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.