45dbbbca-c933-46f0-953e-51181bd98cc4 lder David Vogel Back to Missionary Letters Elder Vogel the Younger– Piqua, Ohio Up and Up If we look at my time in this area as your stereotypical storybook, the last few weeks would be when everything goes wrong. Now we’re in the part where everyone is trying to adjust to their new normal that will hopefully end in a happy ending for everyone. Working backwards we can start with today. We have finally been able to meet with Carla & Glenn again after almost a month. We explained our normal lessons with them to Elder Harrison. Also how Glenn likes to bring up things like zodiac signs, the civil war, politics, wickenology, and general very interesting personal things. We had a short lesson with them tonight because Carla wasn’t feeling well (not covid) but he still managed to bring up every single one of those subjects. It was a very good introduction to Glenn for Elder Harrison. We really aren’t going there for Glenn. Carla is the one who can really benefit from the Gospel, but we can’t teach one without the other. Every time we try another outlet to teach Glenn he just shoots it down, Read the Book of Mormon, doesn’t read well, listen to a talk, loses interest, watch a video, “not a video guy”. It’s at the point that he only wants to learn by word of mouth. I would love to think our words are enough for conversion but that just won’t cut it. Yesterday we met with Brother Wheeler again. I say Brother Wheeler because he is a member but I’m still at a loss of how. Going over there is always very civil. It’s when we start messaging him that things get tense. I don’t care much for conflict, but Elder Harrison has spent his entire mission listening to recordings of a member lawyer bashing with random missionaries and hadn’t gotten the chance to interact on this level yet. The texts started flying. I don’t think either of them are actually reading what the other sends. As it stands we’ve made some progress with him. He still has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and still studies it. He even bought us pizza and some other snacks. We’ve been trying to get him to come to church for the past two weeks. He gives the same response every time. “It’s repetitive.” He attends the German Baptist Church because of the sermons. Maybe we’ll be able to bring things back around? After missing a month's worth of lessons with April we got into contact with her again as well. She wasn’t answering our calls or texts so instead we just knocked on her door. She was happy to see us but very tired. She is currently working a 72 hour work week and caring for her very pregnant daughter. So she doesn’t have any time to really meet but she does want us to keep texting her Scriptures to read and videos for her to watch on her breaks. The last thing for Sunday was we stopped at the other Elders apartment for a farewell zoom call to President and Sister Ensign. They have officially been released as our Presidency and we now have President and Sister Maguire. I know very little about them. While we were on the call the other Elders started having some technical difficulties with their phone so we were laughing too hard at them to really hear what was going on. We have an in-person meet and greet with them on Wednesday so I’ll get filled in there. After the call it was pitch black outside but we thought it would be a good idea to go disc golfing with the other Elders anyway. It was interesting, I couldn't really worry about how you threw because you couldn’t see where you were throwing. So we went out with flashlights. We didn’t lose any discs, and only one person got hit with a frisbee. That person was me. But in my defense it’s hard to defend against a frisbee trying to take out your knees when you don’t know it’s there until after it’s tried to cripple you. We did get to have an awesome lesson with Brenda Wooten. The past two lessons we’ve had to teach her through a window because she’s on lockdown for chemo treatments. For some reason when we went that day they let us in. Which was cool but it did mean the lesson we had planned got thrown out the window. Mostly because the moment we sat down she said she wanted to read with us. So we did. We read the introduction, the three witnesses, the eight witnesses, and the other introduction. She loved it. Halfway through reading she stopped and said that it never made sense to her why it would end at the bible. Brenda, you are doing our jobs for us. Spiritually she’s doing really well. Physically we’ll leave it to her doctors to decide. On Saturday we went and helped Brother Osborne split firewood for the winter. Missionaries are not supposed to operate any form of power tool or heavy machinery. So we didn’t. We just kept putting the logs underneath the big metal spike and the members pushed the lever to operate the heavy machinery. That took us a good three hours and after hauling wet logs around for that long I was in dire need of a shower. Instead Brother Osborne took us all out for pizza. So apologies to the 3joes pizzeria staff but I wasn’t going to eat with mud all over my arms so I very carefully washed up to my elbows in the bathroom before eating. Really good pizza though. The next morning was the first time in a long time that I woke up with truly sore biceps. Service is truly the secret to success in many things, including gains. Saturday Evening, we had exchanges with the Zone leaders, 90% uneventful. Until we were walking down a street in the dark and saw a house with a six foot cross lit up on the side. Not made of lights, a well made, wooden cross with spotlights on it. You know we knocked on their door. We met Johnny. Long story short, after sharing the restoration of the Gospel he told us that not only were prophets necessary, he was one. So he invited US to “go into our private prayer closet and ask God if there is more for us to know." It was a strange moment if there is more for us to know, you are definitely not the person who will tell us. But you are not wrong about there being more to know. Ohio is fun. Probably the only noteworthy event for the week was on Wednesday we attended a luncheon for all the Fish volunteers. During which they had a raffle and all three of us won something. I donated mine to the next ticket drawn but the Elder Harrison got $20 to Frickers, and Elder Flamm got a week of free meals. Also at that luncheon, which was being held in another church, we met the pastor of the church. Very friendly guy asked us over to talk theology and play board games. We can’t say no to that so we’ll see where that goes. I'm realizing that these letters are not very smooth but I'm okay with that. The week wasn't smooth. But, things are looking up. We will put it to the people who have been sufficiently humbled to receive the word. Hopefully Elder Vogel Previous Letter Next Letter

d1bc8b1c-0e52-420f-8d2b-d7187eddcd7e Elder Kiera Davis Back to Missionary Letters My First Transfer Sorry guys, we have tranfers this week so my P-Day was today. Just for this one time though, so still hit me up on Mondays 🙏 Transfer news: Im going to Cárdenas A!!! Its apparently a really bougie area and I'll get a car.... but I didnt do my drivers license stuff 🙈 so I aint driving dawg. Its also by the temple! AAAAHHH!!! My comp is Hermana Veliz from EL SALVADOR (shout out to my mtc peeps that are there rn) and she does NOT speak English, amigos. Buenoooo. Im a little bit terrified. That also means I have to dragón my two 50 lbs suitcases all around Panamá again.... comment down below which cuss word I should say in my head tomorrow. Monday, Monday. Such an iconic P-Day!! We left the house around 10 so my comp could get her finger nails done by the lovely miss Valentina, and that took like 2 hours. BUT sis was bumpin the Weeknd the whoooole time so I was feeling myself. 🎶Baby I would die for youuuu🎶 La verdad? I would die to be able to listen to the Weeknd on the mish!! After that we got some Wendy's at the mall and I ordered all by myself (¡kachow!). After, we went to go get pedicures!!!! Lets gooooo. Such an out of body experience. A missionary's crusty feet are no joke because all we do is walk yk?? But this chica meant business. She went to work and I got pampered. It was kinda like the time me and Cam went to Bath & Body Works and our bestie said we needed to treat ourselvessss. I'm talking gel foot bath, exfoliation, massage, nail polish. Beforehand, I had to give her a proper warning about my toe too.... My CCM crew knows all about my less than cute toe from the Suitcase Accident of 2024 right before I left on my mission. But I am here to say, shes back baby. This lady looked at that thing and said "uhhhh... im going to make it pretty..." Say less. Now I'm walking around with a prosthetic toenail and my dawgs have never looked better. Needless to say, I felt like a princess after, even if my comp said it was the worst pedicure experience of her life😂 To make me feel even more like a princess, when we were walking home after all our lessons that night, I see a little movement in the grass. Its a freakin FROG. I snatched that thing up in two seconds and told that sucker to pucker up. But instead he peed on me.... Not chevere. My advice? If you want a girl to kiss you, probably dont pee on her. Tuesday was just soooo much traveling. We were going to have a Mission Conference on Wednesday so we were going to stay at another companionships house because it was "closer." That was such a joke. We caught a two hour bus ride which was crazy because me and Reyes fell asleep for like 45 minutes and when we woke up, we hadnt even made it out of Arraijan yet!!! Five thumbs down. Then we rode the metro for probably another two hours. But it was all worth it when I start walking down the street to our sleep over casa and I see freakin SHELLY. Literally the savior of my sanity. In my head, I totally ran to her arms in slow motion. Nah, it was more like a confused, sleep deprived couple of steps, but we spent a good long while talking and catching up about all things missiony and it was so refreshing. I've been thinking that I've been going crazy here, so it was quite lovely to exchange some trauma. And to be honest... she might have it worse than me out there in the jungles of Nueva Esperanza. Im prayin for ya Shels. You and your way too blue outfit lol. We were up at 4 the next morning to get ready and such. I was quite refreshed after my four hours of sleep on an air mattress with a pillowcase stuffed with clothes to lay my head on and no blanket. NOT. Just call me a minimalist🙏Then we left the house to get on a subway for two hours again. The metro in the morning is NO JOKE. Brutha. I have never been touched like that in my life. Maybe their moms didnt hug then enough as kids or sum, but there aint no love in the metros of Panamá. Aside from the 60 year old rando that stared at me quite literally the entire time. Cant you see this ladys a nun?? Plus it was soooo sweaty. When I left the house in the morning, my hair was all curled and almost cute. By the time we pulled up to the mission offices, I was pre-glowup Hermione. Big yikes. And of course we took a picture as a whole mission while I was looking like that. Que bendición! But that Wednesday was actually such a party!! We had a mini 12B reunion with all the girls and Elder Prince Charming. It was soooo so good to catch up with everybody and talk about how we still cant speak spanish. We had subway and brownies and after that, we had our special devotional. The first part, I definitely fell asleep. And I was in the front row. Awkwarddddd. But after that I was locked in and we were able to hear from Elder Olsen from the 70 and his wife!! He actually gave a talk in General Conference in 2022 that I love called "The Answer is Jesus." They are both super super cool people though. They gave very powerful talks and I'll have to include some of it in my spiritual thought. But one thing I have to mention right now is that this guy, this man of God, went up there and said "I wont tell ya how long to wait to get married after the mission, but it shouldnt be more than 6 months!" Mmmm.... listen. No puedo. Como se dice scary?? He was kidding for sure but still... huhhhh😂😂 Thursday was ultra boring and all I did was lessons and laundry, so this is an extended Wednesday. Remember how I mentioned we've been teaching Lloyd for a couple of weeks? Well, his dad and little brother have been there for every lesson. But Wednesday we go and first of all, their entire front porch area is filled with open red umbrellas. Like you cant even see the floor, it was hilarious. But anyways, we start teaching and while I'm asking questions during the lesson the dad stops and just casually goes "Davis... you know, the guy that baptized me was named Davis. But that was a really really long time ago." And I was telling him thats so cool and that my dad had served here too. I could tell he still didnt think it was the same person and I wasnt completely sure either but he said "....Joshua Davis." To which I nodded my head, and then he said "Joshua Maika'i Davis??" And then we both got super excited cause what the heck!!!! How cool is it and how much of a blessing is it that my dad was able to baptize Abdiel in his first área and now I have the opportunity to baptise his son in my first área???? I literally almost started crying, but it made me so happy. I wont lie, there are a lot of times that I wonder why I decided to ever even come on a mission, but its moments like that that make all the sucky stuff worth it. Friday Im in Love. Great song by the Cure. The weather was freakin amazing on Friday, very breezy, a tiny bit rainy. Perfect missionary weather. First we went to see Camila guys and Thiago gave us some sparklers. Later, we went to this members house, Hermana Guillen, and after the lesson they said my spanish is much better than when I first came!!! So thats sure something. After that, we went to my favorite bench to study the lessons and the cutest coincidence happened. While I was studying the law of chastity, a little chastity packet was on the floor next to me, if youre pickin up what im putting down. Nastyyyy. Im sure somebody was looking everywhere for that thing earlier. But anyways, we taught a lot of lessons, but nothing too crazy. That night, we lit the sparklers from Thiago and I know for a fact I gotta have those at my wedding and every birthday party for the rest of my life. Hashtag I love light arson and playing with matches. It was also fantastic weather on Saturday. During cosechas there was a light breeze that made my life ten times better and me and Hermana Reyes talked about the beach and pools and stuff. And... look I knew that people would be different than me on my mission, but this girl said the beach is boring!!!! 🤯 I dont know if I knew it was possbile to think like that. She said for her, the beach and the pool are only for little kids. Oh well, more pools for me 😈 We played superheroes with Alex David again last night and I dont speak spanish very well, but I do speak gun shot and explosión and super power noises. He also made me pinky promise something, but I have no clue what I agreed to. Might wind up in jail soon. Sunday was another day of me trying not to fight certain people. Guys, trying to stay positive while being up in this joint is a struggle!! I am learning patience, thats for sure... which is crazy because I thought I had some before, but I am being HUMBLED. We had an amazing Monday. Instead of our P-Day, it was chalk full of lessons and a baptism!!! My first one of the mission 🥹 it was a ward baptism because hes still 8, but it was a special day for Abner David! We have been teaching him since I've been here because his mom wanted him to fully be prepared and know the importance of what he was going to do. And he is so smart!!! At the end, Bishop asked him if he wanted to bear his testimony and when he did, He started crying. His mom was sobbing and I had tears in my eyes, but it was so so sweet. I just had the strongest little feeling that this is right. This is the right church and this is the right decision. And just to see how much he loves his Heavenly Father and knows his Heavenly Father loves him was such a blessing. Another experience that was cool was a recent convert had the opportunity to go to FSY this last week. She said it changed her life and now she knows she wants to go on a mission when shes old enough. She said shes even planning on selling her dog to save up enough money. It was a testimony building kind of day for sure. OK, this spiritual thought is going to be a banger. I feel it in my nuggets. Its long too. Sorryyyy I have been searching my soul for some peace because I knew a mission was going to be hard, and everybody tells you that up front too. But it is hard in different ways than I expected it to be. I can handle the heat, the walking, and the rejection without wishing I could be home. But I dont know if I expected to feel this alone out here. Being so far away from your family and home and having everything just the way it should be is HARD. Especially in the moments you realize that some things arent going to be the same when you get back. Its hard being with someone every single second, that you may not always get along with very well and having them be the only person you can talk to because you dont know the language. Thats hard bro. But there have been times where I just can't figure out why I have to go through this when I made suuuuch a good righteous decision to serve the Lord. Im doing exactly what He wants me to do, so why cant it just be easy??? I have found some pretty stellar talks to shut me up. My mom and the lovely Isela sent me some quotes from a talk I read earlier this week that said "Faith is not faith if never tested. Faith is not strong if never opposed. So dont despair if you have trials of faith or unanswered questions... faith is beautiful because it persists even when blessings dont come as we hoped for. We cant see the future, we dont know all the answers but we can trust Jesus Christ as we keep moving onward and upward because He is our Savior and Redeemer." Faith is powerful not because of what it knows but because of what is does. And faith is not just about believing, its about trusting completely in Heavenly Father, knowing He has something greater in mind for you than you can see. That is where true peace comes from. Elder Dale G. Renlund dropped a bar that said "Believing that life will treat you fairly because you are righteous is like believing the bull will not charge because you are a vegetarian." Similar to that, Elder Neal A. Maxwell said "How can you and I really expect to glide naively through life, as if to say, 'Lord, give me experience, but not grief, not sorrow, not pain, not opposition, not betrayal, and certainly not to be forsaken. Keep from me, Lord, all those experiences that made Thee what Thou art! Then let me come and dwell with Thee and fully share Thy joy!'" When we go through something hard and something that totally sucks, we need to have an eternal perspective. If theres a little black dot on an otherwise blank sheet of paper, and we assume that the paper goes on for eternity, we cant be blinded by the dot. Thats kinda like mortality. This is such a small part of our existence, and even though its difficult, its for our experience and will only help us to grow. Things that matter most should never be at the mercy of things that matter least. Sometimes, peace is more valuable than being right. Sometimes, theres no point in dwelling on one thing that drives you crazy. Whenever you ask yourself why, take a step back and figure out what matters most. Learn what is eternal and what is not. Trusting in Jesus Christ will give you purpose and direction. Yoke yourself to Him. Know that you are exactly where you are meant to be and the best is yet to come. "There is a connection between heaven and earth. Finding that connection gives meaning to everything, including death. Missing it makes everything meaningless, including life. " (Thats from the Other Side of Heaven because you know I like me some polynesian spice up in here 🤭) Also, if it ever seems like I'm ever being dramatic on here, take it with a grain of salt 😂 Previous Letter Next Letter

349758c2-caf4-48d8-b177-93c4bc8adbb0 Elder McKay Mulitalo Back to Missionary Letters Mannnn photos, join up! https://photos.app.goo.gl/DSwq1RW2YLAc9KTa9 hey everyone, sorry for the short email last week, christmas was mad busy for no reason. That week went by so slow and I genuinely don't remember a lot from that week except christmas. Me and Elder Chipman did knock one of our friends house with a member. Our member is an absolute angel she is awesome! We were talking about how God loves her and the good word ya' know then our member asked if we could sing I am a child of god to her... So we just serenaded this lady on her doorstep all three verses. Don't get me wrong it was super cool, but I do NOT have the voice to sing to anyone 😂. Anyways that was kinda a highlight from last week. Christmas was chill, but we went around and did stuff so it was kind of busy, and we went and ate at the Gold's house like we did on Thanksgiving. They are awesome and funny. Their little granddaughter sang Golden from Kpop Demon Hunters and Let it go from Frozen and it was so bad! She was only 3 so that's probably why, and she was trying to dance in her ballerina outfit and do ribbon dancing at the same time, shes a child of many talents fr 😅. Anyways after that we went and played Basketball and I got a nice little dunk in, but then my calf cramped so I called it a night. From Christmas day to now has been kinda slow with the missionary work. It is just that time of year and people are busy and it is a little hard to find people who stay committed, but me and my comp are out here trying fr. Me and my comp's bikes keep just getting messed up and it's a pain in the butt trying to figure them out. Also one of our members also told us that the weather is just going to get worse in the next couple of months🥳. Other than that though we just have fun and work hard at the same time. Oh, also I did the dishes again today and it was like a mountain of dishes, genuinely so annoying. But I did them(hubby material 🤷 lmk). Anyways, life is good and God good. End of the Transfer is approaching and time is flying and it's wild. Spiritual Thought - Moses 6:34 "Behold my Spirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and the mountains shall flee before you, and the rivers shall turn from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore walk with me," This is the verse for 2026 I think and God is talking to Enoch. Enoch feels very inadequate, just like me and uhhh all of you probably, but as we abide in God and continue to follow the guidance he has provided us we will overcome those feelings and become the best possible person we can be. Recently passed President Jeffrey R Holland said abide means to stay, to stay forever! Abide in him! Love you all and miss you all!🫶 Love, Elder Mulitalo Previous Letter Next Letter

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

99dae0d8-1357-473d-9e26-1474b1ba4954 Elder David Vogel Back to Missionary Letters Mesquite, Nevada One Last One This will most likely be my last email for a long time. My mother has made it clear that I am to continue writing letters to her at least once a month, most likely under penalty of death but that would only be if I was so lucky. When given the opportunity I wouldn’t like to put to the test what she could come up with. I need to remember all the way back to last Tuesday about two thousand miles away now. We got up and headed off to Fish. They are getting close to having all of their Christmas stuff sold. So much so that they’ve been moving a lot of what's left to the middle store to sell it off when the Christmas section isn’t open. Along with moving the Christmas stuff out of the Christmas store we’re also moving the candy cane shop stuff in. Every time something new looking comes into FISH instead of it getting put out to be sold it gets set aside for the Candy Cane shop. Then around Christmas they invite low-income kids from the local schools to come pick out presents for their family. Everything is sorted into categories like, Adult Female, Adult Male, Adult, boy, girl,.. and so on. When the kids come in they’re able to say who they’re getting presents for and be directed to the correct section. According to Sister Cabe, there is no political correctness at FISH. Girls get dolls, boys get trucks, women get make-up and guys get guy stuff. Obviously those aren’t the only things we had but that’s the idea. We moved everything out in preparation for it on Saturday. That evening we went over to see the Martinez family again. Elder Harrison previously served in a Spanish branch with Brother Martinez’s brother, Mojo, and they’d invited him over. So, we sat and chatted with him for a bit. There’s about 13 years between Brother Martinez and his Brother, so Mojo has only been off of his mission for about 3 years. We chatted with him about what he’s done since then and what we might do when we get back. As we were talking it came up that he’d gone on a date with one of the daughters of Brother Wilson (the first councilor in the bishopric). Nothing came from it, but it was still funny. Then they gave us sweet bread and Mexican hot chocolate. The sweet bread was good, and the hot chocolate tasted like hot chocolate so no complaints. We had two other appointments that evening but both of them were canceled. Both because of people getting sick. More accurately Ashley’s daughter got Covid and Brenda went in for another round of chemo. So, one person getting sick another trying to get over the sickness. Normally someone’s kid getting sick wouldn’t stop us from meeting and just being cautious, but when you have a flight in a week that you really want to be on, you’re a little more worried, so we opted out. We thought we might be able to set up a lesson with Holly but it turns out that her son has Covid. So we probably wouldn’t see her in person again. Wednesday was my last time at Agape and I wanted to make the most of it. So after stocking some shelves we did a good comb through the shelves to see if there was anything worth packing home. The answer was there was not. They were running a 75% off sale on everything, so the shelves were rather barren. Probably good that I didn’t grab anything else to drag home. Said goodbye to Paul and Brooke who run the Food Pantry and the non-profit store respectively. Asked them to not go too hard on the next Elders who came in. Paul laughed, Brooke just rolled her eyes. Immediately after Agape we had a District council. The big reason for it was so we could have Elder Thatcher there. He was leaving Thursday morning to head to Argentina. Because it was so soon after service, we planned on doing it in non-pros. Or basically come as you are. Or that was what I was expecting. We had to stop at our apartment to pick up our scriptures, but Elder Harrison ran upstairs. I figured it was to use the bathroom, but he went and changed into his suit. I did not have time to do that so off to the District council we went. Turns out I would have had time because the Tipp City Elders forgot we changed the time of the District council. So, we had to wait for them to show up. They were the only other Elders not in suits/dresses. Why dress, well it’s because the Zone Leaders and the Sister Training Leaders came. So, I lead the District council in jeans and a red t-shirt. For our Testimony meeting I’d asked everyone to give a scripture that they most like to share. And I did not share Proverbs 21:19. I was tempted, but I didn’t. It was a good meeting, but it felt a little strange. Like we just had a district council testimony meeting. There were only two District Councils since the last testimony meeting and now we’re just missing a few Elders. After the council we had our lesson with Sister Hurt at the church. It was a lesson on all the things that she’d done while meeting with us and how she was going to continue with those things. She’s made a lot of progress in the last few months and I really don’t want all of that to go to waste. With the progress she has made, the support from Sister Walker, and the future support of the Sisters Cabe. I think she’ll be okay. She still really does want to meet with the Elders every week, so we have that set as a repeating event for the Elders. Now for the strange part of the meeting. As it came up that we would be leaving soon it of course went to dating. Two things came up from this. The first was Sister Hurt saying that she really wanted to find a husband that was in the church. It’s good to have goals. I just wouldn’t think of that as a first goal. The second thing was from Sister Walker. Little context here, Sister Walker is at least 80 years old, widow, and just one of the sweetest little old ladies you could ever meet. Here is her dating advice to us. “Make sure you find someone who doesn’t only have sex for reproduction.” Could have said something about sharing values, or making sure it’s true love. I think it mostly just caught me off guard. We were supposed to see Brenda in the evening but she was still recovering from the chemo. We shared a quick message over the phone and wished her a good night. Thursday we tried her again but she still wasn’t feeling it. So instead we tried to meet with Hannah. She couldn’t meet in person but she was able to video call us. We read through the Sermon on the Mount and talked about prayer. She is very devout in her desire to do prayer but very stubborn in only doing the prayers that she has been taught. Some pastor told her once that every time you do a Hail Mary prayer it’s like slapping Satan in the face. While a very fun visual, not really true. We didn’t get into her quitting with the other prayers quite yet, but we invited her to say a personal prayer and pay attention to how she felt after. I don’t know how into it she actually feels but at least she said she would try. We also then gained Elder Bishop into our companionship because Elder Thatcher flew off to Argentina. Back to a trio for about five days. And I got to go to an actual eye doctor. He gave me some fancy new drugs and said I should be well improved in just a few days. We didn’t get to see Brenda but we still felt like we wanted to spend some time in a nursing home so we went over to Joe’s nursing home. He’s still a little off but we were able to teach him most of the restoration using the pamphlet so we had lots of pictures. We left him with the invitation to pray about what we read and hopefully he’ll be able to get an answer. Friday was our last day at FISH. I did the same thing I did at Agape and combed the shelves for something worth taking home. I did find some good plates for my mother but those are a secret until further notice [Christmas]. In the end we said goodbye to everyone and headed home. I’m going to skip some writing and say we reached out to Brenda everyday and every time she wasn’t up for it. Brother Wheeler did drop us off some dinner. It was like funeral potatoes but he’d put hamburgers in it. Full hamburger patties. It was really kinda strange, but not awful. Definitely needed some seasonings. That evening Sister Cabe asked if we would be able to help decorate for the Ward Christmas party. That took just about two hours and a lot of candy canes. By the end it looked good but a little chaotic. Saturday we went to the eye doctor and he said my eye was looking much better. Out of curiosity, I asked him how many of his appointments were regular check-ups -vs- infections/foreign objects. He said 9/10 were just routine check-ups. So, I guess I can say I am in the minority and I’m happy to make his day a little more interesting. We ran to Fish to see if they were still running the candy cane shop but they apparently finished even earlier then they thought they would. So, we helped move some things back to the middle store, but overall were out of there pretty quick. Sunday started out how you would expect, with church. Sister Hurt was at church again. It was good to see because she hasn’t come for about the last two months. Brother Wheeler still isn’t showing up and that’s frustrating after he was almost at two months of consistently coming. Immediately after church was the ward Christmas Party. Seeing what we put up again makes me feel better about it because it looked better with all the people there and not like a complete explosion of candy canes and glitter. Lots of ham, lots of potatoes, and lots of green beans. Remember that for later. They ended the party singing Christmas carols with everyone and then we packed everything up to head home. Not before they handed us all the extra ham and potatoes. That evening we headed over to the Russel’s. It was a bit of a surprise to me because we’d gotten a text saying that they weren’t feeding us that night. Turns out that didn’t mean don’t come over, it just meant they wouldn’t provide food. So, we headed over for a few hands of cards and some snacks before heading out. Monday things started to get a little messy. It was a whirlwind of packing and cleaning. Not only did we need to clean our apartment, but we also needed to clean the other Elders apartment that they had left empty when Elder Thatcher left. I guess I did fail to point out, our area was going to become the new Zone Leader area for the New Dayton North Zone. Because of that, we needed to do a very thorough cleaning job. Once everything was packed up, cleaning wasn’t too hard. Everything on the ground got thrown away and everything else got vacuumed or wiped. For dinner we had left over potatoes and ham. It was around 9:00pm, when I would normally remember to write my weekly letter, that I remembered that I needed to finish My Plan. My Plan is this program they have for missionaries going home to sort out things like school and dating for after the mission. I’d started it but I had definitely not finished. So around midnight I finally got to sleep. Tuesday starts with us waiting for the Greenville Elders to get to our house. We have 2 cars and three elders. With 3 new Elders coming into the area, it would be easier for them to come up from transfers if they had both cars. They get there late so we throw everything in and go. We arrive at transfer and say goodbye to a few of the Elders I knew. Gave Elder Flamm back his scale, but it was a good thing he left it. Otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to weigh our luggage. Eventually they kick out all the other missionaries and everyone going home files into the church building. They put us sitting in the relief society room with a T.V. and we think they’ve got a video for us but no, we just wait. Eventually someone starts playing hangman and everyone gets super into it. Then the President walks in and tells us lunch is ready. No complaints there. After lunch we headed towards the mission home just long enough to drop our stuff and headed into Cincinnati. They gave us a quick tour of the famous bridge. Or as I like to say it, we walked on a bridge. Then we headed to Jungle Jim's. Really they just had a bunch of extra time and it was a good way to entertain some missionaries for a few hours. Then it was back to the mission home for a very lovely dinner of potatoes, ham, and green beans. Don’t tell Sidney ward but the mission home's tasted better. We ended the night playing some cards with the other Elders. We were pretty tame playing cards at the kitchen table. The Sisters in the basement on the other hand were having some sort of party. Lots of screaming. The Elders all went to bed by 11:30, I don’t know about the Sisters. Wednesday morning, we got up and were at the airport by 7:30 with half a bagel for breakfast. Flew from Cincinnati to Salt Lake City sitting next to Sister Sparks. She’s a bit wild. She was originally called to Ukraine so she speaks Russian. We chatted for a good bit of the flight. She has a boyfriend that gets home the day after us and then they have a date on Friday. She also wants to become a profiler and get kidnapped by sex traffickers to help take them down. A very brave thing to want to do, and also very necessary work. Still think it’s wild that it’s something she already wants to actively do. When we landed we sat on the tarmac for about an hour because of the big storm that went through Salt Lake. Once we got inside, I just did a few walking laps around the terminal and I went right on the plane. Sat next to some members who were heading to Vegas for the weekend. We chatted for a bit but it wasn’t a very long flight. Once we landed, I headed to baggage claim and there were my parents waiting for me. I’m not saying I was worried but there’s always that concern in the back of your head that they may have forgotten. We did stop at In-and-Out for a burger. Then we drove towards Mesquite and called President Anderson from the Mesa [about 10 minutes out of town]. Got released at about 3:00. Spent some time at home then went to the Family History center to check in with my parents. Turns out our ward Christmas party was that night, so we grabbed a few dinners to go and opened them up back at the Family history center. And there they were, the potatoes, the ham, and the green beans. I don’t have much for final thoughts because if you’re reading this you’ve probably read most of the interesting things that I had to say. I love you all, The Man formerly known as Elder Vogel. Previous Letter Next Letter

29e89446-e8d0-4aa3-9fa9-b977b84d8133 Elder Maurice Perkins Back to Missionary Letters Miracles and No Church Meetings This week was very good. We have found some amazing people and miracles happen every day here in Nacala. This week we started teaching a man that came to church on his own last Sunday. He had been taught by the missionaries in Nampula while he was staying there for a few weeks and had gone to church three times. We started teaching him this week and he told us that he wants to be baptized. Also, we started teaching a man who recently moved to Nacala and decided he was going to leave his old church and start anew. He passed by the chapel and contacted the guard and then talked to the Branch Secretary and then came to church last week. We taught him a few lessons this week and he told that he wants to be baptized as well. As well on Friday we received the news that all the church meetings would be cancelled. I know that the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles receive revelation directly from God for our lives and for the church. Elder Gava is doing better now. He had gotten sick and was still recovering a little into this week, however he is good now. Other than that I am doing good, and I am healthy. I know that this is the work of the Lord. I am excited to see what this next week brings and know that God is our loving Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ is His Son. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of God here on earth. We are guided by Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone of the church. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is true. God loves us and hears our prayers. He is coincidence of everything that is going on in the world right now. I am grateful to be a part of this work and for the experience that I have here to serve! Estamos juntos! - Elder Perkins Picture P-Day Pizza Previous Letter Next Letter

491222b9-a886-417a-a1d2-e6e800479c35 Sister Marian Leavitt Back to Missionary Letters The most life changing 19 months 🫶 I dont even know how to put this week into words! It was all over the place. We saw soooo many miracles but had a lot of setbacks as well! We have had 3 progressing friends this entire transfer who have been preparing for baptism this upcoming sunday and 2 of them fell off date which was so frustrating but thats okay! The best is yet to come! We are still teaching our friend Marva from Afghanistan and shes THE BEST!! we are literally just friends with her. We go get dinner, help her set up her room cute, and of course teach her while we do it all but she has been such a miracle and answer to my prayers this last transfer!! We met with our recent convert Mekhi and just had a if you dont laugh you'll cry kinda deal. He is our COOLEST recent convert. So chill. We have been bffs since i got here. He told us he doesnt want us reaching out anymore because his girlfriend doesnt like him talking to us. Sorry WHAT??? Literally insane but oh well. I got to go on 2 exchanges this week!! One with sister barlow!!! If you dont remember i trained her and it was SO GOOD to be back! She has grown so much. She has so much love for people and she is always looking to grow closer to the Savior. We talked about personal studies and how to make them more meaningful. I always love talking to the sisters about this kind of study because i always learn more!! My second exchange was with sister Rindlisbacher! Shes from layton utah. She is the cutest sister. She is so KIND! her voice could literally put me to sleep. She has so much love for this work. I learned so much about talking to people like the Savior would. This will probably be my last email of my mission! I have such a strong testimony of Jesus Christ. My favorite name for Him is my friend. He has become my very best friend. He is my joy! I know He suffered for you and for me. He died for you and me. He rose again and He lives! He lives so you and i can overcome death. My new favorite hymn is the song because, because it describes my testimony perfectly Because He died for me, I’ll live again. Because He is my Friend, I’ll follow Him. Because He fills the world with light, I’m filled with hope and peace. And when He comes to earth again, I’ll kneel before His feet. And I will praise forever The Savior of the world, And I will sing together With all the Saints on earth. Because He gave to me ev’rything He had to give, I breathe, I see, I hope, I love, I live. I love you all! Thank you for all the love and support these last 19 months ❤️ Previous Letter Next Letter

932a7cc9-0067-4c2a-b791-a313db954f0f Sister Kallie Graves Back to Missionary Letters Standard works At church this week the man speaking was sharing a story about his Russian neighbor. This is what the man speaking said, "My neighbor came to me and said, 'I feel the Spirit but I'm atheist.' Only 50 years of communism can get someone to say that." We got a good chuckle out of that. When I had only been out for a whole 3 months on my mission, I made the decision to read the entire standard works. Flash forward one or two months (or 13 months), and I turned the page to my final page of my final book. I have now officially finished the entire standard works. If I had to sum up everything I learned, it would be this: All things denote there is a God. Everything. Everything from the trials to the sunshine to the relationships to the thoughts we have. God is such a big part of everything The scriptures are true. God exists. He is there and he is aware of you. I invite everyone to read the scriptures. Why? Because they are true and if you don't believe them or if you don't believe in God, then read the scriptures and look me in the eye and deny it. Previous Letter Next Letter

bc7880fc-491b-4b15-b655-f7b8b7178d4a Sister Elspeth and Elder Francis Kuta and Sister Jerusha Bundy Back to Missionary Letters Sister Elspeth and Elder Francis Kuta said Sister Jerusha Bundy came into the office and they enjoyed seeing each other. Sister Bundy was there on a leadership meeting. Canada BC Previous Letter Next Letter

d4026640-14c6-424d-a914-179646faec27 Elder Christian Martinez Back to Missionary Letters The Journey North Hey everyone! Hope your week went well! This will be a shorter email this week because I will be preparing to depart from Salisbury. This week transfer news came and I found out I was leaving. I will be going to Souderton, Pennsylvania, it's about 40 minutes north of Philadelphia, so itll be a long drive tomorrow morning up there 😂 This means I will serve in all 4 states of the mission which is pretty cool. Salisbury was a blessing, I loved being here, I will miss it greatly. But I will go where the Lord wants me to go, I hope and pray itll be a good time over there, but idk if much things will stop Salisbury 😂 this also means I am 1 and doning another companion, goodness hahaha. I will miss Elder Heck, easily the funniest comp I've had 😂 A talk I read this week was from the October 2007 General Conference titled "The Only True God and Jesus Christ" by Elder Holland. The quote I loved was "I bear this witness. I testify that Jesus Christ is the literal, living Son of our literal, living God. This Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer who, under the guidance of the Father, was the Creator of heaven and earth and all things that in them are. I declare that in His willing submission to death He took upon Himself the sins of the world, paying an infinite price for every sorrow and sickness, every heartache and unhappiness from Adam to the end of the world." May we always remember that God and Jesus Christ live, and love all of us. Christ suffered the worst so we wouldn't have to. I know that they appeared to the prophet Joseph Smith, and they continue to talk with the prophet today. Have a great week everyone! Love, Elder Martinez The last District Council Previous Letter Next Letter

8c2cdb7e-48a6-4575-bb8d-757a8779382a Sister Jasmin Bundy Back to Missionary Letters Contention is of me 🚨🌡 Whats up, folks?? Huh? What's up? It's a good day... to have a good day... so have a good day Mmmmhm! Let me just say that I've been raging around Cookeville this week. Our friend has been calling us everyday to scream about her work and her car. We've done everything we can to help her out, cause Jesus loves her! 🩷 Well she said she needed a ride to work one day so I called probably 30 members trying to find someone that could make an hour round trip to get her to work. I found a sweetie named Tera, around our age, to give her a ride. Tera gave her a ride to work but told her she couldn't give her a ride home because she had a job herself. Amy chewed Tera out and then called us demanding we find her another ride. I told her to get on her shank pony and walk home. Respectfully, some people needed more whoopins growing up. BUT ALSO WEVE SEEN MIRACLES THIS WEEK 🌎🌞 my first miracle was Linda. We knocked on Linda's door and she let us right in. She's an elderly lady with the thickest accent of my whole life. We taught her about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost and invited her to be baptized right then and there. We've seen her everyday since. We taught her about temples yesterday, and she just brightened up with the biggest grin and said "I'll get to see my daddy again?!" SHE IS A CUTIE 💓 My second miracle was GREG! It's 8pm on a Saturday night, we're in the bu**crack of our area, and we knock on GREG'S door! GREG is another old fart, around 75. He gave us a hard time the whole time, but he had some couches on his porch so we said "GREG, sit yourself down. We're going to share something with you." He did as commanded, and we taught him about baptism. GREG is getting baptized on may 10th now. I love GREG. We wrapped up with a prayer and GREG shuffled out to our car, opened our doors, and backed us out of the driveway. It was precious. 🙂↕️ OK OK last one: We've been teaching a man named David for a couple of weeks. We've invited him to be baptized, he's said no. But yesterday we sat and taught him about the first vision. The Spirit was strong enough to knock out an elephant 🐘 I could see it in David's eyes, he felt something. We invited him to read the Book of Mormon, he said no. We invited him to pray, and he made no comment. The man knows it's true, he's scared to admit it. I promise you all, as soon as David humbles himself enough to pray about This message, he will recieve an answer that confirms the truth to him, and he will choose to make covenants with God. This is because The Message IS TRUE. God has intentions for everyone to know that. I don't think there's a prayer answered much quicker than the prayer of an investigator as they seek to know if what they've been taught is correct. Have you prayed about it yet? Maybe you should. I love you all more than casaba melons! 💛/ Sister Bumdie Previous Letter Next Letter

b1a74fdb-ecd1-45f5-8c4e-60bd90e927ff Sister Tara Ludvigson Back to Missionary Letters WA-TAC update Woop woop! Anotha week anotha week! Fun finding - We gotta stop by the Puyallup farmers market! We met this super chill bro who's been with the missionaries in his own area! He gave us some free queso de Oaxaca = yummy - Also at the market, we ran into these sweet member gals - turns out I was with her niece at the CCM! They gave us some GF brownies and flowers! Ahhh everyone is so sweet! - It gave me and my comp the giggles BUT we found someone to teach in Sherwin Williams Paint store hahaha shoutout Karen de Colombia 🇨🇴! Parties - We had 4 of our friends come to our ward party!!! Ahhhh yay!!! Keep Oriana, Miguel, Dilan, y Juan in your prayers! - We got to help set up a surprise 25th birthday for a member! And I got to practice my Spanish with this lovely abuela that has always scared me to talk to lols, she's a sweetheart! Spiritual Thought I've been thinking throughout this week about the role of a father (shoutout JLud!) but more specifically within the name of God: Our Heavenly Father. In Alma 39:7, Alma chastises his son but still makes sure to tell him: "I would not dwell upon your crimes, to harrow up your soul, if it were not for your good." Sometimes it feels like God wants so much out of us: going to church each week, having a calling, keeping the commandments, praying daily (& more specially constantly), reading the scriptures, serving others, so many things. BUT God wouldn't ask all of this of us if it wasn't for our benefit! Much like Alma getting after his son for sinning - it comes from a place of love and concern. We learn in 2 Ne 26:24: "He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they should not partake of his salvation." God is our Father. He is always looking out for us and is always mindful of our specific situations! He is full of mercy and love, yet he still needs to guide us and direct us towards good. His rules and requests are always for our good! This week, try to paint God in a light of a geniune Father: full of love and patience and protection. Shoutout JLud again :) Tender Mercies: - Got to talk with a super recent RM and she served in the states so she was able to give me some good Spanish advice! - I got to band nerd out with the Bishop's fam and with an inactive member! Sax for the win! - Me and my comp have been getting double whammy promptings where we both feel that we need to do something and then we go and it's awesome! (Con Sandra y con a vendor) - Hna Johnson shared a list with me from the previous mission president about life lessons and it was exactly what I needed to hear! - We keep meeting people that actually know where Mesquite is!! (I usually say Vegas bc it's so much easier!) I always love hearing from ya! You guys are the best! Con todo mi corazón, Hermana Luddie Previous Letter Next Letter