Dear Missionary Parents:

We are especially grateful for your son's safe arrival to the Idaho Boise Mission and consider ourselves blessed to have this opportunity to serve with your missionary and all the other elders and sisters here in Idaho and Oregon.  This is clearly a very special mission.  We are blessed with noble young elders and sisters, wonderful members and much success.  We will do all we can to watch over, care for and build Elder Lee as we move this important work forward.

We have enjoyed getting some photographs with our new arrivals.  Attached are two pictures with your missionary: one with my wife and me and one with his trainer, Elder Richards.  We hope you receive this email in good health and hope you enjoy the pictures.

With love and appreciation,
President and Sister Cannon

Dear Family,

Okay, so this is my first email in my first area, Meridian!!! My trainer is named Elder Richards! He is so awesome he has been helping me get used to my new life as a missionary.  I told him that it's so hard to thing about home and friends and family.  But Elder Richards already has helped me out. He told me isn't it awesome that you were for ordained to be called on this mission.  He also said think of it this way. Jacob is at home hanging out with friends, and driving round in his car, but you, your Elder Lee, a missionary called to serve in the Boise Idaho mission.  Elder Lee is going to teach the lessons and bring the spirit to the lives of the people of Boise!  Just lose yourself in the work.  That's what I really want to do right know.  We have 4 investigators that we are teaching today.   I'm already teaching People!!!! This is so intense!!! 

   I LOVE NOT HAVING A TIME LIMIT!!!!!! Well I do but it wont kick me off the computer at that second. =)   So, my first day in the field was crazy.  I woke up at 4 to get ready to go and got on a bus to the airport.  Our plane was supposed to leave at 8 but it was delayed until 10:32 and then we left.  Really boring but I hand time to read my scriptures and write letters. A lot of the missionaries did some contacting. To bad most of them were LDS members. One of the families they met, actually lives in my area! So crazy. After we got on the plane I tried talking to the guy sitting next to me. He was already LDS, so we just talked for a little bit and I just started to write some more. After we touched down and got off the plane we met President Cannon.  He is a really nice. And really tall. We went to his house and had dinner and introduced ourselves.  Then we went over to the mission home to meet our trainers.  Elder Richards is my Dad. lol  We took a 3 generations picture.  Elder Neilson (grandpa), Elder Richards (dad), and Elder Lee (son).  It was really funny. Then we got taken to our house.  We live with the Halls. They are really nice people. We dropped off my stuff and then we went tracking. I was super scared. There were some really nice people that just told us they were just not interested. We tracked that street and then we went to a non members house but he was really close to the people in the ward but didn't want to get baptized. So we talked to him for a while and then we went to a dinner appointment. And then went home and talked for a little bit, wrote in my journal for a while and went to bed. Again an Intense day!

     I have to email my mission president now.  I love you all so much. I really miss you guys. I'm really looking forward to those pictures.=). 

LOVE 

Elder Lee

Dear Family,
    I'm goin' to Boise!  I'm on the plane as I write. LOL I am super excited and super scared at the same time.  I really don't know what to expect but it will most likely come to me fairly quickly.  Okay, so my district is all 6 feet tall pretty much.  6 of us are 6 feet and over.  They are a tall bunch.  6 of us are going to Boise out of the 12.  All of the tall ones are going to Boise.  Our group that's going to Boise all together is 15 missionaries.  There is tons of things that need to happen.  I know Heavenly Father is taking care of me and all of you.  I feel so blessed to be on this mission to serve the Lord and to bring more blessings into all of our lives.  I love you all so very much and your all in my prayers.  Sorry, I'm cutting out so early.  The plane is about to land.  I love you all, and remember I LOVE LETTERS!

Love,
Elder Lee

 MTC Pictures

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Elder Lee and his Elder friends!

Elder Lee, Elder Schmidt, Elder Garbe

 Elder Lee and Elder Reese at the Provo Temple

Much to my surprise, Jake called home this morning (January 25, 2011)!  What a wonderful way to start my day.   He purchased a calling card and was able to make phone calls home after he landed in Boise, ID.  It was so good hearing his voice.   He is on cloud 9 and can't wait to get out and serve.  I updated him on everyone and told him all about Crystal's baptism.  He loves and misses us all and looks forward to getting mail from everyone. 

Elder Jacob Won Lee
Idaho Boise Mission
1111 S Cole Rd
Boise, ID 83709
United States

Once he gets his first assignment in the mission field I will send his new address.  He will get your letters at either address.  So don't hesitate to send him a note.  It will brighten his day hearing from you.

Hey All,

My time at the MTC is almost over. I'm leaving Tuesday morning at.... you guesses it at 4 in the morning. YEAH!!!!  Hand written letters are always great!. The MTC is a great place. I'm am learning so much. We started the 2nd lesson and now we are trying to perfect it. Elder Garbe Got a new companion. His name is Elder Montgomery. He is a great guy. He had some medical problems so now he is back and ready to serve. The field is going to be soooo intense.  People have been telling me so many good things about Boise it's not even funny. Like Boise has the number 3 top baptisms and the people there are awesome and your going to love it there. Part of me just wants to get out there and just go for it. I love you guys so much. Nothing really more to report on.  I send Jared a letter with some pictures. 

Love,

Elder Lee

The Story from Jeffery R. Holland
    This story takes place in Czechoslovakia before World War 2 and after WW1.  Two missionaries went up to this door and this lady answered the door and asked "What do you want?!" and they shared "We want to share with you a message." And she asked "are you minister's?"  The missionaries said "Yes."  So she slammed the door.  They knocked again.  She answered again "I don't want anything to do with ministers!"  The missionary said "What did we do to offend you?"  She slams the door again.  The missionaries knock again.  She opened the door and told them she would never talk to another minister again because the last minster she talked to told her something terrible.
    She asked the minister in grief where was her little girl that died when she was only three?  What the minister said was a surprise to her and the missionaries, to Jeffrey R. Holland and to me.  What was said in the teaching report was that the minister said, "I don't know probably in hell and right along side with you soon enough."  I was stund.  She slammed the door again.  This time the missionary stuck his foot in the door and in the best broken Czech he could muster up he said "Would you like to know where your daughter is?"
30-35 years later they re-opened the country to the missions.  Jeffery R. Holland and Gordon B. Hinkley's son's served in the same mission called to the Czech Republic.  They heard about a sister that spread the word about the church in this country throughout the war.  What the missionaries found was a group of sisters keeping the commandments of God.  Paying tithing and keeping it in a mason jar.  Just waiting for missionaries to come to teach them and bring the power of the priesthood to their group.
I have a testimony about the power of God and how that power can be passed through his servants and I know that I am a fisher of man and when my time comes I will touch that heart of that innocent soul and I will say "Come with me.  I will show you the way."  I know that through the Atonement we can return to our Heavenly Father and it will be a glorious day but I still have much more things to do on this earth before that time.  I would like to say these things humbly in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Jake "Elder Lee" really liked this story and wanted to share it with friends.  Thanks for passing it on.
~Sandee