Monday, December 3, 2007

December News

Elder Logan Wells, Puerto Rico San Juan East Mission
July 2007 - July 2009





From Elder Logan Wells

Hey there my amigos! So i am just chillen here in Puerto Rico. No not really it is actually still in the 90s in the day and well far from cold. As for a cold christmas that is only a dream for the next two years. I know we live in Az but there is still some kind of temperature change. But what to say other than the fact that the work is true and that there is nothing more important than just getting out there and doing it.Well I am in my second transferI am still in my greenie area and the work is progressing. My companion and I opened this area and there is no doubt we can see the benefit of our work. We are having two baptsims this month. One is a lady that is 59 who a few years ago was the town drunk but the moral of the story she changed her life around and has been searching for the truth and well yeah she knows that she has found it. Pretty cool. So what really goes down here is that you walk around and people are blaring there regatone on speakers on top of there cars. Seriously. Oh yeah Max I drive an 2008 corolla, navy blue baby. We actually just got it and was a blessing. Well yeah Iam doing great. The work is work and we all know this.I Love you all and have a great Christmas. Peace Elder Wells

From Elder Mike Kleinman

Hey everyone! I hope all is going great for you guys! The work here in the C*rdoba mission and really taken off! We are seeing a whole bunch of baptisms and church growth, I give it another six months and we*ll have a temple here ya! Christmas is coming up soon, and I hear that here its more like the 4th of July rather than our kind of christmas. They still do have christmas trees though so thats good. My companion*s name is Elder Wilkins, he only has 1 transfer left in his mission and he*s in complete denial. Poor guy. His biggest fear now is the fact that he will soon be live bait for all those crazy BYU missionary-hunting girls. I would be too. On a brighter note, we are having a mission conference this month and I think Elder Scott is going to speak, which would be great, but nothing is for sure right now. For Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we get to go caroling which should be interesting ha! And at night we are allowed to stay up till 1 AM and watch movies yay! I*m sorry if I haven*t written you all individually, but you all know how lazy I am. I hope all is going well with everybody! See you next month! -Elder Kleinman

Elder Garrett Jones
Hope everything is well and you all had a great Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving for us was one of the best days of the mission so far for me. I think the holiday had a lot of people thinking about their families and their lives and what it all means, because it was a glorious day for the work here. Since the beginning of my mission I hadn't spoken so much straight spanish without really any break, I would finish teaching one guy, and then turn around and start teaching the lady behind me. We did it for about 2 and a half hours. Our thanksgiving dinner was slightly different from others I have had, but I am sure the whole mission thing explains that well enough. The Lord blessed us this past week when I baptised Gilbert Rodriguez, who we have been working with for a while now. This Sunday my companion is going to give him the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was such a cool experience for me to actually be in the water performing a saving ordinance for someone. The spirit there was so strong. He told me afterwards that he felt like "shouting joy and happiness," I love that kid. Well another cycle has gone by and I am still in my same area with my companion. Spanish for me is really starting t come along now. Being with a native companion has helped me out a ton and I feel like psople can understand me, and I them, much better now. Hope all is well with you all and know that I love and miss you. Elder Jones

From Lorin Hendricks


Hello, Greetings from Provo, the big news is that it snowed four inches this weekend. it was amazing! It is very cold up here, but you don't spend much time outside right before finals so it doesn't matter. I don't have a huge amount of time, because I have to go to class in a moment, so forgive the small blurb.Finals are in three weeks and i have to say that Iam fairly nervous. the final in math is 49% of my overall grade. that is crazy. I will be spending the next little while studying and not much else. oh well, finals will be done soon. I will see you all soon (unless you on a mission) Lorin

From Elder Max Crandall
What*s up guys and gals? Things are great in Mt. Vee. I*ve been through my first transfer and it*s been kind of weird so far. I heard that the last mission president ruled by fear with an iron fist. He strived for efficiency and ran the mission like a machine. President Showalter is pretty much the exact opposite. He is concerned with feelings and retention. Don*t get me wrong, both things are good but no one is scared of him. Missionaries think they can just slack off. It is kind of frustrating but I guess all you can do is do your best among the retards. Elder Rammell and I have been working really hard. We baptized a gal named Jessica. She*s 16 years old and she has a one year old daughter. Eesh. She*s really cool though and she*s been really receptive. We had also been trying to teach her family. They didn*t want to learn but they were very supportive of Jessica and came to her baptism. The baptism was so powerful and the Spirit was so strong that now her mom, sister and two brothers are getting baptized! It*s been so neat to teach them. It*s amazing how much of a difference the Spirit can make. It*s amazing to me, being out here, to see how important family is. I talk to poor and even poorer people all day long and the ones who rarely complain about their situation are those who have family surrounding them. I definitely took my family for granted before my mission but I*ll try never to do it again. Thanksgiving! This way cool family from second ward offered to feed us. We hung out and played with their kids until 3pm and then we ate. There was tons of food and it was scrumptious. I also had Mountain Dew. Delisioso! I*ve been thinking about how Valley View Ward was butchered and passed out like tasty little cocktail weenies. Valley View Ward was like a well-oiled machine so changes back home must be to open more and new opportunities to perfect the saints and build the kingdom. I*ve come to realize that when life seems to be spinning out of control, the best thing to do is rely on the Lord. He knows what will best help us grow and become more like Him. We*ll stay strong and build up Valley View again. We will again have our glory days! For the Motherward!! (Jeff, I miss ya man). Like Daniel says, my mind is like diamonds. *Elder Crandall*

From Elder Gary Chambers

Hola! I guess those in AZ are getting that cool weather right about now... ... yeah there is no change in weather here, unless it got hotter or something. I wasn't expecting anything cool though, so i guess i'm ok. It's a good thing i lived in arizona, now all i have to do is get used to having your shirt stick to your back all the time. Well nothing is EXTREMLY new here... we just got the rest of the latinos last week so testing our spanish on them has been... an experience. They usually understand us, it's when they try to talk back that there tends to be problems. Lots from the DR so their spanish is Rapido, love the challenge. We've been told not to teach them english, cause they want to learn it, and if it gets carried away, everyone will be speaking english with each other, and nobody learns spanish. Doesn't help any when the gringos hit the field. Solomente espanol... We just got back from our service project at the University! 45 minutes of trash-loving missionaries scoopin up junk... we had some people call us over to them, and they were asking us questions like... "why are you picking up trash??" and "who are you?" haha i stopped at first to think for a sec... i didn't know why we were doing it, so i just said "Porque no?" Haha i wish i know enough spanish to tell him more, but that seemed to suffice. We taught at that same university last Tuesday, and i realized something about this place... In America, if a complete stranger of a different faith came up to you and just started blabbering about his church at you, you'd probably just ignore him and find ways to get away. But we nearly always get people who actually listen and ask us questions (uh oh!) about our message, it's really cool... the people are way too nice, it seems unreal.. Well I love it here! wouldn't have it any other way, can't wait to pull a Jeffler and get out into the field, only 1 week left and i'm out of the CCM! Well i'm down to a minute now, so i guess i should wrap it up, I love you All and i hope that things continue to go smoothly for you! the Gospel is true and i love to teach more than i thought... (who knew?) Adios! Love, Elder Chambers

From Elder Scott Ball

Buon Giorno!Everything is going great here in Genova. We have such strong members in the ward. Funny thing is alot of them are return missionaries that speak English, they are Italians that served a mission. My English is getting very bad, its a symptom of every missionary here. I'm learning Italian really well, the key is to focus. I finally got sick of not understanding the people and just focus and prayed for the gift of tongues and it came. I am able to communicate and understand. Not communicate so well, but I do understand. I'm not really homesick.. it is nicer here than Arizona. I don't know what it is in Fahrenheit, but in Celsius it is about 10-15*. I just got the November newsletter because it was sent to my mission office, but that is cool. Wow, its so great to hear that Alex got back, it just seems like he left. Its kinda hard to get a written letter off sometimes, because it costs about 2 dollars here.. the euro is so much more than the dollar. I live in Genova with my companion and the zone leaders. Its a pretty pimp apartment. Well, I don't have a nice car or anything, but I have metro, bus, and my own feet. We don't have a dryer here, but the washing machine is really nice. We do have hot water! Anyways, I just wanted to wish everyone a Buon Natale! Merry Christmas for you English missionaries. Mike.. "Tu sei brutto"! il stesso a "You are ugly"! Ci vediamo fino un altro giorno!Scott

From Elder Brock Smith
Whats up M_town Crackers,How was everyone's Thanksgiving? I am Thankful to be out serving a mission right now,seeing the change in peoples lives is great rather they are coming out to church again and wanting to live better lives or having the gospel for the first time it is amazing to see the change take place. I pray everyone stays true to the church and what we have all been taught. The ways of this world don't bring happiness I have discovered it and found many investigators who have as well. Our Heavenly Father asks very little compared to the rewards that we receive. We are asked to go to church one day a week and the blessing we receive for tiring our best, well we get so much more than we can ever give. The other day I met an investigator who quit his job so that he could come to church with his family. He was the only support as far as a job went 7 children, and yet he had faith that the Lord would provide if he did his part. Soon after he found a higher paying job that gave him sundays off. It was so amazing to see the power of this mans faith. I was reading an article by James E, Faust the one in the conference issues b4 he died I thought that was interesting that it was on the power to change our lives for the better, That is what we need to do is constantly change our lives to be more like the Savior. I know that I want to hear well done my good and faithful servant there is a mansion prepared for you and your family, you shall have everlasting glory, now that will be sweet. I know that I want to see My Dad . I know that this church is true, and if we simply follow the prophet we can live with Our heavenly Father and our families forever, now that will be Heaven. This Life is a test. And as My Mom says an open book test, we can get all the help we need. We need to prove to ourselves that we can be true at all times. WE ALL WANT A"s. Anything but the Celestial kingdom would be ---- well you know would not be where we want to be. I hope and pray that we will live the gospel more fully this next year starting with today. Let us all model our lives after the Savior. Have a very Merry Christmas and a very great new year.... Elder Brocky Smith

From Elder Kellan Brady
Hello to all...The other day I was thinking of all the many special places I have been able to serve in the Nevada Las Vegas Mission. I have been in the ghetto of ghettos(Christy Meadows, Civic center) The rural of rural(Elko,Wells,Wikeiup,Peach Springs)The cold of cold(Elko...on bike)The hot of hot two summers in a row in (Vegas)The Meth cap of the world(Golden Valley)The epitomy of 3rd world country (Supai), and of course now the rich of rich(Green Valley,Legacy area). I am so greatful that the Lord has trusted me to serve in such wierd, crazy, and yet such neat, and beautiful places. I have met soooo many differant,unique, and yet loving, and caring people. Well, I know that this is not even close to being my final testimony, because I still have so much to do. Yet I will say that my mission so far has been so full of memories that I cant even remember what it was like before my mission.There is no room to boast, but our Zone is on track to break the highest baptizing record in the history of the Zone. Green Valley has never broke over 15 baptisms. As of now we have 25 set, and actuals. We must thank the Lord for our many blessings. For I am on the winning team, as Julee says it best. Peace and Love! ELDER K.P.BRADY

From Elder Jeff Stoker

So I leave the MTC tommorrow. Anyways, as you can expect, things are way hectic for me right now. I just found out i was only allowed 44lbs total on the flight in Russia. If you go over you have to pay mega $ to get on, but oh well. I got to bring my make-up case, because we all know that this doesnt come natural. Anyways, This thanksgiving was AMAZING! Elder Holland came and spoke to us, and it was probably the best talk i have ever heard. The Food wasnt that bad too. I think that when i leave here, i am going to miss the food. It is great to be able to choose what you want, and how much you want of it. So the just replaced the Scale here, and i realized i have gained like 5-10 pounds! hah. I am such a Fatty. I am almost as fat as Daniel now. I have so much going through my head right now, i have no idea what to say. Ill just start spitting things out at random. Ill start by telling you all my favorite joke. How can you tell how old a Dinosaur is????? Go to its birthday party! hahah. Wow. I have been here at the MTC for way too long. And my Russian still sucks. I also found out that it is like -10 in Moscow right now. So I am probably just going to freeze to death. I cant wait to get there and get my shopka (the Fuzzy hat thingy) and my Courtka ( the gi-normous furry coat) I am going to try to get ones made out of Some exotic animal. I think that would be sweet. And i also want a whole bunch of Lenin things. I am so so so so excited to leave here though. It is a kinda of a love-hate relationship that i have with the MTC. I am sure most of you know what i am talking about. But i have to go now. I have a whole bunch of packing to do. Have a great month, and Stay out of trouble. I think President Hinckley ways it the best, "Dont do anything stupid." Well i hope to have some amazing experiences to share with you next month. I love you all (or at least most of you)! hah Love, Elder Stoker

From Elder Grant Huish

Hey everybody,Things are going good out here in Oregon. I*m basically in the smallest town ever, there isn*t even a grocery store, well there is but it is a grocery liquidator which basically means that it is expired food*.other than that it is freezing up here and it rains a whole lot as can be expected from Oregon*The people are way nice, but they are all already saved I guess*.sounds like things are going good for most of us which is good*.hope you are all enjoying whatever it is that you are up to*s later.Elder Huish GC

From Daniel Anderson

Hello Everyone! Nyob zoo kuv tsev neeg!
So it’s Thanksgiving already, it’s so crazy! It was probably one of the best days I have had at the MTC! We had a morning devotional and Jeffrey R. Holland was the speaker! He talked about how we are so blessed to be missionaries and how we need to give the Lord everything we have. He expressed how much he, the Prophet, the twelve apostles and the Lord love us. He also said how sad he was when his sons were gone at Thanksgiving for their missions and that our families would miss us! We had our feast at 12:30 which wasn’t near as good as Mom’s or Grandma’s. We had a fireside in the afternoon from the Director of Humanitarianism. It was crazy to see how much the church does around the world. Then that night we did a service project building 10,000 first aid kits. It’s hard to believe that I am halfway done here at the MTC. I got to talk to Jeff a lot on Sunday but it stinks because he leaves TOMORROW! Sunday night we had to say goodbye…again…it was exciting but kinda sad because I’m a lone wolf now. My companion, Elder Khamsa, (he’s learning Laotian) leaves on Wednesday December 5th. I will then be put with the other two missionaries who are learning Hmong, Elder Lee and Elder Jones. Yesterday was another all Hmong day and it was really hard, it’s so tough not getting frustrated with each other and it just sucked but it was good at the same time. There are 8 tones in Hmong and they are really hard to get, but reading out loud from the Phau ntawv Maumoos (Book of Mormon) really helps you learn and practice them. I think of all of you often and hope that everything is going well. Love, Elder Daniel Anderson

From Chase Judd

Hi.. I am still at my house just doing nothing. I start work tomorrow so that will keep me busy until I go on my mission. I hang out with my family all the time now they have become my best friends. So i wish you all a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love, Chase


Thursday, November 1, 2007

November News



Elder Max Crandall Washington, Everett Mission September 2007 - 2009




Elder Max Crandall


Hola! Bienvenido a la carte de Elder Crandall! I'm basically chillin like a polar bear. It's about 50 to 60 degrees here during the day. We*ve been working extremely hard which, I guess, is the point of missionary work. Every day we tract for about an hour and then we spend the rest of our day with appointments. We drive a sick 2004 tan Corolla. It's the illest to say the least. Members feed us every night. They have a calendar and sign up but recently they lost the calendar. We were bitter toward the Relief Society for a while they didn't even Relief, but we told the Carreon's about our situation and Sister Carreon cried. The Carreon's don't speak much English but own a awesome Mexican restaurant in town. They told us to come to La Casita anytime we want and eat for free! It's dang good and I'm gaining weight and, yes, I know I'm incredibly blessed! There is so much work to be done, all we have to do is ask the Lord to help us recognize it. I love you guys.

Elder Crandall



From Elder Mike Kleinman



Hey everyone!Everything is going great here in Cordoba, Argentina still. I have a new companion now named Elder Wilkins from Payson, UT. Hes a great guy and a total movie freak so we get along just fine. He ends his mission in two months though so hes what we call a little "trunky." But still, the work is going great down here and I love it more everyday. Although it is now humid like no other down here now, and it really takes a toll on you afterr a while hah. I also forgot to tell you that I can cook like a total champ now! I can make the best beef steak and ravioli you've ever tasted! This mission is wonderful and I'm extremely grateful to be able to serve my Lord here in San Fran. I would also like to give my salutations to Former Elder Alex Clark by saying: "Tu es muerte?" Wow. That really hurt saying that now, its just so wrong! Anyway, I'm also really glad to hear that Jimmy got his call to NY, NY. I know that is going to be awesome. Well, I hope all is going well with you guys! Sorry I haven't really written any letters to you all individually, they keep you pretty busy here, even on your Pdays. But I'll try to be better! Remember to always put your trust in the Lord and "...He shall direct thy paths." (Prov. 3:6)
*Cia*!Elder Kleinman



From Elder Grant Huish



Hey everybody,I*ve seen a whole lot of you up here at the MTC. It*s been pretty cool though not the most exciting time in my life. I can*t wait to get out in the field. I already got my flight plans so that*s pretty exciting. I leave here on the 7th of November. The best thing to do at the MTC is go to the RC. You*ll find out what that is when you get here, if you don*t already know. Well my friends good luck to you all. Have fun with whatever you are up to right now.

Elder Grant Huish

From Elder Jeff Stoker


Dear Elders, So I am still here at the good old MTC. Trying to study hard, because I know that in less than a month I will be thrown into Russia. But things are going pretty good here. Most if not all of you know what it is like here, and I really don*t have anything new to tell you about it. Except the fact that Dan Gary and Grant are now here with me. But anyways, things are going good here, and I can*t wait to get into the field. So it seems like all the exciting stuff is going on back home. VALLEY VIEW IS SPLIT! I am sure all of you know this, but I just wanted to let you all know that I am glad to be on a mission right now. Hah. But anyways, I just read a letter from home that was pretty exciting. My sister Teresa had Beck Stoker on Last Thursday, so I am so excited about that. And also My Sister-in-law Amber is expecting a kid now, and she is about 2 months along. How crazy is that. And to top all of that off Annie L backed up into the Honda FKR! Ha-ha (Annie if you read this, I love you! hah) so that is pretty much all that is going on with me. I wish that I could say that next newsletter I send will be exciting, but I'll still be here in the MTC until the 28th of November. And I think next month I will have to tell you some funny words in Russian. Like the one Garrett showed me before I got here about the word "choir". And if you don*t understand it, don*t worry next letter it will make sense. But I got to go run and do my laundry. (I never thought that would ever come out of my mouth)! Love you all, and I look forward to reading what*s been going on with all of you. Thank you! Have a great month. Love, Elder Stoker


From Elder Garrett Jones


Well I hope all is well at home, it has been another month full of a lot of hard work. I want to tell you something that happened a couple of days before my first transfer meeting a couple of weeks ago. I absolutely loved my first companion, but the thing was he didn't really teach me a whole lot about being a missionary. We just went out and worked and I tried to pick up what I could as we went along. So when I found out I was going to be getting a new companion, I started praying for one who could really teach me how to teach well, how to contact well, and how to be a better missionary. Wow was I blessed! Elder Castellanos (fluent in Spanish, and from Lindsay & Southern, in Mesa!) has taught me more in the last couple weeks than I think I learned in my entire first cycle. I am pretty sure I have learned how to do better in about every thing we do. When we go out we normally try to street contact for a full hour, then tract for a full hour, and then go on to our appointments for the night in between which we street contact. I am starting to get pretty confident during street contacting in my Spanish, even though some of the time I don't understand what they are saying back to me. I just pretend to understand everything, try to answer basically what I think they said, and then go on with teaching them about the Restored Gospel. It*s pretty glorious really. Well, I want you all to know how much I love and miss you. Love, Elder Jones


From Elder Logan Wells


Things were good this past month. Many things happened. Time is flying by so fast, I hit my 3 1/2 month mark, insane. I really cannot believe it. Oh as for the praying I have never prayed so hard in my life and felt so close to my savior.I finally got to drive a car. Can you believe I haven*t driven in over 3 months? It felt so good to drive. I went on a trade off where I went to another area and I was with Elder Opurto, who is from Aruba. He doesn*t have a drivers license, so could not drive. My license is still good, it was so great to drive again. I loved it. Well all is well and things are starting to work out and I am so happy to share this message with the people of Puerto Rico they definitely need it. Last week I went on a trade off with our Zone Leader, Elder Powers. Well they are on a island called Vieques, it took about 1 * hours to get there by boat. I gave my first blessing in Spanish, it was awesome to feel the spirit guide me as I gave it. We had lots of visits to do, and did many things for the members there. After we were done we went to the church building, let me tell you there were HUGE spiders on the wall. They scared me, I wanted to scream and run, and it was so funny because I did exactly that* I screamed and ran. But it was fun. I love hearing from everyone, it makes me not miss home so much. Hey, Chase..when we going to hear from you? Until next month. Peace, Elder Wells


From Elder Scott Ball


Everything is going great here in Italy! I'm serving in Genoa in my first city and the people are so nice here. Its right by the ocean, so we get that nice wind here. American food stinks compared to Italian food. The pizza is sooo good here. Anyways, I have to write my mission president right now, just letting everyone know that I got here safe. Oh, for everyone in the MTC, try to speak your language as much as you can, because I kinda regret not speaking more. I understand everything they say, but I can't properly comunicate back. Anyways, I'm sure it will get easier, I've only been here 6 days. Arividerci, Anziano Ball


From Elder Gary Chambers

Hola Elder y Hermanos!I am feeling pretty awesome here at the Provo MTC. I am sure you all know what I mean...unless of course you don't. Esta bien...So the spanish is pretty much my first language now except for not really. I am pickin up on it pretty fast though, and my companion really helps me speak it (he's a better speaker of spanish than I am..) It's pretty awesome here and I love it! Some news however... I previously assumed I'd be spending all 8 weeks here in the Provo MTC, but my assumptions were wrong. I am going to be shipped to the Dominican Republic CCM on Nov. 1st, and get my remaining training there. How crazy is that? I have seen everyone here at the MTC. I saw Jeff soon after I got here and have seen him repeadly afterwards... We love each other... Don't we Jeff? I saw Grant the day he got here, I have also saw Daniel, so now I have seen them all and can rest in peace. Scotty Ball left me last week, and didn't even say "Good-Bye. This brought me to tears. Oh wait... One more thing before I go, OK, so yesterday was P-Day for me and I learned a lil trick about e-mailing, you're typical "everyone was doing it" situation that I unfortunately decided to take part in. Well lo and behold, my first time doing it, and I get caught by "Big Brother", and he warns me not abuse the program or else I'd lose emailing privileges. Yeah, I'm the only one who got caught, and I am terrified that they were going to make a example of me. Well I was lucky enough to get off with a warning, but the moral of the story is ... DON'T DO ANYTHING YOU WOULDN'T NORMALLY DO! or as Pres. Hinckley puts it... "Don't do anyting stupid!", Ha Ha I love that guy.... Well until next time, Adios.

Sincerely, Elder Chambers



From Elder Brock Smith



What up my Crackas! Pretty crazy the stake split and all that jazz went but it don't really matter for us really. Its awesome to hear all the MTC stories from you guys brings back some sweet memories. I can't believe that its coming up on being one year ago time flies boys so take advantage of it from the beginning and don*t take 7 and a half months to start giving it your all like I did go out there and give em He... aven. What a great work this is it cool to be out in the mission field right now the work is booming and so many are being brought to a knowledge of the truth its amazing how the Lords Hand is truly involved in this work. This week I gained an even stronger testimony that the Lord watches out for us as my hand got slammed by a heavy farm gate that just one month age broke a farmers leg in three places and he*s not expected to ever recover if we are doing the Lord will protect us even from are own stupidity. Also I don*t know how often you get to go to the Temple but since I've been off island I haven*t been since April and next week we get to go I*m so excited I've never been so excited to go to the temple the Lord is teaching me to not take advantage of the Temple being so close and I promise that I never will. It sounds like Max has a sweet comp as well as Garret and all are having a good time. Mike gets to eat what he wants and not gain a pound while I*m trying as hard as I can to lose any weight. But things are going good here looking forward to hearing from you all. By the way Elder Scotts scripture about the food at the MTC was perfect so anyone who is still waiting to enter get ready. And man Elder Stoker if you think that Provo is cold man Russia will kill you at least that*s what one of are Russian investigators tells us so have fun. I love you all and hearing about all your greenie excitement keeps me going keep it coming.! Peace and May the Force Be with You always! Elder Brocky Smith



From Elder Daniel Anderson



Hey everyone! So I'm finally in the mission field as some of you already know,It is so awesome to finally be in the MTC! On my first day I went in with Grant and I have seen him more than anyone else but I saw Scott but I think he left this past week. My first day I had two companions and we are the ONLY 3 SPEAKING HMONG!! Unfortunately after I got to know my companions a little bit they gave me a new companion*his name is Elder Khamsa and he is the only missionary learning Laosian in the MTC so he is all alone*and what do you know they put me with him haha! He is so funny and is a really great guy, I like him a lot. He has been here for 6 weeks already so he is showing me the ropes. Since we don't speak the same language we don*t really understand each other when we pray but we can feel the spirit, and most of the day I am on exchanges with the other two companions that speak Hmong. So pretty much I have two companionships. The first night I ran into Jeff ,it was so exciting,I was practically running to give him a BIG HUG! It was good to see him and, Becky, I gave him another hug just for you haha! It is amazing to see how the Lord has blessed me with learning the language; it is coming so fast!! I can already pray and bear my testimony in Hmong. It's pretty tough to get used to but I love it here. My teachers are great and I really like my district. Oh yeah, Chase, I ran into Patrick the other day and it was really good to see him. We talked for awhile but I haven*t seen him since. The first night in the MTC they asked who could play the piano and about 12 of us raised our hands but for some reason they keep asking me to play the special musical numbers and I had to play in priesthood last Sunday. I hope everything is going well in Mesa. I heard that they split our stake and completely shredded our ward into three different pieces,that is really sad but its okay, it will change again soon. Until next time I hope you all are doing well. I miss you and love you all! Elder Anderson (My MTC Hmong name is Elder Tub Keej which means talented boy or smart boy or skilled boy, whichever you like the most)



From Alex Clark (just returned from Panama, Panama City Mission)


Hey ya all!
Hope all goes well! I have been home a little more than a week and it's really scary. We just had a ward splitting and stuff. So when I spoke I had to speak two times. I didn't recognize most of the people. It is nice to be home for some nice things like carpet, hot water with pressure, and home cooked meals, but nothing can take place of that wonderful feeling of preaching the gospel. It is nice to be home but like I said, it was wonderful to be preaching. I will share a few sayings that I really like the first goes as follows: "you can count the seeds in an apple but you can*t count the apples in a seed." as missionaries we prepare the field, plant seeds, and harvest the fruit. We don*t decide what part we do. But we need to remember that we don*t know where they will grow. So we need to plant as many seeds as we can whenever and where ever. The second saying is as follows: "you have two years to do it, and an eternity to think about it. Be obedient!" Well that one is pretty self explanatory. Obedience is key to a missionary's success. And one of my favorite chapters of preach my gospel talks about giving an accounting before the lord of all of the opportunities he has given us. That scares me still. Well take advantage of the short time you have in the mission field. Learn as much as possible and talk with everyone. Be safe, be happy, and remember to avoid the food that talks back. Alex the Clark signing in and then out.




FROM Lorin Hendricks

Hi, This is Lorin, reporting in from BYU. I have been having all sorts of fun up here (and I mean all sorts). Midterms are fun (hahaha). I had two on Tuesday alone. I can also honestly say that I AM SICK AND TIRED OF READING TEXTBOOKS! I can't really complain though, I have been having some fun and I get to do a lot of stuff in my classes other that study. I got to visit the campus machine shop then make some stuff on the lathe and milling machine.In my bio class I got trained to take blood pressure (among other things) and I then got a field trip to St. George and volunteer at the senior games there. I took allot of people's blood pressure and even though it sounds boring I had a lot of fun.Even with all the tests I have been taking I have been doing pretty well. I have managed to somehow keep my average test scores above the B range into the B+ and A- range. On a sad note, my computer died a month ago and is being repaired right now and so I am using the library's computers to write this and every thing else. It wouldn't be so bad, but I have an 8 page paper due in two weeks. As you can imagine I will clock a lot of hours in the library. I would write about the awesome stuff in Provo, but without a car I have left campus twice in the last two months.I have to say that I am really enjoying BYU. Everyone is very nice,and (besides the high marriage rate the class schedule) everything is so laid back. I the one thing I wish I could change am that there are four things to do here. Eat, sleep, study and socialize. There is time for two, maybe three. To do anything else requires taking time off of the rest. With classes the way they are I end up not eating, sleeping, or socializing very much. I would write more but it is almost midnight and they kick us out of the library at midnight and I still have a lot of studying to go if I want to go to sleep tonight. See you all late (possibly this Christmas, unless you are on a mission in which case I won't see you for a long time) Lorin (I just realized that I might not see all of you because I am now in the Avalon ward when I get back to Mesa. in which case we will have to keep using the newsletter)


From Chase Judd
Well Ihave decided to join a group of pirates since all of my friends are gone so sorry Ihave not been writing. I have learned many great things since being alone for over 3 weeks now, such as, mastering the art of Halo 3, becoming best friends with my Broher, and destroying everyone at Rook. I know these may seem kind of odd but its my life now and im getting used to it. I start my mission papers this sunday so I am very excited about that. Well its a saturday night and i didn't get to carve a pumpkin on halloween so im going to go do that now i love and miss you all! GG GB.