New York, New York North Mission
July 2007 - 2009
Well well, I'm with you Mike, I can't believe this is already around to me again. So, things here in the Bronx are going really well for us. Elder Steele(who was in the MTC with me and who is one of my good buddies here on themission) and I are having a blast working in one of my favorite areas of the mission. The Lord has truly been blessing us with people to visit and teach and we are having a bunch of fun doing so. Our members are especially amazing since I think we have some of the best cooks from every hispanic country you can think of. I'm loving the Papusa's, the Mangu, the Ceviche, the Arepa's, the Mole, and of course lots and lots of rice, beans, and tortillas. Some of you spanish speaking guys might know what I mean when I say that hispanics make the best food hands down. I'm actually going to need to start cutting back, denying people food (I hope no old Dominican lady kills me for denying her Bandera), and getting more cardio excercise in or you all might get to see a fatty Jones.Anyways I'm loving life as a missionary of the one true church on the face of the planet. The work really is going well and we're seeing miracles as we put forth our effort all throughout the day and pray for the Lord to put people in our path. Right now we're working with a young, sweet Mexican family that love us coming over and love what we teach them. They're feasting on the Book of Mormon (scripture pun intended) and know that they want what's best for their daughter. The only problem is he works on Sundays which has been the killer for them. I hope you all don't have to deal with that as much as we do here in NY because trying to figure out how you can help solid people that have to work on Sundays progress is enough to make you start crying during weekly planning and your nightly prayers. Anyways I guess you just keep going right? Anyways things are good for us. I'm still waiting to be able to train somebody and get my posterity going, I'm so jelous every time I hear about one of you getting to train cause its the only thing I've wanted to do my whole mission and I haven't done it yet. Anyways I hope you all have fun and keep working hard. Time justkeeps going faster and faster and I hope we can all make good use of it while its here. Till next month, GarrettElder Jeff Stoker
Howdy fellas,
I guess ill start off by giving a quick update. I am still in the same city, Saratov (which makes 11 months), and i am loving it. I seem to know about everyone in the city now. Things are going great here. Freezing, but great. We get to experience the great sensation of nose hairs and eye lashes freezing when we walk outside. Looking back at this last month has been crazy. It seems like yesterday we celebrated New Years (Sleeping=best celebration). Some events stick out in my mind, and i would like to share some with you. The other day i talked with a man, and he told us very good news. He informed us that he had killed satan and 70% of the dark powers. He also added if we join him, then we should be able to eliminate the last 30%. Great news huh? Anyways, i was able to go on a weird exchange this month too. I spent a week in Samara with the Zone Leaders. It was wierd being in such a large city that i didnt know. The day i returned, i had to jump on a train headed to Kazakhstan to renew my visa. We got stopped at the border, and he went through my bag. He even flipped through the scriptures. The guard made it all the way to Alma before he gave up and let us go. We decided that it would be really wierd to run into 4 american teens dress up in formal clothes trying to cross into kazakhstan. Oh well, the trip was a success and i made it back with a new visa. The work is going great. It seems like we get blessed way more than we deserve. I am grateful to be able to serve the Lord. I love you all, and thank you for your examples. Big thanks to all the Mom's out there who support us, We all appreciate it. Well, i gotta get ready for another new month. Shall we not go on in such great a cause? Have a great month!
Elder Jeffery Stoker
I guess ill start off by giving a quick update. I am still in the same city, Saratov (which makes 11 months), and i am loving it. I seem to know about everyone in the city now. Things are going great here. Freezing, but great. We get to experience the great sensation of nose hairs and eye lashes freezing when we walk outside. Looking back at this last month has been crazy. It seems like yesterday we celebrated New Years (Sleeping=best celebration). Some events stick out in my mind, and i would like to share some with you. The other day i talked with a man, and he told us very good news. He informed us that he had killed satan and 70% of the dark powers. He also added if we join him, then we should be able to eliminate the last 30%. Great news huh? Anyways, i was able to go on a weird exchange this month too. I spent a week in Samara with the Zone Leaders. It was wierd being in such a large city that i didnt know. The day i returned, i had to jump on a train headed to Kazakhstan to renew my visa. We got stopped at the border, and he went through my bag. He even flipped through the scriptures. The guard made it all the way to Alma before he gave up and let us go. We decided that it would be really wierd to run into 4 american teens dress up in formal clothes trying to cross into kazakhstan. Oh well, the trip was a success and i made it back with a new visa. The work is going great. It seems like we get blessed way more than we deserve. I am grateful to be able to serve the Lord. I love you all, and thank you for your examples. Big thanks to all the Mom's out there who support us, We all appreciate it. Well, i gotta get ready for another new month. Shall we not go on in such great a cause? Have a great month!
Elder Jeffery Stoker
Elder Grant Huish
Hey everybody,
Well, it's P-day again. It is weird to think how fast every weeks seems to go by. Things have been going really well up here lately. We saw a little snow the other day but for the most part it has just been very cold and dry. The work is moving along quite nicely. We have set 2 baptismal dates in the last 2 days. One of them is a girl, Libby, who is super excited about the gospel. The other is a girl, named Kristina, who we have met with a lot in the past and now that her friend is getting baptized she wants to. We are going to have to make sure she is serious about this before she gets baptized. We have also been teaching quite a few lessons lately, which is always fun; It sure beats tracting. We are seeing a lot of success which is no doubt due to the Lords help. We are kind of having people fall into our laps. I almost feel like I'm one of those lame missionaries who serves in South America. Just kidding, but stateside missionaries are the best. I'm sure you can all agree with that. Love, Elder Grant Huish
Well, it's P-day again. It is weird to think how fast every weeks seems to go by. Things have been going really well up here lately. We saw a little snow the other day but for the most part it has just been very cold and dry. The work is moving along quite nicely. We have set 2 baptismal dates in the last 2 days. One of them is a girl, Libby, who is super excited about the gospel. The other is a girl, named Kristina, who we have met with a lot in the past and now that her friend is getting baptized she wants to. We are going to have to make sure she is serious about this before she gets baptized. We have also been teaching quite a few lessons lately, which is always fun; It sure beats tracting. We are seeing a lot of success which is no doubt due to the Lords help. We are kind of having people fall into our laps. I almost feel like I'm one of those lame missionaries who serves in South America. Just kidding, but stateside missionaries are the best. I'm sure you can all agree with that. Love, Elder Grant Huish
Elder Jimmy Miller
Hey Fellas!! Its been such a good start to the year. Besides the fact that I'm freezing to death. This past month it's been a little difficult to find people. Seeing as it was winter break for all the Universities and we're in the singles ward. Not even our members have been here. The day after Christmas we had to combine with the family ward and ended up with only like 3 people from our ward. Anyway, so it was a little rough for a bit but miracles happen. Sunday during church i was kind of bummed because and investigator we invited didn't come. So it was sad all of church. Then as we were walking out of Elders quorum a brother from the ward came up to us and said 'hey there's someone who wants to meet you.' He introduced to this guy who had walked in at the end of church and wanted to be taught what we believe in. It was amazing! We sat down with him and quickly found out he was in our area and age group! We had an awesome lesson and commited him to baptism right then and he accepted! We met with him again last night and he told us he was amazed himself that he was so calm in our lesson because normally is very angry and aggressive when he talks about religion. The Lord really has answered our prayers! Last week I was transfered to Kingsbridge in the Bronx. I am still a DL although now only Elders no more Sisters. Oh and I serving with ZL Elder Jones! He's the man. It will be a awesome cycle. Thanks to all of you for you you're nifty stories. Until next time. Live Happy. Live Well. LiveStrong. LOVE, ELDER MILLER
Elder Gary Chambers
Hey, Its that time again! Congrats to Elder Jonesie, I love you man... Baptize those Dominicans that I can't reach! Well, this month is quite the countdown month, not only for Mr. Elder Brock Smith, but also for my comp who is going home the 4th of February. Don't worry, hasn't had the smallest effect on me, it was the phone call home for Christmas that made me trunkie. Other then that all is the same over here. I am just now slowly learning how to work well with my comp... its just too bad it took all this time to figure it out. If I had to give a small bit of advice to anyone who has or will have a companion that they find hard to get along with... this would be it, "DO NOT let the little things he does that bother you blind you from seeing the good things he does. The faster you can figure out how to find and enjoy the good things that your comp can offer, the better of a companionship you will have and the better of a missionary you will be." I know that's pretty cliche advice, but it was a hard lesson learned for me. I love you Elders (that means "Guys" in Mormon) and hope that this newsletter finds you working harder than ever... there's not much time left. I know this Church is true and that we are blessed to be apart of it... also Air Conditioning is a blessing. K love you bye.
Love, Elder Chambers
Love, Elder Chambers
Anziano Scott Ball
Ciao missionaries friends,
I'm still in Modena. It is raining alot since there is this hurricane by Spain and France. The last week it has been cold, but slowly slowly it is warming up. I'm still in bike and I just learned yesterday that I'm getting a new companion from Tucson, Arizona. I'm happy that I'm able to get someone else than those utards. Modena is a blessed city and I'm glad to be here. We are going to set up some baptismal dates with a few investigators this week. It will be good practice for this new kid that I'm getting. I'm feeling sad that time is flying so fast. I was counting how many transfers I had a few days ago and I scared myself. I don't have much to say other than that. I love you guys and I'm glad that we can see success even in Italy.
Anziano Ball
I'm still in Modena. It is raining alot since there is this hurricane by Spain and France. The last week it has been cold, but slowly slowly it is warming up. I'm still in bike and I just learned yesterday that I'm getting a new companion from Tucson, Arizona. I'm happy that I'm able to get someone else than those utards. Modena is a blessed city and I'm glad to be here. We are going to set up some baptismal dates with a few investigators this week. It will be good practice for this new kid that I'm getting. I'm feeling sad that time is flying so fast. I was counting how many transfers I had a few days ago and I scared myself. I don't have much to say other than that. I love you guys and I'm glad that we can see success even in Italy.
Anziano Ball
Elder Max Crandall
Hola Brethren – And so it goes. I’ve been transferred again. My mom says it’s kind of like “Where’s Waldo.” I guess I’ve been called worse things. I’m now serving as a zone leader in the Redland zone. It covers all of Redmond and Kirkland. I’m in a three-pack with two other zone leaders, Elder Hughes and Elder Flake. I’ve never served here before and it’s basically Richie Rich meets Bill Gates down here. We live in a way nice apartment here in Kirkland. Very hosh posh. However, it’s basically built for two people. I have zero room and I don’t have a bed. So I’ve been sleeping on the couch. What’s hilarious is that I’ve been dragging it into the bedroom every night and then dragging it out into the living room every morning. Maybe it’ll help me work off the ol’ lbs. We have a pretty good zone, complete with a lot of my pals. It’s weird being in a three-pack. It’s kind of nice because we can lend one of us out for exchanges and still work in our area, but it is all pretty nuts. We’re having a blast and trying really hard to get the work going in our area. Hughes and Flake baptized a lot of their teaching pool last transfer so we’ve got to find new people to teach. It’s a little difficult down here with the prideful Microsoft rich employees. Rich folks think they don’t need God but I know we can do it. I hope Christmas and New Years were great for y’all. Christmas time is basically an excuse for everyone to say they’re too busy to listen to us. Our mission president asked us to write two letters; one on Christmas Eve and one on New Year’s Eve. The letters were supposed to be about Christ-like attributes we would like to develop and goals we would like to set and achieve. It was actually pretty cool. We’ve kind of been having a rough time getting our ****** to come to church. We’ve been trying to come up with ways to provide extra incentive to go. It’s kind of difficult because the Spanish ward meets about 20 miles away. Getting ****** to go up the street with you is difficult enough, let alone talking them into a 20 minute car ride. So with one family, we’ve been bribing them with dancing. Apparently this family loves nothing more than watching goofy white dudes in suits dance to Rihanna and other such crap. It’s been kind of fun though. We keep raising the stakes too. “If you come to all three hours today, we’ll dance for four songs AND we’ll bring two other missionaries to dance with us.” I think we need to raise the requirements though because only one of them came this last week and we were still obligated to dance for four songs with extra missionaries. It’s like making a deal with the devil; you’ve got to cover every angle and say things like, the WHOLE family needs to come to three hours of church if we’re gonna do the shimmy. Tricksy ******. In summation, I am doing well and I am very happy serving the Lord. It blows my mind that He’d allow me to do this. I know that He lives and that He is our Savior. I know Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that the church that was restored through him is led today by another prophet of God. I am so thankful to the Lord for the great abundance of blessings I have received. God’s speed gentlemen, God’s speed.
–Elder Crandall
Elder Brock Smith (Welcome Home, January 30th, 2009!)
Howzit my M_town peeps! Well Im a dead man walking Im kickin up the dasies as in on fri morning Ill be home and it seems very surreal I still cant grasp the fact that ill actually be home it kinda hit yesterday when my ward sung aloha oe to me but even I still cant fathom te fact that Im done it doesnt seem like that long ago that I got out here and now Im pau Hana. I really cant beleive so to all yall trust me the day that you finish will creep up on you like a thief in the night so do all you can and take advantage of every moment cuz soon youll be done and you dont want to have a list of things that you should have done in the yesterdays that have past and have no tomm to do anything its the best feeling to look back with no regrets knowing that you have served with all your might mind and strength. Well I love you all not much else to say I fell as if im in a dream world its really a crazy indescribable feeling I cant believe it it such a catch 22 type thing many tears of both joy and sadness will be shed by me this week so basically ill be balling like a baby. So know all yallgat work even harder cuz now I cant anymore you gotta suckerpunch satan and keep serving with all you heart might mind and strength Iesu Pu and May the force be with you always B Sexy B Smooth B Smith
Elder Dallas Rowley
Hey!
Doing well, verrry short on time but these are some words that will sum up my las few months; Progressing investigator with baptism date, miracles, bike, snow, ankle sprain, murder (don't worry, not me or my companion), study, awesome. I hope to have more detail next time so you can all see how awesome Ohio is! Stay safe and successful. Love Elder Rowley
Doing well, verrry short on time but these are some words that will sum up my las few months; Progressing investigator with baptism date, miracles, bike, snow, ankle sprain, murder (don't worry, not me or my companion), study, awesome. I hope to have more detail next time so you can all see how awesome Ohio is! Stay safe and successful. Love Elder Rowley
Elder Logan Wells
Well let me see Bretheren,
Alot has happened.. I am so excited to be a part of the work, this past week I have really began to realize what I can do on this mission, its lame that it has taken me this long but hey better late than never is what they say right? This past week we had our zone conference which was way awesome by the way. President gave us this little talk about paradigms it really struck me truthfully what he was talking about like they are some are good and some are bad. We missionaries really seem to have alot, well what it is all about is the fact that as missionaries there are alot of things that we do that we don't really know why we do them, we were taught that way and so we just do it that way and never really question why. Well one of the things that he talked to us about was setting dates well yeah he wants us to do it on the first lesson, well at firstI was like wait are you crazy? They have to come to church first they have to read the book of mormon, they have to pray and the list goes on. Well he explained to us that some cases yes but not all of them, they want us to do it on the first lesson. So as me and my companion really took it into heart what he was saying alot made sense and so we took the challenge and well in four days we set 8 baptsimal dates, which I have never done my entire mission. So yeah we did it, and really changed our attitudes and we told the Lord we were willing to do what it takes to truly find these people and that if he put them in our paths we would be his instruments. I realized alot of things I am not the greatest teacher and neither is my companion but when it came to it, I was able to say yeah I am not the best but make me what you can and I asked and I really had that desire and the Lord granted it unto me never have I seen so many prayers answered as I had this past week its so insane! Well now for the bad news, yes we are in transfers and so I got a call I am leaving, soI have to leave all that I have done and go on, its hard but that is the misison right? I am leaving my paradise of Tortola and going back to the island of Puerto Rico. The news, is that I ama moving Elder and so the big 15 passenger van is now my responsibility! I am not sure how this is going to work because I have to start driving it the moment I get back and that is gonna be a little interesting considering for the past 6 months I have been on the left side of the road... and now its back to the right side, not really sure how this is gonna all play out, but we shall see, the scary part is that I have to take our Mission President to places such as the airport and stuff like that. Well the Lord will have to help me for sure. The other day I was saying that I have kind of flown under the radar the whole mission to the senior couple here. Then the next thing bam moving Elder, bam District Leader, way to much for me, I fear that I will want my days of normalness back in about two days from now! The mission has taken a turn and there is no turning back! Well I love and miss you all! Love, Logan
Elder Mike Kleinman
Well, I got transferred finally! I am now in the most southern part of Cordoba city in a neighborhood called Libertador. Its a fairly small area. Unfortunately it is also the most dangerous haha! This should be fun! Anyway, all is well nothing has happened for a while here...I think. My new companion is named Elder Camacho from paraguay, but looks like a total american white guy heh. He is super new in the mission with only 3 months so itll be fun being with a greenie. Anyway, I hear that Brock is home now playing guitar hero with Daniel. Crazy guys, I'll be seeing you soon in 4 months. For the rest of my fellow Elders take care. Give it all you got, it's the only 2 years we have to give. I am loving it. chau chau
Elder Kleinman
Elder Blake Smith
Wow, this month went by really fast. Really, really fast. We worked hard this last week because it is Elder Macias last week in the mission. He leaves for home on Thursday. I got sick this week ran a high fever, but now I am back to 100%. I would rather be out working than here in our apartment. Yes there are sister missionaries in our mission and they are missionary machines. They really get things done. We will be having tranfers this week, I am pretty sure I will stay here in Bermejo, and will have a new comp. I have learned so much from having a native companion. We bore our testimonies in church and I wasn't stumbling over words like before. Having Elder Macias has been a huge blessing. On Saturday we had a baptism. We were filling up the font, and I said "esta aqua es para limpiar el pezcado. My companion looked at me funny. And then I realized I said "this water is for cleaning fish" I ment to say "esta aqua es para limpiar pecado" This water is for cleaning sin. Every one thought is was funny. I was able to baptize him, and it was a very nice experience. We have two more baptisms next week.
Every thing is great here and we love the work.
Elder Blake Smith
Elder Blake Smith
Elder Jordan Shill
hello family and friends!!wow, i cant believe i am in italy!!! it is so awesome, i love it here!! i am in verona, Italy!! how cool is that! what a week, what a week.... where to start... well i guess i'll start with getting stuck in frankfurt, that was no fun... we were there for like 7 or 8 hours because the flight crew went on strike until noon.... yeah they had a time schedule for their strike posted! i guess thats pretty common here, welcome to Europe! haha it was a long day, but we finally got there all safe and sound. we met president Dunaway and his wife, they are AMAZING, and went to the mission home in opera, where they continued to drag us around so we wouldn’t fall asleep with the jet lag haha we were SO tired! we met the assistants, went over some rules, ate dinner and went to the hotel, where i slept like a rock until our alarm went off... we got ready and went to the church where i got my new companion, Anziano Aillon (like eye-on) who is AMAZING! he’s so awesome, we have an awesome time together. so after that we got on the train to VERONA (the most beautiful city ever) and i dropped off my bags and went to work!! so yeah we have a bunch of investigators, and they are awesome!!! we have 2 baptismal dates later this month, and hopefully one early next month we'll have to see... i am absolutely LOVING verona, it is the most beautiful place ever!!! love the people, the buildings, everything is awesome!! We’re going to go take pictures later today of all the sites in Centro (central verona) which was built in like the 1500s, yeah its AWESOME! i feel so blessed to be a missionary right now.... we get the chance to testify of Jesus Christ every day, and bear witness that there is a prophet on the earth today. how amazing is that? i am so lucky to be here, it is helping me learn so much more than i ever thought it would. yeah, times get hard, but that just means something better is just around the corner. i love being a missionary!!the weekly study this week is in alma ch. 22.... this is about alma the younger and his conversion. this really made me think about how it can apply to us, how we need to be truly "converted" even though we are already members. i love this story...well, all is well in verona, the sun is out and its beautiful today! thank you for all your love and support, you all are amazing! have a great day, remember that heavenly father is there to help you always, with anything big or small...
arrivaderci!!
Anziano Jordan :)
