Eder Chance Thornton Back to Missionary Letters MY FIRST EMAIL!!! I'm so sorry everyone! Forgive me for not sending emails sooner. I'll try and do better haha. The MTC was amazing and I learned so much there. When you're in the MTC you feel the spirit so strongly and for me leaving the MTC was terrible. It feels like the spirit weakens when you step back into the world. My first day in the field we taught a lesson. Oh and my companion's name is Elder Brown. Anyways, the person we taught her name is Amani and it was her first time meeting in person with the missionaries. We already scheduled her baptism date for next Sunday, 11/19/23. She came to us with the strongest desire to be baptized. She has studied everything that we've asked her to. Amani has already attended church twice. She faces opposition from her family but still wants to be baptized. I feel the spirit around her so strongly. I have a feeling that she will go to the temple some day and I hope that I will be able to attend when she does. I met someone that's been being taught by missionaries since August and he's an awesome guy. His name is Matt. He's a VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER! We bonded so quickly. As soon as I told him that I graduated Fire Academy in May he was like "No way, I'm a firefighter too! Wanna go see our fire station!?" He showed us around their station and it was so cool to check out their fire apparatuses (fire trucks). He let us sit inside and they are all different from the ones Mesquite has. We had our lesson at the fire station; I'll send a picture of the bar that we sat at while we taught him in the station. After meeting Matt I knew I was called to serve here for a reason. There's a convert named Bob that enjoys having the missionaries over. Bob is blind, so his entertainment is limited haha. He gets pretty bored so we go over to his place on Sundays and hangout with him. Bob gave me a nickname the first time I met him. He gave me the nickname "Second Chance" haha. I actually like it. He gave my companion the nickname "Father Brown" haha. I've come to love the people that I've met here in New Jersey. They start to grow on you a little bit haha. The ward members are also amazing; they are like a second family. Also I give my first talk on Sunday. They didn't give me a topic though so if anyone has any suggestions let me know lol. I love you all and hope everyone's doing well, Elder Thornton Previous Letter Next Letter

Sister Resha Bunker Back to Missionary Letters This is the most bittersweet email I will ever send. For the past 18 months, I have spent every hour, day and night, laboring in the vineyard of the Lord. I've devoted all of my time, energy, might, and soul to my Savior and my God. To say that I've seen miracles would be an understatement. No words will ever adequately describe the love I have for my mission, for this Gospel, for my brother, Christ, and for my Father in Heaven. I want to bear pure testimony of a few of the things I have come to learn to be absolutely true throughout my mission. First of all, I know that The Book of Mormon is true, and I LOVE this Book. I only know that The Book of Mormon is true because I took the time to study it, and then I asked God to know if it was true. I receive a reconfirmation of this every single time I read it because when I do, I feel GOOD, and good things come from Christ. I know that in the Spring of 1820, a boy named Joseph Smith knelt in prayer, and he saw God the Father, and the Son. Joseph Smith restored the Gospel to the Earth. This leads to my next point. I know that the Gospel truly is the good news of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is the way to have true peace and joy not only in this life, but also in the life to come. Living the Gospel better helps us feel of the love that our Heavenly Father and our brother, Christ, have for us. Love is the essence of the gospel, that's what it is all about. Thirdly, the scriptures use the phrase, "There never was a happier people". This phrase occurs periodically when the people are being obedient, and heeding the words of the prophet, who was teaching of Christ. I know that there never has been a happier time in my own life as this time which I have had to serve the Lord. This happiness has been because of my obedience to the Gospel, and because I have been trying my best to exemplify and embody Christ. With that being said, none of us are, or can be perfect. BUT.... we can ALL try to be BETTER. I know it is challenging at times, but you can't grow without getting out of your comfort zone. Push yourself a little bit harder, and God will strengthen your efforts, and turn your weaknesses into strengths. I know that Heavenly Father LOVES us, and that's why He stretches us. Lastly, I testify that Jesus is the Christ, the true Messiah, the Redeemer of the World. He is the Son of our living and loving Heavenly Father. I truly know that with faith in Christ, there is absolutely nothing we cannot accomplish. Let Christ heal you and strengthen you. He will help you become the person God knows you can become. I am eternally grateful for this name tag that I have gotten to wear, and I'm grateful for who Ive been able to represent. I love my God, and I love my Christ. These have been very sacred days that I have spent on holy ground. I say all of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, our healer and our advocate, amen. Love, Sister Bunker Picture: The Bayview District, plus the Zone Leaders, plus the assistants. Previous Letter Next Letter

Sister Kaden List Back to Missionary Letters the honeymoon phase What is up my people, welcome to the council! How are you doing? Pls email me and pls tell me EVERYTHING!!! Today is my last Pday in the MTC!!! So let me update you on the last three weeks! Weeks 1-3 super exciting because once you start you. do. not. stop. I love it. I’m lucky if I get a second to stop and think about what the h*ck is even going on. We do a LOT of roleplaying and I can’t help but laugh every time. I am not meant to be an actress :/ My district is so funny and my companion ROCKS!!! She’s a go getter and I show up for classes an hour late. She’s organized and put together and I run around with my head cut off every single day. She plans our days and I just smile and wave boys. We get along GR8 though! She teaches me how to run around with my head on and I teach her how to relax a little bit (and then she regrets it and hates me afterwards #streaksdonthmu) My district?????? SO FUNNY! Like??? How did I get so lucky??? They make the 12-7pm classes a party and we all know how much I like a good party. I love them and I am SO UPSET none of them are coming to Kansas with me. I’ll get over it just give me a second. A normal day looks like this 6am: wake up and do something more than dream of your mansions above > 7am: plan our day > 8 - 10am: workshops, meetings, study, prep (maybe cry if I’m feeling up to it) > 11am: practice lessons and teaching > 12-7pm: classes > 7-10:30pm: cry because I’m so unorganized and stressed and my companion should've raised me better. Totally self inflicted so don’t feel bad for me. BEING A MISSIONARY IS THE BEST THING EVER. I wear this name tag like a GIRL BOSS! There’s something so peaceful and comforting about being a missionary (even though I seem to cry a lot -HAPPY TEARS). But on a real note, this gospel is sooooo true NOTHING makes me happier. Jesus Christ lives and He is so aware of us!! God is good, so so good. I’m so excited to get to Kansas. I’m so excited to meet the people of Kansas. I love you all, email me! **quote of the week “Don’t call me little, I am massive” - Elder Napoleon Previous Letter Next Letter

Sister Laren Leavitt Back to Missionary Letters Welcome August, Oh my goodness time is going by so quickly! Maryland is awesome! I didn't send out a group email last week sorry, was crazy busy. So a little bit of last week story. Had a long day waiting at the airport, arrived to DC at 2 in the morning, met my mission President and his family, got my trainer (who is seriously the BEST), met the YSA!! Seriously so much has happened. I LOVE THE WORK!!!! So to start off with a funny story.... so being a new missionary and all I thought I would be helpful and clean and do the dishes. Lol my comp. said that for the dish washer we dont use dishwasher soap (because we are cheap) we just use the regular dish soap. Ahh so I start it.... and maybe put a little to much in. A mess everywhere. Water and soap all over the floor! Oh it was so funny! I hope you can see the video! (Kinda dumb, but missionary humor is real) So yesterday was fast Sunday and holy cow FASTING WORKS!! The coolest miracle happened. My companion, Sister Harris, and I started our fast Saturday afternoon right after lunch (so about 2). we were in the car and began our companion fast, fasting that we may find a new friend to teach. NOT THREE MINUTES LATER, we get out of the car, walk across the street and run into this awesome guy. His name is Giles and he is 6'7, playing college basketball. We get talking to him and he so goofy and nice AND totally interested in the message we share. We invited him to church and he accepted!! He comes to church and we give him a heads up of what is going to happen today, he is taking everything in like a champ. We introduce him to a few of the members and just clicks with everyone. He kept saying 'this feels like home', he even got up in sacrament meeting and bore his testimony saying that he know meeting Sister Harris and I will change his life for the better! Seriously GOD IS REAL and THIS IS THE TRUE CHURCH!! So pumped to teach him and show him that this message will change his life forever! Also this week, I began to reread the Book of Mormon and was in 1 Nephi chapter 3. (For those who don't know)This is when Nephi and his brothers go back to Jerusalem to get the plates or family genealogy, from Laban... anyway I thought of how Nephi made God his partner and put his trust in Him. That if Nephi had failed to get the plates, it meant God had failed. And because God does not fail, Nephi didn't. I know if we have Him as our partner than we will never fail! Trust in him, he knows our plan and he knows what will be best for us!! I love you all! Hope you have a great week! Love Sister Leavitt Update on the Temple: got word that the re-dedication is back on schedule and Salt Lake will be releasing a date soon!!! Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Isaac Iverson Back to Missionary Letters Snowvid, Snowmageddon, Transfer News Well it's been busy, but good. The snow storm in Texas got pretty bad and tons of people went without power, heating, and water. We had a pipe explode in our ceiling and were out of water from Mon-Fri 2 weeks ago. We were in pretty good condition compared to a ton of other people. On the bright side of it all, we got a TON of service opportunities! Transfer News: I'm staying in Scenic Oaks and getting a new companion named Elder Taylor. Super excited about that! The work still moves on. We have a few friends who are right about ready for a baptismal date! Franco is SO close! He is just really trying to get his answer, but he really loves what we teach. Marty got into Family History and has been connecting to ward members that way!. We starting teaching someone who is really ready to receive the Gospel. His name is Luis, and unfortunately I was on exchanges for the first lesson, but my companion Elder Ackerson did great in teaching him the Restoration! We've been super busy and I've been loving my mission! Here is my favorite scripture in the Book of Mormon: Enos 1:27 And I soon go to the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer ; for I know that in him I shall rest. And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure , and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father. Amen. If we live faithfully like Enos, we will see our Redeemer's face with pleasure. He will welcome us and His love for us will radiate so powerfully! Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Jeremy Perkins Back to Missionary Letters I am no longer in Rose City/Butler Creek anymore, but in a ward in Beaverton called Aloha, but it's pronounced (A-low-ah) for some reason. My companions' names are Elder Knudsen and Elder King. They are both amazing! They are both going home in 2 weeks though so I'm going to get another companion. Our area is doing really well! We have a baptism coming up on Saturday and one on the 31st! Also in my last area in Gresham Ruben is getting baptized on the 31st as well! Miracles are among us! I love our mission, we have some amazing missionaries here. President and Sister Haymond are motivating and inspired leaders. They and some other missionaries have come up with the goal of achieving 50 baptisms in the month of August. We have faith that we will achieve this and that the Lord will place those in our path who are ready! Our mission on average has 30 baptism's a month, there are 60+ missionaries leaving at the end of August and so the Haymonds want them to go out with a BANG! I've been thinking a lot this past week about the merciful love of our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I've also been thinking about the commandments and the importance it is to be obedient. There was a scripture I read this past week found in 2 Nephi 4:18-20 and it says "I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me. And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted. My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep." It's amazing to think that even when we do mess up we can be "preserved" because of Jesus Christ. Hope everyone has a great week!elderjeremyperkins Previous Letter Next Letter

Sister Taylor Waite Back to Missionary Letters My final zone conference: something i never thought it would reach. this is the group of all the departing missionaries in our zone. we each got to bear our departing testimony during zone conference and it was such a sweet moment. I love and have learned so much from these missionaries. they are examples of people who have sacrificed everything and become truly converted unto the Lord. what a blessing it has been to be surrounded by such spiritual giants. Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Aden Woods Back to Missionary Letters It's been a while.. 🦸‍♂️ Hello all! It has been a long while since I've sent an email so here iam! Life is good and everything is going well here! Still here in Roseburg oregon! Transfers are coming up in about a week so we will see what happens! The mission life is awesome! My companion is great and we have seen some cool miracles here in Roseburg! We've had a really busy past few weeks with all our meetings! Time is flying by! Hope you all are doing well! Have a great week! ❤ Previous Letter Next Letter

Sister Savannah Price Back to Missionary Letters 20 days???????????? Hola a todos Today I actually decided to write an email. Why? Definitely not because we popped a tire in our car and are currently waiting at Les Schwab for them to fix it, no no, definitely can't be that hehe Well to be honest with yall, this might be the last mass email you ever get from me. I only have a few pdays left, and with today being an exception with time, this might be it. Sorry about that 😅😌 Not too much crazy stuff has been going on anyways, just trying to stay on my feet for these last few weeks. I've seen the Lord's hand in a lot of different ways. I remember when I was younger, I used to ask myself a lot if I was feeling the Holy Ghost or if that was just me talking. As these months of my mission have gone by, I've begun to feel the HG in more aspects of my life, not just the spiritual ones. Sometimes I'll get the prompting that I need to bring my coat with me to go proselyting, and then I'm shocked to find out that it's cold outside and dang I really should have brought my jacket 😂 Nowadays I feel like the promptings come as strong as ever, with a lot of different meanings or significances. When I was younger, I felt like I only felt the Holy Ghost in the strongest of spiritual moments; like at devotionals or church or conference weekend. During my mission we have time set aside every week that we have devotionals or church or councils and with it comes an increase of the spirit, always. At this point, I feel like if I don't feel the spirit it's because I am avoiding it, because I don't want to feel it, because he is always there. I don't know what I'm going to do when I go home and don't always have the spirit with me. Luckily, I've learned a few tricks along the way. I've learned that if I start my day off with scripture study like I've done here, then my days go better. If I pray in the mornings and ask for the spirit, he is there with me. If I make a conscious effort to be more christlike, then I AM more Christlike, what a concept. Sorry to ramble, just some thoughts I've been having. The Lord knows why I am here. Maybe I don't yet, but he does and he will when the right time comes. He'll know. And I'll know. I love all of you! Sorry I'm so bad at taking pics. Maybe I'll scrounge some up and we can see what we'll get haha Keep fighting yall. Keep your origins in your heart. That's what it takes to be a Hero, right? That's what it takes to be a disciple? I know you can do it! That's what it takes to Go Beyond! PLUS ULTRA 💜 Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Tauaimalo Fiso Back to Missionary Letters God Bless the USA🇺🇸 Happy 4th of July! It's been a while, I can't remember what I put in my last one so I might repeat some stuff, but here are some updates: - I got transferred to New Town, ND and will probably finish off here. Great members, great people, great food. Nothin' better. - One of our members who is from Alaska fed us muktuk. I'll let yall figure out what it is😂. - Our friends Artis, Tristan, Alaina, and Trake all got baptized this last transfer! They are so awesome. Their baptismal services were so spirit-filled. Missionary with members is THE WAY. - Trake's grandparents, the Good Bears, from Wolf Point (my last area), came down for the baptism. They gifted me and my companion a star quilt which is a very special gift in the Native American culture. In the 1800s, the native americans starved because of a near extinction of buffalo. They also suffered from freezing temperatures from the bitter winters. When someone was wrapped around with a buffalo pelt, it was a sign of love towards that person to keep them warm during those brutal times. The star quilt is a modern version of that, it being a gift of respect, honor and love. The Good Bears and Granchamps are such awesome people whom I will always remember. - I taught my comp how to bead. We have matching bracelets now. - I attended my first pow wow, so sick! The dances that were performed were waaay cool. Sometimes during the sacrament, I try really hard to think about Christ. My mind likes to wander A LOT, so it's kinda difficult for me😂. As I partook of the sacrament yesterday, I thought of the song, "The Greatest Among Us". I love these lyrics of the song (don't know if they're completely correct, this is coming off from my memory) "The Greatest Among Us taught us to love. To serve one another as He willingly served. And if I will follow Him, such is my call, for the Greatest Among Us was the servant of all." I testify that the Jesus Christ truly is the Greatest Among Us. He loved and served like no other. As we do our best to follow the example of Jesus Christ by serving others and showing love, we will experience so much joy in our lives. I love you all and I love this gospel. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. Elder Fiso Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Maurice Perkins Back to Missionary Letters Miracles and No Church Meetings This week was very good. We have found some amazing people and miracles happen every day here in Nacala. This week we started teaching a man that came to church on his own last Sunday. He had been taught by the missionaries in Nampula while he was staying there for a few weeks and had gone to church three times. We started teaching him this week and he told us that he wants to be baptized. Also, we started teaching a man who recently moved to Nacala and decided he was going to leave his old church and start anew. He passed by the chapel and contacted the guard and then talked to the Branch Secretary and then came to church last week. We taught him a few lessons this week and he told that he wants to be baptized as well. As well on Friday we received the news that all the church meetings would be cancelled. I know that the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles receive revelation directly from God for our lives and for the church. Elder Gava is doing better now. He had gotten sick and was still recovering a little into this week, however he is good now. Other than that I am doing good, and I am healthy. I know that this is the work of the Lord. I am excited to see what this next week brings and know that God is our loving Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ is His Son. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of God here on earth. We are guided by Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone of the church. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is true. God loves us and hears our prayers. He is coincidence of everything that is going on in the world right now. I am grateful to be a part of this work and for the experience that I have here to serve! Estamos juntos! - Elder Perkins Picture P-Day Pizza Previous Letter Next Letter