The Lord God Giveth Light Unto Their Understanding

I get up, and nothing gets me down. 

 You've got it tough, I've seen the toughest soul around....JUMP‏!

- Eddie Van Halen

Best of Van Halen is playing in the internet cafe today. WAHOOO! Mom, ALWAYS, forever and ever, Van Halen will remind me of you!

This week was incredible. Except Wednesday. I don´t know why, but every freaking week Wednesdays are so bloody hard for me. Which sucks because Wednesdays have always been my favorite day of the week. We had Interviews with the President on Friday. That was awesome. He helped me a lot and was able to give me a blessing. He is one strict dude but he knows what he´s doing. 

Mom! I am stoked about your foot and am jealous you get to run again. If you ever have a bad day, just think of your daughter. I get to run for a good 20 minutes around my house :/  It is suuuuper lame and I miss running more than anything. Pracila bailed on us and doesn´t run with us anymore. Hermana Calderon hates running so she just stands there and watches me every morning. It´s always a bit awkward but I refuse to not run. Even if I only get to run in circles for 20 minutes, I´ll take it.

This last week, I ran out of shampoo and had to buy a small bottle at a ghetto store here in La Serena. The Walmart of Chile, Lider, is in Central-about a half hour bus ride from our house. The only kind of shampoo they had in the ghetto store was the same scent I had when I was in Ghana. As you all know, I definitely have a head FULL of hair and always wake up with it tangled in my face. Well, every morning this week, when I would wake up, I thought I was in Ghana because of the scent of my hair.

I´ve always found our senses incredibly interesting and how quick our bodies are to responding to memory recall. It´s immediate. It got me thinking more about how our physical senses effect our spiritual senses.

Later this week, I recieved an incredible letter from Adam´s sister, Lexie West. She shared 2 Nephi 2-3. In her letter she says, "Specifically in verse 3: 'He giveth light unto the understanding'...our capability to see with our eyes would do us ZERO use if there were´t light...without sound waves, no hearing, etc...Chist is called The Light. Without his light, there is no way we could ever spiritually see."

I was stoked when I read that because this topic had already been on my mind with the scent of the shampoo. So, I decided to study more about it...Our spirits are the likeness of our physically bodies.  I thought about what Nephi said to the Spirit of the Lord after he saw the vision of the Tree of Life..."And I said unto him: To know the interpretation thereof-for I spake unto him as a man speaketh: for I beheld that he was in the form of a man; yet nevertheless, I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord; and he spake unto me as a man speaketh with another."

This was so cool to me that the spirit and the body are so similar. The spirit is matter just like our physical bodies...only spirit matter is more refined and pure than mortal element. As it says in D&C 131:7-8, "There is no such thing as immaterial matter.  All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes; we cannot see it; but when our bodies are purified we shall see that it is matter."  

HOW COOL IS THAT?!

Right after I studied all of this, we had a lesson with Nibaldo. I decided to share the things that I had learned and his response was, "I understand! I have a physical body to see, touch, hear, etc. But it´s my spiritual body that feels the spirit when I read and pray." Haha. I cried. The spirit was so strong. We had a beautiful lesson on the Holy Ghost. 

I made Nibaldo a countdown until his baptizm. Each link has a scripture on it. 

The next day, we had our district leaders come to our lesson with Nibaldo and we talked more about baptism, the answers to our prayers, etc. He decided he would go and ask his father one more time if he could be baptized because he was now aware that he had received an answer to his prayer....We all went with him and his dad said YES!!!! Nibaldo is getting baptized on May 19! His dad stayed and talked with us for a good 20 minutes and is now interested in the gospel. We are still teaching Ramon and their 2 younger brothers. It truly is a miracle because for weeks now Nibaldo has been saying, "There is NO WAY my dad will say yes or ever listen to the missionaries!" .....yeah, yeah. Okay Nibaldo. There was no way your dad would ever listen to the missionaries until KATHERINE PENDLETON CAME TO LA SERENA!!!!! I´m going to get his dad baptized.....just you wait.

All of this was a testimony to me that we literally are children of a loving Heavenly Father - having been born as a spirit to Heavenly Parents previous to being born to mortal parents.  We all have an individual plan. We all have physical bodies and senses to help our spiritual bodies grow and learn. As we strengthen our spiritual bodies, we become closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. This plan is simple and beautiful. I love that. Keep the commandments, strengthen your testimony and the Lord will bless you.

Again, I refer to 2 Nephi 31:3..."For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God giveth LIGHT unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding."

My Spanish is not perfect...but I know that as I bear my testimony, the Lord will "speak unto men according to their language, unto their understanding." They will be able to SENSE the spirit of the Holy Ghost and have a desire to come unto Christ.

You are all wonderful. I can´t tell you enough how much I love being a missionary! This church is true! Have another busy, crazy week! Listen to all the music in the world for me...because I miss it like crazy. I can´t wait to get your package mother so that I can finally have an ipod. 

TWO WEEKS UNTIL I GET TO SEE YOUR BEAUTIFUL FACES ON SKYPE! 

HUGS....have a great semana (week)

Love, Hermana Kath

P.S. There is no spell check...so forgive my errors. The Lord does, so should you. : )

The first and last photos in this post are of Hermana Calderon and Katie in Central

Feelings

"Feelings are not right or wrong; they just are. 

It´s what we do with them that´s right or wrong."

For those of you who have ever been munched in a gnarly wave before--not knowing which way is up, which way is down, what your name is, finally accepting that this is your death, only to find the surface with seconds to spare--you understand how I felt this week.

And for those of you who have ever been munched in a gnarly wave--barely made it out alive, only to turn and find ANOTHER gigantic wave headed right for you--you understand how I feel as I look at this coming week.

Hermana Calderon and I only have each other, we don´t speak the same language, and (I don´t know if I will use this word, but I want to) we were "blessed" with 6 new investigators this week. Meaning we are now trying to juggle 13 investigators, 3 with baptismal dates, 3 couples that need to get married before we can set a baptismal date, and 3 who are trying to quit smoking and drinking.  AAHHHHHH. On Saturday, we were literally RUNNING to all of our appointments. I feel so blessed that the Lord is giving us these amazing people to teach but I´d more grateful if he could give us 8 days...

I feel bad for our recent converts and less active members. It´s very difficult trying to find time for everyone but we are doing the best we can with what we´ve got!

Nibaldo and Ramon were able to talk to their dad about baptism. He gave them another definite no. Nibaldo called us, upset and in tears, asking what he could do. While he was expressing his feelings, we ran out of minutes on our phone! We bailed on one of our appointments, sprinted to his house, only to find his dad out front with Nibaldo. I felt super calm and knew that we were supposed to come to his house so that we could talk to his dad. Nibaldo and Ramon were baptized Catholic so their dad thinks it´s a sin to be baptized twice. We had an extremely long (debate) conversation about church and the importance of baptism. Finally, he said, that he wanted to learn more and that if Nibaldo and Ramon continue to progress, he will let them get baptized. Well, they are ready, so I guess for now we continue teaching them and their dad see them reading, praying and going to church....It truly is a blessing because after our conversation, we are now teaching not only Nibaldo and Ramon, but their two younger brothers as well! ALL FOUR CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY!

Nibaldo, Hermana Pendleton and Ramon "fighting".

I wish I had time to write about all of our investigators but I don´t....Just know we are working our hardest to help everyone progress...

As for Kathy Kath, well, this week was oober hard. But I can´t express how grateful I am, at the end of the week, for the trials I am facing here on my mission.

Mother, in your email last week you said,

"Feelings are not right or wrong; they just are. 
It´s what we do with them that´s right or wrong."

That phrase stuck with me every day and I know it´s what got me through the week.

Satan was a real butthead this week and worked hard on this girl. Just because I am a missionary and am here to teach and help others gain a testimony, it doesn´t mean that I won´t face trials or need to continue strengthening my testimony. On Wednesday night, I thought I was going to lose it. I was so stressed, the language wasn´t coming and I didn´t know where to start for the following day. As I was flipping through my scripture journal, I came across a quote by Elder Bednar that I heard in the MTC.

"When you think you can´t, you´re right. 
But in the strength of the Lord, you can."
(Mosiah 4:27) 

Between your quote, Mama, Elder Bednar´s quote and this scripture, I was able to regain my focus and "have the courage to say, I´ll try again tomorrow." (Pres. Monson).

 

 

Then again, on Saturday night, I started to lose my faith again.  It was a long, exhausting day, filled with many investigators who had many needs. Again, I found myself asking Heavenly Father to bring me comfort. Immediately after, I remembered a quote that Ry Guy shared with me that I try to read quite often.  I knew I had to read it one more time to regain my faith for the day.

"Just when everything seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion, which polish you for everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where he wants you to be, requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain."  

-Elder Richard G. Scott

I am definitely stretching and growing - and definitely feeling discomfort and pain at times - but I am grateful for it.

I know this church is true. I love The Book of Mormon. I have all the faith in the world right now that these investigators are capable of doing anything they need to in order to be baptized. Thank you for your prayers and support! They are always much needed and always appreciated.

Tay, you look BEAUTIFUL in your prom photo!!! Holy Crap, HAWT MAMA! I´m sure all the boys were droolin´over you.

Becca, good luck on your AP tests.

Cam, I love your cheeks. 

Dad....Thank you for your email as always!! I wish I had all the time in the world to fully reply to everything you all send me!!  Know I love you dearly.

Mama....Keep up the good work at being the best mom in the world! Our family is so blessed. I know it´s hard at times, but remember that your strength, testimony and example is what keeps this girl going! I have faith in you and love you more than you know! THREE WEEKS UNTIL I GET TO GIVE YOU AN AIR HUG ON SKYPE!!!

You are beautiful people. Kiss your cheeks twice from me.

Love,
Hermana Pendleton

La Serena sunset.

6 WEEKS AND TRAINING!

I always knew God had a sense of humor....

but I didn't think he was this funny.

In Zone Conference a couple weeks ago, President Kahnlein pulled me aside and asked me how things were going in La Serena. Of course, I wanted to respond by saying, "My companion is doing a great job in La Serena, but I am doing an even better job of following her everywhere she goes and making a fool out of myself every time I talk."

Instead I simply said, "President, things in La Serena are absolutely wonderful!" 

 He told me that I would be staying in La Serena and that I needed to make sure I knew the area really well. 
He then asked me, "Hermana, I know you have a lot of faith and work hard.....So just remember, I have lots of faith in you for the next change. Prepare yourself."  

Well, now I am TRAINING!  The Bros always told me I would shart my pants in the mission from the food....but that comment got me way before any burrito. 

[As Hermana Pendleton's mother, let me apologize right here and now for the crude comment my daughter just made.  : / Although, it is pretty funny, if I do say so myself.]

I am now 3 for 3 on amazing companions! My companion, Hermana Calderon, entered the MTC in March and has been here, in Chile, the same amount of time as I have. God bless her first Trainer´s heart, because she didn´t teach my companion ANYTHING. Hermana Calderon is from Columbia, speaks absolutely no English, wears a 1980´s retainer so you literally can´t understand ANYTHING she says and knows nothing about the carpeta (the area book/investigators history/etc.) 

To say the least, this has been one of the funniest weeks of my life. I am stoked for this opportunity to put ALL my faith in The Lord. Seriously, I´ve never had so much faith in my life....I asked you to pray for me before; now is the time to beg!

Even with our language barrier, we have become the best of friends in the last couple of days. She has a heart of gold. It´s impossible not to love this girl. She weighs 85 pounds and is about the same height as Tay Tay. I am pretty sure the only reason people are letting us in their homes is because they feel so bad for us. 

Wouldn´t you let a couple of girls into your home, one who looks like she´s 12 and a gringa who speaks horrible Español, and let them talk to you about Jesucristo? I know I sure would, out of pure pity. In a sense, I think our current situation is a total blessing. We make people smile and simply do our best to teach the lessons.

It has been good for me and my Español. I talked to one of the Assistants on the phone this morning and when I hung up, I realized that was the first time I´d spoken any English in the last couple of days. That was kind of a cool feeling. I can definitely see progress in the language and know this is what I need. 

The Zone Leaders called last night and told me they were proud of me for staying so strong. They said, in a meeting last week with the President and Zone Leaders, President Kahnlein specifically brought up Hermana Calderon and I and how he thinks our companionship is going to be very successful because of our faith and hard work in La Serena....That´s always gotta make you feel good about yourself :)  

Every time I stop and think about my situation, or start to feel bad for all the things that I don´t know. Then, I realize how absolutely blessed I am that Heavenly Father has this much trust in me....and instead of crying, I laugh. I have to laugh because as of right now, I have no time to feel bad for myself. And that is something I am happy to learn. 

I am so happy that I get to be in La Serena because of the ward. I bore my testimony in church yesterday.  As I stood up there and looked at everyone, I felt the same way that I did at my farewell. I wanted to go around and hug every single person and tell them how much I love them. They have been so good at helping me feel comfortable, having patience with my Español and are always willing to open their house to our investigators. Brillador Ward is the best! I could stay here for the next 15 months.

TOMORROW I HAVE BEEN ON MY MISSION FOR 3 MONTHS!

Where does the time go??

I am still sick (with stomach issues). I have never gotten better since the MTC. Then, this week, I had the worst cough of my life. I had to get an inhaler because my cough was so bad that I couldn't breath afterward. My companion and I hadn´t slept in almost 4 days because I would just cough and cough and cough all night. Kill me. My poor companion hates me. I know it.

Ramon and Nibaldo´s dad returns from work on Thursday. We are going to talk him into letting those two get baptized...AND THEN we are going to baptize HIM. Those boys say that is impossible...but I can´t wait to show them up. We have taught them everything so now we are meeting with them 3 times a week to read The  Book of Mormon with them and keep their spirits high!

We were finally able to teach Natali and Sebastian TOGETHER on Friday. It was the first lesson we had with Sebastian because he is always at work or school. We taught Lesson 1, The Restoration, and the whole time we were all thinking he was not into any of it. He showed no emotion and wasn´t asking any questions. When we finished we asked him if he had any questions, doubts, concerns....anything......he responded, 

"Don´t Mormons have family home evening once a week? I want to have a family home evening."

:)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) hi. 

It was amazing! We then planned to have a big family home evening on Saturday night and of course, welcome to Chile, they weren´t at their house. We passed by yesterday to get mad at them and they apologized and asked to reschedule for tonight (Monday). So pray for our FHE with them. 

We have found a couple other amazing peoples this week that we´ve only taught once or twice; but we have lots of cita´s this week. This week is going to be lots and lots of hard work, finding and contacting. I know Hermana Calderon and I are going to rock it up here in La Serena this cambio. 

Can I just say how excited I am TO BE AN AUNT!?!  Seriously. In every prayer, I never forget to pray for my nephew! (I received personal revelation that it´s going to be a boy - hehe)....He will be the perfect age when I get home...8 months, right? So perfect!

Okay. I love you all.

Thanks for your support. Be Good. Be Happy. And remember how much this girl loves all of you!

xoxoxoxoxox  AUNT KATHY  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Ch-ch-ch-ch-CHANGES

"Ch-ch-ch-ch-CHANGES. 

Turn and face the strange, ch-ch-changes....

Just gonna have to be a different (wo)man. 

Time may change me. But I can´t trace time..." 

-David Bowie

Our district

Yup. How crazy? I can´t believe that´s how fast a transfer is. This mission is going to fly...I know it. Time is such a crazy concept.

This week was really good. Lots of parties and family home evenings for Hermana Garcia. She left yesterday and I am now in a trio with Hermana Gatica and Hermana Agle (two Hermanas we have worked really close with this transfer). They slept at our house last night and I offered my bed to Hermana Gatica. I slept on the floor and woke up to a pretty strong EARTHQUAKE! Cool. huh. We get them quite a bit here...but this one was definitely the strongest. Cool. cool. 

Hermana Garcia and me right before I took her to the bus station. We live in a CASTLE, cool huh?

We find out changes tomorrow. I´ll let you know next week all about my new companion! RIP Hermana Garcia. That girl seriously was amazing and I am so grateful to have had such a great trainer. I am now 2 for 2 on awesome companions. She has been in this area for 6 months so everyone here is going to miss her. I am nervous to have to teach my new trainer where everyone lives, where everything is, etc. So give me an extra prayer, yeah? I am hoping for a Latina this next change so that my Spanish can improve MAS! YEAH.

Because of all the parties, helping Hermana Garcia get ready to go home and conference, we
didn´t have many lessons. Just know everyone is doing great. Nothing crazy happened this week. I´ll give you an update on everyone next week after the craziness of changes settles down....

All of my closest friends here in Chile.  I know they will take care of me while I´m here in La Serena.

I hope all of you enjoyed conference as much as I did. Why was I never this stoked on it before my mission? I couldn´t take enough notes and kept thinking "I seriously would fall asleep ALL the TIME watching conference at home. HOW?!" But then, of course, I thought about how beautifully comfortable our couches are and thought, "Oh, yeah :/ that´s how". 

Conference is a bit different when you´re on the mission. You have lots of investigators to think about and it´s a great time to receive personal revelation. It was a nice spiritual, English vacation that was much needed. My favorite quote from the whole conference was, "This isn´t missionary work....this is missionary FUN!" :/  Ooooh no. I died laughing. I thought, "Great. this is almost as bad as:  :D I AM A MORMON! I KNOW IT I LOVE IT I LIVE IT :D   I´m going to need you to make me a shirt with both those slogans - NOT!.....But seriously....Conference. SO MANY AMAZING TALKS.

I felt like a majority of the talks that were given had to do with 3 things: Missionary work, How to proceed in difficult times and Making sure we have a firm, faithful foundation in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I kept thinking about certain family members who are struggling. Some of you who are reading this may have addictions, dealing with a family member who has an addiction, just finalized a divorce, dealing with depression, or simply feel lonely, lost and confused. I´m not going to go through and quote everyone who said all the things I´m going to refer to-but just know these are personal notes/feelings, quotes that I took from conference and my way of telling all of my friends and family that I love them dearly.

I know that when we center our lives on Jesus Christ, we will always be able to find peace and refuge. Following Christ is a way of life- at all times and in all places. Peace comes from knowing that our Savior knows of our faith. God promises the hope of His light when we seek Him through scripture study, daily prayer, actively participating in church and HELPING those around you. 

I loved how many of the speakers talked about being selfless, the importance of serving others and the blessings that come when we are willing to give of ourselves. I´ve never experienced so much peace and happiness than when I´ve found time to make another person happy.  Service is the medicine for selfishness. Selfishness is the root to great evil. When we serve unselfishly, we have expanded power and ability from the Lord. I know that we can depend on the Lord to draw back lost loved ones as we serve him and serve those around us. As you give service unto those in need, His arms will be stretched out with yours. Everyone wants to feel love and accepted- And everyone DESERVES to be loved and accepted-so treat others the way YOU would want to be treated.

I am so thankful for the power of the priesthood and the unlimited divine potential it brings. How incredible is it that we have the same power here on earth today that created THE UNIVERSE! HOW COOL IS THAT! We have it HERE. It´s in our homes and many of you reading this have the ability to use that power! I know that the power of the priesthood is vital and all of you who are struggling, DON´T be shy! It´s is okay to ask for help when you need it. Ask for a priesthood blessing and HAVE FAITH in it´s power.

Finally, trust in the Lord and his timing. That is definitely something I´ve had to learn throughout my life. Many times I have asked the questions "Why? Why me? Why does this have to happen right now?" I know how discouraging it can be when we are simply trying are very hardest and things don´t go the way we want them. Especially here in the mission field. There is nothing more to say than TRUST IN HIS TIMING. Hermana Garcia shared Ecclesiastes chapter 3 with me on March 8, 2013--probably the hardest day of my mission so far..."To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the Heaven...He hath made every thing beautiful in his time...". (This is such a beautiful chapter. ALL of you should read it....definitely one of my favs). This life is about taking one consistent step at a time and remembering that God truly knows what is best for us. Let us have patience with ourselves and the ones that we love. Stay on the Lord´s side and you will win every time!

People can change. Recognize the good in others, not their stains. We know that there is darkness in this life-so turn your heart to the Lord, explain how you are feeling and ask for the strength that your eyes can be opened to His light! Have faith! Be good! I know, with my entire heart, that the atonement is real. I am so thankful for our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. It has been such a blessing to experience that here in Chile. I´ve loved the past couple of weeks with Easter and Conference. I am constantly overwhelmed by my Heavenly Father's love, his plan for us, and can´t WAIT to raise a family of my own. I can´t tell you how many times I thought about our family as I watched conference and how grateful I am for such amazing parents who raised me so well. I know I only brought Hell for so many years--but I will forever be grateful for parents who continued to be faithful in this gospel. I know that is the reason I am where I am today. So thank you :) 

Family, extended family, friends--I love all of you dearly! You are all in my prayers and I am thankful for your love and support! I love being here in Chile and all that I learn every day.

The church is true. The Book of Mormon is true (READ IT EVERY DAY AND EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY. I PROMISE.) Stay strong and carry on!

All my love,

Hermana Pendleton

Hermana Garcia, Angela and me

Fifth Week in Chile

¡Hola Familia!

This week was cray cray. So many different emotions siempre (always). I am pretty sure cada semana (every week) is going to be like this... But I am okay with that. I learn so much about myself. I realize changes that I need to make in order be the best missionary Heavenly Father wants me to be.

After having that amazing experience with Marcia, we went and visited her a couple days later. She opened the door and there she was with another one of her 'amigas' from her old church, and was smoking a cigarette. Freak! My heart dropped. She looked so dark and lost. Hermana Garcia and I both agreed it was time to drop her. It was so hard after all the lessons and times she came to church, Relief Society activities, etc. Gah! But we know that we did all that we could. It's now up to her to decide what she wants to do with the things that we've taught her.

Ramon and Nivaldo are continuing to progress! Nivaldo is so good about motivating Ramon. Unfortunately, they asked their dad if they could get baptized on the 8th and he said no. He then left out of town for work and won't be back until the end of the month....Nivaldo is so strong. He has so much faith that his dad will say "yes" when he gets back and says that this time is going to help better prepare his brother for his baptism. We had another amazing FHE on the Atonement this week for Easter. It was so incredible. We enjoyed playing Hide the Thimble and Uno after that.   :)

Natali y Sebastian....Sebastian worked all week so we were only able to meet with Natali once this week. She is very interested and we are meeting with them later today. I have faith in them!

Saturday was the day where all of our appointments cancelled, no wanted to listen to us and we walked...and walked....and walked....We were still in a great mood all day. Just laughin' and being goofs. We finally prayed that we could find someone to teach and lo and behold, five minutes later, this DARLING 18 year old boy, Yerko, yelled for us across the street. He ran over, with the biggest smile on his face and asked "YOU ARE THE MORMONS, RIGHT?!!! I have been trying to find you forever! I keep having dreams about your church and know there is something special about you. Can you teach me more?! I want you to teach me more about your church!" hahaha he was so excited to find us, we could barely get a word in. We met with him last night and it was SO GOOD. This kid was preordained. I'm not even kidding. He knew right off the bat that everything we taught was true. Oh my gosh. And when we recited the first vision to him he was in pure Awh. "Oh yeah. tractor beam. Sucked me right in. Anyway. She left this in the terminal and flew to Aspen and out of my life...." name that movie.....Anyway....We asked him if he wanted to get baptized and he said Of Course! BUT OF COURSE HE LEFT FOR WORK TODAY AND WONT BE BACK FOR THREE MONTHS! We are contacting the missionaries where he works and they are going to teach him. I just have the strongest testimony of this Church. Heavenly Father knows what he is doing. God is good. I am nothing as a missionary without him and the spirit. 

I won't even talk about the language. I am going to trust Aunt Katie's advice and just let Heavenly Father let me teach with what I know. I still have 15 months to master it...So I stopped worrying so much and simply pray everyday to do my best. 

Mama, how is your toe? Hermana Garcia and I prayed lots for you. 

Dad, thanks for your email :) I'll be sure to make a great lesson out of it.

Tay, good luck with the ACT. I had a dream about you laughing at my shoulder this week....Yeah, I told you I had freaking weird dreams here. But it was good to hear your cute laugh. I love you! :)

Becca, hey. I am your oldest sister. And I love you. Are you destroying my room? That's fine. I'm over it.

Cam, CONGRATS ON THE PRIESTHOOD DUDE! I wish that I could have been here on Sunday. It sounded like an amazing day. I am proud of you and the decisions you are making. Did you get my birthday package yet?
Jer And Tina....Hi :)

Okay. I am good. I am happy. Thank you for your prayers, love and support. Everything. I missed you all on Easter but loved learning about The Atonement and how we are all going to be together forever. No Empty Chairs :) Tell Grandma Barton I got her letter this week! She is amazing!

Thanks for everything! 

Have a beautiful week! 

Keep praying that I can speak this language! 

Love you all!!!

Hermana Pendleton

ps...just looked at the pictures you sent me! You all are so beautiful. I cried with happiness because I am so thankful for all of you. Cam, you freaking stud, you.