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

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.

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

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

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

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

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