Monday, January 30, 2012

Invictus

So last Tuesday, January 24th Adam and 36 other missionaries flew to the CCM in Guatemala City. He left Salt Lake at 8:05 pm and flew to LA then from LA to Guatemala City arriving there at 5:30am central time. Tuesday was his p-day but because it was a travel day we didn't know if we would hear from him. We did get the short email below.
Hey Mom,
We did get p-day today, it has been pretty stressful though jaja. I think my bags will be ok. They are both hovering around 48 pounds so I'm pushing it. This week has gone by so fast but I am really ready to get out of here. My Branch President told me that they usually assign American Elders to Native companions when we get down there so I probably will be having a switch. 

Sorry I haven’t mentioned what I have and haven't been getting from everyone. As far as I know, I have gotten every package you have said has been coming my way. Make sure you tell them all thanks for me. About those Calle shoes, I am sending them back. 1) No room in my bags, 2) the sole on one of them is coming off, so they probably wouldn’t have lasted long anyways. Grandma Mags sent me some money in her last package so I am going to hang on the that and whenever I get out in the field I will use that to buy a pair. I am also not taking any bathroom supplies with me ha-ha. I have to make weight somehow, I figure I can smell bad for a few days and not have to pay the over weight fees. I cut my hair today really short also, so I don’t really need shampoo for a week or two, I should be all right. Ja-ja. 

Sorry this email is going to be really short today, I cant think of a whole lot to say, I sent a package home in the mail that has dad's birthday present in it and all of my stuff I wont need in Guat. I am so excited to go, it is a little surreal that in just a few hours I will be on a plane to a land far far away. I hope Bones is doing all right. Mono is no fun. Perfect time to work on those mission papers though if he isn't doing school. That would be awesome if he moved back down to NM, I am sure Dad would love that.  Well I am really excited to hear from you guys in a few hours. Have all your questions ready and everything for me. Tell Dad he better have brushed up on his Spanish because we are only talking en español. I am going to save some of my Internet time so if you want to email me one more time before I go I will check it again, if not, not a big deal. Pues, hasta luego.

I got to talk to Adam while he was in the SLC airport but Kent was in Phoenix on business. So after Adam and I visited for awhile he was going to try to call Kent. He ran out of time and tried again in LA but his calling card was out of minutes. He tried to get Kent to call him back on the pay phone but that didn't work and just as he was about to give up a kind stranger walked up to Adam and offered to let him use his phone. So Dad got his phone call and after their visit Adam said they were all heading to McDondalds to load up on Big Macs before boarding. The next day we got the following email from Adam letting us know he was in Guatemala safe and sound.

¡Mama!
I’m alive! It is absolutely beautiful here. The CCM is such a nice building! I was really pleased. We got in really early this morning and made our way through customs and loaded on to this really rickety bus and absolutely tore through the streets here ja-ja. Absolutely nuts, I am not sure if there are such things as speed limits here. 

I did get new companions, I am in a trio now with Elder Vaughn and Elder Schull, both Americans, both going to Xela, both have been in the MTC for 6 weeks. I had met Vaughn before, and they both seem like really awesome guys. We have two nativo roomates but we have not met them yet. There are not that many people here. It is actually a pretty small place, but seriously all the land around and stuff is just beautiful. Right outside my window is a really ghetto house but then you can see the Temple too and a giant mountain with some unbelievably nice houses. 

They let us sleep until 12 and then we had lunch and now we are doing a little orientation and they are giving us 15 minutes to email. The food here is unbelievable good. 1000x better than the MTC. It is actually like legitimate cooks making the stuff, it’s very Latino, but so far it has all been really good. 

Story time. I was kind of freaking out a little bit this morning when we walked out of the airport. It was still dark outside and I had just stumbled my way through like 5 conversations in Spanish, and were trying to find out where to go, and this man outside the airport rolls up to me, he only had stubs almost to where his knee would be and he had duck taped himself onto a skateboard, and was yelling at me in Spanish. I had no idea what he was saying. The lady who was telling us where to go was just like "keep walking, don’t talk to him" and he finally let me go. Then she told me he was trying to get me to let him polish my shoes, but that when they do that, they steal your shoes and/or your money. And all I could think was, "how is this little man going to steal my shoes and then make a get away on a skateboard he is duct taped to, without me catching him?” I felt so bad for the man, that would be such a hard life, but at the same time I was just like there is no way this is really happening, where the freak am I ja-ja.  

I am a lot more settled in now. I know I am going to love this place. It is seriously one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The weather is PERFECT. It is like a nice 70 degrees with a little breeze and some clouds. All is well, tell everyone hola for me.
Adam

MTC Photos

We got a box in the mail today from Adam that had photos from the MTC. He didn't include any captions or information about the photos but most of them are pretty self explanatory.















Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Almost Time to Fly


Hola!
Sorry we didn’t email this morning like the usual. We haven’t gotten mail since Thursday because apparently it’s a holiday? I had no idea. I have no idea what holiday there is in the middle of January. Maybe they are just making stuff up now so people can have work off. Or its like Martin Luther King Day and I am a little ignorant. Its not Presidents day is it? Either way, we were waiting to get the mail before we emailed but they still haven’t distributed anything since last Thursday. Lame. Still haven’t gotten any. 

So we finally got our travel plans this week, I was so flipping excited. I am really sad to leave our district and stuff but at the same time I have been going a little crazy still being here in Provo. It’s been such a fast year; I can’t believe how fast time is going by. We leave next Tuesday night, we fly on Delta 2041 from SLC at 8:05pm, and get to LAX at 9:14, then leave LAX (flight 457) at 10:45 and get to Guatemala City at 5:24 in the morning. Red Eye? fuuuuuun. I will try and call while I am in SLC but we will see. I’m sure I can figure it out; I am just going to buy a calling card at the bookstore here. I have all my travel money too Mom, no need to worry. I have everything under control. I think...

Also I hope they got all this E-Coli business worked out too. I want to get sick and lose a ton of weight and be Elder Guapo and all, just not right now, you know what I mean? Mom I have been meaning to ask you for a while now but I keep forgetting, did you take care of my deferment? I hope so, if not, that’s not good ha-ha. Also the calle shoes would be perrrfect. Send me those please; they were somewhere in that stuff that I sent home, hopefully they get here before I leave. I packed almost all my stuff today and I think I am doing fine on weight. I had almost everything in both of my bags and they were both at 35 lbs. so I shouldn’t have any problems. I am sending some stuff home this week too so I think I shouldn’t have any fines.

Another thing I need you to post to the blog is that if people send me emails or cards and stuff, I need an address to write back to them. So many people have written me stuff or an email and I have gotten things sent back to me because I do not have the right address and I don’t know them off the top of my head. Also I hope you guys liked the text message ha-ha. Griffin was just talking about how his Grandparents were here for the week getting ready for a mission and literally seconds after we ran into them and she pulled out here phone and was like "Jacolby, (he is white, I love it) I am texting your mother riiiight now" I was laughing so hard. Then she looks at me just dead serious and says "Should I text your mother?” So I told her we should send you a pic ha-ha.

This week has been a little crazy actually. Last Tuesday night for devotional we heard from Russell M. Nelson. It was amazing. He talked about the Atonement. Rocked my world. And then on Wednesday we got our new roommates, and Codi Peterson, one of my best friends from the dorms, lived across the hall from me in Merrill, moved into my room. What are the odds of that? I was so excited ha-ha. He is going to Argentina and just happened we got matched up together, I don’t see him a ton since we are not in the same district but even still, pretty cool. Another funny story, on Sunday we were on our temple walk and we were crossing the street to go back to the MTC and I looked back and I see someone who looks a little familiar. I walked back and Carlie Rindlisbach was walking around the temple with one of her friends! It was so crazy, I went and shook her hand and talked to her a little bit, it was so strange to see someone else from the outside world. Such a crazy week ha-ha.

The only damper was the news about Molly. How sad. She was such a good dog. I am really going to be sad to come home and not see that cute face. Hopefully she is barking, and chasing tennis balls, and eating all the poop she can handle in doggie heaven right now. Dogs go to heaven, right?

My Spanish is coming along great, I cant wait for Mothers Day so I can call and talk with Dad, he better study up a little bit, because for the rest of my life, nosotros hablamos en español, hombre. I am really good with gospel things, I could talk forever in Spanish about the gospel, but day-to-day stuff is really still pretty rough. Yesterday we had our first English fast, so we spoke Spanish all day, it was pretty hard but I would just laugh and think, yep this is going to be fun for two years. We actually called it a "Spanish Fiesta", because we didn't want to associate Spanish with something bad like fasting.

One more cool thing, I was in Second Nephi a week ago today, and I just finished the Book of Mormon this morning. I was pretty determined. Every free second I had I was reading and I flew through it. It was pretty amazing. There is an Elder in my district who has read it 11 times in the last two years. Pretty unreal, so I still have a ways to go, but you have to start somewhere right? His story is actually pretty amazing. I will try and get it in a letter to you guys. I can’t believe I have only seven days left in this place. I have hated it and loved it. But life is pretty awesome I will have to say that. I am soooo excited to be in the field in less than a month, how crazy is that? Well I am almost out of time. Send me some dear elders, I can’t wait to hear from you. Also what’s up with Alex? Let me know? Hasta Luego.
-Elder Morrow

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Surprise Text!

Today Kent got a text from a random phone number with a Utah area code. All it had was this photo of our very handsome boy. Kent replied, "that's Adam! but who are you?" It turns out that Adam's comp (pictured with him) has some granparents in the MTC right now who are going to a different mission but ran into our boys in the cafeteria. They were kind enough to send us this great photo. What an awesome surprise it made our day... in fact our whole week. Thank you Elder Grandpa and Sister Grandma!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Peace Has It's Victories

Hola Everybody!

Weeks here are absolutely flying by now. I am loving the MTC. It was a little bit of a sad day when my four roommates left for Paraguay and Jayson left for Malaysia yesterday. I got some really awesome pictures with everyone so I will be sending a bunch of CD's of everything home soon. It’s strange to think I only have two weeks left in the states. I am ready to leave but at the same time I am pretty terrified. My Spanish keeps progressing really well; I am not too scared of that, just scared to finally leave the comfort of Provo. I can’t believe I have already lived in this town for over a year, definitely the fastest and happiest year of my life. I am sure it only gets better from here on too.

 As for my district, I am still the DL, and we have 5 elders and 4 hermanas. The two elders left for Guatemala last week was the only changes we had in our district. As for my room we were informed this Wednesday we are getting four new roommates, so that should be fun too. I have totally taken over my room ha-ha. I took the best bed and laid claim to my own desk. It is really nice to actually have somewhere to study and write letters and stuff.

Other than that it has been a really really quiet week here. The routine has really settled in and I feel the learning curve of everything is exponentially growing. I feel so blessed to be here. I am just always amazed at how many awesome people I am able to be around. When I come home I would love to teach here. I loooove all of our teachers. It is so cool to see how much they learned on their missions, makes me really excited to be able to be in their position soon.

I finally think I am 100% feeling better. I haven’t coughed in a day or two, which I’m sure, my companion is really grateful for. I eventually went into the health clinic and got some medicine and everything, and it is all cleared up. I saw Kalli Wyatt at the health clinic too, she works there, it was so funny to run into someone I know, I was sooo excited ha-ha. 

I can’t believe I got a C+ in Chemistry and didn’t fail Physics! Dang, I really really don’t want to have to retake that dumb class. Oh well. I really actually miss BYU, I feel like such a nerd that I miss going to class. It is really weird to be sitting in class here and to hear the bell tower playing Come Come Ye Saints, makes me a little homesick every day.

We finally got some snow here in Provo too, for a few days there it was 50 or so degrees and sunny, felt like March, not January, I wonder what the weather is like in Guat. I have not heard anything about travel plans, but we should be getting our itinerary on Friday so keep your fingers crossed.

I read something on Sunday that I really loved, it was Pres Monson's New Year’s Address, and you really should read it. You can find it on LDS.org. I loved a quote he used by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It said, " Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide on, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising to tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and to follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them."

Seriously, my favorite quote of all time. So true. So missionary work. I cannot wait to get into the field and to be able to work for people, not just prepare for people, but action. I loved it, hopefully you guys will too ha-ha. Well I love you guys, I am going to write everyone letters today so be watching the mail. I will let you know as soon as I can about travel plans. Give me some more updates on Tebow mania. Gotta love the guy. Also what’s up with Jimmer? How is he playing?
Anyways love you all, Hasta luego.
-Elder Morrow

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Happy New Year!

Hola,

This week has been amazing to say the least. So many hard moments but at the same time I have never felt more blessed in my life. The two other elders in my district that are going to Guatemala leave today and it is a little surreal to think that it should be me getting on that plane. I am a little jealous and a little glad I´m not leaving just yet. My Spanish is progressing well, I think. I don’t ever take notes or read anything when I teach, which only a few of the other elders in my district can do.

 I am still waiting to get my pictures back from the bookstore here. I have been waiting forever so hopefully they come soon.

I have been so sick this week, so if there are some charges on my card from the bookstore its because I have nyquil pumping through my veins like nobodies business. I have been trying pretty hard just to tough it out and I think I am finally on the tail end of it all, I have been saying that for days now though just hoping if I say it enough it will be true.

Either way I loved getting all the photos from y’all, its so weird to see the outside world. I finally feel like I have settled into this place, but its bittersweet because now people I have come to love are leaving.

Our roommates are leaving for Paraguay this next week, and though it will be nice to finally have a desk in my room, some of my favorite people I have ever met are in the district that is leaving. Elder Lieshman is my roommate and he is from Brigham City, probably my favorite person in the world. I think we were best friends in the pre-mortal life. He is making me write his 16 year old sister today because he wants me to marry her so we can be related. It doesn’t hurt either that I find her extremely attractive, but that’s irrelevant.

The other elder I will have a hard time saying goodbye to is Elder Zulauf. He is from California and is probably the funniest man on the planet. He bore his testimony on Sunday (since it was fast Sunday here but apparently not everywhere else) and he talked about how this last year his father was battling cancer, and a month before he entered the MTC his father passed away. I have never cried harder in my life then when I heard his testimony. He said the first week he was here he was praying to know if he was supposed to be here, and he said that he immediately got an answer as he physically heard his fathers voice say to him ``Tyler, are you kidding me? You know where you are supposed to be.´´  Wow. It was amazing. I’m sitting here now with tears streaming just thinking about it.

Just makes me think how blessed I truly am. To come from the circumstances I have come from, and to have all the opportunities I have had. Very few people in this world are as blessed as I have been. I love you guys all so much.

I can’t believe how fast time has gone by here. I finally ran into one of my friends from school yesterday. He was in my ward this last couple months and I was so flippin excited to see him. I think he was a little surprised at how happy I was to see him. He is a teacher here and he was speaking Spanish to me, but I got so excited to see someone from the outside world my mind totally blanked and I couldn’t speak any Spanish jaja. I felt like a little dog that was too excited to bark. 

Its surreal to think I am almost halfway done with the MTC, it seems like I just got here yesterday. I am a little freaked out to have to go and be able to speak Spanish to real people, but at the same time I feel like I am not doing a whole lot of good in here. It is such a strange feeling.

I love you guys, I hope you are all doing amazing. With the whole building situation I found some scriptures I think you might enjoy. In 1 Nephi 2:15, It says, ¨and my father dwelt in a tent¨, but in verse 14 it talks about the power Lehi as a man had. I was thinking about this and the thought came into my mind, It doesn’t really matter if you get kicked out of the building, or the one your moving into isn’t as nice as the last, you can still do amazing things like Lehi, who was a prophet of God, and he lived in a tent out in the desert. I loved that scripture. I think that will be so true for me in Guatemala. You are not measured in success by what you have or what you are, but by what you can do where you are and with what you have. I hope that all makes sense. To me it sounds profound, but I am kind of an idiot so...

I will try and get off some more letters to everyone today. I wrote about 8 letters to friends last week so hopefully I will be getting some letters back from people soon. I love you all, talk to you in a week.
Elder Morrow