11/16/2014 from Mylee

My dear Cole,

I have to tell you something that would be much easier face to face, but that's not our life at the moment.  Your Great Grandpa Clark passed away on Tuesday, Veteran's Day.  We all felt that it was very appropriate that he passed away on that day considering his great service in WWII.  He was ready to move on to the next part of his life and get to work he said.  He was cremated and they will bury his ashes in the spring in Rockford, IL.  So, they weren't really going to do a funeral or anything so it was kind of weird, like a "so anyways" kind of moment.  Grandma, Mark and Sally decided to do a family dinner and share some memories.  We did that last night at our church.  Everyone brought food and we visited while we ate and did crosswords :)  After that we went into the Relief Society Room and put the chairs in a big circle (there were about 38 people there)  We sang I Stand All Amazed , that and I Know That My Redeemer Lives, were Grandpas favorite hymns.  We only sang the first one.  Then Sally, Grandma and Mark shared some memories. Sally spoke for maybe 3-4 minutes, Grandma about 5-6 and then Mark went on for about 45-50 minutes.  It was kind of long and late!  He did have a video to show after he was done talking that had Grandpa talking about his family (it was videod about 12 years ago).  So we ended with Grandpa's own words.  It was a nice night remembering him.  I'm sorry to share this news with you in writing.  I didn't feel like it was something I needed to call your mission president about either.  I hope you understand how happy he is to not be suffering and in pain anymore and that he can be busy again.  Sitting around doing nothing really wasn't his thing so having no physical limitations will be a huge blessing for him.  Every time someone we loves passes on it makes me reflect on the eternal nature of families.  I think it also reminds me that they are on the other side rooting for us and watching over us.  At Preston's setting apart his Mom talked about his grandparents walking along with him while he would be on his mission. I love that idea that your great grandparents and others are looking out for you!  We love you so much and love that you are out teaching others the possibility of an eternal family so that when they too lose loved ones they can be comforted.  So keep on working and teaching to bring that joy to others!

Well, that being said, we had a little snow this week and it has been so cold!  Down into the teens at night!  It seems like we went from having the fan in our window at night to this bitter cold.  We definitely got spoiled having warm weather for so long.  We put snow tires on the van so hopefully that will help when we get big snow storms.  We only got an inch or so on the grass, nothing on the roads yet.  Which was a good thing because Dad is out of town and I don't have any other men here, it's just me and the girls!! Dad will be back Wednesday and he's been gone since Thursday.  For mutual on Wednesday we took the combined YW (only 6 out of 16 went) to the Draper temple to do baptisms.  It was packed!! I've never seen it like that.  They had to open two chapels across the hall from the font chapel waiting area.  We were there 3 1/2 hours.  We had to take two girls home before they even got to do baptisms.  It was nearly 10 before we left the temple.  Crazy!

Lindsay is having her baby tomorrow!  Well, that's the plan anyway.  If anything happens tomorrow I'll email you.  They are all very excited for little Rex to come to their family.  We will send pictures!

Did you get my Greenie Package?  I sent it on Wednesday, it should have been delivered to the mission office on Friday and then they forward it to you.  I don't know how long that takes.  Can you give us your address to where you are living now?  Can I send your thanksgiving package straight there? Or do they not want us to do that?  Maybe I asked that last time and you answered me, I can't remember?!?  We have a jacket, gloves, MP3 player and a speaker to send.  I'm just waiting to get confirmation on what music I can send you from the mission office.  I just want to double check before I send it.  The one bad thing about the mp3 is that if someone sends you a CD I'm not sure how you could add it. Maybe a member could do it for you.  I forget that you do have families out there that will help you :)  Have you met any families that you guys spend much time with?  What about Thanksgiving?  What will you guys do that day?

Your picture from the MTC  pointing at the map is my computer wallpaper so you are always there in the kitchen!  If you think about it take a closer up landscape picture of you or you with your companion and we can put that up :)

How are your investigators doing?    What do you do for lunch?  Do you have your own kitchen? Are you still being chased by dog's daily?  That was a funny story, but I'm glad you didn't get bit!  I posted on facebook the other day that one good thing about you being on a mission is that I don't have to struggle with determining which socks are yours and which ones are Dads!  That really has been nice :)  We've been listening to Christmas music and have watched a few Christmas movies already.  Dad suggested the movies already!  

Do you have any ideas for Christmas presents?  Is there anything you need/want?  Gift cards to places?  Supplies (church pamphlets, pictures,etc...), people are starting to ask.  Does your companion get packages?  How are you two getting along?  Is it weird living with someone you don't know?  Do you have your own apartment or just a room in her house?

Cole,  I am so happy you are out serving the Lord.  Every time I look at one of your pictures it just makes me smile to think what you are doing, that you are spreading the gospel to the people of California!  I love it every second!  I love you Cole!

Love,

Mom

My letter 11/9/14

Dear Elder Warren,

I am so anxious to hear how your week went! You have so many people thinking about you and wondering how you are doing.  I'm sure you will tell us all this stuff, but tell me more about your companion, where you are living (what's your address), what is the landscape like (flat desert? mountains?), how is your bike? Is there anything you need? Are you getting fed or are you cooking?  Did you buy a CD player?

We will mail you a package this week with the Preach My Gospel cover and some churchy music CDs. 

Things are great here.  It has been really warm here, about 60-64 degrees.  All the leaves haven't fallen yet.  We are getting very spoiled and will be not prepared for snow.  Dad and the girls have been raking leaves but we got behind last week.

It was the primary program in church today and there were two incidences that were quite hilarious!  The Bingham family (the Muhlsteins daughter) their kids were pushing and shoving trying to determine whose turn it was at the microphone. The Bishop had to get up and intervene.  Ethan and Emma Fullmer had a little battle too.  Emma did't want to say her part so Ethan grabbed her face between his hands and shoved it into the microphone.  People were laughing and I felt bad for the parents!  Overall it was a great program.  The theme was families and how important they are to Heavenly Father.

Preston is getting set apart Tuesday night.  He told me at church today that he keeps writing you back and then gets distracted then his letter is out of date.  I told him he could email you and he said he would.  

Will you thank everyone, like Kaitlyn does, at the beginning of your letter, who ever writes or sends you something.  Then they know you got it and then you can write them back as you get to them.

I did give Lauren Lambert and Maddie Larsen your email but then I sent out a big thing saying they couldn't email you so I will let people know again that they can.

I just read the Character of Christ by Elder Bednar.  WOW!  What amazing stories of those women who lost their daughters.  I can only hope that I could act in such ways when faced with a tragedy. I also loved Elder Maxwell's statement that there would be no atonement without the character of Christ.  I need to read it again and then begin studying the character of Christ.  

Lindsay is having her baby on the 17th, a week from tomorrow!!  We will send you pictures!  Grandma, Lauren, Lindsay and I are making a bunch of freezer meals next Saturday so that will be so helpful, especially for Lindsay.  Oh, so in that Missionary Mom's group on facebook, a lady posted some "random" pictures from the airport on Tuesday of missionaries she saw and you were in one!  I'll attach it!!  Dad leaves again on Thursday and will be gone for a week. When he was gone last week for a couple days I really missed you.  When Dad was gone I did't realize how much comfort you were to me, as the acting man and priesthood holde of the house.  I will adjust for sure but it was strange. The YW are going to do baptisms on Wednesday night.  We are working on getting them to the temple once a month.  Maddy went to Mission Prep today!  She wasn't too happy but I asked her to give it one try and if she didn't feel it was worth her time she didn't have to go again.  So we will see.  President Dahl was called to be a Young Single Adult Stake President so he won't be teaching that class anymore.  I'm not sure who it will be.

We went to Gavin McRae's baptism yesterday.  McKell gave the talk on Baptism and Ethan gave the talk on the Holy Ghost.  I thought they both sounded like missionaries and I kept imagining you at a baptism with your name tag on being a missionary.  I hope you are staying motivated and are encouraged to work hard.  Always try to be a little better today than you were yesterday.Just keep relying on your Savior for strength. He will uplift you and help you through rough times.  Please be honest with us and share your feelings.  We are so grateful that you are willingly serving that Lord and we know you will be blessed.  We love you so much! 

Love,

Mom

P-Day #1 11/10/14

******Cole said his Mission President changed the rules and you CAN email him!!  His email is norman.warren@myldsmail.net*******

Hi Family!!

Thank you Mom and Omie and Papa for the letters! It was nice to have something during my first week!

California is so great!!! It's pretty flat, but there are some mountains out in the distance, but they're not the same as the ones back home!! I didn't realize how much I use the mountains to find my way around! It's pretty deserty out here. There's lots of sand, cacti, and palm trees (which I found out are not trees at all. They're a type of grass! Mind blown!) It was 100 degrees the other day! I'm starting to adjust to the weather already! At night it gets down to about 65 and it's starting to feel really cold! There are little lizards everywhere too! It's kind of sad not knowing all the birds that are out here, but about 95% of them are crows. They're the California equivalent of seagulls. They're everywhere!! People love dogs out here. Almost every house has at least three dogs. They're either Chihuahuas or German She
​pherds/Pitbulls. There is no in-between. It's even more fun when the dogs are just wandering around outside and then they chase us! It happens on a daily basis! Usually we can lose them when we're on bike, but a dog chased me when we were out running yesterday morning! I had to kick it to keep it from biting me and I felt so bad afterwards!! But at least I didn't get bit! It is nice, though to go to member's homes and they have dogs that are friendlier so I can get my fill of puppy love! 

There are three areas that we proselyte in. There's Little Mexico, which is where all the dogs, horses, and goats are. That's where we live. There's Sky Country which looks kind of like our neighborhood back home and there are no dogs that wander around because they're all in the back yards! Then there's Gem Valley. It's a really new development that's super nice! There's only one member family that lives there! 

The hardest part about our area is finding people that speak Spanish!!! So Elder Taylor and I have been working on some Espanol! Soy misionero para Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias. Tenemos mensaje Jesucristo por tu y su familia. Les gustaria si misioneros en Espanol pasaran por su casa? (I'm pretty sure I spelled most of that wrong, but at least I can speak it!)

My companion's awesome! His name's Elder Taylor and he's from Sandy, too! His brother actually used to live in our stake on Hidden Valley! (I think I already told you all that?) He went to Brighton High School and his family lives up kind of near there. We get along really well! He was in choir at high school and played volleyball and football. We work together really well when we're teaching, too.

At first I was kind of bummed that I wasn't in a car, but I love biking everywhere! It's a little annoying when we have to rely on other people when we do need rides, but other than that it's been awesome! The streets here are never busy and they're pretty wide so we usually take up the whole street when we're biking. And the area's pretty flat so that's nice! The bike doesn't have shocks, which is kind of annoying.. I got a flat tire the other day! I have to go and get some thorn resistant tubes tonight!

It's weird having to transition from the MTC to the mission field! I got a kind of unrealistic idea about missionary work from the MTC and from just learning about it at home! It's not nearly as strict as you'd expect it to be. There are all the mission rules but it doesn't feel like there are! Nobody told me how exhausted I was going to be!! As soon as my head hits my pillow, I am out! I think the weirdest part is that these are actual people! Sometimes I feel like that's a lot of pressure! But I get so excited when we're preparing to teach! We also spend a lot of time meeting with members, less active members, and recent converts.

Apparently there was some drama between the Relief Society and the missionaries before I came. Someone in the Relief Society was upset that the missionaries asked if they could come over for dinner that night and so that kind of spread throughout the ward. It's better now, but there have still been days when nobody signed up to feed us. Thankfully there are a lot of recent converts that don't agree with the attitude in the ward, so they've been very nice and always check and make sure we have somewhere to eat at night! Sister Smith, the lady we're staying with, usually asks and makes sure we have somewhere to eat. So we've had dinners to go to every night! I haven't had to cook yet!! 

We have about five investigators that we're teaching, but I've only met four of them so far. One girl, Andrea, is in Mexico for the next six weeks. But I've met with Veronica, Terry, Mark, and Ignacio! Veronica is super nice and friendly. She is kind of like a mom to us and calls us "mijo". She's come to church a couple times and we're still trying to teach her but she has a hard time remembering what we teach her and she has a really short attention span. We're trying to focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, enduring to the end). Terry is stubborn. He lives with his ex-wife, their son, and his ex-father-in-law (weird, right?). The rest of his family joined the Church almost a year ago but he just doesn't want to get baptized. He knows it's all true but he wants to know everything before he gets baptized and doesn't want to lose his Catholic culture that he grew up with. We're not exactly sure how to help him! Mark is also very stubborn. He wants to know everything, too. He wants it to all make sense logically, so we're trying to teach him about faith! Ignacio was my first investigator I committed to baptism (whooo!!!!). He's on date for December 6th! Hopefully things keep going as planned!

On Saturday, I had my first Zone Development Meeting! We met together as a zone and went through a bunch of training and announcements from President Mullen. (There's a Sister Olsen in my zone that's from Price! I asked her if she knew any of the Deatons but she said she didn't..) After November 25, the Mission Office is going to start holding packages there so they can deliver them all to us on Christmas! So if there's something that you need to get to me before Christmas, just write "do not hold" on the package and they'll forward it on to me. They also told us to have you send packages through the Postal Service instead of UPS. That way they can just forward it on to us in the mail and won't have to try and wait until someone comes out to our area. I think the Office emailed you about this already, but I'm not allowed to chat back on forth on email. So if you could just email me Sunday night, then I can respond on Mondays!

I haven't bought a CD Player yet, but we can have an mp3 player as long as it doesn't play videos. I don't know what is going to be easier for you guys but that is also an option. Could you also  get some Christmas music too? Do you think you could find a bike tool kit, too? Just something with an allen wrench, knife, pliers, etc.. I'm going to look at the bike shop for a little hand-pump thing that I can keep with me.

I'm going to send a couple pictures but I have lots more! Do you want to set up a Dropbox or Google account that I can just stick them all in? That would be so much easier!! I was so glad I got to talk to you at the airport and I can't wait to Skype over Christmas!! 

Te quiero!

Elder Warren

Other letters (from us and from the mission pres)

November 3, 2014

Elder Warren,

It was so great to get an email last week from you!  It was so great to hear your experiences and your thoughts and feelings.  What a couple weeks at the MTC?? You have had experiences that you will never forget!

I had a panic moment last Friday, realizing I hadn't sent your box off with your bedding and stuff!  But it will be there Tuesday!  While I was doing that I was reading through that parent packet the mission president sent out and it specifically says that the only people you can email or email you are immediate family.  So I notified most everyone NOT to email you and you can't email them.  It says you can lose email privileges.  So, I know it's faster to email but unfortunately you are going to have to old school write letters to everyone else!

Well not much going on here. I am getting ready for New Beginnings on Wednesday.  Dad flies out on Tuesday (the same day you do) but later in the day so you won't see him at the airport:) Our theme is D.O.T.S. (Depend on the Savior)  it goes along with the mUtual theme "Come Unto Christ" So everything is polka dots, We've asked Taylor Swallow to come share how he learned to Depend on the Savior on his mission.  It will be great to hear his perspective.

I don't know if you want to hear stuff that goes on at home (halloween party, social stuff, friends that get engaged, etc..)  Does it make you homesick? Distracted?  Let me know what you think.

Well, we get to talk to you tomorrow and it will be great to hear your voice!  I can't wait for you to get out on the field and put what you learned in your quick 12 days at the MTC!  Well,  I will write more later.  I'm not sure how your p-day works this week since you miss your Wednesday Pday at the MTC and probably won't have one until next Monday the 10th.  Anyways, we will talk to you tomorrow!!!!

Love,

Mom

p.s. can I send you pictures through email? or is that a no no?

November 5, 2014

Elder Warren

It was great to talk to you and I think you answered most of my questions when we talked :)  I was looking at your facebook and saw that Kaitlyn Irvine got her mission call to New Jersey Morristown and Regan Pilimai got called to Georgia Macon!

Also, grandma wondered if you got her card that was on the outside of your package that had a gift card in it??

When you email us every week will you just mention who you got letters or packages from so they know you got them?  Then you can just keep them in a stack and write them back when you can, but at least they will be know you got their stuff :)

I will get on a once a week email next week :)  It's just been a little crazy with you missing p-days and stuff.

Here are a couple pictures from Halloween too

Love,  Mom

6 November 2014

Dear Brother & Sister Warren,

We are so grateful to have Elder Norman Warren join us here in the California Riverside Mission! It was exciting to meet him at the airport. I had the opportunity to interview your missionary and we were able to hear his testimony before having dinner together. We have been impressed with his testimony and desire to serve. It has been a privilege to get to know him.

Elder Warren is now hard at work in his new area, the JURUPA Zone with his companion Elder Taylor.

Preparation day is Monday; most missionaries choose to email their family on that day. We encourage you to write or email weekly as well. Thank you for keeping your letters positive, uplifting and encouraging your son to work hard and take advantage of the time spent here in doing the work of the Lord.

As we visited with your son this is what he said about his family: “We’re all really close and always do stuff together! They’re really amazing and I love them a lot!”

We look forward to a wonderful experience together with your missionary.  Thank you for preparing one worthy to serve.  May God continue to bless you.

Sincerely,

John H. Mullen, President

November 6, 2014

Dear Brother & Sister Warren,


The use of iPad Minis to do missionary work will begin soon.  While using these devices will greatly enhance the work, there are also some concerns.  One of the greatest concerns expressed by the Brethren is the temptation for families and missionaries to communicate through Facebook.  They have also explained that families, friends, boy/girl friends should NOT be on-line with a missionary when he or she emails on Mondays.  We know this has been a common practice in our mission, but it is the equivalent to texting or a phone call.  We will be asking the missionaries to discontinue this practice of live-chatting through email and, while we know it will be difficult, ask your support in making this change.  Obedience to this new rule will help missionaries stay focused on the Lord's work and prepare them for the obedience necessary when using electronic devices in doing missionary work.


Thank you for continuing to support your missionary.


 


President and Sister Mullen

He's in California!

November 5, 2014

Hello Family!

It was great to talk to you yesterday! My bike and package made it to the Mission Home! They didn't show up until a couple hours after I got there so I had a bit of a panic attack!! Yes, I got the gift card! I wrote grandma back and thanked her for the cookies and treats but totally spaced about the gift card! Will you tell her thanks??

I'm loving it here! It's really "hot"! It's only like 75 degrees but I had started to acclimate to Utah weather before I came! President and Sister Mullen picked us up from the airport. We spent the day at the mission office, going through training, eating food, and being interviewed by Pres. Mullen! Both President and Sister Mullen are really nice and I'm so glad they'll be my mission president for my whole mission! 

After dinner, we had a testimony meeting, and then got our companions! My companion's name is Elder Taylor. He's from Sandy, too! He went to Brighton High School. His brother actually used to live in our stake on Hidden Valley but they moved out a few months ago. I really like him! He's super nice and friendly. He's already helped me learn a lot in the past day!

Last night we went shopping, and talked to some people out in the parking lot! I was terrified!!!! Apparently people in the parking lot REALLY don't want to talk to people! The are I'm in is called Jurupa (but unofficially it's called "Little Mexico". The crosswalk buttons at street lights have a button for people on horseback too!) ! I'm in the Jurupa Second Ward! It's a biking area, but there are actually a lot of cars in the mission and they're all really nice! We have five investigators, and we're meeting with three of them today! Their names are Andrea, Veronica, and Terry. We're going to have dinner with the Ward Mission Leader, Brother McDowell, tonight!

I'm living in a homeshare with Sister Smith. She's 81 years old and lives by herself. She's super super super nice and always has a jar full of cookies! I really like her! 

Today, we exercised in the morning after we woke up, studied for three hours, then went to the Stake Center so Elder Taylor could go to his District Leader meeting. Then we got lunch at The Habit and went to the library so the other greenie and I could email home!

So I'm actually allowed to email family and friends! As long as I email family first, then President Mullen, THEN friends! Did you talk to Lauren Lambert and Maddie Larsen yet? They had asked about my email and address but I had been set apart before I could respond.  President Mullen has also changed the rules about music. We can listen to anything as long as it is uplifting, appropriate, and invites the Spirit. So I'm probably going to buy a CD Player, and would it be too much to ask if you could send me some CDs with churchy music on them? You can email me pictures! I'd send you some of my companion and I, but I didn't have my camera with me when we left this morning... whoops! Apparently the mission was supposed to get iPads in September but they haven't shown up yet... So they should be getting here soon! 

I'm loving it out here, and I'm missing all of you!! I'll email you again on Monday and I'll include pictures this time!

Lots of love, 

Elder Warren

p.s. will you yell at Ethan and Preston for me and tell them that if they don't answer my letters I will track them down and gut them like a fish! (Did you catch that movie reference?!) But seriously, I want to hear from them! Thanks!!

To hear his voice!

Cole flies off to Riverside in six minutes as of right now.  He called us from the airport at 7:00 am.  We all huddled on our bed, and I mean literally huddled. We left the fan in our window all night long and it was a balmy 55 degrees in our house this morning! We put the call on speaker phone and and savored every second.  He sounded just like Cole but happier.  You don't want to think that you'll forget what their voice sounds like but in a way you do.  You don't hear them everyday and it fades from your memory a little. Hearing him brought it all back.  I wish I could have recorded it.  I heard someone say to have your missionary leave you a voice mail before they leave so you can listen to it when you just need to hear his voice.

Cole loved the MTC but was glad he wasn't there for 6 weeks.  The food was really good considering they are cooking for so many people.  They only sang Called to Serve one time.  He went to the temple one time.  His district enjoyed the sugar cookies Grandma sent and they left the few leftovers for the new missionaries coming in.  He was a little sad that he can't email everyone.  It's much faster for him to type. He wished he'd brought his own blanket to the MTC, not because it was cold but because the blankets they give you are nasty.  He bought a slidey clip holder for his MTC card and an extendable pointer for teaching.  He just said "everyone has them"  The peer pressure of the MTC.

There were 8 missionaries on his flight going to Riverside.  One is called to Ecuador but is waiting for a Visa.  They are all English speaking (except the Elder going to Ecuador).  Cole bought to paperback Books of Mormon so he could give them out on the flight.  Norm said, "Good Luck!  Most likely it will be a Mormon sitting next to you."  Can't wait to hear how that goes for him!

He asked for a cover for his Preach My Gospel so it doesn't get destroyed.  He wished he had taken a binder and notebook paper to take notes.  He might want a separate scripture bag, a fleece jacket and gloves.  He really loved the devotional they watched by Elder Bednar called "The Character of Christ"  He's pretty hyped up about it.  He asked us if we found it and watched or read it yet.  I think he was disappointed that we hadn't yet.  He believes that if they just released that to the world everyone would be converted to Christ and they wouldn't need missionaries.  He's still on that MTC high just a little bit!  But we loved every second of it.  We all started out our day on a high...a listening to Cole's voice high.


I'm not going to lie, it made me miss him again.  It made me realize how much we are going to miss him. But I am so excited for him. It makes me so happy that he is excited. He's ready to hit the ground running!  Next Monday can't come soon enough.  To hear who his trainer is, where he's living, actual teaching experiences, how he's eating, how the biking is going;.... I can't wait! Christmas can't come soon enough either...to hear him and see him!

Old Fashioned Letters please

Most of you have heard this info before, but I just want to make sure it gets out there!

Only immediate family can email Cole or he can lose his email privileges.  So grab a stamp and send him a paper letter.  I know it feels like we are cavemen but that's the rule!  I think it's much more fun for him to get mail anyways!

Thanks!