April 6, 2009

Hey,

Wow it sounds like you did have an eventful week. Thank you so much for working things out with my back pack. (His backpack was left on a train several weeks ago and was taken to Victoria train station which was out of his mission. Some very kind Missionary Moms and some very nice ward members helped him get it back. It took many weeks to coordinate the effort.) I’m excited to get it back. I should get it at Zone Meeting on Thursday. Thank the Loves for me as well. Elder Church doesn't have it, but I might be able to call the Elders in Maidstone and get their address from them. (The Love Family were the ones that retrieved the backpack. We would like to send them a small thank-you.) It was funny when they called me because we were at Vicky's house waiting to teach one of her house mates and it came up as unknown caller. Now long story short, there is a kid that is basically a missionary stocker... He lives near Bath (Elder Church's old area) and really likes Elder Church. He has figured out how to call the missionaries and find out where people are and had been trying to call us lately. I thought Brother Love was him, so I wouldn’t tell him who I was at first haha. We finally sorted it out and then he talked to Elder Church. It was pretty funny though.

Last week was kind of a bummer when I lost my email, but I wrote about the same events in my Journal, so I’m just going to try and copy it and send it to you.

This week has just flown by. We had zone conference and General Conference of course. Plus we had an exchange and a few other things that slowed us down. The baptismal date we had, we lost contact with.. sad, but nothing we can do about it. General Conference was the highlight of our week, both for us and our investigators. We had 5 investigators come to at least one session. None of them have baptismal dates yet, but hopefully some will soon. I loved the talks this conference. Its amazing to me how they always seem to be talking directly to me, but how everyone else feels the same way.

Part way through conference I was thinking about a kid I met up in Catford. His name was Kwame and his Dad was the leader of a large Christian faith in Africa. His Dad was paying for him to study in London and then expected him to take over as leader of the church, but the other Elders found him and were teaching him. He couldn’t get permission from his Dad to be baptized yet, but he had been watching conference recordings on the internet and kept saying how amazing it was. He just said how he had "never heard preaching like that before." I'm grateful to have grown up in the church and have been able to hear the Apostle speak all my life. It has just taken me 19 years to realize how special their words really are.

I love you and hope you have a great week. Happy early Easter!!

Love,
Elder Kade Karges

March 26, 2009

HELLO!

Moves came and went and I am still in Portsmouth. I really wanted to stay actually, so I'm happy. Not very many people moved. A couple missionaries went home, but no new ones came out, so things didn’t change much. I’m still DL and Elder Church is still here with me. Only one person moved from my district and that was Elder Hayes. So we are losing our Welshman, but we are gaining a Swedish. The new guy in Chichester is Elder Wiklof. This moves is only 5 weeks long, so it’s a bit shorter. We have one short moves a year I guess. I know there is a reason for it, but I can’t remember what it is. I think it has something to do with us needing to go home two weeks early. They don’t want us staying past our Visa, so it just a precaution.

Things are going great. We had such an amazing week. Vicky Beatrice Odhiambo and Sophie Turner are now both members of the restored Church of Jesus Christ! The baptism went great. Both of them were pretty nervous before hand, but they were just glowing afterwards. They both had lots of visitors as well. Hopefully we can start teaching some of their friends and family soon. The ward showed a lot of support as well. There were probably about 50 people there. The preparation for the service went well. Elder Church and I made invitations to give to anyone and everyone we met and gave some to Vicky and Sophie as well. Baptisms are the perfect missionary tool. We had each of them pick a speaker (Lyndsey Taylor and Myself), a hymn, and someone for the prayers. Our ward mission leader (Steve Taylor) helped make the program and some of the calls. They also chose who baptized and confirmed them. Elder Church baptized Sophie and I confirmed her. I have never done that before, so I was excited and honored. Brother Mark Taylor (Steve's dad) baptized Vicky and Elder Church confirmed her. Our Zone Leaders did both of the interviews. Since they are my investigators, I can’t interview them. It has to be someone who didn’t teach them.

We spent the whole day at the Church Saturday before the baptism. I don’t know if I described the situation before, but Vicky hasn’t lived in her place very long and I guess one of the other ladies living in the same house has caused her a lot of problems. She made some threats and even tried to act on them once, so... it wasn’t safe for her to stay there anymore. She stayed with her sister in London during the week, but came down for the weekend. We brought any church videos we could find and some Ensigns and things for her to read and she stayed at the church all day Saturday. We taught her a few things and had loads of other stuff to do there so it worked out great. We were in charge of filling the font and setting up as well.

I don’t have my planner with me so I’m trying to remember what we did the rest of the week ha-ha. I don’t know why I keep forgetting it on P-Days. I’m pretty sure the rest of the last week and a half was pretty normal. We did some finding, taught and had DA's, and had the baptismal interviews. Oh and I went on another exchange with Chichester. Other than that I don’t know. If there is something I’m forgetting, Ill catch you up on Monday.

Thanks for the info on President Shamo. I knew a little, but would like to know more. What week of the Church News is it in, because the member we live with gets it too. You can still send it if you would like as well. Getting post is always good :) I got your last envelope as well. Thank you! I like the jokes and stories you send. I actually used one of the stories in me district meeting a few weeks back. It was the one about the missionaries on the plane that you sent ages ago. I copied it and gave it out to my whole District because I really liked it.

Thanks for all that you do. I love you!

Love,
Elder Kade Karges

Elder Church and I in front of the London temple

Everyone that came on the temple trip from Portsmouth.

Lyndsey Taylor, Steve Taylor, Myself, and Elder Church

Me, Vicky, and Elder Church

February 16,209

Hello again,

It hasn't been long since I wrote my last email. Things are going well still, actually really well. Elder Church and I really get along and are having loads of fun and success. He has a very strong Testimony. He joined the church when he was sixteen because a friend invited him to take the discussions. As he did this and also decided to go on a mission, his family was very thrilled considering they are all Catholic. Now that he is out serving they have made a pretty big turn around and are very proud of him. He is only a moves ahead of me and was actually trained in Catford right before I got there. I saw him on my first day in the field. Elder Sorbonne took his place, being trained by Elder Martin. He has been in two different areas since then and has been a district leader himself. He was sick over the last couple months and it really affected the work, but is doing better now.

My district has three companionships. Elder Church and I in Portsmouth, Elders Hayes and Seidle in Chichester, and Elders Proctor and Kreiberg on the Isle of Wight. I am really looking forward to figuring out what to do because right now I'm just praying like crazy haha. They really don’t give you any training, just a list of things to do. The funny thing is that list comes late (through the post), like two weeks into the transfer cycle. Luckily Elder Church has his letter so I've looked at that. I am responsible for interviews and accounting with the Zone Leaders for my district. I talk to them all nightly and weekly. I also prepare the agenda for district meeting and give a presentation. Mostly I just look out for everyone and seek inspiration on how I can help them. Did Dad ever serve in leadership positions? or Kyle? or Ryan? I would really love to hear more about each of their missions. When I was back home I just didn’t understand what a mission entails.

I got your package this morning! Thanks you so much. I can't believe I’ve been here for 6 months already. It’s crazy. You sent the perfect things. I don’t even know how you knew to send them, but everything you sent is something I can use, and will. I love you all and hope you had a great Valentines Day! Mine was good. We actually helped set up for the stake party that night. We were supposed to have a teach at the church, but it got cancelled. We recognized that there was only one High Councilman there to set up all the decorations, so we pitched in. He was from Ireland and actually served here on his mission. He ended up marrying the bishop’s daughter of his last area (long after his mission) and now lives there on the Isle of Wight.

We have picked up a lot of new investigators lately and have a few that are sticking with it. Alison is having a little trouble. She is actually engaged to a member and has been taught in the past. We taught her once, but her father passed away last week. I don’t think he was very old and it was pretty sudden. We haven’t been able to see her since, but I think she'll come around. Marnie is really cool. He has come to church twice and loves it, but hasn't been able to stay passed sacrament. He is learning quickly though and likes the feeling he gets at church. The other one we are focusing on is Isabel. She is actually from Mexico! She is very strong Catholic and is concerned about being baptized again, but that’s why I'm excited for her to meet Elder Church. His mother is Mexican and he was brought up Catholic.

I hope I answered all your questions. It sounds like you are all doing great. I love hearing how everyone is doing. I am so excited to hear about and see pictures of the wedding and other upcoming things. I pray for you all everyday. Tell 12th ward I said hello and tell the Sanders that I DID have Stevie’s English teacher, that’s so cool that she is still using my paper as an example. Let me know how John's talk goes too.
I love you, have an amazing week.

Love,
Elder Karges

February 13th, 2009

Hello!

I have about 4 minutes left but ill see what I can do.

This week has been very busy. The snow was unexpected but a lot of fun. Portsmouth is pretty protected from the weather, but it still got more than usual. The rest of the country got a LOT more than usual, so that makes sense that it made the news. It is sunny now though.

I’ll just jump to moves day. I went to the temple to meet my New Companion. His name is Elder Church. He is form Las Vegas and is the only member of his family. He was baptized 3 years ago. He is an AMAZING mission so far. I’ve only been with him a day, but I’m excited for this moves. I am District Leader here in Portsmouth, so I have less time to myself. I don’t really know how to be a DL, but I’ll figure it out as I go. Elder Orme got moved to Plymouth. Elder church's mom is form Mexico. (Sorry this is kind of jumbled, but I have no time left.) Everything is going great and I’ll be able to write you more on Monday.
Oh and I met elder Greely at the Temple!! It was really cool to see him. We aren’t serving very close, but I might see him from time to time. I took a picture with him, but on the way back from the temple, I lost my back pack.... Nothing to valuable inside, I had my camera in my pocket, but the card reader to connect with the computer is gone. It might show up in the lost property dep. at the station, we'll see!

I love you all! Hope to hear from you soon :)

Love,
Elder Kade Karges

February 2, 2009

Hello Everyone!

It’s snowing here!! It snowed a little yesterday, but didn't stick and then when we woke up in the morning there was about 2 inches! Of course it is already melting, but I took pictures while I could, and if it doesn’t melt then we couldn’t ride our bikes. We have an appointment tonight that is pretty far way, so I hope we don't have to walk. This week has just flown by. Actually this whole moves (transfer cycle) has. Elder Orme were talking about it last night. A really common saying over here is that "the days go by like weeks and the weeks go by like days." That saying is really true. Some days are really long, but it seems like last PDay was just yesterday.

I sent a couple pictures already. One of them was of last pday. Elder Orme and I went to a nearby golf course and hit a few balls at the driving range. It was really cheap and its something Elder Orme has been really wanting to do. He used to go golfing almost everyday back home, either with his dad or best friend. He is really good, but I need some practice. I've been golfing a few times and to the driving range. I think my main problem was they didn’t have tee's and I'm not use to hitting off the ground. Oh well, it was fun. We got some video footage of our first swings. I'll have to find a way to send it home. I have a few other videos I've been wanting to send.

The middle of the week was pretty normal. We did a lot of finding towards the beginning and at the end, but in the middle we had a lot of appointments. From what I hear, Portsmouth (pronounced like Ports-myth) is usually really busy. Things are starting to pick up a lot more still. We are constantly changing investigators. People are always really busy and worried about 'the credit crunch'. In time I think it will actually lead more people to believing in God and to the church.

Wednesday night we had a few meetings and went out with some of the young men and their leaders for the second time. We were supposed to be going to visit less active youth, but there was only one to visit, so one group just went knocking. It was pretty funny to hear them say how nervous they were because they had never done it before, especially the leader. Thursday we had Zone meeting in South Hampton. That was really fun and is always a spiritual boost. Its funny how we sit in chairs all day for those kinds of meeting, but are still just as tired as if we had been out finding all day. The spirit can really drain you. We had a couple DA's this week as well.

I really do love you guys and hope all is well. My time is up so I got to got go, but have an amazing week!
Elder Karges

Elder Orme and I at the driving range last PDay. Elder Orme was a big golfer back home... he's a lot better than me.

Me walking down the street to email at the library this morning with a snowball in my hands.

January 26, 2009

Hey!

I’m so glad you guys finally got the package! I sent that ages ago. I actually checked on it a week or two ago and the guy told me that the way I sent it usually take 6 to 8 weeks. They didn’t tell me that when I first sent it out... they said it might make it there by Christmas..haha. I can’t remember all the pictures I sent on the CD's. If you could let me know what the last few were, I could delete them off my memory card up to that point (Actually I might leave them on now that I have 5 memory cards haha, but let me know which ones I sent anyway). To be honest I probably wont be able to send a package like that again.. but it was worth a go. I'm glad you enjoyed it :) and I’m glad Beau was still around to get the jerseys to the guys. I was worried he would be gone already.

It sounds like your week has gone well, mine has too. P-Day was pretty cool. We finally made it down to the coast to check everything out. I just sent you a few pictures of that and I wasn’t watching the time, so I only have 5 minutes left! The rest of the week wasn’t too exciting for me. We have about five or six investigators, but they are all really busy. We are still teaching the two guys from Eretria. We are struggling to find a Book of Mormon they can read. We are teaching a cool university student named Wil. She is busy though.

Sorry I really got to go or I won’t be able to send this.

I LOVE YOU!

Love Elder Karges.

Me with Spinacker tower and an old ship in the background that you can take tours of (that costs money :/)

Elder Orme and I down by the coast.

Me on the steps at Spinacker tower.

Me at Charles Dicken's birth place. They turned his old house into a museum.

January 19, 2009

Hiya,

Things are going great still, but first things first... HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE!! Thank you so much for all that you do. You're amazing and I Love you.

Being in England, a lot of people talk about their cultural backgrounds. I've been asked several times where my last name comes from, but I have no clue. I thought it was German, but I asked a German and he said he didn't think so haha. It would be cool if you could find out and let me know.

It sounds like things are going well. I'm looking forward to getting a wedding invitation in the mail. That’s too bad about the timing of Grandpa's surgery. I hope everything goes well, let them know i think about them a lot.

We have had a lot of ups and downs this week and took care of a few things. One of them was Elder Orme's driving test. He had to take it in the middle of the week, and he passed with flying colors! He didn't make a single mistake. I want to get my license soon, but maybe I'll wait till people forget how well he did... haha the real reason is its just a lot of time and money. Ill get it done though (I hear having a British licenses can get me a discount on insurance back home, because the test is more rigorous).

Our investigators are doing pretty well. We are teaching five or six people and I don’t think I have mentioned anyone. The people I mentioned before have since been dropped. It was hard to drop a couple of our recent investigators, but they have busy lives and have the agency to choose what they want to do with it. There is a really cool YSA aged girl named Kirsty we just picked up. She is busy, but very interested. There is a Turkish couple we are teaching as well. He speaks English and she doesn't, yet she came to church by herself this week. He had to work and works every Sunday, but I hope he can change his schedule to fit church in. We had one other investigator come to church named Dawit. He brought a friend with him too! They are from Eritrea, I think. Its hard to understand their accents..

The ward is really great here. They work well with us and there are several older ladies that bring us treats at church :) I really like it here. We had a couple DA's and on Friday we had an exchange, so I went to Chichester with my District Leader, Elder Bell. It was fun, but we did a lot of traveling. Area's are further apart out here, so it takes longer to exchange, plus Chichester is a walking are and is pretty big so it took a while to get to appointments.

I hope this week goes well for everyone as you all begin school and other things again. To answer your question about letters sent to my old address: yes, they will get to me. Elder Christensen has already forwarded a few, but it takes a little longer. Thank you for all your support.

Love,
Elder Kade Karges

My new district after bowling down by the coast last P-Day.

Alex Smith and I my last Sunday in Catford.

January 5, 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Things are going great here in Portsmouth. The New Year has begun and I look forward to what lies ahead. We had the same schedule as usual on New Years Eve, so we didn’t stay up late, but we did celebrate a little. President Swinton didn’t want us out proselyting past six or even in the morning (for obvious reasons) so our weekly schedule got changed a bit. We had District meeting New Years Eve and I got to know a couple more missionaries. Their are six Elders in our district, but only four of us were there because two live on the Isle of Wyght and just stayed in. In the morning we did our weekly planning a little early considering most people would still be recovering from the night before. I hope you all had a good New Years. Since I didn’t stay up late here, I decided I would celebrate with all of you and shouted Happy New Years at 7 in the morning.

If i send half of an email in a couple minutes its because I do my emailing in a library now and we can only use the computers for 30 min at a time. If it isn’t busy we can just ask for an extension, but if there is someone in line then i will have to wait a while and get back on. If that ever happens in the future, you'll know why.

The rest of this week was pretty normal. We have taught a few people, but over the holidays everyone seemed to drop of the map and we lost contact. I think it happened all over the place because that’s how it was leaving my last area too. Things are starting to pick up again, but we've done a lot of finding to get it there. There is a high street here that is really good to talk to people on. It reminds me of an outdoor mall back home and even has an indoor part that is exactly like a mall. There is definitely a difference in cultures here.

The ward is great. I met loads of the members even before my first Sunday. A couple came on teaches with us and we had a couple dinner appointments too. The first was with The Honour Family who play a big role in the ward and whose dad is in the Stake Presidency and the second was with The Stokes Family. Both went really well and the on at the Stokes was really cool because the have to kids that are YSA age and most of the YSA came over to have dinner with us. Many of them are RM's and are a big help to the ward and to us as missionaries. Saturday Morning we helped clean the grounds around the church and I met a lot more people especially since the Primary was having a breakfast activity at the same time.

Sunday went really well. I took the place of another Elder from Mesa AZ that the ward really liked, so hopefully I made a good first impression. His name is Elder Barnwell. I actually met him at ASU before i came out. We have some of the same friends back home and they were the ones that realized we were called to the same place. I talked to him at the mission home as we crossed paths on moves day, but don’t know him very well. We had a couple come to church this week. One is Richard who we have only taught once now and the other we haven’t even taught yet, but came with a member family that is actually from London. His name is Anesu. The only other person we are teaching right now is a guy named Nick that has to work every Sunday. We are working on that :)

I don’t think I described my living arrangements last week, but we have it pretty nice here. We live on the top floor of a member’s home. Her name is Margaret Mitchel and she is an older lady. She has been living here for ages and a lot of the ward is related to her. It’s funny because it is a large ward, but there are a lot of repeated last names. We'll see how it goes trying to remember who is who. Sister Mitchel's daughter lives next door and apparently cooks us dinner every Sunday night and leaved it on the bottom stair for us. Up stairs we have our own bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and living room/study room. I really like how it is all set up. In the attic there is even a little room to exercise in.

I think I also forgot to mention that Portsmouth is a bike area, so I'm an official missionary now!! We ride everywhere. It is a big city, so it has buses, but not like London. It can get tiring, but i actually like it a lot. Hopefully it will keep me in shape after sitting on buses all day the last five months.

Well my time is about up so I gotta go, but I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Love,

Elder Kade Karges

December 30, 2008

Hello everyone!

I got MOVED!! I have officially left my greeny area and am now serving in the Portsmouth area. Before I forget, I’ll give my new address.

#70 Oriel Rd
Northend, Portsmouth
PO2 9EQ

England

It’s a lot shorter than the last one haha. I haven't seen much of the area yet, but it is a lot different than London. It is right along the southern coast, bordering the channel. My new companion is Elder Orme from Idaho Falls, Idaho. He seems really cool so far. I've only known him for about 2 hours, but I can tell he is a good missionary. He is the youngest of four boys and... I don't know much more. He seems like a smart and organized guy. I'll get to know him over this week and tell you more next time.

It hasn't been long since I talked to you on the phone. I really enjoyed that. You had really good questions. I was glad you had a lot, it’s what I expected. By the way did you record it? I thought I remembered doing that when Kyle called.

The day after Christmas (back in Catford) we picked up a new investigator named Morillo. He is from Brazil and speaks Portuguese and a little bit of English. The lesson went really well because we took the new Portuguese member that got baptized two Sundays ago. We saw him again yesterday (Dec. 29th) and taught him The Plan of Salvation using cards that you can lay out on the table. He loved it and long story short, he has a baptismal date for the 25 of January. I'm excited for him and look forward to hearing about his baptism. We picked up a few new investigators during the rest of the week, but now I'm in a different area. I don't know any of my new investigators yet, but I look forward to meeting them.

Travel went well. Elder Christensen is training now, so a brand new Scottish Elder took my place in Catford. They will do a great job. I went to the temple (where the mission home is) with him to pick up his new comp and to meet up with some Elders I would travel to my new area with. A lot of missionaries were around so we did a lot of talking and then some elders went to the visitors' center to watch the Joseph Smith video with a new member. I was waiting on them for my ride, so I went with my old Zone Leader, Elder King, to take people to the train station. On my way back I had my first driving experience in England!! It was pretty fun especially since it was a manual car. I have only driven a manual car once back home, and this time it was backwards!! haha. I did pretty well though and now have some encouragement to get my drivers license over here. One of my new Zone Leaders is named Elder Armstrong and is from Mesa. He went to Red Mountain. I talked to another Elder at the temple named Elder Barnwell who is from Mesa too. He went to Westwood. I actually met Elder Barnwell before my mission at ASU. He found out we got called to the same place and introduced himself at institute. I think I asked a long time ago, but I was wondering if Kyle ever served with or met an Elder Cusick while in Venezuela. There is one here, that is an AP now, who has an older brother that served there around the same time.

That’s about all I can think of to write about right now. I hope you all have an amazing week and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I love you.

Love
Elder Kade Karges