Hello my amazing, wonderful family!

 

I have so much to tell you all, I hope I can fit it in in this short time! So here we go...

 

It has been another good, challenging week and each night when I crawl into my sleepbag, I am exhausted. We work hard and working with the spirit as well as trying to understand and learn a new langugage is definitely draining. 

 

I know you are all dying to know how to be an Uruguayan, so I have a few ways in which you all can become a Uruguayan!

 

#1. You cant have all your teeth and if you do have teeth, they have to be partially rotten. I am thinking about knockin out a few teeth just so I can fit in a little more. haha.

 

#2. Your clothes cannot match. You must own a pair of purple crocs and stretchy pants, oh and be sure to wear them to church!

 

#3. You cant give good directions. haha

 

#4. You ALWAYS have to carry mate, a hot herbal drink that they drink here, with you at all times. (maybe thats whats causing rotten teeth) jaja

 

#5. You must own 3,000,000 dogs that bark all night long.

 

My roommates and I laughed hard about these the other night because they are all so true! Its been a pretty eventful week. We talk to everyone we see everyday trying to find new investigadores. We ride buses a lot and walk a ton, probably 10 miles a day easily! I am so thankful for those good shoes that we bought...thanks grandma and grandpa!

 

Cool experience...Hma Harris and I had a really neat lesson with a man named L. the other night. He has already read the whole Libro de Mormon before. We taught the lesson in his cold house with only one light to light up the whole room. It was a really cold night and the houses here dont have a heater, but I seriously felt so warm with the spirit. We taught him the lesson about the Restoration, but mostly focused on the importance of the Book of Mormon. The spirit was really strong! At the end, we asked if he would pray for us to say the closing prayer. He didnt know how, so we taught him how to pray. And then it was quiet. We all just bowed our head and closed our eyes. No one was saying anything, but we knew that he was praying, a personal prayer. It was a nice night and it made me so thankful to be a missionary and help bring others closer to Christ. Thats my purpose and my job! So cool! I have some really neat spiritual experiences. My spanish isnt very good and I am so thankful to have a trainer who speaks fluently, but Its such a neat opportunity to be able to share my testimony every day, many times a day!

 

I taught a piano lesson on Saturday night after our meeting with the ward mission leader to a sweet sister named Erica! It went really well and I just love her and the people here. It was so funny trying to teach in spanish, but I ended up teaching Do-re-mi. There are a lot of people here who want to learn piano, since no one knows how to. Such a blessing to know piano. Funny story: So yesterday at church, I was sitting in relief society and the branch presidents comes to get me. Yesterday was Uruguays independence day. He asked me to learn their independence song and perform it-accompany it for everyone in sacrament meeting! It was the hardest song! I tried my best to learn it, and performed it in sacrament meeting on the old, old way out of tune piano. It made me laugh.

 

Like I said, we walk a lot here, even on 6 laned highways. Pretty sure that is against the law in the U.S! My companion has made sure to point out all the gang signs around where we live and proselyte. Its a little sketchy. I will have to tell you more about that later. Uruguay is so beautiful! Its just farm lands and vineyards everywhere! They call them campos. There is also some very poor areas with dogs and trash everywhere. The sunsets here are gorgeous too, just like in Arizona!

 

It is super cold here! Our little apartment is like an ice box, but I do have my warm sleeping bag, which is such a blessing!

 

The language is challenging and I am still having a difficult time communicating my thoughts and feelings and understanding what people are saying. Its really frustrating at times, but I can feel your prayers and help from Heavenly Father. I just love being a missionary and being able to be focused on the Lords work. I love the time each morning to study and to learn more. If only I could get this language...it will come eventually. I just have to have faith. I can feel myself changing too, which is really awesome.

 

Mom, thanks for those videos! I would die for a green smoothie right now! They dont eat any vegetables here at all! My poor liver! haha. Lots of fried food, meat, and soda. But might as well enjoying it because I know after my mission, I wont be eating it. Good luck Jacob on your mission! You are going to LOVE it! Work hard and pray hard!

 

misskatielu1 I love you family! Great job on your missionary efforts! Proud of you all. James, you are looking BUFF! Keep it up, bro! Cant wait until you are able to serve a mission!!! hannah4

 

The church is TRUE! Until next week!

 

Con Amor,

Hermana Katie Coon 

 

p.s. I am sending a letter in the mail with more details. Still havent gotten the packages. I cant wait to get them! Also mom, can you send me a few quick workouts

 

LOVE YOU!

WOW! This is where my daughter is living!  I feel so much better seeing where she lives and what she is doing.  We finally got pictures and a letter since she left the MTC in Argentina.

¡Hola Familia!

It is my first Pday in Uruguay! Thank you so much for your emails! I never understood how great emails or letters were for missionaries until I became one! They are awesome!!!

I have so much to tell you about Uruguay! What a week it has been! Uruguay definitely has its own kind of beauty! Right now, I am in an area called Progresso. It is filled with farmlands, campos, cows, sheep, and of course many dogs. There are dirt roads, panaderias, lots of little supermercados, buses, and houses. These houses are different from anything I have ever seen. They are not really houses, but kinda like shacks. Most houses probably have 2 rooms and they are made entirely out of concrete, so it gets really really cold. Its been a cold couple of days. The people here are so humble. They dont have much. Its been really humbling for me to see and experience. My apartment is, well, nice? I just know that I am here to be humbled. Its not the cleanist, but its the best we have. The shower doesnt have any water pressure, and there may be big daddy long leg bugs creeping on the walls above my head at night, but esta bien! I am here for the journey and I am here to serve my Lord, so I will be okay! I am living with my new companion/trainer, Hermana Harris! She is from South Carolina, went to BYUidaho, and has been in the mission field for almost 1 year. She is helping me out so much and teaching me the ways of missionary life! We also live with another companionship, Hma Flores and Hma Chin. Both are super sweet. We have fun in our apartment! The other night, all of our lights were shut off because we forgot to pay the bill, so we had a little campout complete with candles. Now our power is turned back on, and we are all so grateful! I never realized how much we depend on electricity everyday!

The food! The food here is another reason why I am here to be humbled. I have always been so contious about what I eat and how I exercise, but here, that is not an option. For example, the other day, Hma Harris and I had lunch at Auroras house. Shes a new convert in the area. She fixed us something like enchiladas and bread. The first serving had 2 big enchiladas. Before I was even finished with the first serving, Aurora took my plate and gave me a second serving with 2 more enchiladas. The people here are so poor, and they give us missionaries the very best, so we have to eat what they give us. I was so full. Then she gave us 4 more servings of fruit and watched us eat them. Hma Aurora is a nice lady. Speaking of food, I have never eaten so much meat in my life. They eat no vegetables here! The food hasnt been sitting well with my stomach these past couple of days, but our mission president told us that that is normal. 

There are many nice people here, but not a lot of people are interested in the church. We only have two investigators right now, Maria Rosa and Patricia. Patricia has a baptismal date set for Aug 31st!!! We hope and pray all day that she will follow through with that date! There are a TON of less actives in our area, so most of our days are spent searching for less actives and meeting and talking to many people along the way. My spanish is coming slowly and I am able to speak more and more each day. Its really difficult, but I just have to have FAITH! Its been a rough week, but they say your first 2 to 3 weeks will be rough, just have to have a good attitude. I pray all day asking for help because I have such a difficult time communicating and understanding what people are saying to me. 

The branch here is great! The people are so nice and love the missionaries! Yesterday at church, they asked me in sacrament meeting to share my testimony. They also dont have a pianist, so I played hymns on the old, way out of tune piano. They loved it, especially the little kids and teenagers. It was really fun, even though I dont know what they are saying to me. I just smile! 

Hma Harris and I are working hard, trying to talk to everyone we see on the streets. We fasted on Sunday for the Lord to bless us with more investigators. I know that he will answer our prayers. 

misskatielu´´´´´´I love you all! so much! Í am so thankful for my warm sleeping bag, for the scriptures, for my trainer,

for my home in Gilbert, and for warm showers! Send me a picture of the curtains, mom. And also, send me pictures of you guys! So glad the girls like their new school and are making lots of new friends. Tell James to hold out strong on acutane! Its so worth it in the end! LOVE YOU!

Hermana Katie Coon

PICTURES!!!! FINALLY!

 The Argentina Temple

Elder Tyler Day and Hermana Katie Coon.

These 2 were friends in High School and even went to 

Christmas Formal together.

(Awesome to see a familiar face from back home)

Our first snail mail letter

July 25, 2013

Quierdo Familia,

Hola mi familia! Today is P-Day! I wanted to write you all a letter to tell you that I LOVE and MISS you all! I don't even know where to begin... I have so much to tell you.

First, my heart is just bursting with love for this gospel and for my family! My familia eterno! It's so fun for me to show my photo album filled with pictures of our family to all of the missionaries here.  I especially love showing our photos to the Latino missionaries. I tell them about each one of you in spanish. A funny story: I was showing pictures to my roommate, Hermana Sanders who is from Chile. She saw the picture of James and I and she pointed to James and said, "muy guapo!" (WHICH MEANS VERY HANDSOME). It was really funny-James, the Latino women are fawning over your good looks! We have a beautiful family.

Speaking of fanny stories with Latinos...they love Norte Americanos, blonde hair, and blue/green eyes. I 've never been complimented so much in y entire life as I have here! It's actually really entertaining. The Latino elders ask if they can take pictures with my companions and I.  The elders in my district said one night they were walking past a room full of Latino Elders and they were saying, "Hermana Cooooon." So now that's my nickname here, "Hermana Cooooon," in a spanish accent. Quite funny!

I know in one of your emails you asked me if I was noticing the types of different people - and I have! Dressing Your Truth has benefited e so much! First of all, let me tell you about my companions. I'm in a trio companionship - which is more difficult than I thought it would be.  Hermana Gines is almost 22 years old. She's likes to talk a lot! I feel like she is a Type 1 with a strong secondary Type 4. Hermana Gearing is from Iowa and goes to BYU. She is the youngest of 13 children! I feel like she is a type 1 as well, with a secondary Type 4. Both have taken spanish for multiple years and know way more about spanish that I do.  I am definitely learning a lot from them. My CCM President, President & Hermana  Openshaw, I think are both Type 4's. President is so smart in the scriptures. I am amazed every time he speaks to us. I want to be like that! My district is full of Type 1's. My favorite is Hermana Woods! I love her. She is a typical Type 1 and makes me laugh so hard because she's so funny and silly.

You are probably wondering what the schedule is like here. Dad, you were right! We study, sit, eat, teach, and pray all day long! By the end of the day, being in the same classroom with the same people, I tend to lose my mind! I am exhausted at night. My companions and I laugh because the one thing that we look forward to every day is MEALTIME! haha! I have gotten use to the food here - kind of. For breakfast, we are served cereal ( I eat granola). They also serve pastries and all their sweets in the morning, which is a bit strange! My favorite are the alfajores pastry...mmm! They love dulce de leche here, too! This morning, I actually had dulce de leche for the first time on my banana. For lunch and dinner, we are served meat and then a little side. I usually give my eat to the elders and eat from the salad bar. Mom! They have beets! It reminds me of home. Boy, I could really go for a good home cooked meal from you right now, Mom. The food here doesn't compare to your home cooked meals! Besides meal time, we are in class, studying - personal studying/companion study/grammer study/T.A.L.L.(computer program for spanish)/learning how to teach/role playing/and teaching our "investigators". My teachers Hermano Abad and Hermano Baiz are wonderful! They are the kind of missionaries I want to be, it just comes so natural to them.

This week, we taught our investigator, Pablo, and at the end of the lesson we committed him to baptism, and he accepted! Our first baptism! His family was baptized a year ago, so he knows about the gospel! It was great! Teaching all in spanish is very dificil, but each day I am learning more and more.

Being here at the CCM has strengthened my testimony even more. Heavenly Father loves and helps his missionaries.  I feel his loving hand in my life every second of the day.  Whenever I am having a difficult time learning the language or trying to express my thoughts or feelings in spanish, I pray to Father in Heaven and I always receive comfort. I always receive an answer to my prayers. Most of the time, these answers come while reading the scriptures.  For example, yesterday I was frustrated with myself, so I prayed that night for guidance and to know that Heavenly Father was hearing me.  This morning, during personal study, I randomly opened up to a verse: D & C 138:53-55. This verse 53, it talks about "other choice spirits who were reserved to come forth in the fulness of times...etc." It touched me so much because that is exactly a phrase that is in the first paragraph of my patriarchal blessing! I could feel right then and there that Heavenly Father heard my prayers of comfort and peace - and he knows me better than I know myself! He knew me from the beginning.  He love you Dad, Mom, James, Annie, and Hannah! - and so do I!

The way I have learned to study the scripture these past 3 weeks - it's amazing! My eyes have been opened to the wonderful blessing of the scriptures! They really focus here at the CCM on losing yourself and focusing on your investigators. Everything we do is for our investigators, our studies, language study, everything! It's been interesting to try to have all your focus be on someone else, but I can feel the spirit working in me and changing me, humbling me.  We are here to teach people - not lessons!

La inglesia es verdadero! Yo lo se! Yo se que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador. Se que por medio arrepentirse, nosotros podemos venir a El. Se sin ninguna duda eni corazón que Dios vive. Agradezco mucho a mi Padre Celestrial por la oportunidad que tengo de estar y de preparame para servilo a El y a mis herramos y hermanas. Por medio de su Expiacion podemos regresar a vivir con nuestro Padre Celestial.

Mom and Dad: thank you for everything! You are the best parents and I am so thankful for your loving example to me.  I am so thankful for all that you have taught me.

James :I love you, bro! Keep up the great work in everything you do.  Keep continuing to prepare for you own mission. Study Preach my Gospel! I look at all the elders here and they remind me of you. Stay strong and know that I LOVE YOU!

Annie: You are beautiful and I bet you look even more beautiful with your new braces! Always hold tight to that iron rod.  It is so important to have good friends because they will help you stay on that strait and narrow path.  I love you! You are such a great example to all!

Hannah: You are growing up so fast! You are so beautiful with that blonde hair. Like I said to Annie, always hold close to that iron rod and have good friends. You are so strong and know that I love yu!

If there's one thing I want to emphasize to my siblings it is that this gospel is TRUE! If you keep that commandments and obey with exactness you will be (truly) blessed!  Good firends are the key! Stay strong and be a "LIGHT".

I love you all!  I pray for you every night! Thank you for your prayers! I can feel them every day.

xoxo,
con amor,

Hermana Coon

Dear Coon Family,

            Tuesday we went to the airport in Montevideo, Uruguay, to pick up Sister Coon and welcome her into our mission.  She arrived full of excitement and enthusiasm to get to work.

            We have spent the day getting to know her, and we recognized that she will be a great asset to us here in the mission.  We know that she will bless the lives of many wonderful people.

            Wednesday was transfer day and after meeting with her trainer, she headed off to her first area so that she could start ¨ [bringing] to pass the immortality and eternal life of man¨.

            We are now sending you a photo that we took with her.  As you can see, she is extremely excited and ready to start.  We are so excited to have your daughter with us and hope that you receive this photo with excitement and pride in all that your daughter has done to prepare herself for the opportunity that she now has to serve the Lord for the next two years.

                                                                                                          Love,

                                                                                                          The Newsomes

My last P-day at the MTC

Quierdo Familia,

 

I cannot believe that this is my last week here at the CCM! Part of me is really happy to finally leave, but part of me is sad. I have made so many great memories here...Buenos Aires will always have a special place in my heart. ha, my compañeras and I joke around all the time singing,"Its beginning to feel a lot like...prison!" (to the tune of the Christmas song) haha. Six weeks being in the same building in the same class with the same people is just a really long time! ¡Pero, esta bien!

 

It has been such a great birthday week! I welcomed my 20s with a bang! I loved being here at the CCM on my birthday. Theres not many people here, only about 90 people, so everyone knows eachother and sees eachother daily, and for some reason, everyone knew that it was my birthday! I received so many nice homemade cards with kind words, a decorated bedroom door, and lots of love! It was also my sweet sister friend, Hermana Woods´, birthday too! We had a lot of fun! Its going to be such a great year...I can feel it!

 

We went proselyting again last Saturday for the third time! We were in a new area and this time, the bus driver dropped my companionship and another off in the middle of a city, next to a gas station, and said, "Ciao, see you at 5¨!" and then we were off to fend on our own. We were lost and didnt know street names or anything, but miraculously, we found our area. Side note: People are the craziest drivers here...there are no rules for the road! My comps, Hma Gearing and Hma Gines, and I were in a very industrious area, and were having a difficult time finding people to talk to. We knocked on some doors, but no luck. We kept walking down a street and saw this man sitting on his door step. It looked like he was deep in thought. We all felt like we should talk to him...so thats what we did! His name is Adrian. We began talking, and ended up teaching him the whole first lesson on the Restauracion! The best part about it was right when we began teaching, his friend walked up and so we were able to teach both of them and give both of them Libros de Mormon and Restoracion pamphlet! It was so AWESOME! and they were so interested in what we had to say. After we taught, we each bore our testimonies (in spanish :)) I was telling Juan and Adrian that when I read the Book of Mormon and feel happiness and peace in my life, except I was struggling to find the word "peace" and Juan finished my sentence for me! It was so awesome because I felt like he got it! Thats what the gospel brings is happiness and peace into our lives. They commited to read the Book of Mormon and then we sent up a time to teach them again this Saturday! Its amazing to me to think that there are people who have never, ever heard of the gospel...ever! Something is my life, and they have no clue its out there! Juan and Adrian had never heard about Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon or Anything! They must be wondering whats more to life.

 

And you know whats so amazing? Its so amazing that this is my life! That my purpose is to bring others unto Christ and make others happier...that is my job now! Ah wow makes me so happy. 

 

Well, the doctor came yesterday, and I went to see him because I am still having problems with this itchy rash! The doctor was so nice when I was telling him what was wrong. He took one look at the red spots that are covering my body and he diagnosed me with "Pityriasis Rosea!" eek! He said that I have a virus and there is no cause to this virus! It lasts for about 4 to 6 weeks and theres no medicine or anything for me to take. It will go away on its own. Isnt that the strangest thing?

 

So our group of missionaries leaves the the MISSION FIELD on Tuesday morning! Im going to miss the CCM probably more than I think...the hot showers, the pluming, the nice cooks, my companions (love them!), my mtc president, the spirit that is here, my teachers, going to the temple every week, and even our real, but pretend investigators. I will now be in the real world immersed in the culture of Uruguay!

 

I love you family! Me amo! My next Pday wont be until Monday, Agosto 19th. (My pdays will be switched to Mondays now) Also, will you transfer some more money onto my debit...I dont really know how Im going to pay for things once I leave the CCM. Give everyone my love....Love you! Have a great week everyone!

 

Con Amor,

Hma Coon

We love you Hermana Coon

My dear family!

 

Wow! What a treat it was for me to open my inbox and see so many unread emails!!! That is the best feeling in the world! Happy first day of school, girls! Your new school is so beautiful and you both looked so cute in your new uniforms. I liked the ribbons in your hair a lot! I hope your first day went well today and I hope you love your teachers! Wow James, I cant believe all the hard classes you are taking and way to go on getting your eagle project done! Dad and James...you get to go to ALASKA!? That is awesome! Girl weekend for sure, right mom?? Oh man and I could definitely go for some frozen yogurt right now. This has never happened before in my life, but my comps and I crave sweets all the time. Their treats here just dont compare to the ones from home. Actually, right now I could go for one of your big, mouthwatering cinnamon rolls right now, mom! haha.

 

Sounds like it was a good week in Gilbert....it was a good week here in Argentina, too! I just cannot believe that its been a whole month already, and it kinda makes me a little sad to think that I only have 17 more months of my mission left! haha. Time is cruising, especially here at the CCM! I feel like all the days run together. The days are long, but the weeks are so fast here. So last Sunday was a great Sabbath day. Every week, every missionary must prepare a talk on the assigned topic and then at sacrament meeting, the mission president, President Openshaw, randomly calls 5 missionaries to speak. The talks must be written all in spanish. Last weeks topic was charity. After the sacrament, they called the missionaries who were going to speak, and sure enough, they called "Hermana Coon." Ah I was so nervous! I had my talk prepared in spanish, but I was so nervous to get up in front of all the Norte Americano missionaries here and speak solamente en español! All I could do was rely on the Lord for help and guidance because my spanish is not the best. I got up there, and words just started to flow out of my mouth. I dont even know what I said! All I know is that I felt the spirit and I hope others in the congregation did too. It was a really neat experience. I play the piano a lot here too for different devotionals when members of the seventy come, different meetings, and church. It reminds me of home...and I love it!

 

I had the most awesome dream last night! I dreamed in SPANISH! First time since being here! Wahoo!

 

So every two weeks, each missionary has an interview with their district leader. I was meeting with Elder Lambert, and he was asking me how I was doing and how my stress level is. I told him that I wasnt really stressed at all, that I have faith that Heavenly Father will help me learn the language as long as I am trying my best and doing my part. I told him that I have complete trust in Him. Elder Lamberts jaw dropped. He is super stressed. and he asked me how and why I am like that? How do you have that kind of attitude? I told him that I didnt know, I think it was how I was raised! Thank you, mom and dad for being so positive and uplifting all the time. It is helping so much for me on my mission have the kind of attitude that you have. There is no need to stress, we are doing the Lords work! Although, I have learned that theres is no need to compare myself with others. We all have different strengths. I look at my companions, and it would be so easy to compare myself to them if I let myself, but I try really hard not to.

 

Well, only one more email from me until I am out in the REAL mission field. Its crazy! Way to go on your awesome missionary experiences at home! I pray for you all every night. Thank you for praying for me and supporting me in all that I do! What a blessing! Please continue praying for this language to come and for me to be able to teach with the spirit in spanish. Its really difficult, but its coming, everyday my spanish is getting better and better and I am able to understand and speak more and more.

 

I love you all x 1,000,000!

 

Con amor,

Hermana Coon

 

p.s. PRETTY PLEASE, if you can, send me letters on DearElder.com! Letters are so fun to get and I would love to get some actual, physical letters from you that I can read multiple times. They print off the letters from Dear Elder every Pday!

 

p.s.s. Jessie and Josh are having a BOY!!! YAY! That is so exciting!