19481068-1470-4fde-9b32-aea9d1c0c74f Elder Andrew Maxfield Back to Missionary Letters Rockwood For Life Photos of moi and my mission! https://photos.app.goo.gl/6eFoMLcxApcTof8c7 I preface this email by saying hello how do you do? In a British accent of course! How are yall?! Another week flew by but this time it's with somebody else but not in a new place! We had transfers this week and I'm with a new companion Elder Porter! I'm excited to get to work with him. Anyways, here's my week😊 - For our last P Day we did... almost nothing. BUT! We did go to Top Golf to keep the tradition alive😅 it was a lot of fun to swing again, even if I've only slightly improved at it😵💫 - We had a busy Wednesday with Transfer Calls that night but we had District Council akd I was able to give a training on the Sacrament(spiritual thought later). We were all stressing about who was leaving when our DL got a call saying he was going to be a ZL! So that was one gone. Then at transfer calls we heard that Sister Wall was leaving after only one too! So now it was just me, Elder Phillips, and Sister Jepson that were staying. We all got new comps and this transfer is going to be epic! My new companion is Elder Brock Porter and he's been out for about a year and a half. I'm so excited to be with another older missionary, it makes me feel more confident😂 - We ate at a bakery, played games, packed, and said goodbye to some people here in our area for Elder Barlow, a final checklist of things to do while he was here. It was a good last day I'm glad we could spend it with Harry as well😌 - We pulled up to transfers which I haven't been to in 3 months and I got to see everyone again! That is always my favorite😂 I didn't get to see Barbs and Olson which is lame but I did get to see all my old and new friends. I said goodbyes to Elder Barlow and we were off. I'm grateful to have served with Elder Barlow even if it was some of the hardest months of my life. He taught me a lot and I hope he does awesome in North Carolina🫡 - The last couple days just included me trying to show Elder Porter what I could from the area and introduce him to everyone so hopefully we can start making some plans of where to go and what to do! Everyone pray for us pretty please😅😁 For my spiritual thought I'd like to share just how important the Sacrament is to me and how it can hopefully be important to you. The Sacrament is more than just bread and water on a Sunday. It is an ordinance commanded by God that we partake! The reason He so badly wants us to take it, is that it represents and symbolizes the blood and body of His Son Jesus Christ. It's one way we communicate with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that we want to repent and change. When we are baptized we are like an old rusty piece of metal. If you clean that metal off and make it like new and shiny, that's like our baptisms. But we aren't able to be baptized twice! So our Father in Heaven makes it possible for us to renew that Covenant. The piece of metal might start to get dirty and old again but we can keep cleaning it off more frequently to make it more clean more often! I am so grateful for the Sacrament because I know it is what made the best examples in my life light up, what made them better than they would have been on their own. I hope you all will think more of the consistent help the Sacrament can bring you if you will partake in its goodness! I love yall, I hope everyone has a great week. Don't forget to email me and send me photos of any fun things that have happened. Congrats to everyone graduating this week! That's so exciting😊 - Elder Maxfield 207 South Church Avenue Rockwood, TN 37854 Previous Letter Next Letter

f75d8642-2959-425f-a82c-0372ee85278a Sister Hannah Haviland Back to Missionary Letters Kumusta Friends! Time is flying by here in the Naga Philippines mission. I cant believe that it has already been a whole week since I last got to email! This week Sister Morris and I did a lot of looking. Our area is a city area which means people are always busy working. However we were able to find a family this week! The Morada Family is super cute. They have three little kids, the oldest being around five or six and the youngest being seven months old. The only problem with teaching them is I understand less of what they say than most lessons. In my area, the people speak a lot of Bicol, another dialect of Tagalog. I thought learning one language was going to be hard but boy oh boy did that one throw me for a loop. Sister Morada had to leave for a second half way through our lesson, and after she had left Sister Morris leans over to me and said "She is speaking mostly Bicol so I am kind of confused because I am not really sure what she is saying." Sister Morris, welcome to my life here in the Philippines! haha, but it is great. Every day I am beginning to understand a little bit more than the day before. Lucky for me I can understand most of what Sister Morris is saying. In the middle of this very noisy lesson, sister Morris started to testify of the truthfulness of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The room was still very loud, but for me everything started to stand still. My Friends, we are truly so blessed to have the restored gospel here on the earth and I know that it is true with all my heart. If you have not had your own witness, I invite you this week to really read the Book of Mormon and ask God with a sincere heart if it is true. I promise that if you do this, you will receive a witness. God wants to bless us and God wants us to know of the truthfulness of his gospel. this knowledge brings so much happiness! This week we had ward conference which was fun. Ward conference here is a big deal for some reason. Everyone gets extra dressed up for church and most of them actually show up on time! adjusting to "Philippino time" has been a bit of a stress for me. Everything starts thirty minutes to an hour later than it is supposed to. It makes it hard to want to show up on time some times haha! But Sister Morris and I got to participate in the Ward Choir. They start their ward conferences of with the special musical number so that was interesting. We sang "I Feel my Saviors Love" which is one of my favorites! Our Savior truly does love all of us so much and shows his love to us through everything we see and receive. A funny story from this week. When Sister Morris and I walk down the street, we are very often stared at by like....everyone. This particular time however, we were walking down the street and a group of six or seven kids, probably around the age of ten, started staring and pointing at us. As we walked by them, one of the little boys started to talk to us (in English so I actually understood what he said) "HEY! I love your skin! I need your skin! Give me yours skin!" to which sister Morris responded "yeah well I need it more" and then the kids just laughed and continued to walk away. In hindsight, those comments coming from anyone besides a kid would actually be really terrifying. That's all for this week! I hope that you are all doing well. I love hearing from you all and I am so grateful for your support and love. Previous Letter Next Letter

511f2485-1683-454e-90d6-ae2a3b5be709 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

6e51fa30-8709-4844-addd-bc5124c0fd1a Elder Jaxon Snarr Back to Missionary Letters Week 102: The End, Two Year Mark, Final Goodbyes, Plane Ride Hey everybody! This is the last one! Tuesday - playing some spikeball Wednesday - we did personal study and then we had district Council! We had lunch then we did companionship study! We visited some people and had dinner! Then we did Facebook work ! Thursday - we did our studies and had lunch! We did weekly planning and had dinner! Then we stopped by some people! Friday - im on an exchange with Elder Henderson! we did our studies and visited some people! We prepped some names for the blitz! We had dinner and did our exchange review! Saturday - my two year mark!! We had apartment Inspections! We did our studies and had lunch! Then we had mini exchange with the zone leaders! We had dinner and visited the Torres family Sunday - we did our studies and I got to speak in church! We taught some named Santos! We went to dinner and stopped by some people! Monday - we went around and said some goodbyes! Tuesday - hanging at the church and playing spikeball Wednesday - riding the transfer bus, dinner with President and other missionaries! And my final interview Thursday - going to the temple and getting on my flight home I love you all! I know that God answers prayers, God loves us, and Christ died for us! Previous Letter Next Letter

a18600e9-32dc-4b53-a32c-3adafddc1394 Sister Nayeli Andrade Back to Missionary Letters "God is Mindful of Every People" One of the greatest missionaries in the scriptures once said: "Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we...yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God;....Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people,.....I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land. Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen." This week was beautifully humbling as the Lord showed time and time again how truly mindful He is of EVERY people. Wherever they may be. Story time!!! Over a year ago, two girls, one a wise and powerfully seasoned missionary, and one a baby missionary with big dreams straight out of the MTC, went knocking. At the very end of a line of houses they met a kind woman named Breanne. They taught her and gave her a Book of Mormon at the door, and then Breanne never answered again. Other missionaries tried to call, visit, message....nothing. Fast forward to one day, over a year later, when on a random pday evening two missionaries now with a little more experience under their belts (emphasis on a little), recieve a text from a random number saying they would like to go to church. Yes those missionaries were us😂 So we gave her a call and we learned from our records that Sister Smith and I knocked on her door over a year ago. WHAT?? so cool. So we shared some scriptures and got to know her a little and set up a lesson at the church later in the week. At her lesson, we had the opportunity to teach her from square one. Who is God, who is Jesus Christ. How to pray. Sister Bevan so graciously shared a very inspired beautiful testimony. And you could just see actual light fill her countenance. It was so clear to see. And at the end of our lesson I just turned to her and asked "what made you reach out to us? Why did you text?" She began to silently cry and share her story, she had someone tell her to turn to God, then how she got to the point where she hit bottom and didn't know where to turn..... Then she remembered two girls at her door, on her birthday. You can trust tears were already flowing. Then Sister Bevan explained to her that missionaries move and usually don't come back to areas, but that I had the opportunity to come back and that it was me and my companion that knocked on her door over a year ago. And she started sobbing and jumped up to hug me and I just held her as we both cried. The Spirit was so incredibly strong. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. That was just one of the miracles of the week. But that whole day and this whole week I have just been so filled with gratitude for the opportunity to witness these miracles. I have no doubt the Lord would work these miracles regardless of who was here, but I am so grateful he allowed me to be here to witness that moment. It was just evidence of what Elder Causse shared in General conference, "This is the miracle of God’s relationship with us: The universe is vast beyond comprehension, yet every soul carries infinite worth in the eyes of our Creator. Though we may seem small in a physical sense, each of us is personally known, remembered, and loved by our Eternal Father and by His Son, Jesus Christ." God knows Breanne and in His plan everything worked out perfectly for her to begin to find Him. He is aware of you! And of your family! I can never say that too much. I am grateful to witness his universal yet personal love every day as a representative of His Son, Jesus Christ. So everyone go out there this week and try to find one way to LOVE AND LOVE EACH. Just as our Heavenly Father does. I love you all and I love you each! Have a great week! Sister Andrade https://photos.app.goo.gl/veZD5rjDqiyAqmun8 Previous Letter Next Letter

a80f3fd6-6936-4116-8b84-36e482a5ee47 Elder Braden Bingham Back to Missionary Letters This week was so good I can't wait to see what will happen next! There were definitely some difficulties last week not gonna lie! One missionary in our apartment was feeling sick one night and I loved to tease this guy so I made my way to his room as he was sick I was teasing but that next morning Karma got me good. For three days my head hurt and I had a pretty bad fever. I'm fine now and we are doing great in the work! It was a humbling experience lol. Something awesome about this week as I was reading hard in Genesis and Moses and was able to get a lot of insights from these books! I learned that when we read in Gen 2:17 and then Moses 3:17 we will see that there is a difference and something clearly missing. In Genesis, it states only that Adam and Eve should not eat the tree of Knowledge In Moses, it states they should not eat "Nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thy self" In the book of Moses, it is better understood that God gives each of us Agency and it will ALWAYS be up to us to choose. I loved this insight from my personal study this week. I hope everyone is having their own powerful personal study. Something great that happened Saturday night was Elder Curtis and I made French toast and Buttermilk Syrup!! It was good and everything was from scratch! It was an awesome accomplishment. We also attended a baptism this week for Pleebo. Our baptism will happen this Saturday!! Previous Letter Next Letter

5883fa2a-9a25-408f-babe-f8ad43b76789 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

e3d7c6ae-3b77-48ea-b5a2-67fefd8e3aa0 Sister Emily Leavitt Back to Missionary Letters I LOVE church!..but I haven't always In college I attended a congregation of my church that was just made up of young single adults. Most of them were my age and attending the same school as me. I loved to feel the spirit there and I loved learning about my Savior. However, there were always so many new people I didn't know. I had a lot of anxiety trying to talk to people, especially people that seemed so much more confident and faithful than me! Eventually, I made many new friends and they have been a source of inspiration and strength to me in my life. I learned that church is about more than growing closer to God. It is also about community, supporting fellow believers, and finding strength in others. When I moved across the country to Michigan, I found that same community. I love my church family! Previous Letter Next Letter

b3bac61e-387f-4a42-a4aa-fb9d61ac1c16 Sister Nayeli Andrade Back to Missionary Letters Miracles! What a week! Too many things happened to write it all, but all I can say is God is Good, God is a God of Miracles. And I've said it a lot but I am just simply so grateful. I just wanted to share this scripture today: “For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing?...Has the end come yet? Behold I say unto you, Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles….And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.” This week there were too many miracles to count. It was just a week that testified of these scriptures. For example, our apartment had a bit of a flooding problem(all is well now😂), and my quad of scriptures was in the middle of the water. It was devastating at first, until once everything settled, we inspected them further. The leather was wet, but none of the paper. Miracles are all around, don't look past them. I am grateful for the experiences God gives us to where He shows us He is there. Wonderful, holy, moments, where you feel His love and His strength. I know that alone, I would not be able to accomplish this work. But I am grateful when the Lord calls us to do anything. He provides a way. He makes up the difference. And we are NEVER alone. Remember to trust Him, know He doesn't expect us to be perfect, He just expects us to try our hardest, and then stand still and know He is God, knowing that He can do all things. I love you all so so much! Have a great week! Sister Andrade Previous Letter Next Letter

1717ac64-3021-4f97-a37d-bb84a36e0988 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

cc870cfa-586f-403a-9bc1-522e46ed9fea Sister Jody Ludvigson Back to Missionary Letters Holaaa!! This week has been awesome! I've been oh so spiritually fed! We taught Hna Molina during a practice lesson ONLY IN SPANISH!!! And it wasn't half bad! She had such a strong testimony of prayer and was the sweetest abuela! Templo de Ciudad de México! My highlight of the week had definitely been attending the temple! We were able to do proxy ordinances (baptisms, confirmations, and initiatories). The temple is always special, but it was extra special because I took my own ancestors names! And it was all in spanish! And I understood a lot of it! Yay!! It's so amazing that the spirit speaks all languages! If you haven't been to the temple recently GO (and even if you have still go)!!! Even if it's on the grounds of the temple, there is no better place you could be! Español I somehow ended up being our designated translator for the hermanas which was a little scary but we made it! We've been practicing teaching lessons only in Spanish; the gift of tongues blows my mind! It's definitely hard having patience in learning, but I know the Lord will magnify my efforts (He has already)! My favorite spanish term of this week has been "lleno de" (full of). Christ es lleno de love, peace, mercy, happiness, joy, humility, patience, kindness, charity, hope, and so many other amazing things! All we have to do is turn to Him! I love you all and so does God! Con mi todo corazón, Hermana Ludvigson (Still email me I love it! Tyra.ludvigson@missionary.org ) Link to Google photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/4yrHF2QGpxd8AgWG7 Funny moment Me & Hna J had just maxed out our bench and were doing a tricep workout when this Elder comes up to us (mid set) and says "So do you guys play sports, or are you just massive?" Bahahhaha, I told him "I dont think you can say that to sisters." He totally mean it as a compliment but it came off so funny. Tender mercies - Costco cookies 2 times this week!! - our big devotional was from Elder Holland (the best) - temple!! - the Hna in the temple gave me the biggest hug! - our distrito got to do laundry for our service activity this week (actually the best) - I'm feeling much much better than last week!! - got texts from some old pals that made my week! - they restocked mtn dew in the tienda :) Previous Letter Next Letter

9d45e123-343c-4a40-a834-afd8d65dea49 Elder Kirk Felix Back to Missionary Letters Èlder Felix- Update Hello everyone I hope you are all doing great! This last week was so good. Having the opportunity to really focus in on general conference is such a blessing because the words they speak truly are from god and no matter who you are you can apply their teachings in your life and you will become a better disciple of Jesus Christ. Lately I have been thinking about about enternal families and why families are important to me. It is a question that I often like to ask my friends as I am teaching them. My answer to this question is "family is where we can find the greatest joy in this world, when the family is inline with the teachings with the gospel of Jesus Christ we will find enternal happiness within our own familes!" I would love to hear from you guys. "Why is family important to you"? I hope you all have a great week! Much love, Èlder Felix Previous Letter Next Letter