Jessica has 2 more baptisms

This week was interesting… wow I really do always say that… Anyway we had 2 BAPTISIMS this week! Everything went off with out a hitch. Sure no one from our ward showed up, but the other ward came so the room was full. Hno Jesus showed up 2 hours early because he was sooo excited! Hno Carlos was late (classic). It was one of the most spiritual services that I have been apart of. The talks were great, me and Elder Mansilla (my DL) sang a little special arrangement of come thou fount (because he plays the recorder like a boss) and none of the elders had to re-dunk the investigators haha. So we were pretty focused on them this whole week. I dont know if you guys realize this but we met Hno Jesus literally 21 days ago. Talk about a prepared hombre. His confirmation blessing was actually super great because it mentioned a lot of the things that we have been focusing on in our teaching. That he will have a strong testimony of the BOM, that he can prayer for answers and always receive them, and that he will be able to share this gospel with everyone. Hno Carlos was a work in progress. He is a little slow and it definitely takes him longer to figure things out. I started teaching him when I was with Hna Broadhead… so ya its been a long time coming. One thing that I absolutely love about him is that he understand what it means to be obedient. I know for a fact that he doesnt understand all the doctrine, but he knows that he needs to do things things to be straight with God. Thats all he wants to do is be good with Him. He feels good doing all the things we ask him to and knows that that feeling comes from God. That is a concept that soo many investigators miss. After his confirmation he said to us that he feels content, and really what more does God want for us then to feel content. I am SOO grateful for these two men and what they have taught me about faith. Im grateful that they decided to take this huge and important step even though they dont fully understand the gospel. They both felt that it was the right thing to do. I hope that when that feeling comes upon each one of you, you ACT. Dont wait for it to come again, because sometimes it wont. I absolutely LOVED the womens conference it was sooo good. I loved what Bonnie L. Oscarson said in spanish she said “que debemos ser defensoras de la proclamacion”. I love that word defensora. I hope that as women we will always have the courage and strength to follow the promptings of the spirit and defend our beliefs. I have used the proclamacion of the Family so many times in lesson, and usually that is one hand out that never gets thrown away (just like the BOM). Everyone knows that the family is good and we need not be afraid to remind people of that. I love you all sooo much and am grateful for your examples. Im sooo glad that I have such an amazing eternal family!! Have a wonderful week and please go to the missionaries baptisms if they have one

Pictures of the Office

Pictures from the apartment

Amanda will stay in Iguala and with the same companion to finish off her mission!!!

Hello Familia!!!!!
Guess what?? I am going to finish my mission here in Iguala and with Hna Hingano!!! And I am soooo happy about it!!!! I seriously love it here even though this last week was a little rough!! And I am excited that I am going to end here with Hna Hingano!!!!!

Well this week was filled with lots of walking trying to find people to teach… But we kept our energy level up high so we wouldnt get sad haha. We were able to talk with a reference that one of our recent converts gave us and it was super cool cause she opened right up to us and accpted everything we were teaching… But sadly she didnt come to church with us… But we hope this week she will come!!!

We also had an activity with our recent converts and less active members we did the whole lehi´s vision but in real life and it was pretty sweet!! We then watched the joseph smith movie with popcorn and everything it was super fun!! We had an iron rod, a satan and an angel then we had them blind folded!! It actually worked out super good! And we explained it after!! The people who came said it was an awesome activity!

Who else is excited for General conference??? CAuse I sure am!!!! Hope you all get your questions ready to recieve your own personal revelation!!! I know this church is true. I mean just look at all the organizations we have all the programs and just how fast it has grown!!! I also know its true from the spirit testifying to my heart that its true and that its Christ who directs His church!!!

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week filled with love and lots of revelation!!!!

Love,
Hermana Koegler

Iguala Zone is the Best!!

Mikey has lots of Canadian Friends

Editor’s note: These are all the Missionaries in just his Zone (so not all the mission) that are from Canada, either BC or Alberta.  That’s pretty cool! So here is his letter from this week. Hey! well this week was good we had Zone conference on tuesday so that was fun Elder Martinez came back so that was cool, also we got to watch Meet the Mormons its a way good movie.  have you seen it yet? it was good to see everyone there as well Like Elder Zeck and lots of other people i use to live with so that was good.   but not much else happened this week it was pretty slow a lot of walking around talking with people but surprisingly the week went by real fast so that was good we starting teaching this one lady this week and she seemed pretty cool at first but then it turns out she is like super agnostic but i think she is still christian …. we will see how this works out also we starting teaching this one lady named S. and she is pretty cool too she was being taught by some elders in spanish town for a few weeks then they found out that she lives in Portmore and she is super solid so now we teach her so that is fun so she has been taught basically all the lessons so ya this should be fun also Transfer calls are this Saturday so we will find out who is leaving and stuff so that is always fun i am excited for General Conference this week except for the fact that the Internet kinda sucks at this chapel so we might not be able to see a lot of it…. so ya but ya this week should be good but it sounds like you guys are having fun though and learning a lot to real with ya i didnt know how smart you were with the gospel when i was back home but now i cant wait to talk about the gospel with all the family when i get back home to learn from everyone hahah anywho have a great week!! Love Elder Koegler Editor’s note: So after the last part of the email (I had emailed a long email about things I had been studying) I emailed him back and here’s how that conversation went.   Me:  I can’t wait for gospel discussions as well…I’m sorry you didn’t know we were “smart in the gospel” I guess we could have been better at gospel discussions…and maybe you’ll be a better listener too? hehahah. Him:  ya i just dont think i listened much haha Me: (thought in my head, not written) I guess this is like when Nathan lamented on his mission that he had wished we’d read the New Testament before we took our family to Israel right before he left on his mission.  His words “it would have made more sense if we’d read before we left”.  To which I replied, “we did read it, you just weren’t home to read with us, and you must have forgotten that I suggested you read it on your own”.  And this is one of the reason’s we send our kids on missions, so they can learn for themselves, they can appreciate the things that their parents tried to teach them (even if they don’t remember).  I am really looking forward to gospel discussions with our whole family!

Jessica 3 weeks in March, the 9,16, 23

  Editor’s Note: The subject line said “Let the Bagginess begin”

March 9, 2015

Big news of the week…. I HAVE A DAUGHTER! Yep its true I am finishing the last 6 weeks of training of Hna Arteaga!!!!! She is from Chihuahua Mexico, 20 years old, and is SUPER sweet! She is sooo excited about working with me. I hope that by the end of this change she will be all trained up to be the new nurse of the mission 🙂 if im SUPER lucky I might get the chance to be a normal missionary for 6 weeks. Im SOO excited!! She is sooo great seriously I cannot even express how grateful I am to have her. The last few weeks were really hard with Hna Castillo. She didnt have any really desire to do the wrok. So its been a wonderful 5 days with Hna Arteaga cause she actually WANTS to be here!! Its been interesting to have her here with me I really feel like she is my child haha I dont want her to be rejected by people I dont want her to know what its like to have hard days. I just want her to be happy all the time! So Ive just been giving her all my love, cause I know that love makes everything work haha We are similar in a lot of ways but were also different too, so it should be a good change! Im really looking forward to it! As Im entering the last few weeks of my mission I have decided to really just enjoy (disfrutar) every minute of it. Walking in the street, knocking on doors, getting hollard at in the street. These are all things I realized im totally gonna miss, so Im determined to soak it all in (no matter how Baggy Mom makes me). I have really LOVED being a missionary this week. We saw a miracle this week as we were getting ready for stake conference. Our stake building is super far from our area so we were gonna have a bus take us from our buliding to the stake building. As we were inviting people to come it became more and more aparent that no one was going to come… its just to much work for people to come to the church and be out of their houses for 3 hours. So Sunday morning we got up made our usual “come to church calls” and NO ONE picked up. So we headed over to the church to wait for the bus. As we were waiting we noticed a man that we had never seen before. The Elders started to talk to him and found out that he lives in our area. The week before we had had a meet the mormons activity and we had actually invited him to come to church. AND HE ACTED ON THE PROMPTING OF THE SPIRIT TO COME. He came with us for all of stake conference and we gave him a book of mormon to read so that we could talk about it on Wednesday. MIRACLE. He was our only investigator to come to stake conference. When we asked him at the end of teh conference how he felt about it he just looked so content and said that he loved it. He ran into some friends as well. It was great. I know that the Lord blesses the work of his missionaries. We hadnt really seen any sucess during the week but all that work payed off in the end. I LOVE THIS WORK. I LOVE THIS GOSPEL. I will until the end of my days! I love you guys soooo much!!! Go on splits with the missionaries this week please!!
Love, Aunty Jess

March 16, 2015

Editor’s note: Subject line in this email was Bagginess and miracles

Here I am with my baby… yes I dyed my hair… I wanted to look more latina (also I am SO OVER the whistling in the street… I dont call to much attention any more)

An activity we had… by the way I now weigh ___lbs… and I work out every other night… thanks you
Here is the ZONE haha

This week was a great mix of seeing miracles and missing home haha. The missionary that Im training right now is super homesick… classic of course I would get someone who is homesick.. but anyway she has this boyfriend *sigh* that she talks about a lot… so we talked about how she needs to focus her energies more on the work and less of the boy (who I dont think is gonna wait for her… but I guess we’ll see). Thats when I realized that I need o do the same thing. This last week I was super distracted with thoughts of home (Mom I know that these things are super important as well Im not denying that). But it got to the point where it interfered with the work a little and totally freaked me out… So I took my own advice and refocused myself. We met an AWESOME man named Hna Jesus (classic) and he is reading 4-5 pages of the BOM every day!! I love him. We told him that coffee was bad and instantly he says “I will never drink it again”. He always is telling us that the BOM is wonderful and that he cant put it down. He is truly a golden investigator that just fell into our laps. The ward also stepped up a lot this week and wants to help us baptize our little family Ramos, so I feel a lot more supported haha We saw a TON of tender mercies this week. The Lord knows how much I love those. I was feeling a bit worthless (as missionaries often do when not much is going on) but the Lord quickly reminded me of all the wonderful blessings I have seen and been apart of. I have learned this week that I really am SO grateful for my nurse calling, as hard as it has been somedays… but I have learned SOO much from it, and it has given me the opportunity to serve so many people… mostly missionaries, but hey service is service haha Anyway I love you all sooo very much!! Hope you have an awesome week!!

Love Aunty Jess

March 23, 2015

Cleaning our apartment includes cleaning outside…sweeping the garbage off the street.

This week was interesting as most weeks are here in Soyapongo. We have been prepping Hno Jesus and Hno Carlos to be baptized (which is gonna be this saturday at 4, prayers appreciated). We have been seeing a ton of miracles here in Delgado II. I dont know why but it always surprises me how much the Lord loves us and supports us. This week I was thinking a lot about how much I love El Salvador. My comp from Mexico is always saying how dirty it is and how she doesnt want to ever come back when shes done her mission. That got me thinking about if I want to come back “well of course” I said to myself. All those things that were soo weird and strange to me at first are beyond normal now. Washing my clothes by hand is actually enjoyable. Jumping on and off buses is a great form of exercise. Eating everything with my hands is fun. Going up to a random house/store and buying light bulbs and prescription medication at the same time is sooo convenient. Walking through a bit of jungle to get to an investigators shack is SO normal. There are soo many things I love about this place and I just want to take time to really enjoy it before I cant anymore. Wow. That sounds super trunky haha Its starting to hot me little by little, and Im accepting it little by little. But anyway I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. Seriously its sooo great. I love you all!! Have a wonderful week!
Love, Aunty Jess

Editor’s note: She’s come a long way in the last 16 months…

And her cousin Tori who was serving in the San Salvador West mission came home on the 19th, last Thursday.  Tori called Jessica the night before she left El Sal.  Here’s what Jess said about that: “she called me on her last day here, that was really sad… I miss her presence.”

Amanda – 3 weeks – March 9,16, 23

March 9, 2015

Wow these last couple of days have been full of spiritual experiences!!! First on saturday we had the baptism of the family Arrieta Garcia and it was such an awesome baptismal service! So many members came to support them!! The spirit was felt. Then on sunday was the conference with Elder Clayton and Elder Miron! I loved the conference and how its focus was on the family!!!… I cant wait to have my own family to apply these princples. Well I guess I can apply them when I come home too with all you!!! But Really the secret to having peace in a city or a country or the world starts with the family! and this message was just what everyone needed!! especially for all the things that have happend here in Iguala!!! The Lord knows His children and knows exactly what they need, He even talks directly to us throough his leaders!!
Everybody loved all the talks that were given! And there were lots of times when we were all laughing!! Then of course the conference we had yesterday in Acapulco!! Elder Clayton said that this conference is super speical cause rarely do they have conferences with missionaries with three elders from the 70ty there so that was Sooo awesome!! The spirit was sooo strong in that meeting! I really liked how elder clayton at the end talked about the importance of going to church prepared especially after our missions! I didnt know that when we take the sacrament we are also renewing our temple covenants how cool is that? And what a blessing for those who dont live close to a temple. (I hope I hear that right or if that was a bad translation on my part) But I thought that was interesting! Really in the meeting with those three members of the 70 you could see the power of personal revelation and it was neat to see them receive it as they answered our questions cause after every question Elder Clayton would pause and you could see how he was seeking for the revelation from God! Really I know that each one of our leaders in the church are called of God and they receive that revelation directly from God and how cool is that how we as respresentatives of Jesus Christ can also receive that revelation for our investigators!!
But anyways today we were in the bus and this teenager came up to us and he was like Im a less active member but I want to start coming back to church I just moved here a month ago but I want to hear the lessons again…. WHAT?? Sooo awesome!! Especially cause we have no Young mens his age in our ward and we have Investigators his age who need member friends!! Seriously Heavenly Father is soooo aware of us and our needs and the needs of his other children!! I love seeing all these tender mercies EACH DAY!!!
Man I just love the mission!! But today I wont lie I am pretty tired cause yesterday to get to Acapulco on time for the conf we had to leave at 330 so my comp is crazy and woke up at 1 so she could shower.. soo we havent gotten to much sleep in… But Im excited for this week and its miracles we are going to see!!!!
I really do know that this church is true but more importantly that We have a loving Heavenly Father who is very very much a aware of us as well as His son Jesus Christ!! I have seen There love more then EVER here on the mission not only with me but with all His hijos!!! and tomorrow we as a mission are going to start to read the Book of Mormon but in 65 days!! I am sooo excited to fall in love again with the book of mormon and receive that personal revelation for my investigators through that book!!!! I hope you all have a wonderful week!!!!!

First is the Golden Family!!! We are sooo happy for them!!!!
And the second is with this one member that we love but is going to schoool in Mexico city!

March 16, 2015

Hola FAmilia!!!!
Welp this week went by kind of fast and kind of slow…. Seriously time is sooo weird here in the mission!!! But im loving it!!
This sunday the family that got baptized were able to recieve the Gift of the Holy Ghost and it was soo awesome!! They had Hermanos that didnt even know them give them the blessing and it was cool to see how the Lord really works through the hands of worthy men so we can receive these blessings! They didnt know anything about what the family is passing through but the blessing was just what they needed!!
Also this week has been super nice weather wish cause its been raining!!! WOOT WOOT!!! I love the rain!!!
This week I also got chased by a dog who just had her puppies and that has probably been the only time in my mission that I was scared for my life haha we laughed pretty hard after haha. Dont worry nothing happened.
Today we also went with this super awesome family to these caves that are apparently pretty famos they were pretty cool!
Sorry this email sucks Im just pretty tired cause it was a long day driving like 1 and a half there and back and then being there for 3 ish hours haha.
But this week we started reading the book of mormon and can I just say how much I LOVE IT!!!!! Seriously!!!! EVERYBODY NEEDS TO READ IT!!!!!! And if they do how can they deny that its true!!!!! I too have fallen in love with that Book!! I know that it can answer any question that we may have!!!
I will probably write more next week cause I cant really remember what happened this week!!!!!
But hey I love you all!!!!!
Have a great week!!!!!
Love mandy!!

March 23, 2015

Helloooo Fam Jam!!!

Well its sure starting to get hotter out here!!! Which means less people in the streets… But were pushing onward. Seriously the weeks I really cant tell them apparent anymore.
anyways this week we had our zone training and it was super good I learnt a lot and the mission is starting to focus on being auto-suficiente (Cant remember what that word is in English) And that we are going to help our investigators go to these programs to help Mexico be self suficient. Seriously I KNOW this church is true cause it has so many programs and things to help us be happy in Life! And even thought the situacion es dificil here, the church is taking the roll to help everyone! And they arent just waiting for the government to do things!!! I love it!!!
We have also been asked to take each of our progressing investigators to Family history! This week we talked to our recent convert family and they are sooo excited to come with us this week to do their family History!
umm what else happened this week.. We walked a lot… Oh we got a father and a son to come to church on sunday that was pretty cool!!!! We hope they contu}iune to progress! The dad apparently have 10 kids from did wifes… And hes kinda old but hes super nice and wants to learn more!!
I really do love the mission even though it can be hard sometimes but you really do learn so many things that is going to help me ALOT when I get home… This week I also was thinking of how grateful I am to live where I do and have the family I do!!! Seriously I have been so blessed throughout my whole life!!! And I know its because we are living the gospel!! I am grateful for the power of the atonement and that people really can change if they use the atonement daily in their life. I have been trying to change somethings and its hard but little by little we can change it just takes alot of patience.. Which is an attribute that I am developing!!! I know this Gospel is true and that it has been perfectly restored. I know that the Book of mormon contains that truth and that really it should be sold as “how to live a happy life for dummies” cause it just contains EVERYTHING that one would need to be happy in life! If you ever have a question of how you can help your kids come back to the striaght and narrow path read the Book of Mormon!!! Remember that talk that I think Elder Nielson gave about the missionaries like it was saying if you need help ” Ask the missionaries”. Well you could replace missionaries with the Book of Mormon. “If you need help go read in the Book Of mormon”.
Well thats all I got for this week!!!! I love you all sooo much!!!! Hope you all have a wonderful week!!!
Shout out to Doreen Bullock!! thanks for the card!!!
Love,
Hna Koegler

This is a picture from when it rained two weeks ago and we played in the rain for a little bit.

Michael March 9-23 Jamaica for reals.

Editor’s note:  So here’s another 3 weeks from Michael.  

March 9, 2015

Hey!
well this week was good luckily we dont have day light savings here in Jamaica so that was nice but my watch changed the time anyways so i woke up and looked at it and freaked out cause it said 7:18 and i thought we all slept in so i woke everyone up by yelling “its 7:18” and they all freak out cause they thought we slept in but then we looked at the phone and it still said 6:18 so then we all laughed then went back to bed and slept till 6:30 so that was pretty funny

but not much else really happened this week L. and her daughters are still awesome we just need to meet with them more but its kinda hard cause of their schedules also now their baptismal date is moved to the 21st so some of their friends from one of the wards in Kingston can some so thats fun

oh we also had to go to the sisters house after district meeting to fix their oven well for elder adams to fix the oven while i read church magazines (Editor’s note: I always called Michael – Tom Sawyer) so that was fun they live in a little community outside of Portmore called Hellshire so we had to taxi out there and its right by the ocean so we walked around there a little bit its kinda gross but i got some cool pictures

Editor’s note: So remember how Michael would call the Jamaican resorts “Jafakea” and that he was living in the REAL Jamaica.  I guess this is what beaches on the REAL Jamaica look like!  

we also met some new people this week and we had a good turn out at church lots of less actives and investigators so that was fun one less active named sister Crawford has come to church 3 weeks in a row now but before that we didnt even know that she existed we just had her address but it was the wrong one but the people there had her number so we called then after a few weeks finally got a hold of her and had one lesson with her and now she comes back on time for the past 3 sundays so that was pretty cool we didnt even really do anything we just invited her back to church i guess she just needed a little reminder haha but ya it was a good week not much happened other than what i said we are also teaching a really old lady named C. and she is just really old she fall asleep during our lessons so we just see her once a week but hey she has come to church the past two weeks so thats fun it will take awhile to go over all the lessons with her but ya thats basically my week as far as i can remember it looks like you guys are having a lot of fun with cabin and such dont have too much fun though
Love Elder Koegler

March  16, 2015

Hey!

So this week was good as far as i can remember haha it was just a normal mission week you know teaching and stuff L. and her daughters are still awesome they should still be baptized this coming saturday they still have to be interviewed so that will happen on wednesday so then we will find out for sure but today we are emailing in spanish town cause we have to get baptismal suits for them cause apparently they only baptize small kids here in Portmore haha seriously thats all they got little kid baptismal suits so ya it should be an exciting week i also get to see elder zeck today with his trainee cause they are bringing the suits so that will also be fun. But these past few weeks have flown by so fast even though nothing really has been happening it is scary how fast it goes haha.   but that is really funny about carters wallet we were always losing stuff in that couch  Editor’s Note:  I was moving a leather chair in the basement and found Carter Francis’s wallet in the cushions.  I called his mom who wasn’t surprised!  We both had a good laugh! (no cash…)

haha but like i said not much really happened this week we really need to start finding more investigators cause most of our days are filled with visiting less actives which isnt bad but it would be nicer to teach investigators so we have to work on that cause at the moment we only really have L. and her daughters, an old lady who falls asleep during the lessons but wants to get baptized and comes to church, two other ladies who always come to church but are waiting on answers thats just a few so we will see how this week goes oh

also it has been really smokey this week cause a mad man set a landfill on fire on wednesday and its still going today cause they dont have to money in their budget to stop it so they just let it burn it smells like burning plastic bag all the time unless the wind is blowing i had to put a sweat rag around my mouth on friday

Editor’s note: We’re hoping this is from the smoke in the air and he hasn’t joined a gang and he’s on a episode of Drugs Inc.  

cause it was soooo bad in our house so lots of people have been going to the hospital too because of it its really bad haha anywho love ya and have a great week!!

Love Elder Koegler

March 23, 2015

Hey!
So it was a good week this week L. and her Daughters baptisms went well so that was basically the highlight of the week they were interviewed by President Brown so we got to go teaching with him for a few hours before the interview so that was way cool he is great it was a little scary at first cause some of our appointments fell through but it ended up being really good oh and also during this time we were on trade off so it was me and Elder Dean and President so that was great to be with Elder Dean again we had the baptismal interviews at 7 at night at the church and President had driven us around all day so after the interviews were done and we were filling out the forms President said he had to leave so he just left and then we realized that we didnt have a ride home haha and it was 9 at night haha so we freak out a little bit cause we didnt want to be late so we had to walk and get a taxi haha so i thought that was funny

it was also my 15 month mark on wednesday so 9 months left just enough time for someone to have a baby! i dont know who but ya… it was a pretty normal week oh there also was a huge centipede in the baptismal font when we were filling it up and it turns out you cant drowned those things it wouldnt die so we put it in a bucket with cleaning stuff it was scary it was almost and big as my finger i will send a picture of it

but ya it was a good week though we are having zone conference this week so that should be good so i will get to see Elder Zeck on tuesday also there is a rumor going around that we will get to see the movie Meet the Mormons so hopefully we get to that would be sick but Transfers are in the first week of April so ya we will see what happens there haha i think i will probably leave Portmore oh and that old lady that we were teaching she was probably like 70s haha we havent heard from her for a awhile so ya… how knows what happened haha but i hope you have a great week!!
Love Elder Koegler

Save the DATE

So we are officially counting down the days at our house for the return of Mandy and Jessica in May.  I just wanted to let any of you who are readers/supporters/family/friends/all of you!  We are doing a combined homecoming Sunday May 31st at the Fairmont Chapel at 9am.  This is where you will be able to hear both Hermana’s report to us about their missionary experiences.  We (but especially they) would love to have you come.

We will also be having an open house at our home that evening from 5-8, if you’d like to drop in during that time.

I started a count down app today for the girls.  Mandy comes home on May 11 (airport details TBA), so according to my countdown that is 69 days away.  Jessica comes home May 28 (again airport details TBA) so that is 86 days away!

I can’t believe it’s coming to a close.  Our triangle with be reduced to a dot.  Michael will be home in December.  I just want to say what a blessing it has been, in our family, having these 3 kids out at the same time.  We have truly felt the blessings that our kids sacrifice has brought to our family.  I can hardly call it a sacrifice because of the growth that we have seen in all 3 kids.  To see the lives of all those wonderful people they have been able to bring the Light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, especially into their humble situations.  The hope that comes from having the Savior, Jesus Christ in their lives can bring.   I’m bracing for the homecoming, as much as I am excited for it,  I just know that they go through a mourning period as they are released as full time missionaries.  But I’ve been telling them that this a great springboard to the rest of their lives.

Mandy has been accepted at Grant MacEwan in Edmonton, so after the summer working in Waterton, she’ll head north.  Jessica has me applying for different nursing jobs here in Southern Alberta for now.  So I’m excited to see what the future holds for these 2 girls.

Thank you for all the support you have given to them and to us.   And I’ll still blog about Michael…I’m looking forward to just one email and one reply, one to blog and edit.  Maybe it won’t take 2 whole days to do it!  (sorry for my procrastination lately).

Sincerely, Joanne

Jessica gets to go to the temple…and is starting to talk about coming home

ts the final countdown!!! haha but seriously. Its coming quick I cant believe how quick the time goes. This week was rough, definitely one of the rough weeks I have had on my mission. Bu tits from those weeks that I have learned the most. I understand now why obedience is so dang important I know now why its sooo important to do the little things. When you dont you dont have the spirit. FACT. there is no way around it. We had the opportunity to go to the temple this week because we baptized two people (shout out to Hna Broadhead for all her hard work!). I LOVE THE TEMPLE: In fact Mom, thats one of the first things I want to do is go do a session in Cardston! But anyway I was reading my patriachal blessing in the celestial room and this huge sense of peace came over me. Recently I have been thinking a lot about what is my next step. Its been really hard because I cant think of what life would be like outside of El Salv. But I know that Heavenly Father is here with me and that whatever decisions I make he is gonna help me out. I still have no idea whats next but I know its going to be alright so for right now Im just gonna bust it out and go to work! I love you all sooo much and am so grateful for your prayers of support I feel each one!! Have an amazing week!
Aunty Jess
Pictures at the temple

,

The District

The House

Michael’s highlight is a package from home

Well this week was something else… thats all i can really say… but on the bright side L. and her daughters are now all on date for the 22nd of march so that should be good they are way awesome they had been to lots of churchs in the past and they never really learned anything from them and now they have a bunch of answers to their questions its just great and now they are all way pumped for baptism also Bishop and his wife play netball with them some nights and they really like that Bishop wants them all to get fit haha so its good fellowshipping haha

i got the package you sent thank so much it was probably one of the highlights of this week haha

also we chopped down one of their trees this week and that was fun but then they wanted us to chop the yard so we started and i noticed their water pipe was sticking out of the ground a little bit so i said to everyone watch out for that cause we dont want to break it then 10 seconds later i hit it…. haha and since all the water pipes in jamaica are just pvc pipes it broke… so i had to sit there for a few minutes with my finger in the pipe while the other elders made a plug from some wood and a plastic bag haha then eventually one of their friends came by and fixed it so ya that was exciting haha but ya…

other than that we are still having a rough time finding people to teach but dont worry we are working on it we just invited a bunch of members to share the book of mormon with people and gave them all copies and mostly all of them seemed really excited about it and had people in mind who they could share it with so hopefully all this will work out but ya that was basically our week didnt February go by way quick?

i am starting to become an older missionary and it kinda scares me haha… also when do Mandy and Jessie get home it must be pretty soon right? thats just crazy but ya it wasnt the best week but i got through it haha love ya have a great week
Elder Koegler

Pictures of our new place

Cockroach that attacked me while sitting on the floor

me sitting at my desk

 Editor’s note: I wonder if Goldilock’s will be checking this place out?

Mandy 4 weeks worth of great blessings

Feb. 9, 2015

Hello all!!!
Well this week went well like this whole transfer has been going and I think why this transfer has gone so well has been because of a lot of things!! The members, the prayers of family members ( shout out to grandma and grandpa and everyone else and their prayers), all the bad things that are happening in this world that are making people more open to our message, my companionship, the awesome people and there are so many other factors that plan in the miracles that we have seen!!!

I cant believe its already the last week of this transfer!!!! Man the time really is FLYING BY!!!!!!!! Its crazy!!!!
But this week we have been working with that family we found last week remember the one lady that was praying and we showed up? Well we have visited them a couple times, they came to church this sunday and they really do love it!! We met the husband and her other two kids one is 10 and the other is 3 but looks like hes 5!!! They are sooo awesome, the Lord really has been preapring them!!! They even told us that at the beginning of the new year they had sent the goal to look for a church to go to so that their kids are growing up wiht beliefs!!!!! WOW!!!!!! Welp they have finished their search!!!! And we have gotten lots of members involed so thats helped a lot!!!!
This week at church we had 9 people come to church and this was just three families but one of the families showed up late but it was sooo awesome!!! Church is funny as a missionary cause its super stressful cause you just get soo worried about your Investigators if they like it or not but they all seemed to like it so that was good!!!
So we have changed house cause in our last house I literally had trouble sleeping probably cause they have a virgin mary in there house haha. So we moved and its AWESOME cause we live next to this super strong member family who would literally do ANYTHING for us!!!!! They feed us all the time!!! I love it!!!!!
This week was also Hna hinganos birthday so on wednesday we ate a lot of cake!!! So that was nice!!! The members are just sooo awesome here!!!!! But I think this is the most I have eating tacos in my whole mission like a lot of nights members bring us tacos to have for supper!!!! Love it!!!!! But you can see it…. hahahah
But that was pretty much our week!!!!!
Love you all!!!!
Hna Koegler

Feb. 16, 2015

Hola Familia!!!
Well week had a good week!! We had seen the progression of a lot of our investigators!! Woot Woot!!! And guess what we had our transfers this week and no changes for us!!! I think I really am going to finish my mission here!!!! I am sooo grateful to be here and for the members of not only our ward but of other wards to cause we keep getting references from other wards as well! One of those is a forever investigator cause she has been going to church for 8 months but hasn gotten baptized but she has been going to a different ward and inorder for her to get baptized she needs to be going to the ward in which she lives in so we finally got to meet here this week and shes super cool!! And she hads two kids that have been going to church too!! So we hope to get them to feel comfortable enough in our ward so at the beginning of March they can get baptized!!! This week we are also going to have a baptism of a 10 year old girl who her parents are members but have been inactive we hope to really focus on the parents so we dont have to worry about her going inactive later in Life but shes pretty excited!!! Then we have this family… GOLDEN!!!!! So we did divisions on saturday and I went to visit this family with a member and They said they are starting to do there FHE this monday!!!! This has been the first family that has send this to me in my mission!! Doing FHE all by themselves!!!Ohhh myy!!!! And on thursday there was a primary activity and we were at the church so we were just chatting with Kevin the kid and we asked him if he has been praying to know if these things are true and he said ya like the second time you came that night I prayed to see if what you guys are teaching is true and I felt this sensation and something telling me to keep going to church and following our steps!!!!! This kid is 10 years old!!!! He is just so sensitive to the spirit!!! everyone in this family are going to be great leaders one day!! And I am soooooo going to their sealing!!! seriously I just love this gospel and this mission!!! I know that the Lord loves us and has blessed us with our families the gospel and so many other things to help us return to live with him one day!!!
We also were invited to an activity of the youth they went and visit less active members it was super awesome!!!! It was on saturday and I think it was an awesome experience for the youth!!!
But that was pretty much our week!!!! But I hope you all have an enjoyable week!!!! Love you all so much!!!!
Hermana Koegler

Feb. 23, 2015

Buneos tardes!!!
Welp this week went pretty well!!!
First I would like to start off with the miracle family!!! So there original date for their baptism was the 28th of march but since we have been visiting them they havent missed a single week or church!!! And they stay for all the 3 hours!!! so we visited them on saturday to move their date to the 7th of march. So we go in and start talking about the baptism that they came to on friday that we had it was a 10 year old girl, and we asked each of them how they left, first the mom said I just loved it!! I just felt something different!! It was really beautiful! then we asked the dad and he said ” I just loved how organized it was” (side note: we thought this was funny cause nothing went as planned haha but how it turned out was exactly how God wanted it! And it was way better then we had planned it) And the son said he liked it. After that the dad asked us so what else do we need to do to be ready for our baptism? And we read in DyC 20:37, and then we asked do you feel like your ready and this is what you want? And they all said yes!! We then asked if they had received an answer from God and they told us a whole bunch of experiences of how God has answered their prayers, and so we asked them if we could change the date to the 7th of March and they were super happy!!! WOW!!!! Such an amazing family!!!!!

Remember Hna Maritza from Chilpo I was able to talk to her and shes the presidente de mujeres jovenes!!!! Shes sooo awesome!!! And I hope to be able to see her before I go…. Weird I only have 11 months left… (Editor’s note: weeks, not months)  Its actually really sad.. Im going to be really sad to leave this beautiful place called Mexico!!!
the baptism went super well!! We were able to get 4 of our investigators their and its just what they needed!!!!
But sorry I dont have much time left!! But I love you all!!!!!!
I know this church is true and that the Lord loves each and everyone of us!!!!
Have a great week!!!!!
Love
Hermana Koegler

March 2, 2015

Well this was a wonderful week!!! Filled of LOTS of work!!!! So something that our president has asked us is that we can first all our invesstigators that have a baptismal date to visit them 5 times a week and that can be through text or through a member and seriously because of this formula we have seen a lot of progresion with our invesitgators but it sure is a lot of work cause we have 15 with a baptismal date!!!! So we worked had this week and found some new people as well!!! This sunday was quite the miracle we had 9 invesitgators at church i think that is the most I have EVER had in my mission!!!! It was soooooo awesome!!!!
We also got to watch meet the mormons this week!!!! WOOT WOOT!!!! soooooo good!!! Seriously I think if any none member would watch that or someone investigating the church would watch that they would TOTALLY get baptized!!! I almost cried soooo many times!!! LOVED IT!!!!! this world is seriously sooo beautiful!!! It made me want to go travelling again!!!
As for experiences this last week… Well we met the sister of one of our Less active members whose daughter is 10 and isnt baptized and her sister is also les active and her daught who is 9 also isnt baptized. So we but a cita with this new less active and her 9 yearold daughter. And Wow is she so much different from her sister!! With only one visit she came to an activity that night and came to church that sunday. She hasnt gone to church for 2 or 3 years but only with one cita she came!!! REally there are less actives who are just waiting for that one cita to get them to come to church! They want to come they just maybe feel uncomfortable or just want to feel loved and they will come!!
I really like this scripture that can be related to those less actives
“No obstante, no lo echarèis de vuestras sinagogas ni de vuestros lugares donde adoràis, porque debèis continuar ministrando por èstos, pues no sabèis si tal vez vuelvan, y se arrepientan, y vengan a mì con ìntegro proposito de corazòn, y yo los sane, y vosotros serèis el medio de traerles la salvaciòn.” 3 Nefi 18:32
WE can NEVER give up on those less actives cause they are our responsability!!!
We also had an activity on saturday were is was like a devotional!!! It went super well!! me and hna Hingano sang i know that my redeemer lives and some elders sang as well and we heard some testimonies it went super well and the spirit was defiantly there!! It was awesome cause a lot of our investigators showed up!!!!!
The sister training leaders also came and did divisions with us!!! When ever they come we always learn sooo much!!! I LOVE It!!!!! We were able to visit twice as many people which was super nice!!!
But seriously family I love serving the Lord and I have just felt soo blessed!!! I know that My Heavenly Father loves me and Loves each and everyone of us!!! And I just love letting people know that!! I know that the gospel just brings such a light into our lifes and we really can feel his love for us!!! I am sooo grateful for this mission!!! For all the experiences I have had and I am going to have!!! I KNOW that I couldnt learn these things if I hadnt had come!!!! So thank you all for the support and example you have set for me!!! I love this gospel!!! And I love MEXICO!!!!!!! Seriously guys I can just feel the Love right now!!!!! I hope you guys can too!!!!!!!!!
WOOOHOOO!!!!!!
VIVE MEXICO!!!!!
Love you all!!!!!!!!
Hermana Koegler
Ps the pictures are from when the members love us sooo much they put a table outside our windowso they can each with us when we arent allowed to leave our house!  (these are her neighbours who are sooooo good to them.  So this was after 9pm when they had to be home, so they ate outside their window)

And the other when we went to taxco today!!!!

And Hopefully next Monday we go to Acapulco for a conference with Elder Clayton if the people stop there rioting!!!!!!