The easiest way to get mail to Zach while he is in the MTC is www.dearelder.com.
He likes snail mail too! The US mail gets delivered earlier in the day, he gets the Dear Elder mails around dinner time :)
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Easiest way to get mail to Zach
The easiest way to get mail to Zach while he is in the MTC is www.dearelder.com.
He likes snail mail too! The US mail gets delivered earlier in the day, he gets the Dear Elder mails around dinner time :)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Letter from Zach 5/25/09
Hey Everyone! Second week has proven to be a thousand times better than the first week. Spanish is still coming extremely fast, and Elder Waite and I can hold conversations in it.
I have pictures that once I get printed at the book store I'll send them home.
Last Tuesday (our Devotional night) Elder Neunshwander from the 1st Quorom of the Seventy gave a talk. It was really, really good but the best part was after when our District gathered for a meeting. We all talked about what we learned, and it was a very spiritual experience.
Sundays are very different here than normal. At 7:30 we eat breakfast, then Branch council is for an hour (since Elder Waite is our district leader I just wait in the room next to it with Elder Kapetaua, a big Samoen guy that resembles a huge teddy bear). At 10 we have our priesthood meeting and a member of the Branch Presidency gives the lesson. Then we have 2 hours of Missionary directed Time (basically studying) until District Meeting which is mostly like Sundy School. Elder Waite conducts it and assignes lessons each week. Him and I gave it this week. After that is Lunch and then we have sacrament meeting. We're instructed to have a 5 minute talk ready each week because we don't know who talks until President Dean says at the pulpit. It has to be in Spanish, too.
After Sacrament it's MDT (Missionary Directed Time) until Dinner, so about 3 hours. Most missionaries walk around the Provo Temple grounds and take pictures, but elder Waite and I studied (we went last week).
After Dinner we have our fireside meeting. It's usually held in the Gym but they're resurfacing the floor so we had it in one of the massive gathering halls. There are so many missionaries it over flowed into the two other massive halls and into the cafeteria. After the fireside is "Film time". In those massive halls they show a church video.
Most days are jam packed with learning, so Sunday is a relaxing change of pace. We can study what we want, and not have to worry about getting to our next class.
In one of our District meetings President Dean said "Now is the time to become who you will become."
At the time it struck me really deep but I'm still only beginning to understand exactly what he ment.
I have pictures that once I get printed at the book store I'll send them home.
Last Tuesday (our Devotional night) Elder Neunshwander from the 1st Quorom of the Seventy gave a talk. It was really, really good but the best part was after when our District gathered for a meeting. We all talked about what we learned, and it was a very spiritual experience.
Sundays are very different here than normal. At 7:30 we eat breakfast, then Branch council is for an hour (since Elder Waite is our district leader I just wait in the room next to it with Elder Kapetaua, a big Samoen guy that resembles a huge teddy bear). At 10 we have our priesthood meeting and a member of the Branch Presidency gives the lesson. Then we have 2 hours of Missionary directed Time (basically studying) until District Meeting which is mostly like Sundy School. Elder Waite conducts it and assignes lessons each week. Him and I gave it this week. After that is Lunch and then we have sacrament meeting. We're instructed to have a 5 minute talk ready each week because we don't know who talks until President Dean says at the pulpit. It has to be in Spanish, too.
After Sacrament it's MDT (Missionary Directed Time) until Dinner, so about 3 hours. Most missionaries walk around the Provo Temple grounds and take pictures, but elder Waite and I studied (we went last week).
After Dinner we have our fireside meeting. It's usually held in the Gym but they're resurfacing the floor so we had it in one of the massive gathering halls. There are so many missionaries it over flowed into the two other massive halls and into the cafeteria. After the fireside is "Film time". In those massive halls they show a church video.
Most days are jam packed with learning, so Sunday is a relaxing change of pace. We can study what we want, and not have to worry about getting to our next class.
In one of our District meetings President Dean said "Now is the time to become who you will become."
At the time it struck me really deep but I'm still only beginning to understand exactly what he ment.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Email from Zach:
Hola familia! It's been an awesome week at the MTC. After the orientation we dove right into everything. I got my room and picked up my luggage. There are 4 Elders in one room, and the other three I room with are awesome people.
I know you're dieing to know who my companion is, so I'll tell you about my other room mates first. Elder Loe is from St. George, UT. He's a big guy with a big heart, and with the worst accent I've ever heard he says "I don't have a southern drawl". He is also serving in the NC Raleigh Spanish speaking mission.
His companion is Elder Parsons. He's from Portland Oregon. He's is the funny half of identical twins. He is serving in NC Raleigh spanish speaking, also. I don't know where his twin is serving (but it's Spanish speaking).
All the Elders and sisters are split up into different Branches (or zones, which i'll be calling them from here on) and then smaller divisions of the zones are called districts. There are 12 Elders in our district, so we call our selves the "Dirty Dozen". My companion was made district leader, but I'll talk abut him later.
I've really connected with the other Elders in our district. They all have strong spirits and amazing testamonies. I'm lucky to have been able to be with all of them.
My companion is a really cool guy, but not talking about him yet.
The first thing we did when we woke up the first day was learn spanish. It was weird having class before eating, but thats the MTC! Dinner is at 4:30, which is so weird for me, but easy for my companion since from where he comes from dinner is lunch and supper is dinner.
After our first day we could already pray and bear our testimonies in Spanish. That's how much I've learned.
Ok, about my companion. His name is Elder Waite and he's from Peru, Indiana and serving in the Long Beach, CA spanish speaking mission. He's really awesome and has a huge impact on every one when he walks into the room. His testimony blows me away every time I hear it. I couldn't have asked for a better companion.
Our zones leaders are also great people. Elder Kunde is a great leader and knows how to comfort people. He's helped me come to terms with my difficulties in learning the language. His companion is Elder Bergland. He's a really smart person with a lot of concern for all of us.
-Elder Huffman
I know you're dieing to know who my companion is, so I'll tell you about my other room mates first. Elder Loe is from St. George, UT. He's a big guy with a big heart, and with the worst accent I've ever heard he says "I don't have a southern drawl". He is also serving in the NC Raleigh Spanish speaking mission.
His companion is Elder Parsons. He's from Portland Oregon. He's is the funny half of identical twins. He is serving in NC Raleigh spanish speaking, also. I don't know where his twin is serving (but it's Spanish speaking).
All the Elders and sisters are split up into different Branches (or zones, which i'll be calling them from here on) and then smaller divisions of the zones are called districts. There are 12 Elders in our district, so we call our selves the "Dirty Dozen". My companion was made district leader, but I'll talk abut him later.
I've really connected with the other Elders in our district. They all have strong spirits and amazing testamonies. I'm lucky to have been able to be with all of them.
My companion is a really cool guy, but not talking about him yet.
The first thing we did when we woke up the first day was learn spanish. It was weird having class before eating, but thats the MTC! Dinner is at 4:30, which is so weird for me, but easy for my companion since from where he comes from dinner is lunch and supper is dinner.
After our first day we could already pray and bear our testimonies in Spanish. That's how much I've learned.
Ok, about my companion. His name is Elder Waite and he's from Peru, Indiana and serving in the Long Beach, CA spanish speaking mission. He's really awesome and has a huge impact on every one when he walks into the room. His testimony blows me away every time I hear it. I couldn't have asked for a better companion.
Our zones leaders are also great people. Elder Kunde is a great leader and knows how to comfort people. He's helped me come to terms with my difficulties in learning the language. His companion is Elder Bergland. He's a really smart person with a lot of concern for all of us.
-Elder Huffman
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
