September 30 Letter

Here is our latest news! Short and sweet!

-"It was transfer week so its kind of funny to see all the missionaries freaking out and wondering how their new companion is. It is kind of nice knowing that I still have another 6 weeks with Elder Linekar. Elder Linekar is now the district leader and so its kind of fun to know all the little things that are going on. Because he is district leader it means that i am going to be on splits quite often."

-" This week was great! We had Hunter (Heathers son) baptism! I was kind of disappointed in the ward because he could have gotten a better turn out, but whatever. The spirit was so strong! Hunter lives with his mom and step dad and brother and her two sons. Besides Hunter the whole family smokes and drinks and is so far from the path. Because of that none of them felt worthy to come to Heathers Baptism...they all came to Hunters however and they were all touched by the spirit! It was a incredible thing!"

-"I am sad I missed Grandmas birthday. It sounds like it was a huge success. I think Uncle Rons words apply really well in this situation "it is because of Grandma and Grandpa that I am not there with them"!  I can just imagine Grandpa driving down the road and doing his little laugh cry thing as they see everyone there! Its gonna be SUPER weird Saturday when we are watching priesthood session without the family."

-"Well this work is so true! Its a great day to be a Mormon missionary! I love you all so much and there is not a day that goes by that I don't think about you! I know this church is true! I love it so much. Have a fantastic week! Enjoy Conference and have a great time at where ever you are going to eat... you should go somewhere delicious ( our ward mission leader is taking us out to dinner)! I Love you all so much keep on sending mail ;) The Church is True! Do some missionary work this week. Give out a pass along card or something! Kia kaha kite mahi!"

Kyron and his companion needed a picture with animals, to rival Becca's! (A cousin, also on a mission, who take pictures with animals to send to her little brother.)

Ky thought this was a funny picture--all their bikes...and every one is broken except for his!

Hunters baptism.

September 23rd Letter

News from our Favorite Elder!

-"Well it has been a fantastic week!! I know i say that every week but it is true. However hard/ tiring/ hot/sweaty/ dirty a mission is it is so rewarding."

-They had Stake Conference this week. "It was really weird having stake conference and not being on the front row (falling asleep). Our stake conf was incredible though...basically because President Gelwix came and he is the one that makes it awesome! He talked about the real hastening of the work....Pres Gelwix always says "its a great day to be a Mormon missionary" and it is so true. (President has a lot of little sayings that he says often and they are awesome. One of my favorites is "the Lord loves his missionaries, and the Lord loves those who love his missionaries!"

-President Gelwix also said, "The train is moving and you better jump on it or its gonna fly right past you!!! One other thing I love that President talked about in stake conf was that we can walk out these chapel doors being merely entertained or changed...choose to be changed!!!"

-As of Wednesday, September 25th, the California Fresno mission had experienced a 50% increase in missionaries, going from 210 missionaries when President Gelwix started, ending at 309.

-Kyron had the chance to meet up with a missionary couple who served with Grandpa (is that right, Mom?) The Winters. He said he LOVES the Winters. (we at home, who didn't know the back story, were a bit confused. Some of us thought he was talking about the season of Winter.)

-Kyrons mission is the highest baptizing mission in California. He attributes it to EXACT obedience, always.

-"Our finding efforts have really paid off we have a teaching pool of 16 and it is so great. we are going to focus on working with members this week.  We are really trying to get into member homes to teach lessons with a investigator because the members are where it is at! One thing that has helped us is that we try to invite the members we are eating with to invite a friend to dinner and then it is epic. (maybe a idea for mike) another idea is we have started the Family Mission Plan and it is awesome!"

-Transfers happened on September 25th, but Kyron stayed with Elder Linekar.  New elders in their mission stay with their trainer for 12 weeks.

-"Missionary life is THE life. I want you all to know that I know this church is true and my testimony is being strengthened everyday! I know that God lives and that He came down to Joesph Smith and that He restored His gospel. I am thankful for a living prophet who leads and guides this great work and who hastens every aspect of the gospel. The Atonement is real and it works I have seen it in my life and in the life of the people we meet. This is Gods kingdom on earth and it is a privilege to be a part of it! I love you all have a great week! Never Quit, Never Surrender, No regrets! Kia Kaha Kite Mahi"

September 16 Letter

We got a letter on Monday.  Sorry we have been late in posting!  This week some of us even got our own emails! Woot-woot!

-Kyron had his first Zone Conference on Wednesday (September 11).  He says, " it was so good and President Gelwix is incredible!!! It really focused on working with members. I took a lot of good notes..." He's going to start sending home some copies of his journal so maybe we can start to get some more details.

-At the Zone Conference President Gelwix introduced a new mission plan called The Family Mission Plan. "I feel like this is gonna help us a lot. We all have ward mission plans but we are trying to help our members get family mission plans...that they come up with."

-They went out Thursday evening and found 4 new investigators. There are a couple of families in the complex with the intense security guard. And apparently it's not overkill--there were bullet holes in the walls of one of the homes.

-"Fridays are weekly planning which takes up most of the day and then we had Family Friday Fun Night. (FFFN) FFFN was a total success in our ward. We do FFFN once a month and play games and basketball and eat treats and it is a total casual thing and so we invited a lot of our investagators and we ended up having 11 investigators coming out to that, which is incredible!"

-" We helped move out a family in our ward whose story is incredible. The man lost his job about 8 years ago and could not find another one and so they moved into the mountains and were picking up bullet shells at a fire range for food. He collected enough money to move him and his wife into a motel on stripper row (at 8pm on the dot..there is a street in Fresno where all the hookers come out and wait for their "escorts") His wife found the Gospel and got baptized in January and now they have since found a job and moved into a very modest apartment which is such a upgrade for them. Anyway so we helped them move and taught some more lessons and it was a overall good day."

-"Sunday was way good. We had Elder Smith of the 70 come to observe our ward council. He gave some great advice that I thought i would share. He wants to change the name of ward council to ward rescue. I loved that. (of course I am biased) He says that the church has a big problem with scheduling and talking about non essential things when we should really be focused on rescuing our brothers and sisters and not worrying so much about calender items.I thought that was good advice."

-He has multiple sets of missionaries for their ward (2 sets of Elders and a Senior couple). They have talked about getting another set for their ward.

-He played basketball and loved it.

-Heathers son is progressing. They pushed back his baptism date because he has to go to a regular sacrament meeting twice before he can be baptized and one of the Sundays happens to be Stake Conference. "Her family is slowly but surely getting there...her heavy smoker brother Shane came to FFFN and loved it and so slowly we are working with her family. Her step dad is a less active and came to her baptism and was very emotional so hopefully he will come through. They are just feeling guilty because they smoke and drink and dont feel worthy to come to church."

-They are tracting each day and working in the area. It was opened just before Kyron got there, so there is a lot of work to do.

-Lastly, "Members are so incredible and they are so key in missionary work. I love this work and it is crazy to see the small miracles that happen everyday that change lifes. However hard it might be it is such a good thing. I hope everything is going well at home. I love you all! Stay strong and do some missionary work this week! I love you all!!! 

Kyron went to a carwash this week (I guess he must be driving a car some) and said he thought of us! (Does that mean we clean our cars regularly, or need to? ;)

September 10th Letter

Our letter this week came a day late--made all of us a bit nervous! Ends up the Elders went to the temple, so their P-Day was moved.  Good to hear from our favorite missionary!

-Kyron is only allowed to write snail mail on preparation day, so needless to say there is not much. Time is short and he is busy.  Don't be offended if you don't get a letter!  Be really excited if you DO get one! :)

-He talks about their ward mission leader (we, in the family, have decided that retired misson leaders put the rest of the working ones to shame!). "I'm glad to hear you have a good mission leader. Ours is literally incredible!!!! He has kind of a funny name its Bro. Rinlisbacher!! He is a ex stake president and he is so missionary minded!! The work is moving so great in our ward due to the Members! Members is really the key to missionary work. We have had 15 baptisms this year in our ward and our goal (which we are going to get) it 25!!! Bro. Rinlisbacher is the Bob Winegar of our ward. he has been here forever and knows everything about everyone! Our members are so incredible!"

-Kyron gets to have dinners in the members home almost every night--he has lost 12 pounds!

-They have some new investigators: Heathers son, who is scheduled for baptism on the 22nd,  and another man they contacted (Larry).  Also, "We taught a man named Jeff  DeOcean and he is really interested. He lives in this ghetto apartment complex where a lot of crime happens so they have a armed security officer on patrol 24/7. We talked to him and became good friends and so I took a picture with him. He has enough weapons on him to supply a army! (He is a little paranoid i think...probably because he can't outrun anybody so he has to shoot them!)."  (Not necessarily the type of stuff a mom back home wants to hear!)

-They had a conference and President Gelwix spoke. Kyron said it was fabulous--that he gives a talk unlike anybody he has ever heard before.

-They have really connected with a family who recently moved there from Sandy, the Copes.

-Scouting is a big deal in their ward.

-"Overall this week has been awesome! I love being a missionary."

-" I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week that is full of missionary opportunity. I know that if you pray for those that they will come! We literally talk to EVERYONE on the street it is kind of interesting the different people we meet! I love you all so much!!! Have a fantastic week!"

Kyron's zone, and a very up close image of an arm...

 The armed security guard.

Their Stake Center is in the Fresno Temple parking lot. Cool!

September 2 Letter

We got a letter today from everybody's favorite Elder.  This was a good week for Elder Craven. Here are the highlights.

-He loves Preparation Day. They have three sets of Elders living in the same apartment complex and they all share laundry facilities--and card (cuz one of the sets lots theirs.)  Kyron was proud to admit that they shove as many clothes as possible into each load to try and cut down on costs--so much so, that the loads don't usually dry completely by the end!

-He is loving how supportive and helpful the members are in his current area.  He especially is impressed with the ward mission leader, who is "so missionary minded and incredible."

-This week they were able to help harvest the church's vineyard...literally. The church owns an 80 acre grape vineyard which they use for making raisins. They participated in picking the grapes and prepping them for drying on Wednesday and Saturday.

-They went to a members house and painted rocks..."Sis gunn... invited us over to paint rocks with her and she invites a lot of people to paint rocks. When I first got introduced to Sis Gunn Elder Lideakar said I was from Afghanistan and she now calls me that all the time so I figured I would paint a rock that resembled that."

-They went on splits and he got to be in a car for the day. He obviously was stoked.  He got to drive since his companion is from England and doesn't really know how to drive on the *right* side of the road.

-They had a baptism this week, Heather.  "Heather is incredible. She has literally given up her life for this gospel and it is a true miracle. The really cool part is that her step dad came to the baptism and he started to cry and tell me how he needs to change and said that if heather can change anyone can!!! BOO YA!!! We also are teaching Heathers' two sons and hopefully that goes well! I had to give a talk on the Holy Ghost and that was fun."

-They also have found another family to teach and they have committed to baptism on the 28th.

-This month in the mission they had 92 baptisms. Wow.

-Elder Lideakar tells Kyron that he should eat a lot because it will build ward trust--Kyron doesn't agree, and with all the biking he says he is losing weight.  The members feed them yummy food every night.

-He would love mail and packages, especially some EFY CD's, if you feel so inclined!  A shout out to his home ward, Country Creek Youth, for all the letters this week!

-"The work is hastening!! I love you all so much! The church is so true! I see miracles everyday from that knowledge! Keh Kaha Kite Mahe (Forever Strong in the Work )"


Kyrons' Rock Art

Sister Glenn's rock garden.

 Drying the clothes that didn't try in the dryer.

Mail! 

Working in the vineyard.

  
Heathers baptism. Kyron says "...never judge a book by its cover. You never know who is prepared for the gospel...that's I lesson I learned with Heather."

August 26th Letter

Kyron has been in Fresno now for 2 1/2 weeks. His is adjusting well to having a companion and biking and the heat. Here are some highlights!

-It's hot there--102 in the middle of the day, and they are biking around all day. Whew!

-They have been doing a lot of 'ATM's', which stands for Awaken the Members.  They visit members in their house, share a message and encourage them to find people for the missionaries to teach.

-They call tracting 'Harvesting.'

-They will have their first baptism this week: a girl named Heather.  Her mom and brother are also investigating the church, due the the positive changes they have seen in her.

-Kyron likes his bike, but will probably get a handlebar extension for it--he is no small missionary, we all know! ;)

-President Gelwix randomly stopped by their apartment this week. Kyron says is it great to see the fun side of him.

-No new pictures this week--but he would love letters so feel free to write him anytime! :)

Welcome to Fresno!

Kyron made it to Fresno last week!  We got to talk to him on the phone while he was waiting for his flight at the airport and it was so fun to hear his voice! What a great guy he is! Here are the highlights from his first letter. (Kyron's P-Day is Monday, so we get new news tomorrow!)

--"My companion is named Elder Lideakar...he is from England!!! It is so fun to sit and listen to 
him talk!!! He has the coolest accent ever!!! He so far is really cool and fun."

-Kyron's Mission President and his wife met the new missionaries at the airport. "I met President and Sister Gelwix and it was awesome!!! They are so cool! ...My land you can tell he is a coach!!! "  He participated in something President Gelwix calls, "Open your mouth" and right from the mission home they went out to find people to teach.

-Sister Gelwix gave all the missionaries a sweet dinner, and a manners lesson. "Sis. Gelwix LOVES her manners. She taught us how to properly eat and which fork to use and everything!!!"

-They spent their first night at the mission home, then had transfers and got their companions.  They then started right away getting to work.

-They are teaching a girl named Heather. She has a baptismal date set for the 31st and informed them that her family wants to start taking the discussions.



I asked Kyron for lots of details, so he sent pictures of his bike and apartment and such.  What a good brother!