7-15-13

Annie’s Letter

So, first and most importantly... is Beaudee what you will be naming your baby? That's a super cute name! I like it :-) I'm glad things are going well... sounds like you all have a crazy busy week coming up! Plus only 11 days until the wedding! Exciting stuff! The little house sounds like a crazy adventure! I'm glad you were able to get it all taken care of before the renter moved in. yes, the jam is for you. I bought it at the Troyer's bakery. It is SO DELICIOUS! It's very nummy. I'll definitely have to buy more when I go back out there! I love it! Now it even has a Troyer label on it. :-) Our jar was gone so you are very lucky I didn't take the jar out of that box and eat it myself! Thankfully, Sister Weaver gave us some jam that she made when we were helping with the barn. So I didn't have to steal any jam from you. Speaking of stealing...

On Monday I went with Sister Shelley (from Marion) to see Seanace. She had court that day for all her traffic violations... verdict: 3 days in prison, 2 years parole. So that sucks. Well, on Saturday Sister Arnell and Sister Meredith went by to see her. She wasn't there but her friend Levi was. Levi went and picked her up from prison. Then he drover her around a bunch of places and then, since he didn't have a lot of gas in his truck, he walked to buy a part so he could patch her pool. He really does a lot for her. Well... while he was walking to get the part...she stole his truck. It's so sad. She was doing so well but then something happened and she just started spiraling out of control. It's one of those things where you know how much the gospel will bless her. And we have been doing everything we could to fight for her....but unless people are willing to help themselves, we can't do anything for them. It's heart breaking but it is what it is. Hopefully she will figure it out... sometimes agency is a beast. I'm really thankful for it though. And especially thankful that I was taught how to use it wisely. CTR!! Such a simple phrase, but for so many people it is an almost impossible task. :-(

So transfers are next week and I really doubt that I'll be staying in Mt. Vernon..but who knows. So we'll just wait and see. I doubt it because first of all, Sister Arnell and I feel like the best way to handle the future of mt vernon is to have 2 of us stay here in Mt. Vernon and have 2 brand new sisters doubled into the new Fredricktown apartment.  That way it is just a clean break for investigators and missionaries. The area will be split 3 ways so it would just be easier that way. We talked to President and Sister Nilsen about it and they agreed with us... I bet Sister Arnell stays here and is the Sister Training Leader for Columbus East. Currently we have Columbus East, Columbus North and we recently acquired the Columbus South zones that we are over so it's a little crazy. They are calling one new STL at transfers so she will be in one of the other zones and I bet I go to the third zone. But who knows? There are about a bazillion possibilities when it comes to transfers. So "I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord." I love you all. I hope you have a great week! Stay sane! :-)

Annie

Landon’s Letter

Hey,

So this week has been really really warm. There is tons of humidity here and it just gets warmer and warmer each and every day. There is no relief from the heat even in the shade. This morning we went out side at 6:40 to kick around a soccer ball and we played in the shade just to try and keep ourselves cooler. So it has been fun. We are keeping hydrated as much as possible. 

This week we continued to find. It feels like all we do. Find. We have people that we can't ever get a hold of. So we are just trying to make due with what we have. But it is still the happiest I have ever been. Really!

Sorry this is short but I don't know what else to say. By the way who is Greg Harris marrying?

Rachel- hope you have fun at UREA. It is such a blast. It is the best time I ever had during my senior summer.

Natalie- 11 days eh? crazy I hope that things go well for you and they work out great. 

Annie- I hope that you stay in Mt. Vernon. You are such a great example thanks for all you do.

Megan & Justin- Same question as Annie? that is awesome I hope that things go well for you these next couple of weeks.

Mom- Baking Soda? That's crazy I would have loved to have seen that. Really!

Dad- We don't have a missionary change in uniform. So I am good with everything I have. Thanks for all you do.

Love your favorite Brother, Son, and Elder

Elder Landon Webb

7-8-13

Annie’s Letter

...literally. There was a service project at the Weaver's on Saturday. Brother Weaver is turning his barn into a furniture shop! Weaver farm and furniture! So we were helping to clean it out. One part of the project was taking out the grainery. Sister Arnell and I didn't just want to watch the fun..we wanted in on it! So we got some sledge hammers and took the walls down! It was super fun! We also tore down a wall right after that. We went over to Brother Weaver's brother's house and bought peaches and black raspberries! We met his sister though, not his brother. They were obviously a huge part of the shunning. But we called Brother Weaver later that night to tell him that we had gone over. He told us that his sister knows that the church is true, but doesn't quite know how to take action. That would be a very hard thing, can you imagine having the possibility of your entire family and community shunning you? That would be so hard! I have so much respect for the Amish. Read Alma 15:16. But instead of Amulek, try the names of the Weavers, Troyers,
and Hochstetlers. They are amazing. I am so glad that I know each one of them! I love them so much! Visiting them is definitely one thing that MUST be done when we come back to Ohio. :-) To see pictures of this fun event, get on my facebook and add Rhoda Rine. She has added me, just accept her. She also added Natalie. She wants you guys to be able to see all the fun pictures she takes :-) Visiting her will also be on that post mission to do list! :-) One reason that I want to come home is that it isn't really encouraged for parents to come and pick up their missionaries. Besides, I want to ride down the escalator in the airport and see ALL of you when I get back :-)

It sounds like all of you are just doing great! I'm glad things are going well with the house and wedding!

Megan, I love the picture of you! I always knew you would be a cute pregnant lady! I'm so excited for you guys! yayaya!

Landon, Sorry you sprained your ankle...no bueno! Especially since you don't have a car! Make sure you take care of yourself buddy!  You're just stellar! Thanks for your awesome example!
Natalie, I got your wedding announcement, SO CUTE! I can't believe that you're getting married so soon! It's crazy! Jon, thanks for sending me a letter! Justin...you only have 3 months. Get on it my friend :-)

Rachel, sounds like you had a fun weekend! I can't believe you're old enough to go to utah by yourself! And dancing with college kids... did you go to the.. um... crap, I can't remember what it's called now. But there is a place in Provo I used to go country dancing all the time! it was super fun! You could have met people I know!

Sadly, we don't get to go to the Hochstetler's sealing. It makes sense, but it's still kinda sad. It's all good though. We'll just have to go to the temple with the amish when we come back!

Also, I'm sending home a box today with some winter clothes in it that I won't be needing. Like my coat. It will also have an sd card full of pictures for your enjoyment :-)

So here is a miracle for the week!
On Wednesday night as we were planning we determined that Thursday wouldn't be the most effective day to knock doors or visit people because they were't home! So we decided that we were going to make a concentrated effort to get referrals! So on Thursday we were invited to 5 barbeques. We went to the three most productive. 1 with a family who had all of their non member family over, we had a great time with them! We set up a service project for the missionaries who are in the area that these wonderful people live in. They want to see us again before we leave! yay! We went to another with the Rines.  We also went to another one with a less active member and her parents, who are NOT fans of the church. But they allowed her to invite us over and even stayed out and talked to us! It was great! With our concentrated effort, and thanks to the spirit for bringing all things to [members] remembrance, we were able to accomplish our goal of getting 10 referrals on the 4th of July! It was amazing! We don't need to do more things, we need to do things better. I know that as we really focus on the things that are BEST we will be blessed with much success in bringing our brothers and sisters to the gospel. We simply need to have an "eye single to His glory." and what is His glory? "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" so, we need to have "an eye single to bring[ing] to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." AN EYE SINGLE TO MISSIONARY WORK! Just like Landon said... there are people we are around every day that we see and associate with that might be prepared for the gospel. We never know who the Lord has prepared so we simply have to invite everyone! We cannot offend people with the Lord's message as long as it comes from the heart. :-) Love you guys! Have a fabulous week!

Annie

Landon’s Letter

Hola mi familia,

Como estas?

I hope that things are going good in Wyoming. On Thursday I was thinking about the States while I as seeing the States right across the river. It is still crazy to see my home land just right there and I can't cross over to it. 

This week we had a good time just trying to figure more about our area since we whitewashed into it. I am excited to see the progress I know we can make in the ward. We have a new vision to establish  in the ward and I hope that it will be a unifying event for the ward. We as a mission had a goal for June to see 60 baptisms, well we achieved 78. Know we as a mission want to see at least 1 family baptized into the ward by September 29, 2013 in each ward. Pretty exciting news and goals to achieve. 

My ankle is fine don't worry it doesn't even bother me so I am fine. We are using the buses and bikes but we have such a small area and the buses don't even cover all of our area. Just so you know here are the boundaries.

Windsor North Area: (Where I am now) 

               East Boundary: Little River

               West Boundary: Crawford Rd.

               North Boundary: Detroit River

               South Boundary: Tecumseh Rd

Windsor South Area: (Where I was last transfer)

               Boundaries: Everything else in Windsor

               Other towns: Amherstburg, La Salle, Belle River, Maidstone, and Tecumseh

So there is where I am working at. Pretty cool huh! We are trying to get better at talking with everyone. I mean everyone on the bus, people we pass by, ride by, see across a street where we can get to, and everyone. We are also trying to help the ward in missionary work, home teaching, and also with activation. So we are busy. Most of our time is traveling. Go figure. So best make use the best of our time that we have.

Rachel: What you went dancing? Crazy! That is awesome you had such a great trip. You will remember that for the rest of your life.

Natalie: Keep going you are almost to the finish/starting line. Just one of many down the road. You are doing great keep it up especially with your example.

Annie: Wow you are doing great. Keep up the hard work and faith. I hope that things continue to do well. Thanks for all you do.

Megan & Justin: That is awesome congrats! When is the due date again? Thanks for the email it was great to hear from you!

Mom: So the tie is signed I just haven't been able to send it off yet I will try today to get it out of here. Thanks for all you do.

Dad: I am glad to hear Elder Hyatt is doing good. I think he has been planning that for a while. Thanks for all that you do I love you!

I love you all and appreciate all that you do.

Love your favorite Brother, Son, and Elder,

Elder Landon Webb

7-3-13

Landon’s Letter

Hey everyone,

So I got transfered this week from Windsor South. I also got a new companion. He is Elder Minors from Alberta. Oh ya I got transfered to Windsor North. Our district leader was in North and us in South had a car but he needed the car for exchanges so we switched areas. I am now on a bus, bikes, and walking. So that will be an exciting adventure.

This week we do something called sports night where we invite investigators, Less-active members, and non-members to play sports. Well I twisted my ankle really bad last Thursday. It is black and blue but not too bad. So it is find I can still walk. ;)

For mailing things here I don't have my new address so you can still send things to the old one and I will still get it. The house is only a 15 minute car ride away from where I now live and we see the other missionaries pretty often. 

You can feel the the work of the Lord hastening here in the Windsor Ward. We as a ward watched "The Work of Salvation" during the 5th sunday for church and it was awesome. We also have been working with members here and they are really excited about trying to share the gospel with their friends. It is really exciting. I know each of us have family/friends/co-workers/associates/people we pass daily/and people we meet each day who have not yet heard or even received the restored gospel in their lives. I would invite us to pray for them and to pray for the opportunity to share the gospel with someone. Then look for those opportunities to share the gospel, bear testimony about it, and invite them to visit mormon.org and/or come to an activity (ex. FHE, invite them and the missionaries over for dinner and afterwords the missionaries share a small spiritual message, or even relief society activity). Try it out and see what happens. I know that if we act in faith knowing that the Lord will not let us fail and showing love for our friends we will be successful no matter if the person accepts the invitation or not. 

Rachel- I am glad to hear that things are going well for you. Wow that's a lot of time to work. Congrats! Keep learning lots. It's more then just learning about teeth. It's learning how to work and prioritize your time.

Natalie- Holy cow you have a ton of announcements to send out. Don't worry 498 more lest to hand out after you sent out Annies and mine. Just remember when things seem stressful and you need a breatk it's the best time to read the scriptures or watch a mormon message on lds.org

Annie- Wow you are really busy. I don't get how you are keeping things running in your area. That is absolutely crazy. Keep up the hard work and loving life. You are helping out many of Gods children come closer to Him through the restored gospel. Keep smiling :)

Megan & Justin- I hope that things are going good for you guys. I know how busy you both are but I am grateful that you are still fulfilling the callings you have. It is a time for us to grow closer to our Father in Heaven. Thanks for your great examples and all that you do.

Mom- I know what you mean. We all want things to be fine now and fast. I am learning that a lot here on the mission as you probably know. I am just grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who keeps us in mind. 

Dad- Thanks for you great example and all that you do. I know I have learned a lot from you and I have been able to apply it here. I am grateful for you and all that you do. I really appreciate it. Thanks! have a safe trip.

I love you all,

Love, your favorite brother, son, and elder

Elder Landon Webb

7-1-13

Annie’s Letter

First of all

-yes I am in Knox county, that is so cool! In Knox county Mt. Vernon is the only "Big" town. Then there is also danville and centerburg (the geographical center of Ohio) and Fredricktown. But I don't know if any of those were around when he was here, but that's super awesome! I'll definitely keep my eye out for family! :-)

-Natalie, I sent dad pictures for the cardboard cutout. I still can't believe you wouldn't wait for 3 months so you could have the real me instead of a cardboard one ;-) haha.

-next transfer is July 25.

So, the mission is officially split as of today! Crazy! It's so exciting to see the work progress so much, so quickly! The difference in the OCM is so incredible comparing now to when I got here 15 months ago. And the changes from since President Nilsen have been here have been intensely crazy! They are coming up on 2 years on the mission, this month! I'm not gonna lie... I'm glad I'm in Columbus because I get President and Sister Nilsen my whole mission :-) yayayaya! So let me tell you about the insane week this has been!

Monday, as you know, we went to hell. Tuesday was a normal day, working hard! Wednesday Sister Arnell and I left Sister Nalls and Sister Meredith for the first time. We came to Delaware on Wednesday for an exchange with Sister Jensen and Sister Stump. Sister Nalls and Sister Meredith did so great! It was a little rough at first, but they work through it all by themselves and just did a stellar job! Found a new investigator, taught stellar lessons...it was just great! Friday was another normal day. Again, we had some stellar lessons! We have some great investigators that we are working with. Our poor investigators get whip lash I think becasue there are 4 of us so they never know who is coming to teach them. It work out better this way because when we are on exchanges it's Sister Nalls and Sister Meredith anyway so we just all teach everyone. it's a little crazy, but we like it. One really cool thing. We had a lesson with an investigator, Jordan, on Friday. He will be moving to Toledo tomorrow, which we are super sad about, but he has a job up there so that's good. We weren't sure how it would go up there with getting the missionaries to him and if he would talk to them... he was sad it wasn't going to be us. Anyway, after his lesson on Friday he was saying the closing prayer and he asked that the missionaries in Toledo would be able to find him. Warmed my heart :-) So Saturday we were talking to Sister Nilsen in the morning and ended up leaving on an emergency exchange back to Delaware. So we were here all day Saturday and Sunday and we will be here until tomorrow morning. Then we have mission leadership council tomorrow pretty much all day, so we will get back to Mt. Vernon around 5 tomorrow night. and then the sisters from zanesville will be coming on Wednesday until Thursday morning. So pretty much Sister Nalls and Sister Meredith are on their own for a whole week. We are really just so proud of them. They are incredible missionaries. They were definitely the right ones to be called to Mt. Vernon with all of our craziness. They are just stepping up to the plate and rolling with everything that is given to them. I am so thankful for them. :-) Such amazing missionaries :-)

Coolest thing. Here in Delaware they are teaching a little girl, Brienna. She is deaf. So we got to meet here on Wednesday and I got to sign with her, I'm super rusty but it was fun. She told me about her cat, the black one. The orange one is NOT hers. And she told me about how tinkerbell is her favorite fairy. It was very fun :-) Then on Sunday she was at church. One of the ladies int he ward asked Sister Jensen if they signed when they taught her, she said no, Brienna's mom interprets. But her mom wasn't there. So Sister Jensen volunteered me to go to Primary with Brienna. So Sister Arnell and I went, I told them I didn't know much and I was really rusty, they said that's fine. So we went and the lesson was on the 3 kingdoms of glory. We got through it! It was so much fun. Brienna has an attitude! She was teaching the other kids the signs for Sun, moon and stars and she would call them out when they were screwing around. It was so funny. Then we went with her to sharing time. There was a 3rd hour meeting for all the adults so the kids watched the Testaments (LOVE THAT MOVIE!) so we stayed with Brienna and it was just so fun to get to sign with her! The Lord definitely helped me, all things brought to your remembrance. TRUE PROMISE! It made me want to learn more! Someday I'll definitely have to do that. :-) That little girl is so special. I am so grateful that I met her and that I have enough signing knowledge that I was able to communicate with her. She really enjoyed having someone other than her parents to talk to. We really never know how the Lord is preparing us and what situations we will be in in our lives. It's SO COOL!  We will be coming back for her baptism on July 20! :-)

ALSO, the last amish family is going through the temple on July 27 and they invited us to go! We are so very excited! :-)

Well, that's all for this week. Love you all! 

Annie

6-24-13

Landon’s Letter

I hope you all had a great week. Happy Birthday Natalie 19 wow you are old. 

I hope that you are all able to watch the broadcast of "The Work of Salvation" It lists out ways not only the ward council can work to help others receive the restored gospel but also how every member can help others receive the restored gospel. It was a really great broadcast and I hope that you will all take and use those things that you learn from it and feel prompted to use in your life to help others receive (whether that be help strengthen, to help bring back, or to help others come into the church) the restored gospel. Nothing is more important than this work because it is the work of the Lord.

This week we did a lot of finding this week but we are hoping next week to do more with the members in helping them do missionary work. We had set up a lot of appointments to see if members would help in missionary work but now we are going to help them in any way that we can.

We went to Leamington for a district meeting and I saw Lake Erie. I remember being on the other side of Lake Erie looking across but this time I was on the other side. Also I think I saw Ohio. I'm not sure or not it it was so I will say it was. ;) 

We were able to find 2 new investigators this week and we are really excited and happy for that. That's about all I have done this week. finding.

Rachel- I hope that things are going good for you. When is UREA?

Natalie- Happy birthday sorry your birthday card will be late again. well actually it already is sorry.

Annie- I hope things are going good in Ohio. I saw it this week! the CTM is still better even President Monson related a story that happened here. Pretty cool huh ;)

Megan & Justin- I hope things are going great for you. Justin......keep that remote control car going I want to see that when I get back. jk they might be use to it then. 

Mom- It was good to hear from you. I hope that things go well for you. Man you have a lot of houses to choose from now.

Dad- Thanks for you emails. I always appreciate talking to you. I hope you have a good day.

I love you all

Love your favorite Brother, Elder,and Son

Elder Landon Webb

P.S. Remember there is no greater work or thing we can do than to share, help, and invite others to receive the restored gospel. 

Annie’s Letter

We're a little floored by the social media. thing. I'm a little concerned...I DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE FACEBOOK ANYMORE! So it will be funny trying to watch poor sister webb trying to figure out how to use this crazy stuff. It will be exciting to see the work progressing! We are very excited because it will make mornings so much more productive. Tracting in the morning is not very productive at all. And we don't usually have lessons in the morning so it's kindof a rough time. But we try to be as productive as possible. This week has been good. It's definitely had it's challenges but it has been good. Overall I am a happy little camper...er... missionary. :-) It's definitely been an adjustment having 4 sisters but we are getting it figured out. We had an awesome zone conference on Thursday. It was super fun and I learned a lot. We are really focusing on simplifying and intensifying our teaching. Our favorite thing is to go through the restoration pamphlet and teach it using the pictures as fast as we can. My fastest is 23 seconds, Sister Arnell's is 18. Sister Meredith's is 44 and Sister Nalls is a minute 5. It's super fun. We usually average about 50 seconds, so it's short enough people don't get put off by it but there is enough information there that people can learn and see that our church is different and why. So that has been a lot of fun. One super cool thing that happened this week: On Tuesday we had a lesson with a former investigator. We wanted to take someone with us to the lesson but didn't know who we should take. So that morning I was thinking about it. Take Deb. mmm... maybe not. Take Deb. She's busy. Take Deb. She probably won't be able to go. Take Deb. FINE! So I texted her and asked if she could come to an appointment with a lady named Monica. She texted back... is it Monica [last name] by chance? YES! Deb is like super good friends with Monica and her husband. So Deb came with us, we had a great lesson, the spirit was super strong. Monica and Mike are new investigators (again) it was just awesome. It's amazing what happens when we are seeking guidance and obey. Hopefully I'll be a little quicker to obey in the future. :-)

This morning we had a very fun adventure. We went to... THE GATES OF HELL! The Rines took us. We went to Kenyon College (which is in Gambier) and the legend is that the gates of hell are there. So we took a picture where they are supposed to be at. We walked into hell, took a look around, and came back out. It was awesome. I love the Rines. They do so much for us. I am so grateful for them. :-)
This transfer is going to be nuts. Sister Arnell and I will have 2 exchanges a week. One away and one home. So when we are away our trainees will just be on their own in Mt. Vernon, but they will be okay. THey are stellar missionaries. And when we are here on exchanges we will have 3 companionships to plan for. So that will be nutty! I"m excited though because I love exchanges and getting to know/work with the other sisters in the mission. I can't believe how many there are here now! When I got here there were 19 and at the lowest there were...13. or 15, I can't remember. But now there are over 50! It's so exciting to see the growth! The mission splits this week so we will only have about 150 instead of 250 but by the end of the year there will be 250 missionaries in just the Columbus area! THe work of Salvation really is hastening. It's so exciting to be a part of it! Way to be an awesome member missionary! I have gained such a huge testimony of working with members in missionary work. It makes all the difference in the world. I love what one of the apostles said last night "missionaries are here to assist the members...members should keep the missionaries calendars so full they don't have time for tracting!" Although tracting is super exciting... you meet the funniest people ever!

So as far as coming home. I'd rather just come home and come back to Ohio later. But we could definitely plan a trip so we can make it happen! I want to be able to do some things here that I definitely can't do while I"m still a missionary! :-) It sounds like you all are busy busy busy :-) I can't believe it's almost July! Scary stuff! I hope work is going well for all of you and nothing is getting too stressful :-) Have a fabulous day, I love you all so much!
Annie

6-17-13

Annie’s Letter

Hello wonderful familia of mine! Sorry I didn't get to write last week... our pday got switched to Wednesday and then the internet was down at the library all day and then we were just so busy we didn't make time for it on the other days. So let me tell you about the craziness that has been Mt. Vernon!

On Saturday June 8 we picked up 4 wonderful mini missionaries. Mine were Sister Gardner and Sister Layton. Sister Arnell's were Sister Williams (who is dating April Ellington's son, Austin) and Sister Lee. It was SO MUCH FUN! We worked really hard all week! They have such fire it was amazing! One really cool thing that happened: On Tuesday one of my minis was getting a little discouraged and so we were tracting and I prayed and prayed that we would be able to find a new investigator...AND WE DID! Her name is Jenny and I honestly thought it was a setup. She asked questions freely, she asked if we could come back and she asked if we could have a prayer before we left. I honestly thought we would leave and she would be like "haha just kidding, I'm a member." But no. It was awesome! Then on Wednesday we went to mormon tabernacle choir and it was super fantastic! Plus it was fun to get to see mission friends that I don't get to see often, some I won't see again because of the split in the mission. Of couse, I am still in Mt. Vernon and so I am in the OHIO COLUMBUS MISSION! yay! I"m really excited because I couldn't imagine having an exit interview with someone who wasn't President Nilsen. He has helped me so much through the mission! I am so grateful for him! We stayed in Columbus on Wednesday night. 2 of the minis stayed at President and Sister Nilsen's house with the new missionaries who arrived Wednesday afternoon and the other 2 minis and sister arnell and I stayed at President and Sister Nilsen's friends house. They are not members. In the basement there was a full open bar and a slot machine! They were very nice! Then Thursday we went to transfers. We had received a call from President on Wednesday morning.

President: "Hello Sister Webb! We're very exicted, we're going to do something we've never done before! You are being called to train a new sister!"

Me: "President, I've trained before."

President: "Yes, and Sister Arnell will be staying with you and she will be training a new sister as well"

At this point sister arnell starts freaking out. SO then he talks to her, tells her she will be training (after 6 weeks! Mormon was called at 10, joseph smith at 14...she's old!) and she was also called as a Sister Training Leader! So we are still companions but we also have trainees! Exciting! So we went to pick up our trainees. I am training Sister Nalls from Concord California. She was baptized 14 months ago and is super on fire! It will take some adjustment to get used to working with a new companion,as always, but I am really excited. Plus, now I have a companion STL which will make exchanges super easy! I'm excited. Sister Arnell is training Sister Meredith from Syracuse Utah. It's fun. So yeah, we had 8 sisters in our apartment and i was the only one who had been out longer than 2 months. CRAZINESS! So, yeah I was a little stressed but it's all good. Plus, the elders that had been here got doubled out (Elder Lamm went home and Elder Durnall got transferred) so we had 2 new elders, ELder Abbot and Elder Beverley (who was in the MTC with me!) And they had a mini misisonary, John Dunlevy, from MARYSVILLE! So we had 11 missionaries in Mt. Vernon! It was amazing. We were so blessed this week. We taught lots of lessons, found 8 new investigators, and learned a lot. It was fabulous. Saturday the mini missionaries went home sadly. But it's also good because now we can figure out this whole 4 companion thing. We split up every day and divide and conquer. There are 3 sets of full time missionaries in Mt. Vernon! The ward is super excited and so are we!

It is so amazing to see the work of the Lord go forth! I love being a missionary! In ward council yesterday they talked about the missionaries coming in and going home in the july transfer...spetember transfer...and october transfer. It kind of hurt my heart. I love this work so much. I love the gospel. I know it is true. I love being able to teach and testify 24/7. It is so wonderful to see peoples testimonies grow and it helps mine to grow so much as well.
Sadly, Seanace did not get baptized yesterday, she is still working to overcome smoking. It is a hard thing. But she will get there. Keep her in your prayers please. :-)

So Megan, why is it I have to hear that you are having a boy from everyone BUT YOU!? CONGRATS! I am so excited for you guys! I'm super excited to meet my nephew in December! I'm excited to see cute pregnant pictures! I've said for years that you will be the cutest pregnant lady ever! Prove me right!

Everyone else, keep up being super awesome! I love all of you so much! Have a fantastic week!

Annie

Landon’s Letter

Hello mi familia!

First off Happy Fathers Day Dad! I love you and thanks for all that you have done to help me and done for me.

This week was a very interesting week. We met a lot of people here in Windsor. On one day we meet an athest, satanist, jehovahs witness twice, a feminist, devout catholic, born again christian, rlds, and a full gospel member. Also that day we got a threat to call the cops on us (twice that has happened in my mission), got lunged at by a dog, and got sort of lost. It was a fun day with one big adventure. We are still trying to find people to teach and this week we have gone back to 1 investigator and nothing else to do but continue to find. It has been a fun transfer but one of those challenging ones as well. But I have learned a lot and hope to learn more. 

I have studied the gospel of Jesus Christ a ton this week because that is what we went over in our zone conference. For the past week I have studied the gospel, it's principles, ordinances, and the importance of it in our lives. I have come to see more of why we need it in our lives. It is the only way to live with God and it is the only way to become more like Him and Jesus Christ. Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ we have the power to change, the gospel of Jesus Christ is how we change. I know that to be true especially from what I have learned this week. 

Rachel- I am glad that you enjoyed Girls State, UREA is so much better! What are your plans for summer?

Natalie- Sorry that things are going tough right now but don't worry things will work out. Just keep your head up!

Annie- Holy Cow you are busy. That is so awesome! Keep up the awesome work. You are doing great! 

Megan & Justin- I hope that things go good your you! Are you working on your lawn this summer? 

Mom- Tell the Christensens hi for me. I am glad you didn't make the senior discount ;) Thanks for all you do!

Dad- I hope you had a great fathers day. Thanks for your example and all that you do!

I love you all

Love your favorite brother, son and elder

Elder Landon Webb

6-10-13

Landon’s Letter

Hey sorry I don't have alot of time,

We drove from Windsor to London today so we can be at a Zone conference in Kitchener tomorrow. So ya we are emailing really really late considering we have to be back proselyting at 6:00 p.m. and we are going to proselyte here in London where it's raining and I don't have my rain coat lol. opps. But it will all be really great and nothing to do but smile because it's a great time to be here. With our Zone Conference tomorrow it will be really good. We are pretty excited for that. So this week was a good week starting off but then things died down pretty fast. Funny how things like that happen. There is nothing for us to do but to continue on moving along trying to help others come closer to Christ. It's a really funny thing to think about. We struggle but yet we are happy because we are doing what we love. It's kinda a funny thing but when you think about it that's what the Gospel is for in our lives, so we can find and have happiness. Even when things are crazy, we are busy, and running around doing this and doing that we have to Gospel to fall back onto so we don't forget those things that are important. It is even when things seem crappy, bad, or even terrible. We know of those things that can bring us relief, peace, joy, happiness, etc. It is pretty cool.

Sorry again this will be a short email.

Rachel- good luck and I guess when you read this I hope that you had fun!

Natalie- I hope that your wedding plans are coming in. Has the potrait of me been made?

Annie- wow you are so busy, keep up the awesome work. You are doing great.

Megan & Justin- Congradulations and hurray for a boy! Boys 4 almost 5 Girls 5. Haha we are catching up!

Mom- I hope your to do list shrinks so that you can enjoy some of the summer. Thanks for everything

Dad- Wow that is a ton of driving, I can't believe how much it is. You aren't going to go get them are you on Saturday?

I love you all,

Love your favorite Brother, Son, and Elder

Elder Landon Webb

6-3-13

Landon’s Letter

Hello mi familia,

First off i agree with Rachel, it is summer.... :( it is so humid here it is gross. It has been in the 90's and it is really really humid. I remember dad telling me about how humid it was in South Carolina. That's how I feel. I am never dry.

Other then that things here are great! We have been trying to find people to teach because it is a goal for our mission this month to achieve 60 baptisms! (12 a week for the next 5 weeks) This week as a mission we got 11. So we are working towards that goal. So things here are very exciting and we are really having fun. 

Here in Windsor we can feel there is a lot of potential this ward can have but we don't know how to help them find it. Any suggestions on how we can help a ward do missionary work? 

Rachel- Are you working at the dentist office this summer? if so how many hours are you working there a week? 

Natalie- Things are coming up! Crazy! Who all is working at the town? Do you have a count down going?

Annie- Holy cow are you doing missionary work or playing? jk. Of course they both go together if you do it right. keep up the awesome work.

Megan & Justin- How are things going. I haven't heard from you in a while. Well mothers day but I haven't gotten an email from you since April 22. 

Mom- Are things finally getting settled down back home? do you have any projects this summer or trips? 

Dad- Are you going up for Fathers and Sons outing this year or are they doing it? Thanks for all you do.

I love you all.

love your favorite Elder, Son, and Brother

Elder Landon Webb

Annie’s Letter

-addiction recovery counselors

-lawn mowers

-potential wedding planners

-chefs

-pool maintenance workers

-dog walkers

-nurses

-toenail clippers

-hair stylists

-maids

-biker babes (pedal bikes only)

-master planers

-mind changers

-sushi chefs

JUST CALL US MISSIONARIES! :-)

Hello mi familia! It sounds like everything is going awesome for you!
Rach-congrats on being out of school for the summer! Yay for being a senior! Enjoy girl's state! Get involved and it will be fun! What are you running for? What city were you in? House? Senate? Courts? Tell me all about it!
Natalie and Jon- CONGRATS ON GRADUATING! I'll send you a card I promise... June cards just might be a little late haha. Have fun working this summer! And don't stress about wedding planning. Just have fun with it. You only get to do this once!

Megan and Justin-hope all is well with you. You guys are awesome. :-) Meg are you still working? If so, how long?

landon- keep being awesome! To get the ward involved have fun things going on to get them pumped about missionary work. we did one game called come and see where you have members just invite. First 15 invites=missionaries come and do your most hated chore. next 10=missionaires make a yummy treat. Last 5=blessings from heaven (telestial, terrestrial, and celestial rewards) we are getting ready to do a young men/young women contest. They get different amounts of points for doing different things (inviting a non member to dinner w/missionaries, fhe, mutual, church, giving out pamphlets, pass along cards, book of mormon...stuff like that. Make it fun for them to do missionary work :-)

mom and dad- sad about John Fackrell. That's no bueno. I did know Konnie was married, I didn't know that she had a baby. That's so great for her!
So you know the Groshongs? Well... Elder Groshong's older brother Mike was in the MTC about a year ago...He was in a district with elders going to guam...HE KNOWS ELDER EYRE! So yeah, more connections with the Groshong's! This week we went and saw a less active part member family that has NOT been interested, we met the wife (non member) and had a great conversation with her and set up to go back and do service later this week! Later that day, Brother Combs called us and I was so worried he was going to tell us not to come. But actually he wanted to know how many people were coming so he could make dinner. Then last night Sister Groshong called, they are friends with the Combs, and Brother Combs had called and asked them questions and Sister Combs has been on lds.org and asking questions... so yay! This week has been crazy just like every other week! We have been busy planning stuff to do for the mini missionaries next week. WE ARE GETTING 4!! So that's going to be a little crazy! The ward is super excited and we have a ton of help lined up, especially concerning rides! Things with Seanace are going good. She is still planning on getting baptized next Saturday. The thing is...SHE HAS TO QUIT SMOKING! If she doesn't quit this week, we will have to push her baptism back :-( so please keep her in your prayers. She needs it! Also, we had a return appoitment with a couple, Jack and Carrie. I didn't think they would be super solid, but we were really surprised! And then on Sunday we had another lesson with them right after church. We told them they had to be married before they could be  baptized. They were planning on getting married in September... 2014! AH! But now they are thinking about... JULY 2013! It was scary, but the spirit was there and they were definitely open to it. And they prayed about it :-) We have an appointment with them on Wednesday and we'll see if we get to plan a wedding! We could definitely make the cake! Today is our district leader's birthday and so we had a cake contest with some other Elders. We won. Although, I was surprised by their skills haha. We made a delicious cake! There is a picture attached. It wasn't tall enough for barbie so we had to put a layer of brownies on the bottom...so good! It was fun.
Sorry this letter is all over the place. I'm just trying to remember everything that I wanted to tell you guys! So next week is transfers! AH! I don't think we will be getting transferred, but that does mean pday will be Wednesday next week. SAME DAY AS MOTAB! YAY! We are super excited! Next week will be awesome! We have our mini missionaries, a TON of service projects, lots of lessons set up, plus we get to go to Mormon tabernacle choir, and it's transfers, and we have Seanace's baptism! It's gonna be great! Very busy, but we are super organized and very ready. and very thankful to have a giant apartment with 2 bathrooms!

Well, that's about all this week! Again, sorry this letter is so crazy! Love you guys! Keep being awesome! Share the gospel!

Annie
ps...I learned how to make sushi. and I even liked it! It was the best sushi I have ever had! :-)

5-28-13

Annie’s Letter

So sorry about that! It was great to get your letters! I can't believe how crazy things are with the Smith clan right now! It really makes me appreciate the plan of salvation. Knowing what I know about the gospel makes all the difference in the world. Having these things hapen makes me more determined to help other people have the joy that I have through the gospel. Everyone experience death and it is so important to know that through the atonement and resurrection of the Savior, we too can conquor death! Because the Priesthood power has been resotred to the earth, we can be with our families forever! United eternally AS FAMILIES! What greater blessing could our father in Heaven give us? I can't think of one! Family means everything! I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to help peopple take steps that allow them to be with their families forever! Our investigator on date, Seanace, loves familyhistory. So tomorrow we are taking her to the familyhistory center and let her do some work and talk about the temple. I am really excited, family is super important to her and I know this is going to bring such joy and peace to her heart!

So not next week but the following week we have a crazy week. We have 170 prospectie missionaries that will be with us. So these are 16-18 year old kids who want to live the dream for a week! There are about 43 sisters in the mission this right now and over 50 mini missionary sisters! So every sister will have at least one! I bet we have 3 in our companionship. Also that week is the MOTAB concert!! We are super excited for that! and it's also exchanges! Crazy stuff going on here! So it's gonna be an intense week! It'll be super fun though!

So Seanace, our investigator on date is awesome. She is 23 and it has been so fun to teach someone my age! I haven't done that on my mission! So it's super fun. She is going through a lot but she is amazing and really just soaking up the gospel. It's great to see her change and just completely light up. Speaking of lighting up, she is in the process of quitting smoking. She went from smoking 20 a day to 4 and today she is only having 2. So keep her in your prayers. She has 2 little boys that are so stinking cute! Jaden and Camden. Love them!

Yesterday we got to go out to Amish country again which was super fun. We got to see all the kids (well all the Weaver's and Troyer's) becasue they only had a 1/2 day of school! It was so fun. Those kids are so cute. One of the little boys, Raymond, 11 was asked if he could get a picture with me to see if he is almost taller than me. It was so cute. I just love those kids. Naomi drew us pictures for our apartment. It was awesome. I'll attach some pictures :-) But don't post the pictures of the Amish, please. Thanks :-)

Mom and dad, the end of the school year is in sight! Wahoo! I hope you all get to do some fun stuff for summer. The zyrtec 3 is helping a lot but if i could get some patenol that would be awesome. We have been mowing a lot of lawns (I LEARNED HOW TO DRIVE A ZERO TURN MOWER!) and it's killing my eyes. My allergies are definitely worse this year than they were last year.

Meg and Justin-hope all is going well for you. Love you guys lots!

Natalie-am I getting a graduation announcement? I feel like I should. I just can't believe how grown up you are chica. I'm so proud of the wonderful woman you have become.

Rachel-DOn't be getting senioritis yet! haha. I'm glad you're almost out of school! Save some money over the summer! Trust me, you're gonna need it! Where are you applying for college? I can't believe you're going to to be a senior! Crazy stuff!

Landon- Holy cow we are so close! I was showing the Amish kids where you were yesterday on a map and I thought holy cow! we are super close! And now you're even closer! How crazy! Keep working hard bud, thanks for your amazing example! I am just blown away by how much you have grown on your mission! You are just such an incredible MAN!

Oh, by the way, Sister Twitchell started getting sick again and she will be going home on Monday. Please keep her in your prayers. I love you all and hope youhave a great week! Thanks for all you do! I'll send home winter clothes sometime, but I need to get you guys some black raspberry jam from the amish to send home first. It's so good. Have a great day! Tell Aunt Shirley congrats for me! I'm so excited for her! Tell Shane and family I love them. tata for now!

Annie

ps we are getting bikes this week, so I'll probably be buying a helmet...

5-27-13

Landon’s Letter

This week in Windsor has been crazy. We first got here on Tuesday, Wednesday was P-Day, Thursday was our car fast which poured rain and weekly planning, Friday was our district meeting 1 hour away, Saturday was our coordination, and then Sunday was church and now it is P-Day again. It was great. 

We have been trying to see this week what is the potential in the ward. So we have done a few drop bys and also calling. So things have been pretty good. Not a whole lot has gone on but we have had some good things happen. We have a really good place to go contacting people. We also have some pretty fun adventures. Last night we got back to our apartment and our power was out. Some old cable caught fire outside and so we were out of power. So imagine planning for the next day's activities in the dark. That was fun. They finished working on it at 2 a.m. Yes we heard it all....... It was fun though. There are always people fishing by the river and I wish we could find a line and throw one in. It is the Silver Bass run and they are just popping our like crazy. Everyone is catching a fish. 4 out of 5 if your lucky. 2 out of 5 if your not. So it is pretty good. 

I hope that things at the funeral went well. That is crazy that so much has, is, and will happen in the next few months. It has been crazy. 

One thing that has been fun to look at and Elder Badillo pointed this scripture out to me. It is part of 2 Nephi 9:51 "feast upon that which perisheth not" We have so much that we can feast upon (partake as much as we can) that doesn't perish. I can think of 3 great things. 1. The scriptures, they are the word of God and can bring peace into our own lives. We can reflect on them again and again for guidance, peace, and support. 2. Family, we are united as a family and we find similar things just like the scriptures but also we find love, charity, and joy. 3. Our relationship with our Father in Heaven and also relying on His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. We find everything I mentioned before but we also find so much more. We find hope, assurance, and security from our Father in Heaven while we can find strength through the Atonement of Jesus Christ to endure trials in our lives. As we feast upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ and live especially what is first taught which is faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement we will find what we need and are striving to look for, even if we don't even know what we are looking for but we know where to find it. We are children of our loving Heavenly Father, He wants us to be happy and that's why he has provided so many ways we can learn how to find happiness. But we have to choose to "feast upon" the right things which "perisheth not." 

Rachel- good luck with school this week. Last week! Awesome. Good luck with finals.

Natalie- I hope that things go well for you while you are planning for your wedding.

Annie- I hope that things are going well for you. Keep up that awesome work.

Megan & Justin- Thanks for everything you do. What is the cake going to look like for Aunt Shirley's wedding?

Mom- yes I have an address for you. I will do it at the bottom. Thanks for all that you have done for me.

Dad- How long did it take for you to go over that huge lawn. It took me between 6-7 hours of mowing.

I love you all. 

Love your favorite Elder, Son, and Brother,

Elder Landon Webb

I could go on but I just don't have the time