Elder Joshua Abbott Back to Missionary Letters The One Where I Go Home Hey everyone! This week was pretty sweet. Not tons happened but it was still good. I had my exit interview on Wednesday with President Thompson. I never thought that time would come so it was super weird for sure. We did some fun service too so that was fun to be able to get out of the house. That was really about it, this week really wasn't super exciting haha. So this will be the last weekly I ever send which is super crazy to think. I'll be returning home on Wednesday so that's pretty exciting. I want to end by just sharing my testimony of the things I've learned as my experience as a missionary. I'm so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. He has carried me and helped me through so many hardships and struggles that I've had. I know that He lives and this is He church. I know He loves me and all of God's children. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that by reading it that you can come closer to God than by any other book. I know God answers prayers and is waiting to guide us in out lives. If you have a question and go to Him with a sincere heart and real intent that He WILL answer your prayers. He always comes through. I love you all a ton and I really appreciate all the support you've shown as I've been on my mission. See yall soon! Previous Letter Next Letter

Elders Maurice Perkins Back to Missionary Letters Maningue Contatos Well this week was pretty good, right now Elder Ingman and his companion are teaching all the people that we have been teaching for the last little while and so my companion and I have been doing a lot of contacts and so that is basically what my week consisted of. Tuesday, we did contacts and were able to find some awesome people. Afterwards we had a lesson and then it started pouring rain. Some of the hardest rain I have seen in my life. Wednesday we did more contacts and there was more rain. To end the day we visited Brother John and it was an awesome visit. He had lost his phone and was frustrated but after we visited him, he told us that he knows that God loves him because he sent us in his way to visit him! It was pretty cool and he is progressing well! Thursday we visited some people from Mutotope 3's area. There are no more missionaries working in that area so we are covering for the people they were teaching. We visited them with a member and it went very well. Friday was good. We started visiting all of the contacts and there have been some really awesome lessons. The Lord has been blessing us and putting people in our way. In the morning we were able to sit down with a young man that stopped us in the street to talk and say that he wanted a visit, it was awesome. Afterwards I did some interviews for the people Mutotope 1 has been teaching and they went well! Saturday was an interesting and good day. We did more contacts and invited a lot of people to church. As well we had English class that we taught which is always fun. Sunday was a good day. There were a lot of people that came to church and some friends of members that came to church for the first time as well. We will start to teach them this week! Anyways this past little bit has been reminded me of when I first got in the area and I am so grateful for the adventure that I have been on here. I know that this is the Lord's work and that He guides us in everything we do! I am excited for the adventures and experiences to come! Estamos juntos! Até próximo! Elder Perkins Previous Letter Next Letter

Sister Emily Leavitt Back to Missionary Letters Quarantine day 100?? Hi everyone!! This was a good week!! We got two new referrals and one of them is already on date to be baptized!! It still amazes me how the work goes forward even when we are stuck inside!! God is good!! There is still no word about when we can go back out or when we can go back to church. We are really working of developing our patience here in quarantine!! Its hard to feel effective but we must be doing something right because God is leading us to some amazing people!! This week went crazy fast!! And we get our transfer calls on Sunday!! Its weird with the new missionaries coming out, we are actually having transfers on Monday so our pday will be moved to Tuesday next week!! I am really hoping sister Tanner and I don't get moved because I'm really want to be here for Vincent's baptism and I love sister tanner!!! We also had a great lesson with a less active we are working with!! They left the church last year from anti they read on tithing but we have meet with them since I got here and they expressed their desire to go back to church when they open up again!!! I couldn't believe what I was hearing!! This quarantine I think has really got people rethinking!! The longer we are in here, I wont lie, the harder it gets BUT we also see more and more blessings and miracles every week also!! Its a great time to be a missionaries!! I hate to think I have less than a year left!! ⅓ GONE!! Also Happy Fathers day!! I am blessed with some great examples of fathers in my life and I'm grateful for all of you!! Especially my dad!! I'm sure you are all aware, I got one of the best❤ Well that's about it!! I hope you guys aren't cooking to death out there. No need to worry about me, it's about 75 here! But don't be too jealous, I've still got another winter..... I love you all!! Stay safe! Love Sister Leavitt Previous Letter Next Letter

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

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

Sister Emily Leavitt Back to Missionary Letters Hello everyone! We had a crazy couple of weeks here in Saline. Friday we got a call from our president that they were moving one of my companions to Troy because of a big complicated situation I wont explain. She just unpacked from a crazy transfer white washing and now she has to leave. We were all pretty sad about it. So we drove up on Saturday to drop her off and it turns out we got a companion coming to us..president didnt tell us about😅 Sister Griffin is our new companion and she is flying out to England in a few weeks so we are going to be in quarantine just to make sure she doesnt take covid with her. Also on friday, we got news that one of our friends that we were teaching passed away. It was a big shock to us. We knew he was in the hospital and we had prayed with him over the phone a few days before but he had texted us less than 24 hours of him passing away. If you could keep Bonnie and her family in your prayers I would really appreciate it. We had some pretty big lows this week but we also saw some miracles. We put up flyers offering prayers or uplifting messages and we got a call from one of them! Her name is Lisa and she is so sweet. She is going through a hard time losing a friend so we have been praying with her over the phone and we started teaching her! We also got in contact with a guy names Patrick and had a lesson with him yesterday and the spirit was so strong! He already really connects with The Book if Mormon and is excited to learn about it! We are having another lesson tonight! Also, a member in our ward heard we were in quarantine so she sent out an email so many members have reached out offering to feed us! This ward is so kind! Members underestimate how much meals and just letting us call them really mean to us Missionaries! They discourage us going to the store in quarantine so it will help so much. As hard as it is to adjust to all the changes, to stay inside, to lose friends we love or to see them struggle, it is worth it. The overwhelming feeling of love and peace that comes after feeling the spirit in a lesson and seeing people change and accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the happiest I have ever been. I hope you are all getting excited for General Conference! It's the perfect opportunity to invite friends to come and see! I love you all and hope you have a great week! Love Sister Leavitt Previous Letter Next Letter

Sister Malia McOmie Back to Missionary Letters WELP... IM BACK QUE PASO AMIGOS?! I debated on writing an email this week... but i wanted to hop on this before all the other talk did cause yk lol <3 #ALLNIGHTER Tuesday at 11pm me and Hermana Longhurst went to the hospital, it was a literal fever dream. We were there until 4pm on Wednesday. staying in the ER all night long is no joke, it was like a simulation or something. We are HIGHKEY paying the price still to this day for that all nighter, missionary work is exhausting as it is haha. The hospital didnt find much, and I wasnt getting much better. SLC, the mission president & doctors decided it was best if I came home and got it all figured out. ET ET ET Emergency transfers aren't fun... my poor mission president had 2 of us... FROM ONTARIO leave today. This whole week is just a blur... I got told yesterday I was coming home, packed up last night and left today, it's been crazy. Im so sad I didnt get to say goodbye to like anyone. But don't worry yall! It is just a TEMPORARY return home, and I plan to get back as soon as I can! #cantgetridofmethateasy READ THIS X100 the last week was DEFINETLY a rollercoaster of emotions. & I definitely said "if only I could BEGIN to see God's plan" about a million times. I think sometimes there are things in life that make it HARD to be submissive and willing to follow God's plan. Things we don't want, things we don't get, things we miss out on, things that suck, things we never expected, A MILLION THINGS. But I was reading in Ether and found this gem of a story. Yall know the brother of Jared, the boats, the rocks that God lit with his hand... thats where we are at in the scriptures. Well this is after they had gotten the cool rock lights, made the boat and now they are on the way to their promised land. Ether 6:5 "And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land ; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind." HOLD UP, HOLD UP, reread that... I love love love the wording on this. It is SO applicable to trials that just happen, sometimes for no rhyme or reason . God could have just let the boat move slowly and calmly. But no, He CAUSED the winds to blow (aka our hard times) the next few verses explain how terrible of a storm it was. But, I love that He did it to move them TOWARDS the promised land. There is always a reason for the things that happen. Sometimes we might know that, sometimes we might forget it, or we might not even realize it at all!!! I know that sometimes life will toss ya around. But I also know that God is in control of everything . God is loving, He is the author of everything, and I KNOW He wants what's best for everyONE. Personally, I dont understand right now why I had to come all the way home when i like just got started. There could be a million reasons why. But I do know that this storm will pass and will lead me to my promised land, even if I don't know exactly what that looks like. God has a plan for you, even if it doesn't match your plan! Keep sailing cause it'll end for your benefit eventually. Trust in God and His eternal perspective & who knows I might see yall soon :P MUCHA AMOR -Hermana McOmie Previous Letter Next Letter

Sister Kennedi Ludvigson Back to Missionary Letters Ang Katapusan awkward Well. This is my last email heading your way and to be honest I really don't want to write it because that means it's time for me to go back to America. I can't express enough of my gratitude that The Lord called me to serve a mission here in Cebu East Philippines. That He has allowed me to experience so many miracles and sacred moments. I love this work with all my heart and it wish I could be an elder so I could serve two years. I love the people and this gospel. To be honest I don't really miss my family (sorry mom.) But, I really have caught the spirit of missionary work and I don't want that to change even if I won't be wearing a name tag anymore. I am grateful that I have learned how to study, how to pray, how to hear the spirit, how to love, how to be obedient and in the process I have become a little more Christlike. That pure religion is following the first and second great commandments. This week I have been trying not to let myself think about what lays ahead because it scares me. I keep questioning myself if I have really gave the Lord my whole heart, might, mind and strength. This week I have truly come to understand the Lord's grace. I have made a lot of mistakes on my mission, but I gave it my best and I have faith that the Lord will make up for my weaknesses. Now I am just going to try not to cry everyday this week. THIS GOSPEL IS SO TRUE! OUR SAVIOR LIVES. HEAVENLY FATHER KNOWS US AND LOVES US. WE HAVE BEEN SENT TO EARTH AT THIS TIME TO HELP PREPARE THE WORLD FOR THE SECOND COMING OF OUR LORD. I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES! Signing out for the last time, Sister Ludvigson *My homecoming is March 22 at 8 am in Mesquite. All of my people are welcome. See ya'll next Wednesday! tatay Pedro. who is very proud to own 4 bibles and now 1 "mormon bible" Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Scott Sperry Back to Missionary Letters My Last Email Hey, it's been a while.... I know I haven't written an email in a while but here I am! However, this will be my last email seeing that I return home this week on the 15th. I thought I would give you guys an update on what has happened since last time I wrote. Paso De Los Toros: When I last wrote I was with my Chilean comp, Elder Aguirre. I had one transfer with him and then I received a new comp, Elder Lawrence from St. George. The day after transfers we had a baptism of a member's granddaughter. That transfer we also had a mission conference with Elder Joaquin E. Costa. We worked hard and overall had a fun transfer together. We were working on getting an inactive family back to church and this Saturday, one of the daughters got baptized. I only had one transfer with Elder Lawrence and then I got transferred to Camino Carrasco. I was put in a trio with Elder Peterson and Elder Estrada, but I was only with them for a week when I got emergency transferred up to Treinta y Tres, a zone I was in about 16-17 months ago. But to make it even more crazy, I got ETed back to my old area in Treinta y Tres, 33 Central. So I'm back in an old area with members I already know. My new comp is Elder Froncianis from Paraguay. Overall this transfer has been good, we have a few friends on date. Sadly I won't be around for their baptisms. Sadly my mission is coming to a close, but I know that a new chapter is opening up in my life. I´m grateful for these 2 years I have had to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ here in Uruguay. I know this Church is true and that we have a prophet on the Earth. I know Jesus Christ lives. P.S I land in St. George on the 15th at about 12:30 PM and I'll be giving my homecoming talk on the 31st because of the upcoming holidays. Can't wait to see all of you soon! Previous Letter Next Letter

Elder Riley Waite Back to Missionary Letters Hey everyone! Today's gonna be short because I don't wanna write. We've had a rough but amazing 2 weeks, I'm still loving it here in Sioux Falls and my comp is a stud. We've been grinding but have been facing a lot of rejection which has been hard, all missionaries go through that so I'm not complaining but it's just pretty annoying listening to excuses and lies over and over again! however I did hit 21 months the other day and it's just crazy to think about how fast the mission goes by! This last weekend our friend Ramone got baptized! It had been a long time coming for that man, he's been talking to missionaries for a while and has now fallen off 3 times before this so we were pretty worried but the dude was all smiles after the baptism and confirmation the next day! After the baptism he came up to me happier than a kid in a candy store and was like, "I'm Saved!" That was pretty funny and we'll break the news to him again later that he's still got a lot to do but I wasn't gonna raid on his parade. Anyways I hope y'all have an amazing week, love you! Previous Letter Next Letter

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

Elder Stetson Ludvigson Back to Missionary Letters Wow the time is running down real quick, also depending on how crazy next week is this might be my last email. Because next week we have new missionaries coming, missionaries going the the Temple in Phillippines, missionaries leaving and transfer, all within a few days. So that will be wild and we are still not sure what the plan is. But this week was as usual, amazing! I dont have too much time right now so I will keep it short and sweet. This week we helped the youth in the Surakarta stake with filming a music video for the church, it was pretty awesome we were able to meet with everyone, and we also were able to go and see the big soccer stadium here in Solo. Also one of the youth forgot his church shoes so I let him borrow mine for most the day while they filmed, and so I just walked around barefoot, which is really normal here haha! This week was also filled with a bunch of member visits, I am trying to visit everyone one more time before I go home. The members here are the absolute best! This week we also helped a lot of the missionaries with their family history for the temple, most of them only have one generation of family history completed. We also were able to visit one of my all time favorite families this week! They just got reactivated in the church and their 15 year old daughter was just baptized, they are the best! Sunday was wild this week, so one of the returned missionaries that used to serve here came back and visited with his wife and he wanted to visit a ton of members. So we helped them out and basically biked around all of our area visiting members both active and inactive. One of the members we visited has been inactive for about 3 years but he made a promise that he and his family will be at church this next sunday, which is one of the greatest feeling ever as a missionary! He also is an artist and has some awesome paintings that he did in his house! Crazy literally only a few more days left! I am going to miss Indonesia and the people here sooo much! It's been really hard coming here but so worth it, and I am really bummed because right when I am getting the language and starting to make awesome relationships with people they ship me home haha, grateful for the time I spent here! Hopefully I will be able to see a lot of you next week!!! crazy I know! Love y'all Sampai Jumpa Previous Letter Next Letter