First email from.......SAIPAN!

Rannaniem Mom

IFa Usum(How are you?) I know you miss me mom.  I am in Saipan right now in a small internet Cafe!! 

I have a companion from the phillipines and he is so funny.  He is supposed to preach the gospel in tagolog and so I preach in English and he speaks Tagalog!!  I have to learn a launguage right now it is really hard but I could proably get it soon. It is called Chuukese and I will have to learn some tagolog too because alot of people in Saipan are from the Phillipines!!


Its so awesome here, the people are nice, the weather is hot (I am sweating so much) and we already have an investigator getting baptized, her name is Delia she is philipino(half of Saipan is philipino). she is such a sweet old lady.  When we taught her a couple days ago she told us that she was gonna be our mother!! (there is also this one chuukese women named Grandma Bernie and also three other women who said they will be our mothers).  We set a date for Christmas Day and she first started investigating because she came to church and felt the calm peaceful spirit at church and while we teaching her!! She wants to keep feeling that spirit she sad she wants to come to church and feel the holy ghost!! 


I love the people here, they are so awesome, they luv the missionaries. We always have meal appointments and we already have 3 set for Christmas Day, we will probabley get more too, i HAVE GAINED 20 POUNDS SINCE i GOT INTO THE MTC!  I am now 120 punds!!  This place is so awesome.  We are reopening a new area because we didn't have enough missionaries for a time so we only have one investigator but if we keep working it will get better!!  

I eat alot of philipino food and also american and its all so good.  People are pretty poor here its pretty sad, its humbling, so grateful for back home.  No one really cares, they live in everything from an old barracks (which has really small rooms that people live in and like 10 families share a bathroom its pretty sad! )  We do alot of our finding in these jungle roads away from the main roads,  thats where we found a barracks and also really small tin houses!!  People live in anything here its insane!!    


I love being a missionary, it is not fun all the time but I luv it!  There are alot of mangy dogs here (called boony dogs)  and they keep barking at us maybe because I smell so bad from sweating!

I absolutley without a doubt know this church is true and that Jesus is the Christ and because He loves me He atoned for my sins and that the Book of Mormon is true!!

I gotta go 

Iov you

Elder Kearl

and off he goes...to the other side of the world!

Elder Kearl is on his way to Micronesia Guam.  They left the MTC at 300 am and he was allowed to call me from the airport.  It was so great to talk to him, even if it was only for a few minutes.  He was nervous and excited.  It is -30 in Calgary so I think it made him happy to know that Guam was 60 degrees warmer.  Lucky guy! He shared that even though the MTC was challenging, it was a great experience and he learned alot.  He was grateful he was so familiar with Preach my Gospel and the scriptures.  I am anxious to hear where he will be assigned to.  Bon Voyage!

things are great in the MTC!

Hey Family,

hows it going?

Thanks for the packages they were so awesome, I got all of them and they really helped.  All the other Elders in my district were happy that I had alot to share,  some of there family lives were not that great at home so it helps that I got stuff to bring them stuff!  I also saw Elder Palmer first day of MTC!  I got my Travel itinerary and I leave on 3 am tuesday Nov 23 for Guam and I can call u at the airport.  I don't know what time there but probably 12-3 sometime between there Hawaii time! 

I met one of Grandpa Rosenvalls old companions, Elder Charles Barnes on Friday. 


This week was intense, alot of changes! Elder Mafi and Elder Beaty could not get along so Elder Mafi got transferred to the zone leaders companionship so its just me and Elder Beaty!  I learned to love my companions when they wouldn't stop fighting.  I was trying everything to make them get along like when ever I prayed It would make me cry how much I wanted them to get along and then the Branch President talked to me about it and he said " Elder Kearl I know you have been trying tour hardest to make your companionship stop fighting and the Lord is aware of what you are going through and what you have done.  Tell your parents that your a good missionary and if you keep this up you will be blessed in Micronesia!"  I never knew it would be this hard to love my companions or that a misson would be this hard but I love my experience here at the MTC! 


Tuesday night Elder Bednar came on tuesday and gave us a talk and later gave us an apostilic blessing.  He told us that if we would strive to study and understand the doctrine that we would have the spirit wiht us and the blessings of God would distill like the dews of heaven!  When the apostles come to the MTC they are not as serious as they are in general conference.  Elder Bednar told us to take off our suit jackets and to get comfortable.  When he got up to speak he said he remembered when he was in ther MTC back when in the days of Parley P Pratt!  Then his wife interrupted him and got to the puilpit and said "don't say that they don't know who Parley Pratt is!"   Elder Bednar was so embarrased he did not say anything for 5 minutes!  


I am so blessed to be here and I know it I am grateful for this wonderful oppurtunity and I know Joseph Smith is a Prophet Of God and that he translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God and that the Book of Mormon is true and Jesus Christ is the son of God and He loves me and because of that He atoned for my sins so I can live again.

Thanks for everything everyone sent me it really helps getting stuff, it lifts my spirits.  I have one question could you send my Sams and Bretts and Tyson addresses?

Love Elder Kearl

First email from the MTC!

Hey mom!

How are you?

I am great, I feel so loved here, its hard but its fun and I love it!  I have two companions Elder Beaty form St. George and Elder Mafi from Hawaii who is tongan.  They are good companions, nice guys, good elders, but they don't get along with each other but both them get along with me so I am the keystone of this Companionship!  They both have different qualities that I like and don't like.  I have a sweet district, everyone is american and we have another Haiwaiian.  Everyone in the district is going to Guam except two who are going to the marshall Islands.  My first Sabbath was good, we went to the temple today and It was awesome!  I love the food, I eat rice with every meal and I tried the best thing today, biscuits and Gravy tastes so good, Elder Fisher from Texas told me to try it.  I leave Nov 24 for Micronesia and I got the package with the backpack,  nothing yet from Mr. Mac. Thank you so much!   I don't mean to be rude but could you please send me sandals, a real towel, a camera cord to plug into a computer and also send me my friends addresses because I would love to write to them!  I love u all, I miss u all and I want you to know the Church is true , Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and the Book of Mormon is the word of God! sorry!  So much to write so little time.

Elder Kearl       

getting ready to go....

Dan was required to obtain 4 visas before entering the MTC; Federated States of Micronesia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau and United States of America.  We were anxious about the US visa because many other elders had been delayed in receiving theirs. The mission department told us if it did not arrive by November 1^st, he would be delayed until December 15^th.  We went ahead with taking him to the Cardston Temple to receive his own endowments on October 16th, and having a farewell and open house the weekend of October 30th.   Derek said that if there is a God in Heaven his visa would arrive on time, and it did.  On the afternoon of November 1^st, we received a phone call from SLC notifying us that his visa had been approved and if we could get him to Provo by the weekend he would be able to start right away.  We had to wait to actually receive the visa in Calgary before he could leave Canada.  He reported to the MTC on Saturday, November 6^th.  The best part was that since he was the only elder reporting that day, Derek and I were able to take him right into the MTC to say good-bye.  He was very excited and nervous all at the same time.  As a mom, I felt every single emotion leading up to and including that day...joy, nervousness, sadness, and excitement.

Dan is my miracle baby, being born 12 weeks early, weighing only 1 pound, 11 ounces.  I remember when he was a baby his future was uncertain, and I hoped and prayed that he would be healthy and well enough to be able to serve a mission when he was 19, and I feel so grateful for this privilege he has now.  I felt 100% peace the day we said good-bye.  I knew Dan was well prepared to go and teach the gospel to others.  He had always been diligent in reading his scriptures, attending seminary and studying Preach My Gospel.  He had a strong desire to be a missionary and serve the Lord his whole life.  Most importantly, I knew that Dan knew how to turn to the Lord for comfort and strength.  I had witnessed it first hand many, many times as he faced struggles in his life. 

This same year my sweet mother passed away and I was blessed to feel the ‘tender mercies’ of the Lord through this experience.  I felt peace at this time understanding and believing in the Plan of Salvation, and having the Holy Ghost as a comforter.  As hard as it was to say good-bye to Dan for two years, I felt that if he could share the gospel and the plan of salvation with even one person during his mission, it would be worth the sacrifice.  My mom would have been so proud of her ‘Danny boy’ and I know she is watching over him from up above.