Monday, January 29, 2018

Monday January 29, 2018 Pullman, WA

1. Do you have a picture of your new phone you can send us?
1. Yes I will send them.

2. Can you tell us what you get to use your phone for?
2. So at the moment we don’t use them for too much. We are working on putting the whole area book into a digital format, so we have to put every record ever in our area in by hand. That is taking forever but that’s the first step. Next we can do most everything a normal smart phone can. We can have skype lessons and show videos and other random stuff like that. We’re still figuring things out though.

3. Did your companion ever get his phone?
3. Yes both of my comps have them now.

4. When are your next transfers?
4. Transfers are this week! We got the email today that all 3 of us are staying! Woo!!

This week has been good. We have been workin our tails off to try and find a new investigator in the Sunnyside ward and for the last 3 months we have had nothing. So this last Sunday we decided to fast to find someone and we saw a miracle! We had a member call us on Thursday and told us she had found us somebody to teach! He is a 17 year old kid named Jay and he has a ton of questions but he has awesome members that are helping him along. I hope he will start to progress and that we will see more miracles in Sunnyside ward.

Besides that there hasn’t been too much going on this week. Our investigator Jesse hit a rough patch at work and stuff so there will be a couple hurdles to jump over in the near future but we will make it happen.

Well love you all. Hope you have a good week!

-Elder St. John







Monday, January 22, 2018

Monday January 22, 2018 Pullman, WA

Hey mom.

1. What was the most inspiring thing about your week? A meeting, something in your studies, teaching someone, etc.
1. Well, seeing our investigator Jesse progress and to teach him was probably the best part of the week. He’s close.

2. What was the best thing you ate this week?
2. Hmm. Well we had one of our Bishop’s wife take us out for dinner to this amazing Japanese place called Fujiama's. It was way good. 

3. What are your thoughts about the announcing of the prophet's counselors? 
3. I thought it was good.

This week has been really good. There has been a lot of work done. We had some powerful lessons especially with our investigator Jesse. He has really opened up this last week. He brought up some of the concerns he has. He has an amazing member that is being his friend and helping him along. He has come to church 2 times now so that is fantastic.

We ate with the Tollman’s yesterday. That’s the family with the girl that we baptized and they were planning on feeding us buffalo tongue but they couldn't find one in Pullman so we just had roast.

Also this week we went on exchanges with both district leaders in the zone. It went really well. We were able to help out some struggling missionaries and give some useful feedback on how to help the situations they’re in.

Besides that, it’s been just a good hard working week. One thought I had was how smooth a transition in the church leadership is. Countries including our own have huge mass chaos when leadership changes but in the Lord’s kingdom it is seamless and has no disputations. It’s really a sight to see. It’s been a good week and I’m excited to see where the work takes us this week. 

I’m glad you had fun at Disneyland. It sounds like it was a blast. I did realize this week how much I would rather be out here working than being at Disneyland. Not that it wouldn't be fun or not that I don’t like spending time with you guys, but I love serving and I wouldn't have been able to help the people I helped here if I was somewhere else. I’m right where God needs me.

Well I love you! Have a good week!
-Elder St. John


 I'm determined this is my new car.

Monday January 15, 2018 Pullman, WA

Hi!
1. You sent pictures of a Toyota truck that looked like you were at a dealership? What were you doing?
1. Yeah so we went in for an oil change and that Tacoma was there. It’s a special trd pro model there is only 3 in the United States right now. Pretty cool truck.

2. Missy Webster called and said you knocked on the door of one of her good friends - what's that story?
2. Yeah we were tracting a street and knocked on a members door and his last name is Hjorth and so I was like there is no way he doesn't know someone in Spanish Fork. So he is related to the Hjorth’s in our ward and he was also friends with the Webster's. So it was pretty cool.

3. Did you get to meet with the St. Clare's this week? Any update there?
3. Not this week. But hopefully we will meet with them next week

4. Do you get to eat dinner with the members every day? Once a week? More?
4. We eat with members about 5 times a week. 

Well this week was good. We had zone conference in Lewiston on Tuesday and that was not anything special. But we got an investigator named Jesse to came to church this week so that was awesome. Hopefully he will start to progress quicker.

My companion still doesn't have his phone so things are going to be interesting for a while.  Well there's nothing really exciting that happened besides that.

Love you guys hope you have fun in Disneyland while I'm out here working hard serving the Lord, far away from California, alone with my companions, not on vacation.
-Elder St. John

PS. I did get a phone case and screen protector. So it's all taken care of.


Friday, January 12, 2018

Monday January 8, 2018 Pullman, WA

Hello!

1. How did your training go for your phones? Give us some details on what you get to use them for and stuff like what carrier do they have you on?
And now I'm afraid that when you come home we'll have to pay extra to "unlock" your phone so you can use it at home.

1. It went well. I’ll give a better update down below and hopefully answer some of the questions you have.

2. Were your companions and you all healthy this week and able to work?

2. Yes, there is a missionary we live with that has been sick for over a week but he’s better now. We are all healthy. My secret is still the same (Simply orange juice) and this thing called emergen-c! If you haven’t seen it it’s the best thing ever and you should try it. It works miracles.

So this week was an adventure. We worked and tried our best. We started out our week with having dinner with our investigators the St. Clare’s and that was a blast. Our companion Elder Roberts definitely keeps us on our toes though. He does some funny things pretty often. We got to set up a lot of things with the people we haven't met with recently. Now that Christmas break is done things will hopefully pick up and start rolling.

On Friday, we went to mlc and got trained on our phone. It was very interesting because the company that the church goes through to order phones from their website really dropped the ball and broke a bunch of the phones in shipping so they didn’t send out a big majority of the order that our mission made. Most of the missionaries didn’t get their phones. Mostly just the ones that ordered it through someone else. So yes, I got my phone.

We watched like 4hrs of training videos that were really long and mostly just talked about how we need to stay focused on our purpose and not be distracted by the devices we have. Which is really good. I’m excited to be able to develop good habits with technology rather than the bad ones I had before. I think that’s something every teenager needs to do is to be put in an environment where they can make new good habits with phones. It will be a great blessing. We watched those videos and then they explained that we will mostly be using the phones this month to put all of our paper records into the digital area book app that they have.

The carrier is through AT&T but the thing is, is that the phone we got is already unlocked so there would be no need to unlock it when I come home. They will just give me a sim card and that would be all that needs to happen. So no worries there. If there are more questions I can ask about them. The cool thing is is that we could put a sim card in for any phone company and it would work. That’s why they needed it unlocked.

Besides that, there hasn’t been too many things we have been trained on yet. We will get the second round of training next month and that will be mostly about what we can do with it now. Like proselyting purposes. But there is a lot of freedom with it. Well that’s about all I’ve got this week.

We have Zone Conference tomorrow in Lewiston! That will be the first time I’ve been back there since I left Kamiah. Well I love you all and hope you have a great week!


-Elder St. John





 Mission Leadership Council

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Monday January 1, 2018 Pullman, WA

Hi

1. Looking back a couple of weeks - where did you get your Michael Jordan t shirt?
1. That isn’t mine - we just borrowed it from some other missionaries

2. Your pictures you sent us last week are interesting. Did you perhaps take any of you opening Christmas presents, or when you decorated your sugar cookies?
2. Maybe.

3. How has the work been this week? Are a lot of people gone for Christmas break?
3. Slow and different. Lots of people sick.

4. (We found out on Christmas Day that Elder St. John’s mission has been approved to be a “smartphone” mission. We “got” to purchase him a phone and send it to the mission office this week. Merry late Christmas Colten!)

Do you have some meeting/training this week for your phones? We're very curious to see how they have this set up for you missionaries. Give us some details, k?
4. Yes, we have mlc on Friday and we will get trained there. I’ll have to update you better next week.

Well there’s not too much to say this week either so I’m sorry if this is short. We have had lots of sick people here in Pullman. Sick companion…sick other missionaries so it’s been slow slow slow. But we still managed to find a new investigator whose name is Kelly.

This week we will meet on Friday to discuss and get trained on our new smart phones. By the way thank you so much for getting the phone thing figured out for me! You’re the best! 

Love ya! Elder St. John
New Year's Day FHE & dessert
(We're sure thankful for all the pictures we get texted to us while Elder St. John serves in this area!)

Tuesday December 26, 2017 Pullman, WA

We were able to talk with Elder St. John for about an hour on Christmas Day. He and his companions had been well taken care of. They had been somewhere in the morning for breakfast and that family gave the missionaries Legos for Christmas! They ate lunch with another family and were at yet a 3rd family for dinner and Skyping with their families. 

Colten is happy, healthy, looking great and loving being a missionary!
Christmas Eve





Monday December 18, 2017 Pullman, WA

1. We received a couple pictures this week from people. One was from some sort of Christmassy looking missionary lunch. Where were you? And it looked like maybe it was your zone and a senior missionary couple made you lunch? Fill us in.
1. Yeah, I’ve been to a lot of stuff this week. I think the first one was our district meeting and we had a senior couple feed us. It was a blast. 

2. Another picture was from Kunza's baptism! That's very exciting. Can you tell us more about her? How old is she? What is her family situation (are they members)? Who baptized her?
2. Yeah, I will fill you in down below.

3. Looks like you also had a ward party! Do you and your companion always wear matching ties? How was the party? 
3. Yes two of them! They were very fun. We like to match as much as possible. It’s kinda funny. 

4. Do you have any pictures of your Christmas set up in your apartment?
4. Ummm maybe. I sent a letter home today with some stuff in it. You will like it. That might help fill your picture craving a little.

5. Did you get our package this week?
5.Yes! You are the best! I love the pj's and I can’t wait to open the presents. Also, the cookies were exactly what I needed for the season!

6.  What time will you be calling us on Christmas Day???!!!
6. So the plan is to have Christmas dinner with the Glovers from 5-7 our time. So, we will have them call you/text you or something to let you know the exact time. But around then is when we are planning.

This week has been a little slower but still good. We had Kunza's baptism on Saturday and that was great! The ward really took charge and did an awesome job at planning and getting everything ready for it. It was the easiest baptism I have ever attended on my mission. The only thing we had to do was be there and fill the font. It was great! Her family are all nonmembers except her dad who has not been active for 30+ years. So, this has been a great change for their family. They have really seen the blessings come from it. I hope the rest of their hearts will be softened soon and they will want to join as well. Kunza is 12 years old and is so cool! Her Uncle from Moses Lake baptized her. Everything went smooth except the water was GREEN! Like what the heck! But it was all good.

We got transfer calls today and my companion and I will be staying! Yah! But there are some changes. We will be getting a third companion! Cool right?! His name is Elder Roberts and he has very high functioning autism. So, we will be having him with us in my first trypanionship! It will be a blast! There are also some changes in the wards we serve in, in who covers what wards but we will figure it out later.

Well I love ya and hope you have a great week leading up to Christmas! Love you!


-Elder St. John




Monday December 11, 2017 Pullman, WA

Hey mom!

1. How cold has it been for you this week?
1. It’s been like 20's and 30's but no snow.

2. Do you know where you get to call us from on Christmas?
2. Yes from some members in the ward named the Glovers.

3. Do you still use your little grill? How about your pull up bar?
3. Yes, and yes!

4. Did you get to go back to the St. Clair house this week?
4. Not yet. They are out of town for the holidays

5. Did you get to listen to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional last Sunday?
5. Yes, it was really good.

This week was good. We had zone conference on Wednesday and that was a ton of work and a lot of prep. But it was really good and I learned a ton.

There isn’t much to update on but that we had a normal work week with not too many distractions. And I really have no exciting news or stories.

The work will push forward and we will continue to teach and find. We had a ward Christmas party on Saturday and that was fun. We had a great time meeting the members and such.

This week will be good and we will work hard.

Well I hope you all have a great week and have the spirit with you.

-Elder St. John

P.S. I got the package with the stocking and stuff. And the Christmas tree! Thank you so much.