change of plans

Dear friends and family,

Since Kelly's unexpected early home arrival we have decided to dispense with
our previous planned "welcome home" get together Sunday evening the 29th,.
We hope you have had a chance to catch up with Kelly at various other times
and are not disappointed. However, he will be speaking Sunday morning the
29th and anyone that would like to come to the Shoreline Ward that morning
is certainly invited.

Warmly,

The Conrads

Carol Ann Conrad, MS, LMHC, NCC

Certified Emotionally Focused Therapist

8045 W. Grandridge Blvd Ste A

Kennewick, WA 99336

http://www.carolannconrad.com

509-735-1221

latest update on Kelly

Dear friends and loved ones,

We just returned from the doctor this morning where we received the report.
The cancer appears to be completely contained and the least aggressive
-seminoma, classic type. This is great news and what we've been praying
for! He was given the option to do radiation or just intensive CT scans on a
regular 3 month cycle for a year to check for possible spreading. Kelly has
chosen to do the scans and combine it with alternative treatments for the
best and most hopeful outcome. His incision is healing well and he is ready
to move forward with finding a job and getting back to some physical
exercise in the next couple of weeks as well as his school plans for
January.

Thank you again to all who have prayed in Kelly's behalf, your prayers have
been heard and we truly are grateful for your faith.

The Conrads

Carol Ann Conrad, MS, LMHC, NCC

Certified Emotionally Focused Therapist

8045 W. Grandridge Blvd Ste A

Kennewick, WA 99336

http://www.carolannconrad.com

509-735-1221

Kelly update

Dear friends and family,

Kelly went through the surgery Tuesday like a trooper, we were delayed 4
hours, so he was prepped and ready to go and we just sat and talked in the
pre-op room for a long time. The cancer was fully removed and the doctor
said he didn't feel any other tumors anywhere else, so he thought it was
pretty well contained, which is relieving to hear.

He has struggled to rest and let his body recover, but yesterday he did
sleep 10 hours. He felt fairly good today (he's still on pain medications)
and actually is up and walking around with friends. He said it felt better
today to move around and it actually helped. Kelly did say he realizes that
this is going to be a major challenge to not overdo, he's so use to going,
going, going for 18 hours a day and to all of a sudden stop and lay down and
do nothing is a incredibly difficult for him!

He has a follow up appointment next Wednesday morning the 18th where he will
hopefully get the pathologist's report about the type of cancer and we
should know more about follow up treatment at that point. We will let
everyone know what we learn. Until then please keep him in your prayers that
the cancer has not spread, that's the biggest concern.

Thanks to everyone who has been following and concerned about him. We
definitely feel the warmth of your love and caring and know with everyone
praying for him that whatever the outcome will be the Lord's will. Whatever
that may be, it will be okay.

Warmly,

The Conrads

Carol Ann Conrad, MS, LMHC, NCC

Certified Emotionally Focused Therapist

8045 W. Grandridge Blvd Ste A

Kennewick, WA 99336

http://www.carolannconrad.com

509-735-1221

Bad news, Good news

Dear Friends and Family,

This is a brief update with the hopes that Kelly will slow down enough to
write everyone about his experience, but we've had so many people asking I
felt we needed to respond on maybe a larger scale and request the prayers
and faith of everyone that has followed him for the last 2 years.

Last week we received a call from Kelly's mission president telling us that
Kelly was coming home the next day (Thursday) to have surgery. He had been
having some problems for a few months and they finally figured out what was
going on, he has testicular cancer.

He goes into surgery this morning at 10:00 a.m. to have it removed and to
find out what type of cancer it is and if it has metastasized. The scans
at this point do not appear to show it has spread, however the doctor was
somewhat cautious sharing that because not everything shows up in the scans
and the tumor is very large.

The good news is he's home, in good spirits and courageously ready to face
this challenge, yet is prepared to accept the Lord's will. There is a very
good prognosis for this kind of cancer and we have no reason to doubt that
he will come through it.

We would like join him in expressing our appreciation to all of you who
have written him, prayed for him and rejoiced with him in his service to the
Lord for these last two years.

God Bless you all,

Dave, Carol Ann, Kelly and family

Carol Ann Conrad, MS, LMHC, NCC

Certified Emotionally Focused Therapist

8045 W. Grandridge Blvd Ste A

Kennewick, WA 99336

http://www.carolannconrad.com

509-735-1221

FW: phone etc. info.

Dear Mom and Dad 02 Aug 2010

So, we just started writing our leaders and president on the computer
today and I will be taking pieces out of it and showing what all I write
about in them. So here's how I started my letter this week:

So, we found out this week from our ward mission leader that the ward
hasn't trusted the missionaries for a long time here because they feel like
the elders have baptized people who they thought weren't fully prepared.
Which I can see why, out of the past 24 months there have been six baptisms
here and out of all six, none are still active. Every baptism that the
elders have had here that weren't counted with these six, have all moved on
into other wards shortly after their baptisms. It's a really unique problem
because they have some of the best elders who have come through here, but I
can see that those elders did missionary work without the members and
neglected to pay heed to the members and their concerns. I feel like my time
will be spent correcting this challenge and the style of leadership in the
zone leader companionship to correct some other concerns in our zone.

Our only light of hope is the D. family. They have a date for the 28 of
August. This isn't a date that we are forcing, but a date that they are
fully looking forward to. Now, with the mentioned above challenge of the
ward's concern about converts, the ward is having an issue with this family
getting baptized. It kind of frustrates me because I see how the D.'s are at
teaching appointments and how sincere and intent they are in joining the
church, and yet the ward has concerns because Brother and Sister D. aren't
the most out going of people in church. It's sad that they can make a
judgement call like that. I even struggle with having to meet these people
and getting to know them and I am a missionary! I am just praying for the
D.'s to get a chance to prove themselves to this ward. I am also praying for
a chance to prove myself to this ward and show them how wrong they are
because they are the ones that need to be on board for missionary work to go
any where here.
You know where the problem is when the missionaries are baptizing and the
converts are going to different wards. The last baptism we had here,
Channing M. is his name, is so solid that he already has money saved up to
go on a mission in a year. The elders taught and baptized him, but he didn't
stay in the ward the elders serve in, he is going to the singles ward. Its
hard to explain over my email all that is going on that would have me make a
comment like this, but it is what I have observed. I'm not blaming the ward,
just being honest with what I observe. Now that I know more of the problem,
I can begin slowly solving it. My vision for this area is a tighter bond and
connection with ward leaders and members. We have been able to get some
trust back through dinner appointments and the members are talking about us,
in a good way; but we still have our work cut out for us. We have two great
chances this week to prove ourselves to the ward leadership. On Wednesday,
we have a lunch appointment with our bishop, then after that we are meeting
with our ward mission leader; two perfect time's to be supportive of what
these leaders want from us, and show our willingness to do it. I can't see
anyone being added to our investigator pool until we focus and begin working
on the ward trust issue. As we slowly gain the wards trust back we will see
people being added to our teaching pool.

This is fun, its testing me and helping me see what I really learned from
my mission.

I Love you family and thank you for all that you are doing for me!

Love,

Elder D Kelly Conrad

PS. I have packaged up my box and will be seeing today how much it till cost
to have it sent home. I will get back to you next week about how much and
see about sending it then. If its less then what is in my account right now
I will send it today. I will be on fro a few more minutes if you want to
respond back to this PS.

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service Elder Kelly Conrad

Dear Mom and Dad 26 July 2010

So the week was good, we had ZLC where we learned more about what the
church is going to be doing with these new changes in the missionary
calender and lessons. Its was very inspiring, and comforting. I thought that
I might be missing out on something leaving just as these things have come
out, but I am not, these new lessons aren't new, but are a way of teaching
missionaries how to teach people and not view them as objects, or
statistical numbers.

On Sunday we went and saw a part member family that we have been trying to
see this past week. It was pretty special how things worked out. The father
of the family, who is not the member, let us in. We talked with him and his
two sons about how their day went and started to get to know them. The
father brought up a concern that he has for his kids, which is that they
aren't interested in learning about God. He has a very limited set of
teaching skills that doesn't appeal to 10 and 13 years old's. So we told him
about the fun activities we have that can teach simple principles and he
agreed to have us come back to do a Family Home Evening. It was really neat.

Later on Sunday we went to visit a person who formerly investigated the
church. He was being taught 8 to 9 months ago and I met him while I was on
exchanges here with Elder Hancock. When we talked to him at his door he came
right out with what his concern was. We asked for some of his time and we
taught to his needs. He had questions about tithing and had some things
confused, thinking he would only have 30 dollars a month left because he
lives on a fixed income with being disabled. We got that straightened out,
there must have been some miscommunication somewhere. Anyways, we got him
back now. He is going to FHE tonight with the singles ward and is getting
back into church and institute.

I've got to go and change into my basketball cloths. I love you family!

love,

Elder D Kelly Conrad

PS, this is the picture of Jeremy, Elder Clinger, Channig, and me on the 24
of July

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Springfield

Mom and Dad, 19 July 2010

Its so good to be back in the normal missionary work! I love it here in
Springfield! Things have gone so good here these past few days! I think with
having to deal with meeting so many new people and having to establish a
quick connection and relationships with missionaries and members in a matter
of minutes has prepared me for this last transition. Normally when a
missionary is transferred into a new area it takes two Sundays to find their
place in the ward, and in the missionary work itself, but it hasn't taken
that long. The ward is super friendly and has the potential to be the
highest baptizing ward in all the mission. The way missionaries have done
missionary work here over the past few years has pretty much excluded the
members. My philosophy for my last little bit here is to do what I have
always done, work and help members. I am not going to help the missionaries
in the zone become better and more persuasive tracters, but help them know
how to use members. Missionaries tend to have this idea that because they
are missionaries and they deserve referrals from members, and they
completely forget that members are normal people and use them like objects.
Its really sad. I think that we just get so caught up with thinking that we
know whats best and know how things need to go, and in so doing we forget
that this is Gods work, not ours. I have realized that Gods work is not
frustrated, nor can it be stopped by anything. Gods work is to bring us back
home, and He will accomplish what He needs to in order for that to happen.
He has already created this earth for us, allowed Adam and Eve to fall, and
has had his Son come and atone for us. These three things are the three
pillars of eternity, or the main three things God has done in order to bring
to pass His work. He can easily bring someone into the church.

My first day here in Springfield we had a pretty amazing experience. Even
though it has been amazing to be back in the mission field, it has been a
very tough transition with somethings, if you could imagine. Well, we parked
our car and took a walk to follow up with some potentials on a street and
ended up walking a half a mile up and down this street. While walking back
from some failed attempts at visiting with any one, a man on a bike came
riding up to us and asked if we would council him. His name is Aaron. We sat
down at a park on the side of the road and we listened to Aaron talk about
his struggles in life. I have learned that telling someone what to do never
works, even as a missionary, you have to let others come to the conclusion
on what they should do. You teach them correct principles and allow them to
govern themselves; when you start telling someone that they need to do this,
or should do that, for the most part they don't do what you tell them to do.
So with Aaron we just sat there and listened and counselled and let him talk
his way through his troubles. He came to many conclusions that were good and
inspired through just talking it through to himself. We invited him to
church and on Sunday he was there! Hes a good guy, and from the sounds of it
his life is beginning to get back together, its going to be a long road for
him, but he can make it.

Another miracle that happened was that on Sunday a recent convert named
Jessica, that I have met and taught on exchanges here before, invited one of
her new friends to come to church. Her friends name is William. He
participated in class and read out of the scriptures and answered the
teachers questions. We set up an appointment with him for Wednesday, but
after church he called and said he wanted to be taught that same day and
wanted to know how he could join the church. So we taught him on Sunday at
Jessica's. It's neat to see when someone actually responds to the Light of
Christ and how by them acting on it, leads them to lead a life where they
are already to live and except the gospel. William is an amazing learner and
already believes all the doctrine of the first lesson and has begun reading
the Book of Mormon and will soon be finding out for himself that it is true.

There are other things happening to, we have been going around contacting
less active and in active members updating the ward list and seeing if there
are any prepared people yet. On Saturday we went by the Raymond family and
visited with Bro Raymond and got a return appointment on Sunday for dinner.
The Raymond family is my favorite family here so far. They have six kids and
two are three year old twin boys. They are the sweetest little kids, first
thing they did when they met us was ask if we were twins and started to try
and beat us up. They made me way trunky.

Anyways, I make life sound like its perfect, but with all these blessings
there are oppositions. Things will work themselves through as long as we are
diligent and work through the oppositions.

I have got to go, we are playing basketball with some returned missionaries
here in a few minutes. I love you Family! thank you for all that you do for
me!

Love,

Elder Kelly Conrad

PS, I spent some money today on food, and I am going ot be spending some
money on sending two boxes home with some of my study stuff and my journals.
So be expecting that in the next few days.

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last transfer Elder Kelly Conrad

Dear Mom and Dad, 11 July 2010

Well I am getting transferred. I will serve In Springfield, Mo
with Elder Clinger for my last six weeks. My new address will be:

1005 E. Division St apt A

Springfield, Mo 65803

I will be there by Thursday Afternoon.

It's kind of a sad transition, but a very exciting one at the
same time. I have made countless goals for when I get the chance to be a
normal missionary again, and now I get the change to work towards them.
These last six weeks are going to be the best six weeks of my mission. I
won't have to worry about an awkward transition with a new companion because
I will be serving with someone I've already served with. It's kind of
fitting, I don't know how to explain how it will be a good experience
serving with him again, but let's just say that it isn't going to be like
serving in Mountain Home.

This week we went on three exchanges. I got to go back to Fort
Smith and have some really neat experiences there. When I first got there we
went to Sister Wyatt's house to contact some of her neighbors and do some
finding. Sister Wyatt came home while we were there so I got to see her and
see that she is doing really well. After that we went tracting. At the end
of the power hour of tracting, as we were walking back to the car, someone
drove by that looked familiar that pulled over to talk to us. It was Alina!
She was at Sister Wyatt's and was driving to go get a haircut and saw us. It
was not by chance that she came into town and that we were walking on that
street at that moment. She lives in Alma now and has no real reason for
being in Fort Smith, other than to visit her Grandma. And I hadn't told
anyone specifically that I was going to be in Fort Smith. It just so
happened that we met again. Having the chance to see her and ask her about
her life and the changes she has made brought me a lot of joy. Sometimes I
get down on myself because I haven't seen the success that normal
missionaries have because of serving where I have these past few months, and
I think the Lord is very aware of that. While talking to Alina, I found out
that she has been dating a returned missionary, and that plans could lead to
a temple. I know that the Lord is aware of me and my concerns, and that He
lets me know that I am doing a good job. Every time little things like this
happen I learn a little bit more about God and His nature.

This past transfer has been the crazy of my entire mission. It
just seemed like our companionship was tested in every way, shape and form.
Every day was unpredictable. I felt like it was the most submissive six
weeks of my life. I can't even begin to explain what I mean by that. There
is one thing that my mission has made me fully confident in, and that is
that God does fulfill his promises and that He can turn everything into a
good experience for those who seek it.

I will still need to keep my bike for the next few weeks, but
it will come home sometime in August. Tomorrow I will do a dry run of
packing my bike up and seeing what else I can fit in with it. I hope that I
can get everything I want to send home in it too so that I can just mail one
box home. Mailing a bike box home with the amount of stuff that I plan on
mailing with it might cost anywhere from 50 to 80 dollars.

I love you family and thank you for all that have sacrificed for
me to be out here. I hope that I can make the most of the sacrifice.

Love,

Elder Kelly Conrad

FW: Elder Robbins

Mom and Dad 4 July 2010

I think having Elder Robbins come to the mission has had the
greatest of impact on my mission. After what he taught and I was taught
later from the doctrine he taught I have changed my views on every aspect of
my life. Elder Nelson taught us when he came that the seventy are just like
the apostles and have the same ability to teach and deliver messages as the
apostles do. Essentially they are sent out by the apostles and are given
their charge and they are equaled to the tasked. He taught us for three
hours on Tuesday, and then for another three hours on Wednesday. I can't
cover all that was taught here in my email because of the amount, and
quality of it. I wouldn't be able to do it justice either. I will fill up
the rest of the tape I made after Elder Nelson came with details about Elder
Robbins coming. I tried my best to prepare for these meetings and I believe
that the Lord has blessed me greatly. Things just clicked. Things that I
have believed and thought my whole mission were verified all in these two
sessions of him teaching. I'm not saying that I knew everything that he
taught, but he confirmed a lot to me. I now have a better vision of how to
teach and how to help people come to Christ.

On Saturday we went to Sister West again for dinner and taught
another one of her friends. It was one of the best lessons that I have ever
taught on my whole mission. In section 50 it talks about the ordination of
an elder and what they are called to do; in this lesson I experienced what
this section teaches. We taught by following the Spirit and seeking what we
had to do in order to help this young lady come closer to Christ. We didn't
follow a lesson plan, or going through all the doctrines of the first
lesson. But what we did was teaching her something and asked questions and
adjusted our teaching according to her response and what we discerned what
her needs and desires where. It's so hard for a missionary to follow the
Spirit out here in our mission because of a strong desire to see others
progress and change leads the missionaries to manipulate situations and use
their own wisdom to achieve the outcome that they desire instead of what the
Lords desires. When someone gets so frustrated about getting someone to the
point of baptism by doing things that the Lord clearly teaches against in
section fifty by manipulation they are looking for recognition through a
number, or baptism and are clearly missing the vision of missionary work. I
think the Church is catching on to how missionaries are more or less high
pressure salesmen and not teachers of the gospel and grasping the spirit of
this work. It's very evident to me by the changes that Elder Robbins
announced to us. There are now eight lessons that are specific to the
learning of the missionary. They are directed to teach a missionary what
their purpose is and how they accomplish what they are called to do without
the use of manipulation.

I don't know if I am going to be here still for my last
transfer. I had an interview with President Merkley this past week and he
asked me what I wanted to do my last transfer. Though, after today's
meeting with him I don't know if I am going to get what I told him, but
that's ok, because I will be needed either way.

I love you family.

Love,

Elder Kelly Conrad

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finding my purpose Elder Kelly Conrad

Mom and Dad 27 June 2010

So this week was a good one. We had two exchanges, one in
Branson, Mo, and the other in Joplin, Mo. My Joplin exchange was with an
Elder Samuel Anders. I went on exchanges with him almost a year ago while I
was in Fort Smith. I had a very neat experience while on exchanges there. I
have been studying about the Law of Moses out of the Book of Mormon and the
Doctrine and Covenants for the past few weeks and I have learned some
interesting things about it. Well, in our first appointment with a man named
Richard a few questions were raised that caught Elder Anders off guard.
Richard made an observation as he read from Mark about John the Baptist
teaching that the Jews didn't have the gift of the Holy Ghost because they
didn't have the Holy Priesthood. Then Richard went to 2 Nephi 31 and
observed that Nephi was talking about the gift of the Holy Ghost 600 years
before John the Baptist taught that he could only baptize by water and not
by the Spirit. So, with my studies and with the aid of the Spirit we were
able to answer his question. This lesson gave me a stronger testimony of how
the Spirit can bring things to our minds and reveal to us things that may
seem to be a mystery. I felt really good that I was prepared for this
lesson, because I normally only get a few minutes to prepare my thoughts in
lessons because I only find out just hours before who I am teaching and what
I am teaching. It made me feel useful, not that I don't already feel useful,
but it was very special because I served a specific purpose. Sometimes when
I see these Elders teach and hear about what things are going on in their
area I get envious and start to think about what I miss out on and start
wishing I had what they have. This isn't an uncommon thought. I have been
fighting it the whole time I have been here in Tulsa. I haven't thought this
for a long time, but sometimes I catch myself in the thought. What I have
learned to do in order to correct this thought is to seek revelation and
find my purpose. As I have found my purpose for serving here I have also
found who I am and what things I can do to help others. I guess this is just
me explaining what everyone seems to go through at some point in their life
when they are searching for a purpose and a direction. For some reason I
feel more like an investigator of the church more than I do a missionary
right now.

Things are going good with my companion. This week we taught
Sister W. and Crystal again on Saturday. Saturday was pretty slow till the
appointment. We came back from Joplin and spent the afternoon cold
contacting people from the ward list. We are still in a transition period
waiting for things to happen in the next few weeks. I think these last few
weeks have begun to teach me to how to get over the rest of my fears of
doing missionary work. I have always had a fear of not having anything to
do, I am always a little hesitant when it comes to finding something
effective to do for several hours at a time with no real plan, but with my
latest set of trials I am getting over my hesitations and I have become very
trusting. Like on Saturday, we had a three hour block of the day where we
went out and tried our best to be the most effective we could. The
motivation behind most of it was that I knew there was going to be a great
blessing given at six o'clock when we got to Sister West home. I was willing
to put up three hours of collateral in doing whatever He wanted to receive
the blessing of teaching Crystal at Sister W's. I also worked hard for those
three hours because we needed Him to come through in getting us an exchange
for the night so that we could go into the home for dinner. I know that God
does fulfill His promises and that he makes His promises Known to us through
prayer and the scriptures.

That's all for this week family. I want to keep on writing, but
we are going to be very busy here in the next few minutes. I love you and
thank you for all that you do for me!

Love,

Elder Kelly Conrad

PS the picture is of all the office staff, from left to rightSister Koning,
Sister Nokes, me, Elder Anderson, Sister Mills, Sister Bowers and Elder
Bowers. these have been my friend and family for the past 8 months and they
are all leaving me in the next two weeks. Mom you have to forward my emails
on to these Sisters, their emails are; bjm1943@msn.com;
jjkoning@infowest.com; tavanokes2246@yahoo.com; thank you so much!

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memorable experience Elder Kelly Conrad

Dear Mom and Dad, 20 June 2010

Happy Fathers Day Dad! We had some missionaries call us last
week and asked us if we get to call home and talk to our fathers on father's
day, like we do when we call moms on mother's day, but we had to say we
don't. But I'll be home in two months and we will get some time then to
talk.

This week we had some pretty rewarding things happen. We had
dinner with that part member I mentioned last week. It was good, we found
out that he has essentially been going to church for the past nine years. He
lives the gospel and reads and prays everyday! He told us that he hasn't
received a testimony of the Book of Mormon yet because he said he didn't
want to pray and asked directly if the Book is true. We technically weren't
supposed to have dinner with him because he is out of the area that we cover
within the ward here, but today we found out that next transfer we are going
to be taking over the south area of New Haven and will be the set of
missionaries that will teach him.

So with the news that we are getting a whole area to ourselves I
have had to change some of my plans and upped the time tables of turning in
my application and essays for school. I spent some time on it just now and
printed off my ecclesiastical papers and the essay questions and will get
those done soon.

Along with this rewarding experience we also had another one
with our new friend Sister West. On Wednesday we were out visiting people on
the ward list that haven't been contacted in a long time and we came to a
Sister Passey. We walk up to the door and knock. The door opened and we saw
through the screen door a lady and heard her call out, "Elders!" She seemed
more shocked and happy to see us then people normally do when we come
knocking. We began talking to her and stated our purpose for being there
when she began to tell us about her story of conversion when she was 21
going to college in Stillwater, Ok and getting married, then later divorcing
and falling in active and how she kept herself away from our church. She
told us that she doesn't normally talk to anyone about religion and that one
day she had a possum find its way into her house. She called a pest control
man for help and while the pest control man came over to help her she said
that she knew within the first two minutes that this man was a member of the
church by the way she felt the Spirit around him. She said that she hadn't
felt that feeling in so long and asked the man what church he went to and he
replied, "The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints." This event
happened two weeks ago. She then told us that two years prior she was
talking to a non-member friend in her home about the gospel and had two
missionaries knock at her door. She didn't open the doors to the elders at
this time. Then she said that a few months after this event she was talking
to this same friend about the church and once again two missionaries knocked
at her door, and her response was the same, she didn't open the door. This
happened one more time a few months later and ended with the same results.
After the third time of visiting with this friend of hers and having the
Elders come by , her friend died of cancer. She now regrets that she didn't
get the chance to have her friend be taught by the missionaries. She bore
her testimony to us right at her door and told us that she wants to get back
into church. After we talked for some time she invited us over for dinner on
Saturday. Saturday came and we had a very spiritual experience there. Sister
West (West is her maiden name that she goes by) had one of her co-workers
come over and we taught her. It was amazing! Sister West came to church
today and told us that her and her friend that came over on Saturday talked
on the phone for several hours about what her friend experience during our
lesson. After twenty years of inactivity she came to church after two
visits. There is a lot more to the background of how the Lord got her to
come back, but I will just simply say that it has taken a team of servants
over several years to bring Sister West to this point. I will say that this
is my most memorable missionary moment that I have had this far on my
mission. We have another dinner appointment this Saturday where we are going
to teach Sister West and her friend.

I am excited for these next few weeks here. I am learning a lot
about myself and the capabilities that I have.

Thank you for the pants! They are perfect! I sent you a picture
of me in them to show you. I also sent a picture of what the clouds look
like around here. They are the most magnificent clouds that I have ever
seen!

I love you and thank you.

Love

Elder Kelly Conrad

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Hebrews 13:7;17

Dear Mom and Dad, 13 June 2010

This week went well. There were no major problems that happened
this week, which helped. Monday through Wednesday we did our normal
missionary work and did a lot of finding. Thursday we went on exchanges with
the St Robert Zone Leaders, which was fun because I got to go out with Elder
Ewert who was in my MTC district. Then on Friday we spent to day picking up
some missionaries to bring to Tulsa in order for them to stay overnight for
Saturdays meeting.

Things went really well on Saturday. We had Elder Gong, Elder
Maynes, and Elder Russel M. Nelson come and speak to us. Each speaker left
an impression on me. Elder Gong talked about how we can tell if we are
successful missionaries, Elder Maynes talked about the gift of the Holy
Ghost, and Elder Nelson first taught us about how a seventy has the same
special witness as an apostle. Later in his talk he moved from topic to
topic, teaching us about our purpose, and how we are in the work of joy. He
taught us about repentance, and where the root word comes from. It was
really amazing the new understanding I have of repentance. It would be hard
to type out all that I learned; maybe I will get to send the tape I meant to
send home last week. He opened the floor for us to ask him questions and he
got several. I had some questions but was kind of scared to ask, not because
I was scared of his response, but because they really had nothing to do with
missionary work or the doctrines of the lessons we teach. So I kept quiet
and waited to see if he would answer my silent questions. At the end of his
discussion with us he changed the topic and talked to us about going home
and the events that will take place after the mission. He taught out of
Hebrews 13:7 and told us to follow the example of President and Sister
Merkley. He went into detail about how we should look for certain things in
others we date, and to us the mission president and his wife as examples of
what to look for. I have been so impressed with my mission president and his
wife. I have been around him for a long time and have seen them go through
everything. I remember when I first came to Tulsa and having Thanksgiving
dinner with him and his family that had flown in from Utah. After dinner we
watched a musical put on by the Mormon Tabernacle choir and the King
singers. President had his forty six year old handicapped son there, and
during this program I watched and observed how he and his son interacted. I
was deeply moved and impressed when he sat by him and held his sons hand and
talked with him. I saw his compassion and love that he had for his children
and made it my goal to be like that when I am a father. It was very fitting
that Elder Nelson counseled us to follow after our mission president and
wife's example. Even if Elder Nelson didn't fully understand what he was
inspired to ask of us, I saw the wisdom behind it and knew that it was
inspired counsel.

It seems like all the goals and achievements that I have wanted
to say I have completed are slowly becoming a reality. I am seeing prayers
that I offered at the beginning of my mission being answered. Recognizing
when your prayers are being answered and that you have been acting in faith
on promptings that you knew where true, but have been tried and proven in,
really increases your faith and joy . I guess what I am trying to describe
is the joy that I get when I make it through a trial, having endured well,
and walked away with a lesson well learned. Every trial brings repentance
and repentance brings joy.

That's all for this week. Thank you for your letters of
encouragement.

Love

Elder Kelly Conrad

On Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 5:37 PM, Carol Ann Conrad <caconrad.ms@gmail.com>
wrote:

Dear Kelly,

So I have been thinking of you and how you met with Elder Russell M. Nelson
yesterday and wondering how that went for you? How is it going with your new
companion? Have you been able to convert him to your new way of eating and
exercising? Overcoming the bodily appetites is a tough one. It requires a
lot of sacrifice. I think that is one of the reasons why we fast 1x a month,
to help us with this, as bodily appetites are among the toughest things for
us to overcome. I have been diligently focused the past few weeks on a
diet/exercise plan in a new way. I've lost 15 pounds and am excited about
the prospects as I've been working hard to overcome my body with my spirit.
It's really hard-but it's so worth it to gain control of the body and the
appetites, so I can then focus my mind and spirit on the other things that
are more important to my soul.

BreAnne gave a talk today in church. I was impressed with her view of how to
make God a daily part of her life (the topic of her talk). She talked about
how she talks with her friends daily at school and sets a good example for
them by sharing the gospel and answering questions for them, sharing with
them about what she does in church and why she doesn't do certain things.
She said for her, doing missionary work daily in this way helps her remember
God and helps her try even harder to do what is right. She wrote the talk
herself and it was well written and well delivered.

The rest of sacrament meeting was focused on reading scriptures and coming
closer to God. That through the scriptures the Lord speaks to us, through
revelation and through the principles and practices as well as examples of
others. I have long loved the scriptures. From my earliest years that I can
recall, I have loved the stories of the bible. In fact, that was one of the
things the elders did so brilliantly with me as a child. I was but 9 years
old. But I had a child's version of the bible. My favorite things to read
about were the old testament stories. Shadrack, Meshak and Abindigo was one
of my favorites, that by living their faith even when it meant they might
die, they would not bend to others demands and worship false Gods. I
remember the picture to this day of these three young men standing in a
fiery furnace and an angel with them, protecting them. They didn't even
smell of the fire! Because of this, they convinced the King to listen to
them and converted him! The missionaries wisely asked me to tell them
stories of the bible that I knew. I don't remember how they wove it into the
gospel lessons, but they must have. They had a flannel board and taught the
lessons with flip charts too. I remember feeling so strongly the spirit
testifying of the truth of what they were saying. I remember feeling special
and important to them, and knowing that the scriptures were important. The
scriptures were so very important to me back then, that even at that young
age I wanted my own set. I saved and saved and saved my money. I remember
mowing lawns and doing odd jobs for my grandma and paying my tithing after
we joined the church. I was probably about 12 years old. Then I took my
money in an envelope to the ward librarian and ordered my first scriptures
from Salt Lake. There was no book store, no internet, no easy access. You
had to go through the ward to get such things from the distribution center
in Salt Lake City. But finally I had it, my first Book of Mormon triple
combination. I only had a paperback version the missionaries gave me to
that point. This was my own set that I earned the money for and had my name
printed at the bottom. I had to save and save and save again to finally
getting a matching bible. I don't remember how old I was when I read the
Book of Mormon for the first time, but I am sure it wasn't much after I
finally earned my own set. I love the scriptures. They are the Lord's
words. There have been times in my life, when things were the hardest, the
bleakest and the most difficult for me when I turned to the Lord and found
Him daily through the pages of the scriptures. I found specific answers to
my prayers, comfort from the Lord, and responses to my queries what to do
and where go, and how to do it. His scriptures are divinely written in such
a way that one can read them over and over and over again without every
getting bored because you can read them from so many different perspectives
and come to understand them in so many different ways. They are personal to
me, and love them, for they are the words of the Lord to me.

Kelly, I know you are working hard to continue, to keep moving forward as
you serve and continue to sprint to the end here. I am praying that the Lord
will give you a second wind, help you find more to teach and share the
gospel with and be able to see more conversions as you are diligent in
serving Him. For while your mission will end August 27th when you step off
that plane and get released as a full time missionary, your mission to serve
Him will never end in this life nor the next. It is our greatest privilege
and blessing to serve Him all the days of our life and into eternity. It is
my greatest joy to serve Him and I find that as I continue to have faith in
that process, that blessings continue to pour into my life in many, many
ways. I'm sure you have and will continue to find that to be the truth for
you in your service.

I love you Kelly-and I'm still waiting for a pants size so I can send you
your camera cardJ

MomJ

Carol Ann Conrad, MS, LMHC, NCC

Certified Emotionally Focused Therapist

8045 W. Grandridge Blvd Ste A

Kennewick, WA 99336

http://www.carolannconrad.com <http://www.carolannconrad.com/>

509-735-1221

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rejoicing

Dear Mom and Dad 06 June 2010

The week has gone well. We got transfers over with and I am now with my new
companion. Elder Hancock and I ended on a good note. After serving six
months together it was pretty hard to see him go. This past week has brought
a lot of change that has made things a bit emotional and challenging. It
seems like the whole culture of the mission changed when this last bunch of
missionaries went home. The gap of missionaries is closing that I look up
to. It kind of hit me this past week when I got my new companion and new
roommates that I needed to be the mature one because the missionaries around
me are a lot younger and have a lot to learn. I love the challenge though;
it creates a new focus that I can use to help me grow. Something I have done
is written down all the challenges that I foresee in the next three months
and some action plans to achieve the best results through these challenges
in my journal.

It's kind of sad that Elder Hancock went home. I grew the most while I was
with him. We both grew together, which made things easy when we talked about
our challenges and what we were learning. We had a similar understanding of
things and had similar goals, but now things are different. I noticed today
when I was telling Elder Anderson about what I was and wasn't going to do
when I got home that he doesn't have the understanding that I have, not
because he can't or doesn't, but because he is so young and hasn't learned.
It helped me see that I have a lot to help him come to understand before I
leave. My whole goal is not to go back to "dragging main" when I get home. I
didn't spend two years of intensive trials and proving to create change and
conversion to through it all out the window when I get back home.

We have seen some miracle this week. We have spent Friday and on going
through the ward list contacting every one and cleaning the list up. We have
found several less active members to teach and also some new investigators.
We found one of our new investigators while trying to find an unknown
member; we went up to what we thought was the members home and knocked.
Before we knocked we realized that they weren't who we were looking for
because of an ash tray of cigarettes on the window seal. A lady answered the
door and showed the signs that she had no idea who we were. We started to
talk to her and explained that we were looking for this member family on our
list and ask her if she knew where they moved to, she told us that we were
one door off and that the house next to hers was the address that we were
looking for. After she told us this we got her name and started talking to
her. We had a good conversation and then she began to ask us questions. We
told her what we were about and that we share that God has a plan for us and
that we know this plan. She lit up when we started to teach her portions of
the plan of salvation and told us that her grandpa had just died and that
she was confused and praying for answers. It felt so good to be back into
the missionary world! This happened on Friday, and today we had a follow up
appointment that went well too.

Amy came to church today. She is still doing well; we are going over there
on Wednesday to have dinner and a lesson.

Today at church we met with our Bishop and went through the ward roaster and
got to know some more people that we could go contact. I had an interesting
experience after church was over. I guess to explain things I need to go
back to second hour of church. Second hour is the Gospel Essential class,
which is held in the relief society room. Well, when I left class I left my
little note book and special missionary copy of the book of Mormon there on
accident. I didn't realize this until after church. I went looking for it in
the relief society room and couldn't find it. There was a sister there that
I asked if she had seen them and she responded that she had, but that
someone had taken it. So I began to think about how I was going to find my
books when I introduced myself to the Sister and told her my name. She
responded warmly and told me that she was Sister so and so, and that she was
the one who had a non-member husband. This is the first time I had met this
Sister, so I was pretty surprised that she was so open with me. I talked to
her some and she said that her husband had come with her and that she wanted
me to meet him. So she takes me to him, while we walk I asked her what his
interests are, and it turns out that we have some of the same interests; he
loves classic muscle cars! I was thinking, "This is perfect!" I met him and
he is very friendly and warm. We got to talking about his '67 Mustang and
the details about the car when he invites us to come over for dinner. We
have an appointment next Tuesday. Things are really picking up here.

I could go through with you the list of challenges that I wrote down in my
journal, but one of those goals is to establish a tradition of doing
missionary work as an assistant. It's going to take all my focus and energy.
It's going to be an exciting three months because it will help me reach all
my goals and test all the skills and abilities that I have learned this far
on my mission, such as planning, following the Spirit, having faith, waiting
on God's will, teaching, being consistent and diligent and many other
things.

We are gearing up for the big event this week with having Elder Russell M
Nelson coming to our mission. On Friday we are going to be bringing in the
Springfield South Zone in to stay the night for the Saturday meeting. The
whole mission is so excited for this! I am hoping that it will create a more
mature, dedicated, and obedient spirit into the mission.

Well that as that I have for this week. I think I will be sending a tape
home this week, so be looking forward to that. Have I gotten my last memory
card back yet? I can't remember if I have. Anyways, I love you and thank you
for all that you do for me!

Love

Elder Kelly Conrad

Last week with Elder Hancock Elder Kelly Conrad

Dear Mom and Dad 30 May 2010

This was a very exciting week. We have had some pretty random
events happen that have brought a lot of learning. But first off, my new
companion is Elder Matthew Kelly Anderson, who is from Bountiful, Utah. I
get another Utah missionary to serve with to help bring to the light and
knowledge that Utah is not the only Zion. Elder Anderson served in Miami two
transfers after me and baptized the M's who I found while I was there. I
have been on many exchanges with him over the past seven months and know
that we will be great for each other. I can foresee that he might not want
to keep up with my eating and exercise habits, but that was one of the
challenges I had with Elder Hancock that I finally won after several months
of being persistent.

It always seem that in the last few weeks of serving with a
companion all my questions get answered and I begin to realize what it is
that the Lord has been trying to teach me through the trials. As I have been
serving with Elder Hancock, I have been taught how to get along with someone
who is the complete opposite of who I am. If you sat down and took both of
our life stories and compared them, you would see that we lived in different
worlds before we came out here. I know that it was only through the
inspiration from the Lord that we were supposed to serve together; I would
have never guessed in a million years that we could have served together,
much less for six months. I'm not complaining, but I'm just telling you how
it was. Sometimes the only thing that got me through the tough times was the
confirmation I got one day that Elder Hancock was called by revelation to be
my companion. Things were just started to come together this past week until
we got a call on Wednesday from the Tulsa zone leaders telling us about a
missionary companionship that had gotten into a little fight. The only
reason why I even mention this detail is to explain what I learned this
week. Before we got the call on Wednesday we had just gotten over some of
our communication differences and began to really become solid. We knew how
to better get along and we were really able to communicate. Well, after this
call on Wednesday we ended up with a third companion who brought a new
element to our companionship that we weren't able to handle at first. This
third companion came with a negative spirit that could be felt by us and
which really made it more difficult. Something happened during Wednesday
which created some resentment that we each kept bottled up for two days
because we couldn't find time to get alone and talk things through. On
Friday we had to make the time. I don't know how it changed things, but it
really did. It's hard to explain what I learned from this experience in an
email. It's been a lesson that has been culminating for the past six
months. I can sum up the whole lesson in one sentence taken from "The
Family; A Proclamation to the world." I read this one day after searching
for an answer as to what I was to learn from my time serving with Elder
Hancock. "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained
on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love,
compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." Of course I am not
married, but this companionship has been the closest thing I will ever get
until I actually am. I figured that if I wanted to have a successful
companionship with Elder Hancock I needed to practice these principles. I
have tried my best to put into practice these principles in my relationship
with Elder Hancock and it has made a world of a difference.

Well, to keep building off this story, today I learned in more
detail why I have had some of the experiences that I have. I learned that a
leader is going to go through special trials that will allow them to know
how to help others. I was sitting with my third companion today in church
and was thinking about what purpose I can serve in helping him. As I thought
about this, I began to understand that a lot of what I had been through with
my current companion has given me the tools and know how to help this
missionary. I think that's what Alma 7:12-13 teaches; Jesus Christ knew how
to succor us because he knew it by the Spirit, and his suffering for us that
he might know how to succor us according to the flesh; also blot out our
transgressions. I learned that a leader will go through that same process,
not to blot out transgressions, but to know how to succor those he serves. I
guess you can say that this is one of the greatest leadership lessons that I
have learned here. This helps me face trials and adversity with so much more
confidence. Every trial that I have had on my mission prepares me for the
future.

I can really see how my mission has taught me things in stages.
If I had learned this lesson with my first companion I wouldn't have had to
go through this, but I have had to go from line to line, precept to precept,
and be tested all the way.

That's all for this week, I got the Ensign you sent, thank you!
Now I have something to read while in the car!

Love

Elder Kelly Conrad

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goals and the future Elder Kelly Conrad

Dear Mom and Dad 23 May 2010

I'm going to have some time tomorrow to write a tape home, so I
will answer a lot of your questions from your email in it.

Leading up to this week I was actually very hesitant and nervous
for this week. I have been going on exchanges with the same missionaries for
the past seven months and on exchanges this past week I went on exchanges
with two elders who I have never served around or been on exchanges with. It
is always challenging to go on exchanges with someone that I have only had
limited contact with. I guess I could expound on all the reasons why it's
challenging, but basically I get to spend several hours with someone that I
really don't know and I am expected to be their friend and also a leader to
them and help them grow in their missionary abilities. It's quite the task.
But I learned something about myself this week, what I learned was that
before I have my greatest and happiest moments I am slightly timid and
nervous. It's been a cycle that I have been in my whole life that I am just
now realizing. Anyways, after my exchanges with these new elders I have
found two of my new best friends. Their names are Elder Evans and Elder
Liston. After spending several hours with them tracting and teaching with
them I feel a great friendship for these tow elders. Elder Evans is going to
be at BYU-I when I am there, so we made some plans.

This leads to what I learned today while at church. But to give
a little background before I share it, I will begin with an experience I had
my first week of my mission. My first week in the mission we had a Mission
Tour by Elder Allen Packer. He pre-selected some missionaries before our
conferences that he wanted to interview. He had chosen my trainer, Elder
Harrison. So before the meeting, Elder Harrison goes into a room and is
interviewed by Elder Packer while I am in the chapel. After their interview
Elder Harrison comes and gets me and tells me that Elder Packer wants to
talk to me. So I sit down in the room with Elder Packer and we get to
talking. I can't really remember all of what happened, but I can remember
him asking me about my goals. I left and he interviewed and another
missionary and we then proceeded with the Mission Tour Conference. Later on
in my mission when General Conference came I was surprised to see that Elder
Allen Packer was giving an address. I have to say that I took more
particular attention to what he was talking about because I felt like I knew
him more than the rest of the General Authorities. His topic was on personal
revelation. It has been my goal my whole mission to learn more about
personal revelation and how it works with me, so I really enjoyed listening
to his talk and then later reading and studying it in the Ensign. One
principle that he taught has stood out to me the most, and that principle
was that in the future, personal revelation is going to be even more
important. Today, as I was thinking about these experiences and the studies
I have done on this, I learned something's. Basically, I learned that it has
taken personal revelation to know who I am, to know my potential, to know
God's plan for me, and also to know that Christ has atoned for my sins.
Personal revelation is needed in order to be saved. It's all about what you
know, not what the church knows. I think that's what the Lord means when he
says in the Doctrine and Covenants that he is happy with the church
collectively, not individually. The church contains absolute truth, but not
every member does. It takes personal revelation to obtain absolute truth.
Alma 12 sums the rest of what I learned while at church today.

That's it for this week. Thank you for all that you do for me!

Love,

Elder Kelly Conrad

FW: Sister P. and Brother W.

Dear Mom and Dad 16 May 2010

Thank you for your last email mom, it was really good.

The week went well, to let you know we weren't in Tulsa the day
the big storm hit, we were in Saint Robert, Mo and Springfield, Mo. We had
some phone calls from some elders who had been in it though. We had one of
the Spanish set of missionaries here in Tulsa call us and tell us that their
apartment had been hit by a tornado, and that they were alright. We didn't
even know about the storm until they called us.

So there are two experiences that I want to talk about today.
The first happened on Tuesday afternoon. We had a few short hours on Tuesday
to do some work in our own area, so we decided to pull out the ward roster
and visit those who are part member families. We had two solid contacts; one
was with an older lady who has her 14 year old grandson living with her, who
isn't a member; and the other contact was with Sister P. After contacting
the first Sister we went to the address of a Laura M. We knocked on the door
and someone came to it and peeked through the window and told us to hold on.
After waiting a few minutes she came out and we began to talk to her. We
told her that we were looking for a "Sister M." she corrected us and told us
that she now goes by Sister P. The name P. is familiar to us because there
is a Brother P. that we know who goes to the Riverside ward. So we talk to
her some more and get to building a relationship and we find out that she is
the sister to this Brother P. that we know. She tells us some about her
conversion and explains how she got to Tulsa. She said that She used to work
on Sundays and had a boyfriend living with her that stopped her from coming
to church, but that last week she got a new job schedule and had her
boyfriend moved out and that she is now ready to come back to church. We
committed her to come to church and set up an appointment for eleven on
Sunday, just before church, so that we could make sure she would come. After
that we left, but before she let us leave she gave us three boxes of food to
take home. She is such a good lady, bless her heart. Well, today we went
over at eleven with Sam and got to know her some more and taught her about
scripture study. It was a really good lesson, we kind of stumbled our way
through the lesson at first because our original lesson plan was voided out
by the way the conversation went, but we finally found what it was that we
were supposed to teach. She ended up needing a ride to church today because
her car broke down, so we called the office Sisters who are my two favorite
people in the world, and they came over to pick her up. Sister Nokes and
Sister Mills did a wonderful job fellowshipping Sister P. I'm going to keep
in contact with them after my mission. I really like Sister P. She is an
amazing lady. I have only really talked to her for a total of an hour and a
half, but I really respect her. She fit in perfectly at church and felt very
welcomed. She said that she felt cleaner and that a weight had been lifted
off her shoulders. I have no idea how it is that strong friendships and
relationships can be made so fast between people.

I had another experience where I got to perform an emergency baptism
interview while on exchanges with Elder Goodale in St. Robert, Mo. His name
was Michael W. I only talked to him for about an hour but I felt so much
love for that man. I was told several hours in advance that I was going to
be doing the baptism interview; when I was told I started to think about
what was going to take place and what it meant to be interviewing someone
for baptism. I did all that I could to prepare myself for it. I have gained
greater understanding about baptism and the interview for baptism since my
last time performing one, so I did all that I could to be ready. As we
talked the Spirit was there, and I could tell by looking into Michael's eyes
that he had a broken heart and contrite spirit and that he had received the
Spirit of Christ and was forgiven of his sins and was worthy to be baptized.
It was such a fruitful experience. I have really gained a greater love and
compassion while serving here.

I guess I can understand why it is that relationships are gained
so fast, because sometimes they need to, and also because when you are doing
the Lords work you feel the love that the Lord has for these people, and you
love them the same way the Lord loves them. Some of my most meaningful
relationships have been with those who are not investigators but rather the
members and less-active members. I have found that most of the less-active
and in-active people that I have taught have been the most faithful people.
Seeing how they grow as they exercise their faith to work through hard times
inspires me to work through my own hard times.

Today we went around to some hospitals and put our names on the
clergy lists in hopes that we can get to know more people and do more good
while we are here in Tulsa. We have already had two positive experiences
with some people as we went out and put our name on these lists.

I love you and thank you for all that you are doing for me.

Love

Elder Kelly Conrad

PS; the picture attached is what the sky looked like after that big storm
passed over us while in Branson, Mo. The storm that hit Tulsa and Oklahoma
City went acrossd our whole mission so a few hour after it went over Tulsa
we saw it in Branson. It was intense but it wasn't as bad as it was here in
Tulsa.

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staying focused Elder Kelly Conrad

Mom and Dad 09 May 2010

It was good to talk to everyone today. I was so caught up in the
moment that I forgot to tell you Happy Mother's Day mom! I hope we talked
about everything we needed to. It felt really good talking to all of you. It
really helped me see that when my mission is over it doesn't mean that my
life is over. I realized when talking to everyone that I am pretty serious
about this calling and mission. Telling you my plans for the next three
months has helped me see my purpose for the next two transfers.

There is a scripture found in the Doctrine and Covenants section 84 verse
33-34, that have really helped me stay focused and keep myself from being to
trunky. When my last companion went home I was probably the trunkiest that I
have ever been, and after studying this section I have found my peace and
have been able to stay focused. In verse 33-34, it gives a list of things to
obtain and do in order to be found as the elect of God. It says that those
who are faithful in receiving the two priesthoods and magnify their callings
are sanctified by the Spirit, unto the renewing of their bodies, and become
the sons of Moses and Aaron and the seed of Abraham and the church and
kingdom and are the elect of God. To make a long story short, I want to be
faithful and magnify my calling so that I can be called the elect of God and
be sanctified. So, that scripture tells me that I have to live my life in
such a way that the current calling is the most important thing until the
calling is over. Basically, I am not going to slack off because I'm coming
home soon, I'm going to live the rest of my mission the way I have lived it
so far untill the end when I am released, and when I am released I will be
able to move on.

I learned an important lesson this week. I learned that as a leader I will
sometimes be called to do things that will not bring me the most popularity.
We taught the mission about the importance of setting goals, making plans,
and being held accountable. We tried to help them gain a vision of the
purpose of weekly planning and daily planning. It wasn't the most fun of
all the Zone Conferences that I have been involved in, but it was certainly
one of the most powerful ones. I have gained a testimony about the
importance of setting goals and making plans, and being held accountable and
we tried to convey to the missionaries the importance of all these things
and the roles they will play in their life as a missionary and to their life
after the mission. I have learned that if I don't set goals or visions for
myself, I will go nowhere.

I don't have much else to say. I think we talked about it all on the phone
this morning. I love you family. It was really good to hear all your voices
today,it really helped me out.

Love,

Elder Kelly Conrad

small and simple Elder Kelly Conrad

Mom and Dad 02 May 2010

Things went well this week. It's always fun preparing for zone
conference and trying to stay focused and normal throughout all the studying
and planning.

We stopped going to the Riverside ward in the morning which will
make it easier for me to call home on Sunday. I will be able to call in the
morning; I'll call around 10:00 my time. I'll be calling your cell. We will
be calling from the mission office so that my companion is going to call
from the land line here and I'll be on our cell phone. I guess we will talk
about other things and I will be able to answer more questions then.

So the week went well. We have gotten a lot done and prepared
for this upcoming Zone Conference. I feel like there have been a lot of
achievements this past week, but when I look at my planner and review the
week there wasn't really all that done. We have spent a lot of time getting
ready for this next week and I would have to say that I have the best
feeling about this zone conference then I have since I first came here.

This week I have done a lot of studying about the family because of topics
spoken about in General Conference, and because of some needs that our
investigators have. I was talking to one of the missionaries that we
livewith, Elder Greg Otterstrom, about missionaries and he called to my
attention a thought that I once had several months ago that helped me learn
a lot about families. He said that you can observe missionaries and get a
general idea of what their family was like back at home by the way the
missionary acts. So, with all my thoughts I had that came from my studies
about the family, thrown in along with this concept of seeing how
missionaries life's were back at home with their families; I got to thinking
about my family and how it prepared me to serve a mission. Here were some
of my thoughts: My family and life did prepare me to be a missionary. Moving
from place to place, going from school to school, and ward to ward, and
sometimes branches, has equipped me with understandings and perspectives
about many situations that one can live in. Missionaries out here are
shocked when they are placed into a ward, or branch that covers counties,
instead of street blocks. When I was in an interview with Sister Merkley,
during their first transfer in the mission field, I asked her what it was
that prepared her the most to serve as Mission President and wife, and her
response caught me off guarded, she said that life had prepared her and
President Merkley to serve. It was an answer that has changed my view on
things and has continued to teach me even till this day. Life and family
really do shape the person that you are. Even though I might not want to
admit it sometimes, I am really just a product of my parents, family and
upbringing. There was more that went into those thoughts, but that was the
main theme of things.

Teaching Amy is going well. She still is coming to church and taking the
lessons, which is good. Teaching her is defiantly a learning experience; she
is helping learn how to be patient and to have long-suffering. It's all
about waiting with her right now, the desire to be become a member is there,
but there are other things that need to be cleared up before we can proceed.
The feeling that I get is that we are going to be waiting a long time
because there are some major events that need to take place before she can
be baptized.

We have another family that we started teaching this week! We are teaching
the Coleman family. It's a family with a husband and a wife with four kids.
We have taught Brother Coleman before, but this week he actually became an
investigator. Our lesson went really well, he read the scriptures that we
left him last time and he was prepared and ready for what we planned to
teach him. In our first lesson he told us that he felt like he has never
received and answer to his prayers, so in this week's lesson we planned to
teach to this concern. We used Moroni chapter 10 and 7 to help him see how
the Holy Ghost will testify of truth, and along with personally experience,
helped him see how he might receive an answer. It went really well, I feel
really good about him and his family. They are coming to church on Mother's
day next week.

That's all for this week family. We've got some things to do before we take
off tomorrow, so I've got to go. I love and thank you for all that you are
doing for me. I'm excited to get to call home and talked with you.

Love
Elder Kelly Conrad

PS the picture with all the missionaries is the picture of all those who
came to our Zone Leader Council this past Tuesday. The next picture is of
the Haynie family. Sam is the one who always comes out with us when we go
and teach Amy. This family is the sweetest! They feed us all the time. I
spent last Thanks Giving and Christmas at their home.

FW: how to repair

Dear Mom and Dad 25 April 2010

Things have gone well this week all things considered. We have
made a lot of progress that was very much needed. This week is week number
one of the transfer and we are doing all the necessary preparations for
weeks 2 through 6 and even for the next two transfers.

We were able to teach Amy this week. She is sweet,
nothing can get her down. She has received a lot of opposition these past
few weeks but she is so resilient. We have been helping her along through a
very long and tiresome repentance process. The way she came in contact with
the church were not in the normal conventional ways of watching a television
ad, or having missionaries talking to her. It is a miracle that we are even
teaching her. In my second transfer here Elder Hancock and I made the
choice to start going to the Riverside ward on Sunday along with our normal
ward. The reason we deceived to do this was so that we could inspire the
Riverside ward to be more missionary minded; we hoped that by having
missionary leaders in the ward that they might see it as a chance to utilize
the missionaries and get more organized. So, on the Sunday that Amy came to
church wanting to learn more about the church she talked to Elder Hancock.
We were at the right place at the right time, for the right person.

This week we were interviewed by some high school students for
an AP English project. It was an amazing experience. They were doing some
comparing of the different churches here in Tulsa. They brought with them a
video camera and sound equipment and filmed the whole interview. They said
they are going to send us a DVD next week with their final project, so I
will send that home so you can see how things went.

We had 11 new missionaries come into the mission this transfer.
All 11 of them are outstanding, they are defiantly better then I was when I
first came out. As we sat down with them and did some role plays it was very
apparent that they were prepared and ready for the people they are called to
serve here. New missionaries always bring a new excitement into the mission.
As you sit in the room with all of them you can just feel their faith and
anxiety. It's good to know who the mission's hands will be in a few months.

We are focusing the mission now on being better planners and
using daily and weekly planning as times to show the Lord that we are
prepared disciples that He can send His prepared people to. We have created
several power points that we are using to teach and instruct missionaries on
how to better use goal setting and plan making principles that some of us
older missionaries have learned to use. 75% of our mission is missionaries
who have only been out under a year. The younger the mission the more time
you spend training and that's what we have been doing these past six months.
In the next three transfers we are going to be losing the bulk of our
leadership and its going to require younger missionaries to step up and take
on some of the responsibilities. We older missionaries have the
responsibility to pass on what we have learned so that the mission can
continue to grow. I am excited to see how Zone Conference's goes this
transfer and to see how the missionaries apply what is taught.

I love you and thank you for all that you are doing. I will be
writing another tape this week filling you more in about things.

Love your son,
Elder Kelly Conrad

Charity Elder Kelly Conrad

Mom and Dad 19 April 2010

Hey family, things have gone well this past week. I went to the
Tulsa Zoo today with the elders here in Tulsa. So I have some pictures of
that as well as a picture that was taken at a marriage this week end. One of
the Riverside elders had one of the couples they are teaching get married on
Saturday.

We just finished week five and we are now on week six of this
transfer. The next transfer starts on April 26; which will bring me back to
week number one of the next transfer. It's been decided that I get to stick
around here in Tulsa a little longer. I will be Elder Hancock's last
companion that he will ever serve with here in the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission. I
am excited for the next six weeks. Elder Hancock and I have some big plans
for the mission; our goal is to get the missionaries to regain the
missionary spirit that they have once had by helping them live the
principles of personal sacrifice and obedience. The mission has a lot of
faith and it's now time to test that faith.

I have really been working on charity and honesty this past
transfer. I have worked on charity before but after I heard a talk given by
Elder Holland and after reading some scriptures I wanted to come to a deeper
understanding about what it means to have charity. The scripture that got me
interested in charity again is Moroni 7: 44 "if a man be meek and lowly in
heart, and <http://scriptures.lds.org/en/moro/7/44d> confesses by the power
of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for
if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity."
Basically what I get out of this verse is that I need charity in order to
testify of Christ. Paul explains more in 1 Cor 13; that a man without
charity is nothing, even if he has faith to move mountains. So, I am working
on making sure that I have charity. Charity runs deeper than merely saying
and thinking that you love someone.

I learned something this week while teaching Amy. When I teach
something to someone about a principle of the gospel I have learned that if
I can first teach myself that principle and get myself to understand it then
I am more likely to teach it to someone else in order for them to understand
it. I tell you this so that my next few comments make sense. While in a
lesson with Amy on Saturday, we tried to teach her about the importance of
the family. We were reading with her "The Family : A Proclamation to the
World" and explained things paragraph by paragraph till we came to the
paragraph that reads, "Successful marriages and families are established and
maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect,
love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." I began to
teach myself what this sentence taught quickly so that I could explain it to
Amy. What I learned while teaching myself and then later teaching Amy was an
answer to my prayers. So in fine, what I learned was that I have
inadvertently lived these principles with in my own companionship with Elder
Hancock these past five months. Normally missionaries can build a
relationship really quickly through finding commonalities in things like
music, sports, or interests; but with Elder Hancock and I you couldn't have
miss-matched a companionship any more. So, we have strived to get along
through faith, prayer repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion,
work and wholesome recreational activities. I could go through each one of
those principles describing and illustrating how we have tried to live them
but that could take a long time; but we have lived them. I haven't had a
companion this long before, and it's really helped me come to understand
things about life and relationships. My whole mission has been sheltering me
from these lessons, with all my prior companions I was only with them for
two months or less, but now having to serve with one for six months has
taught me some of the most important things that God has had in store to
teach me while on my mission. It never ceases to amaze me how God works. If
I can conquer this companionship through these principles then I can conquer
any companionship, or relationship.

Church on Sunday runs from 9:00 am to 4:00pm, we go to two
wards. What if I were to call around 7:00 my time? That's not a for sure
time yet because we don't know our dinner schedule yet, but I would most
likely be calling you anytime from four to six your time. Hopefully that can
give us an idea of call timing.

Well that's all for this week. Thank you for all that you are
doing!

Love

Elder Kelly Conrad

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Flight! Elder Kelly Conrad

Mom and Dad- 11 April 2010

The week went by really fast this time. I am starting to see a
pattern here recently; when things are tough the time slows down and drags,
but when things are going a bit better time speeds up. Things went fast this
past week.

I remember when I was in the MTC sitting in a large group
meeting when we were shown a power point presentation that illustrated our
mission life. There was a graph that showed a line that increased steadily
till the middle of the graph where the line began to decrease steadily. The
graph was to represent one path that missionaries took while out on their
missions; they would apply themselves and progress till they plateau and
then they figured that they knew enough and stopped progressing. This
presentation has been on my mind these past few days and it has created a
lot of new desires and goals that I have set in order to avoid decreasing.

Things are now set in order and the errands that my companion
and I have been focused on for these past few months are completed. Policies
and procedures are now in order and we are on to other things. We will now
be consolidating our schedule and using the time spent on these past errands
on new projects and developments; a new challenge that I am way excited to
face and conquer.

Now that I have started my email with some very vague
comments...

Today I learned a lot from church. My favorite day out of the
week is Sunday because it is where all my studies for the week come together
to help me understand something about myself and the Gospel. This past week
I felt impressed to select six topics that will be my main focus of study
for the rest of my mission. These six topics are: 1. Charity/Discipleship,
2. Repentance/Conversion, 3. Revelation/Companionship of the Holy Ghost, 4.
Atonement/How to apply it in my life, 5. Priesthood/Keys, and 6. Ephraim. I
choose these topics because they are what I really want to learn more about,
and things that I can better understand so that I can teach it better to
myself, investigators, and missionaries. They might also help with
understanding my role and calling better and along with that they might help
in the transitions that are lurking in the near future.

I have studied the Atonement this past week and in Church the
topic of the talks was about the Atonement of Jesus Christ; what a
coincidence. One of the speakers explains something that was very insightful
that helped me connect the dots of all my past studies that I have done on
this topic. I have studied Section 88 where it talks about Laws that govern
all things and several other scriptures talking about the Law of Moses and
its purposes to not justify man, but to point us towards having faith in
Jesus Christ; which is the only way to be justified. Well, one of the
speakers today used an analogy that was very profound and taught me a lot
about the Atonement. The speaker was talking about laws and how we are
governed by them. She highlighted the law of gravity by holding out her
scriptures saying that the law of gravity required that the scriptures fall
when she was to let go of them, but then she said that by using other forces
and other laws she could make it possible to keep them in the air if she let
them go. My mind thought about all the ways that she could possibly get the
scriptures to stay in the air to defy the law of gravity and when thinking
about this I thought about how it is was possible that something could stay
in the air when the law of gravity required things to fall. I thought about
what makes it possible to fly an airplane. It is something that is very
heavy that should not fly, but does. I learned that an airplane does not
escape the justice of gravity; it uses other laws that are more powerful to
create flight and defy gravity. I applied this example to myself and
figuratively put myself into the planes place. I am bound to earth because
of the law of gravity. By the law I am not justified to fly, but by using
propulsion, air, and some uniquely designed wings I could use other, more
powerful laws to justify flight that would satisfy the demands of justice
that gravity would normally have. Simply put, airplanes are bound by laws
that are affixed, but its uses other laws to satisfy the affixed law of
gravity. We too are bound by affixed laws that demand punishment and justice
for our sins that separate us from the affixed happiness that we are
seeking. It is only through faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ that we
are able to be justified in returning back to Heavenly Father even if we
have sinned. Christ did not come to save us in our sins, but from our sins.
Christ has been given the power to save us only upon conditions of faith,
repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to
the end and everything that enduring to the end implies. It was a good
thought.

I love you family, I'm sorry that I didn't get the memory card
out to you this week. I have it packaged up and ready to go tomorrow.

Love your son,

Elder Kelly Conrad

PS. I haven't gotten that book yet, but that's ok, I plan on just holding it
till later in the next few months to use.

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conference Elder Kelly Conrad

Mom and Dad 05 April 2010

The week went well. I was able to go on some exchanges this week
with three of my favorite missionaries' friends. I learned a lot from these
elders and had a lot of insight given to past events.

On Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Cosgrove in
Fayetteville. It was a great exchange and I overcame a lot. The situation of
the exchange was this; we were on foot all day because it was the end of the
month and the elders had no miles left to drive their vehicle. Fayetteville
is the home to the University Of Arkansas campus. When we got into
Fayetteville we met the elders at the institute building on campus and this
is where we started our long trek. We walked through campus and headed
towards the bus stop to get into town; it was very strange walking around a
campus with a bunch of people my own age that weren't in suits and ties.
When we had gotten to the bus stop we loaded up and headed to our
destination. When I walked onto the bus I was so overwhelmed by walking on
campus and getting onto a bus with a lot of people that I froze and didn't
know what to do. I can normally figure out what to do in most situations but
I have never dealt with a situation like this before on my mission and I was
caught completely off guard. While walking on I was so focused on not
looking scared and lost I gave up my opportunity to sit down in a seat and
ended up standing up in the middle of the row. As we drove off all I could
do was stare out the front window and pray to know what to do. A few moments
into the ride I tried to look around and see if there was anyone that I
could talk to and all I saw were people with their headphones in trying to
avoid eye contact with me. I kept praying to know what to do and for a
chance to talk to someone. We reached another bus stop where there was an
exchange of people getting off and on. I darted to the first seat I could
find near the front of the bus and sat down. I was so relieved to sit down
and get the chance to grasp all that was going on. Luckily I sat down next
to a lady who wasn't listening to a MP3 player. I told this young lady that
I was absolutely scared to be riding the bus and that I had only a small
experience with riding them back home when my friends and I would ride them
to the mall. I don't think that my confession of being scared was the best
way to start a conversation but it was all that was on my mind, so that's
what I talked about. We got to talking a little bit and I found out her name
was Emily and that she knew people from the church. We had a good little
conversation until the next bus stop where Elder Cosgrove and I got off. I
gave her a pass along card and encouraged her to go to the website on the
back. It wasn't the most successful moment of my mission, but it sure did
feel like it to me. These little moments are what I like most about being a
missionary. I like baptisms and I like it when someone is found who is
interested in the Gospel, but moments like these are the ones that really
test me and help me see who I am becoming. It's easy to be a missionary when
you have a suit and tie on and when you have a name tag on that bears the
name of Jesus Christ. These moments help me see what my mission has helped
me become.

I think the leaders of the Church are getting better and better
and this past General Conference is the proof. I thought Conference was
amazing and very insightful, clear and direct. I got a lot out of it and
took some good notes that I plan on studying. If anyone had any questions
about how to get through the afflictions we face they should have been fully
edified after Saturday and Sunday.

I remember reading one of your letter's Mom, which had a
question asking me about what I learned from my Mountain Home, Ar
experience; for some odd reason that line popped back into my mind over this
past week. I went on an exchange with an elder who served in that area just
four and a half months before I did. We got to talking about the area and
what experience he had there and the one I had there. It was very
insightful. He was being trained there by a great missionary and the work
was flourishing with success and with member support. That was surprising to
me because when I got there the area was dead and there was no activity.
What had happened? As I thought about it I learned what it really means to
be a part of a band of brotherhood. A missionary who served there in that
four and a half month gap had made some changes to the way the missionary
work was done and turned off the ward members and leaders to missionary
work. This missionary is a great missionary and is one that I respect, so I
mean no disrespect. But what I learned from thinking about the affects of
what was done because of this elders' choices helped me see that being part
of a band of brotherhood is more than supporting those around you, but also
supporting those that will come in the future. The consequences of choices
made now are going to affect the future in more ways than we realize.
Learning this has helped me view my service in a more serious way. There is
a lot of applications to this principle in my life.

That's all for this week; thank you for all that you are doing
for me! I'm mailing home another memory card this week, so be expecting
that.

Love your son,

Elder Kelly Conrad

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