Welcome Home Elder Jeppson

 Elder Jeppson was supposed to return home on August 17th at 9:22 pm after flying from New Jersey to Dallas then to Salt Lake City.  We got a call about an hour before that the flight had been cancelled.  We were so sad!  All the missionaries had to be picked up from the airport by the Mission President and taken back to the mission home.  The next day they were scheduled to leave that evening so they enjoyed the day with the mission president and then went back to the airport.  This time they were flying into Denver.  We got all excited again only to be so sad again to find that their flight was going to be late to Denver and they would not make the connecting flight to Salt Lake.  The missionaries all slept on the floor of the airport and left early the next morning to arrive in Salt Lake at 7:30am.  Finally!!!  

Anxiously Waiting!! 

Best hug ever!! 

Mckay has grown!! 

Hunter grew at about an inch! 

Hugs from Lucy

Stella missed her older brother!! 

Hugs from Emma 

hugs from Chloe and Brandon and Alysha! 

Papa Jeppson (Nana was out of town) 

Bentley giving Hunter some love :) 

Returning missionaries 

To Ends and New Beginnings

 Well everyone the time has arrived for me to end my story here. I would like to take you all on a trip through the past two years real fast starting all the way back when I first found out I would be serving the Lord in the Kiribati Islands...

The happiness was unreal as I read those words, "Elder Jeppson, You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Marshall Islands/Kiribati Mission." Some may recall that a few tears were shed, but, I promise they were tears of joy. You see ever since I was a young lad I dreamed of serving a mission in some tiny islands in the middle of the ocean. God really must know our deepest desires because that's exactly where I went. 

The first time those beautiful islands came into view from my tiny airplane window I wondered what I had just gotten myself into. But the Food, The People, The Culture, The Humidity, and even the Mosquitoes made for some life changing and memorable experiences. I will never forget the impact the Kirbati people had on my life. They showed me how a true Christlike human being should act. They demonstrated what pure happiness, joy, charity, and humility looked like. And best of all they taught me the value of always keeping Jesus Christ at the center of our lives no matter how hard or how easy our lives are.

Covid 19 hit and my time in Kiribati came to an end a lot faster that what I had planned it being.  It was a sad time for all of us missionaries. There wasn't a dry eye to be found as we showed up to the airport that day in April waiting for our plane to take us home. But I found great peace as we all sang the song "Raomi Iesu" (Till we meet again) one final time. Knowing that I will one day be able to see all these wonderful people again helped me realize that God's plan is much greater and eternal than what I had in mind.

Two and a half months later I ended up in the state of New Jersey asking myself the same question as before, "What did I get myself into." Only this time I was asking it because we weren't allowed to leave the house haha. 11 months later and we were finally set free to almost complete normalcy. Once again the people, my companions, the lessons I learned,  and my deeper conversion to the Gospel made for some amazing times. Although my mission didn't go the way I excepted it to go, there is nothing I would change about it.

As I chose to let God prevail in my life these words found in Mosiah 2:41 took on a whole new meaning for me.

"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and HAPPY state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

I am happy about how my mission turned out. I am happy about the person the Gospel has helped me become. And I'm happy because when we follow God's plan everything else in life seems to work out just fine.

I'm grateful I was able to have this opportunity to serve the Lord for two years in two different countries. I know with all my heart that Jesus Christ is our Savior and our Redeemer. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the most amazing gift that we have been given. His gospel has been restored and this Church is true.

Here's to the end and to the beginning of a new chapter!

Tangiringkami ni kabane!

Tia boo moa

Elda Jeppson

Last District Picture 

Saying goodbye to Jojo 

Elder Norlund and I 

Ballin with our homies 

Hibachi Grill 

Jersey Sunset

Elder Kotter and I 

Saying goodbye to Maryanne

Last church Pic 

The Week of Lasts...

 What is going on everybody how y'all doing? My last week on the mission has arrived and it still hasn't clicked in my head that I will be flying home next Tuesday. It has been one awesome experience, but, I will send out one last email next week and share a little more on that. We had some sweet experiences and some fun times this past week so let's jump into it:

Tuesday night and Wednesday night we had a cool little miracle happen. Tuesday night there was a lady that was going through a pretty difficult situation when she happened to walk past our church building. She noticed a number on the door so she called it and we just happened to be at the church that moment. We were able to talk with her a little bit, we gave her a Book of Mormon and Bible and she came to church yesterday which was awesome. Wednesday night the same thing pretty much happened. We were at a church to meet with one of our friends, unfortunately it fell through. But as we were about to leave this guy walked into the building and told us he wanted to learn more because his best friend is a member of our church. 

President and Sister Rolfe took all the missionaries leaving next week to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island and it was pretty awesome. The boat ride to and from those places was one of my favorite parts because it has been awhile since I have stepped foot on a boat haha. Lots of pictures below so enjoy:)

Some other notable fun things that happened:

-We saw another big drug bust go down

-We became friends with a Gang Leader haha

-Spent 2 hours on the phone with some I.T. dude trying to help our friend with their phone

If you haven't read or listened to the talk "Come What May and Love It," by Jospeh B. Wirthlin I strongly suggest it!

Hope you all have a great rest of your week and I will see you (in person) next week!

Tangiringkami ni kabane 

Tia boo moa 

Elda Jeppson

The Massaquoi's (from Sierra Leone) 

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island 

Pics with everyone who will be going home next week with our Mission President and his family. 

Elder Hickman and I on exchanges 

Last phone call home!