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.