Hermana Emily Santiago
Spain Madrid Mission
March 2016
March 2016
I love Spain! I’m
grateful for the opportunity to be here and to serve the Lord. We have had
great success over the last month. For a new missionary it has been
amazing to watch the hand of the Lord here in my area. We have had three
baptisms in this month and have a number of investigators progressing. It
is amazing to experience! We have also had some wonderful opportunities to
enjoy the incredible culture here in Spain. Last week we attended a Real
Madrid game. It was an experience I´ll never forget. We also had
transfer calls! I was happy to hear that I will be staying in Torrejón for a
while longer. My trainer/companion will be finishing her last three weeks
here while we get a third companion who will be my new companion at the end of
the month. My new companion is a native speaker and speaks no
English. She is from Ecuador but has been in Spain for 15 years. As
the ward mission leader told me: ¨YOU WILL learn Spanish!¨ and you have three
weeks to do it! This new change will also push me to effectively teach
because I´ll have more responsibility to teach our English speaking
investigators. I am excited for the new challenges and experiences
to come.
Elder Kent Templin
Japan Tokyo Mission
August 2016
For the church’s Halloween party, Kent drew skull, cat, and
pumpkin tattoos on the little kids’ hands. Then the bigger kids wanted tattoos,
too.
He and his Japanese companion had both started together new
in this area with no investigators, and little-by-little, they found people to
teach. One man committed to baptism, but Kent received a transfer call.
Now Kent is in Kasukabe, Saitama, nineteen miles north of
Tokyo. The city is well-known as the place where manga/anime character Crayon
Shin-Chan lives. It’s also famous for making traditional dressers of paulownia
wood. Although the population is less than Plano, Kasukabe has less land,
resulting in greater population density.
Now
his senior companion is American and has a reputation as one of the kindest
elders in the mission. Recently, they committed an investigator to baptism.
Japan is normally a tough mission for finding investigators, teaching, and
baptizing, but so far Kent and his companions have been blessed.
Elder Jacob Crandall
Philippines Cebu Mission
January 2016
January 2016
Dear Plano 4th,
Merry Christmas!! Hope everyone is going well! I loved getting and reading the
Pumpkin Letter from the ward! I am still here on the Island called Siquijor and
will be for another transfer. I'm so excited to be able to be with the members
here for Christmas! The Siquijor group is expected to become a branch sometime
during the first quarter of the new year, I really hope I will be able to be
there when that happens! Its so amazing to see how much growth continues to
happen just on this small island, I cant even imagine how many miracles are
happening every day around the world! I'm so excited for Christmas! I'm sure
yall have all heard about the "He is the Gift". Lets all remember
what Christmas is about as we continue to deepen or understanding and relation
with Jesus Christ. The Christmas Holiday is so amazing, I really love the
spirit of Christmas! I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!
Elder Crandall
