First of all thanks for the letters everyone. I will be handwriting your letters later to reply to Matthew and Troy and Brandon and Mom and Dad. Also Marisa if you are reading this then check your mailbox, and yes I received all of your Dear Elders and they were great! Also I got a letter from the Lemmons with money from our ward so tell them thank you so much, and thanks so much Karey and the white family for always Dear eldering me and writing me. It is great.
So, this week has gone by faster. I just got back from going to the temple this morning, and if you haven't gone recently, you should do an endowment session. I felt the spirit and it was so fun to be in the Celestial room with all of the sisters I am going to Tahiti with. I am truly so blessed to go to Tahiti because it is so rare. The mission president's wife Sis. Sinjoux is a politician and rumor is that she pulled a few strings to get more sisters to come to Tahiti. Before the church was only allowed to send a total of 25 missionaries from America to Tahiti, and now they can send as many as they want. Islands are opening up that haven't been open in years, and it is crazy. I am so excited, but I don't care where I go. Even if I stayed on the main island the whole time, I would be thoroughly happy.
I would like to say sorry that the hamster died. I guess it is sad. I didn't really have a personal relationship with Chubs, but I am sure Troy and Matthew miss him. R.I.P. Also, it sounds like everyone had a really fun time dirt biking and stuff. And I am jealous Matthew and dad went to sliding rock. That sounds really fun. Again, thanks for the Madeline pictures mom. They make me happy, and I miss watching that show. I really love you guys, and I miss your sense of humor all of the time.
Anyway, this week has been good. My French is getting better and my teacher made me cry because she said she was so impressed and she knew the Lord was helping me. Poor Sis. Buswell ( my teacher) said when she was at the MTC, her teacher was a joke and she learned absolutely nothing. She learned almost all of her French in the field. I know I will inevitably learn a lot in the field, because truly you learn a language by speaking it, but it is just nice to have a good foundation of helpful teachers. This week we got 34 new Elders in our zone all going to France. I know one of them from Lone Peak, but the rest of them are just from around the world. We got 2 boys from England and they are so funny. I made them talk in an "American accent" and they thought I was weird when I laughed They say funny words like " trousers, corridor, and such", and I am sure dad would understand their English words ha. Our lessons are getting better and I don't have to read things directly off a page. I am getting better at translating and that is nice. Sis. Judas, a return missionary from France had me read to her in French and she corrected my pronunciation which was good. Tahitian French is different than "pure French" because in Tahiti, they roll their "r's", like Spanish, instead of doing the guttural French "r". That is hard for some people in my district, because they learned French in a French accent, not a Tahitian one, but luckily I don't have to unlearn that habit. I just am learning French "the dirty Tahitian way". It is so pretty though.
So here is the funny story of the week. Sis. Buswell was telling a story about missionaries that landed in the Austral Islands (French Polynesian Islands of the south), and were given the gift of tongues and immediately converted many Tahitian people in the 1840s. After telling us about this special missionary and I just blurted out " Is he still alive? " , and everyone laughed because clearly he was dead because he was from the 1800s. Basically I just have a lot of dumb blond moments all of the time, and everyone doesn't know what to think of me. They classify me as a "hipster" which is annoying, and they also call me the "workout guru". For some reason everyone in my district has this false notion that I am athletic just because I know how to do Pilates I teach girls Pilates every week and it is fun, but I am not what they think I am. So, yah also everyone thinks I am some crazy runner girl, which is wrong, but whatever.
One of my favorite days this week was Friday because we got our teacher Sis. Buswell to spend 3 hours talking culture with us. It makes me so excited to go to Tahiti. Basically I have learned that there has never been a missionary that went there and didn't gain weight. It just happens, and sisters gain about 35 pounds. Sis. Judas gained 20 pounds on her mission in temple square and she said when she would Skype home, she would wear a coat so her family couldn't see what she looked like. I find that so funny. But seriously all of the return missionaries from Tahiti just say when you get home, you lose the weight super fast and it doesn't even matter. I am just excited to serve, because I know there are people out there I am supposed to teach. I have felt that so much lately, that Heavenly Father is sending me out to find people prepared to hear the message of the restored gospel and the joy it brings. Even though being a missionary is really hard, it is so nice to have such a good and righteous purpose to bring others to Christ. Sis. Buswell told us all about the people she taught and how she became part of their family. She said we are going to have many adopted "mamis and papis" in Tahiti, because a lot of your investigators get really attached to you. She also told us about how if there is ever a nice toilet anywhere to just use it, because you won't get the opportunity later. Sis Buswell got to do so many cool things in Tahiti, it is crazy. Tahitian missionaries have such crazy stories.
I am really sorry, because I feel like this letter is really random, but just know that I have a testimony of the restored gospel. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the only way we can return to live with God is through us using the Atonement daily in our lives. I have used the Atonement many many times to help me recently and it works it works it works! The Lord's tender mercies are so great.
Anyway, I have got to go because I am almost out of time, but I will try to send some pictures. Thanks so much for the letters and check the mail for more written letters from me. I was so happy to receive some food from home. And I was so happy to eat a Mazurka mom! Thanks thanks thanks. I am going to go to my room and eat some Biscoff cookies later and I am so excited!
Well, make sure you read your scriptures, because they are good.
Love you,
Soeur Kimball.
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