Gathering Israel: Updates from Our Missionaries
Enjoy the latest from our Orem Hillcrest Stake full-time missionaries serving around the world. Fresh updates appear as we hear from them.
Sister Victoria Daughetee, Maryland Baltimore
December 1, 2025
Picturessss!!!! https://photos.app.goo.gl/RDYcDkyz8XriWuas6 Monday: ā Happy pday! We went shopping with our district today haha! Elder Demke is the goat because he loves shopping so his comp doesn't have an option. š ā Hung out at the church and learned a song on the piano! š¹ Tuesday: ā Had district council and I played the piano. š«£ First time doing that on my mish. We had lunch at 5 Guys. Why is 5 guys so expensive??? ā Visited a few people and then went parking lot finding! Today was a miracle and we celebrated! It started to rain and we had been there for a little bit so we were gonna stop. BUT Sis Miskin still hadn't talked to anyone on her own yet. So we looked for the next person. I told her she's going to talk to them. She said no. I said I'm gonna stand here in front of where they need to walk and stare at them until you talk to them. SHE TALKED TO THEM!!! š¤š¤ WAHOO!!!! So, so, so proud of her! We went and got her a Diet Coke to celebrate! ā We had dinner with Sister Smith and Natalie! They took us to Sushi! It was so yummy!! I Loveeeee sushi š£ Wednesday: ā Served at SIS today! Felt so terrible though. šŖ ā Had the WEIRDEST lesson/ interaction today. So we got an online request from this guy, Joel. We called and he said let's meet at Starbucks. OK cool. First off, bro is 30 min late. Then he asks us if he can get a drink and a sandwich and we said yeah, go order. Then he told us he didn't have money š so he asked if we would buy it. He said he was hungry and I felt bad saying no. So we bought him a drink and a sandwich š„“ The whole lesson bro was just smirking and was not hearing what we were saying. SO interesting. Then he said he wanted a LDS gfābro, please š lock in. Interesting interaction. ā We had a lesson with Jaime!! Met his mom! She is so cute! And SO SHORT. she doesn't speak English tho. But my duolingo grind came in clutch fr. š we are making tamales with them next Saturday. š ā We had dinner with Maryna and her family! I LOVE THEM! They are from Ukraine šŗš¦ and she made us Ukrainian food! It was so good!! She made Chicken Kyiv and Golubtsi! ā Stopped by Monty's house. We "passed him off to Jesus" until he is a little less busy and can commit! Thursday: ā HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! I got to talk to my family today which was so fun! I love them. ā Went to Old Ellicott City and took pictures with the Christmas Tree with the district! šš āWe had dinner with the Larsons! Cutest young couple in our ward and they had their family over. I love Thanksgiving food! I'm pretty sure we had ham though, not Turkey. Haha! ā We went to our mission president's house for dessert and games after dinner! That was so fun! We sang their Thanksgiving song all together and just hung out. Got some NightQuil from Sister Brigham! š¤š Friday: ā Today was so weird. I woke up so so sick. Throat was hurting, nose was stuffy, all the bad things. My comp woke up SO homesick and so grumpy at everything. Which is understandable! The first holiday away from family can be so hard!! We were able to go get a blessing from the elders which was so good! She felt better after. ā We knocked for like 3 hours today. Talked with some cool people, but we found no one. š š ā We met this one guy and when he opened the door, his cat ran out... š šāāļø so he had to chase it. We asked if we could help and he said not really and said he believes in Christ and doesn't really need anything else. So we kept knocking š and then we saw the cat RUN back to the door and just chill there, but the dude never came up. So we assumed he thought the cat was still under the car š so we go to the door and I sit down and the cat comes to me and I pick her up! Her name is Flapjack btw. We yell to him that we have her and he was SO grateful! He was so relieved and his heart ā¤ļø was softened haha! He said he would take a pamphlet and would be okay to read more. We didn't pick him up, but one day when other missionaries meet him, he will be baptized, and then be a 70 and share the cat story. š ā Met a guy named Manny. He was chill and apparently we caught him at a bad time because he was drinking. š»š¤£ He said he believed in Christ and was down for us to share a verse from the BOM, but he said to make it quick because he felt bad talking about Jesus while drinking. š What a king. š¤“ Saturday: ā Wow we knocked for THREE HOURS today and found 0 people. We did find 2 people visiting an old dot though! Bless up! š ā Mohammed texted us at 9 asking us if we were coming to the church. We said no but asked if he was there. He said he was and that the church was closed. We told him we could have a lesson and unlock it. Idk somehow he thought we were supposed to have a lesson today? Idk. Anyways he called a persian elder from the DC North mission to translate. Man, oh man. Mission googles are REAL. šššš That's all I'm going to say. Anyways, Mohammed just has the most pure and tender testimony. I love him! ā I wasn't as sick today, but I'm grateful for DayQuil. AND NIGHTQUIL. š¤š“ ā We visited a family who had been kinda taught before. The dad is a member, but he passed away 3 years ago. The wife and daughters were so sweet tho. We got to know them and set up a time to come back. We shared a verse from the BofM w them. Super kinda family. Lots of potential for baptism!!! š¤š¤š¤ Sunday: ā Happy Sunday! Today was so good! We visited ALOT of inactive members today! Had some good and funny interactions! Only 2 more emails from me. š«Ø Next week's email won't come until the 11th because we are going to the temple!!! Yaya!!!! Xoxo Sister Daughetee š¤ 5305 Columbia Rd Apt D, Columbia, MD
Sister Gracyn Decker, Nevada Las Vegas West
October 7, 2025
Hiii, okay get ready for an update! Life has been so good in Pahrump. I'm so glad my bestie Sister Parks is here. It makes it even better, we are the iconic duo. UPDATES: - We had the coolest zone conference ever! We got to show up in our pday clothes, and started by going to different stations, and heard from different senior missionaries. We also got to get blessings from our mission president which was cool! We then grouped up and went to this lookout where we got to spread out and take time studying our patriarchal blessings. It was such a cool experience! - I BUTCHERED A CHICKEN!! It was the grossest thing I have ever done. A member in our ward had 150 chickens, so all of us missionaries went over in-between sessions of general conference to help out. We cut the heads off (as they were alive), de feathered, gutted them, and cut them. I was on the verge of throwing up the whole time. - WE HAD CONFERENCE!! It was so good. We got super spoiled by members, and ate very well. Our zone also got to watch a session together which was fun! - Our mission held a get together event for all of Vegas, we hosted it in one of our church buildings, and it was awesome. We had a bunch of different stations that people could stop in like ping pong class, art class, basketball tournament, golf class, etc. Me and Sis Parks were in charge of the family history station lol. My grandparents would be so proud :) - The work is going good, we have been finding a lot of people, just trying to see who is actually interested. We sadly had to drop our friend Soni. She visited another church and was very impressed with them. - Our zone played glow-in-the-dark volleyball last pday, it was awesome! We got a light up volleyball, and we all wore glow sticks, and put lights on the net. The ZL's were team captains, and the losers had to buzz their head. Our team THANKFULLY won (not that I was the one buzzing my head buttt we had to win for him). We all got to take a turn buzzing the one elders' head haha. Spiritual Thought: My heart aches with all the craziness that is going on in the world. I was so sad when I found out President Nelson died, but it didn't hit me till we sang, "We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet". It was tender. Then finding out about the shooting in Michigan was just SO, SO sad, but the church has handled it so well. Mosiah 18:9 "Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life." Sister Decker
Elder Enoch Ellis, Wisconsin Milwaukee
October 20, 2025
I return from the heart of the jungle once again to make a slight communication before plunging back into the deep. Things have been good since I've last sent an email. I've been transferred away from the Madison YSA on special assignment. In Appleton, Wisconsin there is a decent population of refugees from eastern Africa. The countries of Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and others. These people speak many languages, but a common tongue among them is Swahili. A year and half ago, an elder decided to learn the language so they could teach the people here. Since then 1 elder has been called from the MTC speaking Swahili. for a long time, it was just elders assigned to work the area who all learned the language in the field. Many of them didn't try very hard after the first few. The elder who was called here from the MTC had a trainer for one transfer and he didn't do much, so when transfers came around President Bailey wanted to make a change. This is where I come in. For 4 weeks now I've been back in the Appleton stake finishing (really starting) the training of the first Swahili missionary in the history of the mission. I am to example what it is to be a diligent obedient missionary. I'm also serving as the district leader. That is an amazing thing all on its own. Transfers are next Wednesday. We will get 2 more Swahili speaking missionaries from the MTC and I will train one, and my current companion will train the other. I think of it as being Helaman with my band of stripling young men. We will likely live together and do lots of cross training. The language is going well for me. God has blessed me so much in these weeks. I can teach and understand pretty well. My companion is better than me, as he's had the MTC and an entire transfer of doing 3 hours of language study per day (while his first trainer slept). He is devoted and faithful and amazing. Not many could be called to be in his situation. He may only have 2 areas his whole mission and maybe only 3 companions. He is amazing. In this district I've been reunited with old friends, and it's amazing to be back in a stake where I served for 6 months. I know all of the stake leadership and many members and still have great relationships with the members on the other side of Lake Winnabego. I got to see them at a stake event last week, that may have been the highlight of my life. The people we teach come from humble backgrounds and a Jesus-based culture. They love anything to do with the Lord Jesus Christ, so they love the Book of Mormon. Many of them also have little support or friends in the area due to the language barrier, so welcoming them into a community is a very attractive offer. We're making moves in the ward to call someone to help these good people get signed into englishconnect and BYU pathway. This will change the lives of these soon to be saints. Existing, there are 3-4 active Swahili speaking members, and each week we have a growing number at church. We will have the foundations of a branch laid before I go home. I'm bent on it. This missionary work is truly frontierism. Doing things that have never been done before in a way that is led by the spirit. I know this is God's work and he has prepared a way. The progress in these weeks is nothing short of miraculous. It's amazing what God can do with will hearts and able hands. I will come home fluent, so I'll need to make some friends I can practice with when I get there. Exciting things have been happening and they will only continue for the next 4 1/2 months. I estimate I'll send 2 more emails during this time. I will try to be better, but I am content with the mass communication so far. If you'd like personal communication, please email me! I love you all. āElder Ellis
Norm and Charlotte Johnson, SLC Temple Square
November 10, 2025
Earlier in the week I had three people from the Netherlands come into the Tabernacle. They had a lot of questions about everything. We talked about Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the Gospel, the history of the Book of Mormon, life after death, the Pioneers, Brigham Young, Temple marriage and the other things that go on in the Temple. They were extremely interested in everything. They each wanted a Book of Mormon and all the pamphlets. When I told them that we had them in Dutch they got even more excited. I went to the cabinet where the information was kept and had only 2 Books of Mormons and one incomplete set of pamphlets in Dutch. I had them read Moroni's promise in Moroni 3 thru 5 and she read it in Dutch and looked amazed and very excited. When they saw the pamphlets one of the men said, "I have seen this on my grandmother's kitchen table. Two of your young men came to her house and gave it to her." It was so great to hear that they had also seen the Missionaries in their area. They were planning to go to the Museum and I had a couple of hours left on my shift at the Tabernacle so I told them that if they would come back by after they saw the Museum, I would get the rest of the information for them (in Dutch) from the Conference Center and have it at the Tabernacle when they returned. I got the information that I had promised them and was kind of excited to get it to them so I went to the Museum to find them and give it to them. I went through all of the Museums but could not find them. Then I went to Family Search and looked on every floor but could not find them. I hurried back to the Tabernacle to see if they had returned. They were not there either. By that time it was about 2:30 pm and our shift at the Tabernacle ended at 3:00 pm. I was feeling kind of disappointed and was afraid they had lost interest or run out of time and left Temple Square and I had not been able to get them the information that I had promised. They had been gone a few hours and had not returned. I continued to watch until about 2:50 pm and still had not seen them. I really felt bad and said a quick prayer that they were still around and would come back before I left. At about 2:55 pm they were still not there and the senior couple that was coming to take our place had arrived so I took them aside and explained the situation so if the people came back they could get the information to them. Just as I was finishing my explanation, they walked into the Tabernacle. I immediately took the information to them and talked for a moment about their visit to the museum and the things that they felt. They loved what they saw and especially the video of the First Vision. They were very excited and asked if they could take a picture with me. As they got ready to leave one man turned to me and said, "you have changed our lives". I was so happy that they had come. I know it wasn't me but the Holy Ghost that had helped them feel and understand what they had seen and heard. I hope you enjoy hearing about our experiences. We will send you more later. Elder and Sister Johnson
Elder Hermann Lang, Manchester New Hampshire
September 8, 2025
It's been forever since I sent an email. I don't lke writing emails but figured I'd give a small update. By the way, probably won't be another one until around my last transfer ... maybe. Anyways, transfers are coming up. I'm getting yet another son. š¶š» I'll meet him later this week. It'll be lit, I love training. I've been in Sanford, Maine and it's been tough ... Just knocking and walking 'round and finding each day all day. Talkin to maybe 1 or 2 people by the end of the day that simply say no or yell at us (haha). But I love Jesus or at least wanna keep showing it so I've keep waking up and going out each day. Having another son will liven things up too and something about new missionaries brings in blessings and new inspiration so I'm hoping we can see some miracles this coming transfer. Anyways, these following verses help me persevere and be grateful for the trials and challenges. I might be teaching no lessons or talkin to barely any people and having no one at church despite my efforts for a long time now, but that's okay. It at least continues to help me learn and grow. And what I have learned is that the reason any challenge or trial sucks and weighs you down is because you choose to not recognize how you can learn or grow from it. And, you choose to not be grateful towards God for it. So, simply change the mindset and thank God and it'll stop being something that weighs you down and it'll become a learning experience that brings you up and high above the adversary. D&C 122:ā8 "If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea; If thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why canāt you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? and if then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb; And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. THE SON OF MAN HATH DESCENDED BELOW THEM ALL. ART THOU GREATER THAN HE?" Here's the photo album for those that made it all the way down here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/xwrpqzfrrNubxjNU9 I'd love to hear from any of yall Loves..... au revoir....adios....tchau....bye E. Lang
Elder Max Lewis, Arizona Tucson
November 25, 2025
This week was good! I am excited for Thanksgiving. We had interviews on friday, and that went great, then later in the day, found out that my comp Elder Weston would switch Elder Arnett my old comp who needs to be in a car because he tore his acl. They live right across the street, so it was an easy switch. We attended a baptism with Francisco and he loved it. Transfers are next week, so that is exciting as well. And, Thanksgiving is this week! I am grateful for the power of prayer, and the Holy Ghost. I often take prayer for granted, but it is amazing. We can talk with our Heavenly Father and he speaks to us through the Holy Spirit and scriptures. I am grateful for Jesus Christ and His Atonement. I read in 3 Nephi 17 this week where Christ prays for the people, and they couldn't speak or write down the things Jesus said and did because of how marvelous they were. I imagined Jesus praying for me or my family or friends. All of you! and I truly felt the spirit. I am grateful for Jesus Christ! Love you all! I am so happy to be a missionary for Jesus Christ. E Lewis
Elder Tyler Birchall, Ecuador Quito
December 8, 2025
Merry Christmas! For us at least. This Friday was our zone Christmas celebration! And also zone conference. We had to spend the night with some other missionaries who live closer than us in order to make it on time, but that's always a really fun time. Photos just in case I took any https://photos.app.goo.gl/kXHHHr1DAM4t7H4cA Week starts out promising. The Wednesday night activity with the ward was fun. We visited friends, did our best to find new ones, but as a missionary you're always wondering if there's something different or something more that you should be doing. I entered the Friday temple trip/zone conference/Christmas activity with a few questions, all of which received very specific responses that very day. The first question, how to effectively achieve our goals as missionaries. In the zone council after the temple visit, they specifically talked about making specific daily goals to accomplish the grander missionary purpose. It seems obvious now, but making daily goals with a wider and also more specific purpose in mind came as a strong personal answer, and also the idea that God wants us to succeed. This is God's work and glory. And missionaries, we are an extention of that. Another answer came in the form of a scripture, specifically 3 Nephi 24:10: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house; and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it." I had been specifically trying to have the Holy Spirit with us throughout the work, and the temple visit was an incredible blessing in that regard. In the temple, this scripture came my mind as a challenge. "Prove me now herewith." This statement stands as its own testimony, and is reflected in every testimony we share. These things are true, there is no misplaced step in the direction of God's divine path, and I can say that with absolute assurance because I have seen such blessings, and would invite you all to "prove" these promises. This Saturday, we were intentionally trying to pass by people who would accompany us. In the same street we had a few different people tell us they'd accompany us to church, and that they'd eventually walk with us. We hit our goal. Friends came, the lesson seemed to perfectly address their individual needs, and I have so much hope for them. With transfers coming up, I need to do everything I can now in case I never again come back here as a missionary. We've got one opportunity to serve a mission and I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ, that it is the best thing that could possibly be done in this time. I invite you to "prove" the Lord, as He does too. I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and ask that you remember what makes it so special, whether that be family, friends, but hopefully the Holy One of Israel who was born and gave His life to give it all meaning. The spirit of revelation and the gift of tongues are real, as I have seen here. I love you all. Have a wonderful season. See you in a few. ā Elder Birchall
Elder Jason Moore, Philippines Urdaneta
December 8, 2025
Noting crazing just lots of little daily miracles! The work here has been a little strange, we have a ton of people interested, but so few people that want to actually progress. So it's been a little frustrating. BUT, we've had some cool things happen! Monā For our district activity, we went to the beach and played ultimate frizbee! š Afterwards, I went for a run cus there's like nowhere here I can run. I'm so out of running shape! š Then went to this nice restaurant with American burgers. I was super excited because there was a mango graham cracker shake. BUT, a weird thing the Philippinoes do is they add cheese to their desserts. So they put a ton of shredded cheese in the shake so I just basically had a cheese smoothie. š« š Then the whole evening was a bust because all of our friends hid from us...š„² Tuesdayā Had Elder Ka'io's last DCM. That was both really cool and really sad at the same time. We went and got food again (had a fire Kit Kat shake š). Then taught one of our hopefully PBDs (but he's been a little wishy washy about it). Taught the Word of Wisdom. ("Don't do drugs boi!!!" āMe) He's suprisingly clean with all of it which is a first for anyone I've taught his age. š„³ Kids start drinking coffee at like 12 here and drinking at like 16. We found an inactive member that was really excited to see the missionaries again. We invited him back and he said, "Without a doubt, you will see me at church on Sunday." We didn't see him at church on Sunday. He did tell us a story about his neighbor trying to kill him with a samurai sword, then forgave him for trying to kill him and he's still his next door neighbor and they're chill now... š He even had the scars to prove it as well. š Wednesdayā Exchanges!! I got Elder Librea for a day which was super fun! I told everyone that Elder Amos died and he was the replacement. Nothing crazy happened š¤·āāļø Taught a sister and she asked up to pray so God would kick her noisy neighbors off their property. Then visited some members because the missionaries are just trying to keep members active and trying to reactivate them again. So we had some awesome lessons with some members who were struggling at church. Thursdayā A little bit of a sad day. We had to drop a bunch of people that are just not ready to accept the gospel. We taught Sister Corpuz about the kingdoms of glory which she loved! And, we taught how the spirit actually works and what it feels like (Helaman 5:30, Moroni 10:5). But she absolutely refused to go to church so that was sad. Fridayā Sister Gabay's husband refused to let her get baptized š¤Ø or even bring the BOM into their house so that's a little lame, but she's going to church! We stopped by Sister Ashley who said she couldn't come to church. We asked why and she said it was because her brother told her "masusunog ka kung pasok ka doon" (you're going to be burned if you go in there). We told her she wouldn't be and she came to church! š¤£ So apparently I don't have an American accent when I talk, but it is not Filipino either. šMy accent changed from French š«š·š„ to Italian, š®š¹ then Russian. š·šŗ Somehow I fixed it now, apparently. š¤£ Cool thing I found: Revelation 2:10. A fulfillment of the Lordās words can be seen in the life of Polycarp, a bishop of the church in Smyrna, who lived from A.D. 69 to 155. Polycarp was a disciple of John and one of the last surviving Church leaders who had personally heard the teachings of an apostle and eyewitness of Jesus Christ. Because he would not renounce his faith, he was burned at the stake as a martyr. When he was told that he could avoid martyrdom by worshipping the Roman emperor and cursing Christ, Polycarp replied: āFor eighty and six years have I been [Christās] servant, and he has done me no wrong, and how can I blaspheme my King that saved me?ā Love you guys!! Take care! ā¤ļø https://photos.app.goo.gl/zMBu1tc4XNVJ8yER9 Elder Moore
Elder Cameron Nielsen, Spain Madrid North
December 8, 2025
Welp, it's that time. My last email. And no other way to end it off than with a LotR reference. Honestly, never thought this day would come. Like you always know it will come, but it feels so far away. Alas, here I am, currently in camino to Madrid for all my last week activities. Today I have my last interview and then tomorrow we go to the temple and finally on Wednesday I fly home! Alas, I know yall ain't here to hear me moan and groan about me going home, let's get to the stories. #1 Spiritual Impressions Always follow spiritual impressions! Long story short. However, more context: this last week Elder Raymond and I were just chillin when we felt like we had to do exchanges with the Ourense Elders. So we followed through and set up the plans. So Thursday we went and attended my last DC ever in Santiago and then drove the elders down to their area for exchanges. I was comps with Elder Luekenga. This exchange has two vital moments for me. First, we went and taught this little Philippinian family. During the lesson I started to reflect on life, you see, this week I have had a problem. Unironic trunkiness... I've never felt like that before š. It was brutal. I was trying so hard to just grind, but no matter how hard I tried it felt like I was pushing a boulder uphill. Beyond that, I also noticed I was having a hard time feeling that same spirit I felt in the past. I realized though, that it was because where my heart was. My heart wasn't fully in the work. So I locked back in and put my heart back into the work and we had an incredible lesson! After that, we had an amazing spiritual experience in the streets. Without getting into too much detail, we ended up speed walking in the street to another lesson, both of us crying. It was magical. 10/10 would recommend. #2 Wow it is sunny with no clouds in sight! Let's do some phone work at the beach š¤ It was not sunny for long... guys... Galicia is the worst. One second it is sunny without a cloud in sight, and next moment it downpouring. And this day was just like that. We sat down at this little beach near the church and started doing some contacts on our phone. We were there for like 20 minutes when the clouds appeared. Homeboys literally appeared out of nowhere. So we decided to pack up and walk back to the capilla. When all the sudden a lady appeared. She told us her headphone fell into a hole and she needed help to recover them. She we started digging around in the cold rain for her. She come to English class and then came to church on Sunday. She super lit. #3 You want me? This week I had the wonderful opportunity to ordain someone to the Aaronic Priesthood! Something I've never done before. I've seen quite a few ordinations, but never been able to do it. I was just chilling there after church when suddenly the bishop pulled me aside and told me that the hermanas new RC wanted me to do it! It was a super cool experience, although it was quite difficult to quickly learn all the words needed for the prayer. But it was a super awesome experience. Ignoring the fact the hermanas kept on making fun of my blessing routine. Welp, that's it from your boy. I'll see yall soon! I'm flying home Wednesday, but don't give my homecoming talk till December 28th. So, con eso y un bizcocho, nos vemos maƱana a las 8 š Elder Nielsen, signing out š Take a final look: https://photos.app.goo.gl/5Bts9wPXUNpFKDmn6
Elder Ethan Leavitt, Singapore
November 1, 2025
Iāve been a missionary for almost four months and in Malaysia for a little over two months! Here's a bulleted list of events and some stats from a month in Sibu Jaya, which is a small town in the middle of the Malaysian jungle. It seems like everyone in town knows us as the giant American young men who ride bicycles all over town. A majority of the town is Muslim and it is against the law to teach Muslims. Itās kind of challenge to figure out who we can teach and who we cannot. Ā· Iāve been to two funerals deep in the jungle at 3:00 a.m. and even dedicated the grave in one of them Ā· The local culture sacrifices chickens at funerals. I wasnāt prepared for that. Itās happened at both church funerals. Ā· Every time we go to zone conference or on transfers we fly on airplanes. Ā· Been fed so much great food by members of the Church Ā· Times I've seen or had the opportunity to use toilet paper: three Ā· Number of times I've been called "Elder Ribbit" because my last name is hard to pronounce: every time anyone tries to say Elder Leavitt Ā· Stickers and fist bumps given out to kids: a lot, but not enough Ā· Times daily people shout "Hey bro" in a Malaysian accent to the white guys on bikes: 6 Ā· Times people have laughed at me for speaking Malay: 11 I am growing to love and admire the people here deeply. Very few have very much, but they don't hesitate to share what they do have. I have seen how those who know of God's love and who Jesus Christ is, are the happiest people I've met. I have learned that its the small everyday things that really are able to bring us closer to God and Christ. When we make a consistent effort to grow closer to Them and put our trust in Them, we can see that God really can bring great changes in our lives through simple means. ā Elder Ethan Leavitt