April 13

Tues night we get a call from the A.P.'s they say that there's been a slight change with transfers. Elder Aros was thinking his visa came. Nope. Elder Thomas's new companion had his visa come though unexpectedly, so that left Elder Thomas by himself. So Thu morning we picked him up from the Mission Home.

We had to give up our gps, we'd been using to the zone leaders, so we ended up a bit lost in Lansing, but we found our way.

That night we had dinner with Gerald & Joann Stepper. As soon as they saw my name, they said, "Candland. As in Rex & Karen Candland?" Turns out the went to the Seattle ward like 30 or 40 years ago, where grandma & grandpa are. Pretty cool connection :)

we were out in the boonies fri. Some members showed us their boa constrictor, it was big enough they didn't dare take it out of the cage.

We met an interesting person, he didn't believe in the atonement or that Brigham Young was supposed to be the next prophet, but he thinks our church is the 'most' correct church, that Joseph Smith was a prophet & that baptism is necessary. Also he has a smoking problem.

I tried to save an extra buck this week by washing my laundry in the bath tub. Never gonna do that again. Clothes are a pain to wring out.

Last night we visited a couple. The Husband got baptized the day before, and the wife's son, who's not a member, came to the service. Spirit was very powerful during the service. This 23 year old, who hadn't cried since he was 13 was on the verge of tears. Now he wants to learn from us so he can be baptized too.

It's been a good week. Sounds like yours was fun & busy. I look forward to hearing from you next week!

Love,

Elder Candland

April 6

So this weekend we had: general conference, transfer calls, Easter, & Elder Thomas's birthday.

Elder Aros got Elder Thomas a Pikachu figurine. It was nice of him.

We carpooled for district meeting, before we arrived we called our district leader & asked "Where you at? We're waiting for you at the Jackson building." Elder Haddock said "We're having district meeting in Jonesvile... That's ok, we'll wait for you." Elder Thomas said "ooah!.. April FOOools!" 'click'

For our last district meeting we ate at saucy dogs, the bishop of the singles ward came with us & paid for all of us. I didn't know until we were getting ready to leave. It was really generous.

Elder Aros wasn't feeling well wednesday night, so the Elders stopped by and we gave him a blessing. He was just fine the next day.

I loved general conference. I felt like the priesthood session was directed toward me, as a missionary about to return home. There was a few of the 70 who's talks I really liked.

It's been warming up outside. This morning it was 33°. I've been able to start running again. & fortunately Elder Aros doesn't mind.

Oh, so Elder Haddock is leaving, & Elder Sinsel is replacing him. Elder Zuniga is leaving to England, & will be replaced with another greenie.

I forgot my Camera cord again, so no pictures.

Take care, & have a good week.

Love,

Elder Candland

March 30

That's so crazy hearing that Preston & Cody are home! Each transfer is like 40 days, so I have like 80 days left. That's also pretty crazy!

So this week was different. President Jacobsen has decided to have the zone leaders blitz all the missionaries in their zone. So Thu & Fri we spent with Elder Jepson (from the mtc) & Elder Wheat (he's been out 13 months)
I went finding all day with Elder Jepson. We found someone was wasn't interested in the church, but he let us inside & let us help him do some genealogy on familysearch.

Fri I went with Elder Wheat to do some finding. It was snowing, and pretty chili.

Tues I had another exchange with our district leader, Elder Haddock. We had a great lesson with a less active there. The spirit was present, & we left him with a hope for a brighter future. We also visited a family that owned a pet goat in their house. that had us feed it with a baby bottle.

That's my week.

Today we used a coupon to go shopping at Sam's Club. That was sorta fun :)

It's always good hearing from you. I hope this week will be fun, and not so stressful.

Love,

Elder Candland

1. Jonesvile District

2. Jackson City

March 23

Things are going well around here. A little slow, but well.

We went to a baptism Saturday for the Jackson1 Elders. They had an investigator that has been coming to church consistently & was practically a member. Everything went well, and she was confirmed yesterday.

Owosso also had a baptism. Elder Wicombe told me about it, but unfortunately I wasn't able to make it. I don't remember I had mentioned the Investigator, but he was dating a girl from the Owosso ward, and took the lessons from us.

Sunday, some members invited us over for dinner, the mom felt really unprepared & insufficient, but I don't know why. We had soup & salad with home-made bread. Then they made smoothies for desert! I didn't think members would do that, I love smoothies!

One other member fed us this week. They are Mexican, & speak little English. They made some good food, I don't remember what it was called. Anyway, their daughter got to have her picture taken with Quinton L. Cook! (I forgot to mention he visited the Lansing Stake, we didn't get to go though) She served Elder Cook's food.

I was looking at the calendar this week & noticed I pretty much only have April, May, & June left on my mission! And this month has gone by quick. It's crazy.

I'm sorry, this week hasn't been very eventful, & I forgot my cord so I can't send pictures either.

Have a good day

Love,
Elder Candland

March 17

It's warming up. It's crazy, there's hardly any snow on the ground

We had Interviews yesterday. President Jacobsen told one of the Elders about how he got his masters when he was 22, and was a lead coach for football not long after.

He told us about a good friend of his. His dad, who was a farmer, had kicked him out with a handful of cash, that he ended using to buy a large area of land. There were deposits of gas & oil on his property that a company discovered and paid him a fortune to go on his land & drill. He still farms, and has a happy family.

Yesterday while we were tracting we met a inactive member, who I didn't know existed, we're going to see him thu. He seemed pretty excited.

The church just put out a new Easter video, you should check it out if you haven't already. HeLives.mormon.org

It's been an average week, not much else to report on.

I'll just close with my testimony.

I love this church. I love it, because I know it's true. It answers big questions about how we should live our lives, and what our goal is. I have a testimony that true happiness is found by living this gospel. Because of it, I know I can live with my Father in Heaven again.

Have a good week!

Love,
Elder Candland

March 9

Things are going well. I'm enjoying Jackson. It's warming up. It was in the 40's Saturday!

This morning I woke up early and went to the other Elders' apartment. Elder Zuniga and I went for a jog. We ran past the Jackson Cascades, but since it's cold they aren't running. We both enjoy running so it was fun. We have a good group of Elders here.

This week has not been too successful with visiting people, so we did a lot of knocking. We have a small list of people to see this week, so hopefully things go forward.

There have been rumors in the mission of a lady that feeds missionaries some not very hygienic food. We had dinner at her place, and before we entered I prayed that I would not find cat hair in my food. Apparently she has served a cake that has a layer of cat hair under the frosting. My prayer was answered, she had her daughter over and she prepared the food. I was very grateful.

We had stake conference this weekend. For the adult session they had a play put on by some members, demonstrating what a family council was. Some of the adults were cast as the kids. It was different from the usual meeting, but what they stressed was that family council is very important. It lasts beyond death.

Our Stake President spoke about the seed of faith in Alma 32. He said that we have many seeds in the garden of our life. The seeds can be Christ-like attributes, or commandments. Each seed should be nourished.

After Stake conference sunday, we had lunch at the members house who gave us a ride. While we were there he showed us his taxidermy collection, his pet fish, and his pet salamander. I held it for a sec, it lurched forward and tried to bite something. I guess when you hold him he expects food.

Well I don't have pictures, sorry. I'll get some next week.

Hope you all enjoy the warmer weather.

Love,
Elder Candland

March 2

Jackson's great. The city here's more of what I'm used to back home. We've been going through the roster and have been trying to see every less active here. Having a GPS helps.

Saturday, we went to a funeral for a lady in the ward. She has been a member for a while & was one of the first African-American members. She's amazing, she used to be the Relief Society president.
A lot of African-Americans showed up for the service. A pastor showed up too, and was belting it in the microphone. He had the congregation clapping along too. A little different from what we're used to.

There's a lady in the ward who sung a song too, she's a professional singer in her late 50's. She sings with really heavy vibrato. She didn't just sing, she preformed.
It wasn't the typical funeral service.

We picked up a handful of potential Investigators this week. One of them's name is Phil. He's not your average guy. He insisted that we come back. When we got back we shared the restoration with him. He liked it. Turns out he's 44 & the girl he's living with is 27 :/ But they were really nice, they showed us their pets. They have some tarantulas, a gecko, & a bearded dragon :) They also gave us steak, salmon, & pizza to take home! No one we've ever talked to has done that. It was more than generous. We'll see where things go with them.

Elder Thomas (he came out with me) is part of the other set of Elders in Jackson. He's training Elder Zuniga, who's waiting for his visa to England.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, Elder Aros is waiting for his visa to go to Australia. He just sent his FBI clearance today, so he should be ready to go some time soon.

There was a car in front of us that said "This car is a Horcrux" on the back. Just thought Shaini would think that is funny.

Anyway, it's good to hear from you, hope you have a good week!

Love,
Elder Candland

My new apartment:
1500 W. North Street apt.# C15
Jackson, MI 49202

1. Jackson post office