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

12/10/2013

   So in last weeks email we told Kyle that we sent a package to his previous apartment. This week we asked him if he was able to get it. We also asked Kyle for his new address, which he failed to give us. Ug. So I updated the blog and put the mission home address on it for now. We also told him that this past Sunday was Stake Conference and told him about two great talks that were given. Tracie also told Kyle that she was done with all the Christmas shopping and now can focus on writing the annual Christmas letter. Tracie also asked if he was able to see any movies because she was talking with her dad and he mentioned that he was able to go to them. Below is Kyle's letter.

hola!!!

so my hands are really cold since we just helped people move stuff into storage for the past 3 hours!! haha so its hard to type :P ya im now serving in the scenic hill ward and my new comp is awesome!! i did get the package and guess what!! funny story Elder Grandstaffs mom sent him the same exact tree! so now we have 2 of the same trees in a corner in our apartment! on the bright side the high of this past week was about 30 degrees!!! so fun tracting in the freezing cold weather where your words start to slur because your lips are frozen haha!! so we have this awesome investigator named josh!!! he is super solid in the gospel. he quit smoking and chew and gave up drinking coffee!!! hes been clean for about a week now! he will be getting baptized on the 21st of this month!! super excited for him!!! other than that we have been trying to find people to teach!! i love being a missionary!

                     -Elder Garr

12/01/2013

   Our last email to Kyle we talked about how its already December and that he has surpassed his 1 year mark on his mission. We asked him how his Thanksgiving was? Was he fed by a Ward member and was it as good as grandma's? We told him how grandpa and grandma invited the missionaries in their Ward to celebrate Thanksgiving with all of us. Tracie told Kyle how she took pictures and forwarded them to their parents and let them know they were taken care of. We asked Kyle if he received the package we sent. We asked for his new address. We told him that his sister Lexi finally bought some fabric and made herself some really soft pajama pants. (She's very proud of them) Told him that Kinlee was going up to the Snowflake Temple in the coming week. And finally, we let Kyle know that we broke down and bought a pre-lit christmas tree so we won't have to string a gazillion lights anymore. Oh, by the way, YSA stands for Young Single Adult Ward.

                              Here's a map showing where Kent, WA is located.

hey!!!

its crazy that its already december!! and in 24 days i get to see ya!! (but whose counting :P)  i bet you are ;) this past thanksgiving was awesome!! we went over to a ysa's parents house and they fed us good!! i didnt get the package that you sent but it is working its way to me!! i will probably get it on friday!  so i have some news!! i got moved out of YSA and  am now in Kent! my new companion is Elder Grandstaff! he has been out 1 month longer than me!! so with the address they want all packages sent to the mission office :) call the mission office about the address :) cuz i dont know it!! haha you waited till i was gone to buy a pre-lit Christmas tree...... who said that it would be worth it :P i think i did haha and now you finally got it haha! glad to hear that everything is going good back home!! i love being out here on a mission!! love and miss everyone!!

                -Elder Gar

11/04/2013

     So this past week Tracie wrote Kyle about how we went to Abby Shill's opening of "The Letter" and learned that she will serving in Piura, Peru. Kinlee had mouth surgery to fix the gap between her two front teeth, this is the same procedure Tracie had as a kid. Halloween was also this past week so we let Kyle know we have more than enough candy in our house. Kyle also requested a couple of his mom's recipes. We also sent a package to him this past week with gifts for his up and coming birthday. Do you think he waited?! Tracie asked why he wanted his dorky fake glasses and also asked him for Christmas ideas.

hola momma!! sounds like this week was pretty busy! haha so was mine! lots of tracting!! well when i first came out i didnt have anything that was "me". now since ive been out a while there have been things that i have wanted from home that make me... "me"!! haha thats why i wanted those dorky glasses :P  ummmm....i have opened some of them but i am saving the tie until my birthday haha :P i dont know what color it is but everything points to a tie :P money would be nice for christmas and bright colorful ties!! i need more!! haha i only have like 27 with me :P please no fast food gift cards :P im trying to eat healthier :P haha oh those shoe inserts from missionshoe.com would be nice. they last about 6 months so i will need at least 2 more haha. gift cards to walmart would also be nice :) ya im not sure about the christmas party things haha :P my current companion is Elder Batchelor!! he's from New Mexico! we get along pretty well! we have fun haha! haha ya hathaway is back in WA until today :( he went to Sis Eischens and called me so i got to talk to him :) hes a stud! and about the password tell dad to flip the first 4 with the last 4 and thats the new one! this week has been pretty good! we have done a ton of tracting and following up with potentials! not too much luck but we are workin hard!! thats about it for me haha :) love and miss everyone!!!

                -Elder Garr

10/27/2013

     Our last email to Kyle talked about this past week being missionary week. We told him about various church members that came into Primary and talked about their experiences. Our ward had Trunk or Treat and Lexi helped setup the haunted house and then got all "spookified" and scared all the little kids. We also told him that Kinlee went to the Desert Ridge Homecoming football game and "watched" them slaughter the other team. Also told Kyle about the new leather couch and love seat  we just purchased. We sent his B-day gifts early with the pair of glasses he requested and his mom told him that he better not open the gifts till his Birthday on Nov 11th. OH- Tim was the pet spider.

Sounds like you have had an interesting week! the weather up here is beautiful!!! i love the colder weather!! its around 50 everyday!!! i love it!!! i will wait until my birthday to open the gifts...notice how i didnt say "all" haha just kidding! i will wait! and not the sunglasses but the fake ones that are non-prescription. the ones that i would wear to work every once in a while! glad to hear that you finally got your new couch! only 13 more months and i get to try it out! and way to go dad!!! love the leather!!! this week has been pretty busy! we have gone tracting a ton and found some potentials to work with but our one solid investigator is Emilie! Emilie is 70 yrs and she has suffered from a lot of strokes and so she is in a wheelchair and cant do many things on her own. but she loves coming to church and loves going to the classes! hopefully she will be baptized soon!!! she is my favorite! when she comes to church an access bus drops her off and so i get to wheel her around everywhere in church and then access comes after church and picks her up! she is super sweet! we dont really get fed by members in this ward. we get fed on Sunday and Monday nights but thats it. oh quick story that you probably already know about but the Toone's who are in my ward now were in the same ward that i started my mission in!! super funny!! i am in an apartment and i dont have the address with me because i gave it to Sis Eischen and didnt think i would need it today :P i will double check with her and make sure she has the right one and she will fb you :) tim was sadly left behind...he was a champ! but i guarantee the new elders in Orting threw him away or set him free :( oh well haha! other than that things have been pretty much the same :P i love and miss everyone!

                         -Elder Garr

Here's a picture that the Toone's sent us that they took while Kyle was visiting them recently.