SevenUpps

Elder U, Oct 17 2011

2011-10-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

Yes I am aware of the small amount of Indian in me, we won't talk about that. I got the money! and I got a haircut with it, and I asked for the same length I have gotten for years 3 on the top and 2 on the sides, and its way short... i think she just gave me a 2 everywhere. But its already grown a bit so its not that bad.Send them some really nice pens!(We asked what a missionary in the MTC would like in a care package) AND SOME SUPER GLUE! Super glue has come to my aid countless times, and it will countless more. And some Beef Jerky, and I just asked the other 3 elders in the room what they would have wanted and they said letters from all the young single women in the ward.I GOT THIS AWESOME MISSIONARY DOLL! A lady in Sidney who does amazing crochet stuff made it for me and sent it by way of her mom who lives in Corvallis! It's fantastic, I might send it home cause it wont last here on the field, but I don't want to give it up.The Blog and FB are doing pretty good, I'm supposed to write a blog every week or so which is a pain, but it's fun coming up with gospel applications for obscure stuff that I like. I already came up with an idea about Back To The Future and repentance.Things are going pretty well, and Halloween is on a P-day! So we might do something awesome for it. AND I GOT TO WORK OUT AT A MUAY THAI GYM TODAY! It's owned by a less active in the ward next to ours and the Elders there invited us along to work out there, and I miss punching so much... It felt so good to wail on a bag for an hour again. The less active guy there was a pro boxer for 14 years and he said I had amazing footwork! He also complimented my punches and taught me some good combos. But we couldn't spar cause I'm a missionary... I was so bummed.Hugs and Hyperbeams,Elder Uppenaround

Elder U, Oct 10 2011

2011-10-17T15:44:00.000-07:00

Fruits and vegetables are for pansies.(We recommended that Andrew eat veggies and fruit to get over his cold) If I ate that stuff all the natives would laugh. And I'm feeling tons better! The weather down here is nuts too. It poured rain on thursday, but it was warm in the morning so I didn't have my suit coat or my raincoat, so I was just soaked. then the next day it was sunny and awesome but I had my raincoat so I was too hot. I need some good winter boots and some beanies and stuff, so that money will be wonderful! THANKS! What are Adnoids?(Jake is getting his adenoids out on Oct. 18) It sounds like androids. Why does Jacob have Androids in his nose? We saw a herd of 100 head of Elk! I tried to get some pics but I think they all ended up blurry. Then we went looking for some elk with the guy we live with in Darby, and we went looking ON THE RANCH THAT CHRISTOPHER LOYD USED TO LIVE ON! and on the way back we drove past the summer home of the guy who directed National Treasure! I'm almost done with my blog, but i'm having some technical difficulties, so it will be done... eventually... Transfers came and went and I'm staying with Elder Owens in Corvallis and Darby, which is awesome! I love it here. Things go well. thinking in the 4th dimension,Elder Mcfly

Elder U, Oct 3 2011

2011-10-17T15:41:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I don't really need the belt buckle. I need boots a lot more than that, but I had to ask! Conference was amazing! AND I'M PUMPED ABOUT THE TABERNACLE! That's the bomb! The Japanese guys' talk yesterday was one that stuck out to me, and not just cause he had an awesome accent. But all of it was fantastic, I don't really have a favorite. As for facebook, you could probly just send me the pics if you already took them all off the memory card. I get 1 hour for online proselyting a day, and it's for teaching and finding people who are interested. So if you guys have anyone who needs a missionary but are intimidated or whatever then send em my way. Facebook proselyting is for providing a formal setting where we can answer questions and not have to be in the home and looking at them with our accusing eyes, so its actually helping a lot of people. we are still in Pappas's house, but he is sick so we don't see him much. He said that he hadn't eaten anything for like 2 days so he knew what it was like for the jews during the holocaust. We are trying to leave as quickly as possible. And I think he got me sick too, I have been running around with a cold for the past week. But it hasn't slowed me down! SEND ME BACK MY MEMORY CARD! Sincerely yours,Elder get UP c'mon get DOWN with the sickness

Elder U, Sept 26, 2011

2011-10-17T15:39:00.000-07:00

I got the package and it is so nice to have a scripture case! And thanks for the money! I used some of it to buy some boots to do service in, they just happen to be some dope cowboy boots I found in a thrift store in Darby. And I'll send my memory card home when I get my other one back.I've heard all about the BYU game now, there are a bunch of BYU graduates up here, and even more people with kids going there. It's good that they did well in their last game, why did they have to wait until they played U of U to suck?GET RONAN THE 8 TRACK PLAYER! And give him the Silmirillion to give to the Heims too. Thats fantastic about the Rhodes! Brother Rhodes is gonna be the best dad ever! Thats so awesome. They should name him Ananias, or Gideon.Conference is gonna be the bomb, I am so pumped for it. I got this sweet note taking packet from the primary in Darby, its got a word search and everything, I am totally using it. Its gonna be so much fun.We had the primary program here too, and it was awesome! They kids were all over the place, and half of them weren't singing, and a couple kept jumping around and pushing each other. It made me a little homesick. And they had Linger Longer which is the greatest thing since sliced bread, Its a pot luck after church on every 4th sunday.HEY! I might need $100 for a sweet hand made elk antler belt buckle. Its for a less-active who needs the money, it gives us a reason to go see him again, and he does amazing work! So it's not for me, its to save the soul of a talented artist. And we could call it an early Christmas present!Pretty Please,Elder Moosencamp

Elder U, Sept. 19

2011-10-17T15:37:00.000-07:00

We had a great week! We have some amazing people that we are working with. Daniel... why.(Daniel is working at Rocky Mountain Drive Inn) He can do TONS better than that. Punch Brian for me. Send the package to: 1490 Meridian Rd.Vistor, MT 59875 And send it quick! I don't need new scrips yet, but I will if I don't get a case as soon as possible. My pants are getting a little loose actually, I haven't been on a scale lately but I have definatly lost a little weight. We used the mile counter in the odometer and we drove the way we usually bike and it turned out to be a 20 mile round trip back to our house, and we usually go more than twice that far. We thought it was only 10 or so miles, so we have gone twice as far as we thought we did. It is getting a little chilly, it gets around 40 degrees at night but it gets up in the 70's during the day. I bought some sweet winter gloves, i just need some long johns and a few more things and i'm set. I have been advised against thermal garments by a couple different missionaries, so I'll just stick to normal garments and get thermals to go over. I hadn't heard the score,(the infamous BYU loss) but the McCreedy's were watching the beginning of the game when we left Darby. It sucks that we lost! Was it really that bad? Spencer hasn't written yet, I need to beat him up. Sincerely Yours,Elder Raphael (The Coolest Ninja Turtle)

Elder U, Sept 12, 2011

2011-09-18T20:25:00.000-07:00

This week was good! We serve in a place called Darby too and the members we live with there are fantastic, their name is McCreedy and they have a cute little Pomeranian puppy named Griz. The McCreedy's let us use the whole upstairs of a really nice house, and it's fantastic! The elders here used to spend 1 day a week in Darby and every other sunday, but we have a lot of work there so we are spending every weekend down there. We still spend every other sunday in corvallis. Any size scripture case is fine as long as it can withstand a bear mauling, so I'm not gonna be choosy. And the Quad I've got is hanging in there, but by the skin of its teeth. We use bikes provided by the members, the one i'm riding belongs to the ward mission leader who grew up in Pinesdale ( the polygamist colony) and is a really nice guy. The hills here are nuts! we are in a valley so everything is at odd angles and some of these go up to bloody 85 degrees! And you could totally send me that hat. I don't know if I could wear it but who knows. Elder Owens wore a ski mask and a beany last winter, but he is from arizona so he isn't used to below 0 weather. Daniel best not be working at Rocky Mountain. So my official guess is The Academy. Thats awesome about the website! Just don't pull a Martha Stuart! And Jacob needs a bionic nose, then all his problems will be solved. And we will have to see about the killing with kindness, I might just settle for the killing. Sincerely,Elder Farva ( I got the name wrong on the letter) P.S. Allan wrote me! It was awesome, make Daniel punch that guy.

Elder U, Sept 5, 2011

2011-09-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

Elder Owens is the man. He is more like a trainer than Nuttall was, he actually tries to teach me stuff! we have been working together well, and we're having fun. The place we are staying at kinda sucks, its the back room of a member who says that he was forced to have the missionaries live there. He took the lights out of our fridge and is a nazi about how long we can turn the lights on. He keeps telling us he is poor and on wellfare and can't go work, but then he says he is always to busy to clean his house or mow his lawn. He relied on his wife completely for cooking and cleaning and anything else he didn't want to do, but his wife died 2 years ago. The area is awesome but we bike everywhere, we have a truck but the elder before was going home so he went over on miles. and we are in a car share with the area next to us, so in 5 days we biked 40 miles. I am gonna have thunder thighs when i'm done here. I am sending a letter home with my address on it so you can use that, but I forgot it and I don't have it on me. send it quick as you can! my Scrips are getting beat up pretty bad out here.Daniel needs to get fighting again! at the rate i'm going i'll be able to kick through his chest in 2 years. Its awesome that Jacobs getting into it! I wish I had started that early, if he keeps at it he can be a pro in no time. And its awesome that he is in percussion, have you bought him a drum set yet? I got a package from the Davis's! They are the bomb, they sent some cookies and a tie and some pics of danny without his braces. So he punched the ocean, and that's how he broke his collarbone? Thats one of the manliest things i've ever heard! next he'll be growing a mountain man beard and hunting wolves. The selection of beards here is disappointing, I have yet to see an impressive beard in Montana. There is an Elder here who I can talk metal with! Elder Lee is in to the same bands that I am and he is in the district that we are in a car share with. There is a bunch of polygamists down here, they are a branch of of us from the 70's and the believe in the book of Mormon and the D&C but they think they are living the higher law, and that they have priesthood authority and we don't. It's weird and we can only go up to they're colony with the ward mission leader who grew up there. So this will be interesting.LOVES,Elder Moroni

Elder A, August 28, 2011

2011-09-18T20:22:00.001-07:00

I've been transferred to Corvallis! Its the complete other side of the state, there are mountains here! my new companion is elder Owens and he is the bomb. He is a cowboy from Arizona and he is a funny guy. we were on the road for a total of 12 hours yesterday getting around to where im at. You could just send the package to the mission office and they'll get it to me, I dont know my address yet, I havent even had the chance to see where i'm living yet. I see now what you ment about phil, its cool that daniel isn't gone just yet. I don't have much time right now, i'll try to get a letter to you soon.LOVE, Elder Uppercut

Elder Andrew - Aug 22, 2011

2011-09-18T20:21:00.001-07:00

My comps getting better, He just needs to chill out about a lot of stuff (see Daniels email for details) he is like Bogey, ask Ronan what that means. I didn't get to label the stuff in the package, I didn't have time, but the 8 track player is for Ronan, the Silmirillion is for the Heims but tell them I want it back when I come home, and the record was for Daniel. Daniel can take the record player with him when he moves out as long as he promises to take good care of it and not scratch my vinyls, ESPECIALLY THE STAR WARS ONE! I have been out of money since I got out, so I have been budgeting just fine. It was the air plane that cleaned me out, that and I bought a nice knife on my first P-day. The allowance they give us is good enough even though everything here costs twice what it costs everywhere else because of the oil fields, but some extra money would be nice. It's crazy that he is moving out! Is he doing school yet or does he have to wait till the spring semester? He should go with Phil, that guy needs keeping an eye on. And Gabe is already leaving? For Logan!? What is he studying for? Jessie is in college, that's so weird. I'm not gonna think too much on that one.I'm freaking out a little bit about transfers. I kinda want to stay because the people here are awesome, but I kinda want to leave so I can see new people and get a comp that will let me learn what I'm supposed to. I just don't know! I'll go wherever I'm needed.Hugs & Headlocks,Elder Duke Tungsten (that's my leather jacket name)P.S. that's awesome about Sis. Crawford, I miss the ward so much! The ward mission leader is brother Carpenter and the second counselor to the Bishop is Thompson, so I wanna hug Carpenter and punch Thompson!

Elder Andrew- August 15, 2011

2011-09-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

Nope, still no moose. They don't hang out in the Badlands, we just have Indians. I haven't run into any Redskins yet, but there are 14 reservations in my mission and the worst one is in our zone, so its only a matter of time. Thats cool about girls camp. Who got stuck being Dobby? Or did you just have a straw dummy that you could set fire too? We went through the ward list and found 60 names we didn't know, so we are going to go through it with the bishop and see who we can track down. It's like trying to fill a sieve, there is a huge oil boom going on here so people are in and out all the time. There are no places to live, tons of trailer parks that get filled the second they are emptied, people always getting evicted when landlords find someone willing to pay more for less. So our investigators are either always working, always tired, or move away. We do have some success though, we are working with this awesome couple that work on the railroad, and they are coming along really well. And we have a baptismal date set up with a 12 year old kid who has been taking the lessons for months with his younger brother and dad who aren't members.And we got to go to some Rodeos! We street contacted at a county fair and saw a rodeo with some members, and we talked to tons of people. Then we saw another one with a family that lives 40 miles from Sidney (we cover 4 or 5 small towns that are 30 to 40 miles from Sidney in every direction) and saw a Ranch Rodeo which is more roping and less riding. I didn't film most of it, but i did catch a bunch of ladies putting shirts on calf's. And a guy lost his thumb! It must have caught on the rope or something, they stopped the show and had everyone look for it, they were asking the audience for some ice and a ziplock bag. It was brutal.Spencer should definitely record Daniels talk! Did Spencer finish editing mine? And you need to send me those pictures! Allan and Spencer wanted me to have some kinda keep sake, so you should take something off of the scrap booking page with all of us all tiny and do something awesome with it and send it to me.I am sending the package today hopefully, I couldn't find a box the right size so I had to improvise. there is something for Ronan and Daniel and the Heims. They will be labeled with sticky notes. And the Memory card will be in there somewhere too.I'm thinking something along the lines of tempered steel for the scripture case, and 2 more pairs of garments would be nice.LOVES AND LEG LOCKS,Elder KampfP.S. Tell Arianne Mix that she can take out Carter if she has too, I taught her how.P.P.S. There is an Elder in my zone who does Jiu Jitsu! I may have found a worthy opponent!

Elder Uppencamp- August 8, 2011

2011-09-18T20:17:00.001-07:00

I miss Simon tons, leave the pictures of him on the memory card if you can. I miss you guys too, but I keep running into Shih Tzu puppies and they remind me of Simon. There are tons of dogs out here, practically everyone owns a dog. But I still haven't seen a moose yet.As for my plaque, I think I'll go with Alma 26: 35-36. And yes, I need a scripture case as durable as they come! Get Daniel back to the gym! That will keep him busy for a while, and have him fight Nathan. I promised Nathan I would fight him, but I never got the chance, so Daniel will have to beat him up till I get back. I can't lift like I used to, but we have a pull-up bar in our apartment so I have been able to do that. And I've been doing sit-ups and knuckle pushups, so I'll come home RIPPED. Glad to here Danny's getting better! Tell uncle Glen that he's next on my list of people to fight when I come home! And have fun at girls camp, have Rachel teach them how to punch properly. Arianne's wedding is Saturday!?!?! That's crazy! make a cardboard cut out of me so I can go to the reception, and tell Carter he's the man.LOVES AND PUNCHES, Elder Uppenham. (the memory card will explain the name, more or less.)

Elder A- July 31, 2011

2011-09-18T20:16:00.001-07:00

I got the goodies on saturday, thanks for sending out the elephant shirt! I spent my birthday street contacting for 3 hours in an average of 95 degrees with 80% humidity, but it was still a lot of fun. We had dinner at the Bishops house and they made me a cake and sang, it was awesome. But for some reason Bishops wife decided to make everything green, green bread for the pigs in a blanket we had, green coolaid, pickles, green cake, green cups, and a green bowl full of cheetos. Elder Nuttall had to get a bunch of pictures and he kept calling it my greenie dinner. We are eating fine, we actually have tons of food, and they members here feed us well. I think they may feed us a little to well, I don't want to gain any weight. Actually so far I've lost 10 pounds, but I think that it was all muscle weight. And we are cooking up a turkey either today or tomorrow! The awesome catholic family that lives above us had some trouble with their freezer and the gave us tons of free food!It's crazy that Daniel is Practically home, I'm not gonna send him another email cause I don't know if he will get it, so tell him that he is awesome and that I love him. And that sucks about Danny, how bad is it?We haven't seen any animals at all actually, just a couple cows here and there but this isn't cattle country, and the odd squirrel. This isn't the exciting and beautiful side of Montana, this is the boring and plain side. nothing but fields are far as you can see. But we have had some crazy weather, some intense storms just missed us. we had some warm rain and angry skies, but 40 miles away they had tennis ball sized hail and a tornado.LOVE YA,Elder UpurkampP.S. I need a nice scripture case!

Elder D, July 25, 2011

2011-07-25T14:25:00.000-07:00

Hey dudes,

I'll probably check my email once more before I get back, so go ahead and write me. MIRACLE BAPTISM LAST NIGHT!!! Yes, we were teaching this dude and he was a little hesitant, but this last week he had a ton of spiritual experiences and he wanted to do it last night. We happily obliged. It was so cool. After he got dunked he yelled "That's something else!" Awesome. I love you guys and I'll see ya next week.

LOVE

Elder Uppencamp

Elder A, July 25, 2011

2011-07-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

I am so jealous of Daniel, he gets to see Captain America in the theater. But this is worth it.

I am having a great time down here, but the ward is SO SMALL! They have one ward that spans 4 or 5 cities around here, some people have to drive 50 miles to get to church. There are only 60 or so active members so the church here doesn't have a gym, not even a half gym, but there are tons of inactives so we have a lot of work to do. And there are 20 or so churches just in Sidney and only one is LDS, so almost everyone we meet says they have a church so we can get lost. They don't actually say get lost, everyone here is very polite and respectful, but it boils down to the same thing.

My comp is awesome. His name is Elder Nuttall, he played football and did band in high school so he is a bigger guy, but I'm still bigger than him. He has me teaching him how to box every morning. He is a great missionary and he is the District Leader, but he wasn't taught a lot of the stuff they want him to teach me, nobody ever really taught him how to use the Area book and stuff like that so we've been figuring it out as we go. And I am teaching him a lot of the new stuff they had us go over at the MTC. So we are both learning a bunch.

Punches & Kicks,
Elder This Guy

P.S. Someone stole the "S" off of the Church sign out front. Now it says "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Aints". I got some pictures of it that I'll send ya. I'll probably send home my memory card like next week. When you get it, think of Jack Black when you look at Elder Nuttall, they are the same person. They have the same facial expressions and everything.

ONE MORE THING! Don't get rid of my Facebook! I'll be using that for online proselyting. We also have to make a Mormon.org account, and make our own blog. We get an hour everyday for all that stuff. We have to do 6 weeks training, and then have an interview with the mission president to make sure you actually know what you'll be teaching before you get to do it though. We are the pilot program for online proselyting for the entire church, I think they may have one more in like New York or something but that's it, so they have to make sure we don't mess this up. So when they have me doing that I can chat with you guys that way.

Elder A, July 21, 2011

2011-07-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

I get to email you my address since I didn't get a P-day yet! I'm in Sidney Montana and my address is:
315 1/2 8th Ave SW
Sidney, MT 59270

I'm living with some Catholics in their basement with my new comp Elder Nuttall, he is the man! He is the District Leader, and he is showing me the ropes.
The ward here is nice, but they don't give many referrals. We volunteer every Thursday at a thrift store called good cents, the store gives a lot of the money they make to the hospital, and the old ladies who run the place are nice even if they think they need to help us find God.
We are dog-sitting for the Crosby's (the catholic family) he is a little dog named sonny and he isn't as cute as Simon. And we get to use Facebook for proselyting! That's why they wanted mine shut down, and they want me to start a blog too. Oh! and sorry I couldn't talk to Dad or Rachel, the awesome guy who lent me his phone had to catch his flight.

Love you!

Elder A, July 13, 2011

2011-07-25T12:12:00.000-07:00

I can only email on P-days even in the MTC, but that's ok.
That's awesome about Spencer Shumway! I probably won't get to see him, I'm out of here in a week, but you should make him give me his email.
I ran into Mike Lee! He left Monday, but I got to give him one last hug before he got out so I'm happy.
The food is sketchy, they tried to pass off vermicelli noodles as pad Thai but I think I am the only one in the MTC who noticed.
I'm gonna send letters and email as much as i can, mostly cause sending letters makes me feel official. Things here are awesome, and it gets better everyday! We have taught 12 investigator lessons and will have 22 before we leave, so I'm always busy, but I love it!

Sincerely Yours,

Elder Andrew

Elder A, July 6th 2011

2011-07-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

Things are going great here!
It's harder than I thought it would be, but 'fun. My companion is Elder Carter, a farm boy from Beaver Utah, and he is a great guy. He is nice but he gets super home sick sometimes so I have to cheer him up.
The gym here is sub-par but it gets the job done, but it closes tomorrow for the rest of the time I'm in the MTC so I'm stuck doing volleyball. The spirit here is powerful, and it helps so much. We have taught 4 investigators so far, and one of them twice, so I need all the help I can get.
Some of the Elders left yesterday to go to the mission field, and they were amazing people, Elder Kelley was one of the funniest people I have ever met! You'll find out all about Elder Kelley when I send home my memory card, I recorded him placing a banana. I'll tell you about the other elders when I send home the memory card too. Things are going great! You should send me the pictures of Allan and Spencer and the Fam, cause I completely forgot about them.
Well I'm off, I have to teach Elder Carter to use a Computer, then I have to teach him to do laundry, then I have to teach him to tie a neck tie.

Elder D, July 18, 2011

2011-07-25T12:07:00.000-07:00

Sup y'all

Just sticking it out up here. Lots of cool stuff happens but it doesn't seem to go anywhere. That's crazy about Jake, I hope he's feeling better. He can take comfort in knowing that he's a man now though. Yeah I e-mailed Andrew. He seems to be doing great. So envious of him right now. Anyhoo, love you guys.

LOVE

Elder Uppencamp

Elder D, July 11 2011

2011-07-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

Hey Y'all

This last week was pretty good. WAAAAYYYY slow though. We confirmed the kid that got baptized last week, and some of our recent converts brought their friend and he was really into it. We've been having a way hard time finding people to teach. I think I'm just kind of in shock right now as far as going home goes. I'm gonna be ok. I love you guys. See you soon.

LOVE

Elder Uppencamp

Elder D, July 5, 2011

2011-07-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

Sup

Cool beans, I love Andrew. He'll be really good. We had a Baptism last Sunday! It was way stressful but uber satisfying. It was a kid named Charles, he's 18 and way cool. We had to go pick him up and basically make it all happen. He's the oldest of 6 crazy kids so they have a hard time getting them to anything. How are we going to fit the bench and heavy bag in Matthew and Jacob's room? Interesting. Its really hot up here to. Which is nice. I spent most of the 4th with a cool family back in Graham. Then we just hung out with the zone-leaders. I love you guys!

LOVE

Elder Uppencamp

Elder D and Elder A

2011-06-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

I have to get caught up on Elder Daniel's letters before he gets home, and I will. He gets in on August 2nd at 4:09pm. I can't believe it's been almost 2 years! His mission going by so fast helps me deal with Elder Andrew leaving.
Andrew's MTC address is:

Elder Andrew Moroni Uppencamp
MTC Mailbox # 192
MT-BIL 0719
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

He will be in for almost 3 weeks and then he'll be off to Montana. His mission home address is:

Montana Billings Mission
1848 Rimrock Rd
Billings, MT 59102-0765

We love him and are so excited for this stage of his life to begin!

Samoans... April 11, 2011

2011-04-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

Hey Dudes,

I'm loving Fruitland ward. It's been way fun.
Yes, we found some Samoans and they have a kid who's not baptized. We've been working way hard.
The rest of the zone is really young so its been kinda cool teaching them. They don't think they know everything already so that's good.
No insane miracles yet but I'm sure they're not far off.
Lemme know as soon as you get Andrew's call!
I'll try and take better pictures of my stuff, but whatever if they're being lame. I love you guys!!!

LOVE

Elder Uppencamp

April 4, 2011

2011-04-04T18:02:00.000-07:00

Sup Peeps

Yes, Conference was awesome! I really liked Dallin H Oaks talk about desire and stuff. I'm basing a training on it tomorrow.
My new comp is pretty cool, he reminds of an effeminate secretary. Like they have in like every movie.
The work was a little slow this week. They ran out of stuff to do last transfer, so I guess that's why I'm here.
I got some sad news on Saturday. Do you remember Sloan from Olympia? She was one of my favorite converts ever. I found out on Saturday that she committed suicide. Totally sucks. We knew she was having a hard time with depression though so it's not totally out of the blue. I thought she was getting better though.
Anyway, I hope you guys are doing awesome. I love you all!

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

March 28, 2011

2011-04-04T18:01:00.000-07:00

Hey everyjuan

Tehe. I GOT TRANSFERRED!!! Weird huh? I'm pretty happy about it though. Me and Wenger probably would have killed each other had I stayed. His areas a bike area now though so HA!
My new companion is Elder Klawson, he's from Missouri and he's been out for 16 months next week. He seems pretty cool. He really wants to work hard and be obedient. So I'm hoping this transfer will be the opposite of the last one. My new address is:
10709 Woodland Ave E
Puyallup, WA 98373
Thats sweet that they're sending missionarys to mongolia again. I love you guys!!

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

March 21, 2011

2011-04-04T17:59:00.000-07:00

Heya dudes

NO WAY! That's sweet about Mauro. LEGIT. I don't know if I'll get to do that.
Last week was like the slowest week ever. I'm kind of done trying to get my greenie to listen to me. Nothing really cool happened.
Hooray for Andrew's Papers!! I might not get to see him. Crazy.
Transfer calls are on Saturday so I'll let you know next Wednesday if I'm still in Silverdale. Love you guys.

LOVE
Elder Campincamp

March 14, 2011

2011-04-04T17:56:00.000-07:00

Hello evabody

I'm doing pretty good. The week was a little slower but we did have some cool miracles. We met a dude from South Carolina who has already been taught 3 lessons! His wife is a member, so we should be baptizing him soon.
My comp is learning.....slowly. Don't wanna just harp on that. He's still way prideful but whatever.
That's way crazy about Japan though. We were supposed to get a Tsunami I guess. Anyhoo. I love ju guys and I hope your doing awesome. Make bishop get those dern papers in!!!!

LOVE
Elder UppenhereUppenhere

March 7, 2011

2011-04-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

Hey Moms and others

THE WEATHER IS OKAY. It's way rainy but typical of Washington.
Stuffs going better but still not amazing. The baptism was awesome though.
Me and compy are doing okay. I still can't figure out why he doesn't like me but whatever.
Hows my peeps doing too? Like Nathan and Phils and Chad and Gabe etc. I love you guys and I hope your doing great. Read Mosiah 27, it's pretty sweet.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

Feb. 28, 2011

2011-04-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

Hey yo

This week was okay but still stressful. My birthday was pretty sweet, I actually forgot it was my birthday until I looked at the phone.
Still trying really hard to get along w/ the greenie.
Tell bish to hurry the heck up with Andrew's papers.
We're having a baptism this Wednesday so I'm pretty excited.
I love you guys and I hope your doing awesome.
Spiritual though 2 Nephi 2:11 If life wasn't hard some times than there wouldn't be any point in being alive.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

Feb. 20, 2011

2011-04-04T17:51:00.000-07:00

Sup Homiezes

Last week was alright. I really like the ward, they all seem to be really funny and outgoing.
My new comp is alright but very much a greenie. He's not too confident in himself so it's hard to teach with him sometimes. He also is pretty easy to offend which is unfortunate because I am not the most tactful person. He's a cool kid though. I'm sure we'll be alright.
Is Andrew getting his call this week? That's gonna be sooo cool. My spiritual thought this week is in 2 Nephi 9:39 the last 5 words are "Spiritually minded is life Eternal" or S.M.I.L.E in acronym form. Cool huh. Love you guys!

LOVE Elder Uppenstamp

- Show quoted text -

Silverdale, Feb. 14, 2011

2011-04-04T17:47:00.000-07:00

Sups Peeps,

Yes indeedy, Transfered I was. I'm now in the Silverdale 2nd ward. I'm follow up training a missionary who's only 6 weeks in the field. He's pretty cool, and from Texas. It was way sad to leave everybody in Port Townsend and Chimacum, and especially to leave elder Parkinson. He's definitely been one of my favorites.
It's crazy going to transfer meetings and seeing my friends bearing their final testimony before they go home.
I'm way stoked to be in Silverdale. Apparently it's a pretty bumpin ward.
My spiritual thought this week is probably just that if we are doing the Lord's work we shouldn't be worried about whether or not we're gonna be O.K. It was weird at transfer meeting. I wasn't nervous at all about going to a new area, with a new missionary. I am totally stoked. My new address is:

9819 Sandhill Lane Apt. M 304
Silverdale WA 98383

I love you guys! Let me know ASAP when Andrew gets his call.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

Feb. 6, 2011

2011-04-04T17:44:00.000-07:00

Dearest Peoples,

Nother way slow week. So many meetings. Church was pretty cool. We should be having a baptism this weekend if her fellowship doesn't talk her out of it. They think if they show any excitement for her getting baptized, they'll be construed as "pushy". Goodness gracious I don't like that word. So many people's baptisms get pushed back and sometimes don't even happen because members are afraid of being pushy.
So I guess my spiritual thought for this week is that baptism is what the scriptures say it is. A commandment and a saving ordinance. People spend get so caught up in "are you sure they're ready?" and " I want to make sure they're doing this for the right reasons" that people who really want to get baptized start doubting themselves and lose their desire completely. We need to be excited for people who are taking this step to follow their Savior. If we're all hesitant and "are you sure you're sure" about it than people get really confused. The only person who should question whether or not someones motives or readiness for baptism is the Zone Leader interviewing them. Rant over.
I love you guys, try and stay warm. Give Simon a hug for me! Poor lil' dude.

LOVE
Elder Uppnercamp

P.S.
I don't know what your talking about, I'm not getting any older

Jan. 31st, 2011

2011-04-04T17:41:00.000-07:00

Sup Homies

Suh-wheat! Go Andrew and Jacob! That's way awesome
This week was extremely slow. I trained my district on the principle of opposition on Wednesday and then I got to try it out all week.
We didn't really have any investigators at church, but that was probably good because it was a Koloby kinda Sunday.
It's already week 5! I've been out for 18 months! That's just crazy. I burned a pair of pants last night. It was sweet. Love Y'all.

LOVE
Elderoldencamp

Everttism...1/24/2011

2011-01-24T18:40:00.000-08:00

Howdy Y'all,

Yes, we had a baptism last night. It was awesome! Chimacum ward knows whats up. The Port Townsend ward struggles a bit though. The dudes name is Nick Weis, he's 18 and he lives in the Everett mish, but his fellowships up here.
Me and Parkinson are having so much fun. It's weird, we work really hard all week and nothing seems to come of it. Then on Sunday we have miracle after miracle.
My thought this week is concerning ALMA 26:23-33. I find the people of Zarahemla's reaction to Alma and the sons of Mosiah going on a mission very interesting. It say that they "Laughed them to scorn" and told them that there was no way they would ever convert any Lamanites, these are members of the church saying this. Read verses 31 through 33, it just goes to show. The only way to know if someone will accept or reject the gospel, is to teach it to them.
I love you guys. Tell Jacob and yourself Happy Birthday.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

1/10/11

2011-01-10T19:04:00.000-08:00

sup peeps,

Good times! We had a baptism last night! It was sweet. The guys name is J.D. . He's this huge mountain man from arkansas with a pony tail and a gnarly beard.
We had six investigators at church. We're gonna be getting alot more baptisms here pretty soon.
My spiritual thought comes from my ward mission leader. It is 3 nephi 18:30-32. I think about the part were it says "yea shall be the means of thier salvation" There isn't anyone who can't benefit from knowing the gospel.
Love y'all! Give Andrew some Oxy Contan for me. Have a great week.

LOVE
Elder Uttercamp
(weird one)

I So Stoked! ...1/04/11

2011-01-10T19:01:00.000-08:00

Hey Dudes,

Guess what! I got a new companion that isn't going home soon! Hooray! Elder Bernard is home. My new comp is Elder Parkinson. He's a stud from New Mexico, and he's only been out for like seven months so he's not trunkie at all. Last week we pretty much just took care of getting Bernard's stuff in order, so not much missionary work. Anyhoo, I'm excited.
Go say hi to Gabe! Tell that foo to write me. How's Andrews mission stuff going?
My spiritual thought is John 15:13-15, I read that this morning and I really liked the saviors use of friends as opposed to servants (see vs 15). I thought that was very sweet. I have decided that I like the book of John best out of the 4 gospels. I love you guys! Have a great week.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

Holiday Slowness...12/20/10

2011-01-10T18:59:00.000-08:00

Hey Evabody

Yup, a little bit of a slow week again, some little miracles though. We found a lady who's living with a member, she loves the church and is planning to get baptized the day after they get married, Jan 12.
Yes I did get your presents from the Christmas party.
We didn't have anyone at church on Sunday, but we have lots and lots of people being taght. Everything has kinda slowed down with the holidays. That sucks about the tabernacle, Do they know how it started? Get Andrew physicalled and out here already! I love you guys MEERRRRRRYYYY CCHHHRRRISSSSTTTTMMMAAASSSS!

Love Elder UpinhereUpinhere

Very Fun Indeed...12/13/10

2011-01-10T18:58:00.000-08:00

Sup peeps

The Christmas party was great, tons'o fun. Another one of those busy weeks but not much actual accomplishment. It's my comps last transfer, so he's a little trunky. He was here last transfer but he didn't pay attention at all so I have to figure out stuff myself. He's an alright guy though, HUGE star wars nerd. He makes those replica light saber things in his spare time. It's all good though cause he's going home soon. The wards are sweet, and slowly getting on board w/missionary work. I'm still getting used to driving like 45 minutes to get anywhere again. There's some parts of my area that are an hour and a half away. Anyhoo, I hope your all doing well, GABES COMING BACK SOON! Tell him Hi when you see him.

LOVE
Elder Uppentownsend

Cool Beans...12/06/10

2011-01-10T18:56:00.000-08:00

Hey dudes,

That's good that the Birds' are so solid. Way sweet about Andrew, KEEP ON TRUCKIN'! Nothing really new to report here. Our week was way busy but I feel like we didn't get anything done. I did get to spend a day in Dungeness. Which was way awesome! They all remember me, which is nice. The week was way slow but it's okay cause we got blessed with like 6 non-members at church, we're gonna spend most of this week following up with them. Love you guys! How's Simon?

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

PT's Pretty Tame...11/29/10

2011-01-10T18:55:00.000-08:00

Hey Dudes

PT is pretty dang liberal, but they're nice liberals so it's OK. The wards are pretty sweet, but rather small( I plan on remedying that).
The Bishops are way cool and one of them looks just like Dwight from the office. We had a sweet baptism of a 9 year old on Sunday. A great start for sure! I'm having fun out here on the peninsula again. Give Nathan and Sis Bird a big hug for me K? Also Lemme know how Andrews mission stuff is coming. Love you guys.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

BLIZZARD...Nov 23, 2010

2010-11-23T19:43:00.000-08:00

Sup Peeps

Ok so first, I did get transferred. I am now the district leader in Port Townsend. And Sequim is in my district! My new companion is elder Bernard. It's his last transfer. He's weird but doesn't seem to be too trunky.
There was a huge snowstorm (for Washington) last night. The roads were way icy and no-one knows how to drive in it. So there was accidents and abandon cars everywhere. I'll keep Bro Bird in my prayers.
Some new shirts and ties would be cool for Christmas.
Give Gabe a huge hug for me when he gets back.
I love you guys so much!

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

P.S.
Here's my new address

800 Hancock #87
Port Townsend, WA
98268

Holy Crap That Went By Fast...Nov 15, 2010

2010-11-23T19:41:00.000-08:00

Sup Peeps,

Oh my goodness this transfer went by fast! Last week was pretty cool, it was one of those busy ones were you don't know where the time went. I don't know if I'll get a baptism before I get transferred though. The likelihood of me getting transferred is very high by the way. I'll let you know next week.
I love you guys!

LOVE
Elder Uppy

P.S.
I have no idea what I want for Christmas

Interesting...Nov 8,2010

2010-11-23T19:37:00.000-08:00

Sup Dudes

I didn't have the flu. But everyone we teach did.
This last week was a little bit on the dumb side. We had to take the heat for like ten years of damage on our apartment. We had a suprise inspection on Monday, the apartment was definitely messy. But the dude doing the inspection didn't really care about that. Our apartment has been a missionary apartment for 10 years, so needless to say, it's pretty thrashed.
The dude got mad about all the broken stuff and called the mission and told them it was a "death trap" the mission then proceeded to call our apartment manager and used the same phrase. So peeps have been on our back all week about that, but it's okay cause at least the appt got fixed.
Other than that mess the week was kinda slow. Our baptism didn't happen, but we'll get her down soon. I also had to go to an eight hour leadership meeting in Tacoma. Which was fun but still 8 HOURS. Anyhoo this week should be a lot better. Hooray for Republicans and Rachel!

LOVE
Elder
Upcamp

Halloweentism...Nov 1, 2010

2010-11-23T19:35:00.000-08:00

Sup y'all

Everybody has the flu! So the week was a little slow. We had a baptism on Saturday, and a conformation on Sunday. Way sweet. Her name is Andrea Silvers and she's awesome!
I'm in the process of mailing that memory card, so you should get that soon. Definitely get phills to write me. Tell Andrew he's the man, get that foo out! You guys are the best.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

Hot Dang! email from 10-26-10

2010-10-25T16:41:00.000-07:00

Hey Everabody,

GO ANDREW! That's way sweet. Get that foo out servin' da Lord!
This week was kinda slow except for some cool miracles. We had a lesson with this lady named Karie who's had the missionaries teaching her for like a year. She gets the Ensign and watches BYU TV all the time. Needless to say we were rather confused as to why she hadn't been baptized yet. So our lesson plan was basically just to ask her whats up. But when we got there, before we even said anything, she asked us if one of us was leaving soon.We both said no. Then she said "That's good cause I'm coming to church on Sunday, and I want to get baptized". We were pretty happy to hear that. She came and she loved church and has a baptismal date on Nov 7. We're also having a baptism this coming weekend. Good times. I love y'all.

LOVE
Elder Uppsencamp

Still in the G-ram...Oct. 12, 2010

2010-10-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

Sups

Yes I'm still in Graham. Only now I'm the district leader. My new comp is elder Davis from California. He's a cool kid. He hits his year mark in like a week.
Warner's gone and it's really weird. I got a lot more stuff to do as a district leader but it's fun stuff so that's OK.
YES! That's way sweet about Andrew getting his blessing. He needs to get out asap. That sucks about Colin but he'll be back out soon right?
How's Phil doing? I haven't heard about him in a while. Get him to write me.
Stuffs going good. I'm trying to break some patterns me and Warner started, but that won't be too hard cause Davis isn't very trunkie at all. Keep the faith Y'all. I loves you, keep on truckin'

LOVE
Elder Umpencamp

Pakatism...Oct.4, 2010

2010-10-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Mums, and other intersted parties

Hey guys! Conference was suh-weeet. It was very bold this time, I liked that a lot.
We had a baptism on Saturday! 9 year old kid named Paka, so killer. We had it on Saturday right after Priesthood, we had to get everything ready so we missed that session. Other than that last week kinda sucked.
My training went good I guess. I was really nervous, but people said they liked it so that's good. It's way weird that I'm so old now. I'm most likely going to be a District Leader next transfer. Scary, but kinda cool. I love you guys and I hope everythings going good.

LOVE
Elder Uppencramp

A Little Bits Better...Sept 27, 2010

2010-10-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

Sup Peeps

This week was alright. We were supposed to have a baptism tonight but that's probably gonna be later in the week.
I had an exchange with a missionary who was trained in Forks while I was in P.A. He's still way driven and obedient, so it was way fun.
We got an investigator to church, her family is all into welfare but she actually seems legit. Paka's the kid we were gonna baptize, but his parents were sick over the weekend. Me and Warner got to teach all the youth in the ward last night. We took um all on a church tour.
I'm giving my first training in Zone-meeting tomorrow so I'm pretty stoked about that. Love you guys, keep on truckin. Theres NO WAY Rachel's date out wrestled Andrew. Is he shirkin' his brotherly duties?

LOVE
Elder Uppengrahamp

Hey Dudes... Sept. 20

2010-10-14T19:32:00.000-07:00

Sup Peeps,

Ummm....not so much happening still. We have some good people we're teaching, but stuff is still going slow. We're trying but it's hard.
Our recent convert Patrick got kicked out of his house cause his mother in law's a jerk. Stuff kinda hit the fan after that.
Warner got his trunkie papers. Nuff said. Keep on praying for us. We'll keep on working. There's gotta be some miracles on the way.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

Halfway- Sept 13, 2010

2010-10-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

Yup,
So starts week three. Pretty much same old, same old. We've found a few potential investigators, but nothings really came of it.
We've gotten a bunch of less-active people to church though. We have a 9 year old named Paka who's getting baptized as soon as his dad gets the Aaronic priesthood.
Katie's gonna get baptized this weekend.
That's cool about Matthew. Is Jacob playing any sports? How's Andrew doin? Stuff is still pretty slow, it's probably gonna get alot slower cause Warner's dying. We'll see what happens. Can you send me my memory card? I got some new pictures for ya. Have a great week.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

Still in Gram...Email from Aug. 30, 2010

2010-08-30T23:09:00.000-07:00

Hey Dudes,

Don't have too much time. I'm staying in Graham for another transfer. Can you talk to the Judkins and see who they know here?
Tell Rachel that Elder Echols is in my mission, I don't know him too well though. Tell Andrew I met a dude named Elder Bussio, he said he knows him.
I'm a little worried to be here still cause this is Elder Warner's last transfer. I'm concerned that his trunkieness might reach it's peak. We'll see. Not too much stuff's going on.

LOVE
Elder Upcamp

That is Freakin' Disgusting...Email from Aug. 23, 2010

2010-08-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

(Rachel sent Daniel pictures of her little buggy friend that was stuck in her ear.)Dudes! Baptism this week! The dude we got married 2 weeks ago got baptized on Tuesday and confirmed on Sunday. It was waaaay sweet.His names Patrick, he's 23 and going into the Guard pretty soon here.
Other than that the week was kinda hard. We were supposed to find a family by last Saturday and report to president. We tried all week and it didn't work.
Graham is kind of a sinkhole as far as the church is concerned. Apparently the ward has a rep for being the place where you go to hide from the church. We meet inactive people all the time who got offended or lazy or whatever. Kinda lame, but there's still some way sweet people though.
That's way cool about Robby and Tristan,and lame about the Froers' not being around. Andrew can still do some stuff on his papers though right? He's gotta get out quick! I love y'all. Hope your doing great!

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

Mawaige...is what bwings us togeva today... Email from Aug 16, 2010

2010-08-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Dudes,

Guess what?! One of our investigators got married! I got to be a witness. The dudes getting baptized this week so I'm way stoked.
Keyan's going to Italy! Does he still look like he's 12? That's sweet. Don't really have much new stuff going on. Having fun though. I love you guys!

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

Halfway Already- email from Aug 9

2010-08-14T11:45:00.000-07:00

Hey Dudes

That is crazy about Jeff! I am way stoked. Another pretty interesting week. We took a really nice lady on a church tour, but she's way socially converted to the baptist church. Lame.
We stacked two chords of wood on saturday, which I found out is A LOT. A chord is a stack that's 4 by 4 by 8 feet. It took about 4 hours.
We're pushing really hard for a baptism this week. The dudes getting married on tuesday and my comp and I get to be the witnesses. Other than that theres not much going on, Crazy Connies still crazy, tracting is still kinda worthless, the ward is still pretty dern cool. We had our first Sunday with some topics other than temple blessings...yay! I love you guys and I hope your doing sweet.

LOVE
Elder Underdone

Jeff Woods? Email from Aug 2, 2010

2010-08-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

Sup Peeps

Which Jeff is going on a mission? YES! Get Andrews papers in ASAP I dont want to miss him by too much. I can't believe I've been out for a year now. It goes by riddiculously fast. Tell Andrew to start preparing Hard-Core right now. It'll help so much.
Last week was good as far as lessons and finding went, but we did'nt get anyone to church. By the way I burned one of my shirts for my year mark. It was pretty sweet. Are Rachels ear O.K.? Keep on truckin y'all. I'm so stoaked for Andrew right now!

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

EWWWWW- email from july 26

2010-08-14T11:40:00.000-07:00

Dude

That's freaking gross about Rachel's ear!(Rachel had a bug crawl in her ear.) I thought that was just a myth.
We got our crazy investigator confirmed last sunday. She's a way sweet lady, she's just super annoying some times and a big handful at church.
I got a letter from Gabe. He's doing good. Tell Phills to write me.
This week was kinda slow but we still got an awsome investigator to church. We found her tracting. Her name is Katie and she's only lived in Graham for like a week. Her roomates were trying to Anti her all of last week but she came anyway! That's funny about Andrew and Tiff, is Glenn there too? I love you guys! lemme know how Rachels ear turns out. I hope it did'nt lay eggs!

LOVE
Elder Underdone
(Good one)

Still in G-ram...Email for 7-18-10

2010-07-19T17:07:00.000-07:00

Sup Playas,

Yes, I'm still in Graham. This last week has been insane! We baptized that crazy lady HARD-CORE! She brought her service dog and Elder Warner held it while me and Elder Ludwig baptized her. When we got to the church for the baptism yesterday she was already there. She had an American Flag and was twirling with it while bumping weird monk chanting from her car. She said she was paying homage. Weird. But she got way calm and normal right after the ordinance was done. So stressful. Teaching this lady was like teaching a 4 year old on Crack.
Other than that we did a bunch of tracting, and found a whole ton of inactive folks that the ward didn't know about.
Speaking of "the ward". Sacrament meeting has been exclusively about temple ordinances for the past 2 weeks. SO DUMB, but I talked with the ward council about it and they're going to try and sensitive to the fact that we have investigators there so I hope the topics get tied to the Savior more. Anyhoo, I loves you tons and hope your all doing well.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

LYNNNNNN... Email from 7-5-10

2010-07-05T15:33:00.000-07:00

Hey Peeps,

NO WAY! That is the coolest thing ever, go Lynn! (Andrew's rocker friend Lynn is getting baptized.)
Yeah, it's still pretty slow here. Our crazy investigator called me at 12:00am last night. She's probably not getting baptized any time soon. Lame, It's looking like this will be my first transfer without a baptism.
The fourth was way fun. There's Indian rez'es all over the place here so the fireworks are pretty intense.
As far as talking to that husband guy, just go for it. Say why we do it and say that it really won't effect him at all. God'll help you out, this is obviously something he wants you to do, and she probably wants you to do it too. (A have a friend that passed away who is waiting for her work to be done.)
Yup, can't wait for the package. I loves you guys. Happy 5th of July!

Love
Elder Uppandover

Still Slow But Getting Better... Email from 6-28-10

2010-06-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hey Fam and other Intersted Parties,

I am doing great! We have a bunch of people we're teaching but only the crazy one will come to church. We got a bunch of inactive people to come though, so that's sweet. I'm having lots of fun but I'm kinda bummed at how slow the work is going.
Which Paul got baptized? The Paul I know is on a mission in Missouri right? That's so sweet that Andrews Metal buddies are getting baptized. That's a great missionary experience for him. If he could baptize someone himself before his mission that would be awesome.
GET HIM TO TELL ME ABOUT COURTS FIGHT!!
That's good that you got to throw down with that liberal dude at the polls. Being on a mission in the middle of were all that stuff gets tried out has only solidified my position.
I'm almost at my year mark! That's freakin insane! I don't feel too different (except for the extra 30 pounds) but I've met some of the coolest people ever, and then baptized them. That's probably had some effect on me. tee hee. I love you guys and I hope your summer's going swimmingly.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

O MY GOSH! Email from 6-21-10

2010-06-21T21:32:00.000-07:00

Dudes,

COURT WON!!! That's awesome! We had a pretty cool week. We're starting to get a system down. Our crazy investigator came to a baptism and loved it.
I was feeling a little sick and my allergies are ridiculous out here, that kinda slowed me down. But we found a Samoan investigator! YES, I love Samoans.
Uhhh... That's about it. Get the fam to write me some questions so my emails will be longer. I love you all! Get Nathan to send me some cake.

LOVE
Elder Uhhhhpencamp

Good Times...Email from 6-14-10

2010-06-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

Sup Peeps,

Hey Everybody! What's the happs? That's way sweet about Robby and Tristan, soooo cute. Way sweet about Cort too. That's ma boi!( Cort Magee in the Ultimate Fighter. He was a trainer at Throw Down here and is a good guy.)
Graham's pretty cool. It's another one of those areas that has a rep for being way slow. Having lots of fun though. It's beautiful right now.
My new comps pretty cool. He served the first half of his mission in Mongolia. He's here now cause his visa got messed up.
Tracting is not as fun without the ghetto.
Get the Judkins to hook me up!(They have family in Graham)
Ummm...We're not really teaching anyone too solidly except this one lady who I suspect might be schizophrenic, but I'm sure we'll get some good folks soon.
Give Nathan a huge hug/awkward smooch from me and tell Andrew to tape Cort's fight for me. I love you guys and I hope your trucking just fine.

LOVE

Elder UppenGraham

Email from 6-7-10

2010-06-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

Dudes
I sent you the right memory card. I think it might have been wiped. Lame. (We thought the card he sent was blank, luckily it wasn't!)
You got the sizes right I think.
Ohhhh... by the way. I got transferred to Graham. Keep on sending my stuff to the mission office for now though. My new Comp is Elder Warner.
The Aberdeen story is thus. We had to get A baptismal suit for Alexis. She's a bigger black lady, and we didn't have a suit in her size. So we spent all day calling around to locate one. The Aberdeen missionaries called us at like 9 on Saturday telling us they had one. So we drove down to Aberdeen to gets it.
Fun times, I gotta go though. Love yeah! See's you later.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

We'll See...email from 5-31-10

2010-05-31T17:58:00.000-07:00

Hey Fam,

How are you guys doing? This last week was interesting. We had a baptism last night, awesome kid named Patrick. We've also been teaching a sweet lady named Lynette and her daughter Melina. They are getting baptized, this weekend.
There's a ton of drama going on in the office right now. We're supposed to switch systems or something. I don't know what is going on. But hey, I may be getting transferred. You never know. (hint hint) We'll see what happens. If anything I've learned that I should respect Office Elders a lot more. Their job is really hard, and more stuff just keeps getting added on.
I love you guys and hope you're enjoying school ending. Say hi to everyone for me.

LOVE
Elder Bootcamp
(good one)

Craziness in the Office...Email from 5-24-10

2010-05-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

Hey Dudes,

I just got Nathan's wedding invitation!!! That is the best news ever.
Last week was pretty sweet. We've been teaching a kid named Patrick and he's getting baptized this Sunday.
Being in the office is kinda lame but the ward is really cool. I'm still not sure how everything works. It's definitely different then being a regular missionary.
We took a drunk guy on a tour of the building last Thursday. It was way fun. His name's Merlin and we found him walking down the street (a little unsteadily). We pulled over and invited him to come to church, and he said that would be O.K. as long as we dropped him off in the same spot. So he put down his brown paper bag (never found out what was in it) and hopped in our car and we took him to the church. Pretty sweet huh.
We drove all over Tacoma on Saturday helping the missionaries we live with. They were baptizing three people so we had to go find the right suits.
Did I tell you guys about our drive to Aberdeen? Remind me next week. Welllllll, I love you guys. Have a fun week.

LOVE
Elder Uppy

OE Madness- email from 5-2-10

2010-05-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

Sup Peeps,

O.K., so being an office elder is a little different from being a regular missionary. We don't get to teach as much and we have a whole ton more stuff to do.
I got to go to the Seattle temple last Tuesday with the departing missionary's though. That was fun. I also have to learn how to drive this huge van. We get to pick up the new missionary's from the airport as well as dropping off the the old ones. I'm still having fun though.
My new companion is Elder Borland, who was one of my roommates at the MTC. He's from Missouri. Anyhoo, that's about it.
Is Court the Ultimate Fighter yet? Y'all gots to let me know. I love you guys and I hope your having a great day. Yes, I will be calling on Sunday.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

OE-email from 4-26-10

2010-04-26T13:12:00.000-07:00

Hey Dudes,

I only got Andrew's email so send yours again I guess (and this next weeks).
I got transferred to the office in Tacoma. They came up to P.A. and took me down early which kinda sucked, but whatever. I get to be with Elder Borland, my roommate from the MTC. So I'm way stoaked.
Yeah, try and send last week's e-mail again I guess, and this week's too. My new address is just the mission office, lemme know If you don't have it already. I love you all! Peace out fools.

LOVE
Elder Upandwent

Uhhhhh....Email from 4-20-10

2010-04-19T19:32:00.000-07:00

Hello All

We had a pretty mediocre week. We had a baptism on Saturday, which was sweet. But other than that it was kind of boring. One of our investigators dropped us because he thinks the church is going to get taken over by catholics, he gives us eight years. Tehe.
That's awesome about Zach, give him my best. Tell Andrew to start slapping Chad, and not to stop until he writes me. Same goes for Nathan.
Your package came O.K. by the way. Get on Facebook and see how everyone's doing/tell them to write me (please). I gots to get Emily's address, and Amber's and Heather's and Chelsea's etc. Berger is totally bogarting the mailbox.
Oh, sweet story! Our baptism was really scary. The dude and his wife had been arguing all day, so he was way stressed. At one point he just kinda yelled,"I don't even know if I wanna do this anymore" So we went in the chapel and PRAYED. He calmed down and it all totally worked out. By the way, The Church is true.
Can you get the fam to all write me again? That's always way cool. I love ya'll and I hope your doin' peachy.

LOVE
Elder Bandcamp

DUDE! email from 4-12-10

2010-04-12T14:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Everybody,

NO WAY! I'm so stoked for Nathan! That's awesome. That's way rad about Morgan and Colin to, and Zac, and Grandpa. Good times.
Weeeeelllll, last week was pretty fun. We currently have 2 people committed to be baptized this weekend. One is the Bishops son in law, who's waaay solid. The other is Robert Crittenden. He's probably the smartest guy on earth. He comes from a very intellectual background so exercising faith has been hard for him. He really wants to join the church though. AJ our baptism from two weeks ago got confirmed. We had him help us teach a lesson to one of his neighbors, he's a stud.
We had to ride our bikes for the first time in 2 weeks on Saturday, lame. The ward here is great, and bishop is our best buddy. He takes us around like every day. Anyhoo, tell me how Andrew's doing? I haven't heard from that punk in a long time. Tell Grandpa happy birthday for me. Send some pictures too. Oh and I definitely need a refill. I love you guys, I hopes you doing good.

LOVE
Elder Uptown

P.S.
Did you get my plaque up yet?

P.P.S.
I'm at 160 lbs, and 9% body fat. I totally benched 10 reps of 115 awww yeah. I look kinda chubby though.

Email 4/5/10

2010-04-05T16:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Everybody,

Dudes, Conference be awesome. We had a miracle baptism on Friday. When we went to district meeting there was a dude sleeping in the doorway of the church. We woke him up and took him on a tour, he said he'd grown up with a lot of Mormons but he'd never been baptized. So, while on the tour we asked him if he wanted to be. He was totally down! We taught him all the lessons, interviewed him, and baptized him, all in 3 hours. Good times. He's on his way up to Alaska now, and I know things are gonna start turning around for him.
We're still having lots of fun, and our bishop is our best bud. Did you see Amber Zibetti and Heather Bolton singing in the choir?! That was weird. They still need to write me.
Does Louis have his mission call yet? Does Andrew have a job yet? I've probably only got three weeks left in this area so peeps gotta hurry up and write me. I'm glad y'all are doing well, keep on truckin. Love you forevers.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

P.S.

Our zone broke the the record for people baptized in a month again! Awww yeah.

Laters

Almost got the record again...email from 3-29-10

2010-03-29T19:59:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

Good times, I can't believe it's almost April. I'm so old now. It's going by way too fast.
Guess what. I get to work out every morning at the gym now. Yes, I am a member of Sequim (pronounced skwim) gym. I'm getting huge.
We did not have a baptism last week or a conformation but were for sure having one or both of those things this week. If we get the kid we baptised the other week confirmed then we will break the zone record for baptisms in a month. The record is 17, we're going for 18.
I just found out one of my favorite converts just got called to be a secretary in the Elders Quorum. YES!
I love this ward sooo much. Bishop Bonham is like our best friend. He takes us to see people all the time and we're totally baptising his son-in-law. We found out our downstairs neighbors are Jehovah's Witnesses (It makes sense that they hate us now). Went to a funeral for a sweet guy we were teaching. His name was Jay, he had been in either the hospital or rehab for over a year. We took him to church a couple of weeks ago. It was crazy cause he could only be off his IV for 4 hours, or he would die. But he went anyway. He loved it so much. He just sat there with his throw-up bucket smiling and crying and thanking us over and over again. I'm so glad he got to go to church before he passed away. I also got to help bless sister Bessy's baby. Good week. I hope you guys are still doing well. I love you all so much.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

Killer- Email 3-22-10

2010-03-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

What up Mans,

Good week! We had another baptism yesterday, and the kid who got baptised the week before got confirmed. It's been going great up here.
The weathers been real nice. Uuhhhhh. I don't really know what else to say other than I'm doing great.
How are y'all? Has Andrew gotten his blessing yet? How's Nathan doing? Jacob needs to stop getting strep.
We haven't had any crazy stories as of late but I'll let you know. We've just been hanging out with sweet families and baptizing people. I hope you guys are still doing good.

LOVE
Elder Up

Dungy part 2- email from 3-16-10

2010-03-16T15:27:00.001-07:00

'Sup Dudes,

Yeah, I'm staying in Dungeness. I'm really excited about it too! We had a baptism last Sunday that came out of nowhere. It was sweet.
We got a ton of new missionaries in the zone so it's kind of weird, but 2 of the ones who got transferred up here were in my district in the MTC. So that's sweet.
I have been to PPT , I've just never heard it referred to in that way. (Progressive Power Tumbling)
I'm way glad Andrew got to teach.(Andrew taught 2 lessons on Sunday, one in Primary and one in Young Single Adults.) He's got to do a lot more of that. That's ok though 'cause teaching the Gospel is the funnest thing in the world.
We had another General Authority talk to us on Saturday and Sunday. It was sweet. I'm so stoked about being here still. It's crazy to think that I've been out for so long. It just goes by way to fast. I love y'all and I hope your still doing good.

LOVE
Elder Upandup

We'll see... email from 3-8-10

2010-03-08T18:36:00.000-08:00

'Sup Dudes,

Yes, I did get the letter, thanks very much!
I'm glad Mauro's alright.(Mauro is in earthquake territory)
Last week was A LOT better! We have found some really sweet people that we are teaching, and we might have a baptism this weekend. Good times.
(To Andrew) No, I have not beat up my companion yet. He's way cool and we get along great. We finally found houses that aren't inhabited by old people!! I'm way excited about that. This is the last week of the transfer, and I have a sneaking suspicion that they're moving me again. I'm not sure but I think that President likes sending me to areas that aren't doing so good, and then sending me somewhere else when they start turning around. Weird.
I'm glad you guys are doing so good and I will totally write Grampa Brown. Andrew needs to keep on working out so he can beat up Rachel's date for sure.
What the heck is PPT?(Progressive Power Tumbling)
That totally sucks that Timpview won state. Tell Andrew a jobs' a job he would probably thrive in that environment.(Robert's Crafts) teehee.
I let you know on Monday whether I got transferred or not. The weather here is awesome by the way, sunny every day. I love you all and I'm glad you're doing good.

LOVE

Elder Updyke (weird one)

Killer! email from 2-22-10

2010-02-22T17:14:00.000-08:00

Hey Fam

My Birthday was great! Thanks everyone! My new area's alright. The weather here has been perfect.
You gotta do my plaque! Psalms 27:1 is a good one.
Matthew is old.
Sister Bessey is awesome! They fed us the other week.
No real good stories right now, it's kinda slow. Did I tell you we met Napoleon Dynamites Grampa? Anyways, keep keeping me updated on stuff. I love you tons.

LOVE
Elder Uppercut
(good one)

NO WAY! Elder U's email from 2-15-10

2010-02-15T18:21:00.000-08:00

Hey Everybody!
Bishop's not Bishop anymore ? Weird. That's so sweet about brother Magleby! He's gonna be awesome.
Go Morgan, I'm way excited for him.
The work's going alright. We got a guy who may get baptized this weekend but he's got some pretty stiff opposition. He's aqua-phobic! We'll see how that all turns out.
I got a letter from Gabe the other day, which was sweet.
We're still mostly tracting into old people but there are a few sweet potentials here and there.
As far as birthday stuff goes... That all sounds good.
I can't believe this transfer is almost half over already! Oh, did you guys ever put up my plaque? If so, what scripture did you use? If you haven't yet, I know some good ones now.
Why didn't you get pictures of Andrew! Awww lame.
Sequim is pretty fun. I gave a talk last Sunday about helping people after they're baptized. We also brought a guy from the rehab center to church. He got baptized a couple years ago, then he got Pancreitus and had to be in the hospital for like 9 months! He still is in rehab but he wanted to go to church. He's the coolest guy ever.
My comp is pretty sweet but still very much a greenie. He's getting better though. Things are going good. It's just different out here.
We played capture the flag as a zone for P-day at an old military bunker.
I can't believe Phil's getting back so soon.
Well, that's all I can think of.

LOVE
Elder Battlefield

Here be my new address... email from 2-8-10

2010-02-08T18:29:00.000-08:00

Hey guys

Here's my new address:
429 W. Cedar St. Apt 10
Sequim WA, 9382

Yeah, this week was kinda slow. We didn't have very much to do except get to know the ward. The previous missionaries left us with pretty much nothing. So we get to start over again. The ward is sweet though! They are so excited about having us here. We've already had like 6 referrals.
I haven't really thought about my birthday too much. uhhh.... Perfect Push Up? That door gym is great for the arms and back but not so much for the chest. Other than that I don't know. I definitely don't want Rough Stone Rolling anymore. But some books about Porter Rockwell would be cool.
That is awesome about Andrew being high (on pain meds after having his wisdom teeth out). Give him lots of jello. Tell Nathan what my new Address is.
I did not get any pictures of myself kissing the bison...sorry. But we're probably going to go again at some point because the game farm is in our area.
The weather here is a lot like Utah, It's in a place called the sunbelt. It's weird because Port Angeles is only like 15 miles away, and they get like 20 inches more rain. 60% of my area is retirees by the way uggghhhh....baptism's for the dead? Anyhoo, I'm glad y'all are doing good. I love you guys.

LOVE
Elder Uptown

New Pictures

2010-02-02T16:28:00.000-08:00

I changed the slide show with Daniel's latest pictures. Enjoy!

Dungeoness... Email from 2-2-10

2010-02-02T15:23:00.000-08:00

Yes, I got transferred. I am now in the the Dungeoness ward. It's still in the Port Angeles Zone but just farther east. I'm not sure what my address is yet so I'll have to get back to you.
That thing we're doing in all the baptism pictures is called the ultimate point. It's a mission tradition.
My new companion is Elder Berger. He's from Utah and he's only been out three months. He's a way cool kid and he's way excited.
That jello is from a sweet family called the Crostons. The wife is a recent convert and she heard that the Utah Mormons are known for making green jello. So she decided to one-up us.
Things are going great here, I'm still settling in but I'm way excited. I hope y'all are doing well.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

Six Months on Friday... Elder U's 1/26/2010

2010-01-25T15:35:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys,

Happy birthday last week! Last week was alright. We didn't do as well with investigators but we did get a TON of people to church who don't normally go.
That is so rad about Collin's call! Tell him to learn some Brazilian jujitsu.
Tell Andrew to do a fast, that will definitely help. Transfer calls are on Saturday, I'll let you know were I'm off to.
Sad story: We were teaching this lady and her spazy kid wanted to play outside. But right when we got out there this lady ran out of her house screaming and holding her baby. The little dude had just had a mirror fall on his face and he was bleeding everywhere. He had about a 4 inch cut above his lip which was all the way through. What really surprised me about the situation was the lack of action. I totally had to yell at a guy to get a towel to cover the cut. It was really weird watching all these adults just stand there, while the little dude was freaking out. The kid's fine now you'll be happy to know. We visited them the other day.
Happy story: I got a tour of a Kingdom Hall (Jehovah's Witness Church). We were getting picked up in the church's parking lot, so we thought we'd go in and check it out. It's just one big room but it's really nice. Everyone there was really nice/scared. It was really funny. Elder Anderson (my DL)(District Leader) almost got the head guy to take a Book of Mormon. We then went outside and directed traffic for Bible study. It was way fun.
I'll let you know next week where I end up. I love you all and I hope your doing good.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

50...Elder U's letter from 1-20-10

2010-01-20T14:41:00.000-08:00

High-ho everyone,

Rad, Awesome, Week. Sorry I didn't email yesterday but it was MLK day. We taught 50 lessons! It would have been a record but Forks taught 51. Darn. I don't think we're ever gonna get that many again though. We decided were gonna try and make um high quality from now on (not that these weren't).
The baptism was sweet, apart from the the fact that the kid didn't tell us he's afraid of water. It took three times to finally get him under. Yesterday we went to a game park, it was the coolest thing ever. It's one of those things were you drive through and feed animals. It was scary but awesome. I got a bear to wave at me, and I kissed a bison.
That's way sweet about Silas! Tell him I'm stoked for him. Paul's the man. Tell him to look at Governor Boggs' tombstone. Tell Andrew that he can still totally get ripped. He's just gotta keep at it. If I can gain this much weight than anything is possible.
Did grandpa Brown ever send me monies? I also need a refill on my prescriptions. I have a very short attention span. I love you all and I hope your doing good. Tell Jacob happy birthday for me.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

That's Rad... Daniel's letter from Jan. 9, 2010

2010-01-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

Hey Fam,

This last week was a lot better. We taught 31 lessons, but we had to drop a bunch of people. Tueller got a new bike, and yes I am feeling a lot better. No rad awesome stories from last week, but it was still good. We're meeting a bunch of new people who freaking love us. That is so rad about Eammon!
Make Andrew go to his farewell and give him a crushing hug from me. PAUL! On a mission! That's amazing! The Independence Missouri mission is doing way good from what I hear.
What is all this "Be thou humble" stuff? Do I detect a subtle jab? (a recommendation to read the hymn and scripture from Mom) Teehee, yeah I'll totally read those today. That's sweet about Grandpa Brown. (Moving to Tuscon)
We're finally having a baptism! I'm way stoked. Uhhh yeah. Fun times. You gots to let me know when Collin gets his call. I love y'all so much.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

Down with the Sickness... Jan 4, 2010

2010-01-04T14:06:00.000-08:00

Sup Seeps,

That's way sad about that little mouse. Not cool, just make it a cardboard box or something.
Matthew is a far worse speller than I am. Rachel uses the proper amount of exclamation points. It's sweet that Jacob is becoming a New Scout, and more importantly a Deacon. There is no "Eagles Nest" in heaven (maybe in on of the lower kingdoms).
Dad, it's way hard to say which place in Washington is so far. Probably......Tacoma? Rain sucks, but whatever. How did Dad change the font on his e-mail? I love hearing those kind of conversion stories.
Yeah, last week was kind of lame. I got way sick for 2 days so we got a lot less done than we wanted to. The holidays kind of suck for missionary work.
Tueller got his bike stolen last week too, it was weird. Someone cut our lock, but they only stole his bike. But despite all that we still got 27 lessons. Neat, huh.
I set up that gym thing and its pretty sweet. This weeks gonna be alot better though with everyone getting back. I'm wrestling one of my recent converts today, that should be fun. Things are going way good out here, despite the opposition. I think that just means something big is in the works.
Lemme know how Gabe and Nathan are doin' You guys are the bomb diggity.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

Christmas Party! ...Dec 15, 2009

2009-12-16T18:08:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

Yes, we did have a Christmas party. It was awesome, but kind of weird. I'm just now realizing that my mission is almost 1/4 of the way done. WHAT THE HECK. Me and all the guys I came out with are still considered the young guns, but no longer the newbies. Interesting. Any-hoo, thank you guys so much for the presents! That was great.
You guys have so much snow! That's way cool. We got some the other day but it didn't stick for very long. It all just turns into ice, which is a little scary to bike on. I'm going to Forks again on Friday so I'll try to get some pictures this time.
We had an interesting week, we taught 32 lessons, and we got to be firemen. We were visiting a lady who had just recently gotten baptized, and while we were knocking on here door this guy in the apartments across the street came running out of his house and started banging on his neighbors door, yelling "I LIT THE HOUSE ON FIRE". Me and Elder Tueller saw them throwing their stuff out of the house so we went and helped them. It was crazy. We stopped by again the other day and helped the dude who started the fire get all his burned stuff out of the house.
We got tons of people at the ward Christmas party, oh, and I totally beat this sixty year old guy we tracted into at chess (weird sentence). It's way cold but we're doing good. Transfers are next week so I'll let you know if I'm leaving, but I probably won't be. Lemme know how Andrews doing, and tell everyone Merry Christmas from me. I love you guys. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

LOVE

Elder Downintown

A Little Adversity Never Hurt...Letter from Dec. 7, 2009

2009-12-07T18:29:00.000-08:00

Sup Peeps,

Good times, I just got a letter from Aunt Tiff. She sent me a picture of you guys in Colorado. I assume Andrew took it, how's that kid doing?
Our week wasn't really the best. We kept striking out hardcore, lots of people dogged our appointments and a bunch of people in our ward who we've been working with have had some seriously tough times. It seems like we had a new crisis almost every day last week. It also suddenly got reeeeally cold up here too. We had snow on Saturday, which made me excited! And then I realized we bike everywhere, dang.
But, don't despair dudes! My Sunday was awesome, pretty much all the people we we're trying to get to church didn't show up, but a ton of ward members brought their friends. Which was way good. Then we saw that Christmas devotional. That was amazing.
I'm way to busy to be homesick, but I still really miss you guys. I'm glad people are reading the blog or whatever. I expect a letter from all of you! Especially the Bird's. Oh, one more thing. What is Gabe's address? It still the same? I know he's coming up on his year mark and I wanted to write him. Thanks so much for all you guys do. I love y'all and I hope your not too cold.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

Turkey Day Owns...Nov 30, 2009

2009-11-30T17:37:00.000-08:00

'Sup Peeps,

Thanksgiving was awesome, we had 2 of them.
Yes, waterproof. (Daniel wants waterproof pants for Christmas)
Don't expect to see Washington scenery in New Moon. They filmed it in Vancouver. Speaking of which, I get to go to Forks tomorrow on a shifty, I'll make sure to take a bunch of pictures.
How the heck did you get Simon to Colorado? Tell Tiff and Glenn I said hi.
Our week was pretty lame apart from Thanksgiving, but we did get a baptism in on Sunday. This guy is sweet, he wants to learn MMA so I'm excited. No-one wants to wrestle me here so I have to play basketball instead, lame.
We finally had a nice day! It was Saturday and not a cloud in the sky, I almost was brought to tears. Teehee. Anyhoo, I love you guys and I hope your holidays are sweet.

LOVE
Elder UPPENCAMP!

"It's Like Going Swimming..." Nov. 23, 2009

2009-11-23T20:46:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends and immediate and extended Family Members,

The rain has come, it's not as bad as everyone says but it's definitely here. We had our first big storm this last week, our power was out for a only a few hours but it was out for a couple of days on the other side of town. Riding bikes uphill, in the rain, in suit pants is not fun. My coat's holding out though.
We're teaching a bunch of cool people, we keep getting all these awesome teaching opportunities that come out of nowhere. We taught 31 lessons last week, and only half of those were scheduled.
I'm not sure what I want for Christmas. Do they make water proof suit pants? What I would really like is more pictures, and maybe to hear from some of my friends. Does Andrew have a job yet?
Are you guys reading your scriptures every day? Studying is my favorite thing to do now! I've amassed quit the religious library through my travels, and the contrast between our scriptures and other religions holy writ is astounding. Indubitably. Don't ever think the scriptures are boring or long winded you guys. I've read some of mans attempts to make them "easier to understand" (IE. the NLV, NIV, and the American Standard Bible) and they just aren't as good. The poetry and meaning are lost. I kind of understand why a lot of people have problem with the Book of Mormon. The concept of revealed scripture is definitely alien to them. But when they read and pray sincerely, they always feel the Spirit witness to them the truth. I love you guys, I hope you all have a way fun Thanksgiving. The Church is true.

LOVE
Elder Up'in the camping grounds camping

P.S.
Friends, if you're reading this WRITE ME PLEASE!
I haven't heard from you guys in forever and I'd really like to know how your doing.

November 16, 2009... Thighs of Steel

2009-11-19T15:21:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys,

Port Angles is pretty sweet. Our ward loves us. I gave a talk last Sunday on helping others to recognize the spirit. It was pretty sweet. My new comp is way sweet. He's from Austin TX but he played basketball for Utah State.
Being on bike is a little harder but we're doing O.K., my quads are getting HUGE!! We're getting a whole lot done in our area, we taught 26 lessons this week.
Is Andrew Wright on his mission yet? I just got some mail from him and you from like 2 months ago. I'm doing pretty good, it's way rainy though and the money goes away really quick. I'm excited to be here in Port Angeles. Tell Andrew to get a job and stuff. Tell Nathan and Chad I miss um.
I love you guys and I hope your doing good.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

From Elder Uppencamp Nov. 10, 2010

2009-11-10T20:04:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

Yes, I am in fact, in Port Angeles. Sorry it's Tuesday and not P-day but transfers were yesterday and we had to drive like two hours to get here.
My area is right in the city itself. We cover most of downtown and the waterfront so I'll have to give you some cool pictures.
My new companion is named Elder Tueller. He came out with me so I'm pretty stoked. We have our own ward for the first time so I'm pretty excited. Our apartment is way small. I am also on bike now, so pray extra hard for me to not die.
My last week in Olympia was way cool too. We baptized three people on Sunday. My favorite was Sloane, she used to be totally agnostic and really anti-church. But we gave her a Book of Mormon and she felt the Spirit. She has had a way hard life, but as we taught her she started to light up. She was way excited to get baptized, and right after it happened she was the happiest I've ever seen her. I was also there when she said her first prayer and it made me cry.
Anyways, My new address is:

1115 S Lincoln st apt #3
Port Angeles, WA 98362

I'm way excited to be here and I'll send back some cool pictures. I love you all. Support your local missionaries!

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

Nov. 2, 2009

2009-11-02T17:28:00.000-08:00

Hey Dudes,

This last week was kinda lame until the end. A bunch of our investigators ditched us. The weirdest thing happened to me on Thursday too. My comp totally sat on my legs while they were stretched out on the couch and accidentally popped my kneecap out of its socket! It hurt a ton and I couldn't bend my leg for a couple of minutes, until my comp pushed it up a bit and my knee-cap literally snapped back into place. It was so weird. I'm alright now but it's still a little stiff.
Halloween was pretty sweet. We were able to tract in places that would normally kick us out, under the guise of trick-or-treaters. Got a ton of candy too.
Then church was finally good! It was fast and testimony meeting and we had a bunch of investigators there so I was a little worried, but the wards did great. They testified simply about Jesus for the most part and no-one got too deep, then a girl who we recently re-activated bore powerful testimony about missionary work, so the ward doesn't think we're stupid anymore. We also had a great class after that in which our ward mission leader committed one of our investigators to get baptized. She felt the spirit really strong and was crying the whole time. good day. Its looking like we're gonna baptize two this weekend. Cross your fingers, they've got some opposition.
That sucks about Harry Reid, He apparently doesn't believe the Church is true. If he truly believed President Monson is a Prophet he wouldn't let politics shape his decisions so much.
Transfers are next week, so I'll probably have a new address. Keep telling my buds to write me, I really miss um. And I still totally need they're addresses, get Andrew on that.
I love you all and keep you in my prayers

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp a.k.a lil' tank

P.S.
Those pumpkins are legit, especially the Trogdor and Support the Municipality ones.

P.P.S Send me back that memory card so I can send you this one.
OCTOPUS EATING!!!

From Elder U on Oct 26, 2009

2009-10-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Yes, I got the candy and stuff, thanks guys. I'm still doing good up here. The ward is still a little dumb about teaching deep doctrine to investigators but it's getting a little bit better. We meet a,lot of really nice people but none of them will check out the church. I don't know what's up with that.
We just had P-day and I decided that I still, and will always, hate basketball. Speaking of sucking, we ate at a Chinese buffet today and I got some octopus. It was really good, kinda like fish bubblegum. Yup yup, having a good time.
Tell Rachel thanks for getting her friends to write me some notes, and tell her to tell Brotha Goss thanks too. That was way helpful.
Oh yeah, I got another companion a couple of days ago. He just got back from recovering from back surgery. My companions are as follows: Elder Hill, a dude from Colorado. He's way funny, I think he will be president one day. Elder Allred, also from Colorado, very musically inclined and skinny, doesn't like getting hugs AT ALL. Elder Coon, he's from Kaysville. He's about 6''4 and 300 pounds, a way nice guy. Yeah, good times in hippie-town. I love you guys and I hope your doing good. I still need Emily's address though. Tell Andrew to give Chad and Nathan a big hug from me.

LOVE
Elder Eppsoncamp

Letter from Oct. 19th, 2009

2009-10-20T18:09:00.000-07:00

Message from Mom: I know everyone really enjoys hearing from Daniel but he would really love hearing from YOU! His address is posted to the right. :D

Hey Everyone,

Well done, my brother. G! E! D! What, what. That's cool.
Yeah, things are still doing good. We got to go street contacting downtown this week, at night. It was crazy! But, we met some really nice people, most of whom had tattoos on their faces. Oh, and you'll be happy to know that the rain has started. It hasn't gotten softer than a drizzle all week. It gets dark really early here, at like 5. Which sucks cause that's when we start tracting every night.
Church is sooo stressful! We bring investigators who are just there to check it out and everyone in the ward immediately starts talking about the deepest doctrine they can think of! This Sunday we brought a single investigator. She was interested in the church but she almost ran away when one of the members told her she can't be exalted until she gets married. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Do me a favor guys, if you see missionaries with investigators at church, please keep it basic. People who aren't even really sure if the Book of Mormon is true do NOT need to be hearing about the temple, or baptisms for the dead, or any stuff like that. It's way important, because investigators have no idea what any of that stuff means. As missionaries we always tell people that the church is centered on Christ, people get really confused if the only time they hear his name is during the prayer. Focus on the Savior always, 'cause that's what the church is really all about. O.K. that's enough of that. I'm glad you guys are doing good, and I'm way stoked for Andrew getting a job. I love you guys!

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp a.k.a Elder Uppencup a.k.a Grampa Uppencamp

Letter from Oct. 12, 2009

2009-10-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Everybody,

Whew, I'm glad you got those pictures, I spent like and hour in the post office trying to figure out how to send them. Don't worry, that wasn't my toe, this dude in my zone had it last transfer and I was on a shift with him when he went to the doctor. The next pict is the toe nail itself, with my hand there for scale. Yeah, those are some way good memories. I wish I could've put some caption under them so you could tell who is in them. If you have any questions, let me know.
Yeah, Olympia's a little harder than Tacoma. Everyone here goes to Evergreen College which is basically the hippie Mecca. They all say they're open minded, but when you bring up God they have their opinions and there's no changing them. The ward is also really different here too. They don't really like missionaries and they REALLY don't like it when we (the missionaries) find people. They think missionary work is exclusivley a ward thing, and that we're just some annoying side-thing that they have to "deal" with every Sunday. They're coming around though....slowly. We didn't teach too much this week, but we still got twenty lessons in.
We met a way cool family of three that we're working with so thats sweet. But yeah, tracting kinda sucks. Its amazing to me how prideful those who claim to be humble are. Yup yup,
How are my friends doing? I havn't really heard from any of them yet. How's Chadley and Nathan? Emily? Anyhoo, missionary work is the Bomb-diggity to the max. I love you guys and I pray for you all the time.

Love
Elder UP

Daniel is in Olympia...

2009-10-01T10:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Everyone,

Yes, it's true. I'm in Olympia now. Last transfer was way fun, and we had a lot of success. Olympia, on the other hand, might be a little bit different. This is the most liberal part of the state (gasp). People don't really like missionaries here.
My new companions are Elders Allred and Hill. They're pretty cool. Elder Allred says this is the triple H zone (Hobo's, Homosexual's, and Hippie's) we'll see. I love you all and I hope your doing good. Tell Matthew to stop altering his brain, and Andrew to take up tap dancing, and give Simon a good wrestle for me.

LOVE
Elder Uppenchamp

Sept. 21 Letter...

2009-09-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom and Such,

What's up guys. We had another 2 baptisms this weekend so I have now officially reached the North American missionary average! Hoorah! It was sooo cool. I got to baptise this Vietnamese dude named Lam. His story is as follows(be advised: you may cry)
O.K. So we met this dude named Lam. He just came to the states like, 3 months ago. He doesn't know much English. We ran into him tracting and took him on a tour of the church. While we were on the tour we showed him the restoration video and he loved it. We taught him the lessons that week and brought him to church. We had really hard time understanding him so we tried to get a Vietnamese speaker to come and translate. He was not down for that at all. So we pretty much taught him using only the scriptures. We took him to church and he decided to get baptized. Here's were it gets touching. Lam really wanted to get baptized, but he had work that Sunday. It's crazy cuz he is the bread winner for the family, but he doesn't have a steady job, so he takes work when he can get it. We were talking to him on Saturday and the baptism was the next day. We told him we could reschedule and stuff but he wasn't having any of that. He knew he would be blessed so he called his boss right then and said he wasn't coming in, thus probably losing his job and definitely losing 100 bucks. We felt real bad about him losing that money, so we all went to the bank and got together like seventy bucks. We brought it to his house and told him how we felt , but as soon as he saw the money in my hand he literally pushed me away. He knew he was gonna get blessed. He had such perfect faith! That touched me hardcore. I felt so blessed to have met such a genuine person. I felt the spirit so strong, I just started crying (first time on my mission) and I didn't stop for like an hour. I baptised him yesterday and I felt the spirit so strongly. I love it out here.
Tell Nathan that's awesome and that he should write me. I love you guys and I pray for Y'all every night.

Love
Elder Uppencamp

Letter from Sept. 14, 2009

2009-09-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

Hey fam/random readers of emails,

Whats up? I'm doin pretty good out here. We had another baptism last Sunday so I'm at three so far. How did you see a photo of me with my mission pres.? I do look good don't I( and so very humble).
Tacoma's still really ghetto and yes I have gotten to drive....once. Our car is a Chevy Malibu that gets -5 miles to the gallon so we have to fill up a lot. It still hasn't rained that much here. The only day it really rained hard was the day I got to drive, fun huh.
None of my missionary pals, or my regular pals have written me yet with the exception of Nathan. What the heck. I'll probably send that memory card back soon, though it's nowhere near full.
We're just truckin' along here. We met a way cool Vietnamese guy named lam who will probably get baptised. We had Stake Conference the other day, it was a broadcast and the Prophet spoke so it was really cool. WE TAUGHT 40 LESSONS LAST WEEK! Neat huh. Yeah, we keep pretty busy.
I'm feeling a little sick today though so I might have to stay in. My companions just got done being WAY sick so I guess it's my turn. I love you guys and I pray for you every night too. Tell Andrew to get a job, and please remind my friends I'm out here. I feel a bit forgotten.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp A.K.A Elder Up at arms.

From Elder Daniel...

2009-09-09T17:16:00.000-07:00

Hey Dudes,

Guess what. I totally got my first (in font)baptism!!!! It was really my second one I guess.... but it was the first one where I was in the font. It was on Sunday, and it was like the raddest thing ever. Apparently I dunked him waay to hard but he didn't mind. I just dunked him Gunnell style so there was no question on whether or not he was baptized. He's a cool kid from Jacksonville Florida. His brother had gotten baptized the week before I got here so he was thinking about it, then on Sunday he came to church and said he'd do it. It was way fun and I felt the Spirit really strongly, even though everyone was laughing cause I dunked him so hard.
That's cool about the letters, I was beginning to think my mail was getting stolen or something. Yeah, my areas really ghetto. But its fun. We heard a bunch of gunshots the other night but DON'T FREAK OUT. That's just life in the hood. I'm a little disappointed that I haven't gotten into a flaming row yet, but there's still time. I'm probably gonna be out of Tacoma by the end of the month 'cause I'm a greenie and we get moved around a lot, so I'll send my address when I know.
My pants still fit. I'm actually not really even showing any signs of gaining weight at all(other than what the scales say) all though I'm not really surprised considering how much the Samoans feed us. Still haven't got any letters from any homies accept Nathan (which was hilarious by the way) but I remain hopeful.Yeah, having tons of fun preaching the word. And reading the scriptures is getting way more fun. Yes, a recipe book would be good, and I'll totally send you the memory card when I remember. I love you guys!!!

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

Daniel's Latest Letter...

2009-09-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

Hey moms!

Thats cool, we haven't really been rained on that much yet. I've only had to wear my coat like once. Last week was pretty cool, my comps baptized this kid but I'm not counting it as mine cause I didn't help. It was way cool though. We were in the middle of a meeting and talking about how we didn't have any baptisms set up that week, and he called and asked us if we could do it that day! Freakin Sweet, man. My companions/trainers are the coolest. They are as follows: Elder Cook from Centerville Utah, Elder Schull from Plain City Utah, and Elder Waggner from Medford Oregon. I cant believe our first transfers almost over, AND I STILL HAVEN'T HEARD FROM MY FRIENDS! whats up with that? I gotta get Chars address so's I can congradulate her. She's married now right? Guess what! I'm up to 150lbs!!! ridiculous huh? The first week I was here we didn't eat that much and I guess someone got on the ward's case cause they've been feeding us like crazy, and not just spaghetti too. We are over the Somoan ward so we basically get like 20lbs of food every time they feed us. Have you ever heard of Taro root? Yeah, things are going good. My companions are Uber hard-working. I beat Elder Schull in wrestling like my second night here. Elders Cook and Waggner don't believe that I like to box....teehee. Well, I love you guys, make sure you get on Nathan/Chad/everyone else/Corryns case about writing me. That would be nice. I love you all and I hope your enyoying yourselves. The Church is true, Tacoma is hot, and Samoans are crazy.

LOVE
Elder uppencamp

First Email From Tacoma

2009-08-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

Here is Daniel's first email, unedited.

Yes, I am, in fact, on a mission. Cool huh. I'm in Tacoma proper so sorry, no vampires yet. I'm in a four-some with my zone leaders and another newish dude. They are so freakin awesome! Apparently Tacoma is the highest baptizing mission in North America. I didn't believe that at first but I guess we're doing one this weekend. Yeah, so awesome. It's hot here and it has yet to rain, what the heck. Oh, I got my bike and its awesome, though I don't think I'll ever get to ride it in this area cause we have a car. We talked to these two black girls yesterday and gave them a tour of a chapel and they were diggin' it for sure. Speaking of which....is Emily back yet? you gots to post this e-mail mom, because I gots to tell Char CONGRATULATIONS!!!! on getting married that is. I have a bunch of Samoans, asians, and black people in my area, it's rad. I feel so....diverse? Anyhoo, my mailing address is 5801 Orchard St. SW apt 76 Tacoma, WA 98467. So get everyone to send me goodies, and like a letter or something. So yeah, I'm loving this whole missionary thing, I'm really excited right now. I hope I don't lose the fire I'm feeling for along time. Tell Andrew to get a job, tell Nathan/Chad they need to writes me, and give Simon something to chew on that resembles Barrack Obama. Well, I love you all and I hope your already gettin blessed.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

A Surprise Phone Call...

2009-08-17T16:50:00.000-07:00

We got an early call from Daniel today! He bought a calling card at the airport and chatted with us all while waiting for his flight. He says the MTC is "Da Bomb" and that he loved it and gained 6 lbs. I asked him if the food was good or what, he said "No, there's just lots of it."
Daniel, 17 other elders and one sister all flew out to Tacoma bright and early. He will report to the mission office and then get assigned a trainer and area.
He says his MTC companions where amazing and that they didn't fight at all. (Except for the occasional wrestling match in the hall. Daniel is undefeated.)
He sounded happy and excited. He kept saying, "Guess what? I'm a missionary!" and "I don't know what else to say. The Church is true." etc. He is still Daniel, just more so.
We'll put his current address up when he writes his first letter. He begs everyone to write! He doesn't understand why everyone didn't instantly drop everything and write to him every day. ;) I know he would love the occasional letter from anyone who has the time.
He sends his love and thanks for everyone's prayers and support!

Busy, busy, busy...

2009-08-17T16:47:00.001-07:00

We survived summer! Getting Daneil off, the weeklong for Boy Scouts, Girls Camp, and Youth Conference. We had so much fun! Now we all need a month to sleep it off. :)

Youth Conference was at Utah State in Logan. We had a lot of workshops, games, swim and gym activities and a dance. John Bytheway spoke to us and that was great but I really loved our Stake leaders speaking to us. They are all amazing people and great examples.

There are a few photos in the slide show from Camp and Youth Conference. Daniel promises MTC photos soon!

I Hope They Call Me On a Misson...

2009-07-30T09:54:00.000-07:00

Daniel received his mission call to the Washington, Tacoma mission. He reported to the MTC yesterday, July 29th.

Thanks so much to all the family who came out to support him and say good bye and good luck! We had such a great time visiting with everyone even if it was short.

I'll keep his contact info updated so we can all keep in touch with him. I know he would love to hear from friends and family as often as he can!

I have a bunch of photos to upload but we are having difficulties with our one remaining computer now so it will take a while. I wanted to get things here updated without waiting for the photos.