HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMACITA!!!

OMGOSH so what are ya'll doing for 'DA DAY'??! I say what could be better than nubi..let's be completely real. with a candle on top! and my picture on a seat and my own cup of nubi ! ya ya ! Well I sent some pictures for you mom..and I'm gonna be writing you your own letter today. Cuz in all honesty, WHO is the star this month!!! ... you are. :)

 

  jajaja my jokes are getting lamer and lamer and LAMER! But when we say these horrible unfunny Mormon jokes, this Elder, Elder Rindlisbacher said, "well. if noone laughs at them here, at least the people on the other side are laughing." in his silent but deadly voice haha

  well ANYway, THANK YOU FOR THE PACKAGE! And the letters.. unnnfortunately. Remember that whole "laman and lemuel murmuring" thing we had going on with our District ?

We could only complain a total of 10 times in one week.. between 8 people. And if we hit 10 times, we couldn't open our letters til today..Friday.

And TELL ME WHY we walked into class on Tuesday morning and saw 9 CHECKS on the board, and after lunch there was another one! So I didn't get to read anything until last night haha. Talk about finding new ways to push yourself. haha I'm totally kidding that made me sound so weak.

But I thank you. I feel like here I get so much more than I deserve, it almost makes me feel bad getting DearElders, or just the friendly "Hola Hermanas!" from all the Elders that brighten our days SO MUCH. Not that I won't take it..! It's just way humbling. I don't feel like I do nearly enough to deserve what I get back. From here, from all of you. It's in.credible. So thank you SO MUCH.

  Can you beLIEVE it's been the one month! 17 mas to go JOLLA ! (holla) ahah, the time goes by so quick, it's unreal. ! But anyway. I love you. I don't really remember what I must have said about being homesick ? But I'm getting allll of this support, so I thank you all! I'm fine, I must have had a bad day. But the letters and e-mails and encouragement have mos DEF. strengthened me. SPEAKING of which!! The Deyo's are leaving soon right??! I need their new address, because Brother Deyo wrote me a letter that I read and cried to last night. So um. I need to respond. :) ahah

  So I didn't make a list of what to write. I don't really feel like an e-mail should come out of a list, because this is as close as I feel to ya'll every week while still feeling close to the Lord here :) so where do I start!

  Soooo. This week we started teaching in Spanish. And it was okay! I was scared the first time, but an Elder said if there's ANY place to mess up, it's in the MTC haha. So! I don't feel so bad about making mistakes. It's so weird how close everyone becomes here. I know I'm not supposed to have them, but my 2 absolute FAVORITE Elders here are leaving for Nicaragua on Monday, and even thoguh I've only known them for a month, I couldn't imagine NOT knowing them ! Loco right !

  Ummm. I'm gonna do the spiritual stuff now. Ya'll should go on lds.org and watch Joseph B. Wirthlin's talk "The Great Commandment".. WATCH, not read ! He was weak from being older, and he's up there shaking trying to hold himself up to deliver his entire talk and would NOT sit down. And needless to sayyy. It was a pretty up-there talk too :p oh! And with family prayer, ya'll should read D&C 6:32 together. I thought about family prayer with it, and it kind of showed me how strong the Spirit is in da casa when family prayer goes on.. just read it I guess, and you'll know what I mean. C:

  ummmm ! um um ! I wannatalk about something other than gospel so ya'll will think there's more to me, but that's all there is over here! haha, OH! OH my gosh! So you know how last week I got to go to "Babylon" to get shoes? Welll. We got along BAMB(haha) with the lady that drove us, and she told us about her homemade salsa that's apparently FAMOUS with missionaries, cuz she's had 4 or 5 missionaries out. And she said she'd make us some and to meet her on Thursday. And YOU KNOW how missionaries don't forget when you say to meet them. So we met her ! And she brought us salsa and a big bag of chips, so in behalf of Big Momma's birthday, since we're broke and salsa's good, we're gonna have a Fiesta de Salsa for lunch. ..Don't translate that into English though, it won't sound as cool haha :p

 

  Ahhh I hate not knowing what to say. Considering I don't really have the time to not know haha. But I love you all so much. I appreciate you and pray for you every day. My ward family, my eternal family. My work family. My neighbors. Every single person that BEST NOT forget about me ! ahah, know that you're in my mind. I'm doing my best, and OH!! I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU NAMED OUR DOG DAKOTA AND NOT CHICO. Where was I in this ! ahah. I'm kidding. I wanna see pictures. :p

 

OoooKAY well! I'll try to leave a little Spanish!

La iglesia de JesuCristo es la iglesia verdadera, y todas las personas en el mundo necesitan escuchar sobre el evangelio. La expiacion puede ayudar nosotros mucho, y es muy importante por nuestro salvacion. En este vida, tenemos la oportunidad a ser cerca con nuestro Padre Celestial y ser felicidad, pero solomente si guardar los mandamientos. La iglesia y el evangelio son verdadera. Jose Simth fue un profeta verdadera y restaurar esta iglesia al mundo. En el nombre de JesuCristo, amen.

  So! I butchered that I'm SHO. But I tried! I love you!!

PAZ FACIL. (Peace easy)

 

Hermana Lia Michele Batchkoff

Letter to Gina - 9/12/2010

It's weird. Being on a mission shows me everyday new weaknesses... ALL day everyday it seems like. Like Yesterday we taught a lesson and i came here thinking i  could teach by connecting with people most, not even realizing theres a format/ lesson plan to doing it! We're supposed to  use that and connect it with people, so nowww i start all over and learn the lessons! LOCO! But my spanish seems to be getting, at least. I help Hermana Hollan w/ her espanol and she helps me with the lessons!
So! Anywho ! Your joke about the white sweats had me rollin! aha, you should hear the things our zone tries to think up to say in espanol, cuz we're supposed to speak our language allll the time, as much as we can.
So i figured out "homeboy" is "casanino" haha. and to say "you're cool" we'll say "su frio"...meaning like. Literally cold. ahah. It's so lame. But cool, because we're all on the same page saying nothing BUT mormon jokes. :P
Umm. what else. The Deyos sent me a card! Abbey sent me a little "letter" first, HOW CUTE  is that? haha.
OH! hey! You know that fasting deal you have? I asked mi maestro (teacher) about it so you might find use in fasting and he said automatically "John 7:17" and said that if you do it with a willing heart and a purpose, you WILL be able to gain a testimony of it. As long as you are totally and completely sincere and willing to keep the commandment of the fast. for the Lord!

Haha there's an Elder here, Elder Goggins. And this other Elder calls him "Elder Gaga". Isn't that GENIUS.
Okay Bye. Haha
Keep blowing up my envelops! I save them!!

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO!!

Love always,
Hermana Lia Batchkoff

Email - 9/17/2010

Hola mami papi y mis hermanas ! I have. ONCE again. SO MUCH to say and I am soooo NOT excited about this next 1/2 hour trying to get everything in haha. But let's start ? I guess ? :o wellll. I have some news. I know how to say "You don't know my life!" in Espanol. Are you ready for it ! "No sabe mi vida!" haha it's like one of the only funny things I think I say..

ANYway haha. So check this out. We get our DearElders before dinner Monday-Friday, and the other day my District Leader, who hands them out, comes into our clase after picking them up and he has 2 stacks. He's all, "The District's...." and holds up like. 5 letters or something. and then he's all, "Hermana Batchkoff's." and that day I had gotten 9 DearElders altogether!! I felt SO BAD haha, but at the same time I felt that Cali love like WHOA! hah so thank you. SO much for helping me to not feel alone. It seems like the days I DO get letters are the days when I reallyyy need them haha, so don't anyone think for a SECOND that I just throw them. I cherish every.single.one. And I love you all SO MUCH it's ridiculous! :o

  So onn Wednesday night, Elder Day and Elder Rindlisbacher in our District bore their testimonies to us cuz they were leaving Thursday morning to finish the MTC in the Dominican Republic, where they'll be serving. And they were balling. We were balling. And we've all only known each other for 3 weeks!! It's crazy to think how close we've come alllready. I am comPLETELY convinced we were all friends before this life, and just met back up. None of this is coincidence I feel. Just like all of you at home. Tell me it doesn't seem like we've known each other for a lifetime I DARE YOU. haha :) When you get to know one another's spirits, you stop seeing weaknesses. You stop seeing looks, or anything like that. We're all children of our Heavenly Father. ForREAL! And yesterday we were all sitting at lunch and I was all, "How does Heavenly Father expect us to say goodbye so much I can't handle this!" and Elder Stucki in my District was all, "He doesn't. ..we'll all see each other again :)" ..is that right or is that right. It made me feel so much better knowing that. Truly knowing that, rather than knowing it's a possibility. OH MY GOSH my feelings aren't being put into an e-mail well enough but I HAVE to get something to ya'll! I'm so sorry!!

  Hey! Thank you for the package too!! I'm wearing the blue skirt and new shirt as we are speaking.. typing ? Anyway ? I might have to send sooome things back, but don't think I didn't appreciate them. ...da rules :o :p

  So Gina asked a question about what she should start reading in one of her letters. I would say Joseph Smith History. AND! As a familia, I would watch the Joseph Smith movie if you can get your manos (?) on it. It is in.CREDIBLE. Just that and reading the Joseph Smith History has made me appreciate the Restoration SO MUCH MORE now. Not that I didn't think it was important before.. It's just so incredible. SO COMPLETELY INCREDIBLE. Like how can this church NOT be true ! You feel me!

  Oh, so I get to go off the MTC campus today and get some new shoes. It's so funny here, my District calls it Babylon (the world) whenever someone gets to go off capus for surgery or something like that. So they found out and my District Leader's all, ":O you get to go to BABYLON??!?!" ahhhaha. It's gonna be SO WEIRD being somewhere where the doors aren't all opened for us, and there aren't suits everywhere :o

  Byyy the way! I'm gonna take a picture today for the ward board..haha. 'ward board' :p and try and get it sent out to ya'll by the end of next week! Don't you DARE use one of mine back home they're wack! ahah

  "As individuals, we are unnamed. As a group, however, we will be remembered for our courage, honesty, and service."

   Wow. I have 13 minutes left I realized. :O!!! I'll type a little slower now and try to say something that might be of SOME worth up in this letter haha.

  Thank you all for the letters. I honestly soak up and re-read each and every one. You are ALL in my prayers every single day, and I am here whenever you need me. Just in. written form I guess. ahah

   The language is coming along.! I guess! haha, on Tuesday nuestros maestros had us do an English Fast, where we did nothing but spoke Spanish all.day.long. hah. And by the end of the day, I realized I never have to think twice about what I say in English, because it's my nature to speak English.! But when it comes to Spanish, I had to think out and conjugate every single thing I had to say. By the end of the day my brain was shut.DOWN. haha. But like forreall. :p It was fun though. Because I got to learn how much we CAN do if we just try.

   Can ya'll send me pictures??! Any pictures at all! Thank you for the ones you HAVE sent. I love them. SO MUCH. It's so weird seeing me in jeans ahahh. I love showing everyone to mis hermanas. Not showing OFF. OH MY GOSH I really hope this e-mail doesn't seem prideful in any way haha. So anyway. I'll um. just stop.

 

   So I went to the temple this morning, and there's a chapel in the Provo temple to wait in before we go to a session :o! And so I opened up the scriptures in there and read D&C 31..  check it! It was about sending someone.. I can't remember who :x.. on a mission, saying how he'll be away from his family but for a short time and all of this. I read it and was all, "Oh! I can respect THAT Heavenly Father!"

   By the way! You probllyy know already, but Elder Bell's in Mexico now :o I don't have his address, but if I'm able to get it I'll give it to ya'll ! And STAT.

   Umm 5 minutes left. What do I write about. I'm sorry if these aren't that fun to read, I really am. I feel my written ones are a liiiittle better, because I know whatI'm thinking more haha.

  My companion's good. She gets all this healthy food from her familia and shares it with all of us haha aMAZING! AND! She loves Trader Joe's just as much a me! haha

  I guess I'll leave mi tesimonio with ya'll.. know that I love you so much. Whoever is even taking the time to read ths. It's truly incredible, the opportunity to know there are people on this Earth who wanna hear this.

 

  Mediante el Evangelio de JesuCristo, las familias pueden ser eternas. Me encanta todos mis amigos, y la iglesia de JesuCristo. Es perfecto. Yo se que. Podemos a hablar con Padre Celestial por medio orar. En el nombre de JesuCristo, amen.

 

Sorry that was so quick! I saw I have minute left and went blank! I LOVE YOU

 

don't forget about me!

 

--Hermana Batchkoff

Letter ! 9/5/2010 Mi Familia Caliente (my spicy hot family)

haha, its Fast Sunday and we don't eat until 5:20 tonight..it's 12:40 and everyone in class is sitting here studying, and it is COMPLETELY silent cuz everyone's SO tired and hungry hahah!!! It's never been like this in class before. :o
Well anyway, i've been studying a lot today so i thought i'd just write to say hi.  Last night was kind of rough, cuz we had a lot of studytime during the day. And i realized my mind would randomly wander every once in awhile, and it started setting in that i'm a missionary, and then it started setting in exactly how long i'm going to be gone for.. that i'm not just going home after the MTC. It was the first time since i've been here that i felt a little bit homesick, so i got a blessing from my District Leader before bedtime. It was INCREDIBLE! It said this is where i am supposed to be, i will be blessed with the gift of tongues as long as i study dilligently, and these next 18 months will be the happiest that i've ever experienced. And! I think he said this is where i need to be twice, if i'm not just hungry and delusional! But that made me start to feel better. Even though i know this is where i need to be.. it was just good getting some of that "opinion from on high" ! hah. Seriously though.
And then! Today i had an interview with the Brand President's counselor, Brother Priest. I told him about everything and then i told him about the back of my heel that's been hurting, i believeeee because of my shoes. It's the bone part and it feels like what i would imagine to be a bunyin to feel like. Anyway! He told me he'd see if he had any "moleskin" to get me that should help. So he just came in right now with a Rite-aid bag and gave me the moleskin and a pair of scissors. I was all "Brother Priest did you break the sabbath??" And he's kind of out there haha, but he's all "you BET i did!" ..No shame in his game! So it was really cool. He'll probably be the closest thng i can get to having a "dad" out here.
I have some quotes from meetings and stuff i'll leave with you!
2 Elders came up to me and my companera at dinner last night asking if they could take our trays to throw them away for us! How nice!
Welllll familia. I'm doing okay. I have trust and faith in the Lord that you are, as long as you LET him take care of you! I love you!

Love always,
Hermana Lia Batchkoff

"Spiritual submissiveness includes our acceptance of the ups and downs of life."
"The most important commandment to keep is the one you struggle with the most." -Harold B. Lee
"Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self-destruction" - Ezra Taft Benson

"The story in John 8:18:12 is made up! Its a long story how i learned that, but CRAZY huh!! :o Trust me i'm not lying!"

9/10/2010

HAaaahahaha Hey now familia! Give each other a corny group hug for me before you finish reading this ahah
so NOW! It is SO FUNNY, all the missionaries have to make a list of what they're gonna e-mail about because they get so mindblown in this 30 minutes.. I LOVE e-mailing, but it's theee most stressful point of the day fo SHO. haha

I also made a list, so I'll start! So check THIS out. Last week, mi companera got a blessing right? She's having a reallyy hard time with the language, because she took 5 years of French and NO Spanish.. and so she got a bleessing for that and some other things, and these were the words of her blessing I will never forget... "hearken to your companion, who will be your greatest asset here in the MTC. Go to her when you need help, or when you need someone to councel to." and some more about me being helpful and stuff. But her BIGGEST ASSET. OMGOSH! So safe to say, that's stuck with me all week, and I could tell with her too. It CAN get difficult thought, because I wanna be theee BEST example I can be for her. It's just another way to push harder I guess though !

So guess WHAT! On Tuesday we had Lowell M. Snow of the 2nd Quorum of the 70 here.. I didn't know there were too :o google him though! He looks like SUCH a sweet man :) and check THISSS out. I was in the CHOIR. HAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHA!!! The things we'll do to not have to wait an hour before to get a seat. haha I'm so just kidding. But it was so cool! He talked about making choices the entire time..he said the choices with opposition are what make us grow.. the BIG choices are the ones that matter the most. Keep that in mind! If that helps any of you at all :) oh. bad news too. I have to send my temple clothes back to ya'll. Apparentlyyy we weren't supposed to bring any >:( MAN! OH. I'll still be working on a picture for the board too. Time is so loco here, I'm not even kidding you haha.

And Gina, could you tell Miss Lisa her letter made me cry? NO LIE. She's just as faithful writing me as ya'll are! i feel so blessed.

I am NOT gonna lie though. This week has been tough! The first 2 weeks were okay, and the Spanish was okay. But every single day this week we've been learning at least one new conjugation that in school we'd go over for a month. So before I even have time to practice, we're learning a new one and I feel like I'm falling behind! But I know I need to focus on what is best for my future investigators, whether it be being repetitive in a testimony or even speaking it in English if I have to so they'll be able to feel the Spirit. I have 2 teachers, and one of them studied for a year on his mission and still could hardly speak ANY Spanish.. then he prayed one night (not that he hand't before) and literally the next day was speaking fluently! It's gonna be okay! so ya. Thank you for all of your prayers. I think about all of you so much it's ridiculous. But our boy Jeffrey Holland said we're doing the work Christ did.. it's gonna take a tear or 2 in the Garden just as Christ did.. I know I probably butchered that, but I hope you get the idea haha

ok I'm taking a breath



How about I bear my testi-money in Espanol for ya'll



testifico que Dios y JesuCristo viven y tienen mucho amor por nosotros. La Iglesia de JesuCristo es la iglesia solo verdadera. Podemos regresar a vivir en felicidades con Dios y JesuCristo por medio el evangelio de JesuCristo. El Libro de Mormon es la palabra de Dios y ayudemos con todos las problemas tenemos. Digo estas cosas en el nombre de JesuCristo, amen.



Heyyy now!! Okay welll. I love you all soooo so much. I'm gonna send out a letter specifically to bigg MOMMA today.. could ya'll send me pictures??? I feel like I haven't seen you in forEVER haha. And do NOT hesitate to keep writing me.. it keeps me under control! This gospel is so amazing. i hope you're going to the temple, and OWNING them opporunities! haha, I love ya'll. Pictures pictures pictures. OH! And prayers. The flu's going around, as in full-on security escorting these sick missionaries to their rooms to be quarantined.. my entire 10-person district, besides me and one Elder, are sick right now.. not quarantined sick, but sick. So it'll problly be a matter of time for me haha. But ! Prayers are appreciated.

It is FREEZING. here. by the way. >:o well, "nice" to everyone else. Freezing to me. No Cali love over here! hahaha



I'm going now, but read Joseph Smith History! In verses 15-17 they talk about Satan working on him right before God and Christ came down to him.. I HAD NO IDEA that that had happened!! :O!!!! Well I love you.. let me know if you need anything.. I've been having problems with my feet in these shoes, so I mayyyy need some new ones.. I'll send money if I do! Or just my TOMS or SOMEthing.. I have bad pressure points on the back of my heel and they're KILLING me. so I dunno. I'll write more if it gets bad, or tell Carter what's up so hopefully she'll be able to talk to ya'll and all that! Te amo familia! Sing loud for me at church! If I'm doing choir, sing LOUD for me. It's the cool thing to do here :)



Allllways yours,

Hermana Batchkoff

9/3/2010

OHHHH MY GOSH IT TOOK 40 SECONDS TO LOG ME ON THE COMPUTER AND I AM FREAKING OUT.
I have SO MUCH I want to say to ya'll but I dunno how I'll be able to get all of it into this e-mail! But FIRST. Let me start off by saying. ALL OF YOU READ THIS TOGETHER! COMMUNICATION people! Do it to it!

welll, I made a list of what I wanted to talk to you about, so I don't forget the important stuff hahah.. so first! the missionary work. This is TOUGH! But I thought about it earlier today, and I realized that we're doing the EXACT SAME WORK Jesus Christ did! Not necesarily with the same planners and stuff haha, but the same exact work! Bringing others unto him! So it would be crazy to go into this thinking it'd be some kind of 'vaycay' or something haha. I think the hardest thing right now is the whole language deal. But one of my teaches-who went to Veracruz on HIS mission ;)- told me that he's seen 6 or 7 elders leave the MTC completely fluent in Spanish.. he said if I have enough faith, I can do it. It's weird, because he during class we'll have "hora de pder de espanol"...The SPANISH POWER HOUR haha. And we can't speak ANY English whatsoever. And it seems so hard, but there's a committed time to not be able to speak ANYthing but Spanish, it's not as bad as I would think! I heard from my companion that we should just learn all we can cuz we're like a well- and whenever whatever we have learned thus far in our lives needs to be used, the Spirit (el espiritu) will draw out of that well exactly what we need. Kind of cool huh! But ya. I appreciate all the prayers and all of your strength. I'm not worried about ya'll in any way whatsoever.. not that I don't THINK about you, I just feel like ya'll are GOLDEN! You're fine! I love you all so much. so so so so SO so much, it's ridiculous. It'd probably be pathetic if it weren't my family haha. Okay I'm rambling.

Wellll what else? OH. We had our first devotional on Tuesday, and it was Richard ..? Hinckley? President Hinckley's son! Who's part of the 70. I believe someone asked him the best lesson he learned from his father, and he said, "I learned by example. My mother and father were such a great example for me, and taught me everything I needed to know, how faithful I need to be, by their example." Cool huh! I think I wrote ya'll something like that real quick, but I'm not completely positive.

It's so weird, we hear this all the time from missionaries, but the days are SO long here, but the weeks go by SO quick it's ridiculous! Like the back. of my head!! haha, Oh, and I'm gonna have some pictures on the way for ya'll too. I'm working on it ;) By the way! I have this thank you note for the Tysseling's, but I don't have their address so I'm sending it to you.. but could you give it to them? tell everyone I say hi! Surprisingly, I haven't cried here yet. Even though the SPirit IS strong, I haven't cried.. maybe it's because the Spirit's so strong, if that makes any sense ! Mannn, I wish I had the time to tell you all everything that happens from day to day. It's sad, but I hardly have the time to write in my jounrla exept for a couple lines anymo! :o!

Welll. I think my time's coming to an end soon up on this e-mail. I love you all. Other than our Heavenly Father, you all keep me going everyday. Tell the Elders I say Hola ! And keep on that family prayer.... and fast Sunday's this Sunday!! We have to fast til 5:20 on fast Sundays, AND around 4 I have to teach a lessong with my companion, which NOone in my District will probably be paying attention to at that time hahaha. But I guess we'll try and make it happen! I LOVE YOU. Oh! My favorite scripture is Alma 26:10-12.. and I'll try and take a picture and get it to you(for the board?) as soon as I can. I promise. Time is truly INSANE here haha.

OKay! Well I know I ave priobably said it enough to lose the meaning, but I LOVE YOU. Ya'll are so amazing, and it gets me SO EXCITED to see how much you have grown since I've been gone. I am truly convinced it's been WAY longer than a week haha. Oh! And don't hesitate to write as much as you want. I'm just saying. It's not distracting. And it's. needed here. haha. I love this place though don't get me wrong! I'll try and bear my testimonio en espanol right quick..


Testifico que Dios y JesuCristo vive y tienen amor por nosotros. Se que Jose Smith fue un profeta verdadero y Tomas S. Monson es un profeta verdadero. Las escrituras es la palabra de Dios y Dios habla por nosotros por medio las escrituras y el espiritu. En el nombre de JesuCristo, amen.
HOLLA! I LOVE YOU. Keep that familia flava alive!

--Hermana Lia Batchkoff
p.s... I don't even feel like "Lia" anymore.. SO WEIRD I know. hahah