The Long and Winding Road

Family,

Well I'm finally back in Aberystwyth and I couldn't be happier. I have missed this place so much. Swansea just doesn't compare! But I did have an awesome week down there with Elder Holman. To explain  the picture of the pile of broken glass I'm going to start by saying that it wan't my fault. We were in for lunch one of the days last week and had decided to make some oven pizza's that Elder Holman had. The oven in their flat is weird and has not only a regular door but a second door made out of glass to help keep the heat in. We were standing in the kitchen simply waiting for our pizza to cook and not doing anything wrong, when Elder Holman decided to check to see if the pizza was done. He opened up the first door and the the second and while he was checking the pizza we heard this squeak and BAM the glass door just exploded! For those of you at home who are worried I want to let you know that neither Elder was harmed, though I think I hit my head on the roof I jumped so high. But It was pretty awesome and glass just went everywhere! It was insane. Mostly I am just glad that it didn't go into my pizza;)

 The week went on and finally Friday came. We drove an hour to pick up some other trainers, and then braved the 2 and a half hour drive to Birmingham. For those of you who don't know how to add we have now driven 3 and a half hours. The meeting was great and the moment finally arrived that I got to meet my boy. His name is Elder Richardson and he is from St. George Utah! He is just a young-in at a whole 18 years of age. I am nearly a year older than him! It blows my mind cause I still feel like I am 17. But it doesn't help that my maturity level is still down with the primary kids. But after we met and got his stuff we walked over to the car only to discover that we had a flat tire, Greeeeeaaat. Not only are we pushing for time as it is but now I have to deal with changing a flat in front of my mission president and all the other elders. It was slightly embarrassing but we got the spare on and took it to a garage not to far down the road. After an hour delay we were finally on the road. But the good just can't last for long. I accidentally took a wrong exit in Birmingham and we ended up getting stuck in traffic for an extra half an hour. We finally got out of Birmingham after about an hour or so of driving. Just to pause and add up the hours driving, we are now at 4 and a half with an hour delay for a flat. We got on the highway and drove the other team that we had with us home which was a nice two hour drive. We got to their flat and I wasn't sure how far it was to Aberystwyth so I had been hoping it would only be about an hour, wrong again. It was another 2 hours to get home. So in total I drove 8 and a half hours on the long and winding road and I am not really looking to do it again anytime soon. Oh yeah, if you happen to go on any long drives remember to check your gas tank every once and a while. If not your car is going to be running on the prayers of you and your companion for the last hour or so of your journey. But we are safe and sound in Aberystwyth with a full tank of gas:)

Elder Richardson

I feel pretty accomplished with how good I am getting at parallel parking! 

It is impossible to find parking in Swansea or here in Aberystwyth, so you just have to squeeze in where you can!

Not too much has happened in our three days together other than me realizing that I don't actually know how to do missionary work. It has been a stressfully humbling experience and things are starting to smooth out. Brigham was right when he said that I am going to learn a lot in this calling. Those words are already starting to prove true. I just hope my learning curve is going to be a little higher than it was at the start of my mission.

Well we are having a mission wide conference this Wednesday and I'm super excited. Obviously the training will be on how to use ipads and what we will be doing with them, and I am super duper excited! Mostly because the whole mission will be there so I will get to see Elder Costigan and other missionaries that I've served around again. I honestly thought I wouldn't get to see them until I got home, so I am super excited for that. But what that also means is another drive to Swansea and then a 3-4 hour bus ride to Birmingham. One of these days I'm gonna figure our just how much of my mission has been spent in a car cause it is at least a couple of days! Ha Ha, but we will know more about when and how we are getting our ipads later this week and also when we will be skyping in two weeks! I honestly can't wait to talk to you guys!:)

But I hope you all have a great week, I love and miss you loads!

Love,

Elder Kmetzsch 

Ahhhhh

Family,

Well another transfer has come and gone and it looks like I am going to be spending the next 2 transfers in Aberystwyth. I have been called to Train a new missionary and as the District Leader here. Not gonna lie I am freaking out, and not really sure I'm ready for the responsibility of training, being in charge of a district or driving a car on the wrong side of the road. But alas I know that the Lord will give me the knowledge and strength to do whatever he needs me to do! Just pray that I don't crash because the Welsh roads are crazy small and really fast! Like most of the bike paths back home they are as big as some of the two way roads here. It blows my mind. But driving is nice because I've been a passenger for the last 3 months and you know how I get with motion sickness, especially with curvy roads. Thank the Lord for gum or I would have died. So you're probably wondering who my new companion is, and the answer to that is that I don't know! He is currently still in the MTC and I will pick him up on Friday. Currently I am with another Trainer down in Swansea for the week. We are having a blast and he is teaching me a lot about training, seeing as this is his third time. I'm really grateful that I get the week to prepare myself for my boy. 

Car Selfie with the Sisters!

We found Victoria Street! 

It was a great week this last week before Elder Ruttan left. We had the best week ever and just worked the area hard. He definitely left with a bang. Which I am very grateful for because it means that I'm going to have some great investigators to work with, with my boy. To answer Dad's question about tracting, I think the last time I went tracting was like 3 weeks into my mission. We tend to avoid tracting because it isn't an effective way to find people in the mission. We usually are out on the streets talking to people, and we just go to a couple of the busier streets in the town and stop people has they walk by. We have this one hill that leads to the University and all the students walk up and down it all day long, so most days you will find us walking up and down the hill stopping the students as they pass us. Occasionally we go down to the seafront and stop people, but I feel awkward down there because people seem to be annoyed that we are stopping them as they are trying to enjoy the beach. So normally we stick to the town center and the hill to the university. If I ever run into the Polish girl again I will definitely have to sing for her. 

Picture of me with Tom our investigator!

Well spring is here in Wales and my goodness it is beautiful. They have tulips and daffodils everywhere and the wildflowers are just nice. Everyone should really visit Wales in the Spring it is just really pleasant. Also you are right about how cool it is about meeting people from different cultures. I was thinking about it recently and I have met and taught people from all of my brothers, dads, and even grandpa's missions. More than a few from Hong Kong, a few Filipinos, with just one or two from Brazil. I met a guy that lived near Virginia, and have talked to some Germans, (They sold really good bratwursts). I just think that it is pretty cool that I get to meet the people that my brothers loved so much, and equally I am gaining a much deeper appreciation and love for different cultures from all around the world, in this big melting pot. It is just cool! 

Well this week I went to my first pub, and watched a seagull snatch a sandwich right out of a guys hands and in the escape it hit me in the side of the head. It was pretty funny, I think I laughed for like five minutes. The look on the guys face after he lost his sandwich was priceless. I also saw some special forces police with full gear and machine guns, which you never ever see in the UK, so that was cool. Not too many big things happening besides driving all the way to Birmingham from Aberystwyth which takes about 2 and a half hours. We saw a pretty cool castle and got to drive out of our mission boundaries. I was literally like half and hour to an hour away from Elder Jolley at one point on the Journey. Don't worry I waved hello. 

I am really starting to get to know my Bible well. We have some very Christian investigators and they are pushing me to study it more. They even challenged me to look for the Trinity in the Bible, as of now I have not been successful in finding it. Only in finding more evidence that they are indeed separate but one in purpose. But there is way more in the Bible than I ever thought. I'm really glad that I'm taking the time to get to know it better. I've been using the 17 points card that Dad gave me a lot, mostly as just a starting place for my studies and then I add to it. I've found that most of it is there if you just look hard enough, but I can definitely see why people have so many interpretations and conflicts. All you need to do is add one thing, the Book of Mormon and you've completely the recipe. I just don't know why people don't see that. But that's what my job is right? To help them see the importance of it.

I don't have all the much time so I will stop ranting now, but I hope that you all are just doing amazing. Good luck with the garden Torie, and Emma you need to stop growing up... Give Lucy my love and tell her that I miss her! Oh yeah and I love and miss Mom and Dad too:)

Love you guys,

Elder Kmetzsch 

Ummmmm

Family,

Well it sounds like you guys had a more exciting week than me. It's been a relatively quiet week for us. Nothing much besides lots of teaching and finding. But Spring has come and all we get is rain. It is so different from Utah it is unreal. My hair just gets wet because it's humid and the wind is blowing. I definitely prefer dry weather to humid.

Can I just say that that picture of Clara is so cute! She is just a little chubbers. I especially love the rolls on her biceps!

Congratulations to my awesome brother Nathan for surviving BYU. That is a pretty cool accomplishment! I can't wait to try it for myself.

You are right that Mothers Day is coming up and I can't believe it has been 4 months since I last talked to you guys. I am looking forward to it a lot! I'm sure that I'll be getting more details about what time I'll be calling in a few weeks so I'll keep you updated. So I don't know if I'll get to email for very long next week. I guess it all depend on if me or Elder Ruttan get transferred. But I'm sure that I'll get a little time to send a quick note.

Well it is like a said, not a very interesting week at all. We did some finding and then some teaching and then a little more finding and a little more teaching. But some good things did happen. First off Easter Break is over and all of the students/our investigators have come back to Aberystwyst. Most notably Tom is back! Hopefully Tom will be baptized in the coming weeks, we are just trying to work out when his Mom can come down from the Isle of Man. So Pray that she will be able to come down soon cause we want him to get baptized as soon as possible. Second the greatest thing ever happened to me while we were street contacting. So we were in the city center talking to people and I stopped a very cheerful girl, like she was the happiest person that I have ever met. We chatted for a second and she told me that she was from Poland and that she was Catholic. When I tried to talk to her about the church she stopped me and said, "Can I sing a Christian song to you in Polish?" I of course had no objections to the offer, so she proceeded to sing to me. With absolutely no shame whatsoever and it was great. I honestly just couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day! I just thought it was so nice of her to sing for me:) She then just bounced away without another word. Not interested at all, but she sure brightened my day!:)

We had zone meeting out side..... I got sunburned on half of my face, 

and my chair sunk into the ground because well it was grass.... But it was super fun!

Well I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week.

Love,

Elder Kmetzsch

The Fastest Way From Point A to Point B is a Line

Family,

Wow, it's weird to think that Kristen isn't a Kmetzsch anymore;) I hope this Nathan guy is treating her right! Or he'd better watch out when I get home!:) But on a serious note Congratulations Kristen! I'm so-o-o happy for you. Can't wait to meet Nathan:)

Man, I am jealous that you guys got to dye eggs. They don't have white eggs here so even if I wanted to dye them I couldn't. But you should send me some close-ups of the best ones. Some of the ward members and other missionaries have never seen a proper dyed egg before! They think it is a tad bit weird.

A very old clock tower in a little village we went to. 

Anyway there is some exciting news. I know who my knew mission president is! I'll forward you the email because I know that Dad will want to know. His name is President Mark A. J. Leppard. He is from Southern England. I'm very excited to get to know him. The second and equally exciting news is that we are getting iPads in May!! So get out your wallet Dad it's time:) I'm really excited because I have also heard rumors that they are coming out with a new Missionary Handbook and Preach My Gospel, good stuff. But that's all the announcements for today. 

Conference was awesome!!! I love conference so much and definitely missed conference candy and going to priesthood with Dad. We had priesthood Sunday mornings here which was super weird. It is also still odd to watch conference in a suit. It almost feels wrong... But I did love the sessions none the less. I absolutely loved the Music of the Gospel. It just made sense to me because people always tell me on the streets, (especially students), that it is weird to not drink coffee or tea or alcohol, but it's not. They just aren't hearing the music, they only see the dance steps. Yes, it looks weird but when you hear the music it isn't weird at all. That was a great talk. I also loved President Hollands talk on the atonement. I would like to take a little time to share my testimony of how the atonement has helped me on my mission. 

I am not gonna lie my mission has been the hardest thing that I have ever had to do. I went from having not gone without my family for more than two weeks to suddenly being in a different country with no thoughts of going home anytime soon. These thoughts plagued me with worry and anxiety for fear that something would happen back home and I wouldn't be there to help. I became extremely depressed and homesick. I can now say coming through it that I have a firm testimony in the enabling power of the atonement. In the words of Elder Holland, "It was never meant to be easy!" That is why Christ did what he did for me. Because it isn't going to be easy, we are going to feel pain and sadness that is the nature of the world that we live in. But we don't have to be stopped by these trials. We only need to reach out as Peter did when he began to sink into the water. You know sometimes we are up and walking on the water, but often times we look around. We take our eyes off of Christ and begin to sink. Remember what Peter did. He called out, he reached out, and Christ was there like lightning as Elder Holland again put so beautifully. He is waiting for us to reach out, and because of what he did for us he is always in our reach. Never ever is Christ out of reach, never ever have we sunk too far for him to pull us out. We simply just need to rely on the enabling power of that great atonement and we can do whatever comes our way. It isn't a promise that we will be able to do some things, but a promise that we will be able to do all things through Christ our Saviour. I love him greatly for what he has done for me, for what he pulled me through. I was hanging on the edge of a cliff certain that I would never make it, but he didn't let me fall. He will never let me fall. He is my rock, my Redeemer, my all, and mostly my friend. Hold to him and never let go.

On a less serious note I'd like to tell you a funny experience that we had with our investigator Joe. Joe is a Chinese student, (have a mentioned that I love Chinese people). Anyway Joe is really funny and I have loved our lessons with Joe because he tends to go off topic very quickly with what we have started calling "Joe's Truths" these are just little things that Joe teaches us at random moments in our lessons with him. My favourite of "Joe's Truths" is after we finished explaining the Atonement to him. Joe looked up from the pamphlet and exclaimed, "Yes! This is Truth!" I looked at Elder Ruttan with a smile because yes the Atonement of Jesus Christ is truth. But this wasn't what Joe was referring to. Joe had read what we told him and also started thinking about his own truth and he then proceeded to teach us this truth. He said to us " This is truth, yes, the fasted way from point A to point B is a line." He then smile and said, "But! If you look at this through a microscope then is it a lie! The line is really wavy!" Honestly I didn't know what to say. I expected him to tell me something about the Atonement but instead was taught that amazing truth! And if anyone back home can explain to me what this truth is I would love to know:) To be honest I just kinda blankly looked at Joe thinking of a way I could acknowledge his truth as well as try to understand if he understood what the atonement of Jesus Christ was. I was at a loss, but we did make it back to the lesson eventually. I love Joe and his humility and just all over the place personality. Pray for him that he will realize that there is a line from point A to point B and that line is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. No other line will get us there, and even when you look at it under a microscope it is still true. I dare anyone to try and prove to me that this church isn't true because I know that it can't be done. 

Over all the week has been pretty slow. Things are going good for the most part and we are working hard. Transfers are coming up in a few weeks which is nuts. I can't believe how long I have been in Aberystwyth, over two months! But I love it here and am happy to stay another two. I hope you all have a great week! Love you bunches!

Elder Kmetzsch  

Quick to Forget

Family,

I am not gonna lie, I am pretty jealous that you guys got to spend a weekend in St. George. I would kill for some nice dry heat! I'm getting a little tired of being wet and cold;) But things are looking up here the sun has been out occasionally and the spring flowers are starting to bloom. I absolutely cannot wait to see Wales in the Spring. It's gonna be good.

Well this week has been fairly uneventful. It is Easter Break at the university so all of our investigators packed up and went home for 3 weeks. The town that once had a population of 20,000 has now gone down to 10,000 and it feels like a ghost town. Needless to say I miss the students! But we did get to take a trip down to Swansea for interviews with President Rasmussen. My love for that man continues to grow everyday and it was really nice to get to talk to him. He is the greatest.

Along with a trip to Swansea we also power washed one of our investigators decks. That was good fun! Her name is Shirley and she is super cool. She is a great cook and whenever we go over she has always made some delicious dessert for us! My favourite is her coconut cookies Mmmmm they are probably the best coconut cookies I've tasted. Dad would love them:)

But other than endless hours of finding in the rain not much has happened. Besides me learning a lot of patience along with many other things. But I think what I've learned the most this week is that people are very quick to forget the spirit and the blessings that God gives to them. I've been reading the Book of Mormon cover to cover with our investigator Tom, we are both gonna finish by April 10th the day that Tom gets back from break. So during my spare time (Lunch and Dinner) you can find me reading my 13 pages a day until the 10th of April when we finish. I love the Book of Mormon. It is honestly the best book ever, and this time through I've really been noticing how often the Nephites or the Lamanites fall away or forget about the Spiritual expereinces that they have had. I've been thinking a lot about my own life and about my investigators and how often and how quick we are to forget. And I have blown my own mind. Honestly looking back on my spiritual experiences and looking back and seeing how blessed I am, I am appalled at how quick I have been to forget the Lord in my life. I've realized that when I have kept a journal or have made sure that I read my scriptures everyday that I'm a lot less likely to be so forgetful and I see now why they are so important. I wish I would have learned this earlier because I am sure that I have missed out on some really amazing experiences and blessings simply because I am so quick to forget where it all comes from.Why do we have the Book of Mormon? So we don't forget and so that we don't make the same mistakes that they did. Look at the Jaredites and how those records were translated and passed out to all the people so that they would not be so quick to forget. We need to learn from these things, we mostly just need to stop having memory loss and start remembering the Lord. So guys don't be quick to forget where it all comes from. Don't forget those spiritual experiences that you have, and when times get tough and doubts start entering into your mind remember the council of President Uchtdorf, "Doubt your Doubts before you Doubt your Faith." I would add to that, cling to your spiritual experiences, hold on to them with all of your might and when that doubt comes think back and remember how you felt. Don't be quick to forget.

Well enough of my ranting. Sometimes I just go off... But hey at least I'm learning something from it if nothing else. I hope you all are having a fantastic spring break and if you are not on spring break well that's too bad!

Love you all,

Elder Kmetzsch

Educated confusion with Intelligent People

Family,

You guys have way more exciting lives than I do! I just walk around and talk to people all day! But I'm glad Emma is keeping Dad busy, he needs a little excitement in his life;)

Those pictures of James are about the cutest things I've ever seen! And little baby clara is so, so cute. Those cheeks are the cheeks of a champion:) I'm glad all went well with the trip and that everyone is safe.

I love that quote from James E Faust. It is so true. We never know how much one person can really do. Ever single person plays a part in Heavenly Fathers plan and without them it just wouldn't work. It is a beautiful thing.

Well this week as been a stressful one. We have some very smart investigators and some very well versed ones as well. For some reason all of them decided to have problems with the Official 

Declaration #2 (blacks and the priesthood) in the Doctrine and Covenants. This is a problem I haven't had to deal with yet on my mission and to be honest somethings that I didn't want to have to deal with. But we tried our best and through it all, if nothing else, I have found a greater understanding of Gods timing and more of an eternal perspective on things. I have learned that God will make all of his blessings available to everyone, not when we think they should come, but in his time. Besides learning a lot I also became very stressed and missed my punching bag a lot! Like I just wanted to hit things... but I refrained from it and Elder Ruttan was very grateful.

One of our investigators has read the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, and the gospel principles manual. We have only been meeting with him for 2 weeks. Just to give you an idea of the intelligence level. Oh yeah and he also makes his own cross references. To my simple mind his questions just don't make sense and it has been extremely humbling to try and teach him. I honestly have never tried to rely on the spirit more. Mostly I just end up bringing it back to faith and prayer because honestly that is all it takes. People just don't get it! Faith and prayer can solve most problems. But it definitely has been a week of educated confusion with some very intelligent people. 

We stumbled upon a church in the middle of the woods.

It was pretty cool! You gotta love Wales!

This last Sunday I had the opportunity to bless the sacrament. It had been awhile since I've been able to do that and it was definitely one of the most meaningful times that I have ever experienced. It was really cool a couple of weeks ago when a missionary got home in our branch he and his dad blessed the sacrament together. I just think that would be the coolest! I love how much more involved you are in the small branches! I got to give another sacrament talk last sunday as well. It is just great to serve.

  

Brig is a temple worker? Thats pretty cool! That is a calling right? I'm gonna spend so much time in the temple when I get home. It is definitely something I miss like crazy. I wish we could go so bad. Our branch just did a temple trip and I was tempted to sneak on to the coach.

I'm so excited for conference you have no idea. I'm telling everybody I meet to come and listen to our dear prophet speak, don't you worry dad:) Absolutely no one could deny the spirit at conference! I'm really excited for our investigators to watch it. It's gonna be big!

Happy St. Patricks day from your boy in Aberystwyth! 

Well I hope you all have a great week! Keep up the hard work Ems. I Prayer for you guys every day.

Love,

Elder K 

Happy Mother Day!

Family,

First off to Mom. Happy Mothers Day! In the UK Mothers Day is apparently in March? But we had the classic Mothers day sacrament meeting with the primary (all 6 of them) singing to there Mums and then passing out flowers. They even included the high councilmen that talks so slow that you could fall asleep, ha ha! But it being Mothers Day my thoughts turned to my Wonderful mother.

For all of you reading this blog who think that you Mum is the best, I submit that you are wrong. My mother is the mother of all mothers! I love her dearly and want her to know how much I appreciate ever push, pull, and smack that she had to give me. Mom you're the best, and I miss you more than I let on. It was in my thoughts of Mom that i realized that I had to do laundry and clean up some dishes. So thank you for reminding me about my chores even when your not around! I don't know how you do it!:)

Shout out to my lil darling for being the coolest and most talented 15 year old in Centerville! Or is she 12 I can't remember.... But good job at the concert I'm sure that you did just amazing! Cecily is wise and you should listen to her, and practice! Practice more than I did, It is most definitely worth it. Practice, Practice, Practice. Also you got a job??  I don't know if Lagoon-a- beach was the best choice for you considering how easy you burn!!!;) 

Well the pictures I am sending do not do this country justice. Honestly It is the most beautiful place in the world. If you do end up coming to pick me up I will drive you through Wales personally. I love this place. The branch here is also just the best. I can't say it enough, but they just rock. They get it, they just get it.

With the Easter season brings Easter Chocolate.
This egg was as big as my face!!
 It was also hollow and when filled with milk brought me great joy!;)

Well this week has been a week of rebuilding. When people get baptized missionary work doesn't stop it just starts over! So we have been focusing a lot of our efforts on finding new people to teach, and have had some great success. We have quite a few new investigators and are getting a great rep with the students as, "The Mormons". Our investigators Zach and Max have introduced us to most of the students that live in there building! It is awesome. We will just walk by them and Zach will be like, "hey Jill these are the Mormons," "Mormons this is Jill." They are funny guys. But nothing spectacular has happened this week. Just another week of humbling Elder Kmetzsch. But on the other side I'm getting pretty good at getting peoples numbers and can't wait to get home and start applying the things I am learning to my dating life!;) I have no fear anymore! And trust me I have talked to some pretty intimidating rugby players. You just can't back down or they will never respect you.

I realize that this email doesn't have a whole lot of spiritual in it. So I just simply wanted to say that I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. I can't tell you how many times I have said that but I don't know how much I ever meant it until now. Being in a country where Mormons are not liked you hear a lot of bad about the church, the majority about Joseph Smith. But none of the things that they could ever say about that great man will ever shake my testimony of what he did. Did he make mistakes? Of course he did. But that does not make him any less of a prophet of God, Chosen to restore Jesus Christ's church on this earth. If you are ever doubting your testimony of Joseph just think about the Book of Mormon. Think about all the good that it has done for the world and for your own life. Think about that and tell me that he isn't a Prophet. Joseph Smith has done more for this world save Jesus himself. I know that to be true and that testimony gets stronger and stronger ever time that I share it.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder K