Catey's weekly email 10-20-09 - Testimony tried

Daddy/Family!!! 

(Mother's note: What is up with Daddy? Seriously? What about Mommy - she must want something)

Wow, you made me cry! :) I am very emotional right now... I have a sinus infection, but am doing great other than the sniffles, and crying at EVERYTHING.  It will go away soon... hopefully. :) I really enjoyed reading your testimony. It always strengthens mine.  I had an interesting, and really amazing experience last week.  I won't go into all the details.  It's a really long story.  You will be able to read all about it in my journal when I come home in 15 months.  Anyways, this is the jist of it...

Catey's Experience

We ran into an anti-mormon and stopped to talk to him.  I felt the adversary VERY strongly trying to get me to doubt my testimony, and, to a certain extent, it worked.  Our zone leaders came over that night and gave me an amazing blessing, and talked to me about some stuff and helped me to realize how strong my testimony really is.  And then, one of my companions and I were talking and we had an amazing experience.  I finally realized some things, including how much the adversary is working on me.  But, then I realized how much stronger the Atonement of our Savior is, because I know that no matter what happens, no matter how much Satan tries to get me to doubt, I don't ever have to fear, because I KNOW of the truthfulness and power of the Atoning sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for me.  I fell to my knees right then and there and thanked my Father in Heaven for the experiences that have helped me strengthen my testimony and for the Spirit that testifies to me of the truthfulness of His gospel.  This experience, with so many others that I have experienced on my mission, have seriously changed my life and my view of the world.  It is amazing to see how much I grow daily as I work hard to invite others to come unto Christ.

Anyways, so let's see. I did get transferred.  My companion and I are "white washing" in this area (they took both missonaries out and put two new ones, my companion and I in).  I did this in my last area as well.  So, now I am in Tooele, Utah.  My companion and I cover the Tooele East Stake, and right now the Spanish branch (the Elders will be taking the branch, seeing as I can't quite teach the lessons in Spanish...) My companion is Sister Yamashita.  She is from Japan, and she also doesn't drive.  But at least this transfer we got a Toyota Corolla. :)  She is WAY awesome, and I am really excited for this transfer, although I REALLY miss my old area.

We did have a baptism last week.  It was really awesome.  I was asked me to speak on baptism, so I did.  Also, a lady in my last area that I taught was baptized on Saturday, and I played the piano at her baptism.  Then, we spoke in church on Sunday.  I think I'm finally starting to get over my fear of speaking/playing the piano in public, since I do it ALL the time. Several people came up to me after we gave our talks and told me that I had a deep knowledge off the gospel, and that my talk was really powerful.  I don't even remember what I said. :) All I remember is that is was on "Coming unto Christ."

I hope everything is going well with you.  I have been praying that you will find a job soon... I have been praying for everyone else, including my grandparents.  I miss you all so much.

I'm so glad that you are meeting with the missionaries.  It is such an amazing experience. It's crazy how we're the ones teaching the gospel and yet I learn more from the people I teach and from my companions than they learn from me. :) 

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. Please always remember that.  Please know that this IS the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth today.  Our Heavenly Father loves us more than we will ever know.  I want to add my testimony to the one that Elder Holland bore this last general conference... I want it to be VERY clear when I stand before the judgement seat that I declared to the world, with everything I have, that the Book of Mormon is true.  I KNOW, without any doubt in my heart, that the Book of Mormon is true.  I have read it and prayed about it, and through the Holy Ghost, our Father in Heaven has made it know to me.  I find so much peace when I read it, and I promise you that if you want to strengthen your relationship with the Savior, and if you want to find peace in your life, you can do so by "feasting upon the words of Christ."  I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have that we can be together as a family after this life.  I pray that each one of us will live our lives so that we will be worthy to return to live with our Heavenly Father and our Savior...TOGETHER FOREVER.  This is my prayer.  I LOVE you.  Heavenly Father loves you.  We are truly His children.  In the name of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Once again, thank you for all of your support.  I am filled with an undescribable amount of gratitude.  I couldn't do this without you... I promise you that Heavenly Father will bless all of you for your support and prayers of His servants.  Please remember that you are ALL in my prayers.  And please pray for me and my companion, that we will be able to find those who are prepared to hear the gospel.  Thank you again.

With all of my love,

Sister Stroud :)

Catey's weekly email 10-14-09 - Talks at Baptism

FAMILY!!!!! 
So this week has been great!  We have transfers a week from today... I REALLY don't like transfers... at all! :)  Haha.  I just absolutely love my area right now, and don't want to leave.

We have a baptism tomorrow. He asked me to give a talk on baptism. Then, on Saturday, in my last area, this really amazing lady is getting baptized that I 
taught, so I get to go to that baptism as well. She asked me to play the piano. Then, next Saturday, we have another baptism. On Sunday, we are giving talks in sacrament. Did I mention that missionary work is BUSY (and that's an 
understatement)?! It has been amazing to see the Lord's hand in the work. We 
have truly seen miracles as we work diligently doing the Lord's work. It's 
amazing... We barely have time to eat lunch and dinner (we teach A LOT of 
lessons - yesterday we taught 7) and I am completely exhausted, physically and 
mentally... but the amazing part is that I don't even realize that I'm exhausted 
until I get home at night and we start to plan. After planning, I change, brush 
my teeth, wash my face, pray (personal and companion) and literally fall into my 
bed and I'm out.  
 
Ok, so to answer your questions... Yes, I have my medicine. About that, I hate 
to ask this but can you put $50 in my account by next Thursday, and in your next 
email let me know how much is in there? I'm going to have Sister Sonne fill this 
prescription for this month and then I should be set for the next 3 months 
(Usually, one bottle lasts me 2 months). I did get my flu shot. It hurt... :) 
It's getting cold, but I have enough winter clothes to keep warm. I do usually 
print off your letters so that I can read them later. The name of my 
dermatologist is Dr. Brown, but I usually see Angela when I go there. She is 
AMAZING! I hope everything works out for you. Tell Grandma good luck and that 
she is in my prayers. I put all of your names in the prayer roll when I went 
this morning. And please know that you are all in my prayers. I LOVE you all and 
appreciate everything you do for me, and especially for the prayers. I 
definitely need them. Missionary work is hard sometimes, but it is worth every 
moment. Thank you for your testimonies. They are what keep me going sometimes... 
Please don't ever forget that I love you and more importantly our Father in 
Heaven loves you. Have an amazing week! Keep up the great missionary work. 
Member involvement is soooo key! I am proud of all of you. 
 
Well, since it's our last P-Day, our zone is going to watch "Forever Strong" so 
I better go. ;) 
 
Love always, 
Sister Stroud 
 
P.S. It's not completely like the sister missionary movie. It IS sort of like 
the Best Two Years, but then again it has been a LONG time since I've seen that 
movie. 

Catey's weekly email 10-7-09 - Sis. Stroud attends General Conference

Dear Family,

Thank you so much for your testimonies.  They always uplift me.

First of all, I just want to let you know that it was not against the rules for me to call James and DeAnn.  I'm just not allowed to talk to them, and we were trying to decide if we wanted to do an endowment session or  initatories.  So, I asked my companion if she would talk to James if I called him.  She agreed, but I don't want to you think that I'm breaking any rules, because I'm not.  I'm a perfect missionary. :) Haha. Just kidding.  But I'm working hard to becoming one.:) (Mother's Note: Catey is a very obedient person in general - if she thought she was doing something that was breaking a rule she would not do it).  I'm so excited to see you all in April.  Do you think Cindy would let you bring Ccodie so I could meet her... and give her tons of kissess???  That would be so awesome!  I'm so excited to see you all!  Did DeAnn say how the temple was?  How's the job search coming, dad?  I'm glad mom is liking 3rd grade. 

Second of all,  I just wanted to say THANK YOU!!! I screamed when I got my package last night! You know you're a missionary when... your favorite day of the week is Tuesday, because that's the day you get mail.:)  I got a letter from Grandma and Grandpa Hilton and from Aunt Kay.  Man, I miss everyone.  And I NEEDED everything in that package.  Seriously, I bought some cheap razors because I couldn't find the razor blades for my good razor, and was just thinking a couple of days ago... I need some shaving cream.  And food is ALWAYS good.  And of course I am freezing, so I was extremely excited to see warm clothes. It's like you could read my mind of what I needed.:)  My companions say thank you too.  They loved it!  They think it's so sweet that you would get them something too. :)

Conference was amazing!  We got Plaza 1 section tickets for the Sunday p.m. session.  We went to all of the sessions in the conference center, except for the Saturday PM session.  We watched that one in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  It was so amazing watching it in the conference center... and as a missionary.  I felt the Spirit so strong, and my testimony was strengthened so much.  I wish I would have know that James and DeAnn were there.  I would have looked for them!  I saw and took pictures with) a lot of people I know.  I saw Danielle Lussier there (she is in Catey's home ward).  She is so adorable.  I also saw my roommates, and some other friends from college.

I am so grateful that I have such a loving family.  In the conference center, the prophet and his counselors walk in a few minutes before confernce starts.  The thousands of people that are there get really quiet and everyone stands up all at once.  I got chills, and a sense of peace, as the prophet of God walked in the room.  I am so grateful for a living prophet on the earth.  I know, without any doubt, that President Thomas S. Monson is the living prophet of God on the earth.  He DOES receive revelation for the people of this earth.  It is through heeding his counsel and the words of the Book of Mormon that we will be able to return to live with our Father in Heaven.  I wish I had my notes with me from conference, but there was one talk (I don't remember who gave it)... but in my notes I wrote, "SO TRUE! Tell mom and dad thank you.  They are the reason I am who I am."  It was talking about how there isn't one family home evening or family prayer that changes your life, but all of them.. Like the strokes in a painting.  All of them come together to make the painting beautiful.  I believe that with all of my heart and soul.  I know that sometimes you don't feel like you are good parents, but I am here to tell you that that is Satan trying to get to you.  You ARE good parents, and I don't know what I did to deserve you as my parents, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.  If my husband and I could be half of the parents that you both are, then I know my kids will have good parents.  I wouldn't be the person, the missionary, I am if it weren't for you all.  There is a quote that I like that says:

"A missionary is someone who leaves there family for a sort time so others can be with theirs for eternity."

It dawned on me during conference that you are a part of every baptism I have even though you don't know the people who are baptized just because I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you.  I LOVE you ALL so much and am so grateful for ALL of the amazing support that I receive.  I know that this is the true church, and I CANNOT deny it.  In the name of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Love,

Sister Stroud

Catey's weekly email 10-1-09 - 2 baptisms

FAMILY!!!

Ok, so I know, but this is going to be somewhat short... AGAIN.  No tengo usar el banao pero esta computadora es muy despacio. (translation: I don't have to use the bathroom but this computer is SLOW! So... thank you so much for handling my medical issues. I got to talk to dad yesterday.  That was the highlight of my day, week and mission. :)  It was so good to hear his voice.  I can't wait unitl Christmas! Could you send me my winter clothes???   Also, will you send me another thing of foundation?  I'm really sorry to ask, but when I have to wear make-up every day, it goes a lot faster.  If you would send my NAU sweatpants with my winter clothes, that would be FANTASTIC.  It is soooo cold.  It is already snowing on the mountains, and it's only a matter of time before it snows here!

Ok, so good news... I talked to my mission president yesterday, and he said that I can go to DeAnn's endowment (Will you forward this to her PLEASE, or tell her the following).  I would LOVE to go and see her and James (which is totally ok with my presdient - he even said that if you guys come into town I could get permission to see you).  The only thing is that if I go to her endowment it would have to be the 8 a.m. session on a Wednesday morning (my P-day).  Then, I could be there.  Tell her no pressure.  If that doesn't work, it's totally ok.  I won't be offended, but that is the only way that I would be able to seem them.  Just let her know.  I  really want to see them.  I've been a  little homesick lately, so I think it might actually be good, but I totally understand if it doesn't work out. :)

Let's see, what else?  I'm so glad everyone is doing good.  I always pray for you all and I hope you know how much I love you.  It's good to hear how everyone is progressing.  I know I am.

We had two baptisms this past Saturday (my 3rd and 4th baptisms, so far).  It was sooo amazing!  I love this family.  They are planning on being sealed in a year.  They are amazing!  When we come back to my mission in a year and a half, they are 1st on the list of people I want you all to meet.

Anyways, I better go before the email gets deleted.  That seems to be the tradition of late.  I am so excited for conference on Saturday and Sunday (we have CLOSE UP seats)!  Yay for sister missionaries in the Utah Salt Lake mission!!!! :)

Anyways, I LOVE you all so much... more that you will ever know.  I love this gospel.  I know without any doubt in my heart that it is true.  Thank you for everything you ALL do for me.  You (and your amazing testimonies) are truly a blessing in my life!  I'm soooo sorry if I'm such a horrible writer.  We don't get a lot of time, but I do what I can.  Thank you for your support.

Yo testifico que la iglesia de jesucristo de los santos de los ultimos dias is la iglesia verdad en el mundo hoy. (translation: I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church on the earth today.) My Spanish is getting pretty good, eh? :)

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Love,
Sister Stroud

Hola familia! 
 
Como esta? So... this week has been soooo busy! I think that we need a P-Day 
from our P-Day. :) We went to the temple this morning and did a session. It was 
so awesome, since I haven't been in like 6 weeks. Then, we went and washed our 
car, cleaned our apartment, did our laundry, wrote some letters. 
 
So let's see. I'm going to try to write you this week. I can't concentrate right 
now. I have a really bad headache (it's almost that time of the month, and I can 
already tell that it's not going to be a fun one... I have been having 
"morning/afternoon/evening pre-period sickness"), so I'm just going to tell you 
the basics, and I'll write more later in a letter. 
 
So... Yes, we get to go to all 4 sessions of General Conference at the 
conference center. :) I live on the streets so I don't have an address. JUST 
KIDDING! My address is... 866 E. Harrison Ave (Unit D). My companion speaks 
English really well, although she only knew a tiny bit before her mission. She 
learned most of it at the MTC, and on her mission. But she is awesome! 
 
Tell DeAnn that I will write her soon. I'll give her some words of advice. :) 
 
So... I'm going to have to go off Adderall. I'm not too happy about it, but I've 
checked some different stores and the cheapest I can find it is like $60, and I 
don't want to pay that much, so I'll just pray extra hard. 
 
Please know that I LOVE you all so much! You don't even know. And I miss you 
tons. I LOVE reading your emails. A mission is definitely not an easy thing 
(even though I absolutely LOVE it), but I always get so much strength out of 
reading your emails and testimonies. 
 
I want you to know that I have a strong, firm testimony of this church. It grows 
amazing amounts everytime I share it. I know that it is because Heavenly Father 
loves us that He restored His church on the earth today through Joseph Smith. I 
know that the Book of Mormon is true. I have developed such an AMAZING LOVE for 
the Book of Mormon in my short time on a mission. I know that as we live by it's 
teachings, we will feel so much peace and happiness in our lives. I know that 
Jesus Christ lives and loves us. He gave His life for us, so that if we follow 
in His footsteps, we can return to live with Him again. I pray that we will all 
follow His example, and that we will strengthen our relationships with him and 
testimony of Him. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, Amen. 
 
Give Codie LOTS of kisses for me. I'll write you soon. 
 
Love always, 
Sister Stroud 

Catey's weekly email 9-8-09

Ok, so I'm really sorry... but this is going to be relatively short. :( 
 
First of all, I'm really sorry about last week. We had a baptism on Saturday, so 
we had to be there for his interview with our district leader. It is always an 
amazing experience to see a child of God be baptized, and to see that change in 
their lives. Before his baptism, he (his name is David) was struggling with 
smoking. So, my skinny-minny companion told him that we would give up chocolate 
if he gave up smoking. Yeah, um... easy for her... she doesn't like sweets. Me, 
on the other hand... let's just say I really struggled. :) Mom, I am so your 
child. ;) Anyways, he was baptized, and it was amazing. He was my first baptism 
of someone that I taught from the very beginning. 
 
Second of all, thank you soooooo much for the package! It was like Christmas in 
September, and I really needed ALL of it! You should have seen my face light up 
when I opened it. :) BreAnn did bring me cookies (they were DELICIOUS... I ate 
all of them.)!!! And it's not against the rules, as long as they just drop them 
off on my doorstep. I just can't see them. Don't worry, I being a good girl. ;) 
I also want to thank EVERYONE who is supporting me right now. I pray for all of 
you, and am soooo grateful that I have such amazing family and friends. I don't 
know what I did to ever deserve any of it, but I thank Heavenly Father every 
night for all of you who are supporting me right now. You will never know how 
much it means to me, because there are no words that can describe it. But... 
please know that I am so grateful for you and I LOVE you so much. 
 
Transfers were yesterday. I really struggled. I did not want to leave my 
trainer. In fact, I cried at the transfer building. Like REALLY cried. I felt so 
emotional. The elders were probably all thinking "Sisters..." :) Oh well... My 
trainer, Sister Kalolo and I got white-washed out of our area. They put elders 
in our old area. My new companion, Sister Azzaya, and I got put in the elder's 
area. Sister Azzaya is way awesome. She is from Mongolia. She also does not 
drive (my last companion didn't drive either), so when I get off my mission in 
like 16 1/2 months, I am not driving at all. :) Anyways, she is so tiny. I feel 
like a giant next to her, but she is way awesome. 
 
Give Codie LOTS of kisses for me. Please tell everyone that I'm sooo sorry that 
I'm such a slacker when it comes to writing. It's hard to find time to do 
ANYTHING. I'm doing the best I can. Tell everyone I love them. Tell James and 
DeAnn that their puppy is so CUTE!I miss them tons and am so proud of them! I'll 
write them next week. Tell Grandma and Grandpa thank you so much for the letter. 
It made my week. :) Tell Cindy HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 
 
Thank you so much again for everything. I love you all more than you will ever 
know. And I miss you tons. But I know that I am where the Lord needs me right 
now. Even when it gets tough, I know that Heavenly Father send me her for a 
reason. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Right? :) Haha. Anyways, 
I LOVE you all. I really have to go to the bathroom, and once we leave the email 
room, we don't get to come back... So, I know that this is the restored gospel 
of Jesus Christ on the earth today. I know that Heavenly Father hears and 
answers our prayers. I pray that I can make Him proud by working diligently to 
bring souls unto Him. I love Him, and I love His Gospel. 
 
Have an awesome week and I'll write next week. :) 
 
With all my love, 
Sister Stroud