October 20 - Dec 15 2009 Letters

October 27, 2009

It sounds like C[...] is getting old, being able to read and such. That is good that the elders are having you fellowship a family. That isn't good that they blew you off though. The hardest thing about the work is being on time for stuff. We depend so much on other people and we are constantly telling people we gotta go so we aren't late.

G[...] got the priesthood last night so he can baptize his wife A[...] on Halloween. That is a cool situation because G[...] had to give up chewing tobacco to do it.

I will get the picture for you sometime soon.

E[...] M[...]

November 24, 2009

Thanks for the birthday stuff. The camera is way nice to have. Thanks and also for the salsa. I was excited to eat some real salsa and not the fake stuff up here. We were double booked on my birthday with lessons and so I made it over to the H[...] five minutes before curfew. It was nice of them to pick up and give me the presents for you guys.

President O[...] approved me going to Thanksgiving with the C[...]s. Thanks for getting my phone number to them so we can make this work.

Well everything is going great. I'm having fun and the members are really pulling their weight out here. We received a couple calls lately from members saying they invited friends to be taught. Maybe they are doing this because we keep giving talks and seeing us reminds them of what they gotta do. It's like in Alma 46 when Moroni puts the Title of Liberty on every tower in the Nephite lands to remind the people of the covenant they made.

Love, E[...] M[...]

December 1, 2009

Nope no snow. It's good though because snow isn't the best thing in the world. Thanksgiving went pretty good. I got to see J[...] and the grandparents and a whole bunch of relatives I don't know.

C[...] was baptized last week which was pretty nice. After he was baptized, he was smiling for the rest of the meeting. It was pretty nice.

We have another one this weekend. Her name is D[...] T[...]. She asked that I baptize her, so that will be cool. Her parents are coming back into being active in the church and are working towards going to the temple to be sealed. They are a really good family. The father just needs to give up his smoking habit. Since we invited him to church he made sure he went and brought the whole family each time, kicking and screaming. (like our family home evenings). That's all the stuff going on here.

Love, W[...]

December 8, 2009

Well, that's some good news for the family. Yeah, I do know E[...] M[...]. He is one of the zone leaders.

So this week has been pretty cold. It's snowed a little bit, but the baptism of fire is still happening. We had one more this last Saturday, a girl named D[...]. It went nice. The water in the font was emptied by another ward's bishop so we were filling during the baptism. When the ordinance happened, I got in the water to baptize her and the water didn't even go up to my knees. I still got her first try. Afterward I didn't even have to change my garments because they didn't get wet. Good times.

Love, E[...] M[...]

P.S. Tell S[...] I ran into JD M[...]. He served in the same mission as him and knew him while they were out.

December 15, 2009

Dear Mom

So life is good up here. It was really cold last week and there is snow everywhere, but no worries. This week nothing too exciting happened.

We did start teaching a young man named J[...]. He is 13 but he is still pretty cool. When we shared Joseph's first vision with him he said he felt "amazing". So we committed him to be baptized on the 2 of Jan.

Maybe I will still be in the same area then, but transfers are 2 days before Christmas. Next week I might not send a letter because I'm talking on the phone to you a couple days later. We will see though. I'll send a picture of Thanksgiving attached to this.

Oh for Dad. The Perry plan works really well, but the problem is actually getting the ward leaders responsible to do their job, i.e. the Relief Society president to actually invite, etc. The best way I've found for this to work is to have the bishop start out the ward correlation meetings by having the people focused on in the plan discussed first, and to keep everyone accountable. good luck. I've seen it work a lot. One man we are teaching right now is because the ward leaders worked with him, offered the bishop to marry him and his wife, and invited him to meet with us. Cool stuff.

Love, E[...] M[...]

October 20 - Nov 20 2009 Letters

October 20, 2009 Letter

This week has been pretty good. We found 3 new investigators who are really solid for baptism. That is always nice because the other ones we have right now weren't very close to it.

If D[...] has swine flu, it's not really that bad. A bunch of missionaries have it up here. They just get quarantined for a week then they are over it.

One guy we are teaching is named R[...]. He wants to "fellowship" in this church to lead his kids on the right path. He has a lot to give up like chewing tobacco and coffee. He is prepared for all of it except coffee. He told us he was going to pray to find out if it's right. He is way ahead of the game.

Happy birthday Mom

Love, E[...] M[...]

October 27, 2009 Letter

It sounds like C[...]b is getting old, being able to read and such.

That is good that the elders are having you fellowship a family. That isn't good that they blew you off though. The hardest thing about the work is being on time for stuff. We depend so much on other people and we are constantly telling people we gotta go so we aren't late.

G[...] got the priesthood last night so he can baptize his wife A[...] on Halloween. That is a cool situation because G[...] had to give up chewing tobacco to do it.

I will get the picture for you sometime soon.

November 3, 2009 Letter

Dear Mom,

So you asked the right question [P[...] asked what he wanted for his birthday]. For this winter I could really use a pair or two of wool socks so I won't get frostbite on my feet this winter. I'll send home the family's Christmas present with Grandma and Grandpa C[...]. I will send some pictures of me home today so you can see if any of them are good.

Last week we had 2 baptisms and this week we should have 4 more. November is going to be a great month. Most of the work is completing in this month. I was able to confirm A[...] C[...] last Sunday and that is always a great experience.

For Halloween we weren't allowed to go proselyte so we planned to go home and sleep. We ended up staying at the house we ate dinner at and we played Phase Ten and some other dice game. It was pretty fun.

Love, E[...] M[...]

November 10, 2009 Letter

Dear mom,

Ok, I have another couple of ideas for my birthday. First if there is a way to get Casa Del Rio salsa to me that would be amazing. They don't know how to make salsa up here. And second my digital camera broke and so I can't take pictures now. A new one would be great so I can keep sending pictures home. Just make sure the memory card is a SD because then I wouldn't have to buy new memory cards.

Other news--transfers are tomorrow and I found out I am staying in the area and they want me to train again. So I meet my new companion tomorrow. Also that means the 2 talks I set up on the 22 nov I'll have to speak. Lame birthday present.

The baptisms all went well. One of them was an autistic kid who was deathly afraid of the water. To baptise him, we had his mom throw on a white jumpsuit and go in with him. It took three tries but we got him baptized.

Love, E[...] M[...]

November 18, 2009 Letter

Dear Mom,

Yeah it did snow on Saturday. It was cold. Right after it snowed a few inches, the senior couple in my district called and needed us to come to their house over in east Ogden. So I got my experience driving on the snow by driving down highway 89 and Washington. It went good. It's the Utahns that don't know how to drive. Someone ran into our mailbox because they slid off the road.

My new companion is from St. David, Az and his name is Elder C[...].

We have been teaching a young man named C[...]. He is 17 and really wants to be baptized. He had a dream where everyone important to him was there in a room and he was baptized and he took that as a sign that this is something God wants him to do.

Love, E[...] M[...]

Series of Letters

18 August 2009

Dear Family,

This week's been alright. One of our investigators missed church so now she's going to be baptized on Sep 5 (special day). Tomorrow I'm being transferred to Far West with Elder W[...]. It will be nice to be in a new area.

On Sunday I went to one of the wards to do a sharing time, and a less active family I was teaching was at church. They were really surprised to see me because their son, S[...], was getting the Aaronic Priesthood and he wanted me to do it, but they forgot to ask me. It was nice being able to do that.

Love, E[...] M[...]

1 September 2009

Life is good. Grandma and Grandpa are in my district and so when I was on exchanges I got to stop in for a couple minutes. It was nice to see them.
As for the work, it is going great. We baptized D[...] on Saturday and we have a bunch more lined up for September.

We have a family of four preparing for baptism in September. It will be the first entire family I have helped into the covenant of baptism. The major problem right now is the mother is going to have a baby September 17 so we are praying they will still be baptized at the end of the month. It's always difficult with pregnant women.

Its good to hear J[...] is a good guy. Grandma said she approves and I've only heard good things about him. That's great.

Love, E[...] M[...]

8 September 2009

Dear family

Well I got to eat lunch with Grandma and Grandpa last week. that was pretty nice. Is T[...] still preparing for a mission? i haven't heard anything about that since I left.

This week was pretty good. We taught a lot of lessons, and had almost nobody at church. One family we are teaching had to go to church to be baptized in September, but they were in Salt Lake so they missed it. That just means we had to push their baptismal dates back into October.

Love, E[...] M[...]

15 September 2009

Dear Family,

The family we've been teaching has lost their baptismal dates. That is because everything in the world has been coming up and they haven't been able to make it to church. Calls into work, family stuff, and sewage backup have been going on. This week the mother is having a baby so we'll have to wait a while longer on them because church attendance is a requirement.

We committed 2 people for baptism yesterday and one of them seems way solid. The other guy, K[...] (its a man) has to give up smoking first. He also has short term memory loss so we are going to have fun teaching him.

The work is great.

Love, E[...] M[...]

22 September 2009

Hey Mom,

I got the package this morning so don't worry about it. The W[..]'s are moving? They just got here not to long ago. Life is going to be different at the end of these two years.

The work is good. We have 17 people we are teaching right now so we get to teach a lot. Only 7 have dates for baptism.

We started teaching a man named N[...] O[...]. He is married to a member, but grew up around the church but not in the church. He actually had a really bad view of the church until he was married and now he has softened up. It's fun to teach him because he always has comments and questions. He doesn't want to be pushed so he is taking everything slow. He's open to the spirit though and so he will be baptized soon, but not until he really feels ready.

Love, E[...] M[...]

29 September 2009

Well transfers are tomorrow. I'm staying in Farr West, but I get a new companion. His name is Elder E[...] and he has been out longer than me. No worries though. The worst part of the transfer is my district is getting switched up and Grandma and Grandpa aren't in my district anymore so I won't see them as much.
We got a call from a lady a night ago and she wants us to teach her mom. Her mom was very anti, but now has Alzheimer's and forgot she is anti-Mormon. If she can remember what we teach her she will probably be baptized in a few weeks.

Love, E[...] M[...]

6 October 2009

Dear Family,

My week went ok. Two of the people I'm teaching got swine flu so we are avoiding them like the plague. Conference totally made up for it though. Elder Holland's talk was amazing as usual. I'm pretty sure he is my favorite to listen to. We watched some of it with the stake patriarch and the other day at the stake president's house. I really liked Elder Oaks talk as well. It's something difficult to deal with that many people don't understand how God's love cannot supersede his law. Even though he loves us infinitely, He cannot and will not save us if we won't abide Christ's law. The Honor He has would cease. Also the agency he has granted us shows his love.

One of the stake presidents over here taught me an important principle. To help his young men prepare for a mission he works with them a lot. One thing he does is he will let them drive him around in his brand new Camaro. He shows trust in them, maybe sometimes more than they trust themselves, and in return He gets trust back. God has done this with us as well, just with life and not a drive in a car.

Love, E[...] M[...]

13 October 2009

Dear Family,

I'm fine.

Love,
E[...] M[...]

ps

I guess I need to write a little more than that.
So this week we taught the A[...] family again. We found out the reason why they won't go to church. They are scared of offending someone because they are quiet and do not like big social things. We thought we made good progress with that concern and invited them to church, but they didn't go. It seems like they will just agree to anything and not mean or follow through with it. We will keep working with them though.

They dedicated a new stake center on Sunday and we got to hear one of the 70's speak. It was pretty nice to be able to be there. I don't remember ever being to a dedication like that before. It was nice though.

Love, E[...] M[...]

August 2009 letters

August 11th, 2009

It sounds like everything is well there. Up here we are getting some teaching done. We're working with C[...], a southern Baptist, and preparing her to be baptized. She seems to really like the lessons, but her biggest concern is she can't deal with the fact that if this religion is right that makes the rest wrong. Her concerns have all been pretty easy to resolve.

J[...] is still smoking and has cancelled the last few lessons. We think she is avoiding us because she is embarrassed she hasn't been able to kick the habit yet. We have a lesson scheduled with her tonight so we'll see what happens.

On Sunday we were at church and C[...] didn't show up for the first hour. We were way nervous because she would lose her baptismal date again for not going to church. We said a bunch of prayers and called a bunch of times but she didn't pick up. So we got our bikes and rode to her house. When we got there, her friend A[...] was there and told us he just dropped her off at church. God answers prayers, but not till we do our best to make things happen.

Love, E M

August 18th, 2009

Farr West is good. On the first day there, we taught a family of four the plan of salvation because they had a family member get shot and died. The spirit was there and we committed them all for baptism on September 19. The work is going great.

We're having trouble with lessons falling through but everything else is good.

My companion is Elder W[...] from Washington. He's been out 1 month.

I got to go to the stake center for the Oquirrh Mountain temple dedication on Sunday. It was pretty nice. I got to hear Elder Bednar and President Uchtdorf speak. God knows how to pick amazing men.

Love, E M

Letters from July

July 21, 2009 letter

Well I hope everything is good back home. Up here everything is normal. We're teaching a few people that are progressing and the rest aren't really keeping commitments. We have two looking at getting baptized in August. They are both single moms of three kids each. They both are pretty religious. One of them has us coming over and also the Jehova's Witnesses teaching her. We'll see who wins. The other one goes to a different church with her sister every week. She intellectually believes in Joseph Smith but hasn't had a spiritual confirmation yet. We need to get her off the cigarettes and out to church.

Thats all thats been going on here.

E[...] M[...]

July 28, 2009 letter

Dear familia,

The weeks here are going by pretty quickly. Pioneer day just happened and I was in the parade. A few zones came and marched and we sang hymns. It was pretty good. I am sending a picture with the Budweiser horses. Those things are enormous.

We had one of our investigators lose their baptismal date because she physically can't go to church. She fractured her leg and is on bed rest for a week. So next week she'll go to church and the baptism will go on.

I've almost finished Jesus the Christ. That book is pretty sweet. There are a lot of things that I didn't pick up on just reading through the New Testament. Studying the scriptures and other church books is something I have really learned to love to do.

E[...] M[...]

August 4, 2009 letter

The only comment on my smile because thats the only good thing about me. I agree that there isn't much like baptisms to bring the spirit really strong. I hope the Primary calling isn't too difficult, but from what I understand most of it is taking care of 8 yr old baptisms, making sure all the Primaries run right, and just having the responsibility over everything.

[...]

As for the terrace, the work is progressing, but kind of slow. The investigators we have right now all have one similar problem. they all smoke. We are working with them and most are giving decent effort to quiting. That's the real hang up right now. We also are having trouble finding new investigators, but I've seen way to many times in Bountiful that when I work hard good things happen. We wouldn't find new investigators through our own efforts very often, but miracle phone calls would happen with referalls when we were working our hearts out.

Love

E[...] M[...]

August 11, 2009 letter

I'm sure [someone from our ward] served a good mission. It sounds like everything is well there. Up here we are getting some teaching done. We're working with C[...], a Southern Baptist, and preparing her to be baptized. She seems to really like the lessons, but her biggest concern is she can't deal with the fact that if this religion is right that makes the rest worng. Her concerns have all been pretty easy to resolve.

J[...] is still smoking and has cancelled the last few lessons. We think she is avoiding us because she is embarassed she hasn't been able to kick the habit yet. We have a lesson scheduled with her tonight so we'll see what happens.

On Sunday we were at church and C[...] didn't show up for the first hour. We were way nervous because she would lose her baptismal date again for not going to church. We said a bunch of prayers and called a bunch of times but she didn't pick up, so we got our bikes and rode to her house to drag her to church. When we got there her friend A[...] was there and told us he just dropped her off at church. God answers prayers, but not till we do our best to make things happen.

Love

E[...] M[...]

Last Letters

30 June 2009

[We asked if he could come to dinner] No I can't go there for dinner. It's like 4 zones away. That is good that D[...] is doing better. Swimming is a hard sport and it takes a while to get good at. This week we had a mission conference because Pres. and Sister J[...] left the mission for good. It went really good. We had a fireside right after and Pres. J[...] played a 2 minute organ solo as an interlude for "Praise to the Lord the Almighty." He is amazing. So the O[...]s are our new mission pres. and mission mom. I think I get to meet them tomorrow. Have a good time visiting Utah.

Love, E[...] M[...]

7 July 2009

Hey family

Transfers are tomorrow. I got a call last night asking if I'd train, so I'm getting a new elder straight out of the MTC. I'll find out who he is tomorrow. I hope everything is going well on your vacation. I'm still in Washington Terrace for at least another six weeks. Yeah I got the package thanks.

Love, E[...] M[...]

14 July 2009

To get to the mission office we get a ride from one of the members. Wow D[...]P[...] actually made it [finished his mission]. I hope everything is going well for him.

Last Saturday we baptized a lady named D[...]. She had me baptise and confirm her. When we went to the font to baptise her I stepped in and the water was really hot. Too hot for her so we kicked eveybody out and brought buckets of cold water from the kitchen and dumped them in for a half hour then baptized her. I am pretty sure that was the first time the water has been too hot.

My new companion is Elder L[...]. he's from northern California. We are having a good time teaching and tracting into people.

Love, E[...] M[...]

23 Jun 2009

When I was in Bountiful, Elder Anderson lived an 1/8 of a mile outside my area, along with Pres Uchdorf and Pres Eyring. I didn't see any of them while I was there.

This week I baptized K[...], our last progressing investigator at the time. It was nice doing that.

Then later that day we found a new investigator and gave her a baptismal date for July 11. She had "some questions" about the church like how could Joseph Smith see the face of God and not die and those other dumb questions. We answered her questions and the spirit was so strong she started crying and left the room. The fellowship came back in the room a couple minutes later and was way happy. She wanted to be baptized. Good experience.

Love, E[...] M[...]

16 June 2009

Yeah, I played the piano for the baptism last Saturday so I still get some use out of it. I also bought this Paul Cardall piano book that has arrangments of hymns that I have used for prelude. It's not hard except it always wants you to play the left hand in the treble clef or the bass clef an octave up and that confuses my brain sometimes.

Sarah said you wanted a "real letter" so here it is. I attached a picture of me eating a dragonfly.

We baptized a kid last Saturday. He had ADHD so he was very amusing to teach. A miracle that we found him though. He had already gone to church a bunch of times, wanted to be baptized, but was going back to his mom's house the next week. We talked to the bishop and he said he wanted him to be baptized asap, so we taught him every night that week and baptized him on Saturday. A crazy good miracle that we found him at that time and everything. It just shows that it's not just me working, I don't do much good, the Lord does all the real work.

Love, E[...] M[...]

9 June 2009 Letter

Ok, so my comp has been in Washington Terrace his whole mission, and yes I'm senior.

Just keep the adaptor to the memory card so you can just send the micro chip back and forth and we won't have to worry about the adaptor.

A new stake--that sounds great. It just shows how much the Lord's work is progressing--the stone cut out of the mountain without hands that crushes everything. I'm glad our ward is the same, there isn't any ward up here quite like it.

The work up here is going great, slow at first, but we're working on it. When I got there only one person was preparing for baptism, and now there's 3. We didn't have any new investigators for the first two weeks, and not from lack of trying. Yesterday we knocked on a door the bishop told us to and committed the son for baptism right on the spot. This boy J[...] had gone to church all growing up until he was 8 and his parents were divorced and stopped attending church until the last few weeks. The Lord just handed us this one and I know He wouldn't have done that unless we were working like slaves. The area is turning around and we are steadily making progress.

Love, W[...]

2 June 2009 Letter

Dear Family,

[E W sent some beautiful photographs for Mother's Day. You'll see them when you visit our home] Yeah [the photographer] is from Bountiful. He is ranked #1 in the world for the kind of photography that he does.

So on Sunday I spoke in another sacrament meeting (its becoming a habit) and afterwards some people came up and talked to me. One of them was one of T[...]'s missionary companions and another was the N[...] who apparently had dinner with Grandma and Grandpa the night before.

It's weird being over only one stake, the Washington Terrace East stake. There is not as much going on, but I guess thats all right because we ride bikes.

My companion is a cool guy. He's from Washington and has only been out three months. We're making it all work out and the work is just increases since I made it into the area.

Love, E[...] M[...]

24 May 2009 Member Letter

Dear Sis. M[...],

We live in one of the wards that your son is serving here in Bountiful. We wanted to let you know what a wonderful missionary son you have. We have enjoyed his visits to our home since he first arrived here on his mission. I have been able to work with him while serving as our ward mission leader and he has given us a lot of help and encouragement. We have also enjoyed hearing him play the piano in our home occasionally.

Today he and Elder E[...] spoke in our Sacrament meeting. They both did a wonderful, inspiring job. You would be very pleased to know that your son shared a very uplifting, spiritual, articulate testimony. I was proud of him. He told of the first time he read the Book of Mormon all the way through and finished New Year’s Eve, the year President Hinckley challenged us to do so. I had to smile because I was doing the same thing that night.

Early this morning our missionary coordination meeting ended early so they took advantage of the time by working on a piano/organ duet of
Praise to the Man. A counselor in our bishopric and I heard it and asked them if they wanted to play it in our sacrament meeting.

E[...] M[...] thinks that he may be transferred this week and this might be their last and only chance to perform it together. They did a wonderful job and the whole ward was touched and excited for them. Elder E[...] says it was the first time that he had ever played in public. It was great for our young men and women to see their great example of developing and sharing their talents. By the way, it was your son on the organ and he even used the foot pedals.

We pray that your son will stay with us a little longer, but we know that the Lord is in charge. Our oldest son is now serving a mission in Australia. We send our young sons and daughter out and know it is going to be a great experience, and we have found that the Lord blesses, guides and uses these young missionaries to do wonderful things that exceed our good expectations by a long ways.

You have a great son. Thank you for sharing him with us and our neighbors.

Love, T[...] & B[...] G[...]

28 May 2009 member letter

Dear Brother & Sister M[...],

Your son stopped by Tuesday night to and told us that he was being transferred to the South Ogden/Washington Terrace area. We have enjoyed him so much. You have a great son and a great missionary. We would love to have him transferred back to Bountiful again.

Your son served 3 different stakes in his area, which is probably close to 27 wards. Early Sunday mornings they would skip from one stake missionary coordination meeting to the next. It is a little hard for all the ward members to get to know them because they didn’t see them every week. If we did a better job at having investigators in our meetings we would be able to see them more often. We all love to have them over for dinner.

Thank you again for sharing your son with us.

Love,T[...] & B[...] G[...]

19/26 May 2009 letter

19 May 2009 Letter

I totally called the new stake president. I knew it would be [C...] [T...] (Our new Stake President is our former Bishop).

This week went good. One of the guys I have been teaching we gave a baptismal date and he was way wishy washy about it. He didn't know if Joseph was a prophet or not. Last week we stopped by and asked how his prayers were going and he said good..... actually not at all. Then he told us he would have to pray if he wants to be baptized. Then later he is just more and more excited about it. He stood up in elders quorum and announced that he's getting baptized. We even got to move the date earlier because he is in the national guard and couldn't get baptized in June. We are very excited.

Transfers are coming up next week and I'll probably leave. That's all that's new.

Love E[...] M[...]

26 May 2009 Letter

Well, I'm getting transfered to Washington Terrace East in the South Ogden zone. My new companion is E[...] S[...] and he's only been out for 3 months. It will be fun to serve in a new area, but I will definitely miss Bountiful.

Last week we were tracting and ran into someone who knew J[...] S[...]. So we went to his house. He wasn't home so we went back later and caught him,. His family was having a family council which was just like back home. Arguing and all that fun. He played a song for us and it was amazing. It was "all of me." He even uses his forearms to smash the keys during some parts. He's amazing.

Love E[...] M[...]

12 May 2009 Letter

[ We spoke with him on Sunday. He is doing well. He observed that young men who spend all their time playing video games before their missions don't do very well-they don't know how to talk to anyone ].

[Now the letter:]

Yep so not much has happened since I talked with you guys. It was nice to talk with everyone and to see that everything is going fine.

Love E[...] M[...]

5 May 2009

Hey family,

For Sunday I'm probably gonna call during the afternoon. There were some pretty cool things about this week. J[...] F[...] (baptized in Feb) had me give him the Aaronic Priesthood and ordain him to a priest. It was a good experience.

J[...] H[...] moved down to Lehi, and still hasn't been able to quit smoking so he cannot be baptized any time soon.

D[...] was supposed to be baptized last Saturday, but [will be] next month. That sums up the week. Talk to you Sunday.

E[...] M[...]

28 April 2009 Letter

Dear Family,

The work up here is pressing forward. I gave my last talk on sunday, that I've been asked to do. I talked about building and sustaining your testimony and tied it in to missionary work.

We have 2 baptisms scheduled for this saturday, but 1 of them is going to fall through, most likely. This is because he is having trouble giving up smoking, and we keep setting goals for him to quit, but it hasn't happened yet. So we expect 1 for this weekend.

[...] is the smoker, and his whole situation is weird. He needs to be interviewed by the mission president because his father was a polygamist.

I was sick yesterday, but I'm feeling a whole bunch better today. I threw up for the 1st time in 8 years. Being sick isn't any fun.

Love, E[...] M[...]

21 April 2009 Letter

Dear family,

My companion is Elder E[...]. He is a good guy, been out 2x as long as me and is from N Carolina.

So I gave one talk on Sunday, cancelled one and moved another to this Sunday because of B[...]'s baptism and other things I couldn't get out of. I wrote a talk then didn't even use it. I just talked for 15 minutes about receiving revelation through the scriptures and how having faith leads to sharing with others.

B[...] was baptized and I'll send a picture. We are also teaching a guy named J[...] H[...]. Is used to be member of the RLDS church but now wants to be baptized into ours. He has the same mannerisms and a similar personality to J[...] T[...]. I really like teaching him and helping over his smoking habit. We had to move his baptism date to May 2 because of the smoking issue, but we have him down from 2 packs a day to 0 or 1.

Love, E[...] M[...]

Well, I am on the Family history computers and it has Windows 2000 and won't support my camera so next week I'll send pictures.

14 April 2009 Letter

Hey family,

I'm not being transfered but I have a new comp. His name is [...]. Thanks for the Easter basket and you can tell [...] that I can only write immediate family members from email.

Everything is good here and I'm glad to be staying. I have to give 3 talks next week and I'm not too excited for that, but I'll just write 1 and use it 3 times.

Love, Elder M[...]

7 April 2009 Letter

[...] Transfers are next week. [...]

This week we baptised E[...] M[...]. It went well. We have been trying our best to get new investigators and have not had much luck. So the Lord gives us some for our efforts. We started teaching this guy J[...] H[...] who wants to be baptized so he can marry his girlfriend in the temple eventually. The best part is he told us he wants to get baptized this month which goes right along with our 3 week conversion cycle. It shows that the Lord rewards hard work.

Love, E[...] M[...]

31 March 2009 Letter

Dear Family,

We broke the record for baptisms in a month. Our mission got 227 in March and the record was 206. It just shows that the Lord blesses us when we work hard. We were all really excited and hopefully next month will be better. Elder P[...] and I have two investigators planning on being baptized in April, and we are hoping to commit some more.

We just had interviews yesterday and I've decided that I will really miss Pres. J[...] and his wife when they leave in June. Our new President is Pres. O[...] from Philadelphia. I'm sure he will step in and do great.

This Thursday We are baptising E[...] M[...]. He has been taught for 4 years and we're excited that we are the elders able to baptise him. I hope everything over there is good.

Love E[...] M[...]

24 March 2009 Letter

[The new bishop in the ward.] Wow that is amazing. He will do great. Maybe they just had to release [the previous bishop] because they need a new stake president. I wouldn't be surprised.

Unfortunately for you guys taxes are coming up and I can't do them so could you guys do them for me. I should get a grip of money back. Thanks and also thanks for clearing up jury duty.

This week M[...] T[...] was baptized finally. I played the piano for it and it went really well. Last night she had sick kids and she had us come over and bless them because the doctors don't know what is wrong with them. I'm really happy she is turning to the Lord with her problems because that is where the real help is, especially for children because her youngest can't take any medicine because she is too young. They will be fine though in a few days.

We committed [someone] for baptism sunday night. It is the stake president's father in law. He warily told us about him and how he isn't a member, so the ward mission leader and [we] elders stopped by and taught him. I am really glad I was able to stay [here] for this transfer.

Love, E[...] M[...]

17 March 2009 Letter

Everything is going well here.  Nights are a little shorter because my companion has to take a bunch of phone calls every night  so we don't always get to sleep on time because of that and we still have to plan.

Nothing out of the ordinary is going on.  We keep teaching this old guy named c[...] k[...], but he isn't really progressing.  He has serious word of wisdom issues and we always leave smelling like smoke[...].  We have been trying to get him to church, but we have to work through all his problems with members.  I wish everyone up here that said they were mormon would make choices in accordance with that because so many people have been offended or had bad experiences because of members.  They always judge the church on those experiences and not the good that is all around them.

I don't remember if i told you about E[...].  He has been taught by the missionaries for 4 years and just now finally accepted a baptism date for April 2.  We are really excited and he is too.  He said he had a dream a couple weeks ago where he was baptized and it just seemed right to do it.  I am glad he finally stopped being wishy washy and accepted this into his life.

Love, E[...] M[....]

Pictures on 3/10/2009

This week we got pictures instead of a letter. W's mother doesn't believe that a picture is worth a 1000 words.

17 February 2009 Letter

[...]

Thanks for saving my letters, I don't do journals.

This week we lost some of our investigators and 2 baptism dates. S[...] M[...] is ready, but her dad won't approve of her being baptized because it is not his idea. Divorced parents are idiots some times.

Last night T[...] J[...] went through his Baptismal interview and passed. I'm really excited for him because he's so ready for baptism. When we taught him word of wisdom he gave up coffee right then even though he has dranken it since he was 5.

We've been tracting like crazy because we keep losing investigators, they tell us to not come back or they get baptized. I guess we're doing well because we taked to a lady and she has a son in england and he had his 1st baptism and he has 3 weeks left. My first one where I was crucial in preparing him is this Sat. 4 weeks into my mission. We baptise so many because the members get involved.

Love E[...] M[...]

3 March 2009 Letter

[...]

This week we baptised a 28 year old guy named J[...] F[...]. He runs a dry cleaner and hooked us up with the spray they use to remove smoke and smells from clothes. It's nice because we are always teaching people who have word of wisdom issues and our clothes stink after we teach them.

I have pictures, but my camera isn't here. I don't think I'm going to send my memory card home soon because if I send it then I can only take 10 pictures without it, but I can email them so it works out.

Last night we got a call because it is transfers tomorrow. I lucked out because my comp is now the dl and we stay in the area another transfer togetther. Now i don't have to take the lead in the area at least for six weeks. Lifes going good, we had 4 baptisms in February and are goal is for 3 in March. We'll see what happens.

I was just wondering What is the monthly goal for Tucson missionaries. Up here we try for 200 a month so I was wondering how it compares.

Love E[...] M[...]

24 February 2009 letter

I got the debit card so you can activate it. also pay 5$ tithing for the money the [...] sent me. So this week we baptized T[...]. At the baptism there were over 125 people there. It was a big turnout and it went really well. [...] Today I went hiking up a mountain to an abandoned christmas tree farm. It was fun and i'll send pictures next week because I left my camera at the apartment.
Love
E[...] M[...]

Ogden Utah Mission Boundaries

10 February 2009

Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 11:50 AM

Yeah everything is good here. I'm going to write the d[...]s a letter today and you have the right idea about the emails. Also I can only check emails 1 time a week on Tuesdays so Its nice to get real mail so I can read it during the week.

We baptised two girls last week and have successfully reactivated their family. That is the major reason why we do child baptisms is because we teach the children and get the parents back to church so by baptising the kids we get the entire family back to church.

A man we're teaching T[...] J[...] is going great. I committed him for baptism last week and he gave up coffee cold turkey. He's one of those golden investigators. We had an issue yesterday. His neighbor called and said he couldn't be baptised because his son couldn't make it up here this week. T[...] couldn't understand how this could happen when we prayed and got the answer for him to be baptised on the 21. Then later that day we got a call from his wife saying the son got it off work so it will work out. Our next lesson will be going over getting answers to prayers and how Satan is going to try to impede whenever he can.

Love

E[...] M[...]

3 February 2009 Letter

Letter from J family, 3 feb 2009

Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 1:12 PM

Subject: Your Son, Elder M[...], visited us

Dear M[...] Family,

We had your son, and his companion visit at our home for Sunday dinner. We thought we'd send you a photo, and a note to say that he is doing great. It was great to meet him. He is a fine young man, and very diligent in doing the work of the Lord. We have a son on a mission now too, and know how much we would appreciate hearing anything about him, so we thought we'd do likewise. Your son is happy and healthy, and quite an incredible young man!

Hope you have a great day!

Sincerely,

D[...] J[...] and Family

Letter from Elder M, 3 Feb 2009

Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 11:42 AM

Welllllll

On sunday we had dinner at a house with 11 kids. My comp has 12 in their family and it felt like sunday dinners back home. The parents insisted on taking pictures and sending them to you so now you know where they came from.

We have a new investigator named T[...]. His wife is a member and after a heart attack he started going to church but refused to be baptised. Now a year later he asked to be taught by the missionaries so we have taught him a lesson. He's wealthy, lives right by the temple, so it's kind of different working with him. [...] We're going to commit him next time[...].

We got to do service in the temple yesterday. We vacuumed the womens locker room and the brides room. It was really neat and probibly the only time we will be able to be in those rooms. My times up.

Love,

Elder M[...]

Letter from Elder M, 27 Jan 2009

Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 10:53 AM

Subject: Re: retainers

Yeah I'm in Bountiful and this is not what I signed up for. In Tucson the missionaries are over 1 or 2 wards. I'm over 3 stakes and 25 wards, just me and my companion. It's really fun though. We tract too, but mostly we run into members, but that's okay and really effective. We were told statitics and 1 of 1000 people we tract into will be baptised, 1 of 350 referalls will be baptised, and 2 of 3 people invited to meet with the missionaries in the members home will be baptised. Members are the best way to do missionary work.

It has been going alright so far, I just went to the Bountiful temple. We get to go every P-day except for the one on tranfer week. We are baptising two girls so far in February. The works good.

Love,

Elder M[...]

Other pictures - Jan 2009

Letter from Sister J, mission president's wife, 22 Jan 2009

Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 1:23 PM

Subject: Your missionaries arrived safely!!

Good afternoon families!!

This is Sister J[...], Mission President's wife in the great Utah Ogden Mission! Your missionaries arrived safely on Tuesday and yesterday went out into the field with their trainers. They are a great group, thank you for terrific sons who will make great missionaries.

[...]

When President Faust called us, he told us we would not be judged on the number of conversions we had in the mission, but on the men and women our missionaries will be in twenty years time. If you think about it, they will probably be preparing their own sons to go on missions at that time--quite an interesting assignment/challenge!! We take it very seriously and are very involved with our missionaries although we never attempt to take your place. We love them dearly and will do all in our power to help them reach their individual divine potential.

Again, thank you for preparing your sons so well!!

Sister J[...]

Letter from Elder M, 13 Jan 2009

Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 12:47 PM

Subject: Re: Re: hey family

Pretty much I can only email and receive emails on P-day which is tuesdays, but that doesn't really matter right now because I leave the mtc next tuesday. I can only email family. that is all the rules I have been given.

Its going fine here. I am working on teaching the 2nd lesson, the plan of salvation and its going along fine. Would you have dad mail me a copy of my preisthood line of authority. I'd like to have a copy of that.

I don't like the referral center very much. Sometimes its alright though. Last week I called up this lady who ordered a bible and I asked her if she knew anything about the church. She said she could never join because we don't believe in music. I politely straightened her out and taught her about all the songs we sing in church and that scripture in D&c 25 where it talks about songs. I taught her the first lesson and sent the missionaries over to see her. She wanted me to go, but I can't really walk over to Virginia whenever I want.

I hope all is well over there.

Love

Elder M[...]

Letter from Elder M to Grandma M

Letter from Elder M, 6 Jan 2009

Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2009 2:33 PM

Subject: hey family

Dear Family,

My time here is going pretty good. I am having a good time and am not missing home, just naps. This whole time is so focused it is ridiculous. I have classes and meetings all day, but they are way spiritual so It's alright.

My comps name is Elder S[...] and He's from Georgia. He is pretty good and spiritual most of the time, but him and another kid in my district don't get much studying done during personal study time. We're pretty good friends though.

Its really cold here and its been snowing the last two days straight. I only have about 2 more weeks in the MTC till I'm out.

We have this thing we do called the referral center where we call up all the people who order church movies and books of moromon and talk to them. You guys know how much I like calling people I know and you can imagine how much better it is to pretty much be a telemarketer. Bad Times. Other than that everything is good.

It is amazing how close everyone here is to the Spirit. This whole stay I feel
like I am getting used to it then I accidentally break a rule or something (not anything serious) and I feel like crap. Amazing because I could do the same thing at home and barely feel bad about it. I know I am doing the right thing being here.

Love

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