Tout es possible avec Le Seigneur, December 3, 2012

So I am giving you a fair warning that this is going to be super short.

Its been another good week. I have loved serving with Sister Nish and was sad to see it come to and end. It was one of my favorite transfers by far in my mission.

So I am still in Grenoble, which means I will be at the Lala Hariniaina's for christmas and that I love my life. I am serving with SOEUR KLINGAMAN. If you dont remember who that is, she was my companion in the MTC. .

Unfortunately I do not really want to write more. I will explain why. Today, just a couple hours ago, right when we got back from Lyon a member died. He was at the church and a recent convert found him when he was going to set up for FHE tonight. There are not sure yet what happened to him but they think it might have been a heart attack since he was not very old and he was in great health. He would ride his bike everywhere, he always had a smile on his face, always so willing to help, and he had such a strong testimony. This has come to a shock for everyone and even though I understand he is in a better place and everything happens according to Gods plan, I still think about the fact that I just saw him yesterday being his happy normal self and the fact that the Elders were talking to him when we were on the train to Lyon this morning. Please pray for the family Martins, his family, and for our ward here in Grenoble. He will be greatly missed.

I am going to leave you with a quote that I like from this week from my studies. It is from President Eyrings talk in RS General Conference. He says, "As you keep the fait, you will find yourself invited by the Lord often to serve someone in need when it will not seem convenient. It may appear to be an unpleasant and perhaps even impossible task. When the call comes, it may seem you are not needed or that someone else could easily give the succor." I just loved that this week as I saw it become relevant for my life.

I hope you all have a great week. I love you very much. Be greatful for your life and your loved ones. You really never know when they will part.

love,
Sister Addis

French Has Ruined Me, I can't even spell... Novement 26, 2012

Well well family. Now that you have all stuffed yourself with Turkey and are gearing up for the Christmas season. I will let you sit back and enjoy a wonderful email from the most wonderful sister missionary you know.


Um I am clearly just kidding, but seriously get comfortable, pretend like I am with you just laughing and tell you about my crazy life.

So this past week. It was great. Things were pretty much the same except for that it was thanksgiving.

You must be wondering how did the French members take care of us silly americans on our wonderful holiday. Well, to be honest, they didnt. Us Americans took care of ourselves. I think I had already told you that we would all be together for a Zone Meeting. And oh golly it was a great time. We had our meeting and then had a FEAST. There were about 34 of us, not totally sure, and we had nine chickens, because of two things. Turkeys are really expensive in France. Second thing, french ovens cannot fit an American sized turkey. So we just embraced that. I made green bean casserole and homemade garlic mashed potatoes. Oh boy were they yummy. Someone, I think one of the older couples, made stuffing with baguettes, holy smokes it was so good, i will never make stuffing any other way. And of course the classic sweet potato marshmallow dish was made and that was good too. It was fun. After we ate we went around one by one and said one thing we were grateful for. It was one of the most spiritual things. Very precious time in the mission. Then the missionarys from our zone that will be going home bore their testimonies and that as well was extremely spiritual. This happens every transfer when a missionary leaves. It is called their "dying" testimony, but for some reason this one was more powerful than all the rest I have been in. Elders Sopi, Fitch, Turley, Bennallack and Gubbay all bore their testimonies. They are wonderful missionaries and great examples for all of us. Elder Fitch I have an especially great respect for. His mom passed away not too long ago and the thing he said he was grateful for for thansgiving was the trials that Heavenly Father gives us. He has handled his mom death in a very admirable way and I know that his mom and the rest of his family must be so proud of him. I could never imagine having to go through something like that and I know without a doubt that I would definitely not be as happy and positive as he is. He is one of my heroes.

Anyway it was a good week besides that. Our ami Julien has a baptismal date for January 12th, please pray for him to receive and recognize answers to his prayers. He is progressing very well and being well integrated by members, but he says he has not yet noticed answers to his prayers. This is of course something very new to him because the first time he prayed was after meeting us. Your prayers are very much appreciated!

Other news is that transfers are next week already! We will see what happens with those. Honestly no idea what could happen. Soeur Nish could leave or I could leave we really dont know. I have also decided that I will be staying on my mission till May 21st, and start school about a month later, for summer term. This means that it will be six weeks longer until I will see you all but I know it is what the Lord wants me to do. I fasted and prayed very much about this to know the answer and I feel that this is right. This also means that we will be able to take a great family vacation when I get home and before I go to school. So go ahead, start planning for that :) If you want it to be two weeks instead of one, dont worry I dont mind that at all.

As always loved the videos of Savannah and Addison. Funny story about Michael and the carseat. Funny stories also about the twins at mom and dads. Cant believe how big Addison is in those videos. She really is a kid. Its crazy.

Michael thanks for being my faithful writer. I love you. Happy that we will have a semester together again! Not happy that we will be sharing the car again :)

Going but I love you... Have an awesome week.

Love,
Sister Addis

Heavenly Father is the NIcest Person I Know, November 19, 2012

Heavenly Father is the nicest person I know

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Oh my gosh family. I am freaking out. Do you realize how nice and loving Heavenly Father is. I know it. I know it because I have witnessed in my own life. I know I already sent you an email about it, but, I GOT ACCEPTED TO THE BUSINESS PROGRAM! I can't tell you how happy I am. I even jumped up and down and made Soeur Nish stand up and hug me even though she had no idea why I was so happy, I explained afterwards. Anyway. Now I have to take a little time to get some things organized but pretty sweet eh? I know it is all, "grâce aux Seigneur."

Anyway. My life is awesome. Love love love love love this work and being a missionary. Every week gets better and I am really scared that something awful is going to happen because everything is so great right now. Sr. Nish and I want to be together for Christmas but this is her fourth transfer here in Grenoble so she will probably be transfered and I will have a horrible Christmas with some weird companion. No. Just Kidding. I dont really know what is going to happen. And I know without a shadow of a doubt that with every single companion I have, it is because the Lord wants me to be with them. To learn and grow from their example. That is the amazing thing about missions. I have learned to have so much confidence in the Lord. I don't want to go on step in my life without Him. He is truly my best friend in the whole entire universe. Sorry Kelsie and Lisa. And everyone else I say in my best friend, I know I say that a lot, I just love people so much, is that such a bad thing!!??

So missionary work is in full blast here in Grenoble. I shook hands and smiled all big and cheesy with Elder Andersen almost a week ago. He's pretty much the bomb. But honestly in a respectful way. I KNOW that he is an APOSTLE of the Lord. His apostolic testimony was one of the most powerful things I have ever heard. I think it made it that much more special that it was in an intimate environment. He helped me to realize what ordinary people the apostles and prophets are, however their callings are extraordinary. He talked about his mission forty years ago here in France and how he felt. We all laughed because we have all experienced the same feelings he had. He then was mission president here in Bordeaux twenty years ago, and thats actually why he came. He came to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Bordeaux Stake. Then he decided to be nice and visit with the missionaries and members. So cool. There was a seventy there also. Brother Karens (not really sure how it is spelt), he was stellar too. British guy pretty funny, talked about good stuff. I would have told you more about what they said but I forgot my notes. Tant pis.

To answer moms wonderful questions. I slept on the floor in an apartment along with 17 other sisters. There were 20 of us total. However they had two sets of bunk beds and then two extra mattresses so that was 14 of us actually on the ground. It wasn't so bad. I didnt shower. Not many of us did. There was only one bathroom but no real troubles with that. The first time I went to the bathroom at their apartment wasnt until 5:30 the next morning when I was about to pee my sleeping bag and I had to tip toe around sleeping bags and try not to kill anyone, or myself for that matter. Also Sister Dooley made a funny and said that there were bathrooms near by like at the church and JA (Jeune Adulte, the center for young adults). All in all it was great. Its always great to have zone conference and let alone to be with an apostle, it was sweet.

This week for thanksgiving, we will be having a zone meeting and celebrating ALL together. I am super excited. I didnt realize that Thanksgiving was this week and not next week. Thought it was the last thursday of the month but apparently its the fourth thursday of the month. Have an AWESOME time together. I know Michael is supposed to be going to Allies and Caroline and Devin will be at Mom and Dads. It will be such a wonderful time all together. I am gunna be living it up here in G-town. You dont have to be jealous, just know that I am thinking of you.

THE BEST PART. Missionary work here in Grenoble is on FIRE. We have awesome amis and are doing awesome and everything is just awesome. I am sorry for my lack of vocabulary but I dont know how to speak english very well anymore. Dan, Julien, Vaber, Burim, and Weixi are all really great. We have one ami Nicolae who is romanian and he kind of makes me impatient but I am learning with him. Otherwise stuff is great. I love teaching and helping these people come unto Christ. Missions are the best thing ever.

I learned something from 1 John 1 and 2 this morning. First was that we are all sinners and that if you say you arent a sinner your a liar and your calling Jesus Christ a liar. You will probably go to hell. Second thing is that in order to come to know Jesus Christ we must keep His commandments. When we keep the commandments we should Jesus our love for him. When we keep the commandments we are learning that way in which Christ lives and we are better able to understand who we need to become. I dont know if that made sense. I am kind of on a super high right now of just loving life. I love you all very much and hope you have the best week ever.

Loves,
Soeur Kimberly Addis

P.S. Mom I sent Sr Couillens a letter today, I meant to send it last week but I never got to the post. Crazy that the Marshes and Wasdens are moving. My home ward is changing way to much.
And yes I will be able to get packages at my apartment however I dont know if I will be transfered. Its always possible and transfers are two weeks from today. YES ALREADY!!!!

Happy is the New Chic, November 12, 2012

Hello Everyone!!!

So much great things to tell you and so little time. First of all, have you heard?! I am going to be meeting an apostle of the Lord tomorrow! Elder Andersen is finally here in our mission. Yesterday he did a stake conference in Bordeaux and then had a Zone Conference with the Bordeaux, Toulouse and Montpellier zones and tomorrow we will have Zone Conference with him in Lyon,along with Aix-en-Provence, Genève and Lausanne Zones. After our zone conference with him we will then attend a fireside he is doing for the members. We are STOKED. Its going to be crazy to see TONS of missionaries, some of which I have not seen since the MTC, Soeur Kohler. Then ALL the missionaries will sleep over night in Lyon. And then we will leave the next morning. Ah its going to be so cool. Anyway I am sure I will have wonderful things to report next week. I am trying to remain super humble or humble myself even more so I will be ready to hear the words of an apostle and of the Lord, that are specifically for me and my life.

Something interesting I noticed during this email session. I have really seen my change of heart lately. I AM a missionary. I used to cry about the fact that my family was together or about how much i missed my family but this time I started crying about the fact that soon, in several months, I will no longer be a missionary. I seriously love my mission so much. I dont want to leave and I dont want to think about leaving. It made me sick to my stomach when I received an email from a companion of mine asking if I wanted to live with her in Provo in a few short months...

Moving on to greater things. My subject line. Haha. But seriously, dont you just love that? There is a picture included of one of the three posters here in Grenoble for a clothing company that says, Happy is the New Chic. Oh my word. I love it. Had to share that with you. I have taken pictures of each poster and printed out a picture for my desk so I can always remember to be happy every single day. I love being happy. I know that is how God wants us to be and he is willing to provide happiness if we are willing to keep the commandments. Sure there are hard times in our lives but if we have an eternal perspective we can understand greater how to be happy in times of despair.

This email is going to be really all over the place because I am going through a list of things I wanted to tell you. Dan, our awesome ami, is progressing very well. He still says awesome things. After we talked about the commandments I asked him, "Dan, Why do you think the commandments of God are important?" He then said, "If everyone were to keep the commandments the world would be a better place. Everyone would be happy!" Don't you just love that. Such simple truth but really have you ever thought of that. If everyone followed the commandments, what would that bring the world? Then after our rdv with him we were walking to the tram together and we were talking. Sr Standford (we were on exchanges) was saying the few words or phrases she knows in chinese. Dan then told us that the phrase they learned to say in school was, " I love the communist party" Haha so funny but so sad. Those poor people, so brainwashed.

Little reminder before I share what I learned this week, Christmas is 6 weeks from tomorrow. HELLO SKYPE SESSION!

Okay now that I got you all excited, I am going to share something spiritual. I learned something really cool from a conversation with Soeur Nish, who I love by the way. She reminds me a lot of Kelsie. Ah I miss her. Anyway, we were talking about missions and how they are hard but they are so rewarding and just that kind of talk. Then she said something that really touched me. She said how she had made several silly mistakes in life and that this is the last thing she could do to repay Heavenly Father for forgiving her. I then realized how much more I love my mission. I too am here because I have made several stupid mistakes in my life. My mission is part of my repentance process. I am being purified and edified every day, becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ. I am here serving a mission because the Lord has been patient with me and has been so willing to forgive me that I am taking 18 months to try and pay him back through my full time service. I know that I will always be indebted to the Lord because I can never fully repay him, but I can try to do my best to show my love for Him. How do you show your love for the Lord?

Have a super duper week,
Love.
Soeur Addis

Take A Chance, November 5, 2012

SO glad to hear that everyone is doing okay. All these frenchies had me a little bit worried about my family and friends on the east coast because they were all like. OH wow your from NJ, how is your family after the storm? And of course I had no idea until today. Sounds like Mom and Dad had their work cut out for them to chop up trees and stuff. Hope things are a lot better now. Let me know if there is anyone that I can be praying for.

Okay first to answer moms questions. Food is not as expensive here as in Switzerland. For an example. Pain aux chocolat in Swiss Francs is 2.50 ish...in France 0.90 euros. Granted Francs and Euros are not the same but it just gives you a little idea, pretty much everything is less expensive in France. Switzerland is a very expensive place. Our apartment building has I think eight floors, not really sure. We are on the fifth floor. At night time looking at the street from our balcony kind of reminds me of L.A. And Yes I did get the envelope with the voting stuff and ensign. I already sent in my vote last week. Hope everything goes well tomorrow. Like Soeur Lala, the mother, said yesterday, even if Romney doesnt win the church has had some pretty good publicity, and we all know that what the Lord wants to happen, will happen.

Soooooo, how are you my sweets. Ah I love my family so much. You're the best. I am still loving life. Its not as easy as it could be but life is good. The snow is gone. its not as cold and well now we are prepared for a really cold winter. Can you believe it is already November 5th. Christmas is next month. I get to see your faces next month!! I am so excited for christmas. It will be amazing, i know it. I am really excited to see the difference of Christmas in the MTC and Christmas in the field. What a wonderful gift I get to give to everyone, the teachings of Jesus Christ. So cool.

Anyway. This week. It was great. Sister Nish is fantastic and we get along great. We balance each other out very well and we have a good amount in common but at the same time are very different. Want to know something sweet. I gave her a haircut today. It was just a trim but it looks good. I am pretty proud of myself. Just wish i could cut my own hair. I love that its long, it has just been over a YEAR since it has been cut. Maybe here in Grenoble I will ask Melanie who I can trust to cut my hair.

Enough of worldly things. On to the spiritual things. You guys I cant even tell you how much I love my Heavenly Father. I learn so much about Him everyday and this transfer we have been asked to study the Atonement every single personal study. It is so great. I continue to learn deeper and deeper and my testimony just gets stronger and stronger. I want to share my love for this gospel with all my family and friends. If they can just understand one bit of the joy the fulness of the gospel has brought me in my life they would want to learn more and have it in their life too. Please, find this desire to share the gospel. It seriously brings so much happiness.After you have found this desire, go and do.

For my loving family members and friends that are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, just take a chance and meet with the local missionaries once maybe twice maybe three times. They will not force you to do anything, it is always your choice, it is simply that we as missionaries, are representatives of Jesus Christ. "We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ," We are disciples of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life. We are here to help you understand the things that your loving Heavenly Father wants you to know. Please, if this touches your heart at all, please find the missionaries. If you dont know where to find them, call my mom and she will find them for you. (sorry mom big task). I promise you nothing more than happiness from meeting with the missionaries. What would it hurt?

Now that I have talked your ears off I would like to just leave you with a spiritual thought.

I read a story today in a book by Elder M Russell Ballard, Our Search for Happiness. He talked about a heroic firefighter that saved five children. As his co workers were trying to control the fire he went five different times to bring out a child every time. As he went back in the sixth time the neighbors yelled that there were only five children, all of them were out. He shouted back that he saw a baby in a crib, he had to go back and rescue this last child. A few moments after he entered back into the flames, an explosion occured, which caused the home to collapse and as a result took the firefighters life. Hours later when the firefighters were digging through the rubble, they found his body covering the crib protecting an unscratched, life sized baby doll. He then compared this hero to the greatest hero of all. Our Savior, Jesus Christ. He suffered for each one of us. He did not want to leave one behind. He is all powerful, he could have found another way to help us all to return to live with our Father in Heaven but instead he submitted to the will of the Lord and died for us. The good news that we bring to the world is that Jesus Christ was resurrected. Because he was resurrected and lives today, we too will live again after this life. We have the chance to live with our Heavenly Father, brother and Savior Jesus Christ and our families, for time and all eternity. It simple depends on us. Jesus Christ has done his part. What will you do to make sure that you do your part to return to live with your Heavenly Father, Redeemer, and family again some day?

I love you all and hope you have the most fantastic week,
Soeur Kimberly Addis

 

It's Like Sunshine Melting Ice, October 29, 2012

Oh my gosh my family. I am not going to ask how you are because you all wrote me... minus dad, tom and devin, but im used to that. I love you so much. I am so happy and I can't contain it. I love my mission so much. There were so many great things that happened this past week and I cannot get over it. I dont even know where to being oh my word.

Okay I guess the most exciting news is that on Saturday, Paddy and Michael in Renens were baptized. If you remember, I was teaching them. Holy Cow I am so happy. I was praying for them all week and especially on Saturday knowing that it was their baptismal date and apparently all went well and prayers were answered because they were baptized! So stinking cool. I love this work so much. You have no idea. It brings the most happiness to my life than I have ever had. (sigh)

Second great thing. I love GRENOBLE. It may not be the most beautiful city that I have ever served in but I just cant get enough. We have wonderful amis and I just love contacting people here and helping them come unto Christ. I have started realizing how fast the mission is going and how little I have left and I just feel this strong motivation to share the gospel with every person I come in contact with. Ugh. It is so cool. You dont even understand!!!

Before I talk about our amis I just want to tell you the quick list of differeneces that I have found between France and Swiss.

1. They speak French and only french. In Switzerland every other person we contacted said they didnt speak french, but they spoke spanish, portugesse, albanian or english. I have only had one person say to me, sorry I speak english, and sadly for her, I do too.
2. The sirens sound different, yes on police cars and ambulances, I no longer think of Jason Borne.
3. The people here talk way faster than in Switzerland. Sometimes I have a hard time understanding everything because they speak so fast.
4. Way more Muslims

Okay so that is it for now. Not huge things but enough to say, Toto I dont think were in Kansas anymore.

Okay now on to our amis. We are teaching a guy and his wife who are Romanian, but speak french. Well I guess she doesnt and that contradicts what I just said but who cares. They are great. Really searching for the truth. Know a lot about the Bible. Were Orthodox, whatever that means. Havent come to church yet but hopefully next week. Names: Nicola and Maria.

Second ami. He is pretty sweet. Julien, french student. Now on vacation for the week back in his tiny village a couple hours away. Melanie actually contacted him when she was out with the Sisters "street boarding" at the University. He came to FHE last week and then we taught him on Wed and he came to institute on thursday, so he is really searching. The YSAs here are great. Julien is a scientist so he was atheist but then after reasoning her realized that there has to be something more because it is not atoms that make up our spirits/consciences. Anyway super cool. Pray for her that he will continue his search when he gets back from vacation.

Third ami. The best for the last. Dan. Chinese PhD student. Speaks english better than french, therefore we teach him in english. Oh my gosh family. He is so golden and great and wonderful. We taught him on Saturday morning with Melanie and our DMP Frère Barta. Dan is SUPER busy with school and his research that we dont get to see him that often but ugh he is great. The subject line is a quote from him. The lesson that we had on saturday was super spiritual. Ah it may have been one of the greatest lessons that I have been in, because the spirit was the one teaching the whole thing. I was fervently praying during the lesson that I would be able to say what the Lord wanted me to say or ask. We were talking about baptism and confirmation and I felt prompted to ask Dan if he believed that God was his loving Heavenly Father. He then said yes. I then asked if He believed that Jesus Christ was his Savior and redeemer and he said yes. AH it was so cool. This is someone that grew up in a communist country and had no idea who or what God was when the sisters first met him. Now he has a testimony that God is there. There is so much more that we talked about and so much more that went into the spirit being there. Oh to explain the subject line we asked him if he had ever felt the spirit. Then we asked him how the spirit felt. and that was his response. "It feels like sunshine melting ice" Ah it was so great. I love this work so much and I love sharing the gospel with people who have been prepared by the Lord. Anyway to make a long story short, Dan said that he wants to get baptized but he just needs more time to understand.

So pretty much my week was amazing. Up until Sunday. WE HAD A BLIZZARD!!!! So much snow, very unexpected. The public transportation was not working in the morning so we had to walk to church. Its not too far away but Sr. Nish has a foot problem and should not be walking very much if at all and I realized that my boots had been polished which then removed any sort of waterproofing so my feet were SOAKED. Dont worry mom I bought waterproofing spray today, and my feet were just frost nipped, not bitten. Not but seriously this storm was crazy and caused some unecessary drama. We just found out that the Elders who are here in Grenoble too are sick because they stupidly decided to go porting last night in the freezing cold. We on the other hand were smarter than that. We found ways to be inside, or teaching lessons.

I hope you all loved this email. I need to get going. Didnt have a lot of time to write today because I had so many emails to read and pictures to admire but I love you all VERY MUCH and I pray for you all the time. Keep doing what your doing and have confidence in the Lord. He loves you. Let Him show you His love. Pray. Read the scriptures. Go to church. Keep the commandments. You WILL be blessed.

loves,
Soeur Addis

P.S. a cause de cette storm, i bought a winter coat, a hat, and warm tights.

Life Is Always Better With Your Momma October 23, 2012

Well. Even though the subject of this email is true for our real moms, it also has to do with your trainer in the mission, as long as you had a good one. Yes, yes, the rumors are true. I am in GRENOBLE. Hometown of Mélanie Lala Hariniaina, my trainer. I am serving here with Soeur Nish, from British Columbia, Canada, but Mélanie will be our third companion. Last night we had FHE with the young single adults and it was soooo good to see her and spend some time talking and catching up, in french. That was a pretty big deal because we would never speak french with each other before it was always english. Haha one of the first things she said to me was, Speak french! Then later on she was just amazed... Sister Addis, you speak french!

Anyway we had a great time laughing and catching up. We will be going to eat with her and her family tonight. One brother I will not meet because he is in Africa on his mission and her dad lives in Madagascar but I will meet the rest of them. Grenoble is a pretty city. Its surrounded by mountains. Literally all over and not far away at all. It kind of reminds me of Utah, however it is more green here with more trees on the mountains. I have noticed some differences between France and Switzerland already but I will have to write them down and give you a list next week.

Okay so I said I am serving with Soeur Nish but who is she? Well the first day Sister Nish arrived on her mission was the start of my third transfer. I was the one that took her out to go contacting in Geneva. Its kind of fun that now we are together because I saw her in the very beginning more timid and scared to talk to people and now shes contacting people like crazy. She is great. I miss Sr. Tinorua and speaking french all the time but Soeur Nish and I try to speak half and half. Sometimes english just gets spoken more because it is our native language. This morning however was a different story. I have such habit now of speaking french that this morning right at 6:30 when the alarm went off the first language I spoke was french, when I asked if I could turn on the light, when she said "pardon?" I realized I should probably speak english with my companion when we first wake up. Haha it was too funny. It really showed me how much speaking french has become a part of me, a second nature. I still cant write for the life of me but speaking I can handle.

My last week in Switzerland was memorable. My birthday was good. We went and ate at our favorite restaurant, owned by a member. Sr. Nunez. It is a Chilean restaurant and so good, en plus, we ate for free. Sr Nunez is probably my favorite member from the Lausanne ward and she and her son, Hector, will be coming to visit me in America! She said to me before i left that I was the first missionary in a long time that she has gotten so close too and that she was really sad to see leave. I love that woman. She was a missionary a long time ago in Chile and she has such a passion for missionary work and a very strong testimony. She is quite the fireball too, we had great laughs together. Hopefully there will be two baptisms this week in Renens. I left that ville on fire. We have lots of great amis there and the work is pressing forward. Grenoble is going to be great I just know it. I had been praying that Heavenly Father would help me to be more motivated and boy oh boy have I found motivation here. I think its a combination of changing companions and cities but also being with Sr. Lala. It gives me the fire I had at the beginning of my mission and now I actually have the confidence to talk to people. I was telling Soeur Nish today how much I have come to love my mission. I know there is not anywhere in this world where I would rather be at this very moment. Its going to be hard to come home and get back into a normal life, but thats a long ways away anyhow.

I hope you all are doing well and remembering to read your scriptures and say your prayers everyday. This gospel is the key to happiness. I know it. I live it. I love it.

Love,
Sister Addis

P.S. Got letters yesterday from Whitney Kelly, Sarah Gambles, and Gramma Addis. Thanks, love you, will write soon. Also last week got birthday cards from Grandma and Grandpa Fendrich and Mom. :)

New Address:
Les Missionnaires
Soeur Addis
12, Boulevard Maréchal Foch
38000 Grenoble
FRANCE

 

A Cow East 100 kg of Grass Everyday October 15, 2012

Today its clear that I celebrated my birthday by going to the Gruyère cheese factory. I know I went there a couple of months ago but I didnt get to go on the tour and see how they actually make the cheese. Little fact for those thinking of coming to Switzerland, Chocolate factory was cooler. It was very interesting and I learned about cows and milk :) and Cheese of course. Did you know that there is cow stomach in cheese. Gross huh? All in all it was a good day. Gruyère is up in the mountains and there was already some snow up there. It was pretty cold.

Otherwise it was a good week. Still doing the same old thing. Need prayers for Mickael and Paddy who have a date to be baptized the 27th. Still some important lessons to teach and testimony building for them. But with the Lord it is all possible. That I know for sure.

I realized this past week how much I love my Heavenly Father. He is so incredibly patient with me and just wants me to be happy. He doesnt ask very much and yet when I am struggling He understands and He helps me. Where would I be without a knowledge of my Heavenly Father? I don't even like to think about it. I also realized how stinking blessed I am to be a missionary. I love my mission so much and it is a sacred time for me. It is a time for me to learn how to teach so that when I am a mother I will be able to teach my children. Caroline and Allie, I am sorry you missed out, but you both have wonderful husbands who served missions. I used to think that going on a mission was a punishment from the Lord. That I was the only Addis girl that had to go on a mission because I wasn't wife or mother material. I see now. My eyes have truly been opened and I am going to work my hardest these next six months to be the best I can be for my Father in Heaven. I love Him.

Another huge blessing I have from my Heavenly Father is my family. I love you all so much. For the past 22 years you all have been there for me every step of the way. Even when I was a in my awful teenage years. I know I was not fun to deal with and you were all very worried about me but you loved me no matter what. I remember when I was 15 and I had given myself a second piercing in my left ear. Allie was home and we were doing yard work when she asked me why I did that and what I was thinking. I told her it was only a piercing that it wasnt a big deal. She then told me that it doesnt matter that its only a piercing it was the fast that the prophet of God asked us not to have more than one piercing in each ear. Although I got angry with her and stormed off that conversation stuck in my head for quite sometime. I realized later that I should take out the piercing. That my sister was right. I have so many more stories like this that prove to me how much my family loves me. I am seriously so blessed and I love you all with all my heart. Thank you for always being there for me and taking care of me. I will always be your sweet girl, your little sister, your lambchop.

I wish you all a wonderful week. Reminder that next monday is transfers so not sure when I will be emailing.

Love,

Sister Kimberly Addis

One Delicious Conference October 8, 2012

Oh goodness family. Please tell me that you enjoyed conference as much as I did. How amazing are the leaders of our church? So in tune with the spirit to say exactly what the Lord wants all of us to hear. We truely are so blessed to be members of the Lords restored church on the earth and have a Prophet and apostles to teach us and guide us in our daily lives.

We were not able to see the sunday afternoon session because it was broadcasted here at 10 pm. I wont have time to watch the whole thing but I am listening as I write. My favorite session was the Saturday Morning. No I cannot believe the new missionary age. Its amazing that 18 year old elders and 19 year old sisters will start coming into our mission before I go home. I wrote about my feelings in my journal because I realize it is a historical moment. While reflecting on this announcement I realized that when I was 19 I was living at Belmont, in my second year at BYU, working as a nanny for the Karpowitz family. I would NOT have been ready, nor did I have a desire to serve a mission at that time. But times are changing. As Elder Cook said, the youth are better prepared to go and serve the Lord than in passed years. I think that much more young women will be serving missions because they can go at 19 and then when they get home they are still very young. It was super funny to see the reactions of both the young men and young women, The young men with their jaws dropped and the young women with beaming smiles. This work is truely pushing forward and amazing things are going to come forth. The end is nigh.

So this week. It was a good one. We also had Zone Conference, Interviews, with President. I love President Roney and Sister Roney so much. They are such wonderful people and President Roney is truely an inspired servant of the Lord. We talked about prayer and having more faith and praying more fervently. This is something that I am trying to better understand. How to really pray. To really try and get intune with the spirit. To really communicate with my Father in Heaven. I know that through prayer all things are possible. Family, I am learning so much about faith and so much about really living the gospel. Its not always easy, but its what the Lord wants for us.

About our amis. They are doing well. We were only able to see a couple of them this week. Two of our amis have a baptismal date for October 27. They will hopefully hold this date and work hard to be ready. We will as well work our best to teach them to an understanding but it is up to them to repent and have a true change of heart.

Thats all I really have time to say. Hope you all put in application the things that you have learned from conference. Sister Teixiera said when she was here that it was not a good conference if you do not put into application the things that were taught. So don't just say it was a good conference, prove it, change your life. Repent!

Love you all,

Sister Addis

11 Months, but who's counting? October 1, 2012

Hello family of mine. And friends...if they are still faithfully reading...

How are you all? I enjoyed the pictures of baby Savannah. However I dont see the resemblance with Addison. I dont see it with anyone actually. Allie are you sure thats your baby? JUST KIDDING.

Mom, you spoiled Relief Society Conference for me. It is being broadcasted here Saturday before the first session of General Conference. You have no idea how excited I am for GC, well return missionaries yes, they understand but I dont know about anyone else. I am looking forward to soaking up the words of the prophets and apostles of our day. What a wonderful blessing. Next week will be happy to hear which talk was your favorite and why. Don't forget! Also I invite you to go to at least one session at church, in your sunday clothes. Before my mission I am pretty sure it had been around ten years that I have watched conference at home or in the conference center. But now, I have no other choice. Therefore I want you to suffer like I am. No just kidding, I want you to do this because I want you to tell me if you notice a difference from watching conference from the comfort of your own couch and watching conference at church as if it were your normal church meetings.

Anyway enough babble. This week was okay. Rainy and cold. Autumn is here. Winter is coming. Maybe I will go to the south of France before winter can catch me. That would be nice. Transfers are October 22. We will see what happens.

Okay but seriously. Last Saturday we went to visit a less active. We had never met her before and decided that it would be a good time to go see her. She was happy to see us at her door and we scheduled a RDV for tuesday afternoon. Then of course, before leaving, asked if we would see her at church the next day. She said yes and that she and her son would be there. Well Sunday they were there as she said they would be. The ward was happy to see them and they even stayed for the ward meal after church. Tuesday we had our RDV with her and her son and it went so well. We talked to them about their conversion story, which was not too long ago and that opened her up to tell us that in fact saturday when we stopped by she was in the middle of praying and telling God that she was done. She did not want to go to church anymore, she could no longer handle all the trials in her life and that she was just threw with it all. Then we rang the doorbell. Wow! The Lord really has us in the right place at the right time. She said that us being at the door was a sign to her, or an answer to her prayers, that the Lord loves her and that she is on the right path and she should continue on this path. I had really been praying that I would be able to be an instrument in the Lords hands and do what he wanted me to do, and without even knowing it, I was!

Another story from being in the right place at the right time. We have a new family we are teaching. They are amazing! I think I mentioned them last week, peruvian family. Anyway, we met with them again this past thursday and had a quick but great lesson with them. We then asked them if there was anything we could do for them. They then told us that they were looking for a new apartment and that if there was anyone we knew that could help, that would be great. I then asked if one of the parents had a permit for renting an apartment here. Clara, the mom, then went on to explain that no, they didn't have a permit and in fact that was a big problem right now. She said that last Saturday the kids were on the bus and they got controlled. They had forgotten their bus passes and any type of identification at home. Well this to the controllers is a huge red flag. They not only gave the kids fines for being on the bus without a pass but they also took them to the police station. Clara then went to go pick them up and when she showed them her passport and that she only had a tourist visa, the policeman gave her a deporting slip, for her and the two kids. Well long story short, she said that she knew God sent us to their family just two days before this horrible situation because He knew they would need extra support. I was shocked. Normally people blame these kinds of things on us. Saying that their life was great before they met us and ever since then is when the problems came. I loved her attitude and I know it is true what she said. The Lord has sent us to this family so that we can help them and give them the love that they need in this difficult time.

Cool stories right? You could have stories just like me. Just pray and then go and do what you think Jesus would do if He were here on earth and you will be able to have experiences just like it!

 

Anyway I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week. Don't forget the most important day of the year is in two weeks from tomorrow :)

 

Love you all,

Soeur Kimberly Addis

 

P.S. Love that Addison sings Justin Beiber... did I ever tell you how I cried when I heard his new song while shopping on p-day? Haha so ridiculous i know.

 

Also CANNOT believe that Lisa will be home so soon. I miss her lots. Mom give her a huge hug from me, okay thanks!

 

"Tes yeux, ils sont faux" September 24, 2012

Soooo fam bam...how are ya?

First and foremost: subject line. So within the past several weeks if not months I have had tons of people comment on how beautiful my eyes are...not to sound concided...and the other day the funniest thing happend. We were going to church,it was yesterday, and we were on the bus. It was around 8:30 because church is at nine. So we are on the bus when a drunk guy... yes there are tons of boozers sunday morning that are just finishing their party from saturday night. Anyway this guy was still pretty drunk and he comes up to us and starts talking about his religion, futbol (soccer in english) and how he watches it on sundays and its the greatest thing in the world. Well then he stopped talking to us and told us to have a good day. About 5 minutes later we got off the bus and he got off too. He comes up to me and tells me, "Honestly, you have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen, they are fake right? They are contacts." I replied no, they're real. But he persisted that they had to be fake because he had never seen eyes so beautiful. Haha too funny. He would not believe me that they were my REAL eyes. Oh drunk people.

So to answer the commonly asked question. I dont want more skirts. I will just wear out the ones I have so that at the end of my mission I can leave them here or donate them. Dont ever want to wear these clothes again. Second thing. I dont know what I want for my birthday. As mom can see from my account I bought myself an expensive perfume for my birthday because I am almost out of the one that Caroline sent me in the MTC. I counted that as a birthday gift. Oh and a scarf too. You guys are going to think I am crazy when you see how many scarfs I have bought on my mission. Also I bought a hand mixer because the mission does not pay for that and I have been making myself fruit and spinach smoothies for breakfast. Great investment.

Sounds like the Steeles and mom had a great week together. Savannah has seen so much of the world already. Shes two weeks old? and already been to Disneyland. Sounds like the twins had a fun birthday. Caroline if you want the doctor to write down the sex of the baby and then send it to me in the mail that would be great. I promise I won't tell you. Michael, keep going strong, this is where it counts the most :) Dad, Hi, are you alive?

This week we started teaching even more spanish speakers. We have a family that is totally going to get baptized. They are so wonderful I already love them so much just after one rdv. The wife and mother is actually a cousin of a family that was baptized around two years ago in the ward. They are super open to the gospel and want to come to church but the parents work sunday morning. What is this with all of our wonderful amis not being able to come to church? I hate it! Anyway I dont know their family name but their names are Danny (father), Clara (mother), André (son 13 yrs) and Camilla (daughter 7yrs). André was at church on sunday with the Alayo family-the cousins of Clara. It was pretty sweet. Then we had a wonderful miracle happen. There is a sister in the ward who is now less active (also because of work) that was baptized two years ago but the rest of her family, husband, two sons and daughter were not. Well we were sitting in our spanish gospel principles class when the father, Segundo, and oldest son, Christian, showed up! We had met Christian one day when we were visiting his mom but had never met the husband. It was so wonderful to see them there even though the mom, whose a member, was not! We will be seeing them later this week and hopefully we can restart the lessons with them. Didnt know I was called to serve spanish speaking but thats cool!

I love being a missionary and doing the Lord's work. It is VERY hard, don't get me wrong but it is so wonderful to help people come unto Christ and change their lives. I just pray that I will be able to see a lot more of that here in Renens/Lausanne.

I wish you all a safe and wonderful week. Please keep praying for me and all the other missionaries around the world. Specifically for protection in our mission, we have been having problems with Muslims after that movie that has come out in America.

I love you I love you I love you

Soeur Kimberly Addis

onwards and upwards September 17, 2012

Hello Sweet Cheekers,

Thank you for your prayers this past week. I am doing better. Not everyday is perfect but nothing really is perfect in life. I have some things that I want to tell you that a took note of this week so that I would remember.

First off, Mom the tomatoes are splitting because of too much rain. Asked an expert gardener in the ward about that. Next thing. I am sorry I forgot to say happy birthday to the twins this past week. I hope they had a very happy 2nd birthday and that little Charlotte is healthy and well now. Next thing I want you all to be really jealous about. I have an authentic pizza dough recipe from a TRUE Napolitan. That is something that I will be making with you when I get home, Caroline. Maybe if your lucky I will share it with you. This leads to something else about food. Last week I made homemade bread for the first time, by hand. As I was not feeling great, and as you all know, that something that makes me happiest is to cook. Well that was probably one of the best things to do. Yes it took a lot of patience but I loved working with my hands and really kneading the heck out of that dough. Its hard work by hand but it was so therapeutic at the same time. It was very good and healthy as well, a cereal bread, which I am pretty sure in english is a whole grain bread, with sunflower seeds and oatmeal and all those kinds of goodies.

Next I want to tell you all a joke that I think is hilarious. Okay well the second one is a joke but the first one is something that Elder C.  and I laughed about pretty hard. He has been home for a little over a transfer now but I remembered it this week and thought it was funny enough to share. Okay I am not going to explain the story but please just think about how funny it would be if a missionary was teaching someone that was Siamese twins and one accepted the gospel and the other did not. How do you baptize the person that accepts the gospel?
Oh my gosh I am so immature and such a missionary but I think this is one of the funniest things and I laugh about it still. Even right now.

Okay this second part really is a joke. That Sr. Jaquet tells and I am pretty sure I was the only one at the dinner table laughing but maybe its because I thought of little Addison. Here goes:

A little girl is at a wedding with her family and she is wearing a very beautiful dress. There are lots of other kids playing and so the little girl goes to ask her mother if she can go play with them and do her favorite thing, kart wheels. Her mother says, "No, no honey, everyone will see your panties. The little girl pouts and walks away with her arms crossed. She comes back ten minutes later, Mommy can I please go do kart wheels. Her mother repeats, "No, everyone will see your panties, and that is not polite." She sadly walks away a second time. The third time she walks back to her mom and excitedly says, "Mommy, Mommy, I did a kart wheel. Her mother replies, "Oh no, did everyone see your panties? The little girl innocently replies,"No of course not Mommy, I took them off!"

Haha if that does not remind you of Addison I dont know what else would. Oh I laughed so hard. The family thought i was giving pitty laughs but no, I think its truely funny.

Anyway. This week was good. We have been super busy all the time. We spend a lot of time visiting less actives. It is really sad how many there are here. It might be the same way in NJ and I just never noticed it. Sundays are good. I love the Renens ward. The spirit is always so strong and the members are so full of love. We start with RS, have Gospel Principles in Spanish and then Sacrament for the third hour. The kids in the ward are always crazy for the third hour and there are wood floors so EVERYTHING echos but ça va. C'est pas graves.

French is going well. I am now reading the Book of Mormon all the time in French because I have noticed that if I read in english, my french gets worse. I have also started highlighting everytime the Book of Mormon says, Lord, God, the Lamb of God, Messiah, or any other name there is for the savior. It really is amazing how much the Book of Mormon talks about the Savior even when we wouldnt think it would. ANOTHER TESTIMONY of JESUS CHRIST, I think so.

I ran out of time because I had so many cute pictures to drool over and so many lovely emails to read. I love you all very much and pray that you are doing well. Please keep the prayers coming my way as I am sending blessings in your direction as well.

Love you all,
Soeur Addis

P.S. Cant believe that Julia Santiago is engaged. Please tell her congratulations for me and that I love her so much and she MUST write to me and tell me who, what, where, when and how?

Reply

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Forward

Still No Baby!

I think I am funny. Sad that there is still no baby but now I know that next week I MUST have an email that says she is here! So because I know that she must come this week, Allie I wish you luck on your second delivery and I will continue to pray for this little precious soul to be healthy and that nothing will go wrong.

To start I want to talk about funny things that have happened because I am pretty sure my companions didnt think they were funny but at least I know my family will laugh. I hope they aren't "had to be there" moments. Okay the first one was yesterday. We were at a less actives eating lunch after church and we were enjoying our time. He is very old and is pretty much blind. He is the sweetest old man, loves the missionaires but sometimes he doesnt say the nicest things to his wife, but she just laughs it off. Anyway. We had just eaten and we were sitting there talking. He blowed his nose with a tissue and then went to put it in his pocket. I was sitting next to him in a way that I could see in his pocket. I know it may sound weird but just believe me. Okay so I saw in his pocket and I was caught off guard because I saw something big and pink. I looked more closely and realized that it was his dentures! Big pink gums and yellow teeth just sitting in his pocket. I almost laughed right there on the spot. I bet you have never seen that before :)

The next funny thing was this morning when we were leaving our apartment. We were walking to the bus stop and had to cross the road. There is no stop light so we just take the cross walk when there arent any cars, or when there are cars but they are far away. But when we cross the second half there are bushes in the median and you cant really see until you take one step out. Well we safely crossed the first half and Sr. T. was crossing the second half when a car SLAMMED on the brakes, i looked over and saw the huge L on the car with the name of the driving school on the top. I laughed so hard when I saw this young asian girl scared for her life and the driving teacher placing his hand against the dashboard and cringing as the chic burned rubber. Haha just to see their two faces made me laugh, more so the fact that she was probably taking her drivers test. Fail? I think so.

Then after we crossed the street and got on the bus. It was nice and quite on the bus for about two minutes and then all of a sudden, this woman, or man I couldnt tell which, started yelling in Romanian at the woman next to her. The woman next to her had no idea what she was saying and just ignored her, but the woman kept going just being loud and talking in a language that no one understood. She then continued to yell at the lady next to her on the bus. The poor lady I felt so bad but sometimes you just need to laugh when you see a crazy person on the bus. Whitney, good luck in Romania!

Okay so about my week. It was good. As you can see I met and took a picture with Elder and Sister Teixiera. They were wonderful. They love missionary work so much and really know how to get things done. Elder Teixiera taught us about how we can find more amis and Sister Teixiera talked to us about being holy missionaries. The two were very inspiring and I am sure that all the missionaries in our mission have started repenting as we apply the things they have shared with us. We were there with three zones so I got to see Elder Emal and Elder Uluave, from my MTC district, thats the second picture. It was so great to see so many missionaries and to be able to spend that time together. It was rather crazy with ~20 missionaries on the train together for two hours but we really loved every minute of it. Even if we had to wake up at 4h in the morning and didnt sleep till a little past 10h30 at night. It was very much worth it. The picture with the family is a family we eat with every sunday night, the Jaquet's. They are wonderful and are like my family here. They have had the missionaries over for dinner every sunday for the past 22 years, the time they have been married.

Mom asked about Amon. He is doing okay. He said on friday when we saw him that he was facing ALOT of temptation. I went forward to tell him it was because he decided he wanted to be baptized and satan knows that this is a good decision and that it will change his life. Please pray for him that he will continue to do whats right and put his life in order for baptism! Other amis are okay. The work here is very interesting and tiring, I am sure just like anywhere else.

A spiritual thought for you all. We had exchanges this week and I was in Geneva with Sr. E. before the conference. She asked me the question of how and when I knew the church was true. I was reflecting on that and as I was telling her my conversion story I realized that I was converted when I read the Book of Mormon for the first time on my own. Yes it was along with some other things, but I realized the key role the Book of Mormon really has in converting someone. I realized why we are the only church that has the Book of Mormon and why the Book of Mormon is the evidence that Gods church is on the earth today. I knew this before but I witnessed it in my own life and my own experiences. Pretty cool. Also Sister Teixiera challenged us to read the Book of Mormon in 60 days. Today is day 5. I challenge you all to do the same. If you read the Book of Mormon in 60 days, it is four chapters a day. It is not necessary to start over but to start where you are and then read until you get back to where you started. I know that your testimony will be strengthened and you will be happier in your life as you do this.

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week. I miss you.

Love, Soeur Kimberly Addis

Sr. T from Tahiti; Elders G & S with Sr. E.

Chateau de Chillon August 2012

Chateau de Chillon

August 27, 2012

Hello sweet family of mine.

How are you? Did Michael start school yet? When is this baby gunna come? What will her name be?

Who misses me?

These are all questions that you should be reflecting upon because I asked them :)

So. Yes I went to the Chillon Castle again. And yes it was super. We were able to spend more time there because we left earlier this morning. I got to see some things and read things that I didnt get to see before. Its so crazy how the people used to live in the Middle Ages. As we saw the amour of the knights, I told my companions that I am so happy I did not live in that time. Not really my style. None the less its a great experience to see a piece of history like that. It wasnt even THAT long ago. In comparison to Christ time, or Noah, or Adam and Eve. Can you believe that the time on earth is just a glimpse of eternity. WOW.

Anyway. Questions were asked which I am happy about because I feel like I have some direction for my email.

Amis. Our amis are doing well. We have three that are more serious than the others. The women are somewhat impossible to see. We had some cool experiences this week. Our friend Amon. Love him. He is from Nigeria. He speaks english. We first met him when he came to a rdv with another ami, Victor. He loves God so much and is so believing.  We have been taking it rather slow, but he is just eating up the gospel. At our most recent rdv he said that something he hoped for (something he learned in church), is to have the Priesthood. He said that that was his goal and he was working to attain it. After having a good rdv with him I asked him if he had any questions. He thought deeply and then in a quiet voice asked, can I be baptised? Oh my heart leaped for joy. We then talked  more about that and the things he must change before his baptism. He is more than willing to work for this because he knows that the church is true. He says that it is his "destiny" to be in this church! Please pray for him.

Other things that have happened. We have our mini missionary. She is great. Soeur L. She is a convert of a little over a year and wow she has such a strong testimony. Its really cool to see such a wonderful "product" of the missionary work done here in my mission! She is studying in Aix and she wants to finish her studies before her mission so it will be a little bit of time before she leaves but she is great. She comes from Guyane....not sure on spelling. Little country in South America, french speaking. Its been very different to be with three and sometimes its hard for me because they are both french speakers and so its easier for them to talk to each other. I am sure thats how the french feel around a bunch of Americans. But its okay. I continue to learn a lot of different words everyday.

Anyway. Life is good. I think I may have received inspiration for a business idea I have for when i get home. That is not important for the moment but it is cool.

This week, two days we have a huge zone conference with three zones, including ours, and Elder and Sister T. SUPER excited. Going to Lyon for that. Other wise nothing else big to tell.

I love you all and pray for you all. Do what is right and follow the light.

Love,
Soeur Addis

Happy Birthday Allison

August 20, 2012

I know I am far away but a big happy birthday from Switzerland. Its rare that the actual birthday falls on a p-day so consider yourself lucky :)

How are you fam bam? I am doing okay. Its super hot, and it has been hot for the last several days. It will continue to be hot until wednesday or something like that.

This week has been a week of change for us. It started when we got a call around wednesday last week that we would be receiving a mini missionary that will be with us for two weeks. She arrives today. Her name is Sr. N and she is from Aix-en-Provence, FRANCE. She was baptized May 2011 so its a little over a year. I dont know anything else about her except that she is great and she is considering going on a mission. Therefore this is a big responsibility so that she will have a wonderful experience and decide to serve a mission! We are very excited and pleased that President Roney has chosen us to do this.

The second call came Friday evenning. APs again. Thought it would be something concerning our mini missionary. But it was bad news. We were asked to leave Lausanne and attend the ward in Renens, just right next door. I may have teared up while talking to Elder G. about how this is going to work. Mostly because we were not able to see the members in Lausanne at church to tell them about the change. We were happy to find out however that we will still be working in Lausanne and with the members. Its just more responsibilty to work with two wards. Thankfully, Renens is a great ward with awesome members. They were SO grateful to have the sisters back in their ward, it was only three weeks without missionaires but I guess it was a long three weeks. Anyway, like I said it was a week of change. But change is almost always good! I am grateful to be able to meet even more members here in Switzerland. I will have you know that I have now served in 3 of the 4 villes in switzerland where sisters serve. The other is two other wards in Geneve. The sisters there work with both the english ward and french ward. Maybe by the end I will be able to say that I have served in all the villes possible in Switzerland.

Something that I asked myself yesterday at church is, who am I to be blessed to be born into the gospel of Jesus Christ? There are BILLIONS of people that have lived, are living and will live on the earth and I have been blessed to know the gospel of Jesus Christ since the day I was born. Why am I so blessed and others are not. Why was I born into a family that was members of the church and others struggle day in and day out to know who if there is even a purpose to this life? What a wonderful blessing it really is to have a knowledge of this gospel and a testimony that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Lords church here on the earth.

Anyway not much more to say about this week. It was good. I love the Lord. I am trying more and more everyday. Ate with an American family yesterday but talked half the time in french so my companion would understand. They are awesome. The mom even bought us a bag of groceries. So sweet.  I hope everyone is doing well and loving life. Loved the pictures and the story about addison and her diaper. Also I am glad that Addison is enjoying an old purse of mine. It looks cuter on her anyway :) How did she get that by the way?

Lots of Love,
Soeur Addis

Sunshine in My Soul

Hi. How are you? Are you smiling? I hope you're smiling now because if your not you are probably in a bad mood. Choose right now to be happy. To smile. and Smile BIG AND BRIGHT because you are reading an email from someone that loves you very much.

Now that you are smiling and happy I am going to fill you in on why I am so happy. I am happy because I am a personal servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I walk around all day talking to people, and teaching them about Jesus Christ, and helping people realize there is a purpose for our life here on earth. My life is simple but so rewarding. I love this work and I love being here in Switzerland. Because I love this work so much I am super excited for WHITNEY KELLY and her mission call to ROMANIA. I know that it is exactly where the Lord wants her to be and that she will do amazing things there. Whitney, I love you and I can't wait for you to experience the joys of serving the Lord. Anyone else that reads this and is thinking about going on a mission... do it. You will never regret it.
Somehow time always runs out faster than I think because I have to read emails and then write president and things like that so sorry if I dont answer questions or address everything that is necessary.

This week was good. I cannot really complain. The sun has been shinning, the ward members are showing lots of love, and our amis are continuing forward. We have two amis that we see every week about three times a week and they come to church. Victor and Amon, they are nigerian and speak english. They are learning slowly and are feeling the influence of the spirit in their lives. Right now we cannot fix them baptismal dates but they are getting closer and closer to the waters of baptism. Please pray for them that they will make good choices and find a good job :) Other amis are Sylvie and Mikael. Sylvie has been very sick and we havent seen her in over a month but were able to see her this week because she started feeling better. Please pray for her that she will have good enough health so we can continue to teach her and that she can come to church. Mikael is great too. We have had good lessons with him and he wants to be baptised but he cannot come to church because he works only on the weekends. Please pray for him to find a new job or to work in the afternoon on sunday so he can come to church. Our other amis we havent seen because they are on vacation or things are just slow with them. We will be seeing the family again tonight. We are doing to teach them the plan of salvation since that seemed to be a concern. We are praying that all will go well.

Congratulations to the Carter family, Sam Amy Gracie and Gary for their little addition. I bet she is so cute. Loved the card from Mom that was signed by the Jessops, Zulick and Swind (I think, couldnt really read the handwriting).

Caroline.. I will write you a letter to answer your question because the experience I want to share will take some time. Mom or someone in family. I am in need of a convertor for a three prong plug to a two prong plug. I think we probably have one around the house, could you send that to me please! Also I know mom has body in a box... the jillian michales thing, could you send that too since I cannot work out to dvds that will give me some good ideas of what I could work out and be able to change it up frequently.

Otherwise I think all is well. I love you all very much and am getting excited for this new little baby girl to come, even though I wont see her right away. Hang in there Tom. I know Allie is probably driving you nuts ;) No but seriously. Hang in there Allie. She will be coming sooner than you know! Have an awesome week!
Love,
Soeur Kimberly Addis

Short but Sweet

August 6, 2012

Hi. Its me. I dont know what to tell you today. I had a good week. I love my companion. I am speaking a lot of french. I mean a lot of french. Almost all the time with her and then the only time I speak english is when we are teaching in english or if there is someone who doesnt speak french. So yeah. Its not bad at all though. Its starting to come more naturally. I still sometimes realize there is vocabulary that I dont know but besides that its good.
The work is moving here in Lausanne. We have some great potentials this week. We actually just had somewhat of a lesson with a family that Sr. Echols contacted before she left. The husband is not very believing but he is somewhat open and the wife is believing and very willing to learn. They have two children, a boy and girl. The son was at a friends house playing so we havent met him yet but the daughter is so cute. She is two years old and five months and she is a talker, reminds me of Addison. Sometimes its especially hard for me to understand her because a baby speaking french is not the easiest thing to translate but she was very sweet. They seem to have potential. He drank two or three beers during the lesson. That was a first for me haha. So word of wisdom will be something but we have little things to work on with them to start. Such as for the father, the fact that God exists and the plan of salvation. For the wife it will be more of the fact that we have a living prophet here on the earth today and modern day revelation. Mais bref, this could be the family that I have been waiting for for nine months.
So yes I had a good week and we have a busy week ahead. Thursday I will be going to the doctor for my knee. Its not any worse but it still is giving me problems. Mom... its not my shoes, I have changed them. Tomorrow we will having district meeting which is normally on thursday but we are having a special training. Other exciting news about this transfer is that Elder Teixeira will be at our zone conferences. Pretty cool. Then I dont think I said this but Elder Anderson will be coming to the mission in November. We are excited here in the France Lyon Mission.
I dont have any other cool news. I love you family and was happy to see that everyone is doing well. That new baby is so close to being here I cant even believe it. I wish I would be home to see her but that will have to wait. May God be with you as you continue in your daily lives.
Love,
Soeur Kimberly Addis

Une Mutation de Plus

July 30, 2012
I love being in tune with the spirit. This past week I had been thinking, after seeing many members, that it would be very important to update the member things we have in the apartment, and then today that was a challenge that President Roney gave to us. I have learned in my mission that when you already think of something and then leaders say that it should be done, that means that it was the spirit prompting you and that you have in line with the spirit in order to receive those promptings. I love that. It happened last transfer too with our challenge from President to serve and get to know the members better. What a great feeling knowing that I am living worthly to know what the Lord wants for the France Lyon Mission.

The other night while I was falling asleep Sr. Paoli and Sr. Echols were talking, the two that went home, and they were saying that they were sad they were going home because they would not have the same spirit that the missionaries have and that they would never again have the same calling as an apostle. That really struck me. I realized how much I love having this special spirit with me all the time and how I really want to soak up this time I have here because I know it passes too fast. It already has. I love being a missionary.

So I am sure you are dying to know. Yes transfers were today and I am still in Lausanne but with a new companion. Soeur Tinorua. She is tahitian. She speaks very little english. I am speaking a lot of french. I love it. I really hope my french will improve now that I have a francophone companion. I love her already and cant wait for the wonderful miracles we will see together. Its weird because the Renens Sisters, who we normally live with, their area closed and so now we have the apartment just for two of us. It will be an adjustment because I have gotten used to being around a lot of people and never having time to shower or do what I want but now it will be great! I will miss having another companionship there but it will be nice at the same time.

Other mission news. As I said we visited lots of members these past two weeks, something President had challenged us to do. While we were with them we served them. On very hot day we were at a members house and we weeded their cobble stone drive way. Dad you would be proud. At first I was not very happy. There were so many other things we could have done to serve them but this was the thing chosen. I had gloves on that were too big for me and the ground was very dry so I wasnt getting anything out. I kept getting more and more frustrated. Finally I took off my gloves and started ripping those things out of the ground.It wasnt as hard after we soaked the ground and I took off my gloves and I actually got happier as I was serving and both Sr. Echols and I didnt want to stop when the members said it was time for them to take us home. We were on a roll we wanted to finish. Even though I hate weeding that day, it was not so bad because I saw how much the members appreciated it! She even brought us out popsicles, water, and umbrellas to try and shade us while working in the heat of the day. It was wonderful! Dad, learn from this story. When I get home and you ask me to weed, make sure you have popsicles handy :)


Other stories from the week. We found two new amis this week. Francophones! A mom and daughter. But this week they are on vacation. Boo. But next week hopefully we will be seeing them again. The seem great and very open to understand more about what God wants for them. I really want to find people that are ready for baptism. I was in Geneve today to pick up Sr. Tinorua from the gare and I saw all my old collegues from Geneve and there were SIX baptisms there this weekend. Three in Saleve, found from porting, A mother and two of her children, and then three in the spanish ward. We had 17 this weekend in the mission. That is the most I have ever seen since I have been here. Its really amazing. There are people prepared here we MUST find them!

Oh and like I said I was in Geneva today and oh my gosh, I didnt realize how much I missed that place until I was there. Ah Geneve me manque beaucoup! AND I talked to Sr. Lala on the phone today because she was at the mission office when I needed to talk to someone there. Ah I love her so much. Today was just such a great day. I hope you are having just as wonderful a time as I am! 26 Missionaires will go home tomorrow morning  and 16 will arrive tomorrow afternoon. I am so grateful to have known many of those missionaries and pray that they will remember forever their mission and what they have learned. 

By the way: Addison, Liam, and Lotte are getting way too big. I dont know how much I like it. I got two cards from mom today and a letter from Grandma Bobbie, which I loved. Cant believe Susie is going to be a senior this year and is looking at colleges! Time really does pass to fast. Especially when I am not home to see it. -- 1 Août, La fête de Suisse!! Also Happy Birthday to Allie Merrill, je t'aime trop :)

I better get going but know that I love you all and pray for you all the time. Keep doing what you know is right and always strive to be better.
Love
Soeur Kimberly Addis

I Can't Believe My Life Sometimes

July 23, 2012

Did you know that I have been blessed to serve in one of the coolest places in the world? Well now you know. Not only did I have a great week full of service, love, and teaching the gospel, but today I went to a chocolate factory, cheese factory, and a castle, with a little village. It was so awesome. We didnt have enough time for the tour at the cheese factory or château so I will have to go back with my next companion, if I stay here, but the tour at the chocolate factory was super cool. It was almost like a ride at Disney world, but not so much crazy movement. Anyway, my life is pretty cool and I get to live in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. HUGE BLESSING. I cannot wait to bring you all back here to show you all the cool stuff. If the little kids were to come, they will love it.

Hate to cut that adventure short but I have ten minutes to finish writing because the trains to get to the places today took a little bit longer than expected. So this week was good. Our new ami Chantale, we did not get to see this past week but hopefully we will see her next week. She was found by the other Sisters and the day they found her she had started a fast that she would be able to come closer to God and then she talked to the Sisters and saw on the book of Mormon where it says, Another Testament of Jesus Christ and immediately gave her information. Kind of super cool. The Lord works Miracles. Then this week we had a rdv with one of our African amis, actually all of our amis are African, all the men speak english, all the women speak french, so we teach a lot in english. Anyway we had a rdv with an ami Victor, who I love. And he brought one of his friends with him, Amon, and Amon came to church this past weekend and he is great too. Africans love talking about Jesus and knowing how to better follow him. Its pretty cool. Its hard because we definitely teach in english way more than french so my french has been kind of slacking so this week sr. Echols and I have made a goal to only speak french, unless we have to teach in english. Its been good, sometimes i forget but I can feel that it is helping me improve more.

By the way, today I bought a Suisse Flag. Did you know they are square? How often do you see that? Its super cool. Then I bought a water bottle with all different cows on it, that are made of things that represent switzerland. Then as I told Mom, from the Chocolate factory I bought old fashion posters, that i believe were used as ads, from the Chocolate factory. They will one day be framed and hang in my house. I love them. One day when I get home I will have to post pictures of them so you can enjoy them as much as I do.

HUGE APPOLOGY to dad because I did not say Happy Birthday last week. I definitely thought about you all day and I hope you had a great day. Transfers are next monday, already, so I will have a new companion. Getting excited change every six weeks is crazy. It makes everything go by so fast. I hope everyone is doing well. I feel like I forgot something but who knows. That baby in Allison is probably getting really big now. Send pictures or something. I love you all and hope you have the most wonderful week. Always remember that if you really know the church is true you should want to share it with others. Dont be selfish, be a missionary.

Love,
Sr Addis

this one time in Switzerland...

 I fainted on a bus. Yup. You heard me correctly. FAINTED ON A BUS IN SWITZERLAND. Luckily I was sitting down, and right next to my companion, and no one else was on the bus. But yes that adds to my list of places I have fainted and I think if I counted correctly, it makes 12 times in the past 7 years. I know you are probably dying to know what I saw or what I read or what sick story she told me, so i will explain.

We were traveling home on the bus to go eat lunch when I started talking about how sweet Sr. Lala was to have taken care of me my first night in the field, when i kept throwing up. Sr. Echols then said how its funny as women we love to take care of people and then proceeded to tell me a story. She was talking about one of her friends from Utah that has diabetes, and i guess pretty bad. She said that one time she went over to his house and was having to take care of him and stab him with his shot so that he would not die. I didnt think anything of it and was asking questions about insulin and whatever else. Then it started getting really hot in the bus and I felt kind of woosy. Well then I knew what was coming. I told her that I was going to faint and that she needed to talk to me about something else. Well by then it was too late, I was losing it. I slid down in my chair a little bit and fainted. Right before i fainted i had looked out the window to see where we were, this bus stop Bel-Air. Well about 30 seconds later i woke up to Sr. Echols trying to talk to me and say what we were going to do when we got home. I was startled because I, as always, thought i was waking up after a good nights rest. Well no, we were one bus stop later and apparently I wasnt out very long. Just long enough for me to make weird sounds and then twitch in my companions arms. It was quite the expereince. One that she will always remember. Fortunately she is studying to be a nurse so this was just preparing her for the future. Anyway, I still got it fam. I still faint when I hear stories about medical things. Hopefully that will be the seul time when i will faint on my mission.

So that was the big news of the week. Other little things i want to say are one that Lausanne is the Olympic Captial of the World. Isnt that cool?! There is a museum here and a park and a stadium and all this cool stuff. Sadly the museum isnt open right now because it is being renovated until 2013, so looks like I will just have to come back another time to see it.

Another thing I have been wanting to tell you is that when i get home i want to learn how to sail. For some reason I have ever since i got into the MTC and it is just fortified here. There are so many sail boats and little harbors and I just get so happy every time i see them. So yes. If someone wants to join me in that, plan on it, next summer, okay? Another thing is that last week a bird pooped on my shoulder while we were street boarding at a port. It was on the right shoulder. Someone should tell me that it was good luck or something because it was kind of gross.

Any way. Life is good. The weather has been pretty good. Not too too hot but hot enough to give me a baby tan. And its super funny because i have a strip that is not tan because my bag goes across my chest. Thank goodness I only have one summer of awful tan lines.! (:

We got a new ami this week. She is a miracle and is totally elect. I will talk more about her next week because I am out of time. I love you alot. Tried to send pictures but its not working. The castle was pretty awesome last week. Will be going to chocolate factory next week.

I love you all. Be good and do whats right. I asked mom to write me a written letter last week and she didnt so if someone else wants to write me a hand written letter that would be cool. They are really cherished :)
Until next week.
Soeur Addis

PS Her address is:
Les Missionaires
Soeur Addis
4 Chemindes Clos
1020 Renes
Suisse

Forgiveness is a Coupon to Heaven

from email dated July 9, 2012


HHEEEELLLLLLOOOOO (Mrs. Doubtfire voice)

How are you my sweet, sweet family? I am doing well. It has been a good week. We have interviews with President Roney and it was great. I learned so much from him already. I know that he is truly inspired and that he is meant to be the mission President for the France Lyon Mission at this very time. We also obviously met his wife and four of their children, out of 8. Three will be staying with them the whole time and then their other son that is here will be going back to Utah in a couple weeks, to BYU. They have a daughter on a mission in Paris, and a son in the MTC who will be going to the Barcelona mission. Kind of funny that they are in bordering missions to their parents! Hopefully if I already told you that. So, I hate to admit it but I was kind of nervous to meet this big CEO/ Founder of NuSkin. But he is wonderful. He has so much love for this work, for his family, and for the Lord. He will be a great President for our mission.

He taught us something that I just love, well many things but something I want to share. Its the subject line of this email. He was talking about loving others and the importance of it. And then he was talking about forgiveness. And he said that we should be HAPPY when someone does something wrong towards us because that gives us the opportunity to forgive them. And when we forgive others the Lord is going to forgive us. He said that when someone does something bad that it is great because its like they are giving us a coupon to heaven. But it is so essential that we truly forgive and do not hold grudges and things like that or else the Lord will not be able to forgive us! Don't you just love that! I want all of your to remember this when someone does something unforgiveable against you. And then I want you to forgive them, because the bigger the crime, the bigger chance you have of getting into Heaven. You know what i mean? Super cool. It was a wonderful and uplifting time with the Roneys and the other missionaries. I always LOVE being around other missionaries. It just brings such happiness.

Now for the rest of my week. It was good. We still dont have any one new to work with and continue to try to find people. As President Murdock would say, they are hiding in the nooks and crannies, or the holes in the rocks. The elect are there! I know it, if not there would not be missionaries here to do this work. So therefore, I will continue to work to find these people!

Today we are going to a castle. Pretty cool. They have a lot of them here. Well maybe not a lot but more than Geneva. I will have to send pictures next week. My camera broke in the part that connects the usb to the computer so I have to put my memory card into Sr. Echols camera in order to load stuff onto the computer. Plus I dont have any new pictures for this week. Well maybe I do from conference but those will just have to wait.

Something that I loved from my studies this week was going through my patriarchial blessing and listing the promises, admonitions and warnings. EVERYONE DO THIS. You will see just how blessed you really are. Its super awesome. I just kept listing more and more promises and blessings it was so cool.

I should be going but I love you all and wish you a wonderful week. Keep calm and carry on!

Soeur Addis

P.S. I was studying the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy Ghost also this week, you should try it. Its cool to find out things we never knew about this great gift God has given us.