Pictures Just Arrived: August 29, 2013!

August 29, 2013--Letter from Elder Oliver---His week has evidently been "super cool" :)

I don't know were to start!!!! I miss all my friends and my family a ton, but I know this is where I need to be, and this is the only place I would want to be! We went to the temple last Thurs and I decided to go through without a translator... It was super hard, but I understand some. I get to go back through later today, so hopefully it'll be a little bit easier! It's a very beutiful temple and I learned something super cool! When they said the prayer in the prayer circle they prayed for the missionairies and I realized that that was me and all my friends! I think that's super cool! Last, Friday we had our first one on one interviews with Presidente Openshaw, and wow! He is so caring and so inteligent and spiritual! He can list almost any scripture and tell you pretty much word for word what's in it! In his devotional he uses a ton of scriptures and we learn so much! It's amazing! Friday one of the Hermanas in our district was sick and so I guess Presidente O. told her to ask Elder Hansen, the District Leader, to give her a blessing and being his companions, Elder Smart and I got to help! It was super cool to be able to do that! The even cooler thing was Saturday she felt great! It was a neat experience to be able to see the power we really do have as missionairies! All the missionaries in the MTC left on Tues so it was super lonely with just 13 people here, but we got Mcdonalds because of it and it was super great! Not that the foods bad here, its actually super good, but it was good to eat some american food! I got kind of a calling here in the CCM. I'm in charge of setting up the electronics on Sundays and starting up the projector and movies for devotionals and on sundays. It's actually super complicated, but its really fun! All the new people are coming in today so that'll be super exciting! Actually, 13 Latinos came in yesterday and we no 0 Spanish!!! Actually I did really good talking to them, but it's still hard because of there accents and how fast they speak though! I've actually learned alot! I probably learned 2 years of Spanish in the first week and almost the entire 3rd year this week. It's wild! It's kind of scary that on Saturday we will be out proselyting in the real world, even though we don't know Spanish! I think it'll be a big help on learning the language and it'll just be fun to not be stuck in the CCM!!!! My comps, Elder Smart and Elder Hansen, are a little bit farther behind than me on Spanish, so I have a feeling I'll be doing most of the talking but its ok! Its really hard to have 2 comps, but its ok! The hardest part is trying to plan a lesson with 3 different opinions..... Elder Hansen is good at taking advice, but Elder Smart gets offended when you dont use his ideas. Its annoying, but I love these guys a ton!! There good guys! Oh!!! The other day during our physical activity time this kid from across the street was talking to us through the fence! He was 13 years old and spoke really good English. We asked him his name and hes like Elder Nicholas, like you guys, cuz we always wear our tags even out there. It was super cool! Even though he's Catholic he wants to be like us. We almost gave him a BoM, but I dont think his parents would like that... I think thats all that happened this week.

 

In my devotionals I've learned a lot! A couple things. I need to listen and recognize the Holy Ghost better! Even if I think I feel the spirit, but I'm not sure, I should act on it, even if its not the spirit. Because, I want to show HF that even if I just think maybe it might be the Spirit Im going to trust it and act on it! Also, I need to serve my mission with a question in mind. At the end of my mission I will ask the Lord if he accepts my mission. So I need to serve my mission thinking everyday, "Lord, do you accept what I've done today?" Plus its the small rules that help keep us obedient. It's also the little rules we may start to not follow that lead to the big things. These are just a couple of the things that I learned, other than Spanish, this week.

 

Could you send me a list of where everyone served a mission and how long ago? Didn't Uncle Shawn serve in Chile? My CCM president was the mish pres there.

 

I love you tons mom! I miss you, but I'm lovin it out here! 

 

Still no pictures even though I asked about it.  He should really use his expensive camera to enlighten us.  Also, it seems he has forgotten a lot of his grammer rules, but I guess I will forgive him!

 

Our first real email from Elder Oliver!

Hey mom. So I only have one hour to respond to everyone and the time changes every week. So, if you could ask everyone to send me there home adress, then I can write emails to you and maybe some other people and write letters to the rest of the people. I here it only takes 5 days for letters to get from here home, but 2 weeks to 2 months to recieve a letter...

 

Anyways, the MTC is the greatest experience of my life! My first day nobody knew what was going on because it was only in Spanish and the English was in very heavy accents. Its slowly getting better. I feel like I havent learned much spanish, but then we go and teach our I.P. (Personal Investigator, pretty much a teacher who we treat like a brand new investigator) and I realize how much I can understand and how much, still not a lot, can speak. My first day though I met my companion in my room, A 6 3,210 Canadian hockey player. His name is Elder Hansen and hes 20 years old. Hes a really good guy! He actually became our DL. so we went about our day and then Elder Hansen and I got asked to switch rooms on the first day! During that process we also found out that we would be becoming a trio companionship... Theres only one other trio. Its really kinda fun, but it can be a little bit difficult sometimes when we are trying to make a decision about our I.P. lessons. Our other companions name is Elder Smart. Hes 19 and from Sandy, Utah. Hes a pretty funny guy. If we didnt have him in our district and in our companionship, we would all be SO bored!!!!

 

Oh just so you know, when I flew in I flew with 6 Sisters and 3 other Elders. Then in Atlanta we added a sister. Then we got to the MTC and added 2 more elders and 2 more sisters and that became the José district . Pretty much everyone we flew with, plus the canadians. The interesting thing about that is the other English speaking districts all flew in together and made 3 districts, 2 of those have 2 girls in them, we have 8... Its good though, our district is already super close.

 

So in our room we have 8 people, some rooms only have 6, but well i guess we have 8 beds but only 7 people cuz the trio. in each of the rooms there is 2 latinos. I love all the latinos here! Especially the ones in my room, there so funny and fun to try to talk to! The ones in my room are from Chile and Peru I think..... I dunno but its fine to try and talk to them.

 

The food here is almost always super amazing!! I think theres like 90? people or so in the CCM and they cook real food for us all!!! I dunno the exact amount of people but I easily know all the English speakers in here by name, so its not big at all. there has only been 2 meals I didnt like. I ate one of them. but the other was like this soggy cornbread stuff with meat on it, it was just awful!!! but i still havent had the blood sausage, which I guess is a meal only 2 people like,.... We always have cereal for breakfast and they always have fruit and bread out. So since you usually only get 1 serving, you fill up on bread throughout the day.

 

Our classes are usually good, but we really dont have that many to actually teach us spanish grammar, maybe like 3 or 4 a week and they are an hour long to learn a principle. Usually our gospel lessons are in spanish and english, so thats good. I like our morning teacher, but I love our night teacher. He has taught me so much about this language and about the gospel and how to teach it! Hes also taught us how to utilize our personal, companion and language studies and lets just say that has helped a ton!!! Thats mostly what you do is just study by yourself. Im good at personal and companion study, I actually love doing them now, but my language study needs work. Its just hard cuz we are literally in our District room\ classroom for like 11 hours a day. And when you only get 1.5, ot 1.75 hours of activity time, lets just say the days are long and tiring!!!!! theres a saying here that is jjustt dead on perfect..... "The days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days." So true. today is a week and has seriously felt like nothing!

 

Yesterday we had a devotional and its usually by a member of the 70, but this time it was by the brand new MP of the argentina north mission i think??? It was super duper great. I guesss it was even better because it didnt have to get translated from spanish to english, buth english to spanish. The wife did at least, the MP translated himself. Everything is usually seperate from the Latinos, but not this. The sad thing is sunday night we get a movie and its usually a good devotional, but we watched the Testaments and the English speakers have been here 5/6 weeks so that was the most drama theyve had this whole time, it was great! They were cheerin and it was sad, but  I now know why they were cheering. Sundays are stressful though. Theres a topic each sunday and everyone writes a talk, in spanish, and they randomly chose 5 people at the start... its stressful! but thats the only part of sundays in spanish. We also had this way cool guy whos a leoson??? for the FBI who lives here and works here, Uruguay and Paraguay, so hes loaded with info. Hes also a really good speaker, Ive had 1 sunday lesson with him, and he has sweet stories. for 5 years he worken in Tiawanna, but before he had to go through some crazy training, its cool.

 

So todays PDay so our schedule each week but right when we get off we have breakfast and the temple. Its literally like in the confines of the CCM. its way pretty so im excited. Then we get back have lunch and PDay until 5, Ill probably spend most of the time writing letters...  

 

 

I love you!! Write me back! Have a good week! And,

 

Love you!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Oh PS... please have everyone send me their home adress so I can write them, and a pic of themselve! you too!!!

 

 

Oh and sorry for the poor language. Speaking Spanish has me thinking in 2 languages and its hard, but also, i dont know how to use apostrophes on this keyboard...(a Spanish keyboard)

I hope that everyone enjoys reading this as much as Robert and I did!  Just remember, he is using a Spanish keyboard which is VERY different, plus he can't use spell check :)

 

Please remember to write him via email, but send him your physical address for any reply.  If he doesn't have your physical address, you may not get a response.

Keep up with Elder Oliver!

I am going to attempt to do the blogging thing.  I hope that I am better at this than I am at keeping in touch with all of my friends made in the different states in which I have lived!  I am hoping that the motivation to do this for my child, will be good enough:)

Well, Bailey's mission started with this:

"Dear Elder Oliver,

You are hearby called to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You are assigned to labor in the Uruguay Montevideo Mission.  It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 24 months.

You should report to the Argentina Mission Training Center on Thursday, August, 15, 2013.  You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Spanish language.  Your assignment may be modified according to the needs of the Mission President."...

After meeting up with his cousin, Kendall Kern, in the Atlanta airport on his way to Argentina, we got a short email from Bailey, very short:)

"I made it to the MTC safe and sound. I actually flew with 3 other Elders and 7 Sisters. I am very confused and have no idea what`is going on, like everyone else. Plus, I am starving!!! Write to me on Thurs because that is my PDay. Also, if you can message Ruth and get friend adresses and stuff for me that would be great, Thanks. LOVE YOU!"