Picture Time

We assertained a very large banana from a members house. Posing for the picture is myself, my companion, Sister Codeiro and Sister Richel! The Sisters cover the same area as we do, so we pretty much see them every day. They are great and are brilliant teachers. They really have the Spirit with them, and you can feel it as they testify.

Elder Dongen and I made a calendar for the zone and this is the picture that we put in the background.
I think it shows great seriousness and demands respect :)
I love working hard and playing hard.

Elder Lingam and I at Christmas Dinner!
It was a wonderful day. I got to talk to you :)

Hayleigh and Theresa!
Wow... my second family! They were baptised the first transfer I was in Grays! They are doing really well. I just got a letter in the post from them and they seem to still be enjoying themselves. It is harder than they imagined... but they know it is worth it.

Just before Christmas we took a trip to London on P-day and went to Hyde Park. There was a very big and cool outside market/christmas parade. We had buckets of fun running around and acting 20.

TONY!
He was baptised in Bletchley. On Christmas Eve, and confirmed on Christmas Day! It was for sure a white Christmas! It was really a pleasure to teach Tony. He was very sincere and devoted.

A picture of Abena, Elisabeth, Adwoa, and Felicity!
Elder Park and I found them in Grays... I taught them for about 4 months and then left. They were baptised in January!!! We are sooo excited for them. It was the first time that someone I taught got baptised and I wasn't there. It was sad but exciting.
They are really solid... but sometimes their actions show otherwise :/ They will get there though. I know it.

Love,
Elder Krebs

January 23, 2012

Hello,

Hi family! It is a real exciting thing for me to be able to write you an email every week. I love being a missionary. You have so many great experiences that help you to grow and stretch. This transfer is going to be absolutely brilliant. There are many things to learn from Elder Dongen. He is a really dedicated, determined and experienced.
Watford is a really wonderful area! We have a great town centre, which is a nice change because for the past 8 months I have had very small town centres. This one is very big with people every where. I love people. The ward is very missionary minded and loves to help us with the work. There are Sister Missionaries in the ward as well... they cover the exact same area as us. It is fun and different to work with them. Sister Cordeiro speaks portuguese and so she will teach me everything I need to know. I really wish that I could have been able to learn all of portuguese but the Lord has different plans. Um dia I will learn Portuguese. I have a list of languages that I want to learn.

1) Portuguese
2) then Spanish
3) Mandarin
4) Swahili

I really want to do it. I want to live in so many different countries and learn about how they work and why. Moving around a lot in the mission is becoming something that I really enjoy. New cities, new people and a new life. A dream I have now is to be a dentist or doctor and go to many countries doing free medical work. Staying for six months to a year and learning the language and culture. Communication is a very interesting thing. If we do not communicate with others in this life... our relationship suffers. If you do not communicate with someone... you cannot grow closer to them. It is a written law somewhere. The same way with our Heavenly Father. If we do not talk with Him through prayer... how can we know what He wants for us? We cannot draw closer to Him without speaking with him. He is ever ready to answer our prayers.
Watford has 3-4 investigators with a baptismal date right now.

Ellen is 17 and a awesome girl. She has completely changed her life around and really wants to be baptised tomorrow. He parents think the whole religion thing is a waste and want her to wait until she is 18. That puts her baptismal date to the 10th of March. She loves Church and the YW girls really accept her. She has a really spunky personality and is just a cool girl.
Andy is about 40. Has been looking for the Church that the Bible talks about. He says ours is the closest that he has found. He is hesitant about baptism because he thinks that he is beyond baptism. The views and ideas he has are great and it causes us to really back up what the Church Doctrine is with the Bible and Book of Mormon. It has been nice on my mission to be able to see why we do the things we do. As we think about why... the gospel comes alive.

Sandy is a bit older than Andy. She is very busy with a case that she has been working on for a while now. It is to do with some kind of Identity Theft. We had a really perfect lesson yesterday with a member. Elder Dongen invited her to be baptised on the 25th of February. She was wishy washy about it and then the member went for it. She testified all about how she needed to be baptised on the date that we asked her. She shared her baptismal story... and then Sandy was prompted to accept it. We will work with her towards that date.

IAN!!!! He is sooooo coool. We met him in town on Thursday... and he was looking for a church because it was bugging him that he had never found that one he was looking for. He stopped his exercise in the gym early and walked into two churches in town. He wasn't impressed by them and started walking home. That is when we stopped him. He was very interested. We tried to set up a Chapel tour with him he next day... but he refused and said he wanted to do it that day. We obviously said that was okay... and interrupted our finding. I was a tad frustrated... because I love street contacting. The world is full of allllllll kinds of people. We met Ian at the Church 4 hours later... had a brillllliant lesson and invited him to be baptised on the 3rd of March! He was really excited. He said he is someone that will give it his all. All we need from people is an open mind and a willing heart. He has both and will progress. The Lord has people prepared.

I love it here. Our flat is a shed... slash cabin. It is behind Bishop's house. Everything is in one room. The kitchen, study and bedroom are all together. The toilet is the only thing separate. We do not have a shower... so we bathe. Terrible. I soak in my own filth. I like it though... I feel like I'm on a holiday.

Thank you for all your support and love. I am sending a present for the parents. It is a great one. I am really proud of it.

Love,
Elder Krebs

January 9, 2012

Hello,

Hiya family! How incredible it is to see my two brothers holding their brand new babies. It was a complete realization that life does not end... and there is sooo much more to experience. I could not even begin to imagine that there is life after mission. I was talking to one of my Zone Leaders Elder Brown on Friday and he made an interesting point. He said that all his life... everything has been pointing towards his mission. School, marriage, and occupation were things that were all going to be taken care of after the mission. I love the confidence that comes from knowing that if I repent daily and do all the little things I know I am supposed to do... that I will be guided by the Holy Ghost and everything is going to be okay. I will be happy and there is and will always be hope through our Saviour Jesus Christ. Phew... don't have to worry now.

This past week to be honest has been really difficult for me. I was feeling pretty goood after leaving Grays... but I took too much credit... it went to my head and the pride cycle began to be in place. This week was the humbling... realizing that everything I receive or can do comes from my Father week. I am very grateful for my Heavenly Father though for doing it. I see so many great examples around me right now of humility and I think this week I have gained a greater appreciation for it. My pride is sooooo deep. Noone else can probably see it... but it comes life a thief and can ruin everything. We read in the Book of Mormon that it was the downfall of the Nephites. As I was praying about it. I received a tad bit of revelation on the subject. I had been focusing more on other study tools... like the New Testament or Preach My Gospel... and my reading of the Book of Mormon has not been as diligent. The best way to protect against pride is reading the Book of Mormon. The whole Book documents thousands of people being destroyed all because of the root sin of Pride. I hate it. I hate pride. I want to give all the credit to God all the time... I want to think of others more than myself. I want to be able to learn and grow from others and never put myself above someone else. I want to be able to receive compliments and direct them toward my Heavenly Father... and never breath them inside. There are sooooo many things I need to improve. Sorry for ranting on and on. You most likely don't want to hear things like that.

Christmas and New Years were brilliant. The ward really took care of us... it was a tad weird being in a place only three weeks and then barging everyone's parties. The work was hindered a tad... but I feel as well that it was bolstered. Asking people why they celebrate Christmas... got loads of confused looks. They have nooo idea...I believe presents was the #1 answer.
The past two weeks have been filled with finding... and some teaching. We are lacking the amount of investigators that I would want to have... but that is just fine because the Lord will provide.

Tony, who was baptised on Christmas Eve, is doing just fine. He can really recognize the spirit and it is wonderful. I loving helping recent converts and investigators become spiritually self reliant... just like with finances. How great it is when they can have problems... but then find their own answers through prayer and study. It is sooo sad when people chose to go against truth and the straight and narrow way. Living the gospel and teachings of Jesus Christ is not easy... in fact it is one of the most difficult things in life to dooo... but in the end... it is the only true course. Day by day is how I have to live... doing small things daily... allows us to do big things. We have to learn to have enough faith to step into the darkness though. I love the excitement that the gospel brings... I love the progression and life long pursuit that it gives us. I love that it is more than just a game or mear entertainment. I love that life is eternal... I love that families are eternal... I love that my family is brilliant.
Our attitude determines our altitude. The more hope we have... that higher we go.

I love you more than drowning in sour skittles.

I totally forgot to tell you..........
last night we were tracking and there were houses on the left and a field with horses on the right. We called them over and we started feeding them grass!!! So cool. I felt like I was back home... except the fence was a nasty brown. And I love my companion. He is helping me sooo much. His faith is incredible and he teaches me daily.

January 3, 2012

Hiya mum,

Yesterday we went into London for a meeting and I haven't had any time to pop round a computer. We just stopped by the library for a bit. I wanted you to know that I am not dead. I love you and might get some more time to email laters.

love,
Elder Krebs

December 26, 2011

Happy Boxing Day from Northampton!

This day has been the most weird day ever. I feel worthless and empty. I haven't been able to talk to a single person about the Gospel and I do not like it. We watched three movies today and it was a nice break... but I feel like I wasted sooo much time. The whole zone was together at the Senior Couples house and we had food, movies... and sour skittles (+hot tamales). We watched... Tangled... Megamind... and Madagascar Two. By the end I felt terrible and now I just want to go back to work. It will take a little time to become focused though... because talking with all of you was absolutely, and fantastically brilliant. It was 100x better than I thought it was going to be. For some reason I was worried that I wasn't going to like it. I realized now why I tried to forget about you all... because you are amazing and I would just want to talk with you forever. It was for sure the highlight of my holiday to talk with the whole family. I love you all very much... and only just 24 hours ago... I noticed how much I really do miss you. Mom sent me a email this week that pretty much wrapped up how I felt... "I feel so blessed. You serving an honorable mission, Charles and Emily blessing Jackson, Laura expecting, Corinda due any day (they might induce her on Tuesday), Dad gave a beautiful talk in church today, and I could go on and on. Living the gospel is really the only way to real happiness. SO blessed!!" (I put it in italics because it is harder to read... and mum's handwriting is hard for me to read).

The restored gospel and teachings of Jesus Christ are the only way to receive eternal happiness. The way to God is through Jesus Christ. It was great to be able to focus more on Him and His birth this season. I learned sooo many things and received dozens and dozens of confirmations from the spirit that this is good... and right. Christ gave us the two great commandments... and the second one to fulfill the first was to love others as thyself. Equal. At this time around the world... everyone is fulfilling this commandment... loving other people just as much as they love themselves. No wonder we all feel the spirit so strong... the light of Christ is coming out in all of us. The Christmas Spirit is not an accident or a free gift... it is a direct result of pure happiness because we are all honouring the commandment to love one another. (John 13:34, Mosiah 2:41)

People are so happy because they are giving of themselves. A candle that lights another... loses no light itself. The more we give this next year... the happier we will be. And oh how many ways there are to give... providing for a family, serving a mission, loving your lonely single child at home, and being an example of the believers to all.

Hope all is well in the wonderful land of America. "And Elder said unto him: Yea, I desire to dwell among this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die." (Alma 17:23) I am going to try to focus as hard as I can until they tell me to go home and fulfill a different mission and find a permanent companion.

You can rest assured that I will be thinking about you this week.

Love,
Elder Krebs

P.s. I'll get back to you on housing. I think I'm going to be rooming with a friend on a mission in Peru... I emailed him... so I'll give you the details when I can.

From a Bishop of Elder Krebs

From: Paul Brooks
To: Donnia Krebs
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2011 1:54 AM
Subject: Re: Elder John Krebs

Excellent nice to meet you.

I said to Elder Krebs the evening he left that he has honestly been the best missionary I have ever seen. My mother said the same thing to him a few months back. He is doing so well and taught me lots of things as a Bishop

You have a great son and he is doing excellent works over here in England. We hope to see him again

Paul

December 13, 2011

Hi loverly family,

I absolutely love my new area and my new companion. He is fantastic and humble, and wants to work hard. I can't wait for all the lessons that await for me to learn. I really feel like I am in a breaking point in my mission. If I put in a little bit more effort... than things are just going to explode. The thing I am constantly trying to overcome is the silly natural man. It is rough having to do things you know you should do, and are supposed to do.... but not necessarily wanting to do them. I want to master myself. Allow my will to be swallowed up in the will of my Heavenly Father. I know it will be a life long quest... but this mission is the best place to put my feet on the right ground and in the right direction for a whole life of growth. I have felt the spirit stronger in the passed month than ever before. I am beginning to see how if I put my trust in my Heavenly Father and if I keep myself clean than I will always have the spirit to be with me. I cannot wait for the day when I'm perfect. Oh how far away it is. We'll all get there. I know we can, because Christ has died for us.

The area is spread out... we have a car... but... maybe not for long. Elder Lingam's previous companion went over 700 miles on the alloted miles last month and now we have to park the car for a week :( and President told us to be very careful because the sisters in the Zone could easily use our car if we abuse it. It is green... beautiful and fall. A good mix of people. Town centre is small... but effective. The ward is missionary minded and our ward mission leader is spot on.

Our investigators include a man named John... he is great. We are working with him and he wants to be baptised soon.
Tony and CheChe are a great couple with two children from Zambia. Cheche was very excited at first but now is not joining our lessons. Tony is preparing to be baptised on the 24 of December. How happy we are for him... and we are striving to have his wife join him.
We have others... but not sure really how interested they are at the moment. We'll see... I've only been here for six days. Seems like I've been here forever.

On last Saturday we drove to Buckingham... and there happened to be a Parade in the town. It was like a jackpot. The whole town in one spot.... so we went around and tried to give Joy to the World DVDs. Unfortunately... not many people wanted them. We gave a couple away though. We stopped by a referral and have an appointment this Saturday with him. He is a doctor and really open to learn and read. I like him a lot.

Yesterday we left around 9am to go to Kettering for a Zone Meeting. We planned to arrive at 9:45... but we arrived at 2:00. Why you might ask? Well... some cars here in England you fill up with Diesel fuel... not unleaded petrol. I don't know why... it is silly. Well... our car is a diesel car... and we put about £60 of unleaded fuel in the tank. BIG CHALLENGE. About 1:00 a fuel tech arrived and flushed all the fuel out and cleaned the tank... and then we were back on the road. Not a very great way to start the day... but while we were waiting at the Tesco... the four of us bought cheese and crackers and ate a feast in the car.

If we fill up with the fuel of Satan... our car will not go anywhere... but luckily we can be cleansed through the atonement of Christ and put in the right fuel to get us to heaven. I want all the right fuel. Lesson learned.

I love you.... running low on time. We gotta work work work. No satisfactory substitute.

Love,
Elder Krebs