8577aa03-eabc-4a03-beb7-f5d062cfb9ef 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

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

9089242d-a0aa-401b-a1b1-7c3507be2aa1 Elder Keith Rushton Back to Missionary Letters Watermelon Mtn. Dew! Hello everyone! I hope it has been a good couple of weeks since my last email! The holidays are over and we're jumping right in to a new year! I hope this one isn't as wack as the last one 😂 It has been a surprising past few weeks! This past Thursday was transfers, us 4 elders in Roch 5 weren't really sure what was gonna happen with us, but we knew Elder Alcorn would leave for sure. We were right on that, he got shipped off but Elder Soter and I both got transferred as well! We left Elder Blaylock down there to get 3 new companions and we all went our separate ways. I am now in the Andover area in the Anoka zone, Elder Alcorn is in Shingle creek also in the Anoka zone so we'll get to see each other a little every once in a while! And Elder Soter is with some Zone Leaders in Minneapolis until he flies down to Africa on the 21st! Pretty exciting stuff! So with our area, the transfer boards showed i would be in a trio with Elder Sowards and Elder Lott, but on Thursday we got a bit of a surprise! So one of the Elders in the Roch 4 area, Elder Wright, was called to the Congo mission in Africa and he was supposed to fly down Thursday morning, but before he could check his bags, they got word from his mission that they're closing it down cause an elder there got covid. So Elder Wright ended up getting put with us 3 here in Andover and will technically be my companion until he actually gets to leave. We aren't sure when that will be but it could be anywhere from 2 weeks to a whole transfer, but probably only 2 weeks! So we had to split up our ward and area between the 4 of us, which luckily went pretty smoothly! But regardless of the surprises I'm pretty excited about the situation! These are some good guys and i think we'll have a good time! The area has lots of good members and quite of few investigators we can teach! I have some pretty high hopes for this transfer and i doubt I'll be let down! And this apartment is bigger and nicer than the Roch 5 apartment! 😂 The covid restrictions up here are still pretty much the same but we just got word we can eat inside of restaurants that are open now! But only with our household and one other missionary household in our district, but still that's way better than having to ask to do 4 separate orders in a drive through! 😂 We still do church through zoom up here as well, hopefully the in-person stuff can come back soon! I hope you all haven't had too many issues with covid and it all just goes away soon! Recently in my studies i have been looking at all the different names or titles that Christ has, it has been really cool and definitely helpful so I would recommend taking a look at that in the Bible dictionary, but there was one name with a scripture connected to it that stuck out to me! So the name is Captain of Salvation, and the scripture I'd like to share is Hebrews 2: 9-10 "9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. 10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings" These verses as well as the rest of chapter 2 of Hebrews are very interesting to me! It really focuses on how the Savior was sent to the earth to experience our sufferings, to go through our pains, and pay the price for our sins! Christ held a high position in the premortal life and by coming down to earth the way he did, spending time with the people He spent time with, and being the humblest example, He condescended to the lowest of lows so that He could then rise above all things and fulfill the plan that was made on all of our behalfs! He felt everything we have or will ever feel, paid the price of everything that we will ever owe, was killed for our sakes and rose again to then become the Captain of our Salvation! This allows us to go through our lives with the ability to receive enough guidance and strength to get through it all, and ultimately return to our Father in Heaven with the price of all our mistakes already paid for! Christ is our Savior! His purpose has been fulfilled and He has shown us the way! All we have to do now is follow Him! I love you all! I'm so grateful for you all and the support i have from you! I am so grateful for this time that I have to be a missionary for the Lord Jesus Christ! I am so eternally grateful for His gospel and the numerous blessings that continue to flow because of it! I hope you all continue to come closer to your Father and Heaven and His son, your Savior! Stay safe and have an excellent week! ~Elder Rushton Previous Letter Next Letter

3099b1c7-eee5-41f5-956e-2ca14153f73a Elder Maurice Jayden Perkins Back to Missionary Letters Tchau T3! Vou para Nampula, Batismo de France and Arlindo Hello everybody! First I would like to apologize because I was not able to send an email last week, while we were doing internet the power went out. Anyways to recap the last week basically we had 4 more missionaries in our house because of the Ciclone up North. Everything is good now and they during this week. Also we had the baptism of Nelio. It was really good and very spiritual! I was able to do the confirmation as well and it was awesome to be a part of that. This week has been good. It was a busy week where we had two baptismal interviews and people to teach as well. We were preparing for the end of the transfer, and well... I am leaving T3. It has been a good 4 transfers here and a place that I will never forget, experiences that I will always remember and people that I will always have in my heart. Elder Silveira will stay and this will be his 7th transfer in T3, 7 out of the 7 he has here in the field. He has earned the nickname, "The King of T3". I will go with Elder Samo and he will be my new companion in Nampula! I am excited and it will be awesome. We will leave today. As well during this week we had the baptisms of Arlindo and France! Also the Bishop baptized his little daughter! It was an awesome experience and the best Baptismal service we have had here. We did it together with the ward of Ndlavela and they had a baptism as well. I was able to baptize France and it was very special. He is the young man who bore his testimony in Testimony Meeting the first time he came to church. He shared a scripture with us to ask us a question and it was funny because the scripture applied to him perfectly! In Alma 32:16 it says "Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without stubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe." This scripture applies to him and it was a special experience when he asked about the scripture. As well we had the baptism of Arlindo. He is 12 and the nephew of Helder. It was awesome and humbling as well to teach him. I will miss visiting those little kids. Each one I have a handshake with them and the handshake with Arlindo is the "Wakanda Forever". It's been an awesome time here in T3. I know that all of the success has come from the Lord. It has been amazing seeing the people that were put in our path and that Elder Silveira, and Elder Ferreira and I were able to help and teach. I am grateful for this wonderful work and know that it is the work of the Lord. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His church! Well next week I will be in Nampula! Thank you everyone for all the prayers and support! Ate proximo! -Elder Perkins MMM Previous Letter Next Letter

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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

e54b5183-1bdd-47da-ad60-13eb43f354d0 Sister Dantzel Paek Back to Missionary Letters Abeja Apis Mellifera YES, WE WERE CHASED BY ONE OF THESE THIS WEEK… I have never been afraid of bugs before. This was the first time and for good reason. If you make it a spiritual thought you will learn more! Anyways how are you guys!?! Thanks for all the emails this week :) You’re all the best and I love hearing about your lives. A lot happened this week and I hope to cover it all… let's get into it :) Bullet Points <3 Happy late Valentine's day! The day of Love and Friendship <3 <3 We had another service project! It was super fun :) We had to prepare another house to be painted. Guess what my job was… watering the walls! You get the walls completely wet then scrape the paint off. Super fun and super effective!! <3 My hands got destroyed from watering the walls. I have the pictures to prove it… No worries they feel better now haha. But, they will have scars for a bit :) <3 The giant bee that chased us…. That was a first! It chased us IN OUR HOUSE! If you want to see more I took a video, go check out my google photos :) <3 The busiest day of my life. Well at least it felt like it. The day of the service project we also had a meeting at the stake center for the missionaries in Ilo, a family history activity, and a missionary night (in our area) we were in charge of. <3 We ended up leaving the family history early to make it to the meeting in the stake center which we left early to go to the missionary night and we were late to that too. It all worked out. <3 We had an awesome Lesson with Monica! We taught the Plan of Salvation and she was very interested. She has a lot of good questions and I am super excited to see her progress. <3 District council (this is when all the missionaries in a specific área get together and have a meeting about how we can do better) We had the LZ's and the AP's!?! There were so many people in our district council! <3 Liahonas with mamita… this was really effective for our area! Our pension had an old Liahona she wanted to give to her neighbors and we found a few new people :) <3 Stopped by the Cops… we got stopped by a cop for the first time since I have been here. Nothing crazy happened but I just thought that was a cool first to add :) <3 We had a new friend at church named Alexis. I am super excited to start teaching him. We have a lesson tonight :) Spiritual thought Whelp… of course I try to relate my most interesting thing that happened during the week to something spiritual. So here we go. A giant bee! Sometimes things come flying at us with high speeds and they are bigger than we thought they would be. Trials, opposition, temptation, distracciones, and much more can be hard to avoid in today's world. Even if you can't see it you can hear it rustling around in the corner, you can't avoid it forever. But, how can we deal with these problems without getting stung? We can try all sorts of things, using a bucket, a shoe, swatting it out the window, throwing things. All of which are in the video btw HAHA. But we can’t just put our phones under a bucket. Hit our temptations with a shoe or swat them out the window. We can't just throw words at people we don't get along with either. So what do we do? Yes, when bad things happen it's okay to do a little freak out dance. And maybe we are freaking out the whole time (with composure of course…) But, we have to deal with the problem head on. You can't just leave it hiding in the corner. We are blessed enough to know how to deal with these GIANT bees. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ! We can battle the temptations of Satan with the scriptures, general conference talks, prayer, and our testimonies. The best part about this gospel is that even when we are stung by the GIANT bees we can be healed by the saving power of the atonement of Jesus Christ. No matter what is flying around, if it's chasing you or not. We have an answer. Turn to Jesus Christ. He will help you in your deepest despair. But, I still recommend trying to stay away from the giant bees… they are pretty scary :) I've had experience! Love you guys, stay safe out there! I will try to get to everyone's emails this week. Sorry I've been slaking… now for the real reason you read this email. To see the pictures :) It's okay I understand I do it too haha! p.s. FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS BREA!!! I am so proud of you for making it to State for Robotics!?! Okay now it's picture time :) google photo link https://photos.app.goo.gl/cTuE5yJgGCQYuGqN7 Previous Letter Next Letter

39895087-881b-4b8a-9db9-9f30ea4488c2 Elder Nathen Abbott Back to Missionary Letters The End Hey everyone! Thanks for sticking with me the past 2 years as I have been on this amazing journey. This is the very last weekly email that I will be sending out. I am on a train right now heading to Prague. I fly home tomorrow morning so I guess that I will see you all soon! I will forever be grateful for all the amazing people that I have met while on my mission. Whether they be fellow missionaries, Czechs, or Slovaks. The people that I have gotten to know the past 2 years are seriously so amazing. They have blessed my life so much. I have learned so much from them. I love Czechia and Slovakia with all my heart. I could go on and on about all the things that I love here. Most importantly, I am grateful for the relationship that I have gained with my Heavenly Father and Savior while on my mission. I have learned about them, and I have learned to trust them and to follow them. I have learned how amazing and loving they are to all of us, even with all our faults, they love us much more than we will ever be able to comprehend. It has been a week full of pondering and just thinking about my mission. Yet I still don't think that I can really put it into words yet. So I'm not really going to even try it right now. Thanks again for all the love and support! I love you all and I will talk to you soon!! Previous Letter Next Letter

8c1770d1-4c80-40e6-974c-49c51901b662 Elder Dylan Wilson Back to Missionary Letters Blessings Blooming in Bartlesville Hey y'all! These two weeks were absolutely fabulous if I do say so myself. Things have been great here in Bartlesville, but instead of rambling on about how great things are I'll just tell you why they're so great! We ate lunch with the Vaclaw family on Tuesday the 13th and they took us to a steakhouse with another set of Elders. It was quite delicious and filling so by the end of the meal I was exceedingly stuffed, but they decided that they wanted to buy a huge slice of chocolate cake for each of us. My companion got a third of the way through his while the other two Elders and I just picked at ours for a minute. We were all joking about how we should have a competition to see who could finish their slice of cake when Brother Vaclaw suddenly slaps a $5 bill on the table and says, "First one to finish their piece of cake gets five dollars." I'm happy to say, but also not happy to say at the same time, that I earned that $5 bill. Later that day we went street contacting and we had walked a pretty good distance away from our church building. We were able to pray and find a new friend to teach named Cheryl! As we were walking back we realized that we weren't going to make it back to the church in time for our lesson so we started running down the streets. I wouldn't recommend doing that in dress shoes and church clothes, but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. We had a really cool experience on Thursday the 15th! We went to the park to talk to people and after a few conversations with no real results, we were a little discouraged. However, the Lord loves effort! We started another conversation with this lady named Judy who was out on a walk with her kids and her friend. Long story short, we walked with her for about twenty minutes on a trail teaching about the Book of Mormon! She was talking about how much sense it all made and after we shared the classic Helaman 5:12 she said, "So how do we do this? Do I just give you my number? Can you come to my house?" We had a lesson with her the next day and she starts off by saying that she's been "thirsting for more knowledge" and "praying to know what changes I should make". It was awesome and she's so open! Found a few more new friends to teach, my testimony of God leading us in the right direction towards those that are ready to receive the restored gospel has grown so much. We talked to a lady named Sherry and she seems pretty nice, we found her at about 8:45 PM. Just a testimony to work all the way until 9 PM hits! Another time we were riding our bikes on Saturday night and started talking to a lady named Sarah outside her house. She recognized us as missionaries and was uninterested at first, but when she mentioned Boy Scouts as part of her life I pulled out my Eagle Scout card and she opened right up! Turns out that she's a Silver Beaver. Anyways, she listened to our message and we have a return appointment for this Tuesday! Took a trip to Pawhuska this week and it was quite interesting, Elder Grantham and I did a TON of walking and it reminded me of the old days tracting in Australia: heat, humidity, and lots of sweat. Checked up on some referrals, but nothing to really show from it unfortunately. Had a great Zone Conference! It was my last one which was pretty sad, but so many good things were talked about. Our friend Leslie is praying about being baptized so please pray that she'll receive that confirmation soon. Please also pray that Mike will receive a testimony of the Book of Mormon along with Judy, Regan, and others we're teaching. Things have been so great, I've been so blessed by the people here. Spiritual thought: Mosiah 18:8-10 I read these verses and was thinking about all of the things it asks us to do when we're baptized. We promise to bear one another's burdens, mourn with those that mourn, comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and stand as a witness of God at all times. It seems like a lot, but it's important to remember just how many other people have made that covenant that are there to help you. At this current moment, close to 17 million people. Not only that, but Jesus Christ was baptized and covenanted with Heavenly Father to help you. Our covenants connect us! Stay strong and know that so many people have your back! I love y'all so much, have a great week!❤❤❤ ~Elder Wilson Previous Letter Next Letter

5282d28a-b4b1-4666-b99a-9c445008e1c4 Sister Kallie Graves Back to Missionary Letters My companion said the most legendary thing to me that I have ever heard. (Important side note: my district was going to do a fast together for the temple) So my comp and I were doing weekly planning (basically the torture of the mission), she turns to me and goes "Sister Graves, I have something wrong with my stomach, and everyone in the district knows. And well I just have something wrong with my stomach. When I am hungry and when I fast, my stomach goes BRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUU (I am indeed quoting the english version, so enjoy) Sometimes its just like brruu but other times its like BRRRRBRBBRRRRRURUUUUUGGGGGGGG. So I cant fast with the district on Monday." Don't laugh, she has a serious medical problem. She needs help. Good thing we live with the Sister Medic. Also, this week marks the third time I have asked someone to read a scripture when they didn't know how to read, which always results in an awkward next couple seconds. Also pt 3! This week I jumped on an English call online with another American. For the next 40 minutes, we got Bibled bashed IN THE NICEST WAY YOU CAN POSSIBLY BE BIBLE BASHED. IT WAS INCREDIBLE. Shoutout Rickey: for being absolutely agnostic in the nicest, most respectful way possible! I hope you have a good life! This week I gave my first Book of Mormon away alone (Small victories)! Because of teaching online, I end up teaching a lot about the Book of Mormon. I do not think that I can convey how true that book is. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. It actually occurred. Christ really did come and visit the Americas. The passed week I have been teaching this woman online named Graziele. I taught her the Restoration and she went to church on Sunday. Sunday afternoon, she texted me (picture Portuguese) "KALLIE (we use our first names online) I DIDN'T WANT TO GO TO CHURCH WHEN I WOKE UP BUT I WENT ANYWAY AND I MEET THE SISTERS THERE AND I GOT THE BOOK OF MORMON AND EVERYONE WAS SO NICE. IT WAS INCREDIBLE! I WANT TO GO BACK! I AM SO EXCITED TO READ THE BOOK OF MORMON!" Queue melted heart. Then in our area we met an 18 yr old pregnant girl named Bianca. We took her from her broken home and took her to the visitors center. After the lesson, she took one step off the center's grounds, turned to us and said I want to go back. I want to feel that peace again. When can we come back?" I think sometimes we overlook this fact. Sometimes we forget where true peace comes from. True peace comes from Christ. We literally have access to the greatest book ever written: the Book of Mormon. Too often it lies untouched on the book shelf. Too often we have a temple or a church in our backyard and we don't ever realize how amazing that is. Christ wants us to come to him; his marked arms are always open for us. Christ means strength and comfort and love and peace and happiness forever with people you love forever. This week, I invite you to come to Christ, the Prince of Peace, and read the Book of Mormon. Read Alma 7. Oh my heck, the Book of Mormon is true. Never forget that. Com amor, Sister Graves Previous Letter Next Letter

8c9a31a5-b86d-40d9-b4f8-e54ed3c09fcb Elder Keith Rushto Back to Missionary Letters Singing and snoring Hey everyone! Hope all is going well and you have had a good week! This week has been pretty good for me! So this Thursday we had the elders from St. Cloud come to stay for a few days, they are the ones that speak the Karen language. They are some good guys but unfortunately they always sleep in the same room as us but just on the floor, and one of them literally snores louder than the trains that go by our apartment! I honestly have no idea how he even makes a snoring noise that loud or how it doesn't wake him up! It's almost violent how loud it is! And its constant too through the whole night, like 10 minutes after he lays down hes snoring until the alarm goes off at 6:30. It's pretty ridiculous. So this past couple days have been a little extra tiresome 😂 Yesterday our little branch had their primary program! It was supposed to be in like November of last year but kept getting pushed back cause of different things that came up. But it ended up being pretty good! There aren't very many kids in our branch so the primary President asked us to help out with it! Elder Hulse did all of the "narrating" while I pretty much just read different scriptures! But they still sang lots of songs and did a great job! There are some pretty awesome kiddos in our primary! Sorry about the short email this week but j hope that everyone has a great week and remembers to follow the Lord in all you do! Thank you for all of your love and support! Have a wonderful week! ~Elder Rushton Picture Us and the Appleton Chuukese people Previous Letter Next Letter

0941512e-ed00-45c8-aef2-4213c23f098e Elder Scott and Sister Stephanie Sangberg Back to Missionary Letters Elder Sangberg is the mission vehicle coordinator and I am the mission secretary. Our mission office is quite busy. We have about 180 young missionaries and about 20 senior missionaries. Our mission comprises most of New Jersey and some of New York. Our mission president is President Rolfe. He and his wife have 6 children, of which 4 are here with them. They are very kind and energetic people. We love serving here and seeing how the gospel changes lives, including our own. We love working with the young missionaries and being inspired by their dedication. Previous Letter Next Letter