March 22, 2012
Hola
Today officially marks 1 month in the mission! Wow a lot has
happened. Just a week ago I was still in Utah just 15 minutes away from
my house. And now I am on a beautiful island in the carribbean. Everyday
is a beautiful day here.
It's just like we all said: rice and beans all the time, and I LOVE
IT! The food here is great, better than Provo although it still does
strange things to my body...hopefully I will adjust over time....
We just got back from the temple and we did an endowment session
and participated in sealings of sons to parents. It's a really neat
ordinance. The temple here is definitely my favorite of all the temples
I've seen and been to. Unlike most temples in Utah that have wood trim
and a lot of woodwork inside (don't get me wrong I like that) it has a
lot of stone work and it is beautiful. The Celestial room has all my
favorite elements: big window, big chandeliers, amazing detail on the
walls and everywhere. I love it here.
We are teaching "investigators" again and our lessons have gone
really well. I feel like Elder Relf and I get along well and we work
well together as well. To be honest I'm really glad I'm no longer in a
trio, it's way easier to just deal with one other person. Elder Relf is a
really good example to me: he is always studying no matter what is
going on around him, which I struggle with, and he is so happy all the
time. I want to be more like him.
I need to have more faith. I get stressed out and don't know what
to say or what to teach and I just need to let go and trust in God more.
It's something I'm working on.
One lesson that we had with our investigator Jorge went really
well: the spirit was strong and we taught by using the scriptures and
asked a lot of really good questions to lead him to his own answer. We
felt really good about our lesson and afterward Hermano Rodriguez (one
of our teachers) took us aside and told us that it was a really good
lesson and we did a really good job of inviting the spirit. We invited
him to be baptised and he said it was too fast so we asked him if after
he reads the book of Mormon and prays and learns for himself that it is
true if he will be baptised and he said yes. He also prayed for the
first time which was really good. So that's my uplifting spiritual
tidbit of the week. Anybody else have any really cool experiences with
the gospel? or just life in general?
Snow huh? good ol' Utah. I remember a year when it snowed in July.
If there was one thing I loved more than anything in scouting it
was the campouts and adventures we had outside. Way to go noah! How are
the merit badges coming? how is Taft doing with the eagle? is he gonna
make it? Noah go to the powows and actually do the homework and get the
badges it's the easiest and best way to do it. Don't be like me, whe I
was in scouts they called me "partial man" because I would start all
these different merit badges but never finish them (I eventually did
finish them all and got my eagle so in your face haha)
Good for Claire! I know she wanted so badly to make the top choir
in the high school. I also know a lot of her friends are older so now
she can be with them and won't have to deal with as much drama
(hopefully). Good for you with the solo, I know you will be great, don't
stress just put in the time and practice and you'll be amazing I know
it.
Taft, it sounds like your life is as busy as ever and it's never
going to stop. Keep working hard and have fun. There is time for work
and time for play. I know that I was a stick in the mud in high school
and wish I had been more involved in this or that or the other. But I
know you are different and are involved in many things whcih is probably
why you are so busy which is not a bad thing. The point is find time to
have fun, especially with Claire and Noah. you're the oldest sibling in
the house now, don't waste the time you have with your brother and
sister watching some dumb t.v. show. Go do something. you're smart and
creative I know you'll think of something.
Mom, you are awesome! presentations and work and teaching and
carpooling and just everything. The list is a thousand miles long. One
thing that I really appreciate is that throughout my whole life no
matter what was going on for the most part there was always a homemade
dinner for us every night. No matter how busy you were or how many crazy
and important things you had to do you always made time to make dinner.
That's something I've been missing a little. I lvoe the food here but
to have a home cooked meal is something I've thought about on more than
one occasion. So thank you for making that a priority in our family it
does not go unnoticed by me or the rest of the family.
Dad. You are a spiritual giant in my eyes and as I teach these
lessons I wish I could concoct those deep penetrating questions that
really make you think just like you do. I remember discussing doctrine
with you and I try to remember how you said things and how you asked
that question. Asking the deep soul searching questions is the key to
teaching and I wish I were better at it. I know you live as you teach.
yay for Katie. is she in the young women's in her ward?
Man when I read about Parker and his gig in Chicago I was so proud.
I know that guy! He's my brother! He is so cool! There are actually a
couple elders here that know him: Elder Blake Midgley and Jacob Jewkes,
they were in the marching band at USU before coming on their missions.
Small world. I know Parker is destined for big things. I'm so excited
for him. Maybe he'll get to do a little more performing than he
thought...
Did Alaura Claire and Nikelle go to Festival of Colors or is that this weekend? It's a lot of fun.
Thanks for the notes from Evan's talk it sounds like he did well.
And mom you're not wordy I love to receive mail in any form and it lifts
me up every time. I love to hear about my family. I'll try and send a
letter so we'll see how long it takes...
The MTC is small and is 50 yards away from the temple. After every
meal we go walk around the temple just for fun and to get out of the
building for a minute. We are the minority here. There are about 30
haitians here and we have learned a little Creol: Pul se bon means this
chicken is good. como ye means how are you. It's fun to try and
communicate with them. I had my harmonica out last night and they really
liked that. I'm going to try and learn to play the hymns from the hymns
made easy book. Apparently in some places they don't know the tunes to
the songs and basically chant the songs together "singing" the same note
the whole time. So if I can at least learn the intro to some of the
songs it would be good. We play basketball and volleyball in gym. P-day
is going good. It ends at 6 and we teach and have class tonight so not a
lot of time...But it is good and it's the life of a missionary.
I'm hapy to be here and happy to be a missionary. In 3 weeks the
Haitians leave to go serve their missions in Haiti and about 40-50
latinos come so we will have a lot of practice speaking spanish.
On Monday we went outside the walls of the MTC and picked up trash
at the university down the road. It was a good service project but here
there is garbage everywhere so you could spend your whole life picking
up garbage. We get to go back tomorrow and try contacting people and
give out pamphlets. Wish me luck!
It's been a busy week and it seems like we just got here. Elder
Relf said something I like: A day seems like a month and a month seems
like a day on your mission. So true.
Life is good and I Glory in my God
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