Letters from 9/29

Thanks for the stamps and adresses Mama. That story about the secruity
guys at work was funny! I hope you had fun at the Dixie Classic Fair.
Did Danielle judge something?  I am glad you enjoyed FHE, I havent
seen that movie, Ill have to watch it once I get back! Daddy it sounds
like seminary is going well! That is wonderful about the spirit being
so stong in the class. Thanks for the wall comments and birthday
wishes! I am so excited for Zoey, I hope it was a wonderful experience
for her going through the temple! Thanks Sister Jackson, it is nice to
know I sound mature! haha and yes Brooke, my hair is a mess, my
companion loves it and always tells me it looks fine, but its wild, so
I will take any help I can get! I didnt get to tell you about the rest
of my birthday! That night some of the Latino Elders made me this
Balloon thing that consisted of a card, a pot and 3 balloons withy
glitter glue. It was so nice, and I like birthdays here because not
only did the Elders sing to me on my birthday but for the next 3 days
after as well. My district also got me a couple brownies with a candle
and a card. It was so nice. I also got birthday letters from my
friends Ciara and Owen and also from Aunt Linda and Uncle Terry and
Danielle. It was great. I also got one from Rach with a special story,
just for me! It made my day! So I went out into the real world on
Monday to talk to real people. My teacher lied when he said I wouldnt
have a Latina companion, I did. I actually had two. It was nice but I
felt bad because I felt like I didnt contribute much, but I got to
bear my testimony and I enjoyed being out there a lot! We get to go
out and explore the city with the President and his wife on Tuesday,
so that is really exciting, he even says we get to go to Wendys or
Taco Bell!. All my Latina
friends and some of the Nortes leave this week and now I am one of the
old timers here, thats crazy! I only have three more weeks in the MTC
then they are shipping me out! I love you all and hope you are doing
well! Take care!! Mwah!

Youre right it is crazy they have that many dialects! My roommate from
Guatemala speaks 10 languages!!! 10! I just hope to master spanish!
Thats cool about church, Im sorry you wont see the Scribners but thats
awesome youll be out at the same time! I love you!!! And you are the
good example!
 
 
 

Letter from the Birthday Girl!

Thank you for the birthday wishes!!! I loved all of my cards and
stickers! The other Hermanas were so sweet and wrote notes and left
them on my door (I can read half of what they say, I will have to take
a dictionary to them later) and some gave me a small gift. It was so
very sweet!  but yes I am a good 23 now. I look much wiser now, it
really is too bad you cant see the wisdom coming off me. But it really
is cool that im in guatemala on my 23rd birthday! So the
volcano...yeah i didnt know about it till a day or so later. We are
like 20 miles from it and I didnt even get to see it! there is a hill
here that blocks our view! Im a bit disappointed, but im sorry you
were worried, but im am completly fine! Thank you so much to Aunt
Linda, Uncle Terry, and Aunt Louise! Also thank to Miss Rachel
Jackson! I'm so grateful to them and their support!  So yesterday they
let us out of the gate and I got to go talk to people around the
temple and share my favorite scripture. We talked to to one couple
from Hondurus and the man told us he wasn't a member but he was just
here with his girlfriend. so we shared a scripture and then he asked
us where we were serving, and then he was like "oh I served in Costa
Rica". He tricked us, and he spoke English! it was rather humerous.
Then after that there were all these little kids so we went over and

talked to one, He was 14 and im pretty sure he hit on me, so that was
a good time. My companion and I really didnt know what to do, so then
we informed our teacher after we got back to class and he just laughed
and was like "oh yeah I was wondering about that".  We are suppose to
go proselyte real people on Monday!!! Im excited yet a bit nervous,
but more excited. We were suppose to have Latino companions for our
first time out but we just found out we, the Nortes, will be flying
solo with our knowlege of 10 spanish words, so I should have some good
stories next week! So I got to go to the Temple on Tuesday. It was
beautiful, but really what temple isnt? They did almost everything in
english, Im hoping to do it in spanish before I leave. We also had
Elder Amado of the 70 come and speak to us. It was great. He said that
the hardest thing for missionaries to do is to see themselves as God
sees them, and I think that rings true for everyone. That we need to
remember who we are and how important we are to our Heavenly Father.
Its when we forget that, that things tend to become harder.  So I hear
Ryan has a girlfriend! That is super cute and I hope they are having
fun together! but I can see Andrews point....it is dumb to date anyone
til your 21!  How is everything at home? The festival you went to
sounds fun! We will have to go when I get back! I am so grateful for
all of you and I love you all so much!!!  ...... Also it took 8 days for me to
get your dearelder. They only come on Thursdays I think! I love you!
Email you in a week! Mwah!

Letter from 9/16/2012 at Guatemala MTC

Hey Hey Hey, Yeah it is colder here than I anticipated, I wear a
jacket or sweater everyday. It isnt too bad though. But apparently my
area is really cold or really hot, depending on where you are at. Tell
Brooke than you and Justin as well. That was so nice of them! Nalani
has my phone and I bought a phone card from the bookstore in the Provo
MTC! My flight over all was like 7 hours and the layover was only an
hour, so not long at all. Dear Elder does work here! I got one from my
friend Alison so that was nice, I also got the birthday cards you
sent! Thank you, but i havent opened them yet! Johnny also sent me a
letter, it had a lovely picture of the 2 of us he drew....however im
bald in the pic....i dont really know why that is. So about the mail
here, this is all I know... If you are going to send packages put
pictures of Jesus and the Virgin Mary over the seam of the package,
pouch mail takes longer and you dont need an envelope, just fold the
paper in a trifold and put the address on the back and use one
american stamp.  Also after about 2 or 3 weeks, just start sending
letters and things to my mission, sont send them to the MTC anymore
because I probably wont get them. So when we got here they took away
our cameras, passports, and mp3 players. I guess things tend to go
missing, as they put it, but we will get them back in 3 weeks when we
get to tour Guatemala City and when we leave the CCM. The temple is
right outside my window, it is so pretty, its nice to wake up to that
every morning. It is super chill here. I like it here, however I feel
like I have even less time to study than I did in Provo, but thats ok.
My spanish is coming, my grammar is not so hot but i usually can get
my point across with some charades and patientence on the part of the
native speaker. My speeling has gone down the tubes though I feel
like, because my brain is trying to figure out if it is spanish or
english, so thats good. Im not allowed to drink the water here or
brush my teeth or anything like that but I can shower in it and stuff.
Everyone is really nice. I ate dinner with some Latinas last night and
was able to hold a conversation. It was fun, but then they found out I
was studying dietetics before the mission and wanted me to teach them.
I can teach you how to pray in spanish, but a balanced plate that was
more difficult but i think they got it. however while trying to speak
to the Latinas there is a lot of laughter, I think because they think
Im cute and funny, they arent mean about it. We arent allowed to eat
with the elders here during meals, so thats different, but hermanas
always get to cut in line, so thats a plus! How are  things at home?
Anything thrilling happening? I love you all and want you to know that
I know Im suppose to be here and Im learning so much! Can you believe
ive already been out almost a month! Crazy! Oh this next part is for
Tornado, you can read it if you want, but Im pretty sure she will be
the only one that cares! Tornado, it is such a small world! let me
tell you why. First, in my district in the MTC an Elder was on the BYU
volleyball team and I told him about our fantastic date with those 2
volleyball players and I couldnt remember who we had picked except for
Frosty...He told me he is apparently a jerk and is now playing
volleyball in Serbia. I couldnt remember who was with who, so I told
the Elder you had picked him. Also my companion went to high school
with our dearest Crosby, she says she thinks he was in her seminary
class and that he was nice - if you know what i mean. Also do you
remember that race Mattison did  with the binkies for Italian club? Do
you remember that ittty bitty girl on his back in one of the pics he
showed us? Well I sit by her missionay everyday now. So You never know
the coonections youll find. Also be looking for a letter Im mailing
you. It has special information you need to know. I love you!  Anyways
thank you for the Toms everyone! I love them, I was wearing them
earlier today!  You all are so sweet! I love everyone, but my time is
almost up! Ill email you in a week!

Safe and Sound in Guatemala

Hey Everyone! 

I am in Guatemala safe and sound! Sorry I could not talk
long yesterday and I tried to call Daddy but I apparently did not have
enough money left on my card. Sorry. Guatemala is cool, the drivers
are insane though, it is like Utah drivers on steroids. People really
don?t care if there are signs or if you are in a lane or not. It is
much cooler here than I thought it would be, it isnt too bad. Everyone
got off the plane and were saying how humid it was....I have no idea
what they are talking about, feels relatively normal to me. However Im
sure my mission area will be way more humid! It is super small here
and very different than Provo, but I really like it. It feels more
homey....except everyone speaks Spanish. I am with Hermana Morris
again as my companion here, so that is nice. According to everyone
here the Nortes (Americans) have taken over. There are not as many
Latinos as expected. I am pretty sure my P Day here is Saturday, so I
can write again then. I love you all very much! I will write more on
my P Day when I am given more time! I love you all! Thanks to everyone
who has helped me be here and thanks for all the letters of love! Take
care!

 Hermana Krueger (Emily)

MTC LETTER # 2 from Hermana Krueger

Thanks for your emails! I loved them! Also your Dear Elders are much appreciated! They make my day! I got a card from Nanny, it was so sweet! That is so generous of her and Dan to contribute to my funds. I got letters from Tornado and Nalani this week as well! 

Tornado - you will be getting a letter, I'm never too busy for you (like one missionary we once knew)  I'm glad you got a day off....I didn't but that's okay I enjoy myself pero estoy muy cansado (but I'm really tired...look at that spanish!!! what what!... I hope it's right) 

I have 2 new investigators this week so that cool, but I won't get to teach them very long because I leave for Guatemala in 4 days!!!! So I might be able to call from the airport sometime on Tuesday, so be watching out Mama.  I had to get the Hep A shot today and it was a stinkin' 71 dollars....but I guess it's worth it to not get Hep A. They also tried to give me Hep B again but I already had it, so I got that taken care of!

 We have new hermanas in our zone and I love them! They are such a good time! We played soccer the other day, as you know this is a big deal for me. Some of our elders asked why I don't play the sports and I said because I usually get hit in the face, so I tried volleyball my second day here right...and guess what, I got hit in the face, BUT I was super brave and tried soccer and my face was okay! I even scored 3 goals! I didn't know the spirit could help with sports abilities as well because we all know Emily would never have been able to score three goals! 

Thanks for the package! It was wonderful! 

Oh and also I figured out that I want Rach to marry one of the boys from my district. I described him to her in my letter to her, but he is super funny and I showed him a picture of her and he said he could marry that!!! I keep looking at the elders here and imagining my RM friends being here and it's so strange! Oh one of the elders is going to make a record of the hardships of our zone and is going to bury here at the MTC, it's pretty funny!

I got to go to the temple today and it was so nice, it was just what I needed! We also got to watch Prez. Monson's birthday celebration, it was so nice, we got to listen to a bunch of broadway music! Thanks mom for raising me to like the same music as the prophet! We also had a great devotional. There was this sister from Germany who spoke and English wasn't her first language but she was so excited and so cute, so I decided I don't need to learn the language super well, I just need to be super cute. 

It's good to know that Remmington will hopefully be writing soon. I told my companions about his letters, they are looking forward to it. Also I got the letter where Molly wrote her name - that is awesome!!!!

Yeah I haven't minded being in charge too much, it's given me the chance to get to know the other sister's however my Branch President called me fearless, he is seriously deluded! Ha but he is a good man! 

I don't know Elder Brock's first name! As far as I know it's Elder....

Mom I hope things liven up and aren't too boring, I'm glad you got to see Owen's new house! Seminary sounds good Daddy, good luck passing stuff off, that's awesome!!!! Rachel, I'm glad you'll be figuring out your life! Danielle thanks for your letter and your sweet spiritual message! 

Well I better go, the next time I write you I'll be in Guatemala! I love you all so much!! I'm so happy to be here and know that I am suppose to be here! Take care! Tell everyone I love them! How is life in NC! Anything thrilling happening?! Tell me everything!

Love always,
Emily AKA Hermana Kruger

First Letter from the MTC 8/30/2012

Hey Everyone!

So sorry it took me so long to write. I have P Day on Thursdays, so that is when you can expect emails, or as long as I'm here in Provo. There shouldn't be any delay in getting to Guatemala because apparently you don't need a visa to enter the country so this time in 2 weeks I'll be there! Woo hoo!
So I love it here, it is very busy and challenging but I love it! The language is coming slowly but surely. I understand a whole lot more than I can say. I often feel like I'm in the "Peter situation" again from when I was a child. Pronunciation is a problem for me but I'm getting it! Guess what I can pray, bear my testimony and kind of teach in Spanish! Guess what they did to me my 2nd full day here! They gave me an investigator to teach in spanish!!!! Those monsters...haha jk. No it has been pretty cool, my companions and I taught him yesterday for the fourth time and he agreed to be baptized!!!! Too bad he's a teacher here and just pretends and served a mission so my guess is he has already been baptized, but hey it's still pretty cool.
I'm in a trio right now. There names are Hermana Morris and Hermana Fusi. Hermana Morris is from New Mexico and is kind of quiet but I really like her, we get along really well. Hermana Fusi is from California and she is Tongan, so in the words of a little black girl in Wal-Mart, "She got hair like me". We all get along great. It's been a blessing having companions I really like. I really like my district as well. The Elders are all very impressive and they keep me laughing. I made a baseball analogy to the gospel the other day and one of the Elders told me he loved me and then looked super uncomfortable cause you know, we are missionaries, and was like "in a completely missionary way!" It was rather funny in my opinion.
So they've made me coordinating sister, which means I am over all the sisters in the zone. So I get to go to lots of meetings and trainings! There are only 7 sisters but we got new ones yesterday and it was my job to tell them how things go around here, not like I've only been here a week to figure it out myself. But it's been fun, I like it!
Also you can write me using DearElder. com It's free and I get the letter the same day you send it! So use it while I'm here, though I really do appreciate all your letters. I got Mama's and the card Daddy snuck into my luggage, that was so sweet! Thanks! I also just got the Scribners letters and more from Mama and Daddy but I haven't had a chance to read them. Sorry.
Usually on P Days I get to go to the temple but my companion didn't bring here rec here so I couldn't go through so that was sad, but we'll get to go in next week. On Sundays we have a General Authority come and speak. This week it was Perkins of the 70. He talked about the conversion process and how we should be our first convert. His wife talked about how the most important thing is to love your investigators and your companion. I really enjoyed her talk.
They also have gym classes here in the mornings so I'm loving those!!! Oh and I've seen a ton of people I know, lots of friends from Dietetics, a couple people from Freshman year, some girl I don't know, but that knew Danielle....Isenhour I think? And guess what President Brock's son is in my zone, so that's cool. I also got to see Nalani on the day I did my service, so that like made my day!!
I love you all, sorry my time is short! I want you to know that it's challenging here but I love it! the spirit is super strong here and I'm glad to be here! I miss you all! Tell me everything about your life! How's work? How's Seminary? Rachel are you loving school? Dating anyone? Danielle, are you super busy? Anyways you're the best! You're letters are much appreciated! I love you!

Adios Fiesta

 We threw Emily a going away Fiesta the Saturday before she headed off to the MTC. 

As guests arrived, we asked them to make a Worry Doll for Emily, with a note written inside. Worry Dolls are a Guatemalan tradition.  Children make these small dolls to tell their worries to at night and then place them under their pillows.  She took these cuties with her on her mission. 

Of course we had to eat at our Fiesta!  We had enchiladas, rice, chicken, beans, veggies, and lots of fruit.  We served flan and Tres Leches cake for dessert.

After everyone finished eating, we headed outside to hit a PINATA! 

 This cute little guy managed to break open the pinata.  Everyone dashed for the candy, of course. 

There were still lots of people who didn't get to hit the pinata, so they just took turns beating his head. 

 We ATTEMPTED to play a fun hat game.  It is played in a similar way to musical chairs.  Each person begins with a hat and passes the hat to the person beside them.  One hat is taken out of play. When the music stops, the person without a hat is out.  This is what is SUPPOSED to happen.  

We started out well.  We each put a hat on our head and managed to form a circle. 

The adults got the hang of it and started out well. 

 However somewhere along the way we kind of bottle necked.  And hats seemed to multiply.  At one point I was holding 6 hats!  And several people had none.  We tried a couple of times to get it going, but in the end, we gave up and just had fun laughing together.  And the kids just had fun playing with all of the crazy hats!

Emily got pictures with all the guests before they left....all the guests EXCEPT for the Kruegers and Scribners.  

 We love you Emily!