daydreams of a believer

my bum is on the dog

2012-02-06T16:42:00.000-07:00

hello beautiful people,
brooke wins! now who can name this one?
this week a dog bit my bum. i also got really sick. i still am kind of sick actually. i think i may have ibs. that thing brooke has. cause i can't seem to eat anything without it making my stomach upset. but on the bright side, it sure helped my diet goal this week! i also had a very real Lehi's dream experience these week. we are teaching this awesome couple, victor and myrian. we went to our appointment with them on friday evening and victor was home alone so he came outside to talk to us. he was upset because they had gone to a neighbor's birthday party the night before and as soon and he got there, some people started making fun of him for listening to us and wanting to change. (he used to not really be the "church going type".) obviously he didn't really want to be there with those people because he feels much happier hanging out with us and talking about jesus, so he left. we showed him Lehi's dream and explained that all those people are in the great and spacious building and they don't know how sweet that fruit of the tree of life is. but we do, so we're trying to help him along the iron rod so he just has to hold fast to that rod and he'll achieve that happiness that we have. it was lame that people are making fun of him. i thought of the verse when lehi says that those who listened to the people in that building were lost. so don't get lost my loves. just hold to the iron rod and you will make it. it doesn't matter what anyone says to you.
welp, i sure do love you all. read your scriptures, say your prayers, go to church and you will be cool.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

I found the source of the ticking noise, a pipe bomb!

2012-01-30T21:44:00.000-07:00

long distance virtual hug to whoever can guess where the subject came from.
dear lovers,
last night i was trying to think of something interesting to write to you all today. then i found myself in a high school gym with all the other missionaries. in another part of the high school there was this group of hair students. all of the sudden i had this feeling we needed to get out of the school. the lights in the gym flashed red and i heard this noise so i yelled for everyone to leave. all the missionaries got out just as a bomb went off in another part of the school. we ran up the hill, then came back down when the firefighters and police got there. they started handing us all our backpacks that we'd left inside and i thought, "welp, now i have something interesting to write to my family tomorrow." then president took us all out to breakfast and we got natural apricot juice and peach bread (which i didn't even know existed). then i woke up.
hermana paz came from the coast to visit me this weekend. we got to be companions again for two days (she was mi compañera argentina in the coast for all those who dont remember and one of my bff's). that was the highlight of my week.
it's groundhog day this week. which doesn't exist here if you were all wondering because we are in the DEAD of summer. anyway, i hope you'll all celebrate by watching the phil collins ("phil, phil collins?!?") news report. i love you all more than i would love for the rat to come out from under our bathtub to indicate that summer is over. have a beautiful week.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

joe versus the volcano

2012-01-24T10:20:00.001-07:00

hello my lovers,
what a fabulous week. there is this member in my ward, maria. she has diabetes and can't really see very well. anyway, her assignment in church is to bring the sacrament bread every week. the week of christmas we were combined with another ward, and she's always the first one there. 2 deacon aged looking boys from the other ward walked in and she asked if there were in charge of the sacrament. (seeing as she is a little blind she didn't recognize them). they said yes. about 10 minutes later the bishop asked her if she'd brought the sacrament bread and she said, "yes, i gave it to the preisthood boys". the bishop said, "the priesthood boys aren't here yet". needless to say, the 2 boys had eaten the sacrament bread.
we met this inactive family this week. it is a really sad story actually but i don't want to depress you all so i won't write it. i felt depressed when i left their house. anyway, when we went to teach them the "come back to church" lesson, olimpia's sister was there who is not a member. actually she showed up when we were standing outside the front door. as she was walking toward the house she was walking a little strangely with a cigarrette in her hand, with a flowy, artsy skirt and tinted glasses. i thought, "she looks so familiar." then we were teaching and she started telling us about how depressed she is and her life problems. the way she spoke was so familiar too. that's when it hit me. she is the chilean version of angelica in "joe versus the volcano".
on saturday we had a cosechòn with the missionaries from the mtc. that's where we go to one sector to do lots of contacts. i was on divisions with a sister from guatemala. she was SO nervous--she just got baptized a year ago. we came to the first door and i said, "alright, you want to practice contacting?" right as the person came out of the door she blurted out at a million miles an hour, "holasomosmisionerasdelaiglesiadejesucristodelossantosdelosultimosdias¿haescuhadodenosotras?" it was cute. i thought, that's probably what i would have been like as a greenie if i could have spoken the language.
then we had cony's baptism. it was actually really nice and spiritual AND we started on time. pres and my homegirl hermana king came too. really, it was probably the most spiritual baptism i've been to on the mish. anyway, afterward my comp and i were in the chapel tidying up with the bishop and his counselor. the bishop was in the baptismal font draining it when his little 2 year old grand son slammed the door to the font shut. you have to unlock it from the outside and the bishop had the keys on the inside. ha. but we resoved it. i went and opened the double doors where you watch the baptism and he had to climb up over the water onto the railing and jump out.
wow, i am on a ROLL with these long emails. so i am peacing out. i love you all a whole lot.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

buenas tardes, Dios.

2012-01-16T23:25:00.001-07:00

¡hola mi familia rica! (that means sexy)
i hope you all had just as great of a week as i did with a few less alcoholics than mine. it started out with someone walking around drunk in the middle of the night and i woke up to him growling in some language i did not understand. i think he may have been possesed by an evil spirit. as i feel back to sleep i began to have this silence of the lambs style nightmare. really, hannibal lector was in my dream. (thank you drunk man). then we went to visit this less active member/recent convert. she came out to the gate to greet us and gave me this huge hug almost choking me to death, and as she whispered "i'm so glad you came. i needed you guys today" i could smell the alcohol on her breath. i thought, this is going to be an interesting lesson. i don't think i've ever seen someone express so many emotions in such a short amount of time. moral of the story: obey the word of wisdom. really. then we went to teach this awesome investigator and i asked him to say the closing prayer. he started out, "good afternoon, God." it was cute. then my comp (who kind of struggles a lot with spanish) asked to use his bathroom.. he stuck his hands out across the table to her. ha, i died of laughter. then i revived myself and said, "she just wants to go to the bathroom". he said, "oh, i heard ´can i see your hands´". we also had some really spiritual moments and david even let us teach him a lesson. that was awesome. he is going to be active by the time i go home. and next year he is going on a mission. i know it.
welp, that about sums up my week. wow, i am doing really good. this is like 3 not really short emails in a row. i think i deserve an award (carribbean cruise anyone!?!). welp, i love you all a whole lot. and i just want you to know that really, if you want to be happy for the rest of your life, be obedient to the commandments. (sorry, i couldn't think of anything that rhymed with life that wasn't wife...math sucks....if you don't get it, go ask jimmy buffet). okay, i'm peacing out.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

change can be good

2012-01-09T18:47:00.001-07:00

this week was changes. we didn't have changes. but i have a new district leader. remember my favorite district leader from the mtc that i want kerri to marry named elder lewis? he is my district leader now and i still want kerri to marry him.
the highlight of my week-- we were knocking doors and we pass this house with the music blasting. right when we get there the song start "so i'll tell you what i want what i really really want"... there is nothing like spice girls to make a hot day where no one wants to listen to you a little brighter!
i also met some very anti-american muslims. this week. then this adventist guy tried to give us this book about jewish history by chaim potok. it's in english so i may actually go back and take him up on that offer.
so we are teaching this family--beatriz (inactive member) and her daughter cony (investigator, 15). cony's older brother david (20) is also an inactive member but wasn't too interested in anything we had to say. he is punk, with this crazy mohawk-ish hair, all these peircings, and this weird skull tattoo on his arm. when we would go over there he'd have his music blasting and his door wide open with a very naughty word written on it in english. over the last month and a half he's gradually turned the music down, shut the door, come out every once in a while at the end to talk to us, etc... on new years eve we were eating dinner and cony lifted up his sleeve to show us his tattoo and he pushed it down and said, "don't, it's ugly." well this week we were teaching beatriz and cony and david walks in from work with his hair cut like a normal buzz and not a single peircing. wow. it was a drastic change. but i like it. he is a future missionary. so is cony. she's getting baptized soon and she just told us last night she wants to serve a mission. awesome.
wow, this email is abnormally long, kind of like last week. i've told you all enough. i love you so very mucho. have a fabulous week.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

i resolve to...

2012-01-02T18:24:00.006-07:00

...see you all this year! woot woot. happy 2012 my lovers.
this week my testimony grew lots about how much heavenly father loves us. let me explain and confess something. in the mission, towards the end of the transfer, the missionaries tend to get a little worn out. the numbers tend to go down quite a bit the last week of every change. i won't lie, i have been guilty of that a couple of times in the last year. this last week was the last week of the change and i was feeling a little exhausted and didn't have a huge desire to go out and work. all i really wanted to do was sit on the couch and eat a chocolate cake like the fat kid in "matilda". (since we started our diet i haven't eaten sweets in so long and i was craving some chocolate). but i knew i needed to be a good example to my companion so i sucked it up. we started out and went to visit an investigator, ivonne. we shared about the book of mormon (wow, if you want to talk about a difficult woman i will tell you all about her. she said she is "divorced" from God cause she's a little perturbed with Him. ha) and then she goes into the kitchen and comes out with chocolate cake. heavenly father knows the desires of our hearts, and when we are obedient to His will, He always blesses us.
i hope you all set some good goals this year. i know i did. it is going to be a good 2012 full of lots of changes and excitement! heck, who knows? maybe jesus will even come visit us! i love you all more than words can express. have a fabulous week.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

God bless us everyone

2011-12-26T11:15:00.001-07:00

hello beautiful family that i just got to see/talk to.
it was great to see all of you. it sounds like everyone is on diets/trying to loose weight. good thing i am too. i don't want to come home as the fattest one in the family. i've got 19 weeks to lose about 15 pounds. i'm pretty sure with insanity i can do it, right? douglas, i liked your dance moves. i loved all the pics from the cruise. there aren't many things i have really missed on the mission, but swimming is one of the few that has been a struggle. i hope you all had a fabulous christmas, i know i did.
we did lots of christmas caroling. everyone loved it. cause no one does that here. we had a mission chritmas party and got to watch "a christmas carol". i also had to recite our purpose in front of the entire mission and totally forgot to say the last principle of the gospel "endure to the end." so then this other sister yelled it from the front row. that's pretty much it. except for that one time last night when i woke up in the middle of the night and felt like i was going to die. truly. i couldn't breathe. i almost called our district leader at 3 a.m. but then i found an inhaler. then i had explosive diarreah. that was fun. i'll spare you all the details.
i love you all and hope you loved the cruise! have a happy happy new year.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

trunky

2011-12-26T11:11:00.002-07:00

This is last weeks email, a bit late because I was cruising the Caribbean.
We skyped with Kelli today and she is fantastic. Super beautiful and obviously the best missionary ever.
You all should write her because you are running out of time!

word up fam,
so yesterday we had this christmas devotional and they were showing videos of motab with temple square and everything and guess what they showed? a video from the christmas celebration 2 years ago with natalie cole. and guess whose cute little face i saw singing in the choir? mackenzie hess! i screamed out, "that's my cousin that's my cousin!" i was so excited. and then i got a little trunky. ha. but i'm over it now.
we had a pretty good week, found some awesome new investigators.
there was a funny story i wanted to tell you but now i can't remember. sorry. my head hurts so i can't really think. so i'll just talk to you all on sunday! i love you all mucho mucho!
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

my family is so cool

2011-12-13T23:15:00.001-07:00

we may be a little disfunctional, but we are the BAKANEST people i know (bakan=cool). i loved the thanksgiving costumes. i just don't understand why there was only one pilgrim--way to REPRESENT, mackenzie! i think brooke wins for best costume and mom for most original. and grandpa for most creative...haha. i love you guys.
we had a pretty good week. the thing i like about this ward is that the members are always willing to help us. we've had members in about 75% of the lessons we teach. but i won't lie, i am EXHAUSTED. my comp is a really light sleeper and we have a bunkbed so any time one of us moves the other one wakes up. so on average i've probably slept like 5 1/2 hours every night. which doesn't seem too bad but then you have to remember that we walk all day long in the hot sun.
i think we are going to have a zone talent show for an activity. our district is planning our own nativity scene to present. i am going to be mary. and ride in on my companions back.
i can't really think of anything funny that happened this week. i know i laughed a lot, but i just don't remember why. okay. sorry for the lame email. just know i love you all infinitely. stay out of trouble. go christmas caroling and spread the cheer.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.
p.s. i had a dream about grandma. i have never dreamt of her before. what could it mean?

peace+love

oh what a day...

2011-12-05T21:25:00.001-07:00

oh what a day is today, nothing can stand in my way...(name that song)
we had a great week. we worked our little tails off and sacamos la mugre (we took out the trash). it was great but i am exhausted. we called to get our washer fixed. it was kind of embarrassing cause basically the guy had to come out just to tell us that we have to wash our clothing with cold water only because we have no warm water faucet into our washer. it was actually really funny cause the washer knobs are all in english and he turned the water temperature and started explaining and said, "´'warm' means tibio so you always have to keep in on cold cold cause that means frio". ha.
oh ya so yesterday was my first day at church in our ward since we had stake conference last week. i saw this couple walking in holding hands and i thought "that guy looks like our ward mission leader but that does not look like his wife" so i asked my comp who he was. she said, "that is our ward mission leader". i said, "that does not look like the same woman i met when we ate lunch there". she said, "it's not, it's her older sister." um, awkward. is that normal?
christmas is going to be fabulous. our stake is very priviledged. at the temple in santiago they have this nativity scene event like at temple square with all the nativities from different countries. and this is it is going to be in our stake center for 4 days before christmas..14th-18th. i'm stoked to bring all our investigators and show them how we do things in jesus' church. plus we have got some serious christmasness going on in our house. we cut out lots of paper snowflakes and hung them from the ceiling, we have a christmas tree with halloween candy as the skirt and i made a paper nativity scene.
welp, i hope you all have a lovely week. sorry this email is kind of lame. i still have some peeps to write back. but just know i love you all mucho mucho. like infinitely. like the only person that loves you all more than me is jesus. and heavenly father. okay. chao.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

i'd rather be in pemberly

2011-11-28T18:25:00.001-07:00

actually that is a lie. there is no where i would rather be than here in the ward Nueva San Martín in the community of Maipú (pronounced "my poo"). if i finish the mission here i will be able to say, i died in my poo. either way i will be able to say that one of my sectors in the mission was in my poo. it's really hot here. i am already getting really tan.
the subject is titled so because my companion, hermana wiltse, has a dog named pemberly. i thought he and bingley could be friends and then i remembered that mom gave him away. that's kind of sad. oh well, i'll just get another dog when i get home. maybe. it is really hot here not like the coast and there is lots of smog which is already making my skin break out. but i do love my new sector and my new companion. she is from washington and we have really similar personalities. her mom is a hippie that goes to women's retreats where they sit in a circle, light a candle and pass it around talking about their feelings. her dad is just regular.
this week an old 75 year old man told me that if we would have been young together we would have been boyfriend/girlfriend. yesterday we had stake conference and the first speaker was talking about personal revaltion. she told this story about how she didn't really have a desire to read or see the movie "twilight". then a missionary told her that the author was LDS and that the author had a dream that she needed to write a book about vampires and werewolves and love and whatever else is in that book. so apparently God gave stephanie myers personal revaltion and now we have the epic classic, "twighlight". um....gag me.
welp, i hope you all had a fabulous thanksgiving. i know i did. i did not eat turkey, dress as an indian or pilgram, or watch football. i walked lots and talked to lots of people. i love you all. have a fabulous week.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

cause I'm a blonde

2011-11-21T20:32:00.001-07:00

happy turkey day! my comp asked me what we do on thanksgiving. (people in general, not us--cause we do everything differently). i wasn't really sure what to say...eat, watch football, and sleep? either way i hope you all have a great time at the party and that you eat lots of pumpkin pie in my name.
we had a somewhat eventful week. actually now that i look back it was kind of a week of dumb kelli jean moments. for example when i thought it would be a good idea to try waxing my legs so that i wouldn't have to shave so often. that lasted for one little section of my thigh....
i had been craving pie de limon for like 2 weeks and finally we had time after lunch to go buy one. i was walking and eating my pie and the wind kept blowing up my skirt. so i put the pie de limon on top of my bag to try and keep my skirt down. as i did the pie fell on the ground and a dog came up and ate it.
on friday we were knocking doors on a street i'd never been down and we came to a dead end. we needed to get back to the apartment soon and we saw this little park with a barbed wire fence that was broken in one spot, so i suggested it would be faster to cut through there. as we crossed the park i saw a big builing with lots of military people. i thought, this could be the military base in our sector. we kept walking and saw the exit with a soldier and his machine gun guarding it so we decided to walk to the other entrance. we got to the entrance where there were 3 soldiers and their machine guns. ha.
we also met this guy knocking doors. actually it was kind of embarassing cause we walked up to the house and i yelled "¡alo!" and then saw the guy sitting there on the porch. we started talking to him and he started telling us how bad his life was and all he had to suffer. so we started pointing out the good things he had, his house, a family, health, etc.. "i don't have family. all my kids are grown and i just live here with my wife. i had to work like a dog for 50 years to earn this house. i never got to rest." we were kind of desperate so i said, "look at that bee that gives us honey." his reply, "that isn't even a honey bee. plus it will sting you." apparently he was not present for my optomistico talk.
welp, i have changes. it is really sad that i am leaving the coast. i don't really want to. but the Lord knows better than me what i need. i love you all. have a fabulous week.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

wake me up when september ends

2011-11-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

mi querida familia,
how is everyone? kewwi, you da you da best. you know why... how is the cold cold weather. the weather here is messing me up in my mind. the other day we were knocking doors and i was a beautiful, cool, over cast day. then after like 2 hours of walking around i realized it is november, NOT june. i seriously had it stuck in my head that it was june. and every morning when i wake up i have to lay there and think for a minute before i figure out what day it is. this morning i woke up thinking it was saturday or sunday or something. pretty much any day other that the day it is. cause the weather is just so beautiful. it can't possibly be november.
that day that we knocked doors forever we went to a street i had never been down (our sector is huge). and we walked up to this really creepy looking house with a little forest in the front and some messed up steps up to the door and knocked. you could see through the cracks in the door and there was a curtain blowing around. it was really creepy. we stayed there for like 2 minutes and no one came to the door so we walked down the stairs. when we walked past the driveway we saw 4 ravenous dogs at the top. i thanked heavenly father in my prayers that night that none of them came to eat us when we were knocking the door. i am 100% positive that that was our miracle for the day.
welp i have like 3 minutes of internet time left but i really have nothing else all that exciting to tell you. except that i just love the mission going to peoples houses and them telling us all their life stories and their problems then us applying the gospel to help them. it's the funnest thing ever. be good. be true. be cool.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

some things just never change

2011-11-08T20:18:00.000-07:00

i hope you all enjoyed the photos i have sent you for the last year cause you're not going to see anymore till may. i accidentally left my camera on the bus when we came back from santiago on saturday. typical, i know.
today we went to a beautiful beach called algarrobo. i took lots of pics with my brand new disposable camera. i'm really excited to see how they turned out in a couple of months when i finish the camera. anyway, a few of us were playing soccer on the beach and i was racing someone to the ball as it headed toward the ocean. i totally ate it right as a wave came in. it was awesome.
friday we had a fabulous talent show and two investigators participated. we also had beatriz, juan matias, and felipe in church yesterday. which was kind of a big deal cause they're active members of the evangelical church. and they stayed for all three hours and in the evening went and participated in the stake choir. it was really happy.
on halloween we went trick or treating. not really, but we did go to a first appointment of a contact we'd done the week before and the guy was asleep but the rest of his family told us to come in...it was someones birthday so they were having a bbq and gave us churipan and coca cola. people are just so generous. so now when i say food prayers i ask that God bless it so that it won't make me fat.
i'm trying to remember something we did every single day cause this old lady told me i need to exercise my memory too. but i can't remember anything really exciting besides the normal knocking doors and teaching lessons. i'm sorry. i love you all. have a really great week.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

this is halloween

2011-10-31T15:38:00.001-06:00

i'm excited to go knock doors tonight....i'm going to dress up as a servant of jesus. what are you all going to dress as?
we had an awesome conference with elder zeballos from the seventy this week. that was good and spiritual. then i got to have a interview with him. which was alright too. i'm just way excited for this saturday cause one of the twelve apostles i'm pretty sure is coming this saturday so we're having another conference. the only stinky thing is it's in santiago and starts at 9 so we have to get up at like 4:15 that day. it reminds me of working at the pool the 5-7 shift. except that i won't be wearing a bathing suit.
we had a really good week. we had 8 inactive members in church yesterday and 3 investigators. so that was happy. there was more people in church than the whole time i've been here. the ward is starting to change a bit. people are a lot more friendly with each other. and i learned how to make soapaipillas this week. bad because they're so good. fried flour, squash, water, yeast, and salt.
everyone should read daughters in my kingdom..the book about relief society. it is awesome. and everyone should do their visiting and home teaching. because your eternal salvation depends on it and i would like to be with you all forever. i liked this quote from daughters in my kingdom, "our eternal happiness will be in proportion to the way that we devote ourselves to helping others." - President George Albert Smith.
a prophet said it, so it must be true.
i love you all. have a fabulous week!
love,
kelli jean, hruss.
p.s. roasting mallows by candelight to celebrate a year! maybe at 18 months i'll be living in a house so i can burn a skirt.

peace+love

think optimistico

2011-10-24T18:29:00.001-06:00

my blessed beloved loved ones,
everyday i am more and more convinced that Heavenly Father loves us and knows us individually. on thursday, Juanita called us and asked us to come to lunch a little earlier cause she wanted to talk with us. the appointment we had in the morning just so happened to fall through so we went right to her house. she has a very sad story actually. her husband abused her for several years, but now he has changed a lot. he still has a bit of a temper but he's active in the church and is trying to change his character. she had surgery last week on her colon or something. anyway, as we were talking she had a sudden pain in the mouth of her stomache and couldn't stand up or even talk very well. she was so scared, but we called her husband and she could get to the doctor. she said, i'm so glad you are here. i know God didn't want me to be alone.
the not-so-spiritual part of the story is that she was talking about possibly getting sealed to her husband when she got that pain. ha.
yesterday i gave a talk in church about optimism. i wrote my talk late saturday night, but it turned out to be a really quality talk and one that no one is ever going to forget...because as i spoke about optimism i kept using the work "optomistico" which come to find out is not actually a word. it's "optimista" just so you all know. anyway for the rest of church everyone talked about how we all need to be more optomistico.
so if you want to really get your point across, all you have to do is make up a new word and repeat it several times.
i love you all. this week we are having a meeting with elder zeballos from the 70. that should be fun.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

a blast from the past

2011-10-17T22:11:00.002-06:00

mis queridos,
i know you were all waiting to find out about my new comp. all i can say is God answers prayers. i had been asking for a comp with more experience than me in the mish just cause i was getting a little tired of being sr. comp, ha. so he sent me hermana paz. she's from argentina and been on the mish for 3 more months than me. being in a co-companionship is the best. it makes teaching less stressful.
saturday we celebrated 50 years of the mission in chile. awesome. i got to see all my old friends from san miguel AND the mtc. the only lame thing was i thought addison jacobs had already gone home so i didn't even look for him. than one of my friends from the east mission told me he was there. but by then a lot of the missionaries had left so i couldn't find him. i guess i won't ever see him here in chile. the celebration part was cool. they presented a cheesy musical about the book of mormon and the restoration and presented dances from lots of different countries in latin america. my favorite was the dance from colombia. i am going to go there someday.
happy birthday this week papi! and jennifer! i complete a year this week. wowie zowie. time flies when you're having fun. everyone should eat a pumpkin choc chip cookie or some pumpkin pie for me on thursday cause that is what i would do if those things existed here. i love you all with all my heart. be good.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

p.s. elder pew and bloomquist in the east mish from the mtc. losers club forever.

peace+love

it's the most wonderful time of the year

2011-10-03T15:43:00.001-06:00

mi querida gente,
if there is one thing i know for sure, it is that God has a sense of humor.
we were teaching Orfelina for the first time and i was trying to explain the importance of asking God for the things we need through prayer. i tried giving her an example, "let's say i want some chocolate, but if i don't ask her for any she probably won't give me some. but if i say something, she will." Orfelina said, "i have some chocolate for you", walked in the kitchen and came out with this huge chocolate bar.
remember that old guy that wanted to be God so he could protect me? we went back to teach him this week and he told me, "i have been thinking about you a lot this week...you were in my dreams twice. you appeared next to my bed and God told me He put you in my path."
me - "that's because we're missionaried and help people gain eternal life."
carlos - "i want to spend eternity with you...age doesn't matter, we all die old anyway...i always suffer when i fall in love. kelita, you're going to leave and never come back and leave me here suffering...could you marry a chilean?"
after about thirty minutes of trying to talk about the gospel...
me - "we need to leave so let's say a prayer. is there anything you'd like to ask for or thank for in this prayer?"
carlos - "yes, i'd like to ask that you'll marry me"
me - "uh we're talking to God."
carlos - "i know, i'd like to ask that you'll marry me. what do you say, will you marry me?"
me - "i'd have to say no."
carlos - "why?"
me - "my heart is taken."
carlos - "i knew it. well, there's always second chances. consider it, kelita".
then the icing on the cake...today we went to the beach for the zone activity and a lesbian hit on me.
on a more spiritual note...general conference was AWESOME (hence the subject). i invite you all to reread elder Christofferson's amazing talk and repent. "whatever the cost of repentance is swallowed up in the joy of forgiveness."
and i just want to remind you all what President Uchtdorf pointed out to us, "the most powerful being in the universe is the Father of your spirit." so trust in Him in all you do. Build that relationship you'll need to be able to recognize His promptings then act on them.
I love you all.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

p.s. my address changed again...
hermana kelli jean russell
mision chile santiago oeste
casilla 149
ave. pajaritos 1921
maipú, chile

peace+love

sometimes i feel sitting on trains

2011-09-26T19:30:00.002-06:00

big hug for whoever can guess where the subject is from.
what a crazy long week we had. on friday we walked for 6 hours without getting into a single house. that day we contacted this 74 year old man who said he would want to be god so he could protect me. and that he would die to have a woman like me. ha. then saturday was like the opposite. we taught tons of lessons, found a new investigator who has truly been prepared to hear the gospel and it was just great. but i am just happy it is monday because i look like i have two black eyes i am so tired.
saturday we were knocking on doors and we this guy opens his window and tells us he was sleeping. i thought he was going to get mad at us and then he sad, "i'm a member. i served a mission. i want to come back to church. i was praying this week for the strength to come back to church and here you guys are so i am coming back." welp, he came to church yesterday and we're having an fhe with him and some members this week. it was great.
also on saturday we had just barely gotten to beatriz' house (our investigator) when the power went out. it was out all over santiago, from the 4th to 7th region. luckily they have a car so they could drive us back to our apartment cause when we left we saw groups of juvenile delinquents on all the corners where there are little stores. but it was cool, we taught the lesson to beatriz and juan matias by candlelight.
i hope you are all happy and fabulous. i know i am. i love you all!
love,
kelli jean, hruss.
p.s. foto1 the awesome rodeo we went to...hahaha
foto2 the little matchstick girl

peace+love

yo soy lo mas humilde que hay

2011-09-19T20:12:00.001-06:00

tgim. get it. what a crazy week with lots of drama and laughter and craziness (no tears on my part, menos mal) and i'm just happy it's almost general conference and this week is zone conference. i need it.

best quote of my life courtesy of the most macho person you will ever meet--luis. he's an inactive member and his "wife" (not actually married...part of the drama this week) and son are out investigators. talking very seriously, "i am the most humble person there is." then within the same breath "not to offend you but i would say God loves us more than he loves you two."

We also had a contact lecture us about not taking our mothers lasts names as well as dad (in latin culture, for those who don't know, you have 2 last names...first your dad's then your mom's).. i said, "why would i want my mom's last name if when i get married i'm not even keeping my dad's last name.." ha, that sure set him off.
welp that about sums it up this week. i love you all. i hope you're happy and healthy.

love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

where does the good go

2011-09-12T15:55:00.000-06:00

dear beloved loved ones,
what a strange week. but a week where i learned lots of good lessons. on monday night we had an awesome 2nd visit with roxana. the last time we'd taught her was 2 weeks ago and we left the book of mormon. something came up last week and we couldn't teach her so we didn't really have much hope for her to progress, but we went to the appointment. she had read the introduction, the testimonies of the 3 and 8 witnesses and joseph smith and was starting chapter 3 of 1 nephi. she knew all about where the book of mormon and had already felt it's power and influence in her life. awesome.
tuesday i started to get sick and then wednesday my stomache formed into a cannibalisitc monster and wouldn't stop eating me. it hurt so bad. between tuesday wednesday and thurday i think i ate enough food for just breakfast one day. but that was probably a good thing and really being sick was a good thing for me. because i had been getting a little stressed out with all the things i wanted to do in this ward and sometimes i get a little over-zealous and stress myself out. so getting sick just reminded me that this is in the LORD'S hands and it is His work and He is going to have it done how He wants to. i guess i just needed a little humble pie.
on friday we had a lesson with a recent convert who never seems happy. i finally figured out why. she told us how she's never been able to forgive her husband for something that happened a long time ago and he's apologized for several times. and she says she will NEVER forgive him. even though they live together and have a child together. dear family and friends, if someone has done you harm and you have not forgiven them, forgive them NOW. decide you will forgive them now. if you have a hard time doing it, pray and ask for help. because by not forgiving someone you are not actually hurting anyone but yourself--you cannot recieve forgiveness for your sins and it is a burden on your back. so when you do let it go, you will be set free!!! and you have a better chance of reaching the celestial kindgom. and we need all the helps we can get.
welp those are my words of wisdom for the week. i love you all and pray for you all and hope you are all happy and healthy.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

RIP Felipe

2011-09-05T21:20:00.001-06:00

i don't know if you guys watch chilean news but all we've been hearing about for the last couple of days is the plane crash that killed felipe, an important television personality in chile. mom would have appreciated this--we heard about it all testimony meeting yesterday too (can you say swiss days?) it is really sad actually cause he was on his way to help the island that was pretty much destroyed in the earthquake/tsunami last year. our ward mission leader, cristian, had surgery this week--he had lumps on his breast...no joke. but all is well. thanks for all the birthday wishes. i had a great birthday--we taught a few lessons, watched a ward member sing and dance mapuche (an indigenous chilean tribe) songs, and one of our investigators got me a cake. i came to the conclusion this week that there are three simple steps to live a happy life...1, read the book of mormon everyday. 2. go to church every week. 3. keep the commandments. do it and you will be happy in spite of the problems life brings us. i love you all. i am ending this now because my keyboard is really sticky and annoying to type on. i will put a picture to make up for it. i love you mucho mucho.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.
p.s. nevermind. this usb won't read my camera. you'll have to wait till next week to see my cool "new kids on the block" beach pic.

peace+love

oh how i hate to get up in the morning

2011-08-29T22:24:00.001-06:00

blessed family and friends,
i finally accepted something really hard for me to accept this week. i will never be a morning person. yes, we get up at 7 30 in the morning, but that doesn't mean i'm not a grouch. my poor comp. she told me one time that when she found out i was going to be her companion that she thought, well god wants to send me a trial to learn something. ha. but actually we get along really well and before you all get any ideas i've never fought with a companion.
the entire country was in ¨´paro¨´ this week and i don't know what the word would be in english because i don't remember our country being in paro for as long as i've been alive. basically most businesses didn't open and there was no public transportation. and it just so happened that wednesday morning we had a lesson in las rocas, a part of our sector very far away. seeing as we wouldn't be able to take a taxi we set out early in the pouring rain. we got almost to the bridge and saw a couple of taxis going out there but i hadn't brought my wallet and they were all full since there were only a few. so we walked for an hour to get to the appointment AND had to cross the bridge in the rain and chileans drive really fast and i think the only time i was ever more afraid of getting hit by a car was on ride idaho riding in the rain on the freeway with lumber trucks flying past us. then we walked another 40 minutes to lunch. i decided we need bikes. but it was great cause we now have a new investigator and i got some extra exercise that day.
we also found this couple who the guy writes and sings christian music. he played some songs for us and wants us to come over one monday to play music and sing. ha.
welp, life is just dandy. thanks for all the birthday greetings. i will be turning 21 again for your information. be good. be true. be nice. and be cool.
i love you all more than i love playing in the rain with my boots.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

ya soy chilena

2011-08-22T16:18:00.000-06:00

mi bonita familia,
how are you all my loved ones? i had a beautiful week with a few let downs and lots of miracles and felt my heavenly father's love for his children lots.
miracle 1: angelica, one of our awesome investigators, thought i was chilean. she thought i was from santiago. that pretty much made my life and was the greatest compliment ever.
miracle 2: we finally got to teach maritza with out her overbearing husband and she said she wants to be baptized, that she knows joseph smith was a prophet. music to my ears.
miracle 3: we were able to help a woman start her journey to quit smoking. (2 packs a day. when we left her house i'm sure everyone thought we'd been smoking).
and lots of other little miracles that i'll tell you someday. our ward mission leader has tumors on his chest. he is the best ward mission leader ever. his name is cristian if you could all include him in your prayers. the weather is turning into spring. one of my favorite things about san antonio as opposed to santiago is the blue blue sky. there is SO MUCH SMOG in santiago. and here there are beautiful white fluffy clouds and clear blue skies. and the ocean. it is so beautiful. we went to las rocas one night this week and were knocking doors next to the beach. listening to the waves come in. yes, i love my life and you should all be jealous so much that you want to go on a mission too. it is the best. happy happy happy birthday jonah and mom! i hope you two have a fabulous week. give each other a big slobbery kiss and a hug for me!
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

perhaps, perhaps, perhaps

2011-08-15T20:00:00.001-06:00

that is a weird word if you look at it too long. i had that song stuck in my head today for some reason. we ate porrotos con fideos 4 DAYS for lunch this week. they're good but i believe in moderation in all things. i even ate mote con huesillos for dessert yesterday and ate it all cause there was nowhere for me to throw it out without someone seeing. i think those are the kinds of things i recieve extra blessings for.
this week was really awesome. every week is awesome. we had lots of little miracles and walked around a lot. and i am now 100% sure that the only way to truly be happy in this life is to keep the commandments and say your prayers and read the scriptures. we meet people everyday who have awful relationships in their marriages, whose lives are falling apart and it all began when they quit going to church, quit saying family prayers and quit reading the scriptures. so that is my advice for you all. i hope you all had a fabulous week. i love you mucho mucho!
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

tsunami evacuation, this way

2011-08-09T15:32:00.003-06:00

loves of my life,
how is the utah august treating you all? and since when did august start? time is going by WAY TOO QUICKLY.
on thursday we decided to spend the entire day looking for inactive members. i told h.con before we left, we are going to see lots of miracles today. i just know it. we went to this house, el sauce 1447 looking for jaqueline. a woman walked out while she was talking on the phone. she was crying. she hung up the phone and we asked for jaqueline. she said she didn't live there so we asked if we could help her with something (seeing as she was crying). she said, "no, it's just that i just found out my nephew is going to die. i was just on the phone with my sister. he is 1 year old." we began talking to her about the plan of salvation and testifying that he would go directly to heaven and that she will see him again and be able to live with him forever if she follows the gospel. we sent an appointment to come back and i said, we don't believe in coincidences. your heavenly father loves you. that's why we are here. she said, i know. then we left and were going to the next inactive members house. h. con said, jaqueline lives in 1457, but i could have sworn i read 1447.
there is this investigator in our ward who is catholic and she wants to be a nun. her name is veronica. the missionaries quit teaching her cause they asked her to be baptized and she said, i'm catholic and god knows i'm catholic and i'm going to die catholic, and i know the book of mormon is true. anyway, they quit teaching her because she was being a little creepy with hermana rivero. yesterday she came up to me in church, the first time she ever even acknowledged my existence, and said she needed to get in contact with hermana rivero. that it was urgent and personal. i was like, well you can write her a letter. i can't give you the phone number for the missionaries in san miguel. she said, well i'm just going to have to go to san miguel and talk to her. i thought it was weird but didn't think too much about it until irma, this other member in our ward informed me that veronica plays for the other team and was in love with hermana rivero. ha. that's the first time that happened in the mish.
welp, i hope this finds you all happy and healthy. i am. i love you mucho!
love,
kelli jean, h russ.

p.s. foto - las rocas de santo domingo

peace+love

where is the love

2011-08-06T13:44:00.001-06:00

apparently i don't write very good emails. Sorry mom, i will try to give you a few more details of my life here in LloLleo (did i really not tell you the name of my new sector? ha, sorry). LloLleo is actually really how i imagined my mission before i got here. it's really hilly. i'm really tired all the time seeing as i haven't walked up a hill in 9 months, but i'm sure i'll get used to it.
today, we found ROOT BEER! happiest day of my life in the mission.
on tuesday hermana conrad (from boise, idaho, my comp in the mtc, has lost 60 pounds in the mission) and i made up a rap for the class we had to give in zone meeting. i think the elders liked it once they got over the shock that the "always serious hermanas" were actually doing something cool/clever.
yesterday i recieved probably the best surprise of my mission. i was sitting at the piano in church when i saw the araya family walk in to sacrament meeting! German came to sunday school with me, and Natacha repremanded a little bit the woman in the ward that doesn't like me ( i had told her about it in a letter). no, she didn't actually say anything mean, she just talked me up to her for like 10 minutes straight about how great i am, please take care of my hija gringa, blah blah blah. irma (the woman that doesn't like me cause i'm gringa) may be pesada, but she's got NOTHING on natacha. (ask scott what pesada means). i was actually more worried about german though, because one time this awful woman that worked in the entrance of an apartment building we always went to in san miguel offended us so bad that i left crying. i mentioned the experience to german later that day and we never saw that woman again.
i'm sorry, that's all the intersting things i can think of. except as i'm writing this email i am watching a sea lion play around in the water. i'm jealous of myself.
i hope everyone is happy and healthy. i sure am.
i love you all infinitely,
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

take me out to the city (sorry this is a week late)

2011-08-06T13:42:00.000-06:00

heavenly father knows me and loves me and answers my prayers.
i am in Llolleo---LA COSTA. i am also exhausted because i haven't actually had to walk up hill in like 9 months. hna conrad is my comp--we were comps for the first 3 weeks of the mtc for those of you who have seen mtc photos or remember that. it's been good. i'm just trying to learn the sector, and we're trying to find some new people to teach. pretty much every three people we talk to here are less active members. i thought it was bad in san miguel, we had an average of like 60 people at church with a list of members 8 pages long. here there are about 50 people at church each week and the list of members is 20 PAGES LONG. these next few changes are going to be fun...
our pension looks out to the ocean. i can actually breathe here.
last monday was hands down the worst day of the mish. having to say goodbye to nilda, nicole, maria and the araya family was truly awful. i do not think the lord should leave missionaries in the same area for so long. ESPECIALLY hermanas. but i don't like i'll ever be in an area that long again. after all, i have now reached my 9 month mark. weird. time flies.
so this would be a much more interesting email but i have a pounding headache from soccer..one of the elders hit me in the head with the ball (elder burgoss is my zone leader AGAIN - five of the six changes i've been in the mission now- therefore we'll be playing soccer every p-day).
i love you all. a whole lot. like infitely.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

i am peacing put

2011-07-19T10:05:00.004-06:00

...that means i'm leaving.
what a weird week.
monday night we met this awful psychologist who was probably like 55 years old and tried to tell me that because i'm 21 i don't know anything about life and that he could convince me that he's something he's not so i would want to be with him. afterward abby told me, don't worry about, you've got it more together than he does.
tuesday hermana king (mish pres wife/my bff) finally came out with us to teach! her spanish is getting a little better, she bore her testimony in a lesson and i didn't have to help her too much.
we went to say goodbye to susana and yannyn and we were teaching them about the book of mormon and within the span of about 10 minutes susana went from talking about how jesus had a family too to aliens. i probably won't miss teaching them.
i sure will miss ruben and maria elena though. maria elena told us they'll be getting married in october or sooner which made me very happy cause then ruben will be able to be baptized!
and i'll miss german and his entire family. and jordana and fernanda even if jordana does stress me out. and my zone. it is weird to be leaving san miguel seeing as i don't know any other part of chile. it feels like i'm starting the mission over again.
i just hope i am 90% better by tomorrow cause i don't really want to start out sick in my new sector. also if you could all pray my new comp is another gringa...i hope that doesn't offend anyone, but it's true, blondes really do have more fun.
welp this sure was a random sporadic email. i hope everyone is happy and healthy! someone give lyla JEAN (woop woop represent!) a big fat kiss for me! i'm excited to meet her in 10 months (p.s. incase you didn't realize i hit 9 months on wednesday. my my how time flies).
i love you all.
kelli jean, hruss.

p.s. foto: ZCC!!! zone contacting condors!
foto 2: i didn't even tell francisca how to pose. we really are soul sisters
foto 3: best p-day EVA.

peace+love

reproduce!

2011-07-11T14:56:00.001-06:00

bueno familia,
the other day we were knocking doors and we rang this doorbell and i guess i should explain that in chile everyone has a locked gate in front of their house (the majority anyway) so you ring the doorbell and you're still like 5 feet away from the front door. anyway, we rang this doorbell and the door cracked open a little bit then slammed shut. it did that several times. we thought it was a little kid messing around so we rang again (peter denied christ 3 times. we always give people the chance to deny us 3 times). the door opened a little farther and slammed shut and did it again several times but we couldn't see anyone inside. we yelled "halo" and no one came out. we thought it was funny, so i rang it again. this time the door swung all the way open and slammed shut several times so then i felt like i was living in the changeling or some scary movie in the part when the music starts getting really intense and the people are just standing in the pathway of danger and you yell at the tv saying "run away you idiot!". so we decided we should leave. i think we'll go back and try again this week.
fernanda will be baptized on saturday. i've never seen anyone so excited to be baptized in my life. so i am really happy for her. ruben came to church despite his messed up knee and even asked the bishop for a priesthood blessing. our investigators rock.
our zone made french toast and pancakes today. maple syrup. mmmmm. god bless the usa. (p.s. fyi kerri last week for the fourth of july and actually all last week the weather was really perfect. it just started getting a little chilly (get it?) again today).
i love you all. stay out of trouble, stay in touch, and try not to think about me too much. but pray for me cause i have changes next week and i am little nervous about getting a new comp and going to a new sector and basically starting all over again. asi es la mision.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

peace+love

if you lived in the time of Noah you would not have been on that ark

2011-07-04T18:11:00.004-06:00

ummm, i feel like i just barely wrote to you all yesterday and so i don't really know what to say. on wednesday it rained really really hard and most of our teaching appointments fell through, so we knocked doors for three hours and no one let us in. it was really funny, people would come to the door and say, "aww, it is so cold! i'm inside with my heater so i can't talk to you right now." we had rain boots, rain coats, and an umbrella so it was actually our funnest day all week. i thoroughly enjoyed the rain. Fernanda is this awesome 9 year old whose mom is an inactive member but has always taught her the gospel in their home. we were teaching baptism this week an we said, fernanda, how are we baptized? "by someone with the priesthood". when we taught her the plan of salvation she was teaching us about the creation and said, " the greatest of all of god's creations is the woman." i love her. she is being baptized on july 16th.
eat some cinnamon rolls
don't be ignorant
watch some fireworks
sing god bless america
and pet a dog
i love you all. i hope you are happy and healthy. stay out of trouble and stay in touch. handwritten letters are nice sometimes (kerri is the queen and dominating you all on that front. p.s. steph and fam, thanks for the letter this week! you guys crack me up.)
over and out,
kelli jean, hruss.

p.s. happy 4th of july! we had a 3 zone barbeque all american/chilean style.
foto 1 abby, ellie (mish presidents daughter), and me
foto 2 contacting condors zone (kerri, the one in the front in the orange shirt sticking his belly out is zachary cummings who is friends with b-friend, oliver, etc..those boys from davis that you and kenzie used to hang out with)

peace+love

this is real life, people.

2011-06-27T15:21:00.001-06:00

dear people...
do you want to be happy? be obedient. live the gospel. it is as simple as that. bad news, but in the end, the world and money and people around you aren't going to bring you any sort of satisfaction. the world does not care about you. your family cares about you. god cares about you. wake up and smell the roses. this life has a much greater purpose than you realize.
it doesn't feel like p-day. actually it doesn't even feel like the mission. probably because we went an helped clean up a bunch of trash from the future home of a newly wed couple moving into our ward. we found 2 dead rats. i picked one up. i thought, mom would appreciate this moment, but unfortunately i didn't have my camera. but if felt good to do some manual labor. i feel nice and refreshed for this week.
maria came to church yesterday and bawled through the entire thing. she says that's why she doesn't like coming, cause she just feels the spirit and just cries. but i was happy to see her there.
this week has been a bit of a rollercoaster and i'm really tired, but i learned a lot and am very content because i know i am leaving in 3 weeks and things have changed a bit in this ward. the bishop loves us now, the ward is much more active in mission work. therefore, i am happy.
i hope you are all happy too. and if your not, go ask your next door neighbor if they need help with something. then you'll be happy. i love you all infinitely.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.
peace+love

I've had the time of my live… and I owe it all to you

2011-06-20T11:27:00.005-06:00

German is getting baptized. and no that is not a joke. i am as happy as can be and basically yesterday was the best fathers day of my life...we had a lovely lunch with the araya family, taught a lovely lesson (well actually more like a lesson that went like this-"you do realize how ridiculous this is from our point of view that you still haven't been baptized....you go to church everyweek, hold family night, pay fast offerings, drive the ward members to seminary, are more reliable than our actual ward mission leader, bought 5 giant bags of potatos to distribute amongst ward members that don't have any money, went to all the sessions of stake conference, are reading the book of mormon, know more about church history than some active members that were born in the church, and believe that the church is true, joseph smith was a prophet, your heavenly father loves you, etc when 6 months ago none of the above was true so you just simply can't progress anymore till you recieve the gift of the holy ghost so you can be cleansed from all your sins."), and he will be baptized on july 2nd. when we asked him and he said yes i just sat there and didn't even know what to say and just felt happier than i've ever felt in my life.
i love the rain in chile. the weather has been beautiful.
a few weeks ago we contacted this young man who is a police man and so we couldn't go to his house to teach him (they live all together in housing and people can't really visit, especially not women). Guillermo. so we invited him to church but never thought anything of it. the other day we were sitting there studying after lunch when the phone rang....it was guillermo. he asked if i was still in chile and if he could come visit us "um, no, we are missionaries but you are more than welcome to come to church on sunday, chao".
welp, i love you all. i hope you're as content as i am.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.

p.s.
foto 1-happy fathers day, from our home to yours
love,
the russell araya family
foto 2- here comes the rain again, falling on my head like a memory....name that song.

peace+love

i hope you like dark comedy

2011-06-13T16:12:00.000-06:00

if you want to laugh or cry at the end if this story i won't judge you for either one. i'll let you all decide how i reacted after i left.
last sunday we went looking for an inactive member on our ward list and met the woman's son, Flamenio. he told us his mom had died a few years ago, she had diabetes and so does he, and he wasn't a member. he was a very fat, kind, jolly old man who gave us fresh homemade bread after we talked a little bit about the gospel with him and set an appointment to come back on friday. when we got there the door was open and everything in the house had been rearranged. a man saw us and walked outside and we asked for flamenio. "my dad passed away a few hours ago. do you want to come in and see him?" um, no, but i didn't want to be rude either...we walked in there and there were 5 relatives, candles, the coffin, and a bunch of catholic paraphanelia. i stood there having absolutely no idea what to do, so i asked, "is there anything we can do to help you?" and his son said, "if you want to give a blessing or something?" well, as you all may know, i am not jesus and do not have power to raise people from the dead, so i just went and stood by the coffin and talked a bit about the plan of salvation, said a prayer, bore my testimony, gave them a plan of salvation pamphlet and left.
welp that just about sums up my week. i hope you are all happy and healthy. stay out of trouble and stay in touch!
i love you all more than chileans love manjar.
love,
kelli jean, hruss.
p.s. maria says hi

peace+love

these are my people

2011-06-06T15:23:00.000-06:00

...welp, looks like i'm in for another go-round in San Miguel. i know some people are happy. i know our mission leader will probably not be happy (i like to give him work to do and he doesn't like that apparently.) but i am happy and the Lord wants me here for a reason. yesterday we had a nice long tremor. after yesterdays i decided that maybe i should start worrying more when we have those cause apparently in the earthquake in concepcion last year a bunch of people died cause they just stayed in bed thinking it would pass...then came the tsunami. it's just that they always happen when i'm in the middle of a deep sleep and i don't have the urge to get out of bed.
it finally rained. if you all thought the inversion in utah was bad, Natacha didn't give us permission to go out running in the morning all week long because the pollution is so bad. it's like red air days x4. but it rained and it was beautiful. we came home sopping wet and smiling cause that meant today would be beautiful and we could start running again. and it is. and there is lots of snow in la cordillera and it reminds me of home.
we had an interesting lesson about the law of chastity with german the other day. apparently he completely disagrees. he believes in the "try it before you buy it" theory of men. i told him he needed to stop thinking like a man and start thinking like someone who wants to have eternal life with his family. in the end he changed his attitude and still loves me just the same...i just really wish it didn't have to be me to teach all the hard stuff with him. but he really has changed so much. he used to come to church in jeans and now he comes in a suit and even tie sometimes. he used to NEVER pray period and now he'll say prayers (somewhat grudgingly) in sunday school. we also have a baptismal date...rosela. she was on the "16 and i'm pregnant" tv show chile style.
welp, i hope this letter finds you all happy and healthy. i truly love you and pray for you several times a day. stay out of trouble and stay in touch,
que dios les bendiga,
hruss.

peace+love

maria wanted me to tell you i am a good missionary

2011-05-30T14:26:00.003-06:00

Silveria, Maria, and Olga on Maria's birthday

peace+love

smoking kills

2011-05-30T14:22:00.001-06:00

hello beloved familia,
i hope this letter finds you all content despite the drastic changes about to take place in many of your lives...
a lady pretty much offended me in every way possible and discredited everything i do, but that was a bad experience so i won't talk about it. let's talk about happy things.
we were talking to this woman this week and asked her what the most important thing in her life was. she said health. i found it ironic that she had a cigarette in her hand. i just so happened to have had a word of wisdom pamphlet in my bag that day. i'm sure she's learned something valuable from reading it.
last night German jr. convinced silveria that we are brother and sister. she must really be losing her eyesight.
German papa now has no choice but to quit smoking cause he has high blood pressure...everything happens for a reason.
we have this inciative in the mish called "falla 5" where if a teaching appt falls through we contact the first 5 people we see or knock the first 5 doors we pass. i said to abby, ya, vamos a contactar a un bautismo. the first 4 people rejected us. then we talked to victor. we set a teaching appt. the next day we went to knock doors on a street i'd never knocked doors on. when we walked up to the street i said to abby, ya, vamos a tocar una puerta de un bautismo. the 2nd door we knocked, out left victor. ha. then when we went to the actual teaching appointment we realized he'd given us a false direction and phone number. but now we know where he really lives...
welp that just about sums up my week. i love you all muchisimo. i hope you can feel that through this letter.
love,
russell, hermana kelli jean

peace+love

last night i dreamt they turned our chapel in San Miguel into a temple..

2011-05-24T21:58:00.001-06:00

...wouldn't that be cool?
Dionisio tried to convince us the CocaCola has cocaine and that's why so many people are addicted to it. it would be funnier for you all if you knew him.
WARNING: this email is a little more serious than usual...
On friday night we were talking to this woman who was a member of some christian denomination who was trying to tell me how to preach and what i should preach and was really making me angry (really, i don't really get angry anymore, but with her my heart was pounding and my face was red so good thing it was dark). anyway, I started talking to her about eternal families. she said, "no, we CANNOT live in families because we will only be minds and we won't remember this life. if we could remember this life, all the pain and suffering we have, it wouldn't be paradise." i thought, have you ever actually thought about what you're saying?
but i asked her, "if we don't know pain how can we know joy? how will we recognize the difference?"
she was so thoroughly convinced of what she was saying i felt like i was talking to Korihor. except Korihor was even more humble. anyway as she was talking apostacy i just gave her lesson 1 pamphlet, told her i hoped she'd read and pray about it, said goodbye and we walked away.
but that contact stuck with me all night and even in the morning i was talking to abby about it, it bugged me so much. then at lunch Elder Martinez called and said we have an emergency zone meeting in our chapel at 5. We had no idea what was going on, but when we got there and sat down I noticed all the office elders and assistants were there, and Elder Ciccio (the elder you guys saw on Mother's day that mom said was cute) was crying. President came in and informed us that Elder Jennings had had a heart attack and died that morning when he and Elder Ciccio got back from running. We had a little devotional and testimony meeting and I felt sad and cried everytime i looked at Elder Ciccio or thought of Elder Jennings' family, but felt so calm and peaceful thinking of Elder Jennings. I thought about the girl from the night before and felt the spirit so strongly testify to me that the plan of salvation is true. that we truly can and will live with our families forever if we are true to the gospel and endure to the end. I thought about D&C 130:2. I felt so strongly that I wanted to tell you guys, my family, that these things are true. Life is so precious. I love and am so thankful for the time we have been given on this earth to form a family, feel joy and pain, make mistakes, learn and progress, form relationships, learn to love and have all kinds of experiences good and bad. I love this life and do not want to forget it. But it is so short and so important. So please stay loyal to the covenants you've made. Endure to the end. Because I want to live with you all forever. I also feel so grateful for the opportunity to proclaim this message to the whole world. That families can be together forever. I think since finding out about Elder Jennings death i have testified more firmly and been more insistent on getting into people's houses. I hope you will all share the hope you have through the gospel with someone who doesn't.
I love you all and hope you have a fabulous week. I hope you know I am happy and healthy and I love being on a mission. It is the funnest, most joyful thing i think i've ever done. But i am excited for the day that i get to see all your beautiful faces again!
Love,
kelli jean russell

peace+love

because i got high

2011-05-16T12:26:00.000-06:00

hola mi vida! mis amorcitas!
on monday night we went to visit my friend franco. the inactive member with drug problems that owns a mini gambling shop. his friend was there completely high and drunk. very classy. he started to talk to abby and i in english. he said, "i'm drunk." "i like hip hop underground" "my name is baby face". he knew who the utah jazz are. why? "espn live". i just wish you all could have been there to hear his accent saying all these ridiculous things. he started smoking what i thought was a really strong ciggarette so i asked him to go outside to smoke. that night i came home with the munchies. also that night we were contacting people in the street and we started talking to this middle aged man. after about 30 seconds i started wishing we'd never started talking to him. he told us, "for me, you're like a dream. the two most beautiful women i've seen in years." oh gosh. chilean men.
besides that, we also taught luis who is basically the golden investigator who after the first lesson told us, "i have to tell you. this week i had to do a dance performance. i was really nervous so right before i went on stage i prayed for God to help me not be nervous and i didn't feel nervous at all during the entire performance and we won. i know God answers my prayers." i love him.
also anson stopped us in the street. he was a contact we did in the summer (with hna espinosa) who has studied every religion except ours and is in search of the truth. we passed by a few times in the summer but he could never recieve us. when he stopped us he said, i can now study with you! please come to my house on sunday!
i just want you all to know right at this moment "the winner takes it all" is playing in the internet place. i love my life right now.
anyway, life is good here in chile. abby and i are just enjoying our time doing lots of contacts, teaching lots of lessons, and being cat called every time a car drives by. i hope this letter finds you all happy and healthy. stay out of trouble and stay in touch. i love you all infinitely.
love,
hermie russ.

peace+love

first with the head then with the heart

2011-05-09T15:47:00.000-06:00

basically that was the best thing in the world to be able to see all your beautiful faces on saturday and maybe made me a little trunky, but don't worry, i'm over it now.
yesterday we walked all day long. bienvenidos a los domingos en chile. anyway, this little girl came riding up to us on her bicycle and said, "this man up the street wanted me to tell you hi". okay, weird. then we walked back up the street and he was standing outside and said, "it was me that said hi. it was me. i just think you are so beautiful." i said, "ya, gracias, chao." a couple of hours later we were in maria's shop. a water pipe had broken, so she went to get "danny" to come fix it. welp danny walked in and who to my unpleasant surprise was danny? the same man who sent the little girl on her bike to tell us hi. he saw us sitting there and said, " sorry, i will just work here quietly and you can all continue talking. i'm sorry, it's just that i have never seen two women so beautiful...blah blah blah.". so i told maria and silveria, "welp we should probably be going now".
yesterday i was studying this talk by elder corbridge from when he was a mission president. so here is my spiritual thought for the week, "your world is in your head. Get your head right and your heart will follow, and you will be right."
i hope you all have a fabulous week. you all look beautiful and happy. stay out of trouble.
I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!
love,
kjrussizzle

peace+love

Thanks for ruining the surprise Rhonda

2011-05-02T13:34:00.000-06:00

so i guess you all already know that i am training abby! it was actually really funny when i found out cause hey had all the trainers line up in the church parking lot and face the wall (sort of like an excecution line) and the greenies walked in behind us and had to come find us. abby walked up behind me and maybe when i turned around i screamed and jumped up and down a little bit. they caught it all on video. i think hermana king may have sent it to rhonda taylor. they met each other in the mtc and they're friends some other way too... anyway, it pretty much rocks training abby cause then we can tell each other stories and we actually know the people we're talking about and it's great to be with an english speaker cause now i'm finally with someone who understands my jokes. so ya, i like it even though training can be really stressful sometimes and i still don't understand everyone perfectly. but that's why i have the gift of discerning by the spirit, right? right?
this week was nutso cause we worked so much and i had started getting a fever on tuesday but i didn't want to rest or say anything cause we had lot to do before the ward activity we had on friday. but then by the activity i could barely stand (kind of a bummer i couldn't even play my own game) and in the morning i had to crawl out of bed. when i got out of the shower i couldn't stand up and then i barfed. it was really pleasant.
we met this kid luis through our list of inactive members. he's 17 and pretty is the most awesome kid ever and i'm 99% positive he is going to be baptized. it was just awesome cause i thought he was an inactive member then he told us he was never baptized. i love it when that happens. not that i love it when people aren't baptized, i just like it when i get to teach them and baptize them. i just like teaching the gospel, you know.
hess family! thank you for the pictures! grandpa, thank you for the letter and pics! my family is the best. lauren, i am showing one of our investigators your soccer pics. he doesn't think girls should play soccer...what do you have to say about that?
i hope everyone is doing fabulous and enjoying spring! i sure am enjoying fall here.
love,
keliizrizzle

p.s. guess what??? i get to skype on saturday! i am so excited to see all of your beautiful faces. we will be going to the internet place at 4:30 on saturday afternoon so i think that's 1:30 your time. i will set up my account as soon as i figure out how to make a stinking at sign on this latin keyboard. the email account will be this one. see you all then!

peace+love

2011-04-26T15:57:00.001-06:00

peace+love

me toca entrenar

2011-04-26T15:56:00.001-06:00

On monday I met this little boy who has a hard time saying ¨misionera¨ so he says ¨las prisioneras! las prisioneras!¨ I suppose in some sense it is a little true...
i'm fairly positive i have the rest of my mission planned out. and i think this is what the lord wants too (the more i tell myself that the more i convince myself it is true). once i leave san miguel I'm going to Islas del Maipú. it's campo and the only sector of sisters on bikes. then after 4 changes there i'm going to finish my mission in Llo Lleo-the coast. i went on monday with my comp. the campo looks a lot like the drive from nephi to cedar except greener. it is beautiful. the coast. wow. i could actually breathe. it was a little tragic when we got back to the city until i remembered that all the people i love are in san miguel. anyway, you should all google pics. we went to the beach Santo Domingo.
as far as the work goes this week was a little crazy. dionisio (the man whose mom died in january) didn't come to church yesterday. he's been talking a lot about ending his life lately, so we went to his house after church to find out what happened. he said he didn't come because God has forgotten about him. He says ever since his mom died, EVERYTHING has gone wrong. i decided this week and tried to explain to them that our trials all depend on our attitude. of course we are going to have trials and of course they are going to be hard, but we can face them with our head up having faith in God's plan, or we can weep and wallow in self pity. the difference is the results. one way we are going to come out stronger and learning something. the other way we are going to feel as though God has abandoned us and forget our purpose. But it truly is all up to us.
we started teaching this woman Susana and her daughter Yannyn a couple weeks ago. she was a bit of a miracle for us because she was a street contact and talks a lot. and she told us she's seen extra terrestrials face to face twice but she wasn't scared because all things are created by God. i don't remember if i told you last week that she told us she intends to be baptized which was really cool cause we hadn't actually taught her anything, but apparently she heard the lessons when she was like 15. anyway, this week we were talking about the first vision and she told us that is the only thing that is hard for her to know for sure--if Joseph Smith was truly called of God. She said, it's just like me telling you that i've seen extra terrestrials. i can tell you but that doesn't mean you'll believe me because you must see to believe. but i know that i saw extra terrestrials and only have my testimony and that of my husband to back me up....ya, her progress might be a bit harder than i thought.
i figure out why i've gained 5 pounds since i got here...turns out i'm having a baby! pres called me last night to tell me i'm training. which is cool cause i get to go to the temple tomorrow. and i found out last week addison is working in the office of the east mission which is on the temple grounds, so i got permission to go say hi. his birthday is today to i'm pretty excited to surprise him. i just hope he's in there and not out doing something. also, one of the hermana's that was supposed to come this change was medically delayed, so there is 50/50 chance that abby taylor (kerri's friend) will be my greenie. i can just picture mom right now thinking, oh poor kelli, how difficult the mission must be right now... yes, i feel very very blessed right at the moment.
i love you all. but i love the mission too, so i'll be staying here for the next year. hope ya'll don't mind! have a great week!
love,
h rizzle kelli jizzle
p.s. i think i should win an award for how long this e-mail is.

peace+love

semi-annual picture update!

2011-04-18T16:20:00.002-06:00

peace+love

umbrella

2011-04-11T17:25:00.000-06:00

familia
i decided it is a good thing it doesn't snow here. cause snow makes me feel like being curled up by the fire place watching white christmas or listening to mannheim steamroller and king's singers and drinking hot chocolate. basically it would probably make me trunky.
on wednesday we had lunch with germán and natacha. germán's phone rang and i thought, i know this song...why do i know this song? my comp said, hey, it's you! germán put my youtube video of "umbrella" as his ringtone. talk about embarassing.
after lunch we were walking to an appointment when i noticed a man pushing his car. so i said to my comp, let's go help him. we pushed his car about 7 or 8 blocks. we talked to him about god and he said he believes in Jesus Christ. that Christ is his life. then he said, "Jesus Christ is the father of God, right?" "no, actually, we believe that God is our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is His son and our brother". "oh, ya, so God is the son of Jesus Christ". teaching him should be fun.
i'm not really sure what happened this week. we had had so many teaching appointments all this change, then this saturday we didn't enter a single house until 9 p.m. i am not exagerrating. we literally walked all day long. tried to talk to everyone we saw. no one wanted anything. but it was a nice day so i didn't mind walking too much. plus last night we had a lesson with Patricio--his novio recently started going to church again. and we asked if he had prayed to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet. he said he had and he wasn't sure if he had his answer, but that he felt an energy, something warm, as if it were true. bingo. then we asked what would it mean to him if he knew the book of mormon was true. he said, that would mean joseph smith would be a prophet and i would be baptized and be in the church with claudia and the kids. bingo. they just need to get married first.
but that's how the men in chile roll.
welp that's about all i've got this week. read the book of mormon. be an example of christ to all you meet. be worthy of the holy ghost and the lord will provide you with opportunities to share the gospel. i love you all extremedamente demasiado mucho! que les vaya bonito!
love,
hna kelli jizzle

peace+love

giddy like a 6 year old on christmas

2011-04-04T21:25:00.001-06:00

my beloved beautiful loved ones up north,
how is the weather? i saw that you got a bit of snow for conference weekend, as usual. i am very envious. i feel bad for the person sitting next to me here in the internet place right now cause we just played soccer for an hour and a half in the blistering son so i am SMELLY. my team won in case you were wondering. anyway, i hope you all loved general conference as much as i did. i was giddier than a 6 year old boy on christmas morning. what did you learn? everyone that didn´t hear elder chritoffersons talk should go listen to it NOW. and if you did, go read it again. speaking of elder christofferson, if you haven´t read his talk in the april liahona, i would suggest getting your rear-end to the nearest distribution center right now and study it. also, i hope you all feel a renewed desire to go out and serve others. give what you can. lend a listening ear. write a missionary a letter (wink wink).
This week was a bit of a rollercoaster with a family that i LOVE telling us they weren´t ready to come back to church anymore (talk about a knife being stuck in your heart), nilda came to conference! (our investigator we´ve had since christmas that refused to come to church...no, i am not very good at leaving investigators), meeting a 9 year old girl who understands more about the priesthood than some adult members (no, she hasn´t been baptized which means i get to teach and baptize her!) and Dionisio telling us he just wants to die and never be resurrected. But it ended on a high with the confirmation in conference that i AM in fact doing the will of the father, Thomas S. Monson IS the prophet of God in these latter days, and this IS Christ´s church on the earth.
i love you all. like more than you could possibly understand. i hope you are all healthy and happy. now i bid you adeiu until next week. (that reminds me, we meet this crazy guy, leonardo, whose parents are from france. i said one word to him in french and immediately assumed i speak french. so i said adeiu and ran away. okay, i didn´t really run away, but it didn´t take him long to figure out i only speak spanish and english. but i like that his name is leonardo. leo. my future son). tangent. wow. okay, love you all
hermanizzle kelli jean russizzle

peace+love

fernando

2011-03-28T19:04:00.000-06:00

seasons greetings,
my body is a little bit confused right now because the weather is starting to act like fall in utah, but it´s march here. but it´s nice. much better than the blistering sun all day.
so i forgot to tell you last week, if i ever had a desire to spend the rest of my life/raise my kids in chile, i definitely don´t know. the universities all started last week and the first year students entered into their program of study. all the first year student are haized (sp?). like almost tortured. the upperclassmen tear up there clothes, throw eggs on them, steal their shoes, sometimes cut their hair, throw mayonasse and all sorts of nasty stuff on them. then they have to go out into the street and beg for money to pay for their materials. ya, santiago is crazy.
a couple of weeks ago we met a man knocking doors, fernando. we said a prayer and shared a short message with him and said we´d return. the only problem was we couldn´t go back until we had a member with us and everytime we went back he was never there. on friday we have one of the youth with us and we passed his house so i thought, oh we should visit fernando now. i knocked on the door and he left the house with his face all angry. he said ¨who knocked!?!¨ i said i did and he said that i knocked so hard i was going to break the door or something. i said i´m sorry, i didn´t mean to. he said, no everytime you missionaries come you knock so hard. don´t come back! ya, i pretty much cried and felt really bad/embarassed. he definitely didn´t have the spirit of love with him.
but other than that it was a good week with lots and lots of teaching.
last night we had an earthquake. it was at about 3 a.m. i had gotten up to go to the bathroom and i laid back down and felt so tired. the earth started to tremble and i just thought, oh please not now. i am so tired, i don´t want to get up and run to the door. luckily after a few seconds it stopped.
anyway, just wanted to let you all know i am alive and well. i love you all very much from the very bottom of my heart and i pray for you everyday. stay out of trouble and stay in touch.
love,
kelli jean

peace+love

feliz cumplemes

2011-03-21T17:26:00.000-06:00

hello my beloved loved ones in the northern hemisphere...
you are all wondering about changes so here we go....hna espinosa left to train again and open a new sector. i maybe cried a little bit when she left. i am now with Hna Chiroque. she is from Peru and this is her last change in the mission. so that means i'll be here for AT LEAST three more months. i won't lie, when i got to san miguel i didn't really like it. i thought it was the ugliest place in chile, and the ward members didn't like the missionaries. i still think it might be one of the ugliest places in chile, but i'm actually okay with that now cause san miguel is like my home in the mission. and now the members love the missionaries. and, i was born here and all. plus i know and love the members and investigators and when i am sad i know who i can go to to talk to (the Araya family). We had an activity on friday night that la chilangita and i had been planning for a couple months and it was awesome--we had 4 investigators show up and 3 inactive members...including 2 of which previously wanted NOTHING to do with the church or anyone in it. ya, the mission is awesome. oh ya, so crazy story. you all know the tv show 16 and i'm pregnant? well there is this member in our ward who has a daughter who is 15 and she is pregnant. and she and her boyfriend are going to be featured on chile's version of that show. welp sorry i have no exciting news. everyday is the same for me...we walk and talk and walk and talk. some days we do more walking than talking. asi es la mision. i love you all. i hope this letter finds you healthy and happy! oh ya, yesterday i completed 5 months in the mission. loco, i know.
xoxoxoxoxox
kelli jizzle russizzle

peace+love

lo siento

2011-03-16T11:34:00.001-06:00

i have no time to write. i am very sorry. but just so you all know i love you and miss you. tomorrow we have changes. i´ll be staying in san miguel but i´ll have a new companion. nothing exciting happened this week except for the awesome baptism we had yesterday for andres. i´ll send photos next week. i know, i say that every week. but i really will try. i love you all and you´re always in my prayers. have a fabulous week!
love,
hizzle rusizzle kelli jizzle

peace+love

porque esta destruiendo mi vida?

2011-03-07T17:03:00.001-07:00

hello all my beloved family members. how i miss thee.
so this week we had planned to set a baptismal date for germán, our eternal investigator. we needed the spirit really strong. we were sitting in his garden and we had sung and said the prayer already when i felt something warm and liquidy on my foot. i looked down and one of their 3 dogs was peeing on my foot. well seeing as we had already invited the spirit into the lesson i didn´t want to destroy it, so i kicked the dog away, took of my shoe and sock, and didn´t say a word about it until we had said the closing prayer. ah, the sacrifices we make in the mission.
this week president king invited my companion and i to leadership council to talk about working with the members. it was really cool to be a part of it cause it´s for zone leaders and the assistants, and i learned a lot, but i won´t lie, i decided i´m glad there aren´t sister missionaries as zone leaders. it was like 8 hours long.
we have these two investigators, Oscar, 11, and Olga his mom. We visited Olga on saturday and talked about the book of mormon. she told us her husband has a copy and when she tried to take it to read it he wouldn´t let her cause he reads it every chance he gets. we have no idea where he got it, we works out of his house 3 weeks every month then has 1 week at home so we´ve never met him. but it was really cool cause then when we gave her her own copy she asked how much it cost. when we explained that it´s value is priceless she was so excited she kissed it. so here is my spiritual thought for the week-treasure the book of mormon. President Ezra Taft Benson said it best: ¨there is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the straight and narrow path.¨
Next week is changes. I´m not sure how i feel to be honest. i´d like to go to a different area, but at the same time i feel like i´m just getting the hang of how to work in this ward. so if i end up staying here i won´t be all that sad and if i leave i won´t be all that sad. i hope everyone is happy and healthy. i love you more than words can express, but jesus loves you more.
mucho amor,
kjizzle to the russ

peace+love

it's a girl!

2011-03-01T10:09:00.001-07:00

congrats mattie! i am super duper excited to have a neice when i get home!
this week we walked a whole lot. talked to a whole lot of people. at this point we´ve contacted just about everyone that lives in san miguel, and some people more than once. seriously. i think we´ve knocked 1/2 the doors in san miguel. the other half are closed apartments so we can´t go knocking there. but asi es la mision. i really don´t feel bad about it, cause once we do our part, their salvation is in their hands. German jr. from the Araya family just started his mission papers. his dad, german is the super proud investigator we´ve had forever. last week he came to church with a suit coat. then this week he told us he is going to start paying tithing. ha, and still he thinks he´s a bad person and still shouldn´t be baptized. sure, he has a small problem with the word of wisdom, but we can fix that. i just thought it was kind of funny that he acts so much like a member but still won´t get baptized.
anyway, i love you all. i hope everyone is happy and healthy!
love,
kelli jean
hruss

peace+love

cuidado

2011-02-21T19:52:00.001-07:00

my beloved blessed family,
probablemente este email va a hacerles super aburrido...
yesterday was my cumplemes. i have now officially been on a mission for 4 months.
A couple of Sundays ago we were walking to lunch after church and we decided to contact on the way. we were walking in gran avenida and there were lots of people walking towards us so we started asking people if we could talk to them and everyone was saying no. what the heck? finally one lady stopped and talked to us and it was then we discovered all of those people were leaving mass....oops.
we have these inactive members, silveria and maria- sisters of 74 and 62. they´re crazy. i love them. anyway, whenever we go to their store silveria is sitting outside with a different dog in her lap...and this week i found out she has 12 dogs. she showed me her photo albums and she has way more photos of her old dogs than her late husband. and she started crying when talking about a lost dog. but at the thought of her late husband, nothing.
There is this little kid named Nacho. it reminded me of scott..haha, nachoooooooooooo. anyway, he punched me. i think it´s cause i´m gringa.
There are lots of hobos who ride their bicycles going around gathering garbage or hauling cardboard boxes. the other day i saw one with a cigarrette in his mouth.
this is terrible, i´m seriously picking my brain for things to write. not that this was a bad week. yesterday we had literally no appointments set so we made some up and almost no one was home. but we did find bernarda. her husband is crazy. he answered the door and denied that bernarda was his wife. then he was telling us that the mormon´s are mistaken. then he and bernarda started yelling at each other about heaven and hell. i was having difficulties following the conversation as was my comp who has spoken spanish her whole life. i just started laughing uncontrolably (wow, i have no idea how to spell in english anymore). i don´t know if that offended them, but we set an appointment to go back on saturday.
yesterday we had stake conference and it was a broadcast from salt lake. elder christofferson spoke and he speaks amazing spanish. the talk was good too. and elder packer spoke. i feel pretty re-motivated now after the conference. basically the whole thing was about missionary work. afterward we were at a baptism in our stake and we were sitting next to marco, our convert in january, and he told us he and his wife are planning on serving a mission in 30 some odd years. that made me happy to see some fruits of our work. but really i don´t do anything. i just say what i know. the spirit does all the work. that was my spiritual thought for the day.
i love you all and miss you. but right now chile needs me. plus i´m pretty sure you´re receiving more blessings than you would if i were there.
peace in the middle east
la gringita

peace+love

feliz dia de los enamorados

2011-02-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

happy day my lovers!
how are you all? well, i may have been wrong about the date and location of the terremoto but it still had a drastic affect here in santiago--all the world went loco. well, all the poeple anyway. for example: this week an investigator told us that a member told him the garden of eden can be found in Arizona. then at church this man came and we had no idea who he was. so naturally my comp and i went to talk to him and he told me "i don´t want any of your questions". and he wasn´t wearing a belt and i don´t think i have ever seen a hairier rear end in my life and i am pretty sure i´m going to have nightmares now. then there´s this inactive member we just started teaching-leslie. and in between sunday school and relief society she was in the bathroom snorting drugs. then dionicio (the man whose mom died last month and has been really really depressed) told us ¨quiero todo el mundo y no me importa si todo el mundo no me quiere." which means: i love the whole world and i don´t care if the world doesn´t love me. he turned into a hippie.
on the spiritual side of things jaime was baptized on saturday. it was awesome. he is super shy so he didn´t want to invite anyone. but eventually he invitied his polola and her family. and he also told us he didn´t want any photos. then the day of his baptism we asked if we could take just one to send to the office and he let us take like 50. he was so happy. it was awesome.
the other day we were knocking doors and found gladys. she´s catholic but says she always listens to religious people cause she likes to her the word of god. the next day we were at maria´s and gladys came over to talk to us. she was drunk. it made for an interesting lesson, but we taught about faith anyway. i think she got a little bit out of it.
scott, to answer your question, at this point, yes i could go a day on my own and survive if i had to. but there are still a lot of people i don´t understand and a lot of things i don´t know how to describe. but when we contact hna espinosa makes me talk all the time so i´ve learned quickly.
and to everyone-THANK YOU. i got a lot of letters this week and felt very loved. if i don´t write you back for a couple weeks or months please don´t think it means i don´t love you. it only means i´m out saving souls and you are all recieving blessings from it so you should be happy!
i love you all and miss you. stay out of trouble and stay in touch.
mucho amor,
kelli jean
hna russell
la gringita

peace+love

terremoto

2011-02-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

Dear siblings,
if mom tells you she didn´t get this e mail will one of you tell me so i can e mail her through one of you?
So i´m pretty sure we´re going to have a big earthquake here soon. i can´t say when but i think it´s going to happen. so when it does i just want you all to know that i predicted it.
we have another baptism this weekend! remember when i asked Jaime to be baptized on Christmas? well we had to change his baptism date a couple of times cause he works like a dog. so it was really hard to teach him cause he never gave us the time. then we had lunch with his friend that is a member and she made it sound like he didn´t want to be baptized anymore. that night we had a lesson with him, and when he got there all he could talk about was his baptism! we taught him the word of wisdom to make sure he was ready and turns out he has never had a drink or smoked in his life. he has the strongest testimony of eternal families and fully agrees with the law of chastity. and he´s been reading the book of mormon on his own like crazy. he´s funny cause he´s a little shy, so he told us he doesn´t want anyone at his baptism. so it will just be my comp and i, the two witnesses and the person baptizing him.
On Tuesday we were at lunch with the Araya family. My comp walked into the bathroom and found Francisca, their 3 year old daughter, with her head in the toilet washing her face.
That pretty much sums up my week. we walked a lot and it was really hot, but it was a good week. we talked to a lot of people, a few crazies and a few people who want to listen to the gospel. i love you all and hope you are well. read the book of mormon everyday. it is the guide to make your life easier, seriously.
love,
kelli jean

peace+love

i like to go bowling with my friend bert

2011-01-31T21:33:00.000-07:00

today we went bowling for a district activity. i think i scored 60 points in two games.
i have now officially completed my first change.
this week i ran into a bush.
then i sang the impossible dream for all this old ladies and they loved it. all the old people here love man of la mancha.
marco got baptized on friday--the man who played ¨blackbird´´ on the car when he found out i like the beatles too? it was so great. president and hna king came too.
yesterday this woman came to the church looking for the mormons. because where else in chile do you go to find a gringo who speaks english and spanish. she has to learn english in a month for a job interview. yes, she has all of february to learn to speak english. apparently she already knows all the grammar and how to write. just not speak. so my companion told her we can spend an hour with her everyday as long as we spend the first 10 minutes teaching a gospel principle and open and close each lesson with a prayer. as my companion who doesn´t speak any english was setting this all up i was thinking to myself, ¨how the heck am i going to teach this woman to speak english in one month?´´ any number of prayers would be appreciated.
then we met this man anson. he is geneal. en serio. we started talking with him and he said ¨ i´ve spent my whole like looking for the truth. i spent 10 years studying with the catholics, 5 years with the jehova´s witness, 10 years with other various branched of christianity and in my house we follow gods law. but i´ve never had the opportunity to study with the mormons. the problem is everyone preaches of christ but no one lives what they preach. i want to go to your church and learn your ways´´ ha. i´m so stoked to teach him the gospel.
oh ya, just barely when we were walking out of the metro station to come to the internet place a man tried to rob me. i could feel someone following really close behind me, then i saw his reflection in a window. so i grabbed my bag and pulled it to my front and the zipper was open. luckily there was nothing of value in that pocket and everything is still there.
welp folks, i love you all. hope this email finds you happy and healthy. stay out of trouble, and stay in touch.
love,
kelli jean

peace+love

moving day

2011-01-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

hola familia.
today we moved pensions so we actually live in our sector now. which means we don´t have to walk a half a mile just to get to our sector. plus our new pension is bakan. our bathroom is huge. oh and guess what else? we have a baptism on friday! his name is marco araya. i hadn´t taught him till this week cause he was on vacations for pretty much my whole transfer. seriously, the people here take month-2 month long vacations during the summer. anyway, when i met him i saw all his beatles records in his house so i asked if her liked the beatles. he said do YOU like the beatles? i said, of course so he whipped out his guitar and started playing "blackbird". anyway, he is solid and he has the cutest family ever. i hoping i´ll get to go to the temple with them in a year!
the other day i saw a bird flying and it hit a fence and fell to the ground. so i ran up to it to see if it was okay. i thought it was a pet cause all the birds here are really ugly except for pets. so i told hna espinosa we needed to find the owner. she is afraid of all animals but is trying to face her fear. so she timidly picked it up and wasn´t holding on very tight. it started to fly off right as a car drove by. the car hit it´s side and the bird fell to the ground. we ran out into the street and the bird was still alive and not bleeding. this other man came over and picked it up and told us it´s not a pet and it´s a baby and trying to learn how to fly. welp, a week later we were walking by that same street and this lady who saw the whole thing told us the bird died the next day.
remember dionicio-the man whose mom died a day after we were supposed to visit her? well we know he smokes, so we talked to him about the word of wisdom and he said he´d quit smoking. one of our appointments fell through a few days ago, so we decided we would go visit dionicio. just as we turned the corner to his house he was walking out to sit on his front porch with a freshly lit cigarrette in his hand. he saw us and threw it behind the door and pretended he was cleaning his shoe. we walked up to his door and he walked inside to get us chairs. we could see smoke coming out from under the door-- good thing he has cement floors.
i decided i want to read the entire bible this year, so i read 8 pages every night. let me tell you, the bible is full of good stuff. scripture of the week, Genesis 27:11. i´m just thankful i have the book of mormon to turn to as well.
i love you all. i hope this finds you all happy, healthy, and cold. the reason it feels hotter here is because there is no o-zone layer in santiago cause the pollution is so bad. so the sun rays are direct. i use lots of sunscreen.
love you mucho, chao
hna. kelli jean

peace+love

a watermelon in the bathroom

2011-01-17T12:18:00.001-07:00

hollo todos...
so remember how pres. castillo was really good at putting pressure on me to be a good missionary? well bienvenidos a mi vida of pressure. this week we had our zone conference, and elder corbride of the quorum of the seventy gave the lesson. and afterward pres king chose my companion and i to have interviews with him, along with 6 other missionaries. no pressure, right? no, acutally it was really good and not intimidating at all. he have me some good scriptures to study and it was exactly what i needed. then that night we had a family home evening the araya family and pres. and hna king came. so ya, no pressure in teaching a good lesson--you mission president is just sitting right next to you. but it went really well AND hna king brought real homemade choc. chip cookies with brown sugar from the states. i love her. on saturday we had lunch with this couple in our ward that i LOVE. seriously, they remind me of meghan and josh perkins. i laugh so hard when i am with them. i went to the bathroom and there was a watermelon in the sink so i couldn´t wash my hands. so when i finished going to the bathroom i opened the door and said, discuple hno catalan, pero hay una sandia en el bano. we found taco bell today. i was so happy cause i haven´t had tacos in so long. turns out taco bell is about as good here as it is in the states, but it was nice to eat something besides chicken and potatos for a day. not too much exciting. just working hard preparing for two baptism in the next couple weeks, trying to find new people to teach, and trying to help franco with his drug dealing issues. i love you all and miss you! have a great week.
love,
hna kj russ
peace+love

object lesson

2011-01-10T15:29:00.001-07:00

familia y amigos!
how is everyone? mom, i don´t know what you´re talking about--lovely weather? ya right. it is so stinking hot. i´d rather be in the negatives than the 90´s. plus i think it feels hotter here cause there is seriously no o-zone layer. the polution is terrible. so the sun is deathly. and we did a LOT of walking this week. funny story. we were teaching Jaime, remember-our investigator with a baptismal date? anyway, we were teaching in the garden of a member´s home and they have three dogs. we were teaching the law of chastity while in the background two of the dogs started, well, you know....i am pretty sure i´m the only one that noticed. i was trying so hard not to laugh. especially cause both those dogs are perros. male. talk about the king of all object lessons.
Hna. King, my mission presidents wife, is the bomb. we had entrivistas this week with the pres and i was talking to her while my comp was in her interview. we were talking about homesickness and the things we miss. i said how much i miss rootbeer. then on friday we had our greenie meeting at the office and guess what she had for me? rootbeer! apparently you can find it at lider every once in a while. steph tagge was right when she said they don´t have rootbeer here and they think it tastes like medicine. which i don´t understand cause they drink pap. and pap is the most cough-syrupy tasting drink i´ve every tasted. oh well, i´ll live.
my spanish is getting better and i´m starting to understand a lot more. i´m starting to feel more comfortable teaching too which is good. we have a baptism date set for german araya for the end of this month. he is going to be the most awesome member cause it has taken him a long time to get here. his wife has been a member since she was 13 and he wanted nothing to do with it. all of their kids were baptized last october and he still wanted nothing to do with it. but just in the last change he quit drinking and when we come over to teach he goes and gets his book of mormon and is the one to initiate everything. the mission president actually wants to meet him so he´s coming to a lesson with us on friday.
ha, funny/sad story. we have this inactive member we´ve been teaching, franco. he´s been doing so awesome and reading preach my gospel. he even helped us with a lesson. we were walking in front of his store the other day and he saw us and started running the other way. so we went to his aunts store to see what was up. she told us earlier that day he was on drugs and broke a bunch of stuff in the kitchen then threw a shoe at her. he needs new friends--his friends are all flaites. lame. so that was a bit of a set back, but we´ll hopefully teach him again this week. anyway this e mail is getting long and boring. i love you all. have an amazing week!
chao
h-russ, kelli jean
p.s. thank you for your letter grandpa! i love you!

peace+love

2011-01-03T20:03:00.000-07:00

The other day, Hna. Espinosa and I we walking back to our pension when a policeman motioned for us to cross the street and talk to him. I thought, great, i´m going to get deported and I´ve only been her 9 days. He asked us where we were from, why we were here, etc... I showed him a copy of my passport. meanwhile another policeman joins us. and they start asking us about being missionaries-like if we can go out dancing or on dates and stuff. then they asked us if we have pololos (boyfriends) in our countries. this conversation went on for about 5 minutes. then one of them said he wanted to come to church on sunday (he didn´t show up, surprise surprise). ha, i may not understand much spanish right now, but the language of flirting is the same no matter where you are.
I realized last week I didn´t tell you much about my sector. San Miguel is super flaite, then there´s a couple random nicer apartment buildings. other than that it´s super poor. there are gates on everything, in front of every single house, with spikes at the top--or ive seen a couple of concrete walls with broken glass cemented into the top. everyone drives crazy and if you want to pull over all you do is pull off to the side a little or clear up onto the sidewalk and turn on your flashers. i´m grateful we walk. The prison and detention center is in our sector. like i said, it´s super flaite. the elder´s pension got robbed yesterday. i think the building we live in is a bit safer but i guess we´ll find out. there was an earthquake in concepcion yesterday. we didn´t feel anything here, but apparently it was pretty big--not as big as the one last year seeing as everyone felt it here too, but i guess there was a tsunami too. i don´t know too much about it seeing as we don´t watch tv or read the newspaper. but it was weird, i guess it happened at like 5:30 and around 7:30 it got really cold. it had been super hot all day. so the only affect the earthquake had on santiago was a little climate change.
This week was a little weird. apparently i hurt my foot worse than i thought last pday playing soccer cause when i woke up on tueday i could barely walk. so we sat in the pension all day and studied. we got a little stir-crazy. especially cause we didn´t have any minutes left on our phone so we couldn´t even call anyone in the ward or to cancel appts. all we had to eat was left over mashed potatos. but then we were fine after that- we just spent half the day inside on wednesday then all was well. German accepted our baptism date! that was probably the most exciting of this week cause the rest of his family are members and have been trying really hard to work with him so they can all progress together. which means in a year i get to go through the temple with them! want to hear a sad story? so Dionicio is this guy in our ward who is probably in his 50´s but he seems a lot older. he´s been with his mother all his life, never married. and she had been sick and bedridden for about a year. we went over to their house every week to sing a hymn and chat. well we missed our appt. on wednesday cause i couldn´t walk. then in the middle of the night she passed away. hna zapata, a lady in our ward, called and told us and we went right away to the chapel. when we got there he said, "you never came yesterday. why didn´t you come? then she passed away in the night." ya, i´m i terrible person.
welp, that´s all i´ve got for now. i´ve got to go save some souls. i love you all.
hna russizzle

peace+love

2010-12-29T13:32:00.002-07:00

This is Kerri, not a letter from Kelli. Sorry to disappoint!

Thanks for all the advice on shoes.

Also we deleted her hotmail account so if you are still getting emails you will just have to deal with it! Sorry. I know it is very disappointing to see her name in your inbox and then find out it's just spam, it gets me every time.

Hope you are all having a good holiday,
feel free to comment on kelli's letters because I always tell her everything people say!

Love Kerri!

peace+love

2010-12-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

¡familia!
i don´t have much more time to write, sorry. Santiago is great. I had my first experience with mote con huesillos yesterday for the first time and i thought i would barf. silveria, one of the ladies we were, teaching noticed i was eating it really slow so she took it from me. i said no, i want to take it with me cause i didn´t want to be rude, but she took it anyway (thank heavens). but then as we were leaving maria came running after us with a fresh mug in her hand ¡you forgot your mote! ha. once we got far enough down the road i dumped it. it´s rotten peaches and wheat. yum. hna espinosa and i decided i am allergic to mote from now on.
christmas was great. we had an appointment with jaime--he´s so solid. the church was locked though so we decided to go to the plaza and sit on a park bench to teach him. and guess what? right there on the park bench i asked him to be baptized on january 15th. and guess what he said? yes! my first time asking someone to be baptized in a park on christmas. superbien. then we were contacting and we saw this lady watering her lawn. we walked across the street to talk to milda and she started crying. i took the hose from her and watered her lawn while hna espinosa talked to her. apparently her husband crashed his taxi and can´t find work now so he´s really depressed and just wants to die. so we knelt down right there on the porch and said a prayer. i´m pretty excited to start teaching she and her husband.
a great christmas indeed. i love you all. stay out of trouble and stay in touch. que le vaya bien.
hna kelzoner to the rizzle

PS Kelli has sore feet (hate to say I told her so but I did). Any suggestions from you return missionaries?

Lorie

peace+love

2010-12-16T20:43:00.001-07:00

welp folks, it's down to the wire and i still don't speak spanish.
but ready or not, in one week i'll be waking up in santiago likely with giant cockroaches on my ceiling and fleas in my bed with a companion who doesn't speak english--complete with 90+ degree weather and 100%+ humidity. my first christmas with no snow. oh, did i tell you about the terrorists who came into a chapel in santiago with machine guns while some missionaries were doing a baptismal interview back in 1989? don't worry, they lived. they're missionaries.
i'm seriously so stoked. (no, that is not sarcasm)
on friday night i won a round of knockout. yes, i beat 10 elders in basketball. it's hilarious, they all think i'm way good or something. little do they know...
hermana woffinden got her reassingment this week (she's still waiting on her visa for spain). she's going to billings, montana. i thought she was going to cry when they told her. so i tell her everyday how beautiful it is and make her say "billings, montana is going to be the best mission in the world" everyday.
hermana provost is going home next week. turns out she has sjogruns syndrome--it's an autoimmune disease that attacks her salivary glands. she'll be able to come back out in a few months, but she won't be going to chile anymore, they'll send her stateside so she has access to a rheumotologist.
does anyone know if there is a wendy's in lax?
welp, i love you all--eat lots of mom's homemade toffee for me. thank you for the packages mom, mattie and scott, and hess family. and grandpa, thanks for the moolah! (and brooke, thanks for wrapping them)
i've got to go save some souls!

peace in the middle east,
hizzle to the russ

peace+love

2010-12-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

once upon a time, h. woff and i had to take sicky (HP) to the doctor. as we were sitting in the waiting room we were talking about christ-like attributes and how i needed to work on humility. there was a man in the waiting room who had walked in with his wife speaking spanish. i kept thinking i should talk to him, that it would be great practice for me to speak spanish to someone who doesn't speak spanish and english as well so there's no way around it. well, as we were leaving he was walking down the hall so i said, "hola! de done es?" malo idea. he took off at about 80 mph. so i said "mas despacio por favor". he slowed down for about 2 words then got right back up to 80 mph. pretty much all i got out of our 10 minute conversation was that he's lived in the u.s. for 32 years-first in so. cal to get social security, then provo for the last five years, he has two kids who are married, his wife has diabetes, and i don't actually understand spanish. which is somewhat unfortunate seeing as i'll be there in 11 days.
also, i saw matthew edwards (sarah's brother) at the doc and we had a nice little conversation about life. he busted his ankle or something along those lines in football practice yesterday.
oh, did i mention i'll be on my way to chile in 11 days? i maybe probably could've gotten my travel plans today. these are for mi familia mostly so don't feel obliged to read this part--i need dad's cell phone number and scott's so i can call them from the airport...brooke and kerri will be at mom's, right?
december 20
leave slc at 6 a.m.
arrive in lax at 7 a.m. (8 a.m. here)
leave lax at 12:20 p.m. (1:20 here)
december 21
arrive in santiago at 6:35 a.m.
have i told you i'll be in santiago in 11 days? did i express how excited i am?
i love you all. you are the best. read my favorite parable ever: luke 6:41-42. we all need a little humbling now and again.
you da best,
hizzle to the russ

peace+love

2010-12-03T22:36:00.001-07:00

the real world just ain't that great...
i do not ever want to leave the MTC again until december 20th when i am on my way to CHILE! my comp had to get boots so we had to go to the mall with an escort and it wasn't even fun. but i did hear lenka on the radio in famous footwear which brought back fond memories.

on monday district c left a little whole in my heart when the flew to the santiago east mission. (luckily i'll see them in a couple months they combine all the santiago missions when general authorities come). but then a couple hours after half my mtc family left hermana provost came back! yesterday we got a new district in our zone with 4 hermanas all going to my mission. they're pretty cool. one of them goes to SUU but we didn't know each other- she says she's really anti-social.

this week we are supposed to be getting over our english "addiction". it was really funny at first but then it just got frustrating cause my comp wouldn't talk. ever. so now we have a happy balance of enlish and spanish.

and now...?como se dice awkward?
this story is a bit different in nature. and super embarassing. remember how Bethy said she had to write a 5 minute talk every week in the mtc and on sunday you randomly get called on? ya, we do that too. except for we have to do it in spanish. also, i don't remember if i told you i am the much director in my zone. on sunday i started playing the sacrament hymn and halfway through the first verse i realized there wasn't much singing happening. the words and the music weren't matching up. i looked up at pres. cameron and he was laughing. then after 3 verses i looked at him and mouthed, "that was the wrong song, wasn't it?" he said "yes." so i just sat down and hung my head with my bright red face. then brother mortensen says, "first we will hear from hermana russell...."

i know last week was thanksgiving, but i want to share one of my favorite quotes from thomas s. monson with you:
"the grateful man sees so much in the world to be grateful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil, love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life."
you all drive the darkness out of my life. i love you all.

chao,
formerly vp now pres of the losers club.

p.s.
this might interest you all. on thanksgiving we did a service project. in 3 hours we cut out material for the lds humanitarian place to make 33,400 backpacks for kids who can't afford them!

peace+love

2010-11-29T20:50:00.001-07:00

feliz dia de gracias!
this is a mad house! they told us anyone who has p-day on thrusday has to figure out when to do their laundry on their own. there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth amongst those waiting for washers.
our "progressive investigator" this week told us she didn't believe in God when I asked her to be baptized. Weird...she believed in God last week. but on the bright side, we only teach in spanish nowadays. in fact, yesterday i had a hard time teaching in english. it had been so long since i've taught the first lesson in english.
i got 2nd place in knockout this week. my favorite district is leaving on monday, so gym won't be nearly as fun--especially without el Porro del Perdadores. It's because of the pres that I'm up to 30 push-ups in a row these days. the real kind, not the girly ones.
Last weekend h. woff and i had to take hp to the er. we were there till 1 a.m. i felt a little apostate trying to ignore jim carrey on letterman. then h. woff and i went to the cafe cause we were hungry and everyone stared at us. so that's what it's like being on the real world as a missionary? or maybe they were just staring cause it was midnight. we tried to convince mtc security to take us to wendy's after, but alas, no dice.
everyone NEEDS to read James 3. one of my new favorite chapters in the bible.
mattie, your cousin played in the morning devotional today (elder holland brought his whole family). duet with piano and cello. it was AMAZING. seriously. the devotional all together was amazing. EVERYONE NEEDS TO GO ON A MISSION IT IS THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD.
and, as always--?como se dice AWKWARD?
last thursday, this elder came up to my comp in the laundry room and asked her if he could write her on her mission. she said, "i'm not sure". he was leaving monday. Sunday morning at breakfast he found us and gave her a letter with his return address on it. the letter basically said, "i hope to have this opportunity to get to know you better." ya, way to lock your heart, elder.
also, last weekend at dinner one day Elder buttars (logan's best friend) asked me if we could go no a date after the mish..um...weird...

welp, i love you all. eat lots of turkey, take a long nap and watch some football for me. Have a fabulous week! until next thursday,
H.Russ-izle

p.s. can someone get me ali snarr's address and the cottle's address?

peace+love

2010-11-19T23:45:00.004-07:00

peace+love

Balogna

2010-11-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

of course i did not forget about you mom. we just decided to e-mail later today.

pmg aka that book of all knowledge (besides the BOM) says, "life on earth is an opportunity and a blessing. Our purpose in this life is to have joy and prepare to return to God's presence." and oh, do i have joy! ba ha ha. despite all the hard stuff i really do love the mtc and being on a mission. the BOM is sweet. i love studying.

I have new comps. remember hermana woffinden? we are best friends and comps so it's great. and we're with hermana provost who is delayed for medical reasons so who knows how long before she jets off to the great land of chile. today was such a happy day. H. Woff and i were walking out the front doors of the mtc to go to steal some bikes and run away aka go to the temple when H. Woff said, "that looks like Elder Rico." and i said, "that IS Elder Rico!" we ran toward each other like in the movies and gave each other a firm handshake. Since he was only home for a couple weeks he gets to stay in our district! Which is so great because besides besties (our favorite elders), Elder Rico is our favorite.

and now, your favorite part of thursday: ?como se dice AWKWARD?
Last sunday Hermana Jensen and I sang in sacrament meeting. Later that night i saw some elders in our zone and they were telling me good job and the same elder who asked me how much i weighed said, "man, ya, you're a knockout!"
than another elder told me i remind him of his ex-girlfriend.
and then H. Woff was in with the tutor working on grammar and he was giving her example sentences. THe first one was "you are beautiful". the next one was, "when you get married, your name will be Hermana Ridge."
my life is hilarious.

elder higgs and elder taylor say hi and thanks for going through raising me even though it must have been so difficult because they appreciate me being here. also, h. woff says she loves you mom and thank you for the AMAZING cupcakes. really though. those were amazing. my family is the best. i brag about you all all of the time. really. have a fabulous week.

les quiero!
h. russ

peace+love

2010-11-11T14:17:00.001-07:00

chiste, chiste. i just say that cause i am currently in love with the book of mormon.

welp, i am now 1/3 of the was through my prisonly probation. I'd be lying if i said it's gone by way fast, but i'd also be lying if i said i was ready for the field. i have a lot more studying in the book of mormon to do and more spanish to learn. PLUS the MTC is where it's at! at least the general authorities seem to think so...my first week we had elder scott, then elder ballard, and this week was elder bednar. and let me tell you, when general authorities come, the mtc gets a little brighter.

obviously it was good week. it finally started snowing! AND sheri dew spoke on sunday. i love her. she's probably the 2nd coolest woman i know (my mom is in first, duh.) during her talk i realized, yes i love my family more than anything else in the world, but Christ loves my family more than i possibly could-seeing as i'm human. Really, the Atonement is amazing. Read D&C 6:20 or Mosiah 2:41 or John 14:13-17?ish. currently some of my favorites. also, a wise man once told me "by divine design we don't learn much on smooth waters. it is only when the storm comes that you become a real pirate." (family, i'll give you one guess as to who told me that..you will laugh if you figure it out.)

and your favorite part of thursday i'm sure....awkward stories of the week... first, i was at gym and i was going up the stairs to do my workout and one of the elders in my zone was weighing himself. when i walked by he asked, "hermana russell, how much do you weigh?"
"uh, that's something you probably shouldn't ask girls."
"oh, well you look like you weigh 100 lbs."
"um.....thanks...?"
the elders are precious but sometimes i wonder...
next-there is a teacher on our floor, hermano jimenez. he is from mexico. he's like 5 foot nothin. or less. i was standing there with my companion who is 6 feet tall and he was asking her how she was doing--all of this was in spanish. then he asked how lunch was and said "que comio?" well, my comp doesn't really speak spanish very well and thought he said "come here". so she stepped closer to him so she was right in his face. estaba muy comico. pero you had to be there.
and finalmente...this morning i was waiting outside my bedroom door for my comps to come out. there was an MTC worker laying out clean sheets on the table so her back was to me. i heard her say something in her walkie-talkie and realized i recognized the voice--it was taylor, my roommate from california my freshman year at byu. i told my comps we needed to leave...if you remember correctly she didn't like me very much.

that's all for now. to my friends, send jordie lots of letters. she just got here yesterday and i was soooo excited to see someone i know so well! also, thank you family and friends for your letters and love and food. cottles, those pumpkin cookies were divine and mama the bread was also divine. you are all trying to make me fat or something. so i share. my zone loves you all and get excited when i get a package...and don't worry, i still play b-ball everyday and am actually getting pretty good. i can hold my own against the elders nowadays which is good since my partner in crime left for chile last week. tangent. sorry. i love you all. have a fabulous week--i know i will!

les amo,
lupita

p.s. mama please keep sending me news stories at night. i'm sending you a hand written letter today. also, what is dad's address so i can send a hand written letter? also, kerri i wrote you this big old long letter this week and apparently the mailman didn't like my handwriting cause he couldn't read your address. i'll send it today.

peace+love

2010-11-04T15:46:00.001-06:00

Subject: they weren't lying. the mtc is a prison.

but i love it.

mi familia y mis amigos son el mejor.

that is no joke. i must say this has been the most eventful week of the mtc thus far. friday and saturday were really rough days, i won't lie. but luckily things have improved exponentially from there. our zone has been through quite a bit, but we honestly have the BEST branch president in the world. my great friend hermana noxon had a brother whose twin babies were premature and died an hour after giving birth. elder rico (in my district) found out his mom has cancer and will be going home sometime today. that makes me sad cause he was one of my favorite elders. two elders went home within the first 5 days in the new district in our zone. all of the above could really use your prayers. we've all been through quite a bit together, but honestly, it had brought us even closer together as a zone. since elder rico is going home and elder lunt already went home, after today the hermanas will out number the elders 5 to 4. we must be the only district in the mtc where that is the case. but then hermana alston is leaving to the guatemala mtc on tuesday so we'll be even again.

i still play knockout everyday in gym and it is still my favorite part of the day. i have a teacher who some of us don't really like (we love hermano angus....it's the hermana we can't really handle sometimes). anyway, yesterday she called all the hermanas (missionaries) our of class and gave us the "unintentional flirting" lecture. i thought it was hilarious because we are probably the least flirtatious sisters here.

funny story: the other companionship in our district, hermana alston and woffinden (and two of my favorite people in the mtc) asked me to be a member in a lesson they were teaching. they had to teach hermana barker (estefanie) who has a reputation for being a really tough "progressive" investigator. we got in the lesson and the missionaries asked if they could speak in english. they did, but estefanie kept speaking in spanish. they had no idea anything she was saying. luckily for some reason i remember nearly everything i learned in my year of spanish at byu and for whatever reason understand it really well so i was basically a translator. hermana alston asked if estefanie had ever prayed before and estefanie started to explain (in spanish) that she was catholic so she prayed to the saints. i told the missionaries what she said, but i forgot to mention that in the catholic church prayers are recitations. and apparently they didn't know that. so at the end of the lesson the missionaries hadn't taught estefanie how to pray but asked if we could pray with her. hermana alston began to pray and estefanie repeated back everything she said. all four of us were laughing so hard we were crying and we could hear the district in the observation room laughing as well. so i stopped them after "nuestro padre celestial" and explained to estefanie that we don't recite prayers, you say whatever you want to God and there is no need to repeat what hermana alston was saying. supposedly she didn't understand what i was saying (just cause i can understand spanish doesn't mean i speak it perfectly), so when hermana alston started praying again estefanie continued to repeat everything she said. needless to say that was probably the best teaching experience i have had thus far in the MTC.

i said i'd tell you more about my comps. i am running out of time so here is the 20 second version. hermana conrad is from boise, goes to byu-i, is super quite, seems like she's been through a LOT of crap in her life so it is really great that she is here. she has a really hard time with the language cause she used to have dislexia but she has so much faith and works so hard. hermana jensen is the one i met in the parking lot. she is basically just like she was in the parking lot. she's from mesa, goes to byu-i, left her boyfriend at home that she's planning on marrying so she's really emotional a lot. she is probably the one to keep everyone in line the most though cause she's the most focused. where do i fit in? apparently i'm the mother. that's what elder lewis told me. i take it as a compliment cause i know every person in our district loves their mother.

thanks katie and ali for the package and thanks all for the letters! i will be responding to those today. stephanie, maybe you should explain to cameron the difference between sisters and elders. and to everyone, read the book of mormon. i am not kidding you, every question you have can be answered in the book of mormon. also read 2 nephi 14 the last verse i think. i thought it was really cool and poetic. i may or may not have written to mumford and sons lyrics above it (from "after the storm"). i love you all and have honestly felt your love so much this week. and i've been praying so hard that you feel my love so i hope you have.

till next thursday au revior,

herm. kelli jean

peace+love

We've got mail.

2010-10-28T15:05:00.002-06:00

First email:

dear familia y amigos,

as i'm sure my mom informed you, i recieved terrible news on wednesday night...we are not allowed to listen to music in the mtc. like i said, i die.
sorry that you didn't like my first letter, mom, but in my defense i had only been her 24 hours with nothing too exciting. but i will try to fill you in on what has happened since you dropped me off at the curb last wednesday. the elders escorted me to a host sister. turns out my hostess was one of Logan Dopp's best friends (be nice, brooke) and is dating his best friend Ben Buttars who i hung out with when i was dating Logan. Ben is also here in the MTC. Then i walked into my classroom to meet my teacher and there is Andrew Angus. He went to WX--graduated in '05. i know him because he was one of Jake Snyder's good friends. Then there is my zone leader, Elder Pew. he played in superband in High school with Jaydon Bean-our drummer at WX for those who don't know. anyway, (in true scott russell style of confession) it brought back fond memories of racing Jaydon to jazz band every morning and maybe passing each other illegally sometimes. i do not endorse driving on the left side of the road. Basically, if you talk to someone here long enough you'll find some connection.

sorry, some how i exited out. here is the rest of my letter:

Other than that, I was assigned to be the music director of my ward, i have insomnia again (as in probably as bad as it was in jr. high and high school) but getting up at 6:30 a.m. is not really that bad. the worst part is walking out to go to the bathroom and being blinded by the horridly bright lights. the food is not great but edible. i still haven't cried. i LOVE my district and zone. the elders keep me sane. the sisters are treated like queens. sometimes elders will escort me to the front of the line in the cafeteria. gym is the best part of the day. i play ellimination with some elders from my zone. i know i suck (sorry mom) at basketball but i'm better at ellimination than i am at 4 square.

I'm in a 3some companionship and our personalities couldn't be more different. that's not to say i don't love my companions, cause i do, but they're all about talking about our FEELINGS and how are you feeling. and, well, i am my mother's daughter. but we get along great and they are teaching me a lot. plus they think i'm a genius AND hilarious.

sad story: my favorite companionship was elder lunt and elder metcalf. elder lunt was our district leader and he went home on monday. i don't really know any details, but it was sad cause he was probably the least weird of the elders in my district. (just cause i think they're weird doesn't mean i don't love them).

we went to the temple today and the best part was walking out the front door after the session only to see mountains and tress and the lake. it gave me a renewed hope that there is life beyond the cinder block and flourescent lighting.

i really do love the mtc. and i think being here will make me appreciate the mission field more. tuesday nights we have a devotional and this week elder scott came and spoke! it was awesome and used his preisthood authority as an apostle to bestow promises of a sheild of protection for the sister missionaries and the gift of tongue as long as we have faith and are obedient. so i'm not too worried about spanish (it helps that i have more spanish experience than everyone in my district....like i said, they think i'm smart. little do they know i just took the classes and act the part). as far as a spiritual situation goes i want to share one of the quotes from elder scott's talk. it seems long but please read it because i think you'll love it. "be thankful that sometimes God lets you struggle for a long time before that answer comes. your character will grow; your faith will increase. there is a relationship between those two: the greater your faith, the stronger your character; and increased character enhances your ability to exercise even greater faith." also "answers to important things come one peice at a time." story of my life.

i love you all. i think if i knew how much mail meant to missionaries, i would have written my friends more. oh wait, i did/do write them a lot. plus i can only check e-mail once a week but i can read letters every night. kerri, mom, dad, and douglas thank you mucho for the letters. you are the best. brooke and mom, thank you for the treats. i and my zone really appreciated them. you are very loved. anyway, no need to worry about me. life is swell. sorry this was so long.

peace,

kelli jean

p.s. mom will you ask steph if masa got his green card?

Second email:

tell bingley i love him. take him on a hike for me.

third email:

will someone print some of the pictures from the day you dropped me off and send them please? i would like more familiy photos and i realized i don't have any with our entire family. and i don't think i have any of jonah either. heaven knows how that happened.

fourth email:

i realized after i sent that that i barely even talked about my companions. how selfish of me. i will be sure to do that next week cause i don't have time right now. their names are hermana conrad and jensen and they're from boise and mesa.

peace+love

Kelli Jean: Mucho Bueno

2010-10-25T17:23:00.003-06:00

I'm sorry if you cannot read this, that is too bad for you. But she can email on Thursdays so we'll get to hear a lot more then!

peace+love

peace out

2010-10-20T08:32:00.003-06:00

chile santiago west mission

october 20, 2010-april 2012

i love you all

weekly e-mails will be posted here by my lil sis, kewwi.

peace+love

it's been a while

2010-10-17T22:30:00.004-06:00

man, it really has been a while. but i'll tell you, preparing for a mission is non-conducive to the internet when you want to spend every waking moment with the people you love most...

cousin dougy (who i get to hang out with for a whopping 18 days between the time he came home and i leave)

mandy

my gorgeous best friend since we were 6--i love her baby bump.

mi familia. they're the best.

cedar peeps in b-town!

doing what i love most

peace+love

when will they ever learn?

2010-10-04T22:04:00.002-06:00

they're wild animals. they belong in the wild.

don't even get me started on how they treat chimps in the circus.

peace+love

speaking of banjos...

2010-10-02T09:21:00.005-06:00

i've been looking forward to yesterday since october 31, 2009. it is sad that my october will not be the same next year (it will be spring in chile). so i'm going to make the most of this month (the 20 days that i'm here, anyway). my kick-off consisted of:

-sleeps with skye- my twin not by birth (she has a twin in real life, but lauren's married now, so i'm the next best thing).

-not actually getting any shots--thank heavens for modern medicine; i was able to opt for the typhoid vaccine via pills! and the flu shot via nasal spray!! yes, i was a very happy girl.

-the temple. oh sweet refuge and house of sanity aka the only place i don't ever feel consumed by thoughts of doubt in my ability to serve a mission.

-the lower lights in concert--the closest thing to a baptist choir the mormon church will ever get, complete with clapping, stomping, amens and hallelujahs! i like to think this is the kind of concert that will welcome in the second coming.

-sammy's with some of my most favorite people in this whole world!

and now it's conference time.

peace+love

some people may never understand...

2010-09-30T19:38:00.003-06:00

...my deep love for the banjo.

but you don't have to love the banjo to see that this is amazing.

and if you do love the banjo, you may appreciate this. because not only is the music cool, the video is sooooooooo bad. i can't get enough of it.

peace+love

i might die

2010-09-27T12:56:00.004-06:00

is it possible to die from pain induced by a needle in your arm?

i have to get a typhoid shot this week--if anything has had me seriously reconsidering a mission it is this. pathetic, i know.

but anyway, what could be more fun than running (walking) 6.2 miles with friends in the beautiful mountains with the leaves changing?

throw a bunch of mud in there and call it a party!

peace+love

the most wonderful time of the year.

2010-09-24T13:38:00.005-06:00

in my last post i failed to mention the sunflowers filling the median along i-15.

oh blessed fall, thank you for coming back.

peace+love

stay alive, drive 55

2010-09-20T16:03:00.007-06:00

cedar was so good to me...

-st. george temple

-a big smile and hug from prof. modesitt

-pastry pub complete with chocolate tiger cake

-sky fest (20 some-odd hot air balloons launching at once)

-german pancake breakfast

-getting lost but eventually hiking in bryce canyon

-all of the above with great friends

-the funnest birthday party i've ever been to with new friends (including huck finn)

-church

-sunday writing ritual in my tree

-birthday celebration for the one and only skye complete with awesome conversation and the encouragement i've needed all month

(photo teaser courtesy of cheri. i'll get the disposable developed someday soon...)

did i mention i have great friends? i've been home less than two hours and i already want to go back. the only thing sustaining me is live recordings of mumford and sons. shocker, i know.

peace+love

oh, HI tim...

2010-09-13T23:48:00.004-06:00

remember how i'm slightly obsessed with brandi carlile? she came to salt lake a few days early and decided to add two more shows to the bill cause that's how much we love her. (the original show sold out within the first hour) anyway, we went, stood right at the stage in front of tim hanseroth, her guitarist. i maybe am in love and he maybe eye flirted with me the whole time--brooke will back me up. and i got his pick (then lost it, but we won't talk about that).

but really, how could you not be in love with those cute dimples and sweet, sweet vocals? (he's the one on the left and lower voice)...even if he is bald.

let's face it, i cannot resist a man with mad guitar skills and dimples...

peace+love

the giving tree.

2010-09-12T22:56:00.003-06:00

this weekend i babysat my cute neighbors. little 5-year-old eliza said, "do you want to see a funny video?" she went and picked up the napoleon dynamite dvd. "this is such a funny movie. i've been watching it for years."

anyway...

is it possible to love a place so much it breaks your heart to leave?

yes. which is why i am going to cedar city this weekend. and even though you all don't care, i feel like shouting it from the rooftops, that's how excited i am.

to you all this might just be a crappy picture of a tree. but this is the tree i spent many hours of pondering and writing in. it is beautiful.

peace+love

take me out of the city

2010-09-08T22:13:00.007-06:00

{near the top of angel's landing in zion}

-my family went to flaming gorge for labor day. it was so beautiful. i saw an owl take off in flight AGAIN! when i think i scared it out of it's nest by accident. the gorge reminded me of cedar.

-sometimes i miss cedar so much that my stomach churns into knots. i probably think about cedar city 8 hours a day (the whole time i'm at work). that's why i'm going to visit soon.

-today i went rock climbing for the first time in almost six months. boy am i out of shape. but boy was it nice to be back.

--i'm sensing a theme...good thing this weekend is only two days away--

peace+love

i love my life...

2010-09-03T16:48:00.006-06:00

...and all you people in it.

i'm only 21 and have experienced some pretty amazing things:
-singing "forever in blue jeans" on PCTV at the Neil Diamond concert with my best friend when i was 15
-traded a 5 buck pizza for Cold Stone with my little sister and her friend. i'm pretty sure the workers just thought they were cute.
-watched an owl take off in flight while driving in the Uinta's at night
-watched a moose running next to the car on the same drive

-gone skydiving

-backpacked europe

-witnessed nature at it's finest aka rock climbing/zion/hiking

-sung "desperado" with my best friend in front of half our high school

-crossed 22 things off my bucket list of 110

-hiked to the highest point in utah

-completed a triathlon

-completed 2 1 /2 marathons

-rode my bike 448 miles through one of the most beautiful areas in this country

-watched a school come together to provide a dinner for 140 homeless people

-experienced making real music.

-lived in the greatest city in utah (cedar! if you were wondering)

-entered the temple and received my endowment

-raised $211 for charity:water thanks to YOU!

i could go on. i have a family who loves me and friends who inspire me to be a better person everyday. i lead a very privileged life. i attribute that completely to my heavenly father.

i've also made mistakes and done some really dumb things and had heartaches and hard times. but that is why Jesus Christ atoned for our sins our pains, making it possible to become perfect through Him and giving Him the chance to comfort us when we need it most. i have experienced the healing power of the atonement first hand, and that is why i am so excited to spend the next 18 months telling the people of santiago, chile about this "good news". i'm also very much looking forward to the next 21 years and (hopefully) more in this beautiful world.

p.s. thanks ali and brookie for the birthday shout-outs. i sure love you both. also, brooke, i love that song, so thank you for pointing out those lyrics so i'd actually think of them--

"hold on to what you believe in the light, when the darkness has robbed you of all of your sight."

i'll do my best.

peace+love

perfection

2010-08-29T16:47:00.002-06:00

if anyone could even begin to understand how much i love this band, then they would understand true love.
peace+love

overworked and underpaid

2010-08-28T22:22:00.005-06:00

yesterday my sister informed me my eyebrows needed to be plucked.

i also missed out on a perfectly windy day of kite flying.

but, on a more positive note...

tonight, i was taking my dog for a walk after dark. i kept picturing bo radley following me.

i got a little nervous, so i hummed "long shadows" to myself.

nothin' like the sweet sound of josh ritter to make you feel better.

(it also helps that bo radley is actually a good guy who saved scout and jem from an untimely death by the knife of the town drunk...)

p.s./btw my birthday is in a week. i'm $66 away from my goal of $210 to charity:water. if you have not yet donated or told a friend to donate, you have until friday!

peace+love

8.2 weeks, 57 (almost) days, 1368 hours, 82080 minutes, or 4924800 seconds

2010-08-23T20:56:00.006-06:00

fabulous news...

nights are getting chillier and sunflowers are blooming.

that means fall must be near.

which also means the most wonderful time of the year is closer and that is when i leave...58 days till i enter the mtc to prepare to serve in the chile santiago west mission for 18 months.

(yes, i know you're supposed to fly kites in the spring, but in cedar city it's always windy so {we} bought that kite in the fall. yes, it's on the ground because i am actually not very good at flying it.)

in other fabulous news...

so far, with the help of my friends, i've raised $105 for charity:water! and with only 5 donations. the goal is to raise $210 by my birthday, september 3rd. that's in 11 days. so even if you don't have money to give, i bet you have a friend or family member who does...and in my mind, spreading the word is a valuable way to help the cause. here's the link to my campaign.

peace+love

september+charity:water+my birthday=clean water for the bayaka people

2010-08-18T23:48:00.007-06:00

i first heard of charity:water about 6 months ago. i love what they're about. there are so many people who suffer from dehydration, malnutrition, or other illnesses because they do not have access to sanitary water. charity:water uses 100% of donations to build wells in villages all over the world that do not have access to or have to walk several miles a day to get water.

september is charity:water's birthday month. so they're launching a campaign to raise money to build wells for the Bayaka people in Central African Republic. watch this to learn more:

charity: water 2010 September Campaign: Clean Water for the Bayaka from charity: water on Vimeo.

september is also my birthday month. i will be 21. so for my birthday i decided to set a goal to raise $210 by september 3rd (my birthday) for charity:water. i donated $21 to get the ball rolling. i would love for all of you to participate. i'm willing to bet you have $21 you would normally spend eating out throughout the week, going to a movie, buying me a birthday gift (just kidding) whatever you're into. that $21 [$20 really] could provide one person with clean water for 20 years! between now and september 3rd i challenge you to use that $21 [or how much ever you feel you can donate--even a dollar helps] to help me reach my $210 goal and provide 10 people with clean water.

click here for the link to my profile page. it makes it very simple and clear on how to donate. plus, if you do donate, i receive an e-mail notification indicating who donated. if you contribute, you will be entered into a drawing for my first ever giveaway. for additional entries, tell a friend about my campaign and leave a comment letting me know. SPREAD THE WORD. i'll send a package on my birthday with a few of my favorite things...

remember, even a dollar makes a difference, and i would love for everyone to participate! it's such a simple way to make a big difference in someone's life.

peace+love

wisdom is missing

2010-08-17T23:43:00.004-06:00

i don't know anything about them (seeing as i found them, like, yesterday)except that their first album came out in june, they're from Seattle (and we know all great things come from seattle, coughbrandicarlilecough) and i love them.

so here is hey merseilles

the mandolin player has no shoes on.
and in case you didn't know i love the accordion almost as much as i love the banjo.

i got my wisdom teeth out this morning. don't feel sorry for me...i'm not in too much pain, people cater to my every need, i sleep all the time, i get to start eating ice cream tomorrow (mint choc. chip or yogurt stop natural flavor will do, thank you), and the i.v. didn't hurt (which probably had something to do with the valium they gave me beforehand). but check out those chipmunk cheeks!

peace+love

dzing dzong

2010-08-16T23:10:00.003-06:00

it's a few days late, but DZING DZONG happy 19th birthday kewwwi...the best lil' sis in the world

this is for you

peace+love

remember that one time we rode 65 miles everyday for a week to train for ride idaho...?

2010-08-15T21:30:00.004-06:00

...oh wait, that never actually happened.

but, if i am ever wealthy, i will have a cabin in priest lake, idaho.

RIDE IDAHO

day 0--got carsick and barfed at the gas station in cascade, idaho...a few miles later, the car broke down. lucky for us, PAM! drove by and drove us the rest of the way to hayden, idaho.

day 1--a painful, but stunning, 67 miles to priest lake. got to camp and asked my dad why we couldn't have just gone on a cruise for our family vacation...then went for a refreshing swim in the most beautiful lake i've ever seen. think alaska without the cold.

day 2--a less painful, just as beautiful 56 miles to sandpoint. met our camp neighbors for the next week, john and kip. they loved us. then went for a refreshing swim in the lake.

day 3--a very painful, scenic 76 mile ride to troy, montana...started a mud fight with trevie in the frigid cold river and watched the one-armed man play a mean guitar.

(parent kid teams aka pretty much the only people under 50 on the trip--mom+trevor, trevie+mom, kelli+kerri+dad)

day 4--80 miles to thompson falls, montana. saw mennonites on bicycles on the way and almost died in the rain. but there was a river there too with a rope swing. and the best food on the whole trip aka banana cupcake for dessert.

day 5--fat camp. 65 miles and two summits. the second one was 2.8 miles of 8-11% grade. that

basically means it was really steep. the whole time i just kept telling myself, "i'm burning fat, i'm burning fat, gotta keep going". got to kellog in the rain. woke up in the middle of the night with

water levels rising around us in our tent. (so much for sleeping in that day). got up at 6 to dry all our stuff at the hotel and sleep in the lobby.

(after dominating fat camp hill)

day 6--a flat, relaxing 46 mile recovery to my future hometown (if things don't work out in the pacific northwest), harrison, idaho. swam in the lake (shocker) and finally got my mint chocolate chip ice cream (and a phone number) from a very cute red headed boy working at the creamery. in case you didn't know, that night was also the peak of the perseids meteor shower, so we laid out on the dock and watched mother nature's show.

day 7--56 mile finish to hayden. head winds kept me from moving basically at all downhill. but we all made it alive and ready to sleep. lucky for us our self-proclaimed aunt amy and her husband mike offered us a ride in their rv. which meant lots of sleep on the 8 hour drive to boise.

deb...the only person to finally get my dad to get up and dance...oh how embarrassing.

7 days of 448 miles of cycling+camping in the rain+eating whatever they feed you+doing your duty in port-a-potties+some of the most beautiful terrain in the united states+awesome people=i'd do it again in a heartbeat.

peace+love

sam, sammie baby

2010-08-03T18:36:00.004-06:00

happy birthday to my best friend in cedar...

thanks for

motivating me to spend more time in the library

letting me vent

being my hiking partner despite a lack of passion for hiking

introducing me to the tuna melt

being the best single ladies dancer i've ever seen

helping me move....twice

introducing me to some of my favorite people in cedar

getting me out of my shell

letting me be sam taylor

appreciating my music taste

being my theater attendance partner in crime.

i miss your face and your dance moves...youda youda best.

peace+love

i want to go to cedar city...real bad

2010-08-01T21:58:00.007-06:00

this post was going to be dedicated to all my cedar peeps out there and all about how i'm slightly heartbroken i will not be there with you this fall. in case you didn't know, i love cedar city with most of my heart. but i decided to be positive and dwell on the things i love about nsl. this can still be dedicated to all my cedar peeps, though. you should come to nsl for my mission farewell.

my summer at home

=bike ride on the parkway under a full moon

=outdoor movie with amy

=not enough hiking

=meeting/getting to know amazing people who have already changed my life for the better

=watching a friend be baptized

="guard and protect your heart" (that's for you, ali)

=twilight concert series

=a job where i'm actually irreplaceable.

=inception 3 times

=charlie st. cloud=$8.50 and two hours of my life i'll never get back

=i laughed through the entire thing...the girl next to me bawled through the entire thing and smelled of fecal matter

=waiting five weeks for a mission call

=but guess what? it's coming on wednesday.

peace+love

arachnophobia

2010-07-25T21:06:00.003-06:00

there was this one time that i melted from the heat.

oh wait, that was today.

yesterday i woke up with a spider bite on my cheek. which means there was a spider crawling on my face that night. in my bed. with me.

then last night i was sitting at my computer and put my foot down in the corner underneath my desk. i landed right in a spider trap with 8 dead spiders.

the chaos that ensued went something like this:

me screaming looking up at the ceiling so as to avoid witnessing what i had actually done "KERRI! GETITOFF! GETITOFF! GETITOFF!"

"I AM NOT TOUCHING THAT THING!"

"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GETITOFF! GET A PAPER TOWEL"

i felt like i was going to throw up for the next half hour.

on friday i got some new freckles at the lake. that night i watched fireworks on the roof of the rec center.

saturday i went for a nice long bike ride all inclusive with a nice little steep uphill right at the end. i rewarded myself with neilsen's frozen custard that night. except actually kerri paid.

and today i watched sound of music.

a good weekend on all accounts.

what did you do?

peace+love

love lost

2010-07-24T18:08:00.002-06:00

newsies meets little miss sunshine meets sandlot meets the temper trap...?

i think so.

ain't no mountain high enough...

2010-07-20T23:42:00.004-06:00

during the king's peak trip i did a little experiment/preparation for the mission. i didn't bring my ipod. shocker, i know. i couldn't listen to my music (or any for that matter) for 3 whole days. i barely survived, and unfortunately 3 days is much shorter than a year and a half. either way, these are the songs that were on repeat in my mental ipod for those 3 days.

Sound of Music - The Hills Are Alive (i think you have to click it....oh how i worship julie andrews)

...and brandi

it was a good trip.

sorry i've been slacking on tuesday's muse lately. i'll try harder, cause really, there is so much music to share.

peace+love

Fahrenheit 451

2010-07-18T18:39:00.004-06:00

it's far too hot outside to sit, walk, stand, or do anything for that matter.

so, i'm sitting in my air-conditioned house in a rocking chair reminiscing about recent events of life and listening to a.a. bondy.

today was a good sunday. it didn't start that way. i talked to my stake president this morning and he informed me that the 12 apostles have not made a call for me to serve yet. he feels confident it will happen this week. which means i will receive it the next week. and won't leave for a few months after that. i won't lie, this mission prep thing is not all rainbows and butterflies. there are times i feel extremely discouraged, unknowledgeable (which, ironically, isn't even a word) and unworthy. i often wonder what i'm getting myself into. it doesn't help that i'm impatient and stubborn.

then i had a missionary farewell and homecoming to attend.

at the farewell i was gently reminded why i decided to go on a mission in the first place.

at the homecoming i was gently reminded i will not be the amazing teacher on my mission. but the holy ghost will be.

what i learned from all this? i've just been selfish. my focus has been on my anxiety and my problems. not on preparing to teach the people i will come in contact with and relying on the spirit.

now i am recommitting to continue to love life and live it up but focus on the well-being of others and seeking the holy ghost as a constant companion in everything i do.

on the lighter side of things, more pictures from skydiving. apparently my mom took pictures while i was in the air, so enjoy...

sky so blue

a perfect landing (on our feet!)

post-jump hair

{also, virtual hug to whoever gets the reference in the post title}

peace+love

free fallin'

2010-07-16T00:39:00.005-06:00

my cousins came in town from washington, so what did we do to pass the time? oh ya know, check it off my life list cause i jumped out of an airplane...with all these hoodlums

{p.s. family, i love the one random tandem instructor not related to us in this picture standing behind bethany}

that's actually my aunt, but this gives you an idea of what it looks like when you jump out of the plane...

you know what the best part is?

free falling.

i wasn't even scared. the only time i really got nervous was when we were flying up to the 13,000 feet and they opened the airplane door. which i was sitting right next to.

but walking over to the door, stepping with my toes over and falling 110 mph for a minute?

no problem.

(this is also stephanie...i didn't get photos or video--nice banana pose, steph)

anyway, you really must do this someday....it was AWESOME

peace+love

i can die happy.

2010-07-11T23:36:00.004-06:00

thursday i got to see modest mouse for free.

but today....oh today

my life is complete.

brandi carlile has replaced ingrid michaelson as my true love.

that is a BIG deal, my friends.

oh dear with just the uke and the band.

then....looking out. oh man alive. words cannot describe.

during caroline she made eye contact and pointed at me--"you're always on my mind, you're always on my mind my caroline" (ya, i was that close)

beautiful turpentine. oh so amazing live.

at the beginning of the encore the twins came out and sang my 3rd favorite s&g song, (only after homeward bound and america) the sound of silence.

katie herzig took the stage for wish you well. and brandi sang with her. more joy.

and then.

my life was completed.

pride and joy exactly the way i wanted to hear it only better. i didn't even know what to do with myself and still don't know what to say. so i cried.

sorry you weren't there.

if you ever get the chance--go to her show....hands down the best concert i have ever been to.

peace+love

oh mandy...

2010-07-11T09:46:00.003-06:00

...well you came and you gave without taking...{virtual hug to whoever names that song without googling the lyrics}

this is my friend amanda.

sorry, wrong picture

i didn't know her in real life before i knew her on blogger.

see, she was roommates with mackenzie, my sister from another mister/kerri's (my sister) best friend

[this is mackenzie and amanda]

so kerri was friends with her. kerri had her blog on her sidebar.

and i started reading it.

she is funny and has good taste in music, so of course i read/commented on her blog.

then i met her in real life. so now we're real life friends.

welp, she's feeling kinda sad cause in a few months i'll be leaving and won't be reading any blogs for a year and a half. she thinks she'll no longer have any comments on her blog.

so, i'm suggesting if you like me you should go read/comment on her blog. cause i bet you'll like her too.

do a sunday service and say hi!

i'll be happy you did.

(all pictures stolen via amanda's facebook page and blog)

peace+love

high uintahs

2010-07-09T11:08:00.007-06:00

one time i hiked 34 miles.

...oh wait, that was earlier this week

7 miles up 1,000 feet with a 30+ lb backpack

find sick flip-up sunglasses behind a log

(attempt to) sleep

10 miles up 3,000 feet to the highest peak in utah

(13,528 ft above sea level)

experience altitude sickness

(at least i wasn't puking like that kid in the scout group)

10 miles down 3,000 feet

(attempt to) sleep

7 miles down 1,000 feet with a 30+ lb backpack

real food (+cell phone reception)

i love the mountains

peace+love