The move looks like it went well. The pictures look familiar because my companion and I have helped a few people move in and out of the ward. I too am also moving, transfer calls were Saturday and I got a call to go to Walnut Grove ward. It is in the same zone and close to where I already am. I’m really sad to leave this area, but I’m excited to learn more and new things from the next one.

We had a fairly normal week with nothing too exciting happening. We challenged two more investigators to be baptized, but they both had similar concerns. They said they’d already been baptized, so we taught about authority etc. They both have been reading from the Book of Mormon so with a matter of time they’ll be baptized.

The hike we went on was way fun! It was called Horsetail Falls, which had three separate major falls. The biggest one was right next to the road where you parked. Next, was the one where you could walk behind and next to and the last one we went to was the triple falls. It was a good adventure and really refreshing.

There is still tons of rain and yesterday was about the only break we had from it. They say it gets extremely green in the summer so I’m looking forward to it.

I did get my [debit] card and activated it. We usually eat with members for dinner and then Sister Bloom, who we live with, bought us food for our lunches. Now that I’m being transferred to an apartment we’ll have to cook lunches probably again. They have tons of blackberries here, they are almost like weeds. Soon we’ll be able to pick them while we are going around tracking or something.

Thanks for all the great emails. I’ll let you know my new address when I get it. You can all look forward to talking to my current mission president when he returns home at the end of the month.

Love, Elder Willoughby

Elder Daniel Willoughby is serving in the Washington Kennewick Mission. If you want to communicate with Daniel, write in the comments or use one of these addresses.

Today we are planning on going on a hike, so I don’t have much time to write. The garage and the wedding looked like they went well. The beans looked good too, Dad. There is a lot of changes going on.

We had a great work week, finished off with two investigators coming to church. One stayed for the full three hours and she had a lesson on the Priesthood in Relief Society. Probably the best place for her to hear about it. It was awesome. We are hoping for her to be baptized soon. Transfer calls are this Saturday, so you can never predict what is going to happen. I would really like to stay where I am.

I received a letter from Otgon Bat. She was an investigator that my companion and I found and taught in Mongolia for about a month then I was transfered. She was baptized after I left and wrote to me how she was planning on going to the temple. She was way excited about all aspects of the church and how her youngest son is now in kindergarten. She had been paying her tithing faithfully and now has a job where she doesn’t have to work on Sunday and can attend regularly. Her testimony has grown so much it was a wonderful blessing to hear from her.

Well, got to get going, I’ll send some pictures of the hike next week.

Love, Elder Willoughby

Elder Daniel Willoughby is serving in the Washington Kennewick Mission. If you want to communicate with Daniel, write in the comments or use one of these addresses.

I included a bonus feature movie this week. It should be on Dad’s blog soon and worth a viewing. It shows the wonderful weather of Vancouver, Washington. This week was great! We met some new people that expressed interest in the church.

The man with the bird is from Moldova. He speaks Russian and Romanian and also English. He always likes to feed us when we come over and we’ve eaten some interesting stuff. Nothing I can’t handle… :) So he showed us his birds in his backyard and it was neat. The other photograph is of Elder Harris and I. The last one seemed to apply to missionary work somehow so we took it.

The best story is of Ryan. We were riding home on our bikes at the end of the day and we passed up someone jogging on the street. We decided to stop and talk to him and he asked us a few questions, but not that much. We were going to give him a card so he could call the number etc, but he said well you can just stop by later my apartment is over there etc.

It was awesome we usually ask if we can come to their house later, but with him we didn’t and he asked us if we’d like to come over. So weeks passed with us trying to contact him. He was busy, but with our efforts we finally met with him. He was really receptive and we also seemed to become instant friends. We told him how we like to hike on Tuesday and play basketball and he’d be welcome to come. So the next day he texted us and said that he was going surfing and that he had some hook-ups to where we could go for free. I’ve always liked surfing so I thought about the offer :). We talked to him and explained we can’t go surfing. Anyhow it was really cool to have someone be interested in being our friend and interested in the gospel.

We also met with Moriaa, another person we just happened to stop by and talk to. He was in a hurry and said he just lived around the corner and is always outside. So we went back later and tracked the houses there and asked his neighbors until we found him. He only really has free time on Saturday so it took about three weeks to finally contact him. He was very prepared for the message we taught. We basically taught how churches became corrupt over time to us and led perfectly to the Restoration. It was truly a great lesson and the Spirit was strong. The Lord blessed us greatly to find these people and we’ve been getting busy.

I’ve been here in the area about six weeks now and its incredible to see how the work has progressed. It has required lots of effort, but I think we’ll have some baptisms really soon. We’re excited to see how it all turns out. I don’t think I need anything. Our new mission president comes near the end of June. Happy birthday Paul! Thanks for all you do family!

To Dad:

I really like telling people about your conversion story. People here, when we say we’re from Utah, normally are like, “Oh… they’re all from Utah…” or “Is that where all Mormons come from?” kind of attitude. So I jump in real fast and say well my dad is from England. I also say, his plan was to come to America, find a wife and then go back to England, but he only got half the deal, my Mom wanted to stay in America. They always laugh at that.

Love, Elder Willoughby

Elder Daniel Willoughby is serving in the Washington Kennewick Mission. If you want to communicate with Daniel, write in the comments or use one of these addresses.

It was a great week for us. The phone call was fun too, to tell some of my cool stories that I hadn’t yet. We did a lot of biking and walking, teaching lessons etc. We also got general conference in the mail so I’ve been reading that. It was a great conference. How come no one sent what they liked about conference when I asked forever ago? Anyhow maybe you did, but I forgot.

The best thing my companion Elder Harris and I have been improving on is teaching with simplicity. We have improved greatly and we can tell the effect it has had on the people. Danielle is an investigator that says she wasn’t comfortable at all with being in churches and she wasn’t that interested. After a week of her reading a chapter from the Book of Mormon and us teaching her again, her attitude has changed greatly. It shows the importance of having the spirit with us when we teach.

Great job on running Mom. It sounds like you’re doing a lot of things right. Enjoy the pictures of a pond in my area and me with my bike. Thanks for everything!

Love, Elder Willoughby

Elder Daniel Willoughby is serving in the Washington Kennewick Mission. If you want to communicate with Daniel, write in the comments or use one of these addresses.

This has been a good week for us. I got my new companion, Elder Harris, on Wednesday and we went straight to work. He is from Springville, Utah and has been out on his mission about the same amount of time as me.

This week we had a lot of good finding experiences. We finally got to meet a family we’d been trying to for awhile. She missed our last appointment because she had a baby. We figured that was a good excuse. Anyhow she is a member and her husband is investigating. He was really open to the message with the baby changing perspectives.

We were also able to contact a member referral and teach him and his son. He wasn’t too excited about any church, but liked to talk about the doctrine. He agreed to meet with us again, so we’ll keep working with him.

Then on Sunday after church we planned to go to a certain area to contact some people that said we could come back later. As we were walking someone called us off the street and told us to come over. When we got there he said in a broken English Russian accent to come into his garden which was in his backyard. We thought it was a little strange, but followed him back there where we sat down and he talked to us about God. We taught him about the Godhead and he said a few times that he really likes the Mormons. He said to come back anytime. We felt very blessed as it’s not everyday where new investigators call after missionaries.

Then we went to try back at another house of a man that talked to us for a while before. He shared the story of when he had been driving a trailer and was delivering it to a house. He was absolutely exhausted and didn’t know how he was going to move so much stuff from the trailer to the house. Plus he had been having one of the worst days of his life, he estimated it would take 4 hours to do it all by himself. Then he asked us, “Guess who showed up?” Some missionaries came and helped him and got the job done in an hour which allowed him to get the trailer back in time and move on to other things. He said, “They were working like I was paying ’em.” It had really softened his heart and he was really open to us teaching him. We are excited and happy for the good work of all missionaries.

So in all we found 5 new investigators this week. It was truly the Lord directing us where to go and to be at the right place at the right time. Along with that we had another really good lesson on Saturday night. We “happened” to come to their house right before she went to work, after he woke up from a nap, and they had just finished discussing all of their many trials. I opened my scriptures to share a thought and it fell open to a scripture in Alma 26:27. It hit right home to her that even through all her trials, the Lord is still there for her. She went to work and worked all night and on Sunday she came to church. She came with her husband who isn’t a member and that completely shocked us as he hadn’t committed to do much by all the other missionaries. I know the Lord led us there to come right at the right time and share what they needed.

My bike is to speed up travel time and to be more effective. We ride to appointments, lunch, to member’s houses, to places where we are going to track, and at the end of the day we ride home. Yep I have a helmet and I wear it, ya it has reflectors too. Feel free to ask any more questions. Thanks for all you do Mom!

Love, Elder Willoughby

Elder Daniel Willoughby is serving in the Washington Kennewick Mission. If you want to communicate with Daniel, write in the comments or use one of these addresses.

Photo Credit: Glen Williams

This week went by really fast! It always seems that the first week of the transfer goes a little slow then it speed rockets through the rest. So the actual transfer calls came on Saturday. Elder Schroeder is getting transferred, which is too bad because he was way cool. We only got to serve for two weeks with each other. My new companion comes on Wednesday. Luckily the area is really small so I was able to learn it well before transfers.

It is crazy to hear what is happening in Mongolia. I think I’ll finish my mission here in Washington, but I am grateful that I was able to serve there for a year. I got the CD and have been having fun listening to conference. I forgot the paper you sent on boxing gloves, but I think the red boxing glove that was like 50 to 60 dollars will do. He wanted them to be hard etc for competitions and for training. Thanks Mom!

We had a wonderful lesson with a lady that has been investigating for some time. We taught baptism and she had already been baptized Catholic. We taught her about authority etc and it made sense to her. She committed to come to view a baptism last Saturday and to come to church, but she hurt her hip and couldn’t make it. She said as we left her house, “Well if I get baptized I’ll have to get my grandson to come with me.” That was really good to hear. We’ll keep working with her. She should be good to come next week.

Other than that we have been doing a lot of finding. We contacted lots of former investigators and found some success with that. Also some member refferals have helped us out a bit. It is always exciting to find a new investigator.

They are saying Mothers Day call should be before 9am, I could probably call later somehow, but I don’t really know much about it.

I’m thinking I’ll need my bike. If it is cost effective to send it here like less than 30 or 40 dollars then go ahead and send it, but anymore than that I may consider just buying a bike here. The cost to send it here and back could be as much as bikes are being sold here. You can send it to the Battleground address that I gave last week. I hope that doesn’t cause too much trouble, but it would be very useful to have. Also I think it came with a lock or something. Anyway do what ya can.

Love, Elder Willoughby

Elder Daniel Willoughby is serving in the Washington Kennewick Mission. If you want to communicate with Daniel, write in the comments or use one of these addresses.

Photo Credit: Greg Dawson

This week was another adventure. As soon as I think I am comfortable with an area something seems to happen. I got a call on Tuesday midday saying I’d be transferred to Vancouver Washington. So on Wednesday morning (the next day) I was transferred. I am now with Elder Schroeder in Battlegrounds WA who is from Vernal Utah. He is great and fun to be with.

My new area is really small. We walk to most places and get rides from members. I may need my bike to be sent to me sometime, but I’ll wait to see if I actually stay here. Real transfers are next week and I’m fairly certain I’ll stay here, but you never know.

The ward here is awesome and I am getting to know them as fast as I can. We have a lot more opportunities to talk to people on the street etc… something we didn’t do as much in the car. I really enjoy it. The interesting thing is I prayed on Monday, before I was called to transfer, for more opportunities to talk to people. It is shocking sometimes how quickly Heavenly Father answers prayers. So be careful what ya pray for. ;) The other elder I replaced had to go home to get surgery on his knee because he got injured. Hopefully me praying didn’t contribute to that. :)

We live with a church member which is the first time I’ve ever experienced doing that. It has been great.

My old companions told me I got a letter and that they would forward it. I haven’t gotten it yet so I’m not sure what it is. It was probably conference. The picture of all the oil containers is someone in my new ward who runs his cars off of vegetable oil. He has his filter system etc before he can use it, but says he drives for about 10 cents a gallon.

On Mythbusters they did something with it and that’s what he is doing. It was so cool I had to take a picture. Before I left my old area we got to play a bit with some liquid nitrogen. I got a cool movie of that, but I’ll make everyone wait till I get home to see it.

I got to travel to the Portland Temple today. Originally my old zone was going to the Washington temple today, but since I was transferred I missed my new zone’s temple day, by a week. I got permission to go with another zone and really enjoyed it. I took some pictures. It was interesting after being away for over a year. I hope that will be the longest period in my life away from the temple.

So there is in my new district a Elder Jay Lindstrom who is from Bountiful. He says he knows Byron and Shawna Ward and even went to their house once. He plays the saxophone. So if they wanted to write a little thing to him I could pass it along. Also I am sure I described as best I could some boxing gloves like 3 months ago. I honestly don’t know which ones to get so you’ll have to make your best judgement.

So now I can say I’ve served in Alabama, Georgia, Mongolia, Oregon, and now Washington. Crazy. Well thanks for all the support.

Love, Elder Willoughby

Elder Daniel Willoughby is serving in the Washington Kennewick Mission. If you want to communicate with Daniel, write in the comments or use one of these addresses.