Orlando
Florida
Chinese
Speaking
Sister Kyla Radke
Washington Spokane
Spanish Speaking Mission
Hola hola!
Here's a short update on
my mission: Spokane is still COLD and even snowing some days! I've been serving
in the same branch for six months now. Our friend Ezekiel recently got baptized
which was so fun! Our focus the past few weeks has been to get everyone hyped
about General Conference and now Easter Sunday!!
We have been teaching a
super cute family with three little kids and we have been doing some fun little
family home evenings with them as well as their regular lessons. The senior
missionaries recently called to supervise the Spanish work in the mission have
been helping us a lot and even gave a fantastic presentation last Sunday on
member missionary work (that I had the honors of translating into English for
members of our mission presidency, haha). I loved the focus on missionary work
during Conference and how we all can do simple things to love, share, and
invite those we care about to come and see what makes us so different and so
happy!
Hasta la próxima vez,
Hermana Radke
Denmark Copenhagen
Mission
The next two weeks were spent
in transition, trying to figure out what our mission president wants to do with
social media as a tool to find people to teach. It was super confusing and
we've basically just been in limbo. The media sisters have it worse, because my
companion and I were at least already working on projects that we could
continue. And in conclusion, there is no conclusion yet. We're still in
the dark for the time being on what our role is as tech missionaries.
Anyways, the main lesson I've
learned from this is that a lot of frustrating stuff is going to go down in
life a lot of the time. Who cares? If you let the bad things get to you, you're
just going to be worse off. You'll just be full of thoughts that you aren't
good enough, or smart enough, or whatever. It’s better to just say, "This
is a pretty terrible situation going on right now. Anyways, back to work."
Then after it finishes, you'll probably be happy it happened because you
learned a thing or two. Better yet, you will have learned to have
greater faith in Jesus Christ, who will strengthen us.
Texas Dallas West
Spanish Speaking
Mission
A
lot of times, when I would have a blank schedule, I wouldn't have any idea
where to start with planning it all out. Then, after listening to some
devotionals and talks, I started to just pray for however long I needed, to
receive revelation about where we should go, whom we should visit, and how many
people were ready to let God prevail in their life. Well, that worked just
dandy and lots of miracles came from that approach. I definitely would
recommend it. Obviously it sounds easier said than done, but also,
it really isn't that hard, so you should give it a try in your life.
Sometimes persistence with God
helps with receiving revelation. At least it does for me. I just talk to God
and say, "Yeah I know that I need more faith, but I at least I want to serve
you." I just try to connect with God and feel the Spirit guiding me and it
generally works out great.
Treinta y Tres Uruguay
Spanish Speaking
Elder Shepley has been
serving his mission in Montevideo since February. His current companion is
Elder Barboza, from Uruguay. They have been doing service activities and more
street contacting.
He turned 19 in March
and since he was in Montevideo it was easy for us to order sushi and have a
delivery company (they are church members) take it to him when he came back
home that day. The company also sells missionary care packages so we ordered a
chocolate cake and Guaraná (popular drink among missionaries, kind of like
ginger ale).
He is enjoying the
mission despite being robbed twice. Once they asked for his watch and in
another opportunity they asked for the bag that holds the water bottle. Since
this part of Montevideo is known by being less safe, the missionaries are
supposed to be home before it gets dark. The Lord is protecting him and he
knows everything will be ok.
Washington,
Yakima Mission
Spanish
Speaking
Elder Nichols is loving
his area of Topponish, Washington. He and his Canadian Companion, Elder Smith,
were able to evade transfers last week, so they get more time together in
their sketchy neighborhood! They are both enjoying the Spanish Branch
immensely, and teaching new people all the time. Here are some tiny tidbits
from Elder Nichols' recent emails:
I want to talk about James. James is a Vietnam War Vet
that we've met with multiple times. He's been a member for 20 years, is 81
years old, has a lot of trauma, and has many different prescription bottles. He
has no family and lives in an assisted living nursing home, and has a lot of
trouble getting around. He also speaks very slowly and sometimes forgets what
he is saying. Nevertheless, he is very kind and humble. He loves the gospel
and loves having the missionaries over. During my last visit I noticed
that every calendar box was blank except for the ones that said
"missionaries" and the one that was circled for his birthday. Our
last visit was the day after his birthday (we were there for his birthday,
too). He gave us pizza, cake, and cherry cola, which he had for his birthday.
We also cut his hair for him because it had gotten really long. Even if I'm
having a difficult day, I feel great after a visit with him because I know how
much light we bring into his life.
I would like to testify of how much the Spirit has
helped me these last few weeks. I can tell when my words are being guided; they
float out of my head without effort and are perfect for the moment. I can also
testify of the simple peace and joy that the Spirit brings me daily. It often
makes or breaks my mood. I promise that as you seek the Spirit during personal
study and listen throughout the day, you will receive these same
blessings. Love, Elder Nichols
Brazil,
Belo Horizonte Mission
Portuguese
Speaking
Editor’s note: As I am typing, Elder Baker is flying from DFW to
Atlanta and then will hop an overnight flight to Sao Paulo Happy Travels Elder
Matt! Update: Elder Matt's flight to Atlanta was delayed four hours and that caused him to miss his connection in Atlanta. Not to worry, he got to spend the night in the Atlanta Airport and took the overnight flight the next night. WHEW Memorable!
During conference,
President Ballard shared this scripture from Alma 17: "Go forth … and establish my word; yet ye shall
be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good
examples … in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the
salvation of many souls."
That last line really hit
me: "I will make an instrument of thee." If you think about an
instrument, like a piano, guitar, violin, or even a triangle- it can't produce
any sound without someone who knows how to play it. We are just like these
instruments. Our purpose is best fulfilled when we submit to the will of the
master musician, our Savior Jesus Christ. If we will let Him, He will make more
out of us than we could ever be on our own. All He asks is that we, as the
beloved hymn puts it, "tune [our] hearts to sing [His] grace." I
promise that as you seek to more fully tune your heart to His will, He will
make you an instrument in His hands unto the salvation of many souls, including
your own. Elder Baker
Cape Verde Praia Mission
Maddie is still at BYU Studying finishing up her Winter Semester. She will start her At Home MTC Experience on May 2nd. We look forward to hearing more from her next time.
Senior
Service Missionary Coordinators
We are serving a 2 year Senior Service Mission. We are the
Senior Service Missionary Coordinators for North Texas and Oklahoma. We
act as a liaison between the Stake Presidents (36 stakes) and the Operation
Managers for the Church operations in our area (about 40) to make sure the
operations have the service missionaries they need to run smoothly. We
help prospective missionaries with finding a mission they would like to serve
and with their paper work so they can receive a call. Some of the
operations that missionaries in our area are serving in are the Bishops'
Storehouse, Employment Resources, Family History (records extraction), BYU
Pathway, Family Services (Addiction Recovery Group Leaders), and Temple non-ordinance
workers. And, lastly, we provide orientation and training to Stake
Presidencies, Bishops, and Stake Senior Service Missionary Specialists to help
promote Senior Service Missions among the stake members. We are Senior
Service Missionary Ambassadors and we love serving.
As an Employment Service Missionary I meet each morning with an Active Job Search (AJS) Group teaching them how to network and job search skills. We teach how to talk to people to find job leads or people who can give them information about the type of job they are interested in, informational interviews. We teach how to develop their resume to make a powerful statement about why the employer should talk to them. And we show them that they need to tailor their resume to fit each job and company they are applying for. We teach the candidates how to interview in a way that will get them offers. We teach them the questions to anticipate and how to answer them to the satisfaction of the interviewer. We help them formulate power statements to use in their answers that show their abilities, as they relate to the job for which they are interviewing. We even practice interview questions during the meetings to give them a chance to get a feel for what they will face in an actual interview. We encourage them to practice, practice, practice, on their own the things we teach and discuss in our meetings.
Sister Young is from
Boise, Idaho and just passed her one year mark as a missionary. Hermana Milla from Draper Utah and Guatemala
(Spanish speaking) just passed her one
week in the mission field mark. What
great missionaries they are. They bring such a great spirit with them when they
come to our homes to share a meal and to teach lessons. We are so blessed to have them in our Ward!
Elder Jacob Mass Receives Call to Serve!
North Dakota Bismarck Mission
Departs July 25, 2022
Tuesday, April 19, Jacob received his mission call! His Maternal Grandmother and his awesome Seminary teacher Brother Hill both guessed correctly! Congratulations Jake!!! We are so happy for you. What a blessing you will be to North Dakota!
