Almost Christmas!!

Ya this week is going to take forever!!!!! And I can’t wait to talk to you!!!!!! It is going to be great!! So also mission president said even if you have Skype you can’t use it. So only phone calls. And also I will call you. It is cheaper for me to call to the US than it is for you to call here. And the mission is paying for it. So it is good. :) All you have to do is be waiting for my call :) and I am thinking of calling around 5 or even earlier. I haven't set a time yet so just be ready to hear form me. 

Christmas does not happen here. I'm sorry to say there are no trees, no lights, no snow, but people know about it so they do it in there own way and that this is having a better meal on that day, maybe more people will kill a goat to eat or something but that’s about it. But us as missionaries ....we do the gift thing and we have a good time with each other and it is just a good time. But then it is straight back to working :) but I am looking forward to calling you guys!!!! it will be great!!!!! :)

I am glad that you are having a good time on vacation :) and I hope that you yelled extra loud at the BYU game for me :)
Oh, also I got the package you sent in Oct! it is great! I got everything! and I LOVE the new BYU shirt!!!! RISE UP is a great theme for this year and it also means a lot to me as a missionary and to every member of the church! and also I love the news paper you sent! it’s great! I would love to get a full one someday to update me more on home, if that is OK, but thank you so much for everything! and I am looking forward to the next one :)

That is super cool that you got to go to the Temple in Hawaii! I still remember going to see that temple and playing in the big reflection pool water fall thing out front. I would like to go see it again when I get back. :) hint hint wink wink :)  hahahahaha but I can tell you that I CAN NOT WAIT TO GO BACK TO THE TEMPLE!!!!!!!!!! I miss it soooooooooooo much. I didn’t think I would miss it this much because I didn’t go that much I mean I went over like 10 times but that’s not a lot at all in fact its nothing! but I miss the Spirit there! I look forward to the day when I can go through again. in fact I think that will have to be one of the first things that I will have us do when I get home. when you pick me up at the air port I will say can we please go to the temple right now? I hope that will be ok :)
Thank you so much for thinking of me like that, but I feel so far away from captain Moroni. but thank you for those up lifting words :) they really mean a lot to me :) they really really do. I will always remember them.

You are very much right that the world is going down hill! I haven’t told you guys most of the stories from here about people HATING the Church. But I can tell you that Satan has a very strong hold on the hearts of these people!!! I have never seen nor heard such hatred except for in the early days of the Church. But I think and hope that things will change. Just pray that their hearts will change.

Also I to am happy that we are on the Lords Team!! :) We will always stand for the right and that makes me happy that we can stand together!

Aimee....You know what you are talking about with mom and dad and me. I know that I have been able to see them in a different light. and got to spend more time with them, and when all of you say that I am the spoiled one I say yes because that is what I think of. but at the same time is swings the other way, because all of you have a relationship with each other that I missed out on, and I have to say about what you said, that sometimes I am a little sad that I didn’t get to have all of those experiences with you guys but I am glad with the way that it turned out. They are all of our parents and we are all brothers and sisters, the best part is that we are a family and that through Jesus Christ we can stay that way. :)
And about your boys. They are special in my eyes too. :) I find them as a source of strength on my mission. When ever I have a bad day or when I get home sick and want to leave I just think of them and I know that I can not quit because of what it would do to them. So thank you for doing your best to raise them. I can tell you right now..... even if I am on the other side of the world..... that you have done an AMAZING job! and Heavenly Father knew that you would, that is why he trusted you with his 3 little boys :) Thank you so much for being the wonderful sister and mother that you are! you are amazing and I look up to you so much! you’re great! also if you know any cute girls that want to write a super cool missionary in Africa you can give them my address :) just saying :)  
So you’re going to get your tonsils taken out? wow I didn’t expect that one. I hope it goes ok. and I hope it helps out. :) let me know about what happens :) what made this come up? when is it going to happen? 
 

I bet it has been crazy this week! In many ways I wish I could be there but I know that this is where I can do the most good for the family! I was reading the notes that were taken when I was set apart. It said that "my family would be blessed by my service." I know it is true! I can’t comfort Aimee and the boys the way that I would like but I hope they the boys will see how important a mission is. And if my mission helps Jeremy at all I just want him to remember his mission! I know that if he does that and remembers people he met and taught there would be a change. You know better than me how thoughts from a mission stick in your brain. But what I keep thinking about is that he was helping people to enter the Kingdom of God. I know that there will be people up there that will want to thank Jeremy for helping them get there. But I can't and don't even want to think of the sorrow of someone he baptized looking for the person that first showed them the way to God and him not being there. In the D and C 18 it says how great will be our joy if we bring one soul to the kingdom of God and how great will it be if you bring many. So on the other side how great will be the sorrow? I hope and pray that Aimee will have strength and that the boys will not lose hope and faith. And that Jeremy will remember the principles he taught in the mission field. If you can tell him something from me, if he has mission Journals and I think he does.... tell him to read them, even if it hurts read them!!!!! Don’t stop. He wrote down the feelings he had when giving the glory of God to others I know those feelings are still there in those pages!!! And I know that that the Glory in them will stand our very clear in such a great darkness. So please if this is the way that I can help please do it for me!!!!

Well thank you for everything you have done for me. Dad and also mom there is no one who has ever lived except for Jesus Christ that has influenced my life more than you two.   Thank you.

Life in Chuylu

Missionary work is always going great! You know it has is challenges but that’s not what they really are, they are just more blessings just hiding them self. Just another chance to prove our self to the Lord so it is always wonderful!
So about the new area. 
Chyulu is in what we refer to as  the bush because it is in the bush!! lol  People live here like they have lived for hundreds of years, most of them live in mud huts that they made themselves without power without water without anything like that, just a family to feed and a farm to grow things on. I think that is why it is called the bush but to tell you the truth I have no idea. :) The house is nice but we are cramped we have 4 elders living in a small flat. but that does make it very fun :) more people to talk to. :) all of them are great! and all of them are from Africa (except me). So here is farm country!! We have LONG ways to travel between people that is why we get bikes :) but it’s not like we are riding them on roads. We ride them on dirt trails, and the bikes only have one gear and are the OLD iron horses, they are .......................great. lol :) but they are fun and we do really need them.    So right now it is very very very very very beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!! everything is sooooooooo green!!!!!!!!!! it is the rainy season here so everyone is planting and doing their farming. I just have to say this--- that you guys think that you did farming????? I’m going to say no you didn’t on that one. :) see for service we go and help people with their farms or what they call "shambas" and the reason why I say that you guys didn’t do real farming is that you still used tractors. See, us when we help we get a hoe, or the old plow that is pulled by two cows because no one has horses here. I want to get a pic of us doing that so I can send it to you but I don’t have one yet but ya I will claim that I am a farmer now!! :) I hope that you are ok with that. :)  When you look around here you might think that it is something you would find in a old western movie where there is one major road with shops on both sides and that’s really it, yep that’s what it looks like in the "town". This place in many ways has not changed from the old times most people live in the old mud huts that they make by hand. This place is what people think of when I told them that I was going to Kenya. :) also another thing that is really cool is that I am right in between the two biggest game parks in Kenya :) so I hope that I will see some cool animals here :) I have seen a lot of snakes, in fact my first day here we had to kill a king cobra that was in our front yard :) that was super cool!!. but don’t worry we are safe :) we just got a very big stick and started hitting it till it died so we have a fail proof method :) plus the Lord is on our side :)

I am doing great!!!! this week has been good. we are working hard! my comp and I cover 3 branches here and they are having a lot of problems!!!! A LOT OF PROBLEMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we don’t know where to start! But we have a plan and I know it will work! One of our branches has been called the worst in Kenya so you can see that they have a lot of problems but we are doing our best and that is all that we can do. :)

Ok to start off I will answer all your wonderful questions :)

Logan- I don’t know yet about the mission report. I will want to do it so people will understand but still that is a long way off and so for now I won’t really think about it. :) and going door to door here is not like back home, or in the city its more like hut to hut. And they are super far away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Parker- The food needs work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! a lot of work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don’t think there are any words that I can use to tell you. So I think I will just have to make some for you when I get home :) 

Karee- you bet I will teach you Kiswahili when I get home :) if you want to learn :) and my companion is VERY nice!! He is from Nigeria his name is Elder Orton he is great :) and we are always trying our best to be good teachers, I really hope we are being nice and fun. :) I have seen a lot of animals :) but not the kind you are thinking of. The biggest animal I have seen has been some snakes and a warthog. Ya the snakes have been fun my first day in my new area we had to kill a cobra outside our house. :) That was fun. :) 

Libby- I don’t have a pedometer. So I can’t really tell you. Sorry but also in this part of the mission people are so far apart and our area so big that they have given us bikes to ride :) but not the bikes you are thinking of :) they are the OLD bikes!!!!!! even older then your mom and dad :) Hashanah (hope you guys know that I’m joking around) 

Quinn-no I have not seen an elephant yet but I am the place to see one. I am right between the two biggest animal parks in Kenya and it is the time for them. :) so I hope to see one. :) 

I hope that got all of your questions answered but keep the questions coming I like them a lot :) 

so thank you all for being wonderful :) keep up the good work!!!!!!!

Elder TTHodges

Missionary Christmas

A Missionary Christmas (author unknown)
I skipped the sales after Thanksgiving. The thrill just wasn't there.
No pictures taken with Santa Claus, My decorating has no flair.
His presents are shoes, shirts, and ties, two suits and socks...no fun. I've
bought him all white clothes because... This year I'm giving Christ my son.I've spent more time in the temple, my testimony stirred.
I've reread November's Ensign, Felt strength come from His words.
Our family prays more frequently. My tears are quick to run.
Abraham seems closer because, This year I'm giving Christ my son.
I wonder how those Lamanite mothers, gave their sons to war?
Or how the pioneers chose Zion , their sacrifice was so much more.
 My loss will be his presence, I'll miss his smile a ton.
For two years we will pray for him, I'm giving Christ my son.
I stare at his face when he's not looking. I memorize his eyes, their shine.
He's always hungered for the part of him, that makes his soul divine.
The stories and lessons he always heard, His choice and mine are one.
I'll put my faith in God's hand, this year, I'm giving Him my son.
Past gifts have lost their glitter; I think I finally understand,
Christ's birth should be celebrated by giving Him a hand.
It's because I know Christ lives and reigns that all his packing's done.
My gift has taken years to make, This year... I'm giving Christ my son.
I know there's One who understands, the sacrifice I'm making.
Who knows the gift I willingly give, The toll it will be taking.
For He has done it all before Greater love - there could be none.
For years ago God gave to me, His only begotten son.
The hands I washed, the hands I held, The hands I taught to pray;
Now knock on doors to find the ones who will listen to what he'll say.
Because I know Christ needs him, until all the gathering's done,
My gift has taken years to make.
This year...I'm giving Christ my son.
Love, MOM

First Transfer!!!

 I have some BIG news!!!  I am no longer going to be serving in Riruta. I am being transferred. I am going to Chulyu.(pronounced: CuLu)  I don’t know if you remember when we were at the dinner with that guy from Kenya and we were talking about places to go. We talked about Chulyu, how it is soooooo far out there in the bush, so it is going to be a real man vs wild trip :) oh and good news, because the people live miles apart we get bikes. :) but not the bikes that we think of. we get the good old Iron horse bikes :) so that will be..................fun. :) Chulyu is going to be crazy fun! just out there helping people build their houses out of mud :) its going to be great! :) But along with that news is some other, my comp and I are closing this area for Elders, now there will only be sister missionaries there. And that’s not really a good thing,  sorry to say that but its true.  When we told the people in the ward like the bishop and the mission leader, they were not too exited about it. They just said that the sisters have big shoes to fill. And that made me feel good :) so both of us are leaving. Like I said I am going to Chulyu and Elder Sumsion is going to Mombasa. I don’t really know much about my new comp. all I know is that his name is Elder Oten and he is from Nigeria and that he came to Kenya in the group after me. So new things are ahead. But I do have to say that saying goodbye to these people here was soooooooooooooooooooo HARD!!!!!! I have faith that everything will work out…. but with our investigators.. I just want to see all of them through to the end. And the members and I have gotten so close to each other! It is sad to go but I am looking forward to the next step. It’s all part of a mission so I just need to push forward with faith and love the next people just as much.

 No one here does the whole Thanksgiving thing. So you are going to have to eat extra just for me :) does that sound good ?:) plus on that day I will be on a super long bus ride to my new area. We got transfer news on Saturday and I leave this week on Thursday.  So not much is going to happen. But it will give me a lot of time to think about what I am thankful for :)

So it has rained like every day for the past week :) mostly at night. But we still have to deal with the mud, because that is what happens to the "roads" here. they turn into a soup that turns everything a nice brown :) there have been sometimes we would have to go fishing for our shoes. :) makes things fun :)

 Sorry I opened the Christmas package; the snowmen should have stopped me. :) but they didn’t. but thank you for the Frisbee and the cinnamon bears… sent from heaven :) I tried to make them last a long time but we all know what really happened :)

I was going to send a package home today, but it turns out that it would be over 10,000 KSH or over $100 so I don’t think I can send things home to you.  :( but I will try to send pics on a cd. that should work out ok.

T-Cakes:

I know I never want to forget about here so I bet it feels good to remember things :)

P-days here can be super fun or really boring. like we have gone and played games with other missionaries and also we got to see some cool things like snakes and animals and stuff. I have some pics that I want to send home. I am trying to make a CD or something. but when you have nothing to do they really suck. SO I got a dartboard. :) lol, it’s so cool! I am lucky to have got it too. :) but it will move around with me and help me stay in a good mood :)

I have learned that President B. will let us email family & friends as long as it doesn’t hurt the work, so if they want, let them send an email out :) or in that matter anyone in the ward or family friends :) I would love to hear from more people!

Well that is most of the news for this week :)
know that I love you!!!!!!!
Your son
Elder Hodges

This is an excerpt from an email I received from another MM after asking for information about the Chulyu area.

Dear Gaylin,
Our son Elder Ashtonn Jones has been serving in the Chulyu area for about 2 months he absolutely loves it there. I know when he was being assigned to his new area Pres.Broadbent told him that he was going to the promised land. Ashtonn has been very humbled by serving in Chuylu it's a very poor area the missionaries have an actual home with running water, electricity a refrigerator but no washer and dryer they wash their clothes by hand. But the other people in the village are not so fortunate. Ashtonn is a different person now and is very grateful for what he has. But I know that he has been truly blessed to be there he said in one letter that there is no where else that he would like to be. So they walk tons in fact he has already worn out a pair of shoes because they walk so much. They eat lots of fruits,rice,beans and he has even showed us some pictures of him killing his own dinner which consists of sheep and chickens but he said they only eat them about once a month because they aren't cheap. They have 4 branches there and the members are very helpful to the missionaries. They do a lot of service there Ashtonn has even helped build a home there and it only took one day. He is excited because there are a lot of members who want to be baptized. His favorite things in Chuylu are Mt. Kilimanjaro and the little kids that like to touch his skin all the time because some of them have never seen a white person before.  We hope that this has helped in some way let us know how your son is doing.

Sincerely,
Daneane Jones

November 7th

Life in Kenya has been amazing a real eye opener like always.

So you are reporting on the mission? :) I was wondering when that would come. But the only problem is that I don’t really know what to say. Just things like always go to the temple!!!! And that I love everyone! Truly live the gospel!

That is the biggest problem the Church has out here. People really know about the bible and even the book of Mormon sometimes but people don’t do what they know they should do. So all of us need to take a stand! And do what we know to be right!
And what we do for service is we dig "shambas" or a garden. Then we fetch water for people. Things like that. In other places they help people make their houses out of mud bricks. It really depends on where you are.
I have had 3 baptisms so far and many more on the way they are all great people! One of them we found through a little girl. :) we were just walking down the road and this little girl just started saying "how are you" so we went over and started joking with here and that is weird because we never do that then a man stuck his head out from behind the steal gate and said hello is there anything that we want. And we thought that he was the father of the little girl so we explained that we were missionaries and we set up an appointment and we taught him and now he is a member. But he is not that father of the little girl he just lived in the same compound. But it’s so cool to see some of the workings of the Lord, even through little kids. :) 
I don’t know if that is what you want but to tell you the truth I have a hard time remembering what American life is like. It is just so different here. 
It sounds like you have had a fun week :) its good to hear that you are having fun without me :)

Dad, thank you for the help about missionaries. I hope and pray that I can become like them in anyway shape or form. There are many times when I feel like I am not good enough to be out here. When I say something I really wish I hadn’t. Sometimes I just pray for strength to walk out the door. I hope that doesn’t sound like I am a bad missionary. I just want to do my best but sometimes I don’t think my best is good enough. Like we have this one investigator she is wonderful! One of our best if not the best! We had her baptism planned for this Sunday so we were going over the interview questions with her. When it turns out that she has participated in an abortion. So we talked to president about it and he wants us to postpone her baptism.  We didn’t want to tell her that but we had to, and so we did. She took the news very very badly. And in fact she didn’t even show up to church at all! Which is bad for her, she has been devout the whole time we have been teaching her. So when she was crying to us and asking why we can’t do it on Sunday I tried to comfort her but nothing I said, no scripture, nothing helped. I just felt like I couldn't help in any way. It was by far the worst experience I have had on mission!
But I will take what you said into my own study and I hope I can become a better missionary and a better person.
I am glad that sister Blackburn got my letter :) she truly is one amazing women I wish I had gotten to know her before my mission. She writes me almost as much as you guys do. :)

Sorry I don’t have a lott of time this week. It has been a really cool and crazy day we went and saw some snakes and animals here and now I have like no time to email sorry. But at least I got some cool pics out of it that I will send to you.

Bennions!

I am so happy to hear from you guys!!!!  I did get the Bennion package so thank you very much! I love it and you have been awarded 50 points for it :) yet now you are at 150 and still in the lead but only by 50 :) lol keep up the good work.
And holy cow Logan. I don’t even know how to program a computer. But that will be super cool for you! Work hard in whatever you are doing.
And you guys sound like a missionaries dream family!!! Helping less actives and feeding them there is not much more that they want other then referrals.

I love hearing from you ALL!!!

Oct, 24th & 31st

You are right this week was extra amazing! I loved it. We got to hear Elder Nelson speak twice! :) And it was amazing he even said hi to my comp and me when he was leaving because we were the only missionaries that could come to that meeting, but he said it was good to see us :) it was really cool he looks a lot younger than he does on TV. He spoke about the young women values and how they are for every one. He used a lot of heart examples like he always does :) but it was cool! Then his wife spoke about prayer and how when we pray in the name of Christ we should be praying like Christ would pray for us. It was really good! Then the next day elder Nelson spoke on how the little kids are the future of the church and what the parents need to be doing to help them grow to become strong. I took a lot of notes :) it was great! I am so glad that the people of Kenya got to hear from him! Many of them are amazed at seeing him! There was just such a spirit here. The only thing that I am sad about is that he didn’t have time to see just the missionaries. That’s the only regret but other than that it was AMAZING!!

So that was the big high light of the week, but it did have some downers. I thought that being the DL was going to be an easy and fun job but I have to say that I was very much wrong!   It’s mostly because of the sister missionaries. They have had a lot of problems this week. Let’s just say that they don’t like each other at all! And I have had to try and help them get past it. But man it is hard. But we have got it calmed down enough that their not treating to beat each other any more :) so that’s a good thing. :) Plus we had a huge rain storm for the past like 3 days and their house flooded. So this week has been full of fun things to keep me on my toes :)

Ok I forgot to tell you last week about this guy. But I think I found the black grandpa T. I am not kidding it really hit me hard when we saw him. It had been a hard day we had been bounced from a lot of our appointments so we were tracking and we were in an area that no one wanted to hear the gospel. But there was this old man that call us over to him with his hand. And he looks like grandpa! He didn’t speak English but we still tried to communicate with him. He was as tall as grandpa, he didn’t have a lot of teeth, and sounded like grandpa when he spoke. He laughed like grandpa. he did everything like grandpa. But the thing that really hit me was his eyes!!!!!! They were the exact same color!!!!! That bright blue!!!!!! It was so unbelievable!!! You never see an African with colored eyes let alone that bright blue!!! I don’t know what it was but I felt like it was grandpa just checking up on me or something. But that was a crazy day!!

So the work is going good we are planning on having 3 to 4 baptisms within the next month. :) It’s going forth! This work is amazing! It really is the work of God! Like Elder Nelson said all of the prophets in all the earths’ history spoke about the last days and how the Gospel will fill the whole earth. He said how amazing is it that we get to participate in fulfilling those prophesies. I am a part you are a part we are all a part of this rock that was cut forth from the mountain without hands that will fill the whole earth. It’s wonderful to think about!
 You know what it is like when you teach someone the gospel! You form a bond with people and it is just truly wonderful! I love teaching I just wish that we had more and more people to teach so we wouldn't have to spend any time tracking just teaching.

And I;m sorry to say that the people here don’t do holidays. They kind of do Christmas but really all they do is have a nice dinner. They might get with family but mostly they just get a chicken and have a good dinner. So they they just like the time off work. 

About the animals, I haven't seen too many but I have seen some cool ones. I will try to send pics to mom. And also some CRAZY CRAZY looking bugs!!! found a beetle bigger than my thumb, a bright blue caterpillar, and some SUPPER big spiders some really amazing looking birds some lizards tons of goats and sheep, almost got ran over by a big herd of cows :) just normal things like that, and the bugs here, they not to bad. But there are ALOT of flies!!!! It’s crazy and yes we do sleep with nets and those are nice :) plus its cool to say that I have to sleep with a net :) it is kind of a pain to put around your bed at night instead of just falling into your bed but oh well :)

Ya tell me about how time flies!!!! I mean I have almost been out 4 months!!!!!! When did that happen?????? I don’t know!!!

So about teaching about tithing, sometimes it is very hard to teach. But the most common is worse. See here there are WAY TO MANY CHURCHES!!!!!!!!!!! No joke I know that there is over like 150 different churches just in my area! All of them have different pastors and things like that but the sad part about it is that the pastors just "preach" for money! They take advantage of the people. Having a church is a business here, so most people find it easy because they already pay money to their pastor.

 The work is going good! Just had my 3rd baptism yesterday. :) That was good and I would have to say that he is the most powerful yet! And we have more coming we have at least 4 planned for next month! It is sweet all of them are powerful! But it is sad because the members don't help us much almost all of the investigators we have tracked into them. I have not baptized a referral yet.

So the work is going good we are planning on having 3 to 4 baptisms within the next month. :) It’s going forth! This work is amazing! It really is the work of God! Like Elder Nelson said all of the prophets in all the earths’ history spoke about the last days and how the Gospel will fill the whole earth. He said how amazing is it that we get to participate in fulfilling those prophesies. I am a part you are a part we are all a part of this rock that was cut forth from the mountain without hands that will fill the whole earth. It’s wonderful to think about!

But yes :) its good here :) I love it!!!! And remember that I love you :) and if you know of any girls that want to write a super cool missionary in Africa you can hand out my address to the ones you find worthy. :)

Oct. 17th

Baba ( that’s father in Swahili )

First of to answer your questions.
1. yes I am working hard but I feel like I can always work harder! I need more people to teach!
2.Yes I am loving the work!! I am even loving trackting. like I said I need more people to teach, and I am finding that trackting is one of the best ways for us here because the members don’t give us referrals at all. but when we get referrals they are amazing!!!!
3.The people here, it is impossible not to fall in love with them!!! I know you know how it feels when you have an investigator that you have been sharing the gospel with and how you form a bond with them that will last for ever! it’s a beautiful thing.
As for me this week has been a lot of fun. :) I got my new comp on Friday, and he is here and I am glad that I don’t have to leave my area anymore to be with other elders. I am still trying to get used to being the senior companion and all that but it is coming. :), also some shocking news is that they made me the new District Leader. That came as a shock. I mean I am only 3 months on my mission and very young! But I know that everything will be ok :) I know that whom the Lord calls He will also quantify them.
We finally got the CD's of conference so we started to watch them on Sunday. All we could watch was the AM session because the power went out, but it was cool because the power cut right after President Monson spoke so it was cool that the Lord let us watch all of the talks and hear the message then the power when out right after. so I am looking forward to hearing the rest of the inspired messages. 
so my week has been a good one I hope that yours has been just as good and just as uplifting!

MOM :)
My week has been wonderful!! your right it is kinda strange having and American comp. Even more strange that we were from the same MTC group!, but it is supper cool I hope I learn a lot from him and I hope he can lean some things from me. :)
Sounds like you have a lot o great plans back home! :) that is super cool I kinda miss working in the yard and helping around the house. Life is just so different here.
And I do know Elder Maxwell!!!! he is super cool!!!!  And he did come in the group behind  me :) and in fact he is in my zone :) He is really nice and a great football player! And he is just a cool cool kid!!!! That is cool that you kinda know his mom too. :)
About the shoes your right and you have no need to worry about me finding a different pair they sell them ALL OVER in the markets, there are A LOT of shoes. What I am thinking about getting is some rubber boots.
I am so glad that the plague is up :) that makes me happy! :) can I ask, do you think I should have left my commentary out or how do you feel about it?
My watch....I don’t really know what happened to it, I let some kids play with it then it came back broken,  sorry about that. 
Also I almost forgot that they made Elder Patten a D.L. too :) so its really cool!
The reason we had DVD players is for the new training program, so we could go over some things in videos with our trainers, but my trainer never did it with me I had to do it by myself and it still worked out ok :) we never took them out of the flat,  then we had to give them back.
I can tell you we will never get I pads in this mission! People have a hard time taking care of their phones let alone an ipad. I am not saying it wouldn't be nice but at least here it would be a bad idea!

:) My big Bro and his wonderful family  :)
so Elisa :) I can tell you that I have seen Pumba :), but sadly I have not yet seen Simba or Tamon. but I hope that I will soon :)
There is a cool story about a guy that we tracked into. We knocked on his door and he answered and even before we said who we are and what we do he invited us into his house and gave us some coke. Then we started to explain to him who we are and what we do. He got a little exited and wanted to hear what we have. So then we taught him about Joseph Smith and why that needed to happen and when we told him about the first vision he started to cry.  He told us that the night before he had, had a dream of a similar experience where someone saw some light and was told the truth about God.   That was super cool but that was not all. When we got close to the end of the lesson he started to cry again and told us about his father who died when he was 19 and the last words that his father had said to him and the last words of his father were "The Lord will bless you in your life", and he started to tell us that my comp and I coming to his house is what his father was talking about, and how he is ready to come to church and everything! It was sooooo cool!!!!!
I hope you like these pics I am sending :) the first one is me cooking a hamburger in my flat with Elder Patten taking the pic :) then the next is at Elder Pattens flat when we made some spaghetti :) and we put the camera on a timer for that one.
So my week has been a good one I hope that yours has been just as good and just as uplifting!
Elder Hodges 

October 10th

My Mother
:) putting you down as "my mother" made me remember when we would always read the little kid’s book "Are you my Mother." I will treasure those memories forever. and I am very happy to say that you are my mother. I love you mom.
I am glad that you had fun at the cabin. I am really starting to miss snow. :) here it’s starting to rain more and get a little warmer. but that's really the only change, and I thought to my self that if Provo was on the equator it would look exactly like Nairobi,  as far as plant life and things like that.
  I am glad that Jordan is getting exited :) and it’s a great thing to get exited for! it is already THE BEST THING THAT I HAVE EVER DONE!!!! I know tons of people say that but it really is and you will never know how true that is until you go and find out. I hope you let Jordan read the email I send, it sounds like you do. :) tell him when he gets on his mission he can email me if his mission president lets him, and do you know when he will start his papers? and also has Fano got his mission call yet?
This week will have to be the best week I have had on my mission so far!!!!!!!! It has been so much fun being with Elder Patten!!!!!!! He is just a really really fun guy!!! And we already have some supper cool plans to hang out when we get home! And it also sounds like you and his mom have been in contact with each other :) I think that is supper cool too. But it was nice having an American comp. :) We like the same things we even tried to make American food :) and we did a REALLY good job :) we made cheese burgers :) oh man those were soooooooooooooooooo good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! then we made spaghetti and that was also super good, we also went to a really really nice place to eat named "Spur" and it is just like a nice sit down place in southern Utah. We got all you can eat ribs and it was super!! super good!!! We just had a little taste of home this week :) but it might sound that we spent all our time eating and cooking. but we worked and we taught some really powerful lessons to people! We just work together so well! I can tell that we are going to be friends forever! :) it has been super fun. The only bad part is that we never got to bed on time because we were always up talking and the time fly's so fast!!!!! it has been GREAT being with him :)
But even though it has been great being with him I will get a new comp.  I can tell you that he is going to be just as fun! His name is Elder Sumpsion. ( I think that’s how you spell it) but what is so crazy about him is that he is a Mazugu or white guy! also from Utah. But what makes it even crazier is that we were in the MTC together!!!!!!!!! so I know him really well and he is a cool guy, and you want to know what makes it even more crazy???!!!! You and all of the family have met him!!!!!!! He was the other Elder in the Salt Lake airport when we went there!!!! So you have met my companion. :)  It is just crazy that we were together right from the start and now we are being put back together! :) I know I am going to love it!!!!!! and he should be coming some time this week. He is coming from Mawanza, that new branch that we heard about before I left in Tanzania. :) so it is going to be really cool :)
So about laundry everything is holding up fine the only thing is my shoes are starting to get holes and stuff inside and out, and I have only had them for like 3 months. but I have tried the best I can to fix them so that they will last longer, mostly with super glue :) they still have a lot of life in them so don’t worry about that :) Then about the pants they are all really good but I did get one snagged by a barbed wire fence (which are everywhere) so it has a little hole in it too but its on the inside of the leg so no one will see it, and its not to big.  The shirts I do have kind of a hard time keeping them white, just because it is so dirty here, and washing them is hard!!!!!! I would give ALOT right now for a washing machine!!!!!!! Most of the time when I wash I get little sores on my hands from rubbing the fabric across it so much and so hard but I know that they will heal and get harder so its better than at the start of  my mission  :) and plus I think it is a good skill to have :) 
I am looking forward to your package :) I always love getting those from you!!!! :) and I don’t know what I want for Christmas. plus it should be a surprise :) but I also am thinking of sending a package home for Christmas. the only thing is that I don’t have a lot of stuff to send and some of the things that I would send might brake but I think if I wrap them right it will be good. so I might do that.
Also I will try the pic thing next time because I didn’t bring my cards with me and also I think I will get a usb memory stick here and send it through the mail to you I think that will be the best way for you to get a lot of pics. so I will try :)

 So about the Payson temple, how much bigger is it going to be? Is it going to be the same as the Provo or bigger or what? and how long does it take to build a temple?   Also do you remember those 4 rules that the church has when it builds a temple? because I cant remember all of them. I just remember that there can’t be any dark places and that there can’t be any writing on the wall even for like measurements and things like that,  so if you could tell me the others I don’t remember what they are and even some people here that I have told want to know more about it, so if you could find those out for me that would be great.:)
man I think this is the longest email that I have wrote on mission :

Love to ALL!!

Sept. 26. 2011

                                                                                               
My week has been great!!!

 I love it here! And I'm sorry that you are all alone in the house, and thank you for telling grandma hi for me :) ya - if dad comes home and the lawns not mowed..... well you know how he is lol : just kidding.
That is really sad that you didn’t get the cd of photos. that was the main part of it. But oh well I will just make another one :) sorry it has taken so long to get pictures to you.

 So I do have a story for you :) it’s about one of our investigators. Hussain, he used to be Muslim but converted to Christianity. He said that he was growing up and being trained to become a leader in the Muslim religion when he became blind and paralyzed and for the 3 days that he was blind he said that Christ came to him and told him of the truth and he said he was paralyzed for 7 months, but when he was well he told his family who then tried to kill him so he had to flee for his life but not after he had been shot in the leg and persecuted by his family.  For safety he came to Kenya because he was living in Ethiopia, so he ran away from his family but not till after being shot and all that mostly by his uncle and father. He has been here for 8 years but he can’t work here because he doesn’t have a working permit, so he doesn’t have a job and he and his family are being kicked out of their house on Friday. But still in the mist of all of this hardship I have never seen so much faith. He has never stopped trusting in the Lord, and now we are teaching him the lessons. So I hope that everything will work out with him, if you could send some prayers his way I know that will help a lot!!

The work is going great! We have a lot of investigators coming to church and 6 have baptismal dates! :) One of them for next week. :) His name is Alan and I have to say he is our best investigator! He is going to be a STRONG member!!! So the work is going really good! :)

No I don’t spend my whole day emailing – ha ha :) we clean the flat we do our laundry. And we also do a lot of activities with other missionaries. Like last week we went and watched some tribal dancing that was cool. It was really neat to see how some of the dances looked like some of the Native American dances.

Don’t worry I am taking care of myself mom :)  we eat healthy things mostly its rice and beans. It makes be laugh because we would joke before how I would get sent to a place where all I would eat would be rice and beans, and in a way it came true :) it’s not all we eat but we have it A LOT!!!!!!

 I am looking forward to conference and I will love to read that talk from Pres.Uchtdorf that you are talking about. But for us we don’t watch it live. We watch the recording at the church like a week or two after it happens for real. So we all watch it there. We could watch it online if we wanted but we would have to stay up all night so that would not be a good idea. So I am looking forward to that and also I am looking forward to seeing Elder Nelson!!!!!!! He is coming here on the 29th of OCT. its going to be GREAT!!!!!

It’s great to hear from all of you. :) It is crazy this month has gone by so fast at least for me I don’t know about you. But it has been a good month for the work here:)

Libby: I am serving in a part of the city of Nairobi named Riruta. I have been in the same place for almost 3 months. and I have had only 1 companion but he is going home on Oct 6 so when he leaves I will get a new one. :)

Logan: what happens is that we get the recording of conference and then we all go to the church to watch it. so we watch it maybe a week or two after it really happens.

Parker: that is supper cool that you are going to be a teenager. Just don’t be a stupid one. :) And yes we get a lot of home work on a mission. We need to find things to help our investigators and plus we get to teach lessons in church all the time because the teacher doesn’t show up or something so we have to be ready. And plus every day we study the scriptures for two hours. :) so ya we have homework :)

KC: Yes, I will send you a post card. I am trying to find  you a really cool one :) and no I don’t have to learn Spanish :) I have to learn another language called Kiswahili :)

Jameson: So the coolest thing that has happened to me on my mission so far? Well I love spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, but I know that’s not what you want to hear. :) There are a lot of things that I could tell you but most of them are not really that cool they are more sad and scary. I can tell you one cool thing - I have eaten fish brain and eyes and the whole head. even the bones :) that was cool even if the bones were really really crunchy. :) and yes I have seen a lot of bows and arrows and spears. A lot of them. and it can get really hot but it can be cold to. But on the coast it can get REALLY REALLY HOT!!!!!!! like you have no idea. I do like my Ward here. They are very nice people!

You will find that where ever you go in the world you will always feel as if you are at home if you find a branch of the Church. And not really anyone has iPods or computers here. People don’t have cars. You need to know that the people here don’t live like you do. Their house is a one room tin shed. Most homes don’t have their own bath room. and they have to go outside to use the toilet. and it’s not like ours it’s a hole in the ground that you have to squat over. You need to know how blessed you are to live like you do.

I am in a part of Nairobi. And Nairobi is the biggest city in east Africa I am in a place called Riruta and that is just to the West of down town about as far out of town as you can get and still be in town if that makes sense. There is one other kind of big city but it’s on the coast called Mombasa. But it is not even close to as big as Nairobi. and those are really the only 2 city's here. The rest are towns, and yes they are like in the movies with the dirt roads, but that is not just out of the city. No, lol that is also in the city. Like where I am at I think we have 4 to 6 paved roads, the rest are dirt/mud/trash/other things that we don’t need to talk about, but when you get to town center it’s like a big city. It has tall buildings and everything. I hope that answered your questions. I love answering questions like that so keep them coming :)

Thank you again :) I love you all!!!! Don’t forget to read your scriptures!!!!!!!!! :)

September 12, 2011

I will look forward to getting the life history of Grandpa. That will
be nice to read.

About the charger, its ok, I went and bought one, it’s all good now.
and I met the Walderan’s :) they are wonderful people!!!! I was very
lucky to meet them :)

Ok, so about this sister that is going to Provo. Her name is Sister
Lilian. She is WONDERFUL!!! She is very nice and talkative. She is a
VERY GOOD singer as well. Her calling is Stake music director. but I
know you will like her a lot. I gave her the home phone number and the
address and told her to call and if she needed a ride you or dad could pick
her up if that’s ok. I plan on sending some things with her, nothing
much just some pics. She leaves on Thursday so I don’t know when she is
going to get there. But I really hope that you will be able to meet
with her and talk.  I don’t know what to have you send back with her, you know you don’t really have to send anything (but a washing machine would be nice :)
just kidding :) but come to think of it some more Alfredo packets
would be nice :)  :) :) :) :) :) :) they didn’t last as long as I would
have liked.

So I did go and look at the pics on the Byrds blog and your right that
is me :) we had a Mormon helping hands day, didn’t I tell you about that?
If not I’m sorry, we went to this place and did a lot of stuff like
paint, move rocks, plant trees, rake rocks, more & more rocks, and burn
trash. :) so that was fun in that pic with me looking at the BIG rock.
What was going on is that we needed to brake it up, so some of us were
taking turns at hitting it with this big mettle rod, and because I am
really big, especially compared to these Kenyans, I got picked to help
brake the rocks, but that was fun :) and it wasn't just Nairobi it was
the whole of Africa :) all of the Stakes and wards were asked to do
service on one day it was supper cool!!!!

Oh and before forget. I love getting sister Blackburn’s letters!!!!!
Can you tell her thank you for me and that I will be sending her a
letter soon. Also can you tell her to put my full name on the letter
like Elder Tyler Treasure Hodges, because for some reason Salt Lake
keeps telling me that she needs to do that, so if that is ok.

And I can’t wait for the letters from the primary!!!!! That is going to
be soooooo cool to get!!!!!!!! And it is even cooler that Caleb was
one of them that got to write to me!!!!!! :) I will be looking forward
to getting those letters! :)

As for me this week has been really good :) we worked really really
hard! We taught a lot of people, and we are getting more and more
people to teach!! My area is great!, but before I came it was dead I
don’t know why because the people here are ready for the gospel. In
fact we have so many people that we can’t see them all in one week. One
of the things that I am scared about is losing investigators just because
we don’t have time to see them. So the work here in Riruta Kenya is
going very very well. The only down fall is the members, like 80% of
them are inactive and we don’t know where they live or their phone
numbers or anything. So I don’t know how we are going to find them. But
we are praying and working. Also we had Stake conference on Sunday.
That was really cool! It was also the first time that I got to wear my
suit on my mission!!! :) but it did make me think of stake conference
back home and in the Provo Tabernacle and how sad it is that it burned
down. Do you know if they are going to rebuild it? ( I asked the same
question to dad but I am guessing that he will forget to answer it :)
so I am trusting you ) so it has been a good week for me :) but I am
kind of thinking that I want to get out of the city of Nairobi. I just
want to go out and experience more of Kenya see more people and
things. But then another part of me wants to stay here because I LOVE
going to the office and seeing president so much! that is wonderful
also I get mail really fast :) so I am kinda torn, but I know that
right now at this point in my mission this is where I need to be. So I
am doing my best.

So it sounds like you have been really really busy back at the home,

And all around that part of the country. I mean working hard in Provo

then going to Idaho then right after going to Vagas. I mean that’s a lot of running around.

I really wish I could have been at the funeral of Grandpa but I know

the best thing that I can do is be here. I hope it all went well.

That’s also cool that you are going to go back east again. I know you

and mom will have fun time like you always do. :) And I was kind of

wondering if the exchange club did anything cool for the 10 year

anniversary of 9-11? If so what did you do? I tried to explain to my

comp what 9-11 was like in the US he never thought that it had such a

big impact.

And I am super bummed that BYU lost to Texas! They need to kick it in

to gear. It doesn’t sound like you are yelling at the TV loud enough :)

And you were right I heard about Grandpa's death when I

read your email. And then the day after I was on splits with the Zone

Leaders and we got a call from President but we were in a lesson so I

just had to hang up on him before he said anything. But then we called

back and asked if I knew and I said that I did. So that is what

happened. But then the day after I went to the office for our weekly

DDM and he was there and he gave me a hug and said that it was from

Grandpa so that was nice.

It also sounds like you are working hard on the house :) that’s super

cool! And I am happy to hear that it wasn't me that took the fence out

this time :) although I might have helped it along. :) I bet it looks

great! I hope you have Jordan helping you or something. :)

That is super sad that the Westover’s are selling their part in the

Cabin. Did they say why? Did you tell them that I would by it in like

20 years? :)

I love hearing about you and the temple! And how long have you been

working there now? Like 8 months? And they made you an assistant

Coordinator? How does that change what you do? If you keep moving

like this they are going to ask you to be Temple President in like 4

Or 5 years :) lol, keep up the good work dad :) it blesses all of us :)

 We found out that Elder Nelson is going to be here on the 29th of

October!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t wait to see him. I

hope he comes and has a talk with just the missionaries!!!!! That would be so cool!!!!!!

So life is good here :)

Elder T. T. Hodges