Puyallup--April 6, 2015

Dearest family,

It's so good to hear from you. Thank you for sending a package mom. I'm sure I'll get it tomorrow at zone conference. I can try and look for the camera charger cord today when we go shopping. If I can't find one, I'll send you the information on the charger unit. Then you can see pictures of Puyallup, WA. And me of course!

Please pray for "J". He got caught with illegal marijuana possession and is in jail for a couple of days. He wasn't able to watch General Conference because of it. There are still some things that we need to teach him, but needless to say he won't be getting baptized anytime soon. Missionaries actually go to the Stake Center to watch Conference. Our mission president allowed us to watch in a member's home if we had an investigator with us, but we didn't have any investigators watch conference with us. 

There are a lot of competing priorities in this world. I have heard people here say they like watching TV evangelists because it's so much more convenient and that way they can wash their cars on Sunday without having to miss church!!! What??! Satan is really good at getting people distracted. I heard that from a couple we contacted yesterday. We asked them what they did to celebrate Easter and they said, "washed our cars." There's a lot of work to be done. 

Jessica, I'm glad you realize the importance of the Savior. I've been trying my hardest to teach our investigators the importance of the Savior. It's really cool to see how the restored gospel increases faith in Christ more than anything else. No matter if you're already Christian or not, the gospel does more to strengthen faith in Christ than anything else. I love you very much.

Aaron I love you too! I did enjoy conference. My favorite talk was Elder Oaks' talk on the parable of the sower. It reminded me of the importance to stay focused in Sacrament meeting. If we don't use that sacred time, we can't receive the promised blessings. What was your favorite talk?

Sarah, I'm excited to see you too! I miss your faces! I'm also really excited for Mother's Day. I love you so much.

I hope you all have a good week!

Love,

Elder Herbert

Puyallup---March 23, 2015

Dear family,

I am so happy to hear from you. It's good to hear words of encouragement and love from all of you. Mom, thanks for sending the picture of Grandma and Grandpa's wedding! I'm going to look for a camera chord that can fit so I can send you pictures as well. I found my wallet, after I got everything replaced... Oh well. I'm glad I found it! 

This week has been another miraculous week. It's becoming the norm. Elder Hamula of the Seventy taught us to exercise enough faith to expect miracles. I have seen it impact the way I think about the Lord's work, because it really is His alone. He could do it without us, but I'm grateful he lets us play a part. 

This week, while on exchanges, "J C" accepted a baptismal date!! We also found one new investigator named "M", and she said we could come back on April 6. We also found an incredible potential investigator named "S". We contacted her right outside on her doorstep and she was excited to have us come back. We invited her to church on Sunday and told us that her husband would also be interested in having discussions with us. They weren't able to attend this Sunday, but we stopped by yesterday evening and they let us in for a glass of water! They are hands down the nicest couple I've met on my mission. 

I was so excited when "J" accepted the invitation to be baptized. He's such a good kid. We're going to focus more on seeking to learn by faith and searching for truth on his own. In James 1:22-24 it states, "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was."

I know that as we LIVE the gospel of Jesus Christ, by exercising faith unto repentance, everyday of our lives, we can know and understand the doctrine. What is one thing you can do to apply what you know? If you know that Jesus Christ lives today, what are you going to do because of it? 

I love you all very much and I look forward to talking with you on Mother's Day. 

Love,

Elder Herbert 

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.

Puyallup--February 23, 2015

Dear family,

I am so grateful for all you do. I am finishing up the last week of this transfer. Elder Brown is going home to Arizona next Monday. We've had a really fun but challenging time together. Everyday we've been exhausted. We have both been struggling to talk with everyone. It's really hard because the people here are more well to do than the people in my last area. They are more set in their ways and they aren't looking to change. However, there are a few people here and there that will allow us to come back. We need to mostly find people to teach through the members. 

We had a lesson with the "J"'s yesterday. They are having a hard time making scripture study and prayer a priority because their lives are super busy. They have a six year old boy and a four year old boy and a baby that'll be here within the week. They know they need to get baptized, but they are afraid to make the commitment, because they see the gospel as a list of more things to accomplish. They know that our church is a big commitment. They said it's like a relationship!

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord. It is hard, but it is worth it. I love seeing people make changes in their lives and come closer to Christ! It's a struggle to get the work moving, and I'm afraid that I'll be taking over this area when Elder Brown leaves, but I'm learning to rely wholly upon the Lord. I know we can cast our doubts and fears on the Lord and He can help us move forward. 

One thing that helps is committing scriptures to memory. I have been attempting to memorize at least one scripture a day. This is one of my favorites, which I memorized last week: "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9)

I love you all.

Talk to you soon,

Elder Herbert