THE END

With 8 of these Elders off of their missions, and only a few left on missions. This wonderful blog and the newsletter "THE BEST 2 YEARS", is done. It was fun for me to do, it was great for these friends to keep in touch, and experience their best 2 years. Enjoy whatever comes in your future.... I know it will be great!

July 2009 News

Elder Gary Chambers
Dominican Repbulic Santiago Mission
October 2007 ~ 2009

Saludos from Puerto Plata... es decir... the beach! FINally... It was soo worth the wait. That's right, I finally got transferred out of good ol' Buenos Aires and now I'm in Puerto Plata with my new comp Elder McGregor who is going home next transfer. Unlike the other companions I've killed, Elder McGregor is a naturally hard worker and isn't going down without a fight, which is totally ok by me. We are working hard and seeing great progress in our small but growing teaching pool of investigators. I really like the pace of work and the hill covered area... it's helping me loose that extra chub I've been hangin on too. I need to start some kind of Spartan workout, but Jeff's workout plan still hasn't come throught the fax... hurry that up Jeff! I don't really have that much to say... just that I can't wait to hang out with all you guys again! It's too surreal... to think that the mission has not been my life since day one, that home is actually real, and not just a fond dream I once had... I still don't believe it, and I won't until I see it. Anyways, Have a great month of July, and if it happens to be your last month, make it count! Nobody wants to look back with regrets, and it just too easily happens if we don't honestly give it our all.Something a lil funny happened just last night... my comp and I made a quick colmado stop (it's like a small store... you know, gas station style stuff, but smaller) to get a lil something to drink. Well, we got a 7up that we split... usually you pay them after you eat or drink stuff or whatever... but sometimes you pay before... it doesn't really matter. Well, with no reason why, I decided that I was going to pay after... so we finished our drinks over a small conversation, then my comp said, "alright man, lets go." So we got up, and walked out. We were about half'-way down the street when I realized I never payed the guy. My comp started laughing at me as we walked back to the colmado where I walked to the counter a lil embarrassed and paid the guy. I felt stupid. It was funny.... laugh. haha just kidding. I love you guys... Elder Gary Chambers

Elder Jimmy Miller

Fellas!!!
Things are great here. Today we had a sweet zone water balloon fight in central park. everyone was jealous of how cool we are. we had a people stopping to watch us it was funny. the zone unity is spreading which was major goal! Monday we said our final goodbyes to President and Sister Searle. We had a surprise gathering of our whole mission, has only happened one other time since i've been here and that was when President Uchtdorf came. The Searle's were so grateful. We got to hear from them one last time and even got to give Sister Searle a hug! This friday we will meet our new president. i also said my final goodbyes to Elder Jones. So sad. i can't believe how time flies. i still remember him greeting me at my first transfer!! love you buddy!!! see you soon! all of you!! you'll all be home for christmas i hope. cuz i will!! one last quick story. yesterday we were in our apartment and heard a loud bang. but we didn't think much b/c its a ghetto area but then we heard screaming outside like a mob and ran to the window. a cop car had collided with another, spinning it 180 degrees and and then went onto the sidewalk hitting 3 pedestrians and stopping in the street where it knocked a fleeing mothers stroller over. with the baby inside. the baby was fine but all the drivers and peds were taken in ambulances. we got some crazy pics and when we left a new york times reporter took our report and my companion was quoted in the Times. it was crazy!!! anywho. love you all! don't get trunky. live happy. live well. live STRONG!
LOVE ELDER MILLER

Anziano Scott Ball

Hey fellow missionaries,
Everything is still going well here in Milano. We had a little bar-bi-que (sp?) in the parking lot of our church. It was pretty fun because we're in the middle of the city and there's a fence around the church. People were watching us from their balconies. This month, we will finally have a baptisms in this ward after a year and a half of none. We have 4 baptisms planned between us and the sisters. We're excited, but we still have to get the ward excited about them. Well, these are the last few weeks of my mission and it doesn't even feel like it. I get homesick when I read emails, but I know that when I leave Italy, I'll miss it. Sprinting to the finish.
Anziano Ball

Elder Blake Smith

Hey everyone, I hope everyones mission is going well. I am having the best time here in Argentina. I am still with my same companion Elder Alfonso from Paraguay. We have an awesome area and are working a ton. So in the past couple of weeks i really learned that obedience is important. In our mission we have something called OPEN THE MOUTHS, we have to talk with 140 people in the street everyweek. Before i never really saw the importance but at zone conference the president of the mission said tht if you are obedient to this one rule you will have more people to teach. So the past three weeks we have talked to 140 people everyweek. We found people to teach and a guy talked to us while we were waiting in the atm line and he is progressing really well. So i really learned that when we are obedient to every little thing. We will be blessed. I only have 14 more months in the mission. I want to work hard til the end. A lot of you are finishing. Keep working hard. I love all of you and you are all a great example to me. Keep working hard as missionaries. The blessings will come. Elder Smith

Elder Jeff Stoker

Its been a great month. Im looking forward to another one. It is hard to believe that some will be heading home within the month. FINISH STRONG. It is proving to be quite difficult. For the last three transfers i have been put with missionaries who go home at the end of the transfer. So for the last 4 months i've heard alot about "home" and the "real world". haha. Dont worry though, because i will finish strong. I am officially 21 years old. whenever my companion gets mad at me, i just tell him to step off, because im 21 and i do what i want! It acutally goes over really well. I also just found out about 5 mins ago, that i will be going on my last visa trip. They are sending me to Kiev, Ukraine. I will be the Experiement to see if it actually works. I am looking forward to it. Dont think its all fun and games for me! hah. My mission president has put us on a new schedule. It is called the Stripling Warrior Schedule. We must leave our apartment by 3pm and not go back until 9:30 pm. Thats right.....6 hours and 30 mins of contacting. I feel like a contacting machine. haha. I am so tired every single day. It is alright though, because we had an amazing meeting with President Ucthdorf and Elder Andersen on May 31. When i shook their hands, it felt like a surge of energy went though my arm. It was an amazing experience to talk with 2 of the 15 living prophets on the earth. I wont soon forget it. I am on my last transfer and i really want to step it up even more. I thank you all for your stories, experiences, and inspiration in my life. I love you all. Look forward to the Reunion. :]. Have a great month. Sprint to the Finish lineThey are sending me to Kiev, Ukraine. I will be the Experiement to see if it actually works. I am looking forward to it. Dont think its all fun and games for me! hah. My mission president has put us on a new schedule. It is called the Stripling Warrior Schedule. We must leave our apartment by 3pm and not go back until 9:30 pm. Till next month. Elder Jeff Stoker

Elder Garrett Jones

Hey everybody. Greetings once again from the great state of CT! Wow, Mikey will have been home for a while when everybody gets their newsletters won't he? Its amazing how fast time flys when you're having fun and serving others isn't it? Last Friday we had our Zone Conference which focused almost entirely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and our testimonies of it. Since then, I've been trying to study the Atonement to get a better understanding of it and I've really seen my teaching of that principle improve. Sunday morning after I had been studying it for pretty much the entire Personal Study I ended with a prayer, as usual, and asked for a stronger testimony of the Atonement. Not even two hours later at church we watched "To this End was I Born" about the Atonement during Priesthood meeting and the spirit hit me so strongly. It was a really powerful experience for me to, number one gain a stronger testimony of the most important thing I could ever teach, and, number two gain a stronger testimony that God answers prayers. It was amazing to me how quickly and powerfully he had answered me since I really wasn't expecting it to come like that. On Monday we were able to teach an investigator about those exact two principles, the Atonement and recieving specific answers to specific prayers and it was an amazing lesson which really helped her get over some doubts. The church is so true. Well, I want you all to know that I'm doing my very best to not get trunky and to endure to the end since I get to teach people about it almost every day. I'll probably be getting all your entries handed to me by Sister Wells so until then, keep on keepin on. I love you guys. Garrett

Elder Logan Wells

WEll it is time again, pretty insane,but great. WEll yeah life here in Puerto Rico is going really well, I am now comps with Jake Free from Mesa for those that know him, its a great experience to say the least, its way cool, he will be killing me. Yeah, its great though we are just enjoying the work and trying to work in a way that is most effective, which is always good, but there is not much going on, I am heading home in a few weeks and so that is the news, its cool a little strange and a little weird, it feels as if I was home yesterday well I kind of was but its all good, nonetheless. I am just trying right now to make up for the lost time or the time that I am going to miss when I am gone, its weird it never seems like you will be done, and I imagine reality will not hit until I am on the plane ride home, which will be a weird and depressing day for our mission, because there is about 28 of us that will be leaving and only 12 coming in, pretty crazy but we shall see or not see but its gonna be hard. My only advice just keep working and enjoy the road as you go, don't have regrets and just live it up while it lasts, because in the end it will end and it is crazy! Well I love and can't wait to see everyone, Max, Garrett and Mike it will be good, and Daniel I can't wait to see you, have a great month! Lots of love, Logan

Elder Max Crandall

Elders!!! Happy Father’s Day!!! Just thought I’d get that out of the way. So, up until a week ago I was serving in a threesome. I was moved to Marysville and put in a threesome until my new missionary was released from the swine flu prison that is the MTC. The threesome was great because it was me, Elder Ivory who has been my friend for about a year, and Elder Jones, my baby boy who I trained. We kind of hoped that my new missionary would actually get the swine flu so we could just keep serving together. Bwahahaha. We were at dinner one Sunday at a member’s home and Elder Jones had convinced the family to make “hash,” a Georgia food staple from “back home.” Elder Jones is a good ‘ole boy and I was surprised but the hash was dang good. Anyway, the family asked if we would like “man bibs.” I had no idea what they were talking about but I immediately said, “Totally yes!” It’s basically a dish towel sewn onto a bib. The family loved that we were totally diggin’ ‘em so she said we could have them if we promised to wear them to every member dinner from then on. Again, an immediate yes. I’m probably going to wear it to zone conference and when I speak in church at home. Pretty stoked. My new companion finally arrived last week. He was born in Venezuela but grew up in the states. He’s really a good teacher for being a new missionary but he kind of lacks certain people skills. He has a girlfriend that he talks about too much and at inappropriate times and he talks about himself and his life way too much but I’m sure he’ll figure it out and be great. I mean, he does have me for a trainer. When he arrived we had to move to a new apartment and a new ward. The work here isn’t great but we’ve gotten a few potentials this week and the Lord is smiling down upon my new missionary (aka greenie luck). So my new elder and I are back on bikes. I was prayin’ and prayin’ that we’d get a car. Ummm…we didn’t. So, I tried to locate my old bike which I lent to a missionary down in Redmond. I guess we could say he stole it because he won’t admit he has it. Annoying. So I spent about three days on the phone with our ward trying to borrow two bikes. We finally got someone to agree to lend us one. He brought over this scary old commuter bike straight from 1963. His big claim to fame? “Yeah Elders, it has all of its original parts.” Ok…this isn’t a car. Upgraded parts is a good thing. The seat was basically metal in the form of a seat with a thin leather cover. We rode promptly to WalMart and bought a memory foam seat cover. Ahhh. Lately, we’ve been hearing about everyone’s plans for the 4th of July. Apparently, Marysville is nicknamed, “BOOM City.” There is an Indian reservation here (complete with casino) that sells thousands of dollars worth of illegal fireworks the week before the 4th. Then on the 4th they have an all-day celebration called Boom City, which we hear makes it impossible to even get to bed that night. I’m pretty stoked. I mean it’s no Hannah Montana Stadium of Fire but a name like BOOM City most likely will not disappoint. So I guess this will be my last newsletter from the mission field. Weird. I’ll keep writing if you will. I love you guys. Again, Happy Father’s Day and buenas noches to y’all. –Elder Crandall

June 2009 NEWS

Elder Jeff Stoker

Russia, Samara Mission

August 2007 ~ 2009

So I found out.....absolutely nothing about my transfer. I will still be in Saratov, but I haven't found out who I will be with yet. I will be drifting around Saratov all this week. President Utchdorf and Elder Andersen will be coming to Samara on May 30, so on the 29th I will be taking a train to Samara and will get the chance to be at that meeting. Our entire mission is way excited. I am very happy because I am still in Saratov though this cycle. I guess Saratov just cant get rid of me. By the end of next week I should know who my companion is, and where I will be for sure. We also recieved news that 5 fresh American greenies will be arriving here this week. This is the first time I will see a greenie in aabout a year and a half. HURRAY! Ok, so i got a good story. As you all know, I have been working out every morning. You know...running, pull ups, push ups, etc. I guess it is finally paying off. Here is the evidence. Elder Beck and I were walking down the street and we saw a woman coming towards us. She was just staring at us the entire time. Unfortunately, as she was focusing on my muscles in action, she ran directly into a pole. It was really funny. We did our best to not laugh at that moment. We decided that it would be best if we eased up on our workouts...for the good of those around us. So that is my evidence. My comp and I are just walking distractions, because we are so ripped and muscular. It is either that, or we are really goofy looking...so I choose ripped and muscular. Ok, here is another story for you all. My comp and I found a purple cell phone on the ground. I love purple, so i snagged it. I decided to try and call the most recently called person, which happened to be a girl named "Super Mega Chick". We explained the situation to Super Mega Chick, and we agreed to meet somewhere and do the hand off. We waited for like 15 mins. Then this little 13 year old girl comes running up, asks for the phone, and runs off. I was shocked. It took me until Senior year to get a cell phone. Kids these days are spoiled! haha. It wasnt as magnificient as Max's cell phone story, but it will have to suffice. At church this last Sunday, the branch president asked me to get up and speak. Normally I would stress out and be upset, but suprisingly i accepted and was happy to speak. I am at an interesting stage in my mission. I feel like I am on top of my game, and not very much catches me off guard anymore. Hey, and it only took a couple of years! Well, that is all the time that I have for now. I love you all. Have a great month. Make sure you are all sprinting to the end!

Elder Stoker

Anziano Scott Ball

Hey missionaries, I'm doing good and still in Milano. My companionship was closed and now I have united with the other companionship. It was closed because we don't have enough missionaries to sustain so many companionships. My companion was transfered after only one transfer with me (I promise I'm not a mean companion). The work is doing good. Last week, we were kicked out of a building for ringing on doorbells inside. Well, we went in the building because a guy let us in and we started to ring doorbells inside. Some old ladies got scared and called the building manager. So, the building manager came and started yelling that we couldn't be inside and that we had to stand outside and speak into a speakerphone. Our president always tells us to get inside, so we always try our hardest to get inside and present ourselves in person. The building manager started yelling at us in Italian to "shooo"! (pretty much). I wasn't taking it and wanted to continue, so I said that she doesn't have to treat us like dogs. Then, she got more angry and threatened to call the police. The funny things is that the police do nothing because we are within the law and not breaking into peoples' houses. So, to calm her down, we decieded to leave and start another building. This is one of the many experiences of doing what we call "casa in casa" (house to house). Hope you guys are keeping on. I'm NOT getting trunky even though it is tempting. Big LOVES, Anziano Ball

Elder James (Jimmy) Michael Miller

Hey Brothers!Things are crazy here in the Big Apple. Things finished up pretty well in the Bronx. We had a baptism a couple weeks before i left and a couple more to follow in June. One in particular was really sweet. She went into the church/temple down in manhattan and asked to learn more about the church. turns out she lived in our area in the bronx so the sisters called us and she hasn't missed church since we met her and she studies the scriptures every day. She even had a dream in which an angel showed her some keys and told her to remember them because "they open the doors." Shs wasn't sure what it meant, so we taught her about priesthood keys. That's the first time i've taught an investigator that. She was amazing I was really sad to leave her and the others behind but duty calls. In fact duty called me and asked me to be a zone leader. so i'm now serving as a zone leader in South Manhattan. It's actually my old area only now i cover the family ward instead of the singles. So i already know the area which is nice. We live in a sweet apartment in the lower east side. we're high rollers. now it's back to street contacting non-stop. I'm excited though. I'll let you all know how it goes. time is short. i'll catch you all again soon! Live well. Live Happy. LIve STRONG. Love, Elder Miller

Elder Garrett Jones

Hey chaps.Greetings from the good 'ol Stamford Connecticut. Its still a little strange to me that I'm no longer serving in the great state of NY (I constantly talk to people about serving HERE in NY still) but I guess Connecticut is good as well. Actually to be honest I've really been enjoying my time here. After a long time of serving in city spanish wards that sadly don't have the strongest auxiliary programs its amazing to be here and to see the strength that this ward has. I'm sure ZL Elder Miller can relate since he served up here as well. Hiddy-Ho buddy! The first night I was here we had our correlation meeting and it was unbelievable how many members were there besides the Ward Mission Leader. Anyways things are good and I'm happy and healthy. I feel just like Abraham of old (and I guess Sarah as well despite my manly physique and all) as I've been blessed in my old age and have concieved! Thats right, I finally have been blessed with a son. We've been having a jolly good time together and have been teaching some cool people. The coolest people that we're teaching right now are a family of three women: Silvia (grandma), Adriana (mom), and Andrea (daughter) that were referred to us through a member friend of Silvia. They all came to church this past week and loved it so much that they came back for a young couple's meeting at around 5 o'clock the same day unbeknowest to us. At church there were a couple of confirmations and Silvia told her friend that as the bishop and Elders put their hands on the people's heads and began to pronounce the confirmation and blessing she felt an incredible feeling of peace and joy and she said that she knew that it was the power of god that filled the room. She said that she knew, because of how she had felt that the church is true. The coolest part of the whole thing is that Silvia, who is buddhist (incredible as she is the first hispanic to be so that I've ever taught), began to investigate the church because she wants her daughter and granddaughter to get some religion in their lives. Its amazing how true this church is and how the power of the God is manifest in the ordinances of the gospel. I love being a missionary. Its amazing how fast time has gone and I hope all of you will sprint to the finish and "leave it all on the field" as Elder Holland has taught. Besos, Garrett

Elder Logan Wells

Well my brethern things are becoming a reality way to soon, wellI am just here in Santurce which is a great area I am so glad that I am dying in this area. Well is great to think of all of the experiences and opportunities that have come to me thrugh being a missionary, well as I have been pondering exactly what I have learned and how I have grown and truly it boggles my mind. I really can't believe at how muchI have experienced, I would not change it for the world, that is for sure. So I heard that Maxi and I are going to be speaking the same Sunday, don't do too good, Max I do not want to look like a fool, haha! Well yeah its crazy, life in general is just moving too fast and I can't really believe it, not trying to get the whole cliche missionary thng going on, but time sure has flown,I am loving every minute of it at this point trying,trying not to get to trunky, as that is a common question around these parts as it is more than likely around everone else also. Well yeah its great to say nontheless, just enjoying life and ready to make somethings happen, for sure. I love and miss you all a ton, Congrats to our little Kleinman who will be home sooner than we know it, wow its great, haha ! Here is a funny story on our part over here, well me and my comp are just waiting for our investigator to come to the church we are just chilling and all just enjoying our selves when this lady starts yelling and is screaming policia policia and we are like oh great what is going on now, well me and my comp are sitting there and all of a sudden there is this guy running a bum with lots of stuff in his hands and then we are like oh great what do we do, so then we are like fine allright then, so we start to run after this guy me running and staying with my comp which was a surprise in itself because I had not the slightest idea that I could run like that hahha well we are gaining on him and we are literally right there when he runs into the street and another guy just clocks him right upside the head and drops him like a ton of bricks right there in the middle of the road it was great, we just kept on walking becasue we are not down with the spotlight things well it was great then another guy comes and well it ws hillarious, not that fighting is the answer but it was something that plays in my mind over and over again and never seizes to get a good laugh, well that was the story of my month. I love and miss you all! See you soon! Later, Logan

Elder Gary Chambers

Hi people! Wait... it's June! MIKE'S HOME! lucky dog. anyways, I thought about buying some cheese today, but I didn't. I'm good, and time is moving as fast as a really really fast moving object! It's craziness I tell you... kind of like the missionary who broke my pellet gun... GRR! just 2 weeks from transfers... and now I have to spend it watching cats moving with leisure past my window.... LIFE IS UNJUST! Sometimes I'll fake cock the gun to see if I can scare them with the sound (they know that sound), but they mostly just stare at me, boldly calling my bluff... it makes me feel horrible inside... *sigh* oh well. In other news, the comp exchange went well :) We found some hatian guy the other day who speaks some pretty good english and he wanted us to teach him. He doesn't know very much spanish, so I told him we could do it in english. Well I lied to him, because I couldn't teach in english to save my life... the whole lesson I was stumbling trying to find the right words, it was super choppy, and made me feel like I was learning english for the first time. Luckily he understood and accepted the commitment to read the pamphlet of "the Restoration" and pray to know if it's true. We'll see him again in a couple of days... Well that's all guys, take care... hope all is well. Love, Elder Chambers P.S. I love you...

Elder Grant Huish

I just wrote you an awesome story about this lady and her mom in an epic brawl, but then myldsmail had an error and it erased it so I will not take the time to re-type it. sorry, but you can imagine is was pretty sweet. so yeah thats about all I have for now. Oh,I do start the d&c countdown on Saturday and half of you have even less time then me. Time is short, work hard and be happy because you all know the other option. Loves, Grant

Elder Dallas Rowley

Hello Everybody! It's been a while since I've put in my two cents, and alot has happened since then. I am really enjoying my mission here in Beavercreek, Ohio. My companion's name is Elder Maylett. I've had some pretty good companions on my mission so far. my last 4 companions have been greenies. I've been on a bike for a while, until about the beginning ofthis transfer, when we took over our neighboring area (Xenia) and got a car. So we're covering two wards right now. I'm enjoying it, and have never been so busy on my mission!
We just had 2 baptisms last week, and the previous weeks. one was a part member family, and the other one is Chinese, and is now back in China! we're teaching another part member family right now that just quit smoking/drinking/chewing and is going to be baptized at the end of this month. Transfers is next thursday, and I really hope I dont get transfered. I've been here for 4 1/2 months, and it's my favorite area! I'm having an absoulutely fantastic time here, and I hope to hear the same from you all!

Elder Dallas Rowley

Elder Max Crandall

To: The Elders of Israel

From: Elder Crandall*s Mom

Brethren: I am writing on behalf of Elder Crandall. He has had a busy month and hasn*t been able to write home but the tender mercies of the Lord have once again answered a mother*s prayer through someone*s willingness to listen to the spirit. All the information in this newsletter submission came to me through two wonderful ladies. One of them lives in the town of Sultan, Washington. The other is the mother of another Elder that serves with Elder Crandall. Elder Crandall has spent the last six weeks serving in a very tiny town called Sultan, Washington. He has been the zone leader over a series of very tiny towns spread along a rural interstate. Most of the towns have a population of no more than 3500 people (that*s about the size of MVHS) but there are many of these towns so it makes for a large zone and many miles on the zone leader*s car. The mission president decided that for Elder Crandall*s last transfer he would take him out of leadership responsibility and have him train a new missionary. So Elder Crandall has just been transferred to Marysville to a bike area. He is currently in a 3 pack because SLC did not send any new missionaries anywhere last week because of the flu in the MTC. Hopefully, his *greenie* will arrive this week and they can get started. There is a young missionary serving in Elder Crandall*s mission named Elder Merrill. He has been out for about six months and Elder Crandall has been his zone leader. Elder Merrill sent his mother a letter and shared this story with her. She shared it with me. I*d like to share it with you. "Mom, I have exciting news that I haven't told you anything about. We've been teaching a lady named Francisca Farias. She was found through tracting by Elders Crandall and Prudent who got her to church several times, but then she had to go to Mexico for a month. She got back just after we got transferred here. The problem was that the Francisca that came back was not the golden Francisca on the Teaching Record. She had gone through a whole month of anti-LDS opposition down in Mexico and she even brought her stubborn Catholic mom back with her. Ever since we met her, she was still going through all that opposition. It took us a long time to get her back to church. Last week, we were teaching her and we asked her what she truly sought in her life. We weren't intending to discuss baptism with her because we already had earlier and she had been uncomfortable, but when she answered that she wanted the presence of God to accompany her in all her life, we recognized the gift of the Holy Ghost and knew the covenant requiredto obtain it. She still had the opposition and was too timid to commit to baptism, and she also thought that she wasn't ready which wasn't true! So we took an unconventional route- we had her interviewed without a date set. Elder Crandall did a wonderful job with the interview...she came out crying...the good kind, and as we were leaving, I started talking to her and she suddenly said, (this part was in Spanish but it said, "Can I set a date soon?" or something to that effect). It was music to my ears!! I asked her if this coming Sunday would be alright. She said Esta Bien!!! So yesterday, Francisca was baptized by Maxwell Crandall. It was so exciting. It was especially fun because everything went like clockwork....very unusual for this ward! It was so Awesome!!!" Thank you all for being such wonderful young men and valiant servants of the Lord. Thank you for listening to the spirit and following those promptings. It is a privilege and an honor for me to know and associate with you all.

Take Care, Sister Crandall

Elder Jordan DeGroff

Hola Everyone!So i am now in Mexico! Its called Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz. The city or area im in is called Allende on 5 de mayo st which is a car wash with little rooms on the sides of it. Im living in a small 2 room house that can barely fit the 3 of us... its enough to live in as they say. Yes i said 3 as i have 2 companions! Elders Stojic y Gil! Stojic is from Phx(Deer Valley), AZ and Gil is from Cuoutla Morelos, Mexico. They are both awesome! They are teaching me alot but the Spanish still isnt coming... its really tough right now as we are teaching a few families and I dont understand a word they are saying... The people we are teaching are Oscar y Lidiya(couple), David y Lorena(couple) and Erika. Erika has had the discussions for awhile now and is getting baptized this Saturday!! The thing is they told me I will be performing the baptism!! Its crazy! In the MTC we had to memorize the Baptismal Prayer so im good that way! So I do know it so it should be pretty easy to do! So the Food is amazing!! Its been all with chicken, some sauce(salsa), rice, and tortillas!! Its bomb! And then to drink its always been a fruit water. They take the juice of a fruit and add water to it to make a drink. Its not a fruit juice. Its better! Taco Bell is horrilbe compared to this! But today I honestly had a craving for Little Caesers $5 pizza! What else.... Its amazing here! it rained today pretty hard. Oh ya.. I have pants that are dry clean only, they dont have dryers here as you hang them up after you wash them in this machine. I dont know what the machine is called but it has a washer on one side and a spinner to spin the water off it. If you look on google you will find it. Its made by Downy or thats the one a member uses that let us use it. It only uses cold water as well. No hot water so I was wondering, do I still need to dry clean it or can I just use cold water and detergent? The place where we shower is also the bathroom. Bascially the floor gets totally soaked and there is a drain on the ground. Its really crazy! Also there is no hot water. Just cold water so that part is tough! There is a bunch of mosqitoes and have gotten bit over 30 times since ive gotten here... Its horrible but its just cuz I have sweet American blood which they like. But when I become Mexican after like 6 months of living here it will calm down and not be so bad! Well that good enough for now! What we do is print out emails around 11am and then write back around the time im sending this. Like 430 which is 230 az time. Its also VERY humid here. Especially since its rained today and yesterday. When it rains it poors!!Hope to hear from ya soon! Love,Elder DeGroff

MAY 2009 NEWS

Anziano Scott Ball

Italy Milan Mission

August 2007 - 2009

Ciao from Milan, Well, I just was transfered to the main city in my mission for my last city. I'm pretty sure it will be my last city. My companion is from Bountilful, Utah and his twin brother is serving in the Rome mission. Everything is going pretty well here. We just opened a companionship here in Milan, so the work is still slow with finding investigators. I can't believe I'm already this far in the mission. It felt like yesterday that I was at the MTC. I don't feel like my Italian has improved a ton, but my companion says he can understand me. We had a cool story this last week. We stopped by a investigator's house last week and we rang the doorbell at the bottom of the building. My companion spotted a bracelet on the ground by the door. We picked it up to realize that it was a diamond bracelet (real). We start talking about what we should do. We devise a method of getting it returned to the owner even though my companion wanted to sell it for some money to buy some ties... haha. We post a note in the palazzo saying that we found it and whoever lost it can describe it by phone to us and they will get it back. Then, the next morning, we received a call and this woman described it perfectly. We went back to the palazzo (building) and gave it to her. She offered us 50 euro, but we didn't accept it. Then, we kept talking to her and understanding where she is from and how she lost it. She is Russian (pure) and is a dermatologist. I quickly asked if she could rather remove my warts on my hands and she said yes. My companion say that I should have took the 50 euro instead of getting my warts removed, but I'm hoping to get a appiontment out of it. Anyways, enough with that. We have to go shopping for food. Ciao, Anziano Ball

Elder Mike Kleinman

Well I am busy with my new trainee. We had a baptism last week and are planning on a couple more before I get home. I can't believe my stay here is almost over. I will miss Argentina but I am ready to get going on the next phase of life, School and work.
I arrive home June 10th at 9:20 am. I told the family we must have lunch at Costa Vida for a sweet pork burrito ,Yum. I guess I will start online summer school and be looking for a job (Like the rest of Americans). I have loved serving the Lord and the people in Cordoba. I look forward to returning when the Temple is built. I heard about Chase's allergic reaction and it it is a must that the photo's be published in the newsletter! ha ha !
Take care my fellow missionaries, see you all soon !
Chau Chau
Elder Kleinman

Elder Logan Wells

Hey there brethern! Well I have been transferred again so that means that I am beginning my 8th area its a bit weird but we do what we can? It is cool though, so things are going really well I have been relieved of all callings no more office elder or district leader just going to die in peace and really not worry about that stuff. It is great to say the least, time is flying by so fast and I really can't belive it but its cool. It is awesome to hear how well everyone is doing, I love hearing from you guys, Mike try not to get to trunky! I love my area is all city and has old San Juan in it so we see lots of tourist that tend to stop us, which is cool, I don't mind seeing my fellow american every once in awhile. I love you guys have a great one! Logan

Elder Garrett Jones

Greetings from Connecticut! Things here are going well and I think I'm beginning to get accustomed to the area and am learning my way around town. We aren't teaching as many investigators as we were in my last area, but we are working with some way cool people. The members here are all awesome and seem to be very missionary-minded which means miracles for the work. Missionary life continues to treat me well. We're now in our nice new apartment (the sisters' old one), and I've decided that the sisters get much nicer places than elders do. I just got some good news. Carmen G. our investigator from the Bronx is getting baptised this Sunday and she called President Darger (the second councilor in the mission presidency who speaks spanish) and asked him to let me go back to Kingsbridge to baptise her. President Searle has been putting an end to that recently but I guess because Carmen called, they're going to let me! I'm so excited to go back and see everybody there again. It'll be awesome.That family has made the entire year and a half worth the trip just to be able to experience that one thing, let alone all the other good times and lessons learned in other places while doing other things. I hope you all keep on doing what you do and know that. I love and miss you. Garrett

Elder Grant Huish

hey clowns,
everything is good here in oregon. it is hard to believe that almost all of us are down to less than 6 months. i hope none of you are getting trunky though, that would just be sad. mission life is great. loads and loads of fun. i am glad to hear that most of you seem to be the same dorks that you were when we left. i am trying to think of a good story to tell, but all of the funny ones involve bad language so i wont tell them. so i guess i will just end it there and hand my computer over to another missionary. love you all elder huish

Elder Gary Chambers

Hey men, this is Elder Chambers reporting in... I am still in Buenos Aires going for a personal record of 5 transfers in one area and tying another personal record with having a comp for 3 transfers in a row! goodness... I guess we're just meant to be... Buenos Aires and me. Other then that, we had a baptism last saturday which was a positive (+) moment in my life... our great investigator Lucky got baptized! He's such a cool guy... despite his rare qualities, I love the dude. Well I just ran out of things to say... Oh yes! I wanna shout out a thanks to Elder Logan Wells for awesome gift of ties he sent me. Thanks man, you're the bomb! Now I'm out of things to say... I guess I'll tell you guys about the time when I thought I was going to die.......... hang on... let me find it so I can copy it in here... Ok here it is: We were driving along in a rickety old route car (ruta car) on our way to visit my comps old area... when suddenly the car hit a small bump in the road and the hood at the same time decided to say hi to all of us crowded inside, so it flew up and slammed into the cracked windshield, severely cracking it even more. I WAS TERRIFIED!!! I think my comp almost peed himself because he was sitting in the front seat while I was jammed in the back. Lucky for us the driver could no longer see, making driving much harder, especially at the high rate of speed we were already traveling. Fortunately, however, the driver decided to stop trying to drive under such conditions and slowly came to a stop at the side of the road. The most difficult thing for me from this whole experience was getting back into that piece of metal after the driver forced the hood shut. We were, however, close to our destination and no other rutas were in sight... so I crawled back into my fear stained seat while the more intelligent driver took it easy all the way to our stop. My happiest moment was getting out of that car.... I love life... and I love you too. Love, Elder Chambers

Elder Jimmy Miller

Hey BOYZ!!!
I can't believe i'm writing for this again! Time is flying. Reading that last newsletter blew my mind. i can't believe how soon some of you go home. It's finally getting warmer here in the ghetto. which is nice. all the fire hydrants are always getting opened up and pouring into the streets and people are always outside b-b-q-ing now. it's pretty interesting here. We gave spring a skip and jumped right into summer! A little too hot too fast but i'll take it over the cold. (props to Jeff for surviving Russian winters!) This week we'll be baptizing a lady who's been investigating for almost a year. She finally quite smaking and she's good to go now. We're also preparing another sweet lady from the Dominican Republic. She's way excited for baptism in May. Last week we got to go to a Yankee's game at the new stadium. Which was sweet. We (the yankees) finally pulled out a win in the 14th inning. Elder Jones was sadly tansferred away last cycle so i probably won't see him much if at all until we're home. sad. (Jones, if you're reading this i miss you!) gonna run. love you all! Live well. Live Happy. Live STRONG!
LOVE ELDER MILLER

Elder Jeff Stoker

The month of April was great for me. I was able to go to beautiful Kazakhstan again (that was in a sarcastic voice btw). I love kazakhstan, but the church just rents an apartment, and we end up sleeping there for about 5 hours before we have to get up and jump back on the train back to Russia. Now the visa renewal trip is 24 hours with 20 hours of it being traveling. ARGH! haha. Its all good though. The great news is i have a new visa. Speaking of great news...Yesterday we found out that President Ucthdorf and Elder Andersen will be coming to Samara on May 30. Needless to say, but i will...I am way excited. All the missionaries are geeking out. haha. Let's see what else happened this month. Oh, i will tell a story that happened on my visa trip....here is the entry "We took a train from Saratov, russia to uralsk, kazakhstan. On that train we got stopped at the kazakhstanian border. They started to go through our stuff, and look under our beds (this is a normal routine.) Then they decided to unscrew the wall in our little room. When they took off the first screw off, one of the guards pulled the wall back and shined his flashlight into the hole. He then screamed at us and told us to get out of the room immediately. We obeyed, because they had AK-47s.... one of the guards slid the door 3/4s of the way closed, and i was able to see over the guards head thanks to my 6'4" height advantage. I saw them finish unscrewing the wall, and they started pulling out jars of red glowy ball thingys. It turns out that the red glowy ball thingys were caviar (spelling?). I guess there is a conspiracy going around. I thought something smelled a little fishy when we went into our room. Luckly, they just took all of the fish good, and let us continue on our way. We were able to get our new visa and make it back to Saratov the next day. I am still way tired from going through all of the border checks in the middle of the night." Some pretty interesting things happened during contacting this week though. I will only mention two things. We ended up contacting in a park the other day, and as we were walking, we came across a middle aged woman sitting on a bench. She insisted that we sit down on the bench with her, and tell her about the church. She seemed normal enough that we accepted the invitation. It soon became apparent that she was way drunk. We talked with her for about 5 mins, and we told her that we were leaving. She asked me what my name was, and reached out her hand. In Russia, you must shake a woman's hand if she puts it out. Its the proper soviet union way of life. So i told her my name, and shook her hand. She must have decided to hold hands, because i couldnt pull away. I kept trying to pull away, but to no avail. Luckily i was able to finally jerk my hand away after a couple of mins, and we said good bye. My companion was laughing so hard, and he still laughs about me holding hands with a drunk woman. My second story is the longest conversation that i have ever had at a door step. Last night we ended up talking to an armenian gypsy for 2 hours and 15 mins. It was very interesting. I wont go into details, but i will tell you that we talked for maybe 5 mins as he lectured us for 2 hours and 10 mins. Well, i think that is all the stories that i have time to write....errr...type. Love you all. Thanks for your examples.
As always...have a great month.
Elder Stoker.

Elder Max Crandall

Brethren * How*s it goin*? Things are great here in Warshington. I am loving life and loving serving the Lord. I*ve been transferred again and now I*m in Sultan. For some reason I just cannot seem to get away from the Snohomish zone. I*ve served around or near this ward three different times. It*s all good though because this is where the work is really happenin*! Sultan is completely po-dunk. The population is only about 3500 people. In fact, the Sultan ward is actually comprised of the population of four or five towns; Sultan, Startup, Gold Bar, Index, Skykomish, etc. It basically means we run out of miles quick. Also, being the zone leaders is rough because we*re on the far end of the zone, and the zone is huge. One advantage is I*m in a 4-pack. My new companion*s name is Elder Qualls. We are with two other companions, Elder Campbell and Elder Bley. Elder Campbell has been out for about eight months and Elder Bley has only been out one transfer. I guess I should start with a little Sultan ward history. What makes this ward famous is a ridiculously missionary minded member named Brother Styles. His basic philosophy is baptize, baptize, baptize. His wife asked him the other day, after 27 years of marriage, *Why are you so focused on missionary work?* At least he admitted it. He sighed and said, *I*m just obsessed.* He*s great. One of the most intense people I*ve ever met, but he*s amazingly smart too. So the Sultan ward is somewhat divided. Half of the ward sides with Styles and wants to help everyone receive the blessings of baptism and confirmation. The other half suffers from doubt and disbelief as to whether the new members can stay active. It*s been cool though, because what most of them don*t realize is Styles works just as hard at retention as he does at baptizing. He*s only one man though. If everyone realized what we*re doing and helped, we*d probably retain 100%. Every Sunday after church, we have a fellowshipping lunch. Every Saturday night, Styles buys a ton of ingredients for lasagna. He pays for it all out of his own pocket, brings it all to our house, and we make four pans of lasagna. The missionaries do all the work, throw it together, organize the lunch, cook the food, and all the members have to do is bring the less active members and the recent converts. It*s amazing. Yesterday we had 60 people at the *lasagna dinner.* I*ve become the master lasagna maker. There*s a lot of work to be done here and sometimes things get really crazy. I actually haven*t been this stressed in my entire mission but it*s cool though because I can see how the Lord is actively keeping me from completely losing my mind, curling up in the fetal position and weeping bitterly. I owe Him a lot and I can never fully repay all that I owe. The Lords' will will absolutely be accomplished.The only variable is our own personal salvation and joy with those souls after this life.I couldn't imagine standing before God next to the person with whom I failed to share my testimony.Having to apologize for all the blessings that individual missed out on because I failed to open my mouth is a hell worse than I can imagine. God*s speed, Gentlemen --Elder Crandall

April 2009 News

Elder Max Crandall

Washington Everett Mission

August 2007 - 2009

Looka me. I made the front page! Woot! So things are great here in Redland (Kirkland/Redmond). I*m senior zone leader, I have a new companion and we*re also training a greenie. We*re working hard and we*re seriously busy. We now have four people on date. Watching as our investigators learn and grow and experience the spirit is so great. I have had a testimony for a long time about how God has a hand in everything that happens. I also have had a testimony that the Lord will use others to convey the message He wants to share with us but for some reason, I*m always a little surprised when amazing things happen. A really cool thing happened this last week. We were in the bank parking lot waiting for our greenie to finish up some bank business. As we were looking around in the parking lot, I looked across the street and saw some apartments. I knew that a former investigator lived in them. My old companion and I had tried to get a hold of her about 40 times. Well, what*s the harm in checking again, right? We went over and knocked on the door and we pushed our greenie up front. He was freaking out but she opened the door and before we could really say anything to her she said it was weird that we had just knocked on her door because she was just reading her scriptures in D&C and *(I*m thinking, I*m sorry? What did you say? Did I hear you right?) Then she told us about how she had already picked out her baptism date. As you can imagine, I was a little flustered. I asked her if she had been working with missionaries in another ward. She said she hadn*t told anyone except for some guy she knows at BYU who she said was going to fly down and baptize her. So*no missionaries, no bishops, no ward mission leaders. She just decided to get baptized and picked out her own date all by herself. We told her that she needed to be taught by missionaries before she is baptized and she also needs to be interviewed. She said that*d be great and then asked if we needed dinner. It was the best Sunday ever. She*s on date for April 25th. I*ve recently been reading Jesus the Christ and studying about His examples of faith, desire and diligence. I*ve learned some really cool things. I love the Lord, Jesus Christ with all my soul. I know that He suffered for us so we can live with Him again. I am so thankful for this opportunity to serve Him and help bring about His work. I am humbled at what He has done for each of us and I glory in His grace, truth and mercy. I know that He leads this church today through a prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I can*t wait to hear from him this weekend. General Conference is probably one of my favorite times of the year. I*ll keep prayin* for you guys. *Elder Crandall

Elder Mike Kleinman

Well everything is going good here in Libertador! Yes conference was amazing as usual, and Im glad a few of our investigators were able to attend. We have high hopes for them to be baptized in the coming weeksWell, we just got done with a zone conference and it was great. The President talked about how important personal management of all things entrusted to you (such as your family, finances, church callings, work) is in having a sucessful life. In these harder economic times, its especially important to manage what you have.
Everything is going great with my trainee Elder Hidalgo; we are now on our way to teach a really cool new family that said they wanted to get baptized. The father apparently is a construction worker that builds all our chapels here in Argentina, so he has been to many meetings and realy likes it! yeah! Well, I'll let you all know how that goes.
I was really excited to hear that I was drawn for Bull Elk!!! this year. I know what I'll be doing for Thanksgiving . Can't believe how fast June 10th is approaching.
Well until next time my friends.
Ciao, Elder Mike Kleinman

Elder Blake Smith

Well I received my first transfer this month. I left Bermejo and I am in San Juanino, in the Province of San Juan. I will have my second Latin companion. His name is Elder Cubilla (Cu-bee-sha) He is from Bueno Aires and is 24 years old. This is the biggest mission in the area but has the fewest baptisms. We are really working hard on changing that. This last Sunday we had our 5th baptism. It was great. We are teaching a sister that is in a wheelchair and have been trying to figure out how we will get her in the water for baptism. The work is great. I can't believe I have been out for 7 months already. I really enjoyed General Conference. My favorite talk was by Elder Holland. I loved his testimony of Christ. We spent two days in the stake center. It was great, and I loved the whole thing. Well all is well and I hope you are all doing great too. I look forward to the news letter and hearing from all of you. Elder Blake Smith

Elder Grant Huish

well my dear friends. the church remains true, just in case you were wondering. even in oregon, the most godless state in the nation. it seems from the newsletter that all are doing well wherever they may be. i'm very glad to hear that. i find it joyous that just the few of us mesa boys have been able to see the gospel bless so many lives throughout the entire world. if by now you are thinking this doesnt sound like grant, well you are right, i am very tired today and not myself. probably a good thing. well i think i am going to finish there so that i can email my mission president and then hopefully go take a nap or something soon. love you all grant

Elder Garrett Jones

Hey everybody,I'm sitting here writing from the middle of the Bronx. Every once in a while it hits me that I actually live in the Bronx and walk around it every single day.Its a very interesting place and not really one that I would love to live in for the rest of my days and raise my family in. So things have been good lately. I honestly feel like I've never had more people to teach or more investigators that I love and would do anything for. I don't know if its Steele and I working together, if its the area, if their is something in the water, or if the Lord is just straight blessing us right now more than in other times for some strange reason but we are teaching like crazy. Yesterday was such an unbelievable day that its hard to believe it since we sat down and taught six lessons (which is a new record for me), found three awesome new investigators, and were able to hear Grimilda explain how much she loves the church and how much she's been sharing it with everybody. Things are going awesome. I'm out of time once again, I love and miss all of you over there in the west. Enjoy the weather and get that pool warmed up for me! Love,Garrett

Elder Jeff Stoker

The weather has changed so much the last couple of days. For example, on Thursday we recieved 6 inches of snow, rain, and hail. It was one of the strangest things that i have ever seen. You dont know whether to go outside with a beanie, an umbrella, or a helmet. Things are drying out now though. my companion and I celebrated our first time of the year going outside without a beanie. I felt kinda naked. So, i think that i can finally saw that i have endured, and conquered the terrible Russian Winter! So enough about the weather. My companion and I taught a missionary classes for the 5th sunday. It went really well. We invited Elder Reshednikov (a member of the seventy) get up, and he gave an amazing talk. It just so happens that missionary work is his favorite topic. He gave us all a guilt trip. It was needed though. I can see good things in the future for the church in Russia. It has been a pretty good week. I was able to o on exchanges in my old area, and talk with old investigators. We had a meeting with a guy who is a biologist. I thought he wanted to hear the discussions, but He decided to give us the discussion. He went off talking about biology, and all the stuff that entails. He then tried to explain the fourth dimension. i am not quite sure what in the world he was talking about, but i somthing to do with 3-D and stuff like that. I would fall asleep if someone tried to describe it in english, but this was all in russian. I would catch every other word, and he used scientific terms like we had been studying russian science all of our lives. I just spent the time looking at him nodding my head saying ya...ya.... of course....i understand. I felt like it was day 1 again. I was able to witness another investigator get baptized. There is nothing better than baptism. Everytime you see it, you feel the spirit. This week, i also hit my year mark in saratov. Offically giving me the title Mr Saratov. I also bought 2 shopkas. They are sweet. One is fox fur, and the other is rabbit fur. I think that they just lied and told me that just to make me buy them. They are probably both wild dog fur. I still like them though. Oh yea, Good news! American missionaries should be arriving this month. It will be good to see some greenies for the first time in about a year. I just hope i dont have to train :]. there are about 60 missionaries in my mission now, and 45 will be going home in the next 3 transfers. I am not sure what will happen, but hey it will all work out. I am glad this is God's work, and we GET to participate. I love being a missionary, and i know all of you are tearing it up in your "fields". Love and Hugs! Lets keep it going. Like always, have a great month. Elder Stoker

Elder Chase Judd

Hey Friends,I just would like to say I have officially completed a year! Time goes by so fast when you are enjoying what you do. Well i have had a lot of wonderful experiences in my mission and one is of a family in my first area who we were teaching but we baptized his wife but the husband couldnt be baptized because he did something really bad that we had to send a letter of permission to the first presidency well after 9 months of waiting we got the letter. It said that he could be baptized! So my mission president gave me permission to go tell him then he let me baptize him. I know that the atonement is real that and that anyone can repent of their sins. I love you all and i am grateful everyone you and that all of you are doing well in your missions. Have a great and wonderful time enjoy it we are all decreasing in time now!

Love Elder Judd

Elder Jimmy Miller

Hey boys!Things are sweet here in the Bronx. Quick story. So the other day we were going to walk with an investigator to the church to give them a tour. Well on our way to their house we encountered at least a dozen anti-mormon people passing out flyers near the church. There was one guy in particular, their leader I suppose who was pretty aggressive when we walked by, he was yelling at us. There was no way around them. We knew that if we brought the family to the church we'd have to go through them. And when we got there they were insistant on going there. So we left and i was praying like i never have before. I was praying somehow they would leave us alone or be distracted. We decided to walk on the other side of the street from where the 'leader' had been but guess where he was. Lame! Right in our path. But we were blessed he was occupied talking to someone else. We made it though! SO amazing. But after a sweet tour of the church we knew we would have to go through them again..and so we tried the other side of the street..and again..he was there! But this time we weren't so lucky. He got a pamphlet into the hands of one of the daughters. But that was it. Nothing more and i was able to get it from her and they didn't ever realize what was going on. It was amazing. We've taught the family a few sweet lessons on they're coming to church. The Lord really does have his hand in this work. Also the Bronx is sweet but it has too many cats, i think i'm gonna start my days now by shooting cats too!! love you all!! LOVE ELDER MILLER

Elder Gary Chambers

Well hello fellas... I killed a cat with my pellet gun............................. April Fools! gwahahaha you probably believed me! Hahaha, that is the greatest. Yeah I'm still here in Buenos Aires going for 6 months! WOO HOO! It's cool though... really, it is. I mean, I get to eat as much Genoa Salami as I want kind of.... (p.s. that stuff is delicious). That... AND my comp is the same :) We're still getting along just fine though, so dont you all go grey haired over me now... you hear?! haha jk, you can if you want. Lucky for us, our lessons are starting to pick up (that was a pun, but seeing as only my compwould get it, there is no real need for this parenthesis.......). That was a pun by the way.... One of our new investigators' name is Lucky, and he is great... we're lucky to have hi----ok sorry I'll cut that out. He really is a great guy though,I mean, he even calls us his professors! And he almost ALWAYS picks my comp to say the prayer... I really like him. Another great tidbit of news is that we found yet ANOTHER cool house of investigators that also happens to be a family... we taught them only once, but man they are like a missionaries dream family of investigators! They are really interested and seem to ask all the right questions including... "Can we go to your church?" Can I get a Halslknfwoeuhfs?! I hope you guys are all having a great April month... and don't get trunky... work really duro! Love, Elder Chambers

Anziano Scott Ball

Ciao Ciao,
Everything is doing well here in Modena. I'm still here for a 5th transfer and I think I might be transfered this next transfer. We just had a baptism of a Russian/Ukrainian guy. We had his friend baptize him and it went great. The next day, during the confirmation, This guy brought 2 Ukrainian friends to church. They said that they loved it and are coming next week. We are excited because we were running low on good investigators.
Other news, My companion's bike was stolen 3 days after he bought it. They left mine and took the lock with them. I kind of feel like the times when the Gadiation robbers stole everything and God cursed the land that the people would find things gone if they laid them around. We roll with the good times and the bad times. I know the church is true and God blesses us in mysterious ways. Vi voglio bene, Anziano Ball

Elder Logan Wells

Dearest Brethren,

Well let me see it is April, not much more to be said. Our mission is doing really well. We are breaking records left and right, it is so rad. This past month has been good. Pres. Guldbrandsen showed up in my ward. Pretty weird, but great to see a familiar face. We have touched lots of hearts with the help of the Lord. The work is going well. I seem to be recieving so many blessings everyday. I am still a DL and a moving Elder driving my 15 passenger van, interesting to say the least. I have embraced my inner Puerto Rican, and it is great. TRULY, I am loving it so much. I love the people so much. My Ward rocks, and well so sorry for all of you, but I have the best mission.... what do you got to say about that? I love you all. Peace, Logan

March 2009 News

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


Like everyone else I really can't believe that it is already my turn? Well yeah where to begin Brothers the realitiy of things are becoming way too real and its scares me oh so bad. I am back in Puerto Rico, back to the crazy puerto ricans that are so hard to understand I don't care how long you have been here if they don't slow down just a little bit there is no way to understand everything that they are saying. I love them to death, well time has really been a crazy thing for me, it just doesn't stop. So a good story well there are so many I have had the greatest of times and there are endless stories, I love serving a mission so much its just sad that it has taken me this long to really begin to love it, but I guess the fact that I am helping people recieve eternal salvation is a helper for me, I love it so much! I really just wanted to share with you guys that I love the gospel so much this mission has literally changed me and formed and shaped me into the person that I am today, it is weird to think that so many of us have changed for instance Grant says that he is not lazy anymore, I just don't know how true that could be? It is weird what the Lord can do with us if we are willing to be the instruments in his hands, I have really seen that here truly the moments that I am really willing the Lord just shoves so much at me and is like take this and do what you need to do with it, and its like okay I will and bascially what I am saying is that there is no greater place than the mission field! I have seriously found myself and its great that I know who I am, and what I will become! I love you guys! Oh, Elder Beatty sends his "hello" to Gary, Elder Beatty is my ZL so Iget to talk to him every night. Well brethern the time is running out just keeping going strong and the Lord will bless us, we are so priviliged! I hope that you all have a great month. I love you all!

Adios, Elder Wells



Elder Jimmy Miller

Hey BOYS!!!
I'm still hanging out here in Kingsbridge in the Bronx. Its so amazing. We've been so blessed in the short time I've been here. We've been finding so many people it's been hard to keep them all straight. Most notable we're teaching this awesome family from the Dominican Republic. They all love the Book of Mormon and to have us over. They just eat up everything we share with them. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Bronx its very diverse--minus white people. Whenever we see another white person it throws us off. And i think being a tall white boy in a suit throws them off. I love it here- although i hate walking everywhere, i'm still getting used to it and i really strongly dislike the cold. i can't wait for it to warm up. We get to do some pretty sweet things here though. This morning we played football in front of the new Yankee Stadium. It was awesome. This is such a sweet mission to serve in. DONT BE JEALOUS! Hope you're all well. Live well. Live happy. Live Strong!
LOVE ELDER MILLER



Elder Grant Huish
hey everyone
how is it going? life is great here in the original OC(oregon city). Man i have been in this area for like 5 newsletters now. we have 2 baptisms this week and another one next month which is pretty exciting. i hope all is well for everyone. some of you are going home pretty quick that must suck. ha ha. oh josh steiner says hi.
love grant

Anziano Scott Ball
This is Anziano Ball's mother . . . again! As usual I am still having sleepless Tuesday nights because I am up by 3:15 am getting online to chat with Scott. So consequently he wrote an email for this newsletter but he said the computer deleted it and he didn't have the time to write again . . . and I am probably taking some of that time. I can't believe another month has gone by and Scott will be home in six months. He appears to be having some great experiences in Modena. Here are a few excerpts from some of his emails this month.
"We are doing fine in Modena. It has been raining then warm, then raining, then warm. We are hoping that it warms up here quick, I'm getting tired of the cold. I bought 2 pairs of pants for the summer since I don't have any more. There are many sales on at this time of year, 70 % of clothes and other stuff. Almost every store has something on sale.
Giorgio, our Russian, is doing great. He works during the week as a truck driver, so we only see him on the weekend with our new convert. He is being baptized for sure. He just accepted to obey the law of tithing and fast. Antonio is still struggling to understand a few things, so we might move his date back. We found a lot of people last week, so we will see how they turn out this week."
Love ya, Anziano Ball

Elder Chase Judd
Hi friends,
Well I am out of time ah! Hey i had a good experience this week i ate a ton of pineapple on monday and the next day on tuesday i woke up had diaherra and puked 10 times cool huh? Well i love Mexico i love you all also hey i have 11 months woooooooo! Love you all i am still in the offices working like a white man.
LOVE ELDER JUDD



Elder Garrett Jones
Hey everybody, what's going on? The Lord continues to bless Steele and I with people to teach and with inspiration about what to teach. I have had two amazing experiences of this this past week that I want to quickly share with youall: On Saturday I was on a split with a new missionary from Brazil. We wentto look up a potential investigator that we had from Venezuela and when we knocked the door she came out and brought chairs for us to sit outside the door with her since there was no man home. We sat down planning to teach the Restoration since it was the first lesson with her but I noticed how she seemed somewhat sad and tired. We started to teach about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, about her relationship with God and about the love that he has for her, and about how we can recieve strength from these things in our daily lives. As we spoke I started to see her change and to see her start to really open up to us. She told us about how she had come to the US with her three kids and had worked like crazy for the past 10 years to provide for them. She told us about how she had got very sick recently with diabetes and osteoporosis and how lonely and tired she felt now that the kids had moved out. It was an incredibly powerful lesson for me as I came to see how the Lord had put us in the correct place and had inspired us to teach the correct things to a lady that obviously needed the comfort. I left feeling like I had accomplished what the Lord wanted me to accomplish and that was an amazing thing for me. The second story is about Grimilda, who is an investigator we've taught for a bit now. She is super awesome and has seen her life change since she's met with us. She told us about her best friend who is a member over in California and what an amazing example she is for her. So a week ago from yesterday Elder Steele and I were trying to decide what to teach to her and we felt that she needed to hear about the second part of the Plan of Salvation including baptisms for the dead and about life after death. Steele and another missionary went over and taught her about that and it was an awesome lesson. The strange thing was that we did something I've never done or heard of doing by teaching the second half of the plan without first teaching the first half. But it felt right and so we did it. Well this past Monday Grimilda gave us a call and told me about how she had just found out that her friend in California, who was one of the big reasons she has been investigating the church, had died. She was super sad but told me that she felt so good about what we had taught her and knew that the Lord had prepared her for the news. When we went over and saw her yesterday we talked again about the Plan and she was so happy to know that what we were teaching her was true. We left on such an awesome spiritual high that the rest of the night just kinda flashed by. Its amazing how the Lord uses all of us to help his children out. I love this work and know that it is his His. Keep on keepin on everybody and we'll hear from you next month. Garrett



Elder Gary Chambers
Hey guys! I hope your all doing well in your respective missions... One of the Sister missionaries that was in my group is going home like at the end of this transfer........ that feels a lil wierd. I'm not trunky though, I promise. My new comp is Elder Cardon from Casa Grande, AZ and is a pretty cool kid. He's my first Jr. comp in the mission, and we work really well together. Work is going great now and I honestly couldn't ask for much more, I like it. I'm still in my same area... Buenos Aires, but without the cat problem that I had been fighting for the longest time before. The office final got our front door fixed so that we can close it when we leave. As good as that makes me feel, I see the cats prowling around the house still... and for all the pee and crap that they graciously left on our floors in the past, I had a distinct feeling that karma was well overdue... So.... I went out and bought a Desert Eagle pellet gun and I start my morning out by popping a few cats and watching them dart of in pain... it's a great way to start the day :) We have a couple of investigators that we're ready to put baptismal dates with who have been progressing fairly well. They go to church every week and have told us they want to get baptized... but for some reason I have the WORST luck with finding people at the time of our cita... I hate it. We've been fired on so much this past week that it makes me want to cry... naw... but really, I hate it. We're movin' along though. All is well. I know that this Church is true, and I'm proud to be one of it's many worthy representatives. Thanks for all your stories and examples... can't wait to hear back from you guys. Take care.
Love, Elder Chambers



Elder Mike Kleinman
Hey fellow Missionary...Fellows. Cordoba seems to be churning along like it always does. I am now in the most dangerous part of the mission. But I love it a lot cuz there is an actual black market here and they got sum goood stuff! Everyone is really friendly here anyway, so when they say dangerous they mean like "care-bear with a BB Gun whos got nothing to lose" dangerous. I went to the Cordoba zoo today and that was...well...lets just say I actually felt like becoming an animal rights activist after going to that place. The tiger looked like a starved cat, and I know for a fact that elephants cant be as skinny as the one I saw. I was like inverted. So Brock is home now I cant believe that!! I can only imagine what he might be doing right now (it involves a PS3, daniel, pepto bismol, and the first season of alias.) The Prez here is thinking of new ways to not make old farts in the mission trunky so he's gonna have them all train, like me! Oh well, it could be worse. I could be training, blanking an area, and be a district leader at the same time. (happened to one of my comps here) Well I hope all are doing well! ttyl bffs
Elder Kleinman





Elder Blake Smith
Hey Elders, Well so I am finally used to the missionary life. Ha ha it is a little different than I thought. And South America is a little different as well. But I don*t have a ton of time to write today so I will tell you a little about Argentina. So I am serving in the province of Mendoza and I am still in my first area and my third transfer in Bermejo. I am loving it. I have had three baptisms and we are having one thing Saturday. The language is coming along. Thanks to my Latin comp that I had last transfer. The people here are just a little different but I love it and love seeing the new weird things they do here. Sorry it is so short this week. But I want to thank all of you for your examples that you all set for me. I love this work.
Elder Smith

Elder Jeff Stoker
Dear Elders,
I got one question...Where'd Febuary go? Looking back at this last month, I cant remember too many things that happened. The work is still going. I am still in the same area. I hope to hit my year mark in the same area this month, so wish me luck. I love it here. Our branch has really stepped up this last month. The 50 active-member branch here has decided on doing a 40 day fast for missionary work. One member (or the missionaries aka. me) will take turns fasting for 40 days straight. We are about half way through, and i can already see miracles. You can literally feel the help. By 10 pm, i just pass out on my bed. You think that waking up at 6:30 am would be routine by now, but i still struggle at rolling out of bed. Luckily we dont have carpet, so when i smack against the floor, it wakes me up. I havent told anyone about pulling toe hair either, and i decided it would be better to not tell anyone, especially my companion. Things here are bitter cold again. I thought that the winter days were over, but once again I eat my own words. There has been a nice -20 degree breeze that pierces through any clothing, skin, flesh, etc. It hits the bones directly. I wish that everyone could experience it, because it is very hard to describe. We have a bunch of investigators, and we are trying to get them ready for baptism. Well, Have a great March. Keep on pushing. God speed.
Elder Jeff Stoker

Elder Max Crandall

Ye Elders of Israel -- How are things? Life here in doubleyou-A is great. I’ve been praying for a good attitude almost every day and it’s really helping. I’ve realized that it’s all an attitude thing. Both of my new comps are good examples of pretty important principles I think I need to work on. I’m trying really hard to develop these things and figure out how to be a ZL. Elder Flake is very humble and just plain solid. He’s a cattle rancher if ever there was one. He sings country songs all the time and tries to get them stuck in my head. Country music is of the devil. Elder Hughes is very proper and obedient, so I often make inappropriate comments for the shock value – but he is going to hook me up with his hot cousin in Gilbert so it’s all good. I’m so stinkin’ excited about life. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been more pumped up my whole mission. Our area is doing amazing things and our whole mission is shattering records left and right with no sign of slowing down. The Lord is definitely blessing us and His hand is very apparent in the work. Our zone is the stereotyped “rich” zone and considered unfruitful but we have found that working with the members is the way to get stuff going down here. About a month and a half ago, we were sitting in Elder’s Quorum. The lesson was on missionary work and in the middle of the lesson the teacher challenged everyone in attendance to invite one of their friends to take the lessons from the missionaries. This great guy in the ward, perhaps bored with the lesson or moved upon by the Spirit, took out his cell phone and immediately texted one of his friends right there in E.Q. His text asked her if she’d like to learn more about his church. She apparently thought that’d be a great idea and asked how she could. So he leaned over to the guy next to him and got our phone number and texted it to her. She just got baptized! She was the most golden investigator ever. She went out and bought a quad after the first lesson. She didn’t have a single concern! Right away she asked where she could listen to the prophet. So we explained General Conference and she said she wanted to go. She is always asking us if there are other books or manuals that she needs for church too. In the last three days, our zone has put six people on date for baptism! We cover two wards and one is the Singles Ward so naturally a lot of our investigators are 20 year old single women. I just mention that to scare my mom. The mission’s success hasn’t come without opposition though. Recently, there were seven missionaries sent home. I don’t know what they did – don’t need to know – but it’s a heartbreaking thing to see them leave. I know that this work is the greatest work on earth and I never want to stop. I feel humbled and thankful and I am so grateful that the Lord has allowed me to be a part of all of this. I love our Savior, Jesus Christ. What He did for us never ceases to astound me. I love telling people that it’s my job to talk about Jesus Christ 24/7. They often laugh, but it’s great anyway. Thank you guys so much for your great examples.

–Elder Crandall

February 2009 News

Elder Garrett Jones
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, Garrett

Elder 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

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

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

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

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

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 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 :)