Sister Kailey Wanlass

What’s up everybody?! Glad to be back! Exchanges This week we had exchanges (this is when we become companions with sister training leaders of the zone for 24 hours). It was so much fun! Felt like a little road trip for the day. I got to go all the way across the Columbia river to Wenatchee and tag along with Sister Smith for the day. Sister Smith is an incredible missionary and I learned so much from just the one day with her. She has so much confidence when talking with everyone, and she testifies in each lesson which was so powerful. We taught 8 lessons, some of which were Spanish so that was kinda cool. I am starting to pick up on a few phrases here and there! It was great though because I felt like a real missionary. Instead of just trying to talk to people who aren’t really wanting to talk to me, I was able to bear my testimony to so many friends that really are wanting to learn more and are working towards baptism. Hard Moments I’m just gonna be real honest, there were a few...

How much peanut butter is too much peanut butter? Apparently it’s normal for missionaries, but I think peanut butter is it’s own food group now. Also, fun fact! A new life skill that I have learned is that any sort of food inside a tortilla is a meal! Whether that be a mozzarella stic k, just eggs and avocado, or homemade fries! ZONE CONFERENCE: The Finding Flow  At the beginning of the week we had zone conference, and it was so good! They introduced a new way to go about finding people. One of the biggest things in missionary work is talking to EVERYONE. Doing this definitely gets me out of my comfort zone. But before the training a standard interaction would look like: *walks up to woman working in her garden* Missionaries: Hi! How are you doing today? Woman: Fine, how are you? Missionaries: We’re great! Your garden looks beautiful! Woman: Thank you. *We try to talk about gardening for a little while* Missionaries: Don’t you just love working with God’s creations. It’s just so pe...

 Just a little update, mission rules have changed and we can now only use email to contact friends and extended family, no more messenger or google chat. So if I haven’t responded, that is why… I know, sad. Trainee Training  At the beginning of the week we had a training with our mission president and his wife, and it was so good to actually get to know them a bit (more then just the handshake and picture I got when we first got to Yakima). They really are the sweetest people and they just love everyone and want us all to be the best missionaries. I have to say though, the best part of the training was getting to see my missionaries from MTC district. It felt like a family reunion! Spaceships and Crosses  So this week we had dinner with a member and some her friend that aren’t members, and let’s just say I had to stop myself from laughing multiple times! The friend, Patty, is a very unique human being. She’s christian, and she started to tell us about how she found Christ...

And we’re back! I still can’t get over the weirdness of how time on the mission works, but that’s ok! Members  The members here are absolutely incredible! I never noticed until being on my mission the sparkle in the eyes of members, but it is no joke. It can get really hard and discouraging going from house to house all day with either no answer (even though sometimes they are obviously home), a door slammed in the face, or just a breif lesson with no interest, but as soon as a member sees you and you can see that sparkle in their eye and they are just overjoyed to see us, it makes the day oh so much better!   At the beginning of the week we met with a member named Sonny. Sonny is honestly one of the most intune, spiritual giants I have ever met. The first time she saw me she said “You look familiar, I knew you before” and assuming that she’s just some crazy old woman my response is “No, I’m from Utah, this is my first time in this area”. And she says “I don’t mean in thi...

Hello again.  Ya know, before coming out I always thought to myself "I am going to excitedly write an email every single week". Yes, I have written an email every week, have I done it enthusiastically, no, but that's ok. Just know that I am doing it for all of you because I love you. Pre-Washington The last few days of the MTC were great! Definitely exhausting and I now hate doing role-plays with a passion, but it’s all ok! It was so hard saying goodbye to everyone. Everyone left either thursday or friday, and us sisters got up both mornings at 3:50 to go out and say bye to those who were leaving. I love all of them and miss ‘em like crazy! ELDER BEDNAR Elder Bednar came and spoke tuesday night for the devotional and it was incredible! There had been a rumor going around campus that he was going to come, but I didn’t actually believe it. I’m glad I was wrong. There is such a special spirit when you're in the presence of an apostle. He talked a lot about repentance. On...