Monday, December 28, 2009

Christmas Pictures

Here are some pictures that Robert Taylor (Richard’s cousin) sent to us.  Richard gave them to Robert on Christmas when he visited for breakfast.

richard's 009 Elder Knowles and Elder Mackelprang in front of their Christmas tree.
richard's 018 Richard’s Christmas haul…

richard's 019

Be careful, I’m armed with the sword(s) of the Spirit, and the helmet of salvation… (Eph. 6:11-18)
richard's 007 An interesting street name found in Richard’s area.  Maybe he could move back here later…
richard's 021 And this is my Christmas stash…
richard's 020 Here’s my sock
richard's 023 Robert Taylor, Richard, Kristen Taylor, (Sorry, I don’t know the random Elders in the back here), Marsha Taylor, Keith Taylor, Brian Taylor

28 Dec 2009

     So yeah, special case this week because all of the colleges and libraries are closed we get to write emails from members houses. We ended up coming to Aunt Marsha's house again. :-) Funny, I saw them 3-4 days ago! Don't be jealous Mom! Aunt Marsha says HI! So I don't have as much time so I'll share some of what's going on with my investigators:

     I'm adjusting more and more to how things work here in the mission field, and I'm giving my whole heart and soul into the work. This week has been slightly discouraging because everyone is so concentrated on Christmas, parties and other family festivities that most of our appointments dropped us again this week. The investigators we've been able to teach are Margrito and Cristina who live with the Hernandez family, Able and Antonio (our 2 new investigators), and Roberto. We invited Margarito and Cristina to be baptized, but Margarito has his doubts about needing to be baptized again, and Cristina is worried about being baptized and falling down again, but she still has the desire to be baptized. We are going to focus on teaching Margarito about the priesthood and the restoration and about how even though he was baptized before he has a need to be baptized again by the priesthood of God with boldness and love. We are also going to focus teaching the third lesson to Cristina about the Sacrament and it's purpose about washing us clean and renewing our covenants with God again. We will set a baptismal date with them when we help them overcome their current doubts and fears.

     Teaching Able was interesting, we taught him the 2nd half of the first lesson, because we had to teach him outside of his apartment, because the "boss" of the house doesn't want us to come in.  Able has attended the ward Christmas party and has met some of the members and has a friend that came with him who we are trying to get a hold of so that we can teach him too. We are also going to try to teach Able at the chapel and have a member pick him up and be there at the lesson with us.

     Antonio was a contact that we visited a week and a half ago when we were tracting on Sunset Dr.  Everyone was eating, him included, and he didn't seem interested at the time, but we felt prompted to see him again. We knocked on his door and he let us in and we had one of our best 1st lessons that we've ever taught! It was amazing, and I'm excited to see how he progresses, and if we can teach his wife and his son.

     We tried to contact many of our other investigators from last week, but like I said before they were never home when we passed by. Their phones never seemed to work either. After this New Year's week passes things should work back to being more and more normal.

     Oh! I almost forgot about Roberto. We've been trying to talk to Roberto for this entire week, but he got a new job and hasn't been around his house very much. So last night we contacted one of our other investigator families the Sandovals and felt like we should go see Roberto. He was there and we talked to him about 3 Nephi 11, and about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration in more detail than our quick lesson that we had with him the week before. We invited him to come to church and to finish the chapter of 3 Nephi 11. He seems to have a little bit of trouble reading, but I'm excited for him too!

     My studies have been all over the place of late, but I've been learning from Preach My Gospel from page 100 (en espanol) which talks about trusting the spirit. It's great to learn about trusting the spirit and looking at how the spirit has helped Elder Knowles and I to know where we need to go, what we need to do, and what we need to say.

     An example of saying something that needs to be said just came to me. On last Saturday we taught Victor Hernandez who was telling us that he felt bad about telling us that he would come to church and then end up not going, and that he was going to stop trying to come. Elder Knowles talked to him about why coming to church was important and bore testimony that it was something that we needed to do, and I talked about the Sacrament and how we renew our covenants with God, and how even if we miss the other meetings that the sacrament is the most important part of keeping the Sabbath day holy, and worshiping our Father in Heaven, and Jesus Christ. He told us that he would do his best to be there this week, and that he felt the spirit of our message touch him. He's a great man. He just needs to make it to church and he'll see more blessings in his life.

     I'm really excited to see this work progress! This the Lord's church, his only church on the Earth with all of the truths from Adam through Christ's ministry, and those truths revealed to our prophets today! I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God! I know that Thomas S. Monson is our prophet today, and that we can know all of the truths of the Gospel through prayer and the Holy Ghost.

     Keep up the good work!

Elder Richard Mackelprang

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Half Mission Conference

Richard had his Christmas Conference yesterday.  Their mission is so large that they have two half-mission Conferences.  Sister Bunker (his mission mom) posted these pictures on her blog for us…

DSC_0264Presents loaded into the mission van.  Lots of stuff – we sent Richard’s Christmas presents to the mission home (as did all parents) and Sister Bunker packaged them into pillow cases for all the missionaries.

 DSC_0307 This is half of Richard’s mission.  There are four zones here: Santa Rosa, Eureka, Ukiah, and San Rafael.  Note that Richard is in the back row in the middle.

 DSC_0299 Here’s the cake they had to celebrate at conference.

 DSC_0276Richard and his packages.  The other elders are not his companion – we haven’t seen a picture of Elder Knowles.

Thanks Sis. Bunker for your wonderful pictures.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Christmas Week

This week has been better than last week, but has still been hard. People are occupied and busy. Were still doing our best to make as many appointments with people as possible, but there are still a few people who are called into work or have something else that they need taken care of.

We have 3 new investigators this week, one we found tracting on Lombardi named Roberto. We taught him the 1st lesson, and set up a return visit. I have high hopes for him. We also taught the 2 daughters of Luis Sandoval. They are hard to perceive what they think of the message and are shy to talk about it. Their willingness to read the Book of Mormon and pray will show whether or not they are ready to progress or not. We also had a person walk into church from off the street and attend sacrament meeting. His name is Jose Tamayo. We are going to go to his house and teach him this week, I'm excited for him also.

We weren't able to teach and meet with Patricia this week, but we contacted her and set up another lesson for later this week as well. We're going to be teaching Maria Sanchez and hopefully her daughter today. We've invited to Sis Hernandez to join us and help teach the plan of Salvation. We hope to prepare both of them to be baptized at the same time. We will set an official date for them in the next couple of visits.

My studies of the Atonement and the it's ability to heal our lives has strengthened. I know that we can all be made clean through the Atonement of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That through Him we can overcome any obstacle, and that we can receive comfort and strength to overcome any trial, pain, or obstacle that we may have in our lives. It's truly a beautiful thing. Something that I'm going to advise my family and friends to study for themselves. I've also studied the Book of Mormon in Spanish from different chapters in Alma, Helaman, 1st and 2nd Nephi. They all have great chapters that talk about the atonement, the plan of salvation, and the necessity for prayer, and how prayer can bless our lives. I'm excited for the opportunity to teach people about the atonement of our Lord and Savior, and His love for them. If they pray then they can know.

It's sad that people think that it's just not that easy and don't try with that faith and intent that it talks about in Moroni 10:4. They will receive the witness after the trial of their faith (Ether 12:6). Or they blame God sometimes because of hardships, or for taking away loved ones... it's sad to see people whose hearts have been hardened by unbelief when they can receive comfort from the very thing that they are trying to shun. Sometimes this work requires lots of patience, and I'm still working on having that love and patience with me at all times. I know that Christ loves all of us unconditionally, and He always will, no matter what.

I'm loving the chance to be out here working. It's hard to get my bearings with all of these strange and new street names, freeways systems, etc. I'm catching on, and I'm doing my best. Elder Knowles is a great companion, and I'm grateful to have him as a trainer, even though he's still learning things himself, but he's a hard worker, and he does his best to do everything he can for those we serve in the Santa Rosa Branch.

 

:P so yeah, this is a clip of my letter to my mission president that I will include in my emails home from now on so you have an idea about what's going on out here. To answer some of my parents questions: I'll be calling about 10:30AM-ish (that's California time) from Aunt Marsha's house; so it'll probably be 1:30 or 2:30PM that I'll get to talk to you. I've already contacted Aunt Marsha and set up the details.

I loved the yearly announcement thingy, I can't remember the name for it at the moment... so yeah. I'm glad things are going all right at home, and I'm looking forward to calling home.

I hope everyone is still doing well, and is reading their scriptures! I know that this gospel is true! I know it with all of my heart!I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that he restored Christ's gospel to the Earth again through the gift and power of God. I know that the scriptures are true! They are a blessing to our lives and it is another witness of this gospel! What Elder Holland said in his last conference talk is true: Either the Book of Mormon is true and this is the true church, or this the book is false and this work is a farce. You have been given the opportunity to know for yourselves! Read and Pray! Gain that testimony!

In Christ's name amen.

Have a good week y'all!

 

Elder Richard Mackelprang

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Photos!

Richard sent Leah a birthday card yesterday.  In it was the memory card from his camera.  It has about 150 pictures and a movie.  The movie doesn’t have sound (because Richard’s camera is “soundless”, but it looks like their zone singing something – I’ll ask Richard what it is about).  I don’t have names of most of the people in the pictures, but I’ll describe the ones I know about.  Someday, Richard will have to explain the rest…  The ones in the list are in reverse chronological order (I believe).  They start from the day Richard departed the MTC and goes back to when he was travelling to the MTC with Grandpa and Grandma Johnson.

IMG_5116 Here’s the truck the bus ran into on the way from the MTC to the airport.  Ouch.
IMG_5115 Hey – I’m OK.  It’s the truck that got messed up.
IMG_5096 Part of Richard’s district/zone in the MTC dorm.
IMG_5086 Temple Day
IMG_5068 What?  I can’t hear you…
IMG_5059 We’re going right there…
IMG_5056 I count 11, but Sister Bunker said 14.  I don’t know where the other 3 are…
IMG_5042 Richard and the famous Seth Wilson from Tucson AZ.
IMG_5041 I’d like to share a book with you…
IMG_5027 An MTC “Happy Meal”?
IMG_5019 Temple Day (P Day)
IMG_5009 How can you not have this picture in your collection?  I believe it’s an MTC requirement to take at least one of these before entering.
IMG_4972 Robert at conference (pre-MTC).
IMG_4962 Richard with his cousin Heather’s little baby.  This is in Fredonia, AZ on the way to the MTC.
IMG_4957 At Glen Canyon Dam / Lake Powell on the way to the MTC.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Letter / Pictures From President & Sister Bunker

We received a letter yesterday from President and Sister Bunker.  It was sent on Dec. 7 (the day Richard arrived), so it took 10 days to get here from California.  Not a good track record for the USPS…

They let us know Richard arrived safely, and how happy they were to get such a large group of missionaries – 14.  There were 10 English speaking missionaries, and 4 Spanish speaking.  Sis. Bunker pointed us to their mission blog site where there were a wealth of pictures that I’m sharing here on Richard’s blog site.  The mission blog (if you’d like to see it) is: http://santarosacru.blogspot.com/

Hopefully we’ll receive the memory card for Richard’s camera soon so I can post some of his pictures.

DSC_0251 Christmas Packages.  Sis Bunker asked all of the parents to send the Christmas packages to her.  This is a small percentage of the more than 180 packages she got.  Richard’s package is the one in the middle with masking tape along the lower right hand side.
DSC_0331 Here are the missionaries arriving from SLC (note that this is after their incident on the icy freeway in Salt Lake)
DSC_0335 The group of missionaries coming out of the airport.
DSC_0339 Posing before heading back to the mission home.
DSC_0374 At the mission home.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Dec 14th 2009

Here’s Richard’s first email from Santa Rosa.  Note that when he mentions Moroni waving in his letter, that’s a joke perpetuated from when I was in the MCT long ago – the teachers there said that there was one sure way to know if your girlfriend was going to wait for you.  They said that as you flew out of the SLC airport, you could look at the statue of Moroni on the temple.  If he waved at you, she’d wait.  Otherwise, you had no promise :-)  On to Richards letter:

=====================================

Oi! It's been a long and wet week. I'm happy and excited to be out here, but it has been more exhausting than I had imagined. I'm with Elder Knowles who has been out in the field for about 3 months. He's a great guy, and he actually got his call after I did and managed to report earlier than I did. That just goes to show that the Lord knows when we need to be out here to be of the most worth to Him.

 

It's hard to remember everything that happened that first day... we got on the plane without too much of a terrible incident, and I fell asleep while they were rinsing off the plane to get the snow and ice off (deicing). I was asleep during take-off so I'll never know if Moroni was waving at me or not... oh well.

 

I talked to the stewardess who turned out to be from California. She has a Mormon family, but didn't know much about missions or about the MTC, so I got to explain how it works. I'm happy that so many of you have emailed me this past week, and so I'll try to answer all of your questions in this next part:

  1. I did get the bedding from aunt Marsha many thanks! The are very nice.
  2. I did get to go shopping on transfer day, most people buy groceries on Tues during transfer week.
  3. President Bunker is an awesome man. He's a common sense, no nonsense type of guy, and he makes it known. I already have a strong respect and love for him.
  4. My first interview with him was interesting. He hammered me down a little bit by talking about the legacy of the Spanish speakers of the mission, and saying how they are the best of the best of his missionaries, and that they are shining examples to the entire mission.  He also set me straight to his interpretation of the rules regarding emailing as I see he has probably sent to Mom and Dad already. I can only send emails to my immediate family, but if I need to send something to you real fast I'll have them forward a note to y'all.
  5. I'm glad that the family is doing well and that Joshua is learning how to enjoy serving others and being outside. You can lose weight too Josh, keep working hard!
  6. I laughed when I read the story about people remembering our name, because the Spanish people have trouble and have to read it to pronounce it right. I'm thinking that I'll let them start calling me "Elder Mack."
  7. The work has been way more exhausting than what we experienced during the MTC, it's been awesome, but because of it, I have been struggling to keep my journal up to date. I'll have to do that while we're playing basketball at the stake center.
  8. I'm currently serving in the Santa Rosa Oeste (West) Stake, and anyone wanting to mail me directly can mail me at 155 Stony Point Rd Apt# 15 Santa Rosa CA 95401.
  9. I got the SD card, and I'll be sending it back in the mail by tomorrow morning, along with some letters.
  10. I'm glad that I've been able to come out during the Christmas season. It's been an easier transition, and easier to talk to people with the spirit of the holidays surrounding us.
  11. We've only had 2 dinner appointments: 1 with the Branch Pres. Hernandez, and one of the members from the PEC Bro Johnson (yeah, he's a gringo in the Spanish branch.) I enjoyed the Mexican food from Branch Pres. Hernandez, and loved the gorgonzola bacon spaghetti from Bro Johnson. Man, he knows how to cook! Yesterday I ate stir fried ramen and veggies spiced with garlic salt ^_^ I loved it.
  12. I did get everything from the mission office the first day, and I got everything back to my apartment alright as well.

The funny thing about the first day was that we spent the night at a hotel... a Holiday Inn to be exact.  I thought that was kinda whacked, but was happy to share a room with Elder Zufelt for one last night. It was funny seeing the fountain iced over and the pool steaming the next morning. We had eggs and cinnamon rolls at their continental breakfast.

 

We have a temple trip to the Oakland temple planned for this transfer!! YES!! And we get to go quarterly! YAY!! I'm excited! Lots of pictures to be taken there.

 

I inherited a coat from the previous Elder of the apartment which fits me perfectly, and I will keep it and use it after my mission as well. I like it as much as the coat I borrowed from Dad when I went to BYU, but this one has a small rain hoodie that tucks away in the collar! It has served me well during the rain and drizzle of this cloudy/ windy week.

 

I have 30 minutes to write to  my family and 30 minutes to write to the President, so I should be set for emailing, and I don't have to deal with that stinking timer anymore! Hallelujah! That timer distracted me from being able to concentrate on writing.

 

Elder Mackelprang

Monday, December 7, 2009

California Or Bust!

Richard called from the airport in Salt Lake City today.  Apparently the bus carrying missionaries totaled a jeep that spun out of control in front of it while driving to the airport.  Luckily, nobody was hurt, but the jeep was totaled.  The road conditions were pretty icy.

Richard was almost late for his plane, so we only got to talk to him for a very few minutes.  He sounded excited to be off and going, and wanted to get started.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Packing PDay – Leaving the MTC

Saturday (Dec 5th) was Richard’s final MTC Preparation Day.  Here are the emails he sent us yesterday:

Email #1:

¡Hola mi familia! ¿Comó están Ustedes? Estoy bien, y ¡Tengo ánimo por mi vuelto en Lunes!

Typing in Spanish takes too much time... so I´ll just continue on in English…

Dad, I´m really bummed out that you already finished the book after I told you that I would finish the next one before you did. T.T I didn't get a chance to compete...

I'm glad that everyone is well, and hopefully you've arranged for the family to be home on Monday for a 1/2 day of school.

Well I can't think of much else to say that I haven't said since Wednesday, except that I finally used the debit card at the Bookstore to buy another shirt to replace one of my ruined ones, some extra white socks, and some earmuffs. It was pretty pricey $30 after all was said and done... I'll have to make sure that that was worth it.

Oh! Aunt Diana will be happy to know that I finally had the opportunity to use her sewing kit. Not for any clothes, but for my wallet. I'll take a picture of it to send back so you can see my amazing sewing skills. Well hopefully I'll get a chance to answer your questions today.

I love you all! I know this church is true and that we are all called to do God's work here on this Earth! Talk with those you meet and don't be afraid to open your mouth and share what you know! Make the missionaries job easier and find people to refer them to. The work will not progress quickly enough until missionaries and members work together, and the members work on the finding, and the missionaries work on the teaching. Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God, and I know that he translated the golden plates into the Book of Mormon through the power of God, and that the Book of Mormon is the true word of God, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.


Your Elder, son, and brother, Elder Richard Mackelprang

Email #2:

I'm sorry that I haven't been able to talk much today. This is a weird P-day. I'm glad to hear that Leah got to sing with the Cary High Choir in Downtown Cary and at the Moravian Church, and that they did well. To answer her question, yes I did sing at the Moravian church, it was pretty cool.

There are couple of things that I could use if you could send them to me sometime soon.

  1. My line of authority 
  2. A miniature laminated copy of my patriarchal blessing.

I know that these may take awhile to send to me, but it would be nice to have. Well anyways, I don't have much time... but I only ruined one shirt, it got stained pretty bad, and wont bleach out. Yeah, so I gotta go. I hope you guys are having a good day, and a good week.


Your Elder, son, and brother,

Elder Richard Mackelprang

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

^^ Dec 2nd

T_T The MTC is changing things on me again. They have this new 5 minutes at a time rule that ruins my usual print out emails and reply later system. So I'll have to start writing my emails in two parts to make the most of the time that has been allotted to me to email.

I talked a lot about what happened on Thanksgiving Day in my letter. The cool thing was that we heard from Elder Holland in the morning and had a wonderful Devotional. It's great that I've had a chance to hear Elders Perry, Oaks, and Holland while I've been here. They are some of my favorite speakers (also including the First Presidency and Elder Scott)!

Yesterday we had the opportunity to hear from Sis. Lant who is the General Primary President! She talked about how are hearts need to be like the Army of Helaman, and be valiant and reverent in what we do. One thing that I learned was that part of reverence is that we _revere_ our Father in Heaven and respect Him, not just keep calm and composed. It gave me a new meaning for reverence. 

I've got some more awesome pictures of my District and I in front of the Giant World Map, and some with the Christmas lights outside. They are very beautiful.

I leave this Monday the 7th of December! I get to wake up at 4:00AM to be ready at the travel office at 5AM. I'll probably be calling home somewhere between 7:30-8:30AM approximately. Hopefully the family will be able to be home when I call (Remember I'm speaking from Utah time)!

So far I've only received letters from my family, Aunt Marsha, and Kayla. I hope that I'll get to hear from some more of y'all while I'm actually in Santa Rosa. :P

Packing will be a fun experience. Fortunately I haven't gathered much stuff from the time that I came here.  Well, I'll send part two in a couple of hours! Love ya!

Elder Richard Mackelprang

Part II – Questions / Answers From Dad’s EMail

What did you do on Thanksgiving Day? Who was at the devotional? How was your dinner? Hopefully you had some good pecan pie! I wish we could send you some.

Elder Holland spoke

Can you get a phone card at the MTC to use when you fly out? If not, use some cash (5-10 dollars) to buy one at the airport and use that to call us. You should have the details on your flight by now or very soon. Tell us what the are as soon as you can.

I got a telephone card

I bet you’re ready to get out and get to work. Tell us about the best/worst parts you’ve found at the MTC. How has being in the choir been? Have you had the chance to meet / shake hands with many GA’s?

My favorite parts are Gym, P-days, and Sundays these are just the things that help make the days seem short than an eternity everyday

Mom didn’t get the new memory card mailed off to you at the MTC, and I was worried about you getting it before you left, so she mailed it to the mission home address. I’m assuming you’ll have it when you arrive on Monday. Please let us know if it’s not there.

OK

Do you have any idea when your PDay will be in CA? I’m assuming it will be Monday (since that’s the “standard”, but I was wondering if you’d heard from anybody who is currently there).

Probably Monday

Did Grandpa and Grandma buy you an overcoat/raincoat? If not, I’m betting you’ll need one. Let me know and I’ll put some money in your checking account to get one there.

No I didn't think to get an overcoat/ raincoat

How are your companions doing after 7+ weeks of MTC life? I got the feeling from some of your earlier letters that it was a little tough on them. Are they ready to get out and get to work?

They enjoyed the MTC, but they're very happy that they get to leave the MTC

Have you seen any other people in recent weeks? You mentioned Bishop Bishop’s Brother and Pres. Hyer – just wondering if there was anybody else.

I've seen Gerhardt, and a friend of mine from BYU Tyler White, but other than that no one else new

Do you have any trouble getting up on time? Or does the environment make that easy to do? How about your alarm clock – do you use it or does one of your roommates wake you up?

As I knew would happen, I've had no trouble getting up in the morning. There was 1 morning in the middle of my stay here where I was awake but didn't have the energy to get up for another 10-15 minutes (I get up at 6:20AM).

Well I've got to run, but I'll talk to you guys next week from CA! Love

Elder Richard Mackelprang

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Turkey Day Is Imminent

Hello everyone,

Our Thanksgiving Day will be pretty full: We have 2 devotionals (one in the morning and one in the evening) the morning one is guaranteed to be one of the Apostles or 1st Presidency! Then we have Thanksgiving _Lunch_ and then have _sack_ dinners., we're also decorating stars with our names/ missions,/ and favorite scripture. That should be fun. I want to use Moroni 7:30-32 which talks about Ministering Angels do, but it applies completely to what missionaries are doing here everyday! It was cool to see that we could literally call ourselves ministering angels. Read it, it's really cool! Speaking of Apostles we heard from Elder Oaks last night, and he gave an AMAZING talk about missionary work and things that we should remember in an uplifting way. Elder Oaks is definitely one of my favorite speakers at the moment.

My District and I were joking to each other thought that Elder Bednar or Holland would come Thanksgiving Morning and lay down the 'Hammer of Humilty' on us. I'll let you know what happens. Everything is still awesome here even if things have lost their magical feel.  It's definitely a blessing to be here!

Yeah I've already heard about Kayla's decision and I'm way excited for her!

You're still crazy Dad,  you are still a jokester. My District has actually given me the nickname of 'Mackelprankster' I'm not one to pull pranks, but I've been pushed to do so with some of your gifts in the package I'll give you more stories about that later. 

I laughed when Mom sent me that DearElder on Sunday saying that she needed to get it translated. You'll catch up eventually Mom!

I also think that it's funny that it's still been way wet out there, I guess it's true that I brought the sunshine with me. I'll see what I can do about mailing everyone, but I'm steadily running out of stamps, but I would happily write anyone back once I'm able to get some more... I just have to figure out whether to ask you guys at home to send me some forever stamps that I cannot purchase here or to just get the regular stamps at the Bookstore. I can only buy 20 at a time... yeah. Hopefully I can answer any questions that friends and family have through these weekly emails.

By the way Thank you to Aunt Marsha for the pictures of Chaz and Taylum! They are really  so adorable! It'll be weird to see them more grown up when I get back! 

Oh and Dad... *sigh* you depress me sometimes when you keep talking about the Robert Jordan series!! ARGH! I waited for that book! Alright... I can wait.

Anyways, now your questions...

Do your socks stick to the brick walls of your bedroom?  I think I asked you this before, but I don't remember ever getting an answer.

1. I haven't checked yet

Did Seth Wilson ship out to the Dominican Republic (DR)?  I saw a note on his blog that implied that he was leaving last week, but I didn't understand how that would be possible, unless there is an MTC in the DR.  Do you know anything about that?

2. Elder Seth Wilson left this morning actually, it'll be funny. His first day in the DR MTC will be Thanksgiving.

Did you get your package?  I hope so.  Have you had a chance to scare anybody with your cockroach yet?  Stories, Elder, we want stories...  The tracking info from the post office is whacked.  It says your package was delivered on Nov. 18 in Aurora CO (at 2:19pm).  I'm pretty sure you weren't in CO, right :-)  Or maybe Leah "misaddressed" your package to go to an Elder Watkins who lives in that part of CO...

3. I loved my package! I received a package from Kayla on the same day! She sent me some amazing homemade treats, and you guys gave me toys to pull pranks on people. Needless to say, I've been enjoying myself after 9PM back at the dorms. I have 2 good stories about the cockroach. I actually am not the perpetrator of these acts, but the other members of my District. The first was when the room next to mine put it underneath Elder Kinseys pillow. He slept on it for 2 nights and didn't notice it until he say the antennae sticking out from his pillow one morning. It scared him pretty good. Then the sisters went to a meeting, and so our District Leader put it underneath one of the Sister's Preach My Gospel so that it would jump at her when she moved it. She jumped because she didn't expect it to move, but she was expecting some sort of trick, so she wasn't scared so much as startled. 

Do you have your final flight itinerary yet?  Let us know the details as soon as you do.  We want to be sure we're available for you to call while you're at the airport.  Can you get a calling card at the MTC?  If not, we'll mail you one in the last paper letter we send to you at the MTC.

4. I don't get my flight itinerary until the last week, so I'll let you know the details as I get them. I'm actually going to send a letter to Cole Talbot with the members of my District that are going to the Tucson Mission so that he will have a chance to meet with the missionaries... hopefully I'll hear back from Cole and see how it turns out. 

Did you send back the memory card yet?  We're all looking forward to looking at your pictures.

5. Dad you're not going to like to hear this but it wasn't the tab that was the problem. It was the fact that you sent me HC SD cards. My camera is an ancient one, so the I sent the info about  the card that works in my letter so that you can figure out the details if you think that it's a different problem.

Leah wants to know what specific things you would have done differently to prepare for a mission, now that you're nearly through with the MTC.

6. The Common Consensus for my entire District is to read Preach My Gospel more, at least read through all the lessons once, be familiar with the principles that you will teach in those lessons, and know the scriptures to use with them. A long list, but it's probably how she can best prepare.

Do you have addresses for everybody in the family?  If you'd like I can print out addresses of your grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins and mail them to you on one sheet.  Would that be useful to you?

7. addresses from everyone would be cool, but I probably wont be able to write out to everyone all the time, I think it would be cool to be able to know the addresses if I felt prompted to write someone.

You mentioned some immunizations you needed to finish a few weeks ago.  Are they done?

8. The only thing that I mentioned with immunizations is that I've got them all done! Yay!

Well that's all I can think to write about this week. Gotta Run! I know that this church is true and that God's work cannot be stopped by man, and that we will move forward until we have preached to everyone who will listen to our message! I know that this is Christ's church, and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Your son and brother,


Elder Richard Mackelprang

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

‘Twas the Week Before Thanksgiving

Q/A letter from Elder Mackelprang this week.  Dads questions are mixed in with Richard’s answers:

Do you ever see any of the Mandarin-speaking elders around the MTC
campus?  If you do, give them a big NiHauMa from the Mackelprangs.

Well, I do see Chinese/ Mandrin speakers or people with oriental type characters  on their nametags, and sometimes I hear them counting in Mandrin. :P It's funny that I can still understand what the numbers are from when Dad taught us as kids. 

I'm glad all is well on the home front, and it's great to hear about some of my childhood memories because there are many stories that I don't remember like the rattlesnake picture/ story you talked about. I still can show you the scar from that wound I got at Kartchner pond... that was rotten.  I look forward to your package, and I can gauge how long it takes to get from NC to Provo, and have an idea of how long it'll take to get it to Santa Rosa.  I'm sure that I can find some fun pranks to pull on some of my companions with some of the things you said you'd send me. ^_^  All in good fun of course! I'm sure Josh will be telling me all about his new game in a Dear Elder or his letter, :P it'll be fun to play around with him a little when I get home. 

As for your questions...

How did you spend your "allowance" this week?  What things did you buy?

I spent about $2.5 on snacks and about $2 on spare change costs of dry cleaning/  necessities. There always seems to be something more that I need from the bookstore at the beginning of the week.

Can you receive pictures in your emails?  How large?  How many?  What's the max size?

Pictures can be sent here, I don't know the size limitation, but I know you can send at least 3, just make sure they aren't too big. 

Do you do floor prayers at night in the alcove near the janitor's closet?  If so, do you see Seth there?

We don't do floor prayers, but I think it would be a great way to unify our Zone more, so I'll suggest it to the ZL's. However, I see Seth just about everyday. 

Tell us yesterday's menu?  What did you have for breakfast / lunch /
dinner?

The menu sounds better than it actually is, but I don't complain that the food is bad, it's just not home cooking (doesn't quite match the quality of the BYU Cannon center).  Usually it's Eggs and Hash browns for breakfast, some sort of sandwich for Lunch, and some type of meat or salad for dinner.  They have ice cream on Sundays, and Wednesdays so I have to watch out a lot! 

Send us a copy of your schedule book for last week.  It would be fun to see all the meetings you have scheduled.

My schedule isn't all that exciting either. It's nice, but it also is just about the same pattern for everyday except for Tuesdays where we go to the TA, Wednesdays because it's P-Day, and Sunday because it's completely different. 

Who spoke to you at the last devotional?  What was the subject?

In our last devotional we heard from the Pres'ding Bishop Edgely who talked about missionary work and how everything we do has an effect that we may never see, and to not judge the success of our missions by the number of baptisms, but rather by how obedient we were to do that which we were commanded. 

I hope you all are doing well and enjoy my next letter which I just sent off today. Hopefully I'll hear from you guys soon!


I love you all!

Elder Richard Mackelprang

Thursday, November 12, 2009

A Missionaries Song of Truth

Richard sent this poem today.  Written by Elder Richard Mackelprang
Wandering the world travel seekers who know not for what they search
Listening to many churches that cry repentance to the Earth
Hearing – yet missing the comfort Christ’s atonement brings.
Yearns my soul to find them, and to them I will sing
the truths that burn in my heart through angelic notes that ring
and bless them to remember the perfect love of our Savior, Lord, and King.
That burning in my heart will to my feet give wings to fly
and guide me to those wand’ring people whose thirsty souls will cry -
with joy at the restored Gospel of which the Holy Ghost will testify
of the straight and narrow gate they must enter to become glorified.
Then with then begin our song anew ‘round the world to hungry souls who roam
That we may once again, hand in hand, return to our Heavenly Home.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Fall has Fallen

Alrighty, well this week has been really cool, and at other times seems exactly the same as the rest of the other weeks, but I guess that's just the complexity of perceiving time here at the MTC. I also want to bear my testimony on how powerful and wonderful sealings are, and that our kindred dead are so grateful for the work that we do for them. Lately I have felt the spirit strongest while doing sealings during P-Day.

Now to recount some of the highlights of this week...  Elder Seth Wilson is in my Zone!!! He actually lives a few doors down from me in my building! :P It's was way cool to see him again! 

I've learned all of the Grammatical information of how to use Spanish... so now I'm just working on mastering it and speaking fluently. I'm still able to help my class out a lot with their questions about Spanish which I enjoy doing a lot. 

I have gotten to take a lot of cool photos since I sent the faulty SD card home, I look forward to sending it back to you when you send me the new one. 

Well... I can't think of any other awesome highlights... Except for reading the interpretation of Lehi's dream if the Tree of Life in Spanish. That is really cool to read and understand exactly what it's saying now! I'm reading the Spanish from cover to cover while I mark scriptures in my English one from all  the scripture references that I find in Preach My Gospel, that has been a very interesting experience, especially since I'm marking my scriptures with all 12 of the markers that Bro. Wright gave me and they each have their own topics. You guys will have fun looking at the rainbow that my scriptures will be by the time I get home! ^_^  

 

Now in response to your email... I'm glad that you guys have been able to move forward with fixing up the house without your strong-arm man at home! I actually miss being able to help out every now and then.

I also cannot say how JEALOUS that I am of any of you who have had or will have the opportunity to read the next Robert Jordan Book!! ARGH! It just had to come out 3 weeks after I was gone! That's number one on my summer reading list when I get back.

It's funny to hear that you guys have gotten so much more rain since I have been gone, I guess that I'm the one who is most cursed with bringing the dry spell wherever I go.


To Joshua: I'm proud of you for preparing to receive the Aaronic Priesthood and become a Deacon next April! I know that the Lord will bless you as you strive to be a worthy priesthood holder, and that you will have the opportunity to bless many other people's lives with it. You'll definitely grow more into the man that I know and the Lord knows that you can be.


I'm sorry to hear that Bro. Davis is having heart problems, and I hope that he will be able to be ok.

Christmas-wise... I think that food and/ or money would be fine. I can't think of anything else that I would want or that I will need. So whatever you guys feel like sending is great!

It was interesting hearing about the monthly allowance; I'll have fun learning how to budget here pretty soon if that is the case.

I have no idea what we'll be doing for Thanksgiving here, but they didn't do anything for Halloween so I really don't know what to expect.

The Teaching Appointment thing changes people everything every week so I can't tell you about how our people progress, but I can tell you that we had fun teaching a native Mexican lady the first lesson in Spanish for the first time (our first time :P)! That was cool, and we actually managed pretty well, and I managed to understand the majority of what she said.

Well I gotta go love you all! I know that this church is true and I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord!


Elder Richard Mackelprang

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

November 4th P-day!

Hello!

Sorry about getting to talk to you guys so late, I've been trying to get to bed more on time recently so I had 11 Dear Elders to read from you all during my normal writing time after the temple session. It's more difficult to figure out/ plan things out at the moment because we have service starting at 5:00 PM albeit it's only 20 minutes now... it's in the middle of my emailing and letter writing time...

I guess I can start using my old service time for "free time" for letter writing since I can only email on Wednesday's before 6PM Utah time. I didn't bring the notes that I took on the Dear Elder to answer all of your questions for me because today has been rather hectic.

For my package I would love some artwork or just something you guys might make (or longer letters, those are cool too), since my immediate necessities are easily taken care of with my $6 weekly "allowance" here at the MTC Bookstore.

One of the coolest, yet simple insights that I had while I was here was the realization that if you look at all of the stories in the Book of Mormon, you will NOT find a story that does not include an action of faith through prayer. I realized that as I was preparing a 5 minute talk in Spanish about Prayer and Fasting. It was pretty cool.

Also yesterday we had a "teaching appointment" with a native Argentine. We talked in Spanish for a little bit, and then taught him the 2nd lesson in English which will be my companionships last English lesson, with the twist of tying in the Word of Wisdom. I was humbled by my lack of understanding this Argentine's Spanish. It was quiet and all one word. I couldn't pick out one word from the other which was odd since it's never been a problem with any of the other "TA"'s that we have had thus far. I will be more prepared for the next one though.

I doubt that I'm going to be moved up (into an intermediate Spanish district) since they haven't talked to me about it, which bugs me since they said they would get right back to me quote, "ASAP.", but haven't talked to me for about 2 weeks. I'm happy in my district, and I'm pushing myself harder than I did when I started though so I couldn't care less now.

It has snowed twice since I've been here, but nothing has stuck. Oh Well. Gotta get ready for Dinner and class tonight, but I'll prepare and make sure I give a more complete report next week,

Love you all!

Elder Richard Mackelprang

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Week 3 – Part 2

Hello my family!

This week has been crazy! I've been running my mind like crazy learning about the Gospel, learning Spanish, and getting things done. My teachers actually are trying to see if I can be moved into the intermediate class which would completely change everything that I have gotten used to here.

Thank you for all of your awesome Dear Elders! and I look forward to that next package! :P

I have a letter in the mail for you that should be here sometime next week. I have some awesome temple pics that you guys will enjoy looking at.

Other than having Elder L. Tom Perry come and speak to us  everything hasn't been too crazy.

Just to underline what my day looks like:

  • 6:20AM wake up
  • 7:00 Class/ Service or Gym
  • 8:00 Breakfast
  • 8:45 Class
  • 1:00 Lunch
  • 1:45 class
  • 6:00 Dinner
  • 6:45 class
  • 9:00 Daily planning

There is Personal Study, companion study and MDT thrown in the mix in there somewhere. It's different from day to day, but yeah they keep us busy.

Can't think of what else to write about at the moment other than I'm loving life here and I'm excited to learn more. tty next week!

Week 3

(Posted by Richard’s Dad)

We sent Richard some questions this week, and he (quickly) answered them.  See below:

Dad’s Questions

  1. Are you getting all the DearElders I'm sending from your missionary friends?  Do you want to continue receiving them?  I'm planning to do it this way until you leave the MTC, then we'll re-evaluate.  For now, however, you should be averaging 1+ DearElder just from your mission buddies.  It will be expensive to send you 8 sheets of paper each week, so we may only put them in packages once you're in CA.
  2. Did you get the answer on whether your ldsmail email address is sharable with non-family members?
  3. Have your companions told your family about your blog (http://richardsmission.blogspot.com)?  They may want to do so, since there are several pictures of your companions up there
  4. How do you like the MTC choir?
  5. Share some experience while on the phone with investigators.  We'd love to hear about it.
  6. Do you have snow yet?

Richard’s Answers

  1. yes I'm getting all of the Dear Elders from my fellow missionaries! I'm very happy to get to hear how they are doing out in the field. So yes, please continue to send them
  2. Yes, my email is able to be distributed and I can be mailed, I just can't mail them back.
  3. I don't believe that I told my companions about my blog yet... but I can tell them about it and see if they think their parents would care to know.
  4. The MTC choir is enormous and is a pleasure to sing in.
  5. You should be getting my letter here pretty soon, you'll get some of my experiences from that.
  6. It has snowed during the past 2 days, but it hasn't begun to stick yet. Here's hoping... gotta change brb

Hopefully we’ll get some more substance soon :-)

Monday, October 26, 2009

Elder Mackelprang Has A Visitor

(From Richard’s Dad)

Brittany (Richard’s cousin) worked at the MTC and had a chance to visit Richard for a moment today.  She sent an email and a couple of pictures (included here) for you all…

Hi guys!

I stopped by to visit my old roommate who worked with me at the MTC and some old co-workers today. I got to see Richard, or should I say, Elder Mackelprang, for a few minutes. He is doing so well! He just glows. My friend, stopped by his classroom on Friday to find out what his schedule would be like for today so I could plan my visit accordingly, and she called me and said that he was just sitting in his room and diligently studying. She was really impressed with how dedicated he was. I can honestly say that I had the same impression as I visited him today. He is really excited about being a missionary! He said that the Spanish is coming fairly easily for him- mostly because he has already taken so much Spanish. They were considering moving him into an intermediate Spanish district after his second week here, but by that time it was too late to change everything.

He is learning so much about the scriptures and shared some of his great insight with me. What an example for all of us!! He said that he has been able to do lots of teaching in the Referral Center and has had quite a bit of success there. The Referral Center is such an amazing place.

He was about to leave to go to a "Teaching Appointment" when I arrived. That is where there is a teacher who role plays as an investigator and the missionaries practice teaching according to the needs of their investigators. I didn't have a lot of time with him because of that.

From what I can tell, he is doing extremely well. He is actually excited about the snow storm that we are expecting tomorrow (I, on the other hand, am not). It was really fun to see my "baby cousin" as a missionary. He is going to be incredible. You should be proud of him. His testimony shines through his eyes!!!

I have attached a few pictures. Forgive the quality- I only had my blackberry.

I hope that you are all doing well.

:) Britt

Here are the pictures:

image Britt, Elder Mackelprang, Elder Bingham, Elder Zufelt
image Elder Mackelprang, Elder Bingham, Elder Zufelt
image Britt & Elder Mackelprang

Thank you for the note and pictures, Brittany!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Oct 21 2009

hello everyone! just to answer the previous questions that my family had for me:

How do you like doing jumping jacks to the names of the apostles (or do they even do that any more)?

no we don't do the jumping jacks thing

How many times did you pray yesterday?  (I want to share this with my class to give them an idea of how different missionary life is).

I pray at very least about 12 times every day

What's the weather like now?

The weather has turned a little chillier here, but nothing uncomfortable.

What's a "day in the life" of Richard like now?

I'm in class approx. 13 hours everyday it was long during the first few days but now the time is zipping by me. It helps to have 50 minutes of Gym time which I rock out with hard-core missionary 4 square.

Do you have a place to weigh to track whether you're progressing or regressing?

I do have a way to track my weight, and I'm doing well at holding it down

What's the policy on giving out your email address?  I haven't shared that with anybody except immediate family (i.e. me, mom, Leah, Jenna, Josh).  Check with your ZL's to see who is allowed to email you, and I'll share it with them as well.

and I'm pretty sure that most people can email me, I just can't email them back... but I'll double check that one.


Well I've had many spiritual experiences and have heard many great messages from the Lord's servants from the Quorums of the Seventies, and it's helped me become more focused and helped me have more of an idea of how to effectively use the Lord's time.
I laughed when I read Dad's comment about what have I done with my name and what I've done with my time, because I used that story in a spiritual thought a few days ago.


Things are moving by so fast that even when I write in my journal it's hard to remember everything that has happened over the course of the day. I know about all the big meetings and events, but remembering all of the small meetings of people you know and things that set these days apart from each other.


I have met at least 7 people from my BYU days, and it's been really awesome to be able to sit back and talk to them about all that has happened, but only for a few moments, since we're almost always busy doing something.


My district is really interesting. I I'm one of the oldest Elders. The Sisters are older than me by default, but the way our district interacts with each other is funny. We all have fun joking around with each other and becoming closer friends. Oh, and you'll never guess where 7 out of the 11 people in our District is going. Tucson, Arizona Mission. How crazy is that! It's was funny to see and hear that they we're going to our Hometown. Don't get me wrong Cary is my Hometown too, and I always say that I'm from there, but Tucson is the town I was raised in so I'll always have both as my hometowns.

Tell Josh that things will get better, and the harder he works in school the faster time will fly until I'm home again. I guess that Leah and Jenna are doing pretty well if they haven't put up any complaints...


And I'm sorry that I'm not around to help out with the renovations of the house. Just make sure that you don't make things too hot for when I get home :P.


I hope things continue to get better at home. I still haven't gotten the package from you guys yet... hopefully soon. Tell the kids to dear elder me once in awhile, it's great to hear from you all. I'll have my journal with me next time to tell you more about my experiences here.


I know this church is true and that it will bless our lives and the lives of our families as we strive to do what the Lord has commanded us and I know that Joseph Smith is one of the Lord's prophets and that the Lord restored His true church through Joseph and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Richard’s Companions

(this post is by Richard’s Dad)

Richard mentioned that he has two companions: Elders Zufelt and Bingham.  Here are some pictures of them:

Elder Bingham

Elder Bingham is from Kayesville, UT.
Elder Zufelt Elder Zufelt is from Flagstaff, AZ.

Elder Mackelprang

And here’s Elder Mackelprang.

Richard Pictures

  (this post is by Richard’s Dad)

The family sent a few pictures of Richard from when he visited them in Mesa / Gilbert on his way to the MTC.  I thought I’d add there here for you all to see

This is Richard and Dixie at Aunt Diana’s house.  Sep. 28, 2009.  Dixie has been around since shortly after Richard was born.

Richard and Dixie

This is Richard and Daniel Mackelprang, Richard’s cousin at Aunt Diana’s house in Mesa.  The gazebo is brand new (as of this summer).  Sep 28, 2009. Richard and Daniel
Here Richard is at his Uncle Michael’s house practicing his electric guitar playing in Beatles Rock Band.  Kenny, Richard, Brandon in front, Grandpa and Stephen in the back.  Sep. 29, 2009. Richard and the Band
Richard and Taylum.  It looks like Taylum intends to use him as a drum.  Sep. 29, 2009.

Richard and Taylum 1

Richard and Taylum playing Rock Band.  Sep. 29, 2009. Richard and Taylum 2

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Again

Hello!


Yesterday we heard from Elder Evans from the 1st presidency of the seventy, or maybe it was just from the 1st quorum of the seventy... but he taught a really awesome lesson about having faith in the Lord and in using the BoM the way it was meant to be used in teaching investigators and how we need to trust the spirit to witness to them as they read in between appointments, and that if we look in the first couple of pages of the BoM in 1st Nephi we can find the doctrines we are teaching to our investigators! It rang true to me because it reminded me of my Patriarchal blessing and how it prompted me to focus my studies on the BoM and how it was meant for our day, and yes I did get my package, and I loved it, didn't get Matthew's letter though... I'll be getting a letter to you soon too.


Leah will love coming here, she'll probably be outnumbered 10 to 1 missionary-wise... but she'll love it here. They have good food here and I try my best to refrain from eating too much.


I can't think of what else that I would like to say except that I've seen lots of friends from my BYU dorm days! It's great to be able to see and talk with them again, but I gotta go bye!

hello part2

Well... It's great to hear that everything back there is going well and I hope things continue to improve. I hope Joshua feels a little bit better about me being gone, but I know that he'll still miss me. I hope Leah is doing well in School and is not getting too stressed out, and I hope that Jenna is learning to enjoy her Freshman year even if she's still adjusting to the fast pace of the teachings and the large load of homework.

Don't miss me too much! :P  I think that it's great that Dad has been doing even more yard work since I've been gone, just because I'll just get home and stand there gaping at everything that's changed when I get back. (For however long that I will be home... before going back to BYU)

Well I used up several minutes registering for my account, and for those who want to send me mail tell them to send it to: <<Address withheld - family use only>>. I'll do my best to get a couple of letters out today, but today's schedule is already scheduled to be pretty busy... we're going to the temple now so I'll have to send another one to you guys and one for you guys to forward to Kayla. (Yes it's allowed.) Adios! (Don't worry I'll tell you more about what's happened afterwards.)

Hello!

Well it's my first real P-Day this week! I've survived! No, I haven't had as bad an expeirence here like Elder Watkins did. I've enjoyed every minute of it, especially learning and teaching Spanish to my fello Elders and Sisters! I'm in a trio because one of the people that was supposed to show up never did. So I am with Elders Zufelt and Bingham. I love them both and we're getting to be good friends! I'm probably going to be sending several emails today so just keep an eye out!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Letter from Provo MTC Presidency

Dear family of Richard G Mackelprang,


We are pleased to inform you that your missionary has been safely checked in at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah.  We thank you for supporting your missionary and know that your family will be blessed as a result.


Your missionary's mailing address while at the MTC is:


Richard G Mackelprang
MTC Mailbox # 168
CA-SRO 1207
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793


Please note the following items:

  1. Your missionary's service began today.  Please do not arrange or request visits with your missionary, including meetings at the temple or in proximity to the MTC.
  2. All missionary mail must come through the US Mail or commercial delivery services.  Hand delivered items will NOT be accepted.  Do not send pizzas, fast foods, ice-cream, or any items that will spoil if they are not refrigerated within 24 hours.  Missionaries are not called out of class to receive packages, nor do they have access to a refrigerator.
  3. Communicate with your missionary weekly through letters sent to the above address or through the email account that the missionary will set up within the first two weeks.  This account is to be used by immediate family only.  Telephone calls for missionaries cannot be accepted.  Your missionary will correspond with you on his/her first preparation day.
  4. Families and friends should not plan to visit missionaries departing to their field of labor at the airport or MTC.

Should you need to communicate with the MTC call 801-422-2602.  Do not reply to this email.


Sincerely,


Provo MTC Presidency

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Richard’s New Home

(posted by Richard’s Dad)

Here is an image of the MTC that sits between BYU and the Provo Temple in Provo Utah.  Richard is in one of the buildings below.  The MTC is at 2005 N 900 E, Provo UT.  We’ll post contact information for sending email / letters / etc. soon.

Map picture

Here are a couple of the pictures we took when Richard flew off to see his friends and family last week before General Conference and reporting to the MTC:

Technorati Tags:

In The MTC


(this post is by Richard's Dad)


Richard sent me a chat at work today -- unfortunately I didn't have my chat window visible so I wasn't able to reply back to him, but here's what he said:


2:52 PM me: See you in 2 years! I love you!
2:53 PM bye!



(the me in this case was Richard).


I'll post versions of the emails that he sends to us here when we get them.  I'm also going to setup a feed to facebook so these same posts will appear there.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Temple Trip

Andrew, Matthew and I all attended the temple a few weeks ago.  We went through the Apex temple on August 15, 2009.  It was amazing to finally go through the temple! It was new and made me think a lot about the Gospel as I searched for the symbolism in everything in the endowment. Each room was more and more inspiring than the last! I am grateful for the opportunity that I have to live so close to the temple and to attend it often!

Pictures

  1. The 3 amigos
  2. 3 amigos con Bishop Council y Bishop Anderson
  3. 3 amigos con sus madres
  4. 3 amigos com sus padres

Friday, July 10, 2009

It Came!!

My call came late yesterday afternoon! I am called to the Santa Rosa California Mission; Spanish speaking. Wow! I report to the MTC Oct 7th, so I guess I still have lots of time to prepare. :)

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Finally!

As of today, May 28th 2009, I have reached my goal of 285 and will have my papers sent this weekend. As I get more information this will be one of the best places you can come find out the progress. Eventually, there will be missionary updates and emails that I send from the mission field that will be copied and pasted here.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Welcome!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to my Missionary Blog. I'm preparing for my mission and thought that getting used to giving missionary updates would be a good idea to get the word around about how I'm doing. I'm still working on the site so please bear with me.
Note that this is a moderated blog - Elder Mackelprang neither reads or (directly) writes to this blog. This is done by his father.