Words from Elder Bo Mullenaux In the California Santa Rosa Mission

  " So one thing that i really was able to see and learn this week is that obedience brings blessings. There has been a few elders that i have seen the light of Christ in them slowly diminish. The Light of Christ is real. Everyone has it. When you make right choices, the light of Christ that you have within you grows. When you choose to disobey, that light goes away. The more light you have, the easier it is to feel promptings from the Holy ghost. The less light, the harder, until you eventually have no light. Before my mission, i thought that all missionaries were happy-go-lucky. Ive quickly come to learn that this is not true. I am striving to keep my light, not only keep, but build my let and let it continue to grow. I am so thankful for how merciful the Lord is to each and everyone of His children."

 

Words from Elder Lamar y Hermana Sarah Jean Gray in the Dominican Republic

 

"We are serving in the Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple and live in an apartment building near the temple that also houses the MTC,

Area Presidency office, family history center, and the distribution store.

 We work every day in the temple except Sunday and Monday. On Monday Elder Gray drives the temple van and takes the temple missionaries to do their shopping. 

Sundays we serve in a small branch, Los Llanos, which is about 50 miles from Santo Domingo. Elder Gray is the branch president. The average attendance is 50. They are a loving, gentle people. For example, we also go on Tuesday evenings where I 'teach' the keyboard. My Spanish is limited and one day I was frustrated and said, "Mi español es muy malo." They all quickly said, "No importa, Hermana Gray, no importa" and expressed their appreciation for my effort. We currently have 4 Elders from the Santo

Domingo East mission working in Los Llanos and helping us in the branch.  We enjoy

their enthusiasm and support. 
 
The workers in the temple are also very patient with those trying to learn Spanish. The natives feel it is such a privilege to work in the temple. Many come a long way on motorbikes, buses, taxis, metro, etc. Few have cars. 

 One of our favorite days is Thursday because the MTC missionaries come to the temple. They are awesome, humble young people and, like all missionaries , there are lots of challenges ahead of them. We are in awe of all of the missionaries in the world!

 On the weekends, many wards and stakes come to the temple. They come off the guaguas (buses), taxis, vans and public transportation in their Sunday best--white shirts and ties and dresses. Many have traveled at least 4 hours to get here.  The building we live in has rooms that they can rent ($3.00 US) and lots of them come and stay a week at a time, especially those from the other islands.  It’s interesting to see them cook meals in the kitchen of the MTC and gather around as one happy family. 

 This temple serves all of the islands in the Caribbean and there are many languages spoken, the main 3 are Spanish, English, and French.

 Many temples in the world are closed on holidays, but here the members stream to the temple on holidays. 

Well, here it is December 1, and the temperature at 10:30 pm is 84 degrees. One of the reasons we love it here.

 Merry Christmas to you all."

Words from Elder Austin Davis in Oregon Portland Mission

"This week was rough we only had like 7 lessons and a lot of tracting hours but its all good :) something cool that happened this week was we had an interfaith dinner with like 15 other church's ah man there was some weird religions like Scientology and Hindu and just everything in that area from baptist to catholic to mother earth people ha ha :) but it was super interesting   and everybody got to give a little spill on their religion for like a min or min and half it was good ha a lot of weird ones especially in Oregon but when they talk and read scriptures out of the book of Mormon just reassured my faith :)
> but yeah transfers are on Monday i don't have a guess whats going to happen i hope every body is getting into the groove of things in there new schedule and workouts i hope and pray for you guys everyday truly do love my family ! im excited for the thanksgiving the turkey bowl ;) haha that will b fun im excited :) oh yeah i heard a 70 speak that was great he said all you families that have missionaries out i want to promise you something if you are getting people for the elders and sisters here your sons and daughters are going to be blessed with new investigators! and baptisms where they are at ! it was sweet :) well i had an interview with P.morby that was good he gave me a section in pmg to study pg 96 look it up great section to know!"

Words from Elder Spencer Wilhelm in Angola

" This week was awesome!!! Yesterday as it was starting to get dark we were walking up to another appointment by the railroad tracks. As we were walking along the road this guy on his motorcycle turns around and stops to talk to us. He had a friend that had received the book of mormon and that he wanted to know more.

While we were talking to that guy another guy stops abruptly and asks us what we are doing, so elder wilson continued talking to the first guy and i went over the second guy. I explained to him that we were missionaries of the church and that we had a message that we would like to share with him. So i grabbed his number and elder wilson got the other guys number.

As soon as those two guys started their bikes yet another man stopped us on his motorcycle. He knew that we were missionaries of the church and started explaining that he needed help to stop drinking and to start going to church. So we explained that would could help him the best we could, and then asked for a number. The man put his head down and said he didn't have one, but he really wanted us to pass by. So we gave him our number and he was about to take off when, low and behold, his brother and his cousin drive up on their motorcycles to see what we were talking about:) ha ha it turns out that they all lived in the same area and those two guy had telephone numbers:) ha ha it turned out alright. Angolans are so curious some time:) ha ha I love them so much. So hopefully we will get to talk to these guys this week.

Anyways we are teaching this guy named Carlos. On Friday Carlos invited us over to his house so that we could teach him and clear up any doubt that he had. When we got there we found Carlos, but he was not along. He had like 5 of his buddies, all of them from his church that wanted to listen in on the lesson. (So I have had this happen to me before and when you have a room full of 25 year old men that are strong in their faith normally it turns into a bible bash and we just try and leave them with pamphlets and leave.) This time it was different. We went in there and we explained about the restoration. All of these men were understanding it perfectly, except for Carlos. So whenever Carlos got confused about something all of these other 5 guys would explain it to him perfectly from what we told them:) ha ha At the end of the lesson when we got out the book of mormon they were all intrigued and wanted to know more. Sadly we only had two copies on us, so they started playfully fighting over the books:) ha ha it was a lot of fun and they were are supper inteligete guys. Later we went over and brought the rest of the books of mormon. It was a very good lesson though and some of them ended up coming to church on Sunday!!!!

We also had an investigator that got bit by a dog this week. His name is Junior. we have been teaching junior for a week and a half now, but he is sick! when we taught about the restoration he just wanted to know for himself, so we gave him the book of mormon. He just has not had that much time to read it, because he is always working. So in one of our lesson we read the intro with him and he really liked it. but because of his dog bit this week he has to stay home:) i know i am a little selfish in thinking this, but know he has time to read from the book of mormon!!!! ha ha he has already read the first couple of chapters."

Words from Elder Shad Lindsey in the Ukraine

 

"This week was another incredible week. I saw so many miracles its just amazing. It makes me think that God always works miracles, we just don't always take the time to recognize them. At least I didn't before my mission. But I am beginning to see the love that God has for all of His people. Especially the people here in Chernigov.

Elder Copling and I had just got done contacting around town, and we were heading back to the church to warm up (it is getting pretty cold) and plan our lesson and stuff. We wee almost to the church when we saw these two guys standing outside it. We talked to them and invited them inside and stuff. They are the coolest guys ever! There name's are Alex and Anton. They heard that we had a message about Jesus Christ, and wanted to learn more about it so they just showed up at the church. So we gave them the first lesson right there. It was an incredible lesson. They excepted everything and they both wanted to read the Book of Mormon. We have another lesson with them tonight, so I am super pumped for that.

 Man I don't even know what to say. I love my mission! It is definitely hard, and the language is really challenging, but Жизнь Хорошая!(Life is good)

I had a few opportunities to give blessings this past week to people who were in desperate need of help and comfort. The priesthood is real. It is such an honor and privilege to hold it. And it is such a privilege to be a missionary of the Lord Jesus Christ. Especially to serve in a place like Ukraine, where the people (whether they realize it or not) are in such desperate need of the hope that the Gospel brings into people's lives. It is sad when people make fun of us or call us bad things. Not because I am offended by what they say, but mostly because they don't know what there missing out on. The Gospel of Jesus Christ was created to bring us joy and happiness. I see it more and more everyday."

 

Words from Elder Bo Mullenaux in California Santa Rosa Mission

 

"We had the opportunity to go to the Sacramento Temple this week!! It was such a great experience, as going to the temple always is. Our Heavenly Father is so merciful. He has tilted the table so much in our favor to make it back to Him. When we first got there, the member who took us had to go right in to get some names taken care of. Us missionaries were outside taking pictures. When it was time for us to go in, i realized my temple recommend was in the car. And according to my luck, yes, it was locked... Haha so that was fun trying to go find the member in the temple. But everything worked out and it was one of the best sessions I've attended. When we came out of the temple, there were some deer over in the trees! So, you know me, I grabbed my camera and went trudging off through the woods with Elder Ashton! Haha We even got some ok pictures!

We also had Stake conference. I really tried to prepare myself for it. The Lord really does hear and answer our prayers. it is amazing how much personal revelation you can receive by going to Sacrament meeting and church with a prepared mind. The Lord really is pushing missionary work forward and is increasing it in so many ways! It was so cool in the Saturday night session, President Bennett (the stake president) basically prophesied that they will, in the future build a temple in Vacaville! The spirit was so strong! I love feeling the spirit and i love how happy it can make you.

Well I'm doing great here in Vacaville! Their isn't too much to complain about! The work is starting to pick up. We have been teaching a lady named Jaenne and she has a baptismal date for December! I love this gospel. I love Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. I know that the priesthood is real. I had such a great experience giving Bishop Sandifer a blessing and i know the priesthood power is real."

Words frim Elder Bradley Lynch in Washington Federal Way Mission

 

 

"Everything happens for a reason, Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. I know that when we do this we will truly see the Lords hand in our path. We may not always no why or we may even think why us? But that is the temptation, those very thoughts are the ones that lead to contention and anger and depression, those are the things that will drive away the Spirit and will leave us on our own and that is the most dangerous and wayside path we can be on. As Elder Holland taught us so beautifully last conference: It is simply always there. Never, ever doubt that, and never harden your heart. Faithfully pursue the time-tested devotional practices that bring the Spirit of the Lord into your life. Seek the counsel of those who hold keys for your spiritual well-being. Ask for and cherish priesthood blessings. Take the sacrament every week, and hold fast to the perfecting promises of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Believe in miracles. I have seen so many of them come when every other indication would say that hope was lost. Hope is never lost. If those miracles do not come soon or fully or seemingly at all, remember the Savior’s own anguished example: if the bitter cup does not pass, drink it and be strong, trusting in happier days ahead. I add my own testimony that when all is said and done it isn't until we do ALL that WE can before the miracles come. He knows all our Pains and afflictions, but his Yoke is easy and His burden is light and that is the yoke we should all try and bear no matter how hard life is. He knows our sorrow. In the end all will be well, I know it will. We are all of Gods beloved children and he will help us overcome our trials as we lean on him and His Atonement. I know this, I have seen it and I have done it so much. I know God will Provide and all will be well. Remember he is the Prince of Peace and the Great Physician and He can Heal all of our wounds if we allow Him too. I know as the saints of past that we will all be able to say someday, All is Well, All is Well. I leave that with you in our Good Shepherds name, Even Jesus Christ, Amen"