Parentals!
Whoa! Those 5 weeks flew by! Week 6 of the transfer is already here. And in that 5 weeks...we were greatly blessed to see the entire Krammes family AND Hailey and Allysa be baptized and confirmed! God's grace has definitely attended us here in Connersville. We have seen so many blessing and so much opposition it's crazy. I love the Krammes family so much...seeing the great changes they've made in their lives is life changing for me. It's a great testimony builder for me seeing such great faith exercised and witnessing the blessings that come from it. I've really learned a lot with this whole experience of being with the Krammes' from the start. The Spirit has been present in all of our lives throughout it all!
Well as you know I am staying in Connersville for another 6 weeks. When I found out I was staying and also found out I was District Leader I received a massive surge of motivation and determination to do whatever it is that the Lord has for me to accomplish here. We are going to work very hard and start helping the ward see our motivation and work with them to bring about the Lord's purposes. This is the hastening and we need as many people on board as possible. I'm excited for another transfer here in the Promised Land of Connersville! I love this ward, I love the people we are working with, I love my companion and fellow missionaries. I love life :) And I love my momma and daddy and brother :) I hope you're enjoying time with family. Give everyone a hug for me. I love you!
Love,
Elder Gunnoe
Monday, August 11, 2014
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Letter received July 11, 2014
Parentals,
Wassup! Long time no talk...my bad :( It has been an amazing couple of weeks here in the promised land of Connersville. So obviously I am staying for this transfer and I am very grateful for that opportunity because so many miracles have been happening. We keep exceeding our expectations of what's going to happen. 2 weekends ago we were able to baptize 3 amazing girls - Brooke, Hailey and Allysa! It was a very spiritual experience. Then this past weekend we baptized Jeremy Sr. and his youngest son Landon which was amazing as well. Now this weekend we will be baptizing the 2 oldest kids - Jeremy Jr. and Kenzie :) It's definitely an exciting time! I am so grateful for this chance I have to be a part of the Lord's work at this time and in this area. This ward is so awesome! I love them all so much :) We have interviews this week which I'm looking forward to - to see President again :) We've been able to do more service with the Risch family lately which has been awesome. It's just great being with their family :) I can't believe I'm a year out. Only 365 short days left. Time is flying. Elder Grubbe and I are doing great :) Thank you so much for the packages - 4th of July and 1 year :) You da bomb! :) We've been getting quite a bit of rain here. The crops are shooting up :) I'll include some programs of the baptisms for you guys and our awesome BBQ flyer :) I hope all is well back home. Say "Hi" to everyone for me. I love you so much! Have a wonderful week.
Much love,
Elder Conner Gunnoe
Wassup! Long time no talk...my bad :( It has been an amazing couple of weeks here in the promised land of Connersville. So obviously I am staying for this transfer and I am very grateful for that opportunity because so many miracles have been happening. We keep exceeding our expectations of what's going to happen. 2 weekends ago we were able to baptize 3 amazing girls - Brooke, Hailey and Allysa! It was a very spiritual experience. Then this past weekend we baptized Jeremy Sr. and his youngest son Landon which was amazing as well. Now this weekend we will be baptizing the 2 oldest kids - Jeremy Jr. and Kenzie :) It's definitely an exciting time! I am so grateful for this chance I have to be a part of the Lord's work at this time and in this area. This ward is so awesome! I love them all so much :) We have interviews this week which I'm looking forward to - to see President again :) We've been able to do more service with the Risch family lately which has been awesome. It's just great being with their family :) I can't believe I'm a year out. Only 365 short days left. Time is flying. Elder Grubbe and I are doing great :) Thank you so much for the packages - 4th of July and 1 year :) You da bomb! :) We've been getting quite a bit of rain here. The crops are shooting up :) I'll include some programs of the baptisms for you guys and our awesome BBQ flyer :) I hope all is well back home. Say "Hi" to everyone for me. I love you so much! Have a wonderful week.
Much love,
Elder Conner Gunnoe
Monday, July 7, 2014
From email dated July 7, 2014
Momdre!! what an amazing week it has been here in the promise land of Connersville! :) 2 of Heavenly Father's sons were brought into the waters of baptism! And as you know we hosted an awesome BBQ today for our investigators and the member's :) it was a really fun time :) i have been doing very well lately! It has just been a wonderful life here lately but very very very busy. we are constantly running all over creation doing this and doing that. It's crazy how much work we've been doing.. we couldn't do it without Him though :) That's definitely something that i've learned is always recognizing God's hand in our work helps it to be constantly there. Always having an attitude of gratitude and knowing where the credit needs to go. it's been amazing to watch things unfold and all of the pieces come together in the lives of those we're working with! We've been able to have some amazing experiences lately as we have been focusing on a couple of families. I cannot believe that i am about to be a year out! only 368 days left!! :( that's scary!! time is flying crazy and i know when the holiday season rolls around again it will fly even faster! i am looking forward to it though because it will be amazing experience as it has been thus far :) I love you so much! i'll work on the letter!! Have a great week!! hug yourself for me :) Love you!!
Elder G
Elder G
Monday, June 23, 2014
Letter received June 19, 2014
Dearest Family,
What a wonderful and crazy week it has been. I don't even know where to start. It has been hot lately. Sticky summer here we come :) The crops are finally starting to come in so literally everything is green now. We've been driving around quite a bit in the past week with the service we did and the different meetings we have. This last preparation day was awesome because it was the Muncie North Zone (Lamanites) vs the Muncie South Zone (us the Nephites) in a huge Nerf war! So much fun! Just being around all the other missionaries made it a great time :) I loved this months Ensign! It has some great articles in it talking about the Priesthood and recognizing revelation. I like the attached quotes from this years Teachings of the Presidents. Well we will be doing a lot of teaching this week including preparation for the baptism of 2 granddaughters of a member! Exciting stuff! I love you! More next time.
Much love and appreciation,
Elder Gunnoe
Teachings of Presidents of the Church - Joseph Fielding Smith:
"We are spirit children of our Eternal Father, who ordained a plan of salvation whereby we might come to earth and progress and advance and become like Him; that is, He provided a gospel plan which would enable us to have eternal family units of our own and to enjoy eternal life."
"We are ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our commission is to represent Him. We are directed to preach His gospel, to perform the ordinances of salvation, to bless mankind, to heal the sick and perhaps perform miracles, to do what He would do if He were personally present - and all this because we hold the Holy Priesthood. As the Lord's agents we are bound by His law to do what He wants us to do regardless of personal feelings or worldly enticements. Of ourselves we have no message of salvation, no doctrine that must be accepted, no power to baptize or ordain or marry for eternity. All these things come from the Lord, and anything we do with reference to them is the result of delegated authority."
What a wonderful and crazy week it has been. I don't even know where to start. It has been hot lately. Sticky summer here we come :) The crops are finally starting to come in so literally everything is green now. We've been driving around quite a bit in the past week with the service we did and the different meetings we have. This last preparation day was awesome because it was the Muncie North Zone (Lamanites) vs the Muncie South Zone (us the Nephites) in a huge Nerf war! So much fun! Just being around all the other missionaries made it a great time :) I loved this months Ensign! It has some great articles in it talking about the Priesthood and recognizing revelation. I like the attached quotes from this years Teachings of the Presidents. Well we will be doing a lot of teaching this week including preparation for the baptism of 2 granddaughters of a member! Exciting stuff! I love you! More next time.
Much love and appreciation,
Elder Gunnoe
Teachings of Presidents of the Church - Joseph Fielding Smith:
"We are spirit children of our Eternal Father, who ordained a plan of salvation whereby we might come to earth and progress and advance and become like Him; that is, He provided a gospel plan which would enable us to have eternal family units of our own and to enjoy eternal life."
"We are ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our commission is to represent Him. We are directed to preach His gospel, to perform the ordinances of salvation, to bless mankind, to heal the sick and perhaps perform miracles, to do what He would do if He were personally present - and all this because we hold the Holy Priesthood. As the Lord's agents we are bound by His law to do what He wants us to do regardless of personal feelings or worldly enticements. Of ourselves we have no message of salvation, no doctrine that must be accepted, no power to baptize or ordain or marry for eternity. All these things come from the Lord, and anything we do with reference to them is the result of delegated authority."
Elder Gunnoe and Elder Grubbe helping tear down a barn
Elder Gunnoe and Elder Grubbe were able to help with this event - must have been fun!!
Nerf war (Nephites vs Lamanites) - quite the contraption
Elder Gunnoe and Elder Grubbe out working hard :)
Monday, June 9, 2014
Letter received June 9, 2014
Familia!
What up?! It has been a crazy couple of weeks with Memorial Day and Zone Conference and just life. Memorial Day was great. We spent it at Bishop's house with all of the Maddox family and all of the Jordan family. So much fun with great food, some football and some intense games of Corn Hole (bean bag toss). Then after that we went to Sister Anders house for another cookout with the Tuma's. Nerf/water war was interesting...Then that evening we went and saw one of our investigators. We were supposed to have a ride home from his house but for some odd reason the member wasn't answering their phone. So we decided to just start walking even though it was about 9. As we got closer to one of the main roads I saw 3 people, 2 with strollers, walking perpendicular to us and felt prompted to talk to them. So we turned to walk toward them and said the usual "hey how you doing" and started to walk past them but couldn't ignore it so I turned around and struck up a conversation with them. Turns out they wouldn't mind meeting with us. So we found 3 new investigators! Then and only then did our member call us to give us a ride :) Had to do what the Lord wanted first! Then Saturday we taught the Book of Mormon lesson to the parents of the family that we're teaching. By Sunday night the mom was on 1 Nephi 7 then Monday the whole family was reading and all the kids wanted their own copies of the Book of Mormon. Now they're on 1 Nephi 11. Their 8 year old is such a great reader it's amazing. Apparently today is supposed to be quite the severe weather. I'm sitting here listening to the rain and intense lightening and thunder. Could be a crazy day. I can't believe Elder Gunnoe is going to Brazil. That's crazy! He'll do great :) Well, I better get this in the mail. I love you so much!!
Much love,
Elder G
What up?! It has been a crazy couple of weeks with Memorial Day and Zone Conference and just life. Memorial Day was great. We spent it at Bishop's house with all of the Maddox family and all of the Jordan family. So much fun with great food, some football and some intense games of Corn Hole (bean bag toss). Then after that we went to Sister Anders house for another cookout with the Tuma's. Nerf/water war was interesting...Then that evening we went and saw one of our investigators. We were supposed to have a ride home from his house but for some odd reason the member wasn't answering their phone. So we decided to just start walking even though it was about 9. As we got closer to one of the main roads I saw 3 people, 2 with strollers, walking perpendicular to us and felt prompted to talk to them. So we turned to walk toward them and said the usual "hey how you doing" and started to walk past them but couldn't ignore it so I turned around and struck up a conversation with them. Turns out they wouldn't mind meeting with us. So we found 3 new investigators! Then and only then did our member call us to give us a ride :) Had to do what the Lord wanted first! Then Saturday we taught the Book of Mormon lesson to the parents of the family that we're teaching. By Sunday night the mom was on 1 Nephi 7 then Monday the whole family was reading and all the kids wanted their own copies of the Book of Mormon. Now they're on 1 Nephi 11. Their 8 year old is such a great reader it's amazing. Apparently today is supposed to be quite the severe weather. I'm sitting here listening to the rain and intense lightening and thunder. Could be a crazy day. I can't believe Elder Gunnoe is going to Brazil. That's crazy! He'll do great :) Well, I better get this in the mail. I love you so much!!
Much love,
Elder G
Friday, May 23, 2014
Letter received May 23, 2014
Parentals!
Well here we go with transfer #8! My new companion is the awesome Elder Grubbe (pronounced Grub). He's from the Portland area of the great state of Oregon. He's been out for a year and a half and is a great missionary! Going to be an awesome transfer! Life has been good here in C-Ville. Lots of crazy thunderstorms lately. Lots of rain and wind. We had a tree blow over at the church. Luckily not on the church. We've been running around seeing a lot of the members getting Elder Grubbe introduced. Also, I started reading through the Book of Mormon for this transfer. It'll be great! It was a great first week. Lots of running around as I said before and with our investigators it paid off because we had 5 investigators at church. So awesome! Hopefully more next week :) Elder Grubbe is a great guy. We're working really well together which is good. Oh ya, forgot to mention we pitched the old 2010 Corolla that was 10,000 miles overdue for being sold and got a sweet 2014 Chevy Cruse. Great car. Nice and clean. Drives well :) So one thing I wanted to mention since I'm starting the Book of Mormon is how we should approach reading the word of God. We can't just read it and we can't just study it. Reading is just going through the text. Studying is reading with a question in mind. What we should really be doing is having what is called a revelatory experience. A revelatory experience is having a two way communication with God as we read so that we can better understand what He wants us to get out of reading. There are 2 questions we should ask after each page read in the Book of Mormon. Does this bring me closer to God and could any man alone have written this book without divine help? When we come to know that the Book of Mormon is true and that it is the word of God it does three things. The Book of Mormon confirms to us that Jesus is the Christ, that the Bible is the word of God, and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. It's wonderful! There is a great passage that can help with this in Alma 32:26-33 which says - "26: Now, as I said concerning faith - that is was not a perfect knowledge - even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge. 27: But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words. 28: Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves - It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me. 29: Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge. 30: But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow. 31: And now, behold, are ye sure that this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness. 32: Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away. 33: And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good." This is all we do as missionaries. We invite people to experiment with what we teach and share with them. Anyone who reads this should do the same. In order to receive an answer though we need to be willing to act on it and allow that tree to grow and be willing to make whatever changes are necessary to apply this to our lives. Well I'm going to get this in the mail. If anyone has any questions or would like to chat - email me at conner.gunnoe@myldsmail.net. I love you! Happy Bird Day mom!
Mucho Love,
Elder Gunnoe
Well here we go with transfer #8! My new companion is the awesome Elder Grubbe (pronounced Grub). He's from the Portland area of the great state of Oregon. He's been out for a year and a half and is a great missionary! Going to be an awesome transfer! Life has been good here in C-Ville. Lots of crazy thunderstorms lately. Lots of rain and wind. We had a tree blow over at the church. Luckily not on the church. We've been running around seeing a lot of the members getting Elder Grubbe introduced. Also, I started reading through the Book of Mormon for this transfer. It'll be great! It was a great first week. Lots of running around as I said before and with our investigators it paid off because we had 5 investigators at church. So awesome! Hopefully more next week :) Elder Grubbe is a great guy. We're working really well together which is good. Oh ya, forgot to mention we pitched the old 2010 Corolla that was 10,000 miles overdue for being sold and got a sweet 2014 Chevy Cruse. Great car. Nice and clean. Drives well :) So one thing I wanted to mention since I'm starting the Book of Mormon is how we should approach reading the word of God. We can't just read it and we can't just study it. Reading is just going through the text. Studying is reading with a question in mind. What we should really be doing is having what is called a revelatory experience. A revelatory experience is having a two way communication with God as we read so that we can better understand what He wants us to get out of reading. There are 2 questions we should ask after each page read in the Book of Mormon. Does this bring me closer to God and could any man alone have written this book without divine help? When we come to know that the Book of Mormon is true and that it is the word of God it does three things. The Book of Mormon confirms to us that Jesus is the Christ, that the Bible is the word of God, and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. It's wonderful! There is a great passage that can help with this in Alma 32:26-33 which says - "26: Now, as I said concerning faith - that is was not a perfect knowledge - even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge. 27: But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words. 28: Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves - It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me. 29: Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge. 30: But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow. 31: And now, behold, are ye sure that this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness. 32: Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away. 33: And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good." This is all we do as missionaries. We invite people to experiment with what we teach and share with them. Anyone who reads this should do the same. In order to receive an answer though we need to be willing to act on it and allow that tree to grow and be willing to make whatever changes are necessary to apply this to our lives. Well I'm going to get this in the mail. If anyone has any questions or would like to chat - email me at conner.gunnoe@myldsmail.net. I love you! Happy Bird Day mom!
Mucho Love,
Elder Gunnoe
Monday, May 5, 2014
From our email today - May 5, 2014
So we were out working yesterday, workin on hitting our 20 lessons, and we were deciding what potentials to go see since we had about an hour and a half left in the day so we decided what order we would go in and we chose a particular family first. So we went to their house and talked with the wife on the porch and set an appointment for Wednesday but her husband came and saw us and said let em in! So we went in and talked with them and they said they had talked with missionaries about 3 years ago and were close to getting baptized but the missionaries got transferred and the new ones didn't go back so they didn't get baptized obviously...so now we're going to teach their whole family and all 6 of them are baptism eligible!! :) so wonderful!!
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