July 15, 2013

Transfers was today and nothing new really happened with us. We are
still staying the same. We did get our ward split so now 4
missionaries are in our ward. Sister Hawker and her companion will be
covering the south part of the ward while me and Kolega will be
covering the north part. I'm really excited I get to stay in the North
because the coolest families are up there. I kinda pulled some strings
to stay up in that part of the ward also because I got some info ahead
of time they were splitting the ward.

The Sorenson family is really
neat. They are the ones that sent you the picture of me at the BBQ
they have three adopted sons. One of them is LA and doesn't come to
church so we go over and teach them a lot. They are the neatest family
and Sister Sorenson said that I am her adopted son now ha ha. They
really take care about us and they are super cool. Also the Rushforth's in
the ward are in the north. They have a 19 year old who isn't doing
anything with his life. Hasn't gone on a mission are tried to go to
school and kinda plays video games all day. Kinda like I would be if I
hadn't gone on a mission or go to school. So I can connect to him
really well and we are working on getting him to do something with his
life. We take him to a lot of our lessons.
For my b-day I would love to have either a phone or a car. I left on
my mission with both and now I will be returning with neither. If it
is a car just one that runs please if it is a phone then either a HTC
or a Samsung Galaxy or Note. No iphone. I am done with Apple.
The ward has really rallied around Josh a lot which is really neat to
see. Make sure to help any RC feel welcome to the ward because that
really makes a missionary feel really good. Like you care about what
he does.
Don't worry about me going Less Active after my mission. Our house is
going to be the cool house where the missionaries always hang out when
I get home. I'm going to go with them to every single lesson.
Don't get ahead of yourself mom with the whole dating/marriage thing
class. I still need to re-learn how to talk to girls again. It is easy
as a missionary because nothing can ever happen so like it is no
pressure. But when I get home. I am terrified of going out into social
situations again. I don't think I am going to want to date for awhile
when I get home. Lets just get me use to watching TV or not wearing a
Tie every day first ha ha.
I love you guys so much. Thank you for everything that you do!

July 8, 2013

So the baptism went amazing. Elder Kolega was able to baptize him. It was his first time and that was just really neat to see. Reminded me of my first baptism a year and a half ago (as well as 30lbs ago). Elder Kolega is having really hard times staying out. His country just entered the EU and now they have a property tax. Because he lives outside the country he is going to end up owing $60,000 to the government in taxes when he goes home. So he is really thinking about going home early. He can't though. The entire church of Croatia is depending on him staying out. President told me that I can't let him go home and that the fate of Croatia is in my hands. He also said that Elder Bednar put Elder Kolega in this mission to be with President Bowen and that so I could be his trainer. Elder Bednar wanted me to be his trainer specifically. Do you know the type of pressure that puts me under? I can't let this kid go home. It is like though in his mind he has already made up his mind. I am under like so much stress.

Anyways I will be praying for the girls. They are sure traveling a lot though. It is kinda crazy. So when does Jaylen start playing in the US team? Ha ha I can't believe how involved you have to be to do this. I guess though I am the king of non commitments ha ha. Everything else seems to be going really well though. They are splitting our ward into two different areas so now there will be four missionaries in our ward. The other two will be sisters so it should be interesting. I love you guys so much.

July 1, 2013

Subway because I get less fat from it :)

 

So the whole Facebook thingy I talked with President and he said changes were coming soon to the mission. He said that we are getting smartphones and tablets and we will have constant internet access. I was like okay in like six months to a year right? He told me that I will see it before I leave. So it is going to happen in the next three months which is crazy.

 

Disneyland is in the Assistant to the President's area. So that lesser missionaries aren't tempted to go there.

 

The more Jaylen doesn't spend with Baylor the happier I am. Whenever you say his name also I think of the school first. Did his parents know there was a school named Baylor and that it was also the name of farming equipment?

 

I never get sick ha ha. No I really have never been sick sick on my mission. I have had food poisoning and a flu here or there but nothing that knocked me out for more than a day.

 

Where do you work at now mom? How is the new crazy political job doing dad? Guess you really did use your poly sci major after all ha ha.

 

I'm glad that girls are doing well in soccer. Did I ever become this committed to anything like the girls are to soccer ha ha. I could barely stand one basketball camp a year. Kate went by herself on a plane also? That is crazy.

 

So Josh is getting baptized this Saturday and we are really excited for it. We also picked up a new investigator yesterday. She is the 9 year old daughter of a less active who wants to come back to church. If every member could not baptize their kids till they were nine then a missionaries life would be so much easier ha ha.

 

I am doing well thanks for everything that you guys do. I love you all lots.

 

June 24, 2013

Hey guys, it is going well over here. That is really sad to hear about Zach. (We heard about a friend of the family who had to come home for a really bad ankle injury) If he can heal up before a year then he can go back to the mission that he was in before. If it is over a year then he just re-applies and can get sent anywhere again. I hope that he goes back out.

 

I can't wait to see Kate play basketball. I remember going to I think Jaylen's games and like there were she-mans on the courts that looked like their fathers injected them with testosterone since they were three. There is going to be a lot of things that i need to do when I get home ha ha. I don't think it will be very relaxing from my mission when I get home.

 

I sent the pictures so you should get them today or tomorrow. 

 

My companion is twenty three, he went to 2 semesters of LDS business college in SLC. He wants to have his old job back and travel the world again as a travel agent. 

 

Our apartment is really nice. The new housing coordinator at the mission office has been moving missionaries out of their old apartments and into nice ones. 

 

We have pretty much the same restaurants as anybody. Subway, Flame broiler, Five Guys, Wendy's, and things like that. 

 

Josh came again to church which was amazing! We set a firm date with him for July 6th and he is on track for that. He told us he believes the BofM to be true. We are so so excited for him. He is still super shy though and it is really hard to get a conversation out of him at times. That is really neat about the family that you referred though. I hope that it works out. 

 

So yesterday we had a worldwide broadcast to all members of Ward Council and missionaries. In it it went over policy on how members and missionaries are suppose to work together. Perry gave an excellent talk about how the common practices of talking to people on the street and knocking doors is outdated and that we need to do new finding ideas. He then announced that missionaries will be able to use tools like Facebook, Blogging, and other social media to further the work. So we don't know when or how it is going to happen but it will probably be up to our mission president. But that was kinda a cool announcement. 

http://www.lds.org/training/wwlt/2013/hastening/special-broadcast?lang=eng

That is the link to the conference it was a really really neat little thing. Like they had videos throughout it and just was really neat. I really suggest watching it for FHE. I was really entertained for it. All about missionary work also so I loved it ha ha.

  

I love you guys. Thanks for everything that you do! 

June 17, 2013

Kinda scary...

Happy Father's day dad!!!! I hope that you had a good one. Things this week have been going good. So my companion's family is the largest LDS family in Croatia. His older brother and father are not members but his two sisters and mom and then his sisters family is mormon as well. He was a travel agent before he came out so he has traveled all over the world. He told me he couldn't remember a place where he stayed more than 2 months at for the past three years. The mission is going to kill him that way it being so small.

An investigator came to church yesterday! Josh the 17 year old that we are teaching. He was super shy but I hope that he enjoyed it. We are going to be able to really start working with him now. The Garcia family is another story. They have been playing hookie with us. We can't seem to meet with them all of the sudden. We'll keep trying though.

Glad to hear that you guys had fun in Florida. I get to see the Disneyland fireworks every night at 9:30. That is how we know we are late coming home sometimes if we are driving and see the fireworks ha ha.

I did get your guys package. Thank you for the trail mix and the chex mix.

I can't believe that I have less than 4 months left. It is scary to think about. I am sending pictures don't worry I just forget and am lazy sorry (recognizing the problem is the first step to repentance so I am on track to repent on laziness). I'm doing well though. Thank you guys for everything.

June 10, 2013

My new companion is great! So he speaks English very well. He is like a sick companion. I can't wait to play basketball with him today. So he isn't the first Elder to ever serve from Croatia but he is the only Croatian missionary in the world right now. It is crazy. We get along really well right now though. 

The missionaries in your ward sound like they are having a tough time. Not having anybody to teach though isn't their fault it is yours. Get them people to teach. Ask Emilio's mom over to dinner. Just say that you'd love to get to know her and if she could come over for dinner one night. The missionaries would love you guys forever. 

Ha ha the girls are going to be all alone. I don't think Jaylen would throw a party but I know for a fact that Kate would. I don't think I would have had that problem because I didn't know enough people when I was in High School to really throw a party ha ha. I guess I could have invited all the mormons over and we would have probably watched a movie and everybody would have been home by 12. Whooooooo Party!!!!!!!! Ha ha ha, they will probably be fine.

So we have a family with a baptismal date named the Garcia's. The family has Larry (dad) Maria (mom) Genasis (16 old daughter) and a 7 year old daughter. The mom really wants this though and she is the one working and holding the family together. We are really trying to get them to church. That seems to be the hardest thing here. Nobody wants to come to church. Especially if it is the 9:00 session. Good luck. Ha ha

That is awesome about Nana and Papa serving. I can just see them in like Kenya or something like going through the jungle or the savana ha ha. 

I haven't gotten the package yet but I probably will this Thursday. Thanks so much for sending me things. I am sending you pictures today on a flash drive. 

Most of the members here in California feel like they are all from Utah. They all went to school at BYU like all of them. Then got their masters at USC, Cal State Fullerton, UCI, UCLA, or someplace then settled here. I don't notice if they are cute or not either because I am on a mission mom..... ;)

Just don't have them do the summer bridge activity books mom. Those were the worst things in the world. Ha ha ha ha :) I don't think they are as addicted as me though to the screens so I wouldn't worry. You guys have fun in Florida. 

Love, 

Connor

June 3, 2013

So guess what I'm doing this transfer.........training. Not training any missionary though, I am training the first missionary to come out of the country of Croatia. He is 6'5'' and they say that he speaks good English but no one really knows. I will get him sometime tomorrow. This is really crazy. I've already trained one missionary from Kenya, had a companion from Hong Kong and now one from Croatia. I think that I can say at this point that I served a foreign mission. So hopefully I'll be able to show him a good time in America. Elder Bottorff is going to be a zone leader in the new mission. That means that out of the group that I came out with. Three of us will be left after the mission splits. Jackson is going to the new mission, which is really really sad. The mission will split July 1st so today is the last transfer day that we will be together as one. It is weird to think that I only have three transfers left. When I am done training I will only have one left. That is even crazier. It is really going to be over before I know it. I was able to confirm someone yesterday for the first time on my mission. A 10 year old girl we have been working with in the Acacia Park ward was baptized Saturday and asked me to confirm her. That was really special. I'll let you know more about my companion when he comes. Hopefully he plays bastketball ha ha. Love you guys!

May 28, 2013

So things have been going good. I did get your package thank you so much. The scotcharoos were amazing thank you so much. I had forgotten how much I really love those things. We had a baptism this weekend in the Acacia Park ward. It was really great. Her name was Joy and she is a single mother who has had a hard time. The Baptism went great and one of her kids now wants to get baptized this weekend so we are getting ready for that. Covering two wards has been so crazy so so so crazy.

 

The Allergy medicine I like is Allegra, whatever is in Allegra really works for me. So on the box of Allegra it should say what is in it.

 

We are doing okay as a companionship right now. We are still having troubles, Elder Johns and Bottorff just don't really mix a lot ha ha. Only one week left.

I have no idea what will happen with me next week with transfers. I could go with Johns stay with Bottorff or go somewhere totally different. Should be exciting.

 

I really like the Euclid ward now especially with all the members. The Bishop is still kinda crazy but the members are really really nice. I hope to stay here.

 

Thanks for telling about Grandpa Hink dad. I want to read his war diary some day. All I know of WWII comes from Call of Duty pretty much. Oh and the movie Patton. So from those accurate portrayals of American War history I am now an expert on WWII.

 

Tell Jaylen to brake up with the dude. If he doesn't respect her friends he wont respect her. He will die when I come home. No mercy now. Like six months to scary just got a jump start.

 

Ha ha definitely Kate is special when it comes to personality. Ha ha she is going to be even more of a wreck when it comes to dating than Jaylen or I (little of it that I did) was. At least I will be home for that. Only problem is that it won't really be the boys causing the drama. I think it may be her ha ha. Have fun with that one guys.

I am doing well and taking care of my body mom don't worry. I love you guys all so much. Thank you for everything that you do.

May 20, 2013

Hey guys things have been going good. We do Laundry every week dad so no it doesn't just pile up around us ha ha. I'll go to some of the girls games, it should be fun. Things here are about the same. My companions are really about to kill each other. I came to Elder Johns with a peace offering though. Elder Bottorff's scriptures are really destroyed and like pages have been falling out and what not so we went in and got him some new scriptures because he needed them really badly. We said it was from both of us and so now we are all in an uneasy truce and I'm 40 poorer but it was worth it ha ha.

 I got your package! Thank you so much! You forgot stamps though ha ha, when you send me some stamps I'll send you pictures. Also I got my blessing, thank you for sending that. You guys really take care of me.

Oh gosh so it is just kinda crazy right now. This week has been crazy crazy. Covering both wards has just been unbearable. We are running from place to place and both wards are not happy that we are not just covering them. But, we are getting a lot done I like to feel. Thank you guys for everything that you do. I love you guys so much.

May 13, 2013

It was great to talk to you guys. I really don't have much to say because I said it all yesterday haha. 

 

Elder Johns and Elder Battorff (my companions) are going to kill each other.  So it is just like bad blood. Like the cryps and the bloods meeting up in spiritual warfare (if that makes sense). Can't wait for the package. Thank you so much for everything that you do. I love you guys so much. I'll see you in 5 months ha ha.

May 6, 2013

Hey guys this week was better. Ha ha I have just learned to kinda just go with what happens sometimes. Just grin. Sometimes the members look at me after some things and I just smile and go with it ha ha. We are doing okay though. Honestly Board Games are saving our companionship ha ha. That is really cool about finding my patriarchal blessing. Thanks for looking. I'm glad you got the letter from  Bro and Sister Miller. They are really great members in our ward. My shirt was frumpy probably because it had been a long day, I'd been out working and moving around. I don't look the best all the time ha ha. I am still at 185 comfortably and I'm sitting there. It is a perfect weight for me. No more 200 plus for me anymore.

 

In the Box you could send your love ha ha. I am on the slide now of my mission (last six months) I'm going into survival mode. I don't need much anymore.

 

I will call you on Mother's day. We have church from 9-12 so I'll probably call around 1 or 2 my time.  If those numbers have changed e-mail me before mothers day and I will check it when I do Mormon.org.

 

Me and Elder Bottorff are doing fine. He hasn't hit me yet or gotten angry, well he got angry when other Elders came to our apartment. He doesn't like social things. He gets angry frustrated and starts saying weird things like, "you should crush skulls" or start singing New England chants. We we are alone in the apartment though we get along just fine so far.

 

The area is great right now. We are working on Teaching two 15 year old twins that are not members but there dad we think is an excommunicated member who is coming back to church now. So a little touchy but we are trying to get in.

 

I will probably be staying in the Anaheim mission. Makes me sad we all won't get to leave together. I could get switched over though and they could get switched as well so who knows we got one more transfer call before it happens.

 

You can send me scotcharoos!!!!!! I miss those things so bad and when you sent them to me that one time they were perfect!

 

I love you guys a lot. Thanks for everything that you guys do.

April 29, 2013

So it has been going okay so far. I feel a little dead inside. I am very energetic and positive and need to keep moving when I do missionary work or else I find I don't do anything. My companion is very logical and tactical in what he does. So I have been trying to stay motivated as much as I can. The ward we are in a little hard. We are just trying not to pick sides and get everybody to come to church. 

 

We had an investigator who went MIA yesterday right before his baptism. So we have no idea where he is and had to cancel the baptism last second because we couldn't find him. Pray for us to find him and resolve his concern. We are trying to gain member trust as well but it is a little hard. I am trying the best that I can. Pray for me to stay motivated. It has been so hard this past week.

 

 President told me that I only have to do this transfer and then I would be put somewhere else. 5 weeks left in the transfer. Then I'll only have 4 and a half months left on my mission. That is kinda freaky. I always kinda was friends with the missionaries that were older than me (mission time wise). They are all home now. So I am the old one now in the mission. Feels weird. So many new missionaries are coming in also.  It is crazy. 36 missionaries this last transfer and 30 this next transfer. The group that I came in with was 7 and that was a big group. 

 

I am in Fullerton now. The name of the ward is the Euclid ward. My apartment right now is a dump but they are moving us on Thursday into a new one. The one that I am in Missionaries have lived there for 9 years........... That is a really really long time. The apartment is pretty trashed. We have some good potential though in the ward. Two 15 year old twins are non-members and they come to church every week and everything so we are really hoping to baptize them. We are hoping to find James Styles also (the man who skipped his baptism). It is good to hear that Kate stood up to her friends. That will only get harder as she gets older. Glad to hear they are doing well in soccer as well. Tell them I say hi and that they can watch all my cartoons in the video closet ha ha. I would like a bed when I get home also so thank you for getting the girls new ones. Love you guys so much!

 

Connor

April 23, 2013

Do you guys remember way back a year and 5 months ago when I was in the MTC and I had a certain companion. Well guess who has him again. That is right I am back with Elder Battorff!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!  We both got transferred up into the Euclid ward in Fullerton. We are whitewashing which means we are both new to the area. Apparently there was a lot of problems with the bishop and the last missionaries. I really didn't want to leave. I loved Garden Grove 4. I was only there like six weeks but when I said by to all the families that I had gotten to know they were all crying and it was just awful. I'm going to try and do it with Battorff though. I really don't know much about the area because I have only been here a day.

 

I can't e-mail nana and papa because his e-mail service won't let me. It always sends it right back at me. I am going to be sending them a letter though. I have been getting their packages and letters though and they are super nice.

 

 I want to be transferred out at the end of this six weeks.

 

We should have a baptism this Sunday though which should be cool. Walked into it. It is a guy who has served a couple tours in Iraq. We are going to meet him today.

 

That is really nice for you driving home the missionaries. We really do appreciate it and the Taco Bell is always nice. Members do do that for me here too. It is kinda weird being in a really nice area again with a lot of white people ha ha. I am really going to miss Garden Grove, the members and the missionaries that I was serving around.

 

Wish me luck this week. Hopefully he wont attack and punch me like he did in the MTC! If he does well I might be coming home early because I killed him ha ha. Love you guys a lot.

 

Connor