A Clean Apartment

Elder Pua from MTC District

Service at Another Church/School

Hello everyone!

 

My District

Clean Apartment

Well this week was interesting as we were busy with a few things. But last Monday we had branch family night which was really fun. We ate lots of food and it was a lot of fun. I remember before my mission that my family would have family home evening in which we played games and learnt more about Jesus Christ and His Gospel. They are so much fun and help build the family relationships. You can find out more about this at lds.org. 

Clean beds

These Receipts - 

White Shirts

 - in the BIN

Emergency Kits

With Chantha and Justin

We cleaned a lot of our apartment this week and I decided to throw out all of my mission receipts. My whole mission my 72 hour emergency kit has been in the apartment, but this week I changed that and put it in the car. We also bought a lot of water to keep in the car since we are in the car so much and travel far. Today we also bought a few cans of food, and we were going to Big 5, We also did some service again at another church, this time we took everything downstairs to their respective classrooms. 

With Sally

Party Outside

Every Saturday for like a month now Chantha and Justin have been taking us to Boston market for dinner! We are getting fed pretty well and now I weigh 150 lbs haha. We were also invited to have dinner with them on Monday and also were invited to a lunch with sister Hang (A lot of people came). 

Party Outside

I am so happy to be on my mission. I have learnt so much and if I had stayed home it would honestly have taken me my whole life  to learn the things I have learnt so far on my mission. I know the church is true, I know that this is God's church because I have asked God through prayer. Prayer is real. Prayer works because God is loving. Even when bad things happen He still loves us and knows us individually and I can feel His love for everyone - even more since I am serving my brothers and sisters. 

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

I love you all and hope that all is well.

Elder Kloosterboer

Getting Back to Basics

Eating Balut (chicken in egg) - what they eat in
the Philippines - my dad had that on his mission
in the Philippines too

We just came back from a district activity - at first we were going to go bowling but then the cost was way higher than we thought, so instead we ate some pizza! 

With 'Grandma Hang'

Balut

We had a zone training and the mission is refocusing on three simple things that we missionaries do. In fact we have so much to do that we don't know what to do first. SO our mission is focusing on the basics again, which is to Find, Teach and Baptize. 

We went to visit a lot of members who haven't been to church for a few years. One of them is named Peng. He is trying to change his life. We had been trying to contact his dad for a while now - whenever we came they would look through the window and never open the door. But a few weeks ago we ran into his son, Peng. 

He came to church after we invited him and it was my first time on my mission to see someone come back to church after we invited them! I felt so much joy! We also taught Sierra on Sunday. We decided to teach her about the plan of salvation. My sister had sent me a card with a diagram of the plan of Salvation on it which we used. It was a good lesson in which we shared more about the lesson. 

P-Day Miles

mmm pizza

Outside of the church

On Saturday we were on exchanges. We went to visit a few less active members and we talked to a lot of people that day! One of the people we visited didn't speak much English, so later we asked an active member if he could call her and set up an appointment. So we will see her this week with that member who can translate for us :-) We also visited another less active member who invited us in. We taught him about the blessings of keeping the Word Of Wisdom and taught him how to pray properly. That is what we do as missionaries a lot, trying to bring back people who have already make covenants, or promises, with God. 

Golden Sunset over Oakland and San Fran

I know the church is true. I have experienced it and invite you to do the same. The gospel has brought me a lot of joy and I find so much happiness as I try to live as Jesus showed us. We can follow him by entering the waters of baptism and being baptized by someone who holds the priesthood authority from God. (Just as John the Baptist) If we do that, we can have eternal life and find the most joy in life. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen! 

Elder Kloosterboer

Tetris with Furniture

Bananas!!

Mapping out the members and onto the GPS too

Hello everyone,

Will it ever stop? That took a LONG time

I hope that you all had a good week? Over this end it was pretty good! We did a lot of work this week especially on our map and we also tried to execute an idea my companion had for mothers day. 

 We tried to put all of our former investigators on the map along with numbers. This would make it easier for us when we are looking through our records in our area book.

Inside one of the Mothers Day cards

(We see a number and locate it easily on the map due to a north to south numbering system) We numbered them with only odd numbers, this allows space for new former investigators to be put on the map. Because of how successful this whole map system is, Elder Yu who was my last companion also made a map for his new area. While we have been using this map system we have saved many hours already and have come to know the area super well! And it helps with special projects like an idea that Elder Caleja came up with this last week.

Mothers Day cards

Elder Caleja had an idea for us to make mothers day cards for all the women in our branch! We went and bought the materials and tried to make as many as we could. While my companion was writing the notes I decided to fold them and put a sticker on them to seal them - at the same time I added their address into the GPS itinerary route planning. It took us way longer than we had thought but we were able to stick a few of them on our members doors. It made us feel great and it was a very good way to let people know that we care about them.  

- and after

Fentons Ice cream - before

Party food

Our members here love us and are feeding us lots! heehehe :-) We went to Fentons ice cream place and had a lot of other good food this week! (Fentons is in the movie "UP") That is one thing that is so great about being a missionary, we don't worry about food, bills or much else. All we need to focus on is helping people come closer to Christ. 

Helping with moving

We were blessed to be able to help out with a few service projects one of which we helped a non member woman move.

In the moving van

Elder Mizobuchi was really good at tetris with all the boxes! It was a lot of fun - this is what a mission is about, service and being able to have fun while doing good!

Language study

At the end she asked us why we were so kind to each other and so peaceful, well it is the message we share - that there is hope in life and that it is because of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ - that is why we act the way we do. It was good to answer some of her questions and to also talk to her friend who was visiting from another state who decided to help too. She was of another faith, it was nice to be able to build new friendships. 

Moving furniture in a Church/ School

Us and 7 other elders helped out a church/school - we moved all of their classroom furniture to an upstairs classroom. It was a lot of work and again, we tried to play tetris (Since we can't play it on electronic devices we have to make do with furniture). 

Preparing to Skype home 

Skyping with family

 So we had a really fun week, but what made it even more fulfilling was to be able to see my family on Skype! A member kindly let us use their laptop to Skype home! It is good to see them all and to talk with them again. Till next time! Christmas time - a week before I go home lol. 

I love this gospel, it is just the best. I recently read an article addressed to those who are not members of the church. If you get a few minutes you can listen or read this or watch it. I know that many people are searching for more light, sometimes it feels like we are missing something in our lives - sometimes we feel like we had it, but now it is gone.

I know that the gospel is meant to be there. I know that the gospel is the only way that we can find and have everlasting peace and happiness. I know that it is because of a loving Heavenly father that Jesus Christ came to earth so that we can all live. I know that He wants us to follow him and I know this is His church restored again onto this earth in these latter days. I know these things because of the confirming witness from the Spirit. I know that you too can receive this witness for yourself and that if we do what He asks of us that we will be the most happy we can be. I invite you to listen to our message, what harm can it do? 

I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

I love you all! Have a great week! 

- Elder Kloosterboer

Show Faith - We can't just sit in a room waiting for someone else to turn on the light!

Cotton Candy - Candy Floss

Hello everyone :-)

Every week I get on here and I always feel so much more accomplished when I finish this email. It is a pleasure to be able to share the gospel, and being able to show you all what I do on my mission is a lot of fun! Thank you all for the support and prayers - they really do give extra strength. I hope you enjoy the blog! 

This week was fun! We had a branch family night where we had a message about how different people see different things. We ate a lot of food afterwards which is always nice - especially since we are missionaries the members take really good take of ourselves. 

Bunthorn at Branch family Night

Tracting

Branch Family night

A Bear!

During the day time we try to do service or we try to visit as many people as we can. Recently we have been driving to less active members homes and then we would go walk around a few blocks and talk to as many people as we can! We are trying to find more service to do during the day time as people are not always home during those hours before 5. I love service. I saw this small clip about a few youth doing a 72 hours service challenge. It went viral so you may have seen it, but here is the link. I really like the last quote, "As we lose ourselves in the service of others we discover our own lives and our own happiness." This is the way to find happiness. It is also a perfect way to follow our Saviour and Redeemer. 

Ready for the day - Leaving Apartment 

We went to Concord and Pittsburgh where we tried to visit some people over there, and Tyler came out with us - he is a member. His dad left when we picked him up and we only just found out on Sunday that we were supposed to wait for his dad to come back after we had finished as he was going to take us out to dinner lol. But that is okay as we went to Hometown Buffet. A member who was there was going to pay for us but we were too fast and had just already paid. I am so impressed to see how willing members are - from anywhere - whether we serve in their congregation or not - are still willing to pay for us. 

Making Additional Maps

We also made a few extra maps so now we have every member plotted on a map. We have all the members numbered  (over a hundred) and now we feel it effective to number the blue dots - who are the former investigators. 

Grandma Hang

We went to another party this week and I took a picture of "Grandma Hang" She is 85 and still is super healthy. Most of the members of our branch are related to her.

Just finished Exchanges - I was with Elder Castleberry

Well not much more to say, but I love that we get to study the gospel so much! Every day we study one hour by ourselves and then another hour we study together and prepare for the day. (If you are new you would have another hour to study with each other. We also have one hour of language study.)  I love it. It is one way that we can gain personal Revelation - which is how He can communicate with us! We have to show Him that faith. We can't just sit in a room waiting for someone else to turn on the light. 

Ice Cream Bun

I know that God cares for each one of us and that he knows us. He even knows us better than we know ourselves. He is always ready for us to come to Him and for us to follow Him. That is how we find everlasting happiness. Money can't do that. In fact nothing on this world can except the gospel of Jesus Christ. A person that Elder Caleja taught nearly 2 years ago was about to come back to church, but then he slipped. Here we are nearly two years later. He is still having many struggles in his personal life, but we know that God still knows him and that we are not giving up on him. Why? It is because we can feel God's love for him and we know that if we have faith in Jesus Christ that we can overcome anything. I have seen it and I know it is true. The most discouraging thing is when people won't accept the gospel. I really don't understand it. It is way better and stronger than anything in the world can ever offer. But just like the sons of Mosiah, who were depressed when they were on their missions God gave them comfort and told them to go back and preach more. Why would God let the sons of Mosiah go back after them feeling so depressed that not many people would accept their message? It is because God loves us and it is His gospel. Even though we make mistakes He still loves us! 

Fun, lol

We all knew before we came to earth that we would sin, but we can still make it back home to live with God again. I know it - if we will just follow Him by being baptized and follow his example. I also know this is the fullness of the gospel. It is the truth. I know it is because I have read the Book of Mormon which is another testament of Jesus Christ and goes hand in hand with the Bible. I would like to invite you all to pray to know if these things are true - EVEN if you are already a member. Moroni's promise can be tested again and again. His promise invites us to read the Book of Mormon and then to pray to God to ask him if what it says is true or not. Then if we have a sincere heart, and having real intent, meaning we will act on our answer and if we have faith, God will answer our prayer. I know these things are true, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

I love you all! 

- Elder Kloosterboer