Puyallup-January 27, 2015

Dear family,

 

I have a limited-use guest pass, so I have to be quick. I am so glad to hear from you. This week has been great! The members of the Manorwood ward are incredible! We get fed dinner every night, and they always are talking to their neighbors about the gospel. I'm so excited to see grandma and grandpa's ethnic make-up. That's cool! Thank you mom for sending the temple card. I hope I get it before the temple trip too! Thanks for all that you do. Elder Brown is a great missionary. We committed to our district leaders that we would invite at least one person from each place on p-day to meet with missionaries. So, wish me luck!

 

Love,

 

Elder Herbert

Puyallup-January 20, 2015

Dear family,

 

I'm sorry I wasn't able to e-mail you yesterday. Today is transfers, so they always have preparation day on transfer day. I want to tell you I got moved to the Manorwood ward in the Puyallup South Stake. It's a small bike area, so I'll need to get a bike. I guess I'll figure that out today. My companion's name is Elder Brown. Yesterday was the last day I got to see the Seattle skyline. I probably won't see it again until the end of my mission. I really hope you all get to come out here and meet the people I've met. I'm really excited to serve in this new area. It's more of a family area and there are a lot more active families. I'll tell you all about it next week.

 

I'll probably be going to the temple in the next couple of weeks. Thank you for helping me out mom! I know how important it is to bring our own ancestors to the temple. I hope you all feel the love and joy in sharing the gospel like I have. Please share your experiences with the missionaries in our ward and opportunities that you've had to share the gospel.

 

I love you all and wish you the best!

 

Love,

 

Elder Herbert

I just found out that my temple trip is going to be on February 3rd. I love you all and hope to hear from you soon!

Renton--January 12, 2015

Dear family,

I am so excited to see what this new year brings. I have already seen a lot of good come out of this first week of the year. We found an amazing woman this last week. Her name is "C". Her father fell away from the church at a young age, so she never was baptized. But she started having incredible spiritual experiences that helped her to know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and the Book of Mormon was true. She told us that she is ready to make changes in her life and get baptized. She's even ready to give up drinking wine and coffee! She also accepted a date. We are also excited to have a family that may be interested in the missionary lessons. We are struggling to find families to teach. The other elders in our ward just baptized the "A" family. They are a Filipino family that they contacted on the street. A mother and two daughters just got baptized on Saturday and confirmed Sunday. Their names are "E" (the mom), "S", and "M". One of the daughters, "R" is getting ready for baptism in a couple of weeks. Another one of the members in our ward (he wouldn't tell me his name) told us he was going to invite us and some friends of his to dinner this week. One is a Swiss German lady with a really thick accent. I didn't know this, but in Issaquah, Washington there are a lot of Swiss Alpine villages and lots of German people. Issaquah is in the Seattle mission though!

The other elders serve from Henderson street in Rainier Beach north to I-90 in Seattle. We serve from Henderson Street south to 21st street in Renton. Our areas are both densely populated, but I think the other set of elders have a little bit more.

Sarah, I'm glad you are excited about missionary work. It really is the most rewarding thing you can do. To help someone else come closer to Christ and receive salvation is a noble calling. I love every minute of it. No, missionaries don't pay tithing. But we can hug over e-mail.

Mom, I am so excited that you were called as a family history consultant. How cool! I would love for you to help me find a name to submit when I go to the temple. I am going to try and use ancestry.com to try and find a missing link in our family tree.

I love you all.

Love,

Elder Herbert

Renton--January 5, 2015

Dear family,

 

Now is the time to be more bold and loving in proclaiming the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There really is only one way to return and live with God. We know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as restored through the prophet Joseph Smith, is the only true and correct church on the face of the earth. Continue to testify of that truth.

 

Jessica, the weather in Washington is cold and rainy. It's always cloudy! It hardly ever snows. If it snows, people leave their cars in the middle of the road and walk! It's really funny. But it only snowed once so far. Aaron, it's ok I have the pretzel recipe and I'm actually making some tonight.

 

Elder Bennett and I had a really rough week. We didn't find any new investigators, and "M H", our best investigator got sick with strep throat. All our appointments cancelled on us, and people were very rude. But, we are following the advice of President Eaton and trying to find and teach families. Families like the "M"s. If we teach people the importance of families in God's plan, I know we will be able to find people to teach. It just takes lots of time and perseverance.

 

SOOO many people get offended when you boldly proclaim the truth. But I know it's because the guilty take the truth to be hard. It gets really frustrating, but sometimes you just have to keep trudging along. 

 

It's a good thing I know what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. I love you all and wish you the best.

 

With love,

 

Elder Herbert 

Talking with Elder Herbert on Christmas Day

Joy of all joys! We got to talk to our Elder Herbert on Christmas Day. He sounds great and looks so radiant. We can tell he loves what he is doing. He loves the people and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Renton--December 29, 2014

Dear family,

 

I had an incredible time skyping with you! It was good to see all of you. I was so happy to see grandma and grandpa and Danny as well. We are having a good time in Washington. I would love for you all to come to Seattle with me and party it up! We should definitely vacation here after my mission. It really is a wonderful place and I would love for you to meet the people I have met. Sarah, I love the candy. Jessica, I know you will come up here someday and it is really fun. The most fun about it is the people we get to help teach the gospel. I know that we are making the most important difference in their lives. I am so happy for "E" and the decision she's made. I'm grateful for her example in living the gospel. She asked us for a tithing slip a couple days ago! She loves paying tithing!

 

We have an investigator, "M", that hopefully is close to a baptismal date. She is good friends now with a ward member, Sister "K". I hope she'll be able to come to church this Sunday. She couldn't make it down this Sunday. But the other elders in our ward have a family that is getting baptized in a couple of weeks, on January 10. The "A"'s. There are five of them getting baptized. They are Filipino. I just love Filipinio people. They are so humble and fun-loving. They love food and they feed us quite a bit.

 

Well, I love you all and I'll write back soon.

 

Love,

 

Elder Herbert

Renton--December 22, 2014

Dear family,

 

I am so excited to see your faces! I will be skyping you on Christmas around 5 pm Pacific Standard Time. It'll be 6 pm in Utah. I will give you a call on Mom's cell phone around that time to coordinate the skyping session. We have been advised by President Eaton to keep it to 45 minutes. I look forward to seeing your faces and hearing your voices! We are being hosted by the "P" family. They are a less-active family from Cambodia in our ward. They also have a non-member roommate named "J". We hope that this will be a good teaching opportunity. Last Friday, we went over with Bishop White and visited with them before heading home at 9 pm. It was really nice to see them at church. They stayed the full 3 hours too! They are the sweetest family and they have two little boys. They live on Lake Washington in a really spacious home. Their dock is literally 30-50 ft from the patio!  In gospel principles class, I shared my manual with Sister "P". The lesson was on family responsibilities. We talked about why it's important for the parents and children to work together. It reminded me of experiences I've had at home. We also talked about the struggles of raising kids as a single parent.

 

Last night we had dinner with the "M"'s. They are a sweet old couple in our ward. Sister "M" loves company and there were three sets of full-time missionaries, one service missionary, and a handful of others. It was packed! She made what she calls "shipwreck." It's her family's signature dish. It's called shipwreck because it has all the essentials that are needed to survive a shipwreck. It had ground beef, potatoes, kidney beans, and green beans. She always makes jello salad and a ton of dessert. She gave each of us a loaf of pumpkin bread and giant chocolate oatmeal cookies. She certainly loves to cook!

 

We have finally had a lesson with "E" and her friend, "A". Even though "E" was cracking jokes the whole time (the stinker), "A" said that she felt at peace in the chapel. She told us that she feels lost sometimes and wants to know how to be happier in life. We are going to have another lesson with them on Christmas day, right before I get to Skype you. She's going to Alaska with "E" and "J" in January, so Elder Bennett and I want to give her a solid foundation before she leaves for work.

 

I love you all and I'm inspired by your righteous examples.

 

Much love,

 

Elder Herbert