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