Thursday, April 30, 2009
Elder Andrew Peña:
Hello everybody! Life is great, the mission is great! We had a wonderful week! It was different and exciting and crazy things happened!! Monday of last week we had a lesson cancel with an investigator and set it up for tonight at 8:00 hopefully they will be there! On Tuesday we had what they call and have like once a year which is District leader Council! It was with all the district leaders in our zone and two other zones and with all the zone leaders and president and the assistants! We just had a council for some of the newer district leaders and questions were asked and things that are important to know and pretty much just changing the responsibilities of the district leader and helping them understand them! It was for a couple of hours and it was down in Merced! It was really good. Later that day we had a dinner scheduled with a less active family and did not have their phone number to call and confirm. When we got to their house they had forgotten and so we just set dinner up for another day! So we didn't eat breakfast and we had the council from 10 till like 2 and they usually bring lunch but they didn't this time and so we drove back to Modesto which was like an hour and a half and we just went and had a couple pieces of bread and candy and water and then went out for dinner. Then that got cancelled so really we didn't eat at all that day, but we taught a lot!!!:) We also had a good lesson that night with a less active member in our singles branch. We taught her at the branch president's home and she is struggling with her testimony and she wants to take the lessons for us to help her with that. It was a powerful lesson and she seems very excited to read and pray and she started crying too, it was good! Wednesday we had a lot to plan for so we planned for a couple of hours and a couple of our appointments fell through. We planned for our " Zone meeting " which we had on Thursday. What we did was made a huge activity with our entire zone and role played a companionship, teaching investigators with concerns and in order to get them baptized they had to help them over come their concern. We had some missionaries study from Preach My Gospel our " mission training plan " to help the missionaries help the investigator overcome their concern and I was able to be an investigator! It was fun and I learned a lot! Also to make our week even better on Thursday we went over to an investigators home and he came out way drunk and started yelling at us! Immediately a scripture came to my mind and I was going to share it and my companion started talking and the drunk guy went off on my companion for not being smart and saying he talks to much and he tries to think to much instead of using his feelings. To make a long story short he was very, very cruel to my companion and to make it weirder we were able to soft commit him to baptism and he told us he wanted to get baptized. After we were done we drove away and pulled over and my companion had a break down so we read some scriptures and talked and it turned out to be a quite eventful day with a lot of learning experiences. To make it even better after that I noticed it was the 16th of April! So if you could say I had a memorable 1 year mark! After that we had dinner we had pizza and buffalo wings that night. Friday we weekly planned. We had a couple of appointments with some less active members and invited them out to church! We are still trying to figure out their situation. We think that two of the kids are not baptized so that will be good. Saturday was a lot of fun. We have an investigator who is a quadriplegic and we tried to figure out a way to get him from his house to the church to do a little tour. Well something we thought would take 2 hours took about 3. We had a member and a truck come to his house and we picked Mike out of his chair into the truck and put the chair in the back of the truck. His son helped us load him up and then when we got to the church it was a little harder. I was able to pick Mike up and move him to his wheel chair and sweated a lot due to the hot weather!!! But we were able to go and look at all the pictures and sing a couple hymns and then went in the chapel and sat in there quietly! It was awesome! Sunday we did a baptismal interview for a girl who is 13 who read the Book of Mormon in ten hours!!! Holy cow that was awesome! She made a mistake on thinking that she was to read from the introduction to 3 Nephi chapter 11 and she did that in 4 hours and then a couple days later she just sat down again and said I'm just going to finish it and 6 hours later she finished! If that's not a testimony builder I don't know what is! So she was baptized yesterday and we did the regular Sunday of two sacrament meetings and visiting some less active members and setting up a few appointments for the week! That was my week. It was very eventful and I'm grateful for the opportunity to have it! I hope you all have a wonderful week and if it's not eventful then make it! " your future is only as bright as your faith. " I love my mission and I love you all! I hope to hear from you all again! Love Elder Peña
Elder Brantley Shattuck
April 29, 2009
Just been busy today shopping and cleaning, we have apartment inspections coming up in like a week or so..... so we are trying to get ahead and clean most of it today, it's not that bad either, just vacuum and scrub counters and stuff....
Life is great though right now as far as the work goes. I love my companion, His name is Elder Gradin and is a convert to the church of about two years, he was dating a girl and that is how he got interested in the church, yes she is waiting for him, but he is out here for the right reasons and not just for her, he is really good....
We have four people scheduled for baptism right now, a single mom named Rakeya and her son Tyrone, then we have two other children that are 12 and 9 who belong to a part-member family, we are hoping this baptism will spark the father so he will have a desire to learn and make some steps in his life to get baptised.
I also have zone conference tomorrow and we are combining with the zone just north of us, so that will be fun to see some of my buddies and stuff....
Well, if I were God and could control the elements maybe I would send some of this heat your way, because I hate the heat out here, I am not excited for the summer at all, but everything will work out.
I hate to be so short but I am gonna go play some basketball and some people are waiting on me.....
I bet you can't wait for mother's day :), I am thinking about skipping the phone call this go around just so the next one means more, just kidding! I wouldn't do that to you but I am pretty excited for it as well, sounds like all the family members are doing well, Anyways I love you Elder Shattuck
Just been busy today shopping and cleaning, we have apartment inspections coming up in like a week or so..... so we are trying to get ahead and clean most of it today, it's not that bad either, just vacuum and scrub counters and stuff....
Life is great though right now as far as the work goes. I love my companion, His name is Elder Gradin and is a convert to the church of about two years, he was dating a girl and that is how he got interested in the church, yes she is waiting for him, but he is out here for the right reasons and not just for her, he is really good....
We have four people scheduled for baptism right now, a single mom named Rakeya and her son Tyrone, then we have two other children that are 12 and 9 who belong to a part-member family, we are hoping this baptism will spark the father so he will have a desire to learn and make some steps in his life to get baptised.
I also have zone conference tomorrow and we are combining with the zone just north of us, so that will be fun to see some of my buddies and stuff....
Well, if I were God and could control the elements maybe I would send some of this heat your way, because I hate the heat out here, I am not excited for the summer at all, but everything will work out.
I hate to be so short but I am gonna go play some basketball and some people are waiting on me.....
I bet you can't wait for mother's day :), I am thinking about skipping the phone call this go around just so the next one means more, just kidding! I wouldn't do that to you but I am pretty excited for it as well, sounds like all the family members are doing well, Anyways I love you Elder Shattuck
Friday, April 17, 2009
Elder Scott Snell:
March 22, 2009
ON young, (안녕)
Jeju is beautiful and the work is going great. Jeju was busy this last week. First our trip to the other island last P-day was beautiful. I swear the nice weather just follows me around these days. We barbecued just of the coast at a member's friend's house which was awesome cause I haven't BBQ in a long time. It was Korean style but was still really good. We had the kimchee on the grill. Tin foil dinners in our new fire pit for District meeting and we ate really good last week. We had District Conference this weekend. I really felt like I was in church again. I haven't had that many people in a church meeting in a long time. Our mission President came down and he and his wife spoke. He does his in Korean himself and Sister Jennings has a translator so that was nice to hear a talk in English. We are now getting ready to get on a plane to head to a meeting on the main land and will be flying back tomorrow night. Then looks like I will be flying on one again the next week but it will only be a one way ticket. President let it slip that I was leaving next week. I am pretty bummed. Elder Rowley and I were getting along great and I was really enjoying the Branch, but it is always true its when you don't want to go is when you have to.
We met with our investigator last night and he still wants to be baptized and we showed him the font and all of that Jazz. It is looking like next week it will happen. It has been really hard to meet him because he has school and Koreans are in school literally all day. But it was good. Our less active family is doing great, I really think that we can get them to come to church on my last week. That will make me happier then a baptism would. They are really great. And the son is friends with our investigator, who is getting baptized. I really will miss this island. I love you all and I miss you tons. Don't worry about me, I am doing great and I love this work more and more everyday. Elder Snell
April 6, 2009
I promised you some details about the baptism on the island. It was really good. I was pretty nervous because the last one we had down there the kids were running around wild and it was hard to feel the spirit. So I thought I would prepare a little bit better. I decided I would give the kids an assignment to keep them busy. I had them sing a song and it worked like magic. The kids were quite, the baptism went really good, and I think my new member felt the spirit really well. When we got all done I asked him how he was feeling and he was really quite and was about to cry. It made me really happy. Also, the Mom of that less active family that hasn't been to church in five or more years, came!!!! I was so happy, the Branch President kept asking us how we got her there. He couldn't believe it. She brought two of her kids and it went really good. I feel like I was actually sent down to Jeju for a reason. The Lord really does answer our prayers. My new area is definitely no Jeju island but it is really nice. Yesterday was the first time in a long time that I was able to just sit back and enjoy church. Then my comp and I got to go and help in the primary so that was a plus. We have about fifty or sixty members come on average. It is really cool. Things are kind of slow cause I came into an area that doesn't have any investigators. I am back in the city, it is the city only because I am from Rexburg Idaho and have never seen a building over 4 stories high. My comp is really funny. He is a really good, really obedient missionary. It took a little bit for me to crack his shell but it has been fun. I really don't know anyone in the mission now cause I was isolated for six months on an island. But since i have to call everyone and all of the jazz I am getting to know them a little better. Today we went to see all of the Cherry Blossoms, they are in full bloom, they are really pretty and it is getting to that point were we are wishing that we didn't have to wear jackets. I bent down to put on my shoes this morning and I heard this rip and I thought maybe I just stretched my pants but then I found a huge hole in the back. My pants are trying to die but I won't let them. The work is going great, I am actually back in a house with my second companion that I was with this time last year. The only difference is I am his zone leader and not his junior. That is still funny to me. Mom and Dad, I love you, thanks for being who you are. Until next week. Elder Snell
April 12, 2009
I didn't even know that you guys were sent a letter about the whole Zone Leader thing let alone the ward. This whole leadership thing is busy. It is just like being a babysitter who gets to deal with everyones stupid problems and you don't always get to be the good guy. It has been a good experience though. Happy Easter!!! Or if I translate it from Korean to English, happy Resurrection Day. We were able to watch conference this weekend and I really enjoyed it. It was almost like Christmas eve for me and I got everything that I wanted except the Priesthood session in English. I guess you can't ask for everything. I really enjoyed everyones talks, one that is sticking out in my head right now is Elder Stevenson's about you're never lost when you can see the Temple. It made me think how exciting and nice it will be to have that temple in my backyard when I get home. I am looking forward to going to it on a regular basis. It has been a long while since I have been, you know. This week has been good, I went on splits with Elder Thompson this week and I really enjoyed it. We were having interviews with President Jennings and Elder Thompson has to step out for a little bit cause we had an appointment with a member and her friend. She wasn't feeling good when we started but as we were teaching she just started to cry. She said she didn't know what was going on in side of her, she was really confused. She thought maybe it was cause she just didn't feel well. Elder Thompson told her about Priesthood Blessings and she said she would like one. We had President Jennings come do the anointing and it was really good. I felt the spirit a lot and I am sure she did too. Then we had a great day of Proselyting where we found an investigator for the Sister missionaries. It felt good to be back with Elder Thompson again, he is a really good missionary, he will probably come visit you guys some time in October. He is going to go to school in the fall.
Nothing too exciting happened other then playing some Basketball when I was with Elder Boardman (from Idaho falls) while we were on splits. We went up to ask them if we could play with them and they were like will you be ok with your dress shoes on? I smiled and told them I thought I could handle it. We pretty much had the whole college campus staring at these two foreigners in shirt and ties rocking these guys sideways. It was pretty cool. I think the Lord blessed me with a couple of things that I haven't been able to do in a while. I think it really may have helped them see us in a different light. We got a couple of phone numbers out of it and it was a lot of fun. Elder Boardman and I both have blisters though. I guess that's the price you pay when you are in the service of the Lord. I love you all and miss you tons. Elder Snell
April 19, 2009
This week was a good one, more dealing with missionaries stupid ways of thinking but nothing too bad just little things. We have an English class for the moms in our Branch where they can bring a friend and all that Jazz. Well we decided that we would do an activity and make bread with them. So we had Elder Thomas' Mom's recipe and we did it. We split them into two groups and split the batch so more people could make it. Any way one of the ladies screwed with the ingredients and added double of something. Anyway to save it we had to add double of everything. Lets just say we ended up giving a lot of members dinner rolls and cinamin rolls and our freezer is full as well. We will be eating them for the next couple of weeks. My comp was sick this week so I stayed in the house another day and made Banana bread for our new neighbors and all of that fun stuff. Later in the week my comp had to go to army. In Korea every healthy man at one point in his early twenties has to go to some sort of army service for 2 years. It can be anything from a police man to special forces. Anyway then every once in a while they have to go to a thing where they make sure everyone is good and healthy. They do this just in case they have to go to war cause you know Korea is not very big. So my comp had to go to that for one day so he just put on his army stuff and I sent him on his way. It was really weird he was alone. I went in a three some with the other elders. I really have a great respect for the Koreans that serve missions because they also have to serve their country for two years. I don't know if I could do it. That is 4 years of their life they give up for service. I love you all and miss you tons. Elder Snell
ON young, (안녕)
Jeju is beautiful and the work is going great. Jeju was busy this last week. First our trip to the other island last P-day was beautiful. I swear the nice weather just follows me around these days. We barbecued just of the coast at a member's friend's house which was awesome cause I haven't BBQ in a long time. It was Korean style but was still really good. We had the kimchee on the grill. Tin foil dinners in our new fire pit for District meeting and we ate really good last week. We had District Conference this weekend. I really felt like I was in church again. I haven't had that many people in a church meeting in a long time. Our mission President came down and he and his wife spoke. He does his in Korean himself and Sister Jennings has a translator so that was nice to hear a talk in English. We are now getting ready to get on a plane to head to a meeting on the main land and will be flying back tomorrow night. Then looks like I will be flying on one again the next week but it will only be a one way ticket. President let it slip that I was leaving next week. I am pretty bummed. Elder Rowley and I were getting along great and I was really enjoying the Branch, but it is always true its when you don't want to go is when you have to.
We met with our investigator last night and he still wants to be baptized and we showed him the font and all of that Jazz. It is looking like next week it will happen. It has been really hard to meet him because he has school and Koreans are in school literally all day. But it was good. Our less active family is doing great, I really think that we can get them to come to church on my last week. That will make me happier then a baptism would. They are really great. And the son is friends with our investigator, who is getting baptized. I really will miss this island. I love you all and I miss you tons. Don't worry about me, I am doing great and I love this work more and more everyday. Elder Snell
April 6, 2009
I promised you some details about the baptism on the island. It was really good. I was pretty nervous because the last one we had down there the kids were running around wild and it was hard to feel the spirit. So I thought I would prepare a little bit better. I decided I would give the kids an assignment to keep them busy. I had them sing a song and it worked like magic. The kids were quite, the baptism went really good, and I think my new member felt the spirit really well. When we got all done I asked him how he was feeling and he was really quite and was about to cry. It made me really happy. Also, the Mom of that less active family that hasn't been to church in five or more years, came!!!! I was so happy, the Branch President kept asking us how we got her there. He couldn't believe it. She brought two of her kids and it went really good. I feel like I was actually sent down to Jeju for a reason. The Lord really does answer our prayers. My new area is definitely no Jeju island but it is really nice. Yesterday was the first time in a long time that I was able to just sit back and enjoy church. Then my comp and I got to go and help in the primary so that was a plus. We have about fifty or sixty members come on average. It is really cool. Things are kind of slow cause I came into an area that doesn't have any investigators. I am back in the city, it is the city only because I am from Rexburg Idaho and have never seen a building over 4 stories high. My comp is really funny. He is a really good, really obedient missionary. It took a little bit for me to crack his shell but it has been fun. I really don't know anyone in the mission now cause I was isolated for six months on an island. But since i have to call everyone and all of the jazz I am getting to know them a little better. Today we went to see all of the Cherry Blossoms, they are in full bloom, they are really pretty and it is getting to that point were we are wishing that we didn't have to wear jackets. I bent down to put on my shoes this morning and I heard this rip and I thought maybe I just stretched my pants but then I found a huge hole in the back. My pants are trying to die but I won't let them. The work is going great, I am actually back in a house with my second companion that I was with this time last year. The only difference is I am his zone leader and not his junior. That is still funny to me. Mom and Dad, I love you, thanks for being who you are. Until next week. Elder Snell
April 12, 2009
I didn't even know that you guys were sent a letter about the whole Zone Leader thing let alone the ward. This whole leadership thing is busy. It is just like being a babysitter who gets to deal with everyones stupid problems and you don't always get to be the good guy. It has been a good experience though. Happy Easter!!! Or if I translate it from Korean to English, happy Resurrection Day. We were able to watch conference this weekend and I really enjoyed it. It was almost like Christmas eve for me and I got everything that I wanted except the Priesthood session in English. I guess you can't ask for everything. I really enjoyed everyones talks, one that is sticking out in my head right now is Elder Stevenson's about you're never lost when you can see the Temple. It made me think how exciting and nice it will be to have that temple in my backyard when I get home. I am looking forward to going to it on a regular basis. It has been a long while since I have been, you know. This week has been good, I went on splits with Elder Thompson this week and I really enjoyed it. We were having interviews with President Jennings and Elder Thompson has to step out for a little bit cause we had an appointment with a member and her friend. She wasn't feeling good when we started but as we were teaching she just started to cry. She said she didn't know what was going on in side of her, she was really confused. She thought maybe it was cause she just didn't feel well. Elder Thompson told her about Priesthood Blessings and she said she would like one. We had President Jennings come do the anointing and it was really good. I felt the spirit a lot and I am sure she did too. Then we had a great day of Proselyting where we found an investigator for the Sister missionaries. It felt good to be back with Elder Thompson again, he is a really good missionary, he will probably come visit you guys some time in October. He is going to go to school in the fall.
Nothing too exciting happened other then playing some Basketball when I was with Elder Boardman (from Idaho falls) while we were on splits. We went up to ask them if we could play with them and they were like will you be ok with your dress shoes on? I smiled and told them I thought I could handle it. We pretty much had the whole college campus staring at these two foreigners in shirt and ties rocking these guys sideways. It was pretty cool. I think the Lord blessed me with a couple of things that I haven't been able to do in a while. I think it really may have helped them see us in a different light. We got a couple of phone numbers out of it and it was a lot of fun. Elder Boardman and I both have blisters though. I guess that's the price you pay when you are in the service of the Lord. I love you all and miss you tons. Elder Snell
April 19, 2009
This week was a good one, more dealing with missionaries stupid ways of thinking but nothing too bad just little things. We have an English class for the moms in our Branch where they can bring a friend and all that Jazz. Well we decided that we would do an activity and make bread with them. So we had Elder Thomas' Mom's recipe and we did it. We split them into two groups and split the batch so more people could make it. Any way one of the ladies screwed with the ingredients and added double of something. Anyway to save it we had to add double of everything. Lets just say we ended up giving a lot of members dinner rolls and cinamin rolls and our freezer is full as well. We will be eating them for the next couple of weeks. My comp was sick this week so I stayed in the house another day and made Banana bread for our new neighbors and all of that fun stuff. Later in the week my comp had to go to army. In Korea every healthy man at one point in his early twenties has to go to some sort of army service for 2 years. It can be anything from a police man to special forces. Anyway then every once in a while they have to go to a thing where they make sure everyone is good and healthy. They do this just in case they have to go to war cause you know Korea is not very big. So my comp had to go to that for one day so he just put on his army stuff and I sent him on his way. It was really weird he was alone. I went in a three some with the other elders. I really have a great respect for the Koreans that serve missions because they also have to serve their country for two years. I don't know if I could do it. That is 4 years of their life they give up for service. I love you all and miss you tons. Elder Snell
Elder Matt Hansen:
Well this past week started off a bit slow because I wasn't feeling too well. I was a bit dizzy and light headed for a few days because I didn't drink enough water and I am sweating way too much because of the heat (don't worry mom, I am drinking plenty of water now). I guess that's my welcome to my new area, karibu Mombasa! Its a big change from my last area and I am trying to adjust to it. Overall we had a good week though. I am enjoying working with my companion and he is a funny kid ha. A bit goofy but he is willing to work so that's all that matters. He is a Zulu from South Africa and his language has some clicks in it, its pretty cool to hear. Our area is very big and we travel a ton! We use everything: matatus, the ferry, little three-wheel things called tuk-tuks, and pikipikis/motorbikes ha, that's their taxi here so its quite interesting. I haven't heard anything about the pirates though, the only thing I see is the headlines of the newspaper, that's about it.
The members here have really been helping us out with the work and they give us quite a few referrals so we quite a few new people to teach this week. We also extended a baptismal date to a Mama that has been coming to church for two years! The only problem is that she doesn't know English so we got permission to teach her with a translator and so now she is ready to go. She was very excited and grateful, it was cool to see. That's one tough thing about the work here, many people are denied baptism because of the language barrier but we are told that we must do things in English so that's the way it is. The language is more of a problem here on the coast but its still better than Tanzania, most people know English. The work is moving forward and I am enjoying it here. I cant wait to read the conference talks in the Ensign, I heard conference was really good. Your lucky that you get to watch it at home, we area truly blessed for that, we take many things for granted. Anyways, I gotta go. I love you Mom, thank you for everything. Take care and have a good week, we'll see you.
The members here have really been helping us out with the work and they give us quite a few referrals so we quite a few new people to teach this week. We also extended a baptismal date to a Mama that has been coming to church for two years! The only problem is that she doesn't know English so we got permission to teach her with a translator and so now she is ready to go. She was very excited and grateful, it was cool to see. That's one tough thing about the work here, many people are denied baptism because of the language barrier but we are told that we must do things in English so that's the way it is. The language is more of a problem here on the coast but its still better than Tanzania, most people know English. The work is moving forward and I am enjoying it here. I cant wait to read the conference talks in the Ensign, I heard conference was really good. Your lucky that you get to watch it at home, we area truly blessed for that, we take many things for granted. Anyways, I gotta go. I love you Mom, thank you for everything. Take care and have a good week, we'll see you.
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