Happy Birthday Kendra

Hey Everyone!

Thank you so much for your birthday wishes. It made things so much easier to know how much love and prayers I have. I love you all so much!

Things have gotten alot easier emotionally. I am feeling more and more connections in this area. Which helps me know that I am meant to be here. I love the people already. My prayers are constantly being answered. Alma 37:37

The Richards (Bishop) made me a wonderful Birthday Meal. Decorated the table and made an adorable cake. (pigs in mud) They also had a bouquet of flowers. So nice. Their house is Gorgeous! It's huge and has a beautiful view of mountains and Denver.

This week I finally had the courage to send Sister Hatch on exchanges so I managed the area by myself. Scary but I got a lot accomplished. 

I'm so tired! But Alot of work is being done. We had stake conference. The last time President Maynes will speak in our stake. I will miss him. It was all about missionary work and Temples. Go to the temple!

I love the Ensign. Read the whole thing because it is so amazing!

Sorry this letter is so short! Oh funny story. We had a sundae party for wyatt because he went to church every sunday this month. We were popping almond joy peices in our mouth and it went straight down my shirt. It was embarrassing. 

I included pictures. Pictures of the bouquet of flowers. picture of me in front of the house I live in...(very blue) and a family we are teaching. Petersons. We are helping their son Wyatt come to church. 

I love you all so much!!!!

-Sister Gampe

New Address

Hey Everyone!

 

It's official! I am in the Green Mountain 1st Ward! Sister Hatch is my companion! She is amazing and makes me feel intimidated because I think she has the whole Book of Mormon memorized. She only has 1 more transfer after this so at least I have an excuse. She is really sweet and works really hard!

 

AH it's so scary. I've learned so much in the past week! I finally got to unpack my things before I came to e-mail. It was tough because I had to go on exchanges to Clement Park and I hadnt had anytime to unpack because we keep getting home at 9:30 and planning has taken along time. which is okay because they have been awesome plans. We weren't able to teach at all on Tuesday and we still got 25 lessons this week. I am exhausted. I am going on exchanges alot and I am going to try to hold down the fort in my own area next week on Thursday. I'm nervous because i don't know many people or the area. I'll get lost and AHHHHH Can you tell i'm nervous. I just am nervous because I don't want to waste the Lord's time. This leadership position has already been a help for the rest of the Sisters. I've already helped a Sister know how to deal with disobedience. Poor thing. She needs to speak up though! In the MTC I was so scared to correct disobedience as a coordinating sister, and that scared me for the rest of my mission, but I'm not afraid anymore. The Lord is more important. I'm not perfect. There are things to work on, but it makes me sad when I see disobedience with the schedule and stuff. grrr. I keep reading leadership scriptures in the Book of Mormon so I can lead with love. I the Lord helped me give good advice with the disobedience I saw.

 

I still cried even at night when I got to Green Mountain. A couple nights haha. But I did it quietly so I didn't wake up my companion ;) I don't know why! I've never been such a cry baby in my entire life. I just love the people in Meeker. I miss the feeling of knowing where I am and who I am talking to. But that will come. :)

 

Okay so saying goodbye to everyone was the worst! The President's assistants asked me to drive the 3 other girls that were with me over the mountains. I accidentally left my scriptures in my zone leaders truck in Rifle...yep that is 4 hours away from me...I miss my scriptures so much. I'll get them back not this week but next. i was tempted to just have them mail them, but I need to be frugal. Plus Sister Hatch knows every scripture so I can just describe it and she knows it. Sister Hatch is like my human Internet when it comes to the scriptures.

 

I have met so many people in the last week. Some of the funnier high lights were Andy. He is 57 with a long straggly beard. He wanted to feed us so we ordered pizza. He lives with his parents because he is schizophrenia. The hardest part of the visit was watching him eat the pizza. The sauce was all caught in his beard and it was all going in his mouth. He instantly wanted to give us "holy kisses" when we greeted him. eeeek! hahaah

 

I met this German lady, Liz. She knew the german recipes we make in our families and gave me the correct spelling from her german cook book. Maultaschen (mouth pockets is kinda the translation.) and Knödel. haha

 

1447 South Welch Court

Lakewood, CO 80228

 

That is my address! Post it everywhere please. But you can always rely on the mission office address ;)

 

Well I think that is all for the day. I'm exhausted and can barely think. I love you so much!

 

~Sister Gampe

 

Transfer

Hey Everyone!!!!

Well I found out while I was at the Zellers home on Friday for his birthday that I am being transferred. Sister Betts is training. I was also called to be the new Sister Trainer Leader. There are only two in the whole mission and I am one of them. This is new for our mission. I think I'll be going to Green Mountain, CO. I think Sister Hatch (who used to serve in Meeker) will be my companion. Gary told me that she was called, so we are putting it together. I am excited to serve with her. I have heard SOOO many wonderful things about her. She is a hard worker and has so much love. Gary told me last night that the two of us could change the devil. haha When I got the news I instantly started crying. The whole home was crying. I cried myself to sleep. I'm excited for the new calling, but I am terribly sad that I will be leaving Meeker. I love the people so much. I love the area. Meeker is gorgeous!

Sunday was tough. I was asked to bear my testimony. Afterwards I sang "Live Like You Believe" Jenny Phillips. Listen to it. It's a gorgeous song. I prayed so hard that I could get through it without crying. I did. I also prayed I would invite the spirit. I know that musical angels helped me. It went really well and touched hearts.

I felt dehydrated at church because I was crying so much. Rayola Rust hugged me right after sacrament meeting and told me my mom would be so proud of me and that she loved me so much. I love her with all my heart. I lost it with tears even more when I hugged her. She's such an inspiration to me. She is an inspiration to everyone who meets her. I got a lot of pictures with families and a lot of people were able to sign in my "bye-bye book". That was nice so I have a lot of addresses and ways to contact them all.

I feel like I haven't slept in a while. I'm so exhausted! I just lay there and my mind is rolling.

It's amazing how much I've learned here. I've been in Meeker for 6 months. I've loved every moment of it. I have learned so much as I read the scriptures. I've learned the importance of being an example. I want to slap my leg every time I think of someone back at home that I wasn't a good example for. I owe people apologies and wish I had addresses so I could do so. I will when I have the opportunity.

I feel so close to the Lord. More than ever before. I love serving. I love helping people. I feel like I'm finally learning that I am getting more and more lost in the work. I don't think about myself as much. I do my best to only be motivated through love. not fear, or greed.

One scripture that really touched me was Alma 37:6-7. A simple thing you can do for yourself, family, or others can bring great things to past.

I love you all so much! I miss you and I hope you are all safe and well. You are always in my prayers!

-Sister Gampe

The pictures are of me at South Fork. Me with adorable kids (Aaron and Josh Murray) (kids are my weakness. I need to repent) Sister Rust and I (she is undergoing a lot of health problems. My spirit seems to be drawn to her because I always feel like we need to see her when she wants to call us.)

Mothers Day

 

Hey Everyone!

 

Boy was it exciting to be able to Skype with my parents and talk a little with my siblings. It's amazing how much you really miss your family when you can't hear their voice. I get so busy that I don't realize it until I think about it. After the call I walked down stairs and teared up, that's why we don't talk more than 2 times a year! Mother's Day is harder than Christmas because we have to get right back to work after we hang up! But I love the work so that's okay.

 

This week was a service week! We painted, pulled weeds, helped move members, and went branding!! The branding was an exciting new thing to see. I've never been around that before! At first it was really sad to watch. I was so interested and the one man noticed so he called me over and had me hand them the individual brands. Then I started branding myself!! Who would have thought I would be branding on my mission! The brand was, F, bar, lazy H. It was really neat. We branded 73 calves. We were using the table to brand them. That makes it a lot easier. We went with the Hobbs family. Donald, the father is an investigator and we were helping Donald's nonmember friends. It was a good experience. You will probably get a hit out of the pictures.

 

We went to Trappers Lake. You have to google image it. It was beautiful! I heard so many wonderful things and so I begged our district and another district to go. We went today actually. They were in shock with how long it took to get there, and we had to hike in thigh deep snow. It was pretty hilarious in my opinion. They were all freaking out. Well the idiots showed up in shorts! I knew there would be snow up in the mountains! hahaha

 

We had a wonderful lesson with Scott Styles. He came to church for the first time. He is really interested and is doing everything he can to know if it is true.

 

It's amazing to have the opportunity to teach Kenneth Hinckley. He is literally Gordon B. Hinckley's great nephew. He has so many wonderful insights. Right now he is getting reactivated and is really opening up. He is getting more and more comfortable with us. He's really fun to see.

 

The picture with the family with the dog is the Simisters. We loved seeing them. We are very sad that they moved out of the ward.

 

Well I love you all so much! Keep sending the letters. I look forward to them! Sister Betts gets packages and letters every week. Literally she usually gets 3 letters everyday!!!! Grrr! haha So every letter I get is greatly appreciated!

 

-Sister Gampe

Gary Got Baptized!

Hey Everyone!

The highlight of my mission so far has come! Gary Zellers got baptized! I love that man soo much! I invited him last Friday. I was shaking and terribly nervous. He has been invited before, but didn't feel ready with his questions. I invited him and he said that he would consider it. So I prayed sooooo hard the next couple days. On Monday night he told us that it was time. We instantly knew what he was talking about and gave him a tight hug with tears. It all seemed like a dream!

Sister Kristy Partridge (my trainer) had planned for a month now of coming to Meeker with her family on May 3rd-7th. So she was able to be their for Gary's Baptism.

The Baptism went so well. Sister Partridge and I sang, "I Know That My Redeemer Lives". It went really well. I was so scared I was going to cry and not be able to get anything out. It was perfect. We has a powerful testimony meeting as well. It was so wonderful! Gary said that he has never felt so much love in his entire life. I don't think he can imagine how much I love him or how much our Savior and Heavenly Father love him.

After the baptism we went to Circle Park to have a picnic to celebrate Sister Partridge coming back. There were so many people there. It was wonderful. It was nice to be able to invited investigators to it as well. Laura went with her little boy, Dillon. I think she has a wonderful time. She's developing friends in the ward. We also had our newest investigator, Scott Styles come. We haven't been able to teach him yet because we met him on Wed, but we have an appointment. He has a neat story.

We were helping at the Chamber of Commerce for 2 hours on Wed. Scott came in with a question that had nothing to do with the Chamber of Commerce. He then saw our name tags and asked all excited if we were the missionaries. We said yes. and I told us how he used to take lessons with the elders in a different city. He had to move and love contact. We instantly got his information and asked if we could visit him. Right now he doesn't have a home in Meeker and is just living in his jeep, so we set up a time to visit with him in a members home. He was so sweet. The cool thing was he went to Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday but decided not to go in and ask the question. He went back the next day. That was the only day we were there and we were only there for 2 hours. The Lord guides our lives more than we realize it.

Gary was confirmed at church on Sunday. It was such a beautiful blessing. I wrote down the main points so I can type it out for him.

This week has been very busy! Me and Sister Betts were extremely exhausted and worn out after the picnic on Sat. We were able to teach 22 lessons this week and we have a few potential new investigators.

I love this area so much! I love you all so much! Thank you for all the love and support you give me. Prayers are truly answered! Alma 37:37

-Sister Gampe

Working Harder

 

Hey Everyone!

 

So we have been really busy this week! Alright so we had exchanges. I got to be with Sister Encarnacion. I love that girl so much. But the sad thing is, we were in Rifle so all the lessons were in Spanish. :/ But I did learn a lot. I need to open my mouth more. I really do. There are times that we have extra time that we can knock on a door. Sister Encarnacion has a hard time with people falling in love with her because she is just so beautiful. She has a stalker in Rifle. His name is Juan. He met the Sisters by seeing them in the window of their apartment. He asked if he could look at the picture of Christ that is on their window. Of course he wanted to take the missionary lessons. He went to church and a baptism and everything. Then he confessed his love for Sister Encarnacion and she passed him on to the Elders and he was extremely rude to them. He kept showing up at the Sister's apartment. So they had to switch apartments with the Elders. The switch took place AFTER I stayed the night during exchanges. I didn't sleep well. I was too worried Juan was gonna break in! We were safe though.

 

So we really stepped it up this week. We had soooo many blessings from doing so. We had 23 lessons this week. The district leaders texted us telling us not to look everyone look bad hahaha.

 

Well We have been doing so much. Whenever we have even 10 extra minutes we pull over and walk around tracting. We found 3 people who invited us to come back. I know that all the hard work we put forth will bring blessings to the people here in Meeker.

 

With all the hard work comes stress though. Poor Sister Betts lost it. I know Satan works really hard on missionaries. And if missionaries are obedient he works harder. The only thing he can really get us is attacking our view on our own self worth. I know he has been attacking me, but he has been attacking Sister Betts even harder. She snapped on me after church. Tears came running down her face. She feels like she isn't wanted in Meeker and that she should just be transferred. I told her she needs to allow the members to get to know her. She has to open up. She has a hard time talking sometimes and I don't make it any easier for her because I can talk up a storm. We pulled up to our next appointment, but I told her we should go for a walk. We walked for 10 minutes talking and venting and getting it all out. It really helped a lot because by the end we were able to joke around. That day we had 6 lessons. I'm proud of her for letting things out. I know the mission can get hard because I sometimes hit a brick wall. She is doing a lot better today.

 

We had zone meeting this week which really made me want to push harder as well. I am exhausted all the time, but you have to just keep going and know that no matter what you do, you will be exhausted.

 

There are so many inspirational people here in Meeker. I love sharing D&C 121:7-9 to the people who are going through a rough time. The Carrolls are dealing with their daughter Toni with cancer. They realized that there isn't anything they can do anymore for her. They accept it and count all their blessings. It's amazing.

 

I love you all so much! I love receiving letters. Always know those are greatly appreciated.

 

-Sister Gampe

Pay Back

Hey Everyone!

 

Well it's been a busy week. We had many wonderful lessons and a lot of service.

 

So on Tuesday we get a call from the Elders saying that Elder Rivera (one of the elders in the car accident) had to get surgery on his knee. (before I go further just know that it was a total lie!) Well they asked us if we could bring them food because they were going to be there all day. (Elder Jenkins, Lee, Rivera, Pesantes) So we give them our last food and Elder Rivera is sitting there with a walker in tears because he feels like they are going to send him home after the surgery. So we are all trying to cheer him up. This is going on for like 15 minutes! So then he says he wants fresh air so we walk outside and I decide to cheer him up, I'd tell them my embarrassing poop story....not the brightest moment of mine. So I tell them and they are all dying laughing and then we see Gary and I run inside to talk to him and I turn around and I just see the walker fly up in the air and they are all taking off running! So they got food and my poop story. Gary was dying laughing. Well they are getting a pay back. We decided to make them brownies with exlax in them. We made them with the Zellers last night and we went to Craig earlier today because of Sister Bett's dentist appointment.  We developed a plan that they would come with us to take Hunter (Gary's son who lives in Craig) brownies, but Hunter knows not to eat them and is handing them out to the Elders. :) hehe.

 

Well the crazy things that are going on with the explosions have been really hard to deal with. It scares me. We keep hearing about all this stuff from members. Sometimes I wish I didn't know as much. I dreamed about the Boston bombing that morning and told Sister Betts as soon as I woke up. Then we heard about it later that pday. I was so mentally exhausted and upset and confused, I took a long nap.

 

I got to meet with President on Thursday. That was wonderful. I learned more things about me. As soon as he asked about my family, I started crying. I haven't done that before. It caught me off guard. But I guess I am just worried about everyone's health and all. He gave me this wonderful scripture, D&C 31:5. That scripture promises me that as long as I work hard, my family shall live. So I am working as hard as I can.

 

We had a wonderful lesson with Gary last night. We watched Holland's talk from General Conference. I love how it talks about how it's okay to just believe. Believing is a precious word. Also I loved how he talked about how it's okay to have questions. It's a good thing, but we shouldn't let those questions stop us and our families from receiving precious blessings. After the talk I bore my testimony and really opened up to Gary. I told him how he needs to experience the gospel and not just learn it. Gary is wonderful and has so much faith. More than he recognizes. 1 Nephi 22:20 states how important it is to listen to the prophet. We are so blessed to be able to hear from the prophet and the apostles. They guide us.

 

We were working workshops with the Meeker Chamber of Commerce. We were in charge of the registration. This main speaker was talking to us and it was after one of his speeches. He talked a lot about our purpose and "why are we walking across the road". His name is Jim Whitt. He was really funny and neat. I asked him how he figured out his purpose in life which was "To help other meet their potential". He told me and I asked a few more questions. Then I said, "Well we have something in common." He asked what that was and I said, "We both are helping others understand their purpose." He smiled and said, "You know one time this man asked me if I was Mormon. I said, No why?. the man said "I don't know, you just are so happy. There is just something about you." Jim Whitt then said, "We both know our purpose". I smiled and gave him a Mormon.org card. It was a neat experience.

 

At church we realized we didn't have a relief society teacher. I volunteered to teach it even though I haven't even read the lesson. It went extremely well and everyone was impressed. I was impressed with myself. I was guided by the spirit.

 

Well I love you all so much! You are all always in my prayers. Keep reading and praying to know so you can fan the flame you have.

 

-Sister Gampe