Enjoy Elder Kitchen's final emial from the mission field. Also note that I posted his last letter earlier today.

Dear Family, November 13, 2011

My heart is racing with emotions right now. I cannot believe that the two years of serving the Lord as a Full-time missionary is almost over. Tonight from 6:00-9:00 is the last time I will proselyte as a young missionary for this great and marvelous church. What an incredible absolutely life changing mission I have had. I am so truly grateful with all my heart to my Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ who gave me the sacred privilege to be apart in saving the souls of the Sons and Daughters of God. The mission has changed my life and I know the lives and many others. I am so thankful that with the help of many others including you that I made this decision in my life to serve the Lord. I am so thankful for you mom and dad and all your sacrifices that you have made to allow me to be out here. Countless lives have been blessed and changed for good because of your sacrifice and willingness to be such great parents. I just want both of you to know that I love you with all my soul. Thank you for everything. I want everyone to know with all my heart that I know for a fact that God our Eternal Father in Heaven Lives! That Jesus Christ is the Son of the Almighty God and that their work and glory is to bring to pass the Immortality and Eternal Life of man. I know that they know us, they love us more than we know, and that they dwell in the heavens listening to our prayers. I know Jesus Christ will someday return to the earth glorified and perfected and that he will reign on the earth as King of Kings. I believe and have a strong testimony of the reality of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that he suffered for our sins, pains, and iniquities in the Garden of Gethsemane. That he was bruised, beaten, and then was crucified for the sins of the world. That he indeed rose of the third day and was Resurrected with a Glorified immortal body. I know that his Atonement can literally clean us from our sins, heal our pains, strengthen us in our trials and can make everything that is un-fair in life become right. I have felt the Atonement in my life, it is real, and I know we must use it everyday in our lives. I love Repentance and I know it qualifies us for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that if we read its pages it will endow us with power from on high. I know that this Church is true and that Joseph Smith was a true Prophet of God. There is so much more of my testimony I could write but because of time I leave these things with you in the sacred name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Well I don’t have that much time left, and I will be seeing all of you very soon. The last week in the mission field was amazing. We were going to have a baptism tonight but I just heard it got postponed....oh well. But the Wade family is great and they are so excited to get to meet all of you. Everyone can hardly believe that all of our whole family gets to come here to New Zealand...what a blessing. I cannot wait for that once in a lifetime opportunity. And mom that’s awesome that you invited the Versteegs to come to my homecoming. That is a great missionary opportunity. Well you also asked about going to Whangarei ward....I cant remember what time their sacrament meeting starts...I’m sure I can look in my old planners and find out. But we will probably be very tired from traveling...I’m sure just going to Massey ward will be great! :) we can still see a lot of the members when we go to Whangarei. Its going to be an adventure....but no worries like you said I know how to drive on this side of the road. Its going to be confusing going on the right side for a few days and then going right back to the left haha.

My Dear wonderful Family soon I will be able to see you all and give you a big hug. I cant wait....you all mean the world to me. I’m so excited and I can’t wait. I’m also extremely sad and it’s very hard to leave the mission behind. I’m excited, nervous and just wondering what the future will hold for me. I know if I trust in the Lord and stay worthy for his blessing that he will lead me to have an amazing successful life full of peace, happiness, and joy.

I will see all of your beautiful faces soon and until then just know that I love you all so much. May the Lord bless you all.

Love, your son and brother,

Elder Tyler Paul Kitchen

Kia Ora Family! November 6, 2011

I can’t believe the day has come where I only have one week left in the Mission Field as a full time missionary. There are so many different emotions that I’m feeling at this point. I am sad to know that an extremely incredible adventure and my mission are coming to a close. I’m overwhelmed with Joy to know I will soon be home to see all of you and be with my family. I am also excited/wondering what the future will bring and kind of just wondering what is going to happen when I get back. I don't really know exactly what I’m feeling....it just seems weird because I’ve been on my mission for so long. What a blessing its going to be to have all of you come to New Zealand to see this beautiful place that I’ve spent two years of my life serving the Master. I cant wait until you get to meet all the people, be here in the country, and get to see all the places I’ve been. It will be a trip of a lifetime!

About when I get home, I still haven't thought very much about what exactly I’m going to do. I have pondered a little and prayed about it to. I know when I get off my mission I will have more time to ponder and pray about the important decisions I will need to make. I know I want to go to college as soon as I can. I also want to get a job. I want to attend BYU.... I don’t really know what I want to study yet or to do for a future job....Maybe I should know....is that normal. I remember when your younger you always say I wonder what I’m going to be when I grow up. I cant believe its already here....I’m grown up. I still can’t believe I’m 21 years old. Its even more weird to think that Ryan is almost 19 and that Jami is 16 and Kaylee is I think 14 or 15? Wow that must mean that you Mom and Dad are getting really old hahaha just kidding! I know the Lord will help guide my life and help me understand what I must do to have success. My Faith in Jesus Christ has increased a lot and I know he will bless me and our family for my service to Him. I love serving Heavenly Father and I know I can continue to serve him as I receive a calling in church.

This week was a really good week. Last P day we got to play a lot of sports like basketball and volleyball with the other missionaries over in Harbour District. The APs came along too. We went on some trade offs this week and had a lot of miracles. We worked hard and found a lot of new investigators. We have some preparing for baptism but I don’t know if I will be here for the baptisms. The Wade family is going to feed us next week because I’m leaving soon. The keep saying they're going to miss me...they are just a wonderful family. I can’t wait for you all to meet them. They are so excited that all of you are coming. They don’t know a lot though because I don’t talk about it very much. Not very many people even know I’m leaving soon. Our mission President asked us not to talk about it much so it wont get us trunky. On Saturday New Zealand had guy fox day. It’s like the 4th of July! There were fireworks everywhere. Wow and I never told u but I’m sure you heard but New Zealand won the World Cup! Wow we were in our flat planning and reporting to other missionaries when they won but we could hear everyone go crazy! It was A HUGE thing over here. We didn’t get involved at all of course. But you could just hear people scream and shot off fireworks haha. Church yesterday was great!

Well I’m sorry but I got to go now. Thank you so much for everything you do for me. What a blessing it will be to have all of you come here to New Zealand. I love you all so much and the very thought of seeing my wonderful family just makes me so happy! I can’t wait to see you all! I love all of you so very much. All the best and I hope you have a great week until next Monday!

Love your son and brother,

ELDER TYLER KITCHEN

Kia Ora Family! October 31, 2011

Wow time just flies by so fast. I cannot believe it is already Halloween and that tomorrow is the first day of November. My mission has seriously been the most incredible experience of a lifetime and something that will never leave me. I love New Zealand and the people here with all my heart and I'm so thankful for everything I’ve experienced here and all the lessons I’ve learned. My testimony has grown so much and I’ve learned so much about the gospel. About our Heavenly Father, the Plan of Salvation, Jesus Christ and his everlasting Atonement for us all. I’m grateful to have a greater understanding of the true purpose of our life her on earth and a greater understanding of how we can live with God again as a forever family. I have learned to love reading the scriptures especially the Book of Mormon. I know that it is a true record of God and that it can lead us back to the presence of our Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ. I’m so grateful you have raised me in the Gospel. That is the greatest thing you could have ever done for me. I’m so thankful for you dad for being a righteous and worthy priesthood holder and helping me know how to keep the commandments of God. I’m thankful mom for your strong testimony and your constant effort in helping us live the gospel in our home. I’m grateful for you Ryan and your decision to serve a mission, the greatest thing you could ever do. I’m grateful for your testimony and your willingness to keep Heavenly Fathers commandments. Jami and Kaylee, I’m so thankful for your desire to go to church and be a good example to your friends. This world is very wicked and you have temptation all around you....especially growing up as a teenager. Please before you ever do anything you might regret just think of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ....also think of all of us your family. I love all of you so much.

Well my week was another good and hard working week. We have a lot of investigators progressing to be baptized. We had some push their dates back, which was hard but we will keep helping them overcome their trials and temptations.

Dad you asked what the weather has been like. It’s been pretty warm. It’s not extremely hot or anything but its been nice and sunny. The weather when you guys come should be very nice and warm. It should be good. It won’t be extremely hot like the middle of the summer...well I don’t think. I don’t know the weather here in New Zealand is so unpredictable. It can be beautiful and then RAINY! hahaha. Also you asked if they celebrate Halloween....not really...they don’t do holidays very big over here. And no I haven’t really made any contact with my friends for so long....I’m such a bad friend....I will try and write some but we are just so busy!

About when I come home.... I honestly haven’t thought very much what I’m going to do. Maybe we could talk about that and think about that when we are on our trip. I really am just staying focused on the work of the Lord. I will think a little bit about it and let you know hopefully next week. Right now I know I want to go to college and get a job. I want to go to BYU! I know that would be a really good school and help me stay completely strong in the gospel. I hope I will be able to get in. All I know right now I want to do for those couple days I am home is spend time with you and my family.

Well I got to go now....I’m sorry. I love you all so much.

Love Elder Kitchen

I posted his last two letters today....enjoy!

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Dear Family, October 16, 2011

Thank you for all your prayers and everything you! The Missionary work is doing great! We as a mission are doing amazing things and there is many of Heavenly Fathers Children who are coming into the restored Gospel. Our goal is still 204 and we will be able to do it with the Lords help! I’m doing great just even more busy now. We have a lot of new things happening now because President Lekias is adding some new things so we are helping our zone know everything. Just so you know I wont have a lot of time to e-mail today...I’m sorry.

This last week was really great. We had a lot of trainings and meetings but we were still able to do some incredible work. Right now we have 4 investigators preparing for baptism. Patu, Sarah, Nazereth, and Linoa. They are all great and are doing well. But there are things that are keeping them from being baptized. Some of them are Law of Chastity concerns, like not being married. We are praying very hard and trying to do everything we can for them. Tuesday we went on a trade off with one of the companionships in our zone. I love going with elders and seeing their strengths and helping them with things they could improve. On Wednesday we had Zone Leader Council. It was great....I always love going to those. It’s great to be with all the zone leaders in the mission and get to be at the Mission Home. We had some really good food. And we learned so much and the spirit was very strong. On Thursday we had Leadership Training. Saturday we were able to bring our investigators to a baptism of another companionship in the zone. Yesterday we were able to do some baptism interviews for another companionship in our zone. We also had a Come and See Fireside we went to. It was awesome to see all the investigators and Listen to our leaders speak and listen to recent converts bear their testimonies.

Wow seriously when you told me Jami was 16 years it hit me! That is crazy! Wow Happy Birthday Jami!! :D Congrats on being 16! What an awesome age and I’m sure you had a great Birthday! Sounds like you did some really fun things. Just like me you went to Park City and got to have a hotel room. That is really cool. Jami I cant wait to see you drive....man that’s going to be weird. How do you like driving so far? I know mom they are probably going to look a lot older when I see them in real life! Mom I’m sure your very busy, I hope you can have some rest.....I know how it is to be very tired. On a mission there is absolutely no time to rest, no time to nap, the only rest or sleep you get is from 10:30-6:30...its more like 11-6:30 because your having your companionship and personal prayers. I know the Lord blessings us missionaries with extra strength from on High...its a miracle.

I’m so glad that you’re reading the Book of Mormon together as a family and that’s really cool how you were reading the story in Alma. What a blessing it would be to know our mission The New Zealand Auckland Mission saved 204 souls in one month. It is very possible but we must have the Lords help and that comes from qualifying and praying a lot.

Say hello to the family for me! I miss all of them so much. Haha Dad you asked if my companion skis or snowboards. He said he doesn’t do either. He said he doesn’t like the snow!! HAHA he lives in Park City though....that’s all it is!!

About the New Zealand Trip, I was able to look over the schedule and it looks great! I will try and think of some other things to do, probably next week. I’m pretty busy this week. It will be such a blessing for you all to come to New Zealand. The main thing for me is to see all the people again, the members, recent converts, investigators, and just to see and be where I served! I’m sure when we are at all the places I will want to do certain things haha.

I love you all very much.

Love Elder Kitchen

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Dear Family! October 23, 2011

Thanks for the e-mails this week. I always love to read them. Sounds like everyone is doing great and your all loving being in St George. Hope everyone is having a lot of fun. I’m sure its nice down there to see everyone. That is really cool that you are still with Grandpa and Grandma even though they are on their mission. And that’s cool that Zach loved his mission so much and was a AP and everything. I’m sure he already misses his mission. Tell Maddie congrats for getting married for me. Also if you could tell the Pugmire’s and Grandma and Grandpa hello and let them know I love them all so much. Also I’m so grateful they set such a good example to us by serving 3 missions. They are so faithful and incredible people to serve the Lord. That will always affect us for them to serve missions and I know we are all extremely blessed because of them.

This week was another great week. We went on three different trade offs with our missionaries. We talked to A TON of people! We shared the gospel to so many people and it was so amazing to do that. We had interviews with our mission president too. Last Monday we went to a really cool site seeing place by the shoreline in west cost of Auckland. It was beautiful. New Zealand is so incredibly amazing! You are all going to love it so much.

I’m sure your all very excited to come here....I would talk more about it but I’m still staying focused on the work and I don’t want to get that distracted....but don’t worry you talking about it doesn’t really get me distracted. haha. I wish I could write more....I’m sure your sad when I don’t write as much but we are planning on going to another cool place by the ocean to see and we have to leave soon and we had some other things to do too.

I love you all very much and I’m so grateful for everything you've done for me.

Until Next week! Love Elder Kitchen

Dear Family, October 9, 2011

What a wonderful blessing it is to be able to e mail you all this week. It sounds like everything is going great for all of you and that is a big blessing. For me things are just amazing. As you can see on the subject of the e mail, transfers has happened. I stayed here in Massey ward of Henderson Auckland but Elder Moss got transferred. He went down to Hamilton. And President Lekias has asked me to be the senior zone leader and I am training a new zone leader named Elder Walk. He has just been a District Leader and this is the first time for him to be a zone leader. I know this is from the Lord and even though this is a lot of responsibility I know the Lord will strengthen me and help me as I have faith and rely on him. It is quite different being the senior zone leader. There is a lot more reporting to the Assistants and the Mission President, and of course most importantly to the Lord. I would love your prayers for me to help me always have the spirit so I will know what the Lord wants me to do. The zone got changed a lot. 8 new missionaries left and new ones came in. Elder Walk just came from the Chinese Program in the mission. So he got called to speak Chinese in the New Zealand Auckland mission. He can speak fluent Chinese. It’s so cool to hear him bear his testimony that he knows the Lord gave him the gift of tongues to help him know how the speak the language. He is from Park City Utah! His Dad is a convert to the church and his mom came back into activity. He was one older sister who just got married. He is around the same height as me, has blond hair, and he is just a great missionary. We get along very well and I’m excited to work with him.

In the mission right now we have a mission goal of saving (baptizing) 204 souls! In the Book of Mormon Alma was able to baptize 204 souls in the waters of Mormon. President Lekias has received revelation that we can do this and we are so excited to rely on the Lord to achieve this worthy goal. I love helping our brothers and sisters gain testimonies of the truth. I love kneeling down with them and as they pray about the Book of Mormon it is the best feeling when they feel and recognize the spirit speaking to them. This week we have had many spiritual experiences and I wanted to e mail just a couple. We found this lady named Marlena about a week ago. We had a very spiritual experience at the door and she knew we were messengers sent from God. She started to cry as we told her our message. So we have been trying to help her any way we can. She needed her lawn mowed and so one day without even telling her we brought a members lawn mower over and started doing it. She is a mother of 7 children and has a defective relationship with her partner (boy friend). They are struggling a lot financially. Well we were mowing it for her and then suddenly it wouldn’t work. We tried everything and it just wouldn’t start. So we had faith and we said a prayer and begged Heavenly Father to start it so we could finish her lawn. Right after the prayer we had faith and pulled the starter and A MIRACLE it started!! WOW it was such an amazing experience and I know the Lord answers even small prayers like that. We also had an experience with one of our investigators named Patu. We were at his house and we helped him understand that in order to receive an answer he needed to pray with all his heart. We taught about prayer and knelt down and asked him to say the prayer. He did for the first time and after we were silent waiting for the spirit to answer him. He said he felt something he has never felt before and it gave him so much peace and happiness. He started to cry (which he would never do) and said he knew that God had answered him. He and his partner committed to obey the Law of Chastity and get married. They also committed to obey the Word of Wisdom and said he would stop smoking.

I absolutely loved General Conference!! WOW!

Well it looks like everyone is leaving now and they are waiting for me....so I have to go now....I’m sorry it was short. I love you all so much.

LOVE elder Kitchen

Hey Everyone! October 2, 2011

The work of the Lord is still moving forward here in the beautiful island of New Zealand. October is already here and it’s the time of year where we only have to wear our suit coats after 5 pm. The weather still isn’t the best, which means your weather should still be beautiful. For myself I am doing great! Just full of Joy as I serve the Master. As I continue to study and slowly understand more and more about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and then go and serve Him day after day my love for the Lord and the people whom I serve grows stronger and stronger. Even though we work so hard and barely get very much sleep the Lord blesses me with strength and the promise that he will renew our bodies is fulfilled. As a missionary I have never worked so hard in my life, physically and mentally. The Power of Prayer is so important and I’ve learned to rely and trust the Lord so much. I read in the Book of Mormon of people who truly were converted to the Lord. They had a change of heart and they had no more desire to do evil but good continually. I have experienced a lot of this but I always pray that my testimony will grow stronger and stronger. A mission is a once in a life time miracle of experience. It was the best decision I’ve ever made to go and it has changed my life forever. I am so full of happiness that Ryan is so excited for his mission and he is preparing for it. Ryan it will be the best 2 years of your life. My encouragement is to keep studying as much as you can to prepare for you mission. Get a Preach My Gospel and study it. The more prepared you are the better of an experience you will have and the more people you will be able to help and change their hearts. I’m glad you all enjoyed General Conference. I have been able to watch the priesthood session so far and we are watching the rest this weekend.

Thanks for the pictures you sent me of Ryan's senior photos. They look so good. Ryan looks very mature and grown up. They are really awesome looking photos and really good backgrounds. Sounds like he is just having a blast with all the cool things he is doing.

Mom you asked if I received the letters that you sent from cousin camp. Yes I got them and loved them. Thanks so much it was good to hear from everyone. I’m grateful for all the cool things grandma and grandpa Ellsworth tell me about New Zealand. And wow you really are so busy. I’m sure it is such a good job for you and that you love it a lot. You are such a hard worker and I know you’re a wonderful teacher to them.

Dad, that’s pretty funny how you went to another church. We meet people like that on the street all the time. Born again Christians or have all sorts of different beliefs. Some of them are really strange and some of them just believe that you say Jesus Christ is your savior and that he died for you and then you are saved. Boy do they have it wrong.

Well we had a great week this week. I forgot to tell you a funny experience we had a couple of weeks ago. Well my companion Elder Moss was driving down the street and he was going a little fast because we were late to a teaching appt. Anyway a police pulled him over and asked him for his license. He was waiting for his New Zealand License and so they had given him a temporary paper one. He was looking for it in his wallet. Then he gave the police a paper that he thought was his license. It was really his Dry Cleaning receipt!! HAHA The cop was like what do you think I’m supposed to do with a dry cleaning receipt!! HAHA it was so funny. I was laughing so hard afterward haha.

This past week we worked really hard. We had 25 lessons and talked to 206 people on the street or knocking doors. I love just going up to everyone and spreading the gospel to them. We found 13 new investigators. We helped a lot of investigators come to church too. I was able to bear my testimony in church. I love going up and bearing my testimony.

I have to go now. I love you all very much. Thanks for everything you do. You’re always in my prayers and I’m grateful to know Families Can be together Forever in Heavenly Fathers Plan.

Love Elder Kitchen

Hey everyone! September 25, 2011

Sounds like everything over there in the distant land of American Fork is doing wonderful. Things over here in New Zealand are doing great! I was looking through some other pictures you sent me a little while ago on the e mail and just thinking how everyone is growing up so fast. Sometimes you kind of forget that just because you’re clear over here in New Zealand time doesn’t stop for you over there. Everyone looks older. As for me I don’t think I look that much older than when I came out haha....but oh well. My week was pretty interesting. And it sounds like your week went really good. Just before I forget....I found out I can’t e mail other family members, so just my immediate family. So tell Aunt Esther (she wrote me this week) and the cousins and family I’m sorry. I think that is one of the things I am just not good at...writing people back. I feel so bad but I am staying completely focused and just working hard to build up the Kingdom of God.

I’m glad you received my pictures. I can’t remember whether Whangarei is one those or not. It will be fun to go through all of them with you. Thanks for sending some pictures. Your right Jazzi does look really weird. Wow and Savanna looks SO much older! wow! All the cousins look older. And yup your right Jazzi looks like a goat....Haha its cool to see Dad with his gray....now white Go-Tee haha! And the one of the Temple in the goal is so cool. I printed it out and I’m we are going to give it to some of our investigators. The one of Ryan with the snowboard is awesome. Man he looks really good and it’s a cool picture. Can you send more of his senior pictures? You should send some of you mom. And Dad send some more of you haha. Mom I’m sure you have been staying really busy....I can’t wait to go see your room. I can only imagine right now what it would be like for you to be a teacher. It will be cool to come see your class and students, maybe I can sit down and listen to you teach sometime haha. What is your favorite part about teaching? Have you had any crazy experiences yet? haha That will be nice for you to have the whole summer break off and all the holidays. I can’t believe the Zach is already done with his mission...wow. That is so cool we have 12 missionaries from our ward serving the Lord. What a blessing....I’m so excited for Ryan to be able to go serve the Lord and experience the joy and happiness of serving a mission. How is he doing preparing for it? Is he still working on his papers?

Dad thanks for sending the e mail. That’s cool you can just send it right off your iphone. haha I was laughing when I read that grandpa can’t wait for the hunt. That will be way fun to go with him when I get back. That would be really cool if you got to see Devan when he was serving his mission. You asked the temple trip. It was an amazing trip and I loved it. It is always fun to be with all the missionaries and with President and Sister Lekias. The zone conferences and temple trips are always a high light because of the amazing spiritual experiences and the things you learn. I always learn so much as I attend the temple and the feeling you get there is very strong. Yes you can rent clothes when you go inside the temple there. That would be amazing if we can go do a session when we are here!

My week was great! The temple trip was definitely one of the high lights of the week. We got to have a devotional before, then the temple session then a zone conference after. We went to Pokonos after to get ice cream again. It’s a famous place for the members in New Zealand. It’s really good ice cream and you can get a ton of scoops! It’s really cool to see some missionaries try to beat the records...We got to do some interviews for baptisms after for the missionaries in our zone. We met a lot of cool people this week. Talked so many and had some good experiences. Thursday I went on a trade off with Elder Shepard in our zone. He is in the Tongan Program. So we went to a lot of Tongan speaking appointments. He is from Utah and is white but speaks Tongan fluently. Wow the gift of Tounges is so real on a mission. It’s a cool experience. I also did a baptism interview for one of their investigators that got baptized this weekend. Saturday was another high light of the week. Because we had Dodie's Baptism!! :) I was the one that was able to baptize her too so it was such a great experience for me. She is an incredible convert and has a strong testimony. She was so happy when she got baptized. She shared her conversion experience to the Bishop and it was cool to listen because I was a part of it all along the way. I remember when we first met her mowing her lawn out on the street. Sunday we had her confirmation. We were supposed to have Lisa's confirmation too (she got baptized last Saturday but wasn’t confirmed on Sunday). It is a long story and I was sad that she didn’t but we will keep helping her. Yesterday we had an interesting experience. We had the opportunity to teach two different Muslim people. We taught one from Saudi Arabia, and the other was from Fiji. It was one of the first times I have taught someone from the Muslim faith. I have talked to a lot but never really sat down with a very strong one. He was interested in the Gospel. It went good but we will have to help him a lot. It’s so amazing on your mission....especially this mission to be able to experience so many different kinds of cultures. You get to see so many different things. My eyes have been opened to a lot of different things on my mission. It’s amazing everyone’s different beliefs and everyone’s way of life and cultures. I have met people from all around the world and have been in a lot of their homes teaching them the gospel. What a great experience that only comes once in a lifetime.

I have to go now....but I just want to share a little bit of my testimony of the experience Joseph Smith had in the Sacred Grove. I know with all my heart and Soul that the young 14 year old boy saw what he said he saw. As I read his experience, as I share it with others and as I pray about it the holy spirit of God confirms to me that it is true. I know that God the Eternal Father and his beloved son the Lord Jesus Christ appeared face to face with Joseph Smith. That one glorious vision means that everything this church teaches us is true, that we are a part of the Kingdom of God on earth. Wow what a blessing. We are so lucky to be able to have the fullness of the Gospel in our lives. I love it so much and I love to share it with others. I love you all...keep living the gospel. Do all you can to live the right way and we will be happy. I say these things in the Name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Love your son and brother, Elder Kitchen

Hey everyone, September 18, 2011

What an incredible blessing it is to be able to e mail you every week. I wish I could have hand written you more since I’ve been on my mission. I could have done better and I’m sorry but we are just so busy in the Work of the Lord. I’m glad we can e mail each week. I’m glad everything with all of you are going good and that you are all continuing living the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is such a blessing that all of our family is trying to do their best to live the gospel. It makes me feel so much joy and happiness. Each and every day I learn more and more about the gospel and really how important it is to live it. I am so grateful for the Savior in my life, for the ultimate sacrifice he made for me and how I can always be forgiven of my mistakes. I love learning about our Heavenly Father and learning more about the gospel. I also love teaching others. It makes me so happy when I see other people’s lives start to change and when they come to know that Our Heavenly Father lives and loves them. It truly is the greatest two years of your life. We are going to the temple tomorrow!! I’m so excited to go on another temple trip....this will probably be my last one.....Yesterday we had another come and see fireside, it’s where all the missionaries take their investigators and some recent converts bear their testimonies. They have a lot of beautiful singing and Elder Watson of the Seventy spoke to us. It was very good to see our investigators feel the spirit.

This week was really great! We had some pretty crazy experiences.....I always have those but sometimes I forget to write them down....I remembered to write them down to tell you this week. First off last P day was a blast...we played B-Ball in the chapel with the other missionaries. I’ve noticed in the city we play more sports because there are more missionaries around us. On Tuesday we went on a trade off with some of the missionaries. We had a miracle, we knocked on this door and they let us right in. We taught 3 of them (Amy, Mehaka, and Daniel) we shared a very powerful Restoration Lesson and the spirit was so strong. We committed them for baptism and Amy said yes! Wow it was amazing and we are helping her prepare for next month. On Wednesday me and my companion had to drop off a missionary because he was getting transferred half way in the cycle....and then we got kind of lost in Auckland somewhere hahaha....it’s a pretty big city haha. And we had this crazy experience. So Lisa is set for getting baptized this week, and her son Josh was also going to get baptized....but he kind of lost a little interest and wasn’t coming to sit down for our lessons. So we thought of buying him some cookies (he loves cookies) and writing him a note. Well it was raining and we drove to the gas station. The driveways in New Zealand are CRAZY! You wait until you get here.....then you will know what I mean. So she lives up this really steep, long narrow drive way. And it bends around really sharp. We were driving up it and it was really wet. Well Elder Moss was driving and we started to go up hers and then the bottom of the front started to scrap on the concrete. So we decided to back up.....and whenever a missionary is backing up the companion has to step outside and lead him back so he doesn’t hit anything. Well it was raining like crazy so I was leading him back into the drive way and then the hitch started to scrap on the bottom hahaha....So we kind of got stuck....it was a lot funnier in real life. Then it’s hard to explain next but Elder Moss drove the front of the car into a side thing and it got stuck.....so the car wouldn’t move. I was laughing so hard but you could tell he was frustrated. Then the whole front part of the car fell off!! HAHAHA! I was like WOW this couldn’t get any worse. The rain was drowning us and the car was stuck right in the middle of the driveway (other people use that driveway for their homes too) All of this for a little packet of cookies. So we went up to the house and said here is your cookies haha. It was funny. Another experience I had this week was I was trying to wave down these members who were picking up our investigator because they were driving off because they couldn’t see us and then the next split second a taxi pulls over and says yes sir get in. He thought I was waving down for a taxi....I don’t know it was funny if you were there.

On Thursday we had a specialized training with President Lekias. He came with us to a companionship study with a companionship in our zone, came to a district meeting and then came with me and Elder Moss to some lessons! It was good we had a lesson with Dodie. She is preparing for baptism this next week!! This member family took us to this all you can eat buffet place, it was really good. On Saturday we helped Lisa clean her house because she was moving. We were scrubbing down the walls. Then we had lessons and then got ready for the baptism. Lisa got baptized on Saturday!! It ended up being a wonderful baptism!! The spirit was so strong and Elder Moss baptized her. As I watched her in the water all dressed up in white....I remembered the day I talked to her on the street. I was with her for the whole process!! Church was great. We did some baptism interviews for the Assistants to the President. We had some great lessons and then went to the Come and See Fireside. Sometimes I get sad when I know I won’t be doing missionary work for a ton longer.....because I absolutely love my mission. I love serving the Lord. I love helping others receive the gospel....All these experiences I’ve had on my mission have changed my life and I will never forget them. I can’t wait for you all to meet everyone I’ve taught and come to the places where I served!! It really will be a dream come true!

I can’t believe that all of you are coming to New Zealand!! WOW and that we will be having a huge family vacation here in the Beautiful island of New Zealand. It really will be absolute amazing. Don’t worry I know so many members would love for us to stay at their homes. They already told me in all the areas where I served. So we will be set in all the areas I served in. I am so excited we will be all coming here!! And also that we will be flying to LA wow what a blessing. Thank you so much! That means the world to me. I love you all so very much. I am still going to stay 100 percent focused on the work.

Thanks for sharing those really cool experiences with me dad. That sounds like you had a really good time there and got to experience some really cool things. We will have to do some of that here in New Zealand...Its absolutely beautiful here. Well I have to go now....thanks for everything. I sent that DVD last Monday so you should be getting it soon. If you could you should send some more pictures next week. Have a wonderful week everyone. Love you all.

Love Elder Kitchen

Kia Ora Family! September 4, 2011

Hey everyone...September is already here! It is starting to feel a little warmer around these parts now. So that must mean it’s starting to get a little bit cooler. Thanks for the Pictures you sent me. Wow Kaylee and Madi look so much older and more mature. That is so crazy that everyone is growing up so fast. I’m so excited for all the great things that are going on with all of you.

I don’t know if you know much about the Rugby World Cup but it is pretty big I guess and everyone is so excited about it here. Because the World cup is here in New Zealand it starts this Friday, of course we won’t see any of it but I’m sure we will hear about it especially if the New Zealand All Blacks win or lose games haha. Everyone has all their teams and country’s flags all around, because here in Henderson there are so many islanders and people from different countries. Guess what I guess USA is in the world cup!

Anyways our week was really good. We are just serving so hard to bring the gospel to all of Heavenly Fathers Children. The Zone is doing okay but we need to do better and so me and Elder Moss are always trying to help the work progress even more. Your prayers would be much appreciated. I have seen the hand of the Lord in this work so much. I know through faith and prayers and us doing all we can God can perform many mighty miracles. This week I had some really great experiences. One was a miracle that I felt the spirit so strong. We found a new investigator....we taught her a powerfully restoration lesson and on the very first lesson we set her for baptism. She came to church too! She was completely over- whelmed by the spirit and started crying when we taught her the 1st vision.

I’m so happy Ryan is getting ordained an elder and receiving the Mel. Priesthood. Wow I wish I was there to witness it. But I know he is doing so wonderful in his life. I can’t wait to see him again and help him get ready to serve the Lord for two years. When does he send his mission papers in? How many classes is he taking at UVU...? I was thinking and I think when I get back I want to go to BYU.....that is if I can get into BYU hahaha. I know it will be a wonderful school and also it is a church school and I would love to be surrounded by good influences. I will pray and think about it a little more....I honestly haven’t really thought at all what I’m going to do when I get back. I know I want to go to school and work and stuff but that’s about it. I haven’t thought of what I want to study at school or anything because I’m totally focused on the work of the Lord. I know the Lord will help me with those things when I get home.

I’m sorry.....everyone is leaving .......uh well I’ll make it up next week.

Love you all.....Elder Kitchen


Dear Family! September 11, 2011

Wow time just flies by sometimes....I almost feel like just a couple of days ago I was in here e mailing all of you. The weeks get faster and faster. I’m grateful for your e mails and I loved reading them. Just so you know, I don’t have that much time today because I spent time thinking about the first e mail and I got distracted by some other things. Time just goes by fast......I will just tell you some main things that happened this week.

Last P day was really fun. We played basketball with the Henderson District. On Tuesday we went on a trade off with Elder Ales. On Wednesday we went to Zone Leader Council. It was just incredible. I love those meetings with our mission president and all the other zone leaders. We had a wonderful week full of miracles. We still have 3 set for baptism and we are trying our hardest to save more souls. This week I have focused a lot on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I have been able to study it and learn more and more about it. Wow my testimony about it has increased so much.

I’m sorry but I have to go....things as a zone leader keep you very busy. I will be able to e mail more time next P day. I love you very much.....I’m excited so many wonderful things are going on with the family. Be safe and have fun.

Love Elder Kitchen

Dear Family! August 28, 2011

I’m so excited to write everyone this week! How are you all doing?! There is a lot going on with everyone eh? Ryan is preparing to serve a mission :) Mom you started teaching school. Jami and Kaylee are back at school. And Dad you’re just busy living the life eh? Golfing, working, and doing all the other stuff. I’m glad everyone is doing so good. Thanks for the e mails today.....well I’ve been trying to get my camera card to work on this computer so I can send you all some pictures but it doesn’t seem to be working so if it doesn’t I’m sorry! That is really cool mom that you are working already! I’m sure you are tired though....being a teacher is probably hard work. I hope you have a great class and that the kid’s don’t give you a hard time haha. It’s probably really nice that it is pretty close to our house. So they are going to call you Mrs. Kitchen. You should decorate the room like a big Kitchen or something....haha no I’m just kidding. Wow Jami and Kaylee seem to look older every time I see a picture of them.. Thanks for sending those! I’m so happy to hear Ryan is doing so good and that he is progressing so much in the gospel. I’m very proud of him and I’m so excited to hear his testimony and see how he has changed when I get back. I wish I could have been there listening to his talk, it probably was very powerful and full of the spirit. Tell Ryan that I love him so much and I’m so grateful for everything that he is doing. He seriously will love every second of his mission like I have. There seriously no better place to be then to serve the Lord for two years. He has given us so much, he even gave his life for us and he asks us to spend two years of our life in his full time service. Missionary work isn’t done when you come home from a mission, it continues on the rest of your life, just a different kind of missionary work haha. I know the Lord will bless each of you if you ask him for opportunities to do missionary work. He will lead you to people who you can help bring into the gospel. All you need to do is pray and become the instrument that God can use to bring his children home.

Well my week was an interesting on, full of wonderful experiences, crazy ones, and opportunities to grow and learn. Last P day we did a lot of service helping some of these non-members and investigators. It was nice to help other people and I always love to see their faces of gratitude. It makes you feel very happy. This week we prepared Nadia a lot for her baptism. We also had to take elders to and from the mission home. We are the closest Zone Leaders to the mission home so we do things like that sometimes. We found out that Stephanie isn’t fully keeping the Law of chastity so we had to move her date back to when she is ready to keep that commandment. Well we had transfers and Elder Chandler got transferred :( I knew it was probably coming though...I’m going to miss him a lot though). We had a great transfer together. The Wade family was sad to see him go. So were Nadia, Jerry and Rose. It would probably be a little hard for someone like Nadia who is getting baptized and a new missionary is coming in that she doesn’t know. But It’s alright because the new missionary that came in is named Elder Moss! He is an incredible missionary. He is so full of faith, knows how to work, very focused, and is a great missionary. He is from Idaho also and he loves to go boating, play sports, be with his family, and he has a very strong testimony. He knows how the follow the spirit of the Lord and I’ve already learned a lot from him. Transfers were good but it is a lot different when you are a zone leader. There is so much more responsibility and a lot of things you need to organize. Like getting missionaries to their areas with all their stuff and just making sure everything happens that needs too. I am the zone leader who knows the area but I have only been here for one transfer and it’s a really big area. I am trying to do my very best haha. It is kind of stressful sometimes but it’s a blessing for sure. Well me and Elder Moss have had a lot of miracles together so far. We have found some new investigators, taught a lot of lessons, and had Nadia's baptism! It went so well and she just looked so happy after she came out of the water. She has a cousin who just recently joined the church so he baptized her. It was just wonderful. I was able to confirm her yesterday and it was great.

So about the Dog experience.....haha well we knocked on this door and someone opened it and then all of a sudden a little dog comes flying out of the door and comes straight for me. It jumps up and tries to bite me. Luckily it just bit my suit and a part of my belt. I felt it but it didn’t hurt at all because it didn’t get a good grip haha. But it was just so crazy....it was a tiny dog with a really bad temper. Wow some of the experiences you have on your mission are just funny.

Well I have to go now. I just want you all to know I love you so much. I think and pray for you a lot. You all mean everything to me and I’m so thankful I’m apart of our family. I hope you all have a wonderful week and be safe. Miss you all so much.....
Love Elder Kitchen

Dear Family, August 21, 2011

I am so excited to e mail you all this week. How is everyone doing? I can’t believe the summer is pretty much over for all of you. Wow sometimes the weeks just fly by haha. Sometimes I just can’t believe I’ve been out on my mission for this long already. In some ways it went way too fast....and others it seems I’ve been on my mission for an extremely long time. I’m just doing my very best to serve the Lord my very hardest and I want to stay strong until the very end. I love this work so very much....I feel such a great desire to work so hard for our Heavenly Father and bring as many of his children into the gospel as I can.

My week was a really great week. The elders in our zone are doing much better now and we didn’t have to go to the hospital at all this week. So we got a full week of proselyting this week which was a blessing. We worked so hard and we taught so many lessons. We also talked to a ton of people on the street and just everywhere we went. We had some really wonderful miracles and had some very spiritual lessons. We had 7 investigators come to church and the wade family got confirmed!! YAY!! They are all Maori (like half white/Maori). It was a great week. We had some miracles in the zone and we also had some trials....some fall throughs with some of the baptismal sets and things like that. Last Monday we went bowling with the zone and it was really fun!! Guess what? I won both of the games!! haha.

So right now we have Nadia (Jerry's cousin) set for baptism for this coming Saturday! And we have Stephanie, Formen, and Alexis's baptism also for this Saturday. We are also hoping for a miracle with a lady named Linoa. She is so ready for baptism and wants to be baptized this Saturday! But the only thing stopping her is her partner isn’t really having an urgency about marriage. But she can’t get baptized until after they get married. So today we are fasting with her that the Lord will soften her partner's heart and that he will want to be married. Please keep that family in your prayers because they are a great family. This week we also had some incredible miracles. We met a lady on the street named Lisa and she invited us back to her house. We had a really great lesson about the gospel of Jesus Christ and talked to her about becoming clean from her sin, repenting, changing her life, and getting baptized. The spirit was so strong and it told us to set her with a baptism date. So we did. She has set a goal for next month...September 10. Wow and she came to church yesterday and a fireside we had. She is just great!! On Saturday we had a trade off with some missionaries in our zone. Me and this other missionary from Tonga, named Elder Pohahou had an incredible day in our area. We just worked so hard. We were able to set two more people for baptism for next month! Their names our Nick and Claire. They are both Maori and just want to change their lives. I just love meeting people and helping people change their live and follow Jesus Christ. I love seeing people stop drinking, smoking, and doing things like stopping breaking the Law of Chastity. It is just amazing to watch people do so much for the Lord! Sunday was just amazing. All 4 of the Wade family were confirmed members of the church today. It was such a wonderful site to see all of them up at the front and us laying our hands of their heads in front of everyone at sacrament meeting. I was able to confirm Arna and Daesharn. And Elder Chandler confirmed Quinton and Xazier. Wow I just love that family so much. Church was good I taught a powerful lesson on the life of Jesus Christ in gospel principles class. Last night we had a Come and See Fireside. They have them a lot but only the City Zones can come to them. So this was my first one because I’ve served my whole mission in the Country. The come and see fireside is an incredible event. It is put on by our mission president and the APs. All the missionaries in the City are invited to attend if they bring some investigators. It’s a fireside focused all on people that are learning about the gospel. There was a lot of beautiful musical items, a video presentation, recent converts bearing their testimonies, singing, and some a presentation/talk given by our mission president. He talked all about the Restoration, Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon. It was so powerful. There were SO many people there!! There was one part where our mission president had all the full time missionaries stand up and go into the isle and sing called to serve. Wow the spirit was overwhelming. Missionary work is so powerful and it is only a once in a life time opportunity to be a full time missionary like this. I just love it!

Well Transfers are this Thursday so we will see what happens....I probably will stay here....but I think my companion might go because he has been here in the zone for a long time. I’m going to be sad if he does go because I will miss him. We get along so well. We laugh and know how to have fun while doing the work. He is such a great missionary and I’ve learned a lot from him. We also have had so many wonderful miracles together and have been able to baptize a lot. He is from Idaho and so I hope to see him after the mission someday haha. Elder Chandler is from a very big family. There are 10 people in his family, he is really funny and all his family looks way cool. I hope to meet them someday.

MOM!! I'M SO happy you got a job!!! :D CONGRATS!!!!! That is so wonderful and it makes me so happy for you....I’m sure your just overwhelmed with joy. I know it truly is a blessing from the Lord. He has blessed you because your faithfulness and prayers. I’m Sure you already have but remember to show the Lord gratitude and thank him for that incredible blessing. Wow that’s perfect...4th grade is a good grade to teach. And Lehi isn’t far at all so you are close to home. I’m thankful you have finally got a job and you'll be able to start working now. I bet you guys had fun setting up the room and getting ready. If I was there I would have loved to help you. I love you mom....your just a wonderful mother and you deserve this so much. You'll be an incredible teacher and I’m sure the kids will love Mrs. Kitchen :) haha. I can’t wait to see your room and watch you teach when I get back haha. I will be praying for you mom and that you will have a great start to the year.
Okay so about the New Zealand Trip thing.....I will tell you my preference but really mom and dad it’s up to you and I will be happy with whatever you decide. I understand about time and also the expense. Well my first preference is the one where I go home and then we all come back around Christmas and stay for about 16 or so days. But really if that doesn’t work out then maybe we can all come back in a year or whatever. But really if it works out because of money and everything I would still absolutely love if you came here and picked me up. It is just a blessing that you can come to New Zealand. I would still have a wonderful time and would love every second of it. So really I don’t mind what you decide to do :)

Well I’m so happy that Ryan is having his interview with Bishop about becoming a missionary. Wow that makes me so happy. I’m excited for him!! I’m just thankful for everything that is going on with everyone. Well I got to go now....I will try and send a couple of pictures on this and then hopefully I can send that DVD home. I love you all so much. You’re always in my prayers.

Love Elder Kitchen

Kia Ora Whanau! August 14, 2011

Wow what a crazy week we just had. It is definitely a different experience being a zone leader. This week me and my companion felt like zone parents hahaha, I’ll tell ya why. So first off. On Monday we had a great family home evening with the wade family and the Dennison family. Aw I just love the wade family so much. So on Tuesday we went on a trade off with one set of missionaries in our zone. I was with Elder Ji (from China) in our area. Well we were having a great day and then another missionary called and said his companion was really sick and needed to go to the doctor. So I took him to the doctor and then the doctor said he needed to go to the hospital because she thought he might have meningitis (sorry for spelling). She asked if he wanted an ambulance....so I was freaking out haha. I drove him to the Emergency room. It’s a long story but I was in the hospital the rest of the day waiting for him. I felt so bad for him. His name is Elder Finau. The doctors had to do some tests but they found out that he doesn’t have any serious thing. He just had a very bad flu. It was a crazy experience being in the Emergency Room and helping them and stuff. The Nurses were cool and I was able to talk to some of them about the gospel. I gave the Elder a blessing too. He stayed the night but I went home with elder chandler. President Lekias said we should do that. The next morning we left his companion there and went to zone conference all day. We had a zone meeting before and myself and elder chandler did it was zone leaders. Wow there was so many missionaries haha. Then we had zone conference!! It was so good and I felt the spirit so strong. I really like President and Sister Lekias!! They are great! Sorry I can’t go into that much detail....I don’t have much time today.

Then on Thursday we went on another trade off because Elder Chandler had to take another missionary to the doctors in north shore because he had to get an infected ingrown toe nail removed. Then on Friday I had to sit at elder Finaus flat because he got sick again and couldn’t work. Elder Chandler went to another zone conference so elder Finaus companion could go to one. Then guess what?! We got a call from a member that was with elder Utai on trade off. He said that elder Utai was in the Emergency room in north shore hospital and was taken there by ambulance. He had a bad bike crash. So we drove over there and helped him out. He is better than we thought he would be. Luckily he was wearing his helmet....or I don’t know.....but he got out Friday night at like 930 and we took him home to our flat and helped him out. Saturday we were going crazy all over taking missionaries different places. Elder Finau had to go back into the hospital. Wow it was so crazy!! And then some other missionaries had a baptism we needed to help them go to. It was so stressful and crazy to figure everything out because you’re the leaders. WOW this letter is only going into a tiny bit of detail of everything that happened this week. Anyways long story short we have been back and forth to the hospital and running missionaries around this whole week. We haven’t had hardly any time to work in our own area. But the Lord has blessed us because of our sacrifice. We somehow were still able to have a lot of lessons and get new investigators and have a lot of miracles. The Lord truly blesses those who sacrifice for the helping and service of others.

Okay so I have to tell you about an incredible experience we had. So the WADE family ALL got baptized this Saturday! A MIRACLE!! Wow it was seriously overwhelming to see all their family in white! One of the best moments of my entire mission. They got married and then baptized right after!! So they all get to the chapel all dressed up in tuxes and nice dresses. Bishop Chase was able to marry them. Then they all changed into white!! We took pictures don’t worry! it was the best site to see. That family is so converted to the gospel and is seriously a golden family sent from God to us. I feel so blessed to have been a part of their lives and conversion experience. I was able to baptize Arna Wade (the mom) and Xazier (the oldest son). Elder Chandler baptized Quinton (the dad) and Daesharn (the other son). The spirit was so incredibly strong. When Elder Chandler was in the water first baptizing them....Arna was getting so emotional. She was so happy. She said it was the best and happiest day of her entire life. Wow when I baptized them I was so happy. When she went down in the water and came up I could literally feel she was a different person. I had a very spiritual and sacred experience. Then she put her hands up in the air for joy because she was so happy. After they got dressed I watched the family hug each other and just express how they were feeling. Words cannot describe how amazing it was. I was over whelmed with the sprit. They expressed that the gospel has completely changed their lives and they are so much happier than before. They expressed that they cannot wait to be sealed as a family for time and eternity and they will be getting sealed in a years’ time. For some reason guess what? They want to come to America and get sealed in the Salt Lake City temple!! So I told them that if they really do that that they can stay at our house and everything....wow wouldn’t that just be a wonderful experience!! This mission has just been life changing in every way...I love it.


Yesterday was stake conference. The wade family came and loved it. They will be confirmed this week at church. And then from one year from now they will be able to get sealed as a family!

I have to go.....I love you so much.

Elder Kitchen

I posted 3 letters today from the last 3 weeks. I have had computer trouble so to read them in order, start 2 letters below this one.

Malo Se Fua!! (it means hello in Samoan) August 7, 2011

This week has been an incredible week full of experiences. I don’t know where to begin but I should first of just simply say hello how is everyone doing? Sounds like your all having a blast at cousin camp and I’m glad everyone is having so much fun! The reason why I said hello in Samoan is because here in Henderson there is SO many Samoan people. There are a lot of members in our ward and so we go over to their house to have dinner sometimes and they teach us how to speak their language. Sometimes I feel I’m back in the Islands with all these islander feeds! haha.

Our week has been really good. We have had some new missionaries come into the Zone and some of them are training so it’s cool to see some brand new missionaries and the fire burning desire they have to work. The Wade family is just doing absolutely incredible. We teach them almost every day. They are seriously the most prepared family I have ever met. They keep every commitment we give them. They are reading the scriptures and saying prayers every day. They came to church and loved it again. They are starting to keep all the commandments. They are pretty much living the Word of Wisdom now which is incredible. They just love the gospel so much and every time I go into that home I can feel the spirit so strong. They even fasted yesterday as a family. Wow I can’t even tell you how amazing they are! We might need to push their baptism back until the 20th because their stake conference this weekend. Oh yeah so guess what. I heard that Stephanie Rogers and Azailla (the only two non-members in the incredible family I was working with in Whangarei) are getting baptized...I think they did just barley but I’ll have to find out. What that means is the two most incredible family’s I’ve been able to work with The Roger Family and the Wade family will be getting sealed one year from now. So like in August next year!! I want SO bad to come back and be able to go to the temple and witness their sealing’s! That would be amazing.

Well Wednesday I had my very first Zone Leader Council. Wow it was something really cool. We started really early and it was at the Mission Home in North Shore. I hadn’t been back to that home for a long time. It was cool to go back in and see the place I started my mission. We had breakfast with President and Sister Lekias. We then had some very powerful training, video presentations, and a lot of instruction from our mission president. I learned so much and took a lot of notes. It was a cool experience to get to know President Lekias so well. It was a great experience to be able to sit with all the other zone leaders in the entire mission and just learn from all of them. The spirit was extremely powerful.

On Thursday we had Leadership Training. It was with all the Zone Leaders, District Leaders, and Trainers. The Training was at a chapel in Down Town Auckland! It never has been there before. It was a crazy experience to go in such a big city when I’ve been out in the country so much. We had breakfast and had a powerful testimony meeting before. Then we had a lot of training and really inspiring and uplifting presentations. Then guess what?! We all went out to Preach by the Way on Queen street. It’s one of the main streets in down town Auckland. It was so crazy. There were about 50 missionaries that just went crazy and were talking to EVERYONE. We just started sharing the gospel, handed out Book of Mormons, and did all that we could to talk to people about the gospel. It was crazy....so many people were just so busy and wouldn’t even take the time to look at you. We talked to almost 75 people in 1 hour! Wow we got some referrals....and some people were interested. It was just a cool experience to see SO many missionaries all over the streets of downtown Auckland. One companionship set someone for baptism on the street!! Miracles!

Then on Saturday we went on an investigator Temple Trip to Hamilton. We got permission from President to take our investigators as well as some of the missionaries in the zone and their investigators. It was really cool. We had about 9 investigators come just with our companionship. The other missionaries had a lot of investigators too. There was about 35-40 people total that went. A member in our ward works for a bus place and so he got a bus and drove us down there. It was SO fun. We all went to the Visitor Center and spent a couple hours there. We got to go around the temple grounds and just feel the spirit so strong. We watched the Joseph Smith movie and all the investigators loved it. It was such a wonderful experience to be at the temple grounds with our investigators. The sister missionaries at the Visitor Center gave a powerful presentation about the temple, forever families, and Jesus Christ. It was just an amazing experience for me and for our investigators. To be there with the Christis Statue and the beautiful pictures of Christ. It really touched the heart of a lot of our investigators....one of them wants to get baptized now. Her name is Nadia. Another one named Venus also is having a desire....she came to church yesterday. She is from Niue!! Cool eh?!

Sunday was great. We had 13 investigators come to church. In our investigators class we played a church Jeopardy game. It was really cool. We also have been working with this lady name Linoa. She is just amazing. Her partner is a less active member. We set her for baptism on the 27th. She came to church and loved it. We went to a family home evening at their house last night. There was a lot of other family that were members. It was an extremely spiritual FHE. Linoa bore her testimony and said that she knew the Book of Mormon was true. Wow it was just incredible and I felt the spirit so strong.

Well we have Zone Conference this Wed! I’m excited! We are trying to take the zone to the next level. Please keep the zone in your prayers and that we will all be able to baptize a lot of Heavenly Fathers children and SAVE SOULS!!

I have to go now....sorry if I didn’t answer any of your questions.....

I love you all so much.

Love Elder Kitchen

Dear Family, July 31, 2011

I am so just happy to e mail you all today! This seriously is the best two years of my life! I just can’t even describe how much I love every second of my mission. Whenever people ask me how long I have left I feel bitter sweet feelings....because a part of me really doesn’t want to leave. I love my mission so much and I love New Zealand and all the people here. I love the missionaries and just everything about being a missionary. But there also is a part of me that wants to be home.....because I miss all of you so very much. But I know I am going to serve with all my heart, might, mind, and strength and give it my all until the very last day! I love this work so much and I’m very grateful to be about saving souls!!

I really love my new area and my new calling from Heavenly Father. I love being a Zone Leader. It is so cool and you get to experience so many wonderful miracles. I love going on trade off with the other missionaries and just meeting all the investigators and get to see how everyone is progressing. We also got to go to a lot of baptisms this week for those getting baptized in the Zone. It was such a wonderful spiritual experience for me to have been able to witness so many of Heavenly Fathers children get baptized. I love how close I become to the missionaries whom I serve. I know them all so well now and they are all some of my best friends. They are all incredible missionaries. I love my companion, Elder Chandler. He is so funny and we get along so well. We are both extremely hard working missionaries and have a strong desire to save souls. We know how to have some fun while doing the work too. I love being with a missionary who just knows how to teach really well and work with the members and is just great. I have learned a lot about him and we have become good friends. The Zone did pretty good last month in baptizing people but we are looking very strong going into next month! I’m learning so much every day and I’m just trying to improve as a leader. We drive a Toyota Yaris car....it’s nice not riding a bike haha. Our flat we live in is way nice too. Probably one of the nicest I’ve ever lived in. West Auckland (Henderson) is incredible. I love the people here. The ward we are in is called Massey ward. It is a huge ward and the members are so cool. You can see the Sky Line of the Auckland City right out from our front door! The weather here is pretty cold....rainy....but not as rainy as Whangarei.

Our week was just amazing! It was probably one of the greatest weeks of my mission. We had so many miracles from Heavenly Father and just worked SO hard! This has been probably one of the most spiritual weeks ever. I have felt the spirit So much this week and have just been able to have incredible experiences. So just to let you know we have 10 people set with a baptismal date for the month of August and its only August 1st! We have been so blessed by Heavenly Father and he has led us right to people who are ready to receive the gospel. On Monday we had a lesson with this girl we were lead to on the street. We went to her house and had a powerful lesson on the restoration. We taught the Doctrine of Christ and set Stephanie, Ryder, and Formen for baptism. They are a great family. And now I have to tell you about Anna and her family. So she came to church last Sunday and loved it. We started teaching her two young sons (ages 10 and 11) and we set them for baptism on the same day as their mother (Aug 13). Well guess what? The father Quenton said he would live the listen to the lessons also!!! So we had a powerful lesson on the restoration. He is a Catholic but when we taught about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon he felt the spirit. We talked about temples and being a forever family. We also asked him to be baptized the same day with the rest of his family and he said YES!! Everything just worked out perfectly. I know we only opened our mouths but it was ALL Heavenly Father. He has done everything and it’s all a complete miracle. The whole family came to church yesterday and they loved it! We are working with them to get married and they have to give up some things to live the Word of Wisdom but they are just a GOLDEN FAMILY! I love helping entire families come into the gospel. We also have two Samoan lady’s also set for this month and I’ll have to tell you about them also. And we also set Stephanie’s boyfriend named Ryder! I just love this work so much.

Jerry was baptized and confirmed a member this weekend. The baptism was just amazing. I spoke at the baptism and there was SO many people. A lot of his nonmember family came so that was good. Jerry was so happy getting baptized. Then yesterday at church I was able to confirm him a member of the church. Our mission President was also there at our Sacrament meeting so he joined in on the circle as I confirmed him. Wow the spirit was extremely powerful. That’s one thing so cool. As Zone Leaders and because President lives in our zone....we get to see him so much. I have really got to know President Lekias and I really like him. He is an incredible man of God and I know he is supposed to be our mission President. The Lord has blessed me so much. Every trade off I’ve been on with the Elders in my zone so far we have been able to set someone for baptism. This week we also went on a trade off with the Assistants to the President (APs) Wow! They are incredible missionaries. I was in our area with Elder Greening. He is Maori (born in Gisborne) but moved to Utah. He went toTimpview. He played Football for Dixie State. He is one of the greatest missionaries I’ve ever met. I learned a lot from him. We were able to set two young teenagers for baptism but they didn’t come to church so they're not set anymore. This week was just amazing....I wish I could tell you a lot more about the week. But I just wanted to say a couple more things about yesterday. One of the Elders in our zone was sick. So my companion stayed with him in the flat and I went with the other missionary to their sacrament meeting. They had one of their investigators that was just baptized on Saturday get confirmed in church. But guess what? Sherry Dew, Brad Wilcox, and Elder Watson (from the Seventy) were there. Sherry Dew is the CEO of Desert Book. She is an incredible speaker. Mom I don’t know if you know her or not. The Sacrament meeting was amazing! And guess what I shook her hand just for you mom.

Well it sounds like everyone is doing great with all of you. That would be weird to have no children home eh? haha. I’m glad Jami and Kaylee loved Girls camp. And that’s cool Ryan is in Texas....he is probably really close to James! The Cousin Camp sounds like it will be really fun. That’s awesome.

Well about guys coming to New Zealand. A lady from the mission Office actually called me this morning and was just making sure on some details. I asked her if she knew if I could be released here in New Zealand and she said she doesn’t think so. It sounds like in order for me to get released as a missionary I will need to go to our stake president. So if you guys come get me I will probably be a missionary. But it really is totally up to you. What ever you guys decide I will be happy with. But in order for me to be able to do things we would have to have me come back to the States first. Just let me know but if you need to purchase tickets and stuff and I would make arrangements with the mission.

Well you all are always in my prayers. I put a lot more of my pictures onto a DVD and I will send it home. So you can get a lot more photos. Sorry I wish I could just send them through the computer but it takes so long. Thanks for everything. I love you all so much.
Love Elder Kitchen