Monday, December 23, 2013

23 Dec 2013

Dear mom,

so i will likely be calling at around 1 pm your time, if everything goes the way we believe it will. thats about the best i can do.

yeah we had a christmas centered theme for our sacrament meeting out here to. we had a couple of special musical numbers and bishop got up and said a few words. it was good.

seeing as how saturday was the first day of winter it was more like the middle of july, very hot and and humid. but thats alright considering that most of the time it gets terribly cold when the sun goes down around here.

i got the picture of lila and susanna, and jack? that little boy looks to big to be jack. anyway the picture was good.

this last week has been absolutely the slowest week for getting anything done. the more we tried to do the more opposition got placed in our way. we did however finally get interviews from president. which took all day long. we were suppose to have ours at around 2:30 and be done by 3:30 but they got way behind and we weren't done until almost 6:00. and between meetings and all the other stuff we have to do.we haven't had much time to do much of anything. not accounting for the half hour it takes to go anywhere and another half hour back.

you may find it amusing that we found a new gator. who has the same first name as the savior. but he is from puerto rico so it is pronounced differently.

yes i did get the christmas box with everything in it. it made my christmas a lot better and it was already good. i hope you all have a merry christmas and a happy new year. talk with ya'll on wednesday.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, December 16, 2013

16 Dec 2013

Dear Mom,

christmas is almost here and you probably can't wait to hear my voice. this christmas has been coming remarkably fast. i didn't think it would come so fast. at a computer ready to Skype. (sometime after 11:30) thats the best i can do right now. i will be calling dads account unless you give me different instructions :) if all else fails though, who's phone do you want me to call?

we have had two christmas parties this last week and the ward party for 2nd ward and the mission party, thank you to everyone who sent letters and cards they made christmas that much happier. i had a lot of fun trying to track down former companions and friends at the mission party and enjoyed the christmas musical devotional that came with it. the ward party was a night in bethleham, so everyone dressed up in time period clothes and the cultural hall was decorated like the market place. everyone was summoned by order of agustus Caesar to come to pay their "taxes" (food for the food drive) and add their name to the census. we were the roman centurions there taking the census as everyone came in. it was fun.

i did talk about an activity that we had last week that sound like basically the same thing.

i wish i was still in darien, i really liked it there. but the lord needs me here and so here i will be. the ward here is wonderful. and so are the people. i do remember why i like singles ward and older wards. trying to get something out of sacrament meeting is so much harder when there are little children left and right that are screaming for attention. being in church is a noisy experience at best on a normal day. the quietest day was by far when the primary was doing their program. it was great.

as far as Facebook rules are concerned, i can friend immediate family members and friends back home, but i can't chat over Facebook. however if i am teaching someone through chat i can invite family and friends in to chat to help the person we are teaching online. thats pretty much it. if you do message me don't expect me to reply over Facebook.

last night we were out working around a less active member of the ward and someone we talked with called the cops on us. not that the cops can do anything to us. ( we are not soliciting ). so it was really more amusing than anything else for us. i've never had anyone actually call the cops on us before. apparently there has been a series of break ins over there, at least thats what the cops said. i don't think we are headed back that way after dark anymore. we will go back during the day.

we don't ever have time to decorate our own apartment, but we are going caroling several times during this next week. we already did it once as a district, and we are going as a ward mission this next saturday. we do have one appointment for christmas.

i hope you have a:
Merry Christmas, and a Happy new year,

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie,

Monday, December 9, 2013

9 Dec 2013

Dear Mom,

im glad im in florida right now. i would probably be freezing up there right now. the weather here has actually been getting warmer, as it was pretty cold for a little while.

this week hasn't been to crazy but we have defiantly been more busy than we were 2 weeks ago. we were able to go and find some new people to go teach who are keeping their appointments. we keep finding people who won't so finding someone who will keep one is for us a little miracle.

i guess if your neighbor had to come home early for medical he probably won't be able to go out and finish it will he? i know there are a lot more missionaries that go home early than any one might think. i know both president craig and president barry won't/wouldn't send any missionary home for any reason except it be absolutely necessary. which is a good thing more often than not.

we had at least one day that worked out fantastic for finding people to teach and bring to church. although non of them kept with their commitment to attend. this next week will be our mission christmas conference. so we look forward to that

don't be surprised when you get a Facebook friend request from me in the next couple of days. i was called to work online starting this next week. elder Camarena and i will still be together till the end of this transfer at least. they won't send him to brazil until transfers are up and decided. he has already been waiting for 5 months. speaking of waiting for the lord and his timing... everyone who came out in his group already had their visas by time they left the MTC. so apparently the lord needs him here in gainesville for a transfer or two. i know a missionary who was waiting for his visa for 7 and a half months before being shipped out at the end of this last transfer. when this companionship ends is entirely in the lords hands. so far the lord hasn't seen for to leave me anywhere more than 4 and a half months. president says we are suppose to stay in one place from 6-9 months at a time. i think some one missed the memo.

the gainesville stake did a nativity display where members in the wards got together their nativity sets and put them up in the cultural hall for all to see. there were some really pretty nativities. this was followed by the first presidencies christmas devotional. it was a wonderful event that everyone was welcome to. i really liked the peanuts christmas nativity. it was spiritual yet funny.

i really like teaching the plan of salvation. it clearly defines why we are here, where we came from and where we are going, and it can be related to just about everyone in one way or another. my favorite part of the day changes everyday. it just depends on weather people keep their commitments and appointments. when they do, being in appointments is by far my favorite time of the day.

i did get the box you sent me for my birthday and we had some members take us out to get ice-cream when they found out. we also biked 13 miles in a big loop around our area in order to get to every appointment that we had set. so it wen't very good.

i hope you enjoy this next week. tell everyone merry christmas for me. love Ya'll

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, December 2, 2013

Dec 2, 2013

dear mom,

here has come another week of fun adventures, transfers were on wednesday, and i got my new companion. Elder Camarena. he is waiting on his visa to go to Sao paulo Brazil. seeing as how we are in a bike area and he didn't have a bike. we have been stuck walking for a couple of days. that being said we found an extra bike that a member is willing to lend us for now. we also got a break in that the mission office is now has us in a car share with the sisters that live in our same apartment complex. they still get the car most of the time since the way the ward is divided they have to go 12 miles out of town to Newberry just about every single day. president told us that the mission only gets 102 cars for the now 135 companionships of missionaries

as far as any work was concerned we weren't able to to do much between transfers and thanksgiving, and all the extra studies that come with training a portuguese missionary. this next week should produce more for us to go and do.

thanksgiving was good. we had a lunch and a dinner appointment. all of it was amazing. poor Elder Andersen got transferred the day before his birthday which also happens to be thanksgiving day. our ward missionaries who fed us is a professional chef and he cooked a habenero turkey. it was delicious. it was a new twist on an old favorite. we were by no means on our own for thanksgiving day.

Tresa must be doing very good. that is super good to hear. it has been a long time since i've heard anything about her working anywhere. if i ever have before. is Tresa liking working for the energy solutions center? keep showing her love and support. overcoming the things that she is, is by no means easy.

i will be looking for the box to be headed my way. you know i will be rooting for RSL to beat KC.

i've already been through what was suppose to be a big tropical storm, but by time it reached us it was just a big storm. it didn't even deserve the tropical storm status. back when i was in darien we had a big one that knocked over a couple of large trees. though it only lasted about 30 minutes before it had completely passed through town, but we did have to go find shelter for that little bit of time. it was funny because we got the storm warning 5 minutes after we were being blown over and pounded in to the ground by the rain. i like the rain for the most part but when it rains for 4 and 5 days in a row and can't stay dry to save our lives then i get sick of it really fast. thats about how things were about 2 weeks ago.

your life back home seems to be as crazy or more than mine has been this last week. I'm glad to hear that everything is working out for ya'll. take care and i will write again next week.

Sincerely
Elder Ogilvie

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

25 Nov 2013

Dear Mom,

last Monday night at 7:30 while way out in the middle of nowhere. we got a call from president Craig... he told me that i will be training a new missionary... transfers are tomorrow. if you wondered why this email didn't come yesterday that is why.

i only have CD's and they don't do me much good at this point since we don't have a car though here we have a stereo system, so we can have music at night. if however i m going to be able to listen to music though the rest of the mission it will need to be on an Ipod.

so the reason i wanted to know how i relate to glen is that one of the members here is the grandson of Glen Ogilvies' best friend during WW II and who's wife is now spending quite a bit of time with Glen. that's what I've heard from the member here.

that is exciting that RSL is on their way to winning another title. i will be cheering for them from gator country.

president Craig wants us to have 2-3 places to go and visit with members for thanksgiving. ( that's what he said on the transfer calls last night ). right now we have 2 appointments for thanks giving dinner. we are hoping that both will go through. ( maybe you could invite the missionaries to thanksgiving dinner if they don't have other plans already?)

we mostly go and help members to do their missionary work. we help them learn how to invite their friends and neighbors and even people they have never met to hear the restored gospel. and then help them to set goals for the number of invites that they can extend in the next two weeks. then two weeks later we get to hear their stories of how things went. for example we have a member who has a goal to invite 1 person every day. and another who has a goal to give missionaries a referral everyday. the idea isn't so much about inviting only those we think are ready but instead inviting everyone that we can, regardless of weather or not those we invite accept the invitation. its starting to work too.

thank you for all of your love and support. i will let you have your Tuesday morning back now. i hope ya'll have a wonderful thanksgiving and Christmas season. Love Ya'll.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, November 18, 2013

18 Nov 2013

Dear Mom,

yes i did finally get the letter you sent me. and i thought i did send that check to you. though it might be in one of the boxes that i sen't home. one of them was full of the letters that i received while I've been out. and i just don't have the space to keep carrying around with me and other extra stuff. i would suggest checking there. it might be in there. other than that i am pretty sure i don't have but i will check anyway.

the last week here was another zone conference. this time it was just us missionaries. nothing to exciting. oh and it did rain here for at least 4 days straight. which is unusual considering that it will rain for 5 minutes and quit for 5 days and start all over the next day. i'm just happy its not snowing down here though it was most certainly very cold. this last week. if anything there was one day it was not far from freezing out side.

no they haven't told us anything about leaving the chapels open with missionaries in side quite yet. of the changes they have told us about is the giving of iPad to missionaries who are ready to receive them. rumor says they are coming the beginning of next year but we will see. i suspect that it will be longer than that.

this week was almost nothing but service. we helped at least 3 families move across the ward. none of them left the ward but they moved from one ward boundary to the other. which has meant moving some big and heavy pieces of furniture. it was easy though because the whole of the elders quorum showed up for one of the moves. us and the 3rd ward elders helped with the other big move. groups of 6 or more people move things very quickly.

i don't have any special requests for my birthday. music would be appreciated though. i can't really think of anything that i need at the moment. i just had to order new scriptures because the binding on my quad busted. everything is going good here. i hope everything is still OK at home.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie,

Monday, November 11, 2013

11 Nov 2013

dear mom,
its been a week that's for sure. i got the picture of champ, i miss that dog. i thought the picture was funny. the principle of opposition in all things is certainly true. for as many things that have gone wrong there are equally as many that have gone right more actually. we have investigators who are actually beginning to progress.

we have another zone conference that is coming up this week even after having one just last week with elder zwick of the seventy. don't ask me why. there is definatly a focus on doing missionary work now. the surge of missionaries can be seen as "the end soon coming" the goal is to save as as many as we can "while the sun still shines". the ward here is really focusing on the work. we have been going around to every members home helping them to set up and put in to effect their family mission plans. so we have been very busy trying to get to every family in the ward. at least in our area to work in which is the city part of the ward boundaries.

there isn't much that i have to leave a report on this week. i hope ya'll are doing well back home.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, October 28, 2013

28 Oct 2013

Dear mom,

this week has been one of a lot of member missionary work, we have had several members come out and work with us. this is the first ward that i have served in that has really put a major effort into doing what the lord wants them to do. the ward here really is amazing.

my companion is only 18 so there is five years between us and we are very different people, so it has been quite an adjustment, though that happens with every companion. personally i am really enjoying Gainesville. as far as snakes are concerned i have seen very few. I've only seen little baby snakes here and there nothing big. we did service for a member who had a nest of baby black racers in her front yard. (completely harmless snakes) elder Andersen is however completely afraid of snakes of any kind. which made the whole thing hilarious for the rest of us but terrifying for him. i almost wish i had my camera on me at the time. if there is any thing i miss now that i'm in Gainesville it would be the fact that there are now trees everywhere again, and there is no flat land or marshes that makes the place rally beautiful. also people tend to be a lot kinder and personable when the branch only consists of 50 active members and not nearly 200. but there are a lot of very good people in that 200 just like the branch of 50.

we rely quite a bit on members to get us to and from every major appointment considering how far we have to bike between places. we could Literally spend almost a full half hour biking between appointments and we are only in a little corner of Gainesville. the two sets of sisters cover the other two-thirds of the ward. speaking of which do you have multiple sets of missionaries in your ward? or is Utah so full of wards that your lucky to have 1 set for every two wards?

i'm sure the family that has moved in to the Lombardy house will love it there. what are you going to do about the basement? did you just leave it partially finished? what is the next big project at home? i hope dad gets the Saturn put back the way its suppose to go. that's sad to hear that it broke down again especially since it just had a redone motor put in it. oh well.

hope everything is well back home. say hi to everyone for me.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, October 21, 2013

21 Oct 2013

Dear mom,

here is the address for the apartment:
(Mom or I can give anyone the address, if needed.)
Happy birthday Anna Swalberg, Heidi and john must be super excited.

here i am in Gainesville 2nd ward. we have 6 missionaries in our ward alone. we are out numbered by sister missionaries 2-1 the other two companionship's are both sisters and they are both training sisters who just came in to the mission. November should be the last big group of new missionaries. at least that's what president Craig keeps telling us. he has also said that starting next transfer missionaries will be staying in their areas from 6 - 9 months at the least. so i could very well be here for a while. also we do not have a car to get around in. not that we actually need one. everything that we do is all in the suburbs in our corner of town. we let the sisters take their cars out to the littler towns outside of Gainesville. there are actually 5 wards in the Gainesville area. and every area has multiple sets of missionaries.

yesterday, our ward had a musical fireside where members were able to share their musical talents with the ward and non members who were invited by their friends. there were two other wards who were involved as well including williston which was one of my former areas. so i got to see some people i hadn't seen in a long time. it was a wonderful experience to be there to see it.

the picture you sent me of the deck last week looked really good. i can't imagine what else you could do to make it better. now it is time for the next project, any ideas?

yeah i figured it would take a while for the missionary department to make another plaque, i ordered some extra tags since the ones i have, have become pretty scratched up. but i still haven't gotten them yet either. i guess since i have two plaques now you get to choose which one you would rather have. when they are no longer on the wall of the church.

dad will have fun at the convention, besides doesn't dad do more "playing" with airplanes than actually working? going to the convention does sound like a lot of fun though.

getting all of my stuff gathered back up shouldn't be that hard. there isn't all that much that i really need to keep laying around but we will see i get home a long time from now. for putting those boxes with primary stack of my stuff. it makes life so much easier to not have to carry it around. even with taking it all out i still had a hard time getting my stuff to Gainesville. the ride from transfer meeting was ill prepared to take 1 let alone 2 bikes from Jacksonville to Gainesville. i had to send half of my stuff with other missionaries who were headed to Ocala and were merciful enough to stop and drop off my stuff and the stuff of another missionary at the appropriate apartments. this last week has been an adventure, that is for sure.

hope all is well at home,

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

14 Oct 2013

Dear mom,
i'm being transferred from darien, we already knew that. now i am going to be in gainesville 2nd ward. there are already apparently 2 more sets of missionaries in that ward, which make a whole lot of missionaries running around in the city of gainesville. i will know next week what my mailing address will be.
this last week has been a trip. we have found a couple of people that would like to hear the gospel. it happens predictably every time missionaries are transferred. speaking of transfers there are now about 300 missionaries in the mission that's about double what it was when i got in the mission.
i saw the picture of the finished deck. it looks good. sorry about the rain. on the bright side its not raining as much here as it has been for the last two transfers. fall has started to kick in so things have been a lot cooler here. it also happened to quit raining at the same time i finally caved in and bought a proper rain coat.
i am happy to know that grandma is doing well, she must like her new room a lot better than the old one. is really any different except that it is closer to the elevator? is everyone still playing cards there in Friday?
don't be surprised if a box comes home some time in the next couple of weeks. there is some things i am just tired of carrying around that i still want but don't want to keep packing from place to place. we will see what happens. extra clothes and stuff. when it shows up just put it with the rest of my stuff i assume its all still packed up from moving.
i can't think of anything else that is going on right now so i will let you and the family go. also did ya'll ever find both alligators? or are they both still hidden well?
Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

7 Oct 2013

Dear mom,

next week is transfers. and yes i will be leaving Darien, president Craig called us this morning to let elder smith know that i will be leaving and he will be training a new missionary. there are 34 new missionaries coming in this transfer. when i came in there was only 20 of us and that was a huge group. now to here that 30+ are coming with each transfer is completely normal. i won't know where i am going to be sent next, i won't find out until next Monday.

as for the hail, well the lord needed you to have something worth writing about this week. does everyone still get together every Friday night to play cards? also tell grandma Fowkes hello for me.

conference was by far the most exciting part of the week. nothing else even begins to be as wonderful and amazing. i know that some of the things that were said by the apostles and prophet were of great benefit to people that we have been working with here, and benefited some people i know back home as well. inspiration was abundant at conference. i can't wait until they finally give us missionaries a copy of the conference ensign.

so what you are telling me is that Brightyn is like the energizer bunny. she just keeps going and going and going... one of these days not to long from now she will be walking. very soon.

the next big thing is transfers, and at the end of the month will be zone conference and a special fireside with one of the 70's that about it. at least for now.

i will let you go, we have some other important things to do. have a good week.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie


Monday, September 30, 2013

30 Sept 2013

Dear mom,

i'm happy to know those pictures made it home nice and safe. i thought i put the right zip code on it. i even checked. oh well at least they are there for you all to enjoy. keep looking for the gator. he is in there somewhere... i will let you find him.

poor champ must not be having very much fun now. i forgot that he was even on medicine. does champ still hate to go to the animal hospital or is he okay with it now? tell him i miss him. are there any new funny stories about Sydney? is Brightyn still chasing the dogs around?

the deck is looking good now, whats left to do? or is that it? also what are you going to do so that people don't fall down in the hole for the window? or prevent the grill from falling down in there?

we had a baptism service right after church yesterday. which incidentally marks the one year date for the first baptism i was apart of since I've been out. since general conference is next week. the branch president saw fit to do the confirmation right after the baptism, instead of waiting for two weeks while general conference goes on. our problem is now that we have baptized our only solid investigator we don't have anyone to work with now. so now we are back to finding those who are ready. we have found some potential though so we are not completely with out hope. though we will still be working with our recent convert.

Every Sunday after church we help cook the Sunday dinner/lunch at brother Zorn's home. since he can't do it himself. it can and does become a fellow-shipping and teaching opportunity for us since we usually lead a discussion on the book of Mormon after dinner/lunch

it's about time for us to go and get some other things done today. thank you for the letter. and for letting me know how everyone is doing. have fun back home.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, September 23, 2013

23 Sept 2013

Dear mom,

tings are going good here in the little sleepy town of Darien, GA. this last week has been one of complete exhaustion. after 3 exchanges which felt like 4 since there was one day that i was back with my companion, in the middle of the other 3 exchanges. a lot of service for various people both members and non members. what our branch mission leader basketball ministry, where we open the cultural hall to bring in the younger generation and introduce them to the church. and doing everything we can to help our sole investigator find her way to baptism. which is proving way harder and stressful than any other. mostly because of the way it all started. oh and we ha to speak in church on Sunday. i'm not really even sure if i remember everything that actually did happen it seems like i left something important out?

i will be looking forward to general conference in what is only two weeks away. did it really come that fast again? didn't we just have one in April? it sure seems like it. we will be able to watch it at our little branch building. it has its own little satellite receiver in it. when this baptism happen the way it is planned it will be done the Sunday before conference which is this coming Sunday. and the confirmation will be done the Sunday after that. then i will probably be transferred.

you see this baptism all started about two weeks ago when we found out that a member we are working with married a non member with the agreement that if they were to get married she would join the church. we did not find out any of this until they were already married. that is when she came to church for the first time. and now the whole thing is sort of a mess. but it is slowly getting better. i am hoping and praying that it all works out okay.

speaking in church was kind of fun. and hard. you can probably guess what the topic i chose to speak on in church was. it is not that hard to guess. Missionaries talk about it all the time. we were asked last week to give talks so we knew this one was coming. no surprises.

i did find a rain coat that will work but i haven't been able to go get a nicer one, that is more than just a simple poncho made of better materials. the one i have now has saved me from quite a few rain storms so i am in no hurry to find a better coat.
champ knows better than to put himself where he knows he is only going to get his hair pulled. i think Sydney has figured that out too. Brightyn must be having fun if she keeps chasing after the dogs like that. tell her i said hello too. although she still has no idea who i am.

i won't take up anymore of your time today, i'm glad everyone is well.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, September 16, 2013

Sept 16, 2013

Dear Mom,

I think everyone is ok back home. at least that is what i get from reading your letter. the deck is starting to look really good now. you don,t have that much to do, before it is all done, right?

we have some exciting news. we found a lady that could be baptized pretty soon. but there is a lot of things still standing in the way. we think that she can make it but it will take a while before she actually get baptized. the whole story is pretty long and a little bit to much to write in a letter so it will be an interesting thing tat happens in the next couple of weeks.

the little branch here in darien does not have very many youth all together let alone what we might call much of a primary. so the chances of the branch having a primary program is slim to none. our young mens and young womens programs are not any bigger. we have for the last 4 weeks had to teach the youth sunday school class. each time we have had no notice that we were teaching either. we have been filling in for the teacher that they have yet to call.

we have been asked to speak this next sunday. we are always busy on sunday during church doing one thing or another. its always something. we also usually need to help with passing the sacrament since we do not have enough worthy young men to do it. then we are normally sitting in on the young men's lesson in priesthood.

we haven't had any trouble with the weather over the last week. it has stayed pretty pleasant.

we have been on three exchanges with the missionaries in brunswick this week and we have to do three more this week. we have to do a total of 6 exchanges and do one with the missionaries in kingsland.

we are busy this week and next. i hope your week is busy too.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, September 9, 2013

9 Sept 2013

Dear Mom,
it has been an interesting few days to say the least. elder smith arrived on Wednesday, and i sent elder Mcfarlane away. the two of them are completely different people. completely opposite personalities. elder smith has been out for 21 months and has this transfer and one more before he is done. he is by far the most obedient missionary in the mission, by a long shot.

some of the scriptures that have helped me are 3 Nephi 12:10-12, Alma 42:31, 1 Corinthians 10:13, Isaiah 41:10, Alma 7:11-13, Mosiah 14:3-6. i will stop there. i can keep going for a while.

we don't have anything too exciting going on. we did find a family up near the top of the area that came to church on Sunday. we have also been receiving quite a few more referrals to go see people. we are still looking for some solid people to teach since we still don't have many at all. we have also been going out on bikes around town a bit more too, trying to keep our car mileage under control so we don't run out like we have come very close to doing every month. so far so good.

i was hoping that with transfers that i would not have our district leader for a companion. i did not get that wish. and we have 2 more missionaries that we have do exchanges with in Brunswick. so now instead of doing 4 exchanges we have to do 6 exchanges. oh well.

i think you are all very busy back at home. i am doing good out here. i did get the new shirts, thank you so very much. i pretty well have everything that i need for now.

i hope ya'll have a good week back home.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

2 Sept 2013

dear mom,

i have the pictures to send home so i will send them as soon as i can write the letter that goes with it. :) i don't remember what the last picture that i sent was so there will be some pictures i skip sending. i saw the picture of the deck. it looks like it will go together just fine. keep up the good work.

crazy dog. tell him i miss him. i have a dog story of my own to tell. we were doing a little bit of unplanned service for a less active member. and his friends dog was in the yard and as we went to walk out the dog decided to take a chomp at my leg. one of his teeth went right through my slack fabric (without doing any damage to the slacks) and put a small hole in my leg. it only drew a little blood, but i am ok.

we get asked a few crazy questions every now and then but for the most part people around here don't ask them all that much since the place has had so many missionaries talk with every single person. those who do ask already know the answer and just ask because they can or they don't really care to know the answer. i've talked with a few people like that. of the questions that do come up polygamy is the most common. that and the word of wisdom. i did have one investigator ask me about God living on kolob once. that one was unexpected.

Darien has been fun to be in and i will still be here for another transfer. elder Nephi (yes, Nephi) smith is my new companion. or at least he will be on Wednesday. transfers is tomorrow.

talk with you later. have a good day, and a fantastic week.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, August 26, 2013

26 Aug 2013

Dear Mom,

i have been here for almost 3 months now. the next transfer is Wednesday of next week. September 4th. it is more than likely elder Mcfarlane will be transferred and i will stay. but i don't really know for sure.

i think you had too much fun with your children and grand children this last week. we had a lot of different events that happened starting with zone conference that was on tuesday and lasted most of the day going quite a bit longer than it was suppose to. so we had to race back home to our appointment and almost didn't make it. i also had to go with a Brunswick missionary for the day. now we are done with having to do that. i am very happy to be done with having to go back an forth between Darien and Brunswick all the time.

we also had a wonderful church meeting on sunday. we had the high councilman and his father give talks on the book of mormon and the people who live on the pacific islands. it was incredible to be able to listen to them and here about the culture and how it relates to the stories in the book of mormon of the people who went into the sea and disappeared.

the tinker-toy stage of construction should be a lot of fun. we visited a member who is putting together his front deck. the first time we went to visit him we had to be careful where we stepped, otherwise we might have fallen through the big holes where the wood was missing. there were just enough deck to get from the ramp and to the door. the deck is mostly built now.

i'm sure there were other things that happened that i just can't remember off the top of my head. i will think of it later. hope all is well at home.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, August 19, 2013

19 Aug 2013

Dear mom,

i just got the mail from snowbird and the letter and pictures it contained. thank you to all the children who drew pictures. they brightened my day. i look forward to seeing the box with the shirts in it.

our georgia weather has been either really hot and humid or rainy. it has rained every time that we have gone out to do anything for the last 4 days. the rain has just today decided to quit. so no doubt will it be getting hot around here again. this last thursday the storm was so bad that trees began to lose some large branches and the steam coming off of the road made it nigh impossible to see anything.

stake conference was this last sunday for us. Elder Corbridge of the seventy came to speak to the stake along with the Orlando temple president and president/sister Craig. elder mcfarlane and i ended up at all 3 sessions but no one we invited showed up to any of them. it was still cool to be there.

yes i do have a fishing rod now. we occasionally go out and see what we can catch on p-day. i do have some pictures to send you if i can ever get to a place to print them. the nearest place to do that would be in brunswick which we wont be anywhere near today. i will try to send some in the next few weeks. i wont need a blank journal for a couple of months. each one will last for about five months total. i have four, two of them filled. i am working on wrtting in number 3. i will need one more for the last 2 or 3 months before i see you again. i will most likly need five in total.

i do like Darien the most of the places i have been. really its about equal with how much i liked Branford florida and the people there. but as a place Darien is way nicer. all i do for online missionary work is make sure that what elder mcfarlane posts is correct and is the best thing that he can post. basically all i do is watch and make sure he doesn't post anything stupid.

i hope you have fun setting up the deck, hope all is well back home.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, August 12, 2013

12 Aug 2013

Dear Mom
this week has been a wild adventure for you. at least that's what I get by reading your letter. my week has been up and down days where just about everything went right and days where no matter what we did nothing happened. its been crazy.
I did get the box with pants in it and everything else. how did I know that you were going to send me a camel? we had some fun with that one.
I don't think I've ever seen that side of champ that has to be very entertaining to watch. I wouldn't think that champ would be a very protective dog. he won't even get angry at anyone who goes after him.
I've been out on exchanges with other missionaries most of this week. one with missionaries in Brunswick and our zone leaders came and went through Darien with us on Wednesday. they also happened to be our most productive days while the rest were pretty slow.
I think you had way more happen than we did. hope all is well back home. also what was with the deer walking through the neighborhood?
Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie


Monday, July 29, 2013

29 July 2013

Dear Mom,

things have been going good here. i guess you are going to have a house full again this year to. just like you did last year right before i left to come out here. is everyone coming down to be at snowbird or are they all coming the week before?

there hasn't been anything really new happening. we still face some of the same challenges of finding people to teach that we have faced from day one since i've been in darien. this is really a big part of why it is so important that members do the finding. members are way more sucessful at it than we are in terms of finding people who are truly ready for the gospel. often times we will find people but they don't truly have enough interest in it to really go somewhere with it.

with all the changes in missionary work its not suprising to hear about. thank you for taking good care of the missionaries there. im sure they appreciate it quite a bit. especialy at the end of the month. the members here tend to do a good job of making sure we are well taken care of, if and/or when we need things.

sydney will eventually figure out that she has found a new home and one that she will come to love. has champ gotten use to having her around all the time. has she learned how to beg at the table for scraps yet?

well i hope ya'll are having fun back hope and i hope family vacation goes well.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

22 July 2013

Dear mom,

So champ has a new friend huh? i did get the picture. its been so long since i've seen a picture of Dutchess that i couldn't tell you the difference between Sydney and Dutchess. so is champ happy to have a new friend to play with or does he simply allow Sydney to be there? oh and it sounds like you were an answer to some ones prayer.

i'm glad to hear that they got the roof on right this time. it doesn't sound like it was way to much trouble to replace. something i've noticed out here is how many people have tin roofs. there are way more houses that have tin roofs out here than have shingles. it sound to me that you home Improvement projects are going well.

thank you for the box that you sent me with the two books in it.also i did activate my card on the first of July because that was the first p-day where i could do it. also i will be looking for the box in the mail in the next week or two.

there hasn't been a whole lot going on here, we've started trying to walk through the town of Darien trying to talk with people on the streets during the day.the hard part is that it tends to start raining quite randomly. i would say it tends to rain at some point just about everyday even if its only a light sprinkle every now and then. we have been able to find a couple of new people to talk with as we've gone around to different parts of town.

we don't have any different holidays per say. the only thing that has come up was a local holiday called the annual "burn down Darien day" where they do a reenactment of when Darien was burned down down during the civil war. the lds population out here still recognizes pioneer day but it isn't celebrated like it is in utah.

our transfer calls were last night and i'm not going anywhere for another 6 weeks. neither is elder Mcfarlane. still staying in Darien woohoo! the next transfer will happen in September some time.

i hope everything is going well at home and have fun on family vacation.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie


Monday, July 8, 2013

8 July 2013

***A note from me - Kyle is still in the Jacksonville, FL Mission. The Georgia Macon mission formed right to the north of them, and Kyle is serving just to the south of the cut-off line.  Kyle's mission lost some missionaries to the new mission, but Kyle was fortunate enough to stay.  I can't help but think that will make his mission map easier when he comes home. 
 
Oh, and BTW, Ky's hump day (1/2 way done) is exactly one month from today!!!***
 
 
dear Mom,

there have been a lot of things that happened this last week, first and most importantly i met president and sister Craig. we has a zone meeting and they came to meet all the missionaries up here in Georgia. they also did a little presentation on who they are and where they come from. then President Craig started talking about how everything will be changing in the next year. more details on what was talked about in the world wide training conference.

the fourth of July aside from being a national holiday, was also our day to go do service for brother Zorn (who lives on on one quarter of a lung and still faithfully makes it to church every week). also we have another investigator who put on a little dinner party that we were invited to. the best part is everyone who attended the dinner were all members of the church except for our investigator. fellowship works!

i do not have a missionary Facebook page . yet. believe me you will know if and or when i get called. though i have had companions who have been called to do Facebook work. that is a funny statement, Facebook work. anyway, that's only a small part of everything that is changing. eventually in the next couple of months we are suppose to be given smartphones and tablets to do pretty much everything with. at least according to president Craig. oh he has also pretty much outlawed backpacks and tracting. its really like he will be outlawing, it will probably happen right about the time all the changes take effect.

this next week is going to be more busy than the weeks before. we have some kind of significant thing happening just about every single day. which is really good.it sounds to me like you and dad have yourselves another home construction project. there is always some kind of home improvement to be done at home. bathrooms, basement, porch. at least you are staying busy. it sounds to me that you had a fun and good week at home i home the next one is just as good.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, June 24, 2013

24 June 2013

Dear Mom,

i'm glad that you had fun over the last 3 weeks. it sounded to me like you were traveling all over the place.

i did attend the world wide conference last night. did you? it was open to anyone who wanted to attend. anyway when elder Perry spoke he spoke about how missionaries would be doing online work through Mormon.org and Facebook. the Florida Jacksonville mission and a couple of others are/were the testing areas for that.

i just wrote my last letter to President Barry. since he will be going home this weekend. president Craig will be coming in on on Friday sometime. other than that i don't have anything major that i have to talk about. Darien like always is quiet most of the time. we tried to make some noise and put together a community family night but then it rained most of the day so very few people actually came to it. but it turned out alright. in order to find people to teach we have to get creative with ideas. like to go fishing / crabbing and talk with the other fishermen and crabbers. i mean Peter, James, and John were all fishermen. using all of the original and crazy finding ideas we can come up with we don't find a whole lot of people. we found one in this entire week. we are trying to get the local members to do most of it. in accordance with the direction given through the prophet and the quorum of the twelve.

we don't have a lot of missionaries in the area. it just the two of us. the nearest missionaries are in Brunswick which is 20 miles away. beyond them is Jesup is probably the next closest. but i don't really know anymore since some of the area boundaries have changed a little bit. hopefully they will give out new mission maps. we have missionary couples serving in the mission but not anywhere near here that i know of. there aren't any youth in this branch that are preparing to serve right now. maybe in a couple of years.

thank you in advance for sending the care package. i will be looking for it. also good luck for spring in i hope that the publisher will choose her book to publish. that will be exciting.

hope all is well at home, i'm off to go get everything ready for this next big week.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, June 17, 2013

17 June 2013

Dear mom,

its been an exciting week here in the Florida Jacksonville mission. i made it to Darien GA alright i don't have a mail box to receive mail at our house. we use a P.O. box

we do have street signs in the main town but they really don't make any sense and they have no real organization to them. there is one section of town that is laid out that has a little but organization.

about the only thing we have to do for p-day is to go fishing and or crabbing, we did that this morning. we caught ten or twelve blue crabs and 5 black tip sharks all about a foot long. apparently they are good eating. i may have to go get a rod and reel its very possible that i will be here a while. fishing is also our main way of finding new people to teach because most of the people we talk to are way more receptive to talking with us when they are fishing or when they see us sitting there fishing.

we have the whole district (us and the 8 missionaries in Brunswick) are going to go try and catch a bunch of blue crab. it should be fun. i dont have any thing big happening right now. i must say that i do love being up here in Darien way more than being in palatka. so far this is the place i like being the most.

the darien area is a small branch of about 50 active members. the cool part is that we actually meet in a church owned and built building. however our chapel and our bball court are one and the same. if we want to play ball in the church we have to take down all the chairs. and if we are holding sacrament meeting we have to set them all back up again. the building is pretty small. but its really a beautiful place to meet.

i absolutely enjoyed receiving the letters from my nephews and nieces. i especially enjoyed jacks.

lila, i miss you too, hope you are having fun

susana, hi i hope you are doing well,

jack, th
 
sorry, i accidentally sent the letter before i was finished,

jack, hey buddy, have fun with you are sisters and family.

hope all is going well back home.

Love,
Elder Ogilvie

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

10 June 2013

Dear Mom,

well, president has decided once again to transfer me. we of course already knew this. i did find out where last night. i will be going to Darien, GA which is another small town about ten miles directly north of Brunswick. (if you are trying to find it on a map like i did last night). it does not appear to be any bigger than Branford was. also my new companion will be Elder Mcfarlene. i will be staying in the Florida Jacksonville mission save it be that i get emergency transferred to the savannah zone in the next two weeks. i will be at the top of what we call the kingsland zone. (right below savannah). right next to the coast save it be some big old islands that make up the Georgia coastline. i will get you the address in the next email i send home.

i can say that i survived a tropical storm that came through Florida this last week. though by time it reached palatka it was just a bunch of separated thunderstorms. there were a couple of times where it was raining hard enough that we really couldn't drive anywhere because we would start to move and the rain would be so bad that the windshield wipers couldn't keep up with the amount of water being poured on the windshield.

we really have been working with our ward leaders in the last two weeks. they have made it really possible to get out to see as many of the less active members that we possibly can. we have also found that there are a lot of members who have moved that never had their records moved. so we have found that there are a bunch of people who have gone flat out missing. the same thing has happened to some of the investigators that we have had to work with too. however we have managed to rescue some of them from completely disappearing in to the darkness.

since about Thursday night we have had another missionary join us in palatka until tomorrow. this of course means that we have been back in companionship's of two. but that also means that we have gone back to sharing the car and riding bicycles every other day. which has meant riding my bike in the rain on more than one occasion.

most of today will be trying to fit everything i have with me in my bags. which i have mostly done by now. i still have a few things left. i don't really have a lot to carry around with me so that makes everything a little bit easier to.

thank you for the messages that the kids sent. it sounds like they are all having fun doing what they want to do. it sounds to me like everyone has been really busy with some kind of summer/scout camp. when did Kendall start gymnastics? that was a little bit surprising.

hey Dylan, i think that is so cool that you are having a lot of fun playing baseball and that you are learning so much. i bet you will be really good at it by time i see you next. keep up the good work. i hope you have a lot of fun at scout camp, i use to love shooting, and archery. they were my favorite scouting activities. i hope you learn all kinds of useful things.

Carter, good luck with making the soccer team i wish you well with that. my companion that sits here now with me brought a soccer ball with him so we have been able to play a little bit. its been a long time since i played i know that now. its actually kind of surprising how big soccer is out here in Florida. more specifically palatka. we actually have a member who has played for a premier league in Liberia. so we got to play soccer with him. i hope you also have a ton of fun with going to scout camp. there are some cool things that you will be able to do.

Kendall, i know i wasn't able to be there to have fun with you and everyone else. but it won't be too long until i see you again. it sounds to me like you have been having loads of fun doing gymnastics. keep having fun and watch out for your big brothers.

i hope you have a good and safe trip home, which ever way you go. i'm sure there will be some kind of fun adventure to be had along the road. see ya'll in august of 2014, its a lot closer than you think it is.

Sincerely
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, June 3, 2013

3 June 2013

Dear Mom,

this has been another exciting adventure in missionary work. the 12th of June is my next transfer date. oh and it is way more than probable that i will get transferred. elder Cockrell will be training this next transfer. so now the guessing game for where i will go now. i am hoping to be staying in the Florida Jacksonville mission. i don't really want to be sent up to the GMM although i do have some of my favorite fellow servants of Christ who will more than likely be sent up there.

being in this trio has been a not so much new as a different experience. some times i like it other times i don't like it. it can be fun some times. other time i don't want anything to do with it. it will be like this for another week at least. hopefully no longer than that.

we have found a whole bunch of new people to teach this week. no one has really started going anywhere yet but hopefully soon. we only really have one baptismal date right now and that one is only hanging on weather or not our baptismal date can come to church this next Sunday. we really aren't running out of things to do. right now we are covering both the Palatka 1st ward and 2nd ward which is requiring us to attend both sacrament meetings so as to make sure we can get everything done that we are suppose to. between the two wards we had 6 non members show up to church which is amazing.

other than transfers there really isn't any thing new going on out here. its starting to get really hot out here to. i hope you are having fun with you grandchildren over the next few days. tell Carter and Dylan, and Kendall i say hello. also tell that to everyone else.

Love and miss you all,
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, May 27, 2013

27 May 2013

Dear Mom,

i did get the card you sent. was that for this week too? it is so much easier for me to do the emails here than it is to write physical letters, that and i don't have to check the mail box.

we had a good week here, between all of the things that members have been helping us with, and zone conference which we held this last Thursday. there has been a lot that we have had to do.

we were able to do the confirmation ordinance for the man that we just baptized last Sunday. this was the largest confirmation circle that i have been in so far while I've been out here. there was seven of us standing in the circle. 3 missionaries bishop and 3 others.

i have now been on this trio for one whole week. its been hard and fun, usually some where between the two. i am generally ready for it to be over though. we have had a lot of members being able to take us out to places which can be really nice because we can split up one of us can go with the member and the other two can go off to another place and we can get more done. i was actually able to go with a member of second ward who actually served here in Palatka about the time i came out. he got off his mission and then moved back here. what is even better is that i even knew him while he was serving his mission.

this last week has been the only time where i have had to cover two wards on the same day. and both wards overlapped. i went to 1 and a half sacrament meetings. only because there was a leadership meeting we had to attend. otherwise i would have had to be at both sacrament meetings the whole time.

by far Sunday has been the busiest day this week. that one and Thursday after Zone Conference. this week is starting to look like it could be really busy also. we will see as things come hurling our way again.

love and miss you all

Sincerely
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, May 13, 2013

13 May 2013

Dear Mom

I hope you had a wonderful mothers day! i wasn't sure if you had a way to Skype, i am glad that we got to do that. i'm grateful that the Cutrer family let us use their computer to do that. we will just have to wait and see if we can do it on Christmas.

Sunday after the call was just as crazy as the rest of Sunday. because we were just given a ride over to the Cutrer families house all we could do the rest of the day was go tract around their neighborhood. so for about 3 hours that's what we did. though we did receive 10 referrals to go contact, so we were pretty busy with those all night. we had to have the second ward missionaries come pick us up at the end of the day. but they were super late by time they got to us.they had to drive from the other side of the st johns river and they didn't leave until 9. now because elder Huntington is district leader. he had to drive to pick us up, record what everyone in the district did for the week and do everything else all at the same time. it was really late by time they were anywhere near us.

if everything goes as it should and as its planned there will be another baptism this Sunday. there are just some commandments that he has to learn and a baptismal interview that will happen towards the end of this week and it will all be good.

i'm glad that you enjoyed the pictures and letter i wrote on the backs. i should be able to send a few more now that i have access to a store that will print them.

i hope you have fun with you grand children,

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

29 April 2013

dear mom,

transfers are on Wensday, elder Buhler will be leaving and elder Cockrell will be my new companion. i will be staying in Palatka the three I've been with for 6 weeks have been elders Holt, Huntington, and my companion elder Buhler. unfortunately elder Holt had to go home yesterday for medical reasons. so for the next day or so elder Huntington will have to run around with us. in transfer calls last night we found out that we don't have enough sisters available to train all of the new sisters coming out so there will be missionaries who will for a period of time train each other to do missionary work.

you are not the only ones who had to speak in Sunday the ward here had a missionary sacrament meeting. so our ward mission leader had to speak along with me and elder Buhler i spoke on finding "lost sheep" (less active members) and elder Buhler spoke on helping less active members bring their non-member friends. Sunday proved to be our busiest day last week. between speaking in church, and the baptism of the family that we have been working with since i got here. oh which reminds me we've been working with a family of 6 and four of them got baptized about 45 minutes after church. they also had a little tiny wedding right after church. before the baptismal service. we had a lot of people show up to that which made everyone happy. we are looking forward to their confirmation this next coming Sunday.

i don't know for sure when we will be able to call home on the 12th when i find out i will do my best to make sure we call when you can pick up the phone. thank you for sending me brads email address. i do have a bunch of pictures to send you if i can ever get to a place where i can get some good prints. eventually i will just send you the card after its all full. i have no idea when that might be.

I do need you to send me some eraser refills for the cross pen you sent me. the erasers refills you sent me originally don't work. they are too small. i would like for you to send me another thin journal like the last one you sent me. it has the scriptures at the bottom of every page. also some fine point pens to write with. by the way i like writing little. then i can write more.

no i haven't seen any gators of the animal kind though i have heard that they are running around in the st johns river.

i'm quite glad that Brightyn has her two parents wrapped around her little finger. now they cant get away.

its been raining on and off for the last few days. yesterday we had some typical Florida weather and it was raining on one side of the street but not on the other. love and miss ya'll

Love,
Elder Ogilvie

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

22 April 2013

dear mom,

we had a pretty busy week. we were always off to go find someone new.we did a lot of trying to find new investigators and it did work. its also been raining on us every time we have to go use our bikes. it hasn't really been raining super hard. just enough to make sure that everyone and everything get and stays wet.whats really fun to watch is how since its still hot out side most of the time the rain almost as soon as it hits the roads it just evaporates.

thank you for sending me the email addresses for the rest of the family. its greatly appreciated.

it sounds to me like just about everything has changed since the last time i got to see everyone and it hasn't even been one whole year. things change out here all the time i don't even know half of whats going on in any given moment because it probably just changed 5 seconds ago. that seems to happen a lot.

I'm pretty sure i told you already but i will say it again. not this transfer but the next one there will be sister missionaries coming to Palatka to serve along side the elders that are already here. so while BYU and other colleges are losing students, heavenly father is gaining teachers. so it all works out.

we do have a family that will with the lords help be getting both married and baptized this week. that is what we are looking forward to seeing all of that go through. all of the plans have been made now its all about getting it all done. there have been quite a few little miracles that have happened since we started teaching this family. and the closer that the baptism gets the more small miracles are occurring.

things are going pretty good for now. i hope that thing are still alright at home.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

15 April 2013

Dear mom,

thank you for the letter. it sounds to me like the family is staying busy. i'm sorry to hear that springs family is out sick.things have been pretty busy out here. yesterday turned into quite the adventure president interviews were yesterday, along with it being fast Sunday we also did not have the car because it was the other elders time to have it. so we took our bikes. the weather however was not going to cooperate with us. by time we got to our dinner appointment not five minutes later. it started to pour like a waterfall on our location. then it proceeded to strike lightning very close to where the member lived. very close (too close). we were also a long bike ride from both our house and the church building. we managed to get the Palatka 2nd missionaries to come pick us up. when they got there i had to run out in the rain to but our bikes on the bike rack. when i went out to do it the driveway and yard had flooded around where the cars were parked. the whole place was 3 inches deep in water. After raining for maybe 45 minutes.

that's about the most exciting thing that has happened this week. i am still constantly surrounded by other missionaries all the time. even if all we are doing is giving the car to other missionaries or getting the car from them. i really do miss being out in the country areas that i've been in. that being said i do like it here.

also i don't know if you know but they have changed the rules for who we can email. it has been expanded to include friends as well as family. being where i am now. its much easier to take the time to do emails, than it is to find time to write a letter. so if you could ensure that i have the email addresses of everyone in the family that would be nice. :)

Love and miss you all

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie.

Monday, April 8, 2013

8 April 2013

dear mom
im sorry you are once again surrounded by snow. its still nice and sunny out here. general conference has been the big highlight of the week. we saw all of the sessions at the chapel here in palatka. we didnt have any of our investigators show up for any of the sessions. they were all either sick or dependant on someone who is sick. we did however see some of palatka 2nds investigators show up for the 2nd session on sunday.(palatka 1&2 share the same building) the missionaries in interlachen had to come watch priesthood session with our ward because their building does not have a satalite dish. the fun thing that happened for priesthood session is that the wards in our area all got together and had a really good bar-b-que right before. i know there were people from atleast 3 different wards.
our mission boundries have not changed yet. they will change in july when we get our new mission president. it is almost certain that we will lose the savannah zone.( the big area at the top of the mission ). i can't say for certain how much of kingsland ( the next one down ) we will lose. we may lose all of it. its still very possible that i could end up in the georgia macon mission in july. only the lord knows.
 
we found out yesterday that with the increase of sister missionaries comming into field. the palatka first ward ( the one i'm in ) will be getting sister missionaries alongside the elders already here. ( elders and sister in the same ward and area.) so now the mission office has us looking for a place to house the sisters. they are suppose to be coming in, the beginning of may. what ever the trasfer date is. so that will be a fun adventure to have over the next week.
 
hope you are doing well at home. have fun at work.
Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, April 1, 2013

1 April 2013

Dear mom
being in palatka is wonderful. my companion has been out two transfers longer than i have. however with the way things are its more like i have 3 companions. since we are around the palatka 2nd elders a lot trading the car back and forth, p-day activities and so forth.
twice now this week has failed at our apartment. all of the plumbing for the complex keeps springing leaks. and our apartment is the only place we can go to do our laundry. the other elders have to come to our place to do theirs to. 4 missionaries 2 machines.
i did get the easter box and it did come on saturday. we were given a lot of candy and chocolate for easter. just like we got alot for christmas. thank you for the candy you sent us. it is much appreciated. this morning we had a member randomly drop by and give us each another huge bowl of easter candy. not to mention the feast that we got invited to yesterday.
we had a wonderful easter program at church, we had the primary sing, and we had either the stake president speak or it was one of his councellor speak, i cant remember which. along with the rest of his family. we also got an investigator who kept promising us that she would come to church and then not come to church. that was the best part of the week.
im glad you have evrything under control back at home. that is really exciting to find out that heidi and john are having their first child. i hope things ware still going well for alex and logan.
why was the boat in the garage? oh and before i forget the mission office needs to know what ward you are in now? the name of the ward and the ward number. your bishop should be able to get that information to you.
thank you for the easter basket hope all is well back home till i send another letter.
Sincerely
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, March 25, 2013

25 March 2013

Dear mom

i have officially moved in at:

(contact me or mom if you need a mailing address - Spring)

its been an exciting adventure to come to a new area. there are actually 4 missionaries serving here. we have to share the car every other day with the elders in the palatka second ward. my companion is elder buhler. and for some unknown reason he reminds me of the charlie brown show. he is pretty fun to be around. because we share the car with the other two elders, we see them every single day. they are both fun to be around two.

the city of palatka is nice. except the drinking water is really nasty. no longer will i have to go shopping at a dollar general for all of my necessities. that is really nice. we get some choices for what to eat at home now.

i really dont mind if you make another plaque. its your choice. if you do though i like Alma 42:31. either way i will still go back to my now old ward to collect the one that was made before i left.

we dont get a whole lot of time to write today because the library limits us to a half hour. even though we get a whole hour & a half by mission standards. we have a family history center here where we would do our emailing but we dont have a key to it like we did in branford.

im glad to here that things are going alright back at home hope you get feeling better soon.

Sincerely
Elder Ogilvie

Sunday, March 17, 2013

11 March, 2013

dear mom,

i'm still enjoying what time i have left here in Branford. i now know of an almost absolute certainty that i will be transferred on the 20th of march. that's the next transfer date. i know this because my current companion just got called as a trainer. i don't know if i told you or not but this transfer (the one i'm in right now) is only five weeks long because of everything that is happening with the reorganization of the missions.

nothing too exciting is currently happening. about as exciting as it got was showing up quite randomly (which probably wasn't that random in the lords eyes) to help a couple of ward members do some moving, and again to help a less active member unload a trailer before it got too dark outside, and there was no way that he could unload that trailer by himself, being that he lost both of his legs. a lot of what we do have going on is getting many people over their personal barriers. which requires the help of the bishop more than just us plain old missionaries. more than anything what i saw while being here is the return of a few less active members. now hopefully they will continue to stay active, that's all i can ask for.

its nice to see that the snow back at home is starting to go away. when ever I've talked with anyone about Utah all that gets brought up in the conversation is how much snow there has been and how cold it is out there. i did find out though that there was a day last week where during the whole day, it was colder here than it was there. but that only happened once to my knowledge.

as far as i can think don't have any real need for you to send me anything. my needs have been pretty well taken care of out here. members are very good at both feeding us consistently and taking care of all of our major necessities. the only thing missing is a direct contribution to the work (referrals). its an eternal problem.

beyond all of that though i'm doing alright. i hope things go well for you all back home say hello to Brightyn for me when she arrives.

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie

Monday, March 4, 2013

4 March 2013

Dear Mom,

Nothing to exciting here is happening this week. i did teach gospel principles again this week, but only because our ward mission leader got lost while meeting with the bishop. we thought he had entirely disappeared. if all goes well we should have some good news in about two weeks. stake conference will be this week. the stake president wants all the missionaries to sing 'called to serve' in the Saturday night session. we will see how well that goes.

Elder Albertson is from a little town in Idaho. and he has been out one transfer longer than i have. carters birthday will be on the same day that i mark seven months. so that shouldn't be to hard to remember. yes, i do believe that i know McKenna Murphy. ( if she has red hair that's probably her) if not i at least knew a Murphy that was in my singles ward.

stake conference is the only major thing that i know of before general conference. last month was ward conference. now stake. next month is general. i guess that's the pattern for this part of the year. its strange to think that general conference has come around again. October's didn't feel like that long ago.

I hope you have fun with your new grand baby. and i hope all remains well back at home, love you and miss you all

Sincerely,
Elder Ogilvie


Tuesday, February 26, 2013

25 February 2013

Dear mom,

i have not seen any snow. the only thing i have seen is lots of rain. it rained so bad Saturday night we almost couldn't see the road driving back home. its been about a week since our house turned into a Popsicle. we haven't had any more frozen pipes. they unfroze when the sun came up.

its pretty cool to see that 58 new missions are opening up. i know that at least one of them is reopening. look for the Georgia Maken mission. It was dissolved about two years ago and the Florida Jacksonville Mission got some of the area from that mission. The top half of the FJM use to be part of that mission. the Georgia mission is suppose to open back up in July. and the FJM will lose what originally belonged to Georgia Maken. Any missionaries serving in those areas when the change occurs will likely change missions. that will also happen at the same time president and sister Barry go home. our new Mission president has been called and he will arrive in July as well.

zone conference was this last Thursday. Elder Albertson and I had to drive down there and back just to have our car inspected. i still don't know the results of that that of course assuming that i will ever find out. i also saw some of the members that i knew in Williston. they has driven the missionaries up to zone conference. so i got to say hello to them and find out whats going on down there.

we don't have a whole lot going on up here in Branford right now. we are preparing one young man for baptism just as soon as he can stop drinking sweet tea (which is apparently all the rage down here in the south). I've found more people struggle with tea than coffee out here. Believe it or not the lord knew what he was saying when he said no tea.

i hope dad has fun flying with all of his students down in saint George, and it sounds like Alex has just about everything she will need for when brightyn comes. give champ a hug for me. love and miss you all.

Sincerely
Elder Ogilvie