An (Almost) White Christmas

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas/Holiday Season this year! I know I did! We had an (almost) White Christmas up here in Benton City. And by white I mean there was some frost on the trees and grass. That's close enough right? 

But all in all it was a great day. Skyping home was definitely the highlight of the day but it was nice opening up presents and eating with members all day. Fun was had by all as we reveled in the Christmas spirit remembering the Savior Jesus Christ. 

This past week was also pretty nice because we got to go to the temple again. That is always a great pleasure. Always a lot to learn. 

And with that I bid you all farewell. Nothing too exciting going on. Everybody is gone for the Holidays so hopefully next week there will be a little bit more to write about. Even the truck didn't bother updating from "Carports for sale. Will trade." *sniffs*. Still so beautiful. Gets me every time. 

Until 2014! <---- Crazy!

Elder Kupferer

OK, Now It’s Really Almost Christmas! (written 12/23/13)

Welp it’s actually almost Christmas now. It’s crazy. I feel like Halloween just ended. But to usher in the wonderful Christmas season we had transfers! My new companion has been out 18 months and just came from a 7 Month stint in Pasco. So far it seems to be working out pretty well. He’s good at the things I'm not and I do fairly well where he struggles so I am excited for this transfer. He doesn't speak Spanish though...... so looks like I need to brush off that Spanish textbook again. Oh well. So far my Spanish has been doing pretty well, but I am really praying for some extra help.

Speaking of the Holiday season, I've decided that as a missionary they suck. Like really not fun. Cause everyone is out doing shopping or gone for the Holidays and always say "try back after the holidays I'm super busy right now." Well after two hours of knocking, I am definitely not busy. So for the first time in my life I can't wait for Christmas break to end. Crazy shocker right? I'm sure that'll change the second I get home. 

Also part of this wintery holiday season - I am really grateful for my shoes. They are comfortable, look nice, and so water resistant that they even resist the ice on the ground...... whoever designed dress shoes was obviously a Southern Californian where people can pay way too much for clothing and has never experienced ice. I have almost died like five or six times from slipping on ice this week alone. And by almost dying I mean slipping. But it makes it fun. Life-threatening experiences always provide a nice pick-me-up and get the adrenaline going. 

So here’s a cool story. The day of transfers we got back to Benton City and my comp unpacked and then we went to an appointment that fell through (again I hate the Holiday season right now) and so we decided to knock on some doors. First door we knock, he lets us in, and then 20 minutes later says he wants to be baptized! Like that never happens! And then we go back the next day to talk with him and give him an actual date... and he's not there. So we are like aw man that rots. I knew it was too good to be true. Turns out he just moved to Grandview so we sent the elders over there the contact and hopefully it all turns out okay. 

And now to close, the truck finally has a quote back on it! Prepare for the most inspirational quote you've ever heard. It made me cry like a little baby. 

"Carports for sale. Will Trade."

Yup. So touching. *sniff*

Until next week!

Feliz navidad, prospero anos, y felicidad!

Elder Kupferer

It’s Almost Christmas!

Christmas is almost here! So stoked. A couple of weeks ago our ward had a Christmas party to get us all into the spirit. Nothing too fancy. They had a ton of cookies and hot chocolate and then had a little Christmas program. It was the story of the Nativity and Christ's birth as told by the Book of Mormon. It was pretty well done. Had a little bit of everything. Singing, small kids acting, some last minute scrambling of roles, all the classics of a ward Christmas Party. It was a pretty enjoyable night. 

Our Mission is also getting into the Christmas Spirit as well. Last Tuesday we had our Christmas Zone Conference which was a ton of fun. We had some trainings (that focused a little bit on Christmas amazingly enough) then watched a fun slideshow of events during the past year. Our Mission President (who used to be the VP of Publishing for Deseret Book so I think that’s how this was pulled off) got us all a Christmas gift even. He gave every missionary a copy of “Believing Christ.” It was a pretty cool gift. It’s a great book. If you haven't already read it, read it. It’s short but well worth your time. 

I'd have to say though the best part of the day was we watched Monster's University!!!!!!!!!!! It’s the one time of the year where we can watch a movie and not be sent home for it so it was really nice kicking back for two hours. It was so much fun. And then the credits ended, the lights come on, and you realize you're wearing a shirt and tie in a church gym. That wasn't as fun but alas. The movie was really enjoyable. 

Even Benton City is getting into the Christmas spirit. All throughout town, there’s a ton of Christmas lights hung up and all the buildings are decorated and they have wreaths on the light posts and what not. Think the Orange Circle just a million times less busy and no Bruxie's. 

Well that’s all for this week. No good signs this week so here is a quote from one of the AP's (Assistants to the President) who in turn took it from someone else:

"Live your life in such a way that people who don't know Christ will want to come to know Him because they know you."

Hasta la proxima semana! 

Elder Kupferer

Man It's Cold!

So it’s been pretty dang cold up here. For the past week, it hasn't been above freezing. I think it might have hit 31 in the sun one afternoon but other than that it’s been about 24 during the day if we are lucky. Thank heavens for beenies though. So far, everything has been pretty warm.... except for my face. Just short of looking like I'm about to rob a bank with a full ski mask it’s about the only part that will ever get cold. As if Spanish wasn't challenging enough already, I now speak it with a half frozen mouth. All sorts of fun stuff. 

So driving from a meeting to lunch the other day (side note: one thing I didn't expect about being a missionary was all the meetings oh my gosh. District meetings, zone training meetings, ward correlation meetings.... the list goes on) anyways I look out into the distance and notice in the direction of Hanford (there’s a huge nuclear waste clean up going on out there right now) a giant cloud coming from the ground that looked like a mushroom. I was told it was from the power reactor's heat exhaust but I'm convinced something’s gone wrong at Hanford and the government is just covering it up. If I come back with a third arm, we will know what happened. 

Also another thing I didn't know about missionary life was teaching child of record baptism candidates (kids born in the church turning 8). The Bishop here in Benton City (he is in charge of the ward, much like a pastor at another church) asked us to teach the missionary lessons to children turning 8 in a few months. It is a great experience. Definitely a different type of challenge than regular teaching but it’s amazing to see how simple life can be and the simple things that children notice we adults (I'm over 18 now so I can call myself an adult and sit at the adult table now) often glance over and don't give a second thought to. It is a whole different type of spiritual experience. I'm loving it. (not a reference to McDonalds in case anyone was wondering)

If we want to stay with this week's theme of "Things Elder Kupferer didn't realize about going on a mission" let me add ‘Exchanges’ onto the list. Something simple we do but still super powerful. Every transfer (a 6 week period) the district leaders go on exchanges with every member in their district (usually 2 to 4 companionships) so for a day we basically switch companions. It’s a super great learning experience because it shows us different ways of doing things and not just dropping us into the same routine over and over. 

And now, since the stupid truck is still blank here is a quote I saw hanging outside one of the trailers here in the great BC "Be nice to your kids because they will choose your retirement home." 

Stay awesome and I hope you all enjoy this wonderful upcoming Christmas season!

Hasta Luego, 

Elder Kupferer

Thanksgiving!!

Well I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving this past week. I know I did. Lots of good food and awesome members. At the Church we had a potluck and there was just so much good stuff I didn't know where to start. I've decided the one thing I don't like about Thanksgiving is having too much food I want to eat.

And to top it all off, we got snow the day after! And by snow I mean there was a light covering on the trees and plants but still. It was really cool. Everything was white and awesome. And then it melted the next day. Not too much of a surprise. And then for some reason, two days later, it gets up to 60 degrees again. It was crazy. Washington can't decide if it’s fall or winter yet.

This week we had a lesson with one of our investigators that went super well. She has been taught almost everything and is mostly waiting to resolve things with her family right now but the members we were having the lesson with had their daughter and son-in-law there. For most of the time the son-in-law hadn't been saying much but then after the main part of the lesson and we were just visiting all of a sudden he spoke up and bore a super powerful testimony of his conversion. It was most definitely unexpected but still incredibly powerful and moving. Definitely one of the highlights of the week.

And now, since the truck with the sayings has been blank the past two weeks, here is a quote from a bumper sticker I saw: "Go to Church, because Walmart isn't the only saving place."

And with that, I wish you all a happy holiday season and I'll see you next week!

Elder Kupferer

Too Much Food?

Hello everyone!

Nothing too new this week in Benton City. This past week we had the opportunity to have a zone conference with Elder Kent Richards of the 70. We learned a lot and all felt the spirit super strong. I am excited to see the results that will come about because of what we learned. 

Thinking about it, I guess there is something rather new (at least to me) that happened this past week. It got cold. Like freezing cold (literally). In the space of one day it went from a high of 48 to 36. It was insane. I can see my breath in the car. IN THE CAR. That shouldn't happen. Also, it’s really fun (and by fun I mean miserable) going to church meetings when it’s 16 degrees outside. Whoever invented suits obviously lived in Southern California where they didn't need to keep you warm. Thank heavens for thermals. 

I have also decided that yes, there can be such a thing as too much food. As shocking as it is, I can attest that there becomes a point where food sounds disgusting. Yesterday, we had a lunch at 2 then dinner at 5 planned from a few weeks ago. Nothing too bad there. And then we went to church, and got invited to a missionary return get together, a missionary going away get together, and then pie. All with different members. It’s horrible having to ration yourself with so much good food so you can still eat at least a little bit with everyone. 

Side note: Butterfinger Pie is one of the best desserts ever created. Only downside is I think with every slice you slice off a year of your life. 

Well that’s all that’s going on with me this week. Hopefully with Turkey Day coming up this week I'll have a cool story for you all.

Stay awesome,

Elder Kupferer

Giraffes in Benton City?

It’s been another awesome week in Washington. Fun fact for the day: there is one four-way stop in Benton City. And it’s not even on the main road it’s out in a residential area. Even crazier (and it took me like a month to realize this) there aren't any stop lights in Benton city.... Fun stuff.

Also this week we had some great opportunities for service. One afternoon we helped a member (who conveniently lives next door) paint his house. It was actually quite a lot of fun. All those Eagle Projects painting various boards has finally paid off.

Something else that's finally paying off are all those piano lessons. I don't play that much but whenever District Meetings or even our Spanish Gospel Doctrine class I get asked to play. Mom, let me formally apologize for fighting those lessons way back when. To any kids that might be reading this: trust your parents. They actually know what they're doing.

And last here is the quote of the week from the truck:

"Thank you Veterans, for your help, service, and sacrifice."

Hasta la proxima semana.

Elder Kupferer

[The following was not intended for the Blog but I wanted to include it anyway – Steve]

Also there are giraffes in Benton City. Who knew?

They are actually made of scrapped metal from a Ford pickup, an old (I am hoping already out of commission) Mustang, and then a bit from a Chevy. We tracted into the guy who had them and Elder Rosero was all "Hey can I take a picture with your giraffes? I really love them." Didn't accept our message though..... 

Quotes from the Side of the Road

Why hello there,

So it’s been another awesome week out in the WKM. I would say that it’s on fire out here, but apparently Benton City has actually been on fire before so it sufficeth me to say that it’s going quite well out here. Especially on the Spanish side of things because.... We now have a Spanish Relief Society!!!!!! So stoked for them. It’s great to see the Spanish membership in the ward growing. Next step: Spanish branch. I'm gonna make it happen. 

Another opportunity that presented itself this week was the chance to teach seminary one morning. That was pretty cool. We taught the sophomore class and they were a lot more awake than I thought. But nonetheless, Brother Henderson if you read this, major props. I don't know how you were/are able to stay awake yourself not to mention keeping the class interested at 6:00 in the morning. It is quite an impressive feat. 

So I guess some things in the world never change. Including way too many road construction projects. Yep. All the way up in Washington the cities decided to start three major construction projects on the road.... at the same time. Because planning and spacing projects out just doesn't seem logical does it? Of course not. 

Also another fun fact about Benton City... on the one main road headed out of town there is a truck that is parked that on the back has a little sign like what you would see at a restaurant or outside a church where you can slide the letters in and out and put various fun messages. Except instead of saying "Big Mac - It'll kill you" it has some fun quotes on it I thought I'd share. Last week’s was "Dear Math - Grow up. I'm tired of solving your problems." This week is "Everyone is mature until someone breaks out the bubble wrap."

Come back next week for more funny quotes from the side of the road. 

Until then,

Elder Kupferer

Noche de Brujas (aka Halloween)

Buenos Dias!

Another great week in Benton City. Fun Spanish word today: Noche de Brujas. Spanish for Halloween (literal translation though: Night of Witches).  Speaking of Halloween... ours was rather uneventful. Because Benton City gets so crazy on Halloween, we had a curfew of 6 PM, and then the best part was weekly planning!!! (that was a joke). So my companion and I just sat inside all night after planning and watched “Mountain of the Lord” and “Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration” - some church DVDs we had in the apartment. That and I ate way too much candy. No regrets though.

Another cool thing I learned about Benton City recently is in the church library/materials center, they have the entire Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price in Braille. It takes up at least 6 big 3-inch binders but it was really cool. Props to people that can read Braille. That stuff is insane. 

So a cool experience this week: Wednesday night we had exchanges which is when two priest age young men (ages 16 – 17) or elder-age men (18 & up) from the ward come out with my companion and I and we go and split up to get twice the work done. So my temporary companion and I went and visited a Spanish recent convert to teach her a lesson (not like an actual lesson) but my temporary comp didn't really speak Spanish so it was all on me... and somehow I survived. I spoke fine and understood 95% of what she was saying. It was amazing seeing the gifts of the Spirit in action. I just wish it could be like that 24/7. Soon enough.

That's all for today folks. Have a great day and I'll be back next week!

Elder Kupferer

Columbia River Washington Temple

Hello Everyone!

So you’re probably thinking “Where was my favorite blogger this week?” Truth is I don't have the answer to that particular question but I can tell you that now I am here so hopefully that will help a little bit. We had the chance to go to the temple (Columbia River Washington Temple) with our zone this morning so we had to push our P-Day (our email time) back to Tuesday. It was an awesome experience. 

Something else that was awesome - ELDER BALLARD CAME!!!!!!! It was so cool. On Saturday he, Elder Richard J. Maynes, and Elder Brad K. Risenmay [see editor’s note at end of blog] all came and spoke to the entire mission - all 230 of us. They all gave great talks and advice and got everyone super pumped for missionary work. Also since the entire mission was there, we took a picture of the entire mission with him. If you thought the marching band picture was intense, think again. They also ordered pizza for all of us. I do not regret eating five slices. Not one bit. 

The next day we also had the opportunity to hear Elder Maynes speak again (at a special Stake Conference which was yet again really inspiring. It was also kind of fun because Elder Rosero and I got to translate again. Lots of fun as always. 

Also another interesting fact, not related to the proceeding paragraphs but interesting none the less, we saw the mom of one of our investigators take chickens from the coup to get ready to cook. Like all of it. It was slightly disturbing..... but hey I guess I still get the cultural experience even though I'm hundreds (thousands?) of miles from Mexico. Awesome. 

So a cool story for the week in regards to missionary work. We got a new investigator this week that was already pre-taught and pre-committed to baptism. She met a member through snap-chat (I guess all sorts of technology are helping to hasten the work) and then started taking the lessons with this family in Kennewick with the sister missionaries there and then decided to get baptized. Meanwhile my comp and I had no idea whatsoever that any of this was going on until we get a call from their ward mission leader (a member from the ward that is in charge of communication between the missionaries and the wards) that essentially went like this "Hey so there’s this young women that lives in Benton City but has been taking the lessons in Kennewick. She's getting baptized in two weeks. When can you meet?" Fast forward to Sunday night when we were supposed to have a lesson with her but then here come the sister missionaries and her fellowshippers (friends from the ward). That conversation went like this. "I want to get baptized Saturday. Can we start figuring that out?" My comp and I just sort of stared for a second then after picking our jaws off the floor said sure. So that’s the cool story for the week. 

That’s about it for this week. I hope everything is going well back in Sunny Southern California! Up here it’s already below freezing at night and only about 50's + wind chill. What is this cold thing going on up here? 

Stay awesome, 

Elder Kupferer

[Editor’s Note]  Elder Brad K. Risenmay, from Othello, Washington is an Area Seventy.  Area Seventies give part-time voluntary Church service within their assigned geographic areas and support area presidencies in international areas.

Despicable Me Minion Pumpkins

Hola mis amigos!

Another great week has flown by here in the amazing Washington Kennewick Mission. This week was extra special because we had a baptism on Saturday and then a confirmation on Sunday. The spirit was super strong during the baptism and then again during the confirmation. I actually had the opportunity to do the confirmation which was doubly awesome ‘cause it was in Spanish. It is crazy to feel the Spirit in two languages now. Definitely one of the perks of serving Spanish speaking. 

Another cool thing about being here (at least in Benton City) is how unbelievably amazing the members are. I swear when you put on the name tag there’s like five or six families that sort of adopt you. One sister is always offering us dinner when no one has signed up (which doesn't happen too often cause Benton City is awesome like that) and then there are other families that are just as crazy as ours which always makes for entertaining dinners and then others still are practically missionaries themselves. We always are going out on exchanges where members either come with us or we split up and go with two elders to get double the work done. It’s really cool. Especially since a lot of the elders are our age (or older). 

On Sundays here we are also part of the choir. It’s great to be singing again. Some habits die hard though. May or may not have caught myself raising my hand at a mistake while singing...... (Northwood choir students unite!)

Another random fact to close this week’s letter…there is a house we drive by everyday that has pumpkins out for Halloween.... painted like the minions from Despicable Me. By far the best pumpkins I have ever seen. 

Take care and I'll write again next week. 

Elder Kupferer

Badger Mountain (?)

Hello everyone!

Mission life has been pretty awesome recently. The work is coming along great and I am really enjoying everything. Here are some fun points for this week.

Since Benton City is only about 3000 people, there’s only one High School with a population about the size of my graduating class. As such, the entire town rallied behind them for homecoming this past week. All over the town they had signs painted onto the windows in support and things like that. It was really cool.

The weather up here is really nice. It’s a little bit chilly right now – it’s about as cold as Irvine will get in the dead of winter (although I would hardly consider what Irvine goes through a winter) - so we will see what this winter brings. Everyone is saying that it is supposed to be a pretty bad winter but it should be interesting nonetheless. Thankfully since I'm Spanish speaking I have a car so I am not too worried about it just yet.

Our mission president decided to change one of our key indicators last week at zone conference. We used to report every week how many OYM's (or Open Your Mouth's) we had (essentially how many non-members we talked to through knocking doors or responding to potential contacts) but he has decided to do member lessons instead. We now are focusing on working with the members to try and help show them that sharing the gospel isn't as bad as it may seem at first. Hopefully we will help them gain confidence in sharing a brief message which we hope will find new investigators. So far it’s been working great.

Here in the east part of Washington it’s pretty flat but we are right at the base of some foothills and had the opportunity last week on P-Day [Preparation Day] to go hiking a bit up a hill called Badger Mountain. Why it is called Badger Mountain instead of Badger Hill I have no idea since it is by no means a mountain but alas it was still a cool hike. The view from the top was pretty cool. In the picture below, the little valley I believe is Benton City.

I think I mentioned this earlier but either way Benton City is what we call a "zebra area" because we as missionaries speak both Spanish and English. Right now we don't have enough Spanish people to create a branch and so we have the opportunity to translate what they are saying in Sacrament Meeting into Spanish. Yesterday I had the opportunity to do so. It was kind of crazy because a) I'm still learning Spanish and b) they don't really go that slow for us to translate. But it was still a neat experience. I feel like I did pretty well but there was definitely some heavenly help going on.

As for an update on my Spanish it’s coming along really well. Still having a bit of trouble understanding when they start speaking super fast but overall its coming along great.

So to end this, I have some exciting news. Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is coming to our mission!!! It is super rare to have the opportunity to hear from a member of the Twelve like this and he is coming just to speak to us. It’s gonna be amazing!

And with that, I sign off. Everybody have a great day and I'll see you again next week.

Elder Kupferer

Benton City!

Hellloooooooo everybody!  Last week I promised a schedule of day to day life so here you go:

6:30 – 8:00 AM: wake up, exercise (and by that I mean pushups and sit ups), shower, get ready, eat breakfast (yay cereal!)

8:00 – 9:00 AM: Personal study. We generally focus on the lessons we are going to teach and things like that. 

9:00 – 10:00 AM: Comp [companionship] study. We go over plans for the day and then do something called 42 Principles. It takes each principle from the lessons in Preach My Gospel and goes a little bit more in depth. It’s really cool. 

10:00 – 11:00 AM: Language study. We will either read the Spanish Scriptures or watch some of the DVDs we have in Spanish. 

11:00 AM -12:00 PM: Lunch!

12:00 – 1:00 PM: 12 Week Program. This is the program to help new missionaries ease into missionary life and understand what’s going on. 

1:00 – 5:00 PM: Missionary work. We go around and visit members, teach lessons, find people to teach, knock some doors. All that fun stuff. 

5:00 – 6:00 PM: Dinner. Usually we have dinner with the members here. Every night someone will invite us over so we go have dinner then share a scriptural thought. 

6:00 – 9:00 PM: More missionary work!!! 

6:00 – 9:30 PM: Planning for the next day. 

9:30 – 10:30PM: Various things getting ready for bed. 

10:30 PM: Lights out. 

Now for some cool stuff: 

Since I am a Spanish [speaking] missionary, we have a car to drive around the great BC [Benton City]. It’s awesome. We have to be careful though because we only have a limited number of miles a month. We usually are pretty good about it though. 

Also here in Benton City there are lots of pets and animals. It’s really enjoyable seeing so many dogs and cats everywhere. Always makings knocking doors interesting...

So even though I’m in the US doesn’t mean I've missed my share of interesting foods. So far the only terribly interesting food I’ve had (frozen pizza and lasagna I’m sure are pretty commonplace) is anticucho. It’s a Peruvian dish and is barbecued cow heart. 

Not as disgusting as people might think. The texture was a little off but the flavor was really good. 

That’s all for this week. Take Awesome everyone!

Elder Kupferer