June 30, 2014

  The last email Tracie sent congratulated Kyle for becoming the "NEW" District Leader. We received an email the previous Tuesday (06/23/2014) telling us of his acceptance. We are always proud parents but this past week we were especially proud. Good job Kyle. Tracie talked about our week and how we sent the girls to Texas to spend several days with our old neighbors the Leeks. Tracie asked more questions about college when he returns and when does he want to start because we'd have to enroll him if he plans on starting in January. She also asked if he has ever had to deal with bed bugs. The final question was "How was your week? Don't skimp." Below is his email:

sorry about the email last week :P i didnt have much to say :) i dont go on vacation like you do :P plus im not the only missionary that skimps on emails!! there is a sister in my zone and she didnt even write her parents because she didnt feel like it.. :P but this week has been alright. this week we have done a lot of walking! i hate riding bikes... oh and guess what!!! i saw the sweetest looking bike the other day! and its not a pedal bike...its a motorcycle!!! haha love them!!!!!!! so anyways last week i had my first district meeting! it went pretty well! the elders and sisters i have in my district are pretty freakin awesome!!! i have two sets of spanish! i have the elders and the hermanas and then the zone leaders!! over all a pretty good week! 

so what do you think of coming up to Washington in January?? thats when i would like to come back up :) its gunna be cold but i love the cold!! lemme know what you think!! :) 

 love and miss everyone!!!

                               -Elder Garr

June 15, 2014 (Father's Day)

Tracie talked about the pictures that members forwarded to us via mobil phone on Father's Day. She told him it was awesome that he was able to indirectly wish his dad Happy Father's Day. Tracie talked about waking up and giving dad his gifts. She also let Kyle know that this is the 1st time in 8 years that we haven't gone somewhere for Father's Day weekend. Now for Kyle's email.

glad to hear that things are going pretty well! so funny story!!!!!

    so andrew and averi (the kids elder grandstaff and i baptized in kent) i email them to keep in touch and their mom said that their cat had its kittens and that Averi named one Kyle!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how boss is that!! yup i have a cat named after me :) 

so this week has been pretty good! we have talked with a lot of people! we also had a ward potluck! one of our investigators was able to come to it and also to church! she had a really great time and the members did a really good job of fellow-shipping her!! She is committed for the 12th of July!!!! she is a sweet old lady!! haha her name is betty and she is about 80yrs old!!! she is awesome! we have also been doing a lot of service! for some reason when i get to an area the members and nonmembers all of a sudden need tons of service done! its awesome though because it gets us out of our white shirts and ties and into normal clothes :) plus we get to work with our hands!! 

i love and miss everyone!!!! 

                                            -Elder Garr

Here are the pictures that were sent to us on Father's Day by Sandy and Jex.

June 9, 2014

Tracie started this weeks email off by counting down how much time Kyle has left even after he asked her nicely not to last week. This week Tracie talked about the girls leaving for Girl's Camp and all the extra running around we had to do for nick nacks. Tracie also let Kyle know that Kinlee's driving is getting better. She also let Kyle know that she finally went to the eye doctor and that she needs progressive eye glasses and that she is getting contacts. Tracie has trouble with eyes and currently struggles putting the contacts in and out. Onward to Kyle's email below:

seriously dont count down. at least dont tell it to me. keep the counting down to yourself. 

 so this week has been pretty awesome! we helped this little old lady move and as "payment" she agreed to come to church and learn more and now she is committed for baptism on the 12th of July!! super stoked for that! the area is warming up to my awesomeness :P haha just kidding this area is pretty cool. my comp is chill and we do work! this week we have done a lot of service! lots and lots of it! Elder Andrasko noticed that as soon as i came to the area we started doing all of this service! i love doing service so it works out for me!! so other than that im doing good. i do need another pair of inserts though. these ones are worn out :P and possible some new basketball shorts. im too cheap to go and buy some but i need some new pairs :P love and miss everyone!!

                                           -Elder Garr

Here are some pics that Kyle forwarded to us.
we were doing service at a members and they had a trampoline and so another elder and i were doing backflips on it. and then we were pressure washing the back patio and we spelled Elder Meyer, Jeremy cook (member), and my last names in the junk on the patio :)

June 1, 2014

Tracie started this email off by noted that Kyle had 6 MONTHS LEFT.  She asked how Federal Way was and how his bike was holding up. Tracie also mentioned a party we went to and how she was able to explain what a mormon mission was. She also talked a little bit about what the girls have been up to.

so to start of this email i thought i would mention a couple words of wisdom... are ya ready for it???

no counting down!! :) love ya! 

so federal way is pretty much......not as cool as Kent... haha but im learning to love the area. i keep up with a couple of members from kent via email :) there still doing good. i get a lot of "we want you back in Kent" haha and about my bike.....it is a piece of junk... its nickname is "the mule"... have ya ever ridden a mule??? you get crazy saddle soreness...ya same with my bike!! so we do a lot of walking... so i can totally understand why dad doesn't want to drive with Kinlee. im just like him when it comes to driving. i hate being a passenger. i like to be in control of the car. plus im usually more observant than most of my companions and have almost died with a couple of members because they don't pay attention!! haha so i get where hes comin from :) (dont worry dad i got your back!) 

so those pics of Lexi and kara are freakin awesome!!! i was laughing to hard and i had another Elder laughing pretty hard as well! 

this week has been a lot of trying to get in contact with our investigators and doing lots of service! we helped this old lady move from the 4th floor to the ground floor in her complex... it took forever! we had 2 members from the ward helping and it still took forever! we had to move everything! funny enough i have a drunk person story as well! the second day of helping her move there was a party going on in the lobby of this place (it was an old person complex O.P.K for short) so this lady was turning 72 and her whole family was there and drinking and the only way to get from the 4th to the ground was to go through the party haha needless to say we got some weird looks because of the ways we were moving some of this stuff! for example: we took a blanket and layed it out flat...then we put all of her clothes in this blanket...then we tied this blanket up and placed it on a furniture dolly...then since the blanket covered the dolly we took a golf putter and used that to pull this mass of clothing in a blanket!!! haha it was awesome!!!! 

i love and miss everyone!!!

       -Elder Gar

Here is the picture Kyle was referring to as being "freakin awesome!!!"

Oh the things girls will do when they are bored. They walked around the house mocking boys.

May 27, 2014

It's Memorial Day weekend. This past week was the last week of school for Kyle's sisters. Yaaa, summer is here!!! Lexi is officially in High School. Tracie's email talked about how we celebrated the holiday by going over the the Hawkin's house and a BBQ with the family. We talked about going to Stephen Smith's farewell, who has been called to serve in Honolulu, Hawaii. Here is Kyle's email.

hola!!

ya i get to email today instead!! yesterday the library was closed :P yesterday we did a ton of service and now i am super sore! we moved rock at a members and took down some huge branches and then cut them into small fire wood pieces! then after that we went to one of our investigators houses and helped him out with some yard work which included me taking a sledge hammer and breaking up concrete slabs to lay down for traction for his tractor :) my arms are sore today haha. we called the hammer Thor's Hammer. and he nicknamed me Thor because the hammer was huge and i was the only one that could use it haha!! it was tons of fun! other than that we went and saw some people. did more service. went and tried to see a couple of potentials. did some more service. then taught some of our investigators! 

 we did get invited to a BBQ :) it was pretty good! my new comp is pretty chill. hes not elder holtry and were not in kent :P but he is cool. the new apartment is pretty boss. its in a nice complex :) 

 i didnt get the package yet. but our zone leaders are going to the mission office today and thats where it will be and then they will bring it to district meeting tomorrow! so thats when i should get it :) i love and miss everyone! 

ps could you send me one more pair of those sole inserts for my shoes. they last about 6 months before just becoming totally flat. and my 6 months in these ones are up :P other than that im doing good :) 

       -Elder Garr

May 19, 2014

Well, the last post mentioned that Kyle wasn't being transfer. However, we learned a day later through a member that he was. So in Tracie's email to Kyle she asked him if he really was transferred and if so why? Tracie also let Kyle know that one of his best friends older brother (Blake D) was engaged. That was about it for our email. Below is Kyle's email:

hola!!

ya i got emergency transfered. the elder that they originally assigned to this area in Federal Way couldnt ride a bike and this ward is a bike area. so they took me outta kent and put me in federal way :( Kent was probably my most favorite area that ive been in so far on my mission. it will be the area that i will spend the most time in when i come back to visit! i loved the members there. im having a hard time adjusting to the area just because it was such short notice and the ward isnt like the Kent ward i was in. i have some adapting to do!! my new companion is Elder Andrasko. he is from Oklahoma. hes pretty chill. we did service for some nonmembers and they accepted a book of mormon and said they would read it!! the only bad thing is that the service we were doing was moving furniture because they are moving :P lame sause! haha but things here are pretty blan. we have a couple of investigators but i have only met one of them and they are now out of town. i dont really have much to say because i have been here in the area for about 4 days now.. next week i will have more to say!! i love and miss everyone!!!

                  -Elder Garr

Here are some more pics Kyle sent to us.

the first one is of Jacob Crossan and I. He is the one that was upset that i was leaving. 

the second one is Anna Crossan and I. 

the last one is Me and my new mask that someone gave to me for helping them move a ton of stuff because they were moving!

the first one is of Amber. she is Andrew and Averi's mom. She drove the kids over to say goodbye to me the morning i got emergency transfered. 

the second one is of Andrew and Averi saying goodbye to me :( im gunna miss those kids :)

and the last one is Elder Holtry and I after we found out i was being emergency transfered...we werent very happy.

May 13, 2014

 So this past Sunday we were able to Skype with Kyle for over an hour. It was great hearing his voice!!! We also were able to meet his companion Elder Holtry who has the same personality as Kyle. Hopefully they can stay out of trouble. (jk)  We are so thankful for the members in Washington that are taking care of our son and will be until he returns home in 7 months. Here's this weeks email:

so this week was pretty awesome!! wanna know why???? well transfer calls were sunday night......elder Holtry is staying in kent.....AND SO AM I!!!!!!!!!! i will have spent 7 1/2 months in kent at the end of this transfer! im super stoked!!! and so is elder holtry! were gunna continue to do work here in Kent!! other than that we have just been seein the same people!! workin with them and trying to help them progress in the gospel!! missionary work is awesome!!! i dont have much of anything else to say seeing how i just skyped 2 days ago.. not much has happened since then.. i love and miss everyone!

           -Elder Garr

Here are some pics from Kyle's latest baptism of David on May 10, 2014.

 

These next 3 pictures are odd. Kyle said the bacon soda was horrible and the spider was on some burlaps they were moving.

These last two pictures were posted on Facebook by Anna Marie who lives in Kent, WA where Kyle is serving. We love it when people that Kyle comes in contact with are nice enough to take and post photos of our son. A BIG THANK YOU!!!!

May 5, 2014

  Tracie's email to Kyle talked about his shoe's that are falling apart and how his grandpa Stowell is sending him money to buy a new pair. Most of us believe that Kyle will use the money elsewhere and keep the shoe's for one of his missionary stories. Tracie also told Kyle about our 22nd anniversary trip to Prescott, Az and the hotel we stayed in that made us feel like we were a part of a murder mystery. (Not purposely)       Here is Kyle's response:

Hola!

Its great to know that my family knows me so well ;) and by family i mean Krista. I do wanna say that ive worn the same pair of shoes everyday of my mission. plus i fixed them with shoe goo.its superglue on crack!! they are waterproof again!! haha but for reals i probably wont buy new shoes until these are beyond the point of repair :) sounds like everyone had fun going to Prescott :P im in WA...i win :) it only took dad 22 years to get a pedicure with ya... i give him props.. especially because there was that time when we were getting you a new phone at the sprint store at the mall and some lady roped him in and shined and buffed one of his nails and then was annoyed with it the rest of the day. and the black guy that was helping us at sprint was laughing up a storm because he thought it was so funny!! haha that was a good day! ya sister Fletcher should be contacting you about the details. its probably going to be around 5-6pm that we Skype. Things here are pretty good. we are still teaching the same people. Joey and maddy come to church every week so now we are just helping them live the word of wisdom. David is getting baptized this Saturday! He gets interviewed tomorrow! this week is going to be boss! 

     -Elder Garr

April 28, 2014

   This weeks email Tracie talked about the cold front that we just experienced. She talked about how we went with the Smith's to see Vocal Point and how awesome it was. She also suggested that he goes to school at BYU and join the group. Tracie let Kyle know that Stephen Smith just opened his mission call letter and he will be serving in Honolulu, Hawaii.

hola!!!
 

 so you had a cold front come through?? haha here it hasnt even gotten to the 70s yet!! haha vocal point is awesome!!! Elder holtry has them on is ipod! we listen to them all the time! my week has been pretty good. We had a hard time seeing people. A lot of people weren't home or were too busy to have us over to teach a lesson. We were able to see David and he is very solid for may 10th. Joey and Maddy are progressing quite well! We are still trying to help Maddy quit smoking. She has cut back a ton since we first started teaching her! She is down to only smoking 2 a day! We talked with her about choosing a baptismal date but she said that once she quits she will pick a day for baptism. Other than that we are working hard here in Kent! i love and miss everyone!!!

         -Elder Garr

Here are more picture from Kyle. He seems to think his mission shoes will last another 6 months. Kyle also sent to videos that I will try uploading. Yes, he is still a boy at heart!!!

April 21, 2014

  Tracie's email was all about Easter. Did you go to the Ward Easter egg hunt? Did you get an Easter dinner?...   She also talked about a random text that was sent to her phone from someone from Washington.

hola!

yes i got my basket. our ward didnt have a breakfast and egg hunt. we had dinner at a members on easter. the random text was from sister Mcleod! she is an awesome member! we were talking and she had said that elder holtrys mom had gotten on his and accepted friend requests and she looked at me and said "ya were still not friends." so then i told her to text you :P and within 5 mins she was like "hey were friends!!" ive been good :) elder holtry and i are just getting over a sickness but oh well :P my eye still kills.. my knees are fine. and my ankle is questionable...

i think that covers all of the questions asked in this letter ;) 

  this past week has been awesome! We are still working with Joey and Maddy and helping them to live the word of wisdom. They are struggling but we can see that they really want this and its just going to take time to ease off of smoking. They have already made progress. Maddy went from smoking 6-8 a day and now she is down to 2 a day. Our other investigator David is awesome. He has seen the hand of the lord in his life and can recognize the help that he is getting. He is dating a member down in Lakewood and she takes him to church every Sunday and he loves it! When he first started meeting with us he told us that in order for him to be baptized there were a couple of things that would have to fall into place. As we met he told us about how those "things" have all fallen into place and that everything is working out. This is what missionary work is all about. Helping others recognize the hand of the lord in their life and helping them take the steps to gain salvation. Kent is the best! We are helping the members out with their missionary work and you can tell that they are getting excited about it!

i love and miss everyone!!!

                       -Elder Garr

We also received more pictures from Kyle this week.

the first one is a note from Averi.

the second one is a picture that Averi drew me

the third on is an easter card from Averi

the fourth one is the inside of the easter card from Averi :)

Averi is an 8 yr old girl in our ward and her mom has said that she has a crush on me and my last comp. elder Grandstaff. its pretty funny! everytime we go over there she draws us something :) she was the only person to give me a valentine :P bunch of slackers :P love everyone!!!

April 14, 2014

This weeks email Tracie talked about how the driving lessons are going well with Kinlee. She also mentioned how Lexi burped at the table and was soooo proud of it that she asked for a rating. Kinlee said it was a 4. Lexi was so mad that she told Kinlee she'd like to see her try and burp a 4.

hola!

sounds like things back home are pretty awesome! all i have to say about lexi....i give it a 7 1/2... glad to hear that your bedroom is finally painted! 

for the first time in a long time Elder Holtry and I got SUNBURNED!!!!! it was great! we both got a little color back haha! we did yard work for a member and the sun was out and shining!! 

so things out here in the frontlines are pretty legit! we have a potential of 4 baptisms this transfer!!! We already had one last week! then we have another one that is solid for May 10th. i hope that i get to stay in this area for a while! i love the ward and all the people here in kent! i could finish my mission in this ward! so we are working with this couple named Joey and Maddy and they are pretty awesome! they are committed for the 10th of may as well! other than that we have been doing quite a bit of service! (hence why we got sunburned!) haha so how are things going for everyone back in az!!??!! lemme know whats up! 

            -Elder Garr  

April 7, 2014

   This weeks email to Kyle mentioned the hot weather here in AZ and how she would love to have Washington's weather. Tracie also mentioned that Sydney Frost only has six months left on her mission. She also mentioned how Lexi and a friend ran the 5k Hope Run and how well she did. Also told Kyle how Kinlee now has her permit and how teaching her to drive has been an experience. It was April Fool's this past week and the girls decided to pull a joke on Tracie.

hola!!

glad to hear that everything is going well back home!! haha im just glad im out serving a mission while kinlee is learning to drive and hopefully i will be moved out when lexi starts to drive! because thats going to be scary!! if you go see sister turley tell her that i love her!!!! haha sounds like you had a good april fools day!!! and they get the jokesterness from me haha!!!! at least im claiming that they do! so for the saturday session we watched conference at the stake center! then for the sunday session we watched the first session with my recent convert josh! the second session we watched with some less active members! 

so, on the bright side of things...... we just had a baptism yesterday!!!! his name is Jeb and we have been working with him for 4 transfers! we should be having another baptism here soon!! super awesome!! kent is booming!! i love this ward and all the people that we are working with! i will send pics home of the baptism!! sorry its a short email but im running out of time to send the pics!! haha i love and miss everyone! 

                                 -Elder Garr

We also received some more pictures from Kyle.

the first is of last transfers district!! from left to right its: Elders Solomon, Holtry, Me, Rogers, Sisters Sheffer, Dudek, Goble, Pearson!

 the next one is of Elder Holtry...he got tired and fell asleep on his rubiks cube!! gotta love the square imprints on his forehead when he woke up!!

so the first two are of my pinewood derby car!! (sis Heslop will like this!!) 

    -our elders quorum had an adult pinewood derby and we were allowed to participate!! i took 3rd place in the anything goes category!

the next one is of Jebadaih, Elder Holtry, and Me!! he was baptized on the 6th of April! the day the church was established! super cool!!!

March 24, 2014

I can't find Tracie's email so I will just post Kyle's short but sweet email.

this week has been pretty awesome! our investigator David decided to be baptized!!! he has chosen the date of April 6th!!!! we are still working with him and helping him prepare for that day!!! we also have to other investigators that have chosen to be baptized on the 3rd of may!! elder holtry and i are being blessed with people that are prepared!! this is the best part of missionary work!!!! we went over to allisons house to do service again!!! it was pretty awesome! we cut down a huge part of a giant tree!! it was pretty sweet!! im having Allison email them to me and i will forward them or she will just put them on Facebook!! sorry this weeks is kinda short but im running out of time :P i love and miss everyone!!!

                   -Elder Garr


We did receive a few pictures this week from Kyle. These are from the service he and his companion did at Allison's.

March 17,2014

   This week Tracie talked about Lexi getting a new bed and Kinlee going to the DMV to take the test for her driving permit. She also mentioned how she received a friend request on Facebook from someone in Washington. Tracie also told Kyle how she rocked an awesome sharing time.

hola!!

thanks for sending off my package...haha Allison is the best! we have been doing service over at her house. when Olivia commented on that kid history video allison watched it right away and then texted me saying she was dying of laughter!! she is pretty awesome! she is making us beanies and crocheting us ties!! i miss being up in trees! it was pretty fun but kinda sketchy because it was windy and i almost died at least 4 times haha!!! oh here is a real funny story. so we have to give our car to the hermanas at night because it is a new rule that sisters have to be in a car when its dark. well we gave the car up and then started walking to a members house. we visited with them and then asked them how to get to this other members house the fastest. so she gave us directions and we were on our way. well we missed one of the turns we were supposed to take and then went about 7 mins in the wrong way! so now it is about 8:35 pm and we dont have our car and we are about a 40 minute walk from our apartment. well we decided that we needed to run to this members house because if the husband wasnt home then we had a long run to make it back before our curfew. so as we were running to this members house i started to rain pretty hard and it was dark and i managed to blow out my ankle!! yup thats right i rolled it hard! i stepped in a pot hole and then i heard a pop! thankfully the member we were going to see was home and he was able to give us a ride!! i couldnt put weight on it for 2 days! and then at church i was gimpy and everyone was like what happened?? so then i had to explain the story at least 37 1/2 times! but all is well. i dont think its too bad...we will see in a couple of weeks!! well i love and miss everyone!!

                        -Elder Garr

oh and the ponkeke recipe is:

 2 cups flour

 4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

 1 can crushed pineapple

mix all ingredients. make consistency thick but not too thick. shouldnt be soupy.

get oil up to 375 degrees

cook until golden brown on outside and not doughy in the center. 

use an ice cream scoop to get into balls to drop into oil. (pampered chef cookie dough scoop with the little scrapper that moves when you squeeze the handle works best)

if oil is too hot the outside will burn and the inside will be doughy. start low on the oil and work your way up until you figure it out!

March 10, 2014

    Tracie's email this week mentioned all the necessities we were getting ready to ship up to Kyle. Some items were requested and others were just cause we care. She mentioned a new pizza place called Fired Pie that just opened up and how awesome the pizza is. Tracie also mentioned that we saw the movie Son of God and how good it was. Oh, we received two separate emails this week.

sounds like you and dad had some fun! nah missionaries arent allowed to even see those movies :( we get to watch the Testaments and other cheesy church movies :P Elder Holtry and i have memorized all the lines to the Testaments :P thats what we do with our spare time :P haha so i watched the temple dedication video on lds.org and its pretty amazing!! somethings funny is that song that everyone played on the ukulele...i learned out here and its one of my favorite songs to play :P haha i can teach Lexi when i get home :) ive also learned a couple of other songs :) i love playing the ukulele! 

so fun story! i got to speak in sacrament meeting yesterday!! i spoke on missionary work! everyone said that i did a good job speaking :) i had 20 mins to fill and so i just didnt look at the clock. then randomly i looked at the time and all of my time was up and i still had some material to go over haha! you will get the recipe for Ponkeke  next week :) i dont have it on me :P i love washington! 

                   -Elder Garr

so i learned a new song on the ukulele!! have you ever heard of "Tears in Heaven" ? its by Eric Clapton. There is a samoan family that the wife is a member and her husband is a nonmember so we go over and teach him but their son Junior (also a nonmember) told us that if we learned how to play that song then he would come to church! well haha i learned it :P so now this wednesday i will go over and show him it so he can come to church haha!!! its now my favorite song!

March 3, 2014

    The email to Kyle talked about the cultural celebration and the great experience both of his sisters had. It also had some details on what had happened at the Garr house during the week.

hola!!!

  gotta love those sunday naps....oh wait...we dont get those :P sounds like the temple celebration was awesome!!! bummed i wasnt there. but im where i need to be :) 

To my dear sister Lexi: yes......i would have killed you....love you though!!!

haha so this week we went and talked with some less active members. some have committed to come back to church. we will have to see this Sunday :) hopefully they stay true to their word! so a fun story from this week is that a while ago a Samoan member gave us a recipe for Ponkeke!!!! it is the best thing on the face of the planet! but last night we went to the fletchers for dinner and had Hawaiian haystacks!! they were so boss! but after they let me use their deep fryer and make ponkeke! so we had some leftovers and we took them over to this samoan families house and they ate them up!! i am a true samoan!!!! Joe Le'atu (the father) told me that they almost tasted like his wifes!! that made me pretty happy! they are the best! they told Elder Grandstaff and I that we will always be part of their family! we are their favorite missionaries! so my companion is still Elder Holtry. He is from south jordan Utah. we get along pretty good! i still play the piano and the ukulele every chance i get. since i have an uke in the apartment i pick that up and play almost daily! i love music! oh that reminds me! so at our baptism of Andrew and Averi I was asked to play a musical number. well a set of sisters in our district brought one of their investigators. after the baptism he came up to me and asked if i would play at his baptism!! he loved the song so much that he bought it on his iphone!!! he shows everyone that he knows that song! i love the way music impacts peoples lives!! i love missionary work! 

                                   -Elder Garr

February 23, 2014

hola!

i got your package!! thank you very much! this week has been pretty good! we haev been working with some great people! there is a lady that we have started to teach. her name is Wendy and she is a mother of 7 kids and just before christmas her husband walked out on her and left. she is going through a rough time with the whole situation and looking for answers! luckily we were there to answer them! i love making an impact in peoples lives!! other than that we have changed some things. the way we teach is totally different! the weather up here is pretty awesome! it rains almost everyday!! and its only around 45 degrees! i love it up here...but i probably wouldnt move up here :P i love being a missionary!! 

               -Elder Garr

this is Elder Holtry...he is a bit creepy...just kidding he is awesome!!

this is me...i was bored so i sat on the ground...

More February 18, 2014

 

More Pics from Kyle's email on Feb. 18

Andrew and I

Elder Grandstaff when he gets bored

My snowman i built on a members car

February 18, 2014

Here's how Kyle's mom's letter started.

         Ok...this is how this letter is starting!!!!!! Dad and I prayed about the motorcycle that you want... Its a big fat hairy NO!
Love you!! :)
Your option was Jetta or Civic for your CAR when you get back.... Not a deathmobile! ERG

so i dont think that you and dad prayed...i think the mother inside of you is coming out trying to protect me ;) im still not sure about the car though. im thinking jetta but i love my car. its been pretty nice up here! its low 50s and its awesome! sounds like you had fun at grandmas! oh speaking of grandma how is her eye doing?? a little bird told my that she lost sight for a little while in one of her eyes!!! like thats something you leave out in a letter to someone who is away from home and out of the loop :P haha whats up with her?? so no i did not get the package because of transfers...oh by the way im not getting transferred. im staying in the scenic hill ward for at least another 6 weeks!! i love it here in kent! its ghetto!! there has been 3 shootings since ive been here! (mom just ignore that last sentence...) other than that things here are awesome! we are teaching a lot of people that dont speak english! we have committed Chinee and Dah and their 10 yr old daughter Wasa to be baptized on the 15th of march! they are from burma and speak very little english! we use their daughter as a translator sometimes. to invite them to be baptized we were using Google Translate! it was pretty neat! Its pretty great! i love it up here in the great state of Washington!  i love and miss everyone!!

                -Elder Garr

we were knocking on doors and we say this sign 

the other one is of a boy named Daniel. he is crazy out of control... but he was in my shoe

we had a baptism a couple of weeks ago and the pics are of us and the kids

and then add in the grandma and mom

February 10, 2014

hey!!

its crazy to think that this is my last summer while on my mission! time flies when you are teaching the message of the restoration to everyone! this past week has been pretty awesome! we have a lot of potential in this area and we are trying to find what we can do better to help them feel the spirit more in their life. we should be having another baptism coming up shortly!! something interesting this past friday was we had a ward potluck and Elder Grandstaff and i got hit on by two 8yr old little girls...it was weird.
So the question you asked... i have no clue on how to answer it. i love my car but the jetta is a lot nicer... but my car has memories!! (dont worry mom, nothing bad) just good times with friends! so im not sure. i will have to converse with the spirit on that one :P would i be taking the car with me if i moved out?? or how would that work?? as you know i would like to get a motorcycle :) nothing to fancy just a Kawasaki ZX10 ;) anyway... i love and miss everyone!!

            -Elder Garr

February 3, 2014

i cant believe that you almost forgot to write me :P sounds like you had a very interesting day!! and a fun one at that!! sorry to hear that dad is sick :( hope he gets feeling better :) im pretty much over my cold/sickness :P thanks for the thought of the cold medicine though haha i miss costa vida!! they dont have them up here in washington :( they do not let the missionaries watch the Super Bowl :P but man was it crazy last night!!! we found out that the Seahawks won and the whole town/state went nuts!!! there was fireworks going off and people were driving around after the game just honking their horns and yelling out the windows!! it was pretty intense...like camping... haha. ya i remember Sister Heslop saying that when i was back in az :) 

  other news from out here in the great state of Washington is that we...............drum roll please.............. had a baptism!!!! Andrew (11) and Averi (8) were baptized this past saturday and then they were confirmed in sacrament meeting. Andrew asked me to baptize him and Elder Grandstaff to confirm him, and Averi asked Elder Grandstaff to baptize her and for me to confirm her!!!! it was neat to see them make this step in their life!!! then our recent convert Josh got the priesthood yesterday!!!!!!! he is awesome! Josh asked me to be the one to confer the priesthood to him!! i didnt think i would be doing that for another 15 years when i had a kid of my own that turned 12 :P it was an awesome experience to do it though. This area in scenic hill has a lot of potential so we are working hard to find those people that the lord has prepared!! love and miss everyone!!

                                               -Elder Garr

January 21, 2014

today we went through the temple and it was amazing!! have you seen the new video in the temple??? its amazing! there is so much more emotion in the video its awesome! if you havent been to the temple in a while you should go!! thats my challenge to you :) go to the temple at least once a month ;) you can do it and i know that you will see the blessings from going on a regular basis. its hard on a mission because we only get to go once a year and thats rough. so thats my challenge to you!! dont let me down. im going to keep bugging you about it :P love ya!!!!

            -Elder Garr

January 13, 2014

hola!
 

  sounds like you had a blast without me...:P haha oh well :) im havin fun teaching people the restored gospel!!! haha this week has been pretty awesome! we are teaching people from napal and Burma!! they both speak very little English so its kind of hard to teach them. but we are learning napali!! one of the investigators that speaks better English is going to write down napali to English translations!! so we can learn that! all we can say is "hello" "goodbye" "how are you" "where are you from" and other little words :) its pretty fun! Kent is very diverse. we had interviews with our mission president and he was telling me some stats about Kent. 

   In Kent there are roughly 123,000 people as of the 2012 census.

   Out of that 37.2% speak a different language than English, and 26.9% are foreign born.

that's Kent for ya :P pretty diverse. but its fun trying to learn other languages!! and the people love it when you sound as white as possible!! its pretty funny. or when you make hand gestures when you woke them up or they don't understand :P its awesome!! other than that we have been knocking on lots of doors!! i love it! 

             -Elder Garr

January 7, 2014

sounds like you had a fun new years!!! We stayed up super late to welcome the new year!!! we were up till 10:30pm!!!! haha holidays just arent the same when you are on a mission. its just another day of missionary work! we go out and find people! and with the new year a ton of people were a little drunk so that was interesting! so funny story, yesterday we were tracting in our apt complex and we knocked on this spanish ladys door who knew a little english. so we tried talking to her in spanish and it was weird cuz random spanish words would pop into my head when i was talking with her!! But guess what!!!!!!!!! JOSH WAS BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!! is was such an amazing baptism. the spirit was super strong! and this past sunday he was talking with the bishop and the bishop asked him to say the opening prayer in sacrament meeting this next sunday!! he is flippin out haha because he doesnt like to be the center of attention! he almost didnt get baptized because everyone would be staring at him! he told us that he wanted to tell the bishop no so badly but something inside of him said yes! hes already recognizing the spirit in his life and it is awesome!! 

  very rarely do people pay for our meals :P i have had it once and that was by a non member who talked to us and then bought us some McDonalds!! but other than that no one has payed for a meal unexpectedly :P oh well! i love being a missionary!!!

             -Elder Garr

the first picture is of Elder Grandstaff! rockin a model pose!!

the second one is of Josh's Baptism!!! Josh is the tall one in the back

12/25/2013

          We didn't get an email from Kyle this week but we did get one from a member named Nancy Fletcher. She gave us their Skype information and let us know that they would be taking care of Kyle on Christmas day. She also asked us if there was anything that Kyle would be missing since he was away from home. So knowing that he loves this special chex mix (referred to as "Christmas Crack" in our home) that the Kammerer's in our ward make for us every year we asked and sent the recipe to her so she could surprise Kyle with it. It was awesome to see Kyle and to know he is loving Washington! He shared a story of how the dryers weren't working and so they brought their laundry home and strung it from the vacuum cord across their apartment. He showed me a picture of the craziness from Elder Grandstaff's camera. I guess "boys will be boys"! Another funny story: We received a denial from Kohl's department store a few days before Christmas. I was worried that his identity was stolen but figured that we could ask him about it in a few days. When I asked him if he applied for a credit card he laughed and said "Ya, I knew I'd get denied but they said I could get a 30% discount on the new suit I got if I filled out the application". Yep, thats my kid! Anything for a good deal! We love him and miss him but we know he is where he is supposed to be. Like the saying goes, "A missionary leaves their home for a short time so that others can be with their families for eternity".

12/15/2013

This past email to Kyle Tracie told him how she just finished typing up the Christmas letter that gets handed out to family during our Christmas dinner at Krista's (her sister). Tracie asked him how he likes his new area (Kent, WA), how's his new companion, and how everything was going. When we received his email this week we had almost zero questions answered. So below is his response.

Hola!!!

   So this week has been pretty awesome! we have been doing a lot of tracting! we have been trying to find new people to teach!!! while we were trying to get into this apartment complex (which has a call box and so we try and get random people to let us in) :) while we were waiting to get in Elder Grandstaff looked up and saw a guy on his 3rd story balcony and so he started talking to him and had a partial lesson while he was up there and we were at ground level. well he invited us back and we went back yesterday and when we started talking to him he was like "ya since we talked all i could think about was this modern day prophet. Who is he? How do you know? so we taught him and his wife the restoration and gave them each a Book of Mormon and invited them to read and pray!!! it was a super spiritual experience!! we will return and teach them more tomorrow!! other than that we have been working with the same people!! Josh (one of our investigators) is going to be baptized within the next 2 weeks!! he is super excited to get baptized!! Jeb (another investigator) is going to get baptized sometime in January hopefully ;) he still wants to get a couple of tattoos before he gets baptized so we are working with him on that! The past week there was a Christmas Nativity set up in one of the stake centers. it had over 600 nativity sets and an art walk with pictures of the savior. there were also musical numbers and things for the kids to do, as well as treats! well we were asked to be ushers for the art walk. the spirit was super strong there. we would invite people to stay reverent and quiet so that the spirit could be felt. there were members that came as well as non-members and was an awesome experience! then on Friday we had our mission Christmas party and that was awesome!! then on Saturday we had our ward Christmas party and we got to help set up for that! it was one of the most extensive set ups i have ever seen! but in the end it was awesome!! i love being out here in Washington where its an average 30 degrees!!! i love it!! 

                   -Elder Garr


Here are some pictures Kyle sent us as well.

   Auburn District from left to right: Sisters Hendersen, Stempniak (from AZ in our Stake…well used to be in our Stake, Creader, Elders Petersen, ME, Batchelor, Turney, McKendrick, and Giles.

                                    Emilie's Baptism

                                  Barbie's Baptism

                               Elder Grandstaff in a fake beard his mother sent him