September 30, 2103 - Elche, Spain

Hola todos!!!!

Well, how is everyone doing??? This week was great. It wasn´t as exciting as the last week so there won´t be much, but it was still great.

Esmeralda is doing well. We went over to her house and I can´t believe how happy she was. All of us could tell. It was really cool. She was laughing more, she wasn´t sighing as much, and she was excited about the lesson. So cool to see people progress in the gospel.

Gracia is doing well too. She has a baptismal date but is struggling with reading. She will get it though. She works a lot right now...morning and night with two jobs so it´s hard to meet with her. But she comes to church every Sunday and yesterday, we were looking for this guy we met in the street, and what do you know, there was Gracia! In all of Elche, we met her right there in this small alley. Haha, I asked her what she was doing and she said nothing, so I may have invited us over to talk with her. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do when it´s hard to meet with people! It turned out to be a great lesson too. She had a lot of questions on why getting baptized was so important right now.

Oh, we had zone conference this week so it was so cool seeing everyone. I saw Hermana Stark and Hermana Jarvis...my two moms! We took a generation picture with my two comps. It was so fun.

Well gee I´m sorry this one is so short. Makes up for last week since that one was pretty long. Everything is going well though. Oh, remember the woman who knows Moses and has 80 brothers and sisters. Well, we met with her this week and it turns out she saw someone who got resurrected. Haha, the member present had a word or two to say about that one. Oh how fun the mission is.

Alright well I hope everyone is doing great and is getting ready for Halloween! I will probably dress up as a missionary this year and go trick or treating to people´s homes and ask for their time instead of candy. Almost the same thing. Love you all!

Hermana Kunz


1. Ice cream!
2. Beautiful or what!!!
3. Wow new hair!!!
4. Work of art by Hermana Kunz

September 23, 2013 - Elche, Spain

Holy week of miracles!!!!!

Holy cow, I am so excited to write this email I can hardly punch the keys on the keyboard!!!!

So I hit my 6 month mark on Friday and guess how I spent it? Let me tell you....

So, I mentioned last time that our investigator Esmeralda told us she finally wanted to move out so she could get baptized. We were so excited. We set a date for Friday. Nothing was coming up. There were no apartments for her and her two kids. So plans changed and she told her boyfriend that he should move out. He tried looking for a room, but because he is Muslim, nobody trusted him. It´s pretty sad actually. He found a lot of rooms but nobody wanted him because of his religion. So it was Thursday night and we hadn´t found anything. Then we found out a member of the ward was renting out rooms so we called him and he said he would talk to Esmeralda about her boyfriend moving in. We went to Esmeralda´s and nobody would tell the boyfriend so I had to work up the courage to tell he had to move out. I thought it would be the death of me telling him. But, tender mercy of the Lord, he said he would if it was what she wanted. So the next day we didn´t know what was going to happen. Then Esmeralda called and told us that her boyfriend didn´t have residency here in Spain and the police found him so now they might have to ship him back to Moroco...keep in mind that this could have happened at any point in the last 8 years, but it just so happened on the day of the baptism. She also told us that she went to the doctor because she might be pregnant. Holy smokes I was freaking out. I tell you what it was so hard to have trust in the Lord at this point. But we decided to keep going with the plan. She had her interview, we called everyone from the Ward to tell them about it. We called the mission leader and he made all the programs and called everyone about giving talks and all. It was 4:00 and the baptism was at 8:00 and we still didn´t know. We went over to the church to fill up the font. We were just having faith that everything would turn out. Everything was done. We just had to wait. We finally got a call from Esmeralda and she said that her boyfriend moved out, she was not pregnant, and he went to a lawyer and was getting everything figured out to stay in Spain. She was getting baptized.

Eight o'clock rolls around and we picked her up, but she really wanted her boyfriend to be there to see her baptized. He didn´t get off work until 8:30. So we stalled a little, but it was time. We started. We got through the talks and he still wasn´t there. Then the mission leader called me up to speak to make more time. Oh man, I wasn´t expecting that! I got up and talked to her and of course me and my good old self got a little emotional, and her and I ended up crying. Then we missionaries sang a beautiful song. We sang ¨Lord I Would Follow Thee,¨ and it was so cool because she was crying the whole time. And I´m telling you...we had angels singing with us because it didn´t sound anything like what we practiced. It was so stinking cool. So it was time to get her baptized and the boyfriend still wasn´t there!!! She walked into the bathroom to go in, and he walked through the door. Aaaahhhhh, how awesome is that?!?! So he got to see her baptized. She got out of the font and I ran into the bathroom. It was one of the coolest sights I have ever seen. She came out holding her heart, crying. She could hardly get her breath. I, of course, broke down again. The Spirit was so strong. We all hugged her so tightly and all got soaked.

It was one of the coolest miracles I have ever seen. To not know three hours before if it was all going to work out and to have the Lord provide a way. It was truly a miracle. To do all that we did in just a couple of days was not just good luck. God wanted her baptized and He knew she was ready. It was so cool to see her come out of that water. After all this time of investigating, she finally took the step. She changed her life. When she got the Spirit it was so cool. Her smile on her face was something I will never forget.

Miracles do happen everyone!!! God is a God of miracles. Such a cool experience. My testimony grew so much from this. Gah, it was so awesome. Well, this was the big thing of the week. We also taught a class on missionary work to the ward and that was fun. And let´s see...Spaniards love snickerdoodles.

Thanks everyone for everything and hope you are all doing well!

Love, Hermana Kunz

September 16, 2013 - Elche, Spain

Hola todos!!!

Well, here we are again. Hope all is well over there in the States. Cool things happened this week. The biggest news is Esmeralda. I´m not sure if I have talked about Esmeralda a whole lot, but she is the woman who wants to get baptized but lives with her boyfriend and has a child with him. She doesn´t love him at all and has wanted to get out but doesn´t have anywhere to go. Her mom floats around house to house cause she doesn´t have one of her own and Esmeralda just met her dad a month ago. She has a tough situation. So we went into a lesson with her on Friday and she said she has some news. She says she wants to move out and get baptized. So today we are going over to her house to go over the baptismal questions and we are going to help her move tomorrow into her dad´s. And she said she wants to get baptized this Friday. I was in complete shock when she told me. Blown away! I really hope it all works out because she made the decision so fast so I could see it all blowing up... especially because the adversary is really going to be working on her. GAH, so scary!!! I want her to just have a happy life. She has gone through just about everything. She needs peace. It´s pretty cool though...changing her life for a better one. We are very excited about everything! Good things happening!

Oh, and we finally contacted this guy we have been wanting to forever. When we run in the mornings, we always see this guy walking so we talked to him a while ago and then we ran with a Book Of Mormon every morning. But he went on vacation. So we were running with this book every day for a week. Then FINALLY we gave it to him! It felt great. I hope it goes somewhere cause he is really cool.

We had a lesson with Diego...the miracle that we found a few weeks ago and it was good. Haha, but I should definitely never say the prayer with him again. I started saying the prayer and he started chanting when I would say his name or God. And for all of you who know me, this was not a good situation. I coughed a lot during the lesson let´s just say, and my face was very red. It took everything in me not to burst out. It´s just that he was saying the craziest things! He will learn though. It´s going to be great.

We had a family home evening with Gracia and watched The Restoration. Wow, was the Spirit strong. I always feel the Spirit when talking about Joseph Smith. And it´s funny how the lesson can be going so bad and then when someone says the first vision, the person can´t take their eyes off you and the Spirit is just like PSHEW!!! I love it!

Everything else is great. Had a good zone p'day today. Played some ultimate frizbee...forget how to spell that.... and basketball.

All is well over here. Hope all is well over there and stay safe!!! Love you all!

Hermana Kunz


1. Hermana Kunz being Hermana Kunz
2. While making a movie on p'day
3. Running in the morning!
4. How a missionary studies
5. Hermana Kunz in Elche
6. Random kinda cool pic

September 9, 2013 - Elche, Spain

Hola todos!

Another week in the mission. Well, I´ll start with our new Hermana! Her name is Hermana Hubbard and she is from Arkansas. Pretty cool, eh? She is great. We are all going to have a great transfer I can already tell. Our new district is fantastic. I´m really looking forward to this transfer.

We went to zone meeting this past Friday and who is there but Hermana Flanders. Amazing!!!! It´s so cool. In the MTC, Hermana Flanders, Guymon and I would never leave each other´s sides. We got out to the mission and we all ended up in different areas and now we are on the other side of the mission in the same zone!!! We are VERY happy. There may have been some tears upon seeing each other again. Hermana Guymon is officially in Elche and it is so cool to have her here!

So let´s see...super cool thing that happened. There is an inactive man named Danny and he comes to our English class every Wednesday. He has been inactive for about 20 years and has not wanted anything to do with the church. He has gotten very sick lately and he is only in his 40s. The doctors don´t know what is wrong with him and it is pretty scary. So yesterday, he came to church! He came and said he wanted a Priesthood blessing! It was so cool. It was so cool that after so many years of not wanting the church, he still knows the power of a Priesthood blessing. I wasn´t there for the blessing, but Elder Webb said that as soon as the prayer started, Danny started to weep. Afterwards, Danny said he has never felt anything like that before. Gah, the gospel is so cool!!!

Also, Gracia is progressing pretty well. She is very stressed right now with work and financial problems and she said on Sunday that she had to go figure some financial things out. About 15 minutes before church, she calls me and is panting and says she is coming after all. She showed up sweating bullets and completely out of breath, but she made it to church. It is so cool to see the change in her. She is getting close to baptism. The word still scares her, but in her prayers she prays for herself to be prepared. It´s really cool.

Well, that´s about it for now. Oh, we went to an inactive man´s house and he had his friend over and we went in and started talking. His friend was angry from the beginning and kept giving us the Spanish finger shaking it back and forth, and he was pacing around the house like a crazy person. He kept telling us his beliefs and telling us why we were wrong. Here was the interesting part. He kept asking us questions, and without giving us room to answer would say we have no way of knowing that. But the interesting part was that no joke, every single one of his questions could be answered in the first three lessons we teach. It was crazy for me to see that. Even when we answered his questions he would stop and listen and the Spirit would be there for a split second when all was quiet and he would think, but then he would shew it away and say there is no way of knowing. But it was a cool experience for us to see. Haha, and kind of a funny part was that during the prayer, their dog almost had her puppies. She had a very large contraction under my chair and then hobbled off. Whew, that would have been quite the adventure!

Well, I love you all and I know this is the work of the Lord. We see miracles every day. They may be small, but they are big enough to strengthen our testimonies in the Lord and to trust Him every day a little more. We are very excited to be in this trio. Now we are a triple threat to the people of Elche!!!!

Thanks for everything and hope all is well with everyone!

Hermana Kunz

Pics:
1. Hermana Cameron (and me via my name tag) picking up our newest Hermana Hubbard from Arkansas
2. The triple threat: Hermanas Hubbard, Cameron, and Kunz
3. Gumby and Pokey in the Elche palms
4. Hermana Guymon and I with crazy delicious Spanish food.
5. Ummmm, the MTC dorks reunited - Guymon, Kunz, Flanders.
6. The new trio.

September 2, 2013 - Elche, Spain

Hello all!!!

Well, what a week. It started out pretty awesome. We went to a less active woman´s house that we randomly found. She hasn´t been to church in over 20 years. Pretty awesome. So we are starting fresh with her. We started by getting to know her a little more and she has 80 brothers and sisters!!! Hahahaha, I asked if they were all from the same parents and sure enough they were. 40 brothers and 40 sisters....this woman is a little bit old. So we start the lesson and mention how Moses was a prophet. She goes, "Oh yes, Moses! I know him. He use to teach me with his big tablets." That was the end of it. I couldn´t hold it in. Hermana Cameron and I were in tears trying not to laugh out loud. It hurt so bad trying to keep it in. It was totally silent for about a minute cause we were trying to get a handle on ourselves. We get through the lesson and we ask her to say the prayer and all in one breath she goes, "No I can´t, it won´t come out right. Ready, dear Heavenly Father...." We were pretty confused. It was a pretty great lesson. Haha, she will be fun to teach.

Let´s see, what else...we made brownies for English class and everyone loved us. It also rained buckets outside. It was so much fun. Running in the rain is the best feeling ever.

I finished the Book of Mormon this week! I love that book. I´m so glad I get the opportunity of sharing my testimony on it every day of my mission. I was reading through it and marking all the tender mercies of the Lord that I saw. Boy are there many! It is so cool to see how the Lord really does have His hand in everything that they did and everything we do. Something stuck out to me and that is all the bad things that happen in the end of the book. Here in Spain, it seems that everyone has the problem that there are too many bad things in the world and why would God let this happen. But I think that part of the reason that God does it is to see who His real disciples are. We have to trust in Him that even through these bad scary things that go on, He is always watching over us and we just need to trust. It´s hard at times, but we can do it. It was cool.

Oh, before I forget...President called on Saturday. It´s transfer time and we were not expecting a call but sure enough, we got one. So, I am a mother of two now, haha. We will be in a trio and training a new missionary! It will be quite the transfer. Three missionaries who are all still pretty new. We have to go pick her up from Málaga, but only one of us can go, so we are thinking Hermana Cameron can go since I have had the experience twice and she hasn´t. It´s crazy. Training two missionaries. I am definitely going to need the Lord more than ever now. It will be fun though. We will all need patience and love. It will be a great experience. Hermana Cameron and I are excited.

Well, I think that´s it. Oh wait, guess who is taking the spot of Hermana Isrealson in the other ward in Elche?!?!?! HERMANA GUYMON!!!! Holy cow, I practically cried when I heard the news. I am so excited to see her again and to be serving in the same city as her!!! My Hermana Guymon. Love that girl.

Well, thanks everyone for everything. Hope all is well, and thanks for your love, support, and prayers. Hope labor day was a blast for all!

Hermana Kunz