September News

Elder Dallas Rowley

Hey Everybody,
Wow, it has been a while since I've written in here. I've been here in Ohio for about 2 months. I love it here. The city I live in is called Gahanna. It's on the list of "Top 100 best places to live in the world". Which is nice. The people here are very nice and kind, but very dedicated to their religion, which is mostly catholic. But I'm in week 3 of my second transfer right now. I stayed, and one of the elders in our fourpad got transferred to Marblecliff. So now I'm in a threesome. My companion's names are Elder Linderman (trainer) and Elder Joy. We have been having alot of success as a threesome so far. We have 2 baptism dates, and 2 recent converts who are awesome. It's amazing to see the difference of investigators' ability to learn before and after they recieve the Holy Ghost. Their names are Brother and Sister Cox. Brother Cox was telling us a story last night about "back in the day" when he put a guy in the hospital for 2 weeks with one punch to the chest. He also does some really cool leather work. Right now, he is making me my very own customized billfold. He is preparing to recieve the Aaronic Priesthood in a couple weeks. They're good people. I have seen miracle after miracle here. There have been alot of health problems in the companionship, and I have been blessed to have the opportunity to exercize the Priesthood for healing them. I have a new, strong testimony of the priesthood. It's a very real power. Well, I don't write well under pressure, and I only have 3 minutes left of E-mail left, thanks alot, ugghh. I love you guys, Godspeed.

Elder Dallas Rowley

Elder Brock Smith

Whats up My town Bros,Time has sure been flyin by. Still here on Oahu, working hard. We are teaching a few new families, and working with some less actives as well. The islands are beautiful all this water, and rain is sure diff than what I am used too. I would stay here forever if it were not for My Mom and Sister, I would never want to leave this place. I cant believe I have less than 5 months left, I want the time to slow down....Logan I am grateful all is well with you,and wish you the best for the remained of your time.Daniel, I have been fasting and praying for you much bro. I pray Gods speed be with you, that you can have a speedy recovery, I know you did more than most of us the time you were out, you were Sr Comp so soon and DL all be fore you were even out 1 yr. That is amazing speed. You Are a giant in the gospel bro, your the bomb.. Love ya Man... Hang in there,I cant imagine how hard it is for you right now.. Just know you are one of My Heroes. I will keep praying for you,Hang in there bro.Work Hard, stay strong, and May the force be with you always..B. sexy,B. Smooth, B. Smith

Elder Mike Kleinman

¡¿Cómo andan misioneros?!It is really hard to write in english now, all I have had are latin comps except for my trainer. But thats great because now my spanish is tizzite. Sorry for not writing last month! Like any of you noticed :(Hah, jk jk. Anyway, things are really picking up here in Córdoba and the work is steadily moving foward, we have had some freak illnesses (as in the entire mission) lately but we have seen some really great blessings come from our sacrifices. I got a stomach worm and/or virus and lost a bunch of weight neato huh? I'll probably gain it back seeing as today we are going to a giant BBQ for Pday. oh well. It great to hear all of your stories in your various missions its really...enlightening(?) or sumthin. Anywho, I am really bad at ending letters like these so I'll give y'all a choice:A) I love you all!B) "Keep on Keepin' on" --Garrett JonesC) ¡Ciaó!D) Other:_______________
Elder Kleinman

Elder Chase Judd

I love Mexico, i love the people, and i hate the weather ah just kidding i feel bad for Jeffler in the freezing cold Weather haha you are punished for how many hours you played Halo hahaha just kidding i bet Russia is awesome! But transfers are here and i am going to the Jungle with monkeys and Witches yeah people keep telling me that there are a lot of witch craft there so we will see what happens i am excited! I hope everyone is doing well in there areas and not being lazy and doing the lords work! No sea flojo elder huish nah chiste! i love you all keep on doing what needs to be done for the lord so we can all see our baptisms after this life!
LOVE ELDER JUDD

Elder Jeff Stoker

Hey hey,
So i am pretty sure that all of August was a dream. It is crazy how many stressful things can happen during a month, and when you look back you cant even remember one of them. So i got transfered to another area in the same city i was in before, Saratov. I am glad that i am still here too. Saratov is known in our mission as the "ghetto", but i decided i love the ghettos. hah. Anyways, i went to Czech Republic this month, and it was amazing. I actually ate at Subway. It was soooo good. (dont say anything Gary...Remember our working days?) Anyways, it was a way fun trip, but we never had time to sleep, and it was for 48 hours of continuous travel. In my new area, the work is going crazy. I love being apart of it. It seems like for every bad thing that happens, 100 good things happen. sorry my letter is so random, but that is what happens when you have ADD. So i guess there is a war going on or something (i honestly dont know anything about it) with Georgia and Russia and USA took georgia's side. So needless to say, Russians arent very happy when we tell them we are from America. It is funny how many people have asked me about it, and why america is against russia, but i can honestly say i have no idea. I Heart Russia. It is crazy to think that everyone is approaching thier year marks. Wow you guys are old. Brock, you better get off your suitcase making airplane noises! hah jk. Alrighty, i honestly dont know what else to write. I think Max wins every newsletter with his entries. I think that there must be power in that typewriter. A Beer poster?!? Come on! hah. Thanks for everything that you guys have done, are doing, and will do.. Have a great Month.
Elder Jeff Stoker
ps. Everything is good with my stomach now. The doctor has some miracle pills. I think they only worked because they were made by the Soviet Union! Hammer and Sickle. hah i love that sign.

Anziano Scott Ball


Ciao to all the missionaries,
I'm still serving in Treviso, we just had transfers two weeks ago and the Lord is telling me that something else needs to be done here! Well, I'm glad that I stayed, because we received 4 referrals right before transfers and I wanted to contact them. We have contacted only one of them at this point and time because everyone is still on vacation. Everything closes here for the month of August and everyone goes to the beach.. so it is really hard to get anything done. Referrals are hard to find in this part of the work in contrast to the US. We had a great lesson with our referral. She actually went to Temple Square and was taken on a 2 hour tour and loved it. We gave her a Book of Mormon with the invite to read and pray and she said that she would call us when she has completed the book... but then I said "No! you need to read Moroni 10:3-5 and pray .. then you can call us, not after you have read the whole book." I'm impatient about those things. We are really excited that s he understands a ton and wants to read.
Other than that, our nice little italian branch is doing well. We have our 35 members and they are doing great. I've been dipping into the spanish language a little bit because we have a investigator that speaks half spanish/half italian.. so sometimes I try to respond back in spanish. Spanish has to be the easiest language to learn... it doesn't have complicated prepositions like italian.
I want a native companion sooo bad, but it is really improbable that I will get one.
I hope that everyone is doing well!
Anziano Ball

Elder Grant Huish

hey errrrbody.things here in oregon are great. especially now that i have a car. i am so happy that i wont be as nasty sweaty when i show up to an appointment anymore. the work is going well. my little greenie and i are staying together for another transfer. so i have an interesting story for you all. the other day while i was on exchanges i met the most friendly couple. we walked up and the husband was in the garage. he said ive dealt with you enough i dont want to deal with you anymore. to which we replied oh so youve talked to the missionaries before. he said yeah thanks to your church my daughter is living on the streets. they "facilitated her laziness" and now she lives on the street. then the wife walked out and said oh is the the jehovas witnesses. the husband replied no its the lds. she then said get off our property and never come back. we started to walk away and he yelled thanks for killing my daughter. my companion for the day mumbled "your welcome" under his breath. i started laughing. the husband then screamed its not funny and we walked away. aww the joys of tracting. well i hope are is well for you. i am just peachy. i wish you all the best of luck and oodles of success. oh by the way mike crismon lives in the same appartment as a kid serving from the ward im in. cool huh, yeah i found out when they sent him a picture of me and comp and mike was like hey thats grant.
love ya grant

Elder Daniel Anderson

Hello Everyone! So this last month has been Horrible. Its been good being able to see/ talk to all of your families but I hate being home. I miss the field so much, enjoy it while it lasts. I have absolutely nothing to do besides go to work for my Dad. I have no life at all. Mostly I hang out with Stephen and his friends or your siblings. The doctors still haven’t found anything and I’m getting ready to go to the Mayo clinic and we all hope that they will find something so I can get back out there. I HECKA miss ALL of you! I mean when your out in the field you have your moments but most of the time you are to busy to miss anyone but now that I’m home with nothing to do it SUCKS!! Keep up the good work!
Love ya, Daniel

Elder Gary Chambers


Well, I'm happy to announce that my old comp is gone... He packed his bags and his trunkie butt into that plane and flew home. Elder Yack is with me now, and it's a complete 180. We are working really hard and having a really great time while we're at it. The members here did a awesome job of accepting him in and also throwing us quite a few references... so we've been pretty busy to say the least... Navarrete is great :) Other then that it's been pretty regular... I know most of you have heard that a few storms and I guess maybe even a hurricane have passed over me... just so you know, I'm still alive (sorry to dissapoint). The damage, if any, happened in the southern portion of the Island, and I only saw a clouds and rain... not too much though, so we're ok here. It did a good job of cooling off our water source though, so the last few showers have been quite a rush. I'm working again, and couldn't be happier :) I hope you all are ok... Daniel, You're in my prayers home dawg! I hope everything goes well with you... If you ever feel like life is just too much... don't be afraid to pay a visit to "Happy Land" For a quick recharge on self esteem :) That's what I used to do... then I got shipped away from my Taco Bell, so life's been quite the challenge. I love you guys... Work Hard!... No regrets.
Love, Your Elder Chambers

Elder Jimmy Miller

For lack of time I'll just share a quick story. As a mission we have a goal for every companionship to baptize in September, so we've spent the last week pleading to find an investigator. We've been doing lots of street contacting because we have had no investigators. But yesterday that changed. We met with a guy named Terrance at Bryant Park by Times Square. We had the first lesson and he understood it and accepted a baptismal date for September 27th! Even crazier, this guy is one we met like my second day here in Manhattan. He was on our subway car, one of only 2 other people, and I talked to him. Last night he said that first night we really left an impression on him. When we started the lesson he was like, "just to let you know I've started going to another church so I don't think I'll be joining yours or anything." But the spirit changed that in a huge way. Fifteen minutes after we left he called us, but we were on the subway so he left a message. He said right after he spoke with us he talked to his Mom, and she wasn't happy. So he wasn't sure if he should continue. But I called him back and he agreed that he needs to do what God tells him. So he says if he knows it's true he'll still be baptized! I was scared for a second, but he's awesome and so ready. It's all dependent on his answer, which I know will come. Miracles are happening! Keep up the good work!! Daniel we're praying for you!
Love, Elder Miller

Elder Logan Wells
Greeting to All....Well let me see this month has been absolutely wonderful! I have been called to serve on an island called Tortola so that is crazy, its a British Virgin Island so I finally got a stamp on my passprt! I love it here so much I am now an english speaking missionary so that was a little bit weird getting used to, but I love it I finally don't have to struggle to get my point across. Everyone here is black which is cool by me, but there not like every other african there literally all like those people you see on cool runnings the movie. So that is sweet the people are so humble they love telling you stories and everything to them is like a story so its way cool,I absolutely love it here! I am literally serving in paradise I can look around and see that heavenly father loves the earth so much. When they told me I was leaving I was in complete shock because I was never expecting to leave Puerto Rico just because of my knee. I am so excited that I returned to my mission I would not trade it for the world. Daniel I love you man, I know how you feel it sucks, but just put a smile on and everything will be okay! I love you all and have a good month. Peace, Logan

Elder Garrett Jones

I can't believe I'm writing another of these. We're already in September. Crazy. Well August was great as usual here in NY and we have actually seen a lot of crazy stuff going on, especially recently. Just a couple highlights would have to be eating cow heart, calamari, and scallops (crazy Peruvians!); breaking the WoW for the first time ever (When I was on a split a less active member gave me a glass of what looked like juice but turned out to be iced tea, curses!); having to admonish and almost beg a missionary for a full hour to work and contact people (a RUSSIAN missionary, Jeff! This falls on your head as it is your people); we accidently locked our keys in the trunk (that was fun); the cops got called on us for my first time (they just asked us to leave the neighborhood); we even had the fire alarm go off at the church building as we walked by because of some little kink in the system and had the entire fire squad rush into the building to see what was going on. Yup, all kinds of good stuff going on here! On the more spiritual side of things it has been somewhat crazy as well. I have had a lot of those experiences lately when the spirit comes and powerfully tells you that you can do better, that you can teach more effectively, love the people more, be more obedient and therefore QUALIFY for more blessings. I'm sure you all know what I mean. One of the investigators that we've been working with for a long time and who has pulled a full 180 degree turn and got baptised which was awesome to see. When he first started coming to church Rudy would come with a bandana and a crooked hat on his head, baggy pants and a lot of times a scowl on his face. Now when he comes he has a white shirt and tie, hair combed and happy. Sweet. Last Saturday we decided to do some tracting and found an Indian Hindu who believes in Christ by some random turn of events who told us that the night before she had been praying to God for guidance and direction on what to do and she felt that we were her answer. Ya.The only problem is she is english speaking and so we had to refer her to the other Elders. But ya things are going really well for us right now. We're working with two families that have 5 baptismal age people in them that are solid so thats awesome. Mission life goes on and I love each and every day of it. The church is true and we have the privilege of testifying of that. I hope everything is well with you all, now get out and work! Love, Jones

Elder Blake Smith

What's up? Well all I have really been doing is getting ready to go on my mission. I have exactly two weeks!! I am so excited. I finally have all my clothes and almost everything I need for my mission. I have also been writing my talk. I am speaking on missionary work through service and being a good neighbor. I am kind of nervous but I know I can do it. So I enter the MTC on September 10th and I can't wait. I can't wait to get to Mendoza and start to teach the people about the restored church and the Plan of Salvation. I know this church is true and this work is important and must be done. And I am happy to be a part of it. The next news letter will be even better because I will be in the missionary field. Till next time. Blake Smith

Elder Max Crandall

The Fellas, The Fellas,
What’s up? Yeah, so I got transferred. I’m in Bellingham, WA! It’s beautiful up here. I thought Mt. Vernon was gorgeous…this place is magnificent! It’s so green everywhere you go. Consequently there are a ton of little gnats and bugs and things. It’s all good though ‘cause I’m not afraid of them…anymore. The only stink part is that my ex-companion, Elder *****, is now my current companion…AGAIN! It’s way weird that we’d be together for another go around, and it usually never happens. Once you have a comp and leave him, that’s usually it so I felt comfortable in my ******-freedom to make all the little jokes and jabs. Well, alright God, you win! I learned my lesson! I don’t think repenting is going to make my time with him go any faster but at any rate, it’ll all work out, right? Right? *weeping* But Elder Anderson, the missionary who lived here before me left a lot of ice cream. Just another tool to drown my sorrows. Don’t worry. I only cry in the shower. The upside is I’m now in a car area. At first, I was muy excited about this. Ecstatic, even. But I realized something; no bike = no exercise = lardy gordito boy. I think I’ll try running but I’ll probably only get to run up and down the parking lot. I still have to be in sight and hearing of my comp, and I have a feeling Elder ****** won’t want to run. Also, in my brand new adventure, I’ve been called to be a district leader. Luckily my district is way solid and there are a ton of great missionaries here. Although, my area kind of blows. Bad. We only have like one investigator. He’s a Spanish guy named Jose. His main hold up seems to be he doesn’t know who God is. He’s trying to make things more complicated than they are, but he says, “Do I pray to Jesus? Or Mary? Or God? Or the Father?” I wanted to tell him that I trade off every night between Jose Smith and the Virgin Mary, but I didn’t think that’d help. He’s reading the BofM and praying about it. He really likes the idea of having prophets again on the earth. Just makes sense, huh? Wish more people could see that. Anywho, this transfer couldn’t be as hard as last transfer. It was really tough. My last companion, Elder ****** was really struggling with feelings of wanting to go home and I did not have a lot of success helping him stick with his mission. I’m not totally convinced it’s for him anyway. Each day I had to play the motivational speaker and try to get him to work. I kept saying things like, “You’re always the happiest when you’re working the hardest,” and other such truths. He never seemed convinced and was more interested in what was playing at the movie theater. It was a really sad experience. He’s such a great kid and he was a hard li’l worker when he wanted to work, but if he didn’t feel like it, it’s was kind of like dragging a sack of taters. What it really boiled down to was Elder *****’s testimony. I told him if he had a beef with the BofM, Joseph Smith, Thomas Monson, or any other doctrine like that, he should stay out here and try to fix it. But Elder ***** told me that he didn’t really know if Jesus Christ is the Son of God, or that He died for us or if there even is a God. That’s pretty much the name of the game out here, so I don’t really know if this is the right place for him. He told me stories of when he was in Primary and he’d ask his teacher how we truly know if Christ lived or not. Do you wanna know what that teacher said back? “If you’re wondering about that, this probably isn’t the church for you.” Who says that?! Help the kid out, dufus! I was so ticked. Elder Richard Hinckley came and spoke to our mission. He talked to Elder ***** for a little bit about staying on his mission. He even let Elder ***** hold Gordon B. Hinckley’s watch! How pimp is that?! I was totally geekin’ out. Elder ***** flip flopped back and forth everyday between staying and going. We’ll have to see how it pans out. Well, on to the next big adventure. Until next time chaps. --Elder Crandaddy
p.s. Daniel, write me. I am your boon companion. The moon is red and I like ice cream and Balthier.