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.