Zone Conference Farewell

This week was good! On Wednesday, we had Zone conference. It is the final one before we leave so they had Elder Ellestad and I give our departing testimonies. It was a good Sunday as well because we had 8 friends come join us at church! It was awesome to see all of them! We are excited to keep working hard until we go home! 

- Elder Yskes 

Thai Chilli Pepper Picking and Birthday Celebrations

This week was pretty good as well!!

We helped someone tear up their bathroom floor! It was pretty fun! We will probably help them finish redoing it later this week as well. 

We went farming again picking Thai chili peppers. When someone is too busy to meet up we just go farming with them. It works! 

On Sunday, we had a fun time because it was Elder Ellestad's birthday! We went to a going away party after church for some of the people heading back to college. We also had a Stake dinner at a member’s house in celebration. It was good! 

That's pretty much it! Attached are the pictures I promised to send. 

-Elder Yskes

Picking Grapes, A Visit to the Temple and Tuan Le's Baptism

Tuesday: We went farming with some members! We picked Thai chilies and it was really fun!

Saturday: Today was awesome! In the morning, I went to the Temple with some recent converts in Merced! It was a really good experience for me and them. They had a really enjoyable time. 

After the Temple, we did our annual Vineyard service! We picked grapes to be made into raisins to be given to the needy. This year was the biggest harvest anyone could remember! We almost didn't have enough space to put all the grapes! It was really cool! 

Sunday: Today Elder Israelsen and I went to the baptism of our friend Tuan Le! He was someone we taught last time I was in Pioneer Park and we referred him to the YSA unit. Anyway he decided to be baptized and asked that we come to support him so we did! It was a great experience! 

I will send pictures next week, love y'all bye!

- Elder Yskes 

A Visit from Elder Whiting

This week was really good! Here are the highlights:

Thursday: Elder Whiting of the 70 came and had an awesome Zone Conference with us! He focused on what the prophet has been telling us in that we need to hasten the gathering Israel as the scriptures prophesy. It was really good. 

Saturday: Today our friend Moua got baptized! He started learning about a year and 3 months ago! It was really cool to see his progression over all this time! 

Elder Yskes

Ward Campout and Fishing

This week was good! We were able to do some cool things so that was fun. 

On Saturday, we got permission to go up to our Ward’s campout. It was a super good time. Then today (Monday) we got to go fishing. I caught 4 rainbow trout. It was a good time! We also were able to have some really good lessons so overall it was a good week! 

Elder Yskes

Top two pictures are from fishing and the others are from the campout

Baptism in Merced

This week was pretty good! 

I was able to head back up to Merced on Saturday and baptize someone we had been teaching when I was up there. It was super exciting! It is always awesome to see people follow Jesus Christ! Other than that, it was a pretty normal week! Hope y'all have a good one!

- Elder Yskes 

Service Work and Reconnecting in Fresno

This week was good! We did a lot of service which was good! We also found a couple new people to teach and had interviews with our Mission President. Overall it was another fun week and we were able to reconnect with some people we used to teach about a year ago. 

Hope y'all have a good week!

- Elder Yskes 

Back to Fresno

Well, I'm back in Fresno!

Mon: We ended strong in Merced setting 2 more baptismal dates our last night there. 

Tues: Transfers! I was able to come back to Fresno so there was a lot of catching up to do with people. 

Wed: We met with some more people today and had dinner at my favorite place so that was good! Also helped a member move for a little bit. 

Thurs: Helped move some more. Also had a meeting about the translating services for our church and the equipment we use and such so that was cool. 

Fri: Had another pretty busy day visiting people. 

Sat: Today we went back up to Merced to watch a baptism! It was awesome! Always exciting to see. 

Sun: Had a good day at church and got to reconnect with people which is always fun. 

Love y'all! 

Have a good week!

- Elder Yskes 

Last Week in Merced

This is my last week in Merced. Found out I will be transferred down to Fresno. IT will be sad to see Merced go because we met a lot of awesome people up here, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Today we visited a member that lives up on a lake and toured an abandoned wood mill. That was super fun!

This week we also met a really cool guy who wants to get baptized! He came to church and is super cool!

Overall it was a good week and we were able to meet a lot of cool people. 

Hope y'all have a good week!

- Elder Yskes 

My Birthday!!!

This week was fun! On Wednesday was my birthday so we did a whole bunch! We got free Slurpees (of course) and got Indian food for lunch and Kou (the woman I baptized last month) took us out to dinner with her boys! It was super fun! Their family is super cool and it was fun to spend part of the day with them!

Later this week we did some service and during service someone showed us his fishing bow! It is so cool! It is a bow and arrow with a fishing reel attached so you can go fishing with it. It was cool. 

Saturday, Sunday, and today we spent a few hours each day attending the funeral of one of the members, Elder Mendoza who I used to take the bread and water to every Sunday. 

That's about all we did this week! Have a good one y'all! 

-Elder Yskes

A Trip up to Turlock

This week was good! We found two new people to teach and they both came to church! It was super cool! Also, we went up to Turlock again today to continue to meet the new missionaries and make them feel included. It was super fun! For a while in Merced we were too far away from any missionaries to hang out but now that Modesto joined the mission we can have fun! It is awesome! This week We did a lot of service as well! We were able to help out at a retired Air Force base that is now a museum. We took some cool pictures in between projects. Overall It was a good week! Hope everyone else has a good one!

- Elder Yskes

Baptisms

This week was fun! We had 2 baptisms! It was super exciting to see them progress. They have been loving church and loving the Gospel! This week there was also a new ”Preach my Gospel” released and we gained 3 zones from the Modesto mission! We spent preparation day going up to visit them so that was super fun! But that cuts time short so sorry for the short email! Love yall

Elder Yskes

Exchanges this week

This week was good! We were able to teach a lot of members and build a lot of Ward trust. We had exchanges this week as well. I was able to go with a new Elder from Florida named Elder Corlew! He is so cool! He was baptized a year and a half ago so I have been a missionary longer than he has been a member! CRAZY! He is super fun! We have been having a fun time seeing investigators in our area progress. It is always a testimony builder to see people love the Gospel of Jesus Christ as soon as they are introduced to it! Anyways hope everyone has a good week!

- Elder Yskes 

New Companion is Awesome

This week was super fun! Elder 'Iongi (E-ong-e) is my new companion. He is a Tongan from Bountiful, Utah. It has been really fun! We have been super busy and doing a lot of work. We had a cool experience this week. We saw some people pushing a car so we went and got them some gas and they were super cool! Also had a really good volleyball night with a lot of people. Also, our investigators Kou and Kiri are still planning on baptism on June 30th! We are so excited! We have definitely seen lots of blessings!!

- Elder Yskes 

Two Baptisms Scheduled!!

Tues: Today we had exchanges and were able to teach several lessons which was fun! The Zone Leaders apartment has a ping pong table so that was fun! 

Wed: Today we had some more good lessons. 

Thurs: This morning we did some service at a member’s house. Chopped down some trees with thorns all over them so that was fun. 

Fri: Today we were able to do service at the Zoo. That was really fun. The animals were super cool. We also had a lot of lessons and were really busy today which was good. We had our weekly Volleyball night as well which is always awesome! 

Sat: Today we had a bomb lesson with some of our investigators, 2 of which are planning on getting baptized near the end of this month. It is always exciting to see people come closer to Jesus Christ!

Sun: Today we found out that Elder Mendoza will be transferred to Fresno and I will get a new companion. My new companion is a really cool Elder named Elder I'ongi! I am excited! 

Love Yall have a nice week!! 

-Elder Yskes

A Poem by Elder Yskes on Facebook

It was a good week this week 

Tuesday: Today I wrote a pretty cool poem and put it on Facebook! Check it out!

Wednesday: We had service this morning and got to watch the young men play basketball because one of our investigators came. 

Thursday: Today we helped someone move and ran out of miles on our car so we walked home hahaha. Every month we have a limit on miles and today we almost went over hahaha. 

Friday: Today we had a couple lessons and our YSA Volleyball that a couple investigators come to as well. 

Saturday: Today we cleaned the church and had a super good lesson with a family of investigators! They want to get baptized this month so we are very excited! 

Sunday: It was a good day at church and a lot of people came! We also went with a member to drop off cookies to a couple of people so that was fun! It was a good week!

-Elder Yskes

Awesome Sunday!

Sorry everyone. It was a good week but time is short today. We had a family of 6 come to church this Sunday which was huge because we average about 30 to 40 at church. It was Awesome! 

Yosemite

Hey everyone! Had a good week! Went to Yosemite National Park today so not too much time to email time. Sorry. Hope y'all have a good week! More updates next week.

Elder Yskes

Mother's Day Wishes

Tues: today was a good day! Had several lessons and it is always good to be able to teach. Wen to the address of someone who asked to meet with us and it was a prison...That was interesting

Wed: Today we did some service which was super fun. We also had interviews with our mission President which was good. 

Thurs: Today we had a few lessons and some good contacts.

Fri: This morning we had an awesome lesson and this evening we had our branch Volleyball night which was fun as always! 

Sat: Today was a good one! We went to a wedding at noon and the husband got baptized at 6! Super exciting! 

Sun: Happy Mothers day to everyone! I was able to Skype my family which was super fun! 

-Elder Yskes

Back to Fresno for a Baptism

May 1: First day outside of Fresno! I got transferred up to Merced! Here we cover half an English Ward and a Hmong Branch. It has been super fun so far. All the members are super pumped to do missionary work and we are excited to help!

May 2: Had a bunch of lessons meeting different members and investigators. Also did some service for the Salvation Army. That was fun! 

May 3: Did some service for some members then had a few more lessons getting to know people. 

May 4: Today we were able to go give someone a blessing in the hospital. Always good to help others. We also had our Branch volleyball night and we were able to get some people out so that was good! 

May 5: Today I was able to go back to Fresno to see a baptism of the sister of one of my recent converts! She just turned 8 a couple weeks ago so it was exciting to see her decide to get baptized. 

May 6: Today we had a lot of church hahaha. Covering the Ward and the Branch means we are at the church from 8:30 in the morning to 2:00. So, a lot of church but it is a lot of fun. Afterwards we were privileged to be able to take the Sacrament to a couple people. It was a super good experience to be able to bless the sacrament. Haven't been able to do that in a while. 

As promised here are some pictures from last week! Some from the zoo and one from last week’s baptism and one from this week’s baptism. 

-Elder Yskes

Note: I wasn't able to download the pictures Ian sent so I will do that when I can get the pictures. Janet

Transfer to Merced

So, we are at the zoo right now! Don't have too much time to email. Will send pictures next week. 

This week we did a few fun things. We helped the Red Cross install fire alarms door to door. We installed 25 fire alarms in about 2 hours. We also had a mini missionary come out with us for a day. It was our Bishop’s son. He is preparing to go on a mission so he spent the day with us to see what missionary life is like. 

      We had a baptism on Saturday as well! Ntxawm was someone Elder Bagley and I started teaching a year ago! It was so cool to see her finally enter into the waters of baptism. 

      THIS WEEK I AM GOING TO GET TRANSFERED. I have spent all my mission in the ward I am in right now. It will be weird. I will be transferred to a small Hmong branch in Merced. It will be a change. It was sad to say goodbye to all the wonderful people I have met. I shed some tears saying goodbye to some of my favorite members. They will be missed. 

      Today we are at the zoo and it is super fun! I will send some updates about it next week!

Elder Yskes

Steve and his wife

Baptism

April 17: We went farming again today! It was super fun! then we had our weekly missionary meeting.

April 18: This morning we sung at a Hmong funeral. We sang “Nearer my God to Thee” in Hmong. It was super fun!

April 19: Today we had lunch with former Elder Biggs who came back into town to visit. It was pretty fun! Then we went on exchanges for the day so I was with Elder Hinckley. It was cool to be able and go back and teach some of the people I used to teach. 

April 20: Today was a pretty normal missionary day. Our investigator was interviewed in preparation for their baptism tomorrow, so that was exciting! 

April 21: Today our investigator Ntxawm was baptized! We are super excited for her! It was an amazing experience! 

April 22: Today Ntxawm received the Gift of the Holy Ghost! It was a good day at church. After church, we had a couple really good visits with some members of the church that come and some that don't. Overall a really good week! 

Here are some pictures from the Baptism!

-Elder Yskes

Armed with Smartphones!!

April 10th: This morning we went farming. It was really fun. We helped plant lemongrass  After that we went and taught some lessons. We then went over to the church and had a barbecue so that was pretty fun!

April 11th: Today was pretty crazy! We got our smartphones so now we can have better communication with those were teaching and have access to Facebook. It is pretty weird being back in the real world but we will figure it out.

April 12th: Today was a pretty normal missionary day. Went around trying to teach people and ended up having a really good lesson with a family. When we left the dad was just watching random Mormon Messages so that was cool!

April 13th: Today was really good! We were able to get a couple members out teaching with us so we had some really good lessons. One with an investigator, and one with a less active family.

April 14th: Today was a really busy day. We started off doing some landscaping at our Bishop’s house and then went to a party and met a whole bunch of family members of one of the members in our ward. They challenged us to basketball but we won so it was good! We ended the night visiting someone who lives way out in the middle of nowhere. They had just shot two pigs and we went to go look at them. It was right next to a chicken fighting ring! It was pretty sweet! Hahaha 

April 15th:  Church was really good tonight. Some of the people we are teaching came so that was really cool. After church, we went to the hospital and gave the daughter of one of the families we are teaching a blessing. It was really good. After dinner, an investigator family invited us over for a BBQ. Then we ended the night teaching our Recent Convert. It was really good! It is exciting to see the progress of people. 

Took a couple selfies of some of our friends and of service. Also, one of Elder Israelsen kissing a frog at the Children's hospital. 

-Elder Yskes

11,400 Eggrolls!!!

April 3: Had a couple lessons today then had our MCM meeting.

April 4: Contacted some cool people today. Had a lesson as well so that was good. 

April 5: We went door knocking today. It was pretty fun! We met some cool people and not as many wackos as normal so that was good! After that we visited some members and a couple people I used to teach. It was good! 

April 6: Had a couple more lessons with some people who will probably come out to church this week. Also helped cut vegetables in preparation for the Eggroll fundraiser the youth group will be doing tomorrow. When we were cutting onions, they brought in pizza and after the prayer on the food every single person in the room was crying because it hurt to close your eyes after cutting the onions. It was pretty funny! 

April 7: Today we had our annual Eggroll fundraiser! We made 11,400 Eggrolls!!! It was insane! It was super fun too! It was raining so we had like 10 pop up canopies covering the deep fryers so they wouldn't explode hahaha. Pretty funny! 

April 8: Church today was good! Had a good turn out and saw a couple people who moved about 8 or 9 months ago so that was cool! They came back to visit. It is pretty crazy that I have been in the same ward for this long but hey it is fun! 

Hope y'all have a good week! 

-Elder Yskes