October 8, 2012

 I'm glad you all
enjoyed conference, I did as well! I really loved Ucthdorfs talk and
how he said to enjoy the journey .Hollands was great too, I love Peter
and how we need to show theSavior we love him, but I always love
Holland! We watched a devotional by Holland a couple weeks ago where
he gave a similar talk. It was funnier in the devotional, he talked
about dear, sweet Peter, who cuts off peoples ears! there were some
points I wished more than anything my Della and my Johnny had been
listening. Oh well. Did Nannie watch it? I am glad you all had a good
weekend together!! So earlier this week I was in the cafeteria and the
Presidents wife came and got me and my companion, she said they needed
to talk to us, my stomach dropped, I knew something was wrong.It was
terryfying. Apparently there was a man killed on the border of Arizon
and Mexico, by his partner. Have you heard about it? It was my
companions cousin, or her cousins husband, so she received that news.
I felt so bad for her but she is doing fine. But I was so happy to
know you were all okay! We have a ton of new hermanas and most of them
are Latinas, some of them I can understand, we have one from
Argentina....I have no idea what she is saying most of the time. We
have 3 Nortes and one of them is really good friends with Ciara, they
were in nursing classes together, so it was nice having that
connection! This is our last full week of classes because next week is
workshops and proselyting! Its crazy! They keep telling us to pray for
a good trainer, so if you wanna pray for that, that would be great
because i need all the help I can get! How are things at home? Im
sorry you havent heard about the job yet! Good luck! How are the
Scribners? How is Rach? How did she feel about the announcment? We
were all freaking out here! That is super exciting! I love you all so
much!

Emily's Letter Home 10/2/2012

Sorry I am emailing off schedule. We are emailing today because we
dont get a PDay on Saturday I think because of General Conference and
because all the new missionaries are getting here so the schedule is
weird for everyone the first few days. So I will email you a week from
saturday.So since I emailed last not a whole lot has happened. They
have made me coordinating sister again...you would think that I would
learn what ever I need to from it. But I am excited, last time I had 6
sisters, this time I work with another coordinating sister and we will
have 24 sisters, which most of them dont speak english so it should be
a good time. We got to go on a tour of the city today. It was so cool.
We saw this huge life size map that shows the geography of Guatemala
and parts of Belice, Mexico and El Salvador. Then are mission
president went through the whole story of the Book of Mormon and
discussed the theory  of it taking place here and where exactly they
think certain events might have happened, like where Nephi might have
landed, where the Waters of Mormon might be and so forth. It was
really neat. Then we went to the market place to do some shopping and
bartering. Things are pretty cheap here but I should probably work on
my bartering skills. Then afterwards we went to Wendys! Yeah Wendys,
just the same as at home, just in spanish. Everyone was in heaven!
Then we got to go to the temple and then one of the new girls came, so
we welcomed her. The rest will come tomorrow. I just finished watching
a devotional by Elder Bednar. It was really good, he talked about that
the main question most members have is "how do I know if I am
following the Spirit or if its just me". His answer was to quit
worrying about it. To just be a good boy or a good girl, keep your
covenants and follow the commandments and you wont go amiss. That most
promptings arent this big, noticable thing and you wont always know at
that exact moment if you are doing the right thing or not. It was
great, that just as long as we are doing what we should be doing,
Heavenly Father isnt going to mess us over. But yeah thats really all
I have to update on here. Oh and we had a talk the other night and
they asked us if we are ready to live in tents in 3 weeks, in the
heat, with bugs...Ill be honest with you, Ill do it but I cant say Im
thrilled about, bugs are sick. But anyway they talked about those
verses in Nephi "and my father dwelt in a tent". Reminded me of that
talk you talked about Mama that some guy gave once. Anyways how are
you? How is work and seminary? Rachel write that boy yet? How is
Danielle feeling and how are the rest of the Scribners? Oh my dear
Tornado goes into the MTC tomorrow! that is so exciting! I am really
sad that I leave here the day she gets here in Guatemala and we wont
even see each other. She will get here at night and I leave in the
Morning. I was going to hide notes around for her here but I was
telling  The mission presidents wife that my best friend was coming
here and she volunteered that if I had anything I wanted to leave her
that I could just leave it with her, so that was nice and Ill probably
do that, but i might still hide a note or something cause that would
be a good time. Maybe ill leave a map with the mission presidents wife
and bury something for Tori and make her search and dig for it like a
pirate. That could be good. Anyways! I love you all! Enjoy Conference,
dont sleep through it, i am going to try really hard not to! Have a
good week and I hope the house is decorated all up for Halloween! I
wish I could see it! Mwah!

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