2ddbf3be-987a-4f4f-9ed9-775be7fec18e Elder Nathen Abbott Back to Missionary Letters The Last One Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great week. My week was pretty good. I shall explain it to you. First of all, disclaimer, this is not my final email. Just want to point that out to you. However, we just had transfers, I am now on my last transfer, and my group is currently the oldest in the mission. So that's pretty crazy. It's so weird to think about. But anyways, I'm doing good. Despite everything that I thought, I am in fact transfering. I will be going to Trenčín to serve with Elder Hamilton as Zone Leader. It will be good. He is a fun Elder and one that I have already served around a lot during my mission. It will be a good transfer. This also means that I will have officially served in every area in Slovakia 🥳 Except for the two areas in the east (Košice and Prešov). I've only been there once. But maybe I'll get to go there a couple times this transfer. We'll see. We visited with a couple members this week. It is always so much fun. I love the members here so much and getting to know them. It was good to be able to visit a couple of them these past few days before they left. Fun stuff. We met a new guy this week! That was way lit. He is very cool. He answered to the ad that we made about the bible, and actually had interest in meeting so we met. We talked about the Bible and mentioned the Book of Mormon and the story of Joseph Smith and how he used the Bible in order to find answers that he was looking for. And then we talked about other stuff that he kind of brought up and used the Book of Mormon to back up things that he was saying and reading from the Bible. He really loved it, and at the end even talked about how much he liked the scripture we shared with him in 3 Nephi 11 where Jesus comes to the Nephites, yet they don't understand the spirit at first. It was a way sweet meeting. This week we had other meetings, but just meetings with other missionaries like MLC, SMS calls, Office meeting, District Council, and so on. So it was a lot. It made for a busy week. The ZL's stayed the night again and then stayed the whole next day with us. It was wack, but it's whatever. I got icecream like 2 or 3 times this week. That was also a nice highlight. Not much else to tell you guys about, so I'll just end here. Have a great week everyone! Love you all! Previous Letter Next Letter

4920ae9d-9746-4975-af31-323ba8867128 Sister Alley Shaner Back to Missionary Letters Becoming the Lord's Hands So I have some news but first of all I would like to apologize for not writing an email last week. I was sick and so it was a bit of a rough week and we didn't do much. I have major news though and it may come as a shock to some. Some of you know that I've struggled with anxiety and some of you didn't. It's something I have struggled with my whole life and will continue to struggle with. Well, after many tears, prayers, and discussions we've decided it would be best if I was transferred into being a service missionary. This was not an easy decision. I was mad at myself for continuing to struggle so much and feared that if I went home it would mark how the rest of my life would be. Then I read a passage in D&C that changed my thinking: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, that when I give a commandment to any of the sons of men to do a work unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their might and with all they have to perform that work, and cease not their diligence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that work, behold, it behooveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept of their offerings." (D&C 12:49) This was exactly what I needed and I knew it was an answer to my prayers. I then started the conversation with my mission president and we decided that the next right step for me would be a service missionary. I feel so at peace with this decision and know this is the path that Heavenly Father wants me to take. Someone said to me, "Maybe the Lord no longer needed you as His voice but instead His hands." So, what does this mean? Well, I'll be coming home next Monday and immediately start my service. I'm super excited but definitely sad to say goodbye to everyone. I've learned and progressed so much and I'm excited to continue that. I will continue to send out these emails because I will still be a missionary, just in a different way. I'm excited to continue to share my progress and experiences in serving the Lord! Thank you all! Previous Letter Next Letter

119b2f09-5f32-448f-8cb8-4c585bb8ff3b Sister Savannah Cannon Back to Missionary Letters Aussie for life 🥲 G'day friends!! This is my last email 😥 My heart hurts thinking about leaving Australia and the beautiful people I've met here. But I am excited to give my family a big hug. Last update: 》lots of lasts.. Which just broke my heart 💔 》a lot of teaching opportunites on the go this week! 》last few lessons with my best friends Raph, and Ata. I'm going to miss them! I know they will both be baptized so soon 🤟 》dinner with our new bestie, Lori! She is a BYU professor living in Aus for a bit. Been fun to teach her about the crazy australians 😜 》felt the australian ocean breeze one last time 》on P-day we last minute decided we wanted to do a little look out walk, we ended up doing like three hikes in our dresses in the heat of the day hahah it was so fun! 🌞 》met two guys on the street who told us they are in their church choir. So of course we asked them to sing us a song, and we returned the favor and sang I am a child of God for them. So fun haha I love it 😁 》last dinner appiontment with the Tahiti family. My fav people ever! One of my fav things on my mission has been being in the members homes..i will miss it 》took a crocadile tour today and they are officially my biggest nightmare. So so freaky. The words of our tour guide "you just have to be faster than your mates" But I did hold a baby crocadile today! 😅 》just want to say how grateful I am for my companion, Sister Fang. She has been a huge blessing to me and i'm going to miss her more than she knows 💖 My mission has been one of the greatest experiences of my life! When I decided to serve a mission I thought of it being a big sacrifice. I now see it as a huge blessing! I could not tell you all the things I learned, but know that they all helped me to be more aware of the love Heavenly Father has for each of His children. There were many challenges along the way, but I'm so grateful I chose to keep going and moving forward even when I didn't understand everything. I have been able to look back on experiences and see how God was helping me grow to become more like the Savior. I know God has a perfect plan for each of us, and Jesus Christ is the center of that plan. I'm so grateful to know that families can be together forever! I know Joseph Smith was a true prophet that restored the true Church of Jesus Christ back to the earth. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. It teaches and testifies of Christ, and we can grow closer to Him as we read and strive to live by it. I know Jesus Christ lives, and His Atonement is a gift for each of us. He is my strength and I know it is through Him that we find true peace and happiness in this life. I leave these things and the last 18 months with you all in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. MY HOMECOMING IS THIS WEEK!!!! I'd love to see you there! March 10th @ 10:30am Address: 355 Virgin St, Bunkerville, NV 89007, United States I love you all! Thanks for supporting me throughout my mission. I feel so blessed to know each of you. JESUS LOVES YOU!! See you soon 🥰🥰 Love, Sister Cannon Previous Letter Next Letter

e284fdea-e096-434d-978c-d56d68ad9e98 Elder Nathan Abbott Back to Missionary Letters Hey everyone! Sorry I was busy today and that I don't have much time to write more but yeah. It was also a pretty boring week. Not much happened. Love you all! Previous Letter Next Letter

ed2e2a23-83b4-4fcb-b723-9c937d8e8550 Elder Trey Hafen Back to Missionary Letters Chapter 24: Faith to overcome and to feel our savior's love Dear family and friends. I'm blessed to have the time I do and write to you the past experiences I've had on the mission so far. Things have been going great!! I can testify that mission is a refined fire and great lesson come of it. A lot of hope that was back by faith. Because of our Faith the lord mercy extend Miracles in our work. I hope yall can understand my email because I don't go back and check for spelling errors plus this may be a long email. I have a lot to share and plus I may not email until the last week of my mission or I'll just wait to give my homecoming talk. Anyways here we go. Lafayette felt like home! I got some roots there. My first cousin 4 times removed was the patriarch of the stake. I didn't know that the first time so the lord had to send me back I guess. On top of that I made some great friends in the ward and outside of the ward. Let me tell you about the ones the lord gave me. Im going to tell it like im reading a list. This way you know I had a valid excuse of not typing an email for so long. Plus who doesn't like a good back story!? Eunice and Maelynn were such family to me! Eunice literally could be my grandmother. She gave us some cool gifts as missionaries, her door was always opened to us, and her playing her southern Baptist gospel music made it all the vide. She wasn't born and raised in Lafayette. She actually from Chicago and moved to Lafayette. That's pretty usually that people from Chicago move to Lafayette. They move out of Chicago because of the leaders that keep on falling them. It true! You can't believe anything these day haha. Anyways back with Eunice. I didn't know that Elder Subardjo (my companion) had answer some tough questions in the past with her before i came. Elder Subardjo didn't think she would progress and it would have hurt him. Elder Subardjo was pretty new to the mission. Its usually tough for newer missionaries for them not to see someone they love to progress. My first night meeting Eunice was quite a delight. She actually my first lesson in the area. We read the Book of Mormon and she felt the spirit while she read the Book of Mormon for the first time. As I was talking about the spirit she bore a spiritual experience to us. I was shocked! Nobody shared a spiritual experience with me for a long time. It felt great to her what she had to say. After she was done I felt the spirit and Confirmed her to that. She couldn't believe I felt the spirit to what she said and was brought to tears. That was great night. I knew she going to progress after that night! As we kept on meeting with her and Maelynn to teach them the lesson to prepare them for baptism. The more we meant the more stories we heard and the love she shared. See Eunice loves taking care of little children that she even has a daycare in her home. She makes sure that they even listen and know who Jesus is for them. Eunice adopted Maelynn at young age. Maelynn living situation was very shakey and wasn't stable. Eunice can't see a young child go down like that so she brought her in as her own. Maelynn wasn't the first but is the last of who Eunice brought in too take care of. Eunice had that light of christ and new that children had it too. It was great to see that light of her to shine and she wasn't afraid to let it shine. Eunice was always a faithful woman. She has baptized as a Baptist. Well come to find out she was put on date before I came in to the area and i didn't know. She wasn't going to be able to make her date so we had to push it back. Luckily she forgot but there was push back. She told us she was baptized and why does she need it again. That night was very key moment to fuel her desire to be baptized. We taught the Doctrine that was need and assured her that her baptism wasn't wrong but an act of faith. Than ready 2 Nephi 31 the parts talking about christ being baptized. I had the gift of tongues that night. I said things I didn't even think I could say. The questions I asked, the testimony I bore, and the way I taugh. It wasn't me I could have never had put the teachings like that before. It was amazing! We committed her to pray about the authority that John the Baptist had that night. We told her that she will know that we hold that same authority today. After the lesson I went home and went to bed. My companion usually stay up later than me. Eunice called him that night and told him that she watch a video on YouTube about John having the authority. For once YouTube works in our favor. The lord works in mysterious way. Anyways she goes and tells him that she believes it true and needs to be baptized. I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning when my comp tell me the news. Then she got her interview done by President Riding a couple weeks after that moment. That was a very spiritual moment. It one after another! But also Satan did try to attack that day to not make it happen. It was very stressful but things pulled through as we had faith in the lord. She even testified of it saying "I needed that interview and for you guys to be here today. For some reason something didn't want this to happen." Satan always attacks when we're always trying to do good. That's why as saints we need to be there for one another. Soon after she was baptized and received the Holy ghost that same day. She testified and was joyfully that she feels the holy ghost. When Elder Subardjo was going to leave the area she throw a goodbye party. It was tough on her saying goodbye to Elder Subardjo. She also sad to see me to leave a 6 weeks later. Elder Subardjo told me when he left that he didn't think that was going to happen. The lord had different plans! Just has the lord as a plan for are daily lives. We think we know best but remember we don't have the eternal view of this life. Dani: now Dani is super awesome. She was so elect. I truly mean it and still can say it too this day! Elders from Purdue found her and invited her to church. She pulled up and that's when we first meant her. We than set up times to meet and went from there. We didn't know she had a wig until we had are first lesson. She answered the door and my Companion and I thought she was a guy and we were dumbfounded in that moment when it was her. We got to know her goals and expectations for the upcoming new year. As she was talking it seemed as she was at war with herself and trying to find something that brings her joy. We introduce the Book of Mormon and it helped her feel good inside as she read it. While answering her questions. Dani was very outgoing and did anything to help her friends and family even when they weren't capable of taking care of her. Dani always seeked the truth at a young age and couldn't find it. She was baptized in many churches but found them to be faulty. As we taught the first vision from the JSH at the end she said that she is that boy. The boy referring to Joseph Smith. The spirit is was very strong in the room and testified to me that her statement is true. As we continued teaching dani we got to know her more. Not only did She want to change but to bring the change for her son. Her son being 4 and being a single mother she wanted a good structure for her family. In her words she wanted to break from the stereotype in which the world puts it. She knew how serious the gospel will be able to help her and her family. She was grasping the principles and we put her on date for baptism. Her change was happening so fast. My companion and I the week before her baptism she told us that we needed to push it back. But she had to let somethings go. Nothing bad but to settle the past and close the door. It shocked us on what she showed us. But also it was great to see her to forget the past and move on to greener fields. Like I said she knew how serious the commitment was and she was committed. As we moved her date it gave the opportunity for her loved ones to come. Working towards the baptism Dani was introducing us to her friends and being a missionary before being baptized. She was converted to the truth. She start bring her friends to church and there kids. The kids started to gain the motivation to push their parents to go to church. Then came the baptism. Bud was able to baptized her. She being his first to baptized and he's been a convert for less than a year. Her family unfortunately weren't able to make it. Satan did all that he could but Dani was to converted to the truths. After baptism we took her to the temple. Which I got to see a ward member from my first area. That was really cool to see. But it couldn't have happened if Dani had her temple recommend. Yep she forgot her recommend but God plans. I've learned lot through Dani's journey and taugh me a lot of important truths. As I was on the verge of leaving the area she got to speak in church and get a calling. It was quite the cherry on top. She doing great and continues to keep growing her discipleship. Skyler: we had some much fun getting to know skyler and getting to teach him. My first time in Lafayette I knew his grandma (Cindy) because I was in the area on an exchange teaching skyler cousin. But I didn't know skyler. One night in the freezing cold Indiana weather on bikes we decided to go pay skyler a visit. Missionaries in the past tried to teach them buy didn't really get anywhere. We had a long visit because skyler dad (Jonathan) talk our ear off the rest of our evening. It was great fellowship I would say. We scheduled a time to come back and so we did. We sat there again in a very long rant of his about life. Toward the end of the rant we mentioned baptism to see if skyler was interested. He said yes and was excited. He made a plan when and how to teach them with their busy schedules and how they were going to get to church. We taugh at his grandma cindy house. She was so sweet and nice and even got a meal out of it. It was a great time! Not only teaching skyler but to get to know the backstory of the grandma and her conversion. As time when on we were making great progress. Skyler was grasping the lesson and knew what he was talking about. But you would guess what would come next. The baptism being a week and a half a way we got told by his other grandmother (Anna) that was quite the imposter told us to push it back quite a bit a ways. The Adversary came attacking. Oh me Anna went back and forth. Nothing continous just making the art of the deal. A lot of negotiating and bs to cut through. We went to visit skyler dad and to see if thei is what he wanted and if it is true. Walls came down and we stook to the date. Some background with skyler dad John he fell away from the church but followed the commandments but he knew he would return someday. John mom Anna is an excommunicated member and never really kept the commandment but let spiritual blindness blind her. They were both knowledgeable. There always a breaking point to the Adversary attack. We went back again to confirm the date we had set for skyler Baptism. As Anna conutined voicing to push it back even tearing down skyler in a away. the father spoke up against Anna and proceeded with the date. Fight Anna muliputive tactic towards him he stayed true to the faith. The Adversary force was therefore defeated in the faith of a father for his son knowing what was right. When the weekend arrived the father got to baptized his own son and has waited for that moment. After the baptism the father slowed started getting back into church and the rest is history. Star: close to a year ago I knew who star was. I was serving in the neighboring area called Prophetstown. The Prophetstown and Weacreek Elders car shared quite a bit together. That same time when I was in Prophetstown star was supposed to be baptized. On the day of her baptism she canceled and didn't feel ready. My companion and I were there and saw the sadness and frustration on the Elders faces. We couldn't believe what happened. Fast forward to now. As we we're almost baptizing weekly stars mom (Sister Jackson) would always come and support. She would bring star with her time to time. Bud (A good friend to the missionaries) and I were talking and I whispered in her ear and told him that we were going to baptized star. It was complete ambition and a desire to get her to the waters of baptism. After skyler Baptism sister Jackson came up to me and said that star is ready and wants to be baptized. This sounded great to hear! We had so much fun having lessons with star and talking about the animals she has and even doing a puzzle before here baptism. Great fellowship was taking place. But there were bumps along the way. Just as Satan intends too. But star conutined to have Faith and trust in the plan. No matter what here siblings believed she continued to press forward. Here baptism was very well attended were we had to do it in the chapel. President and Sister Riding made time out of there busy schedules to come and attended. The baptism was very satisfying. The lord had her prepared for that moment!! She is now able to attend the temple with her mom. Ps her mom has a remarkable backstory of coming back to the church and has one of the great testimony of the church. She helped a out a tone with star and was a great role model through the process. Now a family that was once lost is Now able to worship in the house of the lord. Kenny: Subardjo and I didn't find kenny. Other Elder that blitzed are area did. Kenny wanted to change his life and hand it over to God. For weeks we didn't have contact with him. Subardjo and I decided to visit him in person. At this moment Subardjo and I were very busy with the friends we had that were progressing towards baptism. So we said no matter the outcome we will have drop kenny. Well the story goes that kenny answered the door and very pressed. Got very continuous. Then has we testified of the gospel and our purpose as missionaries kenny had a change of heart. I never seen someone humble themselves this quick within a moment of a minute. He set the time and date to come back and promise to us that he will be there at that set time. And we went from there. We meant consistently and he came to Church only for the first hour. Kenny had a tough time reading the scriptures but was always sensitive to the spirit. For a couple weeks we didn't meet because he was sick. At this point he was had a goal to be baptized this weekend. The day being. April 13th. I gave him call on Monday with the plan to push his date back. We also had transfer coming up on the 17th. And I highly likely I wasn't going to be staying. Having the conversation on the phone kenny told me that he wasn't going move his date back and he was going to be baptized on the 13th. Basically he was locked in. I was stress for the most part. We had a lot to go over and only had 5 days to do it. But we clutched up! It was really cool that I left that area baptizing kenny. Quite a way to end the chapter. There were a lot of doubts in that process with kenny. But faith over comes doubts. You have a belief, that belief gets attack but as you endure the attack on your belief, it will be strengthen at the end of the Storm. Which then will grant you a testimony. Ether 12:6 explains this better than I just did. Faith is important. Thought that experience I exercise so much faith. I'm not going to lie I give into doubts easy. But i learned that doubts don't lead to achieving and prosperity but deprives your faith gets rid of your hopes. With Faith you can achieve anything!! I could of given up on kenny. I also could of doubted his responds towards keeping the date and moved it instead. But I had the faith it was going to happen. Remember Faith is a principle of action. Through your faith action the lord will provide Miracles. Bro and Sis Dawson: this story is pretty cool. This is an experience I had that I know that Heavenly father is aware of our needs and he will provide. But we also need to be sensitive to the enticing of the holy spirit. At the start of my mission I'm not going to lie I have ignored some promptings from the holy spirit. When you do you regret but now much older on my mission I kept close to the spirit and to be ready for whatever prompting it may bring to me. My companion and I decided to go visit a town not to far. It the distance of the virgin valley highschool to the bunkerville chapel. There were inactive members we could go visit and felt right to go. We were very busy at this time with many friends that we were teaching and preparing to get baptized. As we to town we visited all these members with no answers or nothing. My companion and I looked at each other seeing what we should do. We pulled up the map and saw the Dawson family. This is a unplanned visit. We knock and Sister Dawson let us in and we get to know each other but she was very sensitive to the rules. Her husband was home but was working from home. As the conversation start to die and her husband not present, she was going to kick us out. Totally understandable. Right when we're about too leave the husband comes right out and starts talking with us cracking jokes just very outgoing guy. Funny things is I remember this guy my first time in Lafayette. He was in a ward council meeting but I didn't talk to him much. Days before this moment he was on my mind a lot and I didn't know why. A couple nights before this visit they took some Elders out to eat that weren't in their ward to there favorite place, Qdoba. These Elders bragged to us about it and we thought it was really fun. They mentioned that they were moving. Bro Dawson ask my companion and I too come back and help them move. As weeks went on we helped to get their home pack and remodel so they can leave by June. They feed us apple fritters overtime we came as we did service or take us out for Qdoba. Man that family was so awesome! Bro Dawson took us for a ride in his dodge charger scat pack which was lit. He went 130 mph on the freeway and that felt great!! As time flew bye it was time to go. Elder Subardjo said goodbye so we had 1 last time at Qdoba all together. Sister Dawson towards the end shared a very touching thanking. In the message she shared she said: her and her husband during this move was going to be rough for them. They had no help and didn't know who to reachout too. That we lifted a burden. I said to her that Heavenly father is aware of your needs and you weren't not planned to visit that day. Let alone we didn't even remember your names when the elder bragged about you guys take them out to dinner. If it wasn't for the spirit prompting us to be in that area we would have cross path. But the father had other intentions. The spirit confirmed to me in that moment why that all happened. My time 2nd time in Lafayette Ive have learned a lot and I have a lot to share about it. I'm going to miss my friends. The toughest area to say goodbye. I didn't even share about Emma or easton. There is a lot more I could share about that area that. Getting free ice cream and food from DQ will be missed. Tyrone was a dawg for that!! But Emma has decided to be baptized on July 5th and her boyfriend easton will baptize her before he leaves for his mission. That the little ill share. As you focus on bring joy to people’s life. Your outlook on life changes for the better. It's a win win I would say. Just as Christ focused on bring us joy!! But do we have a God of justice but also he is mercyful, that he sent his son that laid his life for us. Because of Him the examplore we are able to follow him back to the faith. Stay true to the Faith. The lord plans is better than ours. Trust in him no matter the situation. Learn the gifts of the holy ghosts and be sensitive to prompting. Know the backstory of others. Sometimes we want to push forward but we forget or don't know who we are doing it with. Not only does the lord know us but refined us to be what we need to be in order become joint heirs in the kingdom. This gospel doesn't only change families but free us from the chain of the world. work hard play hard and have fun doing it!!! Testify of Christ always my friends 🤍 Previous Letter Next Letter

a2fdd0a3-d874-45b6-9d9b-9e2d06fb9bc5 Elder Shane Zarate Back to Missionary Letters The final countdown Well people this I have officially started my last transfer in the mission, which is crazy. The time has definitely flown by, and it's been great. Im in an area called Sarmiento in the city of Mendoza now, and I'm with a peruvian companion which is sweet. Im sorry i havent written much, I would like to have a good excuse but its mostly laziness. We have been teaching a goup of people in this area who have very good potencial of being baptized. We dont find a lot of new people because this area is a little difficult in a lot of ways but its still good. Im very greatful for my time here and for everything ive learned. My spanish is good but im still improving. Its always good to have a latino companion. Anyway thank you guys for all the support and I will try too write at least once more before I end. Elder Zarat Previous Letter Next Letter

b3c1741b-0090-4165-abb0-10128d99adde Elder Gavin Hughes Back to Missionary Letters Whats up everyone this last week has been kind of crazy, and I dont even remember what was going on in the MTC. But it came time to say goodbye to everyone, which was sad but I was ready to get out of there. Had to wake up nice and early to leave which was crazy, but after some traveling got to billings which is my new reassignment because I am still waiting on the visa, but the mission president and his wife are so awesome so I’m excited. The next day on wednesday is when I found out who my new comp/s are and where I was going. So I got two comps who are Elder Blackburn and Hollberg, and both of them are so chill. So I am now in a place in Wyoming I have never heard of called Worland. So far it has been awesome and I am loving all of it. As soon as we got here the first couple days we were buysy with cleaning because the last elders kind of left it a mess so that was great. But then we had a little service and have mostly just been trying to meet the people herer this last week becuase we are all new to the area. But I am so excited to be here and get to learn from my companions. The people are already so awesome here and I am loving the small town vibes. It reminds me a lot of home. But yeah things are great and now that we are all settled in we can get going a little more and I am super excited. So I guess that is all for now. 1~my new companions 2&3~last picture with my district and teacher’s 4~my last roommates Previous Letter Next Letter

7a29227b-e05f-49bf-88d6-153570623493 Elder Isaac Iverson Back to Missionary Letters The Place of My Rest That's right folks! I got transferred out of Scenic Oaks. I miss that area so much, BUT now I finally get to serve in the city! I'm in an area called Culebra Creek/Wildhorse. I'm still a zone leader (unfortunately) and even more unfortunate I'm in a biking area. My companion and roommates are super cool though! I have 4 months left of my mission and this is quite possibly my last area. My times in Scenic Oaks with Elder Taylor have been awesome! The people we had to teach and the work we got done were the happiest times of my mission. Its really too bad that I'm as close as I am to the end of my mission. ⭐ BUT here's some AMAZING news! I had the most spiritual experience of my mission yesterday. Someone I'd found and taught in Scenic Oaks chose to be baptized yesterday. I had the opportunity to go back and be a part of it. Before the baptism she pulled Elder Taylor and me aside and said, "Elders (starts crying), thank you so much for showing up that first day, and giving my family the opportunity to do this" and she gave us both hugs. I about lost it right there, but I held strong. The baptismal service itself was very beautiful, but the ordinance of baptism filled my soul with more joy than I thought I could have. Collin baptized his wife Karin, and the Spirit was so strong in that gym. I don't cry, but that experience even drew a tear or two from me. That is the most wonderful memory of my mission so far. One I'll never forget. I love Karin and the Degge family so much! Culebra Creek/Wildhorse is really cool! We had a baptism for a 9 year old last Saturday and have another baptism of a sweet old lady on June 12th! Her name is Lola and she is the sweetest lady. She gives us new ideas of what we can include in her baptismal program everytime we see her. She is very ready! I'm doing well. Lovin life. My testimony of the gospel brings me SO much joy! What more do I need? For today I'll just throw in my favorite scripture for today: 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. The Degges are the picture of the 6'9 man. They are my favorite! Collin is a member and Karin is the one who was just baptized. I love them so much!!! Previous Letter Next Letter

54f5085d-4921-4003-8bfb-08f387cf5edc Elder Stetson Ludvigson Back to Missionary Letters What a memorable week we had this week! So we started the week off with a split to Manado, which is about a 3 hour flight from Jakarta. My companion used to serve there, so he knows all the members, and a member family said that they would takes us to dinner when we land, we land about 5:00 and head to dinner with the family. They take us to this super cool reasturant where the tables are on little docks in the middle of a lake, and in order to get to the table you have to walk across this little wooden bridge. This family has 2 little kids about 7 and 8, so we sit down and eat and had some amazing fish, after that we were sitting talking while the kids were playing. One of the kids thought it qould be a good idea to sprint full speed across the little bridge, and to no suprise "splash" he falls in the pond. Luckily it was shallow and he was able to just stand up and walk out and laugh about it. It was pretty hilarious and we all got a good laugh out of it. The split to Manado was amazing, we went to a village up in the mountains where some members live, we were able to visit 4 different member family in the village which consisted of a lot of hiking through the mountain, it was super pretty, and an amazing experience! Also at one of the members homes we had some smoked fish, and here they smoke their fish with coconut shells which makes it super good! This week we also had some amazing lessons, we had another lesson with Sis Rose we were able to teach the restoratuon and the spirit was super strong, after that she gave us a tour of the school she owns, and it was super cool! This week we also had our english conversation class which is actually super fun, the people here love trying to learn english so its pretty easy to get people to come! This p-day we had quite the adventure, so first we were planning on going to a zoo but we get there and find out it was closed on Mondays, which sucks, but we decided to go to this park place instead. We had no clue what it was really, but we pay and get in and are trying to figure out what to do and we see they had like a reptile museum so we decide to go there and check it out. At first we only though it was a little building with no live animals, after we walked around the building and came out we were getting ready to leave a little disapointed but then Elder Mocodompis spotted something, around the side was some glass boxs with some lizards and stuff. And as we continued around the side it kept getting better and better, we saw komodo dragons some massive alligators some huge snakes. So we were then satisfied and ready to leave, and at this time the park was about to close, and there was like no one their, it felt like a ghost town. But as we were walking out one of the workers waved us into this glass room. And here we got to hold a baby alligator and some giant snakes. It was pretty sketchy but also super fun! And thats all folks, love yall keep increasing your faith everyday! 1% better! Sampai Jumpa Previous Letter Next Letter

24089115-86d2-4ba7-95c6-a17680e1cfd1 Elder Riley Waite Back to Missionary Letters Last Email from Elder Waite Hey everyone I hope everyone has had a good last 2 weeks! I sure have even though it's been tough! This is my last full week as a missionary and I go home the next Thursday on the 9th so I can't wait to see you all! The mission has honestly been the best experience of my life and I wouldn't change it for anything. Not much to say here except love you all Previous Letter Next Letter

dd34c7c8-9ebf-4ae8-842b-f1edc1c73e4f Sister Alley Shaner Back to Missionary Letters I'm Alive!! Hello everyone! I’m so sorry it took me so long to send out another email. Turns out adjusting to being home is a lot harder than I expected it to be! My experiences as a Service Missionary have been great though and I promise to send consistent emails once again! First, I want to share with everyone where I’ve been serving! Getting a schedule organized for me was really iffy at first and I was driving up to St. George almost every day because there are no other service missionaries in Mesquite and so nothing was really set up down here. The time difference also sucked because if I had an assignment at 8 Utah Time then that’s actually 7 my time, which means I need to leave at 6. I’m not a morning person lol. But, we’ve slowly been figuring things out and now most of my assignments are down in Mesquite! We’re still figuring out the kinks but let me just go over my schedule quickly! Monday I have a morning devotional in St. George with my district and then afterwards I stay at the institute to work on a really neat service project. We’re basically making homemade beds out of grocery bags and then we ship them off to refugees and countries who need it, like Ukraine! Then I come home and I help at the food bank we have here in Mesquite. Tuesday we’re still kind of figuring out, but I think I’ll be helping with the FamilySearch Center or the animal shelter which I am really excited about. Wednesdays are my temple days! I’m so excited to work in the St. George temple, it is absolutely gorgeous! I’ve missed it a lot! Thursdays are really exciting because I’m helping my old 4th grade teacher with her class! I’ve only done it once so far, but I loved it and the kids are amazing! Almost has me really considering becoming a teacher! Finally, Fridays I’m helping at the Salvation Army in Mesquite! Saturdays I don’t really have anything scheduled and Sundays are really a family day, which is nice! It’s been over a month now but I’m just barely starting to adjust. It’s been a little difficult keeping the habits I formed on my mission, which has been really frustrating for me but it’s to be expected. I’ll start shaping back up soon enough lol! I want to share with everyone a thought I’ve been having the past week. Last Saturday I had the privilege to hear from Bradley Wilcox who is in the Young Men General presidency! It was an amazing conversation and he said something that really made me think, that I’d like to share. Being on the covenant path can be really difficult, I think the most difficult part for me is feeling like I’m not making any progress because I keep messing up. I think it can sometimes take really long to take a step forward and we all focus on how fast we mess up. Think of it this way, each of us is walking our own path. It takes everyone a week to take one step forward, it’s a hard long journey but after 7 weeks we’re 7 steps ahead of where we were. Then all of a sudden something disrupts our journey, whether it be ourselves or an outside force and we end up falling back 6 steps in one day. How frustrating is that! We made so much progress and it took so long only for it to be ruined in a matter of seconds. I think we all can sometimes get caught up in the fact how much we backtracked and end up not realizing that we’re still one step ahead from where we started. That’s how our paths work. It sucks, it’s frustrating, and it’s not fair but it is worth it because eventually if we keep going we will all make it to where we need to be. President Wilcox said this in different terms, but his message was clear and that was that the only way we could possibly fail this journey is if we stopped trying. We let the mistakes get to us and we stopped trying to move forward. I hope everyone can think about that for a moment. Mistakes and bad circumstances suck but that’s no reason for anyone to get off the path that we’re able to be on through Christ. If we did stop trying we would just be playing right into the hands of the person who caused our misery! Anyway, I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving and recognizes the things in our lives to be grateful for! Adios! Previous Letter Next Letter

37244b33-3777-48da-a121-1e87d351da15 Sister Talia Hansen Back to Missionary Letters Well kids it's about that time! I go home on Wednesday morning so this is my final email! Thank you all for supporting me so much throughout my mission. I've come to truly love the people here in Idaho and I've learned so much! I feel I've definitely come closer to my Savior and come to appreciate the great sacrifice that He made even more! He truly does know me and love me and YOU TOO!!! He knows each of us personally! I'm so grateful for Jesus! Anyways, I'm excited to be going home and to see all yalls beautiful faces! My family also says I talk different so don't be surprised when you talk to me and I sound like I'm "straight out of the wild west" (my brother Taner) I guess I did pick up an accent in Idaho `\0/` SEE YALL SOON! -SISTER HANSEN 💕 Previous Letter Next Letter