7415ddc2-0b41-4860-ae6f-73a73c855b02 Sister Savannah Browning Back to Missionary Letters Week….8 (Christmas!) Hey everybody! Sorry no email last week. I just didn't get around to it haha Things have been good for the last little bit. I'm still in training and still getting used to missionary life, so it's hard, but getting better:) Thank you so much to everyone who sent cards and gifts and messages for Christmas. It really helped me get through the days and feel loved and remembered. Sometimes it's easy to feel forgotten all the way out here in Waxahachie, so hearing from you makes a big difference. Not too much has been happening except Donna got baptized on the 18th! It was awesome. She was so happy and full of the spirit and it was really good for me to be able to see what it's all about:) it was also fun for my trainer and I, planning our first baptism and having no idea what we were doing. (Needless to say, the font water wasn't exactly warm and the bishop had to make last minute changes to the program) but despite the odds, we had a successful baptism and confirmation and Donna now gets all the blessings that come with those sacred ordinances and covenants:) Christmas was fun. We had meals with members of our ward and some people we do service with and it was all awesome:) I'm not sure if this is a Texas thing or just a coincidence, but all of our meals at Christmas parties and members' houses on Christmas were breakfast food...so it was kind of sugar after sugar after sugar haha I have been so impressed ever since I've been here with the people in our ward. They do so much to love and welcome and care for us. They gave us Christmas gifts and they took us caroling and they had us over for meals with their whole families and so many other things. It's just been really nice to see how much they care about us. It reminded me of the good people I got to grow up with in Bunkerville:) We had a multi-zone Christmas party that was super fun. We got to hear some inspiring words from President and Sister Farley and then we had treats, decorated cookies, and played some fun games. They taught us a paper plate dance that I imagine you can watch on the mission Facebook page, and we also made our own missionary version of the 12 days of Christmas song:) Another cool thing about Christmas here is that it was 85 degrees! So I guess not actually cool...😉 Overall, I'm doing well. I'm getting used to being here and being a missionary and I'm going to be okay I think:) I am really excited for the new year! I love this time of year because I love making goals and having a fresh start and fresh motivation:) I am also really excited that we'll start studying the Old Testament because it's been so long since I studied it in seminary and I feel like I'm at the ideal point in my life to get a lot out of studying the Old Testament. It'll also help me be more familiar with the most common Bible stories that people here know super well. I started today with Moses chapter 1 and learned a lot about how knowing we are children of God can give us great power over temptation, so that was awesome:) Well I hope you all have a great week and involve the Lord in making your New Year's resolutions! And Merry Christmas of course:) Love love love love love, Sister Browning💚❤ Previous Letter Next Letter

87040bef-8e63-40ce-8d46-b8dbb1ea1fa9 Sister Veyo Bundy Back to Missionary Letters Road trips and Disney princesses Hello! Wow, this week was super eventful. All good things though. A few fun stories from this week! -we had another hour and a half long Bible bash! We love when people take up all our finding time so we can't talk to people who might actually be interested in talking to us ♡ we decided that we gave this fam a fair shot and they're just not ready yet. One day though. -On Wednesday my compie had an appt in.... LA QUINTA!! Soooo. We got to roadtrip down there and I got to see my home. Love that place. Also our roadtrip was a BLAST. We made PB and J sandwiches and played lots of Jesus music and it was a party and a half -Thursday we had zone conference in Rialto, so I got to see my OTHER old stomping grounds. Lots of good mems. We love the ghetto. ♡ -This weekened we had a giant service project at this big mansion in Redlands. The mansion used to be occupied by nuns, is definitely haunted, and now houses events for little kids. The event was basically like a drive through Disney thing and so there were all these Disney princesses and Jedis and all that fun stuff. Our job was set up and clean up so we didnt get to actually drive through but it was a party working with the zone. -today we had a zone activity at President and Sister McKinnon's house! I love being with the zone. It's my favorite thing ever. That's all. -we found a new person to teach and she is so awesome. She's a referral from a member of another ward and she is so prepared. We love her! Pray for her please, her name is Ramona. On a spiritual note, one thing that's been on my mind this week is the importance of family and of gospel learning in a family unit! I have been so so soo lucky to grow up in a family where we are all members of the church. So many people dont get that. I also re-read the Family Proclamation this morning during my personal study and I had forgotten how good it was. Go read it sometime! The Family Proclamation https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world?lang=eng Kk. That's all. Love you. OH! If you're looking for people to pray for->> Bryce + fam John Kim + Kyle Hajee Marlina Elizabeth Eddie Ramona Amy Dawn Luis Kayla + more if you want em. Also pray that we find families here in Redlands! Love you all!! -Sister Bundy 7000 central ave Highland CA 92346 Previous Letter Next Letter

6d00163c-4db7-4df9-aa12-b6c86bcc8e72 Elder Zachary West Back to Missionary Letters Hey everyone I know it has been a while since I last sent out an email, but I'm going to try and send one out regularly now. So a lot has happened since I last wrote an email, so i will try and not make this one too long. So Elder Rushton and I now have a new companion that we got a few weeks ago. His name is Elder Hatch and he is a cool dude who just got done with the online MTC. We were able to go and do some service this past week which was pretty cool. We have some members who have a big 40 acre property and they have apple trees. We were able to help them cut up some apples and make fresh apple juice out of it. They let us take home a bottle of it to try and it was really good. Another really cool thing that happened this week was getting to go to a wedding on Saturday for 2 of our investigators David and Josie. They are really awesome and the next day on Sunday, they were baptized. It was really cool to be a part of that. Other than that not much that is really exciting has gone down out here. I hope you all have had a good week and hope to hear from you soon! - Elder West Previous Letter Next Letter

f0e89a04-4500-4f2b-ab37-6ea8b9d4b87b Sister Malia McOmie Back to Missionary Letters WELP... IM BACK QUE PASO AMIGOS?! I debated on writing an email this week... but i wanted to hop on this before all the other talk did cause yk lol <3 #ALLNIGHTER Tuesday at 11pm me and Hermana Longhurst went to the hospital, it was a literal fever dream. We were there until 4pm on Wednesday. staying in the ER all night long is no joke, it was like a simulation or something. We are HIGHKEY paying the price still to this day for that all nighter, missionary work is exhausting as it is haha. The hospital didnt find much, and I wasnt getting much better. SLC, the mission president & doctors decided it was best if I came home and got it all figured out. ET ET ET Emergency transfers aren't fun... my poor mission president had 2 of us... FROM ONTARIO leave today. This whole week is just a blur... I got told yesterday I was coming home, packed up last night and left today, it's been crazy. Im so sad I didnt get to say goodbye to like anyone. But don't worry yall! It is just a TEMPORARY return home, and I plan to get back as soon as I can! #cantgetridofmethateasy READ THIS X100 the last week was DEFINETLY a rollercoaster of emotions. & I definitely said "if only I could BEGIN to see God's plan" about a million times. I think sometimes there are things in life that make it HARD to be submissive and willing to follow God's plan. Things we don't want, things we don't get, things we miss out on, things that suck, things we never expected, A MILLION THINGS. But I was reading in Ether and found this gem of a story. Yall know the brother of Jared, the boats, the rocks that God lit with his hand... thats where we are at in the scriptures. Well this is after they had gotten the cool rock lights, made the boat and now they are on the way to their promised land. Ether 6:5 "And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land ; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind." HOLD UP, HOLD UP, reread that... I love love love the wording on this. It is SO applicable to trials that just happen, sometimes for no rhyme or reason . God could have just let the boat move slowly and calmly. But no, He CAUSED the winds to blow (aka our hard times) the next few verses explain how terrible of a storm it was. But, I love that He did it to move them TOWARDS the promised land. There is always a reason for the things that happen. Sometimes we might know that, sometimes we might forget it, or we might not even realize it at all!!! I know that sometimes life will toss ya around. But I also know that God is in control of everything . God is loving, He is the author of everything, and I KNOW He wants what's best for everyONE. Personally, I dont understand right now why I had to come all the way home when i like just got started. There could be a million reasons why. But I do know that this storm will pass and will lead me to my promised land, even if I don't know exactly what that looks like. God has a plan for you, even if it doesn't match your plan! Keep sailing cause it'll end for your benefit eventually. Trust in God and His eternal perspective & who knows I might see yall soon :P MUCHA AMOR -Hermana McOmie Previous Letter Next Letter

dabfd6b9-1a72-4b9d-aadc-6acb60144b03 Elder Hayden Johnson Back to Missionary Letters The Power of the Book of Mormon Gonna be a quicker weekly email due to the District on Rarotonga wanting to bike around the whole island on electric bikes. 😂🏝️ In this email I could share about all the days and events that have taken place, but I will leave most of that for my journal. Today I want to testify of The Book of Mormon and share some awesome experiences that come from the power within these pages. Recently in preparation for the April General Conference I have been studying heaps about the Restoration, Joseph Smith, and The Book of Mormon. The more and more I read everyday from the Book of Mormon, the more I understand its contents and am thankful to have in these Latter Days. I began to study Chapter 5 of Preach My Gospel to find other ways I can share this love of The Book of Mormon with others as I am tracting. The first cool event that happened was during an exchange with one of the Elders in my district. We were in His area and scheduled to visit a man they have been teaching for a long time named Simran. Now Simran comes to church and seems to love the church, but the Elders have always been curious if he actually understands what they are teaching. It makes it hard to teach him due to his wife (who is a returning member) that loves to talk. So during this lesson we felt prompted to read from the Book of Mormon. Moroni chapter 10 to discuss receiving answers to questions. During the lesson we went slow, we asked Simran if he believed in The Book of Mormon... He paused then immediately began flipping through the pages of The Book of Mormon and turned to 2 Nephi 29. Simran began reading these verses '3 And because my words shall hiss forth—many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible. 4 But thus saith the Lord God: O fools, they shall have a Bible; and it shall proceed forth from the Jews, mine ancient covenant people. And what thank they the Jews for the Bible which they receive from them? Yea, what do the Gentiles mean? Do they remember the travails, and the labors, and the pains of the Jews, and their diligence unto me, in bringing forth salvation unto the Gentiles? 5 O ye Gentiles, have ye remembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant people? Nay; but ye have cursed them, and have hated them, and have not sought to recover them. But behold, I will return all these things upon your own heads; for I the Lord have not forgotten my people.' He then said that he use to believe in just the Bible like many others, but then through prayer he has come to know that God has spoken to others in the Americas as well, that God has not stopped speaking to His people. That the Book of Mormon is true....... My jaw just about hit the floor. My heart was full of love and awe for this man. The other experience was on another exchange during a couple hours of Door Knocking and contacting people. My companion for the day felt pressed to go knock on a house I have already contacted a couple of times without them being interested, but this time another man came out that I have not met before. He talked about religion and how he was the only one in his family that didn't go to any church and didn't believe in God too much. He discussed about faith and how it had a different meaning to him than to others. Thankfully I was holding the Book of Mormon in my hand so I felt impressed to open to Alma 32:21. I gave him the book and asked him to read it out loud. '21 And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.' My companion and I shared testimony of faith. That we were both young and didn't know everything, but we have gained a spiritual witness of the truth of who God is and that our Heavenly Father loves us. That for himself he could also gain faith and gain all the joy and happiness that comes from following God. He told us that he had never read anything like that before and it made sense to him. He wanted us to come back next week to teach him more about Faith and who God is. Well I love this mission and I am still so blessed that the Lord has allowed me to stay here in the Cook Islands another couple transfers! The members and people that live here have such a different lifestyle than back in America, it makes me grateful that the gospel if for all the people around the world. Hope you all have an amazing week! Ka Kite -Orometua Johnson Previous Letter Next Letter

c244a4cc-d6ce-434a-b50e-c7adcb8e8009 Elder Riley Waite Back to Missionary Letters Hey everyone! Today's gonna be short because I don't wanna write. We've had a rough but amazing 2 weeks, I'm still loving it here in Sioux Falls and my comp is a stud. We've been grinding but have been facing a lot of rejection which has been hard, all missionaries go through that so I'm not complaining but it's just pretty annoying listening to excuses and lies over and over again! however I did hit 21 months the other day and it's just crazy to think about how fast the mission goes by! This last weekend our friend Ramone got baptized! It had been a long time coming for that man, he's been talking to missionaries for a while and has now fallen off 3 times before this so we were pretty worried but the dude was all smiles after the baptism and confirmation the next day! After the baptism he came up to me happier than a kid in a candy store and was like, "I'm Saved!" That was pretty funny and we'll break the news to him again later that he's still got a lot to do but I wasn't gonna raid on his parade. Anyways I hope y'all have an amazing week, love you! Previous Letter Next Letter

8cab1e0d-fa78-4ef9-aa2b-d6b6414c9ff3 Elder Nathen Abbot Back to Missionary Letters Busy Hey everyone! This week was super busy. So like I mentioned last time, we are covering 3 areas. Mladá Boleslav, Jičin, and Liberec. So this week was just a lot of us trying to meet with people and get in contact with all of the investigators here in the areas. Plus we had to move to MB this week which we did on Wednesday because we had a meeting Tuesday night at 8:30 in Liberec. So we were just like eh, we'll move Wednesday. So we did that. Then we also traveled back up to Liberec 2 other times this week and 2 times to Prague. We have used half of our kilometers this week and it's only the first week. 😅 These next few weeks should be better though. We just had stuff in Liberec planned so we are going to be better at when we plan stuff and when we will be there. It should be good. We had a couple really amazing lessons with people this week. One guy has just had a super hard past and is still struggling with some things. It was amazing to just love him and help him to feel Christ's love for him. And to testify of the atonement of Jesus Christ. He is really looking to change his life and has given us some amazing opportunities already so that he can change his life and align it more with Christ. It is very touching and I really felt love for him as we were talking. I know that God and Christ love all of us. No matter our situation. And that is what we got to testify to him. The other meeting was with a guy who is actually from close to London. I found him on Instagram. He is way cool. He has also been looking to improve his relationship with God. So it's cool. We are gonna meet with him again soon. We were also going to just teach a Restoration lesson but only taught like half of the Resoration then he asked some questions and we ended up talking about the word of wisdom and briefly on the law of chastity. He doesn't speak any Czech, but his fiance is Czech. We are wanting to start teaching her as well. That would be cool to teach the both of them. Other than all of that we had a few more meetings with people and an inspiration night with the MB/Jičin members. They are so cool and love missionaries so much. I'm excited to get to know them. Last week for p-day we hung out a little bit in Prague. Didn't really see anything, but I did get to see my Sisters before they left. Which was such a blessing. I'm glad that I got to see them and talk to them for a little bit. They are super cool. Shout out to Sisters Goodworth and Stilson. This week we had such amazing weather. Like I'm talking shorts and tshirt weather. So me and the boys went and walked around Prague a little bit. Saw a few statues and cool places. Unfortunately I didn't get as many pictures that I would have liked of different things, but that's ok. I was too busy just enjoying. I did get some though. One of the cool things about covid is that Prague is just so empty without all of the tourists. So that's cool. That's all that I have for today. I love you all and hope that you have a great week! Previous Letter Next Letter

d6f036d4-fd06-4f0f-ad99-260d6b5301c4 Sister Mariam Leavitt Back to Missionary Letters FEASTING 🦃😋 HAPPY late THANKSGIVING! i hope you all ate lots of yummy food!! This week went by way too fast! We get transfer news tomorrow which is insane?! This transfer flew!! This week was so good! We made a lot of friends who are progressing super well which is such a miracle! This area needs some friends! Its getting really cold so knocking can be rough some days but we distract ourselves with some pretty funny conversations lol! Language studies were super good this week! I can read in persian now so thats exciting! Ive been actually learning for a week and a half now so I'm very proud of myself because symbols are SO confusing! We had YUMMY thanksgiving dinners! Our first one was with a couple in the ward and they invited to of the single older members who are actually so funny! One of them is a school teacher so she brought thanksgiving games like true or false, would you rather, unscramble the words... it was very entertaining actually! They are all VERY GOOD cooks so we ate like queens! And they gave us leftovers!!! As a missionary i Literally love leftovers hahah. We had a persian thanksgiving on friday! Literally think of good food and times it by 100! Yalda makes THE BEST FOOD!! I will try to get some pictures from it because it was a FEAST! The elders came and it was just a party! SO MUCH FOOD! vianna made sure i was on her hip all night so we could do everything as "best friends" 🥹 i made pomegranate salad!! Gram and grandpa would be so proud of me!! Ive been having some pretty bad stomach problems lately and its been causing me to not sleep or eat so i got a blessing this week! I am SO THANKFUL FOR PRIESTHOOD BLESSINGS!! i think id be dead without them! I'm not all the way healed but i've felt lots better since! MERRY CHRISTMAS SEASON! remember the reason for the season!! I watched a video this week of why we need a Savior and why we celebrate Christmas that is so good! One of our favorites to share so everyone needs to watch it!! https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2015-12-1000-why-we-need-a-savior?lang=eng&alang=eng&collectionId=e71f1a9300689e1d56532e9dc7e0ddb2299232b3 I LOVE YOU ALL! HAVE THE BEST WEEK! AND DO THE LIGHT THE WORLD ACTIVITIES!! 🎄❤️ https://photos.app.goo.gl/S2KwiGxpSdFowZuA6 Previous Letter Next Letter

c30e07fe-3973-4c78-9571-e1b0af16194a Elder Booker Wakefielk Back to Missionary Letters First week in Salto Well our phone finally started working on Saturday. We had a few lessons drop because the streets are so messed up and we couldn't call them to find them😪. But we found a few and had some fun lessons. Elder Hopkins doesnt understand hardly any Uruguayo Spanish, but he speaks really well so I will translate for him sometimes then he can teach jaja. We took 1 whole photo since last pday so yeah. Our bishop is a police officer and he laid out all the areas where we can't be at night(like half of our area) and said to keep your phone in your pocket as much as possible. So that's been fun, we're in a pretty poor area here but the people are really humble and want to learn, it's been different than any area in my mission. I studied an awesome BYU devotional called, "Putting off the Natural man and becoming Saints." It's by Elder Cook and I love it! He relates a story about 2 horses he bought, Bob and Stubby. Bob was super friendly and stubby not so much. But after riding him for years he became a good horse and changed for the better, and how we need to be meekand to change. He tells is a LOT better than I just did so go read his talk. Have a great week!! Previous Letter Next Letter

39d96e2b-216c-4f3d-8bf1-fc398db3b32a Elder Joshua Abbott Back to Missionary Letters The One Where I Go Home Hey everyone! This week was pretty sweet. Not tons happened but it was still good. I had my exit interview on Wednesday with President Thompson. I never thought that time would come so it was super weird for sure. We did some fun service too so that was fun to be able to get out of the house. That was really about it, this week really wasn't super exciting haha. So this will be the last weekly I ever send which is super crazy to think. I'll be returning home on Wednesday so that's pretty exciting. I want to end by just sharing my testimony of the things I've learned as my experience as a missionary. I'm so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. He has carried me and helped me through so many hardships and struggles that I've had. I know that He lives and this is He church. I know He loves me and all of God's children. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that by reading it that you can come closer to God than by any other book. I know God answers prayers and is waiting to guide us in out lives. If you have a question and go to Him with a sincere heart and real intent that He WILL answer your prayers. He always comes through. I love you all a ton and I really appreciate all the support you've shown as I've been on my mission. See yall soon! Previous Letter Next Letter

d00fcbce-742c-4e91-984c-0d14eae1d195 Sister Sage Bundy Back to Missionary Letters "She is just so adorably clueless" Fun fact about Sister Bundy: the last movie she watched before getting set apart was Clueless (because of course) and this line is kind of the mood for the week. Okay in all honesty, I'm not doing too bad. I've got one week in the field all done! And this week I officially hit my one month mark (weird, right?) And so far the mission has been a party. Well, maybe party isn't the right word because #reverence but it's been overall a solid week. Last Sunday before I left for the field I surprised my family at the Bundy Reunion for testimony meeting!!! Ahhh, it was the best thing ever. I was still sad to miss the dances, races, ice caves, and general festivities BUT testimony meeting was amazing and I got the opportunity to report on my mission as a set apart missionary which was SUCH a cool experience. I feel like there's so much strength to be gained by sharing your testimony with your family and hearing theirs in return. Its seriously so so awesome. It was also good to have one last trip to Mt Trumbull before I left. I love that place with my whole heart. On Tuesday we drove me to my mission which was super cool. Little advantage of driving to your mission is there's no weight limit and no one to check your bags so we packed my carryon full of steaks and hamburger because I may as well not bid farewell to good Bundy beef just yet. My parents also got to meet my mission president and his wife as well as both of my companions so that was also neat. Speaking of which, I met my trainer this week! Her name is Sister Fambrough and she is just the cutest ever. I seriously love her so much. I was lowkey scared that I'd get an awful trainer but lucky me, I totally scored. We get along super well and have tons of fun and laugh a lot. Shes also a hard worker and I feel like we accomplish lots as well. We also live with some Spanish speaking sisters and that's lots of fun as well. Hermana Draut makes me laugh so so hard every single day and Hermana Coray is super sweet, so I definitely am feeling blessed in the roomie department. Last little story in this email but I have to tell you guys about this super cool experience that Sister Fambrough and I had. So we have zoom calls with the whole mission three times a week, so a lot of times we'll go over to the church to watch them. Our mission is kind of bad at time-keeping apparently because they always go over. Anyways. Surprise, we were late getting out but I'm so glad we were! So as we're in the church, we look out the window and see that someone is kinda circling the parking lot. We didn't think too much of it, but when we got out that same car was parked in the shade and they looked like they were having trouble of some kind. We went over and introduced ourselves and asked if we could help with anything. They said they had fuses out and wondered if we had any replacements. We said that we would call the elders and offered to get them some water because it was starting to get hot. We ran to our apartment and called the elders and while we were waiting for a call back we decided to run and quickly grab some lunch. As we passed the church, we noticed that the car was gone. We ran through a drive through and when we got all the way around, GUESS who was standing there? The guy from the parking lot!! We gave him the water and some granola bars and we went around to their car and gave them a Book if Mormon. They also said a prayer with us and have us their contact information. It was awesome. In Gods plan, there are no coincidences. That's about all I got for you guys this week but I love you all and I hope that the rest of your week is great. Previous Letter Next Letter

b9b92ee5-b555-4027-8dfe-8b5c92da3d3c Elder Jeremy Perkins Back to Missionary Letters Let's go!! Found out yesterday that I'll be staying another transfer in Tickle Creek with Elder Maxwell! That will mean I will have served 10 ½ months in the Mount Hood Zone! I think it's be really awesome to say that I've served 1 year in Mount Hood. I'm excited to stay because good things are coming! We had to drop Dan and it was pretty hard because he told us he wanted to be a part of our church, but he wasn't willing to do the necessary steps. On the bright side though, we met with a guy that we round over Facebook. So funny story, the Social Media Specialists have really stressed the importance of joining groups, and so I decided to join a dad jokes group, well I sent a dad joke to a bunch of people and got a few responses, one was named Scott. We've been talking for about 2 weeks now and somehow the gospel was brought up. We had a church tour with him the other day and he is now reading the Book of Mormon! Another cool miracle is we took a member to a meeting with our friend Erin! Erin really opened up to her and explained that she doesn't want us to feel bad or that we've failed because she hasn't converted yet. Rather she said she is continuing praying to find out for herself if baptism is right for her. It was an amazing experience. Go feed the horses! I've been reading in Alma lately and I love the part where Ammon, after he defended the flocks, is feeding the horses. He went the extra mile. In Alma 18:8-9 it states "And it came to pass that king Lamoni inquired of his servants, saying: Where is this man that has such great power? And they said unto him: Behold, he is feeding thy horses." So my new saying is "go feed the horses" go the extra mile. You have 10 people on baptismal date, amazing! Go feed the horses! keep going. Keep progressing. I'm grateful for stories and examples like these that build my testimony. I know the Book of Mormon is true, it is tangible evidence of the truth of the Church of Jesus Christ. Anyone can find that out. You just have to open the Book, study, and pray. Love you guys have a blessed week! elderjeremyperkins Previous Letter Next Letter