Pictures

October 23, 2012 Email

Hello Family...and anyone else who reads this,

 

This past week has been interesting and a bit uplifting. Okay, so I will start with our investigator friends. We have picked up a new friend, Arianna. She is 23 and somewhat interested. We have had 2 lessons with her this past week and so far she seems open to what we are teaching. All she needs to do now is find out for herself whether or not what we are saying is true. That comes about through earnest studying and prayer. There really is no other way to know the truth. Do what James instructs us to do, if we have a question, ask the guy in charge because he has all the answers. Its pretty straightforward. We have taught a lot more lessons this past week. Gino is progessing slowly, he is in the same boat as Arianna. And we finally have another lesson with Gloria set up for tomorrow. That will be super awesome since we havnt seen her in a while.

 

I was telling father last week about the Spirit and how I need it so much with me as I teach. I have learned this week how truly important it really is. When you are teaching someone about Christ's Gospel, and you dont have the Spirit to guide you, you rely solely on your own knowledge and skills. We had a lesson like that and I really saw how hard it was to teach. I dont have much skill, so it was a confusing lesson, but luckily the spirit helped us out in the end and we left on a pretty dang good note.

 

To answer your question dad, transfers are two weeks from now. Gosh this past week has flone. It feels like yesterday I was writing you guys. It just keeps getting faster and faster, its scary. Sounds like everything back home is going pretty well I guess. I got your invite Britt, and I got your package Aubs, Thank you!! I will try to get letters out soon. Speaking of which, tell peeps to write me, I feel lonely some days. More news, next week pday is on Monday, I will explain why more next week. That is exciting that Molly's bf got baptized, will he serve a mission in a year? Will Molly serve a mission, she is 19 I think. That reminds me, the missionary applications have rissen from 700 to 4000.   !    Crazy stuff! To answer your question Britt, sure the sweatpants are warm you can send those, but not the running pants, and dont forget the jeans.

 

Last Sunday was pretty busy. We went to 3 sacraments and a choir practice and saw some people and it was busy. One of the sacraments though was pretty amazing. It was a special needs program and it was the last one they were doing since they were getting disbanded. They had a few special needs workers talk, but a lot of it was the special needs people singing. The singing wasnt the most talented, but it was pretty dang epic because of WHO was singing. It was a tear jerker, I held my composure, but there were a whole bunch of people in the congregation who could not. Gino was there which was perfect, Gods hand was most certainly in there somewhere.

 

Yesterday I had interviews with President Hiers. I asked him what I could do to get lost in the work. He basically said to love the people, that simple. I guess I knew that before, but it didnt quite hit me that hard until yesterday, the way I get lost is to serve. That is why I am out here, to help people. And I love doing that. President asked me if I had met some interesting people, I said yes. Then he asked if I had met some good people, I said yes. Then he asked if I had met some great people, I said yes. Then he asked if I had met people that I loved, I said yes. I can think of some of the people I have helped and realized how much I care about them and how much I have done for them. That is what I am doing, and that is why I am here.

 

This morning we went to the Brigham City Temple for a session. President Hiers was there which was neato. It was a good session and a beautiful Temple. It is snowing in the mountains right now, winter is getting pretty close. Wierd how when I first got here it was winter time.

 

I care about all of you and thank you for all of your love and support! See you on the other side!

 

Love,

Elder Connell

 

ps, happy birthday mom, you will get a package sometime

October 29th Email

 {  PLEASE WRITE HIM!!! THANKS :)  }

 

Hello everyone!

 

Im assuming all yall forgot that pday was today. It is only for this week so next week will be tuesday again like usuall. The reason it is today is because tomorow we have a mission conference. Elder Falabella is coming to our mission and speaking to us. That is why pday is today instead of tomorow.

 

This past week we have had a lot more lessons with our nonmember friends. We picked up a family of four last week, they are not super interested, but they are open to learn more about the Gospel, so pray that the Spirit is there to teach them. Arianna accepted a date for the 17, which is the same day that Britt is getting married HA! That was pretty exciting though. She doesnt fully have a testimony of the Gospel, but if she keeps her committments, then she for sure will. We also had a lesson with Gloria finally. She is still not doing well. She did not feel too well while we were giving the lesson. It is going to be hard to get her baptized right now. She still wants to, but it probably wont happen at this time.

 

That is the exciting stuff that happened. The unfortunate news is that we dropped some of our less actives. Toni was not keeping any of her committments and stood us up on several lessons. It was hard to drop her because some of the best lessons we had were with her. Brady moved to Wyoming so we cannot teach him any more. We did pick up a new less active friend, Danica. She is 17 and none of her family is active. She says she is atheist, but she seems pretty interested and open to what we say. We have another lesson with her tonight so we will see how that goes.

 

Tonight is pretty exciting because Cassandra is getting baptized. I dont know if you remember me talking about her. I taught her in Farr West, and she was probably one of the coolest conversions I have seen so far. She fell away for a little bit because she did not think she could live up to the committment, but now she is getting baptized. I am so excited for her!

 

Last night the mission had a missionary musical fireside that we went to. There was a choir of missionaries, I wasnt in it, and they sang, with little testimonies from missionaries in between each song. President Hiers wanted 1000 people there so we talked to all our bishops about it and invited everyone! Nobody from our stake showed...but there was 1000 people there so the goal was reached, but I dont feel like I contributed to it at all.

 

It was crazy, we went to 2 farewells yesterday, without even meaning to. To be honest the talks were not that good haha, was my farewell talk that bad?

 

Well Happy Halloween everyone! I will be in our appartment that night which will be...lame, but oh well. Hope you all have a good week! Dont forget to tell people to write me, because they are not. See you on the other side!

 

Love,

 

Elder Connell

 

ps. Last week it snowed on the mountains and in the valley. It is getting cold and I need my jeans. Can you please send that package asap? thanks!

Emails Since 9/11/12

September 11, 2012

Dear Britt,

CONGRATSS! on everything I guess. You're getting married in November! Way too exciting. So fall is that time for harvesting. I love fall, it is such a mysterious season. It is so interesting and the weather is nice and the trees are colorful. Its a cool season. Plus it has my BDay and Halloween and Thanksgiving in it so it deserves some respect.

Me and Elder Hayes are still gettiing along pretty well. He is a good companion, I wouldnt mind being with him another transfer. Two major things happened this week with our friends. Rosie who we were teaching has been passed off to the other mission now where she lives. It was sad, but it is for the best. She will get baptized, but when is the question. She also sent a facebook request so accept. The other friend was Toni. I have talked about her a few times before, but this last lesson has been the BEST. It was really just a normal lesson with her reading from the BoM, and we got talking about Faith. I dont know what we said, but she started bawling and crying. That is when we stopped talking and let the spirit talk to her, and boy did he! After about 15 minutes of her being taught by the spirit and crying, she stopped and told us how she was feeling. She said it like she was "remembering" the spirit and how it blessed her before. It was a way cool experience, those experiences that you pretty much live for. The spirit can change anyone who is open to it. Oh, and Brooklyn, the 9 year old, is getting baptized this saturday which is exciting.

Not much else going on. Jeremy was right. I can listen to anything that I feel comfortable with basically. And I do feel comfortable with most of TSFH {Two Steps from Hell...it's instrumental, beautiful music!} stuff and soundtrack stuff and piano music. For now I just want that TSFH CD, but eventually I would like an iPod with all that stuff on it. I found an iHome in our appartment and I am keeping it because nobody wants it, but i need an iPod for it to work. This was the big favor I wanted you to do, but dont worry about the iPod until after all the stress is gone. Just the CD for now will do. THANK YOU!

Love ya!

Elder Connell

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September 18, 2012

Hey Britt,

I did get the tie, thank you! I sent a letter yesterday that you will get hopefully tomorrow. It has pretty much all the updates of what has gone on recently. And not much has happened since I sent that letter except yesterday we ran into this Jehovah's Witness lady who wanted to bash with us. I hate bashing, it makes me angry and anger comes from the devil. SO I dont like to bash and I avoid it as much as possible.

We had a baptism last Saturday that went very well. Brooklyn, the 9 year old, was baptized and all went according to plan. I hate repeating myself so you will have to find out the rest when you get my letter. Love ya Britt! Good luck on the wedding and get better!

Elder Connell

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September 18, 2012

Dear Father,

I am doing pretty good at the moment. I am still with Elder Hayes, I have been with him the past 5 weeks, have I not talked about him. He has been out for 4 months and is from San Diego. We are still getting along pretty good. Obviously not perfect, but no companionship gets along perfectly. Right now one of the most stressful things about being senior is finding things to do during the day. It is so hard with a small area, mostly lds, and during the day most people are not home. Tracting is pointless and it is so hard to think of who we need to see. Also working with people who do not keep commitments is annoying, but that is explained in my letter which I sent yesterday. This is kind of a difficult area to work in which is why we work with LAs so much and also poach a bit.

Right now we have like 4 or 5 nonmember friends, but like 2 of them are progressing. Most of the teaching we do is with our member friends and getting them to church. Right now we are teaching about 5 to 10 lessons a week. Kind of low for us, but everyone keeps on falling through which is also annoying. We did have a baptism last Saturday for a 9 year old girl that went very well.

We took some of our member friends to the Brigham City open house which was very good. They liked it a lot and I think it helped them at least a little bit.

Sounds like everything back home is...normal.. It seems like there is always one thing going on and it gets pretty crazy at certain times. Good luck with the wedding and baby and everything.

The Atonement is very cool. In fact without it, we cannot be saved. And the only way to access it is through ordinances. That is why, as a missionary, my purpose is to help people access the Atonement through ordinances such as baptism and the sacrament and the temple. I help EVERYONE come closer to Christ, not just nonmembers. The Church is true dad, how could it not be. I love you.

Elder Connell

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September 25, 2012

Hey Britt,

I like colorful cool looking ties {He asked for ties, I asked him what kind..}. I guess I prefer not stripes, but they are still good. Im not sure if its 20 lbs {<<How much he has gained thus far!! He needed it...he was a twig. Literally}. It keeps on changing with the winds. Last I checked I was like 15 lbs gained. I eat big dinners and work out every morning so I should hopefully be gaining more.

This past week has been pretty good. We picked up a new friend, Gino. That was cool. I made a profile on mormon.org. Kinda random but cool. Transfers is tomorow, but I am staying with Elder Hayes, so nothing is changing for me.

There are not many trees to change here, but there are some on the mountains and right now they are orange/red. It looks pretty rad. Your weedding is soon.. what do you mean surprises? What is he planning? Have you guys found a house already? Kitchens are pretty cool {haha, I love my kitchens...I made a comment about wanting a good lookin kitchen}

There is nothing wrong with the moon or sun here. Dont worry, there is still plenty of time before things end in the world. There are zombie bees in Washington though which is kinda neat, but dont worry. And anyways, if you are being righteous, then you will be saved or protected or whatever.{lol, I made a comment about the crazy looking sun and moon and how weird looking-but cool-it's been. I said it was as if the world is coming to and end soon! Which, I really don't think it is..but still. Weird.}

So ya, be sure to get that cd out asap cause it is so cool. Thanks Britt!

Love ya!

Elder Connell

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October 2, 2012

Hello Family,

I am doing emails a little different today, I figured that one email with all the details of whats going on with me would be good to send to everyone, and then shorter emails to everyone individually. Lets see if I like this better. First off, I forwarded to all of you this week's newsletter, read it and weep...for joy..I guess. It said to forward so thats what I am doing. Second, I have attached photos. Yes that is a lightsaber, and yes its mission approved. A member here had extra lightsabers so they gave them to us. The green one is a Count Duku style, kinda cool. Enjoy the pictures. I will take better ones when I get a cape.

This weekend is General Conference and I will be going which is exciting. The only problem is that we dont know who to take as of now. We were going to take a nonmember girl who wants to be baptized, but she cannot go. And the reason she is not baptized is because her parents dont want her to, sad deal. And Gino will be out of town for a while, so we cannot take him. We will have to find a less active person to take. I am so excited to go to General Conference! If you remember last conference we could not go because we gave all of our tickets away, but this time we are going.

We had a lesson with Gino the other day, which went pretty good. Every other week he is on DEX which is a medication that makes you super hyper and unfocused. He was on it during the lesson, so we just talked to him for a little bit. They are going out of town, so the next lesson will be like a week from friday or something, he shouldnt be on DEX then so we can have a good lesson with him.

Do you remember Gloria? We taught her a while back and she wanted to be baptized, but right now she is on Kemo. She is sick ALL the time, so we have not taught her for over a month! We are still trying to work with her, but right now she is too sick.

That is pretty much it as  far as nonmember friends, but there are many less active friends! Toni is still not going to church which is frustrating, I really dont know what else to do there. Brady is moving along again. He is in the process of repenting and we are trying to get him to read the scriptures. It was cool though because he said he met someone the other day and they had a good gospel conversation. Brady felt pretty good after that, he felt like a missionary talking to someone about the gospel. He said that they were going to watch general conference together. You see, miracles do happen, every day! All of our other less active friends are pretty much the same as they always were.

So here is a neat experience that happened last night. There is a family in our area where we were teaching the nonmember husband, but he was pretty much uninterested right now. But the wife, who is a member, still wanted us to come over and teach their family home evenings to help her kids out. We have been doing that for several months now which has been pretty good, but yesterday their neighbors came to their house to drop off some dinner. We talked to them and kind of set up a time to see the wife. We possibly found a new investigator through all of this family home evening teaching. The Lord works in mysterious ways, and because of it mirracles happen all the time. Most of the time we dont notice them, but if we humble ourselves and look for those mirracles, our eyes can be opened to all the glorious things that God has done and what he knows and has planned out. It is all so cool and so complicated, I love it!

That is pretty much all that is going on. I plan on having a good birthday I guess. We have zone conference that day so who knows what will happen. Thank you family for your love and support! I lovee you all! See you on the other side!

Love

Elder Connell

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October 9, 2012

Hello Everyone!

So many of you have asked about the same things. I will start with General Conference since that was the most recent and most important. The few days before conference were very VERY frustrating. We asked every single person that we are teaching which is like 12 if they wanted to go to conference, and we could not find ANYONE. It was making me very angry how hard satan was working. We ended up going, we just invited some members to go with us, we had tickets and didnt know what else to do with them. We went to the Saturday afternoon session which was very good. We sat on the main floor kind of in the middle to the side a little bit. They were pretty good seats, but President Monson and the Apostles were still very small and I had to watch the jumbo trons anyways. There were tons of good talks that I enjoyed very much. I took a bunch of notes and stuff. It was a very good conference. The one that kind of sticks out to me is Elder Oaks talk saturday afternoon. How important families are and having loving parentS. That is so true from what I have seen on my mission and back home. I have met a ton of people out here who are divorced and sometimes remarried. Most of the people we are teaching have some kind of background in divorce or something like that. Families are definitely ordained by God.

President Monson's announcement on the age change was definitely very cool as well! 18 for males and 19 for females, wow. I have been thinking about that a lot and its the fact that God chose this particular time to change the age limit so that a lot more missionaries can serve. There will be so many more sister missionaries going out which is awesome! God knows what he is doing, and he certainly has a plan to bring all his children back to him before it is too late.

Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes. It was pretty good. We had zone conference that day and they had me wear a ribbon to signify that I was the "Birthday Boy". It wasnt my style, but sister Hiers told me too, so I guess I had no choice. It was pretty good though. I did get the package you sent mother with the boombox. That does work thank you very much! I was looking at the reciept and it says that you bought a shopping cart, did you buy a shopping cart? Anyways since there is still time, It is getting a little chilly and I would like you to also send my waffle shirts, the black, brown and white ones in my drawer, those are warm. All my clothes should still be in my dresser unless you moved it all.

We have not really taught any of our investigator friends lately. We really only have 2 progressing right now that we are teaching...well more like one. Gloria is still sick and it is hard to get a hold of her, so we have not seen her in a while. Gino has been out of town for a while, but we have a lesson this Friday which I hope will go well. Everything seems to be going the same with our less active friends as well since most of them have been out of town or whatnot. We did teach someone new the other day, Bree, and her boyfriend. The lesson was the other night and went okay. Her boyfriend is less active and he served a mission...not fun. He had some pretty tough concerns that he was throwing at us like how he has prayed and read and done everything he was supposed to his whole life and he felt like God was not there. Im gonna be honest, I feel like that too sometimes, but thats the point, its a trial. We experience that so that we can grow. Christ was even alone at one point in his life and that was not easy for him either. We just have to endure, and our Father will see that sacrifice and bless us tremendously in the end. Bree seemed a bit more accepting though. Her issues were similar, but not as deep and she seemed happier after she prayed and when we left. We also took some vodka off their hands lol.

It is starting to get a bit difficult finding more people to teach. I have been in the area for over 3 months now and I feel like I have tried everything. I havnt, but it feels that way. It is just a matter of keeping at it and somehow it will all work out.

I cannot think of anything else to write so I will end it here. I may write a letter home some time if I find the time. I love you all! See you on the other side!

Love,
Elder Connell
P.S. if anyone else wants my emails let me know so that I can send them to them

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October 9, 2012

Hey Britt,

Also, I am a bit low on letter receiving at the moment, can you encourage peeps to send me some love? Thanks!

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October 16, 2012

Hey Britt,

Maybe you could get me a John btw talk idk, whatever you feel is best I guess. I gave you cds? I dont think I had a CD case besides the lime green one, but that may have video games in it. I didn't have many CDs, which one are you looking for? I am getting the pictures to you right now, so hopefully it will work this time.

I got your wedding invite yesterday! Ha thanks for it, I will keep it with all my other photos.

I just need warm stuff to sleep in, I have a jacket for outside, but not jeans that fit. DONT BUY CLOTHES, just send mine from home.

Also tell people to write me. Thanks Britt!

Love ya

Elder Connell

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October 16, 2012

Dear Family and everyone,

Hello, this week has completely and totally uneventful it seems. I will tell you why. This past week within 3 days, we had 7 lessons cancel on us. It was a bit aggravating, but its all good because we pretty much rescheduled most of them, so this week will have a lot more lessons. Yesterday was probably the most eventful day of the week because we had 2 lessons and some service. We have been trying to keep busy by talking to people and setting up more and more lessons with new people. We will actually be picking up 2 or 3 new investigators this week which will pretty awesome! I think we will be teaching a lot of people by the end of the transfer, of course by that time I will probably be leaving the area.

Haha, Britt you asked about crazy missionaries. There are plenty of crazy missionaries here, it is fun to serve with and around them. We like to see other missionaries every now and again so that we keep sane haha.

Did I mention that we are kind of teaching a kid who is into satanism? We have been teaching his less active girlfriend, and he has been over a few times when we have come over. He is a very confused young man. He prays to God and Lucifer? His beliefs are totally wacked and we are trying to help him get on the right path. It is pretty unique to teach someone like that because their views are so different from what I have heard or experienced ever!

Not much else has happened this week. Im sorry I am not writing much this week, but there really isnt much to write because not much has really happened. Hopefully next week will be a lot more eventful. See you on the other side!

Love

Elder Connell

P.S. encourage people to write me :)

.................Pictures to come!

September 4th, 2012 Email

Hey Britt,

 

Things are going pretty good here. I did get your letter so that was pretty cool. Thank you for that! Thanks for the tie too! I haven't gotten it yet, but I know I will love it when it comes because I love ties!

 

Most days are different from each other, but a typical day would include getting up at 6:30, maybe going to the gym. Then at 8 is study time until about 10. We usually don't get out to do missionary work till about 1. We are usually busy in the mornings with meetings or cleaning or updating records. At 1 we just go out and talk to people. Whether it be knocking doors or following up on referrals or in lessons. Lessons vary for each day. Yesterday, we had 3 lessons, all with LA peeps. And we have had days with none so it is different all the time it seems.

 

We have been teaching a lot more less active peeps lately and we kinda picked up a bunch more yesterday which was cool. Its all the same work, bringing people closer to Jesus Christ and serving people. Gotta love it!

 

Not much else is going on here. Just going to Brigham City temple open house and soon stake conference and stuff. Its been pretty cool so far!

 

Love ya Britt!

August 28th, 2012 Email

Hey Britt,

I sent some pictures obviously. I also found the blog you were doing online. That is a lot to write. Are you sure people are reading it? If nobody is reading it, then I dont want you to waste your time putting it up. It would be a lot of work to put all my letters online. Also are you updating my facebook? Someone requested me as a friend and there was some old picture up.If you forgot the password it is: *SENSOR* ;) There! no excuses haha! just check it every once in a while and make sure to accept all the friend requests and stuff. Thanks Britt!

How are you doing? Getting ready for the wedding in 3 months? you better, it will come faster than you think haha. Well have fun!

Love ya!

Elder Connell

August 21st, 2012 Email

Hey Britt,

 

You should ask dad to forward his email cuz its just easier that way. Though I will update you on one person. We taught this girl Rosie last Wednesday. She lives in Salt Lake, but she has a friend here so she comes up here to learn. It was a really good lesson. We bore great testimony and the spirit touched her very stongly. She will get baptized, but its kind of a question of when at the moment. All the other peeps are pretty much in the same spot. Gloria is still going through kemo so her baptism is delayed indefinitely. And Jim dropped us, but we can still meet with his family so there is still hope there. If you are confused about any of this, ask dad, and if he doesnt know then ask me.

 

My new companion is great! He is from San Diego and we get along very well so far. This transfer will go by a lot better than last transfer I think. It will be way cool.

 

Glad to hear that everything is going well over there with your peeps and your wedding. Keep me updated with everything.

 

Love ya Britt! Keep at it!

 

Elder Connell

August 14th, 2012 Email

Hey Britt,

 

Update on transferrs. I will be staying in Ben Lomond and getting a new companion. That's it, not very exciting ha!

 

Awesome that you are getting to see those baptisms! That is quite a bit of action going on in that area for the Elders. Thats too bad that you had to push back your day of wedding. October is a good month, but so is November, so you will love it either way!

 

I gave dad some pretty good details about what's going on, so they should not have much to complain about anymore. Plus, I sent a letter yesterday i think, so more information will be coming your way! Thats exciting for Austin. Tomorrow is his day, did I have a farewell? Did anyone come? I dont even remember it was so long ago.

 

Keep in there Britt!

 

Love,

 

Elder Connell

August 12th, 2012 Letter

Dear Family,
   Guess what?! I hit my 6-month last Wednesday and I burned a tie. Don't worry mom, it was a disgusting one that I found here (she wasn't the only one that said "Whaaa!?" about the tie burning). Boy the time sure flies here (not here!).
   These past few weeks have been very stressful. We have been working super hard and getting into some interesting situations with investigators. We had a 3rd and final lesson with George and Beasgott last week. They were the anti-people. I didn't say anything that lesson because it was pointless. We are also working with this family who has a daughter who wants to be baptized, but her parents won't let her. We have a lesson in a few days where we can try and help them realize our church is good. I'm going to be counting on the Spirit 100% in that lesson.
   This other investigator, Jim, is pretty solid. We have taught him twice now and he has felt the Spirit. He just needs to read the Book of Mormon now and pray to find out whether or not it's all really true. Same situation with this girl Keidence and her sister Kama. We had one lesson with them and they felt the Spirit. They just want to be totally sure before they move on it though. We are teaching a whole bunch of other people, but they are not as exciting at the moment.
   Do you guys remember Bill & Joy from my previous area? They got baptized yesterday and it was so exciting!
   I have learned the past few weeks how much I really rely on the Spirit to help me as a missionary. You may not know this, but I am a bit shy (Nooo...really??!). And I have a hard time describing things, so teaching lessons are hard. I have humbled myself to know that I rely on the Spirit to help me teach, and He does! I have said many amazing things during lessons that I thought I would never say! And today I spoke in church and it went great! I wasn't nervous and I knew what to say the whole time because God was speaking through me. I have also gained a strong testimony in prayer. When we went to this families house where the girl wants to be baptized and her parents won't let her, i was super scared to go to that house and confront the mother. But I prayed, and we prayed as a companionship and we went and knocked on their door and set up one lesson that we already had that went okay and we have another set up. The Lord heard our prayers and answered them.

Brittany: Thank you for writing me! You must be crazy because I don't remember the whole grass thing. That shooting is way too horrible, I'm glad I don't watch the news anymore. How was Nauvoo? Meet any cute girls that coule write me? KIDDING...but did you? Have fun!

Mom: I don't remember if I wrote you for that letter you sent me a while ago, but oh well. You had a super busy summer and now soon to be a super busy fall. by the time you start to relax again, I will be home...HA! Have fun!

Dad:...I mean...Bishop, Hey. There is a Snap Fitness here in North Ogden, thought you should know...What is Zack Alldredge's address? I would like to write him. Have fun!

Everyone else: Have fun!...and write me...

I love you all! See you on the other side!

Love,
Elder Connell

P.S. I need stamps (Okay, big boy, that's nice ;))

August 7th, 2012 Email

Hey Britt,

 

I got your letter. I will write back some time this week when I find some time. Also tell people to write me back, remind them of my address as well. When is your wedding. I have a gift idea for my birthday and christmas, but I dont want to stress you out right now cause it would take a lot of time. (lol) I will explain later.

 

Plus Dan is getting baptized! super awesome. As long as he has a testimony of the Gospel that should be enough. Just keep fellowshiping him when he gets baptized. We have an investigator getting baptized here on the 18th, Gloria, I told dad all about the peeps here so ask him.

 

Transfers in a week, dont know what will happen. seeeeee ya

 

Love

Elder Connell

 

ps, tell jeremy to write or email now that he is home.

July 24th, 2012 Emails

Hey Britt,

 

I have not heard anything about this CO shooting cause of the whole no news thing, what happened? Anyways the area is still pretty much the same. We have picked up a few more people we are teaching. Actually, we are teaching this LA woman with 2 kids. She got divorced a while ago and wants to go back to church but it is too painful. It just reminded me of you a little bit (lol?). We had a good lesson with her the other day and have another one tonight I think. Me and my companion are doing alright. I just don't like the way that he does missionary work. It just bugs me, idk. I think I'm more stressed than last transfer which is weird because we are working very hard right now. But anyways I am making through it all.

 

Good luck with the wedding. Love ya britt!

 

Elder Connell
______________________________

Hey Dad,

 

I told mom that I gave you guys the wrong zip code. The correct one is 84414, you may get some mail back if you sent any. Today is a state holiday. I was in the Ogden parade this morning. I felt like a rock star. Kinda weird... nothing else really planned for today except a nap.

 

We are technically still teaching the anti-s, but they rescheduled for a few weeks. We are thinking of dropping them though because they aren't really listening, its kind of annoying. Our other gators are doing alright. Its all a bit weird and confusing being in a new area and keeping up with the people, but I am adjusting pretty well. We have an average of about 2 lessons a day which consist of LA and NM and sometimes active members, its all pretty fun stuff though. The members here are actually pretty good. They just go on vacation a lot because they can afford it so people are usually not home which is annoying.

 

Its still crazy that you are Bishop now. So you will be the Bishop to welcome me home in 18 months which is weird. Right now I work with 7 bishops and their job is pretty busy like you mentioned. So many meetings!! We went to 4 different meetings in the morning before church even started! It was very busy ugh. Have fun! I know that you are going to be a great Bishop though because you are so dedicated to the work and you pretty much know pretty well what your doing.

 

So who are the next Priests to go on missions? Can you keep me updated with who is going where? I hope that someone gets called to Ogden. Its the best mission eva!

 

Love ya dad! keep up the Work!

 

Elder Connell

July 17th, 2012 Emails

Hey Britt,

Yes, I heard the news. And yes, it is pretty wierd. Who knew? (My dad just got called to be the Bishop in our ward...still not use to it!)

So with the new area, its a bit dead. Its a hard area really. A lot of the people are prideful and wont listen to us. That's why we teach a lot of kids who are close to baptism. Oh the joys of being a missionary in Utah... So ya, my new companion is alright. He is a hard worker which is good, but the way he works is not how I would do it necessarily so that bugs me a little. Its probably just me though, so I should get over it.

...That is so cool to hear how close Dan and Natalie are (to baptism) though. I like to hear when people want to change their lives and listen.

Also I am pretty excited still about your wedding. It will all work out so don't worry too much. Well...love ya!

Elder Connell
_______________________________________

Hey dad,

So ya, yesterday night was pretty stressful. We had two lessons, the first was with those people who had the anti stuff and last night they were doing it again and not really listening to our testimonies, ARGHH. Then we were late to the lesson where Bishop Briggs was at. That lesson went pretty well, he just has to follow up with his commitments and he will be solid. It was stressful though and that picture was taken right after the second lesson. I look happier then I felt haha.

Anyways, first Happy BIRTHDAY on last Saturday. I need to get a card out to you soon. It will be late, Im sorry. But also Congrats on being made Bishop! That's pretty weird. Its cool though cause you are now my bishop haha!

Sounds like the Trek was pretty fun. I would have liked to do a trek while I was a youth, but oh well, its in the past. I will just have to do it as a leader.

Not much else is new so I will end here. I am in Huntsville at the moment which is very nice. Its a district activity, its not my new area. I am in the Ben Lomond Stake which is right on the mountain and we overlook the valley. Pretty cool Stuff! Love ya!

Elder Connell

July 13th, 2012 Letter

Dear Family,
   It is a new transfer and I am in a different area with a new companion. The area is North Ogden in the Ben Lomond Stake. It is pretty much on the mountain, so I have a fantastic view of the valley. The people here are very wealthy, but there is still work going on here which is good.
   My new companion is Elder Robertson. He has cerebral Paulsy, I think, and he walks around with a limp. He is a hard worker though, so we will get a lot done this transfer.
   So far not much has happened in this area. The only thing worth mentioning is a lesson we had yesterday that was kind of weird. We taught this couple who had prepared a bunch of anti-material for us to read. We tried not to talk about it too much and we just bore testimony about the Book of Mormon and told them to read it to find out for themselves if it's true. We will see what will happen there.
   There really isn't much else to talk about. Let me know what's going on there. I will write you later on about my investigators here and more about what's going on. Love you all! See you on the other side!

   Love, Elder Connell

July 10th Email

Hey Britt,

So to give you an update. Tomorrow is transfers and I just found out that I am being transfered. I will be in North Ogden covering the Ben Lomand stake which is right by the mountains. Its pretty crazy that transfers is here already. I liked Plain City Farr West area, but i think its good that Im leaving so that I can experience something new. I am not training and I dont know when I will be training. It may be in August or it may be this Fall. I would like to train, but right now  I am not ready or not needed or something, idk.

So ya, I knew Jeremy was going to live there for a little while. That is pretty bomb digity, but now I wont have any siblings by me haha. Will you guys see me when you are down here? You would have to ask President first but i think he would say yes.

The mission did split and we do have our new president now. He seems to be a pretty cool guy even though I dont really know him very much yet.

I have no idea what any of those colors look more like so I am the wrong person to ask. I have not been able to do much geneology so far. The only thing I have done is trace my genealogy all the way back to Adam. HA, bet you cant do that. But no, genealogy is cool stuff, I would like to do it a little when I get back.

So i got bit by a dog the other day cause I was being kind of stupid.There is a story for that that I may share some day.

Anyway I got to finish up because of time. I will have a new address so dont send the letter until I give you that address. Love ya Britt!

Elder Connell

July 3rd Email

Hey Britt,

 

Dont worry about not emailing or whatever. Its fine. October is a good month for marriage. Plus, you will be kinda near me in August which will be weird. (Date was changed to November)

 

As far as the area goes. That girl, Cassandra, she had a date for the 22nd, but she has pushed it back indefinitely. It is very frustrating because she knows its true, but she doesnt want to make a committment that she cant make. She has an older sister who got baptized recently who is not doing good things at all and that has discouraged her a bit from getting baptized. She is going to girls camp soon and I am praying that she gets some kind of revelation there that she needs to do it. It is kinda stressful.

 

We have another investigator like that who knows its true, but doesnt want to get baptized because she doesnt think she can physically do it. She can. But it is so frustrating to try to work with her because she is so set that she cannot do it.

 

Missionary work is pretty stressful, but we do have a couple that are getting pretty close. The wife's only issue is smoking and she is getting really close to quiting. The husband wants to know its true, but has a hard time recognizing the spirit. 12 weeks ago they were complaining about the people at church and about family. Now they want to be baptized. Oh the things the Spirit can do when it touches someone's life.

 

Other than that there is pretty much nothing. It is lame. And yes I am struggling with my companions, but I will write about that in a letter sometime.

 

Love ya!

Elder Connell

June 21st Letter

Dear Family,

What is up everyone? I just had mission conference today, so I will pretty much write about that. Everything else is pretty much the same, so nothing to report there.

mission conference was pretty cool. The first part was President Olsen and Sister Olsen talking, followed by a training from the AP's. The thing that stuck out the most to me was when President was talking about companions because I am struggling a bit with one of them right now. He pretty much said I need to work things out and now I think I know what to do. Whether or not he will take to it, I have yet to find out.
After lunch we had a special guest. Can you guess who it was? It will make you very jealous, Britt. (YES, YES IT DID!!!~Britt) It was Jon Schmidt. Ha Ha lucky me! It was way cool! He played Waterfall, All of Me, some Hymns, a Taylor Swift cover and a few others. He even played upside down! The unfortunate thing though was that I forgot my camera...sorry. (Ya, you better be sorry!!!)..oh yeah, Erick Hickenlooper is in our area. Look him up and you will probably laugh. He looks like Jack Black.

After the performance we played some games outside. It was hot, but fun. It was overall a pretty good mission conference, especially since President is leaving.

I can't think of anything else to say, so I will end it here. Love you all! See you on the other side!

Love,
Elder Connell

June 19th Email

Hey Britt,

 

No worries about the letter. Bill and Joy now have dates to be baptized. They are really making progress and I am happy to see this change in them and very much so want to see them get baptized. Cassandra on the other hand is struggling a bit. She knows its true, but does not want to committ to it because she thinks she wont be able to keep the committment. Other than that there is nothing new. It is rather annoying. Glad to hear everything is going well with you back home and your "friend". And yes it is pretty hot here as well.

 

Again im sorry, I dont have much time. Talk to you later! love ya!

 

Elder Connell

Emails from June 12th

{SORRY FOR SLACKING OFF!! It has been a crazy couple of months for me...I apologize to you, and to Zach, for not keeping this updated. But I will be better! I promise!!}

______________________________________________

 

Brittany...!

 

Congratulations on all those things, especially your engagement! That is soooo cool. Apparently mom called someone in the office and told them to tell me so I found out a few days ago. It was kind of scary though cause the office usually calls when you did something wrong or something.

 

...Unfortunately I will miss it, but I will still be there in Spirit which is all that matters....

 

Next thing. You are now a missionaries dream member..congrats! No really that is way cool Britt. Giving a BoM was the perfect thing to do especially with your testimony. And you offered to have him over to take the lessons with you. That is PERFECT! Do it at our house because the missionaries in our area are zone leaders apparently so they know whats up. And yes, we can give blessings to anyone. They just have to know that they need faith in order for the blessing to work and they need to understand what the blessing is all about. But ya, blessings are super awesome things!

 

Honestly talking to nonmembers about the church is totally different. I had to get used to that at first and it is still a little weird. You have to explain things very simply as if they were a child. Kind of hard for someone who grew up in the church. It is also hard to answer some of those questions that people bring up. I get a lot of anti stuff here, but in your situation we pray to God through Jesus Christ. It is pretty confusing and I still dont fully understand it. There is a scripture that goes with it, but I dont remember where that is.

 

That is totally cool that you had a good Missionary experience. Keep it up! It gets better. And the more you do it, the better you get at doing it and it strengthens your testimony by a lot! It is way cool stuff. That is why being a missionary is so exciting!

 

Well I have said a lot finally in an email and now I am pretty low on time so I will end here. Love you Britt and congrats again!

 

Elder Connell
_________________________________________________

Hey Dad,

 

Happy Fathers day this weekend! I will try to get a card out sometime this week for you to enjoy. It is nice to hear what is going on back home. Thank you for all the updates! I do not have much time because I spent so long writing Brit. She is engaged, im sure you heard. Cool that Jacob is going to Colorado! Wish he would have come to Ogden, that would have been cooler. I did get moms letter btw.

 

I am still with the 2 companions and not much has happened with my investigators except that there are a few now that are digressing, it is frustrating and it is adding to my stress. I have been a bit stressed the past few weeks, but I am hangin in there.

 

One of the Bishops here is related to the Thompsons somehow. He is Bishop Costley, so ya haha small world. I really like Plain City though, it is very homely and everyone seems to know each other.

 

Well I will write you this week. Love ya!

 

Elder Connell

Letter: May 30th, '12, Email: June 5th, '12

{Email}
Hello Father,

   Thats cool you get to spend some time with Amy and company. I am pretty jealous of that not going to lie. So my two companions are from Pennsylvania and Mesa. Yes, Elder Monsen went to Mountain View but not the same Junior High. Pretty cool. I told you that I ran into Elder Walz a few weeks ago right? Its pretty cool to see him here again. I hope to serve around him sometime in the future. Us companions are getting along pretty good. And since there are three of us I have been going on splits a few days with like a priest or someone else. It is pretty good experience.

   Other than that there is not much new. One of our investigators finally has a baptismal date. His only problem is chewing, but we are going to work with him on that. Not much else so I will wrap it up until the next time which may be a letter.

Love You!
Elder Connell
--------------------------------------
{Letter in the mail}
Dear Family,
   As you may already know, a lot has happened since the last time I wrote you all a formal letter. To start, I would like to explain what is going on with the area.
   A week ago we were supposed to have a split in the area with a set of Elders in each stake. That did happen, but it only lasted a few days. One of the missionaries in the Plain City Stake went home early because of stress and health issues. It was an honorable release. But since then, i have been in a trio with Elder's Carron and Monsen, no relation {haha, he keeps saying that! I find that quite funny.-Brit}. We also have both stakes again and we moved to a bigger apartment that can hold all three of us. The address is 4475 W 2425 N., Plain City, UT 84404. So let everybody know.
   We still have all the same investigators as we did before. Honestly, this transfer, I think we can baptize a lot of them. Some in particular would be Tyson, Nate, Shawn, and Karren. All are very close, we just have to work with them a bit and sort out all of the kinks.
   I actually had a very neat experience a few weeks ago with Cassandra, if you remember her. So we were teaching her the Plan of Salvation and it was going very well. When we got to the end, she asked an important question: "What happens to little babies when they die?" It is a pretty simple answer for us, but so profound for anyone else. That is the cool thing about the gospel. It all makes perfect sense and it is the coolest thing to watch people realize that for themselves. Cassandra was very touched by the answer and I could tell that she knew it was true. It has been amazing to see her progress to this point. It is truly a testimony builder.
   There is one thing that I learned from another missionary that I found very cool and eye opening. There are pretty much two different ways to have a testimony. When you believe in the Gospel, or when you believe the Gospel. Which is yours? What does it mean to believe the Gospel versus believing in the Gospel? It is just something to think about. He shared a lot more, but it would take forever to write it all down.
   So that is pretty much the update of what's going on. I am still learning lots as a missionary and enjoying every minute of it. Thank you all for the love and support you all give.

   See you on the other side!

   Love,
      Elder Connell
 -----------------

In the letter he didn't say the answer to the girls question. If you would like to know more about this, and find out the answer to the question, click HERE, or HERE.

Here's my little blurb about it:
What we believe in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is that those under the age of accountability (8) do not need to repent. You are born into this world clean and pure, and quite innocent. Therefore, you don't need baptism until you reach the age of 8. If they pass before that age of accountability, hey will receive eternal glory with their Heavenly Father.

May 29th, 2012

Hello Father,

 

A lot of weird stuff has happened this past week and right now its kind of an unusual situation. So last Wednesday I received my new companion, Elder Monsen, no relation. We were assigned the Farr West stake and the elders in Plain City were Hubman and Carron. 3 days later elder Hubman went home because of health issues, so we went back to the normal area with 2 stakes and I am now in a trio with Elders Monsen and Carron. And we live in the new apartment in Plain City which is a very nice place. It has been good so far, but we will see what happens. We are planning on going on a lot of splits so that we can cover more ground with 3 of us.

 

Memorial Day was tough. Most people were out of town so it was hard to meet with people. We did a little bit of meeting with people which was pretty helpful.

 

I do not have much time today to write. We are teaching the same people right now, but are focusing a lot on finding more people. Since I know the area, I have pretty much been senior the past week and will probably be senior the next week or two. Some of our investigators are getting pretty close, I can feel the baptismal water already. I will talk more about it next week when I have more time.

 

Love you!

Elder Connell

May 22nd, 2012

Hey Britt,

There was a whole bunch of stuff I was going to ask you about, but I always seem to forget when I come to write emails. I think one was whether or not you still have my old phone and whether or not it had all my contacts in it. If not then thats cool as well. Also, do you remember the name of the card game where it has those really crazy rules and each game you make up new rules? Other than that just an update with whats going on back home would be cool. I also got some pictures to add for all of you to enjoy. And also keep up my facebook so that people know to write me and where to write to.

Other than that there is not much else that is new. Tomorrow is transfers, I am staying in Farr West and my companion is going to Logan so I am getting a new companion which will be interesting. So all of our investigators are pretty much the same. Cassandra is still progressing very well, however, she will not be in my area anymore so she will be taught by completely different missionaries. I am hoping to go to her baptism in July though.

So the pictures: the first two were from when I was in Clinton. Those were the things we used to play capture the flag with in district meeting. It was fun, but I dont have the sword thing anymore. The third picture is of a mail box that is sitting 20 feet in the air!! Its funny because it says air mail on it so I had to take a picture. The last one is of me and Elder Campbell who is in my district. There are more but i will send them to mom.

Love ya!

 

Elder Connell

Goofball

Prettyyyy funny!

April 27th, 2012

Dear Family,

Hey ya'll! I just got mom and Britt's letters today. I also got your package, Britt. Thank you so much for that, they are some sweet songs.

So I don't know all the investigators in this area yet, but I know most of them. The most recent is Cassandra Reese. We have taught her twice so far and they have both gone well. Her brother is the one who was baptized 6 months ago and now wants to get his whole family baptized. If only we could all be as good of missionaries as he is. We already have a date for one of his brothers for May 5th. Pretty sweet stuff. As for Cassandra, all she needs to do is recognize what the Spirit feels like in her own life and she will be baptized.

I met 2 other investigators recently as well. Bill and Joy Croft. They know the church is true, but are caught up in 'Word of Wisdom' issues and dealing with the members here...A lot of them will stick to themselves and will not really serve others when this church is very much about service. Well anyways, that is Bill and Joy, hopefully soon they can get over those things and get baptized.

I believe the other investigators I have either already talked about, or I haven't met them yet. We have a ton of potentials right now, so in a month hopefully the numbers will go through the roof!

So there is one thing that I am trying to focus on as a missionary. The Spirit. As you know, the Spirit is felt differently for everyone. It is sometimes hard for me to recognize the Spirit, so what I am trying to do is master that skill in recognizing the Spirit. By doing that, I can be able to listen to promptings and follow them, which will help me greatly in teaching. It is similar to a Jedi trying to master the powers of the force. Not exactly the same, but I think it's cool.

It is pretty cool to hear what is going on back home. I'm glad you guys are grateful I am out. It means a lot to have good support back at home. And about what you guys should do about jobs...God knows, so ask him, especially ask at the Temple and at church, because the Spirit is strong there. God will tell you what to do, you just got to have faith. And Brittany, about that girl taking the lessons, that's really cool. Just keep being her friend and loving her. Be sure to have the missionaries over lots too because they have a strong Spirit. Members tell us that all the time. We also have great power, so get them to place a blessing on the house often because they have significant power. That goes for any Priesthood blessing as well. I learn quite a bit of things out here on my mission. Serving in Utah definitely has its ups, I have learned quite a bit so far about the church and missionary work and much more. My testimony is strengthened every day.

So yeah, I hope all of you guys are doing well back at home. I am working hard out here and I am loving it. Time has gone by quick so far and I hear it only goes by faster. Again, I am so grateful for your love and support. Be sure to encourage all the Priests to serve missions, because it will change their lives. Especially if they come to Ogden. I told you Connor Walz is serving here now, right? I know him back in AZ, if his name isn't familiar. Anyway, until next time folks, see you on the other side!

Love,
Elder Connell

1 Nephi 13:22 "And I said unto him: I know not."

Sometimes we have to be humble and admit that we don't know the answer. Better to say you don't know instead of lying (2 Nephi 9:34).

---------------------------------------------

We all agreed, here at home, that Zach is clearly on a Spiritual "high", which is good! He seems to be learning a lot, and gaining a lot from this. I, for one, have never heard Zach talk like this before, all spiritual and what-not, but it's pretty cool. He does still have a long ways to go, but he'll get there..he may think he has grown so much thus far, but he's only at the beginning, there is much more to come. Pray that he may continue to gain strength and learn to recognize the Spirit better as he is out there serving the Lord, and bringing others to Christ.
~Brit

April 19th, 2012

Dear Family,

This week has gone by way fast. Much faster than any week in Clinton. I heard that after my first area, time flies, but I had no idea...Anyways, Farr West and Plain City are both awesome towns. I love these kinds of towns where everyone knows each other.

Today we had Zone Conference. This was my first Zone Conference and it was long...9am to 4pm. They talked mostly about the Spirit Sandwich which I explained in one of my letters. I think today helped me feel more confident in teaching because we did role plays all day which I hated, but they were helpful. Overall it was long, but I learned a lot.

So we will be baptizing 2 people this Saturday. A mother and her son. They are very poor right now, which makes them very humble. It is pretty cool. I will also be confirming her as well which will be neat for me again. I think I will be doing a lot of those and baptisms. So far this year our mission has been the highest baptizing mission in the U.S. I have also gotten the chance to give a ton of blessings so far. Each time really strengthens my testimony though, I love it.

There is also this 16 year old kid named Kendrick who was baptized last year and he is an amazing missionary. He is trying to get his whole family baptized which is awesome! Recent converts are truly the greatest missionaries I know of so far. So like with that girl taking the discussions in the 2nd ward, when she gets baptized, she could be an awesome missionary.

That reminds me, you guys should offer your home to have the discussions at. The home can be a great place to invite the Spirit and avoid distractions. You should also have them over for dinner if you can. And then you can have them bless the home because missionaries are good at that.

Well that is all I got for today. I hope you guys have a good week. I love you all and I am grateful for your support. See you on the other side!

Love,
Elder Connell

(This letter came to us in the mail at the beginning of the week, but I lost it up until today. Sorry for the delay!)

April 24th, 2012

Hey Britt,

 

This will be really short because I have very little time today. I will write a letter after I get the one you send me. We did have the baptism and it went very well. Now we just have one date in a few weeks and other than that we are just teaching. I will update you on anything else that is going on in the letter.

 

Love you!

Elder Connell

.:{We got a letter in the mail from him on Monday...I will type it up for ya & post it soon!}:.

April 17th, 2012

Hey Britt,

 

This new area is rockin! It is super awesome. My new place is pretty cool, its a more "cozy" place than my last appartment, but I like it. This area has quite a bit of investgators. I have only met 4 or 5 so far, but it has only been a week. 3 of them have a baptisimal date sometime in the future so it is all exciting. This area does have a car. I am happy about that. This area covers 2 stakes and kind of 2 cities, Farr West and Plain City. It is kind of farmland out here and most of the people know each other around here. Its cool, i like it.

 

Thats cool about the investigator in the second ward. Tell the missionaries to do good with her. By the way do you see the missionaries there much? Have you had them over for dinner often? I only ask because there are some families here that have missionaries out and they like the company of missionaries. So ya, just wondering.

 

You got kinect?! Im jealous kind of. But ya dont activate the live because it is connected to my account. You will have to change the payment info to your credit card instead of mine because im not like making any money or anything. Dont ask me how to change it because i would have to be there myself to figure it out, but I dont think its too hard.

 

Thanks Brittany for all the support. I think about you always and miss you! I will continue to keep you guys in my prayers.

 

Love,

Elder Connell
---------------------------------------------------------

Hi Dad,

 

Yeah, I love this new area. Me and Elder Henthorn get along great. We joke together and do good stuff, its cool. He is from Washington State, not by Amy, and has been out 14 months. He has trained and greeny busted many times so I am nothing new for him. We havnt taught very much the past week, but we have a lot more investigators here and a lot more potential investigator that we could teach. There is one investigator named Karren Stone, she is in her 60s and handicapped. She has 3 pugs and a bull dog that we walk sometimes. It is kind of like teaching Bunny a little, but she is an investigator.

 

Congrats to Austin and Collin! Though its a bummer they didnt go instate because those are the best, sorry dad. Yeah, I remember that story now about you bashing, I dont like to do it because it brings in contention. I am studying more though because I want to know as much about the church and other churches as possible so that I dont feel dumb.

 

So you know how the mission will be changing in July. And they will be sending 40 missionaries down to Salt Lake, preferrably experienced missionaries. And they are bringing in 60 missionaries the next few transfers. If you do the math then basically I will probably be training pretty soon. Im guessing I will train in the next area I go to, so in about 4 months from now I think. It is pretty crazy and I dont know if I will be ready by then, but I figure I will learn quick.

 

Thank you dad for all of your support! I love you and miss you! And can you ask Jeremy if he got my letter that i wrote him a few weeks ago? I havnt really gotten any letters in a while and its probably because I transferred.

 

Love

Elder Connell

Transfer

Dear Family,

So there is kind of a lot to talk about this time. As you all know, I was transferred to Farr West. My new companion is Elder Henthorn. I guess he is kind of my greeny buster as well as my second trainer. I have only known him for about 12 hrs, but so far he seems to be about the apposite from Elder Motsamei (last comp). He is much more open with people, and animated. That is kind of what a greeny. buster is like though, to sort of break you in.

This area seems to be a lot more active with teaching and baptizing. I believe being here will help me be able to learn to teach better and become the missionary the Lord needs me to be.

I want to share an experience that happened last night while I was still in Clinton. We were out doing a bit of "tracting" because that is what we do a bit there. And the last house we went to the lady was already outside kind of watching us. We started talking to her for a few minutes, and I learned pretty quickly that she was pretty anti-mormon and anti-Book of Mormon. Let me tell you, we were there for too long. She was saying some things that made me a bit angry and I held back, but Elder Motsamai was kind of arguing with her. As we were talking with her, I was just feeling upset and confused and not good. But then, as soon as we left, the Spirit came back and I felt much more at peace and relaxed. This church is true. Don't let anyone lead you astray any other way, especially coming up with the election. Satan will lead many away. Stand firm. Anyway, I wanted to share that because it really strengthened my testimony and I know I will be running into a lot of those type of people.

Just a heads up for you mom, my new companion's mother will be calling you sometime in the next few weeks. He says she does that with all his companions, so don't freak out. And dad, do you remember Connor Walz from Mesa? He was apparently related to us. Well, cool thing is that he is serving in this mission. Haven't seen him yet, I just know he barely got in. I am kind of excited about that.

So I can't think of what else to say. I am pretty excited for this transfer and I expect great things to come. I hope you are all doing well there. I love you all!

See you on the other side!

Love,
Elder Connell

P.S. Address:
1355 W Harrisville Rd.
Farr West, UT 84404

April 3rd, 2012

Dear Family,

How are all of you doing? I am doing pretty good out here. This Clinton area is a bit dry teaching wise, so President might transfer me to a bussier place so I can get more teaching experience. Tonight was probably the first lesson I had with a new investigator. We do what is called the "Spirit Sandwich". We begin the lesson by stating our purpose there which is to bring people closer to Christ through baptism and we talk a bit about that. We then talk about the Holy Ghost and his purpose and how to know of his presence. We then do a conditional committment by saying, "If you feel the Spirit, will you be baptized?" They will pretty much always say yes to that like she did tonight. We then go through the lesson until we get to the first vision and we go back to the Spirit and talk about it a little more. We then give the account and pause so that the Spirit can teach a bit. It seems pretty fool proof, am I right? We got a date from Mia, that's her name. She will plan on the 28th this month. It's pretty neat stuff we do out here.

So mom, I will try to answer most if not all of your questions. I would like to say the members are helpful but we don't hear much from them besides Bishops and Ward mission leaders. We try to see people and write them to do missionary work, so we will see if that leads to anything.

I am doing fine with clothes. No issues there at all. And the only cooking we do is for lunches and rarely a dinner. There isn't much cooking involved there though. We do fine though, so don't worry. We get money each month for food. We don't have bikes in this area and we get rises from members, no car.

Since Clinton is near a military base, there are some people who are not LDS. I want to say that it is 50/50, but I don't know for sure. Never really door slamming, just people being rude or not even answering the door. Most people here in Utah have made up their mind about the church. Lots of people have had the discussions before or something like that and now have no interest. This is just a different mission from the rest. I feel like I am starting to love the people. It is kind of hard to do, but I am working towards it. I know it will make the work so much easier if I love the people.

I don't remember if I told you last week or not, but we have picked up 3 kids recently, Mkayla, Madison, and Trey. They have taken the discussions before and now have a date for them, we are also working to get the parents active again so that they can take the kids to church and make it easier for them. Oh and Kyle, one of our investigators is getting baptized on the 7th. I will be confirming him on Sunday, so that will be a first for me. Other than that, there is not much new with our investigators.

We have a piano here at our house. I play it whenever we aren't doing much like in the morning before study. My companion doesn't play however. It is just something to do when I get bored. No I will not send a video, I don't know if we can because we use the computers at the family history center in Ogden. I wouldn't even know what to do a video of so no, sorry. I will try to take more pictures though, that is something I don't do much.

I am actually writing one of my friends from school who is not a member. That is it though. I am writing Michael and in the process of writing Sam, or email actually. That reminds me, I would like Ryan Keeney's email, not address because I can't send mail internationally.

Well it is bed time so I will end here. Thank you for the letters and the support! Havg in there! Remember who you are and why you are here! Do the best you can and the Lord will take care of the rest. Love you! See you on the other side!

Love,
Elder Connell

P.S. Cat story will have to wait for later. It is too much to write and it's not important, just funny.

March 27th Letter

Hey Dad,

 

I need Jeremy's address to write him! I have been asking for several weeks and no one has sent me anything. Yeah, missonary work is not easy. It is hard to see how we are successful as missionaries when we get no results. But I realize that our job is to plant seeds, and we do plenty of that, so we can be considered as being succesful. It is cool that you guys are doing service. It is the best and it is a good way to plant that seed. Like what Ammon did, served. If he hadnt served like he did, then he would have probably been killed and yielded no results. But he served and converted many. So keep it up!

 

I will write more in my letter because I like writing those more than emails. Have a good one!

 

Love You

Elder Connell

 

ps i need jeremys address

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We don't get much from the emails, but we get more from the written letters...it's kind of a pain to have to type them up, but maybe I'll start doing that. Please write Zach, he would love to hear from you! He is pretty good at writing back too.

He just sent me some pictures today (not much of an email this week, just a letter in the mail)

They're going stripes today!

The Provo LDS Temple

Provo Temple again..

His place

His place again...

annnd again...

Not sure...I think he thought it was funny...which I can see his view point on that..but still kinda random...lol

His place again...{love the chair, so cool!}

His room..

Definitely not something you see every day!