Elder Matthew Whittle--Oct. 10, 2011

We told Matthew to send us a short e-mail so he had time today to write Elder Terry who is struggling with his health. He is serving in Minnesota. Everyone please remember Josh in your prayers!






I wrote Elder Terry and I hope that it will help. I put his name in the Temple today too. So I leave next Tuesday, Oct. 18. I report to the travel office at 5 in the morning and then my flight leaves at 8:45. So there's a possibility that I could call home as early as 6:30, so I hope someone will be home when I call haha. I love it here in the MTC but I'm ready to get out of here. I gave a talk on Sunday and it went really well. I felt very comfortable with Espanol durante mi discorso. I guess I'll see how it is out in the field, but the fact that I've only been speaking Espanol for the past 6 weeks straight I think I've been doing my part so I know that the Lord will continue to help me as long I as keep working hard at it. I'm so excited to get out and serve the people of Carlsbad! I have a really good feeling about it. Thanks for everything. I hope the wedding went ok, and Meg is doing better. I love all of you, and I pray for you all cada dia. Gracias por sus ejemplos. Vaya con Dios!

Love Elder Whittle

p.s. Tell Garret I'm so proud of him and would love to get a letter from him when he has time. That's awesome that he's going to learn Espanol!!! Whoo!

Elder Corbin Moore-- Oct 6, 2011

Well unfortunately conference is now over. But what a great conference it was. I enjoyed all of the great talks and the annoucement of some new temples. A new one in Provo, Columbia, South Africa, Wyoming, and Paris France. The work of the lord is really going forward and will continue to do so. I love the talk that was given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, in the Priesthood Session. Wow there was some really good stuff in there. Hopefully Keyton and Bryson were both listening during that talk was specifically for you guys and it was such a good one. That talk was also for me, currently serving and for mom and dad also. They need more senior missionaries. "I'm going to get in my face a little, nose to nose, just enough fire to singe your eyebrows". I loved when he said that. jajaja. The other talk that I loved was Elaine S Dalton's Talk. Wow that was a great talk. Even though I don't have to worry about those things for a couple years, the talk really hit home. On tuesday we had a speaker come and talk to use. It was Chad Lewis, who came and talked to our stake back home also. So yeah it was pretty good. I also had an interesting experience at the temple last week. I was standing outside of the temple talking to a missionary how had recently got off his mission to Brazil. And I was telling him that i had a brother who was there, and although he didn't know Brayden, out of nowhere, this another guy came up and was like "Elder Mooooore", i was wondering who is this guy. I then came closer and realized that i wasn't Brayden, but that I looked exactly like him. He asked if i had a brother who was in Brazil and i told him that i did. Well apparently he served with Brayden in Brazil, and is actually in our stake. His name is Spencer Hatch. Well anyway if you are reading this e-mail Brayden, he says Hi. jajaja.

Dont have much time left. Dad yeah it is kinda weird that they switched out teacher, but yet again yesterday we found out that we would be switching teachers again. So we will have had five teachers here in the MTC. Crazy huh? I have seen Elder webb a bunch, and I see Elder Whittle every tuesday and sunday in choir. His spanish is amazing. Im sorry to hear about Josh and the things that he is going though at this time. I wrote him a letter on monday so hopefully he will be getting that soon. Im so pumped for Garrett, that is so great man. You will be a great missionary, and will love the Spanish language, just work hard at it.

Con Amor Elder Mooré

Everything.Happens.For.A.Reason
There.Is.No.Such.Thing.As.Coincidence
Catch.You.On.

Elder Josh Terry-- Oct 3, 2011

As you know, Josh has been sick for most of his mission. He got a virus in the MTC that went through his entire district. After arriving in Minnesota, the stomach virus subsided but not the severe headaches and dizzyness. He has had extensive testing. He was treated several weeks ago for a sinus infection - given 5 pills - to be exact. We (along with our wonderful Bishop and Stake President) were contacted by the Mission President regarding the situation. We were given permission to contact Josh directly to assess the situation and to determine a course of action.


Thankfully, we were able to have a wonderful family friend (who has been a mission president and is a doctor) talk with Josh and evaluate the situation. He has started Josh on a strong antibiotic and feels that with this medication and much needed rest he should be able to kick the worst of this in 7 - 10 days. Josh's companion has been wonderfully supportive and helpful. Between him, the Bishop, and the Ward mission Leader, they have said that they will do all in their power to help Josh through this and allow him the time he needs to heal. They plan to have members come in to be with Josh and do splits with Elder Watkins. We are so grateful. The mission president expressed his love for Josh and his confidence in him as a missionary. It is Josh's greatest desire to heal quickly and to get back to work!


Thank you for keeping him in your prayers. With God's help, some good medication and rest he will hopefully be much better the next time you hear from him.


Warm regards,


Stephanie




hello!

this week as the family knows has been one of the most emotional and toughest yet of my whole mission. before i go into how the work has been moving i want to share that experience with everyone else wwho didnt hear. i want to bear my testiomony of the power of prayer, and that god will always be there to answer. being sick this past month has been so hard, especially when all you want to do is get out there and get things moving. the lord has definately humbled me. almost 2 weeks ago i decided to just see if it was all in my head and started telling everyone including the mission president that i was doing fine. i wanted everyone to stop worrying. so for the next week thats what i did. however at the end it was still unbearable so i went to mission president and told him. he told me that he was worried about me and that the next step would probably to go home and get it checked out. that thought killed me, i couldnt stand the thought of going home. i JUST got out here. so i asked him for another week to try and get better and finally friday i just slept trying to do anything i could to not have to go home. finally, feeling defeated i called the mission president and we decided i probably will have to head home. i have never been down on my knees praying for so long in my life, multiple times throughout the day. i wanted more than anything to know if i should go home and get better or if i should stay and see if i just get better out here. i had a strong feeling that if i just kept that question in mind it would be answered after conference. as i watched each session and prayed as much as possible in between sessions. after conference was over i didnt feel like i had an exact answer yet on what the lord had in store for me. so i felt like he just wanted me to go home and figure it out. after a long day we headed back home for weekly planning at about 745. a little while after being there i decided to offer up one last prayer on the subject. it was simple. i just said god if you want me to stay, just please let me know, and if not i will go home and get this all figured out. i stood up took not even one step when my companion comes running out the door with the phone saying that someone from utah was calling. naturally i thought it was the mission doctor that lives in utah and i wasnt super excited to hear from him again. however i answered, and on the other side was dad. words cannot even describe to you how i felt at that moment. i can honestly say i have never felt as at peace as i did at that moment when i heard my dad say 'elder terry how are you doing? is everything okay??' that experience will forever be with me in times of trial. i know that god is with me and hears my prayers. i want all of you to know that god listens and answers your prayers as well. he will just do so in his time. i cannot thank my heavenly father enough for that experience. i still don't know that i will be better soon but at least it gives me some hope of getting better!! Thank you dad for being so inspired to call me in that exact moment of trial. i know that was god asnwering my prayer that he is there and he knows what i am going through. there is just no way you can write that off as a coincidence that you would get a call from home(approved by stake president :) ) at that exact moment. thank you so much for living you life in tune with the spirit.

well as you can tell this week has already been an interesting one. The days really all blend together. so one quick story that i don't know if ive told you before. i think it was this last week. So we were out tracting. yes thats where all the fun stories come from, and we get to this ladies house with 2 barking dogs on leashes out front. i wasnt gonna let to dogs get in my way of my call to preach the gospel to every house on that street. so i just walked past them and rung the doorbell. this lady answers the door and i say hi and tell her we are the missionaries and before i can get any further she starts yelling and freaking out at me saying that im crazy for walking past her 'vicious' dogs and they could have attacked me. she said she was going to sue me for tresspassing. hahaha i really would like to see that. but anyways we just told her to have a nice day and she freaked again so we decided to leave. her dogs were honestly not even big at all i think she took to much pride in them. oh well. also on the same street this huge guy came to the door without his shirt on. i will never be the same after that. im scarred. anyways on a more spiritual note, we had 2 great things happen through all the trials this week! my companion challenged lynch to be baptized after the plan of salvation lesson and he said he would! we are shootin for about a month from now. we just need to get him to church. ALSO we had a lesson with Tim. i challenged him to be baptized after a really spiritual restoration lesson and he accepted! he is also going for about a month from now. so i hope those two both work out! and lynch has 2 daughters that would be baptized as well. so keep them in your prayers. i sincerely hope that i am here to see it. this week has definatly had its highs and its lows. what a wonderful week to have conference. i am so blessed of the timing of this. i dont think anything is quite as encouraging as hearing from your leaders. also just before conference i ran into the scripture DC 122:7 ' and if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murders, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, MY SON, that all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good. I dont think it was a coincidence that it was said twice in conference. i know that was for me.

im so happy to hear that everything is going well back home! we got the ties and elder watkins says a big thank you. that is so thoughtful of you. im a little jealous that mom got to go hang out with mckenna to get them but i think i will get over it haha. i love the pictures you sent me. thank you. nicki and lane, im sad to hear you dont find out until TOMORROW meaning i have to wait another week to find out if it is bambino or bambina. you better let me know asap! thats so awesome im excited for you :) JARED! that is so awesome that you got your call to Africa. your a stud. i cant wait for you to join the work out here you are going to be such an amazing missionary. and is it just a rumor or is it true that you are all coming to visit k-town right when i leave! haha anyways i love ya. Jake howard i am so glad to hear you are doing well. i sure love you bro! your making a great missionary out there i can tell just through your letters. argentina is blessed to have you. I love you all so much. tell tj gert and the crew back home i love them as well. thank you everyone for your prayers and letters. they mean so much to me. well until next week!! i will leave a scripture with you that you will have to go read. its definatly one of my favorites. 2 nephi 32:9. i love you all and look forward to hearing from you soon!

Josh

Sister Alex Hartvigsen-- Oct 3, 2011

Hi Everyone. I hope that this week has been really good for you. It sounds like its been a very busy week for people. This week has been really good down here. Its starting to cool down a little. I've heard a rumor that we are going to hit 80's or 90's in the next few weeks. (We are going to freeze ;)) On Tuesday we met with one of our investigators and watched Finding Faith in Christ and talked about faith and how we can trust in the Lord to help us in all situations of life. It kind of reminds me of that man that Tyler is working with who was selected for the intervention program after doing everything else that he could do to solve the problem by himself. We read in the Book of Mormon about how the people of Alma were delivered from their enemies only after the Lord tried their patience and their faith. After this lesson we had a lesson with a less active family . We talked about the importance of families and watched Together Forever with them. On Wednesday we tried to contact some of our referrals and were able to contact 2 of them. We were also able to have a lesson with a less active women about prayer. We have been meeting with her and her sons for a while but its always a challenge to help the kids stay interested in the message. Sister Beu and I are going to try something a little different this week. We went through the lesson and are going to try to teach it using the primary songs. We are excited to see how this goes. On Thursday we had a lesson with an investigator and her daughter about charity and how we can develop that in our lives through sincere prayer and effort on our part. On Friday we met with a women and talked to her about how the Savior is our true friend and how he will support us in our difficulties regardless on how others choose to use their agency. We also tried to contact a few of our referrals. When we knocked on one house, a man and his aunt answered and invited us in. It turns out that the man who were were trying to contact is this man's brother but he is currently is prison. This man had been meeting with the missionaries about a year ago but had some word of wisdom issues that he is still working with. He was really excited to explain to his aunt about the Gospel. We talked to them about the Restoration they both seemed interested. We set up an appointment to meet with them again this week.
This week I also had the "opportunity" to eat cactus in a members home. It was actually pretty good. I didn't know what I was eating and it kinda tasted like green beans.
We watched conference in the stake center with some of our members in Spanish. For 3 our of the 4 sessions I had headphones so I could listen in English but during one session my headphones malfunctioned. I definitely prefer English because you get the chance to listen to the prophets' voices but I was able to understand most of the Spanish translation as well. It was a really good weekend.
I hope you all have a wonderful week. I love you all,
Love
Hermana Hartvigsen

Elder Tyler Hartvigsen--Oct. 3, 2011

Hey Everyone, how is everyone doing? i doing alright, its been another hard week, but i love it here. i had a pretty gnarly fall on my bike the other day, i was going like 15 mph in the dark, and there were car headlights in my eyes so i was pretty blind, and i hit a pole.... hahahaha i flew off my bike and landed and skid like 10 feet on the ground. it was intense. ii didnt get hurt luckily. the lord was watching my back! ;) my bike's sprocket got bent and wasnt working, so we went to an investigators house and asked if we could borrow a hammer, we talked to him while i banged on my bike and beat the sprocket back into shape. it was a pretty redneck fix, but it works. i am getting pretty good at jerry riggin things now. it is my two monthh mark on my mission.. it seems like ive been out for longer for some reason. haha conference was really good this weekend! did you all have a chance to watch it? i really liked robert d hales talk, it gave me more motiviation to perservere through my tirals. anyways, i love you all, and i got to run, thanks for all the supprot. it means so much! :)

-Elder Hartvigsen

Elder Matthew Whittle--Oct 3, 2011

Como le va mi madre bonita!

Wow conference was so incredible. I love the power the general athourities speak with. I'm so grateful for them. I learned so much this conference session. Let's just say about 16 pages full of notes. I loved it. I learned that I get a lot more out of it when I actually go in with questions, and wanting to learn more about the gospel. O wow Elder Holland's talk was incredible. You need to listen to it soon. He spoke with so much power and authority. What was your favorite talk or quote from conference?

I'm sorry Meg is sick. I will definitely pray for her. Tell her to have faith and everything will be ok. Yes I'm playing soccer again. It's really fun, and I'm being careful don't worry haha. I only have two more weeks in the CCM so that's probably a good thing;) Thanks for setting up the bike thing for me. I think I would rather have a bike helmet because my one for smoto is kind of heavy. I'm so excited for Trude. Tell him hi for me and I love him. I'm looking forward to getting your dear elder tonight. Thanks for everything you do for me! I love you mom. Tell the family I love them all. I pray for all of you every night! Puede el espiritu santo este con ustedes! haha

-Love Elder Whittle-

-Vaya Con Dios!


Tell prestonion hola para me. I really like a talk Elder Bednar gave a while back talking about how to recognize the spirit. He said, "Stop worrying about it" That's my advice for Prestonion haha. Tell him to just keep doing whats right and let the Lord take care of it for him. It will all work out in the end. He's such a stud. Tell him thanks for writing to me. And I also like the quote from President Monson. He said, "It's better to look up", so I think when it get's hard instead of putting my head down I'm going to put it up. I love this quote from President Monson. I love it here in the CCM even though sometimes it does feel like a prison. The Spirit makes up for it everyday. That's totally fine that Trudy Booty is driving smoto around town. As long as he doesn't get hurt on it before his misson. I want him out here with me so bad. he's going to make such an amazing missionary! I hope that Megan will be ok. I will pray for here this week. I'm glad you had a great temple experience, I went today and felt the spirit very strongly, as I read in Luke about Christ's atonement in the Celestial room and pondered about it. I love the Temple. I wish I would have gone everyweek before my mission. It's such a great blessing. i love this work, and I'm glad that I can serve my savior with my whole heart for two years. Christ lives, I know it! I'm so grateful for his atonement and his love. Thanks for everything you do. Te amo.

Elder Tim Jones-- Oct 3, 2011

I've learned lately that missionary work, ya the main focus is the get people to join the church and everything. But there really is so much more. Just helping inactives, members, giving blessings to people that ask you and stuff. There really is so much to missionary work that people don't realize.
Last night was cool. We got failed for a cita and so we heard people in the room across the hall. We knocked and knocked and nobody answered. But we just kept knocking. Finally a lady answered and let us in. She is a member (less active) that we didn't even know about and she was so happy that we came and knocked on her door. She said how she had been praying for something good to happen and then we knocked on her door. Just cool stuff like that. I feel like those "cool stories" about misionary work are starting to happen.
So this saturday we had the baptism of Pedro!! It was way good. He´s a stud, so you guys probably wanna find out more about him so i´ll give you a little story.
So he is from bulgaria and he is 21 yrs. old but he left his family in Bulgaria because his parents didn´t treat him very good and he heard that he could find work in spain. So one day he pretty much just left. He went to Malaga with only like 100 euros and started looking for a job. He looked and couldn´t find one. Then one day he was praying for help and later that day the sister missionaries contacted him on the street, and they gave him a BOM in bulgarian and taught him the first two lessons. Then pedro heard that there was more work in Granada so he decided to come here. The hermanas called us and told us about him but they both finished their missions last transfer. Anyone so one day we were just contacting and it was a miracle but we found pedro just walking down the street. It was awesome. We didn´t even know what he looked like and we literally ran right into each other. And from there on out it´s just been way good. He´s is just a straight up stud. He reads like 15 chptrs a day in the BOM. So for the past month me and elder Becerra have been meeting with him every other day teaching him, and we committed him to the 3rd and everything. it was pretty cool. So last saturday he was baptised. It was way good