Thats it! Pun-cakes is cancelled!

(Elder Slade)

To the best Friends and Family a person could hope for,

This has been a crazy week, and there's a lot I could tell you, but I'll try to keep it short. It feels like a month has gone by, not a week. So first, Thursday night last week I was called to be the district leader of our district in the MTC! It seems crazy, because I thought that if I ever became the district leader it would be when I had 6 months left on my mission or something like that, but my second day I was called. At times I feel a little overwhelmed, but the Lord is definitely helping support me at times. I love my district! We have 6 Elders and 4 Sisters. We have laughed so hard at times, and we learn so much from each other. It's crazy to me how in just one week you can get so close to a group of people.

Our days spent at the MTC are strictly scheduled with two 3 hour class periods in the morning and in the afternoon, along with workshops every other day or so, and lots of study time.In class we mainly focus on how to teach and the lesson material themselves. We also teach lessons every other day where we teach a nonmember, or a member who's an actor and pretends to be a nonmember. This week, Elder Lavold and I have been teaching a woman named Laura. We love teaching her! I love it at the MTC as well, and feels so good to know that I am going about doing the Lord's work!

My title comes from a breakfast where we had pancakes and Elder Lavold had the idea to do pun-cakes, where you try to think of as many puns as possible (I love Elder Lavold!). I thought it was a great idea, and gave a few puns. However when a sister in our district found out, Sister Hayes, she must have spouted 10-15 puns in a row, with almost no stop. Elder Lavold was speechless, and did not how to respond by this amazing display of wit and punnery. I guess you could say he was tongue-"tied" (you get it! Because we were wearing ties! Lol). Eventually he just said "That's it! Pun-cakes is cancelled!".

Anyways, thanks for your prayers and support. I unfortunately am not allowed to search things online, so my potato jokes will be pretty lame and a little bit familiar. but...

What do you call a potato that is trying to find inner peace?

A medi-tator!

Pictures:

1. The best district ever!!

2. A giant bag of sour patch kids Elder Lavold got. (What kind of person opens bags from the middle! You just can't do that! He claimed it was like opening a tissue box. *shaking my head*)

3. Elder Lavold and I in front of a beautiful mural (there's so much beautiful art in the MTC)

4. Us on the roof, with the temple in the background.

5. Me pointing at my mission.

To the best Friends and Family a person could hope for,

This has been a crazy week, and there's a lot I could tell you, but I'll try to keep it short. It feels like a month has gone by, not a week. So first, Thursday night last week I was called to be the district leader of our district in the MTC! It seems crazy, because I thought that if I ever became the district leader it would be when I had 6 months left on my mission or something like that, but my second day I was called. At times I feel a little overwhelmed, but the Lord is definitely helping support me at times. I love my district! We have 6 Elders and 4 Sisters. We have laughed so hard at times, and we learn so much from each other. It's crazy to me how in just one week you can get so close to a group of people.

Our days spent at the MTC are strictly scheduled with two 3 hour class periods in the morning and in the afternoon, along with workshops every other day or so, and lots of study time.In class we mainly focus on how to teach and the lesson material themselves. We also teach lessons every other day where we teach a nonmember, or a member who's an actor and pretends to be a nonmember. This week, Elder Lavold and I have been teaching a woman named Laura. We love teaching her! I love it at the MTC as well, and feels so good to know that I am going about doing the Lord's work!

My title comes from a breakfast where we had pancakes and Elder Lavold had the idea to do pun-cakes, where you try to think of as many puns as possible (I love Elder Lavold!). I thought it was a great idea, and gave a few puns. However when a sister in our district found out, Sister Hayes, she must have spouted 10-15 puns in a row, with almost no stop. Elder Lavold was speechless, and did not how to respond by this amazing display of wit and punnery. I guess you could say he was tongue-"tied" (you get it! Because we were wearing ties! Lol). Eventually he just said "That's it! Pun-cakes is cancelled!".

Anyways, thanks for your prayers and support. I unfortunately am not allowed to search things online, so my potato jokes will be pretty lame and a little bit familiar. but...

What do you call a potato that is trying to find inner peace?

A medi-tator!

Pictures:

1. The best district ever!!

2. A giant bag of sour patch kids Elder Lavold got. (What kind of person opens bags from the middle! You just can't do that! He claimed it was like opening a tissue box. *shaking my head*)

3. Elder Lavold and I in front of a beautiful mural (there's so much beautiful art in the MTC)

4. Us on the roof, with the temple in the background.

5. Me pointing at my mission.

Somebody done stole our ladders

(Elder Slade)

Hey everybody! I arrived at the MTC safely. My preparation day, when I'll be able to send emails, while in the MTC, is on Thursday. Yesterday was a little overwhelming, with lots of new information and rules about the MTC. However, I am loving it so far! I'm excited to be learning, and getting prepared for the field.

My companion is Elder Lavold, from Mesa Arizona. He's pretty cool! I'm excited to be able to work with him. The title is something I said last night, as when we got to our room, someone had "pranked" us by stacking all the chairs, and moving the ladders to the bunk bed to the room next door. It was pretty funny.

This morning, there was a devotional broadcasted from the Lima Peru MTC where Jeffrey R Holland, one of the 12 apostles in our church, spoke to us. His talk was soooo amazing! I felt invigorated and energized, which is a common side effect of his talks. Those who have heard him speak, probably know what I mean. He talked about what serving a mission faithfully can do for you the rest of your life, along with the importance of obedience and the Book of Mormon. During it, I just felt a strong gratitude and love for God for calling me on my mission, and being willing to serve. I feel so much joy from choosing to come here! God bless you, and stay fresh!

Someone told me that my joke last week was pretty cheesy, but let me just say, potatoes taste better with cheese in my opinion. ;)

Pictures:

MTC campus 

Beautiful of the mountains (The picture doesn't do it justice) 

Elder Lavold and I

MY NAME TAG!!! 

My Companion is going to kill me

(Sister Slade)

We got transfer calls on Saturday. Both Sister Jelderks and I are staying. So this is how I die. 3 areas, 13 transfers, 12 companions. As the little einsteins would say, "Start the countdown!" It's so weird to only have 6 weeks left. It feels like yesterday that I was in Central Park as baby Sister Slade.  

This week was a week of completed goals. At the beginning of my mission I had a goal to read the entire standard works studying the Gospel of Jesus Christ. On Thursday I accomplished my goal. It really is amazing to see how the Gospel ties into everything and really is the center of everything we believe. My testimony of the Gospel has grown so much as I've read the Old and New Testaments, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price. I also successfully went 21 days without sugar. Our mission was doing a fit challenge where if every missionary in our stake did the challenge for 20 days then we would get an extra pday. Everyone did it so we get an extra pday on wednesday. Yay! goals are a really interesting thing. I've come to learn that they are a reflection of our faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. When we have faith in Him we realize that we can become better so we set goals in the act of trying to be better. It doesn't matter so much if we reach the goal as long as we tried and improved. It's in the trying where the atonement makes up the difference.

Not too much happened this week. Either my weeks are super exciting or very boring. I wish they were more exciting for all of your sakes.

God is good!

Sister Slade

pictures:

1-2. At the restore they had about 50 shower curtains donated and we had to take them all to the back but didn't have a cart to use.

3-4. the member who came with us to Johana's lesson brought her little boy that is the same age as Johana's daughter and they were so cute together.

5-9. At the animal shelter there was a cat they had us work with that didn't like people. By the end of 1.5 hours she was taking a nap on me. The worker said they'd never had anyone be able to even touch her. I'm a cat whisperer.

Goodbye Humacao

(Hermana Ellsworth)

Humacao has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. I have seen the hand of God work miracles in the people here and I will always look back on this time with fond memories and a stronger testimony of the blessings of God for his children. It was a short time of only 2 transfers but it was full of Miracles.

Julian, Ian, y Liliana in our last lesson with them :) They have changes my life and watch Julian be the next general authority at the age of 13.

The Youngs who live out here. We are eating in a restaurant where the church building used to be when Hno. Young served his mission here in Puerto Rico. They help so much with the mission work . I love them so much and they are wonderful examples to me about consecrating their lives for the Lord and doing so with so much style.

Fuimos para comer como un districto después... Wait... english... We went and got sushi. Goodbye hermana Plumb.

This is pinchofongo. SO GOOD

Christie has blessed my life by helping me know that God still heals people of every sickness and problem

Jaileen is the best person in the world and my new big sister. Sorry Paige. you have been replaced.

BUT HERE I COME TRUJILLO ALTO!!!!!

I AM SOEXCITED!!

January 28th 2020

(Elder Petersen)

So this week was an interesting one. To start out this week on Monday we had a ministering visit with a member and in that visit she told us about this friend of hers that was expressing interest in the church. So we talked to her about that for a while and then we went our separate ways. Then on Wednesday we had an early dinner with a packed night of member visits. On Thursday we huddled with our Senior couple the Waldners and discussed with them what we were doing in their stake as well as going over what they are doing in the stake as well. After that we went to service at a service run free family center. That was pretty interesting but all that we really did there was clean toys and count puzzle pieces. Then on Friday we had zone conference which took up a everything from 8 am to 4 pm basically. It was a very interesting zone conference where we learned how to better make the time that we are stuck in doors more affective. Then on Saturday we had our first lesson with a YSA age lady by the name of Hannah. She was a referral from some sisters up in Pennsylvania because one of those Sisters is Hannah's best friend. But the lesson went really well and our next lesson with her is tomorrow! Then yesterday we got a text from this YSA lady whom I talked about in the beginning saying that she had asked her friend if she wanted to meet with the Missionaries and she said yes!!! So that was my week.

Have a great week,

Sincerely Elder Petersen

Hey Mom!

(Elder Slade)

Hey! I arrived at the MTC safely. I'm in my first class now, and they told us to email home. Our P day is Thursday, so you'll probably receive another email from me tomorrow. My companion is Elder Lavold from Mesa Arizona.

2 Days Away!!

(Elder Slade)

To the best Friends and Family a person could hope for,

If you couldn't tell from the title, I have only two days left until I leave for the MTC!! I am super excited and can't wait to get out there! I've looked forward to this time in my life for many years growing up. I've always planned and wanted to go on a mission, and it is finally here! Some may wonder why I am willing to do this. I am foregoing time spent with family and friends and school and many other things, for two entire years. I will not get paid for this service, but volunteer for it with my own free will. Some may think that is a little bizarre or crazy. So for my first email, I wish to address why I am choosing to serve a mission. This reason is best represented in a verse from the Book of Mormon:

Alma 30:34

And now, if we do not receive anything for our labors in the church, what doth it profit us to labor in the church save it were to declare the truth, that we may have rejoicings in the joy of our brethren?

To sum it up, the reason I am going is because of joy! The knowledge and truth that have received from this gospel has brought me much joy. To know where we were before this life; to know where we are going; to know the purpose of our lives here on earth; to know that I can live with my family forever; to know where I can turn in times of stress, sorrow, and sadness and receive comfort and peace in return; to be guided in making all of my decisions in my life; to know that I am never alone; to know that it is possible to be forgiven and to change and become better people; and to know that there is a way to eternal happiness and joy after we die. All of these blessings bring me peace and joy in my life, and that is why I am choosing to serve a mission. The gospel brings me joy, and to be able to bring that joy to my brothers and sisters in Idaho, and rejoice with them in receiving this knowledge is payment enough for my service. I know some of you on this email list do not believe the way I do, and I do not ask you to believe what I do, but this is the reason I am serving a mission.

Thank you for wanting to hear from me each week. If you know of someone who might want to also receive these emails, have them email me, and I will put them on the next email. Or, if you have been linked in this email by mistake, and no longer want to receive these emails :( that's alright and just let me know.

My mailing address while in the MTC is:

Elder Gabriel Ronald Slade

02-12 | ID-IF

2005 N 900 East, Unit #103

Provo UT  84602

United States

Please do not send me a dead fish or something like that, but if you need to send me something in the next few weeks before I arrive in the mission field (hint: my favorite candy is Reese's peanut butter cups! Lol, you don't need to send me anything.), this is the address to send it to!

P.S.  Each email I'll try to send something funny or and interesting fact about Idaho or potatoes, so...

What do you call a potato that's reluctant to jump into boiling water?

A hesi-tater! Ha, that's funny right there!

Bible myths about heaven

(Sister Slade)

This week we were talking to an old lady who lives in a nursing home named Cathy. Her pastor had given her a book titled "Bible Facts About Heaven" and wanted us to read it to her because she's basically blind. (If you remember my email from 4 weeks ago, about the Priester, it's the same guy). There was so much false doctrine in it that it should have been called "Bible Myths About Heaven." I'm grateful for the knowledge that we have about the plan of salvation and the hope it brings. The book was fear driven as if the only way to talk about Heaven was to talk about Hell and scare people into Heaven. But God is loving and kind and merciful. He wants us to choose to be happy, not force us to be happy. That's not true happiness.

A lot happened this week, but nothing happened this week. We had exchanges in Springdale on Tuesday and that was fun. I served in Springdale for 10 days and got to see a couple of the people I had met while there. On Wednesday we had a stake district council and then Blitzed the Siloam Springs area. So there were 26 missionaries in one area trying to find people for the missionaries serving there to teach. Unfortunately no one found anyone for them to teach. The sisters that drove us up there though were terrible drivers. I think we almost died 7 or 8 times in the 30 minute drive. That was exciting.

That's about it for this week.

God is good.

Sister Slade

pictures

1-5. Saturday was really boring so we played at a park for 20 minutes before going in for dinner

6-8. I was really depressed on Saturday but then at service at the animal shelter, all one cat wanted to do was snuggle. it made me happy

9-10. We got to hold a baby bunny on Wednesday.

Tell me how your mission is going...

(Hermana Ellsworth)

Tell me how your mission is going. How long have you been out?

My mission is going so well! I have been out 1 year on Wednesday.  I have been able to learn a ton of Spanish so I can really share what I feel to the people here. I hot some rough spots about 6 months into the mission with companions and then a car crash but it was exactly what I needed to grow and progress! I Love how good God is at strategically placing trials in my life. I have seen a lot of fruit of my labor and I feel like I have been TOOO blessed. I love Puerto Rico and the people. Sadly I love the food too much and have gained 15 lbs.... but I know there are blessings after the mission too.

What’s a revelation you’ve received lately that has helped you or somebody else?

I have been able to study more about the restoration of the Gospel and better ways to teach that. I also got to feel the spirit work through me as I shared about how to receive personal revelation based on the experience Nephi had in chapter 10 and 11 of 1 Nephi. It helped them understand that their questions could lead to real answers if they exercise their faith first. I know I am teaching with the spirit when I end up learning something at the same time.

How has your testimony of the truthfulness of the church been tested?

I dont think the truthfulness of the church has ever been tested in my eyes. I know that it is true and every trial has taught even more that God knows everything and that he guides this church through a living prophet. I know that. I cant explain how or when I knew that for sure but at this point in my life I know it. God cannot Lie. That has been my motto for a hot second. If he told me once that it is true I know he cant lie. If he has told me the blessings of a commandment I know he will keep his word on that. My patriarchal blessing has helped me a ton to keep going and trusting in the promises of the Lord.

What’s something funny that has happened lately?

We were teaching a family with 2 boys, (8 years old and 11 years old) they have a short attention span so we have to spot every once in a while to play a game so they can get the lesson completely.  We were teaching the plan of salvation and when we got to the final judgment we told the boys they could have 1 minute to ask us as many questions as they want to see if we were keeping the commandments as if we were being "Judged"

They asked us "¿Cuáles son los nombres de su mejor amigos???" (Or what are the names of your best friends)

I started to answer and in a very strong spanish accent but in english the 11 year old said, "YOO LIIEE!!! JESUS CHRIST IS YO BEST FRIEND!!"

I about died laughing in the lesson because he thought he really got me on that one.

1 YEAR

(Hermana Ellsworth)

One Year in the mission and I get to celebrate it with some of the most amazing missionaries. These are some of the missionaries that were in the CCM with me not shown: Hermana Melhoff, Hermana Nelson, Elder Hill, Elder Cuthbertson, Elder Leemaster, Elder Stellway (Kibarabari), and Elder Makaafi, HAPPY ONE YEAR SINCE WE ALL MET IN MEXICO! (On Wednesday)

After our ultimate frisbee and volleyball zone activity we went and got some good Frappes (Just the name for smoothies in Puerto Rico)

Everything is relaxing a lot now that the earthquakes have mostly stopped and are less often.

It has been amazing to see the growth of the people and the church as a whole as people join together for the greater good. We are still teaching some amazing people and the Lord is blessing us with finding a lot of people and then having a lot of them keep commitments. We had 7 people at church on Sunday and the Ward members are bringing a lot of their friends to church so that we can get to know them. I love my mission so much and it has changed my life.

I am so excited to keep pushing hard and I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for me in next 6 months! Thank you everyone for all of your wonderful emails that I got last week! I am working on replying and I love hearing how everyone is! I love you all so much!

AND I ALMOST FORGOT!!! AFTER THE EARTHQUAKES THE TEMPLE OOOFFFIICIIAALLLYYYY STARTED CONSTRUCTION!!!!!!!!!!! They got the permission and everything and I am so excited to be here as it is finally moving towards construction!

I love Hermana Hahne so much! We have grown so much from when we first met in the CCM and I am so happy to be her companion! A spiritual Giant !!

GO FIGHT WIN!! We are fighting a battle out here and it is just part of the battle we fought before (Go to Revelations 12 for more information on how to fight ;) )

January 21, 2020

(Elder Petersen)

So this week we contacted a lot of people to try and find some new people to teach and to set up some more lessons with both non-members as well as members. It has been a great week filled with a lot of walking and talking as well as a few more inches of snow last Wednesday. This next week we will be able to go to the temple with one of my recent converts whose name is Heather. She is a very dedicated lady in what she believes and has had a bit of a rough life but through the gospel and the sacredness of the baptismal ordinances in which she participated in I know that her life will only look up no matter the challenges that will beset her in the rest of her life. I know just as well as she does that it is only through the Holy Ghost that we can truly come to know Heavenly Father and the plan that he has for us in this life and in the life to come. My one bit of Council to anyone who might be struggling right now in any way is to pray about your struggles because even though sometimes it may be hard to believe that Heavenly Father is listening to each and every one of our prayers, he is and although we may not see his answer in our lives right now it will come sometimes without you even knowing that it is there. Love all of you have a great week! Wherever in the world you may be!

Shook!

(Hermana Ellsworth)

Hello Family and Friends!

We are doing well in Puerto Rico. This week we have been experiencing some major earthquakes but all missionaries are accounted for and my companion and I are safe and sound in Humacao.  We were out of power for 3 days after the 6.4 earthquake on Tuesday. We have been working on the relief efforts for the south with food, water, and hygiene products. The mission always makes us keep and emergency bag and 72 hrs of food and water incase of earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes.  We have everything packed inside the car incase we need to leave. To learn more about the mission and how we are doing we invite you to look up the church news room article....

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news/missionaries-latter-day-saints-reported-safe-following-early-morning-quake-in-puerto-rico?lang=eng

I have learned a lot on my mission and it seems I keep learning about the importance of emergency preparedness.  I sat in ward Council listening to the testimonies of our ward leaders and their experiences during Hurricane Maria. One of the testimonies that touched me the most is when our ward mission leader mentioned how important it is to be spiritually prepared for emergencies too. I know that each person is on their own spiritual journey but we all have the same goal. We are here on earth to repent and to prepare ourselves to dwell with God again. Alma 34:32 32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

Elder Christopherson in the world Wide young adult broadcast spoke about how this life is to also meant to be a time to make connections with others. To spend the time with loved ones and to help our brothers and sisters grow in their journey towards our mutual Father in Heaven. I have made friends, nearly family, here in Puerto Rico and it hurts me to see my friends and family here suffering and going through similar fears from Hurricane Maria. I know that God is looking out for this Island and He, the almighty and All knowing, is preparing more than just the island but the people for a Temple. I know all things point to a God that exists and He is moving forward with His great work.

"Alma 26:5 Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted.

                             

               6 Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the storm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them.

                                            7 But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the harvest, and they are his; and he will raise them up at the last day.

                                             8 Blessed be the name of our God; let us sing to his praise, yea, let us give thanks to his holy name, for he doth work righteousness forever."

I hope you are able to ponder about about how Good God really is and how Good our fellow men are. Slow Down and wait on the Spirit of the Lord. Be still and Know that God is God.

And our Beautiful Julian was able to pass the sacrament with his fellow Deacons this week :) #ProudMissionary

Are the Clouds Green?

(Sister Slade)

The beginning of this week was fairly boring. I wasn't quite as recovered from having 3 ear infections as I thought. I got really tired really easily so every couple of hours I would have to sit down for a bit. It was especially bad on Tuesday when we did service at the restore. They always have us move a lot of heavy furniture and equipment so I got really worn out. But I'm better now!

On Friday we had a tornado warning. It was terrifyingly fun. The sky turned green. It was POURING. We got soaked running from the car to our apartment. Our mission leaders recommended that we shouldn't leave the apartment for the rest of the night, so we sewed some dresses. The next morning everything froze and there was ice everywhere and a skiff of snow. It made the Coloradan in me happy. It was a tender mercy.

The next day was interviews and all my mission president and his wife talked to me about was that I was going home in 9 weeks and my plans for going home. I thought i was ready to go home until they started asking for the details of my plan and I couldn't answer. Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!! Even though I'm panicking a little (a lot) there's also a sense of peace. The Lord's going to help me figure things out and they will happen exactly the way they need to.

After interviews we helped with a youth service project. It was really fun and I was able to build relationships with some of the young women in our ward. We packaged 40,000 meals to go to 3rd world countries. It was really neat to talk to the youth and share a little of my testimony of service. Doing service has changed my mission. For the first 6 months we didn’t do very much but now we do scheduled service almost every day. Service softens hearts in ways that other things can't.

God is good!

Sister Slade

Pictures!

1. Johana's daughter sat on my lap and before I could take her off (because it's against the rules to have children sit on you lap) sister Jelderks took a picture

2. At service with the youth

3-4. This cat really liked our shoulders

5-7. Sister Jelderk's phone has a fun camera filter so during phone audits we had too much fun

January 14 2020

(Elder Petersen)

So this week we did a few interesting things going on. The most exciting thing about it would be that we put one of the people that we are teaching by the name of Olivia on date to be baptized! Olivia is a 12 year old girl who seems to be really wanting to be baptized. So this happened on Sunday night and it just went really well! On Wednesday we had District Council where we learned how best to make Jesus Christ the center of everything that we teach. We also had service at a place called Blacksmith Fork Assisted Living where we called bingo for those living there. Other than that we really did not do all that much. But one thing that was nice is that in the past few days we have gotten around a foot of snow so now everything is just covered in snow making everything just look white and nice. Hope you all have a great week!

Until next week,

Elder Petersen