Mattoon Illinois

Elder Grace is now in Mattoon, IL. His address is posted at the top of the blog.

Elder Grace and Elder Presher

Elder Grace and Elder Sutherland

Elder Rhodes and Elder Grace

                                        

Elder Grace and Elder Wunderli

"I had a rough couple of days adjusting to Mattoon. I really miss Elder Wunderli."

"My new companion is Elder Johnson. He has been out for 4 months now. He is kinda bad with directions."

"Mattoon is extremely flat! It seems like a super small town and there is tons of corn fields everywhere!"

2 story out house

Little article about Gays Illinois. Yeah this is the real name of this town?!

Lots and lots of corn!!!

Rainy weather from Mattoon.

More rain

That's a lot of rain!

It's been 7 months! Wow this last month has cruised by so fast!!!

"So I will be transferred on Wednesday June 19th. I will go to Matoon Il. 2 hours east of Edwardsville. Elder Wunderli gets to open up Edwardsville 2, we are splitting up that area. Everyone tells me Matoon is a small town in the middle of nowhere! My new companion will be Elder Johnson, there are 4 Elder Johnsons in my mission! So I don't know anything about my new companion yet."

I really think Cole found this turtle on the ground!

"I really liked the pictures you sent me from Fathers day! Asa and Peyton look like they are growing a lot! I really want one of those uncle Sam shirts! Will you send me one?"

You know I will send you one, just in time for the 4th of July!!! :)

Elder Grace says he will really miss Elder Wunderli!

One last look at the random turtle!

I will post the new address next week when Elder Grace lets me know what it is!

Storms and Tornadoes!!!!

Elder Grace and Elder Wunderli survived the storms and tornado! Yay!!!!!

"I am doing really well! I am not hurt, we just haven't had power since Friday night. I finally took a shower in cold water this morning. We are using our bike lights for flash lights ha,ha,ha,... its pretty funny!"

Looks pretty crazy after a tornado!

Elder Grace and Elder Wunderli

Looks like the Elders helped clean up!

"So one really cool thing  about the storm is we have a new investigator! When we were seeking shelter we met our neighbor. We invited her to the church and we were able to teach her some church stuff.    She really liked it! We invited her to come to church on Sunday and she came!"

Elder Grace and their new investigator

"Today we are going to O'fallon for a zone p-day. We are going to have a movie night!"

"Tell Marlowe Dazley I say hi." Marlowe was an Elder in Elder Grace's mission who has since returned home. Just one year and a half for Elder Grace to come back home! I am glad he is enjoying his mission!

I am so glad Elder Grace and Elder Wunderli are safe! I am always amazed at the good things that come from devastation! 

Food poisoning! :(

Elder Grace is doing really well! He had a little episode of food poisoning! Not fun! He drank some sprite and took a nap and when he woke up he felt much better!

"We finally got a car! It is a Chevy Cruz we were so surprised!"

This is the first time Cole has had a car since he has been gone, how exciting!

6 months down!!! Yay!

Elder Grace has been out for 6 months now I cant believe it!

"So we got the new package you sent. We really like our new ties! No sign of the other package yet so that's a bummer!"  So I sent a package out a while ago and then the post office sent back some scraps of the package back with a paper telling me to describe what was in the package. So if the post office is able to find the contents of that package they will send it back out to Elder Grace. I hope it shows up!

"We love our new ties!"

Elder Grace's tie has little swordfish on it, and Elder Wunderli's has little sharks on it. Elder Grace emailed home and informed me that Elder Wunderli has a phobia of sharks....oopsie!

"We have a new investigator he is from Ghana."

"So Avery is so cute! she calls me her stomach buddy (they both have matching scars). Sister Armstrong made some really good gooey butter cake, its a St. Louis thing, you should make some!"

I guess I will google me a recipe of St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake!!! I hope it is as good as Elder Grace says! :)

A message from Sister Armstrong

"Hey Sister Grace! We had the Elders over for dinner tonight. We love having them over. Here's a picture of our kids with them.

Elder Grace told us he was born with gastroschisis. Our daughter Avery was born with it as well. We haven't ever met another person born with it. Thank you for sharing your son with us!" -Hilary Armstrong

Most of you know Cole was born with a rare birth defect known as gastroschisis. This defect is when there is a hole in the abdominal wall and the intestines are on the outside. So at birth surgeons perform surgery to put the intestines back in side the abdomen.

I am so thankful for the sincere and heartfelt messages I have received from the members in Elder Grace's mission wards! It brings peace of mind to a mother who has a son out in the mission field to know that he is surrounded by such loving people who have so much to offer! I firmly believe that God puts certain people in our life for so many reasons and I am so glad that Cole has been able to meet little Avery Armstrong! I also believe that the Missouri, St. Louis Mission is the perfect mission for Elder Grace to serve!

We got to talk to Elder Grace on Mothers Day 2013

It was so nice for our family to talk to Cole this past Sunday! Elder Grace is doing really well. He says his companion and he have 3 current investigators.

Elder Grace's Missionary Photo

This past Monday May 13, 2013 Cole and his companion went to the St. Louis Zoo.

Elder Grace at the Zoo.

I wonder if the Zoo is a little smelly?

Elder Grace and his district.

Elder Wunderli and Elder Grace.

Elder Grace

So Elder Grace is worried about putting on weight but I'm sure he is doing just fine! Looks like he gets to have some exercise!

Ready to work out!

Gotta stay hydrated!

Elder Grace and Elder Wunderli on public transit.

Elder Grace and a statue of Robert Wadlow.

Robert Wadlow was known as the giant of Illinois or the Alton giant because he was born in Alton IL.

Robert measured 8'11". That's so tall!

What nice eyes you have Elder Grace!

One more picture of Elder Grace at the Zoo.

I am so happy for Elder Grace and I am glad that he is having a great time on his mission! I sure hope he was able to see some animals at the Zoo! Ha,ha,ha,ha....