d56c209c-7298-4057-8275-c56a634b3488 Elder Jody Ludvigson Back to Missionary Letters So this week was absolutely wild! My new area is absolutely insane, I dont even know how to describe it. Basically all you need to know is I am going to have some crazy crazy stories by the time I get transferred out of this area. This area is also super busy! We have 2 baptisms coming up on the 15th and are super excited for that! We have found a bunch of super cool people to this week! With tons of miracles throught the week! So my first day here one of our lessons cancelled so we decided to go stop by some interested people, and we felt super prompted to go and visit this lady named Barbara, so we go and knock and she let's us in and starts talking to us getting to know us, and we found out she just recently had a family member pass away and really needs the gospel! We were able to teach her the restoration and about the Book of Mormon and she loved and is going to start coming to church with us! It was super cool to see when we follow the promptings of the spirits the miracles that come from it! We are also teaching this super cool family who's Dad has been inactive and the rest of the family aren't members, and it has been super cool to be able to get to know them and teach them, they have this 12 year old son who is an absolute beast! So pretty wild experience that happened this week was we had another lesson that cancelled so we decided to go visit another person that is interested. So we go to visit him and this address is taking us out to the middle of nowhere, and where we live now it is pretty country, and a lot of trailer homes. So anyway we get to this address and the home it takes us to looks abandoned, it is only half built, with no windows holes all over, looks unlivable, so we pull up and there is like a junk yard next to the abandoned house and we see a guys rummaging through the junk yard and we get out to talk to him to see if he was the guy we were looking for, and he walks up to us just head to toe covered in dirt, and so we asked him if he was Cody Dalton (the guy we were looking for) and he says no, but he lives in there, *pointing to the abandoned house. So we asked is he in there and he said idk go knock. We walk up to the house and the door is destroyed it's not even on the wall, its leaned up sideways against the door frame, and we thought no way anyone lives in there, but we knock anyway and we hear someone yell from inside, "who is it" and we say "the missionaries, what are you up to" and Cody responds "oh nothing just smoking some coke" and he invites us in. And we were like what in the world, so we start talking and he introduces himself, he says "my naked Cody Dalton, my mom call me Cody Dalton" so we start teaching him and the spirit was actually there so we invite him to church and he says he wants to start coming so that was cool! But this transfer is going to be amazing! We are always super busy so that is nice! Also my Comp Elder Macdonald is a stud, he is from Hawaii, and we get along super well! Previous Letter Next Letter

1cef6f67-e0cb-4bdf-a1e3-7bdd0c22acc4 Sister Jamie Bundy Back to Missionary Letters Quarantine Week 22: Last one Well hello. I can't believe it. This is MY LAST weekly email. This last week was the week of lasts. I had my last District Council, my last service project, my last Zone Conference, my last correlation, my last weekly planning, my last sacrament meeting, and today is my last PDay. I had my departing interview and I gave my departing testimony. And throughout it all I have had so many sweet moments that have brought me some closure, which is something that is really important to me. I've been asked numerous times questions like the following: "What's the biggest thing you've learned from your mission?" "Whats the biggest piece of advice you would give?" "What are some of the best experiences you've had?" "Whats the first thing you'll do when you get home?" "What are your plans for when you get home?" HAHAHAHA WHAT? I think it was just yesterday that I was telling people that I was still just a baby missionary and only a couple months out. Lol turns out that it was actually last year. I can't believe its all coming to an end. The time I have left to proselyte is LIMITED. I am seriously just down to hours now and every time I think about it, it makes me a little anxious hahaha. There really will be so many things I will miss about serving a mission and being a missionary. I truly have gained so much from this time and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I am so grateful for everything I have been able to gain because of it. I am excited to come home though. Even though it does make me sad to think that its almost over, it also just feels right. I feel ready. Don't know if I'll be saying the same when I'm boarding the lane lol. President Dunnigan gave me a promise about 14 months ago that leaving the mission would rip my heart out....I have yet to feel that so I'm sure there will be more emotions to come hahaha. But anyways I guess I can give you some updates on how my week actually went. It was a really good one to end on. We were VERY busy and it was honestly the best thing ever. On Tuesday I had my last district council. This last district I've served in has been a good one and I've been so blessed to be a part of it. They are all great missionaries and I've had a lot of fun with them. I will miss them. On Wednesday we did some service pulling weeds. It felt pretty good to DO something for once hahaha. I got all sweaty and dirty and even got scratched up. Twas the best. The best part though was when the service coordinator couple were so proud of us and sent the picture we took to President Dunnigan hahahahaha we got rebuked for not wearing masks and because we had more than two companionships there lol. I would say that I felt bad and that I apologized and all that, but then I would be lying to you haha. So yes that's the most rebellious I have gotten on my mission. On Thursday we had a mission tour with Elder and Sister Basset and we had a Zone Conference with them. It was really good and I really enjoyed it. I also had been informed earlier in the transfer that I would be giving my departing testimony at this Zone Conference. So the whole time I was just anxiously waiting for when they would announce for me to go. But then they didn't hahaha. So I was pretty convinced they had either forgotten about me or didn't actually wanna hear my testimony lol. I honestly would not have been surprised for either one of those. On Friday we did some service for the last time at the Food Bank of Delaware and it was really good. I've been goin to that place for a long time so it felt kind of weird knowing that I probably would never see it again. We also had our VERY FIRST, I N P E R S O N N O N M E M B E R lesson on Friday with this SUPER sweet lady named Rosemary! It was amazing! It seriously felt so good to have an in person nonmember lesson. And it was so good for me to be a part of Sister Kent's experience with it as well. It was awesome. She was happy to receive a Book of Mormon and we....well...the other sisters, look forward to meeting with her again and I look forward to hearing about it and eventually attending her baptism. On Saturday I had my departing interview! It was good. YES! President Dunnigan did talk to me about marriage hahaha, which I had no problem with. It was good though. Glad to be ending on a good note. On Sunday I gave a talk in our Zone Church service where I spoke about some different experiences from my mission and then I also finally gave my departing testimony at mission devotional haha. I lucked out though because instead of only doing it in front of my Zone I got to give it in front of my whole mission hahahah just kidding I don't think that was luck because I was dang nervous and didn't know what I was gunna say. But just Heavenly Father always does, He helped me out and gave me the words to say. Well ya'll I think that about wraps it up. Thank you all so much for the love and support you have given me. I can't believe I've made it and I can't believe who I've become because of it. I am changed forever and I'm so grateful because of it. SEE YOU ALL SOON! Love, Sister JAMIE Bundy Previous Letter Next Letter

6aead3df-7e41-4049-b9d1-08d8fb5c2cb2 Sister Jerusha Bundy Back to Missionary Letters Hey fans, I hope you all are doing well and have been reading your scriptures lately. This week was so good, i dont remember anything we did but ill try to recall. So tuesday we went to some sunflower fields and it was so fun! The sunflowers were very pretty and i picked some We also went berry picking and i loved it so much that ive decided im going to have my own berry farm on day, they are just too good. I really just felt peace as i picked the raspberries because raspberries are my favorite food and i just got to eat as much as i wanted. I felt like i was dreaming so one day, ill have a berry farm and itl be called "bundy's berry's" you all are welcome to come and check it out once its finished. Manjeet is doing SOOOOO WELLL, he loves having the Holy Ghost with Him and loves sharing the gospel. Hes such a good example to the members of the branch and im just so proud of him! Update on the machete: it is taken care of, I journeyed into the wilderness and it is in a very secret and special place. We also had MLC and it was so great i love seeing all the missionaries and learning from them and i always leave being slightly chastened by the spirit buy so motivated at the same time! Something l learned was to ALWAYS KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND HE WILL BLESS YOU NO MATTER WHAT I LOVE THE PEOPLE OF CANADA AND IM GOING TO MISS THEM SO SO MUCH. Anyways, im gonna cry a lot when i have to leave. 18 months wasnt long enough I know that the Gospel is true and I know that Jesus Christ lives! I love you all! Previous Letter Next Letter

51b5eeac-a8cc-4233-9f2d-9760c964b3db Elder RileyWaite Back to Missionary Letters Last 6 Weeks/Transfers Well, it's a little crazy to think that I only have one transfer left to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! I have loved being a missionary and will give all I've got these past couple weeks. This last week was amazing, we grinded all week and found some new people to teach! We had a stake conference which was great and 3 of our friends were able to come and attend and it was a super spiritual experience for them! Also last Saturday we had Zachary's baptism which was awesome! After the baptism he turned to everyone and started doing the Rocky thing with his hands in the air and jumping around which was pretty hilarious! Anyways love you all, I'm being transferred out to a small town in Minnesota for these next 6 weeks which I am excited about because it has spanish people and I haven't been part of a spanish area since my first area in the mission! Previous Letter Next Letter

89ee6518-5430-4fcd-9c22-dc92d8abd8b1 Sister Resha Nicole Bunker Back to Missionary Letters To start off, we had District Council on Tuesday. Part of District Council includes us discussing a Gospel principle, and deciding what we can do to teach it more effectively. This week, we discussed the Great Apostasy and the need for a restoration of truth. It all makes perfect sense. After Christ and the Apostles were killed, there was no more authority on the Earth. The Priesthood was simply gone. With no authority on the Earth, there could be no leader. With no leader, there could be no more guidance or direction from God on a large scale. As a result of this, unauthorized people made unauthorized changes to Jesus Christ's truths he had taught. For 1,820 years, people were lost! This really puts things into perspective for me. Because of the restoration of the Gospel, we don't have to be lost anymore. The Priesthood has been restored to the Earth, we have a leader, aka President Nelson, and we have Christ's truth back on the Earth in their fullness. IT'S THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING. We had an opportunity to teach a man, Kenny, this exact thing. We were out doing some tracting one day, and while we were walking towards the street we wanted to knock, a man was standing outside watching his friends kids. We discussed The Book of Mormon with him, and discussed how it is evidence of the restored Gospel of Christ. He was so fascinated! We are going to meet with him tonight! Here is another good tracting story. We tracted into 2 members who hadn't updated their address. So moral of the story, update your info on LDS Tools. :))) It was hilarious! Our zone is making an emphasis on tracting this month. We are all setting aside an hour every single day to tract. We knocked, and we knocked, and we knocked. I've loved every second of it, who knew that tracting could be FUN?! Saturday night we had a lesson with Marleney and D'leiny. They currently attend a different Church, but have been praying about being baptized. They asked us how to know which Church they should commit to. We invited them to pray, and to search for the Spirit answering their prayers. They asked us the following questions: -How does the spirit speak to you? -How do you feel it? I invite you to reflect on how the Spirit speaks to YOU, and how YOU feel it. President Nelson gives some suggestions to help figure this out in his first address as President of the Church. Go read "Revelation for the Church, Revelation for our lives." Acting on the promptings we receive from the Spirit and being obedient help us to find the most joy. I was reading in the Book of Mormon, and I came across a verse, 2 nephi 5:27. "And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness". The people of Nephi were being obedient to the commandments, and seeking for the Spirit to guide them. The result was happiness. I know that obedience brings blessings, and obedience brings joy. God has created a beautiful plan of happiness for you and for me. It's up to us to choose it. Have a great week! Sister Bunker Previous Letter Next Letter

c2b66ead-5759-4432-ba08-36135eb14445 Sister Kaylee Sonnenberg Back to Missionary Letters 9 meses en Carolina del norte!! Una parte de mi corazón esta aqui para siempre Sé que la verdadera iglesia ha sido restaurada en la tierra otra vez y estoy muy agradecida por este tiempo que tenga para ayudar a otros a encontrar y experimentar este mismo gozo y paz que he sentido a través de Jesucristo! I know that the church of Jesus christ has been restored on the earth again and I am forever grateful for this time I have to help others find & experience the same joy and peace that I have felt through Jesus Christ! 9 months in North Carolina!!A part of my heart is here forever I know the true church has been restored on earth again and I am so thankful for this time I have to help others find and experience this same joy and peace I have felt through Jesus Christ!I know that the church of Jesus christ has been restored on the earth again and I am forever grateful for this time I have to help others find & experience the same joy and peace that I have felt through Jesus Christ! Previous Letter Next Letter

6a58ed1c-683a-41ff-9d60-07a7934d87ae Elder Isaac Iverson Back to Missionary Letters Weekly...eh more like Monthly Email Hello friends and family!! I am bored enough today to grind out another group email. Let's jump into some highlights! Collin and Corinna: The Lord works MIRACLES!! We scheduled a lesson with this sweet part-member family. Collin is the member. We were doing some How to Begin Teaching, pretty much overviewing what we do as missionaries, and they start telling us how they were praying for an answer on how we could draw closer to God and me and my previous companion Elder Ackerson found them out front of their house! They talked much more of ways the Lord had prepared them for us. We taught the message of the Restoration and it was powerful. There was tears and warm fuzzies. It was a super bien lesson! We have another man named Franco who said he's ready for a baptismal date as soon as he gets his COVID vaccine later this week! I don't know what else to write about. Things are going great here in Boerne, TX! I love the mission and all the blessings it brings. OH! I hit 18 months on the 25th, so I'm an old Elder now! It's going way too fast. I would just like to leave y'all with my simple testimony that the church Christ had established while on earth has been Restored. We are living in the last dispensation and the Lord continues to love, bless, and work miracles in all of our lives! He loves you. I love you!! Have a great week or month til I right my next one!!😁😊😊😁😆☺🤪😝🤩☺😀😁😊😃😊🙂😊 Previous Letter Next Letter

9c3e0cfe-3587-4d10-b5f5-ed8f18988e2a Sister Kylie Cannon Back to Missionary Letters Gorditio We were blessed to eat good food with good company this week. The Hughes are the cutest couple. They made the best homemade meal and kept me laughing the whole time. At one point I had to eat more so I wouldn't laugh.. They are in the second picture. We volunteered at the food bank again. It is always something to look forward to. Such nice people! We met a couple of people at a apartment complex and one of them was telling us how she would go to seminary in high school with her friend. Hope something happens with her! Met with some awesome members this week. The first pic is of Caden. He's 13 and we do weekly zoom calls with him. The last picture is of us and the Boyers. They had us over for dinner Sunday and Gorditioed me up. Well I did that to myself because it tasted so good. Steak chilli and cornbread. This week I've been studying spiritual gifts. We all have gifts. And if we want another gift we can work to develop it. How cool! My mom has the gift of faith. I apologize for the times I have represented my calling as the Lords representative poorly. I know that I affect the reputation of the church. I know the Savior lives. I know his gospel changes lives. And anyone can change for the better. Love yall. Sister Cannon New life motto below! Along with Helman 12:23 ❤ Previous Letter Next Letter

b72be85f-1ca0-48fc-9137-99811e7d2b81 Elder Ty Brayant Back to Missionary Letters Ghana may be my new favorite climate. We have not had very hot days here in the last week and it has rained most days for about an hour which really cools it down a lot. I am stationed in a rain forest area with lots of vegetation and farms. I do not miss the desert heat I left at all and I will probably roast like a pig when I get home. I love seeing all the green around my area but It is sadly soiled by the trash along the ground. I really enjoy going to the villages we cover because there is much less trash and much more vegetation. The town itself is splashed haphazardly around with no real sense of organization. The shops are very small and surround the street. The shops themselves are like very small Konnex boxes and all sell pretty much the same products. The houses are just 4 concrete walls and a roof with a door and maybe one window. It really humbles a person when they see how much they really have and how little the people here have. The people themselves are wonderful. They all walk around with scowls on their faces until you greet them and then instantly they become much more friendly. They smile, ask you how you are. It isn't ever a long interaction but they are much happier the friendlier you are with them. Truly Ghana is a wonderful place to live. My companion Elder Williams is from Idaho and is a very hard worker, yet at the same time has managed to adjust to the Ghanaian lifestyle of going with the flow. He teaches me a lot, what I really had to learn right off the bat was how to simplify the gospel so that the people here can understand what we are teaching. The people we do teach have some very insightful questions and are usually attentive and inquisitive. They are so incredibly generous. It is not hard to tell that the people here have almost nothing, but about half of them offer to give us water or other small things. One lady gave us small bags of ground nut paste (peanut butter) which was all she had to give. One of the families we visited are pineapple farmers and they gave us fresh pineapple right off the bush and It was extremely delicious. I am not usually a fruit guy, but I wanted to eat a million of the pineapples. They skinned them and made handles out of the top, then we ate them like a giant Popsicle. We have an interesting mode of transportation here in Ghana. Unlike some missionaries who have cars or even buses we have tro-tros. 20 person vans that drive around and pick up passengers. Roughly half of them feel like they are on the verge of falling apart and seem like they are 30 plus years old. Not only that the drivers are crazy. If a driver wants to go somewhere he is going to go and nobody is going to stop them. everybody crams in like sardines and goes for a ride. The other mode of transportation we use is motos (AKA motorcycle taxis), You flag a driver down tell him where you are going and hop on the back. Sometimes they can fit up to four people on one motorcycle. They may be the most skilled drivers of all time if you ask me. They dodge and weave by potholes like prize fighters. Definitely not what I am used to but very enjoyable rides through the jungle. We spend most of our time teaching lessons and very little time tracting in the towns. We get a lot of referrals from the members here. Our hands are very full to say the least. I still have a long way to go when it comes to learning everything about teaching and the culture but it is all coming along bit by bit, or as they say in Ghana small small. The lessons are usually pretty simplified and I have to talk very slowly for people to understand my accent. Other than that we keep busy busy busy teaching and walking teaching and walking. It is the missionary life every missionary dreams of having. No awkward conversations with random people and lots of lessons that are ready to go. Our apartment is very nice. It has 4 rooms and a bathroom which for 2 people is a massive amount of space. It is nothing like we have in the U.S. but it is more than sufficient for our needs. I have attempted to eat the local food but the texture of it all is very foreign to me and does not agree with my gag reflex. I will get better at eating it, but for now I stick to the foods I know I can eat for sure. I am doing well here in Ghana to say the least. I am happy, I am teaching, and I am not starving. Thank you for all the support and the love. Elder Bryant Picture: Previous Letter Next Letter

a0397ff6-953e-4f87-90cc-467fea17486f Sister Alyson Cook Back to Missionary Letters Decision making Good (Insert time of day you are reading this) Everyone! I hope you're having a fantastic time wherever you are. And if you're not, I hope that you can change it! This week has felt like I ran a marathon spiritually/mentally. We are so blessed to be busy in this area. We are all so tired, and it feels so good! It means Ive been accomplishing the task of serving the Lord with all my heart might mind and strength and there is truly no better feeling than that. Ive decided I want to have a berry farm. In our outside time, we have been exploring the wooded PA terrain, and with me being a desert dweller, I am largely captivated by the lush foliage that seems to grow on every surface that holds still long enough. (My companions laugh at me during walks because I'm picking flowers and leaves to press) One of the many miracles of nature is wild berries! We've found wild black raspberries, wild black berries, and wild strawberries. And with a bag of frozen berries costing close to $8 at wally world, we've taken it upon ourselves to take advantage of what God has given us. Ive been living my best hunter-gatherer life and picking berries! (Before anyone emails me yelling at me to be careful about what I eat in nature, I promise these berries are good. We've eaten so many we surly would have been dead by now if they were poisonous.) Ive also decided I want to be as cool as the dude we saw on our way to the store. Everything was normal expect one thing. This man had an iguana just chillin on his arm out of the open window. Just sitting there basking. When asked what the name of the said iguana, he replied "I don't know. I call him a different name everyday." Ive decided that I need to have more Charity. I was reading in 1 Corinthians 13, and the first verse really packed a punch. "1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not a charity , I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." Nothing I say as a missionary matters unless I have Charity. That's some pretty powerful stuff! It legit felt like I had been slapped across the face. It's something I need to have more of, for the rest of my life! Thank you all for all your support and patience. I love you all! Previous Letter Next Letter

d6f036d4-fd06-4f0f-ad99-260d6b5301c4 Sister Mariam Leavitt Back to Missionary Letters FEASTING 🦃😋 HAPPY late THANKSGIVING! i hope you all ate lots of yummy food!! This week went by way too fast! We get transfer news tomorrow which is insane?! This transfer flew!! This week was so good! We made a lot of friends who are progressing super well which is such a miracle! This area needs some friends! Its getting really cold so knocking can be rough some days but we distract ourselves with some pretty funny conversations lol! Language studies were super good this week! I can read in persian now so thats exciting! Ive been actually learning for a week and a half now so I'm very proud of myself because symbols are SO confusing! We had YUMMY thanksgiving dinners! Our first one was with a couple in the ward and they invited to of the single older members who are actually so funny! One of them is a school teacher so she brought thanksgiving games like true or false, would you rather, unscramble the words... it was very entertaining actually! They are all VERY GOOD cooks so we ate like queens! And they gave us leftovers!!! As a missionary i Literally love leftovers hahah. We had a persian thanksgiving on friday! Literally think of good food and times it by 100! Yalda makes THE BEST FOOD!! I will try to get some pictures from it because it was a FEAST! The elders came and it was just a party! SO MUCH FOOD! vianna made sure i was on her hip all night so we could do everything as "best friends" 🥹 i made pomegranate salad!! Gram and grandpa would be so proud of me!! Ive been having some pretty bad stomach problems lately and its been causing me to not sleep or eat so i got a blessing this week! I am SO THANKFUL FOR PRIESTHOOD BLESSINGS!! i think id be dead without them! I'm not all the way healed but i've felt lots better since! MERRY CHRISTMAS SEASON! remember the reason for the season!! I watched a video this week of why we need a Savior and why we celebrate Christmas that is so good! One of our favorites to share so everyone needs to watch it!! https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2015-12-1000-why-we-need-a-savior?lang=eng&alang=eng&collectionId=e71f1a9300689e1d56532e9dc7e0ddb2299232b3 I LOVE YOU ALL! HAVE THE BEST WEEK! AND DO THE LIGHT THE WORLD ACTIVITIES!! 🎄❤️ https://photos.app.goo.gl/S2KwiGxpSdFowZuA6 Previous Letter Next Letter

d631ed93-39c2-49c8-a37b-076dd2dc32c2 Elder Booker Wakefield Back to Missionary Letters No es changa It has been a great slow and busy week here in Fray Bentos. Which is good because time was moving to fast in Oregon, and I need to most out of these last 7 months. When I first got here I could hardly understand any Spanish that I was hearing and it sucked🤣 but!! I can understand people now and talk enough to get my point across haha. I feel like I've come so far then I remember it's my first week. We've had milanesa almost everyday since I've been in Uruguay. Which is good cause it's way good! It's basically either chicken or beef flattened out, breaded and baked. So a giant chicken nugget. Then mayo the Uruguayans love mayo, it's insane. When we were doing Facebook we saw this gigantic spider, we tried to take a picture but it bolted and is currently hiding in my comps desk, so that's fun. We've had 12 lessons this week which is nuts compared to Oregon where lessons were pretty rare. I was reading Moroni 6:4 in Spanish the other day where it calls the Savior "the author and finisher of our faith." But in Spanish it is "el autor y perfeccionador de su fe." This little difference is so cool, through Him our faith can be made perfect! Anyway super short but a super cool distinction between the two languages! Have a faithfilled week! Love Elder Wakefield Previous Letter Next Letter