HOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!
Hooo-Rah!
(Couldn't help bringing a little General W.R. Monger into the mix!)
haha I am DEFINITELY going to start saying that whenever anything goes wrong or confusing up here! Well, but maybe en espanol (Que el flagnard?!)
And I've finally realized why Justin has so many...como se dice...interesting events going on right now! And there's one simple solution! It's because he's not writing! If he had written...he wouldn't have had to worry about fillings or doctor's appointments! (haha if only...)
As of this minute of this hour of this day of this week in this year in this century, I haven't received the cookbook yet. But if not, it could show up sometime today or over the course of the next few days.
And about the journal - If you haven't picked it up yet, don't worry about it. I realized I have something that will serve very well as a journal. It's completely blank, and actually says 'Journal' on the inside. When I wrote you, I thought I was using it for something else, but that is no longer the case. Though if you did buy it, and no one has need of one over thar' yonder, I can keep it here until I finish up this next journal (or start that one, and finish with this one). Either way, I feel that something will work out. And could you possibly e-mail Elder Lowe and find what his address is for his mission office? Or his place? I just want to find out how he's doing. Thanks for forwarding his e-mail to me!
So, we've had a VERY eventful week up here!
It started off just like any other day in the mission...but these missionaries, little did they know, would be experiencing some memorable experiences that would change the course of human history (Okay, not quite, but they were definitely memorable!)
The first experience we had passed on miercoles. We contacted this guy standing outside of his car, gave him a card, and walked off. He hung up the phone and called us back over, asking how long we'd be in the area for. We wound up setting up another appointment for later on in the day.
Something we're working on is being on time. We were running late for the appointment, so he called the number on the card! Way cool! So we wound up getting there about 30 minutes late (It was on the outer edge of our area) and we started teaching. About halfway through the lesson, and I'm not sure how it came up, he just brought up the fact that he and his roommate are gay. That kind of phased me for a little bit. We still continued on, but the lesson wasn't one of the better ones we've taught. We had to tread lightly for fear of offending him (because later in the lesson, we had begun teaching about how God loves us all, and he gave us this response of "Well, obviously." Not sure how to take that one.). So we finished the lesson, and he actually invited us out for a BBQ and golf one day. And so ended that lesson, and an interesting experience. We do teach everyone, regardless of their beliefs or opinions.
Another interesting experience! My companion, Elder Neilson, OYM'd a man standing outside of a building, which he later realized was a church (There's a whole lot of excitement on the subject of religion out here - almost literally, a church on every corner. Sometimes, 2 or 3 on a corner.). We helped him take down, move, and set back up one of those car shade covers. After, he invited us inside his church to talk. In the beginning, he said, "Okay. I'm just going to let you talk, and I'm not even opening my Bible." Way cool!!! Except, he didn't say anything about listening. When we pulled out the Book of Mormon, he fulfilled the prophesy of, "A Bible! A Bible! We have a Bible, and need no more Bible!" For some reason, everyone seems very put-off that God still speaks, and that there's more than one book in the world wherein we can find His counsel and direction for us. Hmm...strange...
And...I was able to get 84 OYMs (Open Your Mouth) this week! That brings me to a total of 225 for this month so far! I was very surprised when I actually reached that number! It was great!
Well, I need to hit the road, Jack (But you can bet I'll come back!). I love hearing from you!! All of your letters and e-mails are always great, and it's so much fun to hear about how things are going at home! Keep me posted!
I love you!!! A infinidad - y mas alla!
Con mucho amor,
El Devinator
Monday, September 20, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Week 18
Hoooooooooooola!
Sounds like things are going grand-ly! And yeah, I got the box with everything in it. Thank you so much!!! Hopefully, I won't have to use the tire equipment anytime soon, but it I do, it's good to have, right there and handy!
To grandma and grandpa (All four of ya!) Happy belated Grandparents' Day! Hope it was a fantastic one!!!
As for food - I'm trying to buy more filling and healthy food for lower cost. I think I'll be buying some oatmeal and cinnamon for most mornings, and jiffy muffins make really good pancakes!
Rain jacket-wise: I'm good with the ones I have. I have one lighter one that actually keeps the rain out quite well. The other one is for colder weather that should work better with rain that isn't quite so heavy.
If you get the chance, another journal would be awesome! I'm getting low on pages in this one, but I should have enough to last me for the next 2 weeks. Nothing expensive or anything, just something with enough pages that I can write in for the next segment of my mission.
Here, we have an oven, microwave, toaster, and blender. But I haven't used the blender yet, so I'm not sure if it works. I'm trying to come up with cheap ideas for filling lunches or dinners. I've got breakfast pretty well taken care of.
Time Out for Women sounds like it's been really awesome every year, but especially awesome this year! John Bytheway! He's so awesome!!! Maybe you can send me some of the notes you have from the conference!
And actually, I have met Elder W! He arrived at the beginning of this last transfer!! I'm not sure how he's doing (He's in another zone, I think), but when I've seen him, he seems to be doing alright. And I hope his mission experience gets all the better!
And, to write you a little about what I think was going through my mind for the first part of my mission:
At first, when I was feeling terribly homesick, I was wanting to suffer silently, I think. I guess I wanted to "play the hero" and take it all upon myself to endure, and not talk to you about it. Then, I started getting the concern (just seemed to come out of the blue) that when I got back, things wouldn't be the same. We wouldn't have that awesome 'dynamic duo' thing going on, and that I'd be a completely different person, with absolutely no sense of humor. That wouldn't be too fun. So, I've decided that I'll tell you all about the good times AND the rough times. And when you're having a rough time up there, you can let me know. Things might be tough sometimes, that's true, but like you said, we can rely on Jesus Christ and His Gospel for those things that we need and the strength that we need, too.
So like I said in my letter, things are tough sometimes. And lately, I've had a lot of thoughts of home. Life at home with family and friends, and just how different it is from life here. One of the Hermanas in our district said something during our last district meeting that stood out to me a little bit. The life we're living now is the life that the Lord wants us to have. There are habits and attributes that he wants me to gain while I'm out here that will make me a better person when I return. So I've been trying to change my thoughts and my habits to become the person that I believe the Lord wants me to become. It'll come gradually, but it'll still come. And I'm sure we'll still have a great (if not better) Mamma-son, Devin-son relationship.
And Justin! Great to hear from you!!! Another 3 minutes filmed? Awesome! How's the editing going? Have you gotten that Action Essentials program or the Movie Scores program yet? You've got to let me know how they are! They looked sooooo cool, what you can do with the bullets and things, and how you can make the music that fits in exactly with that's going on in the movie! How many people are in it? Do you have a script written out? How about the climax of the movie? A really intense action scene? I can't wait to see how it turns out!!!
Things here have been great! Well, getting much better! Luis is progressing towards his baptism, which is scheduled for the 26th of this month. We also have a few different people who are moving right along, which is awesome! Last transfer, we had a lot of lessions, but not a lot of solid people. Now, we're working on getting both.
Elder Neilson is a really driven guy. He has so much work to do, so much on his plate, but he still has time to make breakfast for both of us a lot of mornings. He's a pretty swell companion! I want to take some (or a lot) of the attributes he has, and emulate those in my own life and in my mission. He said something that stood out to me. We're here for two years (still seems like a very long time to me). That means we have 2 years worth of time for self-improvement. Thinking about that, I could return a MUCH better person that I left, and that is what I want to do. It will take a lot of work, each and every day, but it'll be worth it in the end.
And doing this work that we're doing - there isn't anything else in this world that we could do (maybe other than raising a family in His Gospel) that is worth this much. Not making movies, going to the moon, or discovering a new element. We're in the work of saving souls. Most of what else I had done up until this point really seems pretty insignificant.
But I've got to go now. I love you all SOOO MUCH!!!!!
And mom - Happy early birthday!!! Have a great one!!!! Enjoy every minute!!
Con mucho amor - A infinidad, y mas alla!
Dev-i-o
Sounds like things are going grand-ly! And yeah, I got the box with everything in it. Thank you so much!!! Hopefully, I won't have to use the tire equipment anytime soon, but it I do, it's good to have, right there and handy!
To grandma and grandpa (All four of ya!) Happy belated Grandparents' Day! Hope it was a fantastic one!!!
As for food - I'm trying to buy more filling and healthy food for lower cost. I think I'll be buying some oatmeal and cinnamon for most mornings, and jiffy muffins make really good pancakes!
Rain jacket-wise: I'm good with the ones I have. I have one lighter one that actually keeps the rain out quite well. The other one is for colder weather that should work better with rain that isn't quite so heavy.
If you get the chance, another journal would be awesome! I'm getting low on pages in this one, but I should have enough to last me for the next 2 weeks. Nothing expensive or anything, just something with enough pages that I can write in for the next segment of my mission.
Here, we have an oven, microwave, toaster, and blender. But I haven't used the blender yet, so I'm not sure if it works. I'm trying to come up with cheap ideas for filling lunches or dinners. I've got breakfast pretty well taken care of.
Time Out for Women sounds like it's been really awesome every year, but especially awesome this year! John Bytheway! He's so awesome!!! Maybe you can send me some of the notes you have from the conference!
And actually, I have met Elder W! He arrived at the beginning of this last transfer!! I'm not sure how he's doing (He's in another zone, I think), but when I've seen him, he seems to be doing alright. And I hope his mission experience gets all the better!
And, to write you a little about what I think was going through my mind for the first part of my mission:
At first, when I was feeling terribly homesick, I was wanting to suffer silently, I think. I guess I wanted to "play the hero" and take it all upon myself to endure, and not talk to you about it. Then, I started getting the concern (just seemed to come out of the blue) that when I got back, things wouldn't be the same. We wouldn't have that awesome 'dynamic duo' thing going on, and that I'd be a completely different person, with absolutely no sense of humor. That wouldn't be too fun. So, I've decided that I'll tell you all about the good times AND the rough times. And when you're having a rough time up there, you can let me know. Things might be tough sometimes, that's true, but like you said, we can rely on Jesus Christ and His Gospel for those things that we need and the strength that we need, too.
So like I said in my letter, things are tough sometimes. And lately, I've had a lot of thoughts of home. Life at home with family and friends, and just how different it is from life here. One of the Hermanas in our district said something during our last district meeting that stood out to me a little bit. The life we're living now is the life that the Lord wants us to have. There are habits and attributes that he wants me to gain while I'm out here that will make me a better person when I return. So I've been trying to change my thoughts and my habits to become the person that I believe the Lord wants me to become. It'll come gradually, but it'll still come. And I'm sure we'll still have a great (if not better) Mamma-son, Devin-son relationship.
And Justin! Great to hear from you!!! Another 3 minutes filmed? Awesome! How's the editing going? Have you gotten that Action Essentials program or the Movie Scores program yet? You've got to let me know how they are! They looked sooooo cool, what you can do with the bullets and things, and how you can make the music that fits in exactly with that's going on in the movie! How many people are in it? Do you have a script written out? How about the climax of the movie? A really intense action scene? I can't wait to see how it turns out!!!
Things here have been great! Well, getting much better! Luis is progressing towards his baptism, which is scheduled for the 26th of this month. We also have a few different people who are moving right along, which is awesome! Last transfer, we had a lot of lessions, but not a lot of solid people. Now, we're working on getting both.
Elder Neilson is a really driven guy. He has so much work to do, so much on his plate, but he still has time to make breakfast for both of us a lot of mornings. He's a pretty swell companion! I want to take some (or a lot) of the attributes he has, and emulate those in my own life and in my mission. He said something that stood out to me. We're here for two years (still seems like a very long time to me). That means we have 2 years worth of time for self-improvement. Thinking about that, I could return a MUCH better person that I left, and that is what I want to do. It will take a lot of work, each and every day, but it'll be worth it in the end.
And doing this work that we're doing - there isn't anything else in this world that we could do (maybe other than raising a family in His Gospel) that is worth this much. Not making movies, going to the moon, or discovering a new element. We're in the work of saving souls. Most of what else I had done up until this point really seems pretty insignificant.
But I've got to go now. I love you all SOOO MUCH!!!!!
And mom - Happy early birthday!!! Have a great one!!!! Enjoy every minute!!
Con mucho amor - A infinidad, y mas alla!
Dev-i-o
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Week 17 - Eating Ants?
Hooooooola!
Good to hear from all of you!!! Your letters give me just that little bit of energy and support that I need to continue on through another day.
Those pictures were fun to take! And now, they're not giving us enough money to buy food... haha just kidding. But they're also not chocolate covered (ants). It's been interesting, trying some of the different food around here. I'll send some home for all of you to try when I finish recording on the first tape (Which should be by next P-Day!).
My new companion's name is Elder Neilson. He's a pretty cool guy. He's definitely a hard worker, and usually focused really well on what we need to do. Our apartment is now clean, organized, and actually nice to come home to (though maybe that's not a good thing - A dirty appartment would keep us from going home up until 9:30 each day!).
That's awesome, to hear about Dad's experience. I think he'd be surprised at just how much impact he's had on so many people's lives! And I'm sure he'll be called to something in the near future, where he'll have the opportunity to help a lot of people again.
Good to hear Justin's doing great! And that program - Action Essentials? - will be a great program, along with the movie scores/orchestra pieces that will come with the other one! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing his cinematic, epic movies when I get back!
The address here is still the same, so feel free to send mail/etc. back to here again! It'll get here faster than through the mission home/office. And I'm definitely looking forward to seeing Kristin's town, and hearing about Kaytlin's soccer feats. I've really gotten into soccer, but we rarely have time to play. Though, if we're always working, I guess that's not a bad thing!
And for what's been going on here! Drum roll....
Well, we have an Elder Kobyashi here - Just like the Kobyashi Maru in Star Trek! Soo cool!
Anyway, we have two people who are doing really well. They've both been reading, and both have been to church once. We haven't been able to find either of them recently, though, so hopefully we'll get a lession in here tonight with both of them!
It's definitely been storming a bit here. Usually, it'll rain off and on. But the past few days...no luck. Nonstop rain, and every now and then, it just pours like a bucket of water. We were inside teaching for the worst of it yesterday, but today, not so great. We put the bike rack on the English Elder's car (Elder Black and Elder McPherson), and by the time we got into the car, we were drenched. And that was through the black Mr. Mac's trenchcoat that we picked up. I'm kind of disappointed with that.
But what was even more awesome - There was someone at church who has been coming with his friend. He's 14 years old - but he said he wants to be baptized! We were like, "Fantastic! Where is he?" He even bought a tie yesterday! We just want to keep him interested enough so that when we've finished teaching the lessions, he still wants to be baptized.
Well, I've got to go. Sorry, this wasn't more with information about here. There hasn't been a lot going on, but I'll write what I remember in the next letter (on paper).
I love you all!!! Thank you soo much for your support! I can't wait to get your letters and e-mails over the coming weeks!
I love you! A infinidad - y mas alla!
Elder Dev
Good to hear from all of you!!! Your letters give me just that little bit of energy and support that I need to continue on through another day.
Those pictures were fun to take! And now, they're not giving us enough money to buy food... haha just kidding. But they're also not chocolate covered (ants). It's been interesting, trying some of the different food around here. I'll send some home for all of you to try when I finish recording on the first tape (Which should be by next P-Day!).
My new companion's name is Elder Neilson. He's a pretty cool guy. He's definitely a hard worker, and usually focused really well on what we need to do. Our apartment is now clean, organized, and actually nice to come home to (though maybe that's not a good thing - A dirty appartment would keep us from going home up until 9:30 each day!).
That's awesome, to hear about Dad's experience. I think he'd be surprised at just how much impact he's had on so many people's lives! And I'm sure he'll be called to something in the near future, where he'll have the opportunity to help a lot of people again.
Good to hear Justin's doing great! And that program - Action Essentials? - will be a great program, along with the movie scores/orchestra pieces that will come with the other one! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing his cinematic, epic movies when I get back!
The address here is still the same, so feel free to send mail/etc. back to here again! It'll get here faster than through the mission home/office. And I'm definitely looking forward to seeing Kristin's town, and hearing about Kaytlin's soccer feats. I've really gotten into soccer, but we rarely have time to play. Though, if we're always working, I guess that's not a bad thing!
And for what's been going on here! Drum roll....
Well, we have an Elder Kobyashi here - Just like the Kobyashi Maru in Star Trek! Soo cool!
Anyway, we have two people who are doing really well. They've both been reading, and both have been to church once. We haven't been able to find either of them recently, though, so hopefully we'll get a lession in here tonight with both of them!
It's definitely been storming a bit here. Usually, it'll rain off and on. But the past few days...no luck. Nonstop rain, and every now and then, it just pours like a bucket of water. We were inside teaching for the worst of it yesterday, but today, not so great. We put the bike rack on the English Elder's car (Elder Black and Elder McPherson), and by the time we got into the car, we were drenched. And that was through the black Mr. Mac's trenchcoat that we picked up. I'm kind of disappointed with that.
But what was even more awesome - There was someone at church who has been coming with his friend. He's 14 years old - but he said he wants to be baptized! We were like, "Fantastic! Where is he?" He even bought a tie yesterday! We just want to keep him interested enough so that when we've finished teaching the lessions, he still wants to be baptized.
Well, I've got to go. Sorry, this wasn't more with information about here. There hasn't been a lot going on, but I'll write what I remember in the next letter (on paper).
I love you all!!! Thank you soo much for your support! I can't wait to get your letters and e-mails over the coming weeks!
I love you! A infinidad - y mas alla!
Elder Dev
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