Words from Elder Garrett Anderson in Brazil

 

"I know its been a little while since i have written so i thought that i would write a little to let you know that i am still alive. Please excuse the english, its been a while. ANyways, today was transfers. MY companion from last transfers just finished so he is home, and my new companion is from Idaho. He only has 2 more transfers and i have 3 so i think i will kill him as well. I am in the same area, novo gama. I really love it and have a few interesting stories.

In our house we have 4 missionaries who live together. Two weeks ago one of the missionaries finished his mission and so we were in a trio for a week and a half until transfers. the missionary who joined our companionship is doing physical therapy for his knee becasue it is really messed up. While we were at the physical therapy office, some of the receptionists started to ask us about the church. While we were giving our spill and bearing our testimonies, an older man who was waiting for his wife piped up and entered into the conversation. At that moment we were explaining about the Book of Mormon. The man proceeded to explain that we dont need religion and religion doesnt save and God does and that the BoM is false. Stuff we hear every day. He then was telling everyone a bunch of nonsense and then my companion step in and bore his testimony. it was awesome because he bore it very strongly, and then the man went at it again. MY comp then was getting worked up, i just was trying not to laugh out loud because that was the only thing that i could do in the situation to keep from getting frustrated. We tried to teach and help that man but he wanted none of it saying that what we had to offer would benefit him in no way and he already had the knowledge he needs. I was kind of sad because he was so hard headed and hard hearted. It was a very interesting experience and i am learning so much each day. I love being a missionary and testifyiing of the truth. I am grateful for the gospel we have and know it is true! I love you guys!"

Words from Elder Kyle James in Germany

"So.... yeah. Let me start off by saying that the y and the z on the keyboard are switchted, so if I mess up, that's why. And also... the computer thinks I'm spelling everything wrong.

So we got on a plane to Dallas and then from Dallas to Frankfurt. The plane ride took forever! We flew over Ireland, and I saw it from the window, and England, too. At the Dallas airport, a drunk German lady told us to "knock this §§§§ out" haha wow. People aren't too nice to us. Everyone thinks that we are JWs.

We got to the Frankfurt airport and made it through the border all right. Then some of us went to the Frankfurt church and had a meeting about passports and legal stuff. Then, some of us went and did street contacting in the middle of Frankfurt for an hour. WOW that was hard. "That´s not the language the taught me at the mtc."

I talked to a guy on a bike for like 20 minutes... and he was Atheist, i think. I just smiled and nodded my head. Street contacting is very hard. People just say "nein nein nein" and keep walking.

We then got to go to bed early in a hotel, and we got our own rooms! I had no idea how to turn on the lights. I figured out that you have to slide your hotel card in a slot. Crazy.

I did have horrible jet lag. I was sooooo out of it. But I'm alright now.

The hotel breakfast was awesome!! It was really just bread and salami. But it was awesome! So good!

We then had a pairing and area meeting, but you know where I am.

We took a bus through Köln (Cologne) and I saw the big church there. The German countryside is beautiful. There are large areas of green rolling hills spotted with little villages. It is so beautiful. Eveything is green. Moss grows on the sidewalks. I really can't describe how beautiful it is. And internet pictures don't do it any justice.

We live in the middle of Solingen, on the top floor of an apartment. Our area is interesting. We are in Solingen, but we take buses to smaller towns and stuff. One time, we had to hike in the Wald for like 20 minutes to get to a less-actives house. And it was beautiful.

But, It is hot. HOT. And... there is no AC... anywhere!! NOT ONE PLACE. Haha it is killing me!

Now the people. Holy crap. The people. People dress crazily. Like, 0 clothes. It is really weird. I must have bad culture shock. I have seen A LOT of weird things. I won't write about them, but remind me to tell you when I get home. The people are very hard hearted. Oh well. They all seem sad, too. One time, I stopped a guy on the road and said "Hallo! Guten Tag!" And he look at me like I was crazy. haha

I am starting to love them though. And, unfortunately, understand them.

We met with a less active, Bruder Küster, in Remsheid and HE is insane. He sings songs about us in German and stuff like that. Then, he took us into his basement, and gave us random haircuts while we read him scriptures. He is good at cutting hair though. He is super lonely and has a 19 year old Katte (cat) named Batman. He also has a venus fly trap. THAT was fun to watch. He lives in the best area here. Gorgeous. We live over a tattoo shop and a Hookah store!

 

The food is awesome. Döners are to die for!! SO GOOD!! I love döners.

(Note from Lisa- Doners are a Mediterranean food that consists of shaved lamb that has been cooked on a spit all day long. They are served in pita bread with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and a mint yogurt sauce. This is cooked and sold on the street corners. I ate a similar version in Saudi Arabia called a schwarma. He is right, they are to die for!! So good!)

My companion is cool, and taller than I am. We stand out really well. He is from Utah, of course.

No, I don't have a bike

 

I don't know if it's a ward or branch, it's really small though. It was crazy. Our investigator who is looking toward baptism went. We taught her about tithing. When kids cry, moms don't take them out, so it's really loud. The bishop made me bear my testimony... yeah... haha.

Yeah... whoever said that everyone speaks English here is dumb. No one here speaks English. Good grief. Yes it is a German area! haha nothing but German.

Spiritually wise, I've been praying a lot for help. But then, I realized that I'm here for others, so I started praying for other people and that helped a lot. Also, it says in Moroni that we have to pray for charity to have it, so I've been doing that a lot. Charity is the best thing to have on a mission, next to the spirit.

I love Germany, even though I'm still culture shocked.

For example, we had dinner with a family last night. It was tacos! I ate 2 and was stuffed, but the grandma kept telling me to eat more! SO I had to keep eating. And then they brought desert... oh my.. too much food. hahaaha

CRAZY! The man of the house, Bruder Hansen, went to Africa on his mission, and he had a companion named Preston Wengert from Arizona... Zach Wengerts brother? I think so! All roads lead to SJ

What else? I'm sure there is more but I forgot my journal... SO we can always talk about it later.

And... I am SO sorry... I forgot my camera at our house. I took a lot of pictures, but youll have to see them later. SO SORRY. I feel horrible. Oh well, I'll just take even better ones. Really though, sorry.

German is coming along just fine.

What else? No Idea

I love you guys.

 

This week, work on charity again. Study it for family home evening maybe, It is an awesome thing to have. Also, pray always, it really does work. I know it.

Ich weiß dass die Kirche Jesu Christi wahr ist. Ich weiß dass. Ich weiß dass Gott uns liebt. Ich liebe sie. "

Words from Elder Eli Frazier in the CCM (MTC in Mexico City)

"Week two here at the CCM! its way easier oncve you get use to the routine of things! Im so happy to be here on my pday tho! Its so nice to get a break from the endless classes, lessons, and meetings! Theres a kid from Duncan, Arizona that is in the same room as me! So if somebody would please tell my uncle ray that i think he would get a good laugh haha:) Language is comin along but it is difficult at times cuz all they speak is Spanish here everywhere which is frustrating! But ill be greatful in about a year when im completely fluent! Lots of studying! thats pretty much all i do! Hope everything went well and safe at the pioneer days! i love you all!"

Words from Elder Chandon Herring in Washington DC

"This week was super busy. We had a lot of meetings and activities so not as much proselyting as we would normally have. But we still had over 100 contacts and stuff so it was super productive for not having as much time. to mix it up I will work backwards from now. We had to repent this morning for being late home from the 4th of July. We did service at a place about 4 miles up the road. It was great and the easiest repentance ever! We had a great time. I was in the moving crew and guess what we did... we moved stuff! it was super exciting. the furniture that they give people is so nice! We saw practically new leather couches and California king mattresses. All that jazz. But they need it.

Yesterday was a great relaxing Sunday. We had the classic morning and went to church. The speakers were just incredible and we had a munch and mingle afterwards. It was themed salads and it was pretty good. I had a lot of chicken and bread too. A brother from the ward made some bbq chicken on the spot and it was divine. We stayed after church and mingled for quite a while. After that was finishing our studies and facebook time. We had no apt. so we went and met the Tores family. They are super nice. We meandered around and contacted people but nothing much.

Saturday. We had another basketball day. we played for a while and i have to say I think that I got worse at basketball. But that is ok. We then headed over to the Bike House for service. I did not get a chance to serve because I spent 3 hours on my bike. I am proud to say that after $82 I have a new rim and functional bike. It was frustrating trying to act like i knew what i was doing but I must have done something right because it works. It is so much easier to bike with 29" rims. I love having this bike. The other one was terrible! Today I was also in a physical fitness mood so i agreed with E. Thornton to wake up at 4:30 next transfer to go to a gym and spend and extra $40 on it. What on earth was I thinking!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am off my rocker! But I guess it is for the better. I need to chip away at this food baby. :)

We visited with Sis. Luna because it was her birthday and she gave us donuts and gatorade. We sang to her and talked for a little bit. I really am starting to love her even more. It was great! We also got to see Sis Bonner and Karen. They are so fun and happy but as we were passing by one day we saw Sis Bonner outside smoking so we are going to have a lesson on the word of Wisdom. It will be fun. Karen's back is getting worse so she might have surgery soon.

Friday. We had a great District finding activity day! we went down to a super busy part of the area with the entire district and the spanish district for 3 hours with a stand of free lemonade and free pamphlets and copies of the BOM. It was super productive. we have a lot of return appointments and it will help make sure we keep busy. But we are doing good at that so no worries. Then weekly planning and that jazz so nothing too exciting happened.

We visited Sis. Onyeka and she was still glued to her couch but she is opening up to us more and she was dressed this time. She is such a weird woman. But it is nice being able to come see her and get used to trying to teach with jeopardy in the background. Dinner we were fed by Ceasar. He made some homemade hamburgers with onion, peppers, tomatoes and stuff like that in the meet. I overindulged and almost died. But it was so worth it.

Thursday. We were on splits and I was with Elder Jensen. He and I are the two newest to the area so we had fun getting lost every now and then. We had a district meeting and it was super productive. Elder Rayback, a senior, had some rebuking to do. He told us of the story of Samson. When he killed 1000's with the jaw bone of an ass. He said we all talk too much and need to not kill with the jaw bone of an ass. It was hilarious and a fun way to get mad at us. (Elders...lol)

After that Elder Jensen and I were able to go teach Slap who is a level 32 free mason. He is like Ceasar he is a genuinely happy person and out to do good. He has a lot of potential. But the exchange ended and we met back at Wendy's where Elder Fuller our DL treated us. He had a ton of gift cards! IT was divine! I like anything that I do not make. We also, for lunch, were treated to 5 guys by the Raybacks. It was sooooooooo gooooooooooood! I love that food. I ate it so fast. I am deprived of delicious hamburgers. But after this week I am set. :)

Wednesday. We did almost nothing because we had interviews with President Cooke. We left for them at 10 and did not leave until 3:30 and we had ward coordination that night from 5-9. We had a delicious dinner of veggie pasta and had bible study after.

We started the exchange and E. Jensen is awesome. He is a cool kid and super fun, obedient and scripturally smart. Anyway Pres. in our interview said that I need to be paying attention to the DL and ZL because I need to see how they need to improve and I will be in leadership most of the second half of my mission. He likes me I hear and we get along great. I can mess with him a little bit and he does back. He is super smart and his wife is to. She was a former attorney.

Tuesday. We again did not have a lot of time to do much because this was the day we traveled to get my bike back from the bike shop. When we got back we had a typical day of facebook and had a great nnight of visiting with people at FHE. I love FHE I had a great talk with a couple lady's who are starting to become more active and we had a great talk on family history. So if any of you know some stories I would love to hear them so I can share them next time.

Monday Pday...

Well I love you all and I really enjoy your letters. It sounds like you had a great time in sj for the 24th and that you were able to relax.

remember the church is true even when strange things happen :) I love the quotes that Mom sent and I got all of the packages thus far that i know of. I hope you all know that I love you and that I know this gospel is true and that it really does change lives.

Remember the best missionaries are members and that your job is to find and give referrals. We need them and love each and every one."

Words from Sister Elese Hauser in Illinois

"I can't believe I survived this week! It's been the longest, hardest,
most tiring but also the best week of my mission! So much has happened
this week there's no way I could include all of the details but I will
try to fill you all in as much as possible. So I'm now serving in
Elgin Illinois which is like night and day compared to Pekin. First of
all there's no horrible smell of rotting corn permeating the air or
old men riding their tricycles through McDonalds. Although Elgin has
some poor and scary areas, it's just an adventure! I didn't know it
was possible to fall asleep with your eyes open in a lesson because
you are so utterly tired, but I think I've mastered that technique!
Which is not good, but I've been so tired. Here is why:
So last Tuesday morning Sister Clayton and I woke up at 3:50 am. We
drove to the Peoria stake center and met up with all the other
missionaries before making the trek up to Naperville. Upon arrival I
met my new companion Sister Bird and attended to my new duties as a
Sister Trainer leader. I realized that there are many logistics that
go on behind the scenes of transfers. We had a council with President
Fenn to discuss the companionships, helped the new arriving
missionaries, and we had to sit on the stand. Now that was weird!! Our
mission got 22 new missionaries and only 4 of those were sisters so it
appears that peak of sisters has leveled off. The rest of the day we
made phone calls, gave rides to missionaries who didn't have a car
yet, and finally are lunch at Portillo's at like 4:00. That night
we're invited to go to the departing missionaries fireside and eat
dinner with them. So we went to the mission home and ate dinner with
the missionaries that would leave the next day and listened to their
testimonies. Of course our mission president talked about the doctrine
of marriage and that was super awkward.... But it made me so grateful
that I still have 4 months to be a missionary! Well that ended around
10:30 and then we had an hour drive to Elgin so we didn't get home
until almost midnight and I still had to unload my luggage and find
all my stuff. It was close to 1:00 by the time I fell asleep so I had
been up for almost 24 hours!!!! And of course we are up at 6:30 am the
next day. Man, I'm getting exhausted just writing about all of this
again! And so began my time in Elgin!
Wednesday we were busy with District Meeting, lessons, dinner
appointments, and planning. Luckily I had a little bit of time to
unpack but then the next day I went on my first exchanges so I had to
pack an over night bag of stuff. So I barely had time to get to know
the area and our investigators on Wednesday before on Thursday I went
to the small town of Sycamore IL for 24 hours. So on exchanges we help
the sisters set goals and remind them of the mission vision while
making sure they're being obedient as well. But we have no problems
with obedience in this mission so it's fun! So as you can probably
imagine I was pretty nervous to go on my first exchange and be on the
other end of it. But since this is my life and I'm a Hauser, nothing
ever goes as planned or as it's supposed to. So here we are in
Sycamore getting ready to go out and work for the day and we could not
find the car keys!! After a thorough search and a call to Sister Bird
and the other Sycamore sister who were serving in Elgin for the day we
concluded that the Sycamore sister who was serving in Elgin for the
day had the keys with her in her purse, which was in Elgin. And we
were in Sycamore. So we had a car, but no car keys for the day! Great.
Just great. But if anything as a missionary you learn to roll with
the punches. So I was thinking we would walk to our appointments or
call a member but then I looked over and saw these 2 lovely bikes
against the wall. This day just kept getting better and better! Up
until this point on my mission I had successfully avoided riding bikes
in a skirt. I wasn't so successful this day. I was wearing one of my
pencil skirts that day but had to change into a skirt I had worn the
day before that made my outfit clash so bad that Grandma would have
been disappointed I had been such a disgrace to the clothes she'd
bought me. So here I am on a bike, in a skirt, outfit clashing, bike
helmet fastened tightly, riding down the road trying with all my might
to keep my skirt down. To add to the experience it was a rather windy
day. What a welcome to the Windy City:) I felt bad for the oncoming
traffic because sometimes my skirt just wouldn't stay down, but you
don't need to know the details of that..... The one good thing about
this was I'm in better shape than I thought I was! But my body still
wasn't used to that type of exercise and add on top of that the lack
of sleep from the days before, and I was slowly becoming a dried
flower.
On Friday we exchanged back and I slowly began to feel like I was
finally home, in an area where I belonged. But we will be doing 2-3
exchanges a week and Sister Bird and I will be taking turns who stays
and who goes so it'll pretty much be like this the rest of my mission.
And now to tell you all about the crazy awesome miracles we saw this
week! We are teaching a young Mom named Mercedes and she came to
church yesterday. We are also teaching a man named Roy was also there.
We also had this interesting fellow come in from off the streets and
afterwards we were asking if he had any questions and he said that he
had counted the bricks behind the pulpit and there were 38 bricks
which is symbolic of Romans 38, or something like that I don't
remember the exact reference, and then he continued to tell me how
page numbers of the hymns we sung were relative to verses in the Bible
that meant we were doomed.... I just nodded my head and said "Did you
have any questions about the sacrament?" Welcome to Elgin:)
And on Saturday we met someone who told us we were deceived, helped
someone move, invited someone to be baptized, and helped a lady carry
in her groceries. Just a typical day in the mission field:) Well this
lady we helped carry in her groceries lives in the same apartment
complex as us and was struggling to get some bags in the door when we
pulled up so we jumped out and helped her. She immediately saw our
badges and said that she would love to meet with us sometime because
she needs to draw closer to Jesus Christ. I immediately thought "We
just need to go carry in everyone's groceries!" It turns out she's
from Cameroon and she speaks French and a little bit of English. But
she got to the states and not too long after her husband died! So
she's really been struggling. We are so excited to teach her! And that
day it was so cool looking at the events that had happened that day
that led us to meeting her at this exact time we need to. The Lord is
in the details of our lives Brothers and Sisters!
We also had this family drop out of the sky into our teaching laps.
They had been taught by elders in Idaho and had even been interviewed
for baptism and then moved here before they could be baptized! So we
hope to work with them.
And we met this lady named Glenneisha who has the craziest son I've
ever met! Up until this point on my mission i haven't had a kid throw
shoes at me, hit me with a pillow during the prayer, throw his ring
pop at me, try to strangle my companion, and ask for a shoulder ride
all while teaching the restoration, but I can sure cross that one off
my bucket list. Some peoples children.
We taught many more people and experienced many more miracles, but you
get the idea, The Lord is truly hastening His work! So my companion is
Sister Bird and she is a gem! She's from Kaysville Utah and we get
along so well! Elgin has a small town feel to it but is still part of
the city. Grandma, guess what?! The Fox River flows right through the
middle of Elgin as well as Oswego! So every time we drive over it I
think of you.
Well we have a busy week ahead of us filled with trainings, exchanges,
missionary work, and miracles! I love you all so much. Thank you for
your support and prayers. May God bless you this week and always."

Words from Elder Garrett Davis at the MTC (Thailand)

"well week 2 has definitely been interesting:) one this for sure is that i am tired of mtc food sometimes i just dont want to eat and well i was grabbing some fruit and there is a huge glass panel over the food so when i was grabbing the fruit this panel just explodes for no reason and of course it has to explode right when i am standing in front of it and glass just goes everywhere and i of course have a guilty look on my face like i didnt do anything but everything was alright i had some cuts but no one was injured pretty funny though and so loud every turned and looked at me it kinda sucked and on the language note i now have two different teachers so hopefully i learn twice as fast but with the lord everything is possible:) and i see sister brown everyday at least 20 times which is pretty cool haha reminds me of home everytime but i have my fingers crossed that this week will go jsut as well love you guys

ps i figured out why missionaries love letters so feel free to write me:)"

 

Words from Sister Kortlynn Herring in Japan

"This week was a good one! Um, to keep
everything straight in my head, I will take you through my week. Been
a long time, ne!

Monday-pday, normal stuff, email, cleaning, and good stuff. We taught
Yasuko, but I told you about that last week, it was great.

Tuesday- we did smile Dendo and it was great! Then we went and
visited less actives with a member. Takayama Shimai is awesome!!! I
love her! She of course took us out to my favorite ramen place. She
is great! Then we got to visit a less active, named sato Shimai, who
we are visiting again today. She needs help, she doesn't realize how
far she is falling, because she isn't doing all the little things. I
have such a strong testimony of personal prayer and scripture study.
So important!!

Wednesday- we did some finding and Facebook, followed by eikaiwa! I
love eikaiwa, it's so fun, and such a great opportunity. My white
hand board hand writing has gotten better, lol!

Thursday we were able to teach Wendy, Hiroko, and a less active. So
great! Wendy gets it! It's kind of fun teaching someone with a
testimony of Jesus Christ, she just needs to understand the
restoration and how important it is. That's not quite clicking for
her. But she is doing well. Hiroko is awesome! I love her! We
talked a lot about faih. She wants to do what is right, but she is
really nervous to take the step of baptism, because she is afraid it
will be to much if a change and she can't go back to her previous
life. But I adore her! We also had some weekly planning. We also
had a great zone meeting, we got new pamphlets that will really help
us when teaching!

Friday- we taught Wendy and Hiroko again! Yay! We got a referral from
Wendy and ended up teaching her, and setting up another appointment
for this week. She is from Thailand. Cool! And Hiroko San is
awesome, had another great lesson, just trying to strengthen her and
help her have more faith. Followed by ping pong and music night.
Sang a hymn I had never heard before, loved it!

Saturday- we did some more smile Dendo and talked to a lot of
interesting people. 2 were um, well let's just say it was a bit
awkward. Then I talked to a kid who was super Buddhist, which was
refreshing. Japanese people say they are Buddhist, but know nothing
about it, and he actually had faith, which was cool. Let's just say,
I got to learn a lot about Buddhism. He was super into us, and he
wanted us to convert. He actually converted from Christianity to
Buddhism. Rare, yes! But we were able to talk a lot, and teach him
the Plan of Salvation. All in all great! Then we took a member a
birthday present and got to meet her daughter who isn't a member, and
invite her to a dinner we were having that night and get to know her
better. So cool! Crazy miracle that we were able to meet her!

Sunday- wonderful church. I got to translate in Sunday school for a
member from New Zealand. It was hard, but kind of fun. I loved the
teacher, so it was fun saying things the way I think she would say
them in English. Then we got to so see fireworks with fusako San, a
PI and eikaiwa student. The fireworks were great, and I will send
pics!

All in all a great week! This work is true! I love being a
missionary! And Oyama is great! I love all of you! Thanks for the
examples you are to me! Keep it up! Love you!"