Working Hard and having fun!

ell late start today in the emails! Sorry about that but we have had a long and busy P-Day! But I do have to make it short since we dont have enough computers for the 6 of us and need to finish quickly to get dinner and head out on time. Like I said last week we did a Zone trip to a place called Ooty. There were only 6 of us , the other missionaries had other things to do. But the other 2 slept over and we had to wake up at 4:30 in order to get ready and head out. It takes 2 1/2 hours to get there and we wanted to have 3-4 hours there to explore and be able to come back and email. It was pretty fun! We visited some rose park that had some cool things and this little shopping mart and got some chocolate. and i dont know exactly where but im pretty sure its the main attraction. It was the top of the mountain with an awesome view. I did get to see some monkeys on the way up! Haha not that cool but the trip was pretty cool. Ill send some pictures next week since i forgot my camera cord again...

This week has been good, there were a couple of my first times here in India. I had to jump of a bus which doesnt sound intense but the bus took off before I could get my money and through all the people and was going pretty dang fast. I was on a short split with Elder Chandroo who had gotten off before the bus left so I had to. good thing ive got good blance and quick feet or i wouldve died.

Also I was able to go on exchanges with one of the zone leaders and also one of the AP's. Which went really well. The one with the Ap was nerve racking cause i didnt even know it was happening till the night before and I was supposed to go with him around my area. I thought i was doomed since I still dont have the area down. Luckily he had served around here before and actually helped me alot learning more of the area and members to see! He also taught me how the crazy streets and addresses work, which still doesnt really even make sense to me. And he also taught me the game of cricket

On the exchange with the ZL we had a lesson fall through and were walking back to the bus and these 2 kids came over and talked to us. Which was weird, I thought we were the ones supposed to talk to people haha but they were fun and had lots of questions.( not abut religion) They had a ball and pretty much a flat broken piece of wood they probably got from a fence that they were using to play cricket. So we asked if we could hit a couple times with them and they agreed. Ill admit I totally missed the ball my first swing... 

We had a fun lunch with the ZL one day. We went to a buffet place called Barbecue Nation! Oh my, it was so good. Pretty much like tucanos but a little bit more of the indian side and other countries foods added to it. I havent said much about the Indians but man do they know how to eat. My companion is so small but everytime they just pounds in food like nothing.

Im super jealous right now that you are all in Florida right now and having a blast. I guess I couldve told you it was a really bad time for you to go with the weather haha I bet that was fun. Probably lots hotter out there than it is here. Its been raining quite a bit lately which makes the weather perfect. 

Oh ya! So this guy called us earlier this week and was like is Elder Conrad with you, I would like to meet him tomorrow at the church. Soo im like how the crap does some random guy even know who I am... Come to find out his name is Raju Joseph and he his real good friends with Michael Anthony. Which took me awhile to figure out who that was haha and told me he was still in touch with my family in utah and that he wanted Raju to come and say hi and give me a small gift. Which was super awesome to meet him, he was one of the begginner missionaries in India. He was talking about the places he went with only like 10 members so that was cool.

Anyhow ya thats it for this week! Everything is going pretty good. Thanks for everyones support! Have a great week!

-Elder Conrad

5 months out. India

This as been a pretty good week.
its getting hotter and ive never sweated more in my life. looks like the
breeze doesnt help to much. One thing you dont know is that we are actually
on bikes in our area. so thats been super crazy joining in on the traffic!
haha im having so much fun swerving and dodging cars and motor bikes. but
like that rm said, they never get up to 25 mph.Ive found that the indian
people can be a bit wierd when it comes to talking to them. they never say
thank you, please or sorry. its always no problem haha it can seem like they
are being rude but not really.Ive been dying on the whole food situation. we
hadnt bought food so i went without breakfast like the whole week, and then
we went out ot restaurants and stuff to get lunch and dinner. so much for
trying to keep it safe with the bacteria and stuff. looks like im still good
though, havent got sick yet. So I do have my new fav food. chicken tika
masala is pretty prciey here so i havent had that yet but apparently in
Hydrabad they have really good food. One of the things they are known for is
biryani. so me and elder nakkapalli have had beef biryani at a place called
HMR. its so good!!The area is impossible for me to learn, there are like no
street names and the people here only learn the areas by certain landmarks
and signs. Which makes it really hard to memorize where everyone lives,
which there are so many tiny streets and narrow ways with no addresses. so
we have been getting around with a couple members showing us where they
live. its impressive their memory of the branch/ward members.The reason why
its hard for me to understand the indians english is because its so flipping
fast and has this crazy accent .It was hard for me to understand my
companion at first but ive gotten the hang of it now. Ill be able to
understand the longer im here. most of the members i have lots of trouble
with understanding in lessons. Like you said dad, the native language here
is Tamil. and everyone prefers speaking it. But im not making any efforts
right now to learn it, it would be too hard.
The conditions are really poor with the members that we meet. Very small
places that they live in that they try to keep as clean as they can. but
they are trying their hardest and love it when we come over. They treat us
with lots of respect and love which is so great. Anyhow i have to make this
short, we are meeting with a man named raja who is super awesome. He's had
all the lessons and is ready for baptism. he just needs to come to church 3
times in a row so that we can see he is commited. but he is super solid guy
and im excited for him. also we are meeting with a guy named Aanish who is
20 and had a bike accident awhile back. he is slow in speach and i can
barely understand his english but he also wants to be baptized. there are a
couple part members families we want to work with slowly and we found 4 new
investigators. 2 dif families that is.Its wierd not wearing a badge right
now but we got a email today saying all areas will go back to tracting and
talking with everyone. so we will get instruction on thursday about it and
start them! 
Soo thats it for the week, oh and there are 3 people getting married this
week so we for sure will know who is going to salt lake since they are all
family i think. ill find out and talk with you next week.which is mothers
day!!! im soo excited to call you guys! im praying i can skype at the church
but there are issues with the internet. we will send a quick email out like
sat or friday. but i think for now expect a call from me mon morning around
7. so thats like sun at 8 at night there! it might be super slow so it might
turn to a voice call. lets all pray for skype haha love you all, things are
going well out here. lot different than florida thats for sure.Have a great
week everyone!-Elder Conrad
 
 

Pictures

He arrived in India!!!!!

Hey Family!!!

Well as you all have heard, Im just in India right now and it is freaking awesome!! haha but before I get into that whole situation Ill tell shortly of my travels in getting here. So looks like you all were freaking out just as I was during the flights which I bet was super fun for you all. I was super disappointed in not be able to call you all though. And it wasn't because I was told not to. So many frustrating things came up that just led me to not calling. Just know that I tried figuring out for like 5 hours and gave up.

But really I was surprised how fast the flights flew by, It was pretty good timing with me being able to sleep from new York to London. I was super nervous with traveling alone but that seems to be the story of my life now. Its so sketchy flying in India by the way. I have absolutely no idea what is going on haha But arriving in London was awesome as I was walking around looking for Elder Pattern I found these two other missionaries named Periera and harris. one had waited 9 months and the other 6 for visas. But can I just say how happy I was to see Elder Patten! ah man it was so good to see that kid. I cant even describe it. He seems to be doing well and still super shocked that we are going to India! The flight went through the night but I got maybe 2 hours of sleep. probs shouldn't have talked to Trevor for as long as we did. the flight was super empty so I went and sat by him. Sp we landed in India and are both running on like 6-7 hours of sleep in 2 days sooo that didn't really hit me till the next day.

We were all picked up at the airport by president Berrett like at 4:30 in the morn, oh and guess what, you know how they say going through immigration kind be hard for missionaries. ya it was dumb for me, everyone got through in like 30 seconds. they interrogated me for like 15 min which was rigged. I was so nervous but they let me through.

went to the mission home which was so crazy! the traffic here is sooo fun like you all have heard. So many motor bikes, buses and cars. absolutely like no rules and dividers on the roads. pretty much we are like 4 inch from hitting someone at all times. Its so fun and entertaining to watch. everyone is beast drivers here.

got to the mission home and showered and just got ready for the day, they didn't want us to take naps so that the jet lag wouldn't be as bad. We had some lessons and trainings on India and were introduced to the mission stuff.

After most of the day we went out (me and Elder Patten, which i was stoked for)with an elder serving in Bangalore named elder Martinez. great guy who works very hard. the conditions here are really crazy with the people and all the trash absolutely EVERYWHERE. Smells gross at times but doesn't bother me. Elder Martinez taught this one guy and It was really weird how simple you have to teach. Like it is KISS to the max, its weird.

Sorry I have to keep this fast and not to organized, the power goes off and its scary to think I might lose all this.

I was assigned to the Coimbatore mission, which is southern mission I think but also is really nice due to the fact that it has a slight breeze as in its cooler here. Like that means anything haha its still pretty hot. Im with Elder Nakkapolli, prounounced like knock a polli out haha he is a pretty good missionary, he has been out 21 months so looks like ill be killing him, which means until he goes home.

The area is the 2nd branch since its not a ward yet. But is going to be super weird since we aren't allowed to proselyte here and not wear nametags. there was an experience that led to a missionary going to jail. so now we only can work with members and getting referrals from them. Which im excitited for, the ward is super great even thought it is so hard to understand everyones English. even my companions haha I feel like and absolute idiot around them and asking sorry, what was that again? haha its all good though ill catch on quickly.

Sorry I have so much to say but I must be off, Its been a interesting morning.

we can have a long chat on mothers day!! thank you all for the emails and I don't have time to write anyone else! So tell Emily im super stoked for her!

everyone have a great week!!

-Elder Conrad

Last week in Florida

Hey Family!!

 

This week has been pretty good, after our interviews with President Berry last week, President had wanted us to work a little bit more with the less actives in the ward because our numbers were pretty low but to raise those but also keep our investigators lessons up as well. Which we were able to meet lots with the Larcs in the ward which was super great, but the investigator lessons went down which was a bummer. The investigators we have been working with have been great till this last week. Sadly its been super hard to get them to church, lots of things come up for them and its been hard to meet with them as well this week. Hopefully everything will continue to work out with those with dates. I know Elder Olsen will continue to do great here in bumby.

Its been sad to have gone to the members homes this last bit and to say our goodbyes. But at least I only stayed in one area and ward in Florida which makes it a lot easier to come and visit after the mission. I got some pictures that im printing out today so ill be sending them out soon.

OH! Well my wish was granted as I had asked President Berry if I could attend the Temple Session with the Missionaries who are departing tomorrow. I got to go with Elder Robert, who is in our area, and a couple others. Not many are leaving this transfer. But it was a great session and I was so grateful for them letting me attend one last time. Lots of peace and comfort as it all went well.

Today has been super busy getting everything finished with me and Elder Robert.(which name is pronounced without the T) Been packing and all that, which is not a worry even though im not quite done yet... I like procrastinating as my teachers and dad knows all to well. :) haha but have all the paperwork and information.

Well this has been a very very exciting week as the days have gone by and as I've anxiously awaited this moment. I cant really describe the emotions that I am having. Just know that there are so many I cant begin to start. Overall though I am just super pumped for this new and great adventure.

Tomorrow Ill be picked up by our Zone leaders and head to the airport from there, which isn't to far away thankfully. The Flight leaves at 11:20 in the morning and doesn't look to fun. It will take me around 32 hours to get to India with the layovers. Amy had it correct on me going to new York, then very long layover. 7 hours. then to London and then around a 4 hour layover and then to India so its not thaaat bad haha.

Im planning on getting to the airport around 9, so hopefully I for sure should be able to get a call in. so thtas like what around 10 here so 8 in Utah! 

umm but ya ill talk to you tomorrow! so ill keep this short! love you all!! wish me luck!

-Elder Conrad

 

April 13, 2015

ey Family!

Well another day and another week that has gone by. O how the time flies, its incredible! This week was of pretty good. I guess it was a little slower than usual but thats probably because ive been thinking about India a little. but that doesnt mean it was bad, it went well. We had our interviews with the mission president that happens every 3 months which was good. He kind of just thanked me for the time that they had me here and that kind of stuff, but I ended up asking him if I could join the departing missionaries this week in attending a temple session one last time before India since there wont be one there. That would be so awesome to go but he didnt give me a direct yes unfortunately.

Anyhow Ill tell of a way fun experience we had two nights ago, we went to see this less active memeber after dinner and had to bike there, we meet with him and he is doing good. oh ya you know him the rich guy who will take me to colombia when I get back haha he again invited me :) anyways but they gave us some food, which was shrimp including the head, feet and tail. Which I was like just great... but i tried a couple and they were actually really good. Did take the things off the shrimp of course but the sauce the had on it was so good and spicy! Preparing myself for India which im doomed for. This one member gives a small tempin pepper to missionaries and I just tear up so fast even when its not even hot!! sheesh anyways again I digress, but during the meeting with Walner, it started to pour rain. It had been like the hottest and perfect day do far. Came out of nowhere. So we were like well we got to bike home now... I was like well what the heck, lets go!

ran to our bikes and took off! It was so fun, i was drenched to the bone before i even got to the bike! :) and then the 6.5 mile bike ride home in the storm. which the street and sidewalks were usually covered with 4-12 inches of water the first 3 miles. It was sooo fun, but super hard to peddle. I wish i couldve seen the reactions to all the cars that drove by haha

Lessons have been going pretty good, we have 2 investigators who are progressing really well but have had trouble getting them to church. And it doesnt help that we need to find them rides for like all of them. But the members are pretty good in helping us out with them.

We meet this girl age 16 while knocking which turned out to be a pretty good contact, she is up to meeting with us except her parents are not, so we made sure it was okay with her to meet with us. I mightve touched on that last week sorry haha

umm trevor got his visa as you probably have talked to the pattens so thats cool, hopefully ill see him.

wow whoops, sorry to waste so much time on the storm story but ill talk to you next week hopefully on the phone!! yayaya haha and sorry dad, yes im getting the letters from grandma and grandpa! im so appreciative of them!

love you all and have a great week!

-Elder Conrad

Conference week and his visa!!!!!

ey Family!!

Love you all so much its unbelievable!

This week has been really great! But we have district pday so ill write as much as possible since this a huge week! :)

I absolutely loved conference! It was the best and fastest conference of my life, who wouldve known 10 hours could fly by so fast! Man it was so fun to take notes. I was super impressed how the theme of the conference has been on families and the role they play. I liked the phrase of the family is the KEY to eternal happiness. The missionaries watched conference at the church which was super fun. bought a lot of snacks and pretty much i ate sugar the whole day haha Yea dad priesthood was rough as well for me, couldnt help but think of Chuckarama and all the great times. But sadly as well i only got to watch the last hour of priesthood, we went to fill up our car and this lady had locked her keys in her car. so we spent like an hour and a half trying to pick the lock. well elder olsen tried, he is like the smartest and craftiest kid i know. we had to get triple a out to unlock it so that was dumb to miss, ill have to print of the talks or something that i missed.

Ive agreed with the family on there favorite talks from Whitney Clayton and Elder Holland, and also dads choice as well. I think I enjoyed Claytons just a tiny bit more but cant really decide.

Umm ya so it has been a great week, really fast and we have been working with the investigators we have found last 2 weeks. hopefully we will have 4 baptismal dates by the end of this week. we have some pretty cool people we are meeting with right now. One of them came to a session at the church with us so that was awesome! sorry i cant describe them, dont have time.

The mcbrides are a family out here who have a son out in california on his mission. he has been out a little longer than i, but has had some serious foot issues so he has been struggling. things are looking better for him now though.

Ill tell shortly of elder olsen, he is very cool and smart but is also very funny and we are having a great time together. He is very dedicated and does not waste any time even when it comes to like lunch and dinner. No relaxation for him, he is always moving and thinking of things to fix in the apartment. his dad is a engineer so makes sense.

ya thats about it for me this week it was fun, elder olsen caught a duck as i was making calls to people on a bench in a park. he got them to get really close by baiting them with woodchips that they thought was bread. it was pretty hiliarious, it was the funniest moment of the mission.

love you all and have a great week!

-Elder Conrad

PS I got my Visa to India :)

Got his visa!!!

AHAHAHA Hopefully I freaked you out mom because I know you are probably checking your email every 2 minutes! :)  But IM NOT JOKING!!!! President Berry called me sat before conference and told me it was here and to tell my family to not send any mail anymore.(Please send something fast though) Because I will be leaving apparently at the end of the transfer which is 2 weeks from now. april 21. dont know the exact details on flights and which day exactly but around april 21! LIKE WHATTTTT!! im freaking out omg omg haha dont think trevor has his but i have mine! :) this is insane! I would like a package with letters and some more pictures! like the one with grandpa and any others with family and friends, sports etc. anything else that you think i need, i ate all the granola bars and beef jerky so those would be nice as well :) Respon quickly i have 15 min left here if you want to know anything else. i laughed when i say your response so quick, tots called it :) im funny

March 30, 2015

Hey Family!!

Well this last week I could say was definitely the most productive and positive! It went by really fast and was very good. We have been finding 3-4 investigators the last 2 weeks so thats been awesome to be able to have more teaching appointments. We had been going through the past formers and came across a lady by the name of mattie ford, and we decided to see if she still lived in this apartment complex and she totally was! We did pop up at a really rough time that day but she said to come over the next day and we got to visit with her. She has been taught quite a bit from past missionarys but has had her struggles and whatnot, but really wants to start off where they had left her, we set a baptismal date with her! but we have a good amount of time to help her the best that we can. The apartment complex is a bit sketchy and not the best of surroundings but we could literally go there and meet people all day, its weird how many are sitting outside and they know everyone. we have 3 people we are teaching in there which was kind of cool as well, we met this guy names Les after we past him and we had some time so I was like lets go talk to that guy, he looked nice haha so we did and he is actually a good friend of Mattie and wants to work with her as well to help her, dont know how much commitement and potential in some of our investigators, they all seem to struggle with reading and praying on there own.

but our efforts this last week were lots better with lessons like i said, know since we have some solid return appintments we can hopefully start to get some members out with us, which has been a struggle unfortunately, but thats been our faults mostly.

Had a Exchange with our District leader last thursday, i got to leave bumby and spend the night and day with him while elder Olsen got to stay and take care of elder domans trainee. Which they got the car and we got to bike... and that was the most biking ive done in awhile.. it was awful but super fun as well, we had a packed day up there but had to travel lots. Elder Doman was saying we probably did like 35-40 miles... but hey that was good for exercise. which has been a sad point in my mission, i thought biking would help with the whole exercise but nope not working. Im sad to say that ive gained more weight than id like. 15 pounds. which i can definetly tell so thats why no pictures for you guys! jk i just left my camera at the apartment, but im determined to fix this right away,but then again im like wait..ill be in India so maybe im fine. but really  i havent eaten healthy so im going like all salad this week. at least my companion is willing to work out in the mornings so we have been running a few times. we will start to run like everyday now.

Umm but really ya like you said mom, im super pumped for general conference!! I cant get it out of my mind. 10 hours of pure awesomeness! Im planning on going crazy with notes.

we have this new mission goal to read the preach my gospel book, so weve been doing that but I have definetly loved it but have felt a little different when not studying out of the book of mormon. Ive read out of preach my gospel and lately started with Jesus the Christ which is super good to read but the more i read out of the book of mormon the more i understand the importance of it. We really need to be reading it each and everyday!

This is all i have time for but thanks for all the emails! crazy to hear from you and everything im missing! love you all and cant wait to hear from you! Which reminds me that guess what!? mothers day is fast approching and i cant wait to skype you again :) but thats awhile away still. Hope you all have a great week!

-Elder Conrad

March 23, 2015 pt 2

Hey Family!

So this week was pretty good, slow at times and not the usual week either. And also very sad haha

We had our Zone conference on tuesday, which took most of the day. The main reason was to turn in the ipads that the mission has given out and to give the missionaries new ones! So they are faster and hold lots more memory. we were all super excited to get new ones, but I learned that day that when i turned my loaner ipad in that i wouldnt be receiving a bew one since im a visa waiter...rigged id say. haha but ive really enjoyed having one, its been so useful looking up scriptures and having all the general conference talks at my disposal. but ill look at it a good way that its better for when i get to india. and also that i dont have to do any reporting on lessons and the schedule. all my companions job now hehe

Like I said last week, Me and Elder Olsen have been working hard on building our teaching pool. So our steps in that have been to explore some of the area I havent been in much, contacting past people, and other tools that we have. Its been good though, we have found a couple new investigators and have more potentials we are trying to line up this week. Im happy with the work that is going on, feel more productive than last transfer. Even though we still have tons of work to do, we cant get lax with finding even with the pool growing.

Funny miracle that happened 2 nights ago, me and elder bravo had received a referral from Elder Olsen actually about a 2 months ago. we had called her and she had told us to call in her march when she wasnt so busy. We were going through the records and Olsen recgonized the name and we were like sweet! Gave her a call and she had us come over the next day and taught her the resoration, she said she almost started to cry and felt the spirit. She said she felt the book of mormon was true, she just needs to read more. She has some word of wisdom issues and doesnt like the whole mormon rules, but I feel that we can get her to understand..

We are glad to be working together, Elder Olsen is pretty awesome for only being out 7 months. We are liking the progress and its going to be a good transfer.

Sorry this is short,I spent more time on an email then i thought i had... sorry!

Hope you all have a great week though!

-Elder Conrad

March 23, 2015

Hey Dad! Ya ill try to get a little sometime this next week for both of them. And uhh i dont really recognize those people, Purington sounds familiar, but i dont know any kites.

Here are a couple quotes from preach my gospel about goals, sorry not much.

Goals reflect the desires of our hearts and our vision of what we can accomplish. Through goals and plans, our hopes are transformed into action.

I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.” Elder Ballard

So quickly to answer your question.

There are so many things that I couldve done differntly to prepare for a mission. I will agree with Max on his talk that the Mission prep institute class was one of the best things that you can do before. But really there are tons of things to do. One thing ive enjoyed hearing from missionaries are the experiences with going out with the missionaries that are in the ward and joining lessons with them. I thought that was super beneficial for those kids, to get a prime example and see how things went. But also to participate in those lessons and bear testimony.

I could easily go with way more scripture study! I did not to that as much as I knew I should've. We all the the importance of reading the book of mormon, but it truly is so important to read each and everyday. doesnt mean you should stay away from the bible, because thats something i had never even touched on before the mission really. Just the stories in sunday school and little things i remembered in seminary.

sorry not that much, dont have much time today...

hope it works out though! have fun!

-Elder Conrad

March 16, 2015

Hey Family!!

3rd Transfer here we go! So yes, it was the end of the transfer and many of the missionaries have been transfered. So i guess ill tell you just a bit, Elder Bravo finally left Bumby and went to a place called weatherbee in the hunters creek zone. Which is actually YSA work, which I hear is pretty fun. He didnt go spanish like we thought but he seemed excited about it! I dont remember what i said last week but he also got the call to be the district leader there! haha i dont think he was to excited for that but hey he will do great. Elder Demille went to Ocoee which he wanted really bad to open it again with the Haitain Coreal/Kreyol speakers since that is his language. he didnt want to got to english work.

Anyways so ya I got my new companion, which is pretty cool because we do have a connection in a funny way. His name is Elder Olsen, and he is from Manti,Utah! I was like sweet! you must know bradly then! He knew of him but they werent friends. but you will remember the story of the manti pageant when bradly was young Joseph and he didnt appear at the hill cumorah with the angel Moroni just waiting... Ya that was Elder Olsen LOLOL hahah first name is Dane if you want to asl kristy about him.  but it was cool also because I also knew Elder Olsen because he was in our district last transfer. So when we got the calls we discussed who was being transfered and when i heard Olsen was leaving I was like Olsen to Bumby!! hahahaha I was right. but that usually never happens getting transfered and staying in the same district.

Elder Olsen has been out about 7 1/2 months so hes still pretty new, but he is a great kid and missionary. He is very dedicated and hard working and doesnt waste time. Always following the rules which is really nice to have more time to use. Hes helping out a lot to rebuild the area. We went through the area book and our PI and investigators and sorted out many of them and really depleted most of our teaching pool. Which is really good, Elder bravo and I held on to people that weren't trying to progress. But we dont have many people to teach so like i said we will be doing lots of finding and exploring some of the area i havent been before.

This week has gone pretty fast, we were in a apartment complex walking around and we got stopped by this black guy who pretty much for the next hour told us how little we knew and that we shouldnt be out here. and lots of other stuff but part way through that a lady came over and asked if we could give this other lady who has a broken leg a prayer, so all 3 of us went over and talked, well the black dude did, big meanie haha, but pretty much the gist of the story was the ladies liked us and felt something was up with the other man and so we have meet with them again. oh and the black guy stole 2 of my dollars when he was doing a demonstration of some sort. he said he would give it back next time he saw us and gave us another ''valuable lesson''. but I need to forget about that guy haha

We have done some pretty good contacting, we will do lots more this week so we hope to visit some of the potentials this week.

Last night was very good, we had another why I believe fireside, which another member of the Seventy came and talked. It was Elder Kopeschke(from germany)...somethin like that. But it was really good, he did a question and answer with the audience. there were investigators, members, less actives and friends there. He only had time to answer a few because of how long he kept the answers but they were all awesome. except the first question was where kolob was sooo... its a joke out here with missionarys and how kolob always confuses investigators. that question would come up with all those people there. but the spirit was super strong and he was hilarious.

He ended with a great quote about the savior. He said ''Christ loves broken things. He loves to make them whole.'' That is so true, I can't express the love I have for the Savior and what he has done for me. Being out here on the mission has helped me to understand more about what he has done for us all and my love and appreciation keeps on growing each day. He truly has helped me more in my life then I have given Him credit for. Each and everyday if we can remember what he has done for us, there can truly be nothing that the adversary can throw at us with his fiery darts that can stop us from having that faith,hope and charity towards those around us.

I love you all and miss you too! But Im loving it out here. Im super excited for this next transfer! Hope you all have a great weekend!!

-Elder Conrad

Valentines Week

Hey family! And everybody else!
>
> So this week was good, started off rough but it turns out to be lots
> better by the end of the week. Monday was fine except for the whole
> bike issue I've had, took it to the bike shop so hopefully they will
> have it fixed up soon. Sorry for the payment on the card...it was a
> bit pricey so I was super shocked, but It has been annoying. I just
> felt it had to be done. Luckily I still have a borrowed bike from bro
> Purcell. But it's ancient and the seat is awful so my butt has been
> aching all week lol. Later that night all our plans fell through so
> That stunk.Tuesday was much like it not very much success either.
> Wed was lots better! And guess what? Guess who gets to drive the car?
> This guy! Yeah that's right!! I have never seen a happier kid than
> Elder Bravo after President Berry called and gave me privileges. Which
> is just the best, finally after 8 weeks!! So now we get the car every
> other day and share with the other Bumby Elders. I can say I was a bit
> nervous to drive out here but it isnnt all that bad. Just everyone
> gets so upset so fast, like literally you have .5 sec after a light
> turns green before you get an array of honks at you. No patience I'd
> say haha. We get around 35-40 miles a day, which goes fast considering
> the miles it takes to get to and fro to the area. I've been good with
> it staying around 38 miles and the other are like averaging 45 like
> what... Seriously....
> But it was great, Wed since we had the car we did really well. Got
> more lessons than we have had this whole time. We visited with our new
> investigator Wilmer. He's the guy me and Elder Honda found on the
> exchange. It was bravos first time meeting him and he is super glad we
> found him. He seems like he is pretty interested but we will se how
> committed he is when we follow up in his reading/other commitments. He
> likes us a ton though, he offered to take us fishing this Sat but we
> had to take a hard pass on that one.
> We also so Carlos again (set for March 7 for baptism) we just read
> with him a ch out of the Book of Mormon with him. Which was actually
> super cool since it was alma ch 12 which is a pretty hard chapter to
> understand so it was awesome to help him out. He said he never has
> gotten out of reading that much so I think we are going to continue
> with that. But it was weird that he was on alma 12 because I finished
> the Book of Mormon that morning! And I was just flipping around and
> stopped on alma 12 and went over it.... Coincidence I think not!! And
> then again today carlos was at church and a high council talk was all
> about alma chapter 12. We just looked at Carlos and laughed. It was
> really weird haha.
> It is kind of sad though. We have kind of struggled with Cameron who
> we thought would be a strong investigator. We just were really excited
> to teach her but basically her friend texted us saying she is not
> interested in joining our church but learning about it. We have tried
> to help her but she has no desire to do the things we ask full
> heartedly which is holding her back. We are hoping we can see her one
> more time and get things straightened out.
> The members have been super great with helping us out with dinners
> this month. We've had about 5 dinners per week so we are very
> grateful. One of the members had some weird drink that use to be
> orange juice, but by some weird formula thing and some jelly organism
> that he puts in the Orange juice. It extracts the sugars and makes the
> Orange juice more of a vinegar drink. Which is supposed to make it
> super healthy and strengthens our immune system... So we gave that a
> go and it was disgusting haha ha nothing compared to the insane things
> elders eat out of state but it was just weird how he explained it.
> We saw a very less active member named Wallner. He is a great guy and
> super rich. I don't really know what he does, flips houses I think,
> but he has this sweet house. But he really likes us coming over and
> every time he invites the elders to something cool. He said he would
> take us to Costa Rica if we wanted. So I think I'm coming back after
> the mission and going to visit and see if he offers again haha
> This week was a little different when it came down to lessons. We had
> quite a few LARC lessons. (Less actives or recent convert lessons)
> which is unlike us. But it was cool to go and see some of the less
> actives and help them out to get them back to church. We have been
> focusing the lessons on charity and love due to Valentine's Day this
> week and it has worked out really well getting them to feel that love
> and desire again.
>
> The longer I am out here the more I treasure the experiences that I am
> given. One of the greatest blessing God has given us all is to learn
> from others experiences. It is amazing to hear from the members out
> here and to learn from them. Each and everyday I feel my love towards
> them grow and my testimony has grown listening to there experiences.
>
> I know everything we do effects the people around us, whether it be
> good or bad. i was reading a talk earlier from President Monson
> called, Love-The essence of the gospel. I loved the last two
> paragraphs. Here they are
>
> "May we begin now, this very day, to express love to all of God’s
> children, whether they be our family members, our friends, mere
> acquaintances, or total strangers. As we arise each morning, let us
> determine to respond with love and kindness to whatever might come our
> way.
>
> Beyond comprehension, my brothers and sisters, is the love of God for
> us. Because of this love, He sent His Son, who loved us enough to give
> His life for us, that we might have eternal life. As we come to
> understand this incomparable gift, our hearts will be filled with love
> for our Eternal Father, for our Savior, and for all mankind. That such
> may be so is my earnest prayer in the sacred name of Jesus Christ,
> amen."
>
> I was reading in 2 Timothy a while ago and in chapter 1 verse 7 goes
> really well with this past Valentines week. It says ''For God hath not
> given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound
> mind.
>
> Love and Charity is the most important attribute that we can possess
> and it endures forever as in Moroni 7:47. With that love for everyone
> and thing helps us to overcome that fear and every negative emotion
> that satan tries to put into our heads.
>
> I love you all so much and am grateful for the blessing of being
> surrounded by you and learning from you as well. Thank you and i hope
> you have a wonderful week!
> -Elder Conrad
>
>
>

Hey Family!
>
> So this week has been pretty good but also a little sad... But that's
> okay, overall it was a good week! It's been so crazy how fast the
> weeks are actually going by. I thought it would be so much slower than
> it is but the days keep flying by.
> So I'll start with the sad part of the week, which was on Tues. So I
> don't remember if I had ever mentioned it but Brandon(who just got
> baptized) and his family have been having financial issues so they had
> been planning on moving eventually after Brandon would get baptized.
> The thing is we thought it would be at least a couple months away. But
> we got a text Friday saying that they would need help moving... Which
> really shocked us. They are moving to Tennessee to family or some
> apartments the family owns. So that's what we did which was a
> fun/tiring experience. Me and bravo had to do lots of the heavy
> lifting and we did a great job filling the truck, but there was tons
> still left. Soooo we had to unpack everything out of the truck and
> then they went and got this huge monster truck thingy and then against
> filled the truck! Very exhausting work but was super fun as well. Gave
> our last lesson to the family and said our goodbyes. We gave them our
> info so hopefully they email us or something. Anyways I digress...
> Hehe
> We met with a new investigator this week whose name is Robert. He is
> 52 and has lots of problems with the Word of Wisdom. And he is facing
> some charges or something. But he is really a good guy, has a firm
> belief in Christ and the bible. He really wants to learn more about us
> and that it can really help him with his health issues. He does read
> out of a ton of different bibles so his beliefs are everywhere.
> So Tuesday night was my very first real exchange! I had a half day one
> with elder Whittaker in his area so it doesn't really count. But this
> time elder bravo left me and went up to winter park to be with our
> district leader elder doman. And then they sent down elder
> Honda(quarter Japanese but looks white haha) to be with me! Which I
> was a bit nervous to take over the area but I have it down pretty
> well. And also because Elder Honda came out the same time as me, they
> left the two greenies to cause havoc down here in Bumby. I had a great
> day planned and somehow we had lessons that were set and read to go.
> Then that morning 3 of them texted for a reschedule. Which left me
> scrambling and all, but it went fine. We went and contacted a ton and
> knocked on lots of doors, which has been a first really. Due to biking
> it has taken up a large amount of time. We met a guy name Wilner and
> talked to him for a bit, nothing to much but he was interested to
> learn more so we are going to see him this wed hopefully. Me and Elder
> Honda did get to see Carlos which was a great lesson. He has a date
> for March 7 for baptism, he wants to have a testimony on the book of
> mormon so we focused a lot on that and how he can find his answers. We
> really were able to get down and have him recognize some cool
> experiences he has had and he seemed pretty excited. Now he just needs
> to talk to his parents about getting baptized.It was a great
> experience having a different companion and learning from different
> people. Still have tons of things to learn and grow on.
> just shortly we met these 2 bashers right after each other and it was
> just so frustrating. Lets just say some beliefs just absolutley blow
> my mind! both did not go very well haha
> sorry thats all i have time for today. but it looks like the mission
> office is going to give me privileges very soon to be able to drive!
> so Elder Bravo is super stoked since he has been on bike for 14 weeks
> now hahahaha i should get the call within the next 2 days! from there
> we are going to go crazyyyyy!!!
>
> Love you family! Have a great week!
> -Elder Conrad

6 weeks!

Hey family!!!
> So crazy I've been out almost two months and already 6 weeks out in the field!!So this week was pretty good!! Didn't get our goal of lessons we expected to get this year but we aimed high and got very close! :) improvements every week :)
> But as you know this was the last week of the transfer!! And boy were me and Elder Bravo stressing on Saturday as we awaited the calls. We expected to get it in the morn but didn't till 9 at night so that was a bummer. elder Bravo says he wants to stay but I think it's only cause of Michael and Brandon. He has been here in bumby 7 1/2 months already. Hasn't been transferred his whole mission so he wants to leave, he for sure will next one though.
> So I guess I just answered that he's staying and me also! I'm super glad I wouldn't have to take over the area as a newbie... That woulda been scary haha also the other bumby companionship is staying, but our district leader is being transferred :( so we will be getting a new one! I'm pretty sure it will be Elder Demille (other bumby elder) or possibly elder bravo.
> Anyways that's enough of that, so we have two baptisms set for the end of this week!!! Brandon Baker and Michael Carroll. Brandon me and elder bravo got to meet for the first time so I've been with him since the beginning and Michael who has been taught by elder bravo since October. :)
> Both come from less active moms, Brandon with his whole family.
> teaching Brandon has been so awesome, such a cool experience with there family. When we first started teaching him, his mom sis baker and his sisters (around ages 13 and 16) didn't participate and went and did there own things which has been unfortunate. But after a couple lessons and becoming more comfortable with him, which little by little each family member had started to sit down and listen as well. Now all of them are attending church regularly. Last week I could just tell there was this big change in them. There relationship with us and each other is so much better then it was before! Sis baker has told us multiple times how much it means to her for us helping Brandon. They are all so great,The gospel truly does change families!!:)
> We had more lessons this week and FINALLY meet with this girl named Cameron. We've been dropping by so much and she hasn't been home. She's super busy, idk probably a popular girl at school and has lots of friends. She is a referral from a friend of hers in a ward next to us. Anyways she's like 17 but really enjoys our churches standards. She took our first lesson really well and wants to see us again, which we are super stoked for.
> Also this guy named Carlos. He's a sophomore. Strange all our strong gators (short for investigators, but is cool cause we are in Florida haha get it?? But I digress... Hehe love ha dad)
> He's been taking lessons for like 8 months... Super cool kid and is sooo ready to get baptized at any time. But his parents were hesitant a month and a half ago. Hopefully he is getting baptized before this transfer. Haha this Wednesday we are talking to him and hopefully he will talk to his parents. He knows he is ready.
> We had a really good district meeting on wed with our 8 elders. No sister missionaries. I digress again... Hehe our Zls (zone leaders) were also there and one thing that was taught/trained to us was proper contacting. Boy have I done really crappy hahah so that's what I've been working a lot this week is better contacting. Which is frustrating cause it takes lots longer to talk more and since our contacts aren't even in our area due to having to bike the 45 min we have to rush to an appointment after a couple contacts which makes us skip the ones in our area... :( but that's okay we are helping the other elders out.
> Did have a VERY interesting experience contacting this lady at a bus stop... We called her the voodoo/witchcraft lady hahahaha it was so weird, I can't really describe it. Just that she got super excited when she saw us and asked for our pictures/cards. I gave her one and idk what she did, started doing some voodoo chant, couldn't understand and a bunch of other things. Drawing this crazy circle pic, grabbed my hands, kissed my forearms.... Gross. What the heck. Bravo got one on the cheek hehe.Talked about nonsense really. Haha some other weird stuff but ya overall my first mind blown experience.
> Also this week we went on a temple tour with Michael, which he really enjoyed. Walked around the temple and got some pics.
> Friday morn our whole zone got to go do a session at the temple!! Woke up at 5:00 YAYYYY... But it was so great. They only do that 2 times a year, so I'm glad I went through again before India. Surprisingly wasn't even tired through the whole thing. Just a wonderful experience filled with peace and comfort :)
> Then again haven't quite felt like that when it has come to my bike!! I hate that thing! Now the gear switcher broke, snapped I don't even know how! I think when we put them on the bike rack of the car. Anyways so that was frustrating trying to fix, didn't, so I've been using elder demilles insanely nice bike. Just got a different one from a member. Which I'm a little sketched out about. Haha but at least I've learned lots about bikes and how they work.
> Anyways hope you all are doing great!! Been a great week. Can't wait for our baptisms!! :):):) love you all!
> Elder Conrad
>
>

Hey family!! so the begining of this week was super good! it was raining the first 3 days which feels really nice but my bike sucks so bad when it rains. its a temporary one and is old so the bikes broke and we had to walk to a bike store which thankfully wasnt to far away!

New years was really good, Brother Tehani has invited us over 3 times for dinner, thats who i skyped at, but he invited us again and we had a really great dinner. His family goes insane when it comes to fireworks. he bought like 1200 dollars worth of  them!! unfortunatly we couldnt stay all night but they were kind enough to light some big ones!! so all im saying is we need to step it family! ahah

funny and intense story of the week was i was awakened to out doorbell being rang over and over. like 100 times and i was like what the heck. i just laid there and elder bravo didnt even wake up tll i said something. he sleeps like a log haha but it stopped and i went and checked it out and through the window some black guy without his shirt on was ringing the apartment next to us is doorbell. i went and laid on the bed but after 5 min i went to see where he went and BOW! there were like 5 cops and there cars and the guy was handcuffed and on the ground! good thing i didnt open the door but 3 guys showed up and they unhandcuffed him. i think he was just drunk and confued on where he was.

But this week was pretty good, hopefully we have 2 baptisms in less than a month. they just need to come to church and we are set after a few lessons!.

I just want you all to know i am doing pretty good with hearing about grandpas passing. I was actually thinking of bearing my testimony about him and the plan of salvation during sacrament which i know to have been from the spirit. all i can say is that he is in the best possible place and i am so happy he is out. i love you all and hope you are all doing okay as well. love you all so much!

_elder Conrad

Week 1

Its been an okay first week. pretty rough but thats to be expected for the first little while.

my Companion is Elder Bravo, and no hes not from India. he is from ontario, california and hes only been out 6 months. he trained someone else beofre me so i guess he must be good and the mission president must trust him alot!

He is pretty quiet like me when it comes to conversation, but hes really awesome. hes very kind and relaxed so we will be fine working  together.

Unfortunatly we are on bikes and our area is far away so it takes a good 30-45 min to ride there.

People are like all Caltholic here so not very many of them want to talk to us at all. and i think its a pretty hard mission here in florida. we dont have many investigators so its rough. but Right now we are handing out He is the Gift cards. watch it its a very good short message of christ!

but we do have like two 9 year olds who have less active parent that have been taking some lessons. so we should hopefully will have a baptismal date by the begining of jan.

this is all i have time for so talk to you on thursday!

and ill send another right after of things i need done thanks! -Elder Conrad