Hey everyone, I am so happy because transfer calls came this past week and the Lord needs me in this area still to finish the great things that have been started. What a blessing it is from the heavens above to have this great success in bringing souls back to our Loving Heavenly Father. This past week was sooooo great for our companionship. All of our 4 investigators with baptismal dates are still promising to be baptized on their current dates. So yeah we will continue to work with them. So next week we have 3 baptisms planned in 2 days for the 16th and the 17th.

Today I am doing my e-mails late today because I had to go paint a patio this morning for someone very important to us that we began working with yesterday. There is a guy from Texas that showed up to our Branch yesterday, and he came up to me after sacrament and said that I am the one that is going to bless his family. He served a mission here in NYC, and his wife is from here. His wife is the only member of her family and she said that she went to the temple and she knows that she had to come here at this time, and she realized that this is what it is for. She is going to be here for one month and her husband is going back to Texas. They are putting their full trust in the Lord that we can be able to introduce her mother to the truth.

This past week we were walking home and there was a man in the street screaming and swearing, so we looked over and there is this Spanish guy holding a lead pipe and chasing him. The guy being chased ran over to us and the Spanish guy went back to his house and this pour man started crying to us and he said that he was just trying to sale his $1 Bottle waters, and out of no where he was being beaten with a rod. It was crazy.

Also Linda one of our investigators her and Joe took us to a way nice restaurant on Monday night it was an amazing fish house. It was so good. We also helped her paint her fence on Saturday, she had a huge BBQ for us as we were painting. She grilled up Chicken, Ribs, Burgers, and NY Dogs. It was amazing. Linda and Joe are amazing people, I absolutely love them so much they are so great.

This week, early morning I received a phone call from Elder Oliverson telling me that he is on the way to the airport. I congratulated him on his success and for serving his 2 years faithfully and dedicated to the Lord. His homecoming is going to be on Sunday July 10th at 9:00 AM on Hidden Valley Rd. & Raddon Dr. located in the Bluff in Sandy. If you want to talk to him more about the mission where I am serving and stuff you can go and talk to him, but most importantly he is a great friend of mine and I really love him a lot. So you should go support him.

Well I have to get going now, I love all of you!

Elder Doyle

from June 21, 2010:
Here are a few pics of Tinas Baptism on Saturday, and also from today when Elder Palmer and I went to the Brooklyn Bridge. So you can see what I am wearing right now! ha ha. Well I love all of you! Sorry I wish I could send more Pics, but here in Brooklyn I cant find a good place to get my pictures developed. Elder Doyle

Wow, I don't know where to start this week was such a special blessing in my life. I have now realized of the things that I am capable of fulfilling as a missionary, but most importantly it is not me but it is the convincing power of the Spirit that plants a desire to change in the hearts of those we are teaching. This week we had such a strong week. We have 4 investigators with Baptismal Dates, yesterday we had 9 investigators at church and 7 of them came for the first time. They all loved it so much and they cant wait until next Sunday so that they can come again. We have Gail getting baptized on the 16th. We have Sister Bradfords two boys Jhole and Rudy, ages 10 and 13 getting baptized on the 17th. We have Lee she will be getting baptized on the 24th of July. All of these individuals are progressing so much, and are all excited to be baptized. I truly know that the Lord is entrusting my companion and I with these precious souls. It is such a good experience for my companion Elder Palmer, this being his first transfer and we have had 1 baptism and we have 4 baptisms coming up. As we look at those that we are currently working with we have the potential to have a solid 7+ baptisms within the next 6 weeks. This past week we went over to two of our newer investigators homes, which they live in a way nice home in the hood. Their names are Linda and Joe, they are both about to retire. After we were done talking to them about the church we went out onto their front yard and I noticed a puddle of water on their grass. I mentioned that I specialize in Sprinklers, she told me that she paid someone to come fix that problem but it didnt get fixed. So I asked if they had a shovel and I started digging and I fixed their sprinklers and I got my pants all muddy and my tie muddy as well. I also adjusted some of their sprinkler heads. They were so grateful for the service that we were able to give to them. Joe insisted to let him take us out for dinner on Tuesday (tomorrow). This is going to be a great opportunity for us to connect more fully with Linda and Joe. I finally am going to be able to ride in a nice car as well he owns a new BMW, Its a nice "whip" as you would call it in "da hood". So I guess my past summers working sprinklers with Jim came in handy here on my mission. Thanks Dad! Now hopefully we can get Linda and Joe baptized. As of right now they are doing their readings from the Book of Mormon and seem to enjoy our company and the Spirit that we bring into their home and life.I want to quickly give a brief description of those who are going to be baptized in the coming weeks:Jhole and Rudy: They are brothers and their mom is someone who found us as we were walking down her street. Their Mother is a member and has been a member for 20+ years and she hasn't been to church for the past 5 years, and now she has came to Church the past 2 weeks and is coming back strong and she says that she will never fall away again. The Boys are so pumped to be baptized on the 17th. Gail: She is someone that we looked up that happens to be a former investigator, she has a cousin who happens to be her best friend that has been a member for 20 years. Gail has been investigating the church for 20 years, and is so excited to be baptized on the 16th (her fathers B-day). She has a solid testimony of Joseph Smith and the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. She is amazing.Lee: When we met Lee she didn't believe in God or anything and she was very suicidal. She told us the other day that when we met her she was thinking about going to commit suicide. Right now she reads from the Book of Mormon everyday and wants to change. She loved church yesterday, we taught her the Law of Chastity and she broke up with her Boyfriend, because he said that he cant do that. She tells us that we changed her life, and she is so thankful for us. We tell her that its not us, but it is her inner commitment to follow the example of Jesus Christ. She is solid. She is still surrounded by a lot of negative influences that live around her, but as of right now she is doing good at being an example to them and separating herself from them. She knows that she needs to be baptized, and she is committed to being baptized on the 24th of July. Well I now have to get going I am about out of time. I love all of you have a great week. I also want to congratulate my little bro Tyler on his decision that he's made to serve a mission. He is going to do great and the reward that he will receive will be an eternal reward. Wherever he is called is where he needs to be. Love Elder Doyle

Wow! This time that I have in my life is such a rewarding experience. The power of love that I feel each day is so very comforting and fills my heart with a small portion of love that our Father in Heaven would want me to have for his children here in NYC. As I have been dilligently working to share the gospel with others, I once again was able to have another baptism this last Saturday. The baptismal service was the most spiritual baptismal service that I have ever been too. Before she was baptized there was a talk on Baptism, and on the Holy Ghost. The talks were both spiritually uplifting, I definately was Spiritually edified on Saturday. After the talks Tinas Mother sang a song with her little 3 year old daughter. It filled Tina with tears of joy, as I glanced over at her I was so thankful for the decision that she has made to be baptized. Following her Mothers and daughters singing her and I steped out to go around to the baptismal font, we said a prayer together that was spiritually inspired before we entered the waters of baptism together. It is also a blessing in my life to be a part of her life and being able to be a messanger of Christ that was able to assist in helping her come to the truth. This past week we met this lady her name is Gale, she has a cousin who happens to be a member and her best friend in the whole world. Her cousin has introduced her to the church, Gale was never able to be baptized, she has been reading a lot of the Book of Mormon. We invited her to be baptized on Friday July 16th. After we invited her to be baptized on that day she mentioned that is her fathers birthday, but he passed away awhile back. I have never invited someone to be baptized on a friday before, I just felt strong about that date. I also mentioned her to give her cousin a call to tell her the news. I am so happy for her and her inner commitment to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone who holds the preisthood authority of God. She is such a special person. There is a lady named Ella that I fearlessed on the bus about 3 weeks ago, she came to church on Sunday and absolutely loved it, she is going to start coming to institute every thursday night, and she looks forward to coming to church on this next sunday. She is such an amazing person, we feel that we will invite her to be baptized pretty soon. I know that I talked to that lady for a reason that day on the bus.Earlier this past week on monday night I had a very sacred experience that I will not speak of at this time, and I will most likely share this marvelous experience with my family in the future when the time is right. If I were to say it right now it just wouldnt be right, because it was a most powerful spiritual experience. Lets just say it was an experience that I had to talk to President Nelson about because of the significance of this marvelous experience that my companion and I both had the opportunity to be a part of. We happened to be at a ladies house who has been a member for 25+ years, and hasnt been to church for 5+ years, she has a daughter that is a member and 2 younger boys that arent members, but soon to be. We have been trying to get her to church every sunday for the past little bit, and she hasnt been coming, but I know that she will be coming from now on as she was able to stand as a witness of Gods power that night when we were at her house. She showed up to church on sunday and wants us to come teach her boys on wednesday. Her boys say that they want to be baptized so we are going to Invite them to be baptized on this wednesday. I know that the power of prayer is what fills our hearts and minds with the love of God, because God is faithful, he hears and answers our prayers, and I have had the special opportunity to be a witness of this great power and love that comes through sincere prayer to our Heavenly Father. I encourage everyone to pray with more energy of heart and sincerely ask our Father in Heaven for the things that we need, and it will be given as we continually exercise our faith in him, and show our love for him as we keep his commandments and do all that we can to reach out to others of our brothers and sisters in love. I have to end it now I am out of time!
Elder Doyle

Hey everyone, This week I once again dont have much time to type up a good weekly update, but I will do my best with the time that I have. So this past week in our "Ghetto Pad" that we live in we had a serious gas leak. It is a boiler that is used to heat up the house in the winter, it hold like 800 Gallons of oil and it was leaking and our house smelt like gasoline. One night we came home and it was horrible so we called President Nelson and he made us go sleep at another "Pad". The next morning someone came to fix the leak and they put some stuff over all of the oil that leaked out and it absorbed most of the oil. So my clothes smelt like gasoline and the mission office allowed me to take all of my clothes to the Dry Cleaners, they reimbursed me for the cost on my mission card. So now all of my clothes are all nice and clean.

This week we had a good talk about repentance with Tina and she is ready to be baptized on this coming Saturday the 19th she asked for me to be the one that baptizes her, I am always honored to do that for her. She doesnt really know any of the men in the Branch, but has a lot of good girl friends within the branch. So yeah, she is someone that is so ready to be baptized and she has made a lot of big changes in her life so that she can now be baptized. I am so proud of her.

This week I received a phone call from the Assistants to the President and they said that President Nelson wants me to come to a meeting with all of the Zone Leaders, District Leaders, and a few other trainers. Bro. Allan (Director of the Missionary Dept.) came to speak to us and he shared a lot of powerful things with us that are going to help me a lot. There is a new "Preach My Gospel" that is going to be coming out next year, I am excited I cant wait, because it is going to be amazing.

There is a lady that we ran into about a 3 weeks ago, she told us that she has a daughter in Grenada that is currently meeting with the missionaries and she is going to be baptized soon. So we wanted to come and share the same message that her daughter is embracing in her life with her. We called her and she was busy the past few weeks, and on Saturday morning we were going to give her a call, and when we were about to call her she beat us to it and called us. We went over to her house right away and answered a lot of her questions, and told her about Joseph Smith and the Restoration of Christs only true church that has been restored through his power, and love for us. She told us that she believes it is true and that it makes sense to her. We are so excited for her we are going to be meeting with her tomorrow night. We are hoping that good things will come with her, and that her prayers may be answered.

There is a lot of good things happening here in East New york. I love this work and this true Church. I have to go now so I have to close quickly. I love you all!

Elder Doyle

First off I want everyone to know how proud I am of my little Bro. Tyler for his graduation. I know that there are a lot of important decisions and steps that he is going to be making here in the near future. I have such a great love for him and for his decision that he has also made to serve a mission, I know that he will truly be blessed because of it. So Congrats Bro. I love you man.This week has been another week of miracles and great experiences. We have another Baptismal commit for the 19th of this month, so she is going to be baptized on next Saturday. She is someone that has been meeting with the missionaries for a long time. She has had baptismal dates set before, but she never went through with them. So this week my companion and I were talking about her and we felt the spirit to not ask her to be baptized on a day but to tell her that she is going to be baptized on the 19th. So when we went to her house and were teaching her. I mentioned, "Tina, we both know that you've been meeting with the missionaries for a long time, and it is now time to make the next step in your life. So... You are going to be baptized on June 19th, you are so ready to be baptized." My companion then said, "I have only known you for about a week, but when I met you I just knew that you are ready to be baptized." So she is so excited and she is telling everyone about her baptism on that day. This week we have been working through the whole day, not really taking a lunch, but just quickly grabbing something to eat. We have been working on bringing people back to church that haven't been in a long time, and also getting our investigators to church. So this past Sunday there were just over 100 people who attended our branch, there are usually only about 60 who attend church each week. It felt so good to see the less actives who we got to come back to church and to see 4 of our investigators at church. I know that it is through our efforts that all of these people came to church on Sunday.Right now as you walk around the streets you see a ton of Puerto Rican flags all over the place, because it is the Puerto Rican Parade this coming Sunday. I have no idea where it is going to be yet, but it is here in Brooklyn. Also on July 4th it is the World Famous "Hot Dog Eating Contest", we wont be going to it, but it is also here in Brooklyn. So yeah there is a lot of excitement all around us.Here in New York they say everything weird here. If I want to ask you a question, here it would be.... "I wanna ax you a question." Also if i were to say hey that's mine. here it would be... "Hey thats mines." In Utah you could say dang those shoes are tight. Here in New York "tight" means mad or angry. for example, "That guy pushed me on the train and I was so tight, I was about to knock him out." Well that is a little bit about how the lingo goes around here, people are a bit uneducated here in these parts, but it would be a hard place to grow up.I am about out of time, but I just want all of you to know that I am really doing well here, and I am so happy and thankful for this life changing experience, and the mighty change of heart that I have experienced thus far. I hope you all have a great summer. It is starting to cook over here. It is a sticky heat, it is gross, but it's fun. Well I have to go now, I love all of you!
Love Elder JD Doyle

I hope that I have enough time to include everything that I was planning on telling you guys this week. So first off I have a sweet new companion fresh from the MTC his name is Elder Palmer, from Sandy UT. He is such a good guy, we have been working extra hard this week, doing all that we can to serve with full energy of heart.

There have been a lot of miraculous things that have happened this past week, but first off we committed Stephanie Cruz someone that we started teaching last transfer to being baptized on the 26th, we were going to do it earlier, but the Spirit restrained us from doing so. She has accepted to prepare herself to be baptized on that day, so we have been keeping her in our prayers hoping that she gets baptized on that day.

I am not sure if I have told you all about Cindy, but we found her last week. She is someone that didn't believe in God one bit when we first met her. The first time we met with her last week we taught her the importance of prayer, and told her to test it and we promised her that she would feel and see a difference in her life. Well the past almost 2 weeks now she has been praying. She has truly felt a difference in her life and she believes that there is a God. The other night we went to her house and we just served her, we did all that we could for her so show her that we truly do love her. We cleaned up her kitchen and did her dishes then we helped her cook dinner. When we were cooking dinner she had this really dull knife, and it was the only knife that she had and we had to cut the chicken by putting the sharp edge of the knife on the top of the chicken and she gave us a hammer to pound through the chicken. It was such a humbling experience for me, and it helped me develop a sincere love for Cindy and her boys. The next time we went over there we helped her once again with dinner and we brought her a nice sharp knife that we had at our appt. She was so happy, she said that this is her first real kitchen knife that she's ever had. That night we taught her the message of the restoration, and the Spirit was so strong. She mentioned that this is the truth and she has been waiting for it for a long time. We gave her a Book of Mormon and we told her about where the Book of Mormon came from and why it is so important to read the Book of Mormon and the Bible hand in hand. One of her boys then came in the room and started talking about the Bible, and she started sticking up for why we need the Book of Mormon too. It was such a blessing to see how the Spirit changed her life in that one week. As we were leaving we asked to pray and her son came to hold hands and that he wanted to say it, but I told them to come and kneel in humble prayer, and so we went and we were all kneeling together and I asked them before we started to pray "why are we all kneeling?" and I told them that it was because each of them have faith in God and that they wouldn't just kneel on the hard floor it there isn't a God. The Spirit was so strong I taught them how to pray then I said a short simple prayer and then asked Cindy to pray as well. She then prayed so sincerely and it was powerful, then her son wanted to pray. So it turned into a big prayer circle it was amazing.

This week as we were walking there was this lady that was screaming "Elders!" out of her window. My companion turned around and started walking towards her house, and I followed we told her to come to the door so that we could talk. She mentioned that she is a member from Virginia and she hasn't been to church for 5 years. She has 2 boys that haven't been baptized. So we are hoping that we can get her and her to boys back to church and get the boys Baptized.

We also had a young man walk up to us this week as we were talking to these people across the street from his house, he told us that he has a Book of Mormon and that he has read up to Jacob, and he knows that it is true. His mom is very sick and he stays home with her to help her out. He is nervous to leave the house and leave his Mother. We are going to start working with him.

There are truly so many great things that are going here in East New York Brooklyn, and I know it is because the Lord is also putting his trust in us as his servants, but it is through our obedience and faith that we receive this trust to where we can be utilized as tools and instruments in his hand. I have to go now.

Love Elder Doyle