e54b5183-1bdd-47da-ad60-13eb43f354d0 Sister Dantzel Paek Back to Missionary Letters Abeja Apis Mellifera YES, WE WERE CHASED BY ONE OF THESE THIS WEEK… I have never been afraid of bugs before. This was the first time and for good reason. If you make it a spiritual thought you will learn more! Anyways how are you guys!?! Thanks for all the emails this week :) You’re all the best and I love hearing about your lives. A lot happened this week and I hope to cover it all… let's get into it :) Bullet Points <3 Happy late Valentine's day! The day of Love and Friendship <3 <3 We had another service project! It was super fun :) We had to prepare another house to be painted. Guess what my job was… watering the walls! You get the walls completely wet then scrape the paint off. Super fun and super effective!! <3 My hands got destroyed from watering the walls. I have the pictures to prove it… No worries they feel better now haha. But, they will have scars for a bit :) <3 The giant bee that chased us…. That was a first! It chased us IN OUR HOUSE! If you want to see more I took a video, go check out my google photos :) <3 The busiest day of my life. Well at least it felt like it. The day of the service project we also had a meeting at the stake center for the missionaries in Ilo, a family history activity, and a missionary night (in our area) we were in charge of. <3 We ended up leaving the family history early to make it to the meeting in the stake center which we left early to go to the missionary night and we were late to that too. It all worked out. <3 We had an awesome Lesson with Monica! We taught the Plan of Salvation and she was very interested. She has a lot of good questions and I am super excited to see her progress. <3 District council (this is when all the missionaries in a specific área get together and have a meeting about how we can do better) We had the LZ's and the AP's!?! There were so many people in our district council! <3 Liahonas with mamita… this was really effective for our area! Our pension had an old Liahona she wanted to give to her neighbors and we found a few new people :) <3 Stopped by the Cops… we got stopped by a cop for the first time since I have been here. Nothing crazy happened but I just thought that was a cool first to add :) <3 We had a new friend at church named Alexis. I am super excited to start teaching him. We have a lesson tonight :) Spiritual thought Whelp… of course I try to relate my most interesting thing that happened during the week to something spiritual. So here we go. A giant bee! Sometimes things come flying at us with high speeds and they are bigger than we thought they would be. Trials, opposition, temptation, distracciones, and much more can be hard to avoid in today's world. Even if you can't see it you can hear it rustling around in the corner, you can't avoid it forever. But, how can we deal with these problems without getting stung? We can try all sorts of things, using a bucket, a shoe, swatting it out the window, throwing things. All of which are in the video btw HAHA. But we can’t just put our phones under a bucket. Hit our temptations with a shoe or swat them out the window. We can't just throw words at people we don't get along with either. So what do we do? Yes, when bad things happen it's okay to do a little freak out dance. And maybe we are freaking out the whole time (with composure of course…) But, we have to deal with the problem head on. You can't just leave it hiding in the corner. We are blessed enough to know how to deal with these GIANT bees. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ! We can battle the temptations of Satan with the scriptures, general conference talks, prayer, and our testimonies. The best part about this gospel is that even when we are stung by the GIANT bees we can be healed by the saving power of the atonement of Jesus Christ. No matter what is flying around, if it's chasing you or not. We have an answer. Turn to Jesus Christ. He will help you in your deepest despair. But, I still recommend trying to stay away from the giant bees… they are pretty scary :) I've had experience! Love you guys, stay safe out there! I will try to get to everyone's emails this week. Sorry I've been slaking… now for the real reason you read this email. To see the pictures :) It's okay I understand I do it too haha! p.s. FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS BREA!!! I am so proud of you for making it to State for Robotics!?! Okay now it's picture time :) google photo link https://photos.app.goo.gl/cTuE5yJgGCQYuGqN7 Previous Letter Next Letter

39895087-881b-4b8a-9db9-9f30ea4488c2 Elder Nathen Abbott Back to Missionary Letters The End Hey everyone! Thanks for sticking with me the past 2 years as I have been on this amazing journey. This is the very last weekly email that I will be sending out. I am on a train right now heading to Prague. I fly home tomorrow morning so I guess that I will see you all soon! I will forever be grateful for all the amazing people that I have met while on my mission. Whether they be fellow missionaries, Czechs, or Slovaks. The people that I have gotten to know the past 2 years are seriously so amazing. They have blessed my life so much. I have learned so much from them. I love Czechia and Slovakia with all my heart. I could go on and on about all the things that I love here. Most importantly, I am grateful for the relationship that I have gained with my Heavenly Father and Savior while on my mission. I have learned about them, and I have learned to trust them and to follow them. I have learned how amazing and loving they are to all of us, even with all our faults, they love us much more than we will ever be able to comprehend. It has been a week full of pondering and just thinking about my mission. Yet I still don't think that I can really put it into words yet. So I'm not really going to even try it right now. Thanks again for all the love and support! I love you all and I will talk to you soon!! Previous Letter Next Letter

8c1770d1-4c80-40e6-974c-49c51901b662 Elder Dylan Wilson Back to Missionary Letters Blessings Blooming in Bartlesville Hey y'all! These two weeks were absolutely fabulous if I do say so myself. Things have been great here in Bartlesville, but instead of rambling on about how great things are I'll just tell you why they're so great! We ate lunch with the Vaclaw family on Tuesday the 13th and they took us to a steakhouse with another set of Elders. It was quite delicious and filling so by the end of the meal I was exceedingly stuffed, but they decided that they wanted to buy a huge slice of chocolate cake for each of us. My companion got a third of the way through his while the other two Elders and I just picked at ours for a minute. We were all joking about how we should have a competition to see who could finish their slice of cake when Brother Vaclaw suddenly slaps a $5 bill on the table and says, "First one to finish their piece of cake gets five dollars." I'm happy to say, but also not happy to say at the same time, that I earned that $5 bill. Later that day we went street contacting and we had walked a pretty good distance away from our church building. We were able to pray and find a new friend to teach named Cheryl! As we were walking back we realized that we weren't going to make it back to the church in time for our lesson so we started running down the streets. I wouldn't recommend doing that in dress shoes and church clothes, but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. We had a really cool experience on Thursday the 15th! We went to the park to talk to people and after a few conversations with no real results, we were a little discouraged. However, the Lord loves effort! We started another conversation with this lady named Judy who was out on a walk with her kids and her friend. Long story short, we walked with her for about twenty minutes on a trail teaching about the Book of Mormon! She was talking about how much sense it all made and after we shared the classic Helaman 5:12 she said, "So how do we do this? Do I just give you my number? Can you come to my house?" We had a lesson with her the next day and she starts off by saying that she's been "thirsting for more knowledge" and "praying to know what changes I should make". It was awesome and she's so open! Found a few more new friends to teach, my testimony of God leading us in the right direction towards those that are ready to receive the restored gospel has grown so much. We talked to a lady named Sherry and she seems pretty nice, we found her at about 8:45 PM. Just a testimony to work all the way until 9 PM hits! Another time we were riding our bikes on Saturday night and started talking to a lady named Sarah outside her house. She recognized us as missionaries and was uninterested at first, but when she mentioned Boy Scouts as part of her life I pulled out my Eagle Scout card and she opened right up! Turns out that she's a Silver Beaver. Anyways, she listened to our message and we have a return appointment for this Tuesday! Took a trip to Pawhuska this week and it was quite interesting, Elder Grantham and I did a TON of walking and it reminded me of the old days tracting in Australia: heat, humidity, and lots of sweat. Checked up on some referrals, but nothing to really show from it unfortunately. Had a great Zone Conference! It was my last one which was pretty sad, but so many good things were talked about. Our friend Leslie is praying about being baptized so please pray that she'll receive that confirmation soon. Please also pray that Mike will receive a testimony of the Book of Mormon along with Judy, Regan, and others we're teaching. Things have been so great, I've been so blessed by the people here. Spiritual thought: Mosiah 18:8-10 I read these verses and was thinking about all of the things it asks us to do when we're baptized. We promise to bear one another's burdens, mourn with those that mourn, comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and stand as a witness of God at all times. It seems like a lot, but it's important to remember just how many other people have made that covenant that are there to help you. At this current moment, close to 17 million people. Not only that, but Jesus Christ was baptized and covenanted with Heavenly Father to help you. Our covenants connect us! Stay strong and know that so many people have your back! I love y'all so much, have a great week!❤❤❤ ~Elder Wilson Previous Letter Next Letter

5282d28a-b4b1-4666-b99a-9c445008e1c4 Sister Kallie Graves Back to Missionary Letters My companion said the most legendary thing to me that I have ever heard. (Important side note: my district was going to do a fast together for the temple) So my comp and I were doing weekly planning (basically the torture of the mission), she turns to me and goes "Sister Graves, I have something wrong with my stomach, and everyone in the district knows. And well I just have something wrong with my stomach. When I am hungry and when I fast, my stomach goes BRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUU (I am indeed quoting the english version, so enjoy) Sometimes its just like brruu but other times its like BRRRRBRBBRRRRRURUUUUUGGGGGGGG. So I cant fast with the district on Monday." Don't laugh, she has a serious medical problem. She needs help. Good thing we live with the Sister Medic. Also, this week marks the third time I have asked someone to read a scripture when they didn't know how to read, which always results in an awkward next couple seconds. Also pt 3! This week I jumped on an English call online with another American. For the next 40 minutes, we got Bibled bashed IN THE NICEST WAY YOU CAN POSSIBLY BE BIBLE BASHED. IT WAS INCREDIBLE. Shoutout Rickey: for being absolutely agnostic in the nicest, most respectful way possible! I hope you have a good life! This week I gave my first Book of Mormon away alone (Small victories)! Because of teaching online, I end up teaching a lot about the Book of Mormon. I do not think that I can convey how true that book is. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. It actually occurred. Christ really did come and visit the Americas. The passed week I have been teaching this woman online named Graziele. I taught her the Restoration and she went to church on Sunday. Sunday afternoon, she texted me (picture Portuguese) "KALLIE (we use our first names online) I DIDN'T WANT TO GO TO CHURCH WHEN I WOKE UP BUT I WENT ANYWAY AND I MEET THE SISTERS THERE AND I GOT THE BOOK OF MORMON AND EVERYONE WAS SO NICE. IT WAS INCREDIBLE! I WANT TO GO BACK! I AM SO EXCITED TO READ THE BOOK OF MORMON!" Queue melted heart. Then in our area we met an 18 yr old pregnant girl named Bianca. We took her from her broken home and took her to the visitors center. After the lesson, she took one step off the center's grounds, turned to us and said I want to go back. I want to feel that peace again. When can we come back?" I think sometimes we overlook this fact. Sometimes we forget where true peace comes from. True peace comes from Christ. We literally have access to the greatest book ever written: the Book of Mormon. Too often it lies untouched on the book shelf. Too often we have a temple or a church in our backyard and we don't ever realize how amazing that is. Christ wants us to come to him; his marked arms are always open for us. Christ means strength and comfort and love and peace and happiness forever with people you love forever. This week, I invite you to come to Christ, the Prince of Peace, and read the Book of Mormon. Read Alma 7. Oh my heck, the Book of Mormon is true. Never forget that. Com amor, Sister Graves Previous Letter Next Letter

8c9a31a5-b86d-40d9-b4f8-e54ed3c09fcb Elder Keith Rushto Back to Missionary Letters Singing and snoring Hey everyone! Hope all is going well and you have had a good week! This week has been pretty good for me! So this Thursday we had the elders from St. Cloud come to stay for a few days, they are the ones that speak the Karen language. They are some good guys but unfortunately they always sleep in the same room as us but just on the floor, and one of them literally snores louder than the trains that go by our apartment! I honestly have no idea how he even makes a snoring noise that loud or how it doesn't wake him up! It's almost violent how loud it is! And its constant too through the whole night, like 10 minutes after he lays down hes snoring until the alarm goes off at 6:30. It's pretty ridiculous. So this past couple days have been a little extra tiresome 😂 Yesterday our little branch had their primary program! It was supposed to be in like November of last year but kept getting pushed back cause of different things that came up. But it ended up being pretty good! There aren't very many kids in our branch so the primary President asked us to help out with it! Elder Hulse did all of the "narrating" while I pretty much just read different scriptures! But they still sang lots of songs and did a great job! There are some pretty awesome kiddos in our primary! Sorry about the short email this week but j hope that everyone has a great week and remembers to follow the Lord in all you do! Thank you for all of your love and support! Have a wonderful week! ~Elder Rushton Picture Us and the Appleton Chuukese people Previous Letter Next Letter

0941512e-ed00-45c8-aef2-4213c23f098e Elder Scott and Sister Stephanie Sangberg Back to Missionary Letters Elder Sangberg is the mission vehicle coordinator and I am the mission secretary. Our mission office is quite busy. We have about 180 young missionaries and about 20 senior missionaries. Our mission comprises most of New Jersey and some of New York. Our mission president is President Rolfe. He and his wife have 6 children, of which 4 are here with them. They are very kind and energetic people. We love serving here and seeing how the gospel changes lives, including our own. We love working with the young missionaries and being inspired by their dedication. Previous Letter Next Letter

83cafcc1-5892-4317-8484-a1b9357bf666 Elder McClain Back to Missionary Letters Another Week Gone Hey Fam, This week has been crazy. My Companion, Elder Fuller gets to go to the Ukraine, his original assignment and it's transfers. I'm getting a new companion and I honestly know nothing about him. But I know he plays the Bag pipes. I am going to miss Elder Fuller, he is a beast. I have learned so much from him. I am not getting transferred, but my area is now the whole Pineridge Reservation!!!! (It used to be 2 different areas) I am kinda super stressed about it. It is a lot of area to cover 😳. But I know that through God anything is possible. Please pray that my new companion and I will be guided by the spirit. There is a lot of work here to do, I know God will provide a way. My first area on my mission was in Pine Ridge. I was shocked that I was transferred to the other side of the reservation which is Kyle. Looking back the Lord was preparing me to know both areas on the reservation because I now cover it all. Even when we don't understand, God's hand is in all things. I got one of the coolest compliments this week from Alan Reddy. We were doing service for Alan, so he can add onto his house. We were taking and he said, "You know what I've noticed about you Easton." I said "What" then he said, " You may only be 19, but you have the wisdom of a 30-year-old man." It was really cool, then he said, " you must have been raised by your grandparents." I had to convince him that I was raised by my Parents and that I do have supportive Grandparents. I have met som many wonderful people out here. I love serving them Happy late Father's day to all the Father's out there. I am lucky to have so many Father figures in my life. I started thinking about how my father has affected my life. One of the greatest things about my dad is that he loves everyone and anyone. I think he gave me that attribute. It has helped me so much. I invite you guys to love everyone even those who have wronged you. Matthew 5:44 states But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Have a great week! Love, Elder Easton Previous Letter Next Letter

df08c93a-3dfe-4306-b4a9-e752261d55aa Elder Layton Woods Back to Missionary Letters Hello! It's been a good few little while since I've wrote you an email, so here it is! Things have been going very well here, we are seeing a lot of miracles and it's been amazing! We have just been super busy, and I don't have too much desire to write emails every week, but we are working hard and receiving so many blessings from it! It is pretty crazy how fast time is going by over here. The weather is super nice and so it makes it fun to go out and talk to everyone. The people in Washington are so awesome, I love talking to them, and helping them to strengthen their faith in Christ! My testimony has been strengthened as we go out and look for people to help bring closer to Christ. I hope that everyone is having a good spring, and getting ready for summer! Although it might already feel like summer in Mesquite. Well, I love you all and hope that you are doing well! Thank you for the love, support, and prayers, I can definitely feel your love! Have a great week! -Elder Woods Previous Letter Next Letter

16e69d52-86c7-427d-9770-a034ce5d80b1 Elder Drake Wakefield Back to Missionary Letters Janjis Dang this week went so fast. We went to the office a lot, as we have to do work there for the whole mission, so that may be why. Me and Elder Hamilton are over reimbursement for everyone in the mission, so we could cook everyone and give them no money haha. We also had a bunch of Janjis or member visits so that was nice too. Oh my we went to an American family's house, let me tell ya, having a home cooked American meal was nothing short of a Tender Mercy. I love the food here but something about mashed potatoes and meat other than chicken was Heaven sent. I was so excited I ate most of it (this is my second plate too haha) before realizing I should take a picture. 10/10 meal, cant top my mom or either grandmas cooking but it was super good. The rest of the week was basically more Janjis, but something really cool that happened was the work was a little slow and I was trying to think of ways we can find new people who want to learn about Jesus Christ, and as we get to the office on Thursday the sisters who work there found there were around 100 recommendations from members on people we could reach out to as they were interested in learning. Me and my comp received about 7, which is so many for here in Jakarta. What made it even more of a blessing is the guy who seems the most interested, his preferred language is English! That is amazing as this weekend when we meet with him I can actually say what my heart feels. This is a testament that God listens to your heart and prayers, as that was something I was frustrated with. I sit in lessons with Elder Hamilton, he does all the talking as I can only infer what they are talking about and have minimal ways to give input. But with Joel, our new guy, I will be able to actually share my love of Jesus with him! So amazing and I can't wait to meet with him. Alright talk of the week is: Standing Together for the Cause of Christ https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2012/08/standing-together-for-the-cause-of-christ?lang=eng This talk is really cool as it is basically Elder Holland, who is such a powerful speaker and brings the spirit so strong, he tells what our beliefs are in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost to many Christian leaders. Definitely would recommend it as it goes over some core doctrine. I found this talk as while Facebook finding, I found a group of Christians who were bashing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints saying we aren't Christian as we don't believe in the trinity. This talk answers what our belief in Jesus Christ is, but I think the more important part is when Elder Holland speaks on the conflict between Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints church and other Christians churches. What I got out of it is why should we fight about the differences instead of praising the similarities. We should find the common good, instead of the "bad" or our differences. We are Christans, we believe Jesus Christ is our Savior, why can we not rejoice in that wonderful knowledge instead of fighting amongst ourselves. That is not what Jesus would want and is definitely derived from Satan. He is steering our focus to try and defend Jesus, all while we are drifting away from the contention. That is what I felt but it is a great talk so go find out for yourself! Yea still doing great, the water pistol still works like a charm. Crazy take, but I think I like it better than toilet paper. Might be withdrawals but idk. Yea hope everyone is doing great, stay close to Jesus! 2. This is Sultan, he's a G. He is a returned missionary from here and he showed me a picture of their zone, and it had Stetson Ludvickson in it, so that caught me by surprise haha. But they made us some fire food too. 3. Didn't know California had a fried chicken place Didn't know California had a fried chicken place Previous Letter Next Letter

d487018d-e60b-4c83-8293-e209789a1f79 Sister Maleena Felshaw Back to Missionary Letters howdy partners Hey there The main thing I want to mention is the denver GIVING MACHINES!!! It was such a cool experience to help out at the giving machines this week! If you have one near you, go! We also witnessed some very interesting things happen but I mean we were in downtown denver so that's to be expected. But yeah twas another good week & I hope yall are doing well. You can write me if you'd like. Thanks. Previous Letter Next Letter

7e909aca-4cad-483a-a95b-abcec483f52a Sister Kari Wakefield Back to Missionary Letters Mindful of you | Moroni 8:3 Alright amigos!! It is nearly unbelievable that this is my last week as a full time missionary. I have love my time here and am so grateful that I have been so blessed by my loving Heavenly Father to be able to come on my mission. It has warmed my heart and amazed me to see how many tender mercies the Lord has placed in my path as I have been placed exactly where I needed go be. He has been so good to me - as always! When I have had to say my goodbyes to those I love on my mission, I choose to share this scripture: Moroni 8:3, "I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite goodness and grace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end." I feel the same for you all. Thank you for all the love and support you have shown me! I hope you have felt my prayers in your behalf over these past months. I know God loves you and Jesus Christ knows you. Keep the faith and endure to the end. I love you all! See you soon! Con mi amor, Hermana Wakefield Previous Letter Next Letter

3ab0eff1-f36b-442d-be73-8228847b7b04 Sister Taylor Allen Back to Missionary Letters general authority wahoo Hello friends and family(: The past couple weeks have been so so good! I am absolutely loving my time here in Horseheads and the missionaries I get to serve around! This has been one of the happiest times on my mission!! We FINALLY found some people to teach and now are super booked with back to back lessons! Sister Roundy and I have seen amazing miracles this transfer and the work is rolling forward nicely 🤩just within the last 14 days we came across 8 new friends that are soaking up the truths of the gospel! It is incredible to see how God puts the people who are prepared into our path!! Also I hit 11 months today which blows my mind like WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE??! Elder Bassett from the Seventy came and did a mission tour this week here! It was a special expirence because the Mission Leadership Council got to have little one on ones with him then all eat lunch together! Not going to lie I was a tad bit intimated but he was the sweetest man! He gave the greatest trainings and shared some solid life advice! He talked to us alot about sacrafice and how it is an opportunity for us to show our gratitude for all that the Savior did! He told us how we all need to lay down the things of the world at the alter and focus our attention on things with eternal significance! I was able to recieve a lot of answers to questions I have had recently as he spoke which was a major blessing. I want you all to know how much I love you! Your Father in Heaven knows you and loves you! Make the relationship you have with Him your number one pursuit and I promise that is when you will have joy beyond compare! No trial or struggle will matter because you will have eyes that see far past this short time in mortality! Have a solid week and please I'm begging each of you to watch some scary movies for me or go to a haunted corn maze!! Then send me pictures so I can cry about how much I miss them 😂 side note: here is my current address for those who asked -> 228 Roosevelt Ave Apt #2 Horseheads, NY 14845 United States Previous Letter Next Letter