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

Sister Kari Wakefield Back to Missionary Letters One of the greatest things I witnessed and learned more about on my mission was about Heavenly Father’s love for each of His individual children. He truly sent His perfect Son Jesus Christ to live and die and live again for us. We are loved beyond what we can even imagine! I was so blessed to have been able to serve the Lord as a full time missionary. I saw miracles and tender mercies of the Lord. He truly is in the details of our everyday lives! Thank you all for your love and support! God bless. Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Tauaimalo Fiso Back to Missionary Letters BisNarck Talofa everyone! Sorry it's been a WHILE. I'm still alive in North Dakota and I'm loving it! I'll give yall a rundown of what's been going on the last few months: I got transferred out of Grand Forks, ND and I am now in Bismarck, ND! I miss Grand Forks and the members a whole lot, definitely one of my favorite areas in my mission so far. Being in Bismarck is a lot of fun and I am literally two minutes from the temple so that's super nice. Our friend Rose in Grand Forks got baptized about a month ago! She was so ready for it and has such great love for the gospel. Two weeks after her baptism, she gave birth to her baby Sebashtien. We went and saw him and that was a lot of fun. My last companion Elder Petersen is supposed to go to Samoa as well so we had a good time learning the language together. We had so much fun together and saw so many miracles in the work. My companions now are Elder Pryor and Ashcraft. We're staying in a tiny apartment with 3 other Elders, so 6 missionaries total. It's crazy but its tons of fun. The other set of Elders are the Content team meaning they make all the content for the Facebook pages in the mission and DANG they are talented. One of the Elders plays the piano so well, we just ask him to play a song and he literally plays it right away. He performed a special musical number in sacrament meeting and it was phenomenal. He played The Spirit of God and arranged it on the spot when he was up on the stage. So much talent. This weekend, Elder Gary E. Stevenson is coming to Bismarck for a Priesthood Leadership training and is also having a devotional with all the missionaries in the mission in person. Its gonna be way sick seeing past companions and missionaries I served around, especially an Apostle of the Lord in person. It's crazy tho because there are missionaries that live about 8-9 hours from the mission home so they got a trek here and back. I've been studying a lot about charity lately. I love the phrase from the scriptures, "Charity never faileth". Its so true! The love of Jesus Christ never fails!! If we pray will all our heart to have that kind of love, God will give it to us. Love conquers over everything! I love you all. Elder Fiso Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Kade Haviland Back to Missionary Letters It rains every day here! I'm still alive out here and I'm completely drenched! This week has been fantastic! We had a baptism on Saturday, which was super cool. I didn't take much part in her teaching- I sat through two or three lessons where I didn't understand what was going on- but it has been awesome to see the joy that the Gospel is bringing her and the joy that it has brought to others I have taught. This week I taught someone named Francoise who has definitely recognized some of that joy. Teaching Francoise was really interesting because she is a native french speaker, but she is learning English, so any time she talked to us she spoke in English while Elder Slinn and I both would respond in French. I loved it though because it was the first lesson we taught where I wasn't completely lost. Francoise loves coming to church because she feels the genuine love that everyone has there. The people here are really are a fantastic and loving people. They really show the love of God by "loving their neighbors as themselves." They love serving each other and helping us do missionary work. They also really like serving us food. The other day Elder Slinn and me went to someone's house for Tahitian language lessons and they brought out hamburgers, sugar cane, and coconut ice cream for us to eat when the only thing we had planned with them was to learn Tahitian. With Christmas time being here, I hope that you are all looking for ways to become more like Christ. He gave his whole life to serving others and it is important that we find ways to do that too. In the recent First Presidency Christmas Message, one speaker emphasized that it is important to focus on the important things at Christmas time and not get lost in doing too many activities that could make you stressed and take away from the spirit of Christmas. This Christmas, try to do more with you family and get rid of some of the little things that could be distracting you. If you do, you'll feel the love of God in you life and get more out of this Christmas season. I love you all and I hope you find joy in this Christmas season and in Christ! Elder Haviland Elder Slinn and I with Heipua at her baptism Previous Letter Next Letter

Sisster Maleena Felshaw Back to Missionary Letters Lots of good things happened this week, number one in my opinion is that ROY WAS BAPTIZED!!! He is such a cool guy. Why is everyone here so awesome? I'm not sure but I dont mind at all. Besides that lots of the usual happened (the usual is pretty good though so again, no complaints). We did have stake conference & we were chosen to be ushers, we even got badges and everything Also it is crazy how much this gospel really blesses us. You can see the change in people's lives when they keep the commandments & try to follow Christ. I would always hear that the gospel brings us joy but I didn't truly understand what that meant until I watched others & myself make changes in our lifes. If you dont know where to start, start by asking God if He loves you. Even if you know the answer, even if you dont want the answer. This is something he wants us to know & a prayer that will not go unanswered. When you're sincere with God, He's sincere with you. I love & appreciate y'all. Do something nice for someone this week :) Mon, Sep 6, 2021 Apparently the last time I wrote was a month ago??? Weird. It feels like I did last week? Anyways here's a few updates:- its halfway through the transfer know but I stayed! I really love it here. Too much. Its tempting to come back & live here.- we had zone conference & interviews with our mission president (love that guy)- I've been #permanentlyreassigned to Colorado. Mixed feeling about that one but all is well, like I said I absolutely love it here- it hailed, like out of no where. The dents in our car aren't that bad- I made LOTS of cookies this month to take around to people. Shout out to Hole Foods Bakery & my dad for both making me make cookies in preparation for this time- I bought a dozen tamales... for myself- we have started teaching some more really awesome people! They make them different in this area I think, they're all too good. Makes my job easy- speaking of ^^^ Roy is getting baptized this week!!! Super excited for thatIt's been a good time. Tell me how you've been! 1250 Mainstreet Broomfield, CO 80020 Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Lydia Clark Back to Missionary Letters #COMPJACKPOT HEY EVERYONE! WHAT A WEEK! Let me tell you all about it! First off I LOVE being a missionary! This transfer has been the hardest but best transfer of my mission so far! I learned SO MUCH and grew in more ways than I thought possible! Best comps EVA! I have absolutely hit the JACKPOT when it comes to companions! We had transfers on Tuesday and I was absolutely shocked when I saw that my girl/mtc companion Sister Balls was coming to Lake Marion! I'm pretty sure I scared everyone, I screamed so loud! And as excited as I was, I was SO MEGA SAD to say bye to my comp Sister Harrell! She's absolutely my favorite person in the whole world and I miss her so much already! I'm so grateful for the time I got to serve with her! And I know she will be one of my BESTIES forever! I 💟MY FRIENDS! Our friends are doing so well! Paul and his wife just got back from a trip to Europe and it looked so dreamy! And he's on date for baptism in a couple of weeks! What a lucky guy! Also we just found a new friend named Jacob and he's so awesome! We gave him a church tour and he came to church and LOVED IT! Facebook works! Part of being a social media leader means we get to give presentations to our missionaries! So this week we did one for the new missionaries and it was so fun! Our new mission president and his wife add so much love and unity to our mission and I LOVE IT! 2 Nephi 26 24 He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation. 25 Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price I LOVE YOU ALL! GO HUG SOMEONE YOU LOVE! Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Joshua Abbott Back to Missionary Letters I Milked a Goat! Hey everyone! This week was pretty sweet. We found a couple of new people to teach and had tons of lessons. Other than that the highlight of the week was service. And more specifically milking goats! So milking an animal has always been on my bucket list but I've never really gotten the opportunity. So we went to do service for a member and he said he needed his goats to be milked. Well of course I jumped on the opportunity and he let me milk his goat. It was super weird but also lots of fun. I'll send a video so yall can see it. Other then that missionary work is about the same. I'm getting the hang of this while technology thing so hopefully soon it'll be easier to do. I know that God lives and that He's hastening His work at this time. I hope yall can feel His love as much as I do at this time. Love ya 😁 Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder William Barnum Back to Missionary Letters The last dance Hey yall!! I hope everyone is doing good! We've had a good couple weeks since the last email I wrote. Updates: • We've found 30 people in the last 3 weeks • I've given a talk in our branch 3/4 Sundays this month... and all 3 of them I found out about 2 minutes before sacrament meeting started • we've been super close to 2 shootings in the last 3 weeks • We saw a super sick dude walk out of the forest with an axe in one hand and a whole tree over his other shoulder • We've built a whole pond with brother Beavers (a member in the English ward) •Brother Beavers accidentally dumped his trailer in his pond😂 • transfers got moved to Friday • I'm coming home on Friday • my homecoming talk will be on June 11th 9 am @355 W Virgin Ave That's all I can think of! See you soon! Love yall❤️ -Elder Barnum Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Nathan Abbott Back to Missionary Letters Hey everyone! Sorry I was busy today and that I don't have much time to write more but yeah. It was also a pretty boring week. Not much happened. Love you all! Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Chance Thornton Back to Missionary Letters We had a BAPTISM!!! Hey everyone! The past couple weeks have been awesome. We baptised our friend Amani and I got to confirm her! This last Saturday we got to go to the Manhattan temple with Amani and the ward I'm currently serving in. It was an amazing experience. Most likely will be the only time I will get to go to the Manhattan temple during my mission, since they are closing it sometime in the beginning of 2024. Unless I can get another person baptized before then lol. The Manhattan temple is super interesting, I guess it has a gym inside it like other chapel buildings do, and also serves as a stake center. I thought that was really cool. I went on an exchange with a Spanish speaking elder (Elder Logan) to his area a few weeks ago and that was interesting since I can only speak a little bit of Spanish. He would ask people if they wanted to come to church with us and have a whole conversation with them, just from that one question. I thought that was awesome. The people that we would meet would ask if I speak Spanish and I would say "poquito" haha. I spent a whole day with Elder Logan observing, but I could still feel the spirit when we (meaning Elder Logan) would talk to people. We met a guy on the street named Guiermo, and he talked a lot with Elder Logan. I understood a couple of words, and he said he was a singer/artist, which is really cool. I was just happy to see that just by Elder Logan asking him "Hey, do you want to come to church with us," that we got him to talk with us for 30 mins. He would smile and laugh and it made me so happy to see that, even though I couldn't understand anything. It was a neat reminder of why I chose to serve a mission, which is to bring joy into other people's lives. Which reminds me, it's Christmas time! I invite everyone to look for opportunities to serve others or even just smile at someone. You never know how much they could have needed that smile. With that being said, yesterday I was reading in Mosiah chapter 2 and king Benjamin said "...when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." He goes on saying that we are indebted to God, forever and ever. We should serve God with all our might, mind and strength. A couple ways that we show thanks is by keeping His commandments and serving others. I would like to end by encouraging you to read Mosiah 2, to find out what you understand of it for yourself. Think about how you can go about this Christmas season and spread His light! I love you all and please don't judge my grammar. English class was not my strong suit haha, plus I didn't proofread this email to see if it makes sense, oops. Also, feel free to email me! Only if you want to though haha. Love you all, Elder Thornton🫡 Pictures: #1- My companion and grinding out calls, #2- George Washington Bridge, just thought it looked cool lol, #3- District P-Day with other missionaries, #4- "#401becauseoftheson", the New Jersey mission baptism goal for 2023. Everytime you see 401 you have to take a picture with your companion and send it to the mission group chat Previous Letter Next Letter

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

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