Betcha can't guess what happened this week!

Dear Family,
It has been such a crazy week! The begining of the week was pretty good, and Thursday we got transfer calls. I found out I was going to Grenada. That was exciting. We went out working Friday, and that couple I told you about who were supposed to get married, didn't end up being able to do it because Avanaash couldn't find his Birth Certificate. We went to see them that evening and watched "Finding Faith in Christ" and He told us He Would look for the Birth Certificate. Right After we left them I got a phone call telling me I needed to pack my bags, because I was leaving 10:30 Saturday morning. So I did. Saturday was spent in airports and I arrived here in Grenada at 9:30 that night. Grenada is a pretty Island, and there is a medical school here so half the branch is young American couples. It is a lot different than I am used to. I am excited to serve here. I am now going to try and answer all of Dad's questions;

How was your week? Good

How is it working with the English Elders? It is fun. The Elders I am with and was with were great guys

Are you returning to Guadeloupe this week? Apparently not

Do you know where you will be going and with who? Grenada with Elder Owens

So how did you like your stay in Guyana? It was really cool. It was a really good experience and I learned a lot.

Will you be going through St. Martin? No, but I will check out things here to see how expensive things are, and about the post office.

I love you guys. Peace out!

Elder Ison

sunshine, hailstorms... and everything in between

Dear friends and family,
Tuesday was fun in London. We saw the usual sites, and I've decided that Tower Bridge is definitely my favourite. I love it! It's so beautiful.
Wednesday we took Sister Kuoppala to Liverpool Street. I was so sad to see her go because it was so much fun being in a trio. She'll do very well in Stevenage I'm sure. It was fun at Liverpool Street though because President and Sister Foulger were there. It was the first time that they had ever been and it was great. Also, Sister Strunk moved to Maldon, so I'll get to see her at Zone Conference now! Hooray!
Then when we got back we saw Justin with Sister Stevenson. It was a really good lesson. He's excited to be baptized. We taught him more about baptism and what that is so that was good. Then in the evening we went to see Josephine again, and Suresh came with us. It was really good. He was able to speak to her in Hindi, and he has a powerful testimony. I could feel the spirit even though I had no idea what they were talking about. I loved it!
Thursday morning we did planning. Then we did some finding and went to visit a family that lives way out in the boonies. haha, not really, but we had a good walk :) Their names are Barry and Evelyn. Evelyn is a member, but Barry is not, even though he comes to church with her every Sunday. He's a good man, we just can't figure out why he won't be baptized. It was a good lesson and it was good to get to know him.
Friday was a good day. In the morning we ran into Selam at the bus stop and I was so glad to see her because I was worried we had lost her when Joice had to move. She said that she would come to church on Sunday :) We saw Justin again in the afternoon and Suresh came with us. We taught the Word of Wisdom, and there's some work to do, but it was good, and Justin wants to do what is right so that's good. Then in the evening we went to see Baetsi and Mark. We had a good lesson about General Conference so we hope that they will come.
Haha, Saturday was a pretty ridiculous day. We did a lot of finding, and the best part was that there were like gale force winds, and they were blowing all sorts of weather over us. It was be sunshiny one second, then cloudy, then sunshiny again, then raining, then hailing... and so forth. oh my goodness. But it was still a good day. We saw the Polish family again, but communication was pretty difficult because John wasn't there, and they don't speak English much. But we left some Polish Books of Mormon, and hopefully they'll come to conference. Then in the evening we saw Elizabeth again (who we saw a long time ago, who let us into her house). She said that her brother and sister had made her get rid of the Book of Mormon, and said that it was an evil book, so we were able to resolve a few of her concerns. She was a little scared still though, but she's willing to have us back again....
Sunday was a great day. I love Sundays so much! It was Ward Conference so Sister Andersen and I sang in the Ward Choir. Justin came and he's making friends (which I love!). Also, a few less actives showed up. Also, Selam did come! :) She's so sweet. So did Mfundo, even though he's actually moved to Edmonton! AND! Brother Conteh was called as single adult rep, and Suresh was called as a ward missionary! I was so excited! It was just really good. The sun was shining all day as well. After church there was a munch and mingle, and we went to have a meeting with the Stevensons because they're going to Utah for General Conference, and they'll be gone for two weeks. Then in the evening we went to see Brother Kelleher. He's a good man. He told me a story I really liked. He said once after he had been baptized and had the priesthood his daughter had a terrible ear infection. He didn't know what to do and she was crying and it was late at night and she couldn't sleep. He called the emergency doctor to come. Then he thought he could give her a priesthood blessing. He didn't know what to do, or if he was doing it right, but he did it the best he knew how. He said that right after he gave her the blessing he had this thought that seemed to speak from outside of himself into his head that he should put a hot towel on her ear. He thought it was odd, but the though just kept coming back, so finally he went and put a towel in the tumble dryer, and then came back and put it on her ear. Shortly after she fell sound asleep. Later when the doctor came and looked in her ear, he asked how long she had been sleeping. Brother Kelleher said that she had been sound asleep for about an hour. The doctor said he couldn't believe that she was sleeping, because her ear was very infected and she should have been in a lot of pain. The doctor gave Brother Kelleher some perscriptions, and things, but Brother Kelleher said that she slept through the night. I loved that story. It's about Priesthood power, and obedience to promptings of the spirit. It's great! :) Then we went to see Stella, and it was a good lesson. She's really excited to come to General Conference.
So it's been a good week, as usual. :) I love being a missionary. I love Sister Andersen. She's great. I'm sooooooooooooooo excited for General Conference next weekend. It's amazing!

Mom- I got my package! I loved the pictures. i put my grow pirate in some water, but it sort of exploded.....ooops... haha But I especially love the pictures. Pictures are definitely my favourite thing! :) My cold is recovering... so that's good :)
Dad- yup, I trained Sister Strunk. Oh, how I love her. Man, I have been blessed with the best companions.

Nathan- Good job doing your jobs at school. I love you!

Grandma and Grandpa- I love you so much, and pray for you!

Everyone Else- I love you too! :)
Love,
Sister Ison

Trio... training... Mother's day...and other surprises!

Hello!!!
Oh my goodness how I love this week!  I have so much to say right now...so I'll just start!
Monday evening we saw Bella and taught her a bit more about the temple and family history because she loves the temple so much.  It was a really good lesson.
Tuesday morning we had district meeting.   In the middle of it we got a phone call and it was from President, so we took it (of course!) and it was for me.  He called and asked me to train.  It was a shock to say the least because moves calls weren't supposed to be until Monday.  He explained that it was the American missionaries who couldn't get their visas before and that they were coming on Thursday.  I was so excited.  So we went and finished district meeting.  Then we did a lot of finding, but in the evening we saw Mfundo and had a GREAT lesson!  It's amazing what a difference the Book of Mormon makes.  He'd done his reading, and he seemed a lot less confused than the last time we saw him.  It was really good.
Wednesday morning I woke up with a terrible cold, sore throat and everything..... pretty rubbish. Sister Kuoppala and I went to the training meeting, and found out that Sister Abellan was also training, so Sister Strunk was there (her companion)!!  I was sooooo excited to see her.  She is so amazing  :-P   Then in the afternoon we saw Bella again and told her the news about the new missionary coming.  It was pretty cool.
Thursday morning we heart-attacked Sister Stevenson.  Haha, I lvoe doing that.  Then we went to the office to hide out and wait for our new missionaries.  It was soooo much fun.  My new missionary is Sister Andersen.  She is soooo cute.  She's from New Mexico and she has 5 brothers.  Her situation is actually an interesting one, because she's not entirely green.  Because of the visa troubles they spent a month in the Provo MTC and then a month serving in the Salt Lake City South mission.  She actually spent a lot of time working at the Draper temple open house.  It's pretty cool.  She's a great missionary, hard working, and she's brought some pretty cool things with her from the Salt Lake City South Mission  :)   Plus, Sister Kuoppala, Sister Andersen and I are a trio for this week! I love it!  It's so much fun.  Poor Sister Andersen was soooooo Jet Lagged though.  Man...that's not a fun feeling.   :)   We spent the evening planning.  So that was fun.
Friday morning we went to Brother Beasley's for lunch.  Oh how I love Brother Beasley.  He takes good care of us.  He fed us and told us stories.  It's cool.  Then in the afternoon we saw Suresh.  He's great.  Then we went to see Justin.  We taught Justin about Faith and committed him to be baptized.  He agreed and he has a date for the 9 May.  It's soooo exciting!   Justin actually went to the temple of Tuesday with Sister Stevenson, Brother Olalade, and Bella.  It was funny because he didn't realize where they were going until they got there, so he thought he'd been kidnapped!  Haha, but he saw the Joseph Smith movie, and it made all the difference.  He understands while we're different now.  It was great.  Haha, also when we went to the chapel there was a dead half-eaten seagull in the car park.  It was pretty gross, but Sister Kuoppala was brave, and with a hockey stick and a carrier bag she was able to dispose of it.  oh man.  Then in the evening we saw Baetsi, Linda, and Mark with the Stevensons.  I'm not sure what we can do to help them, because they don't seem to want to do anything.... but we're working with them to get them to really read the Book of Mormon.
Saturday was a fantastic day.  In the morning we saw Bella to make sure everything was set for her baptism.  She was so excited  :)   Then we went to see Roger and Doreen.  We talked to them a lot about the importance of baptism by correct authority.  I'm not sure if they quite get it, and Doreen's being a bit stubborn, but Roger seems more keen on the idea.  He wants to be baptized in a river, haha.  Then in the evening it was Bela's (that's actually how it's spelled, whoops, haha, I didn't realize it before though :-P) baptism.  It was wonderful.  Three of her friends Den, Lez, and Joelia came, as well as her husband Richard.  Joelia seemed pretty interested, and we gave her a Book of Mormon.  Bella was absolutely glowing, and the ward was great support.  I loved it.
Sunday was another really good day.  It was Mother's day here in England.  Bishop asked all three of us to speak.  Haha, it's not really a good idea to have missionaries speak about mothers.... oh man, needless to say Sister Kuoppala and I ended up in tears... but it was really good all the same.  The primary kids did a musical number, and they were absolutely precious!  Seriously.  It was just a really good Sunday.  Justin was there, and Bella got confirmed.  Jane came with her husband again.  It was really great.  Then after church we went to meet with a referral named Josephine.  She's from Pakistan and she's really sweet.  She has a Catholic background, but she's really open to learn.  It was reallllly good.  We're going to bring Suresh to see her on Wednesday.  Then we went with the Stratford Elders (Elders Gensch and Volpe) to see Joice because *tear* she moved to their area.  I'm going to miss her and Yolanda so much, but they're in good hands.  Then in the evening it was really cool, because we were supposed to see Sarah, but just as we walked up she was leaving the house, and she said we'd have to come later.  So we went to tract near her house, but before we started Sister Kuoppala stopped a young man, he said he wasn't interested but that his family would be and he told us his address.  So we decided to go check it out.  We knocked on the door and immediately we were invited in.  It was a Polish family of about 8 people (brothers, sisters, husbands...etc.).  They all listened and they really liked it as we taught about the Restoration.  We're going back on Saturday.  I'm really excited to be teaching a family  :)   It was a good way to end the week.
That brings us up to yesterday.  Yesterday morning we saw a man named Olu ( a referral from the Stratford Elders).  He's a strong Christian and very intellectual, so I hope that doesn't get in the way of him recognizing the spirit, but he seems really good.  Then we saw Bela.  She's still just glowing from her baptism.  Then we went to see Toyin.  She was also a referral from the Stratford Elders.  It was a good lesson, and she seems willing to learn.  Then we went and saw Rosanna and Claudia.  They are sooo cute.  We talked about the ways that scripture study has helped us in our lives.  They really are such exemplary girls.  I love them.  Then we went to family home evening, and Suresh brought us homemade Indian food.  It was soooooo good.  He's such a good cook!  It was funny though, because he said he made it really mild for us, and it was pretty hot.  I don't think I could handle hot Indian food, but I love mild  :)   Haha.  Then moves calls came, and we already knew Sister Kuoppala was leaving when Sister Andersen came, but we found out that she was going to Stevenage.  I'll miss her, especially since it's been so much fun being in a trio for this week!
So that's been my week.  Right now we're actually in London, because we're going to go and see some sites today.  It's exciting.

Mom-  I love the Spring Weather as well! The weather has been sooo beautiful.  We don't even need coats most days during the day time.  It's great.  I'm glad that Nathan is excited to go play at the park... It's good for him to play outside  :)   I'm excited for my little package and pictures of CJ  :)  I love getting pictures.  Oh and a workover really is just me being someone else's companion for a day, haha.  It's a companion exchange basically.

Nathan-  Oooo, Do you like to swing on the swings?  That's fun.  I love you!

Elder Ison-  You make me laugh.  I still need an address to send post to for you.

Grandma and Grandpa-  I love you soooo much!  :) 

Everyone Else-  I love you!

Love,
Sister Ison

I'll be your candle on the water

HEY GUYS! You all doing well? Well this week was pretty exciting. On Thursday we got a call telling us that for our last 2 weeks here in Guyana, we would be placed with an english side companion, so we could have that experience, so I was moved to Vreed En Hoop. My new companions name is Elder Fisher. He is from Oregon. He is pretty cool, so I am excited to learn from him. I am doing great here in Vreed En Hoop, and the Elders I get to work with are awesome. We have some really solid members who work with us often, and I am learning alot about how things work around here. It has been a major Growing experience for me. For my studies I have been studying in chapter 5 in Preach my gospel, really trying to absorb all I can, Because the Book Of Mormon is the Key to lasting Conversion. We have an Investigator who has had some problems in his life. It has been pretty amazing, even in the couple days I've been here to see the repentance process really and truly change his life. We taught him tithing yesterday, and when we gave the commitment, the answer was "I must. I must" It was touching to see his faith and the atonement work those kind of miracles in his life. Well, I got to wrap this puppy up, but I love you guys!

Elder Ison

PS: Grandma and Grandpa, I love you guys so much! You are always in my prayers!

Pictures from Friday's Zone Conference

Elder Ison and His Companion Elder Kelley (Under his arm) at Zone Conference in Guyana

Cowboy Philosophy

Dear family,

Hey! This week was interesting. I have not experienced any adverse effects from my illness since last week, but a couple other Elders have had a similar bug. I am fine! Believe it or not, my moving around was not complete, and we moved down to Linden this week, so we don't gotta commute anymore. We also had Pagwah this week, a Hindu holiday where everybody throws water and colored powder at you. It was so fun! We found some pretty cool people this week. We had people at church and they really liked it. Unfortunately, our baptism didn't go through because of a lot of issues, so we hope that we can get that for next week. We have been doing a lot of finding, and I realized something about retention. Those investigators who are strong study the Book of Mormon. There are investigators who read, but then can't tell us anything they read. That doesn't help their testimony, but they agree to baptism anyways. Elder Kelley and I have made a goal to teach out of and help others really understand the importance of the Book of Mormon. My studies are great. The New Testament is great. I love the Savior, and I can feel my testimony of the atonement grow every time I teach about it. This week we got a call from the other Elders in Linden and they gave us a referral for a cool family. We went to the Market, where he works, and started talking to him. He seemed pretty cool, and we set up an appointment to teach his family. We had a really good first lesson and set up another appointment. After teaching the first half of the Plan of Salvation they told us they had a family that they wanted us to visit. We found out that the oldest son in the family was jumped a few days ago and brutally beaten by a couple thugs, and both of his legs were broken. We taught them about the atonement and how all their losses would be made up in Christ. The Spirit was very strong and we are going back to teach them this week. When we asked when we could come back, one of the guys there said "Anytime! You are welcome here anytime!" We now have 2 cool and extremely humble families to teach. That about wraps up our week. It is so cool that Sister Gauthier knows Elder Kelley. He is such a fun little guy. We work well together. I hope everybody has a great week. As for my address, don't worry about that yet, I might go back to Guadeloupe at the start of April so, I will keep you posted about that. I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Lots of love

Elder Ison

PS. Thank you Grandma and grandpa for writing me!

PPS. I am going to write you a HUGE letter, Sister Ison. 

Dear friends and family,
The weather is amazing right now!  Yes!  haha, it's actually been pretty chilly this week though.
Monday was great.  Suresh took us out to lunch at the Indian Restaurant he works at.  It was realllllly good food.  And he got us this desert that was boiled milk with almond and pistachio, or something like that.  I can't remember what it was called, but it was reallllly good.  mmm  :) 
Tuesday in the morning we had district meeting.  I did a training on living what you learn.  It was really fun.  Then afterwards Sister Kuoppala and I did lunch.  We did wraps with tomato past, chicken, cheese, and taco seasoning.  They were pretty good  :)   Then we went to see Bella.  She's so excited about her baptism.  I love it!  We made final arrangements for her interview, and Sister Stevenson came with us.  Then in the afternoon we went to see a couple named Tola and Bola.  They were really good, and we taught them about the restoration.  Then in the evening we saw Baetsi, Linda and Mark.  We taught the plan of salvation, but we kept getting a little side tracked, so it was a pretty long lesson.... haha... but it was good.
Wednesday was fun.  In the morning we saw Bella again, then we did our weekly planning.  Then Sister Kuoppala and I hopped on a train to London Liverpool Street to meet up with Sister Worthen and Sister Feller and do my first ever work over.  Haha.  It was great.  I went with Sister Feller to Maldon.  Sister Feller is adorable.  She's a graduate from Utah State with a degree in Sociology.  She has a lot of siblings, including one little brother who's currently on a mission.  That evening we had an appointment with a girl named Shannon and her boyfriend James in the home of Sam and Emma Hector.  Sam and Emma were just perfect  :)   It was a good lesson.
Then Thursday we went out and about.  Most of our appointments cancelled, so we spent the day tracting.  Let me tell you, the Maldon area is beautiful!  It's out in the country.  We did have one appointment with the Lee family.  They are so cute.  They live in a cottage that was built in the 1500s!  She made us a really good dinner, and we taught her 8-year-old daughter, Annabelle, about the Bible and the Book of Mormon and how they support each other.  She's really bright.  She's very excited to be baptized  :-) .  I love the members in Maldon, they are really sweet.  Also, they live with a member named Sister Allen.  She's very nice and has a beautiful home!  It was a nice day.
Friday was Zone Conference in Colchester.  I loved it!  Elder and Sister Malm came from Sweden to speak to us.  Elder Malm spoke a lot about dignity in our calling, and I loved it!  Plus, Sister Berret is in my Zone Conference again!  Yes!  It was exciting to see her, because I hadn't seen her in a while.  She is so funny.  At lunch we were discussing about how everything we learn on our missions prepares us for the future, and she said (joking of course  :)  ), "Man, I've been conned.  Here I came on a mission thinking I was going to have this great spiritual experience, and all it is is one giant marriage prep..."  haha.  It was a really good day.  Sister Worthen goes home in a couple weeks.  That's so strange.  Oh how time flies.  Oh my goodness, and President and Sister Foulger go home in July!  They announced our new mission president, who is President Patch.  I'll miss the Foulger's so much!  They are amazing!  Then I came back with Sister Kuoppala to good ol' Ilford (Love it!).  We went to the Onalapo's for dinner, and we watched some stuff on church welfare.  That was fun.  It was a great evening.  I love the Onalapos!
That brings us to Saturday.  It was a very good day.  We did a lot of finding!  But we did see Muyiwa, Honey, and their friend Richmond in the afternoon, so that was fun.
Sunday was great!  President and Sister Foulger came!  President met with Bella, and she's all ready for her baptism next week!  I love it!  Also, Joice and Selam came to church for the first time with little Yolanda!  It was great!  They loved it and said they would come next week.  It was such a happy day.  Also, Mfundo came again, and hopefully we're going to see him again this week.  It was just generally a great day.  Plus, it was so sunny and warm!  It was another busy day, but we managed to get in all the hours we needed.  We met with Sarah after church.  We read about when Nephi builds the boat with her, and discussed obedience, and she really liked it!  It was great.  Then we went to see a woman named Julie.  It was sad though, because she didn't want anything to do with the Book of Mormon, and she wouldn't open her mind to it.  But maybe, someday, she will.  Then in the evening Brother Onalopo came with us to visit Stella.  We taught about following the prophet, and general conference.  It was a really great lesson, and Brother Onalopo was perfect!  I love working with members!!  :)   They make all the difference!  :) 
So that's been my week.  A very good one for sure.  I'm so excited for Bella's baptism, and about Joice.   :-D   Today looks like it'll be a good day.  The sun is shining  :)   Also, I cut my hair this morning, well, actually I just trimmed my fringe, because it seems that it's getting warm enough that I won't need to wear a hat much anymore!  Yes!  Oh I love springtime.

Mom-  Oh man.  I love Nauvoo!   It's an amazing place!  It's so great how the gospel unites and blesses families.  Thank-you for your amazing example always to me.  I'm so excited that everyone will be at BYU-I this fall!  :-D   It will be great fun!  Speaking of which.  Do you know when registration is yet?  I'm excited to have some pictures of CJ, because I've realized that I have pretty much, none........  :) 

Nathan- You are so cute!  I love you!

Elder Ison-  I hope you are feeling better!  Oh, and guess what, Elder West is from Maldon Ward, where I did my workover.  Pretty cool, eh?  Small world.

Sister Arnquist-  Thanks for your postcard!

Everyone else-  I love you!

Love,
Sister Ison

Under the weather

Hey family,

This week was really good. We taught Rondel and his neighbor Renetta almost everyday which was good. They seem really sincere. I caught a fever Friday night (bad week for the family, I guess.) and was running one most of the day Saturday. I asked for a blessing from my companion Elder Kelley. In the blessing he told me that I would be healed and would be well enough to go to Church the next day to take the Sacrament, but as the day went on, my fever continued to rise, and hit 103.6. The senior couple said if it went past 104 we would go to the hospital, so it didn't look like I was going to be making it to church. I have to admit that I lost faith, as well as Elder Kelley, who suggested we do another blessing when our housemates, Elder Vaea and Falatau got back, which we did. The blessing was similar to the last one, and I decided to go to bed and put my trust in the Lord. During the night my fever broke and gradually went down until in the morning I had a normal temperature. I felt well enough and ended up going to church in Linden. Moral of the Story: Trust in the Lord! Sunday was a little disappointing because nobody came to church, but because I was still recovering from illness I didn't get to go ask why. We are still going to work with them. One of the nights this week we were walking down the street and we got a mysterious phone call from this guy named Gordon, saying he wanted to meet with us. We had not yet talked to anyone named Gordon, so we were a little confused, but we weren't complaining. We met him the next day and it turns out he was baptized in Barbados and lost touch when he moved to Linden. He came to church and is returning to activity. That was cool. Well I gotta go, but I will catch you up next week!

LOVE YOU GUYS!

Elder Ison

Miracles happen....

Hello friends and family!
I love you all!   :)   This week has been a tiring one, but such a good one.
Monday in the evening we went to see Bjorn, Elder Obradavich's friend.  He's a really nice guy.  We discussed some interesting theory's about the world ending in 2012.  haha, it was good though.  Then in the evening we went to family home evening, and we taught a lesson about the Book of Mormon.  Then we played this quiz "football" game.  It was fun.
Tuesday I woke up and I had some serious back pain.  It was weird, but we went OYMing anyway.  It was kind of tough.  Really, to be honest i just wanted to go home and lie down, but I know that all things are possible with Heavenly Father's help  :)   and I was able to make until lunch, and then we took our lunch break and I laid down on the couch the whole time, and then I felt much better.  Then we got to see a referral from the Romford Elders named Justin.  He's pretty confused about religion, but he liked the fact that when he asked the Romford Elders where God came from that they said 'I don't know'.  He felt like they were being honest with him.  We had a lesson with him and Sister Stevenson, and Sister Stevenson taught about the great apostasy.  It was a really good lesson.  Then in the evening we went to see Baetsi, Linda and Mark.  We are really trying to work on them to get them to church.
Wednesday we had District Meeting.  I did a training on being effective Stewards and Watchmen.  I had a lot of fun preparing it.  Then Elder Vaneiderhausen made us lunch.  It was Cous cous and curry.  yum.  Then we went and did finding until the evening time, when we saw Bella.  It was a good lesson.
Thursday was a long day.  A member of the ward, Brother Lawrence, passed away last week, and it was his funeral.  We attended it.  The chapel was full to bursting!  It was a beautiful funeral, and he was a very loved man.  Then when they went to the graveside, we stayed at the chapel and taught Suresh, and also waited for the caterers to show up.  Then everyone came back for refreshments after the funeral, and we mingled.  I am sooooo grateful for the plan of salvation.  So many people there didn't believe in God, because Brother Lawrence is the only active member in his family.  It was hard to try and express sympathy and comfort to those that didn't have a hope for something to come.  but we did get to talk to some good people.  I met a couple from the states, and the woman, Dianne, was actually originally from Quincy, IL!  Also, when they lived in Vermont she said that she had a boss who was Mormon.  We talked a bit about the difference between the States and England, and I explained a bit about what I was doing as a missionary.  Then after the funeral they came and invited us over for dinner.  I'm not sure if they're more interested in talking to a "fellow midwesterner", as Dianne put it, or in learning more about the gospel, but it's pretty exciting anyway.  Then we stayed to help to clean up.  One of the members thought I was swedish or Scandavian, haha.  then in the evening we went to visit Claudia, and i brought the cookie bars that Emma sent me in her package.  They were so good, and everyone LOVED them.   :)   We were supposed to be watching The Testaments with them, but, as tends to happen, none of their DVD players would work, so we'll have to try another time.  Oh, and also, I met Elder Oliver West's Grandparents at the funeral, and they were excited to hear about Zak  :) .  She said that she would ask Elder West if he knew Elder Ison.
Friday, all of our appointments cancelled, but we did some finding.  It was actually a really interesting day.  But in the evening we got to go to Sam's mission farewell party.  It was fun.
Saturday morning we went to see Doreen and Roger.  We watched the Restoration DVD with them, and Doreen was astonished by how young Joseph Smith was.  It was a really good lesson, and I'm excited about them.  Roger is especially excited to come to church.  They couldn't make it this week, and he was disappointed, but he made a note about it so that they could be sure to come next week.  Then in the evening we went with Bella to Sister Mariucci's for dinner.  It was a great evening.  Sister Mariucci is the Relief Society President, and Bella never stays to Relief Society, so it was really good for her to get to know her a little better.
That brings us to Sunday.  It was AMAZING.  Justin came to church.  Sam spoke and shared his conversion story.  The whole time I was just thinking about how perfect it was for Justin.  Also, Jane's husband came!  Jane is one of the recent converts, so it was super exciting because he's not shown much interest before.  Plus I just loved the Relief Society lesson.  It was about finding peace and harmony.  But the miraculous bit happened after church.  So Sister Kuoppala and I still needed 6 hours of accounted labor to reach the Standard of excellence for the mission, because we were a little bit behind due to spending all day at the funeral of Thursday (each hour of finding, and each lesson counts as an 'hour' even though lessons are sometimes a bit shorter, and the standard of exellence calls for 15 hours finding and 15 lessons, or 30 hours of accounted labor per week).  Usually on a Sunday we are lucky to get 3 or 4 hours of accounted labor, because of church, but we were determined that we could do it.  Well, I have no idea how it actually happened, but we had 4 investigator lessons, 2 member lessons, and 1 hour finding after church, so we actually ended up with 7 hours of accounted labor!  It was a miracle for sure, because I still don't know how that happened.  It was good.  Right after church we went to see Bella, because she didn't come to church because she wasn't feeling well.  We talked to her about enduring to the end and how we can prepare for baptism.  Then when we left the house it was pouring rain!  There was actually a flash of lightning and some thunder as well!  well, Sister Kuoppala and I got drenched!  haha, but we made it alive to see joice.  We taught Joice about baptism, and she wants to be baptised, and we're going to help her come to church on Sunday.  I'm so excited about her!  Then we went with the Stevenson's to see Brother Olalade.  He fed us fish, and this 'yam'.  It was really good!  It was like spicy potatoes.  Then after we saw Sam we went to visit an investigator named Stella.  Then we went to visit Sister Akunne, because she had an operation and hasn't been able to be a church.  It was really good to see her.  Then, to top off the day, we went to visit Baetsi, Linda, and Mark.  It was seriously a miracle.
oh how I love being a missionary!

Mom-  I'm so excited about the missionary work in the ward! Ah!  I'm so glad you went out teaching with the Elder's as well.  That is amazing!

Dad-  i'm glad you were well enough to take care of all the sick folks  :-P   There haven't been any Toni sightings in a little while.

Nathan-  I love you!

Grandma and Grandpa-  I'll definitely tell Elder Cardon.  I can't remember exactly where he's from, but it's not Riverton, but it's near by.  I love you so much!

Elder Ison-  I'm glad you are a bit settled! Hooray! Haha, Elder West's Grandparents were talking to me about the Strike as well, but they said that things were settling down a bit for the French speaking missionaries.

Sister Besso-  I'll write you soon!  Love you!

Micheal Godfrey-  I got your wedding announcement and I love it!  That's so exciting.

Everyone else-  I love you!

Love,
Sister Ison

Temple Trip - 2008

Temple Trip in December 2008

Dangerously Cheesy

Dear Family,
So, I am finally in an area to stay! That feels good. I am now in Linden with Elder Kelley. He is from Arkansas. He is really short. It is really cool here though. You can get CDs and DVDs for a dollar each! If you have any movies you want, let me know! I would also like to know the waist sizes of Dad and the Boys... If thats ok. There is alot of cool stuff here, but it is super hot! I thought it was warm in Guadeloupe! There are also alot more mosquitoes. This week went by pretty good. I started in Industry where we had a couple of really cool investigators who had dates to be baptized. The rest of the week was spent in Linden trying to find Preisthood men to establish the Branch. I think that we found a really cool one named Rondell, who came to church sunday. He said that he felt that God had a special plan for him in his life. He lives with and takes care of his Grandpa, who is kind of in a vegetable state. His uncle helps him out with that responsibility. We don't have any other really cool men we are teaching as of yet, but we have some appointments set up for this week, and we are still going strong. My studies are really good, I started to study the New Testament again, and I am learning alot from the teachings of the Savior. I just read about when Christ gave Peter the Preisthood keys, which is cool, because I have used that scripture alot this week to explain the preisthood to others. I am really excited for this week, because I will be in one place! I will keep you posted. I love the Church and the gospel
Anyways, I am glad Mom is home safe and sound too. That is really nice to hear. I hope all is well at home. I gotta go now though.

Love

Elder Ison

March....Madness?

Dear Friends and Family,
I cannot believe it's March already. Time flies sooo fast.
Last Monday evening we were OYMing and everyone was being really funny... I don't know why. The first man we stopped said that he didn't want to talk about God because he was drinking beer. The next one was this Polish guy who was waving his arms going, "No no no no" and then later we met this man who kept moving his eyebrows up and down while I was talking to him, so I couldn't concentrate. It all made me laugh. Then we went to Singles home evening, and we had a lesson from the February Ensign about succeeding as a new convert. I really liked it. I'm so in love with the Ensigns :) . Then we played the game where you write a sentance and then draw a picture of it and so forth. It was a good evening.
Tuesday morning we had district meeting. it was good. In the evening we saw Baetsi and the kids. She's sticking to the herbal tea, so we were very excited. We were bummed, however, to find out that they had a funeral to go to so they wouldn't be able to come to church.
Wednesday morning we went to see Bella and she gave us some VERY exciting news. She and Richard were going to get married............. on FRIDAY! We couldn't believe it. Then we did our planning. then in the evening we did some finding. We met one person who was very curious about the Book of Mormon, but then he wouldn't take our card or let us come back, so that was kind of lame, but then we met this woman named Elizabeth and her mother Esther and they let us in. We taught them the first lesson, and they LOVED it, especially the mother. She was flying back to Nigeria on Tuesday, so she was like, "Is your church in Nigeria?" So we got all her info to refer her. It was really cool. I love how everything just works in the end.
Thursday morning we had interviews. I love interviews. Then in the afternoon we went to visit Abenaa one last time before she moved. (Oh goodness, my arm is so tired it's hard to type, I don't know why...haha) Then we saw Brother Yankson. I really like him, because he really wants to understand the Gospel. He asks good questions. then in the evening we had dinner and correlation with the Stevensons, which is always good.
Friday morning I had a really good study, and I was thinking a lot about how using the Book of Mormon is key, and how I could use it more effectively. So I decided that it would be best to introduce the Book of Mormon from the very beginning, and use it more. So then in the morning we went to see this young woman from Scotland. Her name is Nikki, and she's had a rough past couple of years, but she's such a sweetheart! I'm really excited to start working with her. We introduced the Book of Mormon to her right from the beginning, and it was a good lesson. Then we went to see Brother Beasley and he bought us some Fish n' Chips....mmmm. Hehe, we had a lesson about death and the afterlife, per his request. It was really good. He has a strong testimony of life after death. Then we went and saw Suresh. He's such a powerful example to me. He just wants to be good all the time. Then we went to see Claudia and Rosanna, two young recent converts. They are so cute. We had a good lesson with them about the Plan of Salvation. Then in the evening we went to visit Bella, the newly married woman! It was pretty exciting. We had a lesson about marriage and honesty.
Saturday morning we saw a woman we met OYMing named Doreen. When we got there she invited her Husband, Roger, to join. They have a strong faith in Christ. We did the new thing we are trying where we introduce the Book of Mormon at the beginning of lesson one and then teach the whole lesson using both the Bible and the Book of Mormon and it went really well! What I loved the most, is that as Sister Kuoppala was bearing testimony of Joseph Smith, I could feel all over again that what she said was true. I love this gospel sooo much. It was a really good lesson. Then we took Sister Stevenson with us and we went to visit Sister Y. and Honey. Sister Y. joined in the lesson, so that was really good. They're moving this week.
Sunday was a great day. I love Sundays. Bella came to church (as always :) ). Her husband, Richard, was supposed to come, and I was really excited, but then he got called into work, so Sister Kuoppala and I were pretty devastated, but happy to have Bella anyway. Then after church we went to lunch with the Saltzmann family. They're from Utah originally, but have been living in England for a long time. They're a really fun family. Then we went to see Joice. She invited her new housemate Salim to join us, and she did. We talked about the Plan of Salvation, and Joice just got it! It was amazing. She understood everything so clearly. I love it! We going to have to work hard with her to come to church, but that's okay :) . I love her! Then we were supposed to see Sarah and Dorothy again, but when we got to the train station all the trains weren't running, and it would take too long by bus, so we had to reschedule. We thought it was pretty lame, but we called Bella to see if we could come, and she said yes. And, in a way that always seems to happen in the Lord's work :) , everything worked out for the best, because we finally got to officially meet Richard. It was sooo good. He's a really nice man. It made Sister Kuoppala and I sooo happy. haha, and then that night the mouse ran on Sister Kuoppala's foot.....gross. haha, we've named him Antonio, but we call him Toni.
Then today we had Zone meetings, and I brought a load of fun dips that Gretchen sent me, and the Elders managed to eat them quite quickly. haha. It was good. :) So that was my week. Oh how I love being a missionary. :)
Mom- I'm glad you're home safe and sound. I got your card, and I LOVED it! Oh, and I got some cute new shoes with my money :)
Dad- Sister Kuoppala is so adorable. She's been out as long as Sister Strunk. Finnish sounds pretty cool, but I don't think I can handle it :-P
Nathan- Nathan is brother! I love you!

Elder Ison- Do you know Elder Boyd, and Elder West?

Gretchen- Thank-you so much for the Birthday package you are amazingly thoughtful!

Sister Besso- Ah, you cannot imagine my surprise at your package. I love it!

Sister Arnquist- I actually got your package today, just as I was leaving to come and e-mail! Thanks!

Everyone Else- I love you!

Love,
Sister Ison