They Call Me Temptress

Ma Famille Belle,


So its almost been a month! Can you believe it. In exactly five weeks I will be in Switzerland! It could not come any faster. I really do not enjoy the MTC. So yes, its true. I went to San Fran! You werent supposed to find out from Elder B's mom. I wanted you all to be really confused as to why I had pictures in SF. Anyway. The people in the temple picture are my district members. Sister B is The really tall sister with long dark brown hair, my companion is the one with brown hair that is next to me in the temple pic and in front of the golden gate bridge. Then Sister K is the sister with short hair. Elder S has his coat collar popped. Elder E is the red head with glasses, Elder C is the blond elder and Elder U is the only elder left.

So this past week was pretty significant in the fact that Elder Christofferson came for Tuesday night Devotional and then Elder Nelson was here on Thanksgiving. They both gave really good talks. I dont have a lot of time to write today so I am not going to go into detail on what they talked about but just know that it was great.

Thanksgiving day wasnt too bad. We had morning study and breakfast. Then the devotional with Elder Nelson, then we had a humanitarian project and we made 8000+ injury kits. And we had thanksgiving lunch, awful food, pretty much the same thing we have everyday. And then we had sack dinner which we ate in our residence halls. We got to take naps and then at night we got to watch 17 Miracles. It was nice because it felt like another P-day and I LIVE for P-day.

On wednesday I was feeling very discouraged and was ready to give up. Also during that day I had been trying to find my friend Mack Cope who works here at the MTC. Towards the end of the day I was in the computer lab studying French and I looked over to the door way and Mack was standing there. I have never had such an obvious and great tender mercy. I started crying immediately because I finally saw someone that knows me and that I felt comfortable talking to about my problems. He was God sent that day. I was very appreciative.

On sunday I took over the world. Not really but I felt like it. On saturday night I was writing my talk and the Zone leaders asked my district if someone would say the closing prayer for sacrament meeting. I asked them the likely hood of me having to speak in church if I said i would pray. They said probably not. So i volunteered. The next day in sacrament they asked two elders to speak which never happens. I found out later in the day that they were going to ask me to speak but when they saw that I was saying the closing prayer they had to ask someone else to speak. It was pretty much the highlight of my week. Pathetic I know.

Anyway I am over time, as always and no one asked any questions this week so I dont have much to say.

Mom dont use all my perfume!!! And please dont ruin my purse. I love you though.

I loved receiving letters this week from the South Seminary, Elder Edwards and The Jessop family. They were all wonderful.

Please continue to pray for me. I need it.

I love you all, until next week.

Soeur Kimberly Addis

Sister Addis in San Francisco???

I got a letter with four pictures in it yesterday. They aren't able to send photos as email attachments in the MTC so Kimberly printed them out and sent them instead.

Sister Addis & her district at the Provo Temple
Ghirardelli Square

Lombard Street

Sister Addis & her companion at the Golden Gate Bridge

There was absolutely no explanation as to why she was in San Francisco...but Mom thinks it was for visa interviews or something. At least that's what she heard through the Missionary Mom's Grapevine! ;) I guess we'll find out in her letter today!

Another Week Down

Bon Soir Ma Famille,

My week. It has been decent. I got tons of letters, and three packages so that was pretty incredible but I was struggling a lot with the language and getting frustrated with my progress. The Lord really does know your limits however because just yesterday, the day when I really had had enough, I understood pretty much everything that I heard in French and I was able to construct sentances that came from my brain and not from my grammar books. I was very happy. And yesterday was the day I got the wonderful package from mom. I LOVED the pictures that you sent! Seriously they have probably been one of the highlights from my time here. I got them lamenated like five minutes ago and they look like real pictures and not just paper. When I needed it most my family pulled through, I love you all more than you even know, and definitely more than I can express.

So this week was pretty much ordinary except for the fact that half my zone left yesterday to go out into the field, (Paris, Lyon and Montreal). And Hermana Wadsworth left yesterday so it was a very sad day to say the least. There are a few Elders that I have gotten pretty close to that left for Paris yesterday, so its been tough. BUT I know that they are serving the Lord and that they have prepared well to serve and were ready to harvest! Hopefully they remember to thrust in their sickles.

Something else that happened yesterday, it seems like everything happened then, was that I crushed my finger in between the door frame and a chair. It is swollen and bruised pretty well but I can bend it and it hurts less and less everytime I am using it.

To answer Mom's question, no General Authorities have been here yet, our devotionals have been from people that are serving here at the MTC or from some other people in the church. On thursday however, it is very likely that someone awesome will be speaking, maybe even multiple awesome speakers. Apparently we get fed our normal breakfast, and then have a devotional, get a thanksgiving lunch, devotional, and then a sack dinner (lame) and devotional. I am not really sure that this is true but I will definitely let you all know how my thanksgiving is when I write next week! I want to hear about everyone else's. I give you permission to pull a grandma Bobbie and tell me everything that you prepared, how it was prepared and everything that you ate. I have to live vicariously through you so make it good! And no mom, I dont see senior couples very often. And if I did, I probably would have no idea who to be looking for anway.

Now to Caroline's questions. My companion. We are actually now in a tripanionship. A solo sister that is going to Madagascar speaking french is now with us when she is not with her district, two elders. Her name is Sister N. I get along well with my companions but it is really hard now that there are three of us. Everyone always wants to do something different and its VERY hard to plan accordingly. My companion Sister K knows Marilyn from Wisconsin. They were in the same singles ward there I guess, that is where Sister K is from. Its not too hard to be with someone 24/7, well it wasn't but now that its three it is a lot harder. The food is decent. There is always a lot of fried food and stuff you can tell was frozen. The produce is AWFUL! The only safe thing is bananas and sometimes grapes. I would LOVE to get a box of oranges, like the ones Uncle Scott used to send us during Christmas time. That would be awesome because the oranges here are always SOFT and the apples are not good. Just so you know how much the food sucks, my classroom is right next to the boys bathroom and it always wreaks, and there are many constipated people here haha.

Speaking of sisters in my zone, Sister L is now doing a lot better. She was very very ill and going to the ER mulitple times a week. They had no idea what was wrong with her but decided to flush her out and see if that would help. On saturday she got a colonoscopy and has been feeling a lot better since then. I actually went on exchanges on Saturday so that her companion would be able to go to class since she has missed SO much. It was really nice to not have to be in the classroom and to be able to get to know Sister L. She is great. We get along really well. She is very fun loving and outgoing. She will be serving in Montreal.

Elder B is from Huntersville and is in the Huntersville ward. We laugh all the time about how our Mom's talk on missionary moms. I think he is slightly embarassed. He was starting to get a little sick, as some people are here in the MTC, but I am pretty sure he is feeling much better.

Hopefully I didn't leave out any other questions. I was seeing Kelsie (Sister Wadsworth) at least once a day but now she is gone. Oh I just remembered something else that was awesome this past week. On Sunday my old roommate and one of my AMAZING friends, Marianne got to see me here at the MTC. Her parents are in a branch presidency and she is allowed to be here for sunday lunch when they are here. I LOVED seeing her. It seriously made my day and all the Elders love it too. So many were asking all about her haha. Too cute. I am so grateful for such wonderful friends. I have been blessed with so many!!


Shout outs:

Michael, I love you so much. I really do miss you...a lot. I have tears in my eyes, and this is the first time that has happened when writing a letter. Thank you so much for being such a great example to me and for always putting me in check, especially with the Lord. Your testimony is such an inspiration to me and I don't know where I would be without my buddy. Also THANK YOU so much for my coat and shoes! Its amazing how tolerable it is to walk outside when you are wearing a coat. I forgot what it felt like to be warm while outside. If you could send me my sneakers that would be awesome, and I need a huge favor. I just ran out of my bronzer so I need you to send me some. It is covergirl True Blend 435 Golden Sunrise. Please send that off tomorrow since there wont be mail on thursday. BYU post office does free same day delivery if you didnt know. I will have to write you a personal letter to tell you more about my life. I like keeping secrets from the fam-bam. --in reality I am out of time.

Allie- I screamed while reading your dear elder and then I read further and I almost cried. Thanks alot. Keep trucking. I love you guys so much and miss my Addie-Jane to the max. I loved hearing about how she smiles and says Kitters? Mission? Give her a huge hug and kiss for me. I love that little stinker!

Caroline please cuddle the babies for me too. I miss them lots as well and the picture I have of them in the wagon is definitely cherished.

To all My friends reading this I love you so much. Seriously thank you for ALL of your support and the prayers. They help me through every day. I know i probably say that every e-mail but I really am so blessed.

Here is a last little quote to leave you with. It came from Relief Society with Sister Esplin--General Primary Presidency- It was actually what president Monson said to her when she and her husband were accepting their mission call but I found it very applicable to my life. He said, "If you take care of the Lords, He will take care of yours." I know that to be true. I know that the work that I am doing is blessing those I love. That is something that keeps me very motivated. I am helping my family more by being in the field than I would be able to if I were living at home.

I love you all, may the Lord bless you,


Love,

Soeur Addis

Je sais que Dieu vie

Hello Again,

Have you missed me? Cause I am pretty sure that Mom, Susan Starr and Tayler Schohr were the only ones that missed me this week. Just to put things into perspective, yesterday there were 15 letters/ dearelders for my district and I did not receive a single one. Hm, interesting. Ca va.

Its a good thing I love my life here at the MTC or else I would probably cry everytime I didn't get a letter. Haha. Sorry for the sarcasm. I really am having a wonderful time here at the MTC. Week two is SOOOOO much better than week one. I have continued to learn a lot more and have become comfortable with the fact that this is my life for the next 17 and 1/2 months.

I don't really know what you all want to hear about so I am just going to write the things I scribbled this week that I thought someone would like to hear about.

First thing is something I forgot to tell you all about last week. Caroline asked me how it felt to wear my plaque. I LOVE IT! It is my most cherished accessorie. It really has become apart of me. When the volunteer first put it on me I felt the love of our Heavenly Father wash over me as my name and Jesus-Christ (sorry thats the french minus the accent) name were written on the same tag and attached to the top of my left collar. One day after gym we had lunch and I forgot my tag because I had changed my clothes. I FELT SO LOST and naked. I then realized even more so of how important my plaque is and why missionaries cry when they come to the end of their mission and have to take it off. It really is part of who I am. And no Mom, I no longer think that it is what makes the Sister's outfits look ugly. #totallyregretsayingthat.

Something else I forgot to tell you all last week is that Mom called me her dear (feminen) son, Ma Chere Fils, but corrected her self this week when she said Fille.

We found out our travel plans already. We are leaving January 2 from SLC to Dallas Ft. Worth and then after a five hour layover we fly overnight to London and then from London to Geneva. We will get to Geneva on January 3. So yes we do fly to the mission home. You are aloud to be in a country for three months without a visa, so there could be some missionaries that serve there for a transfer or two that do not have Swiss visas. My teacher told me however that I will probably serve in Switzerland for a year.

Here is a stat that I know Mom will love that we learned in our fireside from Sunday night. The church projects how many missionaries they will have at certain times of the year. They thought that there would be 52,000 in January 2012. The actual number of missionaires that there will be in January 2012 is 56,000. There is an increase in all categories, Elders, Sisters and Couples. The Lord is definitely calling more people to serve. It is awesome to be one of his Missionaries. Another thing that I know Mom would love to hear, sorry I am aiming a lot of this at her, what can I say, she is the only one that writes me :). Elder B is in my Zone, the one from Charlotte. You talked to his mom on Missionary Mom's. She is actually his step-mom and he is going to the Paris mission. He is very good looking. The end.

The other day in class we watched a video clip of The District, real life missionary stories. It was about one of their ami de L'eglise (friend of the Church, or investiagtor) Jackie. She was getting baptised and was talking about her baptism. The clip was of her actual baptism and confirmation and I couldn't help but cry. It was incredible. She had the biggest smile on her face the whole time. I was so happy for her and she is not even my investiagtor! I can't wait to have experiences like that.

This week I also had a stark realization. Our teacher Soeur C wanted to make sure that we were relying on the spirit to teach. After hearing her say that and taking about it with the class, I decided that if I was teaching in English I wouldn't be relying on the spirit as much because I feel like I know the gospel well enough. But with having to teach in French I am constantly humble and turning to the Lord for help. I CANNOT do this without Him. During Relief Society, all the Sister Missionarys in the MTC have it together, we had Sister Linda Burton from the general RS board speak to us. She told us five things to remember when we are feeling discouraged in the field and I wanted to share one with all of you that really stuck out to me.

She said that our mission call's are a gift from God, that have been carefully and specially picked out for us individually. I know this to be true. I know that My mission call to France is definitely a gift from God. He knew I wanted to learn French, and wanted to live in Europe. He knew I did not want to serve a mission and wanted to get married. So to keep me satisfied for the time being, he gave me this gift of living in Europe for 18 months and learning the French language because he could not yet bless me with marriage. I love my Savior, He knows me so well.

Well I am out of time. But write me if you didn't like this and you have questions that I didn't answer.

Friends, please send me a letter or leave your address in the comments below and I will write you.

I love you all, thank you for all your prayers and your love and support. I really feel the strength of your prayers and know that without them I would be nothing.

Shout out to Poopy Tay, its his birthday tomorrow, and Grandpa Welles, its his birthday soon, right?

Love,

Soeur Kimberly Addis

First Email from the MTC

BON JOUR MA FAMILLE!!!

I am so excited to be writing my first e-mail! The MTC is an interesting place. I have had tons of down days where all I want is to go home but then again I have had as many good days when I have been so happy to be here. Wednesday was hard saying goodbye but they throw you into the work so fast that you don't even notice that you wont see your family again for 18 months. My companion is the girl that Marilyn Morris knows, Soeur Klingaman. She is from Wisconsin and was going to BYU also before the mission. Kind of funny that we were in contanct with each other before we got to the field. The church definitely is a small world. My district is AWESOME!!! It is split half and half between elders and sisters. All the Elders are from Utah. Three just graduated from High School (Elder Uluave, Emal, Collett) and one did a year at SUU before coming on the mission (Elder Stephens). They are great and we have a lot of fun together. The other sisters are Sister Buchanan and Sister Kohler, everyone is going to Lyon except Elder Collett and Stephens are going to Paris. We are already really close and miss each other when we arent spending time together. They are my back bone here. Everyone except my companion and I have had some sort of experience speaking french so they are very helpful when it comes to language and encouraging me.

Speaking of francais, the language is SOOO hard. I have been having a really really hard time. We have been teaching an investigator since friday and I have a really hard time understanding him and being able to communicate what I want to say. I know that as I continue to live with exact obedience that Heavenly Father will bless me with the gift of tongues and I will be able to learn more than I know now.

To answer the rest of Caroline's questions, I see Hermana Wadsworth almost everyday. It is seriously such a blessing. There have been days when all I need is a good hug from someone that is close to me and she is here!! I love it! She is my best friend for a reason.

So a couple of things that I need. I forgot my trench coat in the car so I have been VERY cold. Michael please send me my coat and the shoes that should have been delivered to your apt. Mom I wont need you to get me a transformer or converter because you can buy them for very cheap at the bookstore. Also please go into my gmail account and find Kim Bitterman's email address, it should be under the email from Leesha about the Resto store, its bitterkim something something something. Then send her my address here at the MTC and ask her for her address please.

Family, I can tell that your prayers have really been helping me. I can't do this without you all. Please remember to pray everyday to have the spirit with you and so that I will also be able to have the spirit with me. Also I want to challenge you all, especially you Mom, to go to the temple AT LEAST once a month. I know for some of you its harder than others but I know that our family will be so blessed and so unified if we all are going to the temple.

I want to leave you with two scriptures that I loved from my personal study this morning. The first is Mosiah 7:33 " But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage" Right now I feel that I am in bondage because I can't communicate in French and because I cant speak but I know that if I will turn to the Lord and trust him I will be freed from this bondage and be able to teach the people in France and Switzerland.

The other scripture I want to be my mission scripture. Mosiah 5:15.

I love you so much family and miss you A LOT, let the Lord be with you and guide you and protect you until we meet again!!

Soeur Addis

P.S. Cool tender mercy. Today my person in the temple was from Switzerland! I am already doing missionary work for the Swiss!

Au Revior

Well friends, the time has come to say goodbye. And before I leave, I want to share with you all my testimony.

First and foremost, I know with out any doubt that this church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is Christ's church on the earth today. Through the Prophet Joseph Smith, His church was restored in 1830. Joseph Smith did infact see our Heavenly Father and Brother Jesus Christ in the sacred grove, at the Smith's family home in Palmyra NY. Joseph translated the golden plates to become what we now know as the Book of Mormon, Another testament of Jesus Christ.

I have read the Book of Mormon many times and know that it is the most true book on the earth today and that if you read it and pray with true intent, Heavenly Father will testify through the Holy Ghost and tell you that the doctrine that is found in the Book of Mormon is true and that it is a compliment to the Bible.

I know that we have a true prophet of the Lord on the earth today, President Thomas S. Monson, who is able to receive revelation for our Church for this day and time. I know that as we follow the counsel of the Prophet, the apostles and the teachings of our Savior Jesus Christ that we will be able to be happy and live a righteous life.

Families are forever. Through the covenants and the sealing ordinances that are preformed in the temple we are able to be with our families for eternity. I know that as we strive to live righteously we will be able to live with our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ again.

The most important thing that I know and which is the foundation of who I am is the fact that Jesus Christ, atoned for our sins. In the garden of Gesthemane, Christ suffered for our pains and afflictions, our sorrows and our heartache so that we never have to be alone. He was the greatest sacrifice and through Him we are able to live with our Heavenly Father again. Christ continued to suffer on the cross. After all that He could handle our Heavenly Father took Him from this earth. After being laid to rest for three days, Christ was risen from the dead. He lives! He lives so that we may also live when we leave this earth.

I know that these next 18 months will change my life and that as I bring the gospel into peoples lives it will not only bring them happiness but it will bring me happiness as well. There will be trying times but with the Lord by my side I will be able to get through it all. I am grateful for my opportunity to serve and I pray that as I serve the Lord, you may all remember the testimony that I have shared with you. I love you all dearly. I wish you the best. I say these things in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.