Monday, September 1, 2014
Words from Sister Kortlynn Herring in Japan
"Well, hello from the big city of Tokyo! Wow! Let me tell you, I'm
going to love this area! It's amazing! I love it here! There are
people everywhere, this city is so old, yet so new, and it's just
awesome! I still can't tell my way around yet, but I can get to the
church and the nearest station, so that's pretty good. Haha!
Transfers are always way hard! I loved Oyama so so much! I miss
them, but I really love the members I have met so far here in Tokyo.
Before I left a lot of members came to my last eikaiwa with gifts and
goodies, and tears, it was so sad! One cool thing though, a lady in
the ward Tanaka Shimai makes kimonos, and she gave me the obi, or the
thing that goes around the middle, and the rope that goes around that.
Both hand made, and super nice, I was so excited! Man, japan is full
of the best people in the world! It was way hard saying good bye to
Hiroko, and Yasuko and Wendy and everyone, but, I know that they will
continue to grow and progress, and I can't wait to see them again,
someday!
So, I really don't know a whole lot about the people in this area, but
we were able to meet some less actives and a couple investigators.
One named izumiya San, she was actually a missionary for another
Christian church, loves the bible and wants to know everything, and I
mean, EVERYTHING! On Sunday, she came in with a question about
polygamy. And we ended up teaching her about polygamy, and eternal
marriage, and the God head, but then we found the root of her problem,
Joseph smith, she is having a hard time believing that, so we were
able to address that and bear testimony of the power of prayer and the
truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and how, as she reads, and prays,
she will receive an answer, and she will know for herself that Joseph
smith is a prophet of God and that this is Christ true restored
church. It was great! The members here are awesome, both our bishop
and ward mission leader are young and super fired up! The bishop even
came in and helped us teach izumiya San, that has never happened to me
before, and it was awesome! Anywho, it was great!
Saturday night was a somen party, somen are Japanese noodles, and they
have them go down a water slide type thing, trough type thing, and the
noodles zip down and you have to catch them with your chop sticks, and
the. You put them in the bowl your holding, with soy sauce and onions,
seaweed, and what not, it's so yummy, because I LOVE somen, and it's
way fun catching it with chop sticks. Don't worry, we will do it when
I get back.
I'm now in a 4 man apartment, and it's way fun! I love them all, and
the other two sisters are the English ward missionaries. They have
the coolest funniest most interesting investigator stories, and it's
been fun, actually kind of a cool miracle, so when sister Ipson and I
were working together in Oyama, we met this man from Africa named
Cherif, and he lives in Tokyo, so we tried to refer him, and what not,
but then sister Ipson transferred to Tokyo, she was having a hard time
meeting and contacting him, then I transferred to Tokyo, and we were
finally able to contact him, and he came to church! So cool, someone
we found all the way in Oyama together, we finally get in contact
again, and this time we can help him personally because sister Ipson
is in the English ward, and I'm here, and I can see him! The Lord
always has a plan!
Anywho, I'm loving Tokyo, excited to get to know the area and the
awesome people in it. Dendo wise it's very different then what I'm
use to, but I'm excited to learn and get better. Everyday we contact
someone new, and I know there are people here just waiting to receive
the gospel. I love you all! Remember, as you love and serve other
people, you help open the door for them to receive and feel Heavenly
Father more in their lives. Like mom wrote in her email, love truly
is the essence of the gospel, Dendo, or missionary work is love! I
love you all! Keep swimming and being awesome! Choose the right!"
Words from Elder Chandon Herring in Washington DC
"Well I will start with a summary of last monday through the week to
now. But first I think i will talk about the little things like comp
unity, my "feelings" etc. I do like E thornton but i am super excited
to have a new companion. There are some things that I disagree with
but we are still good. I am good at hiding my emotions... >:) I am
loving it here but I really feel like i need to be working harder.
Monday last week. We lifted in the morning and for some reason it was
an off day. I am not near what i used to be to start off then i have
an off day... depressing... But it got a lot better when we ordered a
pizza at Costco. It was great to talk and
eat pizza. I bought a huge bag of flour at Costco with some vanilla
and sugar. It came in handy on Pday eve. We came home and we wrote
home.
Tue. We did legs in the morning and i felt like Jello. It was
GREAT!!!!! We had a great day and E. Thornton talked a lot about his
woman at home. It is so funny hearing him talk about it. Cracks me up.
We had the ward FHE and an investigator came. Her name is Joyce and
she is really odd. But super nice. I love her. She is really good at
making Jewelry. I got your package today and it was super nice to
snack on some goldfish :)
Wed. We lifted and did arms. it was a good workout. I could barley
wash my hair when we got home! We had a great study time and when we
were watching a talk by Pres. Monson I could feel my testimony grow on
how I know that he is a prophet of God! He is an incredible selfless
man who is out to serve The Lord. He sets an amazing example that we
all need to follow. We got some juice from Sis Luna. (she just blends
fruit, sugar, water, veggies.) it changes everytime but it is always
good! We had Ward coordination as well and Bro. Harding gave us a copy
of the book he wrote that is going to be published and sold through
Deseret industries. It is called Passing through the field. I am
excited to read it.
Thurs. I gave my first spiritual thought at District Meeting. It was a
little bit from Pres. Eyrings talk Act in all Diligence. It was great.
I love that talk. We had a great meeting and I, in role plays, learned
yet again the importance of being bold. It gets work done and is more
easily received. I was tired today as well. we lifted this morning and
when it was dinner time i just took a power nap instead of eat. It was
great to be re generated. I was so much better after. We went to teach
Anita, the less active. We went with the Raybacks who taught Anita
while we took the children outside. She needed a girl to talk
to. Thank goodness for Senior couples. They are the best. By the end
of today we easily biked 30+ miles as well. good day.
Fri. Today when the alarm went off to go lift at 4:30 E thornton got
up, turned it off, and as he lays back in bed said it was up to me. So
I said. "ok." and went back to bed :) It was great! I love sleeping in
to 6:30. We had a quick study and then off to help the North Elders,
Hart and Porter, with a service thing. We moved a few dressers outside
and as I was carrying some shelves that weighed about 5 lbs total she
thought I could not make the turn around the corner and she prayed out
loud that I would not get hurt but be humbled and realize that I am
not the macho man I thought I was. Wow... She is nuts to. We saw Holy
Water everywhere and she is obsessed with demons. so funny. I made
Missouri cookies during lunch real fast. Super good :) Then we called
and set up a full day on Sat. and visited Sis Onyeka. She is really
liking me :) She came to church on this sunday to! and did not strip.
All went well.
Sat. Our super full day went to poop. It rained really hard ALL
day!!!! We had everyone cancel and one Elder was shot. jk He was
biking in it and slipped on a steal grate in the road. Busted his
shoulder bad. not broken but has an appointment to see what is wrong.
He has almost no use of his left arm and a massive bruise on his left
side hip/thigh. Like my ankle color after Bridgets stairs. We only had
one lesson not cancel. It was with a LA named Sister Galloway. She is
great. Not sure why inactive but she is progressing.
Sunday. We had early meetings because E thornton is a DL. It was fun
sitting there and not being allowed to talk. Church was good to. WE
had the Colemans come. They are Adelle, Her brother ben, and sister
Benjamina. It was great and SIs Onyeka came!!! She really needs to
have someone wanting her to come. If she has no person wanting her and
building her up she does not come. She is super lonely. We did not get
much done after church. We planned and when the day was over and Pday
eve began we made cinnamon rolls and played Munchkin!!!! Hurray!!!
They turned out great and I sadly lost at Munchkin. That is my new
favorite game.
Monday. We woke up, lifted, and after lifting we were going to go to
the Mint. But Google maps lies and it took us to the wrong building.
So we came home and decided to try a new road. We picked one that
seemed fun and we found the biggest hill and longest hill in DC. It
was so fun!!!! What a joy ride. We played some more games while we
waited for Laundry and dumped water on E thornton. It was great!!!!
So yes life here is going on super fast and I am loving it. We are
having success and are going to hopefully baptize the Coleman family.
We will try to put them on date this transfer. We talked a liittle
about it last time we met with them and their dad wants to read more
before he commits. which is good. So ya... thanks for all of your
support and love. I love you all and am super proud to be a Herring!
Love You All!"
Words from Elder Garrett Davis at the MTC
"Week 6
i think not to sure the weeks are kinda blending in here all i know is that
is i have like 21 days left here at the mtc which is crazy so only 3 more
weeks:) and then i am outta here:) i should get my flight plans next week
fingers crossed:) but the mtc has been pretty good to me i have only gained like
3 pounds which is weird but also i have learned so much being here especially
about the book of mormon and the gospel i am excited to get to thailand and
teach:) i am beginning to really love my language now i am trying really hard to
memorize thai charcters and which will definitely help in reading and writing
but i have about 60 of them down out of 88:) so close:) another thing is we got
another opportunity to teach plccy and ice which are TRC friends and they are
natives from thailand who speak really fast and its amazing love to listen to
them talk but i can only understand a few words:) but time is short i will be
longer next week love you guys
Phom rag Khun"
Words from Elder Eli Frazier leaving Mexico...heading to Peru
"Hola everyone! If your wondering why im emailing today its because
i dont get to next week. Anyways, this past week i have been nervous but mostly
anxious. But what overpowers both those feelings is comfort of knowing that as
long as i have the lord and have the spirit with me then it´ll all work out.
Yesterday we had meetings ALL day, they were all really good, called field
orientation day. BUt it was exactly oposite of in-field orientation because we
stayed in a classroom all day from 8 am to 8pm. Which wasnt exactly easy but
that was one of the most productive days ive had being here at the CCM. Today
instead of going to GYM i had to pack for Peru on Monday! which was not a fair
trade in my opinion but it was crazy to think while i was packing that now this
is all REAL. I wish i had more to talk about but there isnt really anything
else! Right now it is pouring rain and thundering. I got a little wet again
running from dinner to here but its fun. I heard peru rarely gets rain so im
taking it in. After im done emailing we¨´ll have about an hour of language
study then get ready for bed. then i have sunday, wake up monday, clean the
house, then head to the airport! I love you and miss you all! My challenge to
you is to find a refferal for the missionaries in your ward!
Yo se que jesucristo es nuestro slavador. Y yo se que jesucristo sufrio en
la cruz para nosotros. Estoy muy agradecido por todas mis bendiciones, y
especialmente mi familia. Mi familia es mas importante en mi vida. Y yo estoy
muy feliz saber que familias pueden ser para siempre. Yo amo Dios, y su hijo
jesucristo."
Words from Elder Tyler Crosby in Tonga
"This past week has been a pretty good one. It consisted of some good hours
of tracting and just plain missionary work. I really enjoy just the plain ole
stuff anyway its just good work. Last week we had a meeting with our new bishop
from the other ward. I was pretty nervous to meet with him, because I guess he
has had a lot of problems with missionaries before. The meeting went great
though as soon as we walked in the door of his office all we could feel was his
love. Yea, he is a little stricter then most bishops, but I think that
missionaries meet him then assume he doesn't like them. Its no that he doesn't
like them its that he takes missionary work serious. I mean we are saving souls
of our brothers and sisters. This work is a very important work. I am grateful
to work with this bishop he has shown me a lot of things I didn't know before. I
am so thankful to be a missionary and learn some many grate things. Love you all
so much!"
Words from Elder Bo Mullenaux in Santa Rosa California
"What a crazy week! Transfers are on Tuesday. My companion is
getting transferred and my new companions name is Elder Stoddard. This
morning the AP's sent out another email with revised transfers. They
made changes last night and so it has just been a little crazy around
here! Haha I am so glad I am staying though. I am crossing my fingered
that I will be here for 6 months. That usually doesn't happen though.
I guess we will see!
We have been teaching a girl named Rhea. She was planning on
getting baptized on the 23, but decided to get baptized where she is
going to school in Berkeley. It's ok, as long as she stays strong and
and is numbered among the righteous through baptism! We have found
some really awesome people this week! The Spanish sisters referred us
a kid named Jacob. We stopped by his house last night. He is so cool!
He used to be a Jehovah's Witness but some stuff happened and now he
just wants to learn what we believe. I am really excited to teach him.
Also, school is starting on the 25th so a ton of people are moving in!
It is exciting. A lot of old investigators are coming back too. It is
going to be the best transfer ever!
New beginnings always help me refocus and set new goals to better
myself. We had a really cool experience the other night. Every Sunday
night we get all the district leaders together where they report
numbers and we just go over things. At the end, we try to have a
little lesson to boost them up. This specific topic was the sacrifice
of leadership. We talked about what Jesus Christ sacrificed and what
we have sacrificed. We discussed Matthew 10:39 and how we could loose
ourselves in the work for these short 18-24 months. Then we had
everyone, including ourselves, write down everything that they loved
back home. Of course mine was hunting, fishing... Etc. haha :) and
then, after everyone had made their big lists, we challenged them to
take them back to their apartments and burn the papers. The spirit was
really strong and we all set goals on how we would all put EVERYTHING
on the altar of sacrifice and loose our life in His service.
I am so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who does care about
us, our struggles, our weaknesses, and our progression. I know that
our prayers are heard and answered. Faith and obedience are also huge
parts in that. I know that Jesus Christ has suffered for you and me
and everyone in this world. Even if it was just YOU alone though, He
still would have given His life. I love you all so much. Thanks for
all the love and support! I couldn't be doing better! Have a great
week!"
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