E-mail #11 of 2012 3/12/2012 Week 99

Hola familia,

Well, my email today will need to be a bit short. I'm using the express computer because all of the others are taken right now! It only allows fifteen minutes of use so I must be brief.

Yesterday there was a family (the D) that brought a Hispanic family to church. Legit! I spoke with the family briefly before they went to the Sunday school classes. We think the sisters want to teach them (they might be in their area) but we talked with the family and it looks like we'll be teaching them. The sisters are teaching an investigator in our area so they should be understanding. Plus, the family is Spanish speaking and the sisters don't speak Spanish. So, it looks like I can use my Spanish a bit

We weren't able to see the M. this week. We talked with J. (the mother) a couple of times. She said the girls are still doing well. J. just recently got a job! So, we think that'll be good for her and the girls. We are planning on committing them for baptism on the 31st the next time we see them. We will plan of having the baptism in between the sessions of conference.

In the YSA branch we are starting to work with a young lady named L.. She's the girlfriend of a member. The sisters have been teaching her but she and her boyfriend have recently asked us to teach her. So, we will see how things go

Well, everything here is going well. Oh, I didn't give you the apartment address because we should hopefully be moving soon and I don't want something to be sent to the apartment after we've already moved out. Can't you send whatever it is to me through the mission office? But, here it is: ________________________________. If you do send it to the apartment make sure you send it soon in case we do move in the next little bit. Well, it was good to hear that everything back home is going well. I hope y'all have a great week. The church is true! I love y'all!!!

Love,

Elder Barry Kreyling

Q. ¿Cómo te va?

A. Bien!

Q. ¿Ya encontraron un apartamento?

A. Todavia no.... Ayer hablamos con el hermano N. de pleasant ridge. El esta en "real estate" o algo asi. Me dijo cuando estaba en Pleasant Ridge south que si necesito ayuda con encontrando un apartamento dondequiera que sirva que puedo pedirle ayuda. Entonces esperamos que el puede ayudarnos.

Q. ¿Te mandamos dos dear-elder y deben llegar pronto. Dad sent quotes que están buenos para usar.

A. Gracias!!!

Q. ¿So, your work is bilingual?

A. Si, estamos en un companierismo cebra.

Q. Have you been helping with the clean up after the tornados devastations?

A. No.

Q. In what way did the tornados affect your work?

A. They haven't really affected it to much. Knoxville wasn't his as hard as surrounding areas. I can't remember if I mentioned this to you last time but President Irion got all of the Zone Leaders these weather radio things. They look almost like walkie talkies

Q. How long is supposed to take for n interview?

A. Baptismal Interview? Well, they should be around 15 to 20 minutes. I can't remember if I told you this either but Elder S. interview was done by Elder H. It was just him and Elder H. for one hour. So, he's used to an hour long interview. It was just funny for that interview he gave because he said all of the previous interviews he'd done had been about an hour long. But, he had to do this one in about 15 minutes because we had a stake correlation meeting to go to.

Q. ¿Qué hay de nuevo con los investigadores?

A. Nada mucho.

Q. ¿Fueron a la capilla las M.-fueron a la capilla?

A. No, estaban en Athens.

Q. ¿Cuándo vas a mandar las cajas con tus cosas?

A. No se. Hoy o el proximo dia de preparacion.

Q. ¿Fueron a comer a un lugar bueno con el dinero que sacaste del banco?

A. Todavia no. Pero, vamos a comer algun dia.

Q. What classes did you take before you left? I know calculus but I can’t remember what else.

A. Calculus, English 1010, Communications i think it was 1010 (interpersonal), lib 1010, and I got biology credits for working with the soccer teams.

E-mail #10 of 2012 3/5/2012 Week 98

Hola familia!!!


Well the M. girls are doing well. They were in Athens yesterday so they weren't at church yesterday. But, they are excited for church this next sunday The mother wasn't very comfortable being at church when they came two sundays ago. We are still helping her feel comfortable with coming back to church and allowing the girls to attend church and be baptized. But, the girls are excited for everything We are praying continuously for them. They are so sweet. Well, I'll tell you what our last lesson was like. We went over there with the new assistant ward mission leader, Bro O. We watched the Restoration DVD. The girls really enjoyed it and it helped J. remember a lot of things. So, it was good for all of them. We then read a chapter from the Book of Mormon. Those girls are only eight and ten but I tell you what, they can read! We were blown away haha. They are very smart. Well, after that we committed them to read one chapter from the Book of Mormon every day. So, now we will be keeping tabs on that.

So, a couple of the pictures that I've attatched are from the first Zone Leader Council that Elder S. and I went to. Sitting on the couch on the right is President and Sister Irion. On the left on the couch are the S.. Elder S. is the physician for the area that our mission is in. Standing behind the couch are the Assistants and all of the Zone Leaders for the mission. I'll tell you all of their names in case you'd like to know. Starting from the back left it goes as follows... Elder S., Elder B., Elder J., Elder R., Elder S., Elder B., Elder G., Elder D., Elder H. (the one I trained for a whole three days!) and myself. This past tuesday we had another Zone Leader Council. Although they take a good chuck of our day they are very rewarding I think. To me they are very revelatory and inspiring. Also, the Irions feed us! This past week we had ministrone soup... In bread bowls!!! So good

As zone leaders we have the opportunity to meet with the Stake President and Stake Mission Leader once a month on the first thursday of the month. So, that's what we did this past thursday. Before the meeting started we had to interview one of the District Leader's investigators for baptism. Elder S. did the interview. Apparently before that his shortest interview was one hour! But, he had to do this one in about 20 minutes. The boy's name is J. and he was baptized and confirmed yesterday!

On wednesday we went down to Pigeon Forge (Sevierville) to interview an investigator for baptism. He is hispanic so I did the interview It was nice to be able to speak some spanish. His name is F. and he was baptized and confirmed on saturday! It was pretty cool because he briefly told me his story and it seems pretty similar to yours mom!

The zone is doing well right now. We are expecting only better in the near future Well, I think that's everything for this week. Things are going well here. I love being a missionary!!! The church is true! Love y'all!

Love,

Elder Barry Kreyling

P.S. I took some videos of the storm but they take up too much space with the pictures that I'm sending today. So, I'll send you a video next week

Q. ¿Cómo van progresando con los 12 futuros baptismos?

A. Bien! Haha

Q. ¿Cómo están A. and H., fue a la iglesia la mamá?

A. Bien

Q. ¿Encontraron un apartamento para moverse?

A. Todavia no...

Q. Hay algo en especial que necesitas que te mande?

A. Creo que no.

E-mail #9 of 2012 2/27/2012 Week 97

Hola familia!!!

Hey so, I'm trying to figure out what those two things are... If you are wanting more pictures I don't have my camera with me today. Sorry! Oh, I can't remember if I've already commented on this but tell the Hurts that I say thanks for their letter. Also, I got a letter from Abuela Cristina. Gracias! Oh! I got the wedding announcement for Jack'ee and Jason. The last of my three sisters is getting married. Crazy! Tell them I said thanks for sending it I hope these are the things you wanted to hear from me.

Well, things are going pretty well here. The zone is doing great right now. We currently have 12 investigators with a baptismal date. There should be more on the way soon! We've been working with a family called the M. The mother (J) was a member down in Athens, TN. For whatever reason she no longer is a member. She has no hard feelings toward the church or anything. She has two unbaptized girls named H and A. They are really sweet girls. But, just recently we helped them move to a lower apartment. The reason for the move is that A is in a wheelchair because she has s. So, we helped them move and that got our foot in the door We taught them this past saturday. They really want to start coming to church. We arranged a ride for them and they came yesterday! So exciting! We are hoping to set a baptismal date with them asap. They are sweet girls and deserve the blessings that the gospel has to offer them.

This past week was quite eventful! We had two exchanges. One was with the Assistants and the other was with Bays Mountain (Morristown). I was in our area for both exchanges. I was first with Elder J. (AP). It was fun. He went to Orem high school. I told him that we played his school in soccer my senior year but I didn't mention that we beat them Then, I was with Elder R (not from our ward) and he too is from St. George! He went to Pineview but doesn't know any of our friends or relatives that went there. We had a good time on both exchanges. We are in the process of finding a new apartment to move into. We thought we had one lined up. We went over with the Sr. Sister missionary who's in charge of the housing for missionaries. She really seemed to like it and it was in the price range. Last night she texted us and told us to go sign the paperwork. We were going to go over to do that today but she called this morning and told us that we won't be moving there anymore. She didn't say exactly why but she said moving us there would be like trying to jump the grand canyon. So, we will be doing a bit more searching in the next little bit.

Those are all the highlights for this week. We are really excited for the M girls. They have a special place in our hearts. The work is going well here and I love being a missionary! The church is true. I know it!

I hope y'all have a great week. I love y'all!!!

Love,

Elder Kreyling

Las preguntas semanales de mamá

Q. ¿Como estas esta semana?

A. Bien!

Q. ¿Cómo están los investigadores?

A. Bien

Q. ¿Cuál es tu himno favorito de esta semana?

A. Mas santidad da me

Q. ¿Escritura favorita?

A. Jacob 2 : 18 -19

Q. ¿Te llego la caja con tus golosinas?

A. Si! Muchas gracias!

E-mail #8 of 2012 2/21/2012 Week 96

Hola familia!!!

Things are going well here. To answer one of your questions, yes, I've read my patriarchal blessing lately... Love it!

We had a great Zone Conference! Dad's mail still hasn't arrived. We weren't able to make it back to the library so I could print off the emails before Zone Conference. So, we weren't able to use those things during the conference. But, I'll print them off and I'll probably use them for other training opportunities. So, thanks dad!

So, like I said before Elder S. and I trained on the Mission Vision of every companionship baptizing every month. We played a portion of the conversion story of Bill Carpenter. We also read part of The divine call of a Missionary by Elder Rasband. We shared some experiences that have let us know that we are here by revelation. We helped them see that it's the same with President I.. He is called and set apart to preside over and direct the work here. He helps us fulfill our purpose as missionaries. We helped them understand that the mission vision has been revealed to us through President I. by revelation to help us fulfill our purpose. We testified A LOT about these things, how they are divinly inspired. I felt the spirit strongly. When we first started the training we asked the missionaries to voice any concerns or doubts with the mission vision. It took a few seconds for someone to start off. But, they started saying possible ones like "it's a hard area" or "little or no member support". As they were saying these things we wrote them on the chalkboard. We gave them a minute to write them down and to write down some personal concerns or doubts that they didn't want to voice. After that we promised them in the name of Jesus Christ that if their hearts were open to the spirit and they really wanted to receive a witness of the mission vision those doubts and concerns would be resolved during the course of zone conference. That got the attention of some missionaries who weren't paying as much attention before haha. We had them hold on to those papers with the doubts and concerns that they'd written. At the end of the training Elder S. went around with a trash can and the missionaries "threw away" their doubts and concerns. They seemed to be really excited after that!

President I. trained on the "Ask in Faith" tool. It's a tool to help members fulfill "Every member a missionary". It's based on the talk "Ask in Faith" by Elder Bednar. We are going to use it to help us achieve the mission vision. Sister I. trained on "the armor of God". Maybe you can see now why Elder S. and I are wearing armor in a couple of those pictures that I sent you Oh! this might seem a bit random at first but just keep reading! So, we had dinner at a members home the day after Valentine's. When we got there we saw on the table plastic guns with plastic balls for ammo. The members bought them for us! As part of Sister I. training there was one missionary that put on all of the armor. Then, random missionaries would shoot nerf guns at him and he would block them with his shield or something. Well, Elder S. and I already new about the training so we brought our own guns and caught him by surprise as we shot at him from the side haha! The Assistants trained on the Role of the Holy Ghost in conversion. All of the trainings went really well and the spirit was strong in Zone Conference.

Well, zone conference was my favorite part about the week. I really enjoyed it and there have been several missionaries that have said they enjoyed it too.

Oh, one quick random thing. I can't remember if I've told y'all this but we cover a ward (Knox 1st) and a Young Single Adults (YSA) branch. Well, the YSA branch President dated Aunt K. before he left on his mission! His name is President I. Crazy!

Well, I'm about to run out of time. Just know that the work here is rolling forth. Everything is great here! I hope y'all have a great week! Thanks for everything! Love y'all!!!

Love,

Elder Barry Kreyling

Las Preguntas semanales de mamá

Q. ¿Cómo te fue en tu día especial y que hicieron?

A. Pues, no hemos hecho nada. Hemos estado ocupados haha. Pero, voy a conseguir dinero de la tarjeta y comeremos en un restaurante... Algun dia

Q. ¿Qué planes tienen para el día de preparación?

A. El que viene? No se. Ayer jugamos al volibol y "mission impossible". Nos divertimos mucho!

Q. ¿Cómo les va con los investigadores y nuevos miembros?

A. Bien, hemos ayudado a la familia M. con cosas varias y vamos a ensenarles lo antes possible.

Q. ¿Encontraron nuevos investigadores?

A Si algunos.

Q. ¿Has recibido cartas de familia o amigos en los últimos días?

A. no. Pues se me olvido dar gracias a la familia Hurt. Ellos me mandaron una tarjeta mi primera semana en esta area.

Q. ¿Cómo estás de salud en estos días?

A. Todo bien.

Q. ¿Cómo está la temperatura?

A. Bien.

Q. ¿Has tenido que usar los hand warmers yet?

A. Algunas veces.

Q. ¿Sacaste el dinero para celebrar tu cumpleaños?

A. No, todavia tengo que hacer eso.

Zone Leader Council 1/31/2012

E-mail #7 of 2012 2/13/2012 Week 95

We got our foot in the door

Hola familia!

Well, things have been exciting! I haven't mentioned it in the past couple of emails but I. was baptized!!! I'm including a picture. Elders N. and K. are now working with his father. He has been attending church recently with I. Apparently he's praying to know if he should be baptized on the 25th! So so so exciting! He'll get baptized and a year from then they'll go to the temple!!!

Well, this past week we had FHE with the YSA branch at the institute buildling. It was fun! It helped us get to know the members a bit more. In the YSA branch we are still working with the assistants on having a transition lesson with C. We were going to teach her but she got sick during the latter part of the week. She wasn't able to make it to church because she was sick. She is still solid as far as testimony and desire go. So, hopefully we can have the transition lesson soon!

Elder S. and I have been preparing to train on the new mission vision for our zone conference this Friday. I sent an email to dad asking him to send something to me that we could use for the training. So dad if you are reading this check your school email! Haha We are excited for Zone Conference. We actually went to the Cumberland Zone Conference this past friday. It went really well. So, we are looking forward to ours this Friday.

We helped Sister M. move to a new apartment. I'm not sure if I've mentioned her before. Her daughters aren't baptized. Their names are H. and A. and they are ten and eight. We got our foot in the door so hopefully we can start teaching them soon!

Yesterday a member named B. brought a friend to church. His name is D. He seems pretty interested. We will hopefully been teaching him at B's house this week. Member missionary work is awesome!!!

Well, I still need to email President and I'm running out of time on the computer. But, I love y'all! Thanks for everything! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Kreyling