the morning till six at night. We shared a scripture. We are just struggling to get in the door it has been about 4 months of teaching and we haven't be able to get in yet but we are going to teach the Plan of Salvation this week with a visual. We re-taught A. the Restoration and we wanted to show him the DVD but he doesn't have one. So we are going to try and find a member who we can have a FHE with so he can get gain friendship and be able to do things with the knowledge that we are giving him. We taught a couple of news the restoration and we hope that they will be progressing. 

This week I studied a lot in the book of Alma. I'm starting to get into the war chapters.  I find it so interesting that even during the peace years Moroni was still preparing the cities to be fortified. One of my favorite scriptures is Alma 48:17, "Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men."  It makes me think about what more can I do to become like Moroni? 

I also studied this week about harvesting. In the New/Old Testament and the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants it talks about harvesting and how the field is ripe or ready. I also studied in Preach My Gospel this week about Christ like attributes and how we can gain them. It is through prayer and following Christ's example. 

We learned that when it talks about harvesting in the scriptures it is it ripe. Ripe in the scriptures means to be ready. I've learned that the missionaries aren't the ones who plant the seeds who help them grow.  They are the ones that harvest to bring people unto baptism. We also learned that we need to be persistent when talking to people about this gospel. 

I really enjoyed this week, especially for the leadership and new attribute of obedience. It is through obedience to simple rules that I have seen blessings. It is through obedience and by being obedient that we will be privileged to reach our goal of 40 worthy converts. 

We had Zone conference this week. It was so great but it started at 9:40 in the morning and lasted until about 7 at night. There has been a lot of complaints about headaches in the mission. I am thankful that I have only gotten a couple from stress and things but other than that I have been good. 

Oh, last night was an experience!  We went over to a members house to eat dinner and she feed us burritos.   Instead of real authentic Mexican beef or meat in them, we ate donkey burritos!!   It wasn't that bad. I kinda liked it. We had my favorite food this week called Chile Rellenos. They are so good, I want to make them for y'all when i get home and real tortilla chips and all the stuff that is bad for you.  I definitely have become accustomed to chilis.  Most things aren't really spicy anymore.   I love horchata!!   Every Mexican has horchata in their fridge. 

We have seen a lot of miracles this week.   And now that transfer week coming up, we are going to rock the house or the mission out of this world!!   I like to end every transfer going out with a bang.

Te quiero mucho and I love ya lots

Hermana Fitzpatrick

Kenzer Lou    

November 18 - Absolutely Loving My Mission!!

Hermana Wright

Elder Hernandez.  He was our District leader.  

Such a great and humble guy.

Hermana Palafox.  No, I am not crying!

I miss her already and she hasn't even left yet...

Just another beautiful California sunset.

Yes, be jealous! They're beautiful!!

Hermana Walker.  I love her.

My birthday trip to the Los Angeles temple.

Beautiful day.  Beautiful temple.  Beautiful friend.

ola Familia,

Estoy bien. I got the rest of my boxes thanks so much mom. I really appreciate it. I did get the gift cards and the hot chocolate. 

I can't wait to see the pictures from Thanksgiving. Send me a lot and I will send you some too.

Thanks for all the updates and news on everyone. Crazy how time goes by so fast on all those things.  I'm so happy for  Sister Maybin. I bet she was a beautiful bride!

How are you? This week was really good. We taught a lot and found some new investigators.  We also helped some of our less actives. We had a wonderful conference last week.  We learned a lot from it.  We learned that how we  begin teaching is really important. 

We had exchanges this week as well with Hermana Bartschi and Hermana Wright. They are so amazing. I went with Hermana Wright.  We found some new investigators who are really searching for the truth. One of the investigators is Myra, she hasn't been going to her current church because she has a four year old little boy who makes a lot of noise and things like that. She wants to know the truth and figure out for herself what Heavenly Father wants for her. We knocked on a lot of doors.  We even found some new places to knock. It was a really good day.   I loved learning from Hermana Wright. In our exchange review, I learned a lot. I learned that we can even teach to our investigators specific needs and teach for understanding. Hermana Wright, told me to just go for it!!  I love exchanges. They help me grow as a missionary help me to become the person that Heavenly Father wants me to become.

This week I have been studying in Preach My Gospel chapter 4. I really love how President Hinckley tells us how we can recognize the Spirit.  One of my favorite parts is praying with faith. The only way that we will be able to use the full power of the Spirit is if we pray with faith. I read in True to the Faith, on prayer.   One thing that stuck out to me is that the power of our prayers depends on us. We can be tired and exhausted, but we always need to pray with faith with all the energy of heart. 

I'm still reading the Book of Mormon in the book of Alma. I'm so close to the wars chapters which are my favorite because they just show how diligent, obedient, hopeful, and trustworthy the Stripling Warriors were. 

How was your class? What did you teach?   I can't wait to speak Spanish with Blake and other people in the Tuscon area. Can you imagine if I walked into a Mexican store with my blonde hair and white skin and then began to speak spanish?  That would be pretty funny!!   I will write more in my letter to you. Love you so much!

Paz ofuera = Peace out

Love ya.
Kenzer lou/ Hermana Fitzpatrick

November 11, Everything in Ventura is Good!!

Companionship last transfer!!!!!

 

Bombing it up in Ventura, No mom, I did not dye my hair.   It is the darn sun!!   I think I will be bleach blond by the time I come home because it is November and we are still having sun and in the late 70's early 80's!!  This is my one of my favorite companions, Hermana Palafox.  She is awesome!!  I miss her!  

Hola Mi Familia,

That's so funny! 7 trips to Goodwill. haha Everything in Ventura is good! This week was kinda tough.  We went to go see H. and he dropped us. He didn't want to learn more.  He said when he has time he will come to church. But we didn't get time to ask him why because he had a friend visiting.   We will go back this week and see if he can explain more and we will invite him to the dia de gracias actividad este sabado. 

We haven't heard anything about the missionaries in the Phillippeans but we heard there was a class 5 typhoon and about 10000 people died but that all the missionaries got evacuated. No one else I know in Mexico City. I have to write Elder Larsen, I have been a little busy it has been like 3 months since I last wrote him.  Ooops :)

On another note of people we know, We had dinner with some members se llama la familia Hernandez. Their names are Bertha y Roberto and their kids Edith and I don't know the others. But we were talking about missionaries and I knew.  I mentioned that Caroline Briggs son, Andrew, served in the California Ventura mission. I just didn't know which areas.  Well, this familia es really good friends with their son Andrew and are still in contact with them. I told them I know his mom and his brothers. All of these small connections is really cool.

I did get some of my boxes and everything is great. Thanks so much, you are the bomb!  I love the boots that you sent me and the jacket too.

No I can't believe Christmas is around the corner.  We are putting our Christmas tree up today.   I have given in to egg nog already.  My new favorite thing to drink which is not low calorie is Horchata. Me gusta mucho. We don't have a dinner appointment yet for thanksgiving but probably next week.

This week went by so fast but it was definitely a trying week. This week we taught a lot of our investigators and found some new investigators. Diana told us that she will be moving at the end of this month to Los Angeles so we will be getting her information and send it to Sister Jones for the missionaries in Los Angeles. It still makes me sad that we had to drop H. When someone drops you, you always question did I give it my all?   Did I sacrifice enough for them to know what they won't have if they don't accept it?   And the answer is, we give it our all and we may be disappointed but we have to pick ourselves up and continue with a bright, happy smile. It is difficult, but I know that one day he we will realize what he has been missing in his life.

We knocked some doors and found some new people who are ready for the gospel but we have to see if they will progress. I know Heavenly Father puts people in our path for a reason. We did visit a lot of less actives this week and we are trying really hard to get them back. One thing that we thought of is doing formal invitations for them because it may make them think that they are wanted and needed back in the church. Right now all we can really do is love them until some thing makes them need the church again.

This week I have been studying in the Book of Mormon, the missionaries chapter and how Alma tells his son Helamen that he needs to keep the commandments or else he won't be able to enter into the presence of God. It is really interesting. I finished the Laws and Ordinance chapter of Preach My Gospel and today it was interesting how service is the law of consecration. I loved it!   That is what the High Council speaker spoke on in Sacrament meeting; the difference between the law of sacrifice and consecration. I am also reading in the Bible from Genesis.   It is really interesting all the customs and laws that they had back then. Yesterday, it was interesting in sacrament meeting. The high councilman talked about sins of omission which are the things we do to get out of our calling like not having FHE, family scripture or prayer, saying we are too busy or don't have time. He told us that we can't get into the celestial kingdom with these sins. The difference between the law of consecration and the law of sacrifice is this; the law of consecration is giving our time, talents, money, and property to the church but sacrifice is giving all that we have both temporal and spiritual. He shared Matt 19: 16-22 and one thing he emphasized is "what lack I yet?"   Not giving up his valuables didn't keep him out of the kingdom of God but not willing to live the law of sacrifice did. So, do we serve willing?

Hermana Rubow wrote me a letter with love you to the moon and back.   It exactly how you sign your letters to me.  It reminded me of how much probably her and me and you and her mom are so similar.

How's school? How is dad? Can't believe how big littles is getting. Tell her I want an email from her soon and mi hermanito, Blake

Te quiero mucho,

Love y'all a lot

write some more this week too

Hermana Fitzpatrick

kenzer Lou 

November 4 - A Letter from a Sweet Companion

Sister Fitzpatrick,

The email you sent me was the sweetest thing ever. Thank you so much. I'm so blessed to have served with Hermana FItzpatrick. She has been one of the most charitable people I know. She served me everyday and she always tried very hard to help me have a good time my last transfer. I knew Heavenly Father put us together because he knew we needed each other. I now have a best friend for life. She is growing so much, and she loves to serve. She has many talents to give and she will become what Heavenly Father wants her to become by the end of her mission. If I'm ever in Arizona I will send you a message do we can meet. That would be wonderful. I am going to move to Utah. I'm not sure when, but hopefully this month. Thanks so much for offering Mikenzie's grandparents home. I will let you know. And thanks so much. This is a big blessing to know that I have friends everywhere I go. If you ever need anything please let me know. Have a great day!

Love Nubia Palafox

November 4 - Everything is Good!

Hi Family,

 

How are ya'll? Everything is so good and the weather is as sunny as ever and its November!   H. is so great.   He did come to church. He wants to come to church again but he won't commit to a date to be baptized because he wants a sure answer.   We think that he has his answer.   He is just not willing to act on it yet.  We are teaching a couple of people.  We are teaching a woman named Diana who just had a baby with her pareja (significant other).   She was on the way to the hospital because she was having problems breathing.  We said a prayer with her and told her we would stop by this week. 

We are knocking on doors a lot, but it's ok, its one of my favorite things to do. I love it even if a door gets slammed in your face or if people aren't interested. My Spanish is so good!!  It's really funny. Ok, funny moment...  so during district meeting I was asked to give the closing prayer in English.   When I asked for.... "please bless" I started to say por favor.  So embarrassing, but it was funny too. I am also getting complimented a lot for how good my Spanish is. That's good because I worked my butt of to get where I am at. 

Thank you for contacting Hermana Palafox.  I know that she really appreciates it.  Yes, she did cut her hair.   The big kicker is that she cut it herself on the mission because when ever she had a bad day she just went and cut it!  It did look cute!   I'll see what I can do for Hermana Walker. The shoes from payless are great and a lot better.   I like not looking like a big foot clown with those Dansko clunkers, even though they're good shoes.  They aren't hurting my feet or anything.   Sometime I do get rocks and stuff but that is normal. It wasn't the buckle that broke.  It was the screw that held the strap in.  

Anything from Costco would be great, I need to by some calcium pills because lately I have been getting a pain in the back of my upper thigh and we think it is because of lack of calcium or potassium because the almond milk doesn't really have any even though it says it does.  Some gift cards I could use are Mcdonald's, Subway, Chipotle, Taco Bell, just to name a few. They have a Marie Calendar's here too. 

That's great you're having the missionaries over for Thanksgiving dinner!  No one has signed up for Thanksgiving dinner yet. 

We aren't allowed to Skype at Christmas  It depends on the mission president.  Mostly you can Skype if you are a foreign mission (your family lives outside of the US). So, no sorry.  But you will get to hear my voice!

The next transfer is Christmas! 

The best thing that happened to me last week is just knocking on doors.   Sometimes its funny because people have said "oh, I have already got this" or they don't even answer the door. The funniest thing... We had Halloween this week so we had to be in early.   We get this knock on our door, but we don't answer it.   All we hear is, "Is this is where the Mormons used to live?"   

The most spiritual thing that happened this week was when we went to go visit a less active who just had a baby and has two other kids with her ex-boyfriend who was really having a hard time.   We stopped by and shared the talk Happily Ever After by President Utchdorf. This woman is the mom of three kids, doesn't work, is going to school, and has no one that is supporting her. 

The biggest impact that I have made on my mission is planting seeds.   I read in Alma this week that no matter what it is the joy and the opportunity to share the gospel that is important.  My favorite chapter in the BOM is Alma 26 because it is the talk that Ammon gives when he comes home from his mission. 

My pday/workout clothes are good no worries. 

All I really want for Christmas is the Mormon messages DVD's, letters and pictures.

 

Write ya a snail mail this week!

 

Love lots

 

Kenzer Lou/ Hermana Fitzpatrick