Almost a Month!

Wow I can't believe it has almost been a month that I have been on my mission! :) it has been a great month to say the least. A few items of Kynsie Business...

Grandma - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW!!!!!! i  am so sad i am missing the big shaaaabang! oh wait :) its a good thing we aren't having one! haha :) i love you. i always think of you when i see my cute little book mark.

A few funny things.

i get so excited at the littlest things and Hermana K thinks I am a geek and that i love simple pleasures too much. She always just starts laughing and shakes her head.

EWW the most NASTY thing happened today. We were going to do laundry and I opened up a empty washer and there was a GROSS soggy BLACK SOCK in it. I didn't know what it was at first and so i grabbed it and then when i realized i was like AHHHHHH and threw it and then everyone was looking at me and then Hermana K...got it out for me and put it in the lost and found. What would i do without her??? haha but when we are cleaning the showers I always have to get the wet hair out for her cause thats what grosses her out! so we work well together! :)

This week has been another amazing week. I always feel like I learn and grow so much each week. i think the mtc is refining me into the person that Heavenly Father needs me to be for His missionary. I am trying to break a few bad habits of not saying "thats gay and freaking"...dad i blame you for the first!  hahaha just kidding. :) I am trying and its going pretty well but i feel like i need to be the best person i can be and i have so much motivation. How can you not when you are around the spirit and amazing people all day! It is great

Ummmmm I am being rushed for time. 11 minutes left and it stresses me out. I can't think and type and watch the time go tick tock. haha.

 So "hector" or hermano henderson is one of our investagators. We have been working with him and he accepted a "baptismal date" but he has not been willing to pray all that much. Hermana K and I have been trying so hard to get him to pray. We were talking to him about prayer and he still just didn't really want to. I was asking him if he thought it was important and we read some scriptures and then we asked him about it after. He still was all mas o menos about it and then hermana K says Que le impede? Aka whats holding you back? it totally caught him off guard and he is like...Umm I don't know. He said he would. we were super excited. Then we taught him how to pray and then he said his first prayer with us. it was sooo cool. We leave the room and then hermana k gives me this huge hug cause she is sooooo excited. i was too but just not hug excited. :) hahaha I just pat her on the back and then she and i just started laughing. All the hermanas know i am not very touchy and i was like i am NOT that bad...but I am.

proof right there!

the cool thing about teaching is that it is getting to the point where we know it is fake but that the spirit is helping us as if it was a real person when we go into teach hermano henderson is Hector and I don't think of him of our teacher. It is really sweet to see how Heavenly Father is helping me with my spanish and with bearing my testimony. the spirit is so strong here and it is just a very neat feeling.

on sunday, brother rogers (1st counselor in bp) was talking to us about the end of our missions and i got super sad. I realzied how i really don't want to come home. even though i miss it, the experiences i am having here are indescrible. i watched this talk by elder bednar on sunday night. It was called Characteristics of Christ. The whole talk was focused on how Christ turned out in love and compassion when all of us as natural humans turn in. He talked about being like Christ and always turning out even when we want to turn it. I wish you could all see it. The other thing he talked about is that A testimony is something we believe but how Converstion to the gospel is being true to what we know to be true and living the gospel.

I hope you all are doing well. i miss you all so much. Last sunday when we were walking home from the temple i was like you guys if you want we can just walk to my house and get some treats and hang out for a bit. :) we decided that probably wouldn't be good. haha It is always so good seeing Brother jarman! it makes my day. It was fun to see Sister jarman again as well as Mr. mendenhall! I just love them all. well i got to go hunting for the newly oranged dotted Elder Tucker Austin!!! wooo hooo :) its about time another awesome person gets here ;)

i love you all so much. keep reading the book of mormon. it will bless you so much as you do.

remember who you are and to Whom you belong too. :)

Cuidese,

Hermana k. Rife

A wonderful visit with Sis. Rife after the devotional

Sis. Rowe, Sis. Mills, Sis. Rife, Sis. Kelly & Sis. Jarman

Bishop Jarman came over Tuesday night  (August 28, 2012) and told us that he and Sis. Jarman had been able to have another wonderful visit with Kynsie after the devotional.  He told us that she is doing so well and seems to be happier every time he sees her!  

He returned some of the piano music that I had mistakenly sent her. Kynsie thought it was pretty funny that I had sent her Tyler's theory book!!!

We mentioned to Bishop Jarman that Kynsie has so enjoyed being able to run into the two of them so much. I feel like perhaps she feels like she has a part of "Home" with her when she sees them.  Bishop Jarman then explained to us that he and his wife have been to more activities at the MTC in the last month than they usually spend there in a full year.  

Interesting....or perhaps an answer to Prayer!!!  :)

Been a little busy with school starting...So...here are Sis. Rife's last couple of letters and emails!

We got this one in the mail August 17th!

Dear Family,
Sorry I won't have time to write all of you little notes but I wanted to share a few things with you.  My Love for the scriptures has grown so much in the last few weeks!  One of the reasons why is because we study them ALL the time here.  I just wanted to tell all of you to set a goal to set apart at least 15-30 minutes a day to read the scriptures!  As a family, even though it is hard, read them & pray together as much as you can.  The spirit is with us a lot at the MTC & one of the reasons is because we are constantly on the Lords time table & trying to do what he would have us do. I feel like I am constantly saying prayers to help me learn & understand.  I am learning to humble myself & rely on God at all times.  One of the other things  I have noticed is I feel happy & at least calm most always.  That is one of the ways the Holy Ghost works!  Another thing I have learned is if a situation or person is bothering you, you can't pray for the situation or the person to change.  You have to humble yourself & ask Heavenly Father to help you accept it or to change something about yourself, so that it can be okay!  We need to look inward before criticizing  & we need to look outward to serve & love others!  I am not trying to be all preachy so I hope you don't take it that way!  Something really neat happened today though.  I was reading my patriarchal blessing & a sentence stood out to me that never has before.

"He wants us all to be with him once again, You have a calling to assist in that mighty work."

President Holister also shared a quote from Elder Nelson at a MTC devotional. Elder Nelson said, "You as missionaries were identified as honorable, valiant & loyal in the pre-existence."  He then said, "you were plucked out & put on reserve on a shelf to be a missionary at this time."

Tyler & Tan Especially, I encourage you to keep yourselves worthy & clean to serve a full time mission because that quote will apply to you!  The promises I've been made as a missionary are amazing & they have been a blessing as I have thought in the hard times...can I do this?!!!  I want you all to remember that the Lord won't leave us without his help.  He loves us so much & wants us to have the desire to become more like him.  We really can come closer to him by doing the little things.  Reading, Praying & Serving.

                                     :) Hope you all are well!  Love you!!!
                                                                        <3 <3 , Kynsie
                                                                 ( Those are hearts!!!)

Grandma got a little note that day too:

Dear Grandma,
How are you?  I hope you had a wonderful week cause I sure did!  I was so excited when my district leaders companion Elder Baldwin told me I had a letter with lots of stickers & from a Jean!  :) I knew it was you!  We just got home from the temple. It is always a bit hard to walk out to a view I have seen so many times before & realize that I can't go home but its okay!
Anyway the temple was great!  It always is.  I always see Sister Hasara.  Thanks for your scripture.  I have been studying a lot about the Holy Ghost!  I Love you!  Hope you are doing great!  Talk to you soon!
                                                               
                                                                              Talk to you soon,
                                                                               <3. Hermana K. Rife

Email from August 22, 2012    YEAH...Some pictures!!!

Hi i will email later wanted to send some pictures. hermana kelly and me. In the picture the elders go....elder smith, mann, brown, seastrand and baldwin. then sisters mills and rowe, me and kelly. we read our white bible in the laundry bin and we found some awesome sunglasses in the lost and found. and ummmm when we snuck out of the mtc and then me doing headstands on the bed! haha

talk to you soon

Kynsie and her companion Sis. Kelly at the Provo Temple
  

Class  Time

District at the Provo Temple

Kynsie and Sis. Kelly escaping from the MTC 

(Don't worry it was just to pick up a prescription on the south side of BYU campus---They had permission!)

Laundry Bin Scripture Study  :)

Guess you'll find anywhere to study the scriptures!

They found some awesome glasses in the lost & found...and put them to good use!  

Kynsie back at doing her amazing tricks...standing on her head on the top bunk!!!

( This daughter of ours!!!)

Another Email from August 22. 2012

  

Well another week has come and gone and it has been another great week! I hope you got my pictures I sent earlier. I didn't have time to send them and they were all actually Hermana K's pictures cause i didn't have a card reader but thats okay! It looks like we just have fun but don't worry we do actually work hard as well.

Well this last week I have seen tons of people. Chelsea, Ari, Brooke Harper, Dr. Singerland (he says hello, i have seen him a few times but i can't remember if i told you already), the Jarmans, Cory Mendenhall, and Neil A. Anderson....No big deal! :) More on him later.

A few things.

Every sunday we watch music and the spoken word. It is such an amazing program. I enjoy listening to it every week. I don't know if this week you saw it but Stanford Olsen sang with the choir and he was AMAZING! The more and more I am here the more and more i realized how strongly i feel the spirit through music....:) It is amazing. We had Sister Mary Cook from the YW presidency speak to us in Relief Society.  She talked a lot about how rescuing can be jus as important as saving souls. We have talked a lot about that these last few days. I encourage all of you to reach out to others and find who needs our help. They don't have to be in active they can just maybe be having a hard day or something it can be that simple and make such a huge difference. This keyboard is terrible by the way. AH! :)

On Sunday Night, the Jarmans came talked to us . They did a fantastic job as well. They are wonderful people and it was perfect to get a hug from Sister Jarman. I know I am not touchy but I miss hugs. I even hugged Hermana K because I wanted a hug so bad! ;) Sister J talked about how our prayers can be answered. Alma 8:10. Brother Jarman talked about the bom as well and the power it has when we read it with investagators. It was fantastic.

On monday we had the TRC it has changed and now we teach members as members instead of them being fake investagators. We taught 2 twenty minute lessons. Hermana K and I decided to talk about sharing the book of mormon with others and testifying of it. We took some of what brother and sister jarman said and used it. In the TRC and in Lessons Hermana K normally talks a lot cause she isn't scared to and knows spanish really well but i have been working really hard on just trying to practice what i have been studying. It was the neatest thing. We always pray for el don de langues or the gift of tongues and in those lessons I felt Heavenly Father helping me. I was speaking really really good. I was spitting out sentances and words that I hardly knew and was conjugating them in the right tenses and everything. IT WAS SOOOOO AWESOME! We walked out and I looked at Hermana K and she was like WHAT THE HECK?!? I said I have no idea. She just said El Don De Lengues es verdadero. or is true! :) it was funny

On Tuesday Last night we had the chance to hear Neil A Anderson speak (dad you had a training by him? cool!!) Anyways he was Soo soo good as well. He talked about 10 things that president monson would say to us if he were with us. 1- Follow the Prophet 2- Do your Duty, That is Best. leave unto the Lord the Rest. 3- Trust in the Lord and prepare to be an instrument in his hands.  4-  Let the Lord shape your back. Whom the Lord calls he qualifies. 5- Smile and Enjoy your self. The Prophet is always happy and positive. 6- Love the people you serve and truly care about them. 7- NEVER ever ever ignore a prompting. 8- Testify of the prophet Joseph Smith 9 - Become converted to the savior Jesus Christ and Testify of him and 10- Witness the Power of the Savior. He testified of the knowledge of Pres Monson being a special witness as well as he testified as knowing i was just a really neat talk. The spirit was very strong. We also got to sing a song called the Wounds in Jesus Hands for choir and that always brings the spirit! Yesterday was president Monsons birthday so Elder anderson said welll i thought we should sing to him. He put a picture of him up on the screen and we sand happy 85th birthday to him. then elder anderson said..."He looks pretty happy and like he loved it! " of course it was just a picture! :)

I love hermana K. Seriously she is Great! We get a long so well and we always are laughing and crazy together! It is a lot of fun. Sometimes we read and pray in the laundry bins. She is pretty much convinced that eating tootsies in the shower is the best thing since sliced cheese and we get each other. She gets my weirdness and I only thought our family did get the fullness of it! haha :)  I am glad she accepts this crazy girl.

I have been made fun of this last week. about my nostrils flaring when i laugh. Elder Seastrand was going on about it forever and I keep finding him staring at my nose when i laugh. He thinks it is hilarious. He told me the other day.  " it is like you are a little mouse sniffing around for cheese and food" hahaha :) funny funny elders. The elders in our district are great. They always find something funny to say. Whenever they talk about home or things of the "world" music, movies, etc hermano harker says bye bye babylonia. He is a nerd but totally funny. He just got engaged! Woot! He was on cloud nine when he came to class and told us.

Just so you know dad...I have 30 minutes and I just write you guys! I don't write anyone else and my fingers and hands cramp after from typing as fast as i can! So don't worry family comes first!!!! :) haha

 I had an interview with President Hollister last night. He is such a good man. He told us a quote that i really like. He said "Every morning you should pray and say Heavenly Father, I'm yours until bedtime, Lets do something great today!" The first day that I said that in my morning prayers was monday and that was the day at the TRC....coinsidence??? :) haha i don't think so.

I am learning spainish. I really do love it here so much. I feel like I can't learn enough. We have been working hard as a district on Spanish. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays we are only speaking spanish until lunch so that is hard to do but it is doable and i feel like I am learning so much from it. I really love this gospel. I love love love the book of mormong. I don't want to put it down when i am reading from it. I know that it is the word of God. I hope that you are taking the time to read it. The more we learn about the gospel the more we have a desire to perfect ourselves and become like our Savior. I love you all so much. It is wonderful hearing from you. I have a few letters to send home but I am not quite down with them yet. So i will try to finish them after the temple. I love you! Keep up the great work. Be good to each other and serve each other! Thanks for all your mail and letters it is the best thing EVER hearing from home!

Cuidese!!!!

Love Hermana Kyns Rife

I miss my name. The other day chels yelled KYNS and it was such an awesome thing ! She leaves next week crazy huh

Oh daddy o -  HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Then to add one more thing to the week....we received some little notes in the mail on Friday the 24th!

Dear Family, 

Sorry I am not very good at getting you all personal letters.  I will keep trying to write you all back.  Tan & Ky-I owe you both letters!  Along with Dad & Mom too!  Tell Grandma Thanks for the donuts and bookmark.  Elders Loved the donuts!  & said Thanks Grandma!  The bookmark is pretty!  I'm using it in my scriptures.l  I didn't write lots cause I've been sick so I took a 1 1/2 hr nap instead of writing.  

                                                                            Be Good,

                                                                            Be Happy,

                                                                            Rely on the Lord!

                                                                            <3 <3 <3 Hermana

                                                                                             Kynsie 

                                                                                             Rife

Dad!

Lamest Birthday Card Ever but I am thinking of my favorite Daddy-o!  :)  I just wanted to tell you how much you mean to me!  I am so grateful for you in my life!  I Love getting your letters.  They are spiritually uplifting as well as super funny!  Hermana K always says, "Dang! I want your dad."  I read her parts of your letters a lot.  That poem was really great as well.  I hope you know how much you mean to me & I Love you so much!  You are such an example of Christ & your testimony is shown by your words & actions!

  

                                                                            Happy Birthday!!!

                                                                        :)  Love, your 

                                                                            Little missionary

                                                                            Kynser Kell

Mom-

I wanted to write you and tell you that I Love you!  :) I am very grateful for you!  I am grateful for your willingness to Love and help your children.  I want you to know that you can do great things & that you have many abilities.  When times get hard Remember Heavenly Father Loves you &will help you through all things if you rely on him to help.  I Love you lots.  Thanks for your Love & support!  Hope all is well!  

                                                                                              

                                                                         <3, Kyns

Then she added that she needed some things if possible. 

tape with dispenser

Piano Books ( She described where they were and what they looked like.  Not too sure I was very successful in finding those for her!!!)Then she added that some chocolate would be LOVED AS WELL!  haha dark chocolate M&Ms!  haha but any chocolate will do!  

So basically we escaped from the CCM aka MTC

Hi Hi Hi Everyone!

 

Oh My Goodness, I love P-days because I love the chance I get to write home and talk to you all. It is so great! I miss you all very much and think of you often! So i forgot my little note card that has all the stuff i wanted to tell you but I hope that I can remember everything.

 

First things First! Thank YOU SOOOOO much for you letters and packages! I love getting letters it is the best thing in the world. I loved that little package from Ky and Ken! That note was the cutest! Ky, I hope you are doing great! Work hard in school next year. I bet your teacher will be so nice! Tan! Thanks for you letter buddy. I miss you too. I loved hearing from you.  Ty - you passed your drivers test! WOOO hooo. I talked to Zac Jarman on the phone for a minute the other day when he called and Me and Hermana K were with brother and sister jarman! I told him to make sure you two only date cute girls and NICE! :) Ken, thanks for helping kylee with that package. I sure would love to hear from my bestie....just saying! I know where you sleep so i  might come track you down!:) Tell the binghams Hi for me. I loved their little pictures. Grandma - Thanks for your letter! I am writing you one back. I will try to finish it soon. Mom and Dad - Thanks for the letters note and packages. I am so glad for the stuff you sent me. It is very much needed and appreciated! Nick, Kate, Kinley and Mila baby!! Love you all. :) Tell Tucker to get practicing Spanish!!!! :)

 

Okay! So The MTC is great. I really love the spirit that is here. The first week was hard but honestly after that first sunday it has been mostly full of ups. Of course we all still have our downs but it is a lot better. I am learning so much. I love it though because I have such a wealth of information that never stops flying at me. It is like I am in school again and I just love school! My spanish is coming a long. We have continued to teach our "investagators" but they are new now and also we did get our new teacher who was Santiago and his name is Hermano Henderson! He is a lot different than Hermano Harker but both are super! Hermana Kelly and I are making it a goal to learn 150 verbs and a bunch of vocab words. We know 25 flashcards already so we are on our way!

 

The weeks seem to kind of all blend together so I cant really remember a lot of stuff. On sunday, we had Rosemary Wixham the General Primary President speak to us in Relief Society. It was amazing. The spirit was insanely  strong. She was talking about how we need to teach the gospel simply and that we can always look back on what we learned in primary because that is the base of our testimony and those principles are the most important. The simple principles like I am a child of God and that Heavenly Father loves us. We also sang I belong to the church of Jesus Christ. When we were singing I know who i am, I know Gods Plan, I'll follow him in faith...it was awesome because the spirit testified to me that the church is so true. When ever we sing missionary songs it is the neatest feeling because there are 2000 missionaries singing and we really are the Lord's Missionaries. Its kind of hard to describe. Hermana Rowe, Mills, Kelly and me sang in the choir and that was fun! We had Elder Evans from the seventy and his wife speak to us on tuesday. I got to see Brother and Sister Jarman! I love seeing them. A familiar face and a big hug does wonders for me! :)

 

I wanted to tell you about my district cause i didn't get to last week. There is Elder Baldwin. He is from Arizona and he is a little guy like 5'6 but massive! He is so strong and he has a HUGE mouth. He fit a whole orange with the peel on in his mouth. He is a very happy person and Loves to laugh. Elder Mann or Elder Hombre (aka man en espanol) is the district leader. He is from AZ too and is pretty serious but has a good heart. His family always writes us letters and it is so nice! Elder Seastrand is from Holiday UT and went to BYU. I told him that he should write ken... :) haha He has been bugging me to see a picture actually pretty much all the elders have because i talk about how cute you are and all the Hermanas agree because they have seen pictures! :) He is very sarcastic but laughs all the time. He is funny. Elder Brown is from Texas and has an awesome texan accent. He makes sure to remind us to eat a lot cause the saying in texas is...."If you Ain't 280, then you Ain't a Lady" haha!!! I love it! :) I told him I don't want to be a lady then. Elder Smith is from cali and likes to surf. He is goofy and a big nerd but he makes class super fun. He always reminds Elder Seester (seastrand) to be nice to us sisters. Hermana Rowe is great! Super nice. She taught kindergarten and is from SL. Hermana Mills is awesome and super tough. She was in the air force and has given us some INSANE workouts to do but we also go play frisbee outside and i made them try to do backbends and headstands with me. haha! I love my Hermanas!

 

The more and more time I spend with Hermana Kelly the more I love her. She is so great! We laugh all the time together but we are able to push each other to reach our goals not only personally but also in our companionship. She is almost just as crazy as i am. haha. The other day we were changing from Gym and we had a funny experience. Basically I was standing on the chair and then I said Yo Soy (I am) Samuel the Lamanite and threw a fruit snack at her. She was like You cant throw the word of God at me and then started throwing a bunch back. it was really funny. probably had to be there.

 

Time is almost up. Today we had to fill a perscription so we left MTC campus and went to a building on the southside of BYU campus. I felt like i was running away from jail! We had permission though. I was was hoping I would see you guys driving on the road! :)

 

Okay 9 seconds left. I am going to try to write you a letter to tell you about something neat but i don't have the time to email. I love you all SO much. The church is true and make sure you are being a little better everyday.

 

Cuidese,

 

Hermana K. Rife

More spottings of Sis. Rife by Bishop and Sis. Jarman

Tuesday Evening I opened up my email to find this:

The email stated,  "I had a delightful visit with Sis. Rife today.  She is a delight!"  

We were not sure who has sent this so we called the number it was sent from and heard Bishop Jarman's voice ,  He said he was eating in the cafeteria with some colleges and he heard someone come up to him.  It was Kynsie and her companion.  She told him it was great seeing a familiar face.  They had a nice little chat and he even told us that he had taken a little video of her and would show us that later.  He also told us that he and Sis. Jarman were on their way up to the MTC right then for the dinner and the devotional with Elder Evans and that they would most likely see her again!

Later that evening Sis. Jarman called and reported that they had seen Kynsie and that she and her companion are such a cute pair and doing well.  

Kynsie is part of the choir up there and had sung "Redeemer of Israel" and Sis. Jarman said it sounded absolutely beautiful.  I was so glad to hear this because Kynsie just LOVES music and being a part of it.

Thanks for your reports Bishop and Sis. Jarman.  It is so nice hearing them.  It makes it seem like she is still so close to home.  :)

3X5 cards all around Aug 8, 2012

We were thrilled to get another letter in the mail from Kynsie and the kids were even more thrilled when they saw a 3 X 5 card addressed to each one of them individually.

Dad & Mom

You get a shared one.  Sorry I am running out of time.  Thanks for being such good parents.  I am grateful I have had the church in my life!  I miss you all so much and think of you often.  I hope I hear from you soon.  I missed and email this week.  You can also write me on dearelder.com ad it gets printed out and given to me same day  - or email me before Wed. 

Love you lots

Your Hermana K. Rife

TY! 

Whats up Brother?  What happened to writing me every week?  Hope you are staying away from those gifls or when I come home... :) 

So how is reading your scriptures coming? Ready any good ones lately? My advice to you is to read them lots.  There is SO much knowledge.  Start preoaring to be a missionary now!  I miss you.  Tell me what you are up to.  Ready for school to start?  You and Tanny being nice to each other?  what about your drivers license?  You got it yet? Be good, make good choices and try to be a little better each day! 

Love you!!! :) 

You sis

Hermana K.Rife

p.s. you can write me on dearelder.com for free.

Tanny!!!

How are you little buddy?  I miss you and your funniness! I need some of that around here!  What have you done this week?  Did you do anything fun with friends?  Guess what a n elder in my district put a whole apple in his mouth cause it is that big.  He looks like a gorilla!  He kind of reminds me of you cause he is silly!  Tell me whats new!  Make sure you are being sweet to Kylee and staying calm when you get upset!

I bet you are cause you are such a sweet heart under all that muscular boyish skin!

Love you bud

- Hermana K.Rife

Kylee Babe!

How are you?  I hope you can read my whole note! Are you going to write me back?  or color me a picture? 

Have you been reading books?  What have you been doing?  Guess what!  They have lots of treats here! I bet you would like the food.  Its yummy!  Have you been playing with Tanner?  what about Kinley and Mila?  You are such a good aunt!  I love you cute girl!  Be happy!!! :)  Give mom and dad lots of hugs for me okay?  I miss you. 

<3, Hermana Kynsie Rife

p.s write me on dearelder.com

Grandma,

I know this is short but I just wanted to tell you that I went thru "Grandmas Temple" today.  It was beautiful.  I thought of you and how I wished I could have gone through it with you before I left.  We will have to when I get home! How are you?  I keep thinking about you!!  I miss your and moms good cooking!  the food in the MTC is sketchy but I have been eating it.  I have also been working out a lot!  Hermana Mills was in the Air force.  She is super tough and has been giving us work outs to do!  I hope you are doing great!  Whats your favorite scripture and a spiritual experience you have had? 

Love you los 

Hermana K.Rife

Kate, Nick, Kinley & Mila Aug 8, 2012

How are you guys?  Thanks so much for sending me an email.  It was so nice to hear from you cause our family didn't email me for some reason.  Just so you know I don't have much time on email.  Only 30 minutes. So, if you want you can send me a letter on dearelder.com and it gets printed out and given to me that same day. Just another option.  It sounds like the girls are doing great.  I miss their darling faces so much.  Keep writing me cause I love hearing from you.  We just went to the temple.  When I went into the celestial room I couldnt help but think of you and the last time I did and endowment session and our family was there.  Don't worry Kate I havent been crying.  Spanish is SO hard!!! But, I hope I can have the gift of tongues.  I am sure Nick knows how it is feeling so lost and like you are not catching on.  Yes? No? let me know haha.  Tell Tuck to practice, practice, practice! 

I love you so so so much!  Keep writing!

Talk to you soon
<3 Hermana K.Rife  

Hello from down da road!!!

A few hours after getting her letter in the mail, I checked my email and found this!  What a FUN day!!!



Aug 8, 2012
Hola Mi Familia!!!!

Oh my goodness I miss you all soo much. But I am happy to FINALLY be able to write you and tell you all hello!! There has been so much that has happened and i feel like i have been her forever but at the same time i feel like i have not been here long at all. I wrote a letter to you all on ummm thursday but i didn't send it until yesterday but it should be in the mail.

Thanks for the package! I loved the muffins and so did everyone from my district. Thanks for the little note mom and grandma! And Ky Ky!!! Your picture made my day! I didn't get an email from you all so hopefully i will get one next week....just saying. I am glad Kate wrote me or I probably would have started crying. :)  So muchas gracias mi hermana kate.

The mtc is great. There are tons of ups and downs here though. Like honestly one minute I am super happy and excited and the next minute i am way sad. I have only cried one time though since I got here. So that is good. I feel like i am learning so much and there is so much to learn. The first day we went to class and our teacher was speaking in all spanish. It was insane and so crazy. Learning spanish is super hard. I have no idea what i am saying but i can understand a lot of what my teachers are saying. On our second day we taught our first "investagtor" we hardly knew how to say anything. It was so scary. We basically asked question and talked what little we could about God's love for his children. We bore our very very simple testimonys. It was the coolest thing because the spirit was so strong as Hermana Kelly and I testified. It was really amazing. It is frustrating and hard to want to say things and explain things but not know how. On Saturday we taught our second "investagator" it was hard again but then on monday we taught Santiago (our second "investagator") again. Sister Kelly felt like it went well and i felt like it went horrible. When we were talking after she was realizing that it was really bad. haha. Then we both were really depressed. We talked a ton to our teacher Hermano Harker and he was encouraging us to not let the Spanish Monster get to us. On Tuesday we taught santiago again and it was really really good because we taught him instead of a lesson and we were careful to listen to what he was saying instead of just reading and practicing to ourselves what we were going to say next. The spirit was definately more there. At the end...we were teaching about the restoration and the book of mormon.... we were getting ready to pray. We had committed him to coming to church and praying to read if the book of mormon was true. Hermana K asked if it was ok if we ended in prayer. I was supposed to pray and I just felt like he should ask him instead. So i asked him if he would pray. He wouldn't but it was still good because I felt like we were listening to the Spirit and we can't be scared of asking. What is the worse that will happen right. He said he would think about it for our lesson on thursday.

So Hermana Kelly. I love her. At first i was really scared and was like ....ummm we will see how this goes. I was worried. As we have talked and worked together I have developed a great friendship and love for her. She is such a sweet girl! She is super funny and outgoing. We laugh a lot. I think she thinks I am insane at times when i walk around in my shower cap and eat a lollipop in the shower and also when i randomly scream or slide down the stair railing. She just says...."you aren't my companion" haha. but oh well. We have a good time! We get a long really well and we are more a like than i thought we were. I have been blessed to have a good companion.

My district is sooo great! We have 4 sisters. Me Hermana Kelly, Rowe and Mills. We have Elder Baldwin, Mann, Brown, Smith, and Seastrand! They are so fun and I love them all already! I wish I could tell you more about them. I will try to write it in a letter later. I saw DR. Slingerland. He is in a branch presidency here. It was great to see him!

We lived with a three some companionship but they left on tuesday to go to Flordia. Hermana Clayton was the best! She is such a sweetheart!! She was always saying Hermanas how was your day?? We had some good talks with her when we were living together. We just got two more sisters today but we haven't really met them. Just said hi.

My favorite things at the MTC are.....Sunday Sundaes! SOOOOo good. BYU icecream. and toppings. Don't worry Tanny, I won't get fat! ;) Grape Juice and BYU creamery Chocolate Milk. GYM TIME! We get it every day and it is the best to let out all of your energy. Hermana K and I like to work out so it is fun and we work hard!

My favorite things about the MTC (spiritiually) Sundays and Tuesdays because we get a devotional. They are so uplifting. On sunday we sang Army of Heleman and it was so good. They changed the words to we are NOW the Lords missionaries to bring the world his truth and it was incredible. I saw Mr. Mendenhall on tuesday but didn't get to talk to him. I also am already playing the piano in our zone church meetings. They have put me to work! It is nice to be able to play. The Spirit is great here

If there is one thing I have learned and has been testified to me here in my first week is that. Without the Lord I am nothing but I can do anything with him. I need to rely on him and humble myself all the time so that I can be blessed with the many gifts he has promised his missionaries.

I know this church is true and I love this gospel so much. Please pray for me that I can learn and remember Spanish. :) El don de langues ( the gift of tongues)

I can sorta pray and bear my testimony in Spanish so that is good. I am so excited to be here. I hope you all are doing well. I miss you all so much! Keep improving everyday even if it is just a little bit. I have to remember that even if i learn just one phrase that I am doing good in spanish and that i made improvement. Love each other and be the best to each other!!

I love you

Hermana K. Rife

Our First Letter

Wednesday finally arrived and we went out to the mailbox thrilled to find this... ( our mail lady is the BEST!)

Our first letter home!  Dated August 1st.

Dear Dad, Mom, Nick, Kate, Ken, Ty, Tanny, Ky, Kinley, & Mila Baby & Grandma,

Hey Guess what!!!  I survived today at the MTC without crying for the rest of the day!  I ate a tootsie pop in the shower tonight & my pb &J and I am all set! 

I found some of your little notes Mum!  Thanks!  Dad, Thanks for your letter.  I have not read it yet cause it will probably make me cry. :) 

My companion is Hermana Kelly.  She is about 5'9, has brown hair and Freckles.  she is from Washington.

She is pretty cool.  Talks a lot but thats okay.  She is nice.  Besides she liked my nail color and even tried to eat a lollipop in the shower tonight.  She loved it and thinks I am weird for wearing a shower cap and a robe. 

In the MTC they have grape juice.  It is like WAY good!  I had 2 glasses!  Not as good as grandmas but still super good.  There are 3 other girls in our room.  They are Hermanas as well and going to Florida on Tuesday.  I cant remember their names but one knows Stein, and Halee -She is from Orem.

My zone has only 4 hermanas including me.  Hermana Kelly, Rowe and Mills.  They seem great.  Our teachers are nice. I like our Zone leaders too!  Sister Gerke (Rob's Mom) is in our branch presidency. 

Our teachers were speaking Spanish... I could pull out words but not much.  It was and hour of trying to figure out their actions and picking out phrases. 

Aug 2, 2012

Honest T: didn't sleep at all last night.  I felt sorta lonely but I am okay.  I really might have you send me my zebra blanket so I can feel like I have a piece of me here! :) 

Today was pretty intense but its okay.  We spent a lot of the day in class attempting to speak espanol.

It is HARD!!! Oh my goodness! Hermana Kelly is way good at it!  We are supposed to pray and teach this "investigator" Santiago tomorrow. in Spanish!  Hope its okay.

Today I saw Bishop Jarman.  We took some pictures so he will have to show ya!  It was good to see a familiar face!  Then I saw Matt Jones and Allen Black! 

Well, this is a cool experience!  I fell stressed and it is intense but the spirit is strong.  There are lots of ups and downs but I am doing great!

We also met my Branch president! He is SOOO great.  We interviewed with him and it was so neat.  The spirit was WAY strong as he was testifying of us being here. 

Okay, well time is flying but I love you all and miss you SO  much!!! :)  Be happy, take good care of each other and look for chances to serve.

Write me all the updates! 

<3 <3, all my Love:

Hermana K.Rife

P.S.  My p-day is wednesday so I'll write then :) 

Written on the back of the envelope it said:

P.s.s.s:  I forgot my pants! :) haha
Porfavor (send) mis pantelones Rapido!

 (looks like her Spanish is coming a lot well ;) )

A Familiar Face!

Thursday evening I was out watering our plants and I turned and saw Bishop Mark Jarman walking towards me.

I said to him,  "Did you see someone WE know at the MTC today?"  I was very excited to hear his response!  He smiled and replied, "I sure did."  Steve was outside as well and so Bishop Jarman began telling us about seeing Kynsie. :)

He heard someone yell "Bishop Jarman!" He turned to see a young woman running down the hall towards him. 

When she got to him she gave him a BIG hug, and stepped back suddenly and said "oops, maybe I shouldn't have done that"

He told her that she was fine!!! :) 

Her companion finally caught up to them and said "hey, I thought we were supposed to stay together 24 /7!  "

He asked what news he could report home for her and she said, "Tell them I am doing just great!"

Bishop Jarman then followed up by telling us that her companion seems to be as sweet as Kynsie is.

We were thrilled to hear back from her even if it was second hand. We are thankful to have such close ties to the MTC during this time in our lives. 

 Kynsie with Bishop Jarman

Kynsie and her companion Hermana Kelly

The Morning Of...

The morning Kynsie went into the MTC, we went to breakfast at Ihop as a family.  Kynsie enjoyed one of her favorites, Chocolate Chip Pancakes! 

The story of our lives...We got the camera out to take pictures at the MTC and as I turned the camera on....NO CF appeared!  Great...Thank Goodness Dad had his phone.  They are not the greatest but at least we got some pictures!   :)

Departure day Eve!!! :)

Kynsie was set apart as a missionary on Tuesday July 31st at 6:00 PM.  We then all drove up to BYU to take a few fun family pictures.  (Thanks Bro. Hunter for being our great photographer on such short notice.)  After, we walked over to Brick Oven and enjoyed some Pizza.  Fun evening all together!!!

Kynsie's Farewell

Kynsie spoke in church on July 29, 2012

Lots of family and friends came over to the house after to tell her Good-bye and give her lots of love and support.  And...they also enjoyed Hawaiian Haystacks!!!

pictures coming soon :) 

The Mission Call

Well April 18, 2012 the most dreaded day came.

There is no turning back....Kynsie REALLY is going to leave us for a whole YEAR & A HALF!  

alright, alright ....it isn't dreaded...but she will be missed by all while she is gone.

Kynsie came home from work during her lunch hour and found something exciting in our mailbox but planned on opening her call later that evening after she completed her last final for the semester at BYU.  

Later that evening...

Kynsie was called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

She has been called to serve in.....

Houston TEXAS, Spanish Speaking

and will report to the Provo MTC August 1, 2012 

Her cousin Jess was in Idaho watching her open her call over Skype.  It is fun to see all the support from friends and family.  So happy for you Kynsie.  You will be a wonderful servant for our Heavenly Father.