Reunited... and it feels so good!!

OK.  I confess that my blogging skills have been lacking lately.  It's not that I don't care about these fabulous missionaries.  In my 'old age' I'm just getting confused as to where I have already posted things and where I haven't.  Between the church bulletin board, writing letters and sending out quarterly newsletters to each missionary I forget where and what I've posted.
Anyways, enough of my lame excuses, here is one of my favorite recent pics.  Can you only imagine what kind of a reunion this was?  I can just hear the two of them laughing away and imagine them jumping around and hugging eachother. I can see it in my mind's eye as though I were standing right there with them.  Only in 'the land of smiles' could this type of reunion take place.  It's like Steve Wilson said regarding Alma 17:2. "Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren."

I think this really is one of the greatest reunions in scriptural history. It is surpassed only by the story of Joseph of Egypt and his brothers (Gen 42-45). After 14 years of separation, the joy that Alma feels can only be fully appreciated in light of the gospel which they shared. There is something 'heavenly' about reuniting with a loved one, especially when both have been valiant in the cause of truth. We love and miss them both!!! Hoorah for Zion!!

The Next Best Thing...

Sister Sloan continues to love serving on her mission.



I wish you could all sense the great enthusiasm that Sister Sloan has for her mission.  It is infectious to say the least!!!  Here's a bit of what she had to say in one of her latest letters:
"I love being able to share the gospel to people, and to teach them how they can grow closer to Christ. Its so great to be able to share with them how much happiness they can receive in their life. I love the scripture in Mosiah 2:41 when it talks about how you should "consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God, for behold they are blessed in all things....and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven that thereby they might dwell with God in a state of never ending happiness" I love this scripture because a lot of times we think that the commandments are "rules" and that we don't always want to keep them because we think they are hard. But as I've looked back on my life and looked at my investigators lives I can see that we are really happier when we obey Gods will, and to think that if we do we will be in a state of never ending happiness.  It's the next best thing that I have ever heard besides "I have chocolate."

She must be her mother's daughter.  Hmmm...comparing the gospel to chocolate??  Yes....it works!!! :)

I love my mission, I love being a missionary and I wish that it never ends!!!

Elder Ultra is doing well and thriving...to say the least.  Here is a letter that he sent us a few weeks ago and is just getting posted now.  Sorry for the delay!!! Hoorah for Zion Elder Ultra!

 

Hey Yall,

So I am doing pretty well'ish. It seems that at the end of our nights after planning for our day the next day, I get a sickness feeling of either a fever or migraine. But after sleeping to wake up and play basketball the next day for exercises, I feel a lot better. I drew to a conclusion that the Lord gives me strengthenough to sustain me until I am completely finished his work for the day. It seems odd but as I have observed in the week and experienced it, I have no worries that the Lord will take care as long as I do his will.

A couple of days ago we had an incredible and humbling experience to be in a presence of one of the twelve Apostles of the Lord, Elder David Bednar. He visited our mission and talked to all 200+ of us in a Stake Center. Like everyone would say when they felt the Spirit, Words cannot express the feelings which was present in our short but long 3 hour meeting with Elder Bednar. At first, when he stepped in front of the pulpit, I felt that all the missionaries had a feeling of intimidation and un easiness because we literally have an Apostle standing in front of us. Elder Bednar then broke down the barriers we had and set up an environment so that we could be receptive to the Holy Ghost to teach us. I have never learnt so much in a 3 hour of my life. He taught us principles that would make us better missionaries, and also better members of the church. As a matter of fact, he didn't even teach us. He helped us learn for ourselves. He helped us understand the meaning of 'Learning by Faith.' It is not enough for us to be passive in what we learn, But we need to excert physical, mental, and spiritual strength to learn by Faith. Acting upon our Faith in what we have learned in one of the focus that we all learned. Before Elder Bednar ended the meeting he bestowed and blessed us with an Apostolic blessing. He then bore a testimony that will be embedded in mine to really deeply know the meaning when I say the "I know that this church is true".

I wish I have more time to tell you all about it! I love my mission and I love being a missionary! and I wish that it never ends! But i know it will and when it does, I will be changed for ever.

Much Love,

Ken

The Church Lowers Missionary Service Age

This past weekend, I was able to attend General Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.
It was a wonderful experience and we were able to sit in the conference center when a special missionary announcement, by President Thomas S. Monson...our prophet, was made. 
Being that this is a 'missionary oriented blog' I thought it fitting to post the announcement here for any who aren't familiar with the changes.  There was a wonderful spirit felt as President Monson made this announcement.  My mind reflected on the many, many prospective Elders and..especially...Sisters who are of that age and and I felt a real excitement for all of them.  You may want to watch the News conference afterwards, with Elder Nelson and Elder Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve. You will note that Elder Holland said that this change has nothing to do with 'you' (prospective Elders and Sisters) but, that it has everything to do with hastening the Lord's work.  It was so exciting to hear!!!

Here is the announcement below for your interest:

Church Lowers Missionary Service Age

Salt Lake City — 

In a move to expand the opportunities for young members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to serve full-time missions, Church President Thomas S. Monson announced today that, effective immediately, men may now begin serving at age 18 and women at age 19.

The previous age for beginning missionary service was 19 years of age for young men and 21 for young women.

The announcement was made during the opening session of the Church’s 182nd Semiannual General Conference, broadcast worldwide from Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Church anticipates that lowering the age requirement will significantly increase the number of missionaries who will serve by expanding the options for when they may begin their service.

“I am not suggesting that all young men will — or should — serve at this earlier age,” President Monson said. Rather, he said, the option is now available based on individual circumstances, as well as upon a determination by local Church leaders. (Read President Monson's full remarks.)

Elder Scarlett leaves Slave Lake....

Elder Scarlett has been busy serving for the past several months in Slave Lake:

Here's his quick latest 'blurb'-

"So am leaving Slave Lake and heading to the city, to make it even better a {YSA}branch.  Am super excited to go there and i hope it will be awesome!
Its called Garneau YSA Branch and its in Millwoods, Alberta."

Have fun Elder Scarlett!!!  We love and miss you!!! Does anyone recognize the 'character' standing beside him?  Former Elder Kearl who served here in the Vancouver Mission and went home a few months ago!!!

The Work Continues....

Sister Sloan  continues to love, love, love serving on Temple Square.  Every letter she sends is so enthusiastic.

This week has been great! I forgot to tell you that last week we brought around two couples from England and Wales. They were awesome! During the tour we taught the JS Story and one of the ladies started crying during it! Our last stop was at the Christus and then we invited them to learn more about the gospel.  They politely declined so we walked in one direction and they walked the other way.  As we were walking through the Old testament paintings display after the tour we heard one of the ladies, on the tour talking about how powerful our tour was and how she felt something.
This past week we brought around about 45 youth from ONE ward here in Utah. Oh man that was a good tour! At the end, one of our contactors was asked what the church was like in the Ukraine and so she talked about it, then the rest of us bore our testimonies of gaining a testimony and going to church. Afterwards there was one young man who came up to me and one of the other sisters who was contacting.  He was wearing a Crosby jersey and didn't look like he was really paying attention during the tour but he told us that that was what he needed to hear and that we did awesome!
Then two days later about 100 High School football players (catholic) from Cali came down for a tour. Its hard because most were underage so we can’t teach them but only answer their questions and once in a while sneak something in. We had 25 from the group. At first I was worried because they're in High school, they play football and so usually you think of them as just being crazy teens but our group was soo good and they were really paying attention to what we were saying!

Yesterday we had more great tours! in the morning my companion had a first transfer meeting so I was on exchanges and had a motor coach tour with a sister from the Ukraine. It was awesome! 6 people referred for missionaries! One we couldn't count because they didn’t end up giving their full address and two were going back to China in the next couple days.. It was so sad! Last night I kept thinking about those two girls around my age who wanted to learn more about God, and about their purpose in life and we can’t help them! They both got a copy of the book of mormon. We give them out only to Chinese people who are going back to china, but I felt so devastated! I want to keep teaching them! But I know that God will provide a way for them to hear the message of the Gospel again.  I don't know when that will be but I have faith that they will have the opportunity to hear it again. Yesterday we also talked with a guy from England who has come to Utah so many times but not to temple square.  This time, while he was here, he felt something different and we taught him about the temple and how families can be together forever and he’s says that’s something that he wants to believe in, so we got his number and will call him later. Tola our investigator in Nigeria is doing great! He has a fiancée who we just talked to today who also wants to learn more too so we are going to start teaching her on Thursday! Our other investigators are doing well too!

PS I saw Elder Perry this morning!! We go to the track to run, behind/ just past the Conference Centre. At the end of our run there is a steep hill that I like to run up. Usually there are a couple of sisters that run with me but they weren't there today so I ran by myself up it and I waited up at the top waiting for the other sisters to come up. While I was waiting, I turned around and I could see elder perry walking down the hill, towards me.  He's tall... just saying...and as he walked past me he said 'So, what are you doing out in the dark?" All I could say was "I'm running!"  He just smiled.  I was in aww haha and he just kept on walking... what a great moment!!  Love you.  Love, Sister Sloan

Keep up the great work Sister Sloan. Hoorah for Zion!

He's on His Way....

Elder De Vera has been so good at writing letters.  We've received one just about every week that he's been in the MTC.  It reminds me of all the other Elders and Sisters who are now so busy 'in the work' that they find it much harder to write consistently.  We take what we can get and are grateful for all of their service.

Here is portion from Elder De Vera's latest letter:

I'm doing great!  I just got my flight plans.  It's so exciting!  I fly out on Monday, October 8th (he's already gone by the time we received this) at 5:30am.  I think I might just miss the MTC.  Elder Neil Anderson came to speak to us.  We've had other seventies who have also been here.  Life's been great.  Worry Free and well fed! Such great and inspiring devotionals and firesides.  I will miss the MTC because of those.  The language...I've got it!  So a day in the life of Elder De Vera is:  6:30am wake up and get out of bed.  'Drag' a comb across my head.  Breakfast after planning and study then the rest is either personal, language, additional studies, class for 3 hours, then another class for 3 hours with lunch or dinner in between.  A LOT OF STUDYING.  I've read through the BOM once and now halfway through Matthew and Jesus the Christ.  That's a lot of reading....for me!  I miss you all.  Hope you are doing well.  When I get settled in my new area, I'll write again.  'Til next time.  Elder De Vera

Keep up the great work Elder De Vera.  The adventures are just beginning!!!

"It's Not About Me....."

Today was an exciting day. We received our very first letter from Elder De Vera, in the mail!!! Here is a little piece of what he wrote: I just want you all to know that the first few days here at the MTC has been great. Long days but good days!! There's so many opportunities to feel the spirit here. Also, I'm learning the new language pretty well! It's pretty similar to Tagalog so I've got somewhat of a head start! The food here is as good as they say. The cookies and cream 'ice-cream' is SO good. I might have gained four pounds already but at least they have a gymn. We had a chance to watch the Restoration movie last night and I thought it was such a testimony builder. It strengthen my testimony of the restoration and the Book of Mormon. ...I want you to know how much I am enjoying missionary work. I do know of it's truthfulness and how it is an important part of God's work. It's not about me! This is about us as represtnatives of Christ himself giving our best to find those that are ready to receive the gospel. I want to bear my testimony to you guys. I know that God and Jesus Christ live. I know that Joseph saw them in a vision. Through Joseph, the Book of Mormon was restored and the true church of Christ is now back on the earth. I know that God loves us and provided us with the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We only need to humble ourselves and repent of our sins to feel the joy that it brings. I know Joseph really was and is a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is true. My purpose is to declare this message to people. As a missionary, I am here to invite others to come unto Christ through faith, repentance, baptism and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I love you all. Love, Elder De Vera OK. I don't know about all of you but I LOVE all of our missionaries. What a strength they are in our lives. I feel so very priviledged to know each of these wonderful Elders and Sisters. What a great blessing they are to all of us!! HOORAH FOR ZION ELDER DE VERA!!!! We love you!!!

Miracles Never Cease....

Recently, Sister Ultra had a wonderful experience that she shares with us below: On July 9, Monday, I fell off of a bridge. As per my previous email to you, last Monday, we taught in San Roque. It is a farming area. The bridge is like an iron bar, it's thickness is like a piece of lumber, in diameter, maybe. It is made of bamboo sticks on the left side which imbedded only in the river bed. I slipped and fell into the kangkungan (swamp cabbages) into deep water (over a man's head). It's good that I knew how to swim and that's why I did not panic. I did get out of balance due to my heavy shoulder bag that I used. I was the only one who fell into the water. My companion was safe. She was so worried about me and she was shaking until we got back to the house of the member in the middle of the farm. So, when I fell, I couldn't swim properly. I tried going to the shallow side due to the swamp cabbages. It's good that there were farmers there to rescue me. They pulled me out from the water. The member, where we came from, immediately helped me. There was then a miracle that happened. My bag fell down with me in the river, and so everything inside the bag got wet...including my camera. But, here is the miracle,the only items that were not wet were my scriptures. Isn't that great? After I got out of the water, we went back to the people and they let me take a short shower and lent me a dress and garments. I got changed, and then we went back to our home in town and I didn't look like a missionary, but I looked like a friend of my companion because the dress that they lent me was just an ordinary house dress. They are poor remember. Once we got home, I immediately took a shower. I kept on laughing to myself about what happened to me. I consider myself to be an 'astig' (tough) missionary due to that experience. What other missionaries can say that they've had an experience like that? Not a lot. I'm so lucky. Don't worry. I will take a lot more care when crossing that bridge, and maybe, I will bring with me extra clothes and a back pack also when we go back there. he he Take Care always!!! Isn't that a wonderful story? It reminds me of the scripture found in Mormon 9:15- "And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a God who can do no miracles, I would ask of you, have all these things passed, of which I have spoken? Has the end come yet? behold I say unto you, Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles." Hoorah for Zion Sister Ultra. We are grateful you are safe and sorry that your camera got wet. But, hooray that your scriptures were protected just as you were. We love you!!!

A Day on 'The Square'....

Here's a bit from Sister Sloan's latest letter: Monday was super busy until around 2:30 that day, half of the Sisters on the Square were gone for Zone Conference. So, we had tour after tour after tour until around 5:00 or so. Our zone conference was great! The President and his wife and the AP's talked about becoming a 'consecrated' missionary. They explained that there are 'good' missionaries and 'great' missionaries but there are only a few 'consecrated' missionaries who put everything they have on the 'alter table'. I realized that I have much more that I need to work on, even though I kind of already knew that. We are only serving for 18 months. Why can't we give our all? Love you!"

Sister Sloan and Sister Eggenberger (from Switzerland) celebrate Swiss Day on August 1st (same colours as Canada!!)

I LOVE IT HERE!!!

Elder Behira and 'Kyle?'

Elder Behira is a man of 'few words' and so we are always 'thrilled' to receive even just a sentence or two from him.  He recently told us: "I'm in St. Catherines now and serving with Elder Jasperson in a Chinese speaking area.  I love it here!!!  My last companion hasn't sent me our pics yet, but, here is one and it is interestingly familiar.....IT'S KYLE!!!!!!!!! Miss you all!!! "
 Love, Elder Behira   


 

And.....He's Off!!!

Well, the long awaited day has finally arrived.  Elder De Vera walked through the Vancouver Airport for the last time until he returns home, again, in two years.  Accompanied by friends and family members, Elder De Vera bid his farewells and headed through the large gates--separating himself from those he loves as well as letting go of his 'regular' life. A new adventure will begin for him as he dedicates the next two years, serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
We can hardly wait to receive his first letter!! We know that he will be a wonderful, faithful missionary.
Hoorah for Zion Elder De Vera!! We love you and will miss you!!

Into the waters....

Well, today was a great day.  I received two wonderful letters in the mail.  One from Sister Enid Law (still in mtc--going to Hong Kong) and the other from Elder Scarlett. 

So Slave lake is going pretty awesome, super hard but worth it. We had 2 super awesome Baptism on The weekend. The best part was it happened in the lake.

PS. My comp and i were witnesses so we got to go in the lake.

The weather has been really sweet Elder Ricks and i have been doing lots of walking.

The Lord has bless us in Slave Lake and he knew why we both needed to be here.

I dont have lots of time left on my mission its going super fast so i have to work harder and harder each day. When i finsh my mission i want to be maxed out.

Well till next time just keeping praying for all the misisonaries serving they need it.
Love, Elder Scarlett

Hoorah for Zion Elder Scarlett!!! We're so proud of you!!!

All is well on 'The Square!'

Here is a bit from Sister Sloan's latest letter:

So much has happened since transfer conference.  Well, I got a new companion.  Her name is Sister Ha and she is from Korea.  She is Awesome!! She has helped me a lot so far in this transfer already. I am learning to cook Asian Food.  It's fantastic!   I'm back doing hospitality tours again.  I love the people we take around on tours.  Oh, and we get free food again at the Lion House.  Oh, I've also been called to be a District Leader...and no...I'm not joking!  My District is small.  We just have three companionships and they are all awesome!  Next Thursday I have a District Meeting so I will have to prepare for that.  Reuban was baptised this past week which is so fantastic!  We called him on Monday and he told us how great he feels and how much happier he is being baptized.  It's so exciting!  I'm really enjoying myself here right now, especially being here with almost 200 hundred fantastic sisters on the Square.  This week I had some really good walking lessons/tours.  Yesterday, I met an interesting group of guys from a Regae band..complete with dreadlocks and all.  They invited us to party with them that night...we had to decline.  :)  One of the them tried to hug me and I panicked.  I told him I can't hug guys.  It was interesting.  Anyways, I love you all.  Love, Sister Sloan

We all need a little CPR....

Here is a portion of what Elder Udani wrote in his most recent letter:

"Where do I start?  What should I tell you first?  I am in my new area Dagupan City, in a small municipality  named Calasiao.  The work is slow...but, the area is starting to get back to where it is supposed to be now.  We are in dire need of help of members here because we don't know the area too well.  We don't even know half of the members here.  Wish us success and faith as we try to better the area.  Statistically speaking, of the 800 members there are only about 100 that are active.  I would say that half of them are only converted to the 'church' and not in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I want to share an analogy with you.  To bring a person back to life you need to administer CPR.  In terms of our spirit, we need to do the same when we feel our spirit is dying.  CPR=Church, Prayer, Read Scriptures.  I testify to you that through personal scripture study and nightly conversations with my Father in Heaven, I know of their reality.  I felt of their love for me.  if you want to have a close relationship with Him do CPR for yourself.  I miss and love all of you.  May Glod bless you and strengthen you.  Til we Meet again...Elder Udani

I Love This Work!!!

Of course, we received our weekly email from Sister Sloan and so I thought I would just give you a taste of what is going on for her recently:

"I really don't know where to start for this week except to say that Ruben is going to be baptized!!! I am so excited for him! His baptism will be either on the 7th or 14 of July! He still can't decide but we've committed him to decide by this weekend! I am SOO excited for him! Seriously...he is my first baptism on my mission and I know how much this will help him in his life! He has even told me how much it has helped him and that he knows that he needs to be baptized. We also have 3 other people who are going to be baptized. One is the sister from Uganda that I've been teaching for a while and the other two on the 14th. I love this work! Oh, and this week we had an "investigator lesson". I'm sure your wondering what that is so let me explain. An Investigator Lesson is when elders, in the Utah mission, come here with one of their investigators who can't decide if they want to be baptized. We, as sisters on temple square, teach the investigator along side with the elder as we do a tour. So it was my first Investigator lesson and it was an 82yr old man named Gary. He was awesome and we took him around to the handcart monument, tabernacle and the Christus. He knew that the church was true but couldn't decide if he should be baptized because his family and friends were against it and one of his friends was helping him financially. I have never had a walking lesson (that's what we call these kinds of tours) where I felt the spirit as strong as this one. It was such a great lesson and he decided that he would be baptized this weekend!! I love this work!!!"

Hoorah for Zion Sister Sloan!  We love you!

Heavenly Father Knew That I would Love It Here...

A few weeks ago, before we left on holidays, I received a lovely, long letter from Sister Ultra.  She is doing so very well in her first area.  Here is a little piece of her letter:
"I don't know how to start.  There are so many things to say.  I'm doing fantastic here in my first area.  My area is so huge--it's actually one of the most remote areas for missionary work.  Heavenly Father knew I would love it here so much and that I will be taken care of here by awesome members and with just enough care for 'first timers'.  My area is a rural area.  I'm in love with this place.  It's not the 'best' place on earth, but it surely has the best people.  They are very humble, considering what their lifestyle is like.  I am very humbled by them, just by knowing how they are in the situations they are currently facing.  They always have a smile on their faces and always tell you how grateful they are for their blessings, even though they don't have mattesses to sleep on, they don't have refridgerators and they're not sure what they will have to eat the following day.  They have so much faith and hope in this place.  They've taught me how to appreciate life more.  They've made me realize how much I should love and appreciate my parents for all the hard work that they've done for me and Ken.  I don't know, Sister Sloan, but I feel like they are teaching me more than I'm teaching them--which then pushes me to work even harder and become a better missionary each day.  Tell our FHE family that I'm very rich in Vitamin D...to the point where I think I have an overdose!  It's apparent in my skin colour.  But, thank goodness the rainy season is just about to start.  In addition to overdosing on Vitamin D, I think I'm become too low in my blood.  It's apparent on my legs because I think the mosquitoes LOVE me here also!!  Other than those two concerns, I am doing well here in the Phil! "
Hoorah for Zion Sister Ultra!!! We love you!

Transfer Day on Temple Square

Hello! I am doing awesome! I hope you're all doing alright back home. Well, I have a new companion. Her name is Sister Gehirg...I think that's how you spell her name. She is from Germany and is my District Leader so that will be nice. Guess what? Today Elder Holland came and spoke to us. It was awesome! He was so close to us, in such a small setting, and I got to shake his hand. I've decided that I'm never washing my right hand again...jk. His talk was amazing! He talked about how hard missionary work is and how salvation isn't easy and so it will never be easy for us or our investigators. He compared it to the life of Christ. He didn't have it easy and so we shouldn't expect our lives to be easy either. Man, it was an awesome talk. Oh, I think that last time I told you about one of our investigators from Ohio. Seriously, every time I talk to her I love it. We taught her twice this week. The missionaries didn't make it to her house yet but, she said she would go to Church yesterday and I hope she did. She was super excited for it and I was excited for her because you can just tell how much faith she has in Christ. Sometimes, missions are hard. Especially this one because you can't always keep in touch with the people you've taught. You just have to trust that she will continue with the missionaries. When you see the desire like she has, it just makes it all worth it. This is why I'm out here. To help bring people to Christ. I love the gospel and to see the joy that it brings into people's lives. I love you all! Sister Sloan

Oh, I love Life.....

O i love life, food and serving a mission. The Lord has blessed me with the blessing of serving a mission. You learn to love the people and it hurts when they reject the Gospel, but the Lord promises that we shall not be confounded before man! There are people all around us who need the Gospel, may we stop in this race of time and find those who are searching but know not where to find the Gospel. The Lord has revealed the plan of salvation we Know with all surety where we came from why we are here and where we go after. We have a prophet who gets direct revelation from God, may we stop and think what a blessing that is! "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity". I miss you all!!!! Love, Elder Scarlett (Note this last picture is Elder Scarlett with Elder Walker of the Seventy. I sat in meetings with him several times when I sat on the Temple Committee. He is 'the go-to man' for all new temples. He is a wonderful man. In fact, he just spoke at our recent Canada Wide Conference a couple of weeks ago).

My First Baptism!!!

On April 21st, I had my first baptism in my first area!!! Greatest feeling ever seeing someone entering the gate of baptism and have a change of heart and taking upon them the name of Jesus Christ. Time goes by so fast. On April 28 it will be my 2nd year as a member of the Church. Before, I was an investigator, and now I find the investigator to teach and help them to understand how the gospel can bless someone or bless their lives. I LOVE YOU ALL AND I LOVE THE GOSPEL AND THE BEST WARD...SURREY FIRST WARD. Until next time. :) Love, Elder Javillo

Off to the Philippines....

Sister Ultra loved her time in the MTC but, it was very short lived. I received a quick email from her on Saturday night, informing me that she was off to the Philippines at 5:00am the next day (Sunday, May 13th.) She was very excited and wanted everyone's addresses to write to. Our thoughts and prayers will be with her!! We can't wait to get her first letter to see how things are going!!! Here's a picture, she sent me, along with a beautiful Mother's Day card, last week!

Another One Bites the Dust!!!!!

Well, we have enjoyed a glorious, sunny and warm weekend!!! Many Mother's Day greetings have arrived from our missionaries from all over the world! It has been so wonderful! I feel very blessed to know each of them!!! So...here's the latest news flash and it's a good one too!!! Kyle received his Mission Call, last Tuesday, and he will be serving in the Bacolod, Philippines Mission. Yes, you are right!! It is the exact same mission where Elder Javillo is currently serving. Isn't that amazing? I can only imagine Elder De Vera and Elder Javillo 'reunited' right there in the Philippines!!! Words cannot express how exciting this is. Kyle's mother informs me that this city is referred to as the 'City of Smiles'. It is known to be the 'friendliest city' in the Philippines as well as the 'Best Place to Live' in the Philippines. I'm sure that you would agree these two have been sent here for a reason!!! We are thrilled and so excited. He leaves at the beginning of August so...not much time left to gather together a few short sleeved shirts and suit pants. Hoorah for Zion 'Elder' De Vera!!!!

Elder Ultra on 'Lessons with the Spirit'.....

"Missionary work is fun, rewarding, satisfying and full of miracles. I reflected on my mission so far and how much fun I’ve had. I can tell you the details of the moments that were so fun in my mission but for the not so happy ones, I can honestly say that I don’t remember much of it. It is primarily the spirit that helps me remember the good things that happened. Something that I’ve learned and studied and experienced is that feelings of the spirit stay with you always. And when the Spirit draws away, it’s hard to do missionary work and have fun. Everything about missionary work must be done in the Lord’s will and how do you do this? We do it be being worthy of the Holy Ghost to communicate his will to us. When we do that, we do fun missionary work that is very gratifying." Thanks for the insights Elder Ultra. You are 'spot on'.

Sister Ultra follows in her brother's footsteps....

Months ago, Sister Ultra made a lifechanging decision. She would leave her job and those she loved to follow in her brother's footsteps by deciding to serve a mission. She has prepared well and we know she will be amazing as she serves in the Philippines. We will all miss you so much Kathleen. Hoorah for Zion!!!!

Elder Scarlett in Slave Lake

Elder Scarlett has been transfered to Slave Lake. It was hard for him to leave his previous area but he looks forward to serving and getting to know a new area. Here are his latest pics. Notice Sister Wotherspoon in his 'group' shot.

Elder Udani is persevering....

Elder Udani is doing well so far. He is 'sweating alot' and 'beating off dogs with rabies.' You just never know what a mission has in store for you....

Elder Ultra is doing well.....

UPDATE ON KEN!... So my week has been pretty good. I have discovered a new sport that I enjoy very much that we play almost every P-day. As a matter of fact, we are going to play with our Zone Leaders today. Freezby Golf is the name of the sport. We have a park in the middle of our area and its free. All you need is a freezby.

Missionary work wise, it's pretty awesome. I love my area so much because I just know that when I wake up, I know that we will be helping out someone understand the Gospel and receive the blessings thereof.

So i am definitely excited for you! I want to tell you so many things concerning missionary work, advices, and all that jazz but just can't do it through e-mail. I hope you know that you are always in my prayers and that our HF is always mindful of you!

I love you so much!
Take care always, Ate.
Ken]

Sister Sloan and General Conference

Well, Temple Square is unlike any other mission. Sister Sloan saw half of her YSA friends at the beginning of April. It was quite a fun experience to see many, many familiar faces at every turn.

Sister Ultra's 'last days'.....

Sister Ultra is preparing to leave for the Philippines in just over a week now. She is enjoying all of her preparations and last night, we enjoyed a 'farewell' party hosted by her wonderful parents & family. There was delicious food, visiting with friends and, of course chatting with the 'future missionary'. (Did I mention delicious food....????)

I'm Finally Here....

Sister Sloan traveled the long distance, of about 45 minutes, from the MTC to her mission--Temple Square-- in Salt Lake City, Utah. She is thrilled to finally be out on her mission and is so excited to begin teaching the gospel to those who travel from all over the world.

Here are a couple of pictures of she and her Zone Leader (from Alberta) and then she and her mission president and his wife: