We Updated! With Pictures!

Please pardon the long time between posts. I think I've finally got it updated. We're going to try to be better about sharing the e-mails. We updated clear back into November, so, if you want to get caught up, be sure you go back at least until the November 19th posts - there are some pictures along the way!

Here's a few other pictures you may be interested in as well. Click to enlarge.

The mug shot to prove the boy rarely smiles.

And Ty's mission president his wife.

Where's Elder Herring? Can YOU find him?

12/29/09

so got transfered to ogden utah. hahaha yea im in the ghetto to prove how ghetto it is. two nights ago there was a guy whos throat got slit about 6 blocks from where we live. it's wierd to see the other side of ogden. i never new ogden had so many problems like illegal drugs, prostitution, and gang related activity. but im doing good. my new companion Elder Beavens is from alberta, canada. we really dont get along, we argue alot about our baptisims and if there qualified and if they've been living there commandments. last night we got into an arguement about if one of our investigators William, is prepared to be baptised. i pointed out theat the prophet and the apostles have set guidelines for convert baptisms and that they need to go to church three consecutive times to be baptised. well william hadn't so i said were going to have to move his baptismal date back two weeks so he could get baptised. well he flipped out and was ranting about how i wasn't senior companion and that when i become senior companion i can make the rules about our investigators. to keep it short he saw it my way. unfortunatley most of the baptisims that have been done the people weren't prepared and hadn't gone to church. that changed when i told him i will not show up/perticpate in the baptisims if they haven't met all the qualifications. other than that incident our area is doing ok. could be better but we're going to have to build it up. thanks for everthing you sent me for christmas i loved it. hope all is well
Love,
Elder Herring

p.s
for my birthday i have a list of couple of approved cd's that id like. ill put that in the next email :)

Christmas Day

Well, needless to say we did get his call schedule figured out. Elder Herring was able to call down to Grandma and Grandpa Dudley's midafternoon and talk to each of his uncles and a few select cousins. With special permission, he even got to call his "brother from another mother" Casey Waite who will be leaving to serve in Barcelona, Spain in March.

He is a very obedient missionary and stuck to his 45 minute time limit. Grandma Dorothy got to come down and we each got to talk with him for a few minutes. He's doing well in his new area. He got transferred to Ogden just before Christmas. He was welcomed to the area by the stake mission leader, Joe Arave, who grew up with our parents here in Charlottesville (what a small world the Church creates!), who gave him a pocket knife, and said "Welcome to the area, Elder".... UH... We all loved talk to him, and love him a LOT! :)

BEST. Christmas Present. EVER!!!

Due to all of the snow in VA lately, only one of our doors, the back one, has easy access. But, we don't have a key for that door, so, we've been taking turns stumbling through the snow to the front door to let everyone else in the back.

On Christmas Eve, after our Herring family party, it was my turn. I stumbled through the snow and around the corner to see a package on the front porch (poor postman). I pick it up expecting it to be my Dad's Christmas present (which actually came 2 days AFTER Christmas), to see, "From: Elder Tyler LaMont Herring, To: The Family"

WAHOO!!!

Well, traditionally, we only open one present - pajamas - on Christmas Eve. I begged and we opened Ty's gift then too. In it was the most awesome Christmas present EVER:


So, if you know my brother, you know that he doesn't smile in a picture - ever! He's SMILING!!! We know he's in the right place now! I hope you can click on it and enjoy the full effect of this awesome gift that brought us to tears. :)

Oh Tyler!

im on right now, we need to figure out my christmas call so your going to need to be on :P

-----Original Message-----
From: "Herring, Anthony J. *HS"
To: Tyler Herring
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:49:50 -0500
Subject: RE:

are you still on?
___________________________________________________________________
Tony Herring

Tyler's Letter 12/15/09

hey wassup dad,
who's this new bishop? i dont reconize his name. mom said you sent my package yesterday thats sweet im excited. what do you think/want your next calling to be. right now i feel like im in the trenchs, so much flipping snow on the ground. but as far as phone call goes, im probally just call all the phones till someone picks up. :) hmm ill probally call 12 my time and 2 your time. if thats ok

Letter from Dad to Tyler 12/15/09

Dear Tyler,
Look at the time. I am not on a mission, but I've been at work for over 2 hours already. These early mornings are a beast to do. Only one more before Christmas break though.

How are you doing? How is your companion? Your investigators? We pray for you and your investigators everyday. We know the Lord will bless you as you diligently serve Him.

We have a new Bishopric in the Ward. Bishop Aaron Hancock, Steve Morgan and Kenneth Crowther were sustained on Sunday. I do not have a calling yet, but I'm sure I'll get one soon. I'm sure that the new Bishopric will do great.

I have been thinking alot about the service we give to the Lord. He is so pleased when we diligently do the little things for others. It doesn't have to be huge, or out in the public eye. The best work is done in the trenches where you can help those that are struggling. The scriptures teach us that the right hand shouldn't know what the left hand is doing. I think that is especially true with service. If you are doing it for the recognition of others, your doing it for the wrong reasons. I am so glad that I had the chance to serve in the Bishopric when I did. Even though it was hard at times, I grew alot and I think I was able to help people that perhaps I wouldn't have known about.

I am so proud of you. You are blessing so many lives because of your service. Many people are looking at your example and want to follow in your footsteps.

About calling on Christmas day- what calling plan is your cell phone with? If it is verizon, then the best thing is to call Mom's cell phone. Mine is crappy. What time do you want to do it? Let's decide today.

I love you so much. Keep up the great work.

Love,
Dad

Tyler's Letter 12/09/09

hmmm i know i get to call on christmas. we have our own phone so ill probally try your cell and if you dont answer ill just call grandmas house..... if i remember the number. i got a really nice christmas card from tod and kim dudley. as for the day of christmas..... it depends on who get's transfered. i might be getting transfered. but if i dont we'll go the althouses for christmas and spend it with them. sorry to be short we just have alot of things we have to do today. hmmm christmas. anything wool
love,
Elder Herring

Letter from Dad to Tyler 12/08/09

Dear Tyler,
It was great to get your pictures last week. They were awesome. It was great to be able to see what your companion looks like. It was awesome to see how happy you are.

We have been staying busy. I go to work at 3:00 am 2 days a week- so I stay tired- but what are you going to do. We put up Grandma's Christmas lights Friday night. Casey Waite helped me. He is getting stoked about his mission call. On Saturday, we got our first snow fall. We got about 5 inches of wet snow. Sandy and Flavio brought the boys over Saturday night and the boys went sledding on your tobaggan sled in the yard. They had a blast.

We have been reading some stories about missionary work around Christmas and feel so connected to you. When are you calling on Christmas day or should we call you? We need to get that worked out. What do you need for Christmas? Do you think your companion will get transferred? Do yo have plans for Christmas yet?

We love you so much. We are excited to get your emails each week. We share them with everyone. You have so many people that are living this mission with you through your letters and emails. Keep them coming. Stay strong and obedient so the Spirit will guide you. We love you?

Dad

Mission Pictures - 12/01/09

so i just went and bought a cord from best buy for $20 so i can send you guys my pictures. the first one should be my first baptisim bryan, he was a trouble maker from vegas. took him about 3-4 weeks before he was ready to be baptised. had to get him married first to his wife, and to get him to stop smoking. the second picture was our surprise baptism, sorta made us mad. the ward had been preparing Cole a nine yearold for baptism and didnt know that the missionaries needed to be involved. we got involved the week before his baptism and taught him once, we taught him enough to pass the interview, the interview is supposed to be done by our district leader or zone leader but bishop asked if he could do it. thats not right because the bishop doesnt have the keys our the athority to missionary work. and he cant reccieve revelation for him because he's not a member. but the bishop went ahead and did it anyway. our misson president said that we just need to learn to pick our battles. the one thing that really made me mad is that the bishop said that the stake presidency was on board with him doing the interview, but we went and talked to the stake presidency and found out they weren't. hahaha whatever counts as a baptism for us :). but im doing well its starting to stay in the teens here during the day. and we didnt play in the USU stadium the guy called and said because of liability we couldnt so we just played at lundstrum park. it was supposed to be flag football but turned into tackle football. i didnt get hurt my companion is broken....... he messed up his wrist. its just sprained. but were both doing good. bought some ties today out of the back of some guys car today pretty sweet. as you see in my pictures i dont wear any of the ties i came out with. because my companion has opened my eyes to matching cuff links and hankies. THAT'S RIGHT IM ROCKING THE HANKEE'S.
Love,
Elder Tyler Herring

Thanksgiving Letter 11/24/09

yes i bought my scriptures, no i haven't gotten a cord or the long garmnets yet. the scriptures really set me back. but as far as thanksgiving goes my companion and i did some sweet talking and were going to be playing flag football in the USU stadium (Romney Stadium) hahahaha thats right were playing at the Utah State Football Stadium. alot of our mission is going to be there. like 25-35 missionaries there. my weeks been pretty good cold, but good. next week ill probally get some warm garments and the camera cord that i need so i can send you guys some pictures. but as far as music goes i bought WOW Christian Music 2010 and a member made us a sweet cd. but i can have a cd player with a radio with it were just not aloud to turn on the radio. im excited to call home too, i cant wait but thats a long ways off. but i love you guys ill write a longer email next week our pday is short today because of thanksgiving we get another pday this week.
love,
Elder Tyler Herring

Weekly Letter

Dear Fam, 17 November 2009

ok so the scriptures..... funny story, we were going to Varsity Villa where all of our investigators are. btw had my first baptism :) I’ll send pictures when I get a cord for my camera. But anyways left them at one of our investigators house and he called and told me, I told him to leave them outside his front door and we'll run by and get them, well I forgot about them and it snowed that night and buried them in the snow. The next morning the snow started melting and got them all wet. They’re still drying I’m about in Isaiah in the drying process. So I’ve been using a triple combination the past week and a half. lol sorry so I’m probably going to get some more today. (I’ll keep them as souvenir) then send them down to bountiful (member wraps them in a leather and engraves a picture on them for FREE) it’s pretty sweet. hahaha dad the weight you lost I’ve found...... :( most of the week last week I was sick with a stomach virus for Wednesday - Friday. It sucked and then my companion had it too. So we rotated puking in the bathroom. But we got better enough to go to the baptism. Oh I can’t remember if I told you all but me and my trainer stayed together for another transfer SWEET!!!! But I’ll send picture next time
love
Elder Tyler Herring

Elder Herring's weekly letter 11/10/09

so guess what my scriptures got wet so today i gotta go get some new ones from the distribution center today :) lol there still drying out but i gotta get something. lol its been hard teaching with just a book of mormon. but yea i was talking to someone that engraves stuff on bibles and book of mormons so today im going to go see if he can engrave two pictures on it. the picture of moses with the ten commandments on the bible and captain moroni on the book of mormon. it'll be sweet. but nothing really happen this week. it was transfers today, nothing changed me and my companion are staying together. we got seven new investigators this week :)!!!!! but lol all of them have to get married :( so were going to have alot of marriages. but i love you guys, hopefully your at work and you can read this and let me know if its ok if i get some scriptures today.
love,
Elder Tyler Herring

Letter from Elder Herring 11/03/09

hey everyone,
OH GOSH!!!! we got one of our investigators to come to church with his wife whos a member, they paid tithing and then went home after sacrement meeting. we were walking by there apartment and there were like four cop cars there...... he got a arrested for a public intocication when he was 18. we talked to the cops (there all rm's) and i was like look he's changed and he's currently taking the disgustions and has a baptisim date. needless to say he went to jail. he got out on monday because the ward mission leader Brother Boman payed his bail. it was way dope no one asked him to pay it but he drove to cedar city and paid it and drove Brian home. another thing that happened this week is we tracted into the ghetto of logan. knocked on this one door and this hispanic came to the door and was like "como" lol my companion and i explained that we were the missionaries and that we had a message about christ, i guess we offened him and he started rambling in spanish. then he turned around and ran back to his room. i saw a tatoo on his back when he was running, he was ms13. that crazy mexican gang from back home. so i looked at my companion and was like dude we need to get out of here, he's ms13. he asked what's ms13? i grabbed him by his arm and we ran upstairs to a members apartment and waited a little bit. the cool thing was is we were waiting for our investigators to come to church and i see theses three people walking up the sidewalk and it was him. him his wife and his deaf homie all came to church. he came up too me during sacrement and said they had to go cause his mother fell and she was in the hospital. hopefully we'll be able to teach him soon, his wife is way nice she always talks to us and wants us to come by and teach her husband. other than thoses its been good. i got to teach relief society kinda wierd but it was good. you heard it right I TAUGHT RELIEF SOCIETY!!!!!! so missionaries dont do crap for halloween, we borrowed monopoly from a members home and played for three hours and handed out pass along cards to trick or treaters, hahahaha they werent very happy
Love,
Elder Tyler Herring

Elder Herring's weekly letter

hey everyone,
so you guys have been hounding me to know who my companion and I are teaching. so here goes.......one guy were teaching is brian, he was commited on the first lesson to be baptised on nov 14th. but first he has to get married to his girlfriend brianna who is currently pregnant, cause there living together. so that means we get to go to a wedding!!!! :) another family that were teaching right now is a part member family, the dads not a member and a truck driver so its really hard to catch him home, so we challenged him to listen to the book of mormon on cd in his tractor trailor while he's hauling. the other family were teaching is the Smiths, he is a return missionary who's inactive, they met in mainland china where he was teaching english. they got married and now live in logan, frank the husband was listening to conference and heard elder Hollands talk and decided that it was time that they should go back to church and that mae his wife should start taking the discussions. since shes from mainland china her english is pretty bad so we had to go get an rm that spoke manderan. were also teaching an indian couple that are living together, Dina and Louellen. we've only been able to teach Dina because Louellen works alot but were trying to work around his schedule so that he can start taking the discussions, he's way excited. there also going to have to married before they can get baptized..... so yes another wedding!!!! :P. the last person were teaching that not a member is frankee. her brother the fellowshiper is trying to get her to come to church, but she says its hard because she has a seven year old and a way out of control two year old, so its hit or miss with her she says she wants to come but has only been once. one less-active member were teaching is Jamie . She fell away from the church because of the way the member girls treated her. so she started to befriend local catholic girls, and because of that the member girls made fun of her. She's 27 and were teaching from the start with the restoration, she says she doesn't remember anything but.... the gospel teaching are like riding a bike you really never forget you just might be a little rusty. but im doing fine its all good here in logan, utah. one thing that i learned this week from one of the members we stopped by was, i asked what he did for a living because he lived in a very very modest home for a 24 yr old whose married with a baby on the way. he told me it was some executive postion for ICON, there a sport nutrition supplement place. i told him i hadn't really decided what i wanted to do as a career, and he said.... "Elder Herring dont worry about your furture, if you serve the lord with all your heart might mind and strength, and put all worldly things aside including a future career and where your going to go to school, and who your going to marry and devote all your time to the lord, he will bless you beyond comprehension." that really put things in perspective for me, and im going to try and live that, so i can be blessed down the road.
love,
Elder Tyler Herring

ps
mom or dad can you please forward this to everyone else in the family thanks, i forgot my address book today and couldn't send it to everyone. and yes i got my box thanks so much for everything

Letters to Elder Herring (week of Oct. 19)

19 Oct 2009

Hi Ty,
How's our favorite missionary? We have been laughing about your bus story all week. I'm glad you're having a good time while working. That's important I think. Two different return missionaries said that it was important that you find something to laugh about everyday.
I can't believe you guys challenge investigators to baptism at the first discussion?! Wow that's pretty intense. Does it work out most of the time?
Chelsea took some pictures of Grandma and Granpa's new dog but I don't think she's uploaded them yet. I'll have her do it soon.
I think you put a little curse on us for the beach because it was way cold. And there was no beach to drive on because the water was up to the dunes. Anyway it was fun to get away for the weekend. Mom seemed so much more relaxed. The beach was crazy cold, and there wasn't any beach. The ocean was really, really close to the dunes. We took the jeep thinking we would drive on the beach but didn't. It was way too scary.
No word on Casey's mission call yet. My guess is that he'll get it Friday or Saturday. He got your address so he should be writting you soon.
Did you get your box? Is there anything you need? Are you warm enough? Would you wear a sweater vest, like Grandpa and Dad do under your suit? Let us know how we can help.
You are in our thoughts and prayers. We've almost finished reading the Book of Mormon. Our goal is to finish the first week of November and then start over again.
We love you son and are so proud of the man you are becoming.
Love tons
Mom and Dad

Hey Tyler!
I love you! Still got a good companion? How's Logan? This letter will probably be kinda brief cause I'm very very tired. Mom and Dad went to OBX like you know and they brought me this really really cute jacket. they had fun. And it wasn't that bad staying by myself, especially since Sandy and Flavio came and spent the nights with me. It was actually kinda fun eating all the junk food mommy bought me and just watched chick-flicks like the Proposal and stuff. But it did make me realize how quickly I'll be an adult and be in college and not living with mom and dad which was a little sad. Saturday Casey came and we went downtown cause I was bored stiff, it's really cool cause I haven't really talked to him since you left. It was nice to catch up and stuff, it's so wierd that in like a month or two you'll both be out on missions. So bizarro my brother's are growin up. So you know that Wild Wings place that you and Casey and Sam and Will always went to? Well me and my friends went there before the Western Game today. And they somehow convinced me to eat some of the really really hot wings (the hottest ones there) cause it didn't smell that hot. So I did and man I was crying like a baby it hurt so bad. My tummy is still like angry at me and on fire. I don't know how you could stand that. The waitor was really cool though he came by and handed me a glass of milk and was like this on me, I talked to my manager we have a no jerk clause so because they made you eat it you can have a free milk. We got pictures and videos of it. It was really good. And I'm really enjoying my senior year. Oh we also renamed Grandma's dog Chloe instead of Ice. She's one of the most adorable and obedient dogs. mom and daddy took pictures so when I find their camera I'll send you a picture of her. She's a yellow lab and is kinda short. She already knows to sit, stay, come, and fetch. She loves grandma and absolutely adores me and Casey. We somehow convinced Grandpa to let her come into the basement. She's kennel broken like Nikki and very obedient. We're building her a new big outside kennel and she's super spoiled. It's great! I'll send pictures soon!
Love you,
Chelsea

Letters to Elder Herring (week of Oct. 19)

19 Oct 2009

Hi Ty,
How's our favorite missionary? We have been laughing about your bus story all week. I'm glad you're having a good time while working. That's important I think. Two different return missionaries said that it was important that you find something to laugh about everyday.
I can't believe you guys challenge investigators to baptism at the first discussion?! Wow that's pretty intense. Does it work out most of the time?
Chelsea took some pictures of Grandma and Granpa's new dog but I don't think she's uploaded them yet. I'll have her do it soon.
I think you put a little curse on us for the beach because it was way cold. And there was no beach to drive on because the water was up to the dunes. Anyway it was fun to get away for the weekend. Mom seemed so much more relaxed. The beach was crazy cold, and there wasn't any beach. The ocean was really, really close to the dunes. We took the jeep thinking we would drive on the beach but didn't. It was way too scary.
No word on Casey's mission call yet. My guess is that he'll get it Friday or Saturday. He got your address so he should be writting you soon.
Did you get your box? Is there anything you need? Are you warm enough? Would you wear a sweater vest, like Grandpa and Dad do under your suit? Let us know how we can help.
You are in our thoughts and prayers. We've almost finished reading the Book of Mormon. Our goal is to finish the first week of November and then start over again.
We love you son and are so proud of the man you are becoming.
Love tons
Mom and Dad

Hey Tyler!
I love you! Still got a good companion? How's Logan? This letter will probably be kinda brief cause I'm very very tired. Mom and Dad went to OBX like you know and they brought me this really really cute jacket. they had fun. And it wasn't that bad staying by myself, especially since Sandy and Flavio came and spent the nights with me. It was actually kinda fun eating all the junk food mommy bought me and just watched chick-flicks like the Proposal and stuff. But it did make me realize how quickly I'll be an adult and be in college and not living with mom and dad which was a little sad. Saturday Casey came and we went downtown cause I was bored stiff, it's really cool cause I haven't really talked to him since you left. It was nice to catch up and stuff, it's so wierd that in like a month or two you'll both be out on missions. So bizarro my brother's are growin up. So you know that Wild Wings place that you and Casey and Sam and Will always went to? Well me and my friends went there before the Western Game today. And they somehow convinced me to eat some of the really really hot wings (the hottest ones there) cause it didn't smell that hot. So I did and man I was crying like a baby it hurt so bad. My tummy is still like angry at me and on fire. I don't know how you could stand that. The waitor was really cool though he came by and handed me a glass of milk and was like this on me, I talked to my manager we have a no jerk clause so because they made you eat it you can have a free milk. We got pictures and videos of it. It was really good. And I'm really enjoying my senior year. Oh we also renamed Grandma's dog Chloe instead of Ice. She's one of the most adorable and obedient dogs. mom and daddy took pictures so when I find their camera I'll send you a picture of her. She's a yellow lab and is kinda short. She already knows to sit, stay, come, and fetch. She loves grandma and absolutely adores me and Casey. We somehow convinced Grandpa to let her come into the basement. She's kennel broken like Nikki and very obedient. We're building her a new big outside kennel and she's super spoiled. It's great! I'll send pictures soon!
Love you,
Chelsea

Elder Herring's weekly letters 10/12/09

To Everyone:

lol we’re a walking mission. but no i dont need my 72 hour kit i doubt ill get stranded in logan :P its utah. you guys are punks i cant believe you went to nags head. im not happy. your sitting down at the beach while im up here in the frozen tundra.one funny thing that happened this week is we were on the bus going to our other stake that we cover in logan and this really old guy asked all the students that were on the bus if they had gone on a date? i raised my hand and he looked at me puzzeled and said "your liar! and if you did im going to call the mission president" lol and my companion was like thats right then the old guy said "you can tell who the senior and junior companion is" then everyone was laughing i was crying cause i was laughing so hard. then the same old guy said that my compainion had won "the ugliest tie award" idk it was just super funny.

thats flippn sweet that casey put his mission papers in im stoked to find out where hes going. but yea were teaching seven people all of them have baptism dates (thats something we do in our mission we commit them to baptisim on the first lesson) but yea im loving it here its awsome. sorta feels like home cause of the members. like last week was kinda a rough week cause i was just getting adjusted to the mission field, but we were meeting bishops and we stopped by brother bars house and instead of a handshake he gave me a huge hug. idk it was pretty kewl.

love you,
tyler

To Chelsea:

thats sweet that grandma and grandpa got a dog. is it a puppy? you should send pictures over the email to me so i can see it. finally kc put his papers in i wonder where he;s going to go? utah ogden mission maybe? lol that'd be sweet but id doubt it. one funny thing that happened this week is we were on the bus going to our other stake that we cover in logan and this really old guy asked all the students that were on the bus if they had gone on a date? i raised my hand and he looked at me puzzeled and said "your liar! and if you did im going to call the mission president" lol and my companion was like thats right then the old guy said "you can tell who the senior and junior companion is" then everyone was laughing i was crying cause i was laughing so hard. then the same old guy said that my compainion had won "the ugliest tie award" idk it was just super funny.

Letters to Elder Herring (week of Oct. 12)

10/12/09

Hi Tyler,
I'm not sure what Dad or Chelsea wrote to you so please forgive any news from home repeats!
Grandma and Grandpa got a dog! It a golden lab, she has papers. She seems to be really sweet and is trained pretty well. Her name is Ice; we may have to change that.
By the way Grandma said she didn't write you last week because she wasn't feeling well. She and Grandpa both have been fighting colds. She hopes to get a letter off to you this week. She doesn't like the idea of email so it will probably come snail mail.
Casey W. put in his papers last Tuesday so he should be hearing something in the next week or two. He asked Chelsea for your address as well. I'm sure he'll let you know when he gets it. I think he'll go Spanish speaking, out of the country.
As always it was so good to hear from you. It sounds like you're in a very busy mission. We got a letter from the mission home explaining how the mail works. They told us your companions name was Elder Weiland. Have you taught any one that looks promising? We have a new missionary in our ward. He's just been out about 4 days. He's greener than you
We hope to get a box off to you soon. It's really starting to get cold here so I know it must be cold out there. We love you and think of you often. You're a terrific missionary! Let us know if there's anything we can do to help you.
Love you tons,
Mom
PS. You don't have to write me separate if you don't have time. I know you're busy. It's just so good to hear from you and know that you're happy and working hard.

Dear Tyler,

It was great to hear from you last week. We are so glad you are doing well. It sounds like you ae in a great area. Tell us about your companion- his name, where he is from, etc. Also, tell us about your investigators- by name so we can pray for them as well. Are you guys on bikes or in a car? Do you have the opportunity to go to the Logan Temple? It is such a beautiful old Temple. How many wards are you responsible for?

I had the chance to tell some co-workers about your experiences as a missionary the other day. I was amazed at how strong the Spirit was as I talked to them. Everyone of them was touched by the Spirit. It was great. They were very impressed that a 19 year old would give up to years of his life to serve the Lord.

I had the chance to watch the Primary kids on Sunday as they prepared for their program. They are so cute. I am sorry that Mom and I are going to miss it. We are headed to Nags Head on Friday for a long weekend to celebrate our anniversary. We are staying right on the beach in a hotel.. Hopefully the weather cooperates with us.

Casey's papers are in. He should hear something in the next week or so. It is amazing that there are soon going to be six of you guys serving at the same time.

I am sending a package on Tuesday. It has a sweater, a fleece jacket, some gloves and a stocking hat as well as some goodies. Do you need anything else, more sweaters, a scarf? Do you want your 72 hr kit?

I want you to know how much I love you and how proud I am of you. I am proud to be your dad. Work hard and obey the rules and you will be blessed. Be happy-you are n the Lord’s army. He is your leader. Follow Him and He will bless you.

Love you!

Dad

Hi Elder Herring,
Are you still fat and happy in Logan? So we went to church today cause it's
Sunday. We had one of the best fast and testimony meetings ever. It's really
cool cause like Stephanie has decided to bear her testimony for the 24
months that Wil is out on his mission, and since I haven't missed a month
yet I decided I would too. It was really awesome. I had planned out exactly
what I was gonna say when I was sitting down, but when I got up there to
bear my testimony that all went away, and the Spirit took over it was so
awesome. I bet that will happen a lot on your mission! Speaking of
missions..... CASEY PUT HIS PAPERS IN!!!! So he should know where he's
headed in a week or two! They also figure it out that there will be the same
amount of time between you and Casey as there was between Sam and Will! I'm
really excited to have 2 missionary's to write on a weekly basis. The other
thing that might make you excited is grandma and grandpa got a dog. She's a
yellow lab and her name is Ice. She is really obedient. She plays fetch, she
sits on command, she's kennel trained so they can keep her in Max's old
cage, or in a kennel in the garage, and she already follows grandpa. Mary's
boyfriend Randy got her for grandma and grandpa and they are both so excited
to have a dog on the farm again. It's really exciting for me and Casey cause
like Max was you and Mallory's dog and you guys trained him, and now we have
a puppy to train. She's a really fast learner too, it's awesome!
Last night was homecoming. I wanted to tell you a bit about it! It was like
the best experience ever! So I got ready at Nick's house with Catie and his
mommy helped us cause Mom went to the Time Out for Women Deseret Book
festival in Richmond. Then we took lots of pictures.... I'll probably send
you a pic in my next hand written letter. But, I was like the single lady
and I was kinda pouting cause I was like no date way lame. But then I didn't
know it but Nicholas bought me a flower thing that goes on your wrist. It
was super cute. I had a great time at the dance, and I behaved! It was a
really good experience.
Can't wait to read your letter on Tuesday,
Hope it's full of details about your companion and what you've been up to,
Love you soooo much,
Chels

Ty,

Sounds like you're having an awesome time in Logan in spite of the cold. That's GREAT! You'll have to save one of those bottles and send it home if you can. That would be cool to have.

I finally made it back up to Draper this weekend. It was crazy! Todd, Damian, Eden, Eva, and Maryann were in town because it was Paige's baptism (which I missed because I was sick). It was also Eden's birthday, so I was there for the family dinner. I talked to Chase. He wrote you a letter that I promised I would send you, and said to tell you he misses you. He thinks you are the coolest thing since sliced bread!

Anyway, I hope your week went well.

Love you,

Mallory

Tyler's Letters: Week 3 (October 6, 2009)

hey dad,
so im serving in logan utah. chipped my tooth on some hard candy so had it filled this morning. by the way, i wont be able to get dear elders up here so tell everyone just to email me and ill be able to reply to them on p-day (tuesdays). but so far its goin good, its already snowed here a little. so you guys can send out all my sweaters and stuff. but for the first week it's been pretty slow. the first full day i was here i got to confirm the gift of the holy ghost on a convert that had been baptized on saturday, that was pretty cool. but this first week ive pretty much just been meeting with bishops and auxilery leaders and working with them trying to get a couple of referrals. we really dont go tracting at all we work through the members mostly. but im loving it sorry the dentist called you real early :)
love you,
Tyler Herring

Tyler,
What is your actual address? Can't send the package without it. Also how is your money holding out?

Love you,
Dad

Dad-
all mail and packages have to go through the mission office. money is fine i still have 60 bucks and a 50 dollar subway card still. lol any other questions before i get off the cpu?

2133 washington blvd.
ogden, utah 84401

love
tyler

Tyler-
what is your companion's name, where is he from? We can't send you a goody package to your apartment? We have banana bread to send!

Love
dad

To Mallory:
mtc went well besides spraining my ankle. my first day i got here i got to confirm the gift of the holy ghost on a convert that was pretty chill. second day i got here i chipped my tooth on some hard candy so i had to get it filled this morning. by the way im serving in logan utah. it is freaking cold up here already. probally the coolest thing about the area is we get free milk, and it come all the way from morgan in old timey bottles. but love you
tyler herring

To Chelsea:
lol dont bark at me about getting personal letters punk, your letter is the same one mom and dad will get. im so busy i barley have time to come to the family history center and email everyone back. print this out its your "personal letter" oh and by the way im serving in logan so im going to tell all the members to watch out for you :P. thats cool you tried out for all the choir things. you'll make one of them. you can apply to weber its a really good school, i dont care where you apply as long as you go somewhere. i think you'd like weber. dont worry about me getting fed we get fed every night by the members and when we go out to eat for lunch 80% of the time someone offers to pay for us. love you tyler herring

Tyler's First Letter Home

Hey Mom and Dad,
So the first week at the mtc.... hmmm let's see first two-three days were hard. I was homesick. I even talked to my mission president and zone leaders. But my mission pres told me some advice that I'll never forget. He said, what do you think everyone will think of you, matter of fact what are you going to do or how are you going to set an example to your kids to go on a mission. This is what is probably going to keep me going on my whole mission that piece of advice. But I'm doing okay beside the fact I either sprained or broke a little bone in my foot. Lol don't worry I went and got x-rays today and the doctor said he couldn't see anything but is going to have the radiologist look at it and to come in tomorrow. But yes it was from playing basketball. My companion is really chill he's a farm boy from a little town in Idaho. We've really learned to love each other and the gospel. Our goal the whole time is to be able to teach by the spirit not cram a lesson down their throats. We actually got to teach an old mission president (though we didn't know him and his wife were) he said he had never felt the spirit more than when we taught him the restoration. But he also gave us a really good piece of advice, "It doesn't matter where you go and teach and preach on your mission, your still saving souls." But, I'm doing fine, tell everyone I said hey. Maybe you should read the letter at church so everyone will know I'm doing alright.
Love,
Elder Tyler Herring
PS send more stamps :) maybe even a goody package

Tyler Reports to the MTC

I was so glad I was in town and was able to get off from work so I could go with Lewis, Brenda, and Tyler to the MTC.

The night before he left was, obviously, an emotional one for me - we had a family devotional, and I couldn't hold the tears. I am SO proud of this kid. He is AWESOME! And his service will not only bless the lives of the people he meets on his mission, but also the lives of those of us at home - and I can't adequately explain how much we desperately need those blessings these days.

We were able to get Tyler a Utah license and have lunch before we dropped him off around 1 pm. The days of the families going in and watching the video thing, are over. And quite frankly, I think the new way is better. We didn't have a lot of time to take pictures (which if we had understood it a little better, we could have), but, we dropped him off and there was a line of over 100 missionaries assigned to greet the new missionaries and their families, and then escort the new missionaries to their rooms. These Elders were so enthusiastic and happy, and the drop-off itself was so fast, that you couldn't help but be happy for your missionary, and there wasn't time for tears... Until I was driving home by myself afterward.

Tyler leaves for Utah

Tyler got his mission call!!

Tyler got his mission call June 6, 2009!

I am so excited for him! I'm sure this will be a wonderful experience for him!

He will be reporting to the MTC on September 9, 2009 to prepare to serve for two years in the Utah Ogden Mission.

Here is his mission website: http://www.mission.net/utah/ogden/