Elder Morris from South Africa

[This is a recent email from Elder Mitchel Morris, one of Justin’s best friends, currently serving in South Africa.  I asked his mom if I could share it here because I loved how he outlined his day.  Elder Morris is one of my favorite people in the world.  He is unfailingly positive.]

Hello to all! 

First, apologies for not writing the last couple weeks. Mission life has been crazy and I haven't had the time to email as much as before. Lots to get done in so short a time! November is already over practically. Way too fast!

Well I thought on request by my dad I would give you a run down of what a day is like for me:

630 - I wake up to an alarm with a frown on my face because it feels as though I just went to sleep haha (the sun rises at 445 here if you can believe that haha)

630 to 800 - I prepare for the day: bathe, eat, try to exercise when I finally feel awake haha (When I do finally wake up, I have a smile on my face because I get to do missionary work all day!)

800 - I begin my personal studies. I study from Preach My Gospel, the Book of Mormon, the Bible, the words of the living prophets, etc. (Personally I love this part of the day. I am taught from on high by the Holy Ghost and I learn so much. My testimony grows as I study the Gospel and how best to teach others what our Savior taught)

900 - I begin studies with my companion. We share what we learn and we read from the different resources given to us as missionaries.

1000 - We complete our studies and prepare to leave for the day.

1030ish - We are out the door until 900pm (except for an hour around 12 to 2ish for lunch). We go to people's home and teach them different things, invite them to be baptized, answer questions they have from reading the scriptures. We try to schedule appointments, but if not, we stop by and hope they are home. If we don't have someone to see, we go looking for those to teach. We visit members of the Church and see if they know of people who need the Gospel, we go knocking on door, we contact people in the streets. Most success is found as we are given names of people to visit and teach.

900pm - We come home and look at the day and plan for the next day. I have just enough time to eat something and write in my journal, visit with the other 2 missionaries we live with, then go to sleep at 1030pm.

I am glad I was warned this is missionary WORK haha. I absolutely love it. I can not describe in writing the feelings I have when I see people light up because of the unique message we share. Our Father in Heaven has again reached out to His children just like he has throughout Biblical times through prophets. The Book of Mormon is the way to know for yourself that the message of the Restoration (bringing back) of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. Please don't ask anyone if it is true except for your Heavenly Father. The only way to know is to Read and Pray. It is impossible to deny the message and say it is false if you have done these things, sincerely, or with a strong desire. If it seems impossible for this message to be true, just ask your Father in Heaven. He knows it isn't.

I have truly seen lives change for the better. If your life is great, I promise you it can be better. This message is for everyone. It builds upon our existing faith. I know our Father in Heaven loves us. I know His son, Jesus Christ loves us. This is not a message from a Church we go out and share. It is a message straight from Heavenly Father. I love this gospel and I love being apart of this Great and Marvelous work!

Thank you for your love and support!

Love you all soooo much!

-Elder Morris

[Additional note:  Missionaries work 6 days and have 1 personal day or “P” day when they can take care of mundane tasks like grocery shopping, laundry, emails home:), etc. and can play sports (i.e., I’m sure the last picture was most likely taken on Mitchel’s P-day). They are always a missionary though, and must stay with their companion, stay within mission boundaries, and follow all other mission rules meant to keep them safe and focused.]

Blizzard!

Hello everyone,

       So first off, Family, thank you so much for the Thanksgiving package. It was the best. Lots of food,  pictures, AND a Christmas tree haha. Amazing. Funny thing too, one of the packages of instant potatoes ripped opened somehow. So, everything had a nice layer of powder on it, and smelled like mashed potatoes haha. I'm sure Bryce would of enjoyed it =]. Anyways I really loved the package (especially the ties!), it made last night very entertaining. I'll be sure to give Carlos and Marisela their Pavo Real very soon. Hopefully, the Christmas tree isn't some sort of premonition that I won't be getting my Visa until after Christmas.

Ok, so the big news of the week would be snow...and lots of it. Yesterday there was a blizzard warning in the Salt Lake Valley. A blizzard was supposed to hit around 4:00. We got out of our 4:30 appointment and....nothing. No snow yet, but the clouds were getting darker and scarier. We went to our dinner at 5, and at about 5:45 we noticed that it was snowing...A lot. It had snowed probably 3 or 4 inches just while we were inside for dinner. We luckily got a ride to our appointment at 6, and once we were done we got a message that said if you have set appointments than you should go to them but if you don't, you should go home. There was almost no visibility. We went in to the house for our 6:00 appointment, leaving footprints up to the door. When we got out around 6:45, our footprints were no where to be found. So needless to say, winter is here. We were home by 8:00 for the night as opposed to 9. Today it is pretty cold still and it was snowing very lightly all this morning. Luckily you sent me all my winter stuff and I still have Elder Burbidge's coat. (I'm using the toe warmers today and they are amazing.)

So as far as the work goes we have 3 people that are pretty solid on getting baptized this weekend. Jesus, who is 11, is planning on getting baptized this week.  His sister, Jessica, wants to learn a little bit more before she is baptized. Then there’s Yamel and her daughter. Yamel was baptized a long time ago, but her records don't exist so she will have to get rebaptized.  Her daughter has never been baptized, so she will join her mom this Saturday.  And then we have 3 others who were on date for this weekend...Yaret and her two daughters...but we have not been able to find them. They don't return our calls and they are never home. They seemed so excited to be baptized, they know it's true, but we just can't find them. So it's very unlikely that they will be baptized this weekend but we willl keep praying and hope for the best.
Those were pretty much the big things this week. The fact that we're having baptisms this weekend (I might be doing the actual baptism this time) and the snow hitting us is really the big news of the week.

As for our Thanksgiving plans....tomorrow will be our P-day, so we will play a little zone turkey bowl I think (probably inside the gym haha) go get our shopping done, and then I think we're planning on eating with Bishop Robinson (the guy we live with) at around 1 or 2 and then we're going to the mission home to eat AGAIN around 4. So it should be great and Mom don't worry I will be taken care of. Plus, if worse comes to worse I have my creamed corn, stuffing and mashed potatoes I can cook up =]

And then tomorrow night, since it is a holiday we have been instructed to not take away from family time with lessons, but we will be making short (less than 10 mins) by less actives, recent converts and investigators to wish them a happy Thanksgiving. So that should be fun as well.

Oh and last but certainly not least....HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD. I took a picture for you as you can see, and I know it's a little early but the snow was falling and it was just the perfect opportunity, so just imagine it was on the 27th. I hope you have a great one and Thank you for everything you do for me and for our family, and the example you have set for me.

I just want to close with my testimony that I know that this church is true. I love sharing the gospel with people, even if I'm not great at Spanish and can't roll my R's. The Lord has called me to preach the Gospel in the Spanish language and I can testify that he has qualified me for the work and will continue to qualify me for the work as long as I am faithful. Because honestly, I was not good at Spanish in high school, but I know that I am learning it so much easier now because the Lord is helping me. I need his help in this work, because there is no way I can do it alone. There are too many challenges and temptations in like to try to do it on your own. In 2nd Nephi 4:34  it says:

"O Lord, I have ^atrusted in thee, and I will ^btrust in thee forever. I will not put my ^ctrust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his ^dtrust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm."

This is one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon and it is so beautifully written by Nephi, and he proclaims his trust in the Lord because he realizes that there is no way he can do it alone, and if he trusts in the Lord and has faith in Him he can do anything. I can testify that that is true. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and he will help you through anything, no matter how tough it may be. He loves us, each and every one of us and He knows us personally. Trust Him. He will help you.

I love being a missionary and this is my joy (Alma 29:9)

Have a great Thanksgiving and a great week.
Love and miss you all =]
Elder Peacock

I Found a new best friend...and his name is David Burbidge

Hello Everyone,

I will explain the headline later.

Thank you for the emails with all the updates. It sounds like this was quite the eventful week. Congratulations to Bishop Aina and Thank you Bishop Williams for everything you have done for me. Sorry to hear that Valencia won, but good to hear that both Tyler and Bryce's seasons are still alive. Also thanks for the pictures, always great to see pictures. The scar does look a lot better now Dad, Mom's not just being nice. Also, excited to see the newspaper...Congrats Tyler. 

Ok, so this week has been pretty solid. The last couple of weeks have been fairly slow due to the fact that we had to drop a lot of our investigators because, frankly, they were not interested in doing anything. So we were looking for a lot of new people to teach. You could say we were in  the process of rebuilding our teaching pool. This week we have started to solidify some of those new investigators.

First off Jesus and Jessica who are the younger siblings of Roxanna who we have been teaching. We put them on date for the 27th of this month and they both accepted. The rest of their family are inactive members and we are hoping to get their whole family reactivated and re-excited about the Church. We had a family home evening with them last night and it went great. We taught them about the Holy Ghost and they are really a great family.

We have a few more investigators that we are hoping to put on date and have a lot of potential as well so I will be sure to keep you up to date on that.

Last Friday we got to go to a pretty cool thing down at the Conference Center theater. They had a play kind of musical thing going on called Salvador del  Mundo...or Savior of the World. It was a completely Spanish production about the birth and resurrection of Christ. It was really well done and I'm sure I would of thought it was even better if I could of understood what they were saying. But we took one of our investigators to it, Nicole, and also her sister Aurora who is a member recently baptized.  I enjoyed it.

So you're not going to believe this when I tell you but....The three of us sang in Sacrament on Sunday. Yeah I know doesn't sound like something I would ever do. It definitely wasn't my idea ahha. It was Elder Coulston's. We didn’t sound too bad though haha. We sang “Senior Yo Te Seguire”...which would be “Lord I Would Follow Thee”.  [Justin is NOT a singer, despite my (and Maran Zyhailo’s) best efforts to make it so, or to even have him hum during Family Home Evening.  Thus, this is a REAL surprise!  I told him he’ll have no excuse now when he comes home!]

So, as for the weather, it has been getting cold. And since we are walking now it gets REALLY cold and windy at night. I was about ready to go down to Mr Mac and get a jacket and then return it or something. However, Elder Burbidge (one of the senior service missionaries in the ward) decided he would just lend me his jacket right off his back. So that's what he did, so now I will be using his jacket until my Visa comes (still no word). And he gave me two rules...don't ruin it and write your mom this week and tell her that you found a new best friend...David Burbidge....hence the headline. 

Hmmm, lets see what else happened this week. Well, we met with Carlos and  Marisela and they are solid as ever. They are going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead this weekend! haha how sweet is that? They are in love with the Church and they could not be any happier in their lives than they are right now.
Well, I think that's about it for now. I'm having a great time here in Salt Lake and I am being taken care of, especially by my new best friend. As for Thanksgiving, we don’t have any for sure plans yet, but we will most likely be invited somewhere to eat. By the way, that will be our P-day so the email will come on Thursday next week instead of Wednesday.

I will just leave you with my testimony, I know that this Church is true. And I have a testimony that anyone who has a desire to know just has to ask God (James 1:5). If you pray with faith, and really want an answer and have that real intent to act on the answer, you'll get it. Without a doubt. We have yet to come across someone who prayed with real intent and has not gotten an answer. As missionaries, we can be the greatest teachers and have all kinds of cool books and pamphlets and scriptures to convince them that it is true, but the only way anyone can know is by finding out for themselves. The only way to do that is through prayer. I can testify that God wants to hear from us and He wants to help us find the right path. He is always willing to do his part, we just have to do our part and say that prayer with faith. Moroni 10:3-5 in the Book of Mormon lays out all the things we need to do in order to know the truth of all things:

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how ^amerciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ^bponder it in your ^chearts.

  4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ^aask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not ^btrue; and if ye shall ask with a ^csincere heart, with ^dreal intent, having ^efaith in Christ, he will ^fmanifest the ^gtruth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

  5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may ^aknow the ^btruth of all things.

If you follow those things, you will get the answer to your prayers, I can promise you that. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I love being a missionary, and this is my joy.

Miss and love you all, till Thanksgiving,
Elder Peacock

A Conversation Between Brothers

[If Bryce catches me posting this, I could be in BIG trouble!  But, to me, it is the most endearing thing ever and I think it should be saved for posterity!]

Dear Justin,

I'm sorry I haven't written for awhile I've just been busy every weekend and every other day to an extent where writing you just seemed impossible. Finally this weekend (11/7) I was able to write because for once there was nothing to do otherwise.

Football wise everything is fine we just won our conference and are 2ND for the playoffs and expect to go far into the playoffs. And I think I have convinced mom and dad to let me take golf lessons after football season is over. so when you get back you, me, Tyler and Dad will all have to play some golf and I'll whoop all you with my awesome new and mad skills!

Guitar is going well too and I think I'm picking it up fast because the songs I have to play each week are a walk in the park and my teacher Aldo says I'm picking it up faster than most of his students. And tell me if you want me to record some things into the tape recorder so you can hear how it's coming I will but if you want to wait until you get back to hear the great improvement, that's cool too.

Other than that my days are school, homework, football, sleep and repeat but if there is anything, anything at all I can send or that you want to hear about all you have to do is ask.

Love,

Bryce your little buddy

***************************************************************************************

Hey little buddy,

Thanks a bunch for the email. Glad to know that you're thinking of me. I'm hearing good things about you in football dude. Keep up the good work and work hard and DON’T take plays off. Even if practice and stuff is hard and you are exhausted, trust me you will miss football when it's all said and done, so enjoy it while you can. Good luck in playoffs!! and kick some butt.

As far as guitar goes, I'm excited to hear it. But I think I'm going to wait. I'm expecting a full on concert when I get home. It will be sweet. Plus I don't think the tape recorder will do it justice. And you will probably whoop me at golf if you take lessons. So I'll have to take a class at BYU or something when I get back. Then we'll see who will kick butt.

How's school going? Any Girls I should know about?? Haha keep up the good work my little brother and work hard. Be the best at everything you do.

I want to leave you a little challenge. I want you, by yourself, to read a chapter out of the Book of Mormon every day, and say your prayers on your knees when you wake up and when you go to bed. I want you to email me next week and tell me about it OK?? I promise you that you will see a difference in your life and that you will have the spirit more fully in everything you do. Trust me on this one little buddy.

Have a great week, and Booo Colts =] Haha
Your Bro Elder Peacock

Elder Pavo Real

[Letter dated 11.10.10]

Hello everyone,
It's been another week here in the Salt Lake City Mission. This week has had its ups and downs.

First off, Elder Coulston and I have a new companion!! His name is Elder Gomez and he is straight from Spain. He went to the MTC for two months to learn English and now he is here. This is his first time in the United States. So, he is learning English and I am learning Spanish. We're having fun together. Naturally, since he's from Spain, one of the first things I asked him is "So do you like Pau Gasol?"....And of course he said yes..."Ohhh Pau Gasol is my hero" hahaha. Also Elder Coulston and I told him not to get to discouraged with English because once he gets it down no girl will be able to resist him because he will be able to do an Antonio Banderas accent. We've been practicing with him all week..."I'm Puss....In Boots". He'll get it eventually haha. Oh, and for those that aren't familiar with Spanish, People in Spain speak in a different kind of Spanish. they say z's and c's like "th" so it's almost like they are talking with a lisp. So Elder Gomez is pronounced Elder Gometh.  They also talk in vosotros form, which is not used anywhere else that speaks Spanish. It's like saying "you all" in a very casual and informal way. And they also have different words for some things. So its cool to listen to him talk sometimes haha.  [The picture shows Elder Gomez and Elder Coulston with Elder Fifita in the background].

So, weather update. It was warm, like 70 degrees, last week. On Monday, the clouds came in, it got windy and cold. Monday night, it snowed. And since then, it has been pretty chilly with a light snow/rain every now and then. But don't worry, I'll be fine. Elder Coulston is going to let me borrow a coat so I don't have to buy one, because the second I buy one I will get a call saying my Visa is here. Speaking of which, still no news. Trust me it will be the headline of my email as soon as I hear anything about it though. I really don't think it will be much longer. My guess is about two weeks which would put me at the 9-week mark here in Salt Lake. But, I will just have to wait and see. And my understanding is that as soon as I get it I will leave, I don't think they would have me stay the rest of the transfer, especially since I am in a 3-some so it wouldn't mess anything up if I left.

Ok, now for the work. This week as I said before had its ups and downs. First off, the downs. Mary de la Paz, who we had on date for this weekend, MOVED. She moved about 15 minutes away into the South mission and we asked her if she wanted missionaries to visit her down there and she said that she didn't have time. It was a real bummer, because we know how much this gospel can help her out in her life. Also, Felix and Sandra seem to be going downhill. We've talked to them about separating so they can be baptized and they didn't want to do it. Also, now it seems that they are not so sure they want to get married anymore, because they have been fighting a lot lately. But at the same time they don't want to stop living together...doesn't make any sense to me. To add more fuel to the fire, Sandra answered the door the other night with some alcohol in her hand… They seemed a little bit better last night but still not great. We just have to keep working. Another thing, EVERYONE canceled on us on Sunday and didn't go to church. We had 5 or 6 people that all said they were coming and we planned to stop by to get a ride and they all canceled or weren't home.

Ok, now that I've been through all the bads, we'll talk about the goods. We have two couples--Jesus & Rocio and Carlos & Roxanna. We went by them both with Elder Dahyle last night. I can't remember if I've told you about him yet or not. He is a Senior Missionary that has been working here in Salt Lake with Latino People for 11 years.  When he meets with couples, he reads the Proclamation on the Family with them, and then asks them what God is telling them to do. He tells them that they cannot receive all the necessary blessings in their families without marriage and he promises them blessings if they get married. Then he asks for their ID's so he can start filling out the applications with them. He is bold and he is straightforward. He doesn't beat around the bush at all. And that is why he is successful and why we bring him with us. Both couples last night filled out their applications with him and we are planning and going down to the marriage office tomorrow with them to get their marriage licenses, and then we will make plans for their weddings. So that is very exciting.

So something pretty cool happened on Monday. We got to go do service at the temple and we were there from 1-4. We cleaned pretty much. We got to go to the 5th floor of the Salt Lake temple which is a huge room where they have devotionals and stuff. We also got to go look at the James E. Talmadge room, which is where he wrote Jesus the Christ, so that was a pretty neat experience.

So, I think that's all for the week. You will see that I have included some pictures. Cassandra sent me a Halloween package full of A LOT of baked goods and candy and, as you can see, some little Halloween costumes. So we took some pictures so I hope you enjoy.

      
I also got a Elder Pavo Real tag as you can see.

So yeah, that's about it for the week. I love and miss all of you. I love being a missionary and I love the work. We had some trials this week, but as it says in Ether 12:6, you receive no witness until after the trial of your faith. I know that as we continue to work hard, no matter what trials come our way, we will be able to work through them and in the end find success. We receive blessings when we do what the Lord has asked. He promises us blessings and He is bound when we do what he says, he will bless us. He's perfect so he's going to hold up his end of the deal. We just have to make sure that we are always holding up our end by keeping his commandments. When we do that, and strive to be like Him everyday, we will find so much more happiness and peace in our lives because the blessings will start pouring in. I know that this Gospel is true and I know that Jesus is the Christ. It is only through Him that we can be saved, and there is no other way. There is only one way to return back to him, as it says in the Bible in Ephesians 4:5 there is only one faith and one baptism. There are not multiple ways. There is only one. And I can testify to you that the only way is through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ which is found in its fullness in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

I love being a missionary and I miss and Love you all, have a great week.
And this is my joy (Alma 29:9)

Con amor,
Elder Peacock

Transfer Day #1

Hello everyone,

So, today is transfers...and drum roll please.........I'm staying and Elder Coulston is staying as well.  However, Elder Romero left and we found out this morning that he got transferred to Windover which is in Nevada (?) or very close at least. Oh, and Elder Coulston was released as District Leader and we will be receiving a new companion straight out of the MTC. So Elder Coulston will be a trainer. I haven't met our new companion yet, he is currently with Elder Coulston and I am on exchanges with another Visa Waiter while Elder Coulston and the new missionary do meetings and orientations and what not at the mission office.

So this is how transfers all worked out this week:  on Sunday night President and Sister Winn call leaders if they are getting released...so that's when we found out that Elder Coulston would be released.  On Tuesday morning, the zone leaders called and let people know who is going and who is staying, only to let the people leaving know that they need to pack their bags, they don't tell where they are going or who their companions are or anything like that. Then, this morning we went to the transfer building along with all the other missionaries. We all stand in the parking lot and on the count of 3 all the zone leaders for the different areas hold up posters that say which missionaries are in which zone. So, I was still in Cannon along with Elder Coulston and our new missionary. So that's how transfers all work out. Also, since Elder Coulston is not the district leader anymore, we don't get the car anymore, so we will be on foot. But it's really not that bad when you consider we cover 3 wards, or only half of a stake...in Utah. So it really is a pretty small area.

Hmm....let's see, this week we have continued to work with Felix and Sandra, who will be getting baptized this coming transfer. Not a whole lot to report there. We also meet with Carlos and Marisela about once a week just to make sure that they are still doing alright. And, wow, are they solid. They asked for Book of Mormons from us so that they could give some to their friends. We gladly gave them 3. Also, Carlos went and got a suit and showed up at church on Sunday in a suit, white shirt and tie. He was looking good. Another really amazing thing that happened is something that he told us while we were teaching him the other day. He told us (Elder Coulston explained this to me afterwards since I didn't really understand what he was talking about) that if his life flashes before his eyes before he dies like a lot of people say it does, he told us that we would definitely be a big part of his life and we would be in that flashback for him. They are so strong and I am so excited for them to work towards that day when they can be sealed together in the temple for eternity. I wish I could come back to Salt Lake for their sealing in a year, but that will probably be a bit outside of my mission in Mexico City (speaking of which, still no news on the Visa).

We also have been working with 2 very promising investigators. Carlos and his non-active member girlfriend Roxanna is very receptive and attended church on Sunday. He is very open and willing to learn, and you can tell he wants to be closer to God. We had a family night with them last night and it went great. We had it at a members home and we learned about the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a very interactive lesson, it was great. We are also working with a woman named Mary de la Paz which i think I mentioned last week. She also attended church on Sunday and continues to work towards her date on the 13th. We also set our goal this week for the month of November...5 baptisms. So we will continue to do all we can and with the Lord's help I know we can accomplish that goal.

Ok, so Halloween was on Sunday/Saturday here in Utah. On Saturday we weren't allowed to go out just because everyone would be trick or treating and it would not be very effective. So, we went to the mission home and had dinner around 5. President Winn was BBQing up some hot dogs and hamburgers and we had a fun time hanging out with some other missionaries. After dinner, our zone and I think one or two other zones went and did a 7:00 session at the temple, which was great as always. I love going to the temple, its so peaceful.

Hmm, other than that it was a pretty normal, standard week, not entirely sure what else to talk about. The weather has gotten warmer and it's been around 60 all week, but I'm expecting it to start getting colder pretty quickly here....OH and I almost forgot I received some new name tags this week.  Two of them say on them "Elder Pavo Real" AKA my name is Spanish, which I think is very cool. Haha you will be seeing pictures next week (Sorry, I don't have my camera with me today.).

So yeah, I will just close with my testimony that I know this church is true. Esta obra es la obra de Dios. Nuestro Padre Celestial nos ama y El ha restaurado su iglesia en el mundo hoy por medio Jose Smith. Tenemos evidencia de la restauracion porque tenemos El Libro de Mormon. Yo se que esta iglesia es verdadera y Tomas S Monson es el profeta viviente por medio el Libro de Mormon. Lo he leido y yo puedo testificarles que es la palabra de Dios. He recibido un respuesta por medio el Espiritu Santo.

Translation : This work is the work of God. Our Heavenly Father loves us and he has restored his church in the world today through Joseph Smith. We have evidence of the restoration because we have the Book of Mormon. I know that this church is true and Thomas S Monson is the living prophet through the book of mormon. I have read it and I can testify to you that it is the word of God. I have recieved an answer through the Holy Ghost (see Moroni 10 :3-5, last two paragraphs of Intro to the BOM).

I know that everyone can know these things are true by reading the Book of Mormon and asking God through prayer if it is true. That's all we do as missionaries is show people how they can find out for themselves, it's up to them to do it.

I love you all and I miss you, but I love being a missionary and there is nowhere else I would rather be.

Have a great week.
And this is my joy (Alma 29:9)
Elder Peacock