December 13, 2010

Mum,

Why oh why are you so sick? :( That doesn't make me happy. Before I forget, lets do some temporal talking. I haven't gotten packages yet... but it takes some time. I can pretty much call anytime on Saturday the 25th of December. I'll most likely call with a calling card to the conference call number. I'm very excited. We have tons of families that have invited us over for Christmas plans and we are excited to sort them out. We have already gotten some presents from members and we are very excited for Christmas time. It is right around the corner. I am going to send a package today to Lauras home, because I believe that you are spending Christmas in Arizona. It has letters to the each family and a present for g-funkadelic. I really hope you all enjoy your cards. That was the best idea I could think of with the limited amount of time that I have. And money. Will you watch out for my tax refund? I should be getting some money back. ALSO... I own $22 in tithing. Could you please pay that for me? So I can be a full tithe payer :) I ran out of time before I left.

Phew. Enough of that boring stuff. Lets get onto the spiritual mission goodness. This week has been great. We worked so hard. The key was not coming back to the flat for lunch. Thats when the unfocusing comes. We either made lunches of skipped lunch. I believe that is why the week went very well. We achieved 37 hours of accounted labour and next week we are only going to do better. I love working. Work Will Win When Wishy Washy Wishing Won't. The only way that we will find people to teach, teach people and baptise them is through work. We often hear about Nephi getting instructions on how to make the tools and build the boat... but he still had to build it. Can you imagine how much work, effort and perspiration that required? The Lord requires us to work. Plain and Simple.

It seems that our Work is beginning to show some fruits. Tonight the Zone Leaders are coming to Dereham with us and we are having a baptismal interview for Cara and Tasmin who are very excited to be baptised on December 19th at 13:30. They are 14 (cara) and 18 (tasmin) year old girls and the grandchildren of a less active that we got coming back to church about a month ago. They have been taught all the discussions and are ready. Cara has even asked me to baptise her :) And they have asked me to sing. They attended a baptism last week where an 8 year old was baptised and I sang "I am a child of God"... so they asked me to sing. I am very happy and my joy is full, but I won't believe it until I dunk her under. Stella came to church this week and is still reading and praying. Therefore... we are still teaching her. Her man from Ghana is supposed to come home on the 20th. If he doesn't... she says that she will never talk to him again. We shall see what happens. Charley is finding is hard to get an answer that the Book of Mormon is true... she is reading and praying. I have faith that she will receive an answer. We should all have faith in sharing with people this promise. It is written by a Prophet of God. If they have a sincere heart, real intent, and ask in faith. They will come to know that it is the Word Of GOD! How exciting is that! All we are asking people to do is read and pray. It is an experiment. Perfect Science and True Religion fit together perfectly. Jackie is currently our only investigator in Norwich... but she is progressing well. She has come to church 3 times now and enjoys the relief society.

Elder Young and I have been getting along excellent. It is a great blessing to be with him a third transfer. I know what he is thinking and what he wants to do. We work very well together and enjoy it. If he is ever frustrated because someone said something rude or slammed the door. I just ask him to start explaining how Dungeons and Dragons works and he completely forgets about everything. He loves his Sci Fi, and Fantasy worlds. He continually reminds me of Matthew Alan Kearl. It is hilarious. The Dereham Ward continues to be the best ward ever. They are always providing for us and making sure we are happy. They come out teaching with us and give us lifts. Twice this week... we got treated to Fish and Chips. They are starting to grow on me :) I really like Haddock. I love meeting all the unique people in England. People from all over... and missionaries from all over. It is a great melting pot.

In my studies this week... I have been going over very carefully the message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love how simple it is. How it makes sense in my mind and when we pray about it... we can know it is true in our hearts. President Uchtdorf gave a wonderful talk about simplifying our lives. Making sure we are focused on the most important things... they things that will enable us to live with our Heavenly Father again. Christmas can be a time of flurry and fluff. Let us focus on the most important thing in all of our lives. Jesus Christ was born, through Him we can be free from sin and live forever in a state of never ending happiness. Let us follow the example of Jesus Christ and the commandments of God. As we do that... we show our pure love and devotion. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints is on the Earth to stay. This I know.

 

Love,

Elder Krebs

December 6, 2010

Hi mummy,

Hello family :) I only have really 20 mins to email. Its sad... our P-day only lasts about 8 hours. And we have a DA in about an hour.  And today we had Zone Meeting and Zone P-day. Usually they are really lame... but this one was great. We went to the Norwich Chapel at 9am and started making American and German pancakes... at 10 the rest of the Zone showed up and we started the meeting. In the meeting we had two great trainings from our District Leaders about Church and Baptism. The Zone Leaders talked a lot about having at least six hours of accounted labour a day. Which means by the end of the week we would have 36 hours of labour. It sounds easy but with church, travel to dereham and back, planning and meetings it is hard to hit. I know Elder Young and I can make it. I feel it. Ask me about it next week. Follow up with me. 

The important thing to remember is that every number needs a name. We account to our Saviour. He will ask us what we did with the time He has given us. We shouldn't let Him down. After Zone Meeting we went ICE SKATING!! Woot woot. It was a blast. I love our zone. So many great people. We ice skated for four hours and now I am extremely sore. I spent some good time with the ice :) Speaking of ice. There is tons here from the snow we had. After an appointment with jackie... i was walking on the ice and started falling :) I had the phone in my hand... so i decided to embrace the fall and rolled into it. While on the ground... I swallowed my pride and got up. As soon as I did... a teenage girl opened her window and started yelling "how does the ground feel??" That was probably one of the highlights from Elder Young and I's week. 

That and this week we were in London and I was in the Car with the AP's and Office Elders and we went the wrong way down a one way and ended up going up on the sidewalk and almost hitting two people and a car. We by some miracle missed them and only popped the two front tyres (that's really how they spell it). It was an exciting adventure. Sorry this is so short... my computer ended up dying in the middle. Thank goodness for gmail and it saving drafts :) Hope everyone is getting in the Christmas mood. It sure is getting exciting here in Norwich. I sent a letter home about Christmas. If you have any questions ask. I love my family. I really do. I love this gospel and I'm so happy... to be serving in the England London Mission. Even though I'm four hours from London. Who cares. I love it here :) Things are great with Elder Young... I'm learning what to do and not do. Tell your friends about the Church.

 

Love love,

 

Elder Krebs.

 

P.s. carpe diem.

November 30, 2010

Hi Mum.

Welll well welll... oh how nerve racking transfers can be. First off... I'm staying in norwich. Secondly.... Elder Young is staying too! Apparently President Patch knew I needed the most training I could get. Therefore, nothing changes for me. Err... I was excited for change. Something to spice it up... but the Lord has other plans. I am very excited to see what the next six weeks holds for me. The problem is... almost all of our investigators have dropped us or we have dropped them. This friday we met with stella and she was excited to see us and happy to reset her baptismal date to the 11th of December. That night, at 3:30 she sent us a text that said she didnt want to meet with us anymore and that she is going to decline in becoming a full time member of our church :( Life is hard. BUT i'm learning. With each experience like that I'm learning how to be a better missionary and a better individual.

 

One of the Zone Leaders that lives next door is going home on Thursday and its been really weird to live next door to a missionary that is finishing his mission when i've just begun mine :/ He has actually been really good at not being trunky. Therefore today... they are going to London to have P-day and then switching on Wednesday. Elder Cardon is going to the land of eternal P-days. BUTTTT.... since there is a leadership training on Wednesday as well... Elder Young has to go down to London. WHICH MEANS!! I get to go too :) I so happy. That means I get to go be with and see my brothers (the other Elders from my MTC group). We are leaving in one hour to drive to the crazy city of London.

 

Food. I'm sick of it. So sick of food. I never want to eat again. On Thursday we had a proper Thanksgiving Feast. With a fantastic American family, the Davis'. So much food, so many people. They have 3 boys under 12, so I just hung out with them the whole time :) It snowed on Thursday as well. The earliest its snowed in 17 years. Poor little Norwich doesn't know what to do in the snow. Everything just stops. Its really just pitiful. You know what that means though... everyone is at home when we go tracking :) Tracking is fun with Elder Young (as long as he is in a good mood). We make it interesting and enjoyable. You have to learn to take people with a grain of salt. You would be amazed with how many people don't believe in God. Who don't want ANYTHING to do with religion, and if they do... they already have their church. You have to learn to shrug of the rudeness of people. To smile and get ready for the next door. The next adventure. 

We go tracking with golfballs :) If you knock with them... it doesn't break your knuckles. The cold here goes straight to your bones... its a damp cold. Brr... I have been bundlin' up. Thermals, Cardigans, Scarfs, Gloves... anything to keep me warm. But back to thanksgiving. We stuffed ourselves on Thursday... then on Friday. A member invited us to a cavery... where they give you the meat... and then its a buffet for the vegetables. Then on saturday... we had another proper Thanksgiving meal with an american family in Dereham. I'm so fat now. So fat. Not really... but thats because i've actually been running in the morning. If anyone wants to give me a Christmas present... a pair of running shoes would be great. Size 8. I think i've gained about a stone (14lbs) on my mission. Its rubbish. Oops. We get fed way to well. You would be proud of me mother... everyone expects me to hate brussel sprouts... but because you always ate them and offered them to me, i really like them. It gets me on the members good side.

 

Lets get spiritual. This week I did a really good study about becoming one. It was brilliant. I was thinking a lot about my ideal self compared to my actual self. I know what I want to be, like Jesus Christ. But i'm not. I continue to make mistakes. Why is that? I know what I want to be. Its because we are human and we forget that simple simple truth that we are children of God. Good thing God and Jesus Christ understood this and knew we would make mistakes. That is why the At-One-ment was performed. It enables our actual self to become in one with our ideal self. How magic is that? I love the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He literally SAVED us, without His love and sacrifice we would be lost. Permanently separated from God. That would be hell. We are never lost, no matter how far we stray... he will leave His 99 and come find and guide us. To protect us from straying... we must do two things EVERYDAY. I am gaining such a steadfast testimony of the power of these two things... they are the key in protecting us from personal apostasy. Prayer and Scripture Study from the Book of Mormon. They will keep our testimony of Jesus Christ unshakable. Please never let a day pass when you do not participate in both of these activities. We are never safe in this gospel... Satan is just waiting for the smallest slip up so he can influence us. If we are not progressing... we are declining. The gospel requires work. Hard work. Sacrifice and diligence. Never give up... it is worth it. Keep the end in mind, take a step back and analyze the big picture... the gift of eternal life that is at risk.

I love my family. Your examples are one of the strongest strengths in my life.

Picture time!

November 22, 2010

Hi Mum,

This email might be a tad shorter because I sent emails out to all the siblings individually.

This week has been an interesting one. I have for sure learned the most in the past week than any of the other weeks. We have had many problems and concerns pop up with our Investigators. Stella was going to be baptised on November the 27th. She was so excited for it... she was picking out Hymns and Everything. I was going to sing a song and everything was magic... but this past saturday (nov. 20th, my three month, thats weird. 1/8th done. I don't like that. Its going faster and faster) she said she had some problems and up until now we havent had any contact. Sad. Hopefully all is okay. The Portuguese family said they were not interested in hearing anymore... they felt really bad about it because we have gotten really close. Two other not so solid investigators dropped us and we dropped two. It has been like a cleansing :) Missionary work is hard. It tries everything you've got. Your emotions, mind, strength, and spirit. Come sunday night I'm absolutely drained. That is how it should be though. I love knowing I've given everything I've got to missionary work. That I am trying as hard as I can to forget myself. If I don't want to do something... it doesnt matter because this isn't my missin or my time. It's the Lords time. 

This week has been an emotional roller coaster... but I'm still just as happy as ever. I am genuinely happy. I find myself always smiling. I'm striving harder and harder to listen. listen to the spirit. listen to my companion. listen to our investigators. listen to the cool english wind. To realise that when things go wrong... it is not the end. We always will have a hope that through Jesus Christ's atonement we can be saved.

Some great things have happened this week though. Brother Kite, a less active that has become active told us that he just found that he could tie his eyebrow hair to his chest hair. HOW FLIPPIN Brilliant is that?!?! He is the coolest/weirdest man ever. That was probably the highlight of my week :)

Transfers calls are on monday night (november 29th) and transfer day is on wednesday. P day is on a tuesday.

Elder Young and I will most likely not stay together and since he has been here a transfer longer than me... he will most likely be transferred. BUT you never really know. I'll keep you in the loop.

 

Sorry this is short... but I love you and I love my family. I love all my friends and I love life. Life is Good. I am learning so much and growing. Growing closer to my Saviour. Nothing makes me happier.

 

Love,

Elder Krebs.

 

P.S. I went on the American Air Base in Thetford and the have a store with all american food :)

I got tons of frozen burritos and corndoggs. Funny what you miss over here :)

November 15, 2010

Family and friends,

Oh how lovely life is. I am so blessed to be in the England London Mission. The greatest mission on earth. I love it here... but I sure do miss america. Good thing we are having two thanksgiving feasts :) with two different american families. I am definitely going to be fat when I come home, except that I've been running every morning and Elder Young and I walk every where. I mean every where. I like walking though. Makes me healthier. We can also talk to people along the way. Daddy asked if we tract houses more or street contact. We try to do equal amounts so we don't get burnt out. This week we got 20 hours of finding in only five days because P-day on Monday and Zone Conference on Tuesday. Out of all those hours finding... we have one new investigator. Its difficult to keep going when you look at it that way... especially when the obvious better way is to receive referrals from members. We just keep going though... knocking on doors, stopping people in the street. It is fun though because you never know whats going to be behind door number 347. I have met oh so many interesting characters. 

The two pictures attached are one of me next to a KFC advert. Everyone here loves KFC and whenEVER I tell someone I'm from Kentucky they chuckle... then say "is that where the chicken comes from?" oh how it never seems to get old :) The other is me next to a Lego Buzzlightyear reppin' my Kentucky Wildcats. I don't really know whats going on this year... and I honestly don't really care. The Lego Buzz was at this huge toy store we went to in London. I can't remember the exact name... but its super old and famous. and HUGE. Six floors of just toys. All kinds of toys. Wow. It is slightly ridiculous. That is the first store we went to in London. We took the tube there and I really liked the tube. Its fun. SOOOO many people from EVERYWHERE. Its karazy. No one speaks english. All other different languages. We went into a couple of stores... but I just loved looking around and just watching. It is a completely different place. We went to a store called Harrods. It is honestly the Great and Spacious Building. The store is the definition of posh. It is the biggest store I've ever seen. They have two food courts with different sit down restaurants... all out of my price range. They have many different stores inside. You can find anything you want at this store. Designer everything. So expensive. The highest quality of everything. It blew my mind and I was so happy to be back on the streets again. It wore me out. We went into so many different rooms and the whole time I had no idea where I was. 

That night we ate at a Burger Joint called GBK (Gourmet Burger Kitchen) and it was delicious. After that we stayed the night at the AP's flat. I really like both of them. I've gotten to know them pretty well. In the morning we went to ZONE CONFERENCE. I was the happiest little boy ever. I got to see Elder Mosalakae, Elder Brozzu (my companion), and Elder Cena. All Elders from my mtc group. It was the first time I've seen any of them because I live so far away from everything. I was so happy. so happy. I can hardly explain it. I missed them oh so much. I can't wait till they are in my district or maybe even my companion. I was also able to see my roommate... Elder Hinckley. That made me so happy as well. I loved seeing them all. I liked the zone conference as well... very good trainings. I learned so much... and got to meet so many missionaries. 

Life is good. The best news this week was a letter I got from andrew. It was the best news a best friend could ever receive. This is what he said "For weeks straight I prayed morning and night and told God that i had no desire to go on a mission, but I know its right, so if you could please give me some desire it'd sure help alot. And although for weeks my desire never changed I didn't stop asking for that desire. And now I desire nothing more than to serve the Lord on a worthy full time mission. And the cool thing is I actually WANT to, my prayers were answered." The faith that andrew had for the Lord to change his desires is brilliant. I love him and am so happy. If we all could have the faith and perseverance as andrew... then our lives would continue to grow closer to the Saviours.

 

I love you all.

Cheers.

 

Love,

Elder Krebs.

 

November 8, 2010

Herro family,
 

I am currently in London, England right now. In the smack dab middle of it. We have zone conference tomorrow and therefore we came up a day early to spend P-day in the city of London. I love it here. I love looking at all the people and their faces. Everyone is so different. A different childhood, parents, and life. It makes me really want to share the Gospel with them because it is universal. I love this work. When anyone asks me how I am, my immediate response is that i'm fantastic. I feel so content and happy. I love waking up each morning, running and then tracting. Could life get better? I submit that it cannot. 

They just raised the Standard of Excellence from 17 hours of finding to 19 hours of finding a week. That is huge and will just make us work that much harder. Every decision we make is a time to learn. I love deciding to do something, then falling to my knees to ask God if that's what he would have me do. I love pausing in prayers and my mind being made clear on how to help our investigators. Most often I will be directed to a chapter of scripture for them to read. It is wonderful how the Book of Mormon brings the spirit. I love teaching from the Book of Mormon. I love using Alma 7 to teach the Atonement and then inviting people to be baptised. We are having some wonderful experiences. 

Fatima's husband Rui came to stake conference yesterday and all the talks were perfectly directed at him. I love it. One of the talks mentioned that you dont have to go to the Sacred Grove to gain a testimony and I was thinking "it sure blasted helps... and if just walking through it and praying doesn't do it... try singing hymns with 26 other pre missionary boys". I cherish the rare and unique opportunity to live at the foot of the Hill Cumorah. This week we found a new investigator in Dereham named Charlie. She is around 30, single and so golden. We went to her home and taught her with our Bishop. The lesson was by far the best lesson we have had. She understood so well and was very excited to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. She told us... I'll repeat... she told us that praying was the only way she would know if it was true. She wants to know and I am 100% confident that the spirit will whisper to her that the Book of Mormon is true. She also mentioned that she's always had a close close relationship with God. That he speaks to her mind and heart. She spoke of a dream she had before she met us about a man sitting on a chair reading a book. She knew the man to be Jesus Christ and he was reading this book that she didn't recognise. To her it seemed as though he was reading it to find out if it was true. She said she put herself in that situation but didn't know what the Book was. After that dream we knocked on her door and offered her a Book that was Another Testament about Jesus Christ. It gives me chills and fills me so full of thanks. She has been prepared by the Lord to meet with us and hopefully she will be willing to follow Him in faith. The bishop invited her over to his home on Saturday for dinner and a lesson. I am praying so hard she will receive an answer. Almost begging. 

Our other really solid investigator is Stella. She has a baptism date for November 20th and I'm pretty positive she will make it. She was prepared as well. She doesn't have any support in her life besides her son and the relief society is perfect for her. We went to a Hog Roast with her on friday and I mentioned to her that I had just started the Book of Mormon and that we were now in about the same place... 2 Nephi 3. Once I said that we started getting a little competitive... and saying that we were gonna read farther than each other. Since we were going to teach her the next day I issued the challenge that by our lesson tomorrow I would have read farther than her. She accepted and I read that night to about 2 Nephi 10. I was pretty confident that she was around the same area and that I wouldn't be too disgraced. BUT ohhh how I was wrong. When I asked her how far she had read... she chuckled and said... I read all of 2 Nephi and now I'm in Jacob 3!!! She SMOKED me. That was all in about 24 hours. She loves the Book of Mormon and knows it is true. She wants to be baptised and we are so excited to she her sins washed away on Nov. 20th. Then the next week to see the Holy Ghost given to her so she can have it abide in her forever. 

Baptism is a wonderful wonderful covenant that is so simple. We remember Christ and strive to Keep His Commandment and we can be forgiven and have the Holy Ghost with us always. The more I study it and ponder on baptism and the Holy Ghost, the more I want to talk to people and tell them all that can be theirs forever. AND... from the Hog Roast... Elder Young asked for the pigs head and they chopped it off and gave it to us. Elder Young carried it home and cut off all the meat and now we have so much hog and a pig skeleton in our flat. Wow. It is a great memory and I really enjoyed it. Living next to the Zone Leader is a hoot. It is now Elder Frobel and Elder Cardon and they are great. Every night we spend the hour we have after planning just talking and laughing. Elder Frobel reminds me so much of my older brother... Charles Hancock. And Elder Young continually reminds me of Elder Kearl. I love it. I feel like I'm living with my best friend. I'm so proud of andrew and his decision to serve a mission. No regrets will ever come from that decision, only blessings and a more Christlike life. 

The broadway live thingy seems amazing and so much fun. Way to go mum. You always get roped into these things and end up doing way too much. It is fun to see the fruits of   your labour though. The harder something is to accomplish, the more meaningful it is to us. As far as food is going... I love it. I'm getting into the swing of things and spending my money very wise. Eating tons of fruit... but not so much veggies. We have some great meals from Elder Young. He was a chef in a five star restaurant in London. Needless to say I don't go hungry. He decided to stew the pigs tongue and I'm scared. He made Onion Rings the other day and they were brilliant. I love that man. Too bad I always have to do the dishes :( 

I love you all so very much. The Lord is blessing us with people to teach and people that will listen. Pride is the great stumbling block in Zion. As soon as we believe we can do it. We are furthering our self from God. That is not good. I wish to remain humble... but for us krebs... that is a challenge. Much love. Cheers till next week. 

Love, Elder Krebs

November 1, 2010

Mommy,

I am quickly getting lost in the work. time is beginning to fly by and the Heavenly Father is blessing me. your past email brought a lot of news i wasnt prepared for. i dont really wanna dwell on mat and julie, but that is sad. i feel bad for their kids. those blessing ripped away from them, of an eternal family. sad.

well on a good note... i'm glad you are out and about serving. thats my mother i grew up with, always serving someone else. hope your ankle is all better... sure was a bad sprain.

i want to talk about our investigators in this email. my full hour is gonna be cut a little short, but i'll give you a good run down. they will be in order of most promising to least.

 

Stella- we found her knocking on doors. she is so very prepared for us. she has a baptismal date set for November 13th, but she has to give up smoking for a month before she can be baptised. that is a misson rule and it is really good for retention rates. Stella is now obeying the Word of Wisdom but she has time to prove herself now :) She is wonderful. Single. Older. Doesnt work. Loves the relief society. So happy for her to have found the Gospel.

 

Rui and Fatima- A Portuguese family (greg... where did you serve in Portugal?). They have one son. At first they were very questioning... at least the husband was. the wife has so much faith and loves church. she immediately knew the Book of Mormon was true. Rui is slowly finding out. He has read about 150 pages in about three weeks and prayed with us out loud for the first time! That is HUGE!! wow. the spirit was so think. i was loving it. they also have problems with the W of W. Coffee and Tea are like water in Portugal. They know its true... and now they have to begin to follow Jesus Christ. They were very relieved when they realised they didnt have to do what we do all day. Rui said one day "last time when you left my wife said 'they are not human... they are angels'". thats right... an angel. boombaby.

 

Rebekah- has two lads... we have spent so much time with her. i believe it was a waste. she came to church... and was reading... but wouldnt pray out loud with us. we have been teaching her since I arrived and I still don't believe she has a testimony of the Book of Mormon. She is a great single mum. She now doesnt want us to talk about baptism or pressure her into reading the Book of Mormon. She wants to do everything on her own time. She doesnt want to rush into things and isnt in a hurry. That usually means they don't believe it is true. 

 

We have some other potentials that could progress... It will depend on if they read and pray. 

There names are... Dean, Maria, Patrick, Jackie, Diane, Symoah, Marguret, Joan, Yarra, and Frank. We are teaching them all... but they all have their issues and problems. As we all do.  

 

Tobe- He is hosey. Always just want to call us back :( but never does. Havent been able to meet with him in a while.

Georgina- She committed to be baptised but now is wishy washy. Really busy and we havent seen her in over two weeks.

Peter- After the step in he dropped us :(

These are three stories that break my heart. I was so excited for all of them. They want to know... but turned the message away.

 

When we aren't teaching we are tracking and oh how it can tear you down. So many hard hearts... so many people content. Very few are receptive... but the elect are out there. Therefore we keep knocking on doors and talking to people in the streets. About 18 hours a week of finding.

 

I love working. Being in the flat makes me antzy. I want to always be doing something to progress the work. Never lose the fire for the Gospel. The way to do that is to DAILY... read the scriptures. Daily. To take full advantage of the open communication we have with God and then to listen. I think when I get home I am going to not talk for a month and just listen. I cant do it here... because i gotta talk to everyone. Everyone needs to hear. Everyone. I love my family. I love the people we are teaching... seeing them progress fills me with pure lasting joy. Pray that the next week will be full of lessons and progressing.

 

Love,

Elder Krebs

 

p.s. one.

October 25, 2010

Dear mummy,

I'm currently standing at a computer in the fourm. its a big huge library type building. the upstairs computers are closed and so i only have limited time here to write to you. this week has been very long because of transfers. its been the best week numbers wise and i'm most for ssure the most tired. our numbers keep steadily increasing and i love it. we will see a baptism in November, i am so filled with faith. the Lord POURS out His blessings upon those that constantly strive to follow him. 

I felt impressed this week to talk about complacency. i dont have enough time to really talk about it like i wanted to, but i will scratch the surface. i was thinking about our family and the amazing blessings we have. all the siblings are being blessed with families and are still in the church. (laura... you will find him. youre absolutely gorgeous... i saw a picture of you on tams blog and i was blown away. he is being prepared for you... its just taking him some more time to catch up to you). I just wanted to say that we cannot ever slack off. we must always be setting goals and progressing. thats what this life is for... to progress and prepare to meet GOD. dont ever think that youre doing alright. to be satisfied with where you are at in life. 

Our goal is to be perfect like Jesus Christ. No one is, and therefore we must always be desperately trying to find out how we can improve. i have so much to improve... i am so far away from the relationship i want with the Godhead. to get closer to God and Jesus Christ you have to be close to the Holy Ghost. it will bless you more than is possible to imagine. i pray so hard every night that the Holy Ghost will be my constant companion and that it will direct my every action. i know if i'm obedient than it will be with me. sometimes its very hard to be obedient. i can do it. please pray that i will have the desire to be obedient and that i will have the Holy Ghost with me always. i love my family. the next life is going to be filled with more joy that we can hold. i felt an overpowering amount of joy from seeing gpa krebs and playing with the kids. i want to put stickers on his face. i have left my eternal family for two years to tell people they can have the same thing in there lives. it is worth it. i have to share this. with everyone.

 

Much love,

Elder Bubby Krebs.

 

p.s. sorry it was short. time for bed.

October 16, 2010

Hiya family and friends,

 

since moves calls were actually last night our p-day is today, because monday will be moves day. that means i get to email early :) it also means that if you were procrastinating the day or your email writing... then youre too late. i believe the only emails i got were from big emma and tammy. they are winners in my book. oh, a mass email from chuckles about public relations... thats brilliant bytheway. too bad he hasnt personally responded to the email i sent him two weeks ago  i'm a little bitter if you can't tell.

well my first transfers were very uneventful... neither Elder Young or I are going anywhere. that is very good... because I dont think i've fully learned everything i need to learn from him. i'm praying to be teachable so i can learn. what that also means is that i'll be here in norwich for another two transfers because Elder Young will leave next transfer and i'll have to stay because i'll be the only one to know the investigators and area. another 3 months in norwich!! i love the area. even though its so very far away from London. our really crazy, hyper, but awesome zone leader is being transferred and so the flat next door might calm down a wee bit :) i'm excited to work. to forget myself and work. saying youre gonna forget yourself is easy... doing it is really hard. the moment you think "I want, I think, I need", you have to start all over again. my mind is kinda alll over the place right now, i'm in a pondering mood. hmmm. sorry if this email is rubbish.

I had emails with our mission president on thursday and they went really well... i passed. i'm not coming home. when anyone comes from London they usually bring any mail that was sent there. they dont actually forward mail from the mission home to me. i got mail from the oregon krebs, and matthew alan kearl and oh how similar he and my companion are... its is mind boggling. i dont know when the next batch of mail will make its way to norwich... hopefully soon. always something to look forward to having. i'm sure it will be filled with goodies. i just recently found a shop that sells Reece(sp) cups and i'm very content. cooking is going grand... i would love ideas from my sisters or brothers on things you really enjoy that i can cook semi quickly... and are cheap to buy and wont perish quickly. we never know when we will be eating... so sometimes food will have to wait. i've made a couple stirfrys, grilled cheese sandwiches, hash browns, french toast, tikki masala sauce and chicken over white rice, chicken wraps, all kinds of different mexican dishes, and of course we have all the dinner appointments. no really exciting stories with dinner appointments yet, nothing i've absolutely loved and nothing i hated. 

they usually always have pudding after dinner... usually a cake covered in custard. i love hot custard on top of anything. mmm. i might be twice as big when i get home... my own personal food storage. especially when bob and henry take us to buffets... too bad the number one china buffet is in lexington, kentucky. bob and henry are honestly my favorite two old men ever. they both don't work and live off of benefits. they are so much like the two old men from the muppets. we took henry to see an older single bird (lady) and he flirted with her the whole time. i threw away everything about flirting i MIGHT have ever learned from matt, sean, jeff, chuck and glen. nevertheless... she'll be at church next sunday and probably be baptised because of good ole 'enry. i want to take a picture with them and send it to you. they just make me smile so much, i'm sad because they left today to work in the temple for two weeks. they love working there... its the highlight of their month.

When i got here there werent really many investigators at all, and now we have some great ones and we find more and more each day. the Lord is blessing us with people to teach. it keeps us busy... on wednesday we have 2 member present lessons and six other lessons, with 3 hours of finding. that is a FULL day... no time to eat or sleep. but always time to pee :) the days are filling up with things to do and to keep us busy. i love it. we have been let down a ton though, people falling through and not being able to meet with us. thats just how life is, and we must just keep on pressing forward. street contacting is HARD. it always humbles me so much. i feel like i'm so small. so insignificant. i'm no though... and that keeps me going. knowing that i'm doing a good thing. making my Heavenly Father righteously proud. i swear... you could offer people twenty quid on the street and they would still turn you away. they are very against any change in their life. they are set. makes things hard. but when things are harder... we become just that much stronger when we overcome them. they are for our good. we have become spiritually separated from Jesus Christ. let us continually be growing closer to Him.

I love you more than getting stuck in the slides at BYU.

I love you more than building snowmen sideways. 

I love you more than rope swings. 

I love you more than getting beat at acquire. 

I love you more than everything. 

You are the ones that have helped me get here...thank you.

Elder Bubby Krebs

p.s. life is too short to get frustrated.

October 11, 2010

Herro family.

Its Elder Krebs here... just checking in again to report on another week. my mission is great :) I absolutely love it. Every part of my mission is brilliant. I love love love my companion... he continually makes me laugh and we worked very very hard this week. It felt soo good. His mind is so creative and random... so he will relate certain things to other things and the connections are hilarious. We saw the results of our labours this week. The work is progressing here. We had a Portuguese woman and her sister come to church on Sunday and we are teaching the whole family now :) The husband Rui (says he doesn't have the faith, and has some walls put up around him) had a terrible toothache one time when we came over. Towards the middle of the lesson I knew we had to give him a blessing and we did. The spirit flowed into the house and he immediately felt relieved and I could see the wall of protection he had put up begin to melt away. The wife (Fatima) says she knows the message is true and really enjoyed church :) We have a 20 year old girl named Georgina in Norwich that we are teaching and she committed to be baptised on October 30th. I have a lot of faith in her if she chooses to make this a priority in her life. 

There is always something to do on a mission and the time goes very quickly. I try so hard to not think about myself at all, but always think about the people I'm helping come to Christ. Speaking of time... We get moves calls on Saturday!! I am a week from finishing my first transfer and a twelfth of my mission. At the beginning of the transfer I was loving that time was going quickly and that before I knew it I was going to be home with my family and friends. Now I am panicking. Two years is not long enough... I have so much to learn. I am a rubbish missionary and because of that I fear some people aren't having the best chance to hear the good word. I can't imagine if I had to learn another language... I would feel like I was not being the best I could be. I can't express how much I love being taught and learning from other missionaries. They all know so much more than me... and I want to soak it all in. Teaching is very difficult... because everyone is different and needs to be taught a certain way. All in all... I'm very happy to be on my mission and learning. These lessons will bless my entire life. There is nothing else I should be doing right now. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. Full time. 

 

I think England (specifically Norwich) is great. The people here are ever so interesting and the culture is ever so different. I had lamb for the first time and it was just like every other meat with a slightly different flavour. The language here is a different language. At the beginning of my mission, people would talk to me and I honestly wouldn't understand them. Now I can :) Norwich is very english... Its not like London. It is slightly international, but no where close to London. It is green here like kentucky :) The weather reminds me of Kentucky. Its brilliant. Its not too cold... I bought some jumpers (sweater vests, cardigans), and I've worn them a couple times. We have to have shoulder bags, no backpacks... so I bought a sweet messenger bag. I really like it. We have to have a side part in our hair and I'm getting really good at it. I sometimes use way too much gel though. Oops. I bought two suits... one for sunday and one more for the week. One was £100 and the other £40 (with a coupon). Thats about $160 and $65 in american money. 

They call twenty pounds in money... twenty quid. I don't really like that... but whatever. The have really cool sayings here that I enjoy saying. They call the stovetop the hob. If i were to say that glen is really really short... I would say he is proper short. When I said that... I would also be taking the mickey out of him (or making fun of him). I say cheers all the time and... yer alright mate. There is another saying that I hear way too much of, but none the less I like it. When we ask someone if they want to hear a message about the restored gospel and they are busy... they'll say... I can't be bothered by that. These are subtle differences, but I really enjoy them. I'm getting used to the roads being backwards. There are just fantastic churches everywhere. Elder Young and I are going to Norwich Cathedral after we are done emailing and I am quite excited. Shopping for food is stressful and cooking is very exhilarating... I never know how anything is going to turn out. We make some good stir-frys and mexican food. I have been purchasing fruit and veggies recently and having yogurt and fruit in the morning. Life is good. Like mum said... I have everything I need.

 

I love my family. Its sad when I hear you all are doing all these fun things... makes me feel like I'm missing out. All in all though... you are missing out. I got chatted up by a gay man the other day. He said I had nice teeth (because I've been wearing my retainers) and that I'm cute. I quickly escaped that situation. At least someone thinks I'm cute. Blah. I am not the boss of my bladder in the slightest. It is kicking my butt... I don't know why. Liquids go straight through me and its irritating. I hate OAB. Elder Young thinks I'm weird when I do pelvic floor thrusts. So I resist.

 

I love you all and I know the gospel is true. I've been learning tons about patience and pride. They are my two crutches. I need to work on them. I have so much to learn. The spirit needs to be my guide. I am striving to purify my life, so the Holy Ghost will direct my every decision. Every prompting I get, I try to follow. Every good thought that will help someone... I strive to do. I am sent to do Christ's will. Please pray that I will be able to do my best. I love you.

 

Elder Krebs

 

p.s. Hope your poison ivy is better daddy. I feel for you.

:) :) :) hi family.

this week has been a great week. i am really beginning to love missionary work and every aspect of the work. there is no greater work to be done and no greater work i want to be doing. i am happy. proud of the work i am doing for the Lord. i want no human stamp of approval, just the approval of the Savior's voice saying "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." happiness is found in the service of the Lord. i WAS able to watch conference this weekend and it was as Christmas had come early. i was sucked into the words of so many great men filled with the Holy Ghost. some of the sessions were recorded and some were live, here was our schedule. we got to watch 4/5 sessions.

Saturday

5:00-7:00pm- saturday morning session, live.

Sunday

10:00am-12:00- Priesthood session, recorded.

1:00-3:00pm- saturday afternoon session, recorded.

5:00-7:00pm- Sunday morning session, live.

9:00-11:00pm- Sunday afternoon session, live (but we couldn't watch it, because of bed time... rubbish).

it was a fantastic conference and I learned how to change my life for the better. to be 100% on the straight and narrow path. it was so fulfilling but sad to think on sunday morning that all my family was doing the same thing. we are all so far apart... but the gospel once again brings us together. i grew so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. for the way back to our Heavenly Father.

The biggest lesson i think i learned was that of choice. we have been given a marvellous gift of agency, and depending on how we use that gift... will determine our gift in the next life. the choices we have in this life... are in three categories as President Monson so beautifully categorised. every decision we make determines our destiny, whether it determines our earthly destiny or Heavenly one, it will have a result. if we understand this fact, and realise we will be accountable before God for every action our integrity will increase. even when we are alone, we will understand that God is watching. we can look left and right for human pressure to do whats right, but must never forget to look up for that Godly pressure to choose what is right. i love the vision of the Tree of Life. i love it. how beautifully it illustrates to our mind the need to cling to the rod of iron. that iron will lead us down the straight and narrow path the we must follow and through the gate outlined by the Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 31:17). 

The chapter continues on and says that even after we are on the path, and have entered in the gate all in NOT done. we MUST pressforward with a steadfastness in Christ, feasting upon the words of Christ. as we are continually mindful of the path we are walking, and constantly looking for ways to improve our life through reading the Book of Mormon... we will stay on the path and never let go of the Iron Rod. it is increasingly hard to cling to the Iron Rod. the great and spacious building is no longer to the side... the Iron Rod runs straight through the great and spacious building. the world is all around us, and even in our homes. there are things that loosen our grip on the Iron Rod, that are acceptable to the world and even seem acceptable to members of the church. many times we don't realise the effect a choice is having on our grip or straight path, that it is causing us to deviate. therefore we must feast not only upon the Scriptures... but the words of our Prophet. modern day revelation tells us of the actions that loosen our grip, before we realize they are harmful. the prophet guides this church... oh how thankful i am for him... he is brilliant. the love he was able to express from the podium was undeniably pure and heartfelt.

i love you all so much. you bless my life with your love and support.

the work is progressing in dereham and norwich... i have faith that a baptism will happen before the end of this month. the Lord has prepared some to hear our message... and we must teach them now. help them realize that baptism is the first ordinance to align themselves with the path prepared for them. let us simplify our lives... focus on the important things. not the superfluous ones. we have been bought with a price... the Savior did suffer and die for us. He suffered so we don't have to suffer, but we must sacrifice. ah... the plan is beautiful, brilliant, and perfect. Jesus Christ has walked the perfect path. it is straight and narrow. it does not avoid trials, pain, temptation or joy. as we come unto him... he guides us. until the day when the path ends and we have followed it home. once home we will be together forever. i love my family.

love,

Elder Krebs

p.s. sorry this was all spiritual and not a tons temporal. tell me what you want to hear about or i'll keep getting on my soap box.

cheers.

Hola,

Como estas? me gusta missionary work. me gusta family. me gusta friends. me gusta letters/emails.

this week has gone by so very very quickly. it seriously feels like hours ago that i was sitting at a computer and emailing my family. the days are slow, but oh where they go??? heh... that rhymed, i'm a poet and i didnt even know it. anybody want a peanut?

This week was a very interesting one. from noon on wednesday to late friday night my companion was in london at a two day leadership training. that meant that Elder Hernandez came in from Kings Lynn and stayed with me in Norwich for the time Elder Young was away. what did that mean? i had to be in charge of everything. it was very different that just sometimes blindly following my trainer to a street/home/family i've never had the pleasure of meeting. A good portion of our appointments fell through (story of my mission so far, and from what i hear... the rest of my mission!), and therefore we spent around 14 hours finding during the time my companion was away. i missed Elder Young, and that was a good sign. we get along great 95% of the time, but sometimes he gets frustrated with me. i need to work on being a better companion. remembering that he is in charge and knows the best way to do things. sometimes i just think my ideas are so great... ya know?? i'll be studying humility this week too. a friend wrote me a letter and talked about remembering that everything comes from God. every breath, every thought.

I received the package with the ipod and perephrials... and it has been so great having music around the flat. the zone leader actually had a speaker stand that was a lot nicer that the speakers that I got, and a lot more masculine. i hooked up the ipod and listened to Lamb of God for a little, but i don't have a lot of time. there is always something to do... area book updating, calling potential investigators, reading the BofM, eating, and praying. too much!!! but... on sunday (yesterday) we got back to the flat at four thirty and my companion said we were going to do weekly planning which we had not been able to do because he was in London. first he wanted to take a nap though because we never stopped for lunch, and it was dinner time. he slept for an hour and a half, and then took an hour to eat... soooo needless to say i had plenty of time to do my own thing. i listened to Lamb of God while reading my scriptures and ending up just weeping. it was so powerful... the music was gorgeous and the message so pure. the cello solo was brilliant. after i listened to it, i felt so guilty. i needed to go and change the world. do everything i possibly could to repay the Lord. it made me angry that as soon as we choose to follow him, he blesses us more. i want to pay back my debt to Him, but King Benjamin tells us that we are enternally indebted. my mission is the closest thing i can do to repaying my debt. thats why its so frustrating when a companion doesnt want to work as hard as you and gets frustrated with you when you try to encourage him. favourite line from Lamb of God... hope did not die here, but here was given. everything in Christ's life... built up to Him giving His life for our sins. only through Jesus Christ are we saved. we can be perfect in Christ.

The weather here is rubbish. on thursday... it rained all day and was COLD & WINDY. wow. the rain was sideways, an umbrella is useless and my suit was soaked. i absolutely loved it though... it was the worst possible weather... but its what i have always pictured my mission being like! i felt so cool, trudging through the cold wicked world... with the warm gospel truth. i have learned to hate texting more than anything. wow... our inbox is full of people who are too scared to tell us to our face that they don't want us anyone. i have called three people and set up appointments to come by and bring a copy of the Book of Mormon to them and then about ten mins later they TEXT us and tell us they don't want it anyone. rubbish.

I have never in my life been more excited for conference. i can't wait for the Holy Ghost to pick me apart and then to rebuild myself. it will also be very great to be with investigators and receive promptings on how to teach them more effectively. the fact that we will hear from the Prophet of God and His Apostles sets this church so far apart from all other churches. we are blessed beyond measure.

I HAVE unfortunately gotten homesick every once and a while. it is only when we are at the flat eating lunch and i feel like we are wasting time. i start thinking about home... blast. the worst run in was actually when i was doing the dishes... i started crying because i started picturing my mum standing next to me and cleaning the dishes while i put them in the dishwasher. it made me hate doing dishes even more. mom, i love you. you are the greatest woman i have ever met. you have taught me everything i need to know and have been a constant and pure example to me. not once, never once... have you let me down. you are always there for me. the main reason why i try so hard is to not let you down. too make you the most righteous proud you can be of me.

We had an interesting run in with a man named brett recently. we knocked on his door and he said we could come by again. we did, and as we sat down and started talking to him. we quickly realized that he knew much about the gospel and he informed us that he was so close to being baptized twice. he would not listen to us this time though, and we found out why very quickly. he thought that his life was in order... like all british people. he said the first two times that he was in very hard times... and the gospel helped him. now though... he wasnt in a hard ship and didnt want to listen at all. how important it is to be humble. people only listen when they are humble. we must decide to be receptive to what ever the Lord tells us. he knows so much more than us... and is in control. we must rely on Him. He has already prepared the way for us, it is on our shoulders now. i love you all. i truly do. your support is such a help to me. i'm striving to make you righteously proud.

 

Elder Krebs

 

p.s. you can send me stuff from a huge walmart type store here called tesco.

they will ship anything to my door and it will be tons tons cheaper.

the webside is tesco.co.uk. you can do the same with amazon.co.uk.

you can send me things, with our paying intense amount of shipping.

Mummy,

I've been here for a month?? Does it seem like I've been gone that long? Sometimes it feels like two years already and other times it feels like three days. I love it here. I decided to switch my comparison of my companion to Matthew Allen Kearl :) Everything he does reminds me of Elder Kearl now. He is fantastic and wants to work. We are getting along quite nicely and the work is progressing... This weeks letter might be a tad shorter. I apologize, my family loves me and they all emailed me and it took time to soak them in. I wish so bad I could email you all back personally and tell you how much your inspired advice helps me. Knowing that my family supports and loves me is so helpful. It makes me less homesick and I can focus more.

The missionary work is going fantastic... We did 22 hours of finding last week! Wowzaa! We don't have many investigators so we are trying to find some. On one street in 1.5 hours we had two steps ins and now they are both investigators. The Lord honestly prepares His elect. That is the lesson I am continuing to learn. The people who listen to you and make and keep commitments are prepared by the Lord. Missionaries can find them on their own... but if the members give us referrals it is so much easier. There is an immediate support system put into place. I would encourage you to call up the missionaries and invite them over to dinner... then tell them you have some friends coming over too and listen for their jaws to drop. That is the BEST way to do missionary work... I should be primarily a teacher, then a finder.

I love you family. Yes I do.

I'm shopping today for all my clothes and things and I'm very excited. Hopefully I don't spend all my money in one place or in one day. Good thing daddy will always watch my bank account and he'd never let it go below zero :) A missionary needs what a missionary needs. Especially a three piece beautiful gray suit for £110. Brilliant.

We eat very well here in Norrich. Its a good thing we are running every morning or else I would get straight fat :) I have been learning to part my hair very well. It looks better and better everyday.

We had a very tall, african investigator at church on sunday and he enjoyed it. Says he wants to come back. Hes name is Tobe and oh how i love him. Everytime I see him i just smile... because i know if i'm ever in a pickle he will be there for me. He doesnt believe that Jesus Christ died for us though, and that we can be forgiven of our sins through His sacrifice. That is kind of a big big misunderstanding. I have spent a couple personal studies setting up the best way to explain to him how necessary and vital the Atonement is in our life. I have learned so much. God had a miraculous plan and it all relied on Jesus Christ. He was the go to guy and did EVERYTHING that our Eternal Father asked, ever to giving His life. We ALL will be immortal through Christ... but will WE take the step to be eternal? He provided us with door, we must open it. When we do, the blessings will flow.

 

I love you.

 

Elder John William Krebs

One of My room :) Its cleaner now :)

MY first meal as well :) it was only £2.50. What a steal... too bad it gave me some rubbish stomach cramps.  

Ello chaps,

I am in my new mission area! Its in Norwich, England. About as far north in my mission as you can go... It took four hours from the mission home to this area. Two and a half to get out of London. I have sooooo many things to tell you and I don't know if I'll be able to get them all out. My address is 1A Trafalgar Street, Norwich, England. You can probably send letters there for three weeks, but after that just send them to the mission home because transfers are every six weeks and i don't know where I'll be. I have been here since Wednesday night.. and it has been very difficult. Difficult in a good way! I am learning so much... and growing everyday. First before I forget... one of my goal out here was hakuna matata. It is interesting because we can go to one Broadway showing of the Lion King here. We can also go to one professional Futbol game :) I wont be doing any of that in Norwich. That's for sure.

I love it here... It is very green and most of the people are english. That can be a good thing and a very bad thing. My companion is english and his name is Elder Young. All the new London Missionaries were singing Called to Serve and our trainers walked into the room and stood next to us during the second verse. Giving hugs and handshakes. I was alone because my trainer couldn't find me... and that explains him pretty well :) I love him. He is 25. He has the best spirit and testimony though and that is the most very important thing in this work. He has only been in this area for six weeks but its more like three because we have two wards, and two areas. The Norwich (pronounced nor-rich) Ward which is where we live and the Dereham Ward which is about a 45 min bus ride. It makes is soooo very difficult. We have to switch areas every day and go to church in a ward only twice a month. It makes it hard to coordinate everything and meet people. Investigators don't want to come to church because we aren't going to be there... thats why we need to get members to the lessons with us. We don't know many people help us though. I love the challenge though, it continually forces me to stretch my brain and legs (no bikes or car).

When i get to an area with one ward, its going to be a piece of cake. It really makes us have to plan tons... and i like planning and having a set structure. The mission is not like tracting in the MTC. We have about 2 investigators in each area and one of them we found on the bus ride home. His name is Tobe and he's a great big black african :) He's my baby though. He calls me Krebs and it reminds me of my guys on my BYU floor. He seems interested in the Gospel and thats the way we like it. We live next door to the Zone Leaders and My companion is the District Leader... President Patch was really worried about me. 

Obedience is key. I can't say anything though because I've been out four days. I just have to continue to recommit myself to living all mission rules even though it seems like no one else does. Hmph. I feel like this letter has a negative tone to it and I've kinda been complaining, I don't want it to seem that way. I love it here!!! My companion and I get along really well and he does want to keep the rules and work. He says I'm the most enthusiastic companion he's had. I dont think thats a good thing, i believe he wants to kill me because i'm always antzy and want to knock on doors or call people or talk to people in the street. We have great conversations though and I enjoy living with Elder Young. The flat is a mess and I've made a list of 12 things the apartment needs and we are going to buy them today. Cleaning supplies and so forth. I figured out that i get OCD and clean when its not my mess and it grosses me out, but when its my mess i dont really care much. We ate with a family from the states last night! Her parents are from kentucky and his parents are from arizona! It felt so good to talk about american things and eat tacos and burritos (with FIRE SAUCE from TacoBell!!!), it also feels good to ask them for referrals and get some people to teach :) 

This is a wonderful work I have jumped into and there is nothing else in the entire world I'd rather be doing. I miss everything sooo much... the family, BYU, and friend, I mean friends. I had one super bad case of homesickness, i about started crying in the apartment. It was terrible. I figure out it was because we had just done service and a 3 hour weekly planning session. I hadnt shared my testimony with anyone and i felt like we had wasted a lot of time. When I'm working my hardest and never wasting time I do not get homesick and the work progresses. Its brilliant! What a novel concept. I'm trying so hard to forget myself. Forget if i'm scared about talking the men that have muscles bigger than mine (very few and far between, i must say). Everyone needs to hear this perfect, beautiful gospel. They all have concerns and the gospel solves everyone of those concerns. The atonement can heal anyone. The Saviour has given everything to succor us. He loves his spiritually begotten children. If I want to become more like Him, I need to show my love for them as well. 

I am so happy right now. When I think about doing this full on for two years I get giddy and smiley. It is only going to get better from here. Once Elder Young and I get our heads around our two areas, the work is going to start spreading like fire. We will teach and the members fellowship. We can baptise thousands and that is only through our faith in Jesus Christ. Its the first principle of the Gospel and if we have more of it... everything seems to began to fall into place. The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith sets us apart from all other religions and the Book of Mormon written by Prophets of old is the proof. We can not force people to believe anything, we only invite them to take a leap of faith and ask with a sincere heart and with real intent if the Book of Mormon is true. The Holy Ghost will answer them every time! I know it. I love every single one of you.

Love,

Elder Krebs

P.S.

Sideways snowman forevers.

MTC group

Mum, 

I am done with the MTC. I leave tomorrow morning at five, by coach to my mission home. These three weeks flew by... they really did. I loved it so much. I only have ten mins to write and i dont have much time at all. I just want you all to know that my testimony has been increased sooo much. We were able to go tracking last friday... like knocking doors. Elder Brozzu and I commited a 24 year old to baptism and he accepted :) :) :) :) :) the Lord has blessed us so much. We truly found the elect of God that had been prepared. I am giddy to get into the field and do that everyday. With faith in the Lord I can baptize thousands! :) We only taught paul for twenty mins and he was ready to be baptized. The saddest part is that i'll never see him again. i am going to send him a letter soon though... the missionaries in this area are going to take over now :). 

I love the Lord. I love the temple! I have only gotten letters from one person here at the MTC... I'm sure ya'll sent them to the Mission Home and I'll have a big stack there. This gospel is a perfect, beautiful gospel. I love you all. Cheers :)

 

Love,

Elder Krebs

 

p.s. i'll share more about paul next week :)

Ello Mum,

Does it feel like its been two weeks? WOW. Some days it seems like its been ten years and others it seems like I just blinked my eyes. I love love love the MTC here but man it is so so so overwhelming. They expect so much from us and I don't think I'll ever finish it all. Its a blasted good thing I have two years!

Let me first talk about our tracting activity... it was fantastic! We went by train to the city or Manchester and tried (keyword) to contact as many people as we could. I learned so many things about myself and others. Actually being on the trains was my favorite because people actually talk to you. On the train ride there we gave away two copies of the BofM and also talked to a girl named Tink. After we had talked to her, with my Kentucky Accent and my companions broken english... she said she wanted to missionaries to come by and if it were possible to have us come. It was a gift from my Heavenly Father. It taught me so much because when I got on the train, I looked around to see who to talk to first... and she was the one I thought in my head to talk to last (she had no teeth and tatoos everywhere)... but then the Spirit nudged me to get her attentions and start bearing my testimony to her. We have no idea how the Lord has prepared the people... all i know is that i need to teach all of them. The rest of the trip didnt go so well, once off the train, we asked an older couple if they wanted to live with their familes forever. We expected them to stop and give us their information and tell us how much they loved their kids. When in reality the wife spit out..."no way, you can have them. we dont want em". There is a very good case of me not listening to what the Spirit was trying to tell me.

I have a few funny stories... As you know I have a frenchy for a companion. He is out right hilarious. He always tells me whatever and i can tell when he's frustrated with me because he starts mumbling in french and rolling his eyes :) hehe. He loves me. He says things like, whatever, bowchickawowow, and ooo laa laa all the time. We had hamburgers for lunch one day and i was asking him if he'd ever seen the pink panther when he is trying to say hamburger, and i thought he had because he was saying stuff like damburger and hamBURRRger. I was laughing, but then i realized that he hadnt seen the movie and in actuality he was trying to say hamburger and couldnt :) :) i love that man.

I had a good friend write me and tell me that this was a beautiful and perfect gospel. I know that is very true. This gospel will change anyones life. We are not converted in one day, but over a lifetime. Alma 7: 23. We are converted by every outpouring of the Holy Ghost. I cannot wait to serve my Savior for two years with an exact obedience so i can teach with the power and authority of the Holy Ghost. I love you all very much. Thank you for the support.

I attached two pictures. One of me :) and one of my District.

 

I love you.

 

Elder Krebs

 

His companion is second from the right.