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.

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