Puyallup--March 16, 2015

Dear family,

I'm so glad to hear from you all! I'm having a wonderful time in the service of the Lord. I'm so grateful to be here, because I know that it's exactly where the Lord wants me to be. It is also such a beautiful place. I love the green, mossy forests, and rolling hills. It makes it challenging on bike. But lots of fun too! The members in this ward are wonderful. There are many who understand their roles as member missionaries just like you do. I'm so proud of you all sharing the gospel with friends and family. Jessica, I'm glad you had the opportunity to teach. I knew you would be good at anything you put your mind to. Think about how you could use that skill in the future. Maybe you can go and serve a mission as well and bring a lot of people to know the truth. I promise you it would be worth your time. I could really see you grow and develop as a sister missionary. Aaron, I'm glad you are excited to start High School. Really think about what you could do to prepare for a mission as well. It will be your most important priesthood duty besides being a husband and father. It has been difficult, no doubt, but it has helped me grow in ways I never thought I could. Mom, I actually enjoy cleaning my apartment now and it frustrates me when stuff is cluttered all over the place. Dad, I now see the value of setting and achieving worthwhile goals. Once I learned the Lord wants us to measure our progress and set goals to do better, I started thinking about how I could do it. Sarah, I'm glad you are enjoying school and friends. I hope your Lego League competition goes well. And I'll give you the same counsel I gave Jessica and Aaron. I want you to think about serving a mission in the future.

I was thinking about how to recharge the camera battery, because I lost the cord that goes with the camera charger box. Should I buy another camera charger when I get my new card? I would love to take more pictures and send them to you, but my battery is dead. :(  I'll find a way to do it. I also look forward to Mother's Day. Thank you for all that you do for me. 

Love,

Elder Herbert

Puyallup--March 9, 2015

Dear family,

Thank you for your concern [about his wallet]. It's nothing compared to Elder Tyler Merritt's mission. He has to worry about thieves breaking in to the mission office. He even had to come up with and present a security proposal at zone conference!! It's happened three times already. How crazy is that?! Anyways, things are going well in Puyallup. My new companion is Elder Graham from Roosevelt, UT. He is a great guy and he loves to sing! We have been focusing as a mission on doing things by the Spirit, and in the Lord's way. For example, finding, teaching, planning, etc. Right now, we are focusing really hard on finding, and President Eaton told us that we're going to have to be creative in how we do it. His counsel to us was also to spend a lot more time street contacting and also to knock on a couple of doors when we go to an appointment. The "J"'s just had their baby, and they won't be able to meet for a couple of weeks. We are still trying to teach "I" and "R", but they keep cancelling our appointments. We are planning on seeing "F" and "T" soon as well. The sisters are also handing us two investigator's that just moved in to our complex. Their names are "S S" and "G B". They are waiting for their family to come up before they get married. 

Thank you mom for the CD's. I love them. I'm glad you were able to go to the temple! That is really neat. How do you like the rededicated Ogden temple? I remember the open house. It is beautiful. Jessica, it sounds like you had a lot of fun. I can't believe you payed $3 to ride a bike taxi. You'll love The Great Gatsby. It's a wonderful story. Aaron, I'm pleased to hear that you are using my old clothes. Sarah, I'm glad that you had fun arranging your room and going to Sky trampoline park. 

Love to all,

Elder Herbert

Puyallup--March 3, 2015

Dear family,

I'm excited to be here another transfer in the Manorwood ward! I had a great time with Elder Brown. My new companion is Elder Graham. I'm going to meet him in a few hours. We have been working really well with the members. I'm excited about how enthusiastic the members are with sharing the gospel. Some of them have a lot of fears, but they have conquered their fears and invited friends to meet with the missionaries. Nothing too eventful happened in my area, but for the last couple of days, I spent my time with the Zone Leaders in the South Hill ward. It was an incredible experience. They got really excited because we met an inactive member named "L C". Sister "C" is full-blooded Native American! She has two children, "K" who is 8, and "M" who is 10. We were explaining what scriptures were to her little kids, and she said it was like the Native American stories, except written down. In her culture, they have oral stories that are passed from one generation to another. They are symbolized with pictures and totems, but they are only depicted for reminders. They have to remember the actual story. Some of the stories they tell are only told at certain times of the year. It was incredible. I love Native American culture. I hope all is well, and I'm excited to tell you how things go next week.

Love,

Elder Herbert

Bonus letter---February 24, 2015

Elder Herbert wrote us a bonus letter this week...Click on the image to view it larger.