Monday December 4, 2017 Pullman, WA

Hi mom!

1. What are the names of the other Elder's in your apartment?

1. Elders Welch and Williams.

2. Are you liking living in the 4 man? Or do you prefer to live with just a companion?

2. It has its ups and downs. I don’t know…it’s fun but more work.

3. Did you get any mail from us this week?

3. Yes! I got the late Thanksgiving package with the pumpkin bars. Thanks so much! 

4. When did you feel the happiest this week?

4. Ummm that’s a hard one. I don’t think I was ever really sad this week. But it was pretty great when we were trackting and a family let us in!

This week was great! We worked hard and tried our best. We were able to teach a couple of great lessons to our investigators and work through our members in trying to find more people to teach.

The Light the World thing has been so great for helping us find people. It makes it so easy to strike up a conversation with random people on the street. I hope you all are trying your best to do the ideas of service that they came out with for this month. Watch the videos and read the scriptures with them. They will help the Spirit be with you stronger.

This week we were trackting in some wealthy neighborhoods and the very last door on the street was a family that has the last name of St. Claire, weird, right? Like who has a name with a period and a space in it…weirdo's. Ha! But we knocked and talked to the wife while the husband pulled up. They were so nice and let us in we shared the Light the World video with them and offered to come back and teach them about Jesus Christ and what we believe. They told us we could come back! It was so great. I’ll keep you posted on if they go anywhere or not. But I just love the fact that even the rich are prepared for the gospel. It is for everyone!

I have one request. My companion and I would love some matching Christmas pj's. Like the classic ones that have Christmassy things on them. That would be wonderful. You’re the best. Love you!

-Elder St. John

 Mission Leadership Council this week.

Monday November 27, 2017 Pullman, WA

Hello hello!

1. How was your Thanksgiving? We got sent a couple of pictures. Looks like you might have had to eat a lot of food!

1. It was really good. And very busy! And yes lots of food

2. Do you proselyte on WSU's campus, or just in the Moscow wards?

2. So neither. There are 3 family wards in Pullman. We cover the two that do not cover the campus. 

3. Do you really live "on campus?" If so, I'd like to see a picture of the campus! And the outside of your building!

3. Pretty much yes. We live like .2 miles off of campus I guess. It’s all on a big hill, so I will do my best for the pictures.

4. What is your mission's plan for the Christmas initiative? Do you get cards to pass out, etc.

4. No set plans yet. But yes, we have cards and of course the videos to show people.

This week has been good. We started off the week by going to a doctor’s appointment for Elder Horman in Spokane and picked up some Krispy Kreme’s for the 4 man. Then we had somewhat of a normal day and then we had Thanksgiving. We had some awesome members take good care of us and we had a lot of food. There was no throwing up, just stomach aches and that was about it. We had a great time and stayed busy.

The rest of the week was work work work. Even though it was a little slower because people were out of town we still ended up getting things done and trying our best to find people to teach. We have been focusing on the work in our Sunnyside ward and trying to find investigators there. We had a good week and will hopefully have an even better one this week.

We have mlc tomorrow and hopefully we will receive some news about upcoming things in the mission and receive some good training. We have also been working with our investigator Kunza who is on date for baptism. They are going through some hard trials. I am so grateful for the blessings of the gospel. It has changed my life and I would not be the same person without it. It can change your life if you let it. Love you all and thank you for your prayers!

-Elder St. John

Monday November 20, 2017 Pullman, WA

Monday November 20, 2017

1. What is your address? If you'd like Christmas presents from anyone this year we need to know this.

1.         880 NE Providence Ct.

            H202 

            Pullman Washington 99163

If all else fails just send stuff to the mission office. 

2. I need a picture of you. A normal, dressed like a missionary, standing outside not squinting into the sun, not doing any peace signs or other hand signals ... picture. Do this for me because you love me, please.

2. Sometimes I feel like you’re trying to guilt me into sending you certain pictures. I hope you realize I’m out doing the work of the Lord! But yes I love you so I will definitely try my very best. 

3. Any news about the phone situation?

3. No news.

4. Tell us all about your week!

4. Ok

This week was a good week. We played basketball on pday and then we went to work the rest of the week. We have been trying to find some new investigators and it is proving a difficult challenge. The Lord has people prepared we just have to have the faith to find they that are ready and will receive us.

We had a good lesson with an investigator Jesse on Tuesday and taught him the plan of salvation. It went really well. We also taught an investigator named Kunza yesterday and she committed to get baptized! She is only 12 and needed permission from her parents and finally got it! So that was exciting. The rest of the week was spent going to random other appointments and trying to find people to teach. Over all it was just a normal week.

As for weather, it has been cloudy and cold but not too cold. But today it is raining really hard so the snow will be here soon. Don’t worry I’m staying as warm as I can.

For Thanksgiving, we have 4 set appointments which is kinda a lot. But we will stretch our stomachs first so we can fit all that food in there. It looks like it will be a good holiday. Well that’s my update for the week. I hope you all have a great week and eat lots of food! Love ya!

-Elder St. John

 Our apartment

Monday, November 13, 2017 Pullman, WA

Hello hello!

1. How is Moscow??? Tell us how the people are, how big the town is, how the weather is different than your other place, etc.

1. So I actually live in Pullman, Washington which is in the Moscow Idaho stake. The town is not super big but there are a lot of neighborhoods. The weather is like the same as Spokane. Not really that different. 

2. How is the new companion?

2. Elder Horman is awesome! We get along super well already and he’s pretty fun. I think we will have a good time. 

3. Do you have a car/truck or are you biking?

3. We have a corolla most of the time. So not too great but not too bad either. 

4. Is there a Walmart or McDonalds in Moscow?

4. There is both. I think I’ve been to McDonalds like 3 times at the most on my mission. I know…letting the family down. Sorry. 

5. How far away is Moscow from Spokane?

5. It’s like an hour and a half so not too far. But far enough away that I like it.

6. Are you still a zone leader?

6. Yes.

I got to the new area on Thursday and things have been great so far. The weather has warmed up a little bit so we could do some walking. We have some good expectations in this area and we can feel a surge of good hard work coming on. We have a couple people we are already working with, but we will work on finding a lot more in the next couple of weeks.

We live in a 4 man and our apartment is right on Washington State University's campus. I’m sure dad has heard of them but they are the Cougars! Haha kinda funny. The town is like a smaller Provo. It’s full of college kids and we see them everywhere. It’s kinda weird. So WSU is what they call it so I’ve had to adjust to not thinking that they are talking about Weber. But it’s great.

The area we work in just covers the 2 family wards in Pullman so we have a bunch of young families so it’s great. We just had stake conference this week and there was a huge push for missionary work. So we are expecting miracles in the near future! We are excited to work. Thank you for your prayers and support. We can feel them lifting us everyday! Love you!

-Elder St. John

Monday November 6, 2017 North Spokane, WA

1. Do you have any awesome pictures of your area? Where you live? The car you drive? You and your bike? You and your companion?

1. Yes, I took some pictures this week.

2. Do you have any items you'd like to put on a Christmas list?

2. Well the only thing I can think of at the moment would be a cell phone because we will have to get one anyway. Might as well get a nice one so I can have it after my mission. I’ll let you know if I can think of anything else.

3. What was the funniest thing that happened to you this week?

3. We were driving the other Elders that we share a car with to lunch and were just being goof balls. That was pretty funny.

4. Do you eat out very much in this area?

4. Yes we eat out more than my last area for sure. Like 1-2 times a week. 

5. Do you still buy yourself your favorite orange juice?

5. Of course!!!! I’ve started getting the bigger jug for myself now. It’s sooo goood.

Hey so first the news! I’m getting transferred! Super out of the blue. I’m headed to the Moscow zone! I’ll cover 2 wards called Sunnyside and Terre View. My new comp will be Elder Horman. I’ve met him a couple times and I think he will be great. I got super excited because it’s an Idaho zone, but to my great disappointment my area is only in Washington. But that’s ok, it will still be close enough for me to feel like I’m in Idaho.

Well besides that news we got three new investigators and one of them is on date for baptism! He is 8 years old. The other two we found late Sunday evening so I have seen miracles in this area for sure. This week we went on exchanges with Elder Scott and Elder Speckhard and that was great.

Besides that, we have just been working hard and finding new people to teach. It has been good to serve in this area but I’m also glad to see what’s ahead of me. I hope things will be good in my next area.

Oh, by the way WINTER HAS HIT! Why winter has to come so early I do not know, but it is here. We have received snow. Wish me luck and hope that I don’t die of freezingness. Love ya!

-Elder St. John

Monday October 30, 2017 North Spokane, WA

Hello!

1. Do you have any great pictures to send us, of your area, your living space, you and your companion?

1.Ummm I don’t know. I’ll check.

2. Do you have to be in early on Halloween?

2. Kinda. We’re not allowed to go contact random people or tract. But we can still do set appointments.

3. Does the ward your serving in have any Fall/Halloween party?

3. Yes, we had it this week on Thursday. It was fun. Someone made super good kettle corn and gave it out to people. It was good. 

4. Have you enjoyed any nice Fall weather where you're at?

4. Ehhh it’s ok. Mostly it’s just cold which is lame but that’s ok.

5. We heard that there's supposed to be some changes in the technology that missionaries use. What sort of phone do you have now? Have you heard of any changes for your mission?

5. Yes! I was going to update you. And prep you. Our mission in December is scheduled to get smart phones. Pretty crazy! Right now we have dumb slide phones that are super bad and don’t work very well. The smart phone thing sounds pretty set that we will actually get them. We will have to buy them ourselves and it has to be an android, one of the Samsung ones. I wanted you guys to know so maybe you can save money or whatever. But yeah there are some big changes that will come with that. I will let you know more when I hear about it.

Well this week was pretty uneventful besides our Thursday party. But we have been working with our investigator Tammy a lot and helping her quit smoking. It will be quite a challenge for her but I know she can do it!

This past week we have been working hard to find new people and we have some that seem promising so hopefully we can get in with them and teach them. I don’t know if I told you but we found a family that is from Afghanistan and we went over to teach the father one morning for the first time. It was very interesting. I learned a lot about the Muslim faith and even though he wasn’t interested in the end I was still happy we got to learn from him. Boy am I glad we have the gospel in our lives.

This next week we will be going to mlc (mission leadership council) on Halloween! So I will be in a long meeting then. Hopefully it goes good. But that’s about it for the week. I sure love you all! 

-Elder St. John

Monday October 23, 2017 North Spokane, WA

Hey hey!

1. Tell us about your zone conference...particularly the part where you were all dressed in a white plastic cover from head to toe! We saw pictures on facebook.

1. Zone conference was good. I’ll give a run down below.

2. Approximately how much do you ride your bike in this area?

2. At least 2-3 times a week. So much more than before.

3. How long do Elders usually serve as zone leader?

3. Well depends on when they’re called. In our mission, they usually serve until they go home or sometimes they get a transfer or two off before they leave. Just depends.

4. Did you know Dad's birthday was last week? And that River's is tomorrow (Monday)?

4. I did. I hope they have a good one!

5. Did you get your pants ever that I sent? Did they fit?

5. Yes I did! And they fit! Thanks so much!

Well it’s good to hear from ya this week. This week we went on exchanges with the ap's and then did a lot of prep work for zone conference. That went good. For zone conference, we started by having interviews with our president. That was really good. While interviews were going on we had to inspect the cars. So I got to wear the white suit of spiritual/dirt protection. It was great. Then we had a training for several hours by President Dymock and then we trained for a long time as well. Then we had a meeting with the whole stake’s ward councils where the stake president trained on how to further the work in the stake. In total, we spent about 13 hours at the church. Crazy long time! I was really tired.

Then Saturday was good. We did a zone service project at a community garden and that was fun. I’ll send some pics. Last p-day we went on a hike and then this p-day we are getting pumpkins so we can carve them. It should be great!

But that’s about it for the week here. We have been working hard and hopefully we will have some new people to work with this next week. Well I love ya and will talk to ya later!

-Elder St. John

Monday October 16, 2017 North Spokane, WA

Hello Hello!

1. Can you send us some pictures of your apartment? Maybe like the street you live on so we can have a clue.

1.I will try to take some this week. 

2. How long has your companion been out?

2. One transfer longer than me. So like 6 weeks more.

3. Do you have different responsibilities in this ward than your last? If so, what are they.

3. Nope. Just always a missionary. Nothing special.

4. How much "real music" do you hear these days? Like when shopping or stopping to eat? I want to know how much of the Imagine Dragons album you've accidentally heard?

4. NONE! It kinda drives me crazy sometimes. But I just get over it. So I have heard literally none of the new album. So lame. 

This week we had a good week with not too many distractions to our missionary work. We were able to teach a lot of the investigators we have and one came to church! Tammy…the one on date for baptism in Nov. or Dec. So this area/ward is very different than what I’m used to. We have a lot of really solid members that are great leaders and they keep the ward functioning very well. There are more members than I’m used to and a lot of support in the missionary work.

Something I’ve noticed is that when a ward is ready to receive a new member and they take good care of them then God will trust them with more and more people to work with. A lot of times the missionaries are out working hard in every area and the difference is the people in the ward. If they will take care of them or not. It’s kinda interesting to see.

One cool thing that happened this week was that we tracted into an Afghanistan family who had never heard of Jesus Christ before and that was super cool. They have only been in America for 7 months. We will try to teach them as best we can. I’ve never taught anyone like that before so it should be interesting.

The elders we share a care with are pretty great. I haven’t served around a lot of missionaries like this before and its good. Just different. I miss Idaho but I’ll go back one day.

This week we will be prepping for zone conference. We have to do a lot of stuff for that now that I’m a zl. So it’s a lot of work. We have exchanges with the ap's Tuesday too, so a full week ahead of us. Well I love you!

-Elder St. John

Monday October 9, 2017 North Spokane, WA

Hey mom! 

1. It looks like you were at a Leadership conference this week. Tell us about that. Like something you learned.

1. It’s called mission leadership council - just where we get trained and get to help decide things for the mission. It’s cool. We learned a lot about how to work with our wards.

2. Do you ride your bike in this area a lot?

2. Yes. When we need to.

3. You said you share a car - so how exactly does that work?

3. We get it Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Then we switch off. So we get it half the week basically.

4. Do the members feed you in this area? 

4. Yeah, a little bit. More than my last area but not too much.

5. What was the best thing you ate this week?

5. Ummm 5 Guys? Maybe.

6. Where is your new companion from?

6. Centerville, Utah.

Well update this week…We had a baptism! His name is Dale. He’s the old guy I mentioned last week. It went super well and smoothly. I heard and got pictures of Mia in my last area getting baptized so that is some good news for the week.

There really isn’t too much to update on. We got a new investigator named Tammy and she is on date for the 2nd of December so that is exciting. Besides that, we’ve just been working hard to teach people and find people. It’s been good so far.

It sounds like there was a lot of death this last week and that’s pretty sad. That stuff can be hard to go through. I just know how much peace can be brought through the plan of salvation. That’s why God gave us the knowledge, so it can bring us peace. Isn’t it cool though with all the bad stuff happening that we can still go to a baptism! it just goes to show that the work of the Lord will not be stopped no matter what.

I hope you all have a good week. Love ya!

-Elder St. John 

 Dale's baptism

Mia's baptism in St. Marie's

 Mission Leadership Council 10-3-17

Monday October 2, 2017 North Spokane, WA

Hey hey…

1. Did you survive your transfer?

1. barely

2. How's the new companion?

2. He’s good. A hard worker and obedient.

3. Tell us a little about your area.

3. Well its super small. And full of houses. Suburbia but it’s a nice place and the people are nice so far. It feels like a Utah ward with just more nonmembers in the area.

4. Did you watch all of Conference? Where did you watch it?

4. Yes in the stake center.

5. It looks from you pictures last week that you did the baptism of Eric. That's cool! And were you guys driving a tractor, or just pretending?

5. Yup! And just pretending. Haha it’s for sure against the rules to drive it.

Well this week was crazy. We swept in and have been trying to get the area and the zone figured out so it’s been a lot of work and a lot of phone calls. I was sad to leave Idaho but this place will be fine. I’ll just pray to go back one day.

There really isn’t too much to update on. We are in North Spokane and have a ward with like 500 members. Not all are active but there sure is a lot. It’s different being a zone leader. I feel like I have a lot of different work to do here. But I look forward to working with more people and making more friends.

General Conference was a blast and just what I needed to get through the week.

When we first got here we found out there was a guy who is 88 and blind and mostly deaf that is getting baptized on the 7^th. So we have been working that out and trying to get stuff figured out but that will go good. We see missionaries a lot more now that we are super close to them. We share a car and it’s just really different than where I was before. But things will get worked out.

Thanks for your updates! Love you –

Elder St. John