9-4-13

Annie’s Letter

Hello wonderful family of mine! Thank you all for your emails! I think this is the first week in a long time I actually got an email from ALL of you! Yay! I'll have to send more people out there to meet you! The Youngs had a great time with you, they just love you guys and Sister Perrine as well. She was raving about the cookies you gave her dad. Thank you guys for being so amazing. I'm so lucky to have you all! So this week... JONI GOT BAPTIZED!! It was such a miracle!
On August 23 during weekly planning Sister Nalls and I set a goal. One baptism. Joni was getting baptized dang it! So we went and saw her, we hadn't been able to get a hold of her for weeks, but she was standing at her door! So we took her to the church and gave her a church tour. She had never seen some of the rooms, or the font. So at the font we had a very spiritual lesson and talked about baptism. We knelt and prayed and then she got a blessing from Brother Wozniak and Brother Sponseller. She decided to get baptized. So I called Elder Merkely (new albany) and he agreed to come to Mt Vernon the next day to do an interview. NO PROCRASTINATING FOR JONI! She passed with flying colors and the date was set for Saturday. It was a long week. I was a little nervous all week, we couldn't get ahold of her very often (shocker) but she was still good to go. Elder Duranll called EVERY DAY to check if it was still on. geesh. So Saturday rolled around and she showed up at the church. She was so happy. For a musical number we had the primary sing I am a child of god. There weren't very many people here since it was a holiday weekend, but we had a good crowd. The Amish kids made up most of the group, a few kids from the ward and then 6 missionaries joined in! SIs Nalls, Sis Arnell, Sis Meredith, Elder Durnall, Elder Bean and Elder Hansen. I played the piano... of course. The spirit was so strong and it was so perfect for Joni. It was wonderful :-)

Last August when I was with Sister Richardson in Marysville we had a miracle baptism as well. I love august! Refresher on Kyle. This is from my emails sent on August 13 and August 20, 2102. :-)
We a mission goal of getting 50 baptisms in August. We have been praying and fasting and working hard to be able to contribute and not rely on the other companionships in the mission. (Bonus, check out mormon night for the Columbus Crew... If we get 50 baptisms we get to go to the Crew game (pro soccer) and all the missionaries get to be on the field at halftime and members and investigators can get discount tickets to the game! I'm stoked!!) Well...On Friday we got a referral from the media center. This kid wanted a Book of Mormon and wanted to know more about the church. That same evening we got a call from Sister Missionaries in Kirtland about him, he was chatting with them. He really wanted us to contact him. We promised we would as soon as possible. We went to his home the next day but no one was home. So we called him and he told us he would call us back. Sunday after church we had a missed call from him! So we called him back...and missed him. But then he called us back! And asked if we could meet with him at the church right then! We said of course! So we quickly called a member, Shelly Lundstrom and she came with us. We love the Lundstrom's. They are very missionary minded and so willing to do anything they can to help us out. So we run over to the church and met Kyle. Kyle is great. He has been involved in the Marysville ward scout troop (when he was younger) and knows several of the families in the ward. He has member friends, has attended church once, and has met with missionaries before and just really been surrounded by members for a lot of his life. We extended a baptismal invitation to him and we barely got to finish the question before he answered "YES" not maybe or a hesitant yes, a resounding total and complete yes. This boy has a testimony that is growing and he has a desire! We are very excited! He wants to be baptized before he goes to college in a week and a half... he will have only attended church twice at that point and we don't like doing confirmations at the baptism. So we called Elder Harris (our DL) and asked what he thought he said "it should be okay, call the assistants" so we called the assistants and Elder Lund said "baptize him and confirm him! But ask President first." So we called President Nilsen this morning...and couldn't get a hold of him! His family has been unavailable all weekend as his daughter got married on Friday...to a former assistant. haha! anyway... that means this story is at a cliffhanger ending right now. I will be able to tell you... "the rest of the story" (thank you Paul Harvey!) next Monday. But pray that everything will work out so he can be baptized! He is our August baptism! he has been so prepared! He is just a stellar kid! We have another lesson with him tonight. We have to get through all the lessons before August 21 (the baptism is scheduled for the 22 and he has to have an interview...) so we will be seeing Kyle a lot this week! This is one of those mission miracle stories. When you have faith, work hard, and never give up Heavenly Father really does bless you. Don't ever forget that. Hello family and friends! I'm sure you have all been just on edge all week waiting for the outcome of this story of Kyle... well let me tell you all about it! We talked to President Nilsen and he told us to teach Kyle and call him later that week and report on his progress to see if he could be baptized here or when he gets to school. So we did. We taught a lesson on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. It was really neat on Tuesday because he came into the lesson and said "It's gotta be short today, my dad is in the hospital and I need to go to Columbus." WOW! He didn't call and cancel or anything! He is definitely making his lessons a priority! Due to his dad and his work schedule we didn't see Kyle on Wednesday but we did call President Wednesday and left a message. We didn't see Kyle on Thursday and didn't hear from President. Oh, let me tell you a little about how Kyle progressed. He is just amazing. He was connecting the things he was learning to the scriptures he was reading and to the pictures that he saw in the church. He was really doing awesome with reading and his insights were incredible. He could have been teaching the lessons instead of the other way around! So we were very excited for him. We were talking about how he was a golden investigator and decided that wasn't quite right. We determined that Kyle is our *platinum investigator* So we finally got a hold of President on Friday morning and he told us that Kyle wouldn't be getting baptized on Wednesday (which is the day we were shooting for). Now, I'm sure you're all asking why couldn't he be baptized on Wednesday. He was progressing so phenomenally and was just doing great! Well, fear not. The reason he couldn't be baptized on Wednesday is because by Wednesday he would already be a member. That's right! He would be baptized before Wednesday! Like on Sunday! So we met with Kyle on Friday and had a lesson and asked if he wanted to be baptized on Sunday, which of course he did! Saturday we had another lesson and an interview. Friday and Saturday Sister Richardson and I were busily making plans for the baptism. Talks, people to perform the ordinances, prayers, witnesses, programs... all sorts of stuff and it all went great. I love planning things :-) It was actually really funny. On Sunday after church we started filling up the font. One of the brethren from the ward closed the drain (because he didn't think we knew how...) and we started the water and everything was great. We ran home to grab some lunch and were back at the church about 40 minutes later. We walked into the primary room (where the font is) checked the water level and to our horror... IT WAS DRAINING!! So I bravely went into the water (there was about 6 inches) and made sure the plug was all the way in. I then sat by the font for the next few hours while it filled up. I didn't just sit there...I was also folding programs and doing other last minute things :-) Then we were in the chapel ready for the baptism to start. Kyle was there, people were there, I was playing beautiful prelude music and thinking I really should go check the font (which had filled up and turned off) to make sure it hadn't drained anymore. But I didn't because I was busy playing beautiful prelude music :-) Well... we got into the primary room for the baptism and I couldn't see any water in the font. But I was like...it's just because of the mirror and glass all the reflections and the water is still. It's okay. And it was. It had drained about 4 inches so it was a little low. Thankfully Kyle isn't any taller than me so he was still able to be completely immersed in the water. I was so worried all day that something was going to go wrong. But that was all that happened. And that is definitely something that was no big deal. If Kyle would have been like 7 feet tall there may have been an issue. But it all worked out beautifully. Sister Richardson and Sister Rutter (from the ward) sang a beautiful song "Beautiful Savior" accompanied by yours truly and Kyle was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was fantastic. The spirit was so strong and the member support was great. We also have been in contact with the Bishop and missionaries in the Wintersville ward who are waiting for Kyle to drive into Stubenville on Thursday so they can welcome him and help him to continue to progress and develop his testimony. It has been such a privilege to teach Kyle. He has been so prepared by the Lord. :-)

Things here are going well. Sister Nalls and I had such a great week. We haven't heard about transfers yet...so I don't know. But I'm sure sister miller will tell you. :-) It's weird to be in my last 6 weeks... well, 5 1/2 rather. I'm cool with whoever comes to my homecoming the more the merrier! As for lunch... I don't know. I just want sourdoughs for breakfast when I'm back! I'll try to get some more black raspberry jam when/if I get out to Danville again. I'm sure I can work something out. I do have one bottle that I have set aside to bring home, and another bottle of homemade jam from Sister Weaver. yum yum! :-) Megan, you look so cute! I'm not sure if I'll ship more things home or not. Mom... ask dad. :-)  Natalie, congrats on getting rhrough your first week of school! Just remember, DON'T STRESS OUT! Make sure you have fun every day! Landon, keep up the great work! 6 new investigators! I am so proud of you buddy! Rachel, enjoy your senior year to the fullest. It is so much fun. Good luck with your auditions tonight. You will do amazing. I'll get that music sent out to you asap. Well, I love you all and hope you have a great week! tata!

Annie

ps the youngs have a hard time calling me sister webb now. haha.

Landon’s Letter

Hey mi famillia

Hey how is my wonderful family doing?

I was so excited to see so many emails this week! Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy days to write Annie and I emails. They mean a lot for us I know I really appreciate them.

So this week was a slower week for us but it was still good. We had Zone Conference yesterday and also we had a holiday the day before as you know so it was really really good. Long week till today but that means a short week next week. We won't get a full day of work until Friday since Monday. So I will be glad to hit the pavement again.

It was really cool to see all of the pictures that were sent in the past week. 4! thanks for all the pictures and I did get the pictures from Dad i don't know if I mentioned that the past week. I have been meaning to send a box home but as of now it is still empty because of my laziness. It is crazy to have 4 elders living in a small apartment. But it is really fun.

So at Zone conference we learned about doing member missionary work with one of the ideas that is mentioned in Preach My Gospel. And this is something that is easy but it does take work. Think of about 20 people that you know who are not members of the church. (and yes I can think of 20 people in Lyman Wyoming) then prayerfully select 3-5 names. Then set a date to (invite them to the christmas dinner, Relief society activity, church, fhe, or even be taught by the missionaries). Then think about everything you need to do from now to that time them to help them to get to that point

(ex. if you are going to invite them to a relief society activity then you need in the month of October then you need to 1. ask help from Heavenly Father for guidance, 2. stop by for 5 minutes and invite them while briefly informing them what to expect, 3. offer to give them a ride, 4. Ask someone else who knows this person to invite them to the activity as well in the same kind of way, 5. remind them weekly and give a little more information of who will be there, and anything else you feel they could know more about, 6. then take them or meet them there.)
that is an example that I thought of on the fly while typing this. You ca honestly do what ever you want but try it out. It's easy.

Rachel- I am glad you are using the help provided. Use as much as you can get and it will help you out I know trust me. thanks for the picture of Koda

Natalie & Jon- I am glad that your first week went well. remember time is important. managing your time is the most important thing to do.

Annie- I can't believe you have so little time left :( Thanks for the example you are and for all of the service you give. who else are you working with at this time?

Megan & Justin- thanks for the pictures I was pretty excited to see them. I wish I could go camping. I have missed it so much. When in December is your due date? I always forget.

Mom- That is crazy about Wayne and Josie. I can't believe it. I hope you get your mormon.org profile up soon. I think it is a great thing. thanks for all you do.

Dad- Nice profile I just found it. I think it is really awesome. What picture is that? It almost looks like one of the ones that you took with one of us kids because you aren't in any pictures of just yourself ;) don't worry that will change when I get home. haha

I love you all

8-26-13

Annie’s Letter

ello family of mine! It sounds like everything is going great for you all! It's been a busy week! The Perrines texted me and told me they wouldn't be able to make it :-( Sad. They're fun. But I'm so glad you got to meet the Young's. They are so awesome! I just love them to death! I hope they get to stay again! It was weird when they texted me though... they said that you were telling them stories... I hope you were nice to me! haha. Natalie and Jon, I'm glad you got all moved in! Way to utilize the basketball team! That's so awesome! Good luck to both of you this semester. What are your majors anyway? I don't even know! Rachel, I can't believe you're a senior! That just blows my mind! You're supposed to stay little forever! So you're going to Western next year huh? Man, I really am the black sheep! Do you think it would be possible for me and Rachel to do a musical number at my homecoming? I have this song I really want to do with her. I've got to play it several times on my mission, it's one of my favorite arrangements ever and I really want Rachel to sing it if that's possible. :-) Let me know, I'll send you the music.
So we had this amazing miracle this week! We have an investigator Joni, she was supposed to be baptized the week I got to Mt. Vernon, May 11. After Elder Durnall and Lamm left, we took her but couldn't get a hold of her, the Elders tried as well. She would still come to church and if we caught her at home she was more than happy to meet with us. She has been working doubles all summer at 2 different hospitals, it's been a little crazy. So we found out she had never had a chapel tour. She really wanted to see the building, especially the baptismal font. So we decided to drop by on Saturday and see if we could catch her. When we pulled up, she was standing at the door. So we asked if we could go to the church. We went. We had a great lesson about baptismal covenants and invited her to be baptized! We said a prayer, and she got a beautiful priesthood blessing. The spirit was so strong. Sunday morning, we had her baptismal interview! Yay! She set the date and time. She will be entering the waters of baptism on Saturday August 31 at 3:00 pm. We are very excited! She knows it's true, she just beams when she bears her testimony. It is amazing. Miracles happen. Let me add, Saturday we were supposed to go to the Temple with some recent converts and not less active any more members to do baptisms and we were taking investigators to give them a tour of the temple grounds. i was SO excited! But... last minute, our investigator bailed. I was SO SAD! But the day ended up really well, being able to see Joni and get everything going with her. The Lord really does bless us when we are doing everything we can to do His work. It's awesome. But pray for Joni. PLEASE!

So transfers are next week, September 5. We'll see what happens, it's my last one! Crazy! I'm sure Sister Miller will let you know what's going on! :-)

Also, it's Labor Day Weekend! I can't go to rendezvous, so I hope you do! Even if it's just to get some rootbeer! Go camping this weekend too! This is the second year I'm missing that :-( It's worth it to be on a mission, but man I love that trip! Well, I love you all and hope you have a great Labor Day Weekend and a fabulous week! Good luck with the first week of school, have fun! Tata!

Annie

Landon’s Letter

Hey Webb family!

How was your week? I hope it was good.
I got the pictures of the wedding which was cool to see. Finally a month later! I received the package on Saturday at around 6 which I thought was crazy because I didn't know that Ups worked on Saturdays at 6 so I was really excited to get home that night because I got it after dinner.

This week we were really blessed in our little area. We were able to find 6 new investigators. So we were really excited. A couple of them are really good and I am excited to see how we will be able to help them. We just want to really try and help them by following up on how they are reading and praying.

This week literally flew by so fast that I can't believe that it past by. We weren't crazily busy but we were just out finding the whole time. So we were really excited to see that progress.

With 6 missionaries in Windsor it kinda screws up our P-Day a little bit and we are back at the libraries with 1 hour to do emails. But it's ok we still get everything done.

So today we had Korean food which was delicious. I love it so much and they serve it in stone bowls which keep the food hot longer. Sooo cool.

Today I was reading about Faith in the August Ensign which I think was really really cool. It was President Boyd K. Packard telling the story. He was just called to the Quorum of the 12 and he was receiving counsel from Elder Harold B. Lee. He shared with him that his problem was he wanted to see the end from the very beginning. he was then referred him to President David O. Mckay who gave him counsel and he didn't see how it could help him. After he went back to Elder Harold B. Lee he was told this. We must walk to the edge of the light and then take a few steps into the darkness and then the light will shine in the path we should go. It got me thinking about when we would go camping when we were little. A long time ago before the camper. Our tent would be a ways off in the trees away from the fire and when we would want to grab something from the tent at night, it was dark and we didn't have the flashlights. So as I would walk away from the fire I would walk till I couldn't see a step in front of me. I could see the light behind me but nothing in front of me. So I would have to walk very carefully and slowly until my eyes adjusted which only happened when I moved forward. Then I could see further to see where I need to go to get to the tent. The same is with us today. The journey is longer, further, harder, and appears more daunting but as we move forward there will be times where we have to take a step or two in the dark. But we will not be there for long as we continue to move forward and exercise our faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. 

Rachel- How is our big bad senior baby sister? I hope you have fun this year. Just enjoy it because it will be over before you will blink.

Natalie & Jon- I hope that you find things good over in Rock Springs. Wow you are back in the Rock again. You will have to tell me how things are going over there. Tell Jordan hi for me please.

Annie- Hey that is mean that you made her eat an ant. It's ok I had my trainee eat haring. haha Keep up the awesome work. Don't worry you can come to Western too ;)

Megan & Justin- hey i hope that things go well for you two. Megan are you still working? Will you work until December or when? Keep me posted on things!

Mom- Thanks for you email. That's awesome you are getting new appliances. Are you still teaching reading to students? Are you still in that tiny room?

Dad- It was good to talk to you. Are you back to working all the time? I was wondering have you ridden your bike in a while? Thanks for everything

I love you all and have a great week

Love your favorite Elder, Son, and Brother

Elder Landon Webb

8-19-13

Annie’s Letter

Hello wonderful family of mine! I hope you are all having a FABULOUS week! So there is a rather random picture attached... I know, but see if you can find someone you know in it! I'll give you a hint, it's in New Zealand! ...need another hint? Look at the Elder above the sister with the blue and white top. I think Brother and Sister Neiderer might like this picture.

I also know the redhead on the bottom left.
So! I love Sunday. Wanna know why? I'll tell you. First, back story... this week has been kind of hard. We had 9 member present lessons set up, and only 2 went through! bummer! And it was just a hard week, still a good week but hard. Saturday night was really hard for me. I prayed a lot and of course, that helped but it was still rough. So Sunday morning, I woke up and we went to... AMISH CHURCH! The Amish group, specifically. Bro. Hochstetler asked me to speak and Sister Arnell and Sister Meredith were singing, accompanied by yours truly. It was fabulous. It was so cool because even though we were in a furniture shop, the back garage door was open to let air in...best backdrop for church ever! Beautiful trees. Even though all the Amish were wearing their cute Amish clothes.... it was the same. It reminded me of that time that we went to church in the mall in Keokuk. It really doesn't matter where it is. The spirit of the Lord is there and we can learn so much! It was just great! Then we dashed back to Mt. Vernon to make it to church there as well. We went to gospel principles and had an incredible lesson about the sacrament. It really got me thinking and focused on the sacrament, on the Atonement. We have sacrament meeting last here, so I got to go to sacrament meeting twice yesterday! It was amazing. As I pondered the sacrament prayers and the Savior's life I just felt so much peace. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that it is through the atonement that we can be forgiven of our sins and weaknesses, believe me I have many! I know that it is Him who gives me strength when I think I can't do it anymore. (Whatever "it" is at that particular moment) I am just so thankful for Him... I can't adequately express my thoughts and feelings yesterday, but it was just an amazing sacrament meeting.

On Monday mornings, my morning is full of conference calls. 8:00 am conference call for the Columbus East 1 zone (my zone). 9:00 conference call for the Columbus East 2 zone (the zone I am STL for). 9:30 conference call for the mission. It's awesome. But on one of the calls, I can't remember which one, one of the Elders, I don't remember who, shared a quote that says "the Lord gives the toughest trials to His strongest soldiers." Not that I'm tooting my own horn, or saying I'm one of the strongest soldiers, but it really hit me and gave me a lot of comfort. The Lord doesn't give us trials because he is mean or wants to punish us, he gives us trials because He knows that we are strong enough to push through them. Even when we don't necessarily agree with him! But I know that whatever I go through in life (mission or not) is something for my benefit. Something that I can learn from. Something that I can get through, as long as I rely on the Lord. :-)

So, the Perrines have 4 people in their family. Michelle, Levi and 2 little boys, Andrew and... I can't remember. I think it starts with a "c" though. They are great, they are related to Kathryn and Kyle Siddoway. They were living in Alaska for a while and just moved to Lyman within the last year. I don't know them...but maybe you do!
Next, the Youngs. They are the ones that got stranded in Nauvoo. They texted me last night and told me they would be there Wednesday night? Awesome! I love the Youngs, they are one of my favorite families. There is Sean and Brandi and then Kristian (who is moving to BYU) Kendell, Kamden, Kamree, and Eli. They also have a daughter, Keeley, who is on a mission in Riverside California. In case you were wondering... Eli's first name is Kullen. All of their middle names start iwth "e" so all of the kids initials are KEY! I just love them. Bethany, the girl who got baptized next weekend, is Kendell's best friend. :-)

The week I get home will be fine for me to speak. I'll try to let people know...but if you could post it on my facebook that would be awesome! I have thought a little about when I get home... I'm not sure exactly what is going to happen, but I will be going to Utah pretty soon to try to find a job there. :-) We'll just have to see what happens.

I did ask Elder Niu about Jeff Newton. He got very excited. He remembers him. he said that he was one of his best students and a good boy. It was fun :-) Small world! I can't believe all the Ohio connections! I love this! Well, I think that's all for this week. Have fun with the Perrines and the Youngs! Take pictures! Oh, the pics from Nat's reception are at walmart right now. So I'll go pick them up in just a few minutes :-) Have a great week! Love all of you!

Annie

Landon’s Letter

Well it feels like the season of spiders. We have seen dozens of spiders in the past week that are bigger then a fifty cent piece and others that are just as close. They are huge. We find them everywhere except inside.

This week was a good week for us. We were able to do quite a bit of finding. There are more then a couple of ways to find and so I have tried a little bit of everything on my mission. The things that we have found to be the best lately is having a whole list of people (former investigators, less-active members, active members to ask referrals from, and potential investigators) to stop by and then we talk to as many people as we can on the way, in between stops, people completely out of our way, and we just do the best we can to talk with people. Last transfer we were not doing this and we averaged about 1 or 2 more solid potential investigators if we were lucky but now we average about 3 to 4 and sometimes 5 if we are lucky. So we are finding more people to hopefully meet with. It is just now our responsibility to contact them again.

This week we were able to have 2 investigators at church. Linda and Grazyna. It was a good experience for both of them. Linda has been taught by the missionaries for quite some time and is living with a less-active member so we are trying to help them out and help her to be baptized. Also we are found Grazyna a couple of weeks ago and she came out. She had a great experience and I think she will be back. It was a nightmare sacrament meeting for missionaries because it was the most bizarre sacrament service ever. But it was still good.

We have 2 missionaries living with us right now. So we have 1 bathroom so it's pretty fast showers anyway with 4 elders. They aren't shortened at all so it's funny. I am taking the same about of time as before so it's still good. The Elders here with us are Elder Ward and Elder Ganowsky. So it's good.

Rachel- I hope that you don't get too much homework with your busy school schedule. That is crazy good luck you will do awesome.

Natalie- What courses are you and Jon taking this year. How is work going at the town. Do you still mow everyday all day? who mows with you if so?

Annie- You are doing awesome. Sorry you had a tougher week things will get better and pretty soon they will be up again. I know you will ;)

Megan & Justin- ok i'm not sure how to pronounce the name of your baby all I think is it's like bow-de but I think it's wrong. Have a good week.

Mom- Thanks for sending the box I hope that I get it soon. I am excited to see the picture and the box. How is summer school and getting ready for school going?

Dad- I have been thinking a lot about rockets lately. I don't know why. We have some space pictures from previous elders and a man here loves to look at the stars.

I love you all. Love your favorite Elder, Brother, and Son

Elder Landon Webb

8-12-13

Annie’s Letter

This week has been amazing! Mission Leadership Council, and after that we had a meeting with the sister training leaders. It was so great! After that we had to go to the mission office. We were talking to Elder Creer (he does all the apartments in the mission). I told him I had 2 desks and a dresser in my apartment that he could use (since the other 2 sisters moved out). He wanted them, but was unsure of when he would be able to get to Mt. Vernon. Well, the next day was zone meeting and as I am over the Columbus East 2 Zone I was going to be going to Zanesville for the meeting. I suggested that I could take the mission truck and trailer and bring him the furniture the next day. Haha. Imagine my surprise when he said.. "well, I have a dryer that needs to go to Zanesville...that could work" So he asked Elder Niu (vehicle coordinator) if Sister Arnell and I could take the truck. He asked if we could drive it and Elder Creer assured him that we could. He hates backing it so when we were doing the Fredricktown apartment, he had us back it instead. So Elder Niu handed us they keys. WHAT?! We were stoked! We had silly grins on our faces the rest of the night. NO ONE gets to drive the mission truck, especially with the trailer on it! So we went home, loaded up the furniture, I drove to Zanesville the next day, hooked up their dryer, and took the trailer back to Powell. After zone meeting we were all going back to our cars and the elders were all incredibly jealous. It was so funny.
This week was the Dan Emmett Festival in Mt. Vernon, lots of people. We got to go down one night to do some contacting. The elders had been there a little before us.
a member (that they didn't know, not from the area) grabbed them, told them they had someone for them to meet. So they took them back to meet...THE OSMOND BROTHERS who were there to do a show. Then the got invited to dinner and during dinner the Osmonds had them teach their band members who were not members. How cool for them!
Amazing story: On Wednesday the youth had a temple trip. There is a girl who is friends with a member who has been coming to church, went to youth conference, girls camp, mutual... and she went on this trip and stayed with some adults and got a tour of the grounds. Ran into the assistants (elder beck served in Mt. Vernon for a looooong time) and had an amazing lesson. She decided she wanted to be baptized. Soon. That weekend. So she had a last lesson with the elders that night, an interview the next day and on Saturday she was baptized. It was amazing. We all love this girl so much. She's just sweet as can be and has an amazing testimony. I am so glad I got to be a part of her conversion, and her baptism program! I have played the piano for baptisms and musical numbers more here than anywhere in my life! I love it! Anyway, it was an amazing baptism. The spirit was SO STRONG!
So...miracle! On Saturday, after the baptism, we had planned to go tracting on some side streets near some investigators. But NO ONE was home because of the Dan Emmett Festival. We were trying to decided if we should stick with our plan or go to the festival and contact there. We decided to stick to the plan. We knocked on 2 doors... no one home. The third door, someone was home! Her name is Crystal. She attends the Methodist church in Fredricktown. Her and her husband are both life long members there; the kept going there when they moved to Mt. Vernon because they don't like starting over. But a few minutes later, after talking about the restoration, she said that change is good, they will check it out. So we invited her to church and she said it would depend on how her husband feels. He is having some back problems and is going in to see a general surgeon this week. So we told her we would check in in the morning and bring cinnamon rolls and they could come! Well... we did. And they were't going to be able to come because he was not feeling well, but he said they should definitely look into it and they could go next week :-) That's kind of what we expected. So we go to the church for correlation meeting. All the sudden, the Elders call us out because...CRYSTAL WAS THERE LOOKING FOR US! It was awesome. We set a goal to have 3 at church. We have been struggling to get that many there. But we knew we could do it! So we put forth every effort, we made breakfast for 3 families! We prayed and prayed and focused on inviting people to church. And we had...drum roll please... 4 INVESTIGATORS AT CHURCH! It was exciting :-)

Now, at the end of this week some people from my ward (the Perrine's) are coming out to Utah. She is going to call you and they might just stop in Wyoming if it works out. Her name is Michelle. She's great! Also, mom, could you possibly call the eye doctor and dentist and get some appointments set up for me after I get home? I know the eye doctor books out far... So that would be great :-)

Landon, to answer your question my last transfer ends on October 17. I fly home on the 18. But I have one more transfer before that, on September 5.

I'm glad to hear all is going well with all of you and you are staying busy! You guys are such a wonderful support to me. I love you all so much! Thanks for all that you do :-) ya'll are amazing! Have an amazing week and I look forward to hearing from you all next week :-) tata!

Annie

Landon’s Letter

hey 

So i am staying in Windsor North with Elder Minors. So I am excited to be able to stay here!

Not a whole lot this week. We also only have 2 computers. this week and  the other missionaries are waiting so I won't be able to write much this week.

We had a pretty good week. We had quite a few teaching appointments which went through so it was really fun. We are having fun!

Rachel- wow you must be busy i haven't heard from  you for a while ;) have a great week

Natalie- I am glad things are working out for you. Keep up the awesome work and continue to smile.

Annie- Wow you are lucky i can't believe that you got to drive the mission truck. Lucky.

Megan & Justin- I hope that you are doing well. Say hi to Justin for me. i love you both

Mom- I am going to need to send a few things home so I am going to try and send that by next week. I love you

Dad- Timmins would be fun but during the winter last year it got down to -50 degrees Celsius. So that is really really cold since -40 is the same for Celsius and Fahrenheit.

I love you all,

Love your favorite son, brother, and elder

Elder Landon Webb

8-6-13

Landon’s Letter

Hey mi famillia,

Transfers are next week. FYI

Hope you all had a great week. We had a pretty good week. Our drought of new investigators ended this week. It was really awesome. We were able to find 2 new investigators and things are looking up. So we have seen blessings this week! So we are very grateful for everything we have received.

This week we were on just buses and walking like I mentioned last week and things went great for us. We didn't have too many problems. We had to ride to the church 2 times which is a 45-50 minute bus ride from around where we are and a 10 minute walk to the bus stop but each time was good, fast, and easy.

The bus system here isn't the best because of our small area we have primarily 3 to 4 buses we can ride in our area. I don't know if you have checked out Windsor (ok well i know that Dad probably has) but it is about 36 square kilometers so I don't know what that is for miles. But it's awesome!

Rachel- hey how have you been? I hope that you are getting ready for your senior year at school. Crazy. How is your summer going?

Natalie & Jon- How is work going? When do you go back to school? I hope that things are going well for you guys!

Annie- Sorry Anzo about your hair dryer. Keep up the awesome work. When is the end of your last transfer?

Megan & Justin- Have you been camping a lot? Where do you go in the mountains? I hope that things keep going well for you. Justin do you have a bus pass or do you pay with money each time you ride the bus to work. I was wondering about that this week.

Mom- that is awesome you are teaching summer school. How is the garden growing? I wish I could help out in the garden so much!

Dad- Did you know we are almost in the same latitude? I'm not much more north then you are. Crazy huh? Also I am south of Detroit haha. Things are going great. I hope things are going good for you. Don't get too tired.

I love you all

Love your favorite Brother, Son, and Elder

Elder Landon Webb

8-5-13

Annie’s Letter

R.I.P. to my blow dryer. So... rewind 16 months. I'm in the MTC and my blow dryer dies. I was like... man! I don't wanna buy a new one! And...it came back to life. magical. back to present...it's worked for 16 months and this week... died. bust. I still don't wanna buy a new one. I've had that one for 8 years! But now it lives in the trash. I haven't been using it very often anyway lately..so I'll probably just get a new one when I get home. It was sad. It's tried to die several times on my mission but always came back to life. Until this time. So sad. Ce'st la vie!

SO this week was a pretty awesome week! We set a goal to get 2 chapel tours this week, we have had a really hard time getting people to come out to the church! But this week we made it a point to get it!Q So we prayed about it kept it in our minds and WE GOT THEM! We actually did one yesterday. We had an investigator, Jim, come to church. He was a little early and I thought "we should give him a chapel tour now" "no...we're gonna do it after church" "ummm...you should do it now." "fine." SO we did and he loved it and then church started. Good thing we listened and obeyed because..he ended up having to leave early. Yay for the spirit. Another good thing we listened moment... this morning while we were studying, Sis Nalls was sitting on the couch and she was gonna pull a blanket over her. She thought "I should shake out this blanket" so she did and out came...THIS MONSTER NASTY SPIDER! We're not really sure what it is...but it's pretty nasty. She killed it and THEN called me out...smart girl :-) yucky yucky yucky. I hate bugs.
Nate is doing well. I'm not exactly sure when he gets home, but it is right quick after I do. Probably in mid November sometime. Not sure. He is loving his mission though. You guys can read my letters, I don't care. Just don't mess up the order or the little bundle they are in! You don't have all of them though...HAHA!

Oh! One more miracle for this week! Last night we made an awesome contact with a referral and then when we left, we had about 20 minutes. We wanted to find a new investigator! We said a prayer, and both had the same name come to mind. So we went... we had met this man once before, his ex-wife is a member. He was getting her address so that we could forward her address to her current ward. We also met his daughter last night, and she is so excited for the missionaries to come. She wants to go to young women's! She was so cute! So we had a quick restoration lesson, and he is our newest investigator. When we for righteous things in faith and work  for it, the Lord will always answer. Check out 3 Nephi 18:18-21. The end.

So...QUESTION FOR YOU ALL! How has knowing that the Book of Mormon is true influenced/changed your life?
this is a question that someone asked...maybe my district leader...anyway, I took some time on Thursday morning and answered that... basically... everything in my life is what it is because the Book of Mormon is true. Obviously, I'm on a mission because it is true. I know that I can be with my family (current and future) for ALL OF ETERNITY! because the Book of Mormon is true. I know that I can be forgiven of my sins and overcome physical and spiritual death because the Book of Mormon is true. I have the standards and the friends that I do because the Book of Mormon is true. BYU was established, and I can go to school there...because the Book of Mormon is true. I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers my prayers, that He is involved in the details of my life because the Book of Mormon is true. These are just a few examples of the things I wrote. The list goes on and on. So take a minute, think about it and tell me how it has made a difference to you :-) Well, I love you guys and I hope you all have a fantastic week! Tell grandpa and uncle Eddie happy birthday for me!

Tata!~

Annie

7-29-13

Annie’s Letter

Hello mi familia! I'm so glad to hear that the wedding went well! I was definitely thinking about you guys that day! During the wedding there, it was lunch time here...and I was definitely taking a nap... so for the rest of eternity I can say that I slept through my sisters wedding! haha! I realized that I was not at Megan and Justin's sealing, or Natalie and Jon's. AND I wasn't at Megan's graduation or Natalie's graduation. Sorry sisters! I'm a super slacker! At least for Natalie's I have good reason...like a mission. I think I was in Tennessee for Megan's graduation and in Powell (WY not OH) for her sealing. Or something like that. Oops. I have one more shot to make it to a sisters graduation and sealing... I promise I won't miss them Rach! :-) How fun that you got to see your old mission companion mom! That's awesome! I hope I get to stay in touch with mine, I love them all sooooo much! It's so cool how missions bring you so close to people that you probably wouldn't be close to any other way.  I love it! Thank goodness I came on a mission! We got a new missionary this last week from Thatcher, AZ. I can't remember his name off the top of my head...but it starts with a M... Motes! Elder Motes. He totally knows Brother Palmer and his family! It was exciting! "It's a small world after all!" So really cool story for the week! On Saturday, we hadn't found any new investigators yet this week and we were praying and praying that we would find some! So we went out to visit some potentials, some current investigators, and some formers during the morning-ish hours. We felt like we needed to rearrange some things and go so Tina now instead of later. So we walked over to tina's house. but she wasn't there. But her ex-husband Jim was! We've chatted with him a couple of times, but never really talked to him. (Tina lives with her husband, Chris and then her ex-husband Jim also lives there...it's Ohio). So we started talking to Jim about his past and he has a lot of things he has been changing and wants to change. He wants to be rid of the guilt that he carries from some of the choices he has made. He has never been baptized but wants to be...so he might as well be baptized into the true church! We had a really good lesson with him about the restoration. We asked him to pray and he just told us he didn't know how. Super humble man. So we taught him how and he said one of the most sincere prayers I have heard my entire mission. Later that night, with like 30 minutes left in the evening we went to visit a former investigator. When she opened the door she said "WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" She had a really bad experience with the church. Her ex-boyfriend is a member and his family is...less than a good example. Anyway, she had really hard feelings. So we talked with her for a bit and by the time we left she wanted to learn more and read the Book of Mormon and give the church an honest chance. She promised God she would change her life around if He would save her son (he had RSV and stopped breathing). Her son is alive and she wants to make good on the promise! How lucky that she answered the door instead of her sister or mom (who are also formers but not really interested right now). yay for miracles! :-)
Crazy that you got a letter from the mission about me coming home... it seems like just yesterday I was flying INTO Ohio! When I come home I would like to fly into SLC if possible, There are only 2 more missionaries coming home that transfer and they will both be flying into SLC as well. But I can totally fly into Rock Springs if that would be better for you guys. Whatever works :-) Yesterday we had a fireside and the sisters from Springfield came with Sister Roguski. It was so fun to see her! I can't believe it was over a year ago i LEFT Springfield! Time really does fly when you're having fun! Just like that song you played at grandma's 90th birthday... DON'T BLINK! Because when you do... you've been on a mission for 16 months, your sister is pregnant, your brother has been on a mission for over a year, your younger sister is married and your baby sister is about to start her senior year. YIKES! Well, I gotta run but remember I LOVE YOU ALL! Have a great week! Tell Nat and Jon congrats and I love them when they get home tomorrow! peace out!

Annie

Landon’s Letter

Hey

First off I am glad that everything went well for the wedding. Congratulations Natalie and Jon! That is a lot of family there so that is awesome!

I don't have much time this week so I will keep this short.

Long story short we have a lot going on right now. Not missionary work but other things. We have the car for our 2 areas going into the shop this week so we are just out of commission in that way. The other Elders are going to take our bikes for the week and we are going to have just the bus this week so things are working out.

We have continued to work this week trying to find new investigators. We want to do other ways to find people so we are going.

Rachel- I hope that things are going good for you this week. I see a back to school sale here in Ontario so I hope you are getting ready for your final year.

Natalie & Jon- congratulations again. I am happy for you. I was thinking about you during that time. Hope it turned out how you wanted it to.

Annie- keep up the awesome work. I am grateful for the example you give. I am still trying to get that letter off. sorry..

Megan & Justin- I hope that things are going good for you. I am glad he is still kicking. :)

Mom- I got that tie off last Tuesday so it should be here this week. Maybe tomorrow or Wednesday.

Dad- Thanks for the pictures I hope you got my address sorry I just got the paper this week from the mission office and I kept forgetting to grab the address.

I love you all and hope things go well for you all.

Love your favorite Elder, Brother, and Son,

Elder Landon Webb

7-24-13

Annie’s Letter

That's right ladies and gentlemen, I will be staying in lovely Mt. Vernon for the next 6 weeks! All 6 of the missionaries here will be staying! I'm excited that I get to stay here! I love it! Especially the people. We went out this morning to see the Amish(that's why I'm emailing so late) and I was so sad that I might be leaving. But then I found out that I'm not and I'm so happy! I'm a little apprehensive because I have been struggling a little bit with Sis. Nalls but Sister Arnell has been my sanity...but Sister Arnell and Sister Meredith are moving the the apartment in Fredricktown so it's just going to be me and Sister Nalls. So...good thing I have been studying patience and humility like crazy! I don't even know what to tell you has gone on since I emailed last... I don't even know! We went to Reynoldsburg on exchanges and found some good people and got to work with the sisters there, WENT TO MARYSVILLE on exchanges! That was actually a really funny thing... so Marysville was going to come here on exchanges, but then there was a specialized training on Monday and Tuesday so we decided we would just go to Marysville and go to their training on Monday instead of ours on Tuesday. Then Saturday night (the exchanges was for sunday/monday) they called and told us they had bedbugs. YUCK! So we talked to the assistants and decided the best course of action would be to go to Marysville on Sunday and then come back to Mt. Vernon on Sunday night instead of sleeping there. because we did NOT want bedbugs! So on Sunday we went and had dinner with the Skaggs and it was SO great to see them! And I got to see a couple of other members at the church or while we were out and about, asking for referrals and such. It was nice to get to see them! It was definitely different though. I love Marysvile, but it is not my area any more. The Skaggs wanted to know if I had bought a plane ticket yet to come back to Ohio after my mission. :-) So I can watch the avengers with them! I told them I'd work on it. So mom, dad...when do you want to come to OHIO!? We then had our specialized training yesterday in Reynoldsburg which was really good. I love training, they just pump me up!

The last few days I have been feeling an ever increasing sense of urgency! I have less than 3 months left, there is NO time to waste! I have really come to understand how precious this time is, that it is not my time, but the Lord's time and that I have to do everything I can to help these people! The Lord has definitely been strengthening me as I have been humbling myself. We were able to see some miracles occur because of this.

We were at Roselyn's house. She is very stubborn and hasn't been reading because she wants to get everything else in order first so she can focus on reading. So we talked about the importance of reading and were just super straight with her. We read Ether 12:27 and told her that she needed to humble herself a little more. To re prioritize...read first and then everything else will fall into place. We told her that if the savior was here, He would ask her to do the exact same things we are doing, would she put it off if He asked her. Anyway, we finally got her to commit. We had Kyle and Maria with us and they are going through a very had challenge right now, and they shared that with Roselyn and how the gospel has blessed them and given them comfort through this trail. The spirit was SO strong, it was one of the most spiritual lessons I have had in my entire mission.

We then went to an appointment with another man, MIke, and he came to the door and told us that he didn't want to read anymore. That it couldn't be true becasue of Revelation "don't add or take away..." So we talked to him for a while and just told him that he had something very precious in his house, something that could change his entire life... and he was choosing not to even look at it and that was heartbreaking. It is amazing how the spirit really does just allow the words to flow when we are willing to just open our mouths and SAY THEM! Love it!

Well, I hope all is well. Tomorrow starts the big day! Endownments...sealing...ring ceremony...reception... I know it will all be beautiful. I expect pictures asap! Please. :-) Don't stress out. Just like Landon said, even if it doesn't go perfect it is the covenants that you are making that are important. Just enjoy your day. :-) Tell Greg congrats too!

It's been super hot here as well. Not 111 but definitely upper 90s and swelteringly humid. Today is super cool though. We walked outside and it was cold! 67 degrees! We weren't quite sure what to do! I'm glad Rach had fun at UREA! So exciting that Beaudee is kicking! I love that name by the way! I think it's cute :-)

The Judds have been out for about a month and a half. They are from Syracuse, UT. They are so sweet, I just love them! All the senior couples here in the OCM are just incredible! I don't know what we would do without them! this mission would just crumble!

Well, I guess that's really all for this week. I'll be thinking about ya'll! Love ya tonz!

Annie

7-22-13

Landon’s Letter

Hello everyone,

Big week this week so here's to the best! Don't get to stressed out ;D.

This week we had a lot of fun. It hit 44 degrees Celsius with the humidity. Which was 75% so if you convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit it is 111 degrees Fahrenheit. Yes and we were on bikes that day. Thank goodness it was only this week and it started to cool down as the week went on. 

We have been out finding. A lot of finding. It was starting to get disappointing a couple of times but we continued to press forward. It is cool because even though it wasn't every time but it was often enough that we felt like we couldn't go anymore we would find someone in which we could get a return appointment. It is not what I would hope for but it is a good way to learn more about what we are doing out here. 

This week as well we got to travel. Ok, we travel every week pretty much. It is either for 2 hours going to and from Chatham or Leamington and it is even worse when it is 4 hours going to and from London. But it is fun. The past 2 weeks we have traveled to London and we will most likely travel there again in 2 weeks. So good thing I learned how to travel in a car from sports trips to Cody, Powell, Jackson, and even Wright. 

Things are going good here for me. We are doing good. 

Rachel- I am glad that you had fun at UREA you should have done the eagles nest that one is so much fun. Anyways I am glad you had a blast.

Natalie- I hope that your wedding goes the way you dreamed. Even if it's not perfect remember that it's a step in your life that is monumental. Smile Big.

Annie- I hope that I hear from you next week. I am waiting to see if you got transfered or not I need to write you a letter but sorry I am very bad at it. What's it been 8 months? opps.

Megan & Justin- I am glad things are going good for you. I hope he keeps kicking he might be a good soccer player or something. haha hopefully basketball ;)

Mom- I know I have been not able to send off the tie we only have 1 car here and the other elders have it so it is really hard to get to a post office because there are things they need to do on P-day as well. I will try my hardest to send it off this week.

Dad- That is cool. I know a couple of people who have served in Markham. We have a calendar that is a space calendar it is awesome.

I love you all and hope that you have a great week. 

Elder Webb

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