Michael June 22, His last week with Elder Ashby

(over looking Kingston from the mission Home)

Hey!
Happy Fathers day first off!!  Jess i wouldn’t like to deal with annoying missionaries either we got a mission nurse so thats cool its a senior couple and they are from Wales so they both have very british accents and they look like they belong on Monty Python or Wallace and Gromit so that is fun i guess haha but its good to hear that Koeglers are taking over Waterton now! we should just buy the cabin and live there when you retire or something then i can have the house in Lethbridge cause that would be fun haha but it sounds like Trek will be the same as last time with cow patties everywhere hopefully it rains though that would be good but have fun being by yourself financing everyones fun times haha but i guess here is a story for ya so during gospel principles class at church the bishop calls us to help him so we leave and there is a pregnant kind of homeless looking lady and he invites us to talk to her cause apparently she is interested in learning the gospel so we are kind of excited and we set up a time to see her and Bishop even says that he will come so we are excited then she said her name is simone and that she has met with missionaries before and how they wouldnt let her get baptized so i am kind of confused then i think back to when i was serving in Portmore and there was a teaching record with her name on it and it said that she was crazy like really really crazy so then i get kind of nervous but we go back to the class and i tell Elder Rammell one of the other missionaries in our ward that Simone is here and it turns out that he taught her back in Portmore and she use to be taught in Kingston and Spanish Town but she was just following around one missionary cause she was in love with him and was causing a lot of problems where ever she went so we were scared so we told bishop that she was crazy so i guess thats a little taste of what happens here there is a lot of people with mental illnesses its sad and then they always interrupt church but such is life but ya thats the little story haha but i dont think i need anything though love ya!!
ELder Koegler

Michael…a story on being obedient…June 15

Hey!
Our week was good we were actually pretty busy visiting people for the most part so that was good mostly less actives though but ya it was good oh we also had stake conference so that was fun it was in Spanish Town so we traveled in the mission bus with all the Kingston missionaries we went to the adult session on Saturday night it was good not too many people were there but Elder Gamiette from the area 70 was there so that was cool they talked a lot about home teaching and stuff cause no one is doing it basically so ya it was good then we went back home then on Sunday morning we had to go back but this time we got to drive with Elder Gamiette in the mission bus so that was cool and then at the meeting a lot of people were there including people from Linstead and Portmore so that was fun to see all those people again including Aneika and Laleth and her daughters so ya it was good its also kinda funny cause some of the people from Linstead said i looked a lot more mature now but we came to the conclusion its just cause i am getting fat haha but for that session of stake conference they talked a lot about the Sabbath day andhome teaching again so ya it was good and its kinda funny cause all of the conferences that i have been to in Spanish Town i have always stood in the same spot at the back of the chapel but anywho after the conference Sister Hall wanted to take a picture of all the missionaries but we also had to get going to take Elder Gamiette to the airport in Kingston cause his flight left in like an hour and a half so we were kinda rushed and then after the picture they were trying to gather everyone on the mission bus but everyone is talking to people and stuff but Elder Ashby and i and a few other missionaries get in the bus then Elder Gamiette says to leave the others behind cause he doesnt want to miss his flight so then the other missionaries get out of the bus to be with their companions so all that is left in the bus is us the assistants to president and Elder Gamiette

so we had to leave 8 missionaries behind in Spanish Town and drive to the airport in Kingston with Elder Gamiette so that was kinda funny but we got to talk with him for a little bit so that was cool but ya thats our cool story for the week oh and on thursday night we were going around with the ward mission leader and teaching some people but we were riding out of a ghetto part and then this drunk guy stops us while we are waiting to cross the road and he asks what our names are and he is very drunk and confused when i say Elder Koegler and he keeps on asking me what my name is and the whole time he has a kitchen knife in his hand but for some reason i wasnt scared or focused on it then he asks what Elder Ashby’s name is and he also gets confused by it then i look away to answer another drunk persons question and the guy has the knife and hes holding Elder Ashby’s hand and says hes gonna chop it off but all i do is laugh and he gets kinda mad and lets go then we just ride off haha so thats another cool story i guess but ya thats basically our week it was good though!
Love ya and have a great week
Elder Koegler

i made a real good stake on tuesday and maranaded it with all those spices that you sent me a long time ago

Hey Dad
how did you hear about the bowling alley? i barely just heard about it i dont know where it is at though but i thought about opening a bowling alley in jamaica like last year cause there isnt any here so i thought it would be a good idea but looks like someone beat me to it haha but ya this month flew by but it sounds like there was a lot more that happened back home then here haha but that must be good to have mostly everyone home but i guess Elder Zeck and i will just have to speak patois when we get home so no one will understand us haha just kidding i dont know it that well haha but tis good that they havent changed too much it sounds like jessie is more out going then before so thats great and even better that they both have a deep spiritual side to them now but ya i guess i am excited to be the only Koegler missionary now haha but as for the package i told mom that i would like a new set of gears for my bike for the back wheel so one with 6 gears would be nice but if not its all good i guess is there anything you want to send me anything cool that you would like to have if you were a missionary i will take anything cause i cant really think of anything i guess some socks would be nice considering i got everything else  i cant believe i got 6 months left time goes by way too fast april and may feel like they were just a week or two its crazy but i dont think about it too much or else i kinda freak out a little but its not too much haha but alright i will make more goals i should probably work on my physical condition i am starting to get fat… haha but actually i got a little gut that hangs over my belt now haha but thanks for all you do for me and the family
love ya
Elder Koegler

 Mackerel in tomato sauce….just like his Dad had on his mission in the Central Pacific.

Elder Koegler June 8th – we did a Q&A

Editor’s Note: I decided to ask Michael the same questions I asked my seminary kids.  So here it goes!

Hey
Well first off thats excited about Nathan and Katie everyone is gonna have babies when i get home so that will be weird but exciting haha but anywho our week was good i went on a trade off with Elder Beck so that was fun he is the guy from our stake so ya it was cool to go on a trade off with him last time we went on a trade off together it was over a year ago and i was still with Elder Faumui back in Linstead so that was cool i guess but other than that we just did regular missionary stuff like teach the gospel so ya oh i guess on thursday we chopped down a tree so that was fun i got attacked by ants that were living in the tree so that wasnt too fun haha i swung at the tree with the Machete and it kinda exploded with ants and they got all over me and were bitting me and stuff so ya then later in the week i ate some spaghetti that a member made for us on tuesday but i ate it on saturday and then got sick so ya that wasnt too fun either but i guess those were the main things that happened this week so ya anywho guess i will answer your questions now

Three things that you learned this year that you didn’t know before:

1.that i can get fat…

2.the importance of the Atonement in our lives

3.the importance of the Book of Mormon and what it teaches us

Which person that we talked about this year stands out to you and why?

Person – Joseph Smith
Why – President Brown basically said he was the fourth member of the God head because through him everything with the gospel was restored or revealed which had never happened before so ya i guess i didnt understand how important he was before
Which Scripture Mastery was your favourite?
umm i dont remember any of the specific scripture mastery’s

How could we improve our Scripture Mastery to become Scripture Masters (ahahaha)?
umm once again i dont remember the scripture mastery’s

I know you can do hard things….what was something hard that you had to do this year in Seminary?
well i didnt attend seminary this year but just in general i guess just dealing with people has been a hard thing whether its a less active or investigator or anyone that just doesnt want the gospel that has been pretty sad but just something you eventually deal with

There are Saving Ordinances that you must do in order to return to Heavenly Father and to live in His presence….what are they?
Baptism, Confirmation, Initiatory, Endowment and temple sealing
As you are preparing to go on a Mission, or preparing to go on to School, or just preparing for Life….what things did you learn this year that will help you in the future?
well just building on my people, teaching, studying and all those other skills that i have learnt will help me
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being nothing to 10 being strong. Have you felt the Spirit in Seminary this year and to what level?
9-10 because without the spirit missionary work wouldn’t work so ya i have felt it a lot

Was there a time, that you felt the Spirit that stands out to you?
bearing testimony about the truthfulness of the church and especially when Elder Holland bore his testimony to us missionaries also at general conference

How has your testimony of Jesus Christ been strengthened this year?
by learning and understanding how important he is

How has the Atonement worked in your life? (Remember that the Atonement isn’t just for the repentance, it’s for comfort, it’s for Peace, its for us to find Joy)
Well being able to overcome the hard things in life through the Atonement has been a blessing in my life

well i hope that works for ya but thank you for your testimony and for all that you do for me love ya and hope that you have a great week!

Love Elder Koegler

So we are just a dot now….really.

With both girls home from their missions, we are really just a dot over Jamaica.  I’ve been super busy with said 2 daughters.  So I finally have a moment to sit down at the computer and update Michael’s blog…because that is what it is now.

So here are a bunch of weeks.