Sister Kaylee Hirsbrunner Maryland Baltimore Mission October 2017-April 2019: December 2017

Hi Everyone, I’m officially in Baltimore in a cute little town called Frederick. The people here are so kind! I love the branch I am serving in because the Hispanics are so sweet. They are hard to understand at times because the people are mostly Dominican Republic or Cuban, so their Spanish is super fast and slurred. They are very sweet though! I just have to tell them to slow down at times otherwise the whole conversation I have with them goes right over my head. Also, THEIR food is good. THANK GOODNESS!! These Cuban women make such good food and they LOVE sweets! They made us these pancakes that have fruit in them and you put jam and ice cream on it…oh my goodness it was so good! Though what I’m not excited for is chicken soup… they put all the parts of the chicken in it! I’m not joking when I say all the parts of the chicken. You get the heart, liver, and their favorite..the feet! They love the feet and the heart. Other then that my companion and I like to live off cereal and hot pockets.

My companion’s name is Hermana Sedillo! She’s the sweetest thing. She started her mission as English speaking and then got moved to Spanish speaking her 6^th month into the mission and now she is training me. She is really quiet and a little shy. I honestly thought she didn’t like me the first couple of days because she wouldn’t talk to me unless it was to teach me something or to correct my Spanish. She has started to open up and talks to me a little bit more so that’s good.

There are only 8 Hermanas including me who serve in our mission! That is so small! Though I love it because our mission president likes it when we all get together and support each other. So we get to see the other Hermanas often. Its funny when we are with the English missionaries and the Spanish missionaries start speaking to each other in Spanish and they can’t understand. That was eye opening when a sister asked me what I was saying because it just shows how fast I have been learning! It is such a blessing!

When serving these people they remind me so much of the people in Mexico City and there are some that come from places and conditions like that. The people from Mexico City were really really poor. A lot of the houses were not finished so the families didn’t have to pay house taxes. Their homes were really not like houses, more like a shelter. They were very limited on food and clothing. During this time of year it get cold! So a lot of the people freeze. A lot of the families get really sick and die because of the open sewer systems. The whole city would smell so bad because of that. There were a lot of people who would live out in the streets and would sell anything they had to make money for their family. You would see moms walking around in the streets with their babies on their backs trying to sell stuff to people driving by. From my experience in Mexico I have never been so grateful for the small and simple things I have been blessed with. I had a lady tell me that having nothing and living in the United States is better the having nothing and living in Mexico. We are seriously so blessed to have what we have. At night you could hear gunshots and wild dogs at night. When I flew back into the States with an Elder as soon as we stepped off the plane in Atlanta we almost cried. Mostly because the air smelled so good, but also because we didn’t know how lucky we were before.

This month we have been teaching “lluminadad el mundo” light the world during this season. List the thing you are grateful for and find someone you can serve and lighten. Everyone go watch the light the world video! It’s my favorite and it’s the best way to remind us what this season is all about. I love you all and miss and think of you all daily. Thanks so much for all your prayers, love and support. Have a Happy Holiday and remember the reason for the season!!

www.lds.org
www.mormon.org

https://youtu.be/P_VRN7hcL_8

Amor Siempre

Hermana Hirsbrunner

President and Sister Christiansen