June 30, 2013

I'm doing well here, really it got to 105 there? its only about 16-19 C (roughly 40 F) here during the day. last week we had a Zone Outing to a wildlife park. I got to see koalas and even feed several kangaroos I'll try to send pictures but I think they are to big to attach to emails. Brother Turk, (the guy with the RC helicopters) has been sick lately so it is hard to see him. I just got transfer info this morning I will be still be in Kensington Gardens. Though this transfer we won't have a car, I suspect they will be giving it to the new district leader. TIWI is a system they put in the car that you have to log into every time you drive and it yells at you when you speed or are driving to aggressively, and when you don't stop it emails the mission office. What you heard about us getting iPads and being able to use Facebook is true they are going to start phasing it in over the next few months. This week we didn't get as much done as we hoped, partially because most of the members weren't available to come out when we thought they were so we only had one lesson with a member instead of the 5-6 that we usually get. We were able to teach an potential investigator that had been interested but was never able to meet with us since January a couple weeks ago and he is going really well. Another cool experience was while we were tracting we found a chinese guy that we weren't to sure on how much he understood us on Saturday and he came to church Sunday, we are going to see him tomorrow.
It's been really good here, glad you got Oso shaved in time, he's probably really jealous of Shadow not having as much hair. Sorry to hear about the transformer blowing out it's been a couple years since that happened. There were a lot of changes in the broadcast, they are putting a lot more trust in the missionaries now. I actually only got to see the broadcast yesterday, because of the time difference we just watched a recording of it this Sunday instead, so you might have actually seen it before me. Rumor has it we will be one of the missions that get the iPads sooner rather than later, that will be awesome now we can show the Mormon message videos on a bigger screen than the 1X1.5 in screen on our phone.

June 20, 2013 - Pictures

June 22, 2013

Mom don't worry about me getting the medicine after it gets to the mission home, my current district is the one that covers the mission home so we get our mail fairly regularly. A lot of the members feel the same way about missionary work as you do, but what the stake president said in ward conference and also what our trainings have focused on is don't worry whether they will accept it. You don't have to force it on them but you can at least offer it to them the worst that could happen is they say no. also one of the things we have been challenged to do more of is Member Missionary Lessons (MML) where we go in and teach a member family a simple principle or share a missionary scripture, and then we invite them to pray and ask who is ready. also we offer to help with anything that you might need help with. One way to help is Family History work, we have a family history center in our chapel and we invite a lot of people who might be interested to come, eventually most of them ask why we think it is so important and that leads into a gospel discussion.

June 15, 2013

I'm doing fine, medicine wise I've still got a lot of the omeprazole I'm not sure about being about to get it here because some things have different names. Amitriptyline I've still got a few weeks left of. I have been doing well. This week we had more members at lessons than the Kensington Gardens area has had before. Its awesome to be able to see the members answer the questions that people ask. Also we have been trying to see a lot of less-active members and they have been doing pretty well we actually got a referral from one of them yesterday. Another one I was able to get them to let us come back because of my RC helicopter, he collects them and likes to talk about them to anyone who can understand any of it, after that got us in the door we were able to teach him a little bit about the importance of the sacrament. This week was really cool because even though half of our investigators went on holiday we were still able to reach or teaching goals.
Dad, how are you feeling.  Did the surgey make a big difference for you.  I hope you will have more energy and start to feel well soon.
   Love you guys

June 8, 2013

Hi Everyone,
Cool, this week was cool!  We didn't get to see very many people because its finals week and a lot of the people we see are Chinese university students. we really aren't seeing that many people mostly trying to drop by potential investigators and see if they really are interested. This week was great, one of our investigators that claims to be an atheist prayed with us for the first time, came to church for the second and went to a fireside with one of the counsellors in the stake presidency. Also a really cool story was in zone training a couple weeks ago we did some roleplays, then soon after the investigator that we were roleplaying with another companionship moved. It turns out he not only moved into that companionships area but moved in with a couple that was already investigating and lives right next to the chapel. It has been awesome. It was the queens birthday yesterday so it was a public holiday so preparation day got moved, we found a new investigator and several potentials. this week has definitely been full of miracles.
Love,
Elder Warner

June 1, 2013

Yeah,  I did have to buy a bike because they want us using the car as little as possible, plus the headlights blew so until the vehicle coordinator can fix them we have to grab the bikes around 5:30 or 6:00.  Sorry to take that much money out of the account with no warning.  I hope it was not too much trouble. Tell dad he still has a sense of humour so he can't be borg yet. Elder Jones emailed me and told me that he gave my scriptures to the Assistants so I'm not sure if they will send them here or there. You don't need to send me the camera card back I've still got 2 (grandma gave me one) I will have to check about the dropbox sight you mentioned and see if I can get permission. I will have to grab more money out later because what I did grab wasn't the full amount.
It has been awesome here we found 4 new investigators this week and the sisters in our district called us because one of their investigators needed a blessing so I got to do that to. Tell Kenzie and Jordan Congrats for me.  I am excited for her.  Sounds like it was a nice day and that things all went well.
I am loving it here and I can't imagine being anywhere else or doing anything else.  Drew, you should start planning now.  This is the BEST!
Ihas been awesome here, that J Golden Kimball stuff would be cool but I'm not sure if I would be allowed to read it or even if I would have time. It has been a wonderful week the only investigator that we had at church yesterday was the one that we were most worried about coming, it really effected him. Pretty much all the people there that we didn't call ahead of time to see if they could greet him with us thought he was a member. Also we were following up a potential investigator and it turned out she had grown up in the church but hasn't come in almost thirty years. She was happy to see us and kind of hinted at the fact that normally she just doesn't answer the door if it's the missionaries. I am loving it here. also about the packages always send them to the mission office.
Love,
Elder Warner

May 28, 2013

That is awesome to hear about Logan being prompted to not go back to his apartment.  Did he become an Assistant to the President, or do they let the zone leaders do that over there?  I am glad he was safe.  The Lord truly does take care of Missionaries if you listen. I guess that rings true to those other than Missionaries as well. I don't know anything about what they did with my scriptures I will email them. I was told that they would send them home with Jones and that he would contact you when he got home to Tooele.  So far it is pretty awesome here. We are always busy. Elder Fepu Lea'I (my companion) is from New Zealand, but his family is from Samoa. it is really awesome here, our flat is actually right next door to the chapel and the mission office. I actually get to drive because our area has a car assigned and my companions license expired. We already have a few really solid investigators so far it is really good.
Tell Dad that I am praying for him and that I love him. How long will he be in the hospital?   I have a good feeling about all of this to and I know the Lord hears and answers prayers.  Things will work out, they always do. Tell Drew to make sure to help around the house because Dad won't be able to help for a little bit I bet.  Drew can quit playing computer and help. He will if you ask.
Love,
Elder Christopher Warner

May 27, 2013 (Letter is dated 5/28/13 because Austrailia is ahead of the USA)

May 27, 2013 (Letter is dated 5/28/13 because Austrailia is ahead of the USA)

May 20,2013

Good Luck with your surgery Dad.

The post office was closed so my companions said they would send those knives home for me. 

We did eat the sausage, it was pretty good, I actually used some to make the hamburger helper instead of ground beef and that was pretty good. We made 100 lbs of sausage but we only got a little bit the rest was split between the three families that paid for the pig.  I did get your package it was awesome, but I didn't get the invite from Kenzie yet so I'll ask about it at the mission office and have them send it  when it arrives if it hasn't already.  It has been awesome here the people are so loving, Brother Miller says that you live in the one true ward, well I just served in the one true branch. yesterday they had a huge luncheon after church to send me off it was amazing. That couple we have been working with got baptized this weekend and that was awesome, right after the confirmation, Freta jumped up and yelled "Yes" that actually made the high councilman laugh and comment that everybody should be that excited to be part of the church.

sorry I'm running out of time Love you guys

   Chris




Note:  Chris also left this day to fly to Australia as his Visa finally came in.

May 6, 2013- out of order (sorry)

That's funny about the camp stove exploding because my companion refers to tithing as his "fire insurance". Good luck with the garden we helped someone plant one and I learned Arkansas grows rocks they said they had already tilled it and pulled out rocks 4 times and we still had to pull out a ton. So far its good out here. One cool thing that happened was we had a training meeting that a member drove us to and when our dinner appointment canceled he took us to a restaurant and just after we sat down a lady that had just moved into town came up and told us how she was a member but couldn't find the local ward building so we got to help her find where it was. It is so awesome out here. I actually don't know where the time goes it seems like we set up an appointment for next week and all the sudden that appointment is today. Love you.

May 13, 2013

It was really good hearing from you I don't know about the books but I can check when I get there. Reactivating members is definitely harder than teaching new members because usually they left because someone offended them and the person that did is still in the ward. but we did have one of them show up with his family yesterday. I don't really know what else to say because we talked just yesterday.

  Love you

May 6, 2013

The investigators that came to church already have a baptismal date they are way excited. Most of the older people in the branch know them and had to do a double take when they saw him because they had been trying to get them to come for years. If only we could have that much success with the marshalese. I didn't know Hayden and Maggie got engaged but it doesn't surprise me people have been saying that would happen for months. It sounds like the call will be in the evening most likely but I'm not sure. My suits still fit we got them a little loose anyway. I'll probably send the memory card home in the next couple weeks.  Smack Drew for me, free food is always better than his video games. I'll try and talk some sense into him

April 29, 2013

It sounds like it will be a phone call on mothers day. I probably do need a cord for the camera. and with my visa Elder Jones said last time he saw a visa waiter they were on the plane a day or two after the visa came so I probably won't be able to give you any notice. what Ben said about him being fed all the time doesn't surprise me I've gained almost ten pounds because there has only been three or for nights that someone didn't feed us. It is really cool out here we actually had a couple show up at church yesterday without us asking simply because they saw us help one of their friends move after the landlord kicked them out. with the bike I actually haven't ridden one yet because we have a truck but the branch mission leader did offer me a bike if we need one.

also don't worry about stuff not getting to me I was thinking of buying some stamps or just giving my companions some money so that they could forward it on to me if something gets here after I'm gone

April 22, 2013

It's been really awesome here, and for your question about Sundays, we go to a branch meeting in the morning, sorry i can't remember what it is called, then regular church, then we try to talk to people then sacrament meeting in Marshalese. though yesterday was different because we went all the way to Tulsa, about 200 miles one way, and got to hear the second counselor of the presiding bishopric speak. that was really cool. I just thought it was awesome that I got the chance to see 2 members of the Presiding Bishopric in one month. We are really excited because last night we got told that some people from the other Marshalese branch is going to start coming over once a week to do splits with us. We have been praying for someone to help us get around the language barrier because none of us are fluent. Now we will be able to better teach about a third of our invesigators.
Tell Braden congratulations for me that is awesome

April 10, 2013 Arriving at Mission Home in Oklahoma, Tulsa Mission

April 15, 2013 Letter from Mission President in Oklahoma, Tulsa Mission

April 15, 2013

Hey I'm doing okay, can't believe its already been almost a week since I got here. there are a lot of Marshalese people here, we actually had the first Marshalese sacrament meeting in our area yesterday. Its been really fun. My address is 1018 N College appt. 20 Huntsville AR 72740. I actually lost Drew's email again so could you have him actually send me an email. By the way how did he like the Mountain Dew?

my companion wants to try some Vegemite can you remember where Bro. VanWagoner said we could buy some?

April 15, 2013

Elder Christopher Warner was not able to leave the MTC and go directly to Australia.  His Visa had not come through, along with many other Elders and Sisters who were called to Australia.  He was sent to serve in the Oklahoma, Tulsa Mission on April 10, 2013 until his Visa came through.  He labored in Huntsville, Arkansas (which is part of the Tulsa Oklahoma Mission.

April 9, 2013

hello again, I can't believe that it has already been a week since i last wrote you. this has been an amazing week. oh did you no that that stone that says "what 'ere thou art act well thou part" that Sister Dalton mentioned in her talk is at the mtc or at least a copy of it is. It was really cool listening to conference here. I think I took more notes just on saturday than I did all four years of seminary. its reallly hard work but I have learned so much. One way they teach us is to have our teachers act like they are one of the people they taught on their missions, and Elder Schomburg and I got ours to commit to babtism. It is kind of wierd being here most of my district flew out to Pheonix this morning so now I'm in a trio with the other two elders going to Australia, because we are the only ones in our district still here. At least I get to know where I'm going they don't even figure out their temporary assignments until thursday. It's been a blast here. Tell Drew that I saw Jeremy from camp here; he's going to russia and leaves in a couple weeks. I can't believe how much I learned while I've been here. Our teachers are amazing.  its amazing how much they can teach us in such little time.

April 2, 2013

It's amazing here I've got a wonderful companion and my district is great. i can't believe that i've only got a week left here. i fly out monday im going to try to send you a copy of my itinerary, i can't believe how much i learned already and I have only been here, i think 5 or six days. I don't know it all kind of blurs together. as it turns out Elder Taylor that we ran into by the temple is in my district, he was actually made district leader on thursday or friday, like i said I'm not quite sure the days all kind of blur. sunday was amazing we had Presiding Bishop Causse come and speak then later that day we had Sherry Dew also. We even got to see a recording of President Uchtdorf when he and his wife spoke at the MTC years ago. Also we had the most amazing testimony meeting ever one of the elders in my district, Elder Kwock got up and just couldn't even stand still long enough to bare his testimony, he actually said he felt like he could jump out the fourth story window un back up the stairs and bare his testimony, I'm fairly sure that he would have if the window would open. One thing I heard this week that really struck me was when the zone leaders told us the district motto, "Obediance brings blessings, EXACT Obediance brings miracle" and it has trully been miraculous here. when the zone leaders told us that they had only been here about a week longer than us I was so surprised, but ow I see how powerful being here is. Oh by the way I got a couple letters from that MTC delivery site that you used, another site that they told us to suggest to you is dearelder.com that does the same thing. Oh and I don't have Drew's email, or really anyone else's for that matter, so could you get him to find his copy of "Rise Up O Men of God" I told my branch president that I would try to get him the verse that is in that copy but not in the him books.  oh and maybe give me Drew's email address so that i can email him to. I just realized I never told you my companions name his name Elder Schomburg. we actually got to leave the MTC for a couple hours because he got an eye infection that we had to go see a doc for. I actually got to help give both him and one of the sisters in my district priesthood blessings. The spirit here is so amazing even when I think I didn't do very well in an exerrcise i feel like I'm three feet above the ground. Well the computers about to boot me out so Love You

    Bye -Elder Warner

Elder Christopher Warner was called to serve in the Australia, Adelaide Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Elder Warner entered the MTC on March 27, 2013.