Missionary Mail!

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Mail from Elder Sam Gonzalez:

Bolivia La Paz Mission

2/16/26

Whats up everyone, its been a while so imma hit yall with that quick update n allat.

So we had transfers this week and I left munaypata, we had a buncha people on date and we got the ward back up and running so im gonna miss it a lil. I was told id be going to San Antonio with a gringo who recently finished his training and we were gonna recibe a new elder. I was with Elder Awada from logan ut for two days and we started going crazy, then we got elder Navarro from ica perú and kept going crazy. We found a ton of people and extended a buncha baptismal dates. The ward is kinda small and the leaders lowkey slack so its basically the same as my last ward, hopefully well be able to help just as much.

We are back in carnaval but here in the city its a little more than it was last year in the jungle. We had a couple close calls over the last few days but luckily stayed dry, unitl yesterday when I got a full bucket of water pourn on me outta nowhere. 

Here in Bolivia there is a tradition on fat Tuesday called martes de challa. They decorate the stores and everything with balloons and streamers and pour beverages on the store or their car or whatever for good luck and prosperity. On Friday we were at the pension eating a fire fried rice when the daughter of the pensionista dropped the bottle of coke and it started spilling on the table, her dad immediately grabbed it to stop the spilling and that's right when it exploded, as if someone had put mentos in it. When that happened the dad had the bottle aimed directly at me and picking the bottle up sent the stream up my torso and in my face. I was just sat there shocked, soaked in Coca-Cola. At least now the pachamama will bless me with good luck and prosperity this year 🙏 🤑

Im really exited for this transfer, there are a lot of prepared people in this area and I'm with some awesome comps. Every day more is just a day less I have to be in this awesome place taking part in this amazing work, this helped me realize that I really gotta take advantage of the time left I have in this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Love yall, take care, have a great week. Hit me up I wanna hear from yall. And peep the google fotos and the video of the aftermath of the Coca-Cola attack. Catch yall next week (at least a month from now)!

Elder Gonzalez 

sgonzalez@missionary.org

Mail from Sister Mary Treu:

Texas Dallas South Mission

1/9/26

Dear beloved family and friends,

As the calendar pages turn, and January yields to February, I can't help but reflect on the beauty of spiritual growth. We recently had the joy of celebrating a beautiful baptism for our dear friend Skye. The tender spirit of his wife, a lifelong member of the Church, was a poignant reminder of the transformative power of the gospel.

I've been pondering the concept of "the life of a convert." Growing up, I was blessed to have a strong foundation in Jesus Christ. Our mission president's wife often expressed "convert envy," acknowledging the profound transformation that occurs when someone discovers God for the first time. Their stories resonate with the Holy Ghost, and their conversion is a powerful testament to the gospel's impact. 

As I've served, I've realized that I, too, am a convert! 

We often associate conversion with baptism, but it's so much more. It's a lifelong journey of growth, a progression from darkness to light. We can be converted from a dimly lit room to a radiant one, and there's always room to deepen our commitment to Jesus Christ.

In God's plan of salvation, we were once in a state of perfection, yet He saw greater potential for us. We came to earth to receive a body, an incredible gift! I envision the excitement of our premortal lives, eager to embark on this journey and enhance our conversion and/or love for our hevanly father.

The Doctrine and Covenants, offers one of my favorite insights in section 130, verses 18-19: "Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come."

I love that God is not wasteful. As we exercise faith and undergo conversion, we accumulate experience that transcends mortality. Our trials and tribulations become bricks in the path, but our conversion through Jesus Christ is the mortar that transforms them into castles and corridors of spiritual strength.

What also becomes more increasingly beautiful to me, is that we're not alone in this construction project. Our loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are the master builders, consecrating our efforts and turning our stumbling blocks into stepping stones. As we bring our materials, be they stumbling blocks or scraps of our salvaged testimonies, our Creator and Savior work tirelessly to construct a edifice of spiritual resilience.

May we embrace this lifelong journey of conversion, trusting in the Savior's power to transform our lives and grant us eternal perspective. May our experiences, trials, and triumphs be woven into the fabric of our testimonies, and may we emerge stronger, more radiant, and more committed to our faith.

I love all of you and love to hear from you! All these messages are prayed about and come from my heart. 

Love, Sister Treu

Sister Mary Treu 

mary.treu@missionary.org

2/23/26

Yall... Bridezilla exists. And its freaking brutal. This chick wants to be baptized but unfortunately shes not married. So we had to get them married. Usually people dont care and they just go to a lawyer, sign a few papers and done. Cause a lot of people dont really care to get married and have been together for like 15 years. So usually its easy. But this chick is having us be at the church at SEVEN AM to decorate. THE WEDDING IS AT 3 PM. And thats after she had us and the branch decorate for 3 hours the night before. Lady... im dying, (shes not actually bridezilla, i understand her, i just am terrible at decorating hahaha). Im so bad at decorating hahaha. To all of yall who have made a wedding happen. You have 100% of my respect. But i was in charge of the game. I just did the shoe game if you know what im talking about. It was actually freaking hilarious. The dude is the funniest guy ever cause you can kinda tell hes dying inside too.(I dont think he wanted to do a wedding hahaha). But it was a fun day.

But she got baptized! Her name is Glerys. She actually an awesome person. I just can't decorate to save my life haha.

Spiritual thought:

Alright yall know how i am with my favorite scriptures. Short and sweet. But i just marked this. Imma do my best translating it cause its marked in my spanish book of mormon, and im too lazy to go copy and paste it. Hopefully i dont mess it up too bad and preach false doctrine. 2Nephi 5:27 "And its came to pass that we lived in a manner of happiness."

Ok im coping and pasting it. I dont think I got it right 100%. "27 And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness."

Holy freaking (almost) NAILED IT!!

But its cause they were living the gospel of Jesus Christ. It just makes you happy. Yeah its hard. Real hard. But it also makes you happy. Real happy. I love it. Real happiness is living and keeping the commandments and covenants. Thats how happiness works. *dab emoji* in the name of Jesucristo Amén 🤘🐮

Also thanks for all the birthday emails yall! Super awesome! Hurrah for Israel 🥳🥳

-Elder Noah Larsen

noah.larsen@missionary.org

Elder Max Martineau:

Arizona Mesa Mission

2/23/26

Whats up yall!? Just anotha week down here in Mesa. It was a great week so I'll tell you guys a little bit of what I did this week.

We've been on a running grind. So I ran like 21 miles last week. I don't think I've ever ran that much in my life but it was fun. We're locked in. Gotta stay in shape because we get fed a lot and I don't wanna come home looking fat. 

We had zone conference on Thursday! That was fun to see lots of the missionaries. And it was a very spiritually filled day. I saw elder Robins and I haven't seen him in sooo long so that was good to see him. Shoutout Robbie.

Saturday was the best day ever! I had 4 baptisms which is kinda crazy. Two boys were baptized in my new area. They are such good kids I freaking love them. During the baptism I felt the spirit so strongly and I knew that they are making the right decision and this is going to bless them for eternity!! Those two boys are gonna do so much good in their lives. 

The other two baptisms were in my old area. It was two girls that I taught the whole 6 months while I was in the area and they were finally able to progress to baptism! It was so amazing to see all that hard work pay off and I owe it all back to the Lord! He did it all. God is so good.

Joshua 1:9 Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Freaking love this verse! There is no limit to the Savior's capacity to help you. Nothing is too much for Him. He is with you wherever you go. Stay strong and don't give up yall. The Lord is on your side. Just turn to Him and have faith in Him and He will be there with you every step of the way. He sees you and He is proud of where you are at.

Let's go have another amazing week yall. Email me if ya want. 

Love, Elder Martineau

mmartineau@missionary.org

Elder Dashle Demill

Brazil Goiania Mission

2/23/26

Oi oi galera, tudo bom? This week was super solid for the work (except for sacrament attendance, still having a hard time with that) and we taught tons of lessons. The one friend we had at sacrament meeting sent us a message afterward telling us how incredible it was and how much he wants to come back. He then proceeded to send us a picture of his Book of Mormon and ask for the chapter we were reading during second hour. Eleito. 

Other highlights:

- Finally got legalized, I'm officially Brazilian now

- Spent about 30 minutes carrying a gigantic fish tank with the water and fish still in it while helping a family move apartments

- Hit a 100 day streak on Duolingo, perhaps the greatest achievement of my life 

- Had interviews with President Faria, and yes I'll say it again - best mission president the world has to offer

- Member got mad at us for asking for help on his date night

- Had a little pday de cria with the district and ate some awesome churrasco

- One of the older ladies we're teaching said she's going to fight my mom for letting me travel so far from home (watch out mom, Sebastiana may be 79 but she's still got some fight in her)

- Hit 6 months tomorrow

Spiritual thought:

I was recently reminded of a very important principle of the gospel that we might have difficulty accepting sometimes: whether we like it or not, living the gospel on earth will always be harder than not living it. It's tough, but it's true. Everything from the most grievous of sins to simple pessimism and bad thoughts are going to be far easier than choosing to be optimistic and to live the law of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

So why are we choosing the harder path? Because this path contains blessings that come soon, blessings that come late, and most importantly, blessings that come in heaven after this lifetime. It may be difficult to see, but our willingness to choose the harder right, rather than the easier wrong, is what allows the Lord to constantly bless our lives. Miracles occur as we make the tougher choices that require sacrifice. It is not a curse but a blessing, for the Lord is looking for those in which he can trust. He would love to place His trust in His children, but ultimately it's up to us. 

Until next week! Mom, make sure you lock the door for the night. Tchau!

- Elder DeMill

dashle.demill@missionary.org

Sister Emilie Figlioli

Tennessee Knoxville Mission

2/23/26

Whelp another week has flown by! I can't believe it's already p-day again. Hope you are all well and did something fun this week!

I'm going to be totally honest, I don't ever remember what happened because the days are so long and blend together but I'll do my best to recap the whole thing. 

Last p-day we went to topgolf which was good. I had never been and wasn't sure what I was doing but I think I did okay considering I'd never golfed before!

We found a couple people who we were able to get a hold of this week but by the time Sunday came around and we tried to get them to church, they had blocked us. So we keep working hard to find more! 

I can't remember if I mentioned Sydney last week. But Sydney just came into church last week because he had googled it. So cool! He has so many questions. Well, before we could teach him a lesson, he asked me and my companion and a guy in our ward if we were able to hangout unromantically (hence the subject line). Obviously we thought it was funny but he just wanted some friends and I guess he does better talking to girls than guys. So we sadly had to tell him no... and we had to pass him off to the ysa so he could make friends...

We did get to teach Irene in spanish this week. No I didn't speak or understand any! We had the spanish sisters come and teach her! Great lesson she's progressing so much!

We did a service project where we were able to put up a target for our friend Rick to shoot at with all of his many many guns. But we need to get him to church! Please pray we can find a way to get him there!

We also had zone conference this week! Super fun expirience! It was good to see some of the missionary friends that I made before I came in! 

Spiritual:

(Don't worry, I remembered this time)

I was thinking about the sacrament this week and how I could have a more meaningful expirience with it. At zone conference, President Barlow encouraged us to change the words of the sacrament prayer from "we", "they," "those" to "I", "me", and "my". I'd invite each of you to do the following the next time you get to hear the sacrament. I'll attatch the prayers so you can read them as well...

O God, the Eternal Father, I ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to my soul who partake of it; that I may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that I am willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given me, that I may always have his Spirit to be with me. Amen.

O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee, in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this water to my soul who drink of it, that I may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for me; that I may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that I do always remember him, that I may have his Spirit to be with me. Amen.

Love you all! Hope everything is going well! Email me if you want...they make my entire week!!

Sister Figlioli

emilie.figlioli@missionary.org

Sister Eliza Treu

New Zealand Auckland Mission

Sister Treu will begin her missionary service on June 5

Elder Zach Johnson

Brazil Sao Paulo East Mission

Elder Johnson will begin his missionary service on June 11

Burton Ward Service Missionaries

Brother & Sister Halls

Family History Center Service Missionaries

Behind me are all my ancestors giving me strength. Life passed through them to me. And in honor of them... I will live it fully!

See more on Burton Ward family history happenings HERE.

We serve as missionaries at the Family Search Center in Layton and we try to assist people as they come to the center.   The people who come ask for help in a wide variety of ways; from setting up a password for familysearch.org to helping find an ancestor in Germany in the 1800’s. 

The veil seems thin as we receive inspiration from those on the other side as we work. We also are in the temple each Tuesday morning. So blending research and then being at the temple where individuals and families receive their ordinances is so fulfilling to us.  We know we are helping to gather Israel. 

Love,

Brother & Sister Halls

Sister Angie Cottrell

FamilySearch VROC (Virtual Records Operation Center) Service Mission

I am currently serving in the FamilySearch VROC (Virtual Records Operation Center) Mission. I just completed my first year and recently extended for another six months. I love the flexibility of this mission. I am able to work from home and set my own schedule. I just have a minimum number of required hours to fulfill each week.

The objective of our mission is to “nourish the temple with names.” There are a variety of projects requiring various skill levels. Currently, I am working on a project to improve person pages on FamilySearch. Many pages lack the required dates and places needed to complete ordinances. I do my best to find sources, such as birth, death, or marriage records, and add this information to the FamilySearch tree. Relatives are then able to complete the temple work. I love when I find a record of a baby or child who was born and died between census years, so they were never included as part of the family. Knowing they can now be sealed to their parents is such a rewarding feeling. 

Angie Cottrell

Sister Susan Tibbitts

 Family Search Data Service Mission