9/27/09 update

Daniel is continuing to work at the mission office. One of his tasks has been to help get new cell phones for the missionaries. Mostly he helps take furniture out of apartments they are closing out, clean the apartment, and dispose of the items. Some of it they sell, some they take to the dump, which he described as being cool. He did not get to make the trip to Erie, they had a senior couple there take care of closing that apartment. In his last e-mail he asked for people to send him pictures electronically so he can upload them into his digital picture frame.

9/18/09 Update

Daniel was recently tranfered to Pittsburg to serve in the mission office. He is now living in Bethel Park and goes to the Pittsburgh 2nd Ward. While he will still get to do some teaching, his main responsibility at this time is assisting the senior couple with closing out apartments that are no longer needed due to the reduction of missionaries in this mission. In last week's e-mail Daniel commented on driving the mission's big 14 passenger van and pulling a trailer to help move stuff. They have 6 apartments to get closed out over the next month. One of them is in Erie, PA so he will get to go up there next week. He has also been helping get new cell phones for the mission to use. He said the new ward is nice. There were about 100 people there last Sunday which is a lot more than he has been used to lately.

8/20/09 update

Daniel has not provided much information for an update. We have learned that he attends the Knox Branch. On his first Sunday there they had 30 in attendance. They do not have any investigators they are working with. They do service work at the local Goodwill. They help in any way needed - stocking the shelves, bagging clothes, etc. He says they have fun and they give them discounts on the things they sell. Daniel has determined he would like to attend Idaho State University when he completes his mission. He has found that there is a lot of difference with the Pittsburg Mission compared to what he was used to in the Harrisburg Mission. He is, however, enjoying it and continues to love serving.

7/30/09

Daniel has been transferred to the Clarion area of Pennsylvania. The nearest town to where he is is a little place called Shippenville. Shippenville is about 80 miles northeast of Pittsburg and had a population of 505 in 2000. The nearest church congregation is a branch in Knox, PA, about 5 miles away. This branch is part of the Brookville PA District. The district is made up of 9 branches. Before Daniel left Middletown he had to do something to dispose of his bike. He was aware of a family in the ward that was out of work and needed a bike, so for the cost of going out to dinner he sold them the bike.

7/21/09

Daniel has been gaining lots of experience while in Middletown. He has found that the people there are not very interested in learning about the gospel and it has been hard to find people to teach. Sometimes this has been pretty frustrating for his companion. Daniel is learning how important it is to choose your attitude and that you might as well have a postive one.

Daniel has meet his new mission president, President Summerhays. He wants to get rid of all the bikes so Daniel will be trying to sell his there rather than shipping it home. They had a chance to go to Hershey and tour the chocolate factory. They only did the free stuff, but said it was nice.

In a recent letter Daniel related the following experience: I was on exchange in the morning and they had an appointment with a preacher so we went there. He was a nice guy. He wanted to show us a movie so we said okay. Turns out the movie was about how the Book of Mormon is wrong. They even included a quote from President Hinckley, but they had twisted it around which was sad. I found the correct quote from the April 2002 conference and they sure had it out of context. The preacher also said you cannot go by feelings as far as gaining a tesitmony! Oh, well.

Daniel has figured out his return date will be June 30, 2010. He is hoping we can return that summer to tour his mission and go see the Hill Cumorah Pageant.

6/19/09

Daniel has learned that with the combination of the Harrisburg and Pittsburg Missions, his next transfer will be on July 28. So, he will be in Middletown at least until then. With the Pittsburg Mission they have all the mail go directly to the missionary's address instead of through the mission home. So, use the address under his picture for all letters to him.

In his current location he is serving in the Hershey Ward. That ward also has some sister missionaries. The sisters are actually in Hershey, the elders in Middletown. Daniel says there are currently no members in Middletown. In this area Daniel is finally riding his bike. After doing this for a couple of weeks he is starting to get used to it.

6/14/09
This week Daniel hits his half way point in his mission.

Last week Daniel was transfered from Johnstown to Middletown. Middletown is a community of about 10,000 people located about 15 miles southeast of Harrisburg. In his first e-mail from his new home he did not give us any information about the place or his new companion. That is at least partially because the computer he had to use at the local library caused him some problems and he did not have time to complete a longer e-mail. He did say he will be riding his bike in this area. The area is hilly so this caused him some concern with his asthma.

This is a small world and church. While in Johnstown Daniel got to know one of the families in that ward. It turned out that the wife in the family is from Mesa and has a sister who works for the City of Mesa. They really enjoyed getting to know Daniel and said he is doing a good job as a missionary.

5/18/09 E-mail

Daniel did not have much to say in his e-mail on May 18. He has learned a little more about the change to the Pittsburg mission. For transfers they sometimes use Greyhound buses, so they are just limited to their suitcases to pack their clothes and things. He has been using an extra tub, so he will likely be sending some things home. The 18th was his 20th birthday. He and his companion were going to go golfing for their P-day.

5/11/09 update

Yesterday was Mother's Day so we got to enjoy a wonderful call from Daniel. He is doing great. He is so committed to the gospel. He encouraged us to read and study regularly from Preach My Gospel so we can be ready to go on a mission when I retire. He likes the weather warming up and being in a larger city. He got to split with the other elders in Johnstown recently. The other group is in one of the few bike areas in this mission so he finally had to ride a bike. He said the hills were killers. He would take riding a bike on flat land here in hot Mesa any day. He has found out that the Pittsburg mission has no bike areas so once they combine he may go ahead and send his bike home. He says the new ward he is in is great with lots of friendly people. They have a few people they are working with that seem to be progressing. Next Monday, May 18, is his birthday.

5/01/09 update

On April 10 Daniel and his companion got to baptize Suede. Here is a picture from that baptism.

On April 27 Daniel was transfered to Johnstown, PA. Johnstown is located in the western portion of the mission, only about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh. Johnstown is famous for its floods. This is the biggest town Daniel has served in - over 23,000. The terrain is very hilly and forested. Daniel's new companion is Elder Reese from New Mexico. Elder Reese has been out only a few month's longer than Daniel.

4/6/09 update

The big news from Daniel is that he will not be coming home from the Pennsylvania Harrisburg mission. He will be coming home from the Pennsylvania Pittsburg mission. As of July 1, when Elder Pugh, the Pennsylvania Harrisburg mission president, completes his service they will be combining the Harrisburg mission into the Pittsburg mission. That gives the mission the entire state except for the Philadelphia area. He does not know anthing else about it at this point. Daniel is looking forward to a baptism this weekend. He said he really enjoyed conference, particularly Elder Bednar's talk. He and his companion got to teach a combined RS and priesthood lesson recently on PMG. They taught how members should learn from it and use in just like the missionaries do. They have still been doing a lot of tracting, but do not have many people they are working with.

3/16/09

Hey-
Well, for once I'm staying in the same area and I'm still going to be with Elder Dorius which will be a lot of fun. We get the call Saturday night that tells us if we are going to stay or not. Well, did you ever get an e-mail from Sis. Epler? She was going to e-mail you and send you a picture. Well, we are still working with Suede and he is suposed to get baptized soon. We are still working out a date so that is going really well for us. I'm glad to hear that Darcy won, that is really cool. I have 66 more weeks and I'm going to be able to call home in about a month so that is cool. That is a good scripture that you used (2 Ne 2:25). We use it a lot of the time to teach people about the fall of Adam. So, how is Darcy doing? I still have not gotten a letter from the Williams which makes me said because I really want to hear from them and I want to know how they are doing and know if they are still going to church or not. Well, I will talk to you latter. Daniel

3/9/09 E-mail

Hey-
Well, did you get Sis. Epler's e-mail? That is Suede's mom. (Suede is a 13 year old young man Daniel has been teaching.) So, if you get it you know who she is. We haven't talked about getting Suede baptized just yet. We are going to wait just a little longer to talk about it with him. Well, this is the last week of the transfer and I have 67 weeks left today so that is cool. I started with 99 so I'm down almost 33 and I will have only 11 transfers to go. Pres. Pugh is back in the mission, but he only has 2 transfers left. He goes home on June 31 and we get a new mission President on July 1. We still don't know who the new president will be yet. I did get the oranges but not the grapefruit. I wouldn't send anything to the apt now just in case I get transferred next week. Just send anything to the mission office. That will be fun to see if I keep up the same pattern of getting transferred. If that is the case, I will be getting transferred and I will still have a comp for only one transfer and I will not be in a area for more than two transfers. Well, nothing really new with us. Do you remember Elder Russell, one of my companions in Waynesboro? He is now AP. I think that is it with us for right now. I love you lots and I will talk to you in almost a month. Daniel

February E-mails

We have been busy and unable to update Daniel's blog for several weeks. The following is a summary of the news since Feb. 2.

Daniel got a new companion on Feb 2. His name is Elder Dorius. He is from Idaho and is really nice. They have several people they are working with, but they are having a hard time getting them to come out to church. They seem to think having the missionaries come to their house is the same as going to church. They do have a 13-year old boy who has come to church. His name is Suede and he seems to be excited to do what they ask him to do. There is a zone conference this coming Friday in State College. Daniel and his companion will travel to Williamsport on Thursday evening to make it easier to get there on Friday morning. Daniel sent us the following quote: "True righteousness is based on the intent of the heart."

2/2/09 e-mail

Well I'm getting a new Elder today. I don't know who yet. I'm in Bloomsburg right now with another elder because he is getting a new companion, too. They had me and Elder Bakker drive here last night and the two elders who are getting transfered went to Harrisburg today. We are waiting for the two new elders to come here. They will get here around 2, I think, because the meeting starts at 11 and gets done at 12:30 and then they come back here. Then me and my new comp will have to drive back up to Sayre. So I will be able to email you again today and tell you who I'm with (as it turns out, Daniel was not able to e-mail again that day). If he is having his b-day with me that will be funny. What else? I had a list of stuff I was going to ask you to send me. I need some more zyrtec (I think that is how you spell it - it is alergy stuff). So if you could send that and also some dice and the rules for farkle and a deck of cards that would be great. Elder Bakker had the autobiography of Parely P. Pratt and I got a copy of it so I will send it to you. It is on cd. It is so good! You won't want to leave the car once you start it and it is like 12 cds. It is long, but way good. I think that you will enjoy it a lot. Love, Daniel

1/26/09 e-mail

Nothing really is going on right now. We found this girl on Tuesday who was way nice. Her name is Liz and we are going back and seeing her this week. Pres. Pugh is still out of the mission as far as I know. He was hoping to be back at the latest this past weekend, but he wasn't able to so we fasted for him. I don't think he his back yet but we are the last to know anything. We don't even know what he needed surgery on. What else? We will see if I get a new comp. with the transfers next week. I like getting new ones. It is a nice change so then I don't get tried of the same person at the end of the six weeks. I'm glad that the Williams talked to you. Did she give you her address to give me? I hope that I get a letter from her soon. I miss talking to them. They are way cool people and I miss them so much. Well, I miss you guys and love you lots Elder Wesley

1/20/09 e-mail

So, that is really cool about Darcy. I hope that it will be good for her. We are working with some really cool people right now. We got a media referral for a Bible and they live right by us which is really nice. I feel really good about them and I think they will start coming to church and will want to get baptized. We only have two more weeks of this transfer - which I'm way happy about. That means I'm getting closer to getting home. Look how fast this time has gone by. Well, I miss you and love you lots. Daniel

1/12/09 e-mail

Thank you for trying to get the Williams address for me. I hope they email you back soon. Well, not much has change up here. We got an ice storm which was nice and then right when we got done with that we got a snow storm. It is not supposed to go over 7 this week which is crazy. Lucky for me Jeremy just sent me an electric blanket so that will keep me warm. It will make it nice because I sleep under a single paned window so it gets cold at night. I have been sleeping with about three blankets on me so now I will be able to take some of those off. Well, what else has happened this week? Really not that much. There is this amazing cook in the ward who makes us dinner about once or twice a week which is nice. We are working with a few good people. Well, how is Derek doing? I haven't gotten an update about him in a while. What more can I say? I have only fallen twice so far for this winter, that is good. I got the pants but they run a little small but they sent a perpaid thing so you can mail it back and they send you the right size so I will get that done soon. How is Dana doing? I haven't gotten a letter from her in a while. I got a card from Kendall and one from Papa and Nana for Christmas so that was nice. Tell Darcy to send me a long email and then I will send her one back because I don't get to talk to her that much. Well, I will talk to you next week. Love you lots, Daniel

Pictures 1/9/09

Daniel sent us a memory card from his computer. Here are a few pictures from it.

Pennsylvania countryside

With Elder Norton preparing for a baptism

With Elder Bakker on Christmas eve

1/5/09 e-mail

Yes, I'm part of the Towanda Ward. I don't know how it is called a ward, I guess that there are enough people on the list, just not that many are active. So, it is carzy. We tract about 10 hours a week. We just tell them why we are there. Do you have the missionaries over that much? Elder Powell replaced me at Lewisbrug which is cool. What CD did I tell you was my favorite -TOA SAMOA? I think that one. I love number 3 on that cd. Did I send you Fishers of Men? That is a really good cd, I love that one too. That is sad that you and mom didn't go to Mexico with the Waldies. For New Year's Eve we just stayed at the apt. and made Indain fry bread and that was it and the next day we just went out and worked. Then that night we had to drive down to Willaimsport because on Friday we had to go to zone conference which is in State College. President Pugh told us that he is going to be going out of the mission for 10 to 14 days because he has to have surgery. So that is scary to know, but it will all work out. I still have not gottn the pants so maybe they sent them through UPS or Fedex so that means I won't get them till February which is a long time. I mailed you guys something today, I hope that you like it. My last thing, when are you going to get me the Willaims' address? I want it so bad. I miss talking to them just as much as I miss talking to you guys. Well, thanks for everything. Love you lots, Daniel