Hello Family and Friends,
Transfers was today and I got transferred to Seattle Burien area if dad know where that is. Me and my new companion Elder Read got whitewashed in (whitewashed means we both got transferred into the area at the same time) so this is going to be a fun transfer I can already tell, especially since neither of us know the area at all.
Oh and to tell you about last week Elder Gardiner and I taught a kid named Tony and we where able to put him on date for the 24 of July so that is going great. He has a few problems so basically we where working with him on that.
But mostly both of us were taking a lot of pictures with the members and yes I will get you those pictures soon, I hope.
Anyways that's all for this week.
Love y'all,
Elder O'Brien
6/14/2010 News from FEDERAL WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Family and Friends,
Mission is doing good still no baptisms in Fedy, but working on that. The only person we did have on date tho, fell off date so that is sad, but we are working with Tony to get him to baptism.
Last week we finally got 20 lesson (something that I have only been able to duplicate only one other time) even when I was with the zone leaders we only got 20 lessons one week out of the six weeks I was with them, so yeah it was great to reach it again.
Tracking is somewhat fun especially when I get to talk to interesting people from interesting backgrounds and religions, the funny thing is most of the people when we say who we are, instead of letting us say what we are there for, says not interested first off the bat, so that's kinda bad sometimes.
Anyways that's all for this week HOPE to hear from ya next week? Hint hint
Love,
Elder O'Brien
Mission is doing good still no baptisms in Fedy, but working on that. The only person we did have on date tho, fell off date so that is sad, but we are working with Tony to get him to baptism.
Last week we finally got 20 lesson (something that I have only been able to duplicate only one other time) even when I was with the zone leaders we only got 20 lessons one week out of the six weeks I was with them, so yeah it was great to reach it again.
Tracking is somewhat fun especially when I get to talk to interesting people from interesting backgrounds and religions, the funny thing is most of the people when we say who we are, instead of letting us say what we are there for, says not interested first off the bat, so that's kinda bad sometimes.
Anyways that's all for this week HOPE to hear from ya next week? Hint hint
Love,
Elder O'Brien
6/2/2010 Greetings from Fedy Way!!!!!!!!!
Hi Family and Friends,
The mission is great out here in Federal Way I have another great companion except for last week when we got into a huge argument over something really stupid but we are ok now.
Also we have a lot of great investigators that are progressing toward baptism, one of which is a guy named Tony he is 21 and is awesome we taught him at 12 today and we talked to him about the ten commandments and when we got to the adultery one he told us about his parties that he goes to and his fun he has with girls and we told him the importance of obeying the law of chastity, so he said that he is going to stop and try to get new friends to hang out with, because all the friends he has right now all drink and he has a really bad drinking problem.
So that is my weekly report, that's all for now.
Love ya all,
Elder O'Brien
The mission is great out here in Federal Way I have another great companion except for last week when we got into a huge argument over something really stupid but we are ok now.
Also we have a lot of great investigators that are progressing toward baptism, one of which is a guy named Tony he is 21 and is awesome we taught him at 12 today and we talked to him about the ten commandments and when we got to the adultery one he told us about his parties that he goes to and his fun he has with girls and we told him the importance of obeying the law of chastity, so he said that he is going to stop and try to get new friends to hang out with, because all the friends he has right now all drink and he has a really bad drinking problem.
So that is my weekly report, that's all for now.
Love ya all,
Elder O'Brien
5/24/2010 News from Federal Way
Life is great here in Federal Way, the work is great we have one on date right now and by the end of the week we will have two more on date, also we found an awesome PI yesterday while tracting, it is this brother of a less active lady that we know, we read him 3 nephi 11 and he gave us his # and address so we will be stopping by sometime this week. Also he does glass engraving so I'm gonna get a cool engraving on a cup or something else, but first I need to find myself a cup that I want to keep as a keepsake for the rest of my life.
Also being companions with elder Gardner has been great, a bit crazy at times but cool. Oh just in case I did not tell you his info he is from ST George UT and has been out in the mission now for 22 months, almost done.
Well that's all for now, love ya.
Until next time love,
Elder O'Brien
Also being companions with elder Gardner has been great, a bit crazy at times but cool. Oh just in case I did not tell you his info he is from ST George UT and has been out in the mission now for 22 months, almost done.
Well that's all for now, love ya.
Until next time love,
Elder O'Brien
5/18/2010 Greetings from Federal Way
Hi y'all wusup,
I got transferred to a new area I am now in Federal Way and so far do not like it as much as Maple Valley for one thing Maple Valley is country and Federal Way is city, so yeah that's the breaks.
My new companion's name is Elder Gardner, the surprising thing is I know him quite well, he used to be in my district in Maple Valley for the first six that I was there, he is an interesting fellow, doesn't talk much and I have to basically force him to talk or he will just sit there and say nothing. We currently have one person on date and am working on 2 and 3, so we shall see how this transfer goes.
Until next time love you all,
Elder O'Brien
I got transferred to a new area I am now in Federal Way and so far do not like it as much as Maple Valley for one thing Maple Valley is country and Federal Way is city, so yeah that's the breaks.
My new companion's name is Elder Gardner, the surprising thing is I know him quite well, he used to be in my district in Maple Valley for the first six that I was there, he is an interesting fellow, doesn't talk much and I have to basically force him to talk or he will just sit there and say nothing. We currently have one person on date and am working on 2 and 3, so we shall see how this transfer goes.
Until next time love you all,
Elder O'Brien
4/29/2010 Hello from Maple Valley
Hey whats up peeps(peeps means people)
Things are great here. Haven't had any recent baptisms yet but hey working on it.
Every Monday there is an old guy who comes to the library with a chess board, so for the hour that Elder Tanner is E-mailing I play chess. There was one game I played with him that lasted 45 minutes which is way longer then i have ever played a game of chess for. Oh Yea I was proud of my self.
We have not gotten a single flake of snow and most of the time it is in the sixties unless it is raining then it goes down to the fifties. I looked at the forecast and it is going to be in the middle to high sixties all next week, oh yeah bring on the sunshine, and oh mom, you have fun with your 30-40 degree weather BWA-HaHA.
Well love you all, have fun in the snow.
Elder O'Brien
Things are great here. Haven't had any recent baptisms yet but hey working on it.
Every Monday there is an old guy who comes to the library with a chess board, so for the hour that Elder Tanner is E-mailing I play chess. There was one game I played with him that lasted 45 minutes which is way longer then i have ever played a game of chess for. Oh Yea I was proud of my self.
We have not gotten a single flake of snow and most of the time it is in the sixties unless it is raining then it goes down to the fifties. I looked at the forecast and it is going to be in the middle to high sixties all next week, oh yeah bring on the sunshine, and oh mom, you have fun with your 30-40 degree weather BWA-HaHA.
Well love you all, have fun in the snow.
Elder O'Brien
4/1/2010 Quickie
Hello Family and Friends,
How are you all doing? I am doing great, these past few weeks have been fun with Elder Tanner. We have had more investigators then I have ever had before.
Nothing else to report.
Till next week.
Love,
Elder O'Brien
How are you all doing? I am doing great, these past few weeks have been fun with Elder Tanner. We have had more investigators then I have ever had before.
Nothing else to report.
Till next week.
Love,
Elder O'Brien
3/18/10 News from Maple Valley
Hey Family,
How are you all doing?
Dad, thanks for the CD’S, tho I don’t really get to listen to them very much. Elder Tanner doesn’t like classical, tho I am slowly changing that.
Life is great out here and I do tract about 5-6 hours a day. The Lord is really starting to bless us especially with an investigator named Gil Sandoval. When I got here he didn’t want any lessons from the missionaries, so for about 12 or 13 weeks we have been praying for him and talking to him off and on, now this is a guy who married an active LDS women 13 yrs. Ago and only started coming to church about 2 yrs ago and started really investigating the church last year. Then it all changed we had a stake conference with an area authority named Elder Brinkerhoff and he talked to Gil along with President Rodarte our stake president for a good 2 hours and blessed his home. So the Tuesday after Stake Confer. We go to Gil’s house with a ward missionary and we talked to him about the church and about repentance, it was a very spiritual meeting, afterwards I felt prompted to ask him if he wanted to start the lessons with us and he said yes!!! So we came over yesterday with the intention to teach him, but we ended up just talking to him for about 2 hours and I just love the answer he gave.I will quote it exactly how he said it to get the full meaning of it. He said “I don’t think the church has been restored, I know it has been restored and that the church that my wife belongs to is that church” He has such a strong testimony of this church and it is people like that , that makes a mission worth it. He is so close to baptism.
Concerning the weather it has been great for the past 2 weeks it has been nothing but sunny and in the 60.s with no snow what so ever, just thought I would tell you that piece of info. Just to make you jealous =) Bwahaha.
Love you all, hope to hear from you soon.
Elder O'Brien
How are you all doing?
Dad, thanks for the CD’S, tho I don’t really get to listen to them very much. Elder Tanner doesn’t like classical, tho I am slowly changing that.
Life is great out here and I do tract about 5-6 hours a day. The Lord is really starting to bless us especially with an investigator named Gil Sandoval. When I got here he didn’t want any lessons from the missionaries, so for about 12 or 13 weeks we have been praying for him and talking to him off and on, now this is a guy who married an active LDS women 13 yrs. Ago and only started coming to church about 2 yrs ago and started really investigating the church last year. Then it all changed we had a stake conference with an area authority named Elder Brinkerhoff and he talked to Gil along with President Rodarte our stake president for a good 2 hours and blessed his home. So the Tuesday after Stake Confer. We go to Gil’s house with a ward missionary and we talked to him about the church and about repentance, it was a very spiritual meeting, afterwards I felt prompted to ask him if he wanted to start the lessons with us and he said yes!!! So we came over yesterday with the intention to teach him, but we ended up just talking to him for about 2 hours and I just love the answer he gave.I will quote it exactly how he said it to get the full meaning of it. He said “I don’t think the church has been restored, I know it has been restored and that the church that my wife belongs to is that church” He has such a strong testimony of this church and it is people like that , that makes a mission worth it. He is so close to baptism.
Concerning the weather it has been great for the past 2 weeks it has been nothing but sunny and in the 60.s with no snow what so ever, just thought I would tell you that piece of info. Just to make you jealous =) Bwahaha.
Love you all, hope to hear from you soon.
Elder O'Brien
3/3/2010 Hi from Maple Valley
Hi Family and Friends,
The area is doing great here. I got a new companion last Tuesday his name is Elder Tanner. He is a great guy and he keeps me good.
The area here in Maple Valley is starting to flourish. We have found five new investigators in the past week and we are working on some eternal investigators, so it's great.
That's all until next time.
Elder O'Brien
The area is doing great here. I got a new companion last Tuesday his name is Elder Tanner. He is a great guy and he keeps me good.
The area here in Maple Valley is starting to flourish. We have found five new investigators in the past week and we are working on some eternal investigators, so it's great.
That's all until next time.
Elder O'Brien
2/15/2010 Hi from Maple Valley
Dear Family and Friends,
Life has been great, the ward is finally getting on board with helping us so we shall see how that goes.
Plus this Friday will be the most glorious day that no one will call me a green boy any more. I am turning 6 months woot!!! I will now be know as a Private with all the fancy do-das that go with it. Also transfers are coming up and I don't know whether or not I am getting transferred.
That's all for this letter. Love ya all.
Love,
Elder O'Brien
Life has been great, the ward is finally getting on board with helping us so we shall see how that goes.
Plus this Friday will be the most glorious day that no one will call me a green boy any more. I am turning 6 months woot!!! I will now be know as a Private with all the fancy do-das that go with it. Also transfers are coming up and I don't know whether or not I am getting transferred.
That's all for this letter. Love ya all.
Love,
Elder O'Brien
2/8/2010 Hi from Maple Valley
Hi Family,
Thanks for the pictures and no I don't really have that much pictures, haven't been taking any, much too busy,
Life is great here the ward is great what more can I say? Tho at times my companion can be down right weird, but I love him.
That's all for now.
Love ya all,
Elder O'Brien
Thanks for the pictures and no I don't really have that much pictures, haven't been taking any, much too busy,
Life is great here the ward is great what more can I say? Tho at times my companion can be down right weird, but I love him.
That's all for now.
Love ya all,
Elder O'Brien
2/1/2010 Greetings from not so snowy MAPLE VALLEY!!!!!!!!!
Hi Family and Friends,
Life is great here we just barely found a new investigator last Thursday and we have taught him the first lesson the restoration. Just a little background here, I went tracting with another elder that I was on exchanges with and a ward missionary. We tracted to this lady named Nui Sakounthong and she told us to come back later that night because she was busy so we came back later that night and they invited us in. We started talking to her and her family, they are all Buddist and she and her husband didn't seem very interested, but her son Cody Sakounthong was. We started talking to him about Jesus Christ and he said that he had heard a little about him from his friends, but that he didn't know that much, so we asked him if we could come back the next day and teach him, but he didn't seem to want to. So I told him that I would bring him over a Book of Mormon to let him read and he said alright so we came back the next day and gave him the Book of Mormon. He started asking a lot of Q's so we told him that we could teach him and this time he said yes, it was so awesome, so we taught him the first lesson and set up a church tour with him tomorrow at four. So we will see how that goes. Oh and just a story of him his name is Cody Sakounthong he is Lao, he was born here in the States, he is 16, he is a great kid. Well that is my report for the week.
Oh the package did arrive, thank you so much for the photos of the family.
That would be awesome if I could get a card for family endowments.
Love ya all,
Elder O'Brien
Life is great here we just barely found a new investigator last Thursday and we have taught him the first lesson the restoration. Just a little background here, I went tracting with another elder that I was on exchanges with and a ward missionary. We tracted to this lady named Nui Sakounthong and she told us to come back later that night because she was busy so we came back later that night and they invited us in. We started talking to her and her family, they are all Buddist and she and her husband didn't seem very interested, but her son Cody Sakounthong was. We started talking to him about Jesus Christ and he said that he had heard a little about him from his friends, but that he didn't know that much, so we asked him if we could come back the next day and teach him, but he didn't seem to want to. So I told him that I would bring him over a Book of Mormon to let him read and he said alright so we came back the next day and gave him the Book of Mormon. He started asking a lot of Q's so we told him that we could teach him and this time he said yes, it was so awesome, so we taught him the first lesson and set up a church tour with him tomorrow at four. So we will see how that goes. Oh and just a story of him his name is Cody Sakounthong he is Lao, he was born here in the States, he is 16, he is a great kid. Well that is my report for the week.
Oh the package did arrive, thank you so much for the photos of the family.
That would be awesome if I could get a card for family endowments.
Love ya all,
Elder O'Brien
1/25/2010 Greetings from not so snowy Mapple Valley
Hey Family and friends wusup,
The mission is great out this way.
It was an awesome time at the temple. Hey I was wondering maybe next time I go to the temple in five months or so maybe you can mail me a temple card so that I can do the endowment for a family member. I think that would be a lot more fun than doing a complete strangers endowment (not that it is bad or anything) it would be awesome. Thanks for the CD's that are coming my companion and district leader will be thrilled. Well that's all for this week.
Love ya all very much,
Elder O'Brien
The mission is great out this way.
It was an awesome time at the temple. Hey I was wondering maybe next time I go to the temple in five months or so maybe you can mail me a temple card so that I can do the endowment for a family member. I think that would be a lot more fun than doing a complete strangers endowment (not that it is bad or anything) it would be awesome. Thanks for the CD's that are coming my companion and district leader will be thrilled. Well that's all for this week.
Love ya all very much,
Elder O'Brien
1/20/2010 More News from MAPLE VALLEY!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi,
Hey guys sorry it took me awhile to get back to your email. Monday was not pday because yesterday was temple day, it was great to get to go to the temple which I have not been able to go to since September, but hey all is good. When I got home from that we had to change the oil in the car after that our pday was over so that is why I am emailing so late, but hey at least there isn't very much time till next pday.
No new news from the Ceder River Ward here in Maple Valley. We have a bunch of investigators but none that are willing to go into the waters of baptism. We also have a couple of dry Mormons here (the kind that come to church every Sunday, pays their tithing, lives the law of the fast and so on, but lacks the faith to be baptized) it is sad but at least they know that this church is the true church.
It is a bummer that it is cold there, here is very warm for the last four days it has been in the sixties which is very abnormal around this time of year, especially because around this time of year last year there was three feet of snow on the ground which is very funny, every time it snows two inches it is a holiday, everything closes, the schools, the stores, everything. It's actually very pathetic tho if you ask me.
Transfers was great we got a lot of new missionaries including a nephew of mine (a nephew in case you don't know is if you and another missionary is trained by the same person that makes you brothers and if your brother trains then it is your nephew) his name is Elder Nelson, he is a great guy, fun to be around, he is the companion of my district leader, and yes I am still with Elder Knotts.
Hey my companion and my district leader loves that CD of the EFY and other stuff that you sent me and they where wondering if you could send them a CD, so could you please two more of those EFY and others? Also if Papa could send me some more classical that would be great I have listened to all of the CD that he gave me and I would love to have more thank you much.
Can't believe it was my five months mark yesterday EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGADS I am becoming old in the mission field, but it is a great experience, I love being on a mission, it is so much fun. Anyway that's all for the week.
Love ya all,
Elder O'Brien
Hey guys sorry it took me awhile to get back to your email. Monday was not pday because yesterday was temple day, it was great to get to go to the temple which I have not been able to go to since September, but hey all is good. When I got home from that we had to change the oil in the car after that our pday was over so that is why I am emailing so late, but hey at least there isn't very much time till next pday.
No new news from the Ceder River Ward here in Maple Valley. We have a bunch of investigators but none that are willing to go into the waters of baptism. We also have a couple of dry Mormons here (the kind that come to church every Sunday, pays their tithing, lives the law of the fast and so on, but lacks the faith to be baptized) it is sad but at least they know that this church is the true church.
It is a bummer that it is cold there, here is very warm for the last four days it has been in the sixties which is very abnormal around this time of year, especially because around this time of year last year there was three feet of snow on the ground which is very funny, every time it snows two inches it is a holiday, everything closes, the schools, the stores, everything. It's actually very pathetic tho if you ask me.
Transfers was great we got a lot of new missionaries including a nephew of mine (a nephew in case you don't know is if you and another missionary is trained by the same person that makes you brothers and if your brother trains then it is your nephew) his name is Elder Nelson, he is a great guy, fun to be around, he is the companion of my district leader, and yes I am still with Elder Knotts.
Hey my companion and my district leader loves that CD of the EFY and other stuff that you sent me and they where wondering if you could send them a CD, so could you please two more of those EFY and others? Also if Papa could send me some more classical that would be great I have listened to all of the CD that he gave me and I would love to have more thank you much.
Can't believe it was my five months mark yesterday EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGADS I am becoming old in the mission field, but it is a great experience, I love being on a mission, it is so much fun. Anyway that's all for the week.
Love ya all,
Elder O'Brien
1/12/2010 News from MAPLE VALLEY!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello Family and Friends,
Life is great here, transfers is today so that is why I'm emailing on Tuesday and just for your info yes I will be emailing next Monday, oh and bytheway I am staying in Maple Valley for another transfer so I am happy I didn't have to pack up once again. The ward here is a little slow to get things going here, but hey at least they are doing something.
Anyways life is great here.
Love ya much,
Elder O'Brien
Life is great here, transfers is today so that is why I'm emailing on Tuesday and just for your info yes I will be emailing next Monday, oh and bytheway I am staying in Maple Valley for another transfer so I am happy I didn't have to pack up once again. The ward here is a little slow to get things going here, but hey at least they are doing something.
Anyways life is great here.
Love ya much,
Elder O'Brien
01/4/2010 News from MAPLE VALLEY!!!!!!
Hey Family and Friends,
I am doing awesome.
So your on the 9 schedule for church, I just barely went to 1 schedule which is great because now we have time to study in the morning, but church basically starts at 10 for us since we have a whole bunch of meetings to go to before church, of course that's the life of a missionary.
A little update about my area, it is great. The ward here is great, the ward missionaries are really helping us out a lot. My companion is awesome, a little annoying at times just because he has a picture memory and he has movies upon movies memorized, his favorite movies to quote is Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean, it's actually funny at times when he does his gollum voice.
The weather here has been pretty warm it has rained a lot, but not snow thankfully, so life here in Maple Valley is great.
Well love ya all, till next time.
Elder O'Brien
I am doing awesome.
So your on the 9 schedule for church, I just barely went to 1 schedule which is great because now we have time to study in the morning, but church basically starts at 10 for us since we have a whole bunch of meetings to go to before church, of course that's the life of a missionary.
A little update about my area, it is great. The ward here is great, the ward missionaries are really helping us out a lot. My companion is awesome, a little annoying at times just because he has a picture memory and he has movies upon movies memorized, his favorite movies to quote is Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean, it's actually funny at times when he does his gollum voice.
The weather here has been pretty warm it has rained a lot, but not snow thankfully, so life here in Maple Valley is great.
Well love ya all, till next time.
Elder O'Brien
12/28/09 Wish you a Happy New Year
Dear Family,
Hey hey how you all doing it was great getting to hear from y'all.
Anyways things are not going to great here, we had a person on date named ignacio rojas and since he has been sick for the past week he was not able to come to church so we are going to have to push his date back which is sad. We also need to teach him like a bunch.
Well that is all for this week cause I can't think of anything to write so have a happy new year.
I love ya all,
Elder O'Brien
Hey hey how you all doing it was great getting to hear from y'all.
Anyways things are not going to great here, we had a person on date named ignacio rojas and since he has been sick for the past week he was not able to come to church so we are going to have to push his date back which is sad. We also need to teach him like a bunch.
Well that is all for this week cause I can't think of anything to write so have a happy new year.
I love ya all,
Elder O'Brien
12/22/09 Merry Christmas HoHoHoHoHoHo!!!!!!!!! 12/25/09 Visit with Jacob on Christmas Day
Dear Family and Friends,
How are all ya guys doing. I am doing great.
My sweet place that I'm staying at, a house (if you wanna call it that is huge) it is more like a mansion, everything metal is made out of brass. It is always nice and warm in there. Our host is a great old lady, that built it for her maid to live in, but the maid didn't want to live in the house so she gave it to the church. So it's like our super nice pad.
Oh and about the ipod remember I told you that it was stolen? If it had not I would have it on my mission, because I found out that our mission president is a very awesome guy and he lets the missionaries have ipods as long as it has church approved music on it, so he basically holds us to our word, I love him a lot he is a great guy.
That is great to hear that the package is on it's way, to tell you the truth I was getting kinda a little jealous of my comp getting Christmas cards and money practically every other day.
Oh and something that I would love is some pictures of the family, especially the nieces and nephews. I want to watch them grow up, so make sure you keep those updated for me.
About the call, I don't really know what time I will be calling, so be at the phone ready to pick up. Sorry I couldn't get a time, I've been really busy lately.
Hope you all have a merry Christmas. Talk to you in three days.
Love ya much,
Elder O'Brien
12/25/2009
Christmas Day Call
We had a very nice talk with Jacob. He sounds great, it was great hearing from him.
He is doing fine. He had a very nice Christmas.
He has been eating very well and has gained 25 lbs. Unfortunately now his clothes don't fit and he had to get another suit (used). I told him he better start riding that bike again as he has been driving around in the car. We call him chubs. He did not like that.
It was great talking to him
Posted by,
Mom
How are all ya guys doing. I am doing great.
My sweet place that I'm staying at, a house (if you wanna call it that is huge) it is more like a mansion, everything metal is made out of brass. It is always nice and warm in there. Our host is a great old lady, that built it for her maid to live in, but the maid didn't want to live in the house so she gave it to the church. So it's like our super nice pad.
Oh and about the ipod remember I told you that it was stolen? If it had not I would have it on my mission, because I found out that our mission president is a very awesome guy and he lets the missionaries have ipods as long as it has church approved music on it, so he basically holds us to our word, I love him a lot he is a great guy.
That is great to hear that the package is on it's way, to tell you the truth I was getting kinda a little jealous of my comp getting Christmas cards and money practically every other day.
Oh and something that I would love is some pictures of the family, especially the nieces and nephews. I want to watch them grow up, so make sure you keep those updated for me.
About the call, I don't really know what time I will be calling, so be at the phone ready to pick up. Sorry I couldn't get a time, I've been really busy lately.
Hope you all have a merry Christmas. Talk to you in three days.
Love ya much,
Elder O'Brien
12/25/2009
Christmas Day Call
We had a very nice talk with Jacob. He sounds great, it was great hearing from him.
He is doing fine. He had a very nice Christmas.
He has been eating very well and has gained 25 lbs. Unfortunately now his clothes don't fit and he had to get another suit (used). I told him he better start riding that bike again as he has been driving around in the car. We call him chubs. He did not like that.
It was great talking to him
Posted by,
Mom
12/14/09 News from MAPLE VALLEY
Hello Family and Friends,
It has been great here, the people are great, they are so awesome.
I finally somewhat memorized the area enough so at least we are not late for each appointment.
Oh and we got our first snow storm here it was a whopping inch and a half a lot huh and then it melted like a day later, so clear street again. It has actually been very cold here recently tho, people around here say it doesn't usually get down in the 20's like it has been for the past few days. Yeah I know it still isn't as cold as Utah, but it sure feels like it, when it gets down to 20 and the wind chill factor is in the the teens and to top it off we have high humidity, it gets pretty nippy when we are out tracking, the wind not only freezes you to the bones, it freezes you to the soul, it's nuts. Anyways I love ya all, have a merry Christmas and a happy new year.
Love,
Elder O'Brien
It has been great here, the people are great, they are so awesome.
I finally somewhat memorized the area enough so at least we are not late for each appointment.
Oh and we got our first snow storm here it was a whopping inch and a half a lot huh and then it melted like a day later, so clear street again. It has actually been very cold here recently tho, people around here say it doesn't usually get down in the 20's like it has been for the past few days. Yeah I know it still isn't as cold as Utah, but it sure feels like it, when it gets down to 20 and the wind chill factor is in the the teens and to top it off we have high humidity, it gets pretty nippy when we are out tracking, the wind not only freezes you to the bones, it freezes you to the soul, it's nuts. Anyways I love ya all, have a merry Christmas and a happy new year.
Love,
Elder O'Brien
12/7/2009 Greeting from MAPLE VALLEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy the Nativity Pictures
Hey Family and Friends,
Wusup, that is great that Danny boy is going to college, Snow is great.
Everything here is green as always no change, tho yesterday it did snow a little at church, but then it melted and it was once again green.
Oh and about the pictures I will send them home, hope 232 or so pictures will keep ya busy for awhile.
About Christmas as soon as I get the number and time I will send it your way.
This week has been great, mostly I have been memorizing this humongous area. Also this last weekend was awesome I got to usher in this annual Christmas creche thing that Maple Valley puts on every year. What the creche is, people who have nativities from all over the world bring their nativity to be exhibited, it is so awesome I got to see all kinds of them, from a nativity made out of food and chocolate and legos and wood and shells and veggie tales and even had some snowmen nativity. They also had some silver and crystal ones as well, I will be sending those pictures home also. Also they had people playing instruments of all kinds and singing, it was a great three nights, very tiring, but great tiring. I did two 7-9 patrolling shifts and one 5-9 shift. Basically my job was to make sure no one touched anything and didn't steal anything and it was also our duty to shew off any anti Mormons that was hanging around and putting anti-Mormon literature on the windshields, thankfully we had none of that. But they said last year there was a group of people that would come to bash with the people that was trying to mind their own business and look at the creche, so the users had to shew them away. So yeah that was my week.
Love ya all, have fun at home, your son and brother,
Elder O'Brien
12/2/2009 GREETINGS FROM MAPLE VALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello Family and Friends,
Hey uhhhhhhh sorry bout the delay on the email. Got transferred yesterday and didn't have time to email so that's why I'm emailing today.
This transfer my new companion's name is Elder Knotts. He is a great guy, both of us are lost most of the time because I am new and he has only been in the area for six weeks and this area is like HUGE!!!!!!!!!! compared to my last two areas. He is from Payson Utah and has been out for 17 months, so I am going to try to learn all that I can from him.
About Christmas could you ask aunt Dede if I could get a navigational system? They are so nice to have especially in big areas and also I would like more care packages which I have not received too many.
Thanksgiving was great we went to this Lady's house and got there at 5 and didn't eat until 7 ,but it was awesome, got to see a few raccoons. It was great yummy food.
All is great here, my new area is beautiful, it is full of pine forests all green, it actually hasn't rained in a couple of days. It has just been very cold (the low most of the time has been 45).
Well have fun and I love you all,
Elder O'Brien
Hey uhhhhhhh sorry bout the delay on the email. Got transferred yesterday and didn't have time to email so that's why I'm emailing today.
This transfer my new companion's name is Elder Knotts. He is a great guy, both of us are lost most of the time because I am new and he has only been in the area for six weeks and this area is like HUGE!!!!!!!!!! compared to my last two areas. He is from Payson Utah and has been out for 17 months, so I am going to try to learn all that I can from him.
About Christmas could you ask aunt Dede if I could get a navigational system? They are so nice to have especially in big areas and also I would like more care packages which I have not received too many.
Thanksgiving was great we went to this Lady's house and got there at 5 and didn't eat until 7 ,but it was awesome, got to see a few raccoons. It was great yummy food.
All is great here, my new area is beautiful, it is full of pine forests all green, it actually hasn't rained in a couple of days. It has just been very cold (the low most of the time has been 45).
Well have fun and I love you all,
Elder O'Brien
11/24/2009 HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello Family and Friends,
My week has gone great, can't believe it was three months on the 19th time, It is going fast for me.
I do have a Thanksgiving planned for me. I'm going to a less active lady's house and I'll bet her food is going to be great.
Oh man did I eat good last night. I went on exchanges and one of the missionaries is a Tongan so I got some Tongan food which I found out that you eat with your fingers. He cooks this huge pot of chicken and potatoes and onions and while it is still steaming hot he tells me to reach in (without a serving spoon) and grab what I want, at first I thought are you crazy? Then he goes reaching into the pot and grabs this extremely hot potato and hold it in his hand for like 10 seconds, so I couldn't let him show me up, so I dove in too, got burnt hand, but at least I showed him that palangis (translated from Tongan as, white boy) ain't wimps, it was a lot of fun.
Well I gotta go. Luv ya much, have a great Thanksgiving.
Elder O'Brien
Family we taught in Bellevue name Tony and Teresa
From back left to right Elder Adams Me Elder Samani, front left to right Sasha's mom Kay and then Sasha, the person who baptized her, brother Ven,
My week has gone great, can't believe it was three months on the 19th time, It is going fast for me.
I do have a Thanksgiving planned for me. I'm going to a less active lady's house and I'll bet her food is going to be great.
Oh man did I eat good last night. I went on exchanges and one of the missionaries is a Tongan so I got some Tongan food which I found out that you eat with your fingers. He cooks this huge pot of chicken and potatoes and onions and while it is still steaming hot he tells me to reach in (without a serving spoon) and grab what I want, at first I thought are you crazy? Then he goes reaching into the pot and grabs this extremely hot potato and hold it in his hand for like 10 seconds, so I couldn't let him show me up, so I dove in too, got burnt hand, but at least I showed him that palangis (translated from Tongan as, white boy) ain't wimps, it was a lot of fun.
Well I gotta go. Luv ya much, have a great Thanksgiving.
Elder O'Brien
Family we taught in Bellevue name Tony and Teresa
From back left to right Elder Adams Me Elder Samani, front left to right Sasha's mom Kay and then Sasha, the person who baptized her, brother Ven,
11/16/2009 News from BELLEVUE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Family and Friends,
The weather is awesome not too cold not too hot just right, it rains a lot though like every day and when it is not raining it is drizzling.
I can't believe I only have two more weeks in my transfer where has the time gone? I got a baptism last Saturday is name is Benny Kuo he is Chinese and an awesome guy.
Love ya all very much talk to ya at Christmas,
Elder O'Brien
From left to right Elder Gemmel he is one of my AP's next is Elder Samani then a guy I met only twice named Matt he baptized Benny next is Benny Kuo he is Tiawanese and is a great guy before he was baptized he was thinking about going on a mission.
Benny Kuo and I
The weather is awesome not too cold not too hot just right, it rains a lot though like every day and when it is not raining it is drizzling.
I can't believe I only have two more weeks in my transfer where has the time gone? I got a baptism last Saturday is name is Benny Kuo he is Chinese and an awesome guy.
Love ya all very much talk to ya at Christmas,
Elder O'Brien
From left to right Elder Gemmel he is one of my AP's next is Elder Samani then a guy I met only twice named Matt he baptized Benny next is Benny Kuo he is Tiawanese and is a great guy before he was baptized he was thinking about going on a mission.
Benny Kuo and I
11/9/2009 I got to shake Elder Perrys hand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Family and Friends,
The work is great I have a baptism this Saturday so that will be my first baptism his name is Benny and he is 17 he is a great guy he has already set up his program and is very excited about being baptized and receiving the priesthood. My other baptisms are on the 21st 28th and 19 of Dec. the last one I doubt I will see, but hey who cares at least they are being brought into the fold of God.
The work is great, tho I am suffering a little from homesickness once in awhile.
Elder Samani is teaching me so much as is Elder Adams. They both come from way different worlds then I do and are teaching me a lot of patience and humility.
As for the mission it is great. I recently went to a mission conference where Tacoma mission and Seattle mission combine. We listened to Elder L Tom Perry and L Whitney Clayton And G Garon Walker, it was an awesome experience. At first we didn't think that we would be able to shake their hands because of the swine flu that is going around (in which I got a shot for which was not fun at all) but then Elder Walker came up to the stand and says that Elder Perry and Elder Clayton wants to shake our hand and that they will have hand sanitizers available. So we all lined up and got to shake the hands of Elder Perry, Elder Clayton and Elder Walker. All I can say is oh man it was AWESOME!!!!!!! and the stories that I have heard about Elder Perry being a large man is not a lie, he is a tank and getting to shake my hero's hand was a very humbling experience. Then all three of them talked to us about our missions, it was great. Elder Perry is a very funny man, he was constantly joking around with the missionaries he shook hands with. Anyways that was my week it has been a very fulfilling week and also good news is I finally got 20 total lessons this week which is the mission standard.
Well love ya all very much,
Elder O'Brien
P.S. I will try to take more pics and send them home ASAP.
Me and elder Lauti then from left to right is my old companion Elder Adams who is from Ceder City Utah, the middle is my old district leader Elder Chalmers he is from Montana he is a great guy the last one is Elder Samani My second companion in Bellevur he is from Provo Utah and went home last transfer he is also a great guy
Elder Wilson me and Sister Wilson they are Senior Missionaries we have in the mission that worked at the office while I was in Bellevue. I got to know them a lot and have considered them as my unofficial Gram and Gramps. They are going home at the end of this transfer which makes me sad.
The work is great I have a baptism this Saturday so that will be my first baptism his name is Benny and he is 17 he is a great guy he has already set up his program and is very excited about being baptized and receiving the priesthood. My other baptisms are on the 21st 28th and 19 of Dec. the last one I doubt I will see, but hey who cares at least they are being brought into the fold of God.
The work is great, tho I am suffering a little from homesickness once in awhile.
Elder Samani is teaching me so much as is Elder Adams. They both come from way different worlds then I do and are teaching me a lot of patience and humility.
As for the mission it is great. I recently went to a mission conference where Tacoma mission and Seattle mission combine. We listened to Elder L Tom Perry and L Whitney Clayton And G Garon Walker, it was an awesome experience. At first we didn't think that we would be able to shake their hands because of the swine flu that is going around (in which I got a shot for which was not fun at all) but then Elder Walker came up to the stand and says that Elder Perry and Elder Clayton wants to shake our hand and that they will have hand sanitizers available. So we all lined up and got to shake the hands of Elder Perry, Elder Clayton and Elder Walker. All I can say is oh man it was AWESOME!!!!!!! and the stories that I have heard about Elder Perry being a large man is not a lie, he is a tank and getting to shake my hero's hand was a very humbling experience. Then all three of them talked to us about our missions, it was great. Elder Perry is a very funny man, he was constantly joking around with the missionaries he shook hands with. Anyways that was my week it has been a very fulfilling week and also good news is I finally got 20 total lessons this week which is the mission standard.
Well love ya all very much,
Elder O'Brien
P.S. I will try to take more pics and send them home ASAP.
Me and elder Lauti then from left to right is my old companion Elder Adams who is from Ceder City Utah, the middle is my old district leader Elder Chalmers he is from Montana he is a great guy the last one is Elder Samani My second companion in Bellevur he is from Provo Utah and went home last transfer he is also a great guy
Elder Wilson me and Sister Wilson they are Senior Missionaries we have in the mission that worked at the office while I was in Bellevue. I got to know them a lot and have considered them as my unofficial Gram and Gramps. They are going home at the end of this transfer which makes me sad.
11/2/2009 Greetings from Bellevue !!!!!
Hello Family and Friends,
Life is great here. By the way I have four on date baptism scheduled for the 14th 21st and 28th of November and the 19th of December. So I am super happy that Elder Samani and Elder Adams are great, they are teaching me so much and yes they are way better than my last one.
About the memory card there is no photos yet I was messing with my camera and I accidentally deleted all my pictures so all the pictures I took in the mtc and my first transfer is gone, so yeah I am really sad right now about that, but yeah thanks for the memory card.
So yeah love ya much,
Elder O'Brien
top from left to right Elder Lauti, me, Elder Price, Elder Mellor, Bottom from left to right Elder Chalmers, Elder Samani and Elder Pettijohn and the rock that was our goals for baptism for the district for the month of November.
Me and Elder Lauti
Life is great here. By the way I have four on date baptism scheduled for the 14th 21st and 28th of November and the 19th of December. So I am super happy that Elder Samani and Elder Adams are great, they are teaching me so much and yes they are way better than my last one.
About the memory card there is no photos yet I was messing with my camera and I accidentally deleted all my pictures so all the pictures I took in the mtc and my first transfer is gone, so yeah I am really sad right now about that, but yeah thanks for the memory card.
So yeah love ya much,
Elder O'Brien
top from left to right Elder Lauti, me, Elder Price, Elder Mellor, Bottom from left to right Elder Chalmers, Elder Samani and Elder Pettijohn and the rock that was our goals for baptism for the district for the month of November.
Me and Elder Lauti
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