Sis. Kemmerer and Sydney

 MMmmm! Pie!

 Those are slippers, Sis. K, not mittens. :)

 They are so soft!

 These are the other two sisters that share the apartment.

 No Sis. K, they aren't ballet slippers either!

 Sis. W was so surprised to see that someone had a left a Christmas tree on their doorstep!

 How nice!

Hi Everyone!

Sounds like you all had an awesome thanksgiving! well a whole week of it!  Sweet pictures you sent!  The Nat'l Guard jump thing looks super fun! Everyone looks awesome!  All the Aunts and Uncles!  I Like the beard, uncle scott!  And Aunt Louise Looks Great!  Okay, and Logan, Mitch, and Isaac have grown a ton already!  Y'all are gonna be huge when I get back, i dont even know if i'll recognize you!  That's okay though. :)  Man, I miss you boys.... write me letters when you can! :)  I'm happy school is going well for everyone!  Logan, 12 days of highschool left...  YOU CAN DUUUU IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT! ;) push through it all!

My week was pretty good! Crazy as usual!  Tuesday we had district meeting and b/c i was new the zone leaders told me to introduce myself.  We were talking before and there is a Samoan in my district. Get this.  He was born in American Samoa, lived there for 8 years then moved to Maryland. You'd think he'd know at least a BIT about his heritage... but no.  So b/c of this, the ZL told me to introduce myself in Samoan. And i did. it was hilarious. no one knew what i was saying, and the elder was rolling his eyes at the ZL b/c he knows everyone teases him about how i know more about his culture than he does. Kind of funny :)

Tuesday we were also surprised to find out that we were being handed another ward!  So now we are over the Stone Crest and the Montelena Ward.  No, they aren't 'near' each other. they are about 3 miles or so apart.  Sis. Kemmerer and I are what they call "white-washing" the ward.  basically it is just whenever both missionaries are new to the ward at the same time.  we are both figuring it out together.  The Montelena ward is great actually. and the reason we got this ward is b/c they did ward splits (meaning they realigned all of the boundaries of the wards in this stake) last week - our stake now has 11 wards! WHAT?  I'm sure there will be a stake split here within the next year.  Anyway the Montelena ward is definitely more wealthy than the StoneCrest ward, BUT both wards have their pros and cons.  Both Bishops are great, poor bishop alleman of the montelena ward. he was called a week ago to be bishop, and he starts a new job today! talk about a lot going on! oh and he has 6 kids ages 17-3! We told him if there was ANYTHING We could do to help to just give us a call. great man though!
 
THANKSGIVING.  i'm not gonna lie. it was probably THE MOST AWKWARD THANKSGIVING I'VE EVER HAD.  We had to proscelyte (spelling?) that day. so we sent out a sign up of members that wouldn't mind having us stop  by for a half hour or so b/c we didn't want to interupt their thx-giving. We had several stops throughout the day visiting various members of the ward.  Some had out-of-town, non-member families that we tried to talk with.  It was pretty awkward for us because we are both new to the mission field and new to this ward so we don't really know anyone.  Everyone was kind and let us in so that was good.  We did have a nice Thanksgiving dinner at noon that lasted for three hours! Talking, eating, talking, eating... you get the idea. Overall it wasn't a bad day, just different.

SO much happened this week i can't fit it all in with the time restraint.... so here is the highlight of sunday..... we had church form 9-3 then prepared our lesson for one of our investigators.  long story short... we get there last night. he has a ton of questions, we go in cirlces because he isn't understanding that he has to read the BOM and pray about it to know it is true, and then he can know that JS is a prophet... so we go in circles all night. THEN he asked sis kemmerer if she was married b/c of her CTR RING she said no. then he  asked me, i said no (no CTR ring) and during the lesson we caught him staring at me and wasnt listening when sis kemmerer was testifying to him!  (we had suspicions before but they were now confirmed.)  and when we left he gave both of us hugs!!! (Mayday mayday mayday!) we both tried to avoid it, but it was so awkward. WE get to the car and both freak out a bit. sis k said -He has a crush on you! i said, i know! then we tried to figure out what to do. in the long run we handed him off to the Zone Leaders.....! AH! what? how does that happen!? i was telling him to read the BOM and to pray! man, what a mess.... i'm glad you all don't have moments like this!


miracle for the week: Another of our investigators, Adam... we were thinking of dropping him because we didn't feel like the desire was there. he works a ton, and is hard to get a hold of.  BUT friday night we get a call from the lady (LessActive) he lives with - he calls her mom. she calls us and says that next friday we are going to see the xmas lights at the mesa temple and that he still wants to be baptized!!!!!! he needs time, but the desire is still there! woop woop!
 
so out of time.... :(

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!
-Sister Camilletti

 Monday November 25 2013

Just hit my 2 month mark...What??

TALOOOOOOFA.

well just another crazy week in arizona filled with surprises. Let's see... Last monday night we taught a lot of less active families. mostly the temple presentation (did i tell you all about that? i think i did last week...?) Tuesday we had District meeting where we do more training and roleplayes... i'm starting to enjoy role plays - they help me so much!  they always show me what i know and mostly what i don't know or what i dont know how to say correctly... so thankful for that!  i'm learning to rely more and more on the spirit when teaching lessons - it all comes down to teaching the people, not teaching a lesson. 

Then one of the cats on the 'farm' hissed at me... i hissed back, naturally. ;)  then i ran away haha!

I got to bear my testimony in Samoan tuesday night with the family that fed us dinner. :) i like that.   wednesday we were out all day in this one neighbor hood visiting less actives, part members, potential investigators, and active memebrs.... so yes, everyone.  we parked the car and walked. it was great because we had opportunities to OYM (open your mouth) with people on the street.  we talked to about 4 high school kids.... that didn't go as well as others... let's just say that i was talking to this kid who had scream-o music blasting in one ear and his oppinion is that all religion is the same... so i basically butchered an answer and i got nervous (he kinda scarred me) and basically i told him that he needed to come unto Christ and follow the commandments... WHAT? yes i embarrassingly called a highschool kid to repentance in the middle of the road........... (the MOST embarrased)  that is NOT what we do... seriously i just wanted to be under a rock after those words came out of my mouth......  sis collins just laughed and told me that that is the only way we learn.  so i've Learned this week to NEVER call people to repentance becasue all you get is you feel like is a fool and he looks at you like you have three eyes. -_-

Thursday morning we helped a 90 year old man in our ward lay winter sod in his front yard. that was fun! I really enjoyed being able to do some yard work.  Brother Pugmeyer is so sweet and definitely does NOT seem NINTY years old!  And on Thursday I finally memorized the missionary purpose in Samoan, feeling good!  And Our dinner canx so we went to olive garden and had soup and salads.... the waitress was really nice and very curious about the church. we talked a bit, but left her our number and a mormon.org card with the tip.  hopefully she calls!

IT has been really raining Thursday, Friday and Saturday... nothing soaks up the rain, so there are giant puddles everywhere still... some flooding too.

Friday we had Elder Bruce D. Porter (who is doing a mission tour) came and spoke to us (about 1/2 the missionaries in our mission) in the morning.  He stuck to the basics of faith, baptism, repentance, and the holy ghost.  all great insights tho!

THEN friday night i got a call from president nattress that i'd be transferring in the morning.  I guess one of the sister's that i flew out with didn't want to do the mission anymore, so she went home and president saw that we no longer needed a trio, so he sent me about 10 minutes down the road to be companions with sister Kemmerer.  She is great, lots of fun and energy.  She is 19, left for her mission in august, so she knows a bit more than i do.. but we are both definitely new and trying to figure things out together.  she is from New Hampshire and reminds me a lot of megan conrad. so that's awesome! :)  We live in an apartment with two other sisters.  Right now we cover only one ward - the stone crest ward in the queen creek stake, but there is talk of us taking over another ward this week... so LOTS of people to get to know and new dynamics to adjust to.  The apartment is nice... i have to sleep on the top bunk.... its not that bad i guess.

what was hard about this transfer is that i was just getting settled into the cottage (JUST put my pic collage on the wall that morning) and i was getting attached and connected with the members of the ward and even the Less actives and such.... and to sister collins and Sister wallace. This ward, for the two days i've had to get to know them... is so different.  definitely more average income families - not the ritzy people in the last ward. but NO ONE lets us in thier home! Even the members! They say they are busy and that they dont know when we can even schedule a time to come and share the temple video!  saturday was discouraging and so was sunday for the most part.... ON THE GOOD SIDE - in this ward we have investigators!  one is named Adam.  He is 17 or 18 and lives with a family where the mom is less active, and her two other sons (both in their 20s) living at home with her.  They all smoke, but Adam is pretty interested...i'm still getting to know him though.  He was supposed to come to church yesterday but didn't. that was a bit of a disappointment because we know he got work off.... :( We will keep working.  The whole household wants to go to the mesa temple and see the christmas lights as well as the visitor's center and see the joseph smith movie. we are hoping to go with them sometime friday.

our other investigators are a couple, tom and karina.  Karina is catholic and Tom believes in God most days. haha they both have AMAZING faith and i LOVE being a part of their learning process.  Tom has many doubts about things in life, and so we are trying to help with that along with other things.  Again - still getting to know them, BUT we stopped by randomly last night and they were home! So they let us in and had time for a lesson!  We taught the first half of the plan  of salvation! I was a missionary, and it was awesome!! I didn't to a ton of the teaching, but i did say some things, and it was really cool!  THAT motivated me to keep working hard in this area, so we hope to continue with them on wednesday this week.

time is getting short.  i will let you know that the holidays in the states are much harder than i thought they'd be... i get homesick when i think too much about it, so i'm trying to think of other things and stay busy.  We are eating thanksgiving lunch with a family from the ward. don't know them. so we shall see!  ummm yeah. so pres natress expects us to go out and proselyte on thursday! :(  i hate being the annoying missionary who is asking to come in their home when you know they don't want you there but feel obligated to... so thursday should be interesting.  everyone uses the holidays as excuses....... that makes it hard.  but we will do our best!

Miss you! Love you all! i hope you have a great week!

 Sis Wallace, Sis Collins, Sis Camilletti

 Arizona sunset

Current companion Sis Kemmerer!

Nov. 18, 2013

Subject: First Week in Arizona... it's been a bit rough

Hey!

so I get off the plane and it is 95 degrees. WHAT? haha so strange... it cooled down since and is only in the 80s most days.. pretty nice actually!

New INFO:  I am in the town of Queen Creek, AZ!  It is about 20ish minutes away from Gilbert! dont know what direction.... i get so turned around here without mountains to my side..... haha.  i'm in the Ranch Ward in Queen Creek... not sure what stake... sorry.  and i have two comps this transfer.  Sister Collins is from Naperville, IL - been in AZ for a year now and is really nice - she and i get along pretty well and she is a great trainer to me. she makes me better each day!  Sister Wallace is from Austin, TX, and has been out about 4 or 5 weeks.. she is also a visa waiter going to Rio Dijanero, BRASIL (Yeah i know i spelled that wrong, but you get the idea haha).  She is about 5 foot nothin - really tiny haha. and is a little harder to get a long with only in the since that she is a bit of a worry-wart. she keeps us on task which is good, but i also feel like she could relax a bit - i'm worried she is giving herself an ulcer.  She is a great missionary though and is very helpful becasue she knows the queen creek area better than sis collins and i.  this is a new area for sis collins. so the hard part about last week and and i'm sure this week too will be getting familar with the area and the people and our area book needs some serious help.  organization is key with the area book when we have no clue about the town or people.  We currently have NO investigators :( BUT we have many potentials we are going to visit this week as well as a TON of less active and part member families we want to work with.

the main focus of our mission right now is the GILBERT TEMPLE.  we basically are going to each member family's home, showing them this video (mormon message: why mormons build temples (and) blessings from the temple) and then we testify of the temple to them, then ask for their testimonies, then ask them if they know of any one in the area who would benefit from seeing this (obviously non-members)  we then set a followup with them.  basically we are trying to find investigators through the gilbert temple.  the open house is from january 18 thru feb 15th  or something. so we are inviting AS MANY AS POSSIBLE to it! fun huh!?  I enjoy it, but it is all still really new.

let's see.....

well tuesday after i met with President Nattress (YES he and his wife are JUST as nice as they seem!) i... well.... lost it.  i got really overwhelmed because i flew with 14 other people and about 12 of them weren't visa waiters and were all part of the same district at the MTC and were best buddies. so even all day tuesday i felt like a loner and just wanted so badly to be in NZ! so i lost it and cried in the bathroom of the stake center for probably an hour.. (sorry thats pretty depressing haha)  tuesday night we stayed with a member family near by (they split us all up with many families).  i stayed with the Bently family and they were awesome!  Cute kids, and the oldest was 12. she left me and my temp. comp sweet letters in the morning when we got up.  those letters meant a lot to me. she said i was her hero! WHAT? so cool!

then wednesday i got my two new comps and we jumped right into visiting the members and sharing the temple video.

Then Thrusday during comp study i broke down agian... see a pattern? haha. so with comp study we do a lot of reciting such as D&C 4, our missionary purpose and two other pages from PMG (Preach My Gospel handbook).. THAT was all new to me and the other two just left me in the dust and on top of that i had felt like a burden to them so... i lost it. yay..... but after i got my feelings out i felt much better, and our relationships grew. and good news... i haven't cried since! woop!

So yeah.. this transition has been tough for me to say the least.  i now know what to expect, but also miss sister pe'a a ton!  i'm trying to be diligent and obediant here. tyring to find out why i'm supposed to be here, but it's been REALLY hard.  Each day does get better tho!

The members are really nice, and its definitely a more wealthy area for the most part. HUGE houses that we've been visiting.  There is also an area in our ward boundaries referred to as the "proving grounds"  i'll try to send a video.. but we LITERALLY  "offroad" to these members homes! so crazy!

my favorite moment with teaching people so far was on saturday when we met with a less active family - the Navarros.  they rarely come to church. and both are converts when they were in their 20s.  after bro navarro was baptized they got sealed with their kids in the temple. i found that THAT is why they've stopped coming to church... they didn't fully understand the temple.  So with knowing that,  i hope to help them come back to church.  i felt a connection with them, and hope to find success.  bro N was kind, and welcoming, sis N was very distant and sometimes short with us.  PRAY FOR THEM! :)

Bishop hatch is great and i love his family!  ALL are so fun!  He is a great bishop that will be very helpful with our missionary efforts.

ummm... yeah so we live kinda on a mini farm! cool, huh dad!?  we live in an annex to a member's home! its a cute little cottage! we have a study room, a room with our beds, a kitchen, a front/living room, and a laundry room! AWESOME! it really is nice - just the three of us!  I wake up to goats every morning "BAAAAAHH" - ing! :) sometimes funny, sometimes makes me grumpy ha! we also have chickens and roosters and turkeys and cows across the way a bit.  i like it!  and i'm so grateful we have a car and dont have to bike! :)

well today we got our eyebrows waxed... then went shopping and now i'm here emailing.  well i'm so happy to hear you all are well! sounds like topeka is treating you all well!

oh, and with lang study i get ONE hour a day... never enough. i try to say my prayers and do as much as i can... but i'll be honest... i feel like i'm losing bits of it. the cool thing is that some of the members ask for me to pray in samoan so they can hear it and im thankful for that.

oh, and i saw the hiltons wednesday! that was aweomse! then i saw their son... not sure which one... forgot. but he recognized me in the hall on sunday! very kind! i think he is in my stake!

I only have ten min left so here go my questions.... :)

how is family scripture study going?? where you all at?

mom, have you been able to read that list of scriptures i sent ya a little bit ago?

do you all like the ward?

what are yall's plans for Turkey day??

will you please pray i get my visa soon, yet in the lords time!? (being patient, but i DO want to get to NZ one day!)   and i wont find out when i go to NZ except the week before the next transfer.. so we will see. this transfer is only 5 weeks 'cuz of christmas, and the next one is 7 weeks....

logan! Mitch! Isaac! HI! miss you, love you! hope you're all happy!

man i love you all!

talk to you all again next monday!

Alofa taimi uma,

Sista Camilletti

Nov. 18, 2013

Subject:  Arizona!

Pictures first...

-gilbert temple is Beautiful! and HUGE! Seriously, breath-taking! It opens in January!

-we have goats in our backyard! more on them in the main email... :)

-the goats remind me of sparky and jack...

-our little house is so cute, and really nice! again, more on that in the main email

-we have a car! praise to the lord... what a blessing!

-only pic of me i've taken in AZ... sorry! I've been so busy, i forget to take pics here... AND believe it or not i have yet to take a pic with my TWO companions... yes i am in trio again...  i love them... most times. (:  so sorry about that. i'll work on it and send one next week. :)

Uh, Hello Again!!

Hi! SO.....

Literally 20 minutes after i signed off email, i went to lunch and was handed a reassignment slip from the travel office from my district leader. I know....

Turns out for whatever reason, my medical papers expired. (silly, I know.) So the kind lady at the travel office handed me my reassignment papers.... I started crying because I will not be going RIGHT to New Zealand as planned. REALLY BUMMED about that.... BUT in other news... I've been called to temporarily serve the Lord in the Gilbert Arizona Mission until my visa arrives!

Trying to stay positive.  I know the Lord has need of me in Arizona first before I get to New Zealand.  I have faith that there is a reason for this, and that I will be blessed if I work hard and faithfully.

I'll send the next email with my NEW Travel info.

143,

Sydney

NEW TRAVEL PLANS!!!!!

I NOW leave Tuesday Nov 12 from the MTC at 4:30am, my flight is from SLC at 8:40am, landing in Phoenix AZ at 10:20am.  Flight: Delta Air Lines DL 2463.

Tomorrow I will have my physical re-done at the Missionary Health Clinic at 9:40, then get my x-rays for the stinkin TB agian at the BYU Health Clinic.  PLEASE PRAY for these to go through this time!!!

Just so you know... I'm not the only one with this.  Elder Merideth and Elder Siufanua also got reassigned... Merideth is temporarily going to Fort Collins! and Siufanua is going to Houston TX South temporarily.  

So crazy!  But I'm doing okay.  I'll just be happy to leave the MTC.  Also PRAY I don't lose the language!  Just like sister Zippro... I'll be English Speaking....

I'll try and get back on later tonight and check in with you all so reply when you can today! 

Love you!

Sister Syd

the one with elder siofanua is the proof the sisters won.. he just wanted to be on our team haha

The BIG group pic is ALL the Samoan speaking missionaries!  LOTS HUH!?  a few of the teachers are in that pic... front row is 2 elders, bro hansen, bro. tolley, and bro. priday, then 2 elders.(from left to right)

I'm gonna try to get a pic of Bro duke and Bro Blaser so you can have a faces to my main teachers!

Hello all!

So i'm not as organized with my thoughts this week.. so sorry in advanced.  Seriously P-days here stress me out... i love attending the temple, but it is in the middle of the day and takes 3 hours.  scheduling is stressful i guess... plus having to start packing and getting things ready to go for MONDAY is also adding to my stress.  I might be short in my message today....

I'm so happy to hear you all got moved in successfully! I'm glad you like it there!  You all sound happy!  Glad you all like the schools and area! Makes me glad!

I'll start by answering your questions from the last DE (dear elder) from you....

-I'm SO EXCITED to go to New Zealand.  Its all starting to get real... this mission thing. :)  Mentally I'm ready to go... physically i started packing today and i will have a little package to send back to you can you send me a dear elder asap with the house address just to make sure i have the right one. packing stresses me out, you all know that. 

-Hearing all your voices will be great too!  I hope to hear as many as possible but i know the boys have school too.... :(  i'll do my best to speak samoan and MAYBE Sing to you.. .haha i might get nervous.  I can speak to you all, but it will be slow, forming sentences is something i can do, but it takes a little while for me.  i'll do my best though!

-travel details... yes i can weigh my bags.. they have a scale that hangs form the ceiling with a hook on our floor of the residence.  I weighed my 'messy, packed' bags and i should be okay... i was at 45 for one and right at 50 for the other so obviously i'll be making sacrifices this weekend to free up some space and weight..... meh wish mom was here to help me do this.. again. :)

Thank you for the backpack! It will be very helpful!  

DAD, WHEN did austin come creep on me?!? haha! That made me laugh!  I wonder which lesson it was.... glad i didn't see him though... i probably would have messed up and flustered... ha ha. 

Oh, random.. i meant to tell you last week but forgot... here is funny story for you all....

A few weeks ago we got two districts learning tongan to come to the MTC.  The following sunday we all were on our sunday walk to the temple and i was near a fountain with my soas when one of the elders (he is Samoan going to tonga) came up to me and said the following...  "Hey my companions bet me 20$ i wouldn't come talk to you, so i'm talking to you." i said, okay thats fine. we introduced each other, then he said he had to say something specific to me and i said, alright.. go for it! this is was he told me... "Has any one told you you look like the Book of Mormon.... cause You're the BOM!"  HA!  I laughed pretty hard.... definitely didn't see that one coming!  So there you go - Logan, mitch, isaac, you now have a new pick up line to use.  Also it definitely wasn't appropriate, but still funny.  The funnier part was watching him return to his companions.... Sis Pe'a said that the fact I was a palagi/white girl, learning their language, that i should expect that kind of stuff a lot.... great.... hahah..... at least you all will get good laughs at it!  

LOGAN!  EMAIL ME! DEAR ELDER ME NO LATER THAN SATURDAY!  Anything after saturday i won't get.... maybe in NZ But i dont know about that yet....  I wanna know how you're doing, how living with the karlsons is going, and your life overall!

We had to say good bye to sis lasike yesterday morning at 6 am!  :(  it was really hard to say goodbye!  I love that girl so much, and am gonna miss her!  She will be an amazing missionary in Hawaii!  And she is warmer than us... :) lucky her!

Yesterday in class with brother duke we played a game to review grammar and vocab... the sisters won. :D  2 sisters vs 5 elders.... booo ya!  Bro duke said he'd bring us a prize, so we will see what it is.. he said it'd be something you can't get at the MTC... so probably a Dr Pepper or something haha... i'm just happy i have bragging rights for a few days. ;]

Sunday it finally snowed for the first time, and i'm pretty sure sis pe`a jumped about 15 feet across the classroom to the window. ha!  it was her first experience with snow so that was fun to watch her!  i was just cold, but it was fun to have snow too haha. all the polys (polynesians) were fun to watch in the snow actually haha.

I'll send another email with more pics!  don't worry!  But i think thats it for my week! I love you all so stinkin' much! Miss you lots too!  I'll call you monday! be ready!!!!  Will i get to talk with dad too!??!? Logan? Mitch? Isaac?

Love ALWAYS and ForEVA!

Sister Syd.

"This is really happening"

Malo Soifua ia latou! 

O a mai outou?! Manuia? Lelei!  Ou te fa'amoemoe atu i outou lelei!!

Sa bisi Lenei vaiaso!  Sa alu o ia vave!

First off, Happy late Birthday to Miss Emily!  Wish i could give you a hug!  Sorry i'm a day late. :)  

Mom, thanks for the moving info/update!  I'm so happy to hear even though your days are all so nuts-o, you're able to have smooth sailing through it all!  You all are in my thoughts and prayers, especially this week!  It'll be hard, but we can do hard things!

Loved seeing Isaac as Jase... SO FUNNY! and SO PERFECT - ato'ato'a!  thanks for sending those pics!  I like seeing your faces! You all are too cute! :)

Thanks for the letter this week, Isaac!  I love seeing your handwriting!  Its getting really good!  and I like the stories about the fall festival! sounds super fun!

Travel plans.... for now our teachers know more than we do, but they spread the word to us the other day.  So sista lasike will be going to Hawaii next wednesday, and the rest of us will be leaving on the 11th to either Samoa or NEW ZEALAND!!!! you guys.. .this is REAL LIFE.. I'm ACTUALLY going to NEW ZEALAND! there IS LIFE after the MTC!  (dont get me wrong i love it here, but i also want to invite REAL people unto christ!)  Thats as much as i know... i will keep ya updated as much as i can! Time is tickin'!

BRYNN SEND ME PICS OF MISTER MASON AND YOUR CUTE NEW HOUSE! Thanks for the Dear Elder this week! Loved hearing from ya! Glad you all are happy!

Thank you, Gramma Linda for the Halloween package!!! We all enjoyed it!  But we will definitely NOT NEED any more sweets or food for the rest of the time here, i still have lots and won't have room to keep it all in my suitcase here pretty soon! :D Love you and pap! 

Gramma Doris, how is uncle Dean doing?!?  That sounds so painful, i hope he and his family are doing okay, and i keep them in my prayers!  I hope he has a successful recovery! Tell them i love them!  I love you and granddad too! NEVER FORGET THAT! =D  and yes it IS beautiful here! got to love the fall time!  it is finally starting to get chilly here, but thats okay because i only have 1 1/2 weeks left until i fly into summer time :) congrats to stephanie! she will be a wonderful momma!

hope your business trip went well dad! :)  happy to hear you came home a day early!

LOGAN! keep updating me on the AFA stuff, school, your life okay! miss you and mitch and 

isaac so much!

Mom, I'm so glad you got to spend so much time with jill, and people at chruch, and your work friends!  YOU ARE SO MANY PEOPLE'S FAVORITE PERSON! :) Definitely one of mine! :)  and I GOT AN EMAIL form JUSTIN!!! Thanks for spreading the word to Dani, tell they hello if you have the chance!!  It was good to hear from him, so thank you!

Okay now, on to my week....

It was busy as usual, but things are starting to click more and more each day with the language and i love it!  We set some goals yesterday all leading up to being able to teach by the spirit and not with notes.  Its been easier this week for me - when i go to teach "tasi" or "toe" i just take my scriptures and my 1 notecard with english bullets, then form my sentence in Samoan!  Its kinda fun... okay okay, i love it! and i canNOT wait til i can teach without any notes, and speak more fluently so i can express my excitement and love to these future REAL investigators! AH!

On Saturday night I was able to listen to 2-3 conference talks in Samoan, and it was awesome! remember when i freaked out this summer and said, there is no way... wellllll there is! No i didnt understand it all, but i did understand pieces! and i call that, a success! wooop!  

With the language, on sunday i worked on memorizing a few articles of faith... here is number 1!

"Matou te talitonu i le Atua, o le Tama Fa'alelagi, ma i Lona Alu, o Iesu Keriso, ma le Agaga Paia."   =D

Sunday night was great.... sister chammings fell asleep right away, and i was still up writing in my journal a 1/2 hour later and noticed she got up and almost ran into the door, left for a few minutes, came back, told me, "I think my dog is lost" i chuckled, then just told her to go back to bed... she said okay and did, but then it continued.. she said, "oh nevermind he isnt." then time goes on and she starts telling me about frogs and then sits up in bed criss cross then lays down over her criss crossed legs... you had to be there, but i seriously died, it was so funny... i had to go inthe hall way because i didn't want to wake up the other sisters i was laughing that hard.... oh man, and she didn't remember a thing in the morning... loved it.

Monday my soas and i had the BEST lesson with "Toe" (aka bro. duke as our investigator) ever!  It was so great, speaking to someone and not reading off a paper feels so good, and i could actually feel the spirit!  What made it even better was that i noticed yesterday in class Bro duke was doing our "invitation" which was to read a handful of scriptures i wrote on a sticky-note all regarding the plan of salvation.  it just felt good and made me hopeful for what i'm about to do in a few weeks!

So i'm pretty sure the MTC hires people, members, to play the role of strangers and their job is to talk with us.  out of the 5 weeks i've been here..Twice this week we have run into random "investigators."  They both went really well, and it made me realize how easy it'd be to preach in english! haha, but they were both great experiences for me to participate in preparing me for the real world.  they had challenging questions for us, but we were able to work through it with the spirit's help.  cool stuff!

The last thing i wanna talk about was tuesday night Devo!  Elder Carlos A. Godoy spoke, and just told us of his conversion story. (by far my favorite talk yet)  he is from brazil and was baptized at 16.  the story in and of itself is awesome but this is what i took from the talk...

-don't worry about the language!  (elder godoy struggled with the lang throughout the talk, but i was able to feel and understand his message with the help of the spirit) so if i trust in that, then i know i will have success myself.

-there are 2 parts of the convert's conversion... the spiritual and the social....members are super important to the new convert's because they need friends and support, especially if they themselves don't have support from their own family.

-i have no idea the power of just ONE conversion.  i have the chance to bless generations before and to come of the one person i touch. and THAT is awesome.

WELP. i think that is if for today. gotta go grab dinner then off to class with bro duke.  i'm hoping to get a pic with all our teachers before i leave so i can show you them! we will see....

Have a great week my family!  this is a big week ahead, but i know it's all gonna be goooood. :)  miss you, love you, talk to you in a week. :)

Ou te Alofa ia outou fa'avauvau,

Sista Kamileti

(sweet translation eh? don't worry its still pronounced the same.)

enjoy this last little gem, just because i love you.... =]

October 31, 2013 pictures

Palagi - Pictures of the white girl

4 weeks out!!!

TALOFA LAVA LO'U AIGA!  DID YOU KNOW I LOVE THURSDAYS?

As usual, I have a ton to write you all about... so bear with me another week as you read this disorganized email. (:

-Mom, can you see if you can talk to Dani Ritchins for Justin's mailing address while he is at Basic Training?! I wanna write him, but dont have any address or email for him!!!! thank you in advance!

-got a package from sister smith last week with popcorn and m&ms! needless to say they are gone, and i thank her so much!!!

-Mitch, Isaac, Logan... be looking in the mail in a few days :D

-Tell Gramma Doris I got the Dear Elder from her!  it worked, just so she knows, and i cant wait to see what she and granddad up to these days! i bet she is excited for next week or so when the move happens! I think of her and granddad a lot!

-Last friday Bro Blaser was the "missionary" and our calss was the investigator... it was great to see how he would approach a first meeting and the lesson he gave was great and just what the investigator needed.... BUT i realised i cant speak the lang with emotion like he did, and kept thinking... HOW in the world are people going to feel what i have to say is true if i recite memorized lines?! ugh... i was frustrated with myself for that.... but i've gotten better from that- if anything it is pushing me to keep working and i know it wont come over night.

-Saturday was better than sunday! we had the TRC again!  taught 2 lessons this week!  1st we taught sisters, one served in auckland and said that president lekias is hilarious and wonderful! yay!

our second lesson went well too!  we taugh an RM who served in samoa.  he is a student at byu, too.  anyway our lesson was on receiveing revelation thru prayer. i shared my mission decision experience in samoan (cool, huh!?) and the lesson went well! i felt really good about it. at the end he gave us tips of how to improve, but also what we did well.  he said we gave of  the most organized and planned lessons to him at the TRC!  He also told me that being a palagi my pronunciation it great for only 3 weeks at the time, and that i sound really good! (sis pe'a said he was hittin on my in the most polite way.. hahaha!) he was pretty cute, i'm not gonna lie :) but don't worry mom, dad, i'm still quite focused... but sis pe'a is so funny... she told me afterwards that once we walked inthe the little room for the lesson with him, he was focused on me and she feld like, "we'd make a good couple one day." ha!  she made me  laugh... i did enjoy tlaking to him after words before we went back to class - he is taking chem 105 this semester... i said good luck, you'll survive - i did, by the grace of god.  he laughed...and sorry, but i don't remember his name. anyway thats my funny story of the week! hope you all are chuckling! :D  

-Sunday in RS we heard from Sister Elizabeth Rose from the General RS Board!  She served her mission in Japan and talked about serving others while staying on the straight and narrow path.  And about climbing mount fuji! sweet huh!? in my personal study i watched some of the bible videos the chruch has recently made and then studied the actual verses in the new testament! i learned so much.. .my favorite one is in Luke 12:13-34 i think we ALL CAN RELATE and find something from it.  GO READ IT! NOW. :)  my favorite verse is where Christ says, "Fear not little flock."  Ah, what comfort!  just go read it and you'll swoon with comfort just as i did. hee hee  it was also a beautiful day and we walked to the temple in the afternoon and sang samoan hymns in the back of the temple.... sounded real good... the spirit is real and strong when i sing in samoan.  DID YOU ALL LOOK FOR THE "AUA E TE MALIU ESE" HYMN YET!?  i should have a version of it on that SD Card i sent! look for the videos! we sang that one in sacrament last sunday as a musical number with the sisters  in my room.. OH i got a new calling! i'm now our branch's music coordinator until i leave for NZ!  so basically i organize musical numbers and pick the hymns... boo ya! 

-THANK the condgons for me! They dear eldered me and i loved it!  so good to hear from that awesome family and all the cool things they do!  

-mom im sorry tomorrow is your last day at work! I know it will be hard for you, but you know its all part of the plan to get back with your WHOLE FAMILY. :)  tell everyone in the office i say hello!

-I'm pretty sure Dear Elder works while im in NZ! however... i wont get them the same day you send them... i think it will be once a week i get a batch of them from the district leaders or somehting.... (crossing fingers!)

-we said goodbye to sista fa'alogo wednesday morning at 3:30 AM! (i wonder what time i have to go to the airport!)  she was so ready and excited, gonna miss her, but oakland, CA is so lucky to have her.

-speaking of travel plans... you know about as much as i do.  apparently we don't get our itinerary until a week before we leave... and i've heard rumors that i won't leave hear until the 11th of november.. .probably due to visas... in my district, elder matua's aunt works for the travel dept of the church and check on his info (hes also going to NZ) and she told him it was the 11th as of last week... so i'll keep ya posted!

CAN I JUST SAY IM P-U-M-P-E-D TO GET TO AUCKLAND?!  i'll be there before you know it! woop woop!

yesterday our district hosted the new missionaries that came in!  I saw the Biggs family! (from g-wood!)  talked to them for about a min b/c thats all we had time for!  I helped 2 sisters get settled and to their class just like another sister did for me 4 weeks ago!  it was a great experience, but hard to watch all the dads and especially moms after  the fact that their missionary was gone.  watching them drive away in tears was a bit hard for me... i just saw each of you 5 in our yukon... bleh!  too hard!

-you people are the best. that's all.  work hard this week, and it'll will all work out.

LOGAN TELL ME HOW YOUR INTERVIEWS went!!! i've thought about you all week and especially today! ...and i'll see about the LORDE conversion for ya... ;D

mom. you are a rock star.  dad. you are a rock star.  way to go with finding an awesome house so close to the church house and to work and you will all be together!  that is so good to hear!  i'm happy things are going as smoothly as possible, at least that is how i see it from my side.  wish i could help out!  but just put some norah jones (who i MISS TERRIBLY listening to) on  and i'm there with you all. :D

my heart goes out to you all each and every day.  i AM focused and love this work.  but i am mindful of you 5 as well as grandparents, cousins (TELL BRYNN TO EMAIL/D.E. me!!!!!),and  friends each day!

who knew so much love could fill my heart!?  honestly, my heart feel as if it is to burst any second here... there is so much good here!  i'm almost scared to go back to the real world...even if it will be auckland, nz!  i think that is all i have to tell you all for the week... i gotta go to the temple now (what a blessing to go each week!)

know i am always with you!

'ou te alofa ia outou lava! 

ou te iloa suafa a Iesu Keriso. i know that Jesus is the living Christ, and the the atonement was not only our sins, but also our every feeling emotional and physical - pains, afflictions, temptations, sorrows... he knows it all. he is waiting for us to come unto him and partake of the atonement each day so that we never have to go thru trials alone!  he is always with us!  i know my redeemer lives.  i le suafa o Iesu Keriso, `amene.

alofa fa'avavau.... Love forever....

Sista Camilletti

 This was Day 2

 Uh, good food?

 Samoan lessons are going ... well?  :)

 Cousin! Lucky guy! Austin works at the MTC as a Spanish Teacher.

 Soas! Sisters! All beautiful ladies!

 Thanks Gramma and Pap!

 Thank you Logan! It's like home!

Still has those cute little dimples! LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!