Dear Mom,

 

Diego is 14 years old. I hate it when people don't answer their door or their phone. I don't know why some people have phones because they never use it. That one guy that just came to church is Homberto. We couldn't visit him this last week, but he did come to church again. I think he's serious so that should be great!

 

If the missionary work is going to explode with that many new missionaries, I honestly don't know where they're going to put them all!

  

I talked to my zone leaders about the November 1 thing. He said that the reason they say November 1 is because the mail gets backed up really easily. If you send it in before November 1, you'll be sure that I get it on time. You can send it in after that, but it reduces the chance that I get it in time for Christmas.

 

Yes, I got the absentee ballot. I'll finish it up and send it in.

 

I hope they don't change out President Trent quite yet. He's been such a great Stake President for so long. I actually have a Stake Conference coming up soon for the Scotch Plains Stake. They're changing out the Stake President here. Someone from the Quorum of the Seventy is coming. So a General Authority might come to your Stake Conference if President Trent is being released.

 

We're kind of excited for Halloween coming up soon. We're seeing Halloween decorations everywhere. I went to a new District Leader training at the Mission Home with President Jeppson and some other new District Leaders. They basically taught us how we can be better District Leaders. Sister Jeppson had the Mission Home all decorated with Halloween stuff everywhere. We also had lunch afterwards. It was definitely a mom-meal. I haven't had a meal like that in a while! It was so good. And it was just a baked potato with some side dishes, but it was really good.

 

But about Halloween, I guess anywhere but Utah, Halloween night is pretty dangerous. You don't go out. I guess that gang initiation night. To get accepted into gangs you have to kill someone is what I've heard. So in the past years, all the missionaries go home early on the night before and the night of Halloween. We're planning on have a party. We'll probably order pizza and play some card games. We'll be safe!

 

So this last week has been pretty fun. We've decided that we want to start teaching members more about Preach My Gospel. That book is the best!! If you want to be a good missionary or even a regular member that knows the Doctrine, read Preach My Gospel! It's awesome, I love it. So we decided to start sharing with members how we know what to teach by telling them about Preach My Gospel. We went over to a family in our Branch named the Narvaes Family. We taught them the Restoration of the Gospel straight out of Preach My Gospel. They loved it! They want to help us teach more people now. It's great!

 

This last Wednesday was Zone Conference. We met with two other zones in Morristown. President Jeppson was amazing as always. He talked about finding new people to teach and a lot about the purpose of temples. He shared with us a few scriptures from Doctrine and Covenants about the purpose of temples and how they have been so pivotal since the Old Testament times. I forgot to bring the notes I took with me today, so I won't be able to share everything I learned. But the temple is somewhere where we can receive instruction for any calling that we have. President Jeppson is just such a great guy! Zone Conference was amazing as always and I look forward to the next one which I believe is in December.

 

Nothing else really happened this week. It was a good week though. I'm enjoying it.

Q of the W:

 

1.  Will you be able to listen to Christmas music?  Need any CD's?

 

I would love some Christmas music. I was actually thinking of some. I was thinking of Donny Osmonds Christmas, Michael Buble's Christmas, and also Mormon Tabernacle Christmas.

2.  Have you taken any naps yet on your mission so far?

 

A few accidental naps. A couple during our hour of lunch. I just grab something quick to eat for lunch and then use the last 30 min for a nap. But nothing else. I've had a good amount of energy lately!

3.  Need refills on Diovan or contacts yet?  It seems like it has been awhile...

 

I'm still doing alright. I'm trying to remember to take Diovan everyday. I'm trying to make the contacts last as much as I can. Maybe a refill on both for Christmas.

 

 

Love you mom! Miss you! Talk to you soon! Like in two months!!

 

-Justin

 

Dear Mom,
My first District Meeting went pretty good. I was a little nervous, but all the other missionaries really enjoyed it, so that makes me happy. It's pretty fun being District Leader. I talk to other missionaries in my District a lot more and that's fun.

The colors are still starting around here. I see leaves changing and leaves are already on the ground. But there are still a lot of trees that are all green. I've heard the same thing about last winter and this winter. I just hope it holds out for one more winter. It can go crazy next winter. I'll be coming home then so it doesn't matter. I'm just a little worried about driving in NJ in the snow. I think I have enough clothes for it. I have gloves, a scarf, and a coat, but I don't have a hat yet.

 

That's so crazy to hear about that movie. I can't believe they actually used Plainfield New Jersey. Too bad I can't see the preview so I could try and see if it really is in Plainfield and if I could recognize the street or something. That'd be cool.

 

I think I remember going to a haunted house a few years ago. I remember I went with Alan Walker.

 

I can't believe all my friends and I are out on missions now. Two in the States, two in Germany, one in Mexico. It'll be such an interesting reunion. Fun! I can't believe I'm coming up on 10 months now. The year mark is coming up soon. I think January, February, and March are going to be long months. April will start the downward slope for me. April bringing another General Conference and spring. It'll be a lot of un!

 

President Jeppson hasn't said anything about voting. I don't think he will either. I think we're kinda supposed to have a neutral stand on politics right now and just encourage people to do there best to vote for who they think is the best candidate. I still think Mitt Romney would be better though.

 

So this last Saturday night, we had a Multi-cultural event in the Scotch Plains Stake. It was a lot of fun! Every branch and ward put on something special to show their talents. There is a ward in Short Hills and they sung Called to Serve in like six different languages. Plainfield Branch put on two different dances, one from Peru and the other from Ecuador. They were awesome! There was also a lot of food. It was really good food. It was a lot of fun and there were quite a bit of missionaries there too.

 

Nothing else really interesting happened this week. We're trying to find some people that were investigating the church a while ago. We have teaching records to tell us how all the lessons went with them. We really want to find them because they look like they have a lot of potential. We also all went to Wendy's and bought the dollar booklet to get 10 free Jr. Frosty's. We go there every once in a while now to pick up a free frosty.

 

At church yesterday, we finally got our investigator Diego to church! He hasn't been in a while. His mom, Yesenia, is also meeting with us. She came to and brought her husband who came for the first time. It was really cool to see them all there. Then during the second hour at church, some random guy came into the building and told us that he wants to learn more. Wow! So we have an appointment with him this Friday to teach him more. He also told us that he came to church one time a while ago and talked with the missionaries. But now he wants to start coming again. Great!

 

Next week should be a pretty good week. We have Zone Conference, which means that President Jeppson is going to teach us. I'm very excited! Hearing from President Jeppson is always a treat! Also, Scotch Plains Stake Conference is coming up soon. In two weeks. The Stake President is going to be released so a General Authority is going to be there. We'll see who comes!!

 

That's it for this week! Love you mom! Miss you!

 

-Justin

Dear Mom,

 

I didn't get transferred. I'm staying in Plainfield and so is my companion. However, I did get a call to be the new District Leader. I've been learning a few new responsibilities that I have now. A big one, is holding District Meeting every week for an hour and a half. I'm a little nervous because I do it by myself. The best way to take it off my shoulders more is to involve everyone in the meeting. I would guess that the organization in the mission isn't known to a lot so here it is. The mission (our mission specifically) is divided into seven zones, with two zone leaders for every zone. Then each zone is divided up into two districts, each with their own district leader(s). Each district has from four to ten missionaries, depending on the district and where it is in New Jersey. Then there are two assistants to the President. They help out the President with a lot of things and have a HUGE load of responsibility. They get very little sleep sometimes, and on top of all their work load, they have their own area to proselyte in. So that's kind of how it works.

 

The announcement in General Conference was crazy! It's going to give such a bigger opportunity for sisters to serve missions. I think that a lot of sisters have to put off so much stuff like marriage to be able to serve a mission. Now they can start thinking about it after high school and serve on their 19th birthday. Crazy! I'm sure we're going to see a whole lot more sister missionaries in the mission. Also with the young men, we're going to start to see really young guys come out right after high school! Awesome! I'm so excited to see so many more young missionaries start coming out. President Jeppson we should start seeing the effects in the next three to six months. I would absolutely love to see Kelsie serve a mission! Norway or California is my guess for her. I really loved conference! It went by too fast. I really enjoyed President Uchtdorf's talk in the Priesthood session about the small little airplane versus the Blue Angles fighter jet. I can really see the difference. Big strong wards and stakes in Utah versus a small not very functioning branch here in New Jersery or probably even smaller in South America somewhere. But Priesthood service brings the same joy anywhere in the world. I also really enjoyed Elder Robert Gay's talk about sacrifice. "Would you sell your soul for a nickel?" I loved Elder Nelson's talk about the missionaries and the story he shared!! As always, Elder Bednar is very powerful. Another very enjoyable one is from Elder Holland. He is always very, very strong. I love talks from Elder Holland.

 

I'm super jealous if Kelsie goes to Greece. Thinking about Europe makes me want to do study abroad in college really bad! That would be great. I could go to Spain, I already speak Spanish, so that would be great. Maybe if Kelsie waited, we could go to Spain, Germany, Norway, Italy, and Greece. Just kidding. But I would love to go to Europe.

 

It's so great to hear about Kyle, Julia, and Kaylee and their progress. It sounds like they're doing so well! I can't wait to see how much they grow up when I come home. I really love to hear about how they're doing in school and other things.

 

Fall is definitely setting in here in New Jersey. More and more trees are starting to change. It's getting cold. I am really not looking forward to winter on the mission. I keep telling my self how lucky I am that I only have to endure one whole winter here. Next year, it'll be just until the beginning of January. I'm just not looking forward to the proselyting in the cold and driving so much on slick roads, since we drive and walk all day. It's definitely fall though! My little weather station, called Oscar Outlook, has been telling me lately in the morning that it's about 45 - 50 degrees every morning. As soon as it hits 40 degrees, I'm not running in the morning..

 

Awesome quote! I totally believe it! Mom, remember the quote you sent me in the MTC from President Hinckley about the blessings of serving a mission? I still have that and keep it and read it occasionally.

 

 

So this week, Elder Jensen (the one with chicken pox) was released from quarantine this last week. When they stayed at home, they would play cards and study a lot. They both really wanted to get back to work and now he is cleared to get back to work. But this past week has still been pretty crazy. My companion got a little sick for a few days, so we were back to a trio in three areas. I've spent a lot of time in the English area. It's pretty different from the Spanish program. I met a young couple who both served Spanish-speaking missions (the husband in Ecuador and the wife in Spain) and the wife only speaks Spanish to her daughter and the dad only English. He is super smart. He graduated from MIT and is now a mechanical engineer professor at Rutgers University. You don't run into people like that in the Spanish program.

 

Other than that, it was General Conference this weekend. As a focus in the mission, we are concentrating ourselves in teaching about the importance of a living prophet today. It's been an amazing experience teaching members and investigators about a living prophet today and why it is so essencial for us. It's really cool!

 

Not much else..

 

Until next week!

 

Love you mom! Miss you!

 

-Justin

 

 

 Q of the W:

1.  Where did you watch conference at? I watched it at the Scotch Plains Chapel in English.

2.  What time does conference start for you?  With a different time zone I'm wondering if it's live or pre-recorded for you? It was two hours behind Utah, but it was still a live broadcast. The conference was at 12-2, 4-6, and Priesthood 8-10.

3.  Have you still been going to Casanovas pizza every Friday? Yes we do. And it's still as good as ever! We're getting to be pretty good friends with some of the workers there. We asked one of the workers there a little while ago how long the missionaries have been coming by. They said about 26 years!!!

 

 

Mom,

It's pretty crazy to think how close the year mark is coming up. I'm really not looking forward to the winter season. Last winter here was very mild. Hopefully it'll be like that this year too. Fortunately I'll only be here for one whole winter. The winter season after this I'll leave right when it starts. But, I have to make it through this cold coming up.

 

Thanks for the package! I'm really enjoying everything in it! I'm trying to enjoy it all I can and try to make it last. Thanks so much! Unfortunately, last week we didn't have much time after Ikea, so I couldn't find time to write some thank-you notes to both grandparents. I'll work on those today.

 

Next week is transfers. It's possible that I'll get transfered. Hopefully I don't. I like it here. But just so you know, don't send any letters to my apartment. Next week I'll know if I'm staying or leaving so I'll let you know. I really hope I can stay another transfer here. Great apartment Elders!

 

Wow, the whole Mitt Romney thing is crazy! Just the other day, we were visiting with this 16 year old girl who is a recent convert. She asked us what our stand was on the political side of things. I always want to clarify that the Church does not support any political party and that it encourages us to find out for ourselves who would be the best candidate for the Presidency. Then I tell them that I know that Obama has done some dumb things to the country so I'd vote for the other guy because he can't be much worse. The thing with the caffeine is ridiculous. Even President Jeppson clarified to all the missionaries that the doctrine behind the Word of Wisdom does not say anything about caffiene. It does not say anywhere in any doctrine that caffiene is against the Word of Wisdom. Doctrine and Covenants 89 says "hot drinks". That was later specified as "coffee" and "tea". People who think that Dr. Pepper, Coke, and Pepsi are against the Word of Wisdom need to do a little more research and be more careful on declaring what is the doctrine of the Church and their own doctrine. I've talked with other missionaries about this! haha.

 

That's a crazy story about Kyle! I hope he gets a cool scar on his hand. That'd be awesome!

 

Luke sent me an email 3 hours before he got set apart as a missionary! It's so cool to think that we're all on missions now.  Spencer emailed me a few weeks ago and was talking about having a man-night (that's what we called it when we all hung out). He was saying how fun it'll be to eat hot wings again and tell mission-stories. I'm super excited to talk with Luke in Spanish!! I'm super excited that at least one of my friends is learning Spanish! I'll be able to talk with him in Spanish so I don't forget it.

 

 

So this past week has been absolutely crazy! So to start out: There is a missionary companionship (Elder Kakiva and Elder Mills) that lives about 10 minutes away from us. They have the English ward split with the other missionaries that we live with (Elder Jensen and Elder Guymon) . So these four missionaries work a lot with each other because they work with the same ward. Well, Elder Mills had to go home for shoulder surgery, so Elder Kakiva came and is staying with us. So those three are all working together in two areas. Well, Elder Jensen got the chicken pox somehow! Crazy! Elder Kakiva, Elder Guymon, and I have all had chicken pox before so we're just fine. My companion on the other hand has never had it, but he had the vacination. Apparently, you can still be contagious if you've never had chicken pox before. So, Sister Jeppson, Sister Suzuki, and a doctor in SLC have told Elder Jensen and Elder Wettstein that they have to stay inside so they don't spread it. They have to stay inside until all of the pox on Elder Jensen are gone. That leaves me without a companion. So Elder Kakiva, Elder Guymon, and I are all working together in three areas! These last few days have been crazy because we're trying to coordinate between the three of us and our different areas. We're doing pretty good so far. Yesterday was pretty interesting. There's three of us and two churches that we had to go to. I don't know if you know, but we have to be with a companion at all times. The English ward and the Spanish branch are basically at the same time. Luckily, in the English ward, there is a returned missionary from Argentina. He just came back like a month ago. His name is Jordan Handley. So I called him up and asked if he wanted to be my companion through church and for a good part of the day. He gladly did so! It was an interesting experience to be the only missionary at church. Jordan was a good help though. He didn't do anything as far as setting up appointments because he's not a full-time missionary, but he talked to the members and taught really well during lessons. It was a really fun experience. I hope he enjoyed it. I did take him away from his family for a good part of Sunday, but he's already been home for a few weeks. He's working a lot right now, so he can't help out everyday, so I'm just working with the other two English missionaries. It's a lot of fun!

 

Another story: Elder Kakiva is Samoan and is from Hawaii. The other day, his cousin was in New Jersey and she wanted to take him and some missionaries out for lunch. Elder Kakiva and his cousin got special permission from President Jeppson so she could take out to lunch. She is also married to a starter-player on the 49ers from the NFL. She. is. RICH. I didn't get to meet him because he's practicing with the team, but I did meet her... at Longhorn Steakhouse. She bought us $25 steaks and dessert. I got a t-bone steak, medium cooked. SO GOOD! Wow. It didn't even need any steak sauce it was so good. It was a really good lunch. And dessert was pretty good too. Pretty crazy.

 

That's been about what this week has been like. I'm meeting more members from the Scotch Plains Ward around here. That's been pretty cool. I've also been teaching alone in Spanish to the Spanish members because the other two Elders don't speak Spanish. Fun! Also, President and Sister Jeppson made a surprise visit to our Branch for Sacarament Meeting. Jordan Handley translated for them for a while, until President Jeppson started getting a little sleepy and they both sort of zoned out. Haha! I can imagine that they are so tired all the time and not being able to pay attention because you don't understand what's going on is a little rough. It was great though. It's always awesome to see President and Sister Jeppson.

 

That's about it for the week. Love you mom! I miss you!

 

 

 Q of the W:

1. How was ikea? Were you able to eat there? I love Ikea so much. I recently went there by myself. I wanted to eat but felt dumb by myself. So I just had a 50 cent hotdog... Did you buy anything?

 

Ikea was great! The dining area is facing the Newark airport just across the freeway. I was watching the airplanes take-off while eating Swedish meatballs with Lingonberry jam. I bought some chocolate, some batteries, and another towel. Sometimes I take two showers a day and it takes a while for my one towel to dry off.

2. You forgot to bring your retainer! Do you need it? Or did you forget it on purpose?

 

I didn't even realize it. I guess I need it. Next time you send me something, you can include it.

3. How are you guys going to excercise in the winter?

 

We'll probably just exercise inside. Like do push-ups. A lot of missionaries have bought Iron Gym and have left them, so we can do pull-ups. I definately don't want to go running outside when it's like 10 degrees.

 

-Justin