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.