Publish Peace

Good morning and hello again all you fine males and females its been a good week full and highs and lows like always  so let's get into it

Scripture of the week 1 Nephi 13:37 

37 “And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be”.  

I love this scripture because  as we turn toward our Heavenly Father and help gather His children He promises us the power of the Holy Ghost and if we endure through hardships we shall be lifted up in the final days.

February  18 

P-day (short for preparation day)

It was fun. We had a District p-day so we all went and played pickle ball and I have gotten better!  It was so much fun we then came back to the apartment and chilled and did more roping with the dummy which is named junkie.  

February 19th 

Well we were bashed at the Maverick gas station in front of everyone working and buying in the store.  The employees were being so nice to us asking us about our name badges and what religion we were from and an older lady in the gas station just started bashing us and what we believe in.  She gave us her card and we gave her  one of ours and we encouraged her to check out the Book of Mormon and she told us that she wrote a book about how it’s wrong.  One of the Elders I was with asked her if she had read the Book of Mormon and she said no. At the end after she left,  we were commended for being so professional and not bashing in a disrespectful way. I never thought I would have a 56 year old lady come up to me and tell me I am not respecting my elders even though, me at 19 years old is being composed and not yelling at young boys. We wished her a blessed day and she did not like it.  it's ok, some people have different views of things.  Outside of that we had a Zone Conference. I got to see two missionaries in my District there– my MTC companion Elder Stinson and Sister Lovell. It was fun to see them again and it sounds like they are both enjoying their work and I am also enjoying my work.  Bless Muskogee and the members here. We have such a fun time here and I had so much fun at the Zone Conference to be able to hear from President and Sister Huffaker and other missionaries who had prepared lessons for us that day.  

February  20 

Another sigma day we had! We walked around and did our usual trying to find people to help and share a spiritual message with.  We went to Chick-fil-A where a worker kept looking at Elder Douglas, we see her all over Muskogee and she always looks at him pretty sure she wants to hit on him but that's a no-no for us for two years out here serving the Lord.. Its good though to have a mind set of what our purpose out here is and not talking to girls is nice. I stay way more focused. I am loving Muskogee so much! We were able to meet a man named Lavan at an apartment complex. He worked there as a medic. We originally went there to teach a man named Waylon but he was not home so as we were walking away I waved to Lavan and asked how he was doing and Elder Douglas asked if we could share a message and he was eager to hear what we had to say.  We explained how the Book of Mormon is an ancient record of people who lived here in ancient America and how it works hand and hand with the Holy Bible and says things more clearly than the Holy Bible and teaches of Christ. We asked if we could meet with him again next week sometime and he said he would like that. We also gave him a Book of Mormon. We are running low on Book of Mormons so we will need to put in an order of more, they are flying off the shelf. No matter what, we are planting seeds in people's hearts and it's so fun to be a part of this great work. Our hope is that they will read the Book of Mormon so the seeds of faith and hope will grow into a strong tree that brings them closer to Christ. Later we took a mattress over to the Spanish speaking elders since they were on an exchange and I went off a jump on my bike. I did not land good and came off my pedals so my leg is banged up but I can still walk  so thats good. 

February 21st  

Usual day of walking and biking. We did a lot of mission work on canvas, yes-I still am in school for two more months learning how to be a good missionary and how to deal with stress. 

February 22 

We had church today and also had Jerry come to church again so that was great. He wants to keep coming and we are hoping we can extend the invite to be baptized soon. Also we went and had street tacos at one of our ward members. I had 15 tacos 😆  I was hungry! I am still losing weight slowly and I feel so good about myself  and have learned so much how to teach the gospel. In our role play we learned how to be bold but not contentious- to share our beliefs just enough and then comfortably leave when someone is trying to bash us– which is what happened to us at the gas station the other day. Me and Elder Douglas also went over to the Spanish speaking Elders apartment where I absolutely banged my head on the door to knock. I found it funny that the Elder Moscose thought I would get a conclusion. A chill day.

February 23rd  

Start of a fresh new week looked pretty good but we unfortunately had two scheduled lessons to teach the gospel  fall through. It’s a little hard sometimes but I cherish those good times that come our way. We did later teach our new friend Lavan and I think his girl friend and we taught them about the restoration of the Church and he asked why the book is called the Book of Mormon--Mormon was an ancient prophet on the Americas and was the one who condensed the ancient records on to gold plates. His son Moroni wrote on them after him and hid them up in the earth and then later came to Joseph Smith and told him where to find them. Then God gave Joseph the tools needed to translate the records into English.. After that we went to the Spanish speaking missionaries apartment and had donuts.  Elder Buck is convinced I will be switched over to a Spanish mission even though I know barely any Spanish at all. Other then that chill day.

What is the Book of Mormon one minute video

February 24th 

Shout out for the week my cousin Bracken got his mission call to the Italy Milan Mission (speaking Italian) crazy 🤯🤯🤯I’m happy i’m in the states and I don't know If I want to learn another language but im so happy for him! I warned him about the  orange juice at the Provo MTC if he goes there –If you know you know.  He will be an awesome missionary for the Lord and change many lives in Italy.  He is the youngest Saunders cousin and marks all the grandsons on my dads side of the family and some of the girls too to go on full time  missions. All of us have gone and served our Lord. It truly is cool to think how so many of us have served including some son and daughter-in-laws as well.   I have been truly blessed to have had such great examples growing up. 

Well that's all for today folks feel free to email me and let me know of any fun or big up dates in your life because I give you a shout out on my emails and I love hearing from yall have a wonderful and blessed week 

Muskogee Mish

Good morning all you fabulous males and females. I hope you have had an amazing week so far and are

all doing so well. The scriptures of the week are 2 NEPHI 2:22-25  read it!!!!!! Download the

gospel library app on the app store and find it :)

Well today was my weekly mission preparation day,  p-day for short. And  just to give a little information.

I write me email letters throughout the week and send it out Wednesday morning so you never hear me

say anything about p day till the next week hopefully that makes sense. 

Now let's get into writing,  to start off the email me and Elder Douglas along with the Muskogee Spanish

speaking elders Buck and Muscoso went to the Muskogee county fair and watched the  heifer and steer

livestock showing and it was super fun to watch.  It brought back memories to when I did livestock showing.

I would show lambs how I miss it so much but I have fun memories with all my friends who made it all

worth it to do.  At the show we got to talk to some people from church, the Brileys whose granddaughter

was showing a steer. Sadly her steer was not being so nice and was getting jumpy. She placed second so

good job but it is unfortunate when your animal does the exact opposite of what you want it to do.

Sometimes we as humans do the exact opposite of what God wants so a Savior was needed and we can

repent because of Jesus Christ's atonement. The Brileys got us some pretzels to all share and they were good.

Eventually we had to leave but I enjoyed being in an environment I love.  Hopefully when I'm a dad my kids

will want to show livestock and when I'm a grumpy old man I will have grandkids that show livestock. its so

much fun and is such a good skill to develop. The discipline of how to have the will to train with your animal

you are going to show in the ring and to keep working every day even when it gets hard.  Just like any talent

takes time to develop and get good at, our spiritual talent to be in Tune with the Holy Ghost ( a member

of the God head) is something we develop and grow as we get older and tune our will with God’s. We need

to treat ourselves like a temple and do things to invite the Spirit into our lives.  Alma 24:8 says ( and behold

I thank my great God that has given us a portion of his spirit to soften our hearts) that scripture is powerful!

As we chose to listen and not let worldly things get in our way we can feel Christ's love and feel Him reaching

out His hand inviting us to follow Him. I do testify that as you all do this you will see the truths and the power

of God as He fills your heart with comfort, humility and peace. After the fair we went to a local rancher store

where we got some black wrangler jeans since here in Oklahoma we have permission to wear them and I also

got a rope so me and elder Douglas can rope together. After that we just chilled and went to a few other

stores and looked around. 

February  14th 

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Hope you all have a blessed day, we had another chill day. In our personal time,

me and Elder Douglas have been roping everyday with a custom roping dummy made out of a piano chair-works

great! Our goal is to be good enough so when we get home from our mission we could enter team roping for fun.

  We also helped a younger girl by the name Mya who was moving out of her parents house.  Her family helped

us take her stuff to an apartment 10 minutes away from their home, we got done fast. 

February 15th 

Well today was another day at church! Pray for me and Elder Douglas, its been a little hard to find people to

teach since we started a new mission area. Pray for Jerry too. He is super nice and fun to talk to but we did

not get a lot of time to talk to him yesterday when he came to church.  I have cut out a bunch of food and

eat low calorie foods and my breakfast consisted of a single protein drink and a chewy chocolate chip granola

bar and I have already felt gains. I do 20 push ups every morning, lunch time and before bed for small exercise

and burn about 2000 to 3000 calories a day. I'm pretty sure I have lost somewhere from 5-10 lbs i think, and

I feel good.  I eat at most 2000 calories in a day so gains are happening people. My goal is to lose 30 lbs by the

end of the mission, my companion has done it, he started his mission at 207lbs  and is now at 170lbs so as long

as I lock in on my diet I can do it 💪 

February  16th 

What a day it has been so much has happened and the spirit was with us today. Today we had a Zone exchange

and I was put with Elders Lowe and Hayphen and we made a goal to make 4 new friends and we actually made 6

friends. Before we started, we prayed to ask for guidance and to feel any promptings from the Spirit as we biked

around.  After we prayed we biked for a bit we actually went past the original turn we wanted but I felt prompted

to go knock on a house down the road.  There we met a pretty cool guy named George.  We shared who we are a

s missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and why we chose to make the sacrifices to serve

for God. He then asked questions about how the Book of Mormon came to be about and we were able to give

him a Book of Mormon and asked him to read it and pray to know if it’s true. man I felt the spirit there so strong

and cant wait to hear what he thinks. 

Then we met Dominique and he was so happy we came to talk to him . He talked to us about how he had made

some poor choices growing up and he had 8 kids most of which have different moms but he wanted to start

turning his life around and be an example to his kids and wants to have God back in his life so we gave him a

Book of Mormon.  He was so happy to get it and was so happy when we invited him to church, He said he doesn't

have money for gas but if we found him a ride he would love to come, we also said a prayer with him before we

left and I’m so excited to meet him at church as well.

After him we met Joseph and we ran into him working in his yard cleaning his shed.  He had had a hip replacement

from a terrible accident and we asked if we could clean it out for him and he felt it was an answer to his prayers

for help. We shared him our love of Jesus Christ and shared about the Book of Mormon as another witness of

Christ and he wants to come to church.   He was not going to let anything stop him coming so I'm so excited to

see him there. PS we are giving him a Book of Mormon as well 

After Joseph we met a man named Leeks, he is a minister of a different religion but wants to talk about how our

churches have both the same and opposite beliefs and he said he believes in God giving revelation and said

when he prays if he feels its true he wants to learn more.  We also gave him a Book of Mormon.

We met a guy named Billy who is a priest of a different religion. He also wants to talk to us and see how our

religions have similarities and opposites and also loved how we go out and preach Gods good word so God bless

him!

Our last guy was unexpected but the most powerful experience I have ever had!  His name is Tyler and he was

outside with his daughter Hadlie and we talked with him and he immediately said he knew that God had sent

us to him. He said how for the past week he wanted to change himself and the way his family was going about

life. He wants to be the best father and husband he can since his parents were not good parents and led him

down a bad path and he wants to change and he believes he needs God in his life.  He wants to learn all he can

so he can set an example to his daughter and is so excited to come to church Sunday. His wife unfortunately

works so she cant come  but he has such a strong desire he is going to come with his daughter. His desire to

change and become better and learn about God truly strengthened my testimony.  Our previous prophet had a

talk called Decisions for Eternity.  In it President Nelson said, “ We can change our behavior. Our very desires

can change. How? There is only one way. True change—permanent change—can come only through the

healing, cleansing, and enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He loves you—each of you! He

allows you to access His power as you keep His commandments, eagerly, earnestly, and exactly. It is that

simple and certain. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of change!”

Today we gave out a total of 5 Book of Mormons to people and 3 for sure want to attend church so the Lord was

with us today magnifying our efforts. After we got to the truck we said a prayer and thanked God for everything

He did for us. Today God works miracles and puts certain  people in our lives at the right place and right time.

I believe we needed to be where we were to meet every one of them today and through Christ,  if we strive to

follow Him and make covenants with Him that He has asked us to make and to pray and repent when we make

mistakes and to try better each day and endure through the hardships, we will be blessed forever even after our

time here on earth.  I also have gotten so much better talking to people. If my MTC District is reading this we all

know what I would do with my journal when I saw other missionaries- if you know you know- but I have taken

that same bold attitude and applied it here and I love talking to people. Even when they just say no and close

the door on me I don't look at that in a bad way, I look at it from the perspective that I need to try harder and

talk to more people. We can always find the positives in life even at the lowest points in life we can find the

positive. Sometimes we need to fight through the hard times to get to the end and at the end it is so amazing

and blessed. 

February 17th 

I heard my first gun shots!!!!! No idea where they came from but we heard them in the distance.

Don't worry we were not even near where it happened. 

Today was full of highs and lows- to start we had another exchange with the District leaders

Elder Cook and Elder Baunder and I was put with Elder Cook and it was good to talk to him.

We both shared similar struggles we had to fight through to be able to be a worthy missionaries

but he helped me understand some important things and gave me some good questions I need

to search for while i'm here on a mission.  We later  ran into a man named Tony who was painting,

he said he has been shot many times but God still had Him down here for a reason. Unfortunately

we were running late to a lesson so we gave him a card about our church and asked if we could

come back later and talk to him more and he said he would like that. May God bless him. After we

went to Dominique I taught my first lesson to someone. It was nothing like they when we taught 

at the MTC lol but that's OK. I felt the spirit there as we taught and I could tell he loved it as well

and invited him to read a few verses in the Book of Mormon and he said he would.  We then walked

to Joseph's house and he never answered. We later saw him outside and went to talk to him.

He was not feeling good at all and you could hear it in his voice but he said if he felt good for Sunday

he would still come to church.  After we went to Tyler, sadly he never answered we knocked a few

times and his wife eventually shouted they were not interested and asked us to leave. We told her

Tyler had asked us to meet with him at that time but she said he was asleep from a hard day at work

so we had to leave so please have Tyler in your prayers that we can teach him and pray that he will

come to church with his daughter and also that his wife will soften her heart so we can teach all of them.

Shout outs for this email --my friend Carrie berry got her mission call to Winnipeg Canada and that is

so exciting and i'm so happy for her, good luck out there bring back some maple syrup 

Also a shout out to my friend Megan who got her mission call to Las Vegas West mission, excited for

her as well.

Also my friend Lexie started her new job this week so I'm happy for her. Hopefully all goes well.

Pls email me with life updates, Ii love reading what yall have to say and I am pretty good at emailing

back,  if you have any  questions for me pls feel free to ask away  

Well that's all for today everyone, keep doing good in your life. God loves all of you and is happy when

we strive to do good in our hearts. Anyone who is wondering what they want to do after school, go on

a mission!  It will change your life forever -pray about it, read the scriptures and go to the temple. 

God will guide you to where you need to go.  

Have a good rest of your week! 

link to the talk mentioned above...Decisions for Eternity-Russell M Nelson

First Week in the Sooner State

February 11, 2026

Hello! And greetings all you fine males and females.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday and I hope you are all having a blessed day! 

So much to talk to about so let's get right into it 

Starting off on February 3rd, the day I flew from the mountains to the prairies...

Got here in Oklahoma and met my mission president and his wife, President and Sister Huffaker.

They are so nice and I am so happy for the love they have already shown. We stayed at the APs apartment–AP is short

for assistants to the mission president.  When we got to their apartment we had a small devotional where we shared our

favorite scriptures and why we came out here to serve. I shared my favorite scriptures Matthew 4:19 (and He saith unto

them, follow me and I will make thee fishers of men) I love that scripture so much because it is Jesus Christ calling Peter

and his brother Andrew to join Him on His mortal ministry and be his apostles. To me this is Christ reaching out to all of

us asking us to follow Him and His teachings and to also be like Peter and Andrew and preach His good word to all

His children.  We had a great time. 

The next day Feb 4th 

We went to the mission office and there we got our bikes and prepared for the ring of  fire which I will explain later

in this email. My dad helped me pick out a bike online while I was still home and had it delivered to the mission

home so it would be here when I arrived.  We had a small devotional and I found out both Sister and President

Huffaker are converts to the church. We then we met our mentors who are here for us when we have hard times

or may be feeling down to help us overcome our emotions and if we are having bad homesickness or anxiety they

are there to help us however they can. After it was time for the ring of fire 🔥 

We all went to the gym and there the new missionaries were met by the current missionaries here in OKC. 

This is where we found out who our trainer companion would be. It was sad to say goodbye to the three missionaries

from my MTC District that had become family to me but I also knew that we would be able to make new friends and family

bonds with our new companions, Districts  and members we meet. Good luck to Sister Lovell, Sister Larson and my mtc

companion Elder Stinson, my mtc family.  May all of us feel God's love and comfort during our highs and lows while we serve

here in Oklahoma.  And good luck to all the other missionaries that were in my MTC District who are serving in different states. 

God bless all of us as we dedicate our lives to serving Him and being a part of His great work. Back to the ring of fire I was

assigned to be with Elder Douglas from Utah and what do you know we are exactly alike. We both love working on trucks,

both love working hard and being in agricultural.  He sadly never got the chance to show livestock but we talk about it and

we get along super well.  Both of us were hoping we got assigned to someone who was not our exact opposite so I think it's

pretty cool we got put together.  He is also stupidly good at the guitar.  He has written three songs while on his mission and he

sang them to me and the other companionship in our apartment and they all honestly could win an award but now to say where

we got assigned to serve……………….. Muskogee, Oklahoma!

  We are opening a new area so there are 6 missionaries here in Muskogee, two English speaking companionships and one

Spanish speaking companionship. And it's been so amazing-a blessed land here!  For all of you who were wondering,

there are no mountains!  Anything above 2,000 feet is considered a mountain here, crazy right? Compared to what

I’m used to in Utah, they are almost like a hill but its been awesome here.  Some the the same things we have here are

Buffalo Wild Wings, Freddie's and Chick-fil-A PLUS  Harbor Freight  and my home away from home,  Auto Zone

so I will fit in here perfectly! 

(Sauls mission presidents wife updated the Facebook page probably for us moms who wonder how our babies grown up are doing🤍 I love her already! -Leslie) 

“🔥✨ The Ring of Fire — A New Generation Steps Forward! ✨🔥

This week in the Mighty OOCM, heaven moved again. Our newest missionaries stepped into the Ring of Fire — that sacred moment when faith meets calling, and courage meets consecration. 💛

There is something unforgettable about watching missionaries begin. Their hearts are willing. Their faith is fresh. Their trust in the Lord is real. And in that moment, you can almost feel the weight and the wonder of what is ahead.

Please help us celebrate this incredible new group of missionaries:

👔 Elders

Elders Brown, Carr, Fonohema, Garcia, Gilson, Hale, Heath, Johnson, King, Lewis, Lovengier, Lowe, McDonald, Saunders, Staley, Stinson, and White

🌸 Sisters

Sisters Ashworth, Larson, Lovell, and Wright

🌎 Hermana

Hermana Basua

Each of these missionaries has been called by revelation. Each has been prepared long before arriving in Oklahoma. And each will now begin the sacred work of inviting souls to come unto Christ. 🌾🕊️

To our new missionaries — thank you for your courage. Thank you for your willingness. Thank you for stepping into the fire of refinement and faith. The Lord will walk beside you, strengthen you, and magnify every humble effort. 💫

To their families and friends — thank you for trusting the Lord with someone you love. Your faith is part of every miracle that will unfold.

“Here am I; send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)

The harvest is real. The call is divine. And the Lord is moving His work forward.

We can’t wait to see the miracles ahead. 💛🔥

#OOCM #RingOfFire #CalledToServe #MightyOOCM #HurrahForIsrael”

February 6th 

Not much to write home me and Elder Douglas, my trainer, went and got Freddy's since my parents said go somewhere

and get food one time for a new transfer. I got a double cheeseburger with fries and a strawberry shake. It was pretty good.

After we walked around and talked about our dream trucks and upgrades we want on them. He wants a 6.5 Detroit diesel

like the one he has but  to build it to like like a high country trim and have a custom build motor that can support 700hp I

want a 2015 for 350 crew cab long bed or short bed King Ranch trim with the 6.7L diesel and egr and a dpf delete on it 80%

over injections, bigger turbo paint match parts, ranch hand on the front and a 5” straight pipe, rock lights 22x12” wheels with

34x13 tires  they are a harder tire size to find but they are out there. We talk about trucks a lot but don't worry we always lock in when we need to. 

February  7 

Another simple day,  just another day of walking and biking. We did get to help some people towards the end of the day

with raking leaves off their lawn and after we invited them to church. Sadly they did not come but we at least planted a

seed. Who knows they may come to church one day. It's about the seeds that you can plant in someone's heart drawing

them closer to Christ and you can only have faith that one day they will search more about Him. 

February 8th

Sunday was a chill and relaxed day.  We went to church and got to meet the ward and everyone was so nice and inviting to us.

We have this one friend named Eddie bless his soul, he love he has for us elders is so powerful. Right off the bat when He sees

me he gives me a big hug and asks how I am doing and it's those small things that people do that helps being on a mission.

The friends you will make and the people you can help are so amazing and I am so excited to start making more friends

as I go about my mission.

February 9th  Some fun things have happened since we opened a new area in our mission. We are trying to find new friends

to teach and we are also getting to know all the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints here in Muskogee.

I had a cool answer to my prayers, I remember asking God if we could find one person while walking to talk to and share a small

message and sure enough, at the end of the day we came to a small cul de sac and met Jerry. We were not able to share a message

then but we got his number and we invited him to chruch. He has moved recently so he has not had a church to go to so let's hope

he will come. We will for sure keep in contact with him.

February 10 Another chill day where we walked around looking for people to meet and share a message with about Jesus.  We had companionship study at Taco Bell and we're excited for prep day tomorrow to walk around town and shop.  Also, please keep my mother in your prayers.  She is having a surgery on her ear and the recovery will be not so fun.  

Pls feel free to send me a email and talk to me on my prep-days which will be on Wednesdays. I would love to read how all yalls

lives are doing.Also, shout out to my friend Launa who is getting married soon! So congratulations to her, excited for her and he next step in life

so everyone give her a round of applause.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nWqUqBNnT7MaUn8L8

Here is a link to some goggle photos I titled Cool truck all it is is me and Elder Douglas taking pictures of trucks we like.  

Well it's time for me to end this email,  so long everyone hope ya'

ll have a fantastic week!

Here is a link to some goggle photos I titled Cool truck all it is is me and Elder Douglas taking pictures of trucks we like.  

Well it's time for me to end this email,  so long everyone hope yall have a fantastic week!