11/4/13

It's hard to believe I only have a bit over a month left. I feel like time is accelerating every week. This week was pretty good. We have 3 people with baptismal dates for the last weeks of November, so hopefully they keep going to church and their dates don't fall through. This last week was Día de los Muertos so it was kind of difficult to find people to teach. Everyone was too busy going to parties and such haha. I'm glad you had a good week. I'm sure Lion King was cool. As far as school, it looks like everything is good, I only need to hear from the music school. I'm a bit worried though because I haven't received any kind of confirmation email or anything to know if they received my application and everything. My registration date is this Friday, so as soon as I hear from them, I will be able to sign up for classes. I'm really excited that they're almost done with the Gilbert temple. Hopefully we can go to the dedication. Anyway, I hope you have a fantastic week. I love you. Love, Elder Janda

10/28/13 Everything here is going well. I'm trying to fill out the FERPA form. But the system is being difficult. But don't worry, I'll get it in. It's crazy to think that Courtney is old enough to go on dates. Weird haha. Yesterday, my companion and I got to speak in Sacrament meeting. It was his first time giving a talk in Spanish. He did really well though. I normally stay focused, but sometimes I get distracted figuring out what classes to take or thinking about finding a job when I get home or such things. I normally only get distracted when I talk with other missionaries that are going home soon as well haha. I'll see if I can find some masks. They aren't too expensive, but there sometimes hard to find in my area. But seeing as it's almost halloween, there are a lot of places selling costumes, so I'll see what I can do haha. This week I was talking to my bishop here and he told me that his daughter and her family recently moved to Chandler. They're in the Cooper 2nd ward haha. What a small world. haha Well, I'm going to try and get everything figured out for ASU so hopefully next week I can get registered for classes. I love you so much. Thank you a ton for everything, especially for all the help with ASU. You are the best. I love you :) Love, Elder Janda

Weekly Emails 10/14 and 10/18/13

10/14/13 I'm glad that you had fun on the cruise. My week was pretty good. Today, we had a mission soccer tournament. It was a lot of fun, but really stressful. I coached our zone, and played a bit, mostly defense. It was a lot of fun though. I realized that I'm out of shape. Maybe it's just the altitude haha, but I can't run as much anymore. But the tournament was fun anyway. We ended up winning, even though we lost pretty bad one game, we came back and won that same team in the finals. I loved conference. I wish that I could just watch and rewatch the talks, but once the ensign gets here I'm going to study them up. They were all so good. I honestly believe that it was the best conference I have ever seen. I sent in my ASU application last week to change my major. Now I just have to send in papers to reinstate my scholarship, but I still have another month to finish those. Next week, I'll get on the ASU website and see what all I have to do for that. Sorry my email is short haha we don't have much time because of the tournament. But I'll write more next week. I love you. :) Elder Janda 10/18/13 Well, I don't really have much time to write because we went to the centro today. It was a lot of fun. First, we went to this place called Chapultapec, it's this big park and there is a castle where the leaders of Mexico used to live a long time ago when Mexico was part of Spain. It was really cool. We also went to a zoo that was part of the park there. It was fun. Then we went to the downtown of Mexico City. It was really cool. When we come back to Mexico to visit we'll have to go there. Well, I hope you have a fantastic week. I love you. Love, Elder Janda I was just checking my ASU application. It looks like the recommendation letter from Sister Jones, hasn't been recieved, but the other two have. Did you send it? If you go to music.asu.edu it's the music school's website, I think there is a way to send it by email or fax. It has to be there by the 25th or else they'll charge me fee. Thanks. I love you

Oct. 7, 2013

Hola! Thanks for all your help with my application. I'm planning on getting it all sent out today. I loved conference. I think it was the best conference I've ever seen. The talks were truly inspiring. I especially loved Elder Bednar's talk about Tithing, and President Monson's talk about Endurance. I just wish I had more time to be able to study them and listen to them again. But I'll just have to wait until the Liahona comes with all the talks haha. It's weird thinking that I've been on my mission already 22 months. I only have 2 months left. Less than the amount of time that I was in the MTC haha. I hope you have fun on your cruise. Maybe we'll have to go on another one in a few years when Kyle gets home. So Court told me she got asked to homecoming. I thought it was funny that when the guy left the jar of flour she didn't even look through it or anything. She just left with her friend. At least that's the story I was told haha. Hopefully that's a sign that she's not too boy crazy. haha At least that's what we can hope. My companion is doing pretty well. He's still adjusting, but he actually speaks spanish pretty well for the short time that he has here. He speaks better than the other new missionaries in our zone. haha Well, I hope you have a fantastic week and enjoy your cruise :) I love you and am thankful for everything that you do for me. You are awesome :) Haha oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about something funny that happened this week. On Tuesday or Wednesday, we got to our house and we got a call from some other missionaries that had a reference for us. So the missionary that was on the other side of the phone was telling me their information and all. It was pretty funny because he spoke spanish pretty well, but had one of the strongest american accents that I've heard haha. So after he passed me the info, I asked who it was. He told me he was Elder Kleinman. And after a few more questions, I confirmed that it was Clark Kleinman haha. What a small world it is haha. And in the end it turns out the reference wasn't even for our area. It was for another area close by haha. Anyway, I though it was pretty funny haha. I love you. Elder Janda

10-4-13 I didn't get Kyle's email. I'm glad he's doing well, even though I'm sure it must be difficult. Hopefully he's got a good trainer that will help him. Everything here is going well. That's crazy that everyone is going on missions haha. Things are going well with my new companion. Sometimes he makes me laugh because he doesn't really know what is going on yet. Sometimes he asks questions that to me seem obvious. I'm sure I'll be the same way when I get back home haha. And he's still trying to learn Spanish, but he actually speaks pretty well and understands well considering he only has two weeks here. We found some new investigators this week, but I'm still not sure if they are going to progress or not. Yesterday at church it was both good and bad. We didn't have any investigators go, which was pretty lame. We did have about 12 less active members go however, which was pretty cool. Hopefully they'll keep going. I'm really excited for conference this weekend. It's going to be awesome. I also can't believe that it's going to be my last conference in the mission. It's crazy how fast time is flying. Well, I hope you have a great week. I love you :) Love, Elder Janda

NEW ADDRESS Calle Porvenir #8 Col. Centro Chalco de díaz Covarrubias c.p. 56600 Estado de México, México

9/23/13 Everything here is going well. My new companion is Elder Parker from Orem Utah. He's a great guy. He's still learning Spanish and everything though. It reminds me a lot of when I first got here haha. It seems like a long time ago, yet time has gone by really fast. It's weird all the things that are different between here and the US that I don't even notice anymore. I hadn't even noticed how many differences there were until this week with my new companion. Haha for example he keeps asking me if things are safe to eat and stuff like that. Also the last few weeks we haven't had any running water, until just the other day we finally had water again. So in the meanwhile, we had to just heat up water in a bucket and then use a cup to pour the water on ourselves. I didn't even think twice about it, but he had never had to shower like that before. It's going to be crazy when I get home. Everything is going to be different. I still can't believe that Courtney is going to be 16 this week. I bet Luke will have changed the most, but I guess we'll see when I get home haha. I'm really excited for the general conference in two weeks. We also should have a baptism that same Saturday. The mom of the two guys that got baptized about a months ago, Fernando and Mauricio, has a date set for the 5th. Hopefully she keeps progressing so that she will be ready. How's Kyle doing in Africa? Where is his area at? As far as my application goes. I think I've almost finished it. I just need to know the date of my high school graduation and my high school GPA. Do you have that information? Other than that, everything is going well for school. I just need to record an audition and upload it, but I'll probably do that next Monday with my camera. Well, I hope everything continues going well and that you have a fantastic week. I love you :) Love, Elder Janda 9/16/13 It's been raining a lot here too. It's crazy. Everything here is going well though. Today is the Mexican Independence day, so this whole weekend we have had to be at 5 pm instead of 9. It's been nice getting to rest a bit, but it get's boring in the house haha. I had to write an essay as part of the music application though, so I took advantage of my time and got that out of the way haha. Other than that, everything continues fairly normal. We have a few great investigators that I'm sure will be getting baptized soon. The only bad thing is that now that they have to go to church 5 times, it takes longer to get someone baptized. haha this past week we had some trouble finding people to teach. Partly it was because all of our good investigators were in the church every day with the members preparing a dance for the stake party last Saturday. haha I'm glad they got to participate and get to know the members though. That is really going to help them stay active after their baptisms. I haven't received my new companion yet. Tomorrow is the changes meeting, but last Tuesday when we had the trainer's meeting, President showed us the pictures of all the new missionaries that are going to arrive. Three are from Mexico, one from the Dominican Republic, one from Spain, and bunch from the US, so the most likely is that he is going to be a white guy. haha It's crazy to think that I have less than 3 months left. Time goes by so fast. The other day my bishop told me that his daughter and her family just moved from Utah to either Chandler or Gilbert, apparently they're still looking for a house or something. It'll be interesting if they end up in our stake haha. Anyway, next week I'll have more interesting news about who my new companion is and such. I love you :) Have a fantastic week! Love, Elder Janda 9/9/13 I have the address, but it's in another email, so as soon as I send this one, I'll search it and send it to you. I'm sure it's been super quiet at home, but don't worry in three months I'll be there to make some noise :) Today we went to Teotihuacan. It was really fun. We went with the whole zone, between 20 and 30 missionaries. But a couple missionaries ended up separating from the pack and so at the end we had to go search for them, so we got back late. It was fun though :) I still can't believe that Kyle is already in Africa. That's so cool. I can't wait until he gets to his area, so that I can hear about how the work is over there. It's been raining a lot here too. Almost every day. In fact it's raining right now haha. I enjoy the rain, but I hate having to walk around in it haha. This week the work, was a bit slow. We had trouble finding people at home, which is always frustrating. Also, a lot of people with whom we had appointments were home. But it's alright the work continues. Last night they told me that I'm going to be training a new missionary starting next week. I'm really excited. It's going to be fun, I just hope he doesn't have too much difficulty adjusting to missionary life. I can't believe that in 3 months, I'll be back home. Time goes by way too fast. Well, hope you have a great week and I love you so much. :) Love, Elder Janda

8/26/13 I'm glad to everything is going well. Have you received any news about Kyle's visa? That's great that Grandma and Grandpa came but too bad that Grandpa Dale's kind of losing his mind. This week was really good. The two kids that got baptized last week both got confirmed and recieved the priesthood yesterday. It was awesome. Also Jorge got baptized on Saturday and confirmed and received the priesthood yesterday. Jorge is a 60 year old man who used to be an alcoholic and has also had several other difficult times in his life. He almost didn't get baptized this week because he needed a special interview, but the mission president talked to him on the phone and talked to the missionary that interviewed him and decided that he could get baptized. Our mission president also came to our ward yesterday, which was really cool. After church, he, with his assistants, came with us to eat. It was funny because all 5 of us are from the US, which nearly never happens. After eating, the sister that we ate with told us that she had had a dream the night before where she was serving food to 5 americans, but she didn't know who they were or why she was serving them or anything. And then we all showed up to eat haha. And her dream became true haha. It was pretty funny. Everything continues well in my area with my companion. I don't know the new address for the offices, but I'll get it or you for next week. I love you, and I hope you have a fantastic week. Love, Elder Janda 8/19/13 That's too bad about the weather. I'm pretty sure I'm going to either die or never leave the house once I'm back in the heat haha. I can't believe August is already more than half gone. Time is flying by way too fast. This week was pretty good. Fernando and Mauricio got baptized. They were both really excited. Fernando is 20 and Mauricio is 14. The baptism service was awesome. The room was completely full. There were probably a good 30 people there including a few people who weren't members. Other than that it was a pretty average week. I've been downloading and studying a lot of general conference talks lately. It's really cool. This week I was studying a talk by President Monson from back when he was Elder Monson in 1971. It's a great talk. It's called Lost Battalions. I've also been reading Jesus the Christ again. The other day, my companion and I were walking down the street and we saw some kids playing, and you'll never guess what they were playing. They were playing marbles. I thought it was so funny and completely random. Normally kids are playing video games or watching tv or just doing dumb stuff. But this time they were playing marbles haha. Anyway. I hope you have a fantastic week. I love you. Love, Elder Janda

August 5, 2013

Hola! Everything here is going pretty well. Tomorrow is changes, and I'm getting changed again haha. I'm going to stay in the same zone though. Elder Stevens is going to train. This week went pretty well. We worked really hard and taught pretty well and found some new people. The only bad part was Sunday. We had 22 people commited to going to church. On Sunday morning we passed by for several people and called some people the night before to remind them, but only 2 people went. It was pretty frustrating, but we'll keep working and seeing what else we can do tp help people go to church. Other than that the week went really well. This morning we got up early and washed our clothes and then we went to Walmart to buy groceries and to KFC to eat lunch. It was pretty fun. I'm really not looking forward to packing again though haha. Tell Kyle to take advantage of the time that he has left to study the scriptures and prepare to go out in the field. Tell him to study Preach My Gospel as well. The more prepared he is, the better he will be able to serve the Lord. I'm looking right now at the admission requirements for the Music Education major, and I need 3 letters of recommendation. Could you please get them for me. Lately, I've been studying Jesus the Christ. It is an amazing book that really has helped me to comprehend the ministry of the Lord. I've been realizing that almost all of the problems that he had teaching the people of in Isreal are the same problems that we face as missionaries today. Also I've realized that I still have a lot of improving that I have to do before I can become as my Father is. I know that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and that only through him and his atonement can I become better. I am so grateful for the blessings that I recieve every day, even though I don't deserve them and I know that God loves me and each of His children. I wish that everyone could feel and understand that simple fact, and my job here is to help them to do that haha. I hope you have a fantastic week. I love you. :) Elder Janda

7-29-13 My week was pretty good. The work was kinda slow this week. I'm not sure why. There were less people home and then hardly anybody went to church. It was weird. Also, the people that were going to get baptized, ended up getting a new job where they have to work on Sundays, and the husband started drinking again. We were pretty sad when they told us. Hopefully we will be able to get some people prepared soon. We have a lot of investigators that want to get baptized and go to church every week and everything, but the problem is that they aren't married and thay don't really do anything to get married. It's really frustrating. The good part is that this last week, we found some new investigators that appear to be interested. They were listening to the missionareis before, but never got baptized. And the best part is that the couple is already married, so that won't be a problem. That's really cool that more missionaries are arriving there as well. I'm really interested to see how the work is there. When I get home I'll have to go work with the missionaries. That's awesome that Marisa got her mission call to Queretaro. I've met several missionaries from there and they all say that it has awesome weather, and that it is really beautiful. I'm sure she will love it. For your sunday school class, I think the thing that will help them most will be helping them understand the purpose of families and marriage, which is to help us reach our divine potential as children of God. Maybe you could all read ''The Family a proclamation to the world'' together and analize what it means or something. Just study the doctrine, and allow the spirit to guide you and you will know what to do. I love you. And I hopeyou have a fantastic week :) Love, Elder Janda When they divided the missions, there weren't a whole lot of sister missionaries. I think there were 5 or 6, and they were all Latins. However, by the time she gets there, there will be more sister missionaries. As far as advice, just tell her not to worry. She is going to love it. The people are awesome. The weather is really calm. The only thing is that it rains pretty often during the rainy season. But it's not really a problem. (answer to ? about sister getting call to your mission) 7-22-13 That's cool that you found the chapel. (Eric googled and found on line) Today we went and played soccer in the morning. It was pretty fun. My companion and I get along really well and we work really well together. This week we had 9 investigators in church. And this Saturday, we're going to baptize 4 people hopefully. I can't believe that your vacations are already over. Time is going by so fast. It's ridiculous! haha Work here in my new area is going well. The area is a lot like when I was in Neza and the people are really similar as well, they have to same style of living, the same way of thinking and everything, so I'm already really used to it. That's cool that you saw Carlos. It's weird thinking that most of my friends that went on missions are already home. Only Wesley and I are left haha. Well, I hope you have a fantastic week. I love you and am so grateful for everything that you always do for me. I love you! Love, Elder Janda Here is a picture taken walking down the hill in my area in Chimaluacan. My companion, Elder Austin, and I decided to do some exercise on Monday and run up the hill. We were hoping to be able to get some cool pictures from the top, but it ended up being a rather cloudy day, so you can't see much. The second picture is taken from the top of the same hill. Here in Mexico, for some reason, they put big crosses on top of all of the hills. So here you can see the cross and some of the city down below. Again, it was a cloudy day, so you can't see much haha. Here is a picture of me with President Morales from the Southeast mission. The other picture is of the volcano, Popocateptl, taken from the roof of the house where I lived in Ozumba. 7-15-13 Hello! So this week, President decided to make some changes. I'm not in Ozumba anymore haha. Now I'm in a ward called Buena Vista in the Meyehualco stake. I still don't really know where it is since I just got here Saturday afternoon haha. All I know is that it is in Iztapalapa in the Federal District. It's a lot like Neza, just a bit more safe. My new companion is really cool. He's from Spanish Fork, but his mom is Debbie Redd from Monticello. I'm interested to see if you know her or not, because I remember having heard that last name before and he remembers hearing his mom talk about Blacks that she used to know haha. What a small world it can be haha. Anyway. Everything here is going well. We have lots of work in this area. We have several people that want to get baptized but have to get married first, and a few have to get divorced first so that they can get married to who they are living with now haha. Situations like that are frustrating at times, but it's all part of the work haha. I was going to send some pictures today, but I forgot to bring my memory again. I'm going to have to write myself a note or something so that I don't forget next week. That's crazy that Evan is getting married. Do you know who he is getting married to? Tell him congratulations for me. I love you and am so grateful for your great example and for everything that you do for me. You are AWESOME! :) Love, Elder Janda

7/15/13 Hello! So this week, president decided to make some changes. I'm not in Ozumba anymore haha. Now I'm in a ward called buena vista in the meyehualco stake. I still don't really know where it is since I just got here Saturday afternoon haha. All I know is that it is in Iztapalapa in the Federal District. It's a lot like Neza, just a bit more safe. My new companion is really cool. He's from Spanish Fork, but his mom is Debbie Redd from Monticello. I'm interested to see if you know her or not, because I remember having heard that last name before and he remembers hearing his mom talk about Blacks that she used to know haha. What a small world it can be haha. Anyway. Everything here is going well. We have lots of work in this area. We have several people that want to get baptized but have to get married first, and a few have to get divorced first so that they can get married to who they are living with now haha. Situations like that are frustrating at times, but it's all part of the work haha. I was going to send some pictures today, but I forgot to bring my memory again. I'm going to have to write myself a note or something so that I don't forget next week. That's crazy that Evan is getting married. Do you know who he is getting married to? Tell him congratulations for me. I love you and am so grateful for your great example and for everything that you do for me. You are AWESOME! :) Love, Elder Janda

7/8/13 I'm glad to hear everything is going well. Everything here is good. We met the new president and his wife on Wednesday. They are awesome. They're from LA and they don't speak spanish very well. President served a mission ni Boston Spanish speaking, so he knows it he's just having to remember, but I'm pretty sure his wife didn't know any Spanish before the mission. They are both awesome though. I really could feel their love for all of us missionaries when we met them. I'm also really liking my new area. Even though the work is a bit slower and it's harder to find people to teach, we just keep working haha. We are working a ton with less active families. It's sad how many people there are here who get baptized and then go inactive. We're helping them though. This week we met three new less active families and in each of them, there is at least one person who isn't a member. I also really like the ward and the bishop is awesome. The volcano has been spitting out some ash every now and then, but it's not too dangerous, especially on this side. Even if it did erupt most of the lava and ash and everything would go to Puebla because the volcano's crater is on the side of the volcano that is facing Puebla. It doesn't look like the volcano will make any big eruptions or anything soon, because it keeps letting out smoke and releasing pressure. Tell everyone I say hi and that I love them all. You are the best! Love, Elder Janda 7/1/13 So, I got transferred to this small town called Ozumba down by the volcano. I like it a lot. It's really beautiful. It reminds me a lot of the mountains in Arizona. Like by Flagstaff or over by Showlow. My new companion is Elder Jimenez. He's from El Salvador. We get along really well. We also live with two other missionaries, Elder Strong from Utah and Elder Hernandez from Veracruz. Elder Strong is really cool, but Elder Hernandez is kind of annoying. The mission official got divided today and this afternoon the new president gets here. I think we're going to have a zone conference to go meet him tomorrow. Hopefully next week I'll be able to send some pictures to you. Yesterday, we had two different groups of drunk people talk to us. It was kinda funny and annoying at the same time. The drunk people here always want us to help them stop drinking, but then when we go try to visit them, they're never home. And then they just take up a lot of your time talking about things that don't even make any sense and if you try to walk away they get mad and follow you. It's kinda frustrating, but I've kinda learned to deal with them haha. But this one drunk guy kept coming up to us and he was wearing a tie and kept taking it off trying to get us to trade ties with him. And then when we told us no he starting talking about the scripture where it says that we should give to the hungry and clothe the naked and all that. It was kinda funny, so then we told him that he wasn't naked and he basically said oh yeah, you're right and we walked away haha. Anyway, the work here is going pretty well. There are a lot of less active families in which not everybody has been baptized. So we're basically just trying to reactivate those families and get the non-members baptized haha. Well, I'm glad that you had a great week, even though it's extremely hot there. The weather here is nice and cool :) I don't think it ever gets above the 80s. Well, have a great week. I love you :) Love, Elder Janda

July 24, 2013
Hola. Everything here is going pretty well. It turns out I'm getting changed. Elder Austin is going to train. I don't know where they are going to send me though. It'll be interesting. On the 1st of July the mission will officially be divided and the Chalco mission will be created. Apparently there are going to be lots of missionaries that get changed tomorrow, so it will be interesting to see who stays in this mission and who goes to the other. This morning, my companion and I run up the big hill in our area and took pictures and such from the top. It was pretty cool. Some other missionaries were going to go with us, but then at the last minute they backed out. I think they decided that they would rather sleep in haha. The family of 7 that we are teaching are going really well. The mom had gotten baptized a few weeks ago, but yesterday got confimed. Everyone except for the Dad and the oldest son went to church and they really liked it. Tonight they are going to have another family home evening with some members in the ward. That's weird to think that Devan is home and that Spencer is heading out. Tell Spencer I say hi and wish him good luck for me. The broadcast yesterday about missionary work was awesome. It made me really excited about the work and I hope that the members here start getting more excited as well. And I can't believe that soon missionaries are going to be using computers and facebook and such things to work haha. It'll be interesting to see how the work continues to change as time goes on. Haha don't worry about Courtney; in December I'll be home and I'll run all the boys away from her haha. Well, I hope everything is going well there and that you have an awesome week. I love you. Love, Elder Janda

6-10-13

That's too bad about Kyle's visa. Tell him not to worry. Just to trust in the Lord. Everything will turn out for the best. I'm glad that you had fun at the reunion. Today we went to Zocalo. It was a lot fun, but now I am exhausted haha. Everything down here has been going well. Yesterday, I gave a talk on respecting church leaders because a lot of people here have problems with accepting and following the leaders. I feel like I did pretty well. I didn't end up having much time to talk though. The other speakers went a little over time and there were a few confirmations so in the end I only had about 5 minutes to talk. I feel like it was one of the better talks that I have given though because I didn't really feel nervous or anything. I can hardly believe that I already have been out here 18 months and in only 6 months I'll be home. I can hardly even imagine what life will be like after the mission. haha I'm sure it will be great though. How is work and your Sunday school class going? How is everyone else doing? Tell them all I say hi and that I love them. Today I got the birthday letters that you all sent me :) Thank you so much. It was awesome reading from all of you and seeing the pictures. Everyone looks so different haha. Well, I love you and hope you have a fantastic week. I am so grateful for you and the great example you have always given me, and for always teaching me to choose the right. I am where I am because of you and Dad. I love you so much and am so grateful for you! Love, Elder Janda

6-3-13

Don't worry about last week haha. My new area is alright and my comp is cool. It's Elder Austin from Utah. He was in my MTC district. We get along really well and are teaching a few people. The biggest problem we're having right now with the people that we teach is getting them to go to church. It's pretty frustrating because they always say yes to everything and say they will go to church and read and pray, but then they don't do it. We're working hard though and seeing how we can help them. That's awesome that Kyle already went to the temple. And I'm sure the family reunion will be a ton of fun. Well, I don't really have much time to write. In the morning we went and played soccer and football as a zone. It was a lot of fun, but I got really burnt haha. The only bad thing is that now we're having to rush to get everything done in time haha. Well, I hope you have a fantastic week. I love you. Love, Elder Janda

5/6/13

Tell Court good job on her soccer tournament! That's really cool that they got 3rd. Everything here is going well. The work is just continuing as normal haha. We're working a lot with less active members, trying to get them to go back to church. We've got a few reactivated, but there's still a lot more to work with. Mother's day here is on the 10th, so they gave us the option that we can call on Sunday, or on the 10th, so I guess we'll call on the 10th. What time should we call? This last week, we had to baptize a kid who it turned out wasn't in the church records. It was kinda weird, because he's been a member his whole life, but for some reason, there was no record of his baptism or anything. So we had to do all the ordinances again so that there would be a record of it. Today, we had a zone activity. We went and played volleyball and made hamburgers. It was pretty fun. On the 13th will be transfers. I'm pretty sure I'll get transferred because I already have quite a while in this area, but we'll see what happens. I can't wait to talk to you all on the 10th. Email me back to tell me around what time we should call you. I love you so much, and I hope you have a great week. You are the best! Love, Elder Janda

4/29/13

I'm really glad that everything is going well. That's really cool about Courtney's soccer. Hopefully that can play well and go to Hawaii. This week was pretty good. Not really much new going on. Elder Johnson, from the area presidency is going to come in a few weeks, so we're organizing a choir to sing at the meeting when we comes. It's going to be pretty cool. We starting practicing yesterday and it seems like it's going to turn out pretty well. We're also planning a talent show as a ward activity. It should be pretty cool, we just need the ward leaders to help us out more. They basically expect us to do everything which is frustrating since we really don't have time, but oh well, I'm sure it'll turn out. It's crazy that Kyle is going on him mission. I'm really excited for him. I know he's going to love it. It'll be one of the happiest times of his life. Well, I hope you have a great week. I love you :) You are awesome! Love, Elder Janda

4/22/13
I'm glad to hear everything is going well. It's so weird thinking that Mitch is married now haha. I'm sure the sealing and everything was really good. Hopefully Court does well in her games. It would be really cool they went to Hawaii. Work out here is going well. This week we baptized a lady named Rocío. Her baptism was great. She even invited some of her friends to come to her baptism and to come to church as well. Her baptism was also cool because we had been having some trouble finding new people to teach this week and a few hours before the baptism, my district leader called to see how things were going, and he promised us that we would have a new investigator in the baptism. So then we got to the baptism and the first person to get there was Rocío, and then a few minutes later her friend walked in and told us that she wanted us to go visit her and teach her. It was really cool. And then yesterday she came to church with her son as well. We're actually going to go visit them in a few hours. That's exciting that Melissa is going on her mission soon. I emailed Wesley, but he doesn't remember who she is haha, oh well. Anyway. I hope you have a fantastic week. I love you, and am so grateful for everything you have done for me. You are the best! Love, Elder Janda
4/14/13
Everything here is going pretty well. We're going to baptize this week which will be pretty exciting. That's awesome that Kambree is getting baptized! Tell them I say congratulations. There's not really much new going on here. This whole last week there have been two other missionaries staying in our house as well because they got changed to a new area and they don't have a house yet. It's been interesting, but good. The good thing is that I get along really well with both of them. Melissa hasn't emailed me. Oh and tell Mitch not to worry about mother's day. We'll get it all figured out. Besides mother's day here is on the 10th, so we might end up calling that day. I'm not sure yet. I'm really glad that everything is going well back home. And I hope you all have an awesome week. I love you so much and am so grateful that you are my mom. If it weren't for you and dad, I would not be nearly as happy as am I am or making the good decisions that I am making. Thank you so much. I love you :) Elder Janda
4/8/13
So my new companion is Elder Mendez from Puebla. He seems like a good kid and he definitely has desires to work hard and do things right which is really good. They also put another companionship in our ward, Elder Brown and Elder Cruz. Elder Brown is really cool. He's from California and has the same amount of time in the mission as I do. We get along really well. He actually reminds me a lot of Kyle haha. I did get to watch all of conference, and in English which was great haha. I'm sure I would understand it all in Spanish, but it's just not the same hearing when you are hearing a translator's voice instead of their own voice haha. There were a lot of great talks. I think overall the Saturday talks were better than the Sunday talks, but I loved Elder Holland's talk and President Monson's talk on obedience. If you want to teach about the apostasy and restoration, I would recommend reading that section in preach my gospel. It's great because it explains everything very simply and directly. Also a great example of apostasy in the scriptures is in fourth Nephi, after Christ leaves and about three generations later the people slowly start apostatizing. Oh yeah the new mission is going to be most of this mission but I'm pretty sure I'm going to stay here. When they divide the missions, all the missionaries who are serving in the areas that become the new mission will stay there and become part of the new mission. But also they are calling new missionaries there. President is actually starting to organize everything so that when they divide the new mission it's already up and running well and there is no awkward transfer phase. The new mission president is going to be President Crickmore or something like that I don't remember where they said he is from, but I heard he's a lawyer. What's your cousin's name? Well, I hope you have a fantastic week. I love you so much. You are awesome! Love, Elder Janda

4/1/13

Everything here is going well. Tomorrow is changes. I'm going to stay here, but Elder Zufelt is getting changed somewhere else. It's going to be interesting what happens with changes. A lot of people are getting changed and President is going to start organizing things for the new mission that will open in July. I'm glad to hear everything is going well. I think teaching the older kids will be a lot of fun. I would love to have that calling after the mission haha. It's so crazy to think that Mitch will be married in less than a month. Thanks for the pictures. It's great seeing that everyone is doing well. It's crazy how much everyone is changing. Ialmost can't believe it haha. Well I'm going to try to sends some pictures. Hopefully the computer decides to work with me this time haha. I love you and I hope you have a fantastic week :) Love, Elder Janda

Edda Lorna, Arturo, and Esteban's baptism

 Elder Laulusa and I

 Ofelia's Baptism

3/25/13
Everything here is going well. This last week was a bit tough. We had trouble finding new investigators, but all is well. We baptized the coolest girl ever. I'll send you a picture. She's 16 but she's sick and basically her kidney's don't work at all, and somehow it affected her growth, so she looks like she's about 10, but she's really funny. I remembered to bring my camera this time, so I'll send some pictures haha. That's awesome that Melissa got her mission call. (My niece to RoseVille CA) Tell her I say congratulations. And that is Wesley's (Morgan's good friend)  mission, I'll email him and tell her that she's going there. How did old blue die?  Who killed her? haha In your sunday school class, about the atonement, there is an awesome talk by Elder Packer in the last conference about lighthouses. You could share that. If the kids know the scriptures really well, then you could try to teach more from conference talks and the Ensigns and stuff like that. So this last week I sent my scriptures with this guy to get them recovered, because the binding on my bible had completely broken. Today I just got them back and their so cool! I had him put some new leather on there and it's like a light brown orange-ish color. It looks really cool. Book of Mormon It really is the cornerstone of our religion and the key to happiness. If you are looking for guidance to get closer to God. The Book of Mormon is the key. Anyway, I love you. And am so glad that you are my mom. You are the best! I love you :) Elder Janda

3/18/13

Hola! Sounds like everything there is going pretty well. Here too. This morning we went and played soccer and basketball and such with the youth from our ward. It was really cool. Yesterday, we baptized Paulino and Sandra. It was awesome. They were both really excited. On Saturday, Elder Quentin L Cook came and we had a conference with him. It was awesome. It was just all the missionaries from our mission. Also Elder Maynes from the presidency of the 70, President Benjamin De Hoyos from the area presidency and Elder Johnson, and area 70 were all the there. The talks were all amazing. I really felt the spirit and it made me want to work a lot more and a lot harder. They basically all talked about the importance of our call to be missionaries and about how we need to love the people. It was great. Other than that, the week was pretty normal. Lots of work haha. We've had basically every day so full of appointments that we don't even have to plan at night and the day is so busy that we are almost always running late haha but it's great. I just hope I get to stay with Elder Zufelt for another change. This change is going by so fast, I almost can't believe it. I was going to send some pictures of the baptism and such, but I forgot my camera at home. I'll have to send some next week. Well I hope you have a fantastic week. I love you so much and am so grateful for everything you do for me. You're the best! Love, Elder Janda

3/10/13

 I can't believe Kyle is going to Kenya! That's crazy! He is definitely going to love it though. Court told me she's going on the trek and I told her to ask you to help her find some of our ancestor's pioneer stories so that the trek has more personal meaning for her. I don't know if you have any stories haha but I'm sure grandma does. If you have time that would really help her and Kyle to get as much as possible out of the trek. When I was in the MTC I has a district that was almost all going to the Bahia Blanca Argentina mission. Maybe he'll meet some of them. Everything here is going awesome! Elder Zufelt and I work so well together. I could swear we are brothers haha. I just hope president leaves me with him for more than one transfer. This last week we had to go to immigration to renew our visas and I got to see a bunch of missionaries from my generation who I haven't seen in a long time. It was great seeing them. We baptized Edda Lorna and her two kids yesterday. It was a great experience. Her two kids are both really excited to go on missions and everything. I can't believe how fast time is going by. These past few weeks have gone by as if they were days. How's everything going on back home? How's everything going with planning the wedding? How's the Gilbert temple going? When is it supposed to get dedicated. I've decided that after I get home I want to try and work in the temple, either the Gilbert or the Mesa temple. I think it would be an amazing experience. Well I hope you have an amazing week. I think about you and pray for you every day. I love you :) Love, Elder Janda

 

 

3/4/13

Things here are going awesome. Elder Zufelt and I are working like never before. We are planning to baptize 14 people this week. It's not very common that two Americans are together and even less that two previous companions are together. I'm really excited though. Edda Lorna is doing great. She went to church this week and loved it. Her and her two sons are going to get baptized this Sunday. I'm really excited for them. It's the best feeling ever knowing that I am able to take part in their conversion and help them change their lives to take the necessary steps to have an eternal family. I can't wait to hear where Kyle gets called. I'm glad to hear that everything there is going well. It was great seeing the pictures that you sent me. Who is the girl Kyle went to the dance with? She looks familiar. The weather here has been really cold the past two days. It was really weird, but it was a nice change. haha Well, I hope you have an awesome week. I love you :) Love, Elder Janda

 2-24-13

Transfers were great. You'll never guess who my new companion is. It's Elder Zufelt, my comp from the MTC haha. It was really surprising when president announced that we were companions. I'm really happy to be back with him. I can already tell that we are going to work really well together. This week, we worked harder than I have worked with any of my companions that I've had so far. We have lots of plans to help this ward and I'm really excited to see how everything turns out. That's really exciting that Kyle is an Elder and that he's going to get his call soon. They're going to split my mission in July and it would be really funny if he got called to the other mission haha. That's crazy that Aunt Lisa met Elder Gantt. He just barely got home on Wednesday. He was one of the assistants to the president here in the mission. He's a great guy. I can't believe Clark is coming here. That's really cool. Tell him his mission is going to be tiny, but that it's full of people haha. This week was really great. We had some great experiences. In one of the lessons we had with a lady named Edda Lorna Piña, when we got there she was really worried and scared to continue basically because she's scared that she won't be able to follow through with her commitments and everything. So we basically just talked to her and helped her feel more confident in herself as well as in the Lord. Then at the end we prayed with her and had her ask if the Book of Mormon was true and if Joseph Smith was a prophet and if she should continue with us. After the pray we just sat a few moments in silence so she could ponder and receive her answer. While we were waiting I could tell that she was receiving her answer and afterwards, she told us that as she was thinking, she saw herself and her two kids walking out of the church smiling. It was a great experience and the spirit was definitely very strong. The next visit she brought her two kids, one is 12 and the other 16. They seemed really excited about learning and everything. In fact her older son asked us if he would be able to go on a mission like us. It was awesome. I really hope we can continue teaching them and they continue progressing because I know they will become a very strong family in the church. Well, I hope you have a fantastic week. I love you so much. You are the best! Love, Elder Janda

2-18-13

I'm glad to hear everyone is doing so well. It is great hearing from all of you. Tomorrow is going to be transfers, and my companion is going to be changed. I don't know who is going to be my new companion, but I'm excited to find out who it will be and get to know him. This week we spent almost all week helping some other missionaries find some people that they were teaching and prepare them to get baptized. It was great getting to work with them, and in the end three people got baptized and two or three more are going to get baptized next week. Yesterday, was our stake conference. It was awesome. The church was completely full. There weren't anymore seats left. We gave up our seats to other people and were stuck standing in the doorway or outside because there wasn't anymore room. The talks were all great. One of the counselors talked about the importance of sacrifice and the president talked about faith and missionary work. I also heard that nine new missions are going to be opened soon here in Mexico, and one of those missions will be here in Mexico City. I'm really excited for all of the big changes that are going on in the world as far as  mission work goes. It's definitely a sign that the second coming is getting closer. I love you all, and am so glad to have heard from you. I can't wait to visit you all as soon as I get home. Keep strong in the gospel. Always read you scriptures and pray. Love, Elder Janda

Here are some photos. I don't remember what pictures I've sent, but I don't think I've sent these ones. haha The first one is a family we baptized about a month ago. The second is with the family that had us over for thanksgiving and for new years. Love, Elder Janda

Here are some photos. I don't remember what pictures I've sent, but I don't think I've sent these ones. haha The first one is a family we baptized about a month ago. The second is with the family that had us over for thanksgiving and for new years. Love, Elder Janda

2/5/13

I'm glad to hear that everything is going well. So, today, I finally got my Christmas package haha. Thank you so much. I love everything you sent me :) I had just about given up hope that it wasn't going to arrive, so I was pretty surprised when we got to the zone leaders house yesterday and they told me I had a package. I can't believe all the things that are changing. The meeting with Elder Nelson was awesome. There was so much traffic that we almost didn't arrive though. We planned ahead and left at about 7:15 to get there be 8 just in case there was some problem, because the meeting didn't start and we didn't have to be there until 9, but we ended up getting there about 8:50. His talk was awesome. He spoke in English with someone translating which was cool, but there were a few times the translator didn't translate correctly. At one point, Elder Nelson was talking about how Leah the second wife of Jacob or Israel died in childbirth, and Elder Nelson, as a doctor, gave his opinion of how she died, but for some reason, the translator said that it was doctrine instead of opinion, and then Elder Nelson corrected him saying ''no doctrina, opinión'' haha. It was pretty funny. The whole reason that Elder Nelson came down was to announce that the church's high school, called ''El Benemerito de las Americas'' commonly known as ''El Benne'' is going to be closed down and changed into the largest MTC in the world, and that it's going to open as soon as school gets out. Which means, that if Kyle comes to Mexico on his mission, it is very likely that he is going to come to that MTC. Everything else here is going pretty well. There's not really much else new. That's cool that Ben Franklin is going to make a high school. Well, I hope you have a fantastic week and always remember that you are the best :) I love you. Elder Janda 

 

1/28/13

This week went pretty well. We ended up not baptizing the kids we were going to baptize, but the family we baptized two weeks ago got confirmed this week. It was awesome! Also, our mission president came to our ward which was pretty cool. Tomorrow, Elder Russel M. Nelson is going to come here to Mexico, and so all the missionaries that live within one hour of the temple get to go meet him. Luckily I live almost exactly one hour from the temple, so I get to go :) I'm super excited. I can't believe Mitch is engaged. That's way exciting. That stinks that you're all sick. Hopefully you can all get feeling better soon. I remember going to see the play forever plaid, but I don't remember what it was about or anything. Just that we went and we liked it haha. The weather here has been pretty nice. Sometimes it gets a bit chilly at night and in the mornings, but during the day it's just about perfect. I'm pretty sure I'm going to die when I get home because of the heat haha. Well, there's not much else new going on down here. I hope you have a great week. I love you :) Love, Elder Janda

 

 

1/21/13

I'm glad everything is going well. Everything here is good. We baptized a 9 year old kid from a less active family which was cool. Hopefully it will help them to become more active. I didn't get transferred, and I'm still with my same companion, Elder Ortega. There were several new missionaries that were supposed to arrive, and Elder Ortega was going to train one of them, but only two arrived, so he didn't train, and we're still together. That's awesome that you had such a great experience in the temple. I can't wait until I can go to the temple. That's so cool that Court won her games. I'm sure she is having a lot of fun. Tell everyone I say hi and that everything is going well. Yesterday, I got to give a talk in a baptize from another ward. It was one of the most spiritual baptismal services I've ever been in. It was awesome. I could feel the Spirit really strong and I could see that the person that was going to get baptized could as well and really understood the covenant that she was making with the Lord. Well, there's not really much else new going on. I love you and I hope you have a great week. You are awesome. Love, Elder Janda

 

1-2-13
I'm glad to hear everything is still going well. Sorry I didn't write you yesterday. They decided to change our P-day because of new years, so our P-day is today. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to find an Internet cafe open haha. We searched this morning for about two hours and not a single one was open, then, finally they opened one of the ones by our house. Last night, we went with the same family we went with on thanksgiving and they made us a really good dinner. I'm not sure what it's called or even really what was in it, but it was delicious haha. Then some other missionaries from our district came and stayed at our house since our house is pretty big and we watched a church movie. It was great fun. One of my favorite scripture stories that you might be able to use that could help explain a little about our relationship with God is the beginning of Moses, when God appears to him and tells him that he is his son. I'll look up some more scripture stories and references and let you know next week :) So this next Tuesday, is transfers, and this last week we found out that my companion is going to train, which means that I'm going to get transferred. I'm not sure where though. It'll be fun getting to know another area and other people and everything. This last week, on Friday night, one of the ward counselors called us and asked us if we would talk Sunday. I was glad to get to talk, but I didn't really have much time to prepare my talk, so it didn't turn out as well as I would have liked. It was still alright though haha. Well, I'm downloading some pictures right now, so I'll send some in another email. I hope you have a great week. I love you :) Elder Janda

12-24-12
Feliz Navidad! Well I don't really have much time to write. I just got on to tell you that I'll call tomorrow at 1 pm here. Which, if I am not mistaken should be 12 noon there. I love you and can't wait to talk to you tomorrow :) Love, Elder Janda

12/17/12
Things have been going well here. We had a few people that have gotten baptized in the last couple months, but either haven`t been able to go to church or always get there late and hadn't been confirmed, but this week we got almost all of them confirmed which was really cool. I looked on LDS.org and I saw the ward list haha. And I saw who the missionaries are, but I don't remember their names haha. Our ward looks like a great ward. I know a few people in it, and it just about every other ward in the stake haha. Sounds like you guys are going to have a great Christmas. It's gonna be pretty great here too haha. I'm sure it won't be the same as being home, but there a lot of really good members that have invited us to go with them or to visit them. And of course the best present will be getting to see and talk to all of you :) We've decided we're going to call on the 25th in the morning, but I'm not sure exactly at what time. I assume you'll be home most of the day though since it's Christmas haha. I've been feeling better. I still have a slight cough and every once in a while I get a headache, but I'm getting better. I hope you all get better soon. Yeah I heard about the shooting in Connecticut. It's really sad, but just remember, God is wise and just. He let's bad things happen so that we can learn and reach our full potential as his children. Also, all children are innocent and will be saved in the Kingdom of God. When is the projected date for the temple dedication? I love you, and pray for you every day. I hope you can always remember that you are a chosen daughter of you father and that we will be able to go back and live with him. I can't wait for that day! I can hardly begin to imagine the great joy and love that we will be able to feel when we live in his presence. I love you so much and I am so grateful that God blessed me to be your son. YOU ARE AWESOME!
:)

12-10-12
Things here are going pretty well. I've been a bit sick the last week, just a cold though, nothing bad. I'm getting better though haha. I'm glad to hear everything is going well. I don't remember Leif from that ward, but I do know who he is haha If he's in the ward I'm pretty sure that the Whitlocks are too. That's awesome that Kyle is going to start his papers and everything. I can't wait to find out where he's going to go haha. This last week, we baptized someone named Everardo. He got baptized about 10 years ago, but never got confirmed and never went back to church until a few months ago we found him at one of our investigators houses. We always thought he was a member until last week when he told us that he never got confirmed. So, we did some investigating in the church records, and he didn't appear as a member and we didn't have any record of his baptism, so we baptized him again. Everything else is going well. Basically the same as usual. Today we cleaned our house for about 2 hours because it was super messy, but now it's all clean haha. So, I'm still not sure if we're going to call on the 24th or the 25th. They told us that we can call either of those two days, but we have to talk to the members that we're going to go with and see when is better for them. I didn't get to see the first presidency's Christmas address, but I heard it was really good. Everything here is going well. This week I got a package from Aunt Lisa and a letter from Papa and a letter from Bishop Rowley. It was great hearing from all of them. haha Well, I hope you have a fantastic week. I love you so much. :) Love, Elder Janda

12/3/12
Hola, sounds like you had a great week. Things here are going pretty good. We didn't baptize this week which was lame, but we did find quite a few new people to teach. So hopefully some of them will get baptized in the next couple weeks. I'm still in the same area with the same companion. Last night, we went to the house of some other missionaries that live about 30 seconds from our house and set up a little Christmas tree haha. It was pretty fun. One of the missionaries is Elder Holt, from Mesa. We were talking and found out that he actually lives pretty close to us. He used to go to a gym on Gilbert and Germann and he always used to go to AMC where I worked haha. It's pretty funny how small of a world it is. That's cool that you got to go to the US-Ireland game. Today, we went to the mall again haha. I went because I wanted to buy a sweater to wear, because it sometimes gets a bit cold here. Elder Holt and his companion went with us too. Then we went to subway and to walmart haha. It was just like going to a mall in the US except that it's a bit smaller and there weren't as many people haha. Well, I hope you have a great week. I love you and am so grateful for everything that you have done for me. Especially all the support and love that you have always shown me. YOU ARE THE BEST! :) Love, Elder Janda

11/26/12
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! :) How did you birthday go? Did you do anything fun? This week was good. A family made us a Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. It was awesome. I almost didn't get to go though. On Wednesday night, the zone leaders decided that we were going to do exchanges until Thursday night, but then since I told them that the family had planned that dinner and everything for us, they ended the exchanges early. Tomorrow are transfers, but neither I nor my companion are getting changed. Which is cool because that means I'll still be in this ward for Christmas and new years and everything. I'm not sure what we're going to do for Christmas, but I'm sure it'll be great. We didn't baptize this week, which was pretty lame, but we're hoping to be able to baptize this next week. That's crazy that you are already moving everything over into the new house. I asked one of the missionaries here who is from Durango, he says he doesn't think he knows Pancho, but he might know one of his daughters. We're not sure though. Do you know what part of Mexico they're in? I know, it's crazy how fast time flies. I can't believe I've already been here nearly a whole year. It's crazy. And I can't believe it's almost Christmas. I say Court should stay on JV. She might not play against people that are as good, but she'll get to play more, which means she'll learn more and enjoy it more. Today, we had a zone activity where we went and played soccer and barbequed some meat. It was pretty fun. We made four different teams of 5 people each to play soccer, and my team won almost every time. It was a lot of fun, I'm pretty tired now though haha. I can't really think of many things specifically that I want. Just shirts and socks. And if you could send me an Arizona quarter. One of my zone leaders has a few of the state quarters, but he doesn't have one from Arizona, so if you could send me one, I'm going to give it to him for Christmas. And also if you can find the life story that Anthony Henry Janda wrote, that would be awesome. As far as ensigns go, they give us the ensigns every months, so I'm good. Thanks though :) Well, I hope you have a fantastic week, and can get everything moved into the new house and all without problems. I love you so much. You are the best! Love, Elder Janda


11/19/12
This week went pretty good. We had an activity on Saturday where the missionaries from the MTC came and we went with them to go contacting. I was with a missionary from Mexicali who is going to serve in Las Vegas. Then we spent most of the rest day trying to help one of our investigators, Jessika, get ready to get baptized. She almost decided that she was ready when her parents started telling her she should wait more time and stuff like that so she decided to wait. But then yesterday, at church, Elder Agurto, the zone leader came and so we convinced her to have the interview with him and she decided to get baptized later that day. It was pretty cool. Other than that, there's not much new going on. It doesn't really get cold here during the day. Just at night at in the morning, but I'm fine with the clothes I have. One of the missionaries here in my zone is from Durango, I'll ask him if he knows Pancho or at least knows who he is. For Thanksgiving, we're going to go eat turkey and mashed potatoes and hopefully pumpkin pie. Today, we probably going to go over to their house and help them make the pie haha. It's going to be cool though. It's crazy how fast time is going by. This transfer flew by. This week is the last week before transfers. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get transferred though because I haven't been in this area very long. Well, I hope you have a great week. I love you! Elder Janda