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 Samantha Becerra, Korea Busan
May 11, 2025
안녕하세요 여러분~ 반갑습니다! Well hello everyone. This is Sister Becerra! This is my final pday email! Wow, I can't believe it. This whole missionary experience has really changed my whole life. What a crazy insane ride it has been. I love every single part on my mission and now it is time to say goodbye. Let me tell you about my week. It has been a very emotional week because I had to say so many goodbyes, but I also have to work hard and keep going till the very end. I won't say it is easy, but I learned to be strong and to always be ready for what comes next. This past Sunday I gave my last talk. And it was a very emotional talk. I can't believe the amount of growth I have had and the strength of my testimony. Let me say we have worked hard and we see the Lord's hand in our work because we trusted in him and he gave us guidance and he gave us miracles and we saw those miracles. I have enjoyed really getting to know the amazing members of my area. I really enjoyed loving them as the Savior would and caring for their needs. I've enjoyed being their friend but also being part of the family that God had prepared for me to be part of. What can I say, God has a work filled with Wonders. He knows and he prepared me to meet many people. For me to meet and love those who are in need. He had prepared me to love to care for them and to see them as God sees them. My lovely friends and family, this is not the end but this is a beginning of a new chapter that I know God will provide and prepare for me to keep changing to keep growing to keep the faith and to always help others come unto Christ. My mission has been nothing but a blessing to me. I'm going to miss many things. I will miss my companions. I will miss the lovely members I served. I will miss my friends. I will miss the beautiful country of Korea. I will miss the many delicious foods. I will miss my mission leaders. I will miss the people to whom I dedicated 18 months of my life for Jesus Christ. Nothing will ever change the fact that I loved my mission so much. My lovely friends and family and my mission friends I will miss you all you have changed my life Korea has changed my life I will never forget anything because it's now a part of my heart and a part of my soul. I thank God and Jesus Christ for sending me here and now I will return to home. But before I close my lovely email, I would like to share my testimony. I know Jesus Christ lives. I know that God lives. I know that they love every single person as who they are. I know this church is true. I know Joseph Smith was called by God and he was the prophet that restored Jesus Christ's gospel. I know through Jesus Christ all things are possible. Nothing is impossible if we have Jesus Christ. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior and my Redeemer. He did the almighty things. I know that God's work is a work of glory. I know that Jesus Christ will come one day and it will be a glorious day. I know as you follow God and Christ you will feel the infinite love in the infinite plan of happiness he has for everyone. I love you all so much! For those back home, I will see you soon. From yours truly, your favorite missionary in Korea Sister Becerra🇰🇷❤️
Sister Victoria Daughetee, Maryland Baltimore
May 12, 2025
Okay this week is awesome. We had a 3-day zone conference with Elder Jackson from the 70. So today we were in person. So many amazing things were talked about. One of the things I loved was when President Brigham was speaking he talked about foreordination. Basically we were called to do this work long before we were born. I just adore the fact that I've used my agency to come on a mission and serve my Savior and find those I promised I would find. Elder Jackson talked a lot about "becoming". We can always become. Become patient, compassionate, charitable, virtuous, etc. Become more like our Savior. Anyways we had a lesson with Wayne. We took him off date for a bit but he's still working for baptism. Everyone pray that he can stop vaping. On Wednesday, we had zone conf over Zoom today, it was amazing. Elder Jackson is very engaging. He talked a lot about our expanded purpose as missionaries. I enjoyed it very much. We met this super cool girl Maranda. We were talking with her and she was dropping absolute BARS like we were like yup we believe that too! It was so cool. Anyways we met some cool peeps today! Lots of miracles ✨️ Thursday: Zone Conference, day 3 😁 Super good things were shared, the spirit was felt, all was amazing. After zone conf we had another Zoom meeting to join with all the leadership in the mission to review with Elder Jackson. It's pretty cool to get to be a part of these things. We had a lesson with a cutie older lady named Candy. She is adorable and read her Book of Mormon with a magnifying glass. 🔎 Had a lesson with Greg and talked about member missionary work and how we can share the gospel without being a full time missionary. We have another lesson with him tomorrow too. Friday was a bomb day. We had a good lesson with our friend Samantha! She's so cool! We talked about the restoration and the Book of Mormon with her. Her son is coming to church tomorrow which will be awesome!!! Then we had a lesson with Greg! Greg is on date for May 25!! We taught two of the biggies: law of chastity and tithing. It went well!! He's so awesome and before we even invited him to follow tithing he was like okay I'll start budgeting that. LIKE, OK, SLAY! Anyways, so I've never cried during a lesson my whole mission. Not a flex, but I just haven't idk. As we were talking about tithing a story popped in my head and I shared it and I cried lol. Idk why I shared it. The spirit told me to. And at the end of the lesson Greg related with it and it was something he felt connected to. It was actually so presh.🥲 Anyways, it was about the Ransils from Scottsdale so shout out to them. 😅 Then ofc we had volleyball night. 🏐 🏐 Saturday and Sunday were bombbb, but I have no time bc it was zone pday. Love you all remember to involve God in all things mwha!!!! Xoxoxoxox Sista Dotty 140 Snider Ave, Apt 2 Waynesboro, PA, 17268 https://photos.app.goo.gl/RDYcDkyz8XriWuas6
Sister Gracyn Decker, Nevada Las Vegas West
Apr 9, 2025
Hello!! You guysss, my new area is so awesome. It is definitely different. We are in a very nice part of Las Vegas which is great, but it makes the work a lot slower. So we spend most of the days biking around, talking to people at parks, and visiting members. Updates: — MY COMP IS THE BEST!! Her name is Sister Parks, and she is from Michigan. She has me cracking up every two seconds. We are bit of a dangerous duo but don't worry, we still get work done. — We are teaching 2 sisters, and they are the cutest! Alexis is 16 and McKenna is 12, and they are both getting baptized this month! I CANNOT WAIT! They keep me updated on all the trends going on, it's the best. — There is a lady named Kathy that we go over and read the scriptures to a few times a week. She has Parkinson's disease, and is bedridden. Her husband isn't a member, but asked if we could come over and just give her some social interaction. It's super tender, we're hoping to have him start joining in on lessons. — IT WAS GENERAL CONFERENCE WEEKEND! General Conference is already awesome, but as a missionary it is ten times better. It was so awesome just getting to sit back and relax and hear everyone's testimonies about our Savior. — Today is Pday so we got to go shopping!! One thing about Vegas is they have got some gooood shopping. It was so rejuvenating. — It is getting warm out, which is great, but soon it won't be as enjoyable. Everytime I tell someone I've been out for 6 weeks, they warn me about how hot it's gonna get. Spiritual thought: My favorite talk from General Conference was by Steven Shumway. He talked about service and church callings. And he shared something along the lines of, God doesn't ask us to do things because he needs our help, it's cause we need his. Sister Decker
Elder Enoch Ellis, Wisconsin Milwaukee
Apr 1, 2025
Hello everyone! I step away from the jungle for a moment to share a communication. Things are going well. I have destroyed the Do Lung bridge at least 3 times. I am happy to report that I'll be staying in Fond Du Lac at least until the middle of May. I am excited for general conference coming this weekend. I never realized how cool general conference was. I also never realized that all my house rules growing up were just the commandments of God, ancient and modern through his current prophets. God bless my parents for striving to follow the divine model, even when I made it difficult for them. I'm excited to hear more from the chosen messengers of the savior. Got to reunite with my MTC trio 1 year later and also visit a cool clothing brand warehouse that I like. 1 Nephi 1:1 2 Nephi 2:2 Mosiah 2:41 Elder Ellis
Elder Carter Flory, Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan North
May 27, 2024
Hello Family and Friends. Here is a summary of our family updates from video chats with Elder Flory through 27 May 2024: — His companion gave him a haircut this week. His hair is growing back on the side where he self cut it without a guard. — He had an interview with his mission president and wife. — He went to visit this young girl who is often ill and sad. Carter gave her a priesthood blessing in French. The next day she was happy and healthy! — They are planning a mega-baptism in their zone (15 areas) where around 40 people are being baptized the same day by the missionaries. Carter has been doing a lot of the paperwork to help get them ready. In one case, there is a couple who wants to get baptized, but thinks it should be a huge celebration so they wanted to wait; Carter spoke by following the Spirit and his personal feelings and experience with baptism at the Ghana temple. Seeing people with such strong desire and reading the Book of Mormon has strengthened his testimony and choice for his mission. — Transfers are coming next week and he anticipates that he will still be there. He really likes the people, the ward, and the area. He thinks he will be chosen to go to a new zone. — He continues to take medicine and is getting better from the recent typhoid illness. — Since he has been there, he has tried all types of new foods. As a result, he has gained some weight. He tried a pork meal that his companion cooked for dinner. — He wakes up around 6 am each day and works out for exercise in the mornings 3 times per week. — It rained a lot where Carter is staying. It flooded a lot and there are a lot of these pools/swamps of water. — Next to the ward building there is a small patch of grass. It reminded him of Minecraft grass and how things can be built. He saw a little boy wearing a Minecraft shirt in his area. — He has not been relocated yet, he finds out in 2 more days what the decision is. — His English is starting to have an accent now since he speaks mostly French. He finds that sometimes he forgets the English words. — It is Mango + Papaya season and Carter bought a lot of them. — This week they found a rat outside of their door in the patio area and they had to kill it. — He learned how to make No Bake Peanut Butter cookies (NBPB Cookies) https://photos.app.goo.gl/cr2TasxpE3PtUoKe9 Elder Carter Dell Flory Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan North Mission Riviera Attoban L43 Derrière Église St. Bernard Cocody, Abidjan Côte d’Ivoire
Elder Hermann Lang, Manchester New Hampshire
May 12, 2025
Bonjour à tous! Can't remember the last time I wrote an email....January? Or a lil before that....been a fat min fr. Anyways, I'm nearing 9 months old its been good times here in Portland (Maine)... New transfer j started and I suspect it's my last here so we'll c where I end up in like 6 weeks. Mish might start lookin different too cuz a new mission pres will be comin in. Well there's tons of thoughts and things I've learned and pondered on since last I wrote. But one that's been standing out recently is the link between humility and the power that faith can bring....anyone that has ever been able to do anything in the name of the Lord has done it because of their faith. But what is the key to getting to that point where your faith is so strong you could move mountains or walk on water? Like it says in the scriptures? Amongst other things, a big part of it is humility.....I won't go deep into it, but I'd invite anyone who's faith is shaky or whoever is j intrigued by this train of thought to study what it means to truly be humble before God....because if you can figure that out and implement it, your faith will skyrocket. Would love to hear from any of yall! https://photos.app.goo.gl/xwrpqzfrrNubxjNU9 Loves, E. Lang
Elder Max Lewis, Arizona Tucson
May 7, 2025
Hey everybody, A couple more weeks have gone by! Crazy. We found out last week, that I will be transferred to North Tucson. 🙂 AC broke in our church, that was wonderfully. It was already hot enough just hangin around. I am excited to get out of my smelly old apartment, but really sad to be leaving Elder Collier. We had so much fun this transfer. He is one of the funniest guys I've ever met. Said goodbye to Roy the goat. Was a little bit more sad than I thought it was gonna be. We played basketball with some awesome black guys at a Baptist church. They could jump really high and were pretty strong.🧍♂️ Elder Kearon's last talk is pretty good. I love it. Also had a record high of investigators show up to church for central ward, so that was awesome! Yesterday I got food poisoning and didn't sleep all night. I probably lost 10 pounds. Chinese food is sketchy. Jesus loves you! I am so happy to be a missionary for Jesus Christ. Elder Lewis
Sister Rachel Lillywhite, Texas Austin Mission
Apr 28, 2025
18 months! I can't believe I've just about completed my time as a missionary and that soon I'll be leaving Texas. For obvious reasons this past month was full of a lot of "lasts" and I'm grateful for every one of them. Today we spent a lot of time running around and one of the members in the Austin ward made us lunch at the church so I got to hang out with a ton of elders for my last pday. It was so much fun! Tomorrow we have transfers and I'll spend Wednesday at President and Sister Carter's house. We'll also drive down to San Antonio to go to the temple one last time and stop at Buccee's and Terry Black's on the way back before flying out Thursday morning. Sister Olsen will be staying here in Riverside with a brand new trainee! I'm so proud of her and know she's going to do amazing. I have loved being her companion! On April 1st I had my last MLC. It was fun to be in the mission home with President and Sister Carter. They are the best mission leaders and I'm so grateful for them. We talked a lot about Easter and Christ's Atonement. For General Conference all 8 of the Riverside missionaries packed into the computer room at the church to watch the Saturday sessions together haha. At District Council this week I lost to Elder Peacock in a game of rock, paper, scissors so I had to play the piano and Elder Smith was so kind and allowed me to say the closing prayer haha. I have loved my district here in Riverside. They are such good missionaries and I'm sad to be leaving them but I know they are going to take such good care of this area! It has been one of my favorites. On Sunday the bishop asked me to share my testimony in sacrament meeting and after church I had to say goodbye to all the members. I love each of them so much and will miss them! My last Zone Conference was the Friday before Palm Sunday. As always it was such an amazing experience. The trainings were all Easter focused and a lot of it was about working hard until the end, finishing strong, and being proud of what you accomplished which I thought was perfect. I ended up playing the piano for some of the Sisters in my zone. They sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" which is one of my favorite hymns. It was also good to see a lot of the missionaries I've served with in the past. For Easter our mission had the goal of getting 1,001 people to church on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. This is something we've been working on and praying for everyday since January. The weeks leading up to Palm and Easter Sunday were so busy. I have never been so tired but felt so accomplished. We spent so much time inviting people to church, reminding them, and encouraging our members to help. Both Sundays the 8 missionaries in our ward met before church and prayed together. For the 8 of us we had a goal of getting 44 people. Palm Sunday we got 36 and Easter Sunday 55! As a mission we ended up with about 1,300 people in total! It was incredible. We saw so many miracles these past couple months and I'm so proud of everyone's hard work. I'm glad I got to be a part of it! The best part of this last month is that Katherine and the Otrizes got baptized! Katherine is a friend that the Elders passed us when I got to Riverside. She's from Peru and is the most amazing person. She worked so hard to get there and her baptism was just about perfect. At the end she shared the sweetest testimony. We love her so much! The Ortizes are a family from Venezuela thay I taught the whole time I was in Palm Valley. They were ready to be baptized a long time ago but wanted to wait for their wedding aniversary. I wasn't able to go back for the baptism but I did get to watch it over zoom. It was amazing! Shout out to the Palm Valley Sisters for doing a great job and not making the water too hot haha. Their 14 year old daughter Laura got baptized a few months ago. I'm so proud of them and so happy for their family! I really can't believe my mission is over. It's crazy how fast 18 months goes by. This has definitely one of the greatest decisions I've ever made. I am so grateful for Texas and the experiences I've had here. I'm going to miss it so much. I've loved meeting the members, teaching our friends and helping them get baptized, and serving with the other missionaries. They are some of the greatest examples to me. I've learned so much about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and His gospel. I hope you know how much He loves every one of you. I have loved studying the Book of Mormon and sharing it with others. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that this is Christ's church. It has been the biggest blessing to be able to participate in His work as a full time missionary. I have loved it and I love Him. I know that He lives and that He is our Savior! I love you all and I'll see you soon! Love, Hermana Lillywhite :)
Sister Eliza Liston, California Roseville
May 12, 2025
This week was SO FUN!! Are we serious??? I love my new companion Sister Black and we are absolutely running up our area! She is teaching me how to play the guitar because she is a musical wizard!!! We found 5 new people to teach on Saturday!! THAT'S WILD!! LEI We were sitting in our car and a cute girl walked by who we invited to church. She said she had never really thought much about God because it scared her! We testified that God is our Heavenly Father and gave her a Plan of Salvation pamphlet!! We drove away not thinking much of it, but a few hours later we get a text from her saying that she LOVED THE PAMPHLET AND IS INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE!! THAT NEVER HAPPENS!! SHEBA Sheba is an old black lady who is now our guru! Every time we pass by her she tells us some more life advice! Yesterday's was, "It doesn't matter what religion they is, all men suck." Thanks Sheba 🙏🏻☀️🤗 CAT This one is just a literal cat. He had a really big foot, I think he has 5 toes! SOLEDAD A series of fortunate events led us to meet this lady outside of her car! We shared a scripture with her and she shyly said, So you do have like a church around here, I've been looking for one..." HUHH OK SHUT UP!!! YES!! She's legit. I can't wait to see her progress! ASHLEY Fake name. This one is really about a kitten :) We knocked on this lady's door and a little girl opened the door and a little kitten ran out! We told the girly to go get her mom and we decided we would just hold the kitten until she came back!! ........she never came back HAHAHA!!! We held this kitten for like 15 minutes just pounding on the door waiting for them to come out! We taught it how to read the Book of Mormon. Then a random hand reached out of the door, grabbed the kitten by the neck and pulled it into the depths. Bye kitty!! Yesterday we got hard-core yelled at, it's the worst one I've gotten in a while and my heart HURT!! So I went looking for a BYU devotional to raise my spirits and I found, "Audacious Faith: Appreciating the Unique Power and Singular Appeal of LDS Doctrine" I had always associated the word audacious with negative situations, but I love how this dude explained it. "The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word 'audacious' as 'daring, bold, confident, intrepid.'1 I have come to believe that many basic LDS doctrines are audacious in this sense." It's a longer devotional but I loved it!! I know that this is THE Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! The Book of Mormon IS the word of God!! Joseph Smith saw what he said he saw and the implications of that are BEAUTIFUL!!! I love this gospel so much and I am so privileged to be on my mission!! Love, Sister Liston https://photos.app.goo.gl/SaBgnKFKrs77dGxX8 This is the mission office: 5930 Granite Lake Dr #110, Granite Bay, CA 95746 This is where I live now: 2421 Melton Cir, Live Oak, CA 95953
Sister Paige Liston, Texas Houston East
May 5, 2025
Hello! I hope you all had a wonderful week! Today I want to write about some of our amazing friends here in Baytown! BECKY! Becky is just about my favorite person ever!!! She has been taught in the past, but has struggled with some health issues, but now she is feeling better and called us and said she is ready to be baptized! This week we talked about the Word of Wisdom. She told us that she has been "drinking coffee since the bottle." We asked her if she would be willing to go down to 2 cups a day and she said "What about 1?" We said yesss Beckyyy!! She came to church yesterday and we asked her how the coffee was going and she said she didn't drink any coffee the whole week and every time she wanted to she said a prayer. She said Jesus helped her. Becky is about the most blunt, honest, and open person I've ever met and the most FAITHFUL!! She said she knew if God didn't want her to do something she wasn't going to do it! Becky is the bestt!! She told us she can't wait to serve her own mission one day and help people feel Jesus's love. 😭 NATALIA! She filled out a post on Facebook to learn English and come closer to Jesus! We have been teaching her and she has been progressing well! She came to church yesterday and after we gave her a church tour and showed her the font and invited her to be baptized and she said YES but asked how long they were going to hold her under the water... jaja. MAY 22!! She told us she has been looking for the truth for a long time and feel so much peace being in the church. Last night the elders accidentally knocked on her door and she told them she already had a church and was getting baptized ✋️ that's right Natalia! You tell those elders! TIFFANY AND DARIUM! We met this guy the other day in a parking lot and didn't have a lot of time to talk, but we got his info and made a time to come back! When we went back it was just his wife and kids who were home, but they said we could share something. 20 minutes into the lesson the lady was like "Oh yeah, I'm a member of your church." We were like WHATTT! she had been baptized when she was 15 in Honduras, but hasn't been to church since she has had kids! She has 3 kids and 2 who are old enough to be baptized! They are so cute and we showed them the video of Jesus being baptized and they said they want to be baptized!! We are working on helping the kids to church because their parent's work schedule is crazy. But I know God will provide a way for them!! This week I have been working on being humble... my companion has been out 10 months and it has been humbling because I feel like a greenie at times because her Spanish is so cracked and she is an amazing teacher! Comparison is the thief of Joy! I've been working on what my strengths are and praying to know what God needs me to do! Also, just being grateful to have such a wonderful companion who I can learn so much from! This week I have truly felt my relationship with Jesus Christ grow and truly have relied on him for everything. I know that this is God's work and that he needs each one of us. He needs us to use the talents and gifts he has given to us. We are each so special to him! I invite you this week to ask God what your gifts and talents are! I promise that he will tell you and then I invite you to serve the people around you with those gifts and you will be blessed with joy!! READ THIS TALK!! "Lift Where You Stand" https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2008/10/lift-where-you-stand?lang=eng I love you all! Have an awesome sauce week!! Xoxoxo Hermana Liston 🫶💕💗 https://photos.app.goo.gl/k2gyveDJPwknteQ67
Elder Cameron Nielsen, Spain Madrid North
May 12, 2025
Welp this week we had transfers news, and I am leaving the islands and heading off to a new land. My new area is Leganés in Madrid! This is my fifth area and also my fifth zone, which means I've served in every zone in the mission now, o say, I hit bingo 😎. My new companion is Elder Larsen. He is an absolute beast and I'm so hyped for this transfer. We've been planning this out since I got to Pamp, and our dream has finally been completed. I'm also super hyped because this new zone has a ton of people I haven't seen in a long time. It'll be a nice little reunión. ☺️ Other news, tomorrow is my 18th month mark!! I was originally planning on doing a Q/A email this week, but I think imma postpone it and include some questions bout my new area. So send me some questions about my mission and I'll be super to include them. I can't remember when I last did an email... so I'll include a small recap of the past few weeks: - Both Idaira and Imre got baptized and it was just incredible. Both so are happy to be part of the church. Idaira has been helping us in lessons recently because she wants to get ready for a mission ASAP and Imre is back in Hungary for a few weeks, but has been attending the church there and helped the hermanas in lessons. On top of that our friend margot is getting baptized next Sunday. Although I'm a bit sad I won't be able to attend I'm so grateful that I have been able to see her progress over these past 3 months. - we have some amazing friends that are progressing wonderfully. They've been coming to church and are getting to know the members really well. - A friend we were teaching gave me a mini Bible 😊 she is a little Spanish grandma and says that I remind her of her grandson. I'm sure more stuff has happened, but imma end it here. Love yall so much, hope all goes well. Also happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. Yall champs 🏆. https://photos.app.goo.gl/5Bts9wPXUNpFKDmn6 Elder Nielsen
Elder Jordan Reese, Texas Fort Worth
May 5, 2025
Hola Todos! I miss you all so much! But basically life if amazing, like always! I'm thriving here in Texas. Although it is about to get hot soon! And I'm not ready for that!! But let's get into what's been happening: • First of all, I broke my WHAT!? 👣 I stubbed my toe and it basically grew back this wierd bump. So about a year later I go to get it checked out, hoping they would remove like this scar tissue that has formado. But no! Basically we took x-rays and he told me that I had broke my toe and when it healed back it created more bone. SO THERE IS JUST A BUMP OF BONE ON MY TOE!! I need to get surgery to remove it too. It's sad, but it is what it is! • I'm also transferring!! I don't know where I'm going, but I'm leaving Arlington and I am going to miss my comp and the members! But I going to be DL! So that's gonna be fun! But I'll let y'all know next week where I'm serving! SPIRITUAL THOUGHT: "Sé que quienes pongan su confianza en Dios serán sostenidos en sus tribulaciones, y sus dificultades y aflicciones, y serán enaltecidos en el postrer día." (ALMA 36:3) — Elder Jordan Reese https://photos.app.goo.gl/gzjWnFpYvfqFWWek6