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! 

Marriott's and The Book of Mormon

 Man I can't believe that we have started yet another month. August usually isn't the most exciting month because school starts and what not, but this time that is not the case. This August has some meaning because it is the month I come home...and start school haha. This last week flew by and was an eventful one to so let's get into it.

Our friend Tenelle got baptized this last Saturday and let me tell you, she has the strongest testimony. Her husband Manny got baptized about 6 months ago and you wouldn't believe how he came across the church. You know how in every Marriott hotel room there are Books of Mormon sitting in the nightstand. Well he was sitting in a Marriott hotel one night and opened the nightstand and saw a Book of Mormon sitting right there so he decided to read it. I have always wondered if anyone staying in the hotel ever cracked them open and I guess people do. Well Manny was able to baptize his wife and it was a very special experience for the both of them and also for all of us watching it. 

Of course we balled up with some guys again on Friday night and we were able to meet some cool people. One dude that showed up was 6'8 and pretty dang good at basketball. We have become good friends with a couple of the guys we play with every week and we have been able to have some cool discussions about what we do as missionaries and about our church. It is pretty cool how many people are open to hearing about your beliefs when it is brought up in normal and natural ways. 

Here are two verses from the Book of Mormon that stood out to me this week. They are from Alma 5

"Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you.

Yea, he saith: Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely."

I hope you all have a fantastic week and I will see you all in 2 weeks!

Tangiringkami ni kabane 

Tia boo moa

Elda Jeppson

Friday night Basketball

Seeing Elder Jorgensen for the last time 

Jojo throwing me a Bonvoyage party 

Jojo

Had to take a picture of this haha 

After Tenelle's Baptism 

Elder Marx and I 

The Hidden Camera Show Meets Cake Boss

 What's crack-a-lackin everybody!? In case you don't read these and you just want the quick update, here it is, I'm doing great! Alright now on to the good stuff for all those who read the who email because you have nothing else to do haha I'm just messing, but let's get into the week.

Have you guys ever watched the show Cake Boss? Well apparently the Guys bakery is right down the road from me and I had no clue. We went on Wednesday and I have to say, it is much cooler in person. I was hoping Carlo would walk in and give us all free cake but that didn't happen. I would have bought a slice so I could tell you all how good it is, but the prices for a single slice were a bit to pricey for me hahah. It was cool nonetheless. 

I think I told yall that we started playing ball every Friday Night as another way to start finding people, and this past Friday was probably one of the funniest nights I've had in awhile. We got about 35 people there wanting to play ball. We played 5 on 5 which was perfect because we had a team of us 5 missionaries and then 5 other dudes were on the other team. The first game was not our best haha but I blame it on not being warmed up. Then every other game we played we had a nice victory. The whole time we were here everyone on the court thought there were hidden cameras filming us because we 1: We were all dressed up in our church clothes, 2: We got beat the first game pretty quickly and then the rest of the games we were throwing Oops to each other and draining shots left and right, and 3: We were the only white people haha. The best part of it all was that we were playing under the lights and when you are playing a sport under the lights, everything is so much more fun. 

Here's a Little Spiritual Food:

It comes from a talk given by President Thomas S. Monson called, "See Others As They May Become." There is one quote that stood out to me that I would like to share with you all and it says, 

"We must develop the capacity to see men not as they are at present but as they may become."

Having the view of people has really helped me as a missionary and especially a person in general really make meaningful connections with those I come in contact with. I invite you guys to do the same this week!

See yall in 3 weeks!

Tangiringkami ni kabane 

Tia boo Moa

Elda Jeppson

Breakfast at IHOP

Ward BBQ - not everyone pictured 

Killer View 

Have you ever seen Cake Boss? Well here is his shop! 

The Crew 

Broke out Dem Lava Lavas

Elder Kotter and I wishing we were at the beach haha 

Just wanting to fly... hah

The Beauty Of The Atonement

 What's going on everybody! I'm just going to get things started by jumping right into the week;

First off, I went on an exchange this week up in a spanish area and man I felt like I was back in my first week on the mission when I couldn't speak a lick of the language haha. Those 3 years of Highschool Spanish really didn't come in handy haha. It was a good time though. I let some cool people and had a fun time yelling what we believe to a dude who was hanging out his window 3 floors up. You sure do meet some funky people over here in the city, but I love it. 

I had my last Zone conference this week. I mean I remember my first day on the mission like it was yesterday and now here I am, exactly where I never thought I would be. I got to see my bud Elder Groll again one last time which was super sweet. I was comps with him for a couple months towards the end of last year. 

We are teaching this 18 year old named Jonathan and he is pretty dang sweet. We met him at the park a couple times this past week to shoot some hoops with him and I have to say, it has really helped us grow our relationship with him. He has started texted us throughout the week and setting up times to meet before we even have a chance too. He texted us Sunday morning about an hour before church telling us that his aunt wasn't going to be able to drive him to church but that that wasn't going to stop him from coming. He decided he was going to walk the 35 min walk in the very hot humid weather so he could get to church. We couldn't let him get all sweaty before church alone, so we decided to join in on the fun. We walked all the way down to his house and then all the way back up to the church building. It was definitely worth it no doubt but suits just don't go hand in hand with hot humid weather haha.

Here's a little spiritual food for y'alls:

There are two scriptures that I want to share with you all that go hand in hand with each other. 

John 14:6 says, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

 Now skip a couple pages and read this verse found in 2 Corinthians 5:17,

 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

It's pretty interesting how the first verse plays into the second. If we follow Jesus Christ like it says in John 14, then we will be able to leave behind things that have happened in the past and become something new like is stated in 2 Corinthians. Or in other words become clean through Christ's Atonement. Pretty neat stuff!

Well that's all I got for you guys this week! Remember to keep on smiling.

Tangiringkami ni kabane 

Tia boo moa 

Elda Jeppson

Balling up with Jonathan 

                   

Sisters Dever, Willyard, and Fevaleaki 

Whats popping Elder Groll 

Got to meet a guy who lives up on the 20th floor when he gave us his couch 

Elder Child and I 

The Zone 

Us and our friend Ahmeer 

My mind Elder Prophet 

Elder Hickman, Me, Marx, Zinkand, Brough 

Hauling a couch back with Elder Hall and Kotter 

Elder Marx asleep on the way back from Zone Conference