June 21, 2011

HI hi HI! 

I have oh oh oh soo much to say. I think I'm going to make a bullet list... I love lists. I love organizing things. Seeing them visually organized makes me smile. I'm wearlly weird. 

• Most important item of business. Hoshar was baptized on June 18th, 2011! It was a beautiful beautiful baptism. It makes everything we are doing come together in harmonious simplicity. All the finding, teaching, service, phone calls, appointments, homesickness, and tiredness is more than worth it. The joy and spirit felt at baptisms is top notch. I now more firmly believe in the scripture that states "And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;" I love knowing we are doing the correct actions, with the correct and proper authority. Hoshar was special to me because I stopped him and began talking to him. He stated in his testimony that the only reason he came to meet with us was to improve his English. He never wanted to or thought he would ever join a church, he didn't even believe in God. I was a first hand witness of the way the Spirit totally changed his life. He WAS re-born in Jesus Christ. The spirit entered into his heart and changed it. T'was a beautiful thing to witness. How blessed I am to have opportunities like this one? I know God lives, and I know he love Hoshar and I. 
• We were able to see the Lion King as well :) Brilliant. A recent convert from Scotland brought us. It blew my mind... the special effects, scenery, and costumes were out of this world. I thought the SCAPA productions we the top of the top ;) Well... I will tell you today that my eyes were opened. The acting was magic and the music... of course was wonderful. There is a song titled... "He lives in you". I loved this one especially. I know that God lives in us... and I especially know that our fathers before us live in us. I can see my father in me and sometimes it scares me... but I like it. It mainly scares me when I make jokes like... "it's all urine"! I love my father... he taught me skills and attributes that are now being used daily. He taught me and all of my brothers how to respect women, how to make them feel like to boss and beautiful. Happy Father's Day popsicle. I can see that you live in me and will always live in my heart. 
• I was in the street talking to a man who was very agitated and against God while my companion was talking to others. He was trying to prove to me God didn't exist using all sorts of verbal means. I was in the process of removing myself from the conversation... when another man came and joined the conversation. I had no idea who it was, but he stated arguing with the man who was trying to argue with me. It was a very muddled situation. I thought I was doing the contacting and talking, but all the sudden I was on the outside of the conversation. I listened as they talked about Love, suits, war, and music. My anticipation was that I would be able to make an invitation to both of them and help them realize that I begun the conversation and I would like to finish it. But, to my surprise... they ended the conversation with no ground gained in either direction... and then both walked away... leaving me standing alone... very confused... because another man jumped in to argue pro- God points. It was a first for me :) 
• Lets see.... anything else interesting.... hmmm. Oh yeah... I am leaving Hyde Park Area :) I will serving in Essex. More specifically Romford, and my Ward I cover is Grays. It will be a bitter sweet goodbye to the beautiful city of London, but I will only be about an hour east. I can still come into town on P-days. It will be a new area with new challenges. I can't wait... I told my companion last night that I am excited to rely more on the Lord. When we have the things we need and we feel comfortable, we tend to not rely on the Lord as much. I found myself doing that. Both of the missionaries in grays right now are leaving, and being replaced by myself and a missionary that is currently at the MTC in Preston. It will be a positive experience to train a missionary and whitewash an area. The Lord is on my team, and we have already won the battle. Hopefully I don't train one of the boring Americans :) Heh, there are about 15 Americans coming in and 10 foreigners. I won't find out till tomorrow who I train. It will be fun :) :) Unfortunately I will not be able to finish learning Portuguese. Sad day... 

I know this Church is true. I know it to my bones. This work is brilliant and brings me joy. I feel the spirit and it lightens the darkness. This next week will be nice... and it will be a great email on Monday. I love you all. HAppy Father's Day. 

Love, 
John

June 13, 2011

Como staka (tagalog),

Today is not our P-day, we are going to see The Lion King on Wednesday :) Therefore our P-day is on Wednesday. A member is taking us and we are quite excited... it does mean that we are working extra hard so we can enjoy it to the max. I believe that I'm going to enjoy the show thoroughly, even though I would like to see Wicked. You can't always get what you want. Oh bother.

What a wonderful week. I am tired and that is a wonderful thing. I wish that I could work really really hard and not be tired though. Once again, Oh bother. We have had some great great success this week and I am lovin' it. Two ladies walked into the capela on Wednesday and stayed for 5 hours. We say them on thursday, friday and one of them came to Church on Sunday! Her name is Alana and she now has a baptismal date for July the Second. Wooo hooo!! I like her and we are excited for both of them. Suzanne might take a tad longer to get prepared, but they are both very very open and humble. They walked into the church... therefore we are just going to wait in the church from now on and count it as Finding hours :) We actually were not here when they came and the office couple Elder and Sister Empey! We absolutely love them. Sister Empey reminds me of my mother, and I love coming into the office every morning for language study and saying hi to them. They were able to teach and help Alana and Suzanne. I know that the Lord is preparing people to meet us and He will guide them to us and us to them. My faith in that was strengthened this week.

My mission Highlight will be happening on Saturday the 18th at 5:00. Hoshar will be baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I AM AS HAPPY AS MAN CAN BE :) :) I hadn't really heard much from him or the missionaries that were teaching him. My thought was that he was doing just fine, but I wasn't quite sure. The Elders said that his testimony was spot on and blows your socks off. The Bishop interviewed him on Sunday and said it was the highlight of his month! Hoshar just gets it... he already acts like a member and we are very excited for him to serve and be a member of the church :)

It has been a busy week and now it is the last week of the transfer :( I think I will be moving from this blessed area and I'm quite sad. My companion is a brilliant missionary and hasn't trained yet, so my bet is he will train one of the twenty four missionaries that are coming in on next Wednesday. I will go where the Lord has prepared me to go, and start getting to know the Ward all over again. I love going to different wards and getting to know the people. You always find families that you can connect to and help. There are so many people that our specific talents can be used to help. I love being able to make people laugh and smile. There is always a reason to smile.

I was recently reading in Luke chapter 14, verse ten! This one specific saying really stuck out to me and I want to briefly mention it. "But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee." I love this concept that the Saviour teaches us. Not to put our needs or self above others... but to say... Friend... Go Up Higher. To encourage those that we love to be better, to reach higher and to fulfill their potential as sons and daughters of our lovely Heavenly Father. I love it. I keep thinking about it time and time again. We all need someone to give us a boost... I like it better when it is my friend :)

What a wonderful blessing to receive inspiration through studies and to have the Lord guide us through our days.

I hope and pray that I can be pure, and be a tool of my Father who art in heaven :)

I will miss pageant so so so much this summer. Mother said it best though... I'm in a more important place.

 

I love my family! I wish I could hear from my siblings a tad more :) I don't have much time to write you... but maybe you have time to share your testimony and uplift me :) I'm becoming more cheeky the more I'm in London. uh oh.

 

Love you,

Elder Krebs 

June 6, 2011

Ello chaps,

Here I am sitting in a £1 Internet cafe, across from the Earl's Court Tube stop. I am constantly reminded that I am proper blessed here in the England London Mission. I think that I have already spent my whole mission fund, and now I am using other peoples :) The law of consecration is a beautiful thing when it works in your favour. Yesterday we went and ate at a members home and we shared a wonderful spiritual thought where I was able to receive revelation during the thought. Now I want to share it with you. Please.

We shared one of my favourite scriptures, 2 Nephi 2:6-8... "Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth. Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered." I think the first verse is brilliant... "Redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah"! That simplifies everything. If we give the Lord a broken heart and contrite spirit, we will be redeemed. How simple... how amazing! We are the luckiest children ever... God loved us so much... he sent his only blood Son. Jesus Christ makes the entire Plan of Happiness work. He is the complete life blood, because he spilt His blood for us. I was getting bogged down in my mission because I didn't know how to help these people. I didn't know the best way, and I knew I couldn't help them. This scripture testified to me so strong that it basically screamed at me that I can't do anything but GUIDE them to Jesus Christ. Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Jesus Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through FAITH in Jesus Christ... and His Atonement. The scripture mentioned above helped me to have the faith in our Saviour. Now I knew that Jesus Christ can help everyone, but the scripture renewed my faith. The preparation today will not be sufficient for the challenges of tomorrow. “True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.” Boyd K. Packer

As I have revamped my studies, I can see my faith increase and my understanding of the Gospel enlighten my life and help others. So here I am now... realizing that I cannot help these people except point them in the right direction towards a Holy Messiah who is full of grace and truth. The best I can... I need to share with them the they can receive redemption through a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And what is the best way for our investigators to do that? BAPTISM! At baptism they will feel the complete power of the atonement. They will see and feel the greatest joy in their lives... and will be happy. Happy? Ah... that elusive and simple but complex word. I know happiness comes when we believe and have a hope in Jesus Christ, and follow Him. Therefore... no matter what happens... no matter what challenge we have... we will have faith in the One who is Mighty to Save. This message will help everyone... it will help them all to find redemption through Christ. My job is to point them all to Christ. I feel like I'm sitting in a Chair and everyone is flying sideways/backwards/upside down towards me... and I have to as quick as I can point them in the right direction and give them a huge shove. I am nothing... but what I can be is a vessel for the Lord to reach His children. Therefore... I need to be clean and pure.

So all this, was relayed from the Lord to me in about 2.2 seconds last night at the dinner appointment. It was something I obviously believed and knew... but now it is a knowledge and a goal. I will be the best vessel I can be, I will do anything necessary to help these children of God. I love them, and they need to know they have a Heavenly Father that loves them. I will be their guide, and I will show them that "Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah". Verse 8 then reads... "Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth". That is what we all need to do. Tell everyone in the world. I echo Alma"O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!" I am the luckiest soul in the world to do this full time. Please help and support your missionaries. They need your help.

 

I love you all.

 

Love,

Bubs

 

P.s. This week was great! I am the happiest, and love this perfect plan. 
-- 

Elder John William Krebs

England London Mission

64-68 Princes Gate

Exhibition Road

London, SW7 2PA

Happy Birthday Mum

I love stretching the round table around the world :) 

There is nothing in this world that I love more than my mother. She has been my constant friend and teacher. The time we were able to spend together this past summer was beautiful, and I loved serving her for a couple months while she limped, rolled and scootered around the house/trailer. She is my best friend and the reason I love her most is because she always right. My Patriarchal blessing says to marry someone that emulates my mother. At first I thought it was weird comparing girls to my mother, but as I've been on my mission, I have realised that if I marry someone like her... I have a fighting chance to enter the celestial kingdom. Thank you for all that you do and continue to do. I was thinking about a gift to mail, and I think you should buy yourself a kindle. You would love it :) 

Life is good.

Love, 
Elder Krebs

May 30, 2011

Hiya, 

How is the Family? I am very happy right now. We had stake conference yesterday and President Monson spoke to us via satellite. He spoke that all people could change. I love it. To be honest, it was exactly what I needed to hear. The Atonement has the power to heal all people and change their lives. This week has been another one of ajustment. I think that I won't be staying in the Portuguese ward for more than one transfer. Therefore I won't fully learn Portuguese. I will definitely eat all their food though. It is really really good. I don't have a lot of time to email. I am sad. I have some good things I want to say, but I don't really have time. I am glad to have such a good family. I love telling people about you. 


I love focusing on my mission. I can feel when I have the spirit guiding me and when it is leaving because I said a negative thing or am being lazy. It is so so important. Hoshar is doing soooooo great. He is the greatest investigator in the world. When he talks about the changes he has experienced, you get shivers and you know the church is true. I have seen the Lord guide his actions, including him moving to the white chapel ward. He will be happiest there. I am grateful for the Lord. He has the ability to change peoples lives. I saw Hoshar change. The whole entire transformation. He is happy and has hope amidst challenges. I am truly happy serving God's children and serving in His vineyard, especially when it is in London. 

I love you all. 

Happy Birthday Mum. 

Love, 
Uncle Bubby


Hi again, 

Turns out that I was able to get more time to email :) 

I love my companion Elder De Oliveira. He is a great companion and we get along really well. I love his humility and we all know that Krebs' need their doses of humility. He is from Rio and is trying to teach me Portuguese. "It is hard to teach, when you have a bad student" is his favourite phrase when I complain that I'm not learning fast enough or that he is a rubbish teacher. I am meeting some of the greatest Elders here in the mission field. It is wonderful to see that the Lord is preparing young men to come and serve a mission. We have the best missionaries in the England London Mission, because it is the best mission. It breeds leaders of the church, and cultivates fathers of patience and diligence. Hehe. I think I'm getting more and more brain warshed. 


Well, I might be thinking a tad into the future... buttt! I would love to be picked up from London in 2012. The reason I mention it now is because I will finish my mission 2 weeks before my Visa expires, therefore, if you picked me up... we could tour LONDON for a week. AND the main reason I mention it is because, I get released 3 days before the Olympics end. We could go to the closing ceremonies all together :) How lovely and sweet would that be?? The family all together again in London, watching the Olympics and treading the ground I'm currently preaching. Think about it, and save the pennies. You won't have pageant to go to, and the whole summer will feel like a drag if you don't do something smashing to attend. I know you want to come Laura. It can be just the two of us, we can make it on our own :) Enough trunky talk, actually, at stake conference yesterday... I met one of my best friends from BYU. She (Amanda) is on a study abroad with BYU and tapped my shoulder as I was talking to an investigator. I turned around and was quite surprised. It is weird serving here in Hyde Park because I have seen many people I know. 3 other people from BYU study abroads. It gets me thinking a tad about home, but then I push it out with AMAZING experiences like this one. 

Here I am... in Walthemsto Area. I'm with my Zone Leader, Elder Espinoza and we are inviting people to come into our Chapel for a tour. I stop a muslim man and he says he is going to come to our Chapel later... and I think nothing of it. Later that day, just as we are about to start teaching a Nine Year old girl named Nunyuh (I remember the name by thinking nun yuh business) the Muslim man walks in and asks if he can join. Long story a tad shorter, we taught the Ten Commandments with a 9 year old, her mother, and a Muslim man. He liked it and invited us to his mosk. It was eight and we were going to stroll home because we hadn't eaten yet, but we decided why not. Elder Espinoza had never been to one. If was around the corner and we went! I was really excited. I have gotten to really understand Islam because there are soooo many of them here in England. When we arrived, we escaped our shoes and took a tour. There were some of the nicest and biggest men there. We sat down in a circle with some of the leaders of the Mosk and had a beautiful conversation about God. One was trying to convert us, but we ignored him. The others were proper nice and considerate. We continued to talk, and more and more people gathered around to see what was happening. We had about 10-15 people gathered around us. All sitting on their prayer rugs. The conversation was guided by the spirit and we were able to teach the message of the Restoration to the Mosk. We testified and explained why and how we came to know it was true. Right as we finished, the bell rang to say it was Afternoon prayer time... it was perfect because they were not able to respond to me when I said "Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but more importantly the Saviour of the world". We watched them pray and it was very interesting... then my favorite man invited us over to dinner at his house. We decided to decline and went home and made burritos. I absolutely loved it! It is a once in a life time experience teaching the Restoration to a group of Muslims in their Mosk. 


I love these wonderful experiences. I learned the importance of open communication and can see the need of acceptance amid differences. I now have much more respect for the Islamic faith and some of their practices and teachings. They are wonderful people and have a strong strong faith in God. He is the Creator of all things and through Him we receive everything. It was a night of learning and growing.
Now that I am serving in the Portuguese Branch as well, I can go anywhere in London. The area boundaries for the ward are the entire city. It is a great privilege and opportunity. We are allowed to go south of the river as well and see south London which is out of our mission. I love seeing this beautiful city and am currently experiencing how large it is and how multi cultured it truly has become. 

We has a mission fireside yesterday and around 40 people from our ward showed up. I think it went well. I made a cake, so that was definitely good. Our favourite member missionary Baruch spoke and we gave a demonstration and them President Patch finished it off with a great talk. I love the ward here... there are some great families. I love the Philippineos very much. They are a wonderful wonderful culture and they take care of us and make sure we get loads of meat and potatoes. 

I couldn't ask for much more. I am just trying to make my momma happy and proud. My smile has been my best friend as the Portuguese talk way too fast and Eu Falo Poco Portuguese. I am definitely rockin' it lights out here in London. 

A igreja de Jesus Cristo e verdaderio. eu amo meu testemunho. I am so happy and willing to serve with all my heart, might, mind and strength because this message can truly help everyone. I love you very much. Take Luke.

Love,
Elder Krebs

May 23, 2011

Good afternoon Familia, 

It has been quite a roller coaster week :) My emotions have been all over the place. I have been thinking more than I've ever thought before in my life. I am learning things about myself. It is quite a humbling experience when you ask the Lord to show you your weaknesses because he didn't hold back. He has given me the exact experiences and trials to show me what I need to work on and what I can improve on. Needless to say, the past days have been ended by a honest communication with God asking Him to strengthen me. I hope that I can be soft clay for the Lord to mold. 


I love it out here. I love learning, I feel as though its getting me ready for the world. I get so sick when I see the news and things that remind me of the state of the world. This week during one of my prayers I was reminded to live in the world but not of the world. As a missionary that is actually quite easy, but my attitudes shouldn't reflect the world. Just because something is accepted by the world does not mean it is accepted by the Lord. I think some great evidence of that is in the Book of Ether. Everyone is being dumb and not listening to the prophets, and they try to warn them but to no avail. Now they are all dead. See what happens when we don't listen to God and His Prophets? 


I just finished the Book of Mormon and the end bit really helped me. It helped me realize that everyone has their free agency and we must respect that. Three of our investigators baptism has been pushed back indefinitely because someone else doesn't want them to be baptized. Lei's husband, Max's biological father, and Hoshar's government. They all want to be baptized but have a huge hurdle in their life to overcome. Hoshar has been making the most amazing progress ever, even though he has moved to the Ward Boundaries just east of us.  I knew that this move was for a reason and it truly has been. Hoshar fasted on Monday and then once he finished his fast with a prayer, he received two emails of acceptance from a University in Luffbourough, England. When he told us that it was us and the Elders from the White Chapel ward, and one of the missionaries is from Luffbourough. He told Hoshar all about it and told him that he would have a home there and a second family, and that there is a large Iranian community. It was a miracle. 


The Lord is an active participant in all of our lives. I am grateful for His watchful care. Hoshar has a solid date to be baptized on the 19th of July, even though he will for now never be able to go back to Iran. It is amazing to see him put his trust in the Lord. It is a strength to me, and an example. 


On the tube, we try to talk to as many people as we can. It is a great experience because you are constantly meeting people from all over the world. The other day I heard two people next to me with proper american accents (which by the way make me sick now). I asked "Where in the states are you from?", they replied... "Lexington, Kentucky". I replied me too, like it was an everyday occurrence to meet someone from my hometown of 350,000 on the tube in a international city of six million. It was really cool to talk to them and talk about home. They knew some of my great friends, including KELLY! They were on a study abroad from Transylvania University. I was thinking about it the whole day and how cool is was, and the chances of it happening, especially since no one talks to people on the tubes. It is against all the rules of London. All the posh men scoff at us. 

I love being on a mission to help people come to Jesus Christ. We might not be having loads of success now, but I'm doing what I've been sent to do and will have no regrets. At all times I am an example to my brothers and sisters. I love my family. Hope all is well. You are all in my prayers. 

Love, 
Uncle Bubby

May 16, 2011

Ello, 

How grateful I am for such a wonderful family. You give me much needed support and love, thank you for that. Right now I am sitting underneath the South Kensington Tube Station emailing :) We can hear the tube rolling on by every two minuets. For P-day today we had a great Zone Meeting where we really felt the spirit. I absolutely love feeling the spirit. I can tell quite clearly now when the spirit is there and when it is missing. When it is gone... nothing we say is heard or meaningful. It will change peoples hearts. When people tell me they will never be baptized... I just laugh and say "well just wait till you come to church and feel the spirit". It is the best drug in the world, because it doesn't have any negative side effects. Just pure joy and happiness. I am hoping and praying that President will keep me in Hyde Park for another three months so I can continue to learn Portuguese. I am not speaking it all the time, but I ask my companion questions all the time. We are working in Hyde Park Ward half the time and the South Kensington Branch half the time. 

On Sunday I was able to bear my testimony in Portuguese. I wrote it down and felt really good about it. I just hope people felt the Spirit. I think the ward liked it. Afterwards, most of them thought I understood Portuguese, but then I looked at them with a big smile and said "no falo portuguese, esto aprendendo portuguese". Being able to learn another language on my mission would be a wonderful blessing. I want to learn very very much and now I will have the opportunity. I need to take it by the horns. This past week was an exciting but sad one at the same time. Hoshar made some great improvements, and is really excited about being baptized. Now he has moved into the ward to the East :( but he will really enjoy it there and be a great plus to the White Chapel Ward. The way that the Holy Ghost has impacted him is brilliant. He told us he would do anything to have the Holy Ghost with him always. We said... just be baptized :) Have your sins washed away and we will give it to you for free :) He says he has never tasted something this good. It is like a sweet nectar that he's been searching for. We have him hooked. And we are not going to let go. 

I keep thinking of things to say and the only thing that enters my mind is the power of the Spirit. I can feel it now as I just think about it. It comes so strongly now, and it enters every part of my body. It makes me want to do only good and help other continually. Sou grato pelo es spirito santo. I was striving so hard to have it for myself and now it switched to doing everything and anything to help my investigators feel it. I love having a lesson where it is undeniable that a member of the Godhead is present. Nothing brings a joy greater than knowing your investigator has felt a peace that is everlasting. I feel as though I am now beating a dead horse... but I really want you to understand how this is changing my life. My attitude, actions and desires are being directed and altered. I am letting the Holy Ghost take over and telling the natural man to take a hike. How grateful for being a missionary and having struggles and tribulations that force me to turn to the Lord in continual communication. I ain't a humble man, but the Lord is finding ways to humble me. When I think I gots it right, he shows me I ain't know where close. 

I am just going to work hard and let the Holy Ghost do the finding and the teaching. Feeding it all the time with scriptures and prayers of gratitude. I know that God gives us the things that we ask for, we miss so many blessing because we don't ask. Fall on your knees and tell your Pai Celestial the things you most need, and the deepest desires of your heart. He is listening. And He WILL answer. I know it. I love this church and the Gospel. I am glad you got to see a picture of me at the Simmons house, they are a great family. We love the American families here, they know how to do things right. God be thanked for Jesus Christ and His blessings. I love and miss you all very much. Ta ta till next week. 

Love, 

Elder Krebs

P.s. Baruch, my Jerusalem friend went to the father and son camp out. It was his first time camping and he was awestruck when he realized they were sleeping outside and not in a building :) We love Baruch and the continualhumour he brings us. Plus his testimony is one of pure power and heart.