Words from Elder Chandon Herring in Washington DC

So this will be brief because i have a lot to do and no time to do it!  Funny because we got up early and lifted then filled water balloons until 10:00am for the zone activity. We had a lot of fun but it was a long day and i am super tired! We got home and i got cooking and cleaning and shopping. We are feeding the Biolos tonight who are an awesome senior couple who spoil us so i decided to spoil them. We are doing cafe rio type burritos. It will be good. Tonight we have a few appts so i hope they hold. This week overall was amazing and again it was so nice seeing my family yesterday! I sure love you guys and i loved talking to you. I am excited to do it again! We had a few good lessons this week. One of them was with Dorenda again. She started by talking about how she was not going to be
baptized because she would be the only latter day saint in her family and she does not like to belong to anything. She feels it limits her. But by the end we had set appts for the rest of month. She says we are her two sons, and she is going to pray outloud if she should be baptized. It was super cool. As we taught elder tilby and i both had cool experiences kind of like giving a blessing. We opened our mouths to speak and opened the scriptures to her and she knew it was true. We spoke what she needed to hear but it was not us. It was one of those super great experiences. I love being a missionary!  We also got a new potential investigator named kim, she has a desire to find truth. We taught the resotration and she loved it! She is inviting her son to join us this next time to get him involved. She is so kind and humble.
I love the faith of the people here!

Thank you all so much for your love and support! I am so blessed to ghave you! Be safe and have a great week! I love you!

Love,

Elder Herring

Words from Sister Abby Waite in Texas

"Dear all, 

Wonderful things continue to happen here in the Zilker Park area of the great TSAM! I'll just pick a few to tell y'all about because if I told them all, I wouldn't have any stories to tell later! ;) 

Michael and Matthew are getting baptized this Saturday! I'm so excited for them! They're both so smart and know so much about the gospel already! I love them both so much and it's been exciting to watch them grow and become more and more excited for the step they're taking! And their mom loves it, too! She asked us the other day if we could continue meeting after the baptism... we thought about it for a total of -.000000001 seconds and said yes! Of course we're going to continue teaching them! It's just always great when they ask you to. :) 

CESARIO! ... I don't know how much I've actually said about Cesario. He's 17 and requested a Book of Mormon from the church website in March. He called us a couple weeks ago and said he'd been reading and wanted to learn more! Music to every missionary's ears! :) He's super great! He asks great questions and practically teaches the lesson himself! He's already been "likening" the scriptures to himself... and we didn't even have to say anything! Cesario came to church yesterday and gave it a thumbs up and said he learned a lot. So we're super excited for him! 

Geoff is still super great. He's still reading in the Book of Mormon and shares his insights with us. They're all really great! Every day is a day closer to baptism! :) 

One of my favorite things about being a missionary is feeling the Spirit so much! I got to testify of forever families the other day, and felt the Spirit so strongly! It's true! It's all true! :) 

I made a St. Johns connection the other day! We had dinner with a new couple in our ward on Tuesday. They asked where I was from, and when I said "St. Johns, Arizona," Sister Clayton stopped me and told me she knew where it was! She was there playing the violin with William Joseph last July. It was super crazy! I knew I recognized her from somewhere! She said she liked St. Johns, but could only really remember that there were people lined up at the park for free food (24th Celebration) and she really liked the milkshakes at the grocery store. :)

This week was really great! I loved every minute! And this next week is looking super great as well! Especially with a mission conference on Wednesday! :)

So I was studying a couple mornings ago and came across 1 Corinthians 12:31:

"But covet [or seek] earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way."

It got me thinking about what BEST gift it really was that I need to be earnestly searching for. Then I remembered Ether 12:11:

"...in the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way; and it is by faith that it hath been fulfilled."

I love finding verses that connect like this! Maybe I'm just super late to the party, but I absolutely loved it! 

In giving us His Son, Heavenly Father gave us the best gift possible. And it's up to us to seek Him earnestly! As we do so, we will be able to take steps on the "more excellent way" of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I don't think I could say it any better than Moroni does, though: 

"...I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever." 

I hope y'all have a wonderful week! 

Love, 

Sister Waite"

Words from Elder Adam Otto in Idaho

This week was pretty amazing! We had lot's of fun, failures, potential, and miracles! Just like every week :) But even though every week has the same principles in it, each week gets better and better! :) No two weeks are the same!

Monday was pretty tough. Probably the lowest day of my mission. We were getting really desperate. We had very few investigators and very little success. But we knew we had to keep pushing forward. We put all our faith and trust in the Lord, and told him we would continue doing our best and being obedient! The next day, we found Dustin!

Dustin is an 8 year old kid, with member parents. We were knocking on doors at an apartment building, when out of the blue he just rode up on his bike and told us to go to his house and teach him! So we ran over to his house, taught the plan of salvation, and he is sooo prepared! We taught him a few more times this week, and set a baptism date for June 6th! He turns 9 the day before! The Lord has truly blessed us with Dustin. He is so ready for the gospel, and has been wanting to get baptized for a while; his parents just haven't been active. But now, they are all for it, and we are working on getting the whole family back to church! 

This week we also have been contacting many people in the ward councils. We went to a High priest group leaders house, and his wife was the activity days leader. She said that there were several girls (about 6 of them!) attending activity days that were not members! So we found out who was taking these girls, contacted their friends, asked her to ask them if they would meet with missionaries, and two of them said yes! This week we will be having lessons with them! 

We also found another boy, who is 11. His brother just got back from his mission, and he referred him to us! So we will be teaching him tomorrow, with his returned missionary brother! The Lord is handing us people to teach! Our work is finally paying off! And we will continue to work hard to be worthy of these blessings!!

This week I have really been studying the scriptures, really hard. I have been DISECTING the stories of the sons of Mosiah and Alma. They were such superb missionaries! There is so much to learn from these scriptural heroes, and they were just so faithful!! I have found peace, comfort, hope, and guidance, as I realize that their trials were much harder than mine. They had success when they gave themselves to much prayer and fasting, and continued doing what the Lord asked them to do, even when it seemed unrealistic, or pointless. Thousands of people were converted, and baptized unto repentance. They went through terrible trials, and hardships, just to find the one. The one who was prepared. And by doing so, they found thousands of people to teach! And they rejoice tremendously of their God! Our Heavenly Father is so merciful unto us. He loves us, and wants the very best for us. We just have to be willing to trust and follow Him. I know this is true!

Thanks so much for all you do! I appreciate your prayers and I love you all! I hope you all have a wonderful week, and hold FAST to the iron rod!! :)

Love,

Elder Otto

P.S. All of you who are considering or debating about going on missions, let this be an answer to your prayers: GO ON ONE! It's the best thing ever, as you lose yourself, and focus your life on serving God and our brothers and sisters. There are so many eternal blessings that come from it, and the spiritual maturity you gain is priceless. Go go go!!!!! There are people you told in the premortal life that you would find them!!! They are waiting for YOU. Go! :) It's the best! There's my spill :)

Words from Elder Eli Frazier in Peru

"Holaaa

Another awesome week of working for the Lord!  Found 3 new families to teach! Also had a family home evening last night that one of our investigating families had and it was awesome. They themselves invited other people to come and listen to us! This family will be married and baptized on the 19 of June:) One of the little girls named Crystal who is 7 years old kept asking me why my eyes are green, why my hair is light brown, why my teeth are so white, why im tall (im not really tall but to them i am haha) and why my ears are pointy hahaha and *i told her i don't know, why are your eyes brown and why are you short etc.* and she said * it doesnt matter i love you hermano Frazier* And these kind of moments is why im here. And then of course her and all her little friends told me how i have to come back and take them to Disney Land haha:)  Well i love you all and hope you guys are doing well. Dont forget to read and pray and have your family home evenings!"

Words from Sister Brittany Platt in Colorado

Olo everone!

Things are goin pretty well. I'm so sad to be gone from Strasburg as I love that place so much. It truly is home and I've found myself a bit homesick for it this last week. But, I know that we can't stay in one place forever and I know God needs us all over, even if it's hard.

 

So, my companion, Sister Wilde, is wonderful! She's from a very small town, the size of St. Johns, in Canada. She's a cowgirl and knows how to drive wagons so we get along great!! I've been very blessed to have companions that are country girls and we all get along so well! She's 20 and has about 3 months left on her mission. And she's such a hard worker and is teaching me a lot. I'm truly grateful for her! Our signature on our texts is araphoecowgirls and the members of the ward thinks it's hilarious. Gotta make it personal right?!

So, this area is a bit like Parker (my first area). It's very small, but very nice. The work here is also pretty different from Strasburg so that's an adjustment. But, we've come up with a great area vision and are trying to get things moving. The ward here is SO nice and I've already met a family originally from Snowflake! How cool is that? Wherever I go, there's always someone I meet from back home. God is so good!

 

At church, there was an investigator there and a few non-members! One of them came to Sunday School with us and his wife (who's a returning less-active) is from the south and very loud! The class was about eternal marriage and she had to leave half way through to go feed the baby. As she was walking out the door, she turned to her husband and said in front of everyone: "You'd better pay attention! And you need to get baptized!" Haha. It was hilarious and her husband didn't seem to embarrassed by it. So, we're going over there this week to see if we can pick him back up as an investigator. Crossin my fingers and praying!

 

We were so blessed on Saturday with tons of service! We went over in he morning to a member's home to help them with lawn service and we ended up talking to their neighbors (the wife had met with missionaries before) and ended up mowing their lawn and trimming their trees and left a really good impression with the husband. We're going back this week to hopefully teach their daughter who's really interested in the church. Then, our ward mission leader texted us and said his neighbor said we could come by and help her as well. When she asked him for help and he offered us to serve, she said no way. But, then she warmed up to the idea and told him we could come. They've been inviting her to things for 7 years and she's never said yes, until then! So, we went over and did yard work for her (her husband's deployed right now) and she loved us so much she invited to feed us dinner and asked if we could come back next week. And afterward she told our ward mission leader how impressed she was and she can't wait to see us again. God is SO good! MIRACLES! I have such a testimony of service. It softens people's hearts and it softens ours! Also, we just moved in with a recent convert and are teaching her the new member lessons. And she's talking to all of her neighbors about the gospel and introducing us to as many people as she can. She's amazing and is retired from the military.

 

So, those are all the miracles and happenings of this last week! We've been super busy with a lot of meetings, but now that that's slowed down, we have more time to focus on our vision and visit as many people as possible this week. I love being a missionary! It's hard and heart-breaking at times, but it's truly the best thing ever! Oh, and we get to read "The Power of Every day Missionaries" and I love that book! If you haven't read it please do. It's changing how I look at missionary work as a missionary and as a member.

 

I hope you know how much I love this gospel and my Savior! I'm learning to draw upon Him every day and He's changing me in ways I never thought possible. I'll never ever regret leavin things behind to come on a mission, even in my old age. Best decision ever! I love you all and am so grateful for your prayers, love an support. Have a wonderful week and go out there and invite everyone you meet!

God bless you!

Love, Sister Platt

Words from Sister Hannah Platt in Honduras

"My dear family and friends,

Oh my goodness!! I just love to write you all :) so i got to talk to my dear parents yesterday through skype and my dear sister Britt. What a blessing it was for me!! :) i just can´t describe how amazing it was to talk to my dear family and to see the way we have changed as a family through missionary service! It is a blessing for me to witness.

So to start off... i have to tell you all a funny story.. this week, i got hit.. by a horse... like straight on... i was walking with my comp. through one of the outlying areas.. and these two little boys come up behind us on a horse. They yelled at us to move.. which my companion did. I don´t really know what i was thinking.. but i stayed there in the middle of the road. And the horse, which was running, hit me full on... the miracle of the whole thing was that i didn´t fall over or anything.. i truly believe that angels picked me up and carried me safely! But, it is just hilarious now to think about. Most missionaries get bit by dogs on their missions.. and i get hit by a horse :) haha ya... my comp and i laughed at it for about an hour :)

So, we found out today that we have transfers. My comp will be leaving the area.. i am sooo sad. This has been the best transfer of my mission and it has been amazing to work with Hermana King. I know that Lord put me with her for a reason and i have learned osoo much! I love her and it will be hard without her, but i am ready to do what the Lord wants.

I love this area. This area has changed me so much and i am so grateful to get to stay and continue to work. This week, i learned the importance of an eternal perspective. Sometimes, in our lives we get so worried about little things, important things yes, but little things. It is so important that we always think about the whole eternity. Our choices affect the rest of our eternity, not just this life. I wish i could tell you all more about this... but i have to go... ugh!! haha no time ever... but i love you guys!! Thanks for all you do!! I promise to write a lot more next week. I just need you all to know how much i love this mission. I would encourage all who are thinking of going to take it to the Lord and do all you can to prepare. This is the best choice i have ever made. Yes, its hard. Some days, i just want to quit. But then i think of all the Lord has given me. And i look at these people here who have nothing, and somehow, the Savior keeps me going. I love Honduras. I love the people. I want to help them change their lives so much, and yet, they are the ones changing mine. I am so grateful to be here. And i am grateful for all of you!"

Love,

Hermana Platt

Words from Elder Garrett Davis in Thailand

"Samut Prakan:)!

Well another one bites the dust:) well it was a great week this week and it started off with a bang with skype to my family on Monday morning it was great, then after we are set and down i went to china town (yeah they have china town in Thailand haha) and the we went to the office and i saw my old companion elder crump and President Senior. Tuesday with meetings inviting and and meet with some investigators Wednesday we as great i woke up thundering and rain and it was great it was just morning for most the morning and we had a normal day and we then had a great surprise when we came home we found a big rat caught in the rat trap it was good kill Thursday we went finding less activities and also we found a member from Cambodia who has been looking for the church in the area she is solid it was great she has been here for three months already and we randomly ran into her and her husband while inviting:)! Friday we had inviting like normally and then we had some interviews at the church then we had the chance to meet with the bishop and he took us to Bangkok grill it was pretty good first time i had a hamburger in Thailand and it wasn't too bad:) Saturday we went and visited members and we also had the chance to meet with with some investigators Sunday rolls around we have church and then we eat and had the chance to go visit some members and people who didn't make it to church and then we headed home and made dinner! it was a great week i am looking forward to the next one i love you guys that you for the letters i love them and i will respond but i am slow sorry about that:) I wish you guys the best take care:) 

Love Elder Davis:)

here is the dinner we had with some members at the church it was great and here is some weird fruit they have here:)"