Elder Stetson Ludvigson Back to Missionary Letters So this week was pretty insane! A lot of stuff happened, so we had transfers this week which is always a party, me and Elder Miles are staying together in Garland which I am pumped about because there is a lot of people here searching for the gospel! So after Tranfers we went and had a few lessons, one with Debra and Richard who are just the best, they are on date for November, and Debra has such a strong testimony it astounds me because she has had a tough life! But after our lessons it was towards the end of the night and we get a call from one of the Elders in our district, and we answer and see that he is in a hospital gound and at the hospital, So Elder Coons said that he has choked on some pulled pork so his companion had to do the heimlich, and after he got it all out he said he would still feel something in his throat, he went to the ER where they did an X-Ray and saw a big piece of bone stuck in his throat, so they had to ship him to a hospital in plano to have surgery on his throat. We had to go and pick up his companion while he went to plano in an ambulance! So that was pretty wild! But everything was fine and we got everything settled that next morning. We also went and visited Claudia and her family who are just the best! We are always leaving there laughing! She is an inspiration, she has beat cancer twice and has a son who I'd disabled and has around 10 seizures a day, and has completely changed her life around when she found the restored gosepl of Jesus Christ! So this Saturday come rolling around and we are heading to a lesson and as we were walking through the complex we saw Nelson, who is a recent convert that we haven't been able to get in contact with, and so we stop and talk with him for a little and share a spiritual message and got him another Book of Mormon, then we just headed to our lesson just a few apartments down from his. As we were teaching this lady, Shannon, the restoration a bunch of cops just start rolling up. And we are trying to figure out what was going on, and we see all these cops start running straight to Nelson's apartment, and so we kinda pause from our lesson to see what is going on. And we look over and see Nelson the recent convert guy we just taught getting pulled out of his apartment by the cops, and then taken to jail so that was pretty wild, haha. I guess that's what happens when you aren't following the commandments! But anyway our lesson with Shannon went amazing! She is the greatest and we are super pumped for her! On Sunday night we had a lesson with Keith, who has had a hard life and has really struggled lately to feel Gods love, but we had a super good visit and towards the end of our visit we asked keith if we could give him a priesthood blessing! And he said you can but to it according to your faith because I dont know if I have any anymore. And all through the lesson I had to use the restroom super badly but figured I would just hold it, specially since he lives in a trailer. But as we stand up to give him a blessing I knew I had to go before the blessing or else it would distract from the spirit haha so in Elder Miles words "it looked like you were about to say something so inspired it was gonna blow his socks off." But I stand up and say "keith... can I use your restroom man." Haha it was pretty funny, but after we gave him a blessing and the spirit was insanely strong it was pretty epic! I definitely knew at that moment that God loved Keith no matter what he had been trhough. Later on in the week we had MLC which is always a great time to see the other missionaries and to receive revelation, one thing that was really amazing that we talked about was a scripture, 3 Nephi 27: 2, and in this scripture Christ says "What will ye that I shall give unto you?" we talked about what you would say in response to this question, what would you ask for from Christ? Maybe perhaps a better family life or more faith whatever it is. Then our President shared James 1:5-6 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering." And so whatever you would ask Christ if you were there while he asked the Nephites this question, go and ask him! And I loved that thought, so that's my challenge for y'all! Sampai Jumpa, cinta kalian semua Previous Letter Next Letter

Sister Hanna Haviland Back to Missionary Letters How COVID affected my mission I have loved having the chance to really focused on how my experiences as a missionary have strengthened my testimony of the Restoration. In this time of doubt and question, I have had great peace of mind and have never had much of a doubt that God is using this to build His kingdom here on Earth. I love getting to see families spend more time together and people start to realize what they really need to prioritize just strengthens my testimony that YES! the Lord really can turn anything into an experience for our good. We really do have a living prophet and God, through him, has been preparing us for this time when we can not gather together physically as Saints. But this is a new generation and time to become spiritually strong as we learn together how to have a more home centered and church supported learning system. I have loved being able to still keep the sabbath day holy and hold our own Church Service. As I sat down to write this, I had all of these wonderful moments of revelation flood back to my memory and a sincere appreciation for my mission and the restored Church and Gospel of Jesus Chriest fell over my heart. One of the most important truths that I have come to realize is the importance of the sacrament. My first sunday being home for quarantine, I showed up to our "church service" an hour early to prepare spiritually. It felt wonderful to have a sacrament meeting. It has been two Sundays since I have been able to take the sacrament and oh how I have missed it. but it didn't hit me hard until we started to sing the sacrament hymn and my Dad started to prepare the sacrament. My voice was lost in the tears that streamed down my face and I had an overwhelming portion of the spirit engulf my soul in a wave of love, forgiveness, peace and understanding. The understanding of how important the sacrament, priesthood, living prophets, and the restoration really is. I have had many of these witnesses within the first 14 months of my mission but none of them had ever hit me quite this strong. I am so grateful for the priesthood and the fact that God loves His Children enough that He allows the priesthood into each of our homes. Is is so important to live worthy of this blessing in each of our lives. I know President Russel M. Nelson is a prophet of God. I know the Book of Mormon is true and through it we learn many more restored truths. I know that Jesus Christ is still guiding His people and He will never leave us aimless. This is His plan, and we are a part of it. He is still leading us home. I was blessed to serve in the two places that I needed the most. The Philippines will always be my mission, but the lessons I learned and the people I met while serving in Iowa will forever hold a special place in my heart. Even before I got my reassignment, I knew that my mission was not over. I was so close to the deadline that I really thought that I might not go back, but the spirit testified to me otherwise. He was preparing my heart to serve the Lord’s children in Iowa from the moment I learned we would be leaving the Philippines. I was only there for a short twelve weeks, but the moment I met my new companion I knew that I was where I needed to be. It wasn’t until I went home that I realized WHY I needed to be in Iowa, but God knew the whole time. I was learning line upon line but God was guiding ever step. COVID changed my mission because it changed how I did missionary work. From knocking doors 24/7 to sitting behind one, I learned that no matter the place, no matter the circumstances, The Lords work will go forward boldly, nobly and to all nations. Our missions do not start when we put on a tag and stop when we take it off. Each of us has the responsibility to gather Zion however and whenever we can. The spirit will always whisper to us how we can take part in, what our dear prophet refers to, as the greatest work. There is no greater work especially in these last days. COVID is our Father’s wake up call to us to stand up, get out and go to work. The time is not far distant that our Savior will return to call upon His sheep. So the question we must as ourselves is “am I ready?”. There is no greater way to prepare ourselves that to help others be prepared as well. Through teaching we learn, and by giving we receive. How we react to this challenge will greatly reflect our level of conversion. Have faith. Forsake pride. Repent. Forgiveness freely. Be more careful and less casual in covenant keeping. Follow the prophet. Read the scriptures. And do it all little by little in the strength of the Lord. I testify that these things are the things that will help us to have happier lives and bring us closer to our Father in Heaven. This is our Savior's Church. I testify these things are true in His name, Jesus Christ, Amen. -Sister Haviland Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Nathan Reber Back to Missionary Letters In Wasilla Alaska wn by. The days are still cold and the nights are colder. I’ve got to see the northern lights a couple more times. They truly are indescribable. Pictures can’t do them justice but at least it’s a way to share a small inkling of what I saw. Makes me thankful for eyes That can see things that A camera lens cannot capture. We’ve been staying busy here in Wasilla. today we got to go dog mushing. The guy who taught us and allowed us to use his dogs came in second to last place in the Iditarone a few years back.He wrote a book about his experience and gave one to me and signed it. I will tell you it’s a very cold and loud sport. Between the dogs barking And shouting commands to the dogs it’s loud. What a thrill. It’s something I would definitely do again and would love to learn how to do well.I guess you could say the last week I have been living the Alaskan dream. I learned the other day the lake by us is 4 feet thick with ice. I’ve always worried about falling through I guess with 4 feet of ice I don’t have to worry about that. I think we’re going fishing next week. Someone’s offered to take us. I know I say it every week but I’m gonna say it again. The Lord loves all of us.Our heavenly father loves all of us. It doesn’t matter where we’ve been or what we’ve done we can always go to him. The atonement was for all not just a select few. I thought a lot about agency this week. How we can use it for good or we can use it for bad. For example we can use our agency to talk about the gospel or to talk about other people. At the end of the day our agency not only affects us but other people around us. So I guess the messages Is make sure we use our agency wisely. Also this week I was able to hold a woolly mammoth bone. A bag of gold, a rock with gold in it. I also met the guys who owned the claim that Todd Hoffman from Gold Rush used. It really is a small world. Well I’ll leave you all with my testimony that I know I have our Heavenly father loves us and I know He wants what’s best for us. He has given us ways to communicate with him ways for him to communicate with us and scriptures to lead us back to him. I love you all and I will write again next week. Love Elder Nathan Reber Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Toone Back to Missionary Letters This week we did some service and I got to use a sickle and hack up a yard with billions of weeds. That was fun. We had a lesson with Bruce and invited him and his girlfriend to church! We went over early to their house before church and made sure they were ready to go. Bruce didn't answer and we got scared he wasn't going to wake up. He called us right after and said he was actually in the shower getting ready. We got hyped and they both came to church and heard a phenomenal fast and testimony meeting! They loved it. Bruce said he has nothing against being baptized and now that he is showing good interest and coming to church he will be on date very soon! We also met Two Feathers, this Indian guy at an RV park. He gave us a zucchini and now we are teaching him the lessons! I know the church is true. I can't express what my mission has meant to me. It's changed my life forever. I love Jesus! I'll be home next week probably. Excited to see everyone but I'm gonna miss the full time work I will see you all later! Love you! Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Emmanuel Navarro-Gonzalez Back to Missionary Letters Week 15 Hola Amigos y Familia! Wow and just like that I'm getting the screwdriver to take off my training wheels! This is 15 weeks since I left for the MTC and 12 weeks in Tennessee! Last transfer I was being follow up trained by Elder Dent. He's an Arizona guy so we bond over the desert. We're staying together and in the same area for another transfer! I realize that I haven't been sending out emails the last 6 weeks. Yeah sorry about that but my mom is telling me that I probably should so here I am listening to her. Moms know best! Shout out to Ana! There is so much that has happened this last transfer that I can mention in future emails. But I just wanted to leave you all with my testimony. I know that this work and this church is true. There is nothing more miraculous than seeing people accept Jesus Christ and his Restored Gospel in their lives. This has by far been the best time of my life. Sometimes it's hard and people reject you mostly here in the south but it's worth every second. This Gospel has brought me so much joy and I know it can help each and everyone who receives this email! I love you all and I promise I will write next week! Elder Queso Navarro-Gonzalez Previous Letter Next Letter

Sister Alley Shaner Back to Missionary Letters Becoming the Lord's Hands So I have some news but first of all I would like to apologize for not writing an email last week. I was sick and so it was a bit of a rough week and we didn't do much. I have major news though and it may come as a shock to some. Some of you know that I've struggled with anxiety and some of you didn't. It's something I have struggled with my whole life and will continue to struggle with. Well, after many tears, prayers, and discussions we've decided it would be best if I was transferred into being a service missionary. This was not an easy decision. I was mad at myself for continuing to struggle so much and feared that if I went home it would mark how the rest of my life would be. Then I read a passage in D&C that changed my thinking: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, that when I give a commandment to any of the sons of men to do a work unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their might and with all they have to perform that work, and cease not their diligence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that work, behold, it behooveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept of their offerings." (D&C 12:49) This was exactly what I needed and I knew it was an answer to my prayers. I then started the conversation with my mission president and we decided that the next right step for me would be a service missionary. I feel so at peace with this decision and know this is the path that Heavenly Father wants me to take. Someone said to me, "Maybe the Lord no longer needed you as His voice but instead His hands." So, what does this mean? Well, I'll be coming home next Monday and immediately start my service. I'm super excited but definitely sad to say goodbye to everyone. I've learned and progressed so much and I'm excited to continue that. I will continue to send out these emails because I will still be a missionary, just in a different way. I'm excited to continue to share my progress and experiences in serving the Lord! Thank you all! Previous Letter Next Letter

Sister Alyson Cook Back to Missionary Letters The first half of my mission was spent doing normal missionary work. I was knocking on doors, I was talking to people on the streets, and teaching in peoples homes. When I came back out the second time, the new normal became calling formers, messaging people on facebook, and teaching online or over the phone. It was quite the transition, and it definitely took time to get the hang of, but for me personally and compared to the rest of my mission, I was the busiest in isolation. There's a lot of factors that go into being 'busy' as a missionary (like the area, people in the area, ect) but I can say with only gratitude in my heart that the reason I was so busy was because the Lord was hand preparing people to receive the Gospel. It may have taken something big like a [insert whichever 2020 crisis you would like to cite] to make it happen, but He made it happen if it meant that just one person would benefit from it. Hello everyone! Its been a while. for that, I am sorry. But! I have a good reason. We were just so incredibly blessed in the area where I served that we were just so busy with the work so writing my weekly fell by the wayside. So I wanted to send one last email to all of you to update you on what went on the last couple months. I am currently sitting at home in Bunkerville Nevada, and have completed my mission. So I guess this is an update and a wrap up. I guess the first thing I want you all (Yinz) to know is how aware the Lord is of all of us, and is willing to cause all sorts of ruckus if it means our wellbeing is accomplished. I saw this in my own personal life, in the lives of those I've taught, and predominantly in the recent case of this Covid pandemic. I was able to witness significant miracles almost daily, reaffirming my testimony on the matter. The first half of my mission was spent doing normal missionary work. I was knocking on doors, I was talking to people on the streets, and teaching in peoples homes. When I came back out the second time, the new normal became calling formers, messaging people on facebook, and teaching online or over the phone. It was quite the transition, and it definitely took time to get the hang of, but for me personally and compared to the rest of my mission, I was the busiest in isolation. There's a lot of factors that go into being 'busy' as a missionary (like the area, people in the area, etc) but I can say with only gratitude in my heart that the reason I was so busy was because the Lord was hand preparing people to receive the Gospel. It may have taken something big like a [insert whichever 2020 crisis you would like to cite] to make it happen, but He made it happen if it meant that just one person would benefit from it. Amazingly, I had a lot of 'one persons' come into my life. I'd like to take a moment to talk about a couple of them. For the sake of the length of this email, Ill assume you all read my past weeklies and are aware of all the magnificent people that I met 5 months ago and will just include the new to you peeps. Anita. You may have heard of her, she has been fantastic since day one we called her. I have some great news! She was baptized on October 17th! Her testimony grew like a wildfire, and she shares it with us any chance she gets. Her story is an interesting one. She sat next to a return missionary on the plane and learned about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She thought it was interesting, and took her card and forgot about it. Well, covid happened, and Anita was really hit hard by it all. Then one day, she was scrolling on facebook, and saw a post about our church. Everything she heard came flooding back. She reached out to us and we talked 3 times a week until she was baptized. Her favorite point about the gospel is the fact that God talks through prophets in days of old as well as today. The circumstances of her finding the light of the gospel were specifically tailored to her by God, and each domino was meticulously placed. The cool thing about Anita, is that although I taught her for close to 6 months, I only ever saw her in person twice. Once when we accidentally ran into her while dropping off a Book of Mormon for her and then on her actual baptism day. Jimmy (not actual name) is another person who comes to mind. He has been through a lot in his life, and moved to Pittsburgh as a new start to get closer to his children. Well, covid turned his life upside down. His once prestigious job offer was withdrawn upon arrival in Pittsburgh. He was left desolate, his kids he moved back for refrained from contacting him, he was at a pretty low point. Like Anita, one day he was scrolling on Facebook and came across a post from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In his own words, He said that the post "radiated light and love" so he clicked on it. Jimmy later was baptized on October 3rd. His life was filled with a sense of hope and joy he didn't have before. Although some things have improved in his life, He attributes the blessings to come from God. He has always been an amazing example of faith to me! Never did he turn his back on God. In fact, his first instinct when things got hard was to turn to God with full purpose of heart. Which is how we were able to get in contact with him in the first place. There are so many more people that are currently being taught, but this is getting lengthy. Just know that there were so many people that we were able to come in contact with that were such precious souls of our Father in Heaven. If you were to ask me what my favorite part of missionary work is the first part of my mission, I would probably say something cliche like 'the people' or something like that. Now, I have a better answer. My favorite part is watching someone's eyes the moment that the Gospel made some sort of impact in their soul. That moment where something clicks inside of them. You can watch it as it happens! Their eyes sparkle, and they sit a little straighter. If that moment happened away from us missionaries (which it often did) there was no need to worry. The residual sparkle was just as good. What that sparkle meant is that they were starting to gain a testimony and grasp the marvelous concept of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was the beginning notes of the song referenced in Alma 5, when the prophet Alma described the effects that feeling the Saviors Redeeming Love can have in our life. (verse 26) These moments mean so much, because I have felt to sing the song of redeeming love many times over the last 2 years. My life has changed in ways I've never thought possible. I was overwhelmed by the grace that my Savior has shown me. I understand more the plan that my Father in Heaven has for me- and for all of us for that matter. I know the purpose of this life we have on earth. I recognize the love that my Father in Heaven has for me, and just how far He was and is willing to go for me. I know that Christ is my Savior, and has paid the ultimate price for me. He has suffered complete and utter anguish on my behalf. Knowing all these thing causes my heart to sing, and the only thing better than that feeling was hearing others start singing the same melody that you are. I love you all! Thank you for joining me on this crazy adventure of mine. Please reach out to me either on this email, alyson.p.cook@gmail.com , on facebook, on messenger, heck whatever platform you like! The invitation is to everyone. I would love to talk with you!! Love Sister Alyson Cook Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Tauaimalo Fiso Back to Missionary Letters The Sandhills Hey everyone! Hope y'all are doing well. It's been a great week. We had transfers and I am now in Gordon, Nebraska!! My new companion is Elder Kinikni. He's a funny dude and is the LIFE of the party. He's Tongan and supposed to go to Tonga, too for his original assignment. Anyways back to Gordon, it's a tiny, tiny town of about 1,800 people right on the border of South Dakota and Nebraska. I thought Mesquite was small but then there's Gordon and another town right outside of Gordon that's called Clinton that has only 33 people. It's crazy. The awesome thing about small towns is that everyone is so nice! You wave and they wave back. You can start a conversation with random people and go off for like half an hour(great contacting). The people in Gordon are so nice and I'm glad to be here! Out here in Gordon there are three sets of missionaries: a set of sisters, elders, and some ranch elders. The ranch elders are basically service missionaries that help out on some of the ranches here in the Dakotas. Elder Kinikini and I are mainly the proselyting (regular missionary work like finding people and teaching lessons) elders, but every once in a while, we'll go down and help at a ranch with the other elders. It is definitely a lot of fun! On Friday, all we really did was help clean out some huge sheds and barns but come spring and summer time, there will be a lot more fun stuff to do:). On Sunday, we met the new branch president, President Redman, and we just got to know each other and told him about the area. He then asked me and Elder Kinikini to speak in sacrament probably 20 minutes before the meeting. Usually I would be nervous as heck, but I felt pretty good about speaking (and I'm not the greatest speaker by far). I talked about prayer, it's importance, and how it has changed my life. Whenever I think of prayer, I think of my dad. Prayer was a priority for him. I would always catch him on his knees before going to work or going to bed. He's the greatest example of prayer in my life and I'm forever grateful to call him dad. Prayer is definitely a blessing, a way for us to communicate with God. I challenge you all this week (I will try as well) to make Prayer a Priority. Take about a minute or two to have a conversation with your Heavenly Father. Give gratitude and ask SPECIFICALLY for things you stand in need of. I promise you that as you do, your life will be filled with peace and you will begin to notice all the blessings, even the small ones, God had given you. "Oh, how praying rests the weary! Prayer will change the night to day. So, when life gets dark and dreary, don't forget to pray." Ou te alofa tele atu ia outou uma, Elder Fiso Previous Letter Next Letter

Eder Stetson Ludvigson Back to Missionary Letters Wow what a week!! I know I say that at the beginning of every email, but that is because it is always true!! And it flew by!! so the week started off kind of crummy on Monday night, basically what happened, what the lady we met at hot chocolate, the one we showed the picture of Christ coming to the Americas and she started crying and the spirit was booming, yeah so that lady, she was golden and so ready for the gospel and to get baptized! but her husband got extremely mad at her and us for contacting her, and he told us we need to stop reaching out to her, so we had to respect his wishes and drop her which was so sad because she was so awesome!! and to make the night even better our lesson that we had that night with Rayhane, the Bangladesh guy that feeds us, he canceled!! So we ended up just contacting a bunch of people that night which was actually very successful!! So the next day we had an amazing lesson with Amber and Tim! We were just helping her get prepared for her baptism that was on Saturday! It was a super cool lesson, and at the end her and Tim asked us for a priesthood blessing! I was able to give the blessing to Tim, which was super amazing! On the outside he looks like a big tuff guy, but he really is just a big softy haha, he is a stud! So the next day we had a mission wide zoom meeting which was pretty neat! and then after that we went and had a lesson with Zarah and Bro Thorsen! We had one of the most spirit filled lessons I have had on my mission so far! and Brother Thorsens testimony was so strong it was awesome! We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and at the end of the lesson we put her on a baptismal date for Jan 30th!! how crazy is that!! and she was super pumped about it!! Right after that lesson we had to hustle over to a lesson with Pearline!! She is so awesome! and her house just feels like your grandma's house haha there's always a bunch of people there and usually food cooking! So before we started the lesson one of her Grandkids, who is about 20 comes walking in and grabs the fly swatter and starts swatting her little dog snowball, and pearline got all mad, it was hilarious and me and Elder Carter were dying, we were able to teach her and some of her family the plan of salvation which was really cool and they seemed to love it!! So the next day we had a lesson with David,and it was a super willed lesson, like crazy! I don't even know how to explain it!! so just know it was crazy, and if you want to know more about it you can email and ask me haha! Anyway, after that we headed over to Zac's who is a stud and has been progressing really well! he would be on date but he has some legal issues which is a bummer, but the lesson was super awesome and super spiritual! and his little nephew who was about 6 joined us and he had some super cute comments about Jesus!! Then the next day on friday we had a super cool miracle!! so we were calling people at subway and they closed at 9;00, so we were getting ready to head out but they had already locked the door, so we were locked in, but we went and got the worker to come let us out. When she was letting us out she was telling us how she always sees us studying and praying over there in the corner, and she told us to pray for her! And we get a lot of prayer requests so we didn't think too much of it! but after we walked out I had the prompting to go back in, and so we did and like Nephi, not knowing beforehand we trusted the spirit would guide us, and it did! we asked her if we could say a prayer with her right then, so we did. And I was the one praying and when we finished we looked up and her eyes were full of tears! she told us she really needed that! and so we shared our testimonies about the love Christ has for her! it was awesome! and we set up another lesson with her!! So I hope you guys are still entertained because the best part of the week has yet to come!! Saturday was the day Amber got Baptized!! It was such an amazing baptism!! and probably one of the times I have felt the spirit the strongest let alone in my mission but my whole life!! So we started filling the font a little late because the person that was supposed to bring the keys was running behind, and so the water heater only can keep up if it is half way, but we didn't have the time so we had to full blast it. The font usually takes about an hour and a half to fill, and there was about 20min until it started and it was less than half way, and super cold, so we went to boil water in hopes of warming the water a little. We went into the kitchen and filled the huge pots and started boiling them, when they were done we took them over to the font, and miracle! The font was all the way full and somehow decided to get warm again!! Heavenly Father really wanted her to get baptized!! So anyway after that Amber and Tim went to get changed, and Tim realized he didn't bring an extra long sleeve, well we thought okay we will just get him a jumpsuit, but he was hoping for a long sleeve because he had tattoos and wanted to cover them up. I swear we had looked through everyone of those jumpsuits before and there were no long sleeved ones, but we thought we would go check again just in case! so we went sifting through the jumpsuits and just as we thought nothing! Right before we were about to give up our bishop pulled out this long sleeve jumpsuit, and we thought there is no way that should fit him because he is a pretty big guy, but when he pulled it all the way out and checked the size, boom, perfect fit! another miracle!! so we had the baptism and it was amazing! most people were crying and it was just so spiritual!! Anyway apologizes again for the long email just a lot happens in one week as a missionary! it is amazing and I love and wouldn't trade these experiences for the world!! You guys are awesome! love you all!! Previous Letter Next Letter

Sister Alley Shaner Back to Missionary Letters I'm Alive!! Hello everyone! I’m so sorry it took me so long to send out another email. Turns out adjusting to being home is a lot harder than I expected it to be! My experiences as a Service Missionary have been great though and I promise to send consistent emails once again! First, I want to share with everyone where I’ve been serving! Getting a schedule organized for me was really iffy at first and I was driving up to St. George almost every day because there are no other service missionaries in Mesquite and so nothing was really set up down here. The time difference also sucked because if I had an assignment at 8 Utah Time then that’s actually 7 my time, which means I need to leave at 6. I’m not a morning person lol. But, we’ve slowly been figuring things out and now most of my assignments are down in Mesquite! We’re still figuring out the kinks but let me just go over my schedule quickly! Monday I have a morning devotional in St. George with my district and then afterwards I stay at the institute to work on a really neat service project. We’re basically making homemade beds out of grocery bags and then we ship them off to refugees and countries who need it, like Ukraine! Then I come home and I help at the food bank we have here in Mesquite. Tuesday we’re still kind of figuring out, but I think I’ll be helping with the FamilySearch Center or the animal shelter which I am really excited about. Wednesdays are my temple days! I’m so excited to work in the St. George temple, it is absolutely gorgeous! I’ve missed it a lot! Thursdays are really exciting because I’m helping my old 4th grade teacher with her class! I’ve only done it once so far, but I loved it and the kids are amazing! Almost has me really considering becoming a teacher! Finally, Fridays I’m helping at the Salvation Army in Mesquite! Saturdays I don’t really have anything scheduled and Sundays are really a family day, which is nice! It’s been over a month now but I’m just barely starting to adjust. It’s been a little difficult keeping the habits I formed on my mission, which has been really frustrating for me but it’s to be expected. I’ll start shaping back up soon enough lol! I want to share with everyone a thought I’ve been having the past week. Last Saturday I had the privilege to hear from Bradley Wilcox who is in the Young Men General presidency! It was an amazing conversation and he said something that really made me think, that I’d like to share. Being on the covenant path can be really difficult, I think the most difficult part for me is feeling like I’m not making any progress because I keep messing up. I think it can sometimes take really long to take a step forward and we all focus on how fast we mess up. Think of it this way, each of us is walking our own path. It takes everyone a week to take one step forward, it’s a hard long journey but after 7 weeks we’re 7 steps ahead of where we were. Then all of a sudden something disrupts our journey, whether it be ourselves or an outside force and we end up falling back 6 steps in one day. How frustrating is that! We made so much progress and it took so long only for it to be ruined in a matter of seconds. I think we all can sometimes get caught up in the fact how much we backtracked and end up not realizing that we’re still one step ahead from where we started. That’s how our paths work. It sucks, it’s frustrating, and it’s not fair but it is worth it because eventually if we keep going we will all make it to where we need to be. President Wilcox said this in different terms, but his message was clear and that was that the only way we could possibly fail this journey is if we stopped trying. We let the mistakes get to us and we stopped trying to move forward. I hope everyone can think about that for a moment. Mistakes and bad circumstances suck but that’s no reason for anyone to get off the path that we’re able to be on through Christ. If we did stop trying we would just be playing right into the hands of the person who caused our misery! Anyway, I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving and recognizes the things in our lives to be grateful for! Adios! Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Ryan Bruehl Back to Missionary Letters Week 13 Howdy y'all! This week has gone by in a flash! It's been raining a lot so we've struggled to get outside but we've trudged through some of the rain. We had a good amount of success in Baldwyn this last week. We thought we had walked every street in that small town but we found one hidden away and talked to 8 or so people who all showed interest! We were also inspecting a little creek because Elder Voth wants to catch a frog. We saw a frog but unfortunately it was dead. After poking at it for a few minutes we heard some noise and saw a lady cleaning up some rubbish. We, of course offered to help out! She prefered to do it herself but we started talking about the gospel. She was very receptive and opened up about a portion of her life... Just yesterday we were heading back from a round of street contacting and we decided to knock on a house that was tucked away on our way back to the apartment. The person we were expecting was not there but a man answered and we asked if he would like to hear our message. Skipping some, he opened up and shared that he was struggling. He had been drinking, and high, and had been considering commiting suicide. He had prayed to The Lord for help... Then we knocked on his door. While at times the weight of life can seem opressive and too much to handle, in and through the Savior's atonement we may find rest. He died that we might live! We just had fast and testimony meeting this Sunday. I urge you all to bear your testimony! And to bear it often! No matter your pain, no matter your circumstance, when bearing testimony of The Lords redeeming, strengthening, and enduring love you will find joy. These things I promise in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Much Love, Elder Bruehl Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder David Vogel Back to Missionary Letters Mesquite, Nevada One Last One This will most likely be my last email for a long time. My mother has made it clear that I am to continue writing letters to her at least once a month, most likely under penalty of death but that would only be if I was so lucky. When given the opportunity I wouldn’t like to put to the test what she could come up with. I need to remember all the way back to last Tuesday about two thousand miles away now. We got up and headed off to Fish. They are getting close to having all of their Christmas stuff sold. So much so that they’ve been moving a lot of what's left to the middle store to sell it off when the Christmas section isn’t open. Along with moving the Christmas stuff out of the Christmas store we’re also moving the candy cane shop stuff in. Every time something new looking comes into FISH instead of it getting put out to be sold it gets set aside for the Candy Cane shop. Then around Christmas they invite low-income kids from the local schools to come pick out presents for their family. Everything is sorted into categories like, Adult Female, Adult Male, Adult, boy, girl,.. and so on. When the kids come in they’re able to say who they’re getting presents for and be directed to the correct section. According to Sister Cabe, there is no political correctness at FISH. Girls get dolls, boys get trucks, women get make-up and guys get guy stuff. Obviously those aren’t the only things we had but that’s the idea. We moved everything out in preparation for it on Saturday. That evening we went over to see the Martinez family again. Elder Harrison previously served in a Spanish branch with Brother Martinez’s brother, Mojo, and they’d invited him over. So, we sat and chatted with him for a bit. There’s about 13 years between Brother Martinez and his Brother, so Mojo has only been off of his mission for about 3 years. We chatted with him about what he’s done since then and what we might do when we get back. As we were talking it came up that he’d gone on a date with one of the daughters of Brother Wilson (the first councilor in the bishopric). Nothing came from it, but it was still funny. Then they gave us sweet bread and Mexican hot chocolate. The sweet bread was good, and the hot chocolate tasted like hot chocolate so no complaints. We had two other appointments that evening but both of them were canceled. Both because of people getting sick. More accurately Ashley’s daughter got Covid and Brenda went in for another round of chemo. So, one person getting sick another trying to get over the sickness. Normally someone’s kid getting sick wouldn’t stop us from meeting and just being cautious, but when you have a flight in a week that you really want to be on, you’re a little more worried, so we opted out. We thought we might be able to set up a lesson with Holly but it turns out that her son has Covid. So we probably wouldn’t see her in person again. Wednesday was my last time at Agape and I wanted to make the most of it. So after stocking some shelves we did a good comb through the shelves to see if there was anything worth packing home. The answer was there was not. They were running a 75% off sale on everything, so the shelves were rather barren. Probably good that I didn’t grab anything else to drag home. Said goodbye to Paul and Brooke who run the Food Pantry and the non-profit store respectively. Asked them to not go too hard on the next Elders who came in. Paul laughed, Brooke just rolled her eyes. Immediately after Agape we had a District council. The big reason for it was so we could have Elder Thatcher there. He was leaving Thursday morning to head to Argentina. Because it was so soon after service, we planned on doing it in non-pros. Or basically come as you are. Or that was what I was expecting. We had to stop at our apartment to pick up our scriptures, but Elder Harrison ran upstairs. I figured it was to use the bathroom, but he went and changed into his suit. I did not have time to do that so off to the District council we went. Turns out I would have had time because the Tipp City Elders forgot we changed the time of the District council. So, we had to wait for them to show up. They were the only other Elders not in suits/dresses. Why dress, well it’s because the Zone Leaders and the Sister Training Leaders came. So, I lead the District council in jeans and a red t-shirt. For our Testimony meeting I’d asked everyone to give a scripture that they most like to share. And I did not share Proverbs 21:19. I was tempted, but I didn’t. It was a good meeting, but it felt a little strange. Like we just had a district council testimony meeting. There were only two District Councils since the last testimony meeting and now we’re just missing a few Elders. After the council we had our lesson with Sister Hurt at the church. It was a lesson on all the things that she’d done while meeting with us and how she was going to continue with those things. She’s made a lot of progress in the last few months and I really don’t want all of that to go to waste. With the progress she has made, the support from Sister Walker, and the future support of the Sisters Cabe. I think she’ll be okay. She still really does want to meet with the Elders every week, so we have that set as a repeating event for the Elders. Now for the strange part of the meeting. As it came up that we would be leaving soon it of course went to dating. Two things came up from this. The first was Sister Hurt saying that she really wanted to find a husband that was in the church. It’s good to have goals. I just wouldn’t think of that as a first goal. The second thing was from Sister Walker. Little context here, Sister Walker is at least 80 years old, widow, and just one of the sweetest little old ladies you could ever meet. Here is her dating advice to us. “Make sure you find someone who doesn’t only have sex for reproduction.” Could have said something about sharing values, or making sure it’s true love. I think it mostly just caught me off guard. We were supposed to see Brenda in the evening but she was still recovering from the chemo. We shared a quick message over the phone and wished her a good night. Thursday we tried her again but she still wasn’t feeling it. So instead we tried to meet with Hannah. She couldn’t meet in person but she was able to video call us. We read through the Sermon on the Mount and talked about prayer. She is very devout in her desire to do prayer but very stubborn in only doing the prayers that she has been taught. Some pastor told her once that every time you do a Hail Mary prayer it’s like slapping Satan in the face. While a very fun visual, not really true. We didn’t get into her quitting with the other prayers quite yet, but we invited her to say a personal prayer and pay attention to how she felt after. I don’t know how into it she actually feels but at least she said she would try. We also then gained Elder Bishop into our companionship because Elder Thatcher flew off to Argentina. Back to a trio for about five days. And I got to go to an actual eye doctor. He gave me some fancy new drugs and said I should be well improved in just a few days. We didn’t get to see Brenda but we still felt like we wanted to spend some time in a nursing home so we went over to Joe’s nursing home. He’s still a little off but we were able to teach him most of the restoration using the pamphlet so we had lots of pictures. We left him with the invitation to pray about what we read and hopefully he’ll be able to get an answer. Friday was our last day at FISH. I did the same thing I did at Agape and combed the shelves for something worth taking home. I did find some good plates for my mother but those are a secret until further notice [Christmas]. In the end we said goodbye to everyone and headed home. I’m going to skip some writing and say we reached out to Brenda everyday and every time she wasn’t up for it. Brother Wheeler did drop us off some dinner. It was like funeral potatoes but he’d put hamburgers in it. Full hamburger patties. It was really kinda strange, but not awful. Definitely needed some seasonings. That evening Sister Cabe asked if we would be able to help decorate for the Ward Christmas party. That took just about two hours and a lot of candy canes. By the end it looked good but a little chaotic. Saturday we went to the eye doctor and he said my eye was looking much better. Out of curiosity, I asked him how many of his appointments were regular check-ups -vs- infections/foreign objects. He said 9/10 were just routine check-ups. So, I guess I can say I am in the minority and I’m happy to make his day a little more interesting. We ran to Fish to see if they were still running the candy cane shop but they apparently finished even earlier then they thought they would. So, we helped move some things back to the middle store, but overall were out of there pretty quick. Sunday started out how you would expect, with church. Sister Hurt was at church again. It was good to see because she hasn’t come for about the last two months. Brother Wheeler still isn’t showing up and that’s frustrating after he was almost at two months of consistently coming. Immediately after church was the ward Christmas Party. Seeing what we put up again makes me feel better about it because it looked better with all the people there and not like a complete explosion of candy canes and glitter. Lots of ham, lots of potatoes, and lots of green beans. Remember that for later. They ended the party singing Christmas carols with everyone and then we packed everything up to head home. Not before they handed us all the extra ham and potatoes. That evening we headed over to the Russel’s. It was a bit of a surprise to me because we’d gotten a text saying that they weren’t feeding us that night. Turns out that didn’t mean don’t come over, it just meant they wouldn’t provide food. So, we headed over for a few hands of cards and some snacks before heading out. Monday things started to get a little messy. It was a whirlwind of packing and cleaning. Not only did we need to clean our apartment, but we also needed to clean the other Elders apartment that they had left empty when Elder Thatcher left. I guess I did fail to point out, our area was going to become the new Zone Leader area for the New Dayton North Zone. Because of that, we needed to do a very thorough cleaning job. Once everything was packed up, cleaning wasn’t too hard. Everything on the ground got thrown away and everything else got vacuumed or wiped. For dinner we had left over potatoes and ham. It was around 9:00pm, when I would normally remember to write my weekly letter, that I remembered that I needed to finish My Plan. My Plan is this program they have for missionaries going home to sort out things like school and dating for after the mission. I’d started it but I had definitely not finished. So around midnight I finally got to sleep. Tuesday starts with us waiting for the Greenville Elders to get to our house. We have 2 cars and three elders. With 3 new Elders coming into the area, it would be easier for them to come up from transfers if they had both cars. They get there late so we throw everything in and go. We arrive at transfer and say goodbye to a few of the Elders I knew. Gave Elder Flamm back his scale, but it was a good thing he left it. Otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to weigh our luggage. Eventually they kick out all the other missionaries and everyone going home files into the church building. They put us sitting in the relief society room with a T.V. and we think they’ve got a video for us but no, we just wait. Eventually someone starts playing hangman and everyone gets super into it. Then the President walks in and tells us lunch is ready. No complaints there. After lunch we headed towards the mission home just long enough to drop our stuff and headed into Cincinnati. They gave us a quick tour of the famous bridge. Or as I like to say it, we walked on a bridge. Then we headed to Jungle Jim's. Really they just had a bunch of extra time and it was a good way to entertain some missionaries for a few hours. Then it was back to the mission home for a very lovely dinner of potatoes, ham, and green beans. Don’t tell Sidney ward but the mission home's tasted better. We ended the night playing some cards with the other Elders. We were pretty tame playing cards at the kitchen table. The Sisters in the basement on the other hand were having some sort of party. Lots of screaming. The Elders all went to bed by 11:30, I don’t know about the Sisters. Wednesday morning, we got up and were at the airport by 7:30 with half a bagel for breakfast. Flew from Cincinnati to Salt Lake City sitting next to Sister Sparks. She’s a bit wild. She was originally called to Ukraine so she speaks Russian. We chatted for a good bit of the flight. She has a boyfriend that gets home the day after us and then they have a date on Friday. She also wants to become a profiler and get kidnapped by sex traffickers to help take them down. A very brave thing to want to do, and also very necessary work. Still think it’s wild that it’s something she already wants to actively do. When we landed we sat on the tarmac for about an hour because of the big storm that went through Salt Lake. Once we got inside, I just did a few walking laps around the terminal and I went right on the plane. Sat next to some members who were heading to Vegas for the weekend. We chatted for a bit but it wasn’t a very long flight. Once we landed, I headed to baggage claim and there were my parents waiting for me. I’m not saying I was worried but there’s always that concern in the back of your head that they may have forgotten. We did stop at In-and-Out for a burger. Then we drove towards Mesquite and called President Anderson from the Mesa [about 10 minutes out of town]. Got released at about 3:00. Spent some time at home then went to the Family History center to check in with my parents. Turns out our ward Christmas party was that night, so we grabbed a few dinners to go and opened them up back at the Family history center. And there they were, the potatoes, the ham, and the green beans. I don’t have much for final thoughts because if you’re reading this you’ve probably read most of the interesting things that I had to say. I love you all, The Man formerly known as Elder Vogel. Previous Letter Next Letter