Another Transfer For the Elder

Hey hey, I am nineteen today. What what!!! Even though its not a major age like 18 or 21 I still feel old... not.

  Man so I woke up this morning with a smile on my face and skip in my step. Then I got a call from the APs  telling me that I have been transferred. =:::( so I have to get ready to head over to Memphis on Wednesday to find who, where, and why.      Haha, E-rock gets to be a  primary teacher. Awesome. God gives us callings to grow and to know him better. Eddie is a priest-sweet. Hey, tell me more guys come on.

Well, I will repent and take more pics. And I will be in Memphis on Wednesday.I will tell yall more next  on the who, where, and why. Well, God will tell me the why in his own time. I need to listen for it.
Love Elder (Ryan) E Duron

Ice Age- the Meltdown

Happy 20 years together Mom and Dad!!!! That's awesome, and great job on the solo, Haley.  I have heard that you did great. we still have the same address so if you send the packages  now it be awesome.

  This week was great. I think we came across a drug dealers house a couple  days ago looking for a less active member. How do I know that... well because the dogs don't like guys in suits. That's right-the dogs did not try to bite us; they just got in our way and would not let us past.

  Speaking of dogs,  we saw Meliva again and she is doing fine. We went on exchanges with the zone leaders, so me and Elder Soelburg went to see her and ended up chasing her mean biting little old blind Ewok dog around her yard. Yup, it bit me so I had to exercise patience and give the dog back to its owner.

   Oh yeah you guys will laugh at this. they had me counduct the music in priesthood 3 times in a row now so tell the young men to go Nike and just do it! also in church the priesthood lesson was about Joseph Smith. The teacher ( one of the most southern men I have ever met) gets up there and says "what do we know about Joseph Smith." someone says he was form New York; the teacher looks up and says "that would mean is he a yankee anet he". x)

  Yesterday was awesome. Our investigator got interviewed by president.... and he passed. Now all we have to do is wait and pray for him. He plans to get baptizied on 22 with his son and we cant wait to have a white Christmas in Paragould.

  So about the phone call I can only do it on Christmas day, and yes I will at around  lets say 8 or 9 which means like 7 or 8 for you guys. And if you could be at uncle sam's on Christmas day that would be awesome. If not, oh well.
LOVE Elder (Ryan) Duron

Ice Storm

Man it's cccccoldddd here. We had a great week besides the weather.
  We have been working hard on getting Neil to baptism. We had an interview with President for yesterday after church, but because of the storm church was cancelled! That was kra-crazy. But we plan to have Neil and his son Ian baptized this mounth,
  There is ice all over the place, on the trees, cars- man even the air feels like it has ice in it. We have been lucky because it did not take out the power. We also have been able to see a lot of our investigators after the storm and that's a super plus to this week.
  We taught Logan, Skippy's grandson, who was super interested in our message. We taught him lesson1 and during the lesson you could  tell the spirit was there. Right before we invited him to be baptized he said 'why don't you drink sweet tea?' (side note sweet tea is something that is a part of the southern lifestyle and is really hard to stop drinking it.) we told him about the word of wisdom and testified of Joseph Smith and how The Book of Mormon is the evidence that he is a prophet. Have a date set with him for the 29th. =)
  It has also been a bit crazy. We saw a guy this week who said Elder Bluth could be a body guard for the prophet. We also have news that they are going to put us back down to Paragould soon so let everyone that a change of address we be happening soon. but not transfers until the frist of next year!
  Love ya mom,  from your frozen son
Elder (Ryan) Duron
.

No pics :,( or THIS IS PIGGOTT !!!

   I feel that I have not kept my part of the deal and am sorry for no pics. We are down in Paragould today for various reasons, but I can't  BELIEVE I forgot my camera. That's  just no good. I plan to send pics and the card as well as a gift for secret Santa so watch the mail.
   Man what a week! We went to the  hospital  and put our names on the list. The lady there actually was really intereseated in our message and we plan to go back to see her and find new people. Also we have  awesome news about Neil.

    We had interviews with the mission president last Wednesday and got interesting  news from him (I will tell y'all about that in my letter). But we talked to him about Neil and how he needs an interview with him, and president plans on doing that this sunday. So we plan to have Neil and his son Ian baptized sometime this month or the next.

   Also we had four thanksgiving dinners in a row, and thank goodness, we need those. The Branch has been so helpful. They help so much with the work. They are one of the most cheerful and loving groups of saints I have seen so far.
   We have mostly been finding through less actives and members. All because of Elder Bluth's sprained foot, but it is getting better. But since we have been talking to less active members we saw good brother G ( u know who) again. We have been working with him and he thinks he can not sin and also that any member that is in the army should be kicked out of the church. (Jacob 4:14) o-O but all in all we have been making great progress here.

  I have been working on studying and prefecting my teaching. Which means memorizing   scriptures.  That's right, Dad I have been putting scriptures to memory for every lesson point in PReach my Gospel. Like I said before, I plan to send pictures+card+letter+gift+other things= package from me.
Love y'all from the back woods of Arkansas 

EL Duron

Piggott Rising

HI there. It is soo cold! But I plan  to buy a jacket, gloves, and a hat. A member made scarves for me and Pedersen.

   My oh my,  I forgot the camera! I am such a Pyle! ( goof) I had pictures of the Memphis temple and everything, but oh well. So out with Elder Pedersen and in with my new comp Elder Bluth. Guess where he is from... no not Tonga but Sandy Utah.

   We were teaching Skippy and Dolores last Friday and man the spirit was there.  During the lesson their grandson Logan walked in and looked at the ceiling . I gazed up and saw a huge spider. Logan said " I'll be back" so we went on. Then he comes in with a 12 gage shot gun and I think my gosh he is going to shoot that spider back to kingdom come. But he grabbed the barrel and smashed it with the butt of the gun.
All three of them are reading and praying to know the truth.

   We have been coming up with new ways to find people because Elder Bluth broke his leg before he came to Piggott. So we have been putting our names on lists at the hospital  and the community  center of people who can go and see those who are in need or are ill. We have faith that this we lead us to the elect.

  The sister  missionaries are having a hard time right now. Their top progressing investigator ran away  with the circus. I am not kidding. He joined the circus and as the strong man is going to travel the country. He says they are stopping in Tucson somewheres so keep your eyes peeled for a Cody Haggar, and when you do find him sick the missionaries on him!!!
  The branch is coming along just fine. I wish I brought that camera, but oh well.

Love Elder R.E. Duron

Hunters of men, Hunted by a Mean Santa, Kishkumen the Cat and Transfers

 What's up Mi Familia. Another week full of cra-craziness! 

   We went to a place called Searcy (sir-cee) for a meeting. In the meeting we were taught how to be hunters in this fullness of times. We were also told how we should testify to everyone we talk to and share the message of the restored gospel and how it blesses and seals families. It was awesome and I got a lot out of it.

   We have had a lot of good things happen and a lot of weird things happen as well. The good is we found and taught a lot of people this week. Skippy came to church and loved it and the members fellowshipped him very well.

    Okay now down to the  nitty gritty of the week. It starts off with Kishkumen, not the robber but the cat. We woke up one day to find a cat chilling on our car. we tried everything to make it go away but all it wanted was to come in our house! And one time after a very busy day we came in and there is Kishkumen chilling right under our table. Well let's just say we casted him out of our midst.

    Then we went out. we were walking down this long road when I get this feeling saying 'hey someone is following you.' At first I igorned it but then it came again but this time it said 'look behind you.' I did and saw a man walking behind us who kinda looked like Santa Claus  I turned to Elder Pedersen who had already seen him so we walked faster. He does too. We decide to go left; He turns left and cuts right in front of us and hands us some cards. We try to talk to him but all he wanted to do was yell at us so we told him to have a nice day and we would pray for him. It was very interesting to be stalked by Santa Claus.

  Pedersen got a transfer call today. So we will go Memphis I will bring my camera this time. Peace  be with y'all.
I was born in the gospel, molded by it, and I know it to be true, and I know God knows it too.

: Blytheville, And Ice cream

Hi ther' from YE ole Piggott.
Where to begin, man what a week. Well we will start with exchanges
    I had the opportunity  to go to Blytheville, which was fun. I got to be the senior companion. Elder Bunderson has only been out for 4 weeks so that was interesting. I wish I had my camera with me. We met a sweet old lady with a "concert filled" ( it was hollow) baseball bat who cried when I told her I was only going stay for a day. Also Bunderson had nightmare that all his invesigators were dead, and he woke me and I thought it was to get up, so I got my knees and started to pray, and I realized  I a good 3 more hours before we had to wake up. =)

   Neil is doing okay but pray for him. Skippy and Dolores almost dropped us but we bore our testimonies and taught them the plan of happiness and they brought up baptism. They asked if they had to be rebaptized  and we explained it with the Ice cream truck story. I asked Skippy what would you do if the Ice cream guy handed you a ticket. He similed and said "I would use it to buy some Ice cream". x) They are working towards baptism in a couple weeks.
   The work here has been going great. We have been finding people like crazy and every one is willing to talk to us.
  Thank y'all for the love and support. We have had an awesome week. Thank y'all so much.
pic1 me and a Thunderbird
pic 2 me and a horse

Elder Duron's Christmas List

This is from a handwritten  letter From Elder Duron responding to several requests for a Christmas list from him.  Here are the things he needs/ wants The most, Especially for Christmas and/or his birthday December 29. But I'm sure he'd enjoy any of these things anytime.

     -Flashlight
      -GPS
     - music, That follows the following guidelines:
              Invites the spirit, helps you focus on the work, directs thoughts and feelings to the Savior.  
              Nothing that Pulls your thoughts away from the work. No romantic lyrics and nothing that 
              kills the spirit.

    -Gift cards to any fast food restaurant
    - SNACKS!!!
    -Simple recipes for homemade stuff
    -Duct tape, it's hard to come by down here.
    -a Red Ryder BB gun with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time
    -Pictures, photos or hand-drawn does not matter.
    -And anything else someone would like to give would be great. 

It's the hash slinging slasher and we get our door knocked

Thank y'alls for the prayer and packages. They were sorely needed.   We had a good week. We talked to an ex preacher who agreed with everything.  It's just that he believes a hundred percent in the Trinity and was trying to so badly to prove it to us I felt sorry for him. We testified of the Book of Mormon and told him that it can answer those questions.    Halloween was fun.We rode our bikes so people would not mistake us for trick or treaters and luckly no one egged our house so we were happy! We also had dinner at a part member family where the husband is a dry Mormon- had dirty rice and fried green beans.   We also had a Jehovah's wittness knock on our door Friday morning, which was fun. He was super surprised  to see me answer the door O-O. We tried to offer him a Book of Mormon but he said he already had one. He also asked if we trick-or-treated as kids and we said yes, but we don't do evil stuff, but he just handed us a paper and ran away.   Elder Pedersen and I have been doing well and the area is coming along because we are working hard.man crazy ladies! okay see yall later
(Note -Ryan says the librarians in Piggott are very strict about keepingComputer usage to one hour, which is probably the source of the "crazy ladies" comment.)

Y'all want somethin' to eat?!

   What a  crazy week. ;) 
Man I gave a talk yesterday on the primitive church and how it works today.that was fun. Lets see what else have I forgotten to tell y'all.
  Oh yeah, Memphis.  I am sorry I forgot my camera because we got to see the temple. It was right next to the stake center where we had our meeting. It was awesome! It was about how we can be more bold yet loving towards the people. The guys who thaught are well known for baptizing hundreds of people on their missions to Utah of all places. It has done wonders as I have seen how the stuff they thaught us can apply to people and how we can help them to follow Christ.

     Investigators... these are some of the most interesting people I have met so far, and I love every single one of them. First is a man named Neil. He is a ex navy seal/EX UFC fighter/EX gangster. who is wanting to be baptized but he is on parole so he has to come to church for a while first. But he is doing great, and has a great faith in christ.

    The next is Melbia who we ran into because of her killer dog (which reminds me of that fur ball monster from the Dark Crystal). She has met with missionaries when they still had the discussions. So we thaught her the restoration, during the lesson we asked her if she had prayed about the Book of Mormon and she said that she has received an answer. So we invited her to baptism and tried to set a date for the 3rd of November and she  said " I need more time to study how about the 1st... of next year." o_0  but we are still working with her.

    Time is up I am sending y'all a letter tonight.  

    Yours from the front, Elder Duron

Onward, Ever Onward

Dear Mi Familia and Everyone Else,

The work here in Piggott is moving forward. Not as fast as I would like it to, but it is going well.
Thank y'all for the prayers and the love.

    Where to begin...well I forgot to tell who was baptized, Silly me. Her name is Sheela Woolard and she was a miracle to say the least. But as she read and prayed she knew this was the path she should follow.

    So we were on bike week... well sort of. Elder Pederson hates riding bikes after having to do so for a whole transfer ( 6 weeks),  so we walk pretty much all of Piggot. Man let me you tell there are people who have been here since  the Flintstones, and they are the most humble and Christian people I have ever met. We taught a man named Skippy and he ate up lesson one and was hungry for more. We also tend to find a lot of people who were taking the lessons but moved here. So it is not by chance that we have been sent to open this area.

    We talked to an old Mexican man who had talked to missionaries before and has read the Book of Mormon twice!!!  and as we were talking to him he answered a call from his wife and said " I am talking to two Mormon missionaries. They are my buddies we speak the same language." I know that as we talked we saw how much God loved each of us and wants us all to live with him again. I hope we meet that man again.

  The meeting in Memphis was one of most inspiring meetings I have ever been to.

Dang it I have to go. Time is up. Love Y'all.  Keep me in your prayers, and Elder Pederson also. 

Elder Duron

 YUP I was transferred to a huge area with a small branch named Paragould. Elder Pederson and I are also opening a new area here in a small town called Piggot  [Pig-get].    It's a lot like Cabot in some ways in other ways it's a whole lot different. Piggot is a town where everyone knows everyone. But the big thing about it is that it has been untouched by missionaries. So no one really knows who we are. So we have the element of surprise. We also are living in a small duplex  aka house which is a little better than an apartment.   There are a lot of old people up here and they love talking to missionaires. We have been called a lot of interesting things here. Like some thought we were from a private school and an Elderly man thought we were ASU [Arkansas StateUniversity ] football players, which was new.  Along with me getting transferred here the Branch also got sisters and a senior couple from Idaho so the missionary force is building. Which also means that we get northern part of the branch and the sisters get the southern part and the Senior couple focuses on the less active members.    Elder Pederson is from Utah and he loves the people. He also does not know how to say no to members when they offer things.     The branch is full of awesome members. Like the Charles' who live in a crazy cool compound which brother Charles made with the help of missionaries over the course of 30 + years. Another one is Chip, a very solid member who lives in Piggot and it seems that everyone here knows him. You can't go anywhere without people here saying "aren't you from the church that Chip goes to?" or "tell Chip to come see us."   But any who  times up love y'all and I will work hard. 

Bittersweet 'twas the week

What an awesome week and what a greater weekend!
     We had a baptism on Saturday. We did it in between Conference sessions. Man, let me tell you guys I was excited. Before Conference we were getting the program ready, and I was nervous to do my first baptism, but when it came time to do it I felt of God's love as I performed the baptism.
   Man, oh, man what a Conference! The speakers just blew me away with the talk of missionary work. It was the same stuff they use at the MTC, and they quoted Preach My Gospel a
lot. I love the talks form Utchdorf, Dube, and president Monson and Funk on missionary work. Their words ring true. We should be equally yoked in this work of bringing others to partake of the fruit of life.
   Now a lot of people wonder how can they do this.  Well in the words of Elder Nelson "Ask the missionaries they can help you." believe it or not, we are trained to help members do missionary at the MTC. Ask the missionaries for pass long cards that you can give people, which you can use when the time is right, or when you feel the spirit move you to do so. Also be open to giving the missionaries referrals and help them by inviting them over.
    Conference and a baptism was awesome. I learned a lot from that weekend to how I can better the work and help others follow Christ.

    The bitter part of the week is that transfers are this week and guess who's moving??? Well if you guessed elder Chapman you would be..... wrong. Yup, I got the call today-no idea where I am going. It turns out you don't find out until you go to the meeting. I am sad to leave, but I know that wherever I go  whether it be over the river, to the sticks, in the swamp or the middle of the city, that The Lord has put me there to bless not just me, but those who are ready for the gospel.
From Elder Duron
Saying goodbye to Elder Staib

    The baptism



From, Elder R Duron

Exchanges, Ups, Downs, and a Mission Goal

HEY how are you guys doing? Let me tell you what a week. Where to begin hmm. Well I guess I will start from the beginning and then answer all y'all's questions.
   It started off with exchanges where Elder Chapman went to Jacksonville and I had the opportunity to stay in Cabot with the district leader Elder Staib. Once we parted ways, Staib and I went spiritual harvesting in Ward. There we found some awesomely prepared people. Once we kocked on the door and a man answered it and asked what were we selling. We told him that we were  representatives of Jesus Christ and that we felt that we needed to stop by and leave the Savior's peace and blessing. Once he heard this he said come on in, and the family was awesome. More on them later. So after that we taught a boss lesson which the sisters took, but I'm fine with that.
   This week was crazy. We had baptisms drop and lessons turn sour =(  but we kept our heads up. Oh, and I can tell football season has started. I remember we were spiritual harvesting and I kocked on a door and a man opened it. He looked at us and said " Hey guys not on Sunday alright!" I was about to ask why when we heard a referee whistle and he turned around and closed the door. Man, people in the south love their football. They also have a UofA here too 0_o. I think some one should tell someone about that.
   I have learned a lot from the hard stuff, but I only remember the good stuff in great detail. Like the lesson we had with that awesome family in Ward. We were teaching Lesson 1 and when we were telling them about the First Vision the father of the house said " I like that. It makes me feel good." The spirit was so strong they commited to baptism, but there is stuff we need to talk to them about.
    Last but not least the mission goal was to baptize 56 people this month. Last I heard they were one away from that goal. Also President has asked us to focus on The Book of Mormon when teaching, because that is how you can know if it is true. He challenged us to keep one in our hands at all times when we go out, but also use it to answer people's concerns, and what a difference it makes.
  I would like to answer y'all's questions.. The food is good. All Southern cooking like BBQ chicken, steak and gravy, and mashed patatoes. And with Conference we tend to invite people to watch and listen to see the fruits of  modern day prophets. Oh and the tech! Thats the big news. Missions in Texas have already got tech from what I hear and it's doing wonders. Like missionaries are teaching people in China! Also, When people are interested but the missionaires in thier area good to bed earlier, then they can talk to missionaries online. So that is awesome. Look on facebook under the name Elder and you will get a lot of them.
Love you all. Sorry no pictures this week but next week I will send them.
Elder Duron

Exchanges, Pox, and a Marriage/Baptism

Hey what's up???? Man what a week, let me tell you guys. A lot of stuff has happened in the past two weeks. let's see here where to begin... I think I will tell y'all about my exchange to Jacksonville for starters.

    Two weeks  ago I went on exchanges with elder Merrail in the town right next to Cabot named JacksonVille. A little bit about  Jacksonville: It's like Cabot but with more black people which is cool. Also it's bigger. So we go to into town eat fried pies (empanadas). Then we go to visit this one family; we go up to the door no one answers. So Elder Merraill walk's over to the house next door and I thought this was another family that they were teaching. He knocks on the door and this lady comes out and first thing I say is "Hi my name is Elder Duron, Elder Staib ( the distirct leader) is in Cabot. " Then Elder Merraill says  '' And I am Elder Merraill we are from the church of Jesus Christ..." I then realized that we were spiritual harvesting. Yeah I asked why he did not tell me he said "well I did not think of it until you started talking". But I learned a lot from him and how to study effectively.

   We have run into a lot of drunk guys  lately

and let me tell ya they are no fun. Like on Saturday we were teaching a family of two, Lynn and Cole, who are super close to baptism, and we were teaching Lynn about the word of wisdom when out of the blue this guy named Roberto comes in and you can tell that he is a little more then tipsy. Roberto then asks us why are there so many languages and starts telling us his life story. It was sad because you can tell the spirit had just taken a nose dive. But she commited to keep the word of wisdom. AH,  I just realized that Roberto might be the reason why she commited to the word of wisdom. We all learn from examples I guess.

    Yeah, having the chicken pox really stinks, but I can go out now. It's I just that look like a leper now, and most people tend to shy away from us, but I know that God's work cannot be stopped as long as we do our best. Oh, yeah also I have been cutting my hair I will send y'all a picture with this email.

  Oh and we have a baptisim happening this Saturday, but it's not just a baptism, it will also be a wedding. So that's going to be super cool.

   love you guys. I know that this is God's church and that he loves us and wants us to be happy. I know that God has called prophets to lead and guide us back to him, and that the book of Mormon is the truth of the restoration.

  from yours in arms,

 Elder Ryan Duron

Awesomeness, Fire and Brimstone and sickness!

Hey family how y'all doin'.

This week was awesome. We have new investigators who are amazing.
    We are teaching this lady lesson1 and asked her for examples of prophets.When we say that they usually say Moses or Noah, but she said Joseph Smith and Bringham Young. So that was cool. Also there is guy named Guimen who we are teaching. After we thaught him lesson one he said " You believe just about everything I do, just updated".  And he also said "hey so the book of Mormon connects  the dots".
   Also Hell is a very popular subject down here. These people are a God fearing people. At the tasty freeze they give away comic books which always end with someone going to H E double hockey sticks. But everyone here has a deep love for Christ.
  Cabot is full of many different churches. Bapitist, Nazeraine, Methodist and Assembly of God. We are actually planing on teaching a lady who says she can speak in tounges. 0_0 The work is awesome and the people are super cool.
love you guys,

Elder Duron

P.S. I am sick but don't worry that won't stop me from helping people come unto christ.

About Cabot Arkansas

   Let me tell you about a small town named Cabot. Cabot is a place where everyone knows just about everybody unless you are in the Airforce; there is a base not too far form here. Cabot is made up of three places- Cabot, Ward, and Austin. Cabot is where the city folk live, but Austin and Ward is were the country people are at. In fact Jackie lives in Austin. There are three things you will find a lot of down here is Religion, Bugs, and kids!
   Religion is a big here. There are church buildings are every street; they even outnumber the fast food places. Also everybody belongs to a church. You have to look hard to find someone who does not have faith in Christ, which is one of the cool things about the south. HEY did Y'ALL know that President Kimball had a vision for the south? President Kimball said because of the faith of people in the south it will become one of most highest baptizing missions in the world.0-0 And I can see why.
  Cabot is like the fire swamp or the forbidden forrest, because there are bugs and dangers all over the place. But to a child its a playground. Yeah you find kids everywhere here, which is good because that means the are families that are ready for the gospel.
   We are teaching two part member families, the first is the Beasly's. The whole family are members expect for the father, Billy (he is the one that asked me about the guns) and we are helping him understand the gospel. Which is super cool because Billy told us he knows the book of Mormon and church are true. The other family is the Steeles who are the opposite, meaning the father is a less active member and the rest of the family are nonmembers. We have met and talked a lot but have not been able to teach because of how busy they are.
  What else...oh yeah I lead my first lesson. that was cool, that family was super prepared. and I had my first hand holding pray/talk which was kinda weird. We met this lady and her son in the middle of the street one day while S.Hing( Spiritual Harvesting/ Tracting). And we talked with them and offered to say a prayer with them. well Elder Chapman knew what was coming just by talking to them and had me say the prayer. And while I said it the lady started to yell and shake! 0-0 So that was fun, but work is going well. We have five people with a date to be bapitized.
  I love it here. Thank you guys so much for everything. Oh, tell Cierra and Shayla that their heavenly father loves them and it's awesome they're getting baptized. They are starting the path that leads to happiness and joy in life.

From first area-Cabot Arkansas

WOW. I'm here in Cabot Arkansas. My trainer is elder Chapman. He is a really good missionary. I have learned so much from him already. The ward and the people here are awesome. And I already have some crazy mission stories.
    So listen up-heres a story about Elder Chapman. He is from southern Cali, been here 10 months, and he has been hit by a car not once or twice but three times. He is a great missionary though, who knows the power of prayer. I know I have alot to learn from him.
   Cabot is amazing. The members are a great example of every member a missionary. They are also ready to serve when asked as well. On Sunday we saw that we did not have anyone signed up for dinner for the next ten days, so we gave our list to the RS president before sacrament meeting, and after it was over the whole month was full (even that night).
   Arkansas is flat, meaning acres of farm land. With that there are a lot of farmers and other people who live on the land. Like we were talking to this man named Billy my first day here and the first question I was asked as a missionary was "does Arizona have guns?". But after talking to Billy he reffered us to a man named Jackie. It turns out that Jackie owns a junk yard\barn yard with all kinds of animals chickens, turkeys, peacocks, horses, geese, doves, cats, goats,and a pig the size of my bike. Man it was huge, Jackie said he uses it like a guard dog.
   So anyway we were able to give Jackie a Book of Mormon, and plan to visit again. Also we have 6 people preparing to be bapitized this month.
  Talk to you again soon.
Love you guys.
from Elder Duron

Arriving in Arkansas

Elder Duron arrived in Little Rock on Wednesday, August 8. The mission president and his wife were there To greet him and other new elders and sisters. We received this letter from them by email.


Dear Brother & Sister Duron,
Your Missionary has arrived safely!
We are so excited that Elder Duron is here. We truly look forward to working with him. What a blessing to have a son on a mission. We will do everything in our power to watch over him while he is in our care.
Thank you for taking the time to write some thoughts about your missionary, it is very helpful for us to know more about him. What a wonderful missionary he will become! He was thrilled to receive your first letter when he arrived at the mission home.
Missionary work is so rewarding and miracles happen on a daily basis. We are anxious to get him to work so he can experience what sharing the gospel and serving others is all about. Thank you for sharing your son with us for a short time and for letting us love him for eternity.
Blessings will come to all of us as we strive to be obedient with exactness and love the Lord with all our heart. What a blessing it is to share the gospel and serve the Lord every day in every way.
With Love and Gratitude,
President and Sister Petersen

Last night in the MTC

With the other elders and sisters headed to Arkansas. He was coming down with a cold, which might explain why he's the only one not :)

In the MTC -email and pictures

From Elder Duron in the MTC:

Today is my first and only P-day at the MTC. Speaking of which it is great here, the classes are awesome, the Zone I am in is cool, the food is good, but most importantly the spirit is so strong here.

The classes teach how to invite others to come unto Christ. we study a lot from PMG (preach my gospel), and we have say the missionary purpose from heart(PMG#1) :).

My MTC zone is so cool! the older half (meaning those who have been here longer) left early today and yesterday. One half went to Ohio and other  Minnesota The half that's still here is either going to Arkansas or (and uncle sam is going to love this) the west Indies. We are waiting for 6 new missionaries going to who knows where. but every one else in our building is going to south America or a Russian speaking country.

The first is a pic of the zone at the temple, the guy next to me is Elder stokes and the other three are also going to the same mission(Elders Petty,Reed,Gradner,and Hanover) The two on my left are Elders Hicks and Lotulelei who are awesome missionaries. and then Elder Randell and Kidd are from Arizona.
love you guys.

1st email from the MTC

Just got this from Ryan- um, Elder Duron.

Hey mom, I just had some free time between meetings. It's great here. Love the classes. I have learned so much. My companion is Elder Stokes; he's from Utah, and the zone is awesome. PDay is on Wednesday, so talk to you some more then.

Not extensive, but great to get word from him :)

                                          With his dad just before leaving.

Elder Duron- The Adventure Begins.

Elder Duron left Wednesday, August 14 at 7 o'clock in the morning. He arrived in Salt Lake and was taken to the MTC by his great-grandmother And Great aunt. They are truly great! He said "There was another missionary going out from Tucson, and we were unofficial companions."  So he's already on the job!
                At the MTC with Great Grandmother Gloria and great aunt Emmarie.