E-mail #9 of 2011 2/28/2011 Week 45

THE PROMISED LAND

Hola Familia!

Hey so I was almost right about my dream! I'm in Dalton (West) now. Missionaries have called this place "la tierra prometida" "the promised land" because it's the highest or one of the highest baptizing areas in the mission. Also because there are sooo many hispanics here. My first week here has been sweet! We have one investigator named William. He has just recently quit smoking and chewing tobacco so he can be baptized this saturday. And now his eight year old son wants to be baptized as well! We have an investigator who has a date for the 16th. We committed her for baptism on the doorstep. She said yes and she came to church yesterday! Her name is Marlene and she's 20. She has accepted everything about the restoration. She's doing good so far. Hey I just realized that you never answered my question. I really really like the shoes y'all sent me but they're a bit too big. Would you be able to get a smaller size if I send them back. Oh I forgot to tell you my new companion is Elder Hedgecock. He is from washington state. But, I have a visitor's pass at the library so I'm running out of time and I still need to email president Griffin so I need to go! But, I love y'all bunches!!! Tell everyone I say hi and I love them!

Love,
Elder Barry Kreyling

Time for mom's questions:

Q. Te llego todo el dinero que te mandamos todos nosotros para tu cumpleanos? (Did you get the money that was sent for your birthday?)

A. Si, gracias a todos. (Yes. Thank you everyone.)

Q. Te ha llegado las cartas de dearelder.com (Did you get the letters we sent through dearelder.com?)

A. Si, gracias. Gracias por la historia tambien. (Yes, Thanks. Thank you for the story also.)

Q. Alguna esperiencia espiritual esta semana y porque? (Any spiritual experiences this week and why?)

A. Tenemos un investigador que se llama William. El va a bautizarse el sinco de marzo, este sabado que viene. El ha estado fumando y usando (masticando) tobaco. Le visitamos el sabado pasado y nos dijo que ha dejado de fumar y usar (masticar) tobaco para prepararse por su bautismo! (We have an investigator named William. He will be getting baptized March 5th. He had been smoking and using (chewing) tobacco. We visited him last Saturday and he told us he has stopped smoking and using (chewing) tobacco in order to prepare for his baptism!)

Q. Tuviste traslado (transfers) la semana pasada? (Did you have tranfers last week?)

A. Si, estoy sirviendo en Dalton, GA ahora Los misioneros han llamado a esta area "la tierra prometida". Hay muchos hispanos aqui! Como 50% algo asi. Tengo muchas oportunidades de hablar espanol ahora (Yes, I am serving in Dalton, GA now. The missionaries have called this area "the promised land". There are a lot of Hispanics here! Like 50% or something. I have a lot of opportunities to speak Spanish now.)

Q. Resultó cierto tu sueño acerca del nuevo lugar de traslado? (Did your dream come true about your new area after your transfer?)

A. Mas o menos haha. I came to Dalton but I didn't whitewash. Still, I was pretty close (More or less haha.)

Q. Comó les fue en la iglesia esta semana? (How did church go for you this week?)

A. Bien. Aqui hay dos barrios. Uno de ingles y el otro de espanol! Es mi primera vez de servir en un barrio! (Good. We have two wards here. One in English and the other in Spanish! It is my first time to serve in a ward!)

Q. Cuantos fueron a la iglesia? (How many attended church?)

A. No estoy seguro. Como 75 en cada barrio algo asi. (I'm not sure. About 75 in each ward or something like that.)

Q. Nuevos contactos esta semana? (New contacts this week?)

A. Si, hay Marlene. Ella tiene 21 anos y la comprometimos por bautismo en nuestra primera visita. Su fecha bautismal es el 16 creo. Ella asistio la iglesia ayer entonces ella esta progresando bien ahora mismo. (Yes, Marlene. She is 21 and committed to baptism on our first visit. Her baptismal date is the 16th I believe. She attended church yesterday and is progressing well right now.)

Q. Que ha pasado con Victor? (What's happened with Victor?)

A. No se. (I don't know.)

Q. Que ha pasado con la familia de Honduras? (What's happened with the family from Honduras?)

A. No se. (I don't know.)

Q. Que a pasado con el hombre de la culebra (snake)? (What's happened with the guy with the snake?)

A. No se. No se nada de las tres preguntas pasadas. Son de mi area pasada. (I don't know. Haven't heard anything about the last three questions. They were in my last area.)

E-mail 8 of 2011 2/22/2011 Week 44

A PICTURE WITH A SNAKE

Hola Familia!!!

The weather is starting to warm up! Oh, I have some transfer info for y'all... I'm leaving Knoxville... Already! One transfer in an area just doesn't seem long enough. I was so hoping to see victor get baptized! But, the Lord needs me somewhere else I suppose. Oh, and Elder Sexton is training a new missionary here oh yeah, I had a dream a week or so ago that I was sent to white wash Dalton Georgia. So, I'll let y'all know if that dream comes true I really hope President Griffin keeps me spanish! Man, it seems so wierd that Caleb, Matt, Coby and Cody are back already! The mission is going by way too fast, it's crazy! So, I'm doing my best to love every moment of it Oh, thanks for Joe's address! Oh mom you are going to love this next story. So, on sunday we were going to see that family from honduras. They live in a trailer park and on our way through the park we saw this guy with this huge snake on his shoulders! Their was no way we were going to pass that up! So, we parked and walked back to him. He was a hispanic guy but he spoke english quite well. We just casually talked for a while then he asked if we wanted a picture with his snake! So, both elder Sexton and I got to hold his snake and take pictures with it. We talked with him about church and he said we could come back! How cool, right?! This past week we had a couple of good lessons with Victor. He's committed for march sixth but that may need to be changed. Since I'm leaving I won't know for sure when he's baptized until I get a letter in the mail from President Griffin. So, I'll let y'all know what's up there as soon as I know. Hey have y'all checked out mormon.org and made profiles yet? I'm hoping to make a profile for myself soon. I wanna us that one picture where I'm standing next to that sign that says, "you are now entering the mission field... go get em for Jesus!" Haha that will be so cool! But, in all seriousness, the Lord is expecting all of us to do all that we can to help His children come unto Him and His son Jesus Christ. He is has given us an opportunity to do that with this website. So, will y'all do that if you haven't already? I'll be checking up again soon. Oh, I was wondering. Do we still have those Spanish cd's in the computer room? If so I wouldn't mind having them Also, if y'all aren't using the gps for anything I wouldn't mind having that either Just in case. Thanks for everything in the packages. It's all awesome! I hope I can fit everything in my suitcases But, y'all can wait until i send the shoes back for a smaller size so you can just send it all together. Well, that's all for this week. I love y'all! Tell everyone I love them! The Church is True!!!

Love,

Elder Kreyling

Now let's make time for mom's questions.

Q. What did you do for your birthday? We hope you had a good birthday.

A. We were on an exchange with Elder Maxwell, the one who knows the o'dells. He was here with me. During the exchange on Friday we ran into this Baptist pastor. He was pretty cool. He was quite humble too which isn't too common haha. Saturday morning we had a leadership conference call and that's when we found out that Elder Sexton is training. Later that day we gave some service to los Angola. He's in the Branch Presidency. We raked the leaves in their backyard. Then, we had dinner and cheesecake for my birthday!

Q. We sent you 2 packages with a few the letter. Did you get them?

A. Yes. Gracias a todos! If I send the shoes back would y'all be able to get a smaller size? I really like them it's just that they're a bit big is all.

Q. Did you get any birthday cards, letters or wishes from anyone else? If so please acknowledge them.

A. No, not that I remember.

Q. Como les fue esta semana en la iglesia?

A. Bien.

Q. Cuantas personas asistieron a la iglesia ayer?

A. 15 algo asi

Q. Alguna experiencia espiritual esta semana y por que?

A. Tuvimos una buena leccion con victor acerca del evangelio de jesucristo.

Q. Cual es tu escritura favorita de esta semana y por que? la mia es D&C 75: 3-5

A. Ether 12 : 4-6

Q. Cual es tu himno favorito de esta semana? el mio es # 223 Have I Done Any Good?

A. I'll go where you want me to go

Q. Que a pasado con los nuevos contactos de la semana pasada?

A. Nada mucho.

Q. Como esta la familia de Honduras?

A. Bien. Pero, todavia no han asistido la iglesia.

Q. Come esta Victor fue a la iglesia?

A. El esta bien pero no asistio la iglesia. Vamos a ser mas bold en la leccion hoy para que entienda la importancia de la asistencia a la iglesia.

Q. Como estan Mateo y Martha ya se casaron fueron a la iglesia?

A. No, ellos fueron a otra iglesia la semana pasada. Y no pudimos visitarles el sabado pasado entonces no asistieron.

Q. tuvieron canbios esta semana y como les fue?

A. Nos fue bien. Como dije antes el elder Maxwell estaba conmigo.

Elder Kreyling's Birthday

Barry's Birthday is February 19th so please write him or send him a card for his birthday. Thanks
Mom and Dad Kreyling

Email #7 of 2011 2/14/2011 Week 43

We have our awesome investigator

Hola familia!

Gracias por la direccion de Darrin. Gracias papa por la carta. Did I ask y'all for Joe W.'s address too? I can't remember but I would like his too. Do you know if the Heatons and Jack'ee got my letters? I still haven't gotten that letter from Jake. I will just have to send him one. This past week was pretty good. We found some new people; both spanish and english. We had a Zone Conference in Farragut on Thursday. This past week we had an exchange with the Pigeon Forge Elders. Elder Sexton went to Pigeon Forge to interview an investigator for baptism. The greenie, Elder Roggeman, came here with me. It was pretty fun. We are teaching a familiy who was baptized in honduras. They have been here for a while but have not been to church because they didn't know there was one here. Their names aren't on the records here so we are trying to get things straghtened out. The dad isn't a member so there is good potential for him to be baptized. I haven't met the dad yet but Elder Sexton says he seems interested and everything. Today we taught Victor. He is AWESOME haha He has told us twice, once on the phone and once on the exchange, that he wants to go tracting with us! He said he wants to tell his old church about Joseph Smith and that they need to know these things and everything! He's not baptized but he really wants to share these things. I think we are going to ask him for a reference on wednesday when we see him next. Oh, and you know how we have been having a hard time getting him to church because of his work? When we talked with him today we asked him what time he starts work. He said ten. Perfect, church starts at nine! That was essencially what we told him. We asked him to start small by coming even if it's just for 30 mins. He told us that he will go to church. He pretty much said that he will go and be a little late for work because he knows he needs to be in church! We saw Mateo y Marta with Hermano Nicho. They have told us they want to get married. We taught them about marriage and the law of chastity from 4 Nephi. Hermano Nicho testified of the difference between being married and not. We told them they could get help from the church to get married. It was a pretty good lesson we thought. They didn't come to church yesterday but hopefully they will come next week. There weren't even members at church yesterday haha. I'm not sure what happened but we are really working to improve things around here. But, overall things are looking good. We have our awesome investigator, Victor. He will be baptized for sure! We committed him for March 6th today and he said yes! So, he just needs to come to church a couple of times and he'll be baptized! Oh, I forgot to tell you that I drove on our exchange for the first time since like my second or third transfer! I think we will be going on an exchange with Elder Maxwell, the one who knows darrin and the o'dells, this week. It's kinda weird and crazy. Some things happened in the mission and our zl's had to split up. Our one zl, Elder Harrison, is with the Assistants while Elder Maxwell is in Bays Mountain with Elder Phippin who he trained. But, that's a whole different story haha. But, I need to be going soon. Just know that I love y'all and that everythings going well. The Church is True! Love y'all!!!!! XOXOXOXOXOXO

Love,

Elder Barry Kreyling

(Editor's note: Because Barry is learning Spanish, his mom is writing her questions in Spanish. This will allow him to practice. Time permitted we will translate when we can.)

Tiempo para las preguntas semanales de la madre:

Q. Como estuvo la iglesia esta semana?

A. Mas o menos haha. Casi no habia nadie en la iglesia. Pues, en la rama de Espanol habia el Presidente Cruze, Hermano Copeland, Hermano Shafer, una mujer que toca el piano y su esposo (ellos hablan puro ingleis), Hermano Nicho, y el Elder Sexton y Yo. El hermano Nicho fue el solo hispano. Entonces, la reunion fue en ingleis. Era la primera vez que la reunion sacramental fue en ingleis.

Q. tuvieron nuevos investigadores esta semana o todavía estan flojos?

A. Si, encontramos unos nuevos. Dustin, Romano y marcelo.

Q. Alguna experiencia espiritual y por qué?

A. Hoy ensenamos a Victor. El nos dijo que va a asistir la iglesia antes de tiene que trabajar El acepto un compromiso bautismal por el 6 de marzo El es AWESOME y de oro haha

Q. Cual fueron los eventos favoritos de la semana y por qué?

A. La conferencia de Zona. Me gusto mucho. Aprendi muchas cosas buenas. Se me olvido decirles pero el Elder Maxwell es uno de mis lideres de Zona. El es el uno que conoce a Darrin y los O'dell. Tambien el Elder Matt Condie era uno de mis Lideres de Zona el translado pasado.

Q. Quien fue tu contacto favorito de la semana y por qué?

A. Dustin. El nos dijo que el quiere aprender de la iglesia. Nos dijo que cuando sepa que es verdad, sera bautizado.

Q. Himno favorito esta semana? El mío es Yo Creo en Jesucristo.

A. Venid a mi

Q. Cuál es tu escritura favorita esta semana? La mía es D&C 84: 80

A. 3 Nephi 12: 1 Y 2

Q. Como esta Stacy han tenido suerte con ella?

A. Ya no. Vamos a pasar para visitarle manana o tal vez el proximo dia.

Q. Como están Natanel, Adrian y David ? algo nuevo con ellos?

A. David esta bien. Todavia va a la pulga los domingos. Natanael esta mas o menos ahora mismo. Todavia no hemos hablado con Adrian.

Q. Como están las cosas con tu compañero?

A. Bien. Todo esta bien

Email #6 of 2011 2/7/2011 Week 43

From: Barry Ryan Kreyling
Sent: Monday, February 07, 2011 10:38 AM
To: Mom

She had a spark in her eye

Hola familia,
This week was pretty good. We are still trying to get our investigators to church. They all seem "flojo" or something. We found one potential investigator named Stacy. She was really nice and everything. She said she hasn't gone to church in a while because she's had some experiences that have left a bad taste in her mouth. Like the passing of collection plates or paid ministry. When we told her that nobody gets paid in the church her mouth dropped. Haha she was surprised. She had a look like she thought it was too good to be true. We told her where the church is and we exchanged numbers. She had a spark in her eye when she was telling us she'd been wanting to find a good church and everything. She told us that she will definately be there this coming sunday. She seemed pretty legit. On saturday we had another one of those spanish trainings. Elder Cornish, who is our area seventy, gave us a training. He knows spanish really well. He was a Mission President in the Dominican Republic. We learned quite a bit of good stuff from him. Oh guess what! We had dinner with a family, los Angola, in the branch this past week. He is the second counselor and she goes to the english ward. But, they both served their missions in El Salvador! That's how they met! It was pretty cool talking to them about it. Speaking of that, in your next letter can you send the letter of how you met on dad's mission? And dad in future letters can you include some cool stories from your mission? That would be awesome! Oh I just remembered that I still haven't gotten that letter from jake. I will just have to send him a letter. Oh, that reminds me, could you send me darrin's and joe's addresses? I need to write letters to them before their missions end! Well I am about to run out of time on the computer so I need to get going. But, I love y'all bunches! Tell everyone I love them! The Church is true!

Love,
Elder Kreyling

Tiempo par alas preguntas semanales de la madre:

Q. Algo nuevo con Caity? Sabes si ha leido el BOM y ah ido a la iglesia?

A. No, hace como una semana que le hemos hablado con ella. Hemos tratado de textear y llamarle por telefono unas veces. Tambien hemos tratado de pasar su casa para visitarle unas veces. Pero, no podemos contactarle por el momento.
Q. como estan Natanel, Adrian y David ? tienen noticias de ellos?

A. Todavia no hemos hablado con Natanael y Adrian. Solamente hemos hablado con David. El no ha asistido la iglesia los dos domingos pasados porque el fue a la pulga (flea market) para vender cosas.

Q. ya le escribiste a tu abuela?

A. No todavia necesito escribirle.

Q. Alguna experiencia spiritual esta semana?

A. Fuimos a Dalton otra vez para recibir un entranamiento de espanol. Unos lideres de la mision nos ensenaron como podemos mejorar nuestro espanol. Un setenta, Elder Cornish, estaba y el nos dio un entranamiento tambien. Me encanto el entranamiento!

Q. Cual fue tu escritura favorita de esta semana? Yo tengo 2 capitulos! Juan 3 & 4 abla del amor de Dios. Y Nefi 11: 25 abla aserca de la fuente de aguas vivas que representan el amor de Dios.
A.

Q. Como estuvo la iglesia esta semana?

A. Bien. Pero no habia ningun investigador en la iglesia otra vez. Y no habia un maestro de la ultima clase. Entonces, la iglesia termino temprano por una hora. I think that's how to say it haha.

Q. llegaron nuevos investigadores?

A. Si, visitamos a un hombre se llama William. Vimos su nombre en la carpeta del area (area book, I think that's what it's called in spanish haha.) Creo que el va a progresar. El nos dijo que va a asistir la iglesia. En la iglesia vamos a comprometerle por bautismo.

Q hablaron muy seriamente con Natanael?

A. No, cada vez que hemos ido a visitarle el no ha estado. Pero, creo que vamos a hablar seriamente con Adrian porque el es "flojo" y el necesita un kick in his behind haha.

Q. Como esta Victor? Hay algún progreso con él?

A. Bien, si el nos dijo que el iba a hablar con su gefe para pedir libres los domingos. Creo que vamos a visitar y hablarle sobre eso manana.

Q. Sabes si Markis, Megan y Caity fueron a la iglesia esta semana?

A. No, Markis y megan no asistieron ayer. Y como dije antes hace un buen tiempo que no hemos hablado con Caity.

Q. Qué hay de nuevo con los hippies? Los han visto otra vez para ver si han leído el BOM?

A. Tratamos de visitarles dos veces creo, pero no contestaron cuando tocamos su puerta. Creo que ellos bebian cuando pasamos. Creo que vamos a tratar de visitarles otra vez cuando estamos en eso area.