Mission Letter Week 10 - 23 September 2013

EMILY!!!!

THE KEY FOR THE GUITAR CASE IS TAPED TO THE BACK OF THE GUITAR CASE. :D So you can play it now, and you can have all those knives....... Except for maybe the Winchester one if that’s one of them... I can't remember if I packed that or not. The lantern lights for your bedroom sound like they are really pretty. :) I wish I had nice lights! hahaha. Sorry my reply is so short.  Wish I could go longer.

BRAAAK! (aka: Dear Daddy,)
You can keep the tops.  I didn’t like the way they fit me. Glad they work for you.  I’m good on everything for now...... although I may need 2 more shirts...we shall see. Gotta keep it short for the details. :) Love you!

MAMA,
I love you! :) I did get your letter before Monday...I got it on the 20th I believe.

Everyone now...

I’m pretty sure I already replied about the Stake Conference thing that happened. That was crazy to the extreme! But ours over here was way nicer.  It was the Sunday before last and all the missionaries in the Stake got up to recite The Standard of Truth in the middle of President C's talk! :D Totally AWESOME.

I need a ton more stamps! I can just buy them here, but I need more than 50 cents in my account, as that is something I have to use the home card for...why DO I only have 50 cents by the way? I was sure I had more... Sorry it seems like I'm spending a lot of money from home by the way. There have been a lot of things going on. Like needing to get an adjustable stem for my bike because, as it turns out, the handle bars are a bit low for me... plus a quick tune and some labor cost it was about $66. We found a really nice bike shop with good service here so I am happy. Also, speaking of the bike, I took a spill last Tuesday.  It was hilariously dumb. I’m OK, the bike is OK (though that’s why I had a tune up, so I made sure it was OK,) but I totally ruined my light gray slacks. :( That was the worst of it. I am healing from some sweet looking abrasions. hahaha! I'll attach a couple pics. :P

So far this journal I have is OK for now (not full yet)...I'll let you know if I need another one, but I'll probably just buy one out here. :)

I feel dumb... there are a number of things it would seem that I didn’t pack up before I left. Yes I’d like to keep the Lindsey Stirling shirt. lol!

T IS GOING TO RENO FOR HIS MISSION?!!  That's actually hilarious, I think! Hahaha! Good to hear though! :D Tell him congrats for me and someone hug the guy for me, for pete's sake. :)

I am good for towels and sheets but thank you for asking. :D

No health problems except for not being able to stay on my silly bike. But I don't think that one is “helpable”. Haha!

As for recipes, I'd love some!! Sooo, yeah totally send those please.......with Nutella! :D

Enro shirts. :D 3 would be epic. THANK YOU!!!! or 2.....or even 1 would be awesome.  If you can and if it isn’t too much hassle try to make as "normal" fitting around the middle as possible because the ones I have are a bit baggy and it’s kind of inconvenient. (I’m good with them but if we can help it in the future that’d be swell.) :D

Gift cards?!?! WOOOOHHOOOOOOO!!!!! So Carl's Jr....and.....Tom's if you can find any.....and Primos....... So yeah. :D Sweet!!!

That was an awesome note at the end that Emily wrote on the board. :D I love you guys!

Okay my turn. So this week I am going to focus on what I have learned as the week itself has been rather........slow. Except for the "Sabbath Day Open House" that brought over 30 non-members to church! :D More details on that later as we see more results in the future.

Alrighty. OBEDIENCE IS EVERYTHING. Those three words, in that order will lead you right. EXACT OBEDIENCE. By living those two words, we will live happily with our Heavenly Father.

D&C 132:12 - “I am the Lord they God; and I give unto you this commandment - that no man shall come unto the Father but by me or by my word, which is my law, saith the Lord.”
God, Christ, and their Word, is Law

Moroni 10:32-33 - “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. / And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of this blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.”
We are saved by grace and we are perfected and sanctified in Christ

D&C 88:34 - “And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same.”  We are perfected and sanctified by law.

As we see in these scriptures, Christ is Law, we are sanctified through Christ and saved by grace....Christ embodies grace and so He IS grace. We also see that we are sanctified by Law...or rather obedience TO the Law. If you are adding all this together yet, you see now that through Obedience to the Law, which is God and His Son, we are saved by their grace.....it sounds simple over email but it is so much deeper than what it seems...study those scriptures and add them together. Take these simple truths and add them together...then take Moses 6:5-7...read it now before continuing.

( “And a book of remembrance was kept, in the which was recorded, in the language of Adam, for it was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of inspiration; And by them their children were taught to read and write, having a language which was pure and undefiled. Now this same Priesthood, which was in the beginning, shall be in the end of the world also.”)

The word “Priesthood” in there is the first time it appears in the Pearl of Great Price scripture. If you pay close attention you see that LANGUAGE IS PRIESTHOOD. Priesthood is essentially the language of Adam. It says it was undefiled. What that means is they were OBEDIENT and were so aligned with the will of God and Christ that their Word was the same as the Word of God and so there was power in their words. That's why Priesthood is used by SPEAKING or OBEYING. (And that is why we “lose” the Priesthood, it’s power,  if we are ever unrepentant and/or defiling the Priesthood in any way by using it unrighteously.) Blessings are an example of a speaking-use of Priesthood and an example of just obeying is when Moses was commanded to part the Red Sea by putting his staff in the water.....it is by OBEDIENCE that there is power in the Priesthood. Yes, you still have to receive the Priesthood, giving you the AUTHORITY to use that Priesthood, but it is through our Obedience that gives us that POWER of the Priesthood. My. Mind. Was. BLOWN. And it is so much deeper than all this makes it sound. I wish I could share it in person....GAH! Read those scriptures over again and study them. Find out for yourselves. OBEDIENCE IS EVERYTHING. It is literally EVERYTHING. Like, you just don't even get it!!!!! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!! AAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!! OBEEYYYYY.  Exact obedience WILL bring miracles. I promise you all that.

I PROMISE YOU BY THE POWER AND AUTHORITY OF GOD THAT AS YOU ARE EXACTLY OBEDIENT, YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER WILL BLESS YOU AND BRING MIRACLES INTO YOUR LIFE.

I am more serious now than ever before in my life. EVER. And that is a very serious promise. Be exactly obedient. And not just in the things you know of. Look for more things to obedient about. And those things you think you are obedient about, double and triple check to make sure. If there is even the TINIEST doubt in your mind about something you are doing in relation to Obedience, CHANGE NOW. Don't wait. LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES to be obedient, so you can receive those blessings, miracles, and power!!!! DO IT.

I love you guys, the above is my testimony. I am out of time so sadly no pictures. :( Next week I'll make sure to send some though!

Lots of LOVE,

Elder Nine

Misson Letter Week 9 - 16 September 2013

Braky Brak! (translation: Dear Dad)

Sooo, first off, I sadly cannot send any pics of me "doing missionary work" as it is VERY strongly discouraged to take pictures while in "proz" (proselyting clothes) and actually doing the work, so most of my pics will be on P-day...and a few maybe throughout the week that are not while we are finding or something.

It's awesome to hear about Lawry's project though and that it's going well. :D I REALLY miss that chainsaw!  But, I may have an opportunity to do some service with a chainsaw out here at one point.....we shall see. :)

Brak, Love you, love the work, and having a GREAT time out here.
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Emily, HOW'S THE VIOLIN!?!?!?!?!? Send pictures! :D  I know you'll do well with it if you just stick to it. :) And it would be WAY COOL if you could play Lindsey songs! And even add your own style to them! Let me know how you're doing with that as time goes by. :)

I'd forgotten that President C had sent that pic (of the turtle).  It's a desert tortoise. :D And he LOVES lettuce! Hahaha! And he's heavy too!! And pretty fast, considering.

I love "How To Train Your Dragon"! :D I miss watching movies with you and spending time with you. Even though we bumped heads a bit, it was always fun and happy. :))

And it's good to hear you are learning how to take good care of your violin. :D It's SUPER  important to take care of your instrument, and as you do, it'll take care of you. ;)

That's way funny about the hair dye! Those are fun to play with. :)

CONVERSE! WOOP! Best shoes ever! :D

Hahaha! I DID forget to box up my guitar up didn’t I!!? Well, after you practice the violin you play around with the guitar too if you want! But make sure you work hard on the violin first, it helps to have priorities and work hard on one and focus on it. Then when you are good at it you can move to the next one. :))

LOVE YOU EMI!!!
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Marmy,

OK I’ll wait to hear from you about when and where to write Dunkan :) Thank you.

I LOVE the C's SO MUCH! :D They are easily my favorite family....... don't spread that too much, I'm not supposed to play favorites.  But there are a lot of good families here. :) That's funny about JKs comment btw (TURTLE!!!!!) Hahaha! And I don't remember what tie I was wearing but I've gotten a few from a younger almost-married guy in my ward, R (happens to be B's best friend.) And they are way nice. :)

NOT THE Cs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :(
I'm glad they’re happy to be moving where they are going but I will miss them VERY much.  I will keep them in my payers and especially Bro. C for his job.

Dinner with the W family! :D That sounds like a good time! I've been emailing a little with J and it sounds like he's doing alright. I really do pray for him a lot that he can feel this is the right thing to do with his life...I think he does, too.

That's awesome to hear about J and J and the newest addition. :D I have a cute new cousin!

You might kill me here......but I didn’t try the shirt on again. :D
I honestly cannot remember my thought from 3 weeks ago “Faith. Hope. Charity. Humility.”  Again, super busy. I'll add that to my to-do list as well though.

As far as eating out goes, only on P-days, like when I went to an Inn (yes that was me...... I thought I used the church card though.... I was supposed to..... oops! ) And when members take us out so it's pretty limited.

The bike is a beauty!! Don't feel sorry for anything, I AM keeping up with the maintenance as it clearly needs to be tightened for now and taken good care of. I LOVE IT. As for the tune up, I just had a little trouble with lining the front wheel up so the disc breaks stop squeaking and the back break was just a tad loose. No biggy and all good now. I did buy a bit of chain lube with my home card (I think the home card) and all's well now. :)

My first Companion ever, and my very, very dear brother, Elder "X" (if you share this please remove his name) has gone home. :'(  He had some things he has had to fix back home and has made the hard but right choice of going home to fix it and come back when he is ready. I have come to love him with all my heart and soul and I was so sad to see him leave but at the same time so happy to see him begin the great healing process. It is so worth it to get it done BEFORE finishing the mission. And so important.

I move on.

I would love it if you guys could do something for me. Read two specific articles in this month's Ensign. The first is the one that Elder X read and that helped him make his decision to go home and clean up. It is called "THE JUSTICE AND MERCY OF GOD".  It is by Elder Holland. The MAN. I love the message of repentance that it shares. It is so important that we do what we can on this earth to repent of all our sins as much as possible, and we must do it through the Atonement, as that is the one and only way to truly do it.

The other article is called "HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT" (by Brad Wilcox).  I love the lesson in that one as well. To help you see what role it has played in my life in just the last couple days I'll share an experience I had:

Elder N and I are walking down the street to our next appointment at around 2pm-ish and he (the guy we were going to see) was standing in the driveway. We talked on the driveway a little before going in and before we went in, two gentlemen stopped by. They were either born again Christians or "L. Baptists"...not sure which and it doesn't really matter. They asked us if we were "the Mormons" and we said yes, we are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The first guy asks "Do you believe in the Bible?" and we say, "Yes, we believe it is the word of God as well as the Book of Mormon." So he says OK and starts talking about a scripture in the Bible where it talks about how we are saved by the Grace of God and Christ only, not by our works. Now, up to this point I didn't really know much about the topic, I'll admit, but I had read the article just a day before and had felt I needed to study it out rather extensively. So I did. It paid off. So I say "You're right. It is only by the Grace of our Heavenly Father, our Savior Jesus Christ and the ENABLING power of His Atonement that we are saved." So he takes a step back. He expected and wanted a Bible bash. These and many other people seem to believe that the members of the LDS church think that we save ourselves through our own good works, and that that is one reason why serve our missions. How wrong can a person be, right? So I go on. " We are saved through Grace and Christ's Atonement...but Christ has asked of us to show our love and faith by following His example. By repenting, making and keeping covenants such as baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, Enduring to the end. These simple, basic, fundamental principles and ordinances of His gospel are what He asks of us. He does not ask us to save ourselves or to repay the debt He payed. That would negate the entire Atonement and his whole Gospel. He asks that we live His gospel, enrich our lives through these simple things, and love each other." He couldn't stand the Power of the Spirit that so VERY present there. His buddies face went from "Yeah yeah, bash him, bash him, BIBLE BASH BIBLE BASH!!!!" to "Wow dude. Way to go. Now you look like an idiot." They both just looked dumbly at Elder N and me, then just walked away....BOMBSAUCE. Not boasting of myself of course, but rather just as Ammon says "I boast in the Lord, not of myself". So righteous boasting right???.....Ehhhh......Whatever. It felt really good though. I love teaching by the Spirit...because it's really a "Sit back and enjoy the fireworks!" type of thing. There's so little that we have to do when the Spirit is involved.

I know that the Spirit is the great teacher of simple truths. I know that the Book of Mormon and the bible are both the word of God. I know that Joseph was a Prophet called of God and that really did restore the Church under the Lord's direction. He also translated the Book of Mormon through the Power of the Lord. I know that this is Heavenly Father's plan for our happiness. I know that the two most important works on this earth are parenting and missionary work, and in that order. I love my God and my Savior. I love this work. I love you guys. And...

I love sending pictures... :)

254 is L.V. Elders A and F,  N and me, Sister P and Sister T and Sister M is taking the picture. :P They are the Q. H. Sisters and WAY cool...BTW Elder N is our new District Leader...that means I have the BEST job ever. Because I don't have the responsibilities but I get to go on all the exchanges. teehee!!!

252 is a pic of the Sisters. :P Left to right are Sisters T, M, and P

217 look what we found on P-day while driving around in L. V.'s area!  Little ruins!!! SICK!

219 naturally this is what follows...  :)

224 Elder A trying to be sassy ;)

227 Elder N also trying to be sassy...not as successfully though ;)

234 Victory stance!!!!!

248 a random metal moose..  :D

 All of those are from last P-day. :D

Lots of fun. Since the L.V. Elders' truck is getting swapped out soon, we had permission to go "off-roading" on some light trails. Super light, but super fun. :)

THE END

Mission Letter Week 8 - 09 September 2013

Hey guys!... I got here late, so I'll have to abbreviate some things. :P

First off, this week I learned that I can talk to birds; a grasshopper in the middle of the sidewalk decided to hitch a ride and then 10 min later jumped onto another cyclist going the other way, (skilled jumping); and a bunch of other WEIRD things have happened. O.o I only have one or two goofy pics to send but those will have to wait due to time plus the computer I'm using doesn't have an SD card slot and I forgot my cable.

Onto better things now :) DA BIKE IZ AWESOMENESS! It needs a bit of a tune up but I expected as much. IT'S A BEAST though! I love it so much! :D THANK YOU! And yes, I lock it up the way I'm supposed to when I can. Most of the time we have to use a cable lock though because we lock 'em up in neighborhoods on light poles. Haha! But then I still lock the front wheel to my bike at least.  So good stuff. :D Daddy, thank you for the willingness to get it to me!

Speaking of Elder C in P, could you please get me his email, as well as Elder L's?? That'd be super duper. Thanks! :D

Okay, skipping to the ?'s and stuff...

I did get the D letter and I replied to it in the snail-mail.  It is very sad to hear. I will let my letter say the rest about it.

Sadly due to my superior wisdom I still have not tried on the baptismal clothing.  Sowwy! You got 3 Enro shirts for me though. So, so far I'm doing OK, but when I transfer out either in 7 weeks or 13 (or more depending) I'll need more because I won't have free reign on a washer and dryer like I do here at the C's. BTW Bro C reminds me a lot of Brother M back home. 

I'll ask my beloved District Leader if he knows B or I. We shall see!

I would love to have D's address when you get it. That is also in the letter I wrote back. 

I see HERMANA W (they have a thing about making that clarification haha) quite often actually. 2-3 times a week for a few hours each time! So coolio. She did go on the hike but her comp, Hermana M had to go back down soon after starting because of her hip (previous injury). :(  But yeah, the hike was almost our whole Zone! Elder A's idea. We have 27 missionaries in our Zone B T DUBS. It's an odd number because our District has a trio of Sisters...and they are the COOLEST SISTERS EVER! :D

A and F are in my District and they are the missionaries we call when we need a car ride and can't get a member....so we're pretty close actually for not being companions and for not living at the same place. COOL GUYS.

It is actually quite nice to have paragraph headings. (Answering mom's question.)

Transfers are a week from tomorrow but I will very likely be staying for a few more months. Trainees and their trainers generally stay at least 3 months to finish the 12 week training program, and it's okay because I LOVE RV 1st. :D Except for the biking on these HUGE hills.  It's actually the hardest biking area or very close to it in the whole mission I found out.... the Lord is laughing so hard right now....  I've lost the 15 MTC pounds though!!! WOOP! IDK if I told you guys but I gained 15 lbs. in the MTC....but I just finished biking it all off.

Okay, so this week has kinda been uneventful. But we strongly believe that next week it'll pick up again. :D This week we got no new investigators and only got to see a few of our not-new investigators as a lot of them have had things come up...of course. And then of course all our finding time (called tracting in the old days) is taken up by an assignment from the Bishop (Bishop A is WAY COOL by the way! :D) And the assignment is passing out invitations to less actives, and members who weren't there on a specific Sunday when they handed them out. The invites are for the members to give to their non member friends and peers to invite them to a "Sabbath day open house", which is church, but specialized to introduce non members to how we do things. :D Might be something you could recommend to Bishop L .... from me. :) So that takes a lot of time but we are finishing up with handing those out.

So this week there wasn't anything super special....except DISTRICT MEETING!!!!! DOOPPEE! :D I love District Meetings. We have them every Friday late morning. Elder J leads it. We also had a SWEET ZTM (Zone Training Meeting). Both meetings focused on one thing. OBEDIENCE. after hearing Elder J, as well as Elders W and M talk, I'm like "Yo fools! Be obedient! You goofin', or what!??!?!?! DUHHH!!"

I like this quote on obedience, "Obedience brings blessings...but EXACT obedience brings MIRACLES."...I want miracles...and as I've been obedient, to the Mission rules, to my leaders, and to my God I HAVE seen miracles. Everyday I see little ones at least. It blows my mind why people want to disobey and be dumb like that. In D&C 130:20-21 it talks about how when we obey the rules and commandments given to us by Heavenly Father and our leaders, the Lord Himself is also COMMANDED and OBLIGATED to give us blessings. It's so easy. We obey. We get blessed. BOMBSAUCE. Give me logic that says otherwise. I dare you.

One other thought I've had this week is, as Elder N and I were reading in Alma (more missionary studying of Ammon and Aaron and the sons of Mosiah, whom I continue to regard as complete BOSSES) and we came across two verses early on. Alma 17:9 and 11 it talks about being an instrument in the hands of God. Here's the short version of the message we share with our lovely members here:

Imagine you are playing the piano, or any other instrument, and as you play you can only use one note at a time. The song will sound simple, even plain, yes? Now imagine if you could play with two notes at a time. Still plain but a little harmony in there right? Now, Imagine you were playing with as many notes as you want. Imagine you are playing Beethoven with some others next to you playing along. That would sound BEAUTIFUL wouldn't it? Same applies to missionary work. Elder N and I are only two notes for the Lord to play. He needs more than that. He needs everyone of them at His disposal...think if you were playing something cool and all of a sudden you got a dead note. that would stink. you'd be really not cool with that right? SAME WITH THE LORD. Missionary work is for everyone. we have been commanded to take the gospel to all the ends of the earth. the lord didn't say put in two years or 18 months and you're good... psshhh HE SAID EVERYONE GET TO WORK. Get off your sorry butts and open your mouths!!! THAT is what the Lord asks of us. In two years I will NOT, I say will NOT be saying I have gone and done, but rather I will CONTINUE to say I WILL GO AND DO. And the Lord WILL provide away. I have come to realization that missionary work is a life time endeavor...and not in the way I used to think about it. But rather that we must always be a FULL TIME servant of the Lord. Yes, right now I have the Mantle. Yes, I have a calling and no school or other responsibilities to get in the way. Yes, it's easier now... but it's only the beginning and we CANNOT STOP. We MUST not STOP. And I WILL NOT STOP.


I love you all sooooo much!! I am so excited to see missionary work EXPLODE as these next 22.3 months go by and I hope it goes by slower than it has been, because its already WAY too fast!!! I have to run now! KTHXBAI!

Elder Nine

Mission Letter Week 7 - 03 September 2013

WOOHOO! He (Colin) IS an Eagle!!! AWESOME!! :D Good to hear. :)

This week has been INSANE. We found SEVEN new investigators!! WOOP! As they progress I'll start giving more details, but until then all that's really happened is we met these people while they are walking, as we knock doors, and so forth, and we have taught them the first lesson and set a return appointment. :D SEVEN! Cray-Cray. So yeah. Elder N and I are super happy about that! R has not been baptized yet ( I believe that was a question?) His date is Sep. 28th...A day after a very special birthday. :)) B on the other hand, while he doesn't have a date set yet, he HAS had a few "spiritual experiences" now! As he reads the Book of Mormon and listens to the lessons when we teach him he says it just keeps making more and more sense to him and he's been praying a lot lately and he now knows that the Gospel is true and the Book of Mormon is the Word of God!! YES. His only remaining concern is the reaction of his family. He has a good strong relationship with them and doesn't want to hurt that. We understand and actually encourage keeping strong family ties, sooooo we'll be working with him as he works with them to overcome that. Beyond that, he's super ready for this. :D

Here's a fun fact. We were getting a ride home after a dinner and message with a member family, and as we were driving down the dirt road to get home, I saw a speed limit sign that said 23.5 MPH .......YEP.

Elder N  and I have decided to do the coolest study "Idea/Program/Thingy" EVER. We started reading in Alma chapter 17 where Ammon and the sons of Mosiah pick up. In verses 9 and 11 it talks about being "an instrument in the hands of the Lord" and we have actually been using that as a "member message" for dinners and such in preparation for this SWEET event that is coming up. It's an open house....for church on Sunday. OH YEAH. All the members are getting involved and we should have like a buhjillion people to talk to and hopefully teach :D

ANYWAYS, so we have been reading in Alma about Ammon and his brothers and here's how we decided to do it: Elder N and I were talking about some of our favorite book series...naturally I brought "Tennis Shoes Among The Nephites"... then I remembered what Garth Plimpton said while there, when he saw Ammon. Something like "He's the greatest missionary that ever lived" and we got to thinking, why not study the greatest missionary of all time to be better missionaries? And so it began. It's amazing how great a teacher the scriptures can be if you HAVE A SPECIFIC QUESTION or TOPIC in mind. Just like with prayer, if you go into it with something specific, the Lord will reply VERY specifically. We just have to give Him the SPECIFIC material to work with...is that...specific enough? ;) 

And PICTURE TIME!

1.) This is Me with Elder J, our lovely District leader...this is us after our exchange we had been on.

2.) This is the back of Elder N, my comp...both our bikes had gotten flats and one of them the gears stopped working.......walking day!! There are several dirt roads to walk on....... This was the short one..... And that's just to get into our area because we live outside of our area.

More to come in a follow up email in a few min after this one :)

I love hearing from you guys. It's so cool. 

That is AWESOME to hear about the Hs!! Someone give 'em both a huge hug from me... Daddy you give a massive one to him from me. BIG HUG. Seriously though. Like RIDICULOUSLY BIG. Do it. I can't even say how important it is that we are endowed and that eventually we get sealed. I hope they get the chance for that as well. :) SO COOL!

As for that bit about Brother J. B. being comps with President C's brother..... I LOST IT. THAT'S AWESOME. Speaking of Brother B, will someone please tell that man how amazing he is?!?! I was just thinking about all the learning and teaching and experiencating (that's a word) that I was able to do with him and because of him, as I talked with the Young Men's Pres here, Bro P. Please let him know how grateful I am to him for all he did for me. kthx. 

STEAK IS GOOD. (Pres C asked them what they wanted for dinner one night, and they said steak. Bob laughed so hard.)

About the compliments we shared with him from Pres C:  President C said all that?? Yowza. That's nice to hear... Crazy nice. :)  He's such a cool guy and he's a great Stake President... Imagine President W...but as a jokester as well.

BISHOP L!! That's gonna be good. He's also an incredible man. It amazes me how much I was surrounded by good people who love and live the Gospel. Do the same for him as Brother B  please. I love Broth-Bishop L a ton. Just...so many good things to say about him. And Brothers E and D.B. will be awesome counselors... It's very sad to see Bishop H leaving the stand though. He's a wonderful man and has done an incredible job as Bishop. I'm glad he got to be Bishop while I was there. :)

That's also wonderful to hear about Emily. :D Brave girl! ;) (That she shared a bit about the Gospel and missionary work with a completely stranger while she and Bob were in a store, and they got to talking about her brother serving a mission).  About Emily sleeping alone now (she’s been afraid since birth to sleep alone) and turning to God through faith, hymns, and prayer:  Heavenly Father will take care of us all the time. Even in bed! :)  

I did splurge a bit on a tie from Ross. A super nice paisley! But everything else I've had to buy with my home card was needed stuff haha. Speaking of that type of stuff, my bike comes to mind. I am 99% sure it's at the mission office now, it just has to get picked up by the Zone Leaders (Wednesday) and I should have it by Thursday-ish. 

Sad to hear about the drill (it gave up the ghost). :( But happy to hear about the pure essential oils for my first aid kit! :D

And having A write me letters would be totally Awesomeness! :D I love mail so much.

I must say, in reply to the weather question, it is very dry here. I get cotton mouth just from walking to the mailbox ._. at least I'll never get dehydrated...but at least the heat isn't too bad. It's funny though ‘cuz people here think it's crazy hot and them offering us water is a great way to get in the door haha. 

My foot is fine too, B T DUBS (By The Way). 

I don't know about Skyping yet. I've heard it's been done and it's OK... so I'll find out.

In all honesty, the Eddie Bauer shirts feel less and less comfortable every time..I don't even. But the Enro's are great...except for the relaxed fit...that part is not cool. My slacks are a tad baggy too so with both of them being big it looks a LITTLE bit sloppy. I'll be trying to look for a tailor this P-day for my slacks though. Soooo yeah. And of course, me being smart, I haven't tried my baptismal clothes on yet. haha! I'll let you know next week.

I may need kitcheny stuff once I transfer to a different area, but I can just buy that stuff here with the home card if that's OK with you guys? 

I love you guys a ton. I'm having a great time here in this ward and there are lots of good people to take care of us. The work is moving forward VERY fast here. Elder N and I have already begun to break "records" in this area as far as the work is concerned. President C was telling us at dinner one time that we are the lowest producing ward in baptisms/conversions...we looked him square in the face and DECLARED we would be changing that well before we transfer out. It's already begun to happen. It is INSANELY INCREDIBLE to see the kinds of miracles that happen. One of my favorites so far was this Sunday we were looking for at least one more investigator (we had 6 new at the time) and we had 15-20 min till our last appointment and then we'd go home. Well we prayed for inspiration and to be able to find someone. Not even 10 seconds later, a lady drove into her driveway, we taught her about the restoration and set a return appointment. Seven. BOMBSAUCE. I love my job. And I love you guys. Time to wrap up now. I'll send a another email with some more pic (I can only send so many per email.)

I love you guys! Keep the work moving forward, always!

BYE!

3.) This is a sign we saw on a random persons door that didn't answer the door.

 4.) This is a nice view on a hike we had on Monday! our Zone (Zion Zone, double Z) is pretty cool like this. We do all kinds of fun stuffz. It started when Elder N and I thought it'd be good to cook breakfast for everyone on a P-day. So started our zone activities. :D The hike was one of them. 

5.) One more pic........... Here is the same spot but...a better view ;) that's N & N right there!

That's all I have this time around! I'll try to get a normal pic of Elder J  (DL) and a pic of our Zone Leaders, Elders W and M :)

OK, BYE AGAIN!

BOB:
We love you son, and pray for you a lot. As well as your Investigators. 

If they don't get you your bike soon, I will fly down there and drive it to you myself. Dadgummit. Get my boy his bike. 


ELDER NINE:
Hahaha! That would be.......interesting for sure! I'm pretty pumped to try it out. haha.

Oh and a note for Mama, I am going to write JK snail mail so that should get to her OK. 

I love you guys! (cause I haven't said that enough)

bye bye!

BOB:
LOL, I see your camel back hydration hose in your P-Day pic. 

BTW, that scenery pic is now my iPhone background. Excellent imagery, love getting a feel for your area. 

ELDER NINE:
The Camelback is SOOOOO NICE. Everyone's like "three liters? that's too much to hauling around," then they see who they are talking to.... and then they ask for some from me. It's a good pic :) 

BOB:
ROFLOLPMGO

ELDER NINE:
roflshmsfo (so hard my sombrero falls off)

whats pmgo??

BOB:
puking my guts out

It was easier than typing 'peeing in my chair at work'. 

ELDER NINE:
...mature.  haha! I have to go now. Time for the other missionaries to write home. :) Love you!


~ Elder 9 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

What Is Missionary Life Life? - 27 August 2013

Mom's note:

For those who aren't familiar with LDS missions... A mission is not something that you go into and "have fun", as the world would classify "fun".  These young men pay for their missions themselves and voluntarily "check" every thought, every dream, every desire, every activity, EVERYTHING at the door when they walk through the Missionary Training Center doors.  For two years they will have no TV, no radio, no movies, no shopping (other than for strict necessities), no sports, no ocean/beach, no CD's, no DVD's, no cell phones, no iPods, no electronics of any kind, no pictures, no books, no magazines, NOTHING.  They spend 100% of their time on spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ and serving others. No phone calls home other than 1 at Christmas and 1 at Mother's Day. No mail, other than 1 hour each week for emailing family (sometimes friends). There is not "down time" at all. Every minute of every day from 6:30am until 10:30pm is scheduled for something that has to do with spreading the Gospel. They have only 3/4's of one day (Mondays) when they have "off" in order to get letters written, laundry done, personal shopping for necessities done, service done, a little Exercise time, and reports turned in. Then it's back to bed and wake up at 6:30am.  Seven days a week.  They give 100% of their life to the Lord during these two years. They also live either in low-end apartments or someone's home (older couples who have no children living at home), in usually very meager circumstances. They get around on bikes. In certain areas or at certain times they might have use of a conservative car.

If that wasn't enough they, more often than not, meet folks who yell out bad names at them in public, spit at them, slam doors in their face, throw objects at them, and try their best to shamelessly ridicule them in public.  It is TOUGH to keep up a good attitude in the face of all that, day-in/day-out, for two years.  (Jonathan has had all of those happen to him already, on a daily basis).  Yet, the fact that they are literally called of God and set apart through the laying on of hands by the authority of the Holy Priesthood as His emissaries, doing His work, means that they are also the recipients of great miracles and blessings, which helps provide them with added protection and strength. It is not uncommon to see them stop by their way and help someone carry groceries, or help someone work on that fence, or carry heavy boxes, etc.  They are all about serving humankind and inviting them to come to Christ. What a wonderful blessing these two years are for these young men!

It is easy to understand why anyone who writes missionaries is asked to (1) keep their communications a decent length (not too long) , and (2) to keep their communications uplifting, inspiring, focused on positive things, and nothing that would cause the missionary to lose focus on the work of the Lord. Anything that will encourage the missionary and help him feel supported, loved, and like continuing the work of helping others come unto Christ, is a good thing. ;)

Now when you see an LDS missionary next, you will know what they are about, what they do, what they suffer at the hands of others, what they are gratefully and happily sacrificing, and hopefully you'll invite them in to hydrate them or feed them. They'd be very happy if you did. :)

-You don't have to be LDS to offer them water, lunch, or dinner! ;) -

And you'll know that somewhere in the world there are two VERY thankful Moms who are missing their boys very much and offering prayers of thanksgiving for people like you who help feed and watch out for them while they serve God. :)  Thank you, from one of those moms!

Attached:
Since no one had offered or signed up to feed these missionaries dinner Sunday night, they were headed home after meetings at Church. Their Stake President ran into them and asked them if they had dinner that night. They said 'no'. So he invited them to have dinner with him, at his house.  His wife and children had already eaten dinner earlier, so these men just had the left overs.  The wife took this picture and they emailed it to us that night.

Warms our hearts and makes them do the "happy dance" that someone would be so kind enough to feed our missionary sons, and then also take the time to think of their mothers, snap a photo, get their emails, and send the photo to us moms.  It has meant so much!!

We, too, try to do the same for the missionaries in our area.  We like to think of it as a "Pay Forward" kind of thing. :)

The Elders with the Lancaster Stake President after a long Sabbath day.
No dinner appointment that night, so the Stake President and his wife graciously offered to feed them! They were happy boys! And we are grateful parents!

Mission Letter Week 6 - 26 August 2013

Emily, Those sketches of Lindsey Stirling...

Drawings of Lindsey Stirling by Mama (top left) and Emily (all others) that we shared with Elder Nine

... are way awesome and I bragged about them to my whole District! :D  Some of them have not seen her - but those are very accurate pictures, so now they have seen her.  Super good stuff.

That is a GREAT understanding of that scripture (2 Nephi 25:28) :) I'm glad that you are getting the hang of scripture study. As time goes by and you get older it becomes more and more important to read the scriptures AND understand the teachings in them. That's the most important part, is understanding them. So I'm glad you're doing that!

SCONT (Statesmanship Club of North Texas) is WAY cool and you'll have a ton of fun with A and all the other people there. They are good people and awesome friends. :) I heard the story last time of Daddy being goofy at a meeting and all. Haha! Make sure to have fun...but also make sure to pay super close attention 'cuz they teach very good and important stuff in SCONT. :)

What you said about the place your bed is in (what used to be my bedroom) being the same spot I slept in and how it gave you comfort, almost like I was right next to you, made me cry happy tears, Emi. I'm glad that it brings more comfort to think of that. :')

EWWW STINKY TOES!! That "home movie" we made about 6 years ago is super goofy!  We were quite the silly bunch! :)

Good to hear from you Emi! I love you!!

Marmy, Stake Pres. C is SO COOL! And, yeah, we've been over twice in the last week to eat and share a message and are going again tonight.  Sister C loves the missionaries! hahaha. I believe we've already talked about his son in the Lyon, France, mission and Elder A......I think... I don't know, I'll bring it up again. :)

WAIT. C is NOT an Eagle!?!?!? NOOOOOO :'(  Oober sadness. (Mom's Note: my computer auto-corrected the accidentally misspelled word "now" and inserted "not" instead.  I meant to share with him that "Colin is now an Eagle Scout".  What a sad mistake to make!)

That's way awesome about K and M though!! Sorry…Sisters M and M.  They will be sooo awesome! And having sisters in the mission is not only fun/funny/cool but it is also SOOOO important. They add SO MUCH to the work in a way that sometimes, oft times Elders cannot. That's awesomeness! :) I know they'll be great missionaries!

That's also super cool about T and B's family opening up a Bed & Breakfast in Florence, Italy!! That sounds like quite the set up over there. :) I hope it works out for them. Maybe I'll visit Italy when I get home! ;)

As for the news about Mrs R (that she retired from the school job) I think that will actually be very good for her so she's less "stretched". She is a wonderful and an amazing teacher. And, yes, we do wish them the bestest. :)

I am definitely writing you first from now on! :D I'm sorry I wasn't. I was just getting into my habit of just replying to emails in the order they come...but the others can wait if I run out of time.  :)

GAHH! I totally forgot my camera and I just remembered it!!!!! :O I'll send pictures next week. SORRY!

We use the Stake Center for emails which is why we get kicked off after an hour and a half. haha!

No baptismal clothes have arrived yet (that you shipped me). No bike either. :'( YES BACK PACK!! :D THAT MADE ME SOOO HAPPY!! I can carry way more water now too!

My back is great now, now that I've switched to the singularly most amazing bag EVER!! :D And the sheets and towels are just fine. :) Thank you for those as well!!

A difficult time?? Well I know the emails have been short and all but I'm feeling FANTASTIC!! :D I love the work and my District and even the whole Zone! Our ward is the "lowest producing" ward in our Stake as far as conversions go......and just in the last week Elder N and I, WITH the Spirit of the Lord, have started to pull a huge 180 on that statistic. BRING IT ON. We are so pumped for the work! haha. I even have a super awesome story I'll share when I'm done with answering the questions you asked. :)

I'm eating SOOOO MUCH because I burn SOOOO MUCH of it off! hahaha. Actually I'm not eating all THAT much.  And sleeping is great! I have a sweet bed and getting to sleep isn't really an issue...never has been since the MTC...which shocked me. I bet a million the spirit is helping me on that one! ;)

And yes... the Journal is SUPER AWESOME and a great way to close every day! :D

As for help from your end.....MAKE THE BIKE APPEAR INSTANTLY! :) The one I'm borrowing is killing my leg muscles......although they feel super nice now. (*eyebrow dance* - Haha!) And when mine gets here my legs will be so conditioned that it'll be crazy easy....blessing in disguise. :)

Those pics/posters you attached to your email are really cool!

 (An ancient American prophet which we learn of in the Book of Mormon called Samuel the Lamanite, as he stands on the wall to prophecy of Christ's birth, life, and death, but the wicked people try to kill him by shooting their arrows at him. Regardless they are expert marksmen, their arrows all miraculously deviate course and miss Samuel.  He escapes alive, runs off, and is never heard of again. All of Samuel's prophecies came true.)

 Quote by President James E. Faust regarding the restored Priesthood (authority to act in the name of God.)

We were actually just talking as a District today while playing tennis (that's right, wuddup) about Samuel and a picture we saw of him and how it looked like he was saying, "Come at me Bro!!"  So that timing is hilarious.  And I love the James E. Faust quote too. SO VERY TRUE.

Nice to hear about the home-life :)

(I'm cutting that reply short so I can make a detailed story and report about this week...I'll be doing the same in the future with all the stuff you guys write on email.)

OK, STORY TIME :)

Alright so for starters we have a baptismal date with R!!! :D He was investigating before I came and he has just given up alcohol, smoking, and tea and has starting living ALL of the gospel principles!!!  IT'S SO COOL!  His date should be the 28th...the only thing that might change is we might do it sooner! He is so solid and loves learning more and more about the gospel. WOOP!!! Also, we have another TOTALLY solid investigator, B. His wife is a member and was recently less active but decided to start becoming active. He took an interest and we taught the first lesson, about the restoration of the gospel, yesterday right after church… he'd been to church three times before that already!! :D As a side note, our goal as missionaries is to help people have spiritual experiences. Long made short, THAT is our purpose, and then through the Spirit they are converted...so our job is simple.  Well, get this, B said "I want to have a spiritual experience, on my own, between me and the Lord before I get baptized"...… Elder N and I just kinda sat there grinning stupidly at him pretty much the rest of the time. :D He is so excited and wants to live gospel....IS living the gospel, and is just searching for that spiritual experience. WAY. TOTALLY. SWEET.

ALSO! Elder N and I have started a new tradition of praying over the map of our area and asking the Lord to tell us where to "find" people ready of the gospel, which in our area means knocking doors. A LOT of doors. It's mostly a big neighborhood in our ward boundaries. Soooo we prayed and headed over to the neighborhood (the next day that is) and literally the SECOND DOOR WE KNOCKED we found a solid new investigator, A, and taught the first lesson RIGHT THERE! She was talking about how she has had many trials and has been reading the Bible every night and struggling with the family and just 15 minutes before we showed up she finally got good news from work and then we stopped by, answered some of her questions and she really felt the Spirit present. BOMBSAUCE. She was SO prepared! She even said she was feeling like her trials had prepared her for something!!! WUTT! Yes! So we have plans to see her and HOPEFULLY her whole family, too, next Sunday evening! RETURN APPOINTMENT!!!!!!!!!! :) That has been most of our week. Yep. That's right. One WEEK. Told you we were turning this area's stats around. >:) No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing!! Which reminds me, I have now memorized, in the last few days, the First Vision, the Standard of Truth and a handful of other scriptures.....   President C has asked the whole Zone to memorize the Standard of Truth so we can recite it in the MIDDLE of his talk in our upcoming Stake Conference as he "introduces the members to the missionaries" :) Here it is... from memory:

"The standard of truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say THE WORK IS DONE."

BAM. Yep. Now imagine 27 missionaries standing up in Stake Conference and BELTING that! :D iz gon' be SICK!!!!! :D

HEY GUYS. Do this for me. Watch "Finding Faith in Christ". I had NO IDEA how awesome that movie was till now. Go "scene by scene" kind of.  So, for example, what happens is Thomas (doubting Thomas) is telling Jonah about Christ and all that, right? Well, after he tells him a part, it plays the part that he just talked about, then you pause it and discuss it....do that. Like right now. NOW. NOWER. It's sooo cool what you learn from that video! :D
 
Oh, BTW I don't really have any private sections of my letters...I want everyone to see and here. Even those embarrassing or struggling parts. Share it all. I want as many people as possible to know and see. I have SUCH a desire to share the gospel and my own experiences with as many people as I can...we're riding our bikes around and I'll just stop randomly... At first Elder N was a little bugged by it but then we read that thingamajiggy where it says "preach along the way"....... ATTITUDE CHANGE! :D hahaha - funny stuff. :P

OK that's all I got for now..... It feels short still haha… I think next week we will be using the library so I'll send pics and a longer email. :D Woop!

I love you guys soooo much! PREACH ALONG THE WAY! and take care of each other!

I'm gonna make some small emails for some other peeps now. :) I might remember something small later and shoot you another quickie. :P


BYE!

 Elder 9er

Mission Letter Week 5 - 19 August 2013

(In response to the news that we bought him a heavy duty missionary bike:)

Elder 9:
WOOO!!!!  THANK YOU. Like, for reals. Big time thank you. I’m sooooo HAPPY. The bike I’ve been borrowing is terrible. It works, but its old .____. Thank you!!!! I will take very good care of it and, where location permits I will lock it like its supposed to be. I say that because in neighborhoods there’s no place for a U-lock so we have to use a chain lock...  Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder 9:

And that is AWESOME about the neighbors!! Any kids Emily's age??

Elder Brak.
- - - - - - 

(In response to his father’s comment: “Looks pretty dry out there. Remember to drink lots and lots of…???”):

Elder 9:
BUG JUICE!! And yes it is very dry out here...I go through close to 3 L of water in about 1.5 hr. FAST. I got the bladder by the way. :D I have talked to the Mission President by the way. (I wrote you by hand about this) and long story made short, the shoulder bag hurts my lower back and I have medical permission to use a backpack. :D Could you send my black Camelback bag by any chance?? It should be in my red trunk that I packed up...thanks. :)))

 I don't have a ton of pics yet so I’m good for now. I’ll let you know when to send another one (SD Card).  If necessary. Ive learned to be very......efficient out here. haha. :D

Elder 9:
The only thing I've gotten from the mission home is the package you sent. I LOVE MY SHEETS!!!!!! :D and the PILLOW!!!!

(Mom asked how he was doing Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, and Spiritually):

I am physically WIPED OUT. But I wake up everyday and the Spirit LITERALLY is carrying me the rest of the way. All I have to do is stand up out of bed and say "LET'S RIDE". Mentally we all know I'm challenged ;)  But I'm OK there. Emotionally I'm just a little tired but it's getting better as the days go by and the work progresses. And spiritually I feel like Mr Universe. COME AT ME BRO.

I'M SO EXCITED TO GET THE BIKE!!! :))) Thank you!!!!! I will do everything in my power to get very good care of the bike :)))) I promise.

I have been borrowing a bike from a Brother M in our ward here. He's super cool :D It's an old bike and tough to use but it works. The new one will be WAY better. :)

YES I got the package!!! :D I already emailed Daddy and asked but I’ll ask you too, could you guys please send me my black Camelback backpack? The shoulder is hurting my lower back where it used to hurt so the mission doctor told me to switch asap. I’m borrowing Elder C’s bag for now. (He’s the DL for another district. Cool guy.)

Packages still go to the mission home and they forward it to me from there. Use USPS for that not UPS or DHL or FedEx or anything.

The baptismal stuff is awesome. :D Thanks!!

ORLI IS SO CUTE!!!! The guys are jelly. >:)

I do not know an Elder H...Elder C I've already talked about. Cool beans! He’s super tall and just as awesome. :P And his comp, Elder C is cool too. I think C is as new as me....maybe Elder C is the Sr comp as well as the District Leader in his District. My DL is Elder J. :D He’s cool too.

WOW. Daddy did tell me that but not in all that detail. (A lady recognized Bob "must be Jonathan's Dad" by his goofiness when she first met us.) It's hilarious that that lady could tell daddy and I were both alike in our silliness! I am glad that I made the right choices back then and that you guys taught me to do so. Thank you.

(In response to his mother’s comment that she had read in the scriptures in 1 Nephi 3:5-8 something that she felt inspired she should share with Elder Nine):

OK. My turn to get teary eyed. I gave a talk in church yesterday and I used that scripture......I don't even know what to say. Just....wow.

I wish I could say more but I have to go soon so I’ll share a brief thought before I go. (The Sisters before us took up some extra time.)

And pics will have to wait till next week. sorry. :(


Faith. Hope. Charity. Humility.


WOW. Sadly that’s all I can write. I’m getting kicked off. I’ll expound next week. I love you guys SO much!! Take care!!

Elder Nine