My email fix for the week

Last week...

its wierd to think that the mission is really coming to a close. this transfer like every transfer is flying by and fast as it possibly can. i gave my testimony in my final zone conference. all the signs are pointing towards boise but it still doesnt feel like its accually here. all i can do is keep going, sprint to the end and then watch life as it changes 1000% again.well i love ya dad
john

This week...

sounds like you had a really really neat week and an opportunity to ponder and in turn recieve that direction. i love how that pattern works. desire to know something, study it out, ponder and receive. its a process which repetes itself over and over and over again in the book of mormon. this week has been a good one for me. ive been faced with some new trials in not used to facing. even right on down to this last transfer. and these things have certainly been for my good. i still can hardly beleive that ive only got a week left. i imagine itll hit me about the time i take a drive by myself after ive been released that im going home just like it didnt really hit me that i was leaving to come here to indiana until about mid mtc. awesome job on doing your member missionary work!! i wanna thank you for the missionaries there for doing that. i challenge you to share your missionary expereinces in fast and testimony meeting. that way others can feel the spirit of it and do it themselves!! well hey ill see ya in a week or so. i love ya
john

your experience with your foot reminds me of doctrine and covenants 121. in this section joseph starts out with his prayer which is basically him complaining about his situation and expressing that he feels like he and the saints are being forsaken despite the fact that theyve done everything the lord has expected of them. he tells god to take care of their enemies and make things better and then the lord says "peace be unto thy soul" and that his "affliction will be but a small moment" and that if he endures it well he'll be exalted on high. so mom, endure it well, as youre doing, and God will exhalt you to the person you want to be and the person he wants you to be. its been a pretty good week here. i have a couple more requests real quick. first. one of the ladies here was interested in getting a recipe for shepards pie. and also if its not too late i know dad was looking around for work while im between mission and school. what about the boise tour train? well weve continued to see miracles here in elwood. so much has happened in elwood i dont know where to start. weve been finding a ton of new people and learning a lot as weve been working through struggles with our companionship. the sanmigels are doing well. theyre pretty busy now because of work and its hard to sit down with them but they still have interest. Bill and Teresa Blake and still progressing slowly but surely. its been hard to recontact some of the new investigators we've recieved but were working hard and getting it done! know im doin well and i love you all and ill see ya soon
john

Short and sweet

well todays email is gonna be kinda short.im really glad you guys had a great trip. sounds like a lot of fun! work here is going well. luis was the one that called you. he and his wife are doing awesome!! we got them addicted to lds.org. its so sweet.everything here is fine.i just got a "dear john" from Jess. i cant say im not surprised but its still kinda a shock. im ok, just kinda.... i dunno. that changes a lot of things, which is fine, life changes. its just hard to get used to when it does.
ohh and im sorry i forgot about your birthday earlier this month. i love you mom. times just gone crazy on me and i never know what day it is i just know its racing as fast as it can to the 16th


Last week...

good to hear from you even if it was just a littleall is well here in Elwood (city (no arthur yet)) weve got a lot of sweet people we're working with!! the highlight is probably the sanmigel family. louise and Jennifer are doing awesome. this week we were able to point them towards baptism and so now were working on getting them smoke free etc. so they can be baptized! theyre a really great family.well im safe and happyill hear from ya laterlove yajohn


And from two weeks ago...

im having a pretty good week. weve been working hard and getting good work done. im glad to be here in Elwood, its an awesome little town. hopefully ill like rexburg like i do elwood. i loved that year after i graduated. it was awesome!! enjoy it while you can cuz pretty soon youll be goin to bed at 10:30 and arrising at 6:30 on your mission. i love ya buddy. thanks for writing me all the time.john
well i am now in a nice little town called Elwood. theres a sweet little branch here of about 80. im really glad to be here. theres a lot of great people and in the mean time we keep pretty busy too. we're working with quite a few people i guess the highlight of those is probably the sanmiguel family. the dad is our primary investigator there and his wife and kids are coming along as well. he seems to know that joseph smith is a prophet i think we'll be talking about baptism very very soon! theres been quite a few miracles here already and im glad that im here to finnish my mission off. sounds like all this foot and back stuff has been pretty crazy. ive been prayin for ya. ive got a doctors appointment coming up tomorrow for that bike wreck i was in in indy 1st. hopefully all will be well its been like 6 weeks since the wreck and it still hurts... well i love ya mom, have a great week!john

July 16!!!

Johnathan will arrive at the Boise airport on July 16 at 12:20 pm!!! We are getting so excited!


its only really just starting to hit me that im heading into my last tranfer. man this last transfer has really snuck up on me. im getting moved (surprise) and i'll find out where to tomorrow (surprise!!) haha its been fun movin around for this last part i guess. i dont really want to pack and the idea of unpacking makes me want to vomit but i guess it needs to be done. hopefully here in a transfer i'll be able to get my bags down to weight.
ill do my best to keep things runnin strong. it souldnt be to hard. you guys keep it up with your missionary work too! are you studying preach my gospel?
ohh by the way two people we've just started teaching have baptismal dates for sometime before july 10th!!! their names are sumit and swati. theyre awesome! they're both here studying in the same department as our bishop trying to find better ways to cure cancer! Bishop low (philip low of you want to google him) has discovered a technique to fight cancer that can kill 80% of all cancer!!
love ya
john

I love mail like this

I’m glad I have a part of your patriarchal blessing, and I’m grateful you did your part in teaching me, otherwise I may not have made it out here or stayed out here. But I’m glad I have. This experience, good times and bad, has been one of the more beneficial and influential in my life.

I love the book of Mormon. This week I picked it up and decided I wanted to reread 2nephi 4. In this chapter Lehi finishes teaching his children and then dies and Nephi begins to understand that those are his shoes he must fill. He’s got to step up and start being a prophet instead of just a righteous man. He was already on overload dealing with his brothers now he’s responsible for everybody and as he thinks of that sacred trust he wants to scream "o wretched man that I am". It’s a really powerful section. I decided I want to memorize it.
I like the idea of trying to stay clean more than trying to get clean. It’s a much more optimistic way to look at it. we are not these evil dirty beings stained by another mans sins like some think we are but rather the very children of God and some of his more valiant at that.

What you said about the balance between the physical spiritual and emotional that you have been discovering was really neat. I think it was yesterday or perhaps the day before Elder Ericksen and I were discussing the relationship between the body mind and spirit. We concluded (in Freudian fashion) that the body was the carnal nature and our spirit obviously that part of us which desires righteousness. Our brain or mind is the place where these two battle it out (almost like 2 Nephi 2:27 (I think)) and where all the decisions are made. What’s sweet is I have been able to learn that the veil is more or less self imposed and the more ready we are to receive revelation the more we will receive. Our spirit holds back our subconsiousness because we're not ready to know what it contains. So with all that in mind what you concluded is definitely true. As you focus more on building up your spiritual plane it will fill the gaps and needs your mind feels imposed on it by your body and at the same time will give you and is giving you further light to take care of your tabernacle. I hope all that made sense.
It’s funny what things you learn as you are kept awake from one thing or another.
This week was pretty good. Not a ton to tell about. Hopefully what few potential investigators we do have will begin to progress shortly. We are working with some Chinese guys. Dr. Wong and Dong Yue are roommates and both atheists. It’s difficult for them to believe in God or to understand the culture of those who do because they are natively from china. In china to be religious is discouraged. They’re both great guys and there is some potential there for both of them. Hopefully with this last few weeks we'll have with them we can help them in one way or another.
Well, I love ya have a great week
john

It's worth it!

i love you too. its been a roller coaster ride but i hope to continue to improve. i take no real credit though. you guys raised me to be who i am. even though maybe i didnt understand why we did things like go to church each sunday or whatever else those things help me continually. John

More mail

I could get spoiled hearing from John three times in two weeks.


thanks
they just gave me the papers we missionaries lovingly dub "pre-trunks" which are the papers i need to fill out before they send me my flight info ("trunks" or "trunky papers")

its wierd to think that im really creaping close enough to it to begin making those plans. its also wierd to think that i have less weeks left than one of my zone leaders has months left. how long can i speak for? sounds like a good first week back.
Dale's a daddy? wow.
i love it how God speaks to us and assigns us to teach those things we need to know. itll be interesting what comes out of my mouth these last few testimonies i bear as a missionary to other missionaries.
indy was fun but sure enough it was just a brief stopping ground. i know that God knew what he was doing. i know im supposed to be here right now. i dont know how to explain or even if i should. but i know that i needed to be here with Elder Ericksen right now on this campus. its kinda funny that you had that intuition.
well i love ya
john

i also had an opportunity this week to hear the voice of apostles. a couple times accually. i was able to attend a stake conference that was broadcasted from salt lake. i received a lot of understanding about what i need to do to finish this mission off strong despite the face that thats not what was spoken about. also i attended a ysa fireside at which Elder Bednar spoke. he spoke about the importance of the physical body and the dangers of getting caught up in behaviors which minimize the importance of the body. you should see if you can find and whatch it on the church website. it was really really good.
the new area is great. we're in finals week right now so theres less people than there would be otherwise. despite that fact ive already been able to see some miracles. its a really neat place to be. there are a couple baptisms coming up i get to help set up for. thats always fun getting all the paperwork and interviews done. its deffinitly an exciting time.
i dunno what else there is really for this week i love ya john

Surprise!

there was a missionary who needed to go home from purdue campus so i got transfered to purdue. im serving with Elder Ericksen again which is awesome. i dont know what to tell you about really since i dont really know any of the gators in either of my last 2 areas but im doing well. i caught a bit of a second wind and ive been able to find some sweet new people and see some miracles happen from straight faith.
i love you guys
john

Wow! It's been a week already?

well they stationed me in Indy 1st ward this time. my conpanions are Elder Christiansen and Elder Cannon, both vets in the area. there arent a ton of new adventures to report. it only took me a couple days here to get hugged by a drunk man. ohh i did also get into a bike wreck on my second day here. i clipped a mailbox with my handlebar. now my hands are all messed up from
the gravel i landed on.
college. ive considered being a teacher. im leaning more towards psychology for the time being, perhaps in the criminal or child psychology fields but im not really sure yet. teaching would be fun and theres certainly some job security there. i dunno.
the lost dutchman is pretty hoosier. all i know as far as hoosier things go is that when i go camping squirrels are no longer safe.
well you have a great week
i love ya
john

yes i got it (drivers license) extended. as far as where you should send it. im not totally sure. im sure you read my email from last week that i sent dad about college stuff. im pretty sure ill probably just start at bsu, i dont know if my grades and everything are good enough YET for anywhere else.
welp im in indy 1st ward. its on the south side. southport is in my area and our church is on stop 11 and about madison. round 3 for indianapolis. my companions are Elder Christiansen whos been out one more transfer than me and Elder Cannon whos been out about 9 months. this week was pretty good. we're all transitioning well to fit the threesome lifestyle. its always wierd having to make lesson plans to fit three when youre only used to doing it for 2.
not a ton to report about investigators. weve been doing a lot of tracting this last few days, i guess its accually a bit of an unussual amount. ive been trying to view tracting and other finding methods as a quest to find new gators. so ive been having fun with it.
birthday month is always crazy. at least youre going to have one less to deal with off and on for a WHILE. i think everyones getting kinda stressed with the end of school season coming up.
those were some really neat comments you shared with me from conference. our stake conference is coming up next sunday. its going to be a broadcast from SLC to our region. should be neat.
well i love you. have a great week!
john

Email

thanks for your email it was encouraging. we got our transfer calls today. both Elder Jackson and I are leaving martinsville. theyre going to have someone train in martinsville. i got released as a district leader, and not called to anything else. im kinda disappointed but im trying to humbly accept that the Lord through the mission president knows more than me and what i need. i figure i can look at it two ways. i was needed in an area that isnt a district leader area and it cant be switched because the other guy needs it more than me. or the negative not so useful to even mention way. im gonna keep an open mind and wait and see what the Lord has in mind.
im sure my next (and maybe last) area will be wonderful. i understand now whay missionaries say they learned the most during the last 6 months of their mission. im sure learning a lot.
that sweet ride reminds me so much of indiana. one of our less-actives said it best "all hill-billies have pick-up trucks. all hill-billies have 4-wheelers. all hill-billies have dirt bikes. and all hill-billies have golf carts. the only problem is is the hill-billies dont have the land to play with their toys on." i guess hes been having problems with his neighbors trespassing and playing on his land.
as far as college goes. i agree that quickly returning to school is a great idea. i want to make sure that i can get as many scholarships as i can and get to work as soon as possible as well. i have briefly considered byui but im not too excited about not being able to grow a huge prophet beard. however; i understand facial hair isnt as important as my education. do you think you could look and see how byui's psychology and theater programs are? also if you could do similar research regarding other local schools that would be good. i dont heve the time to worry about all that very much right now but i want to know whats available for me for at least a couple years
after i return. ill obviously have to go to a school with a grad program eventually but i was planning at starting at bsu or something.
well im feeling a bit better about all the transfer stuff already. i just
needed to talk about it.
i love ya
john

Missionary Mail

The last part of that (Tom’s talk in sacrament meeting) talk reminded me of the parable of the lamp by talmage. he tells a story of a lamp salesman who came to his home, he asked if he could come in a see his lamp. then after examining it he praised it and without a disparaging word got his lamp out and demonstrated it. it was a much brighter lamp and talmage says that he never would have known what a dreary dark room he had been working in before. He bought the lamp outright.
Sometimes I feel like that. People have something in their lives that is totally fulfilling to them. And I’m just here to show them greater light.
I used that in one of my recent trainings as we've been discussing the proper use of the book of Mormon in missionary work this transfer.

I love that song. “this is the Christ” is VERY powerful.
That’s neat that Linda is officiating. I wish I still remembered all the details about the temple. I miss it so much. It doesn’t make it easier that the sisters in my district got to go not long ago. To quote a catholic man in the movie 'between heaven and earth' I have "righteous envy".
I think it’s also insane that James and Tim are as old as they are. I was looking at the calendar the other night and realized James was almost 14. I can remember when I was 14. That wierded me out.

Well this week was pretty crazy actually. Elder Jackson’s back is better so we were able to get out to work, which was great. We also went on companion exchanges with the zone leaders AND the traveling Zone leaders. Both exchanges were fun and I learned a lot. Probably the most important lesson I learned was about forgiveness. One of the Travelers is an elder that I had some bad experiences with. He was my district leader during the whole Elder Strong stuff. There were some conflicts there and I have been holding some very negative feeling ever since. Well he was down here and he went with Elder Jackson and they had a great time. As Elder Jackson told me about it all I realized how immature I was being about the whole ordeal and that I needed to drop it. So I gave him a call and apologized for being so stupid. And you know what? I felt a million times better. So since then I’ve been thinking about how else I can relieve myself of any other excess negative energy that I don’t need and I’m working on it. It’s been a really good thing for me.
Everyone’s doing alright. Charles is kinda... I dunno. He has a testimony and he knows its all true but the synapses aren’t firing or something so he can do what he needs to from that point. 3 words. too many drugs. We’re going to get him to the ARP (addiction recovery program) and hopefully that will help. Chris is doing great!! He’s been working. He’s getting himself ready for the temple. He’s sharing the gospel, ALOT!! Jimmy is doing awesome as well. He came on exchanges with us and he’s going to be assigned as a home teacher soon! Pam is... well we'll find out Wednesday. She finished the book of Mormon. That’s good, I think. Like I said, we'll see. She’s expressed to her fellowshipper that things might be grinding to a halt. More details next week.
Like I said it was a pretty good week
Love ya,
john

Love, John

general conference was as always wonderful. i really enjoied it all quite a bit. i especially appreciated Elder Hollands talk this year on the atonement. ive also recently kind of gained a greater desire to be a good member missionary when i return home. i want to do what Elder Perry was talking about and fulfill my missionary responsibility as a member so our missionaries in idaho can be full time teachers.

on my birthday i had a cool opportunity to go and preach at a local church called the manna mission. each weekend they hold a prayer breakfast where they discuss Christ. its an atmosphere where they encourage leaving the doctrine at the door and together breaking down the barriers of denominations and talk of, rejoice in, and preach of christ. i had a chance to share about christs atonement and then i went into the life of christ and the idea that he not only died for us, he lived for us, and the least we can do is live for him. i used both bible and book of mormon verses and even as i read from alma i got an amen. it was a cool way to start my 22nd year.

well it sounds like you all had a decent week yerselves, im glad to hear it. its wonderful to have the guidance and direction so available to us in this dispensation. it truly is wonderful to have prophets and apostles on the earth.

love you guys
john

Quote from John's letter

i love telling people about joseph smiths experience in the sacred grove because thats ussually when a persons countenance and demeanor changes. its when the spirit is trying to scream "ITS TRUE DUMMY!!"

Email from John

also yesterday i was preparing some squirrel meat... man im a hoosier. but it turned out really really good. as it turns out a1 and squirrel are best friends and the crockpot works miracles with even the toughest meats. things are on the upturn for Mills!! he got rid of his old job because his boss started asking him to do wierd things involving him and his wife. Mills figured that was the environment he needed to get away from so he has been getting his life and house in order for the last couple days. AND almost immediatly after he quit he got a new job. now we just need to get his car fixed and he'll be self reliant again the legal way!! we are starting to see success with one of the programs weve started here and weve received a couple new referals one of which is Pam!! Pam is an awesome lady who really really wants exactly what we have to give her. we taught her the plan of salvation yesterday and it was incredible. we answered questions shes had all her life. things are moving forward and i guess i get to see where it all goes since i didnt get transfered. hopefully ill be able to figure out why im still here soon enough.
love ya
john

John is having a rough time in this area. It has been hard for him to keep going when not many want to hear the message, and there have been some crazy things happening in that area. Please, keep him in your prayers.

Missionary Mail

MOM: thanks for sharing that with me. its just what i needed to hear. this week was kinda rough. i started really struggling with motivation by the end. but it seems God has a way of figuring out how to pull me out. i just have to ask.
im glad you were able to get out of your funk and move to a new level. ive looked at the addiction recovery course and it really is an amazing program.
sounds like the activity went well. though i must say that theres a lot of members in this church who have hard times commiting to anything and keeping their commitments.... kind of an interesting peoblem for Gods COVENANT people to have. ohh well. all i can do is start by changing myself and moving from there.
love ya
john

DAD: thanks for the advice. hopefully we'll be able to help him out. i was in bloomington yesterday on exchanges, but i guess they had a really sweet conversation that kinda followed the same pattern last night!
its wierd to think youre almost done with your mba. i remember when you started that quest. its way wierd to think that in not too long im going to start getting the paperwork for my ride home from the mission office (we call em pre-trunks (then your flight info is called the trunky papers)). i try not to think about it a lot. and i succeed a lot. its fun to be here (most of the time) and im trying to keep a proper perspective. its kinda a day at a time lifestyle. its going to be wierd when all that changes... meh, i dont have to worry about that now though. thanks for the encouragement
love ya
john

hey guys.
this week was alright. like i told mom it got rocky near the end but im doin alright now. im still pretty stoked about last monday that was sweet. i kinda lost my perspective for a few days and it wasnt quite as enjoyable but im working on it. its crazy how being a district leader ill end up having things come out of my mouth at district meeting that really are meant to help me.
well yesterday i was on exchanges in bloomington with the zoneleader. hes one of the guys that came out the same time as i did. hes a really solid missionary it was good to work with him for the day. its wierd being in the point of my mission where there really isnt too many missionaries whove been in the mission longer than me. in fact of my zone leaders now one came out at the same time as me and one came out after me. everyone else is going home.
anyhow it was a good day yesterday. i had chance to teach some really sweet people. there was this one guy named Paul. we got to talking to him and it was evident he had been reading some information our of certain tracts and pamphlets that werent published by those with good intentions. we were able to clear up most of his concerns and he really looked like he may investigate. we left him with a card and asked him that question that is near the end of that poem by your convert that you sent to me. what have you to lose? he said his family. i reminded him of the instruction that Christ gave when he gave the invitation "come follow me". it was a cool conversation. i think that if not now someday he will investigate the church.
the transfer is wrapping up pretty soon, just another week. its pretty wierd. i might be moving soon, i kinda feel like i may. ive been having a good time here but i guess i wouldnt mind moving along and getting to work in my next area. i imagine ill have at least one.
well i hope you all have a good week
everything is going pretty good here, i imagine itll keep in an upward trend.
love ya
john

2 and You've got mail

It's been a week and only 2 lucky people get something from me. I guess that's that. Hmmm. Maybe one will get my gingerbread house next Christmas.


The second part of this post is "Missionary Mail."

this week wasnt too much different than most. its been pretty good really.
like i said in moms email im not so good at finding investigators so Gods had to find other ways to get me people to teach. this week we got a couple new investigators. there is this part- member family thats tying up some loose ends and getting everyone where they should be. so ill be teaching another couple kids and helping them get there. it shouldn't take too long though. we also started teaching a nice young lady named ashley whos dating one of the young men in the ward. this has happened with a couple of his girlfriends before though so im hoping he wont dump her mid-teaching process.
weve got a couple other good things coming up, we're going to start planning for a youth missionary focus movie night so the youth have something kinda fun to invite their friends to. so we'll be meeting with the young mens president and young womens president this week to start that rolling. the other program we've been working on for a while was presented to the ward on sunday and so we should be able to start active work on that really soon. we're just kinda doing the finishing touches on the curriculum we'll be teaching people to we can make a hard copy so it can continue after we leave.

well i guess thats about all i got for now i love ya john

Dad. sounds like you guys are stepping it up as hometeachers! its good you were able to do that because now you can hold those within your stewardship accountable to it. itll be much easier for them to do it if youre bearing your testimony of how its helped you. homeland security must not have much to do if theyre at the special olympics in boise idaho.... wierd something pretty interesting happened about a week ago i failed to mention last week. it was pretty rediculous. brace yourself. so we are strolling out to the car to go start our day when we realize that someone got into our car. well turns out they didnt take anything, there wasnt really anything to take. but they did burn one of the seats with a cigarette.... and had sex in the back of our car... yup.... so needless to say we got the car detailed.anyhow ill let you know more about this week in my big emailtil theni love yajohn


Mom. ill try to be better about my money. it should be easier with Elder Jackson. Elder Adaoag would use home funds a lot so it was pretty tempting .
i think the additional lip-syncer was chris bippus but its been a while since ive seen that picture.
im stoked for tim, sounds like he'll have some fun!!
i likes that "tell a woman" comment. haha.... alot.
Elder Jackson is from near seatle washington. and Willie is doing pretty stinkin good. this week at church he and his wife asked US for an appointment instead of vice versa. he has a profound respect for what were doing. one of the members told us he wanted to give us money but they told him he couldnt so hes going to do what he can about paying us in food haha. this week we went there and we ate huge steaks and baked potatoes.
we got some new investigators this week that are pretty promising. i stink at finding new people so the Lord has found ways to just dump people into my lap. hes had to. i am trying, its just one of my weaknesses. ashley is dating one of the members here and has concented to start meeting with us. we should see her again wednessday, our first meeting with her was sunday. it was funny beacause our restoration lesson had to take a whole new shape because that day in our meeting we were introducing the new ward mission program and she musta heard the restoration about 3 times.

well i love ya im almost out of time

john

Three Men

Starting with the youngest of three of the four men in my life...

Tim got an invite to the Valentine's Dance at Borah High. This will be his first date. John used to worry about Tim's social life, but I would always tell him to lay off and let Tim decide what was right for him.

Anyway, at 10 pm last night the door bell rang and we found this on the front porch...

Tim's reply...

John's emails...

well transfers came and went. they were pretty crazy this transfer but i finally got my new companion. the transfer was accually delayed a day for the weather. its been pretty crazy here the last week or so.... hoosierland. we are finally getting winter. it get pretty cold by november but it doesnt like to really become winter here till late january. hopefully it wont go into march like last year.
anyhow my new companion is Elder Jackson. hes an awesome missionary and i think we'll have a blast this next transfer or so. hes a convert to the church of about 5 years. though kinda like Elder Varner suffered some less-activity. but he figured it out and got out here. not too much different than the way i did except i was born in it. he was lutheran previously.
the baptism went great! jimmy is our newest member of the martinsville ward! hes really a spectacular guy, cant wait till you meet him. well i can but you know what i mean.
everyone else is doing alright. its still a fight for chris to get to church but hes on the verge of maybe getting a day job with a member of the church in franklin ward. Charles is doing well. were just trying to help him get over his word of wisdom stuff still. its interesting to see how various people have to use different methods to quit smoking. its a slow but sure process with him, hes got a long road but he'll get baptized. we're kinda working with this guy named Willie Smith, hes been coming to church for a bit now and has been doing awesome and asking all the right questions. itll be a pretty quick investigation process when he finally wants to "investigate". in the mean time hes really friendly to us and asks us all sorts of questions!
well thats about it this week i guess.
i love ya
john

i dont remember boise ever having much to do with the special olympics. thats sweet!!
im glad to hear james and hannah are able to make those good decisions. what were they playing? its crazy the things that go on in these last days. me and Elder Jackson were talking the other day about how filthy the world is. maybe its just because from my perspective i see it a bit differently and it hasnt really changed much since i left but its kinda crazy.
those were really cool pictures. i like dads ugh boots. apparently those are the big style right now with women... well at least iu college women. also spandex is coming back.... ugh.
well ill let you know more about my new comp etc in the big email i love ya john

that sounds like an awesome lesson!!!
its good to remind ourselves often who we really are. its a crazy mixed up world out there and if we dont keep these things in mind were liable to get ourselves in trouble. one thing ive also been working on is remembering that each of those we serve are also children of our god. and its been a bit of a goal for me to see those around me the way god sees them.... its hard but its a worthwhile goal.
ill try to remember president yardley. ill see president tomorrow at zone conference. and yes he really is a wonderful man.
well i love ya
john

Now for my main man...

Isn't he cute?! These were taken while he was on his mission and we just got them from a friend he had sent them to.

Tom in the MTC

Tom in Australia wearing his UGH boots.

Email from John--January 27, 2008

transfers are even zanier this time. ims taying in martinsville. on saturday we got our call that E. Adaoag was leaving and on monday the assistants took him to go work in an area that ISNT his new one. i wont get my new companion until wednessday night and all the while i have no clue where E. Adaoag is going or who my new companion will be. all i know is that im in martinsville and im workin for a couple days with E' Burgess and E. Carlson.... haha its crazy. this was the trial run, we'll see if it sticks. its supposed to save us more miles on our cars.
im working on the leadership thing too. in teh white handbook it says that i as a leader should not just supervise or motivate but also uplift encourage inspire and bless. so im trying to figure out just how im going to accomplish all of that. i think like paul suggests it will all happen as i gain a greater love for those i serve. i dunno.
well i love ya
john

Epistle of John--January 20, 2009

all together my week was pretty good. the work is still moving forward. hopefully soon we'll be able to sort out our teaching pool and find some new awesome people.
Chris is doing alright. hes been going through some new trials though. i guess his wife is probably gotten herself into the big house. i hope not. hes getting tired of her garbage. hes also been working like a dog cleaning movie theaters. his lifes been crazy.
Jimmy is ready to go on the 31st this month!! i like dads idea about having Chris baptize him but Jimmy has a fellowshipper thats been working with him for a while now thats gonna do it.
Charles is working towards not smoking. he's commited to smoke only once every two hours which should cut back quite a bit!! he was also at FHE last night at a members house. we may have to answer some questions about temples but other than that it went fairly well.
im about out of time. i love you guys. im enjoying this work!ing this

its always fun when a bunch of crazy unexpected junk gets thrown our way, most of the time all we can do is grit our teeth pray and yell at Tim for trying to play dodgeball with his sax.
chocolate helps. just imagine if you were catholic and thats what you were to give up for lent. arent you glad our religion just tells us we shouldnt get sauced or smoke blunts.
thats a really cool FHE activity. it was odd that we were reading that section in the book and at the same time i was starting leviticus and wondering: whats wrong with leaven? i still have yet to do a focused study on it, ive been busy with other things. like preparing for my training, yikes. ill have a week off because of transfers coming up. were pretty sure E. Adaoag is leaving but were not sure yet, we'll find out for sure next week.
well i dont have a ton of time (the library is doing construction so they have limited computers) and i cant garentee i can extend my time today but rest assured im doing well. Jimmy is going to be baptized on the 31st. everyone else is doing pretty good. chris got a job. charles is working on quitting smoking still but we set up some good goals for him AND had him out to FHE last night at the Britts.
well i better write dad too before im out of time.
love ya
john

sweet! way to open your mouth and let the gospel spill out!! its amazing that when we're willing God will put us where we need to be so we can help our brothers and sisters
ive really enjoyed reading and trying to put the teaching skill of parables to use throughout my mission. always striving to make up sweet analogies to help others understand the gospel. it helps i suppose that i know a bit about a wide range of topics. theyre one of the most effective things ive done on my mission. its amazing how well jesus' parables were built. so much could be learned from his parables. i guess parables are like a deeper form of analogy.
well i guess ill get the coupled email set up
i love ya
john

John's letter...Sept 30, 2008

What do I do all day and not have to tract? Well lately we’ve been keeping ourselves extremely busy with working with less-active members and recent converts or with members who want to be member missionaries. We had about 14 lessons with that category over the last week. We also try to keep our investigators busy. Work with part-member families, contact referrals received from the media advertisements etc. but as far as finding is concerned we usually rely on what investigators we get from the members or while visiting the members and a lot of street contacting. We have been trying to squeeze some tracting into the mix too but the best time to do that is in the evenings and that’s also the best time to contact everyone else we need to contact too. In this area we have not only the ability but the necessity to pull out all the stops and use every resource available.
This week was a pretty good week. We’re making headway with Stacy I think. He’s a tough cookie to crack but we may have found a few things to help him move in a positive direction. Randy got rid of his tongue ring this week and I think he'll be ready to go for his interview this weekend before general conference. Also Ella was able to change her work schedule and so they were able to come to church this Sunday! we picked up a former investigator named Earlean and we’ve been working with her a lot and she’s really progressing well, there were some trials in her way this Sunday that prevented her from coming to church but I think shell come next week. In the mean time were trying our best to help her stop smoking. I think that’s about it for now.

My biggest experiences with the Book of Mormon in my life have taken place mostly here in my mission. I kinda wish I had paid more attention to it before. In my patriarchal blessing it talks about how important the Book of Mormon will be to me and to those who I bear testimony of it to. As I’ve begun this again I’ve already seen that. I’ve been trying to challenge people left and right to read it quickly. And as we've read with people I’ve seen the difference. Like with Stacy…we were reading Alma 40 with him yesterday and as we read the sprit world began to make more and more sense to him and the concerns he had before were resolved.
This week was a pretty good week. I just hate how every week we have the car it seems like it just zooms by before we can get everything we need done and then the other weeks feel like they drag a little bit more. This weeks already gone and a new transfer is a ready well on its way to be closed. That’s how it feels to me anyway. This mission experience has been an interesting one. I can’t believe how fast 2 years can go by. I was thinking about how little time I really have left. It was strange. Did you feel the same way about your mission?
Lastly, I’d like to note that if there’s one thing I’m certainly gained a testimony of on my mission is that single sisters (all sisters really) can accomplish an incomprehensible amount of good.
Period.