Watched an Elder fall asleep standing up!!

hey mami!

it sounds like a party back there in stgeezy! i'm way stoked for all of you, it sounds like all the children grew up overnight! i'm sure glad they're filling those roles. my week was great, elder oaks came here and talked to us about sacrament and he is the cutest old elder, boy oh boy i look up to that man. i got made the district leader this week and that's pretty exciting!! i get to go to neat meetings and act like i actually know what i'm talking about now haha but i'm still in the mtc so pretty much everyone is a district leader at one time. i've tried many times in my life to fall asleep standing up but i never really thought it would be possible until i got here. i watched an elder do it!!! it's a very tiresome work this, but well worth it! i'm learning tons everyday and i can almost say 4 words in spanish now! sep i have the "gringo" accent of course. i haven't dreamt in spanish but some people in my zone yell out loud in spanish while they sleep so i'm very hopeful! my wrist made a full recovery and i'm back playing 4 square at gym time! i do go to the temple every week on my p-day at like three and it means way more right now. although the peacefulness only adds to the sleepiness sometimes but i'll get used to the schedule someday, i'm not worried. HHAAAPPPYYY BBBIIIRRTTTHHDDAAAYYY mami!!! don't miss us(me and kolby) on your birthday! just have parties! sorry i couldn't do anything but wish you a happy birthday, i don't really know how to do much from here but hey, i sure do love you! :)

Good News!!!

mamsideezee,

sorry i can't be very thorough, no time! unless i send letters but hey, come on, that's not so easy. uhm, yeah kolby and i email all the time! he's still a way stuborn emailer but nothing's really changed except we can speak spanish to eachother a little :) it's cute. how many stamps do i need to use to send him a letter though? i would love to know! ok, my wrist, it's all totally fine! i went to the doctor by a shuttle which was just a van they use to take missionaries to like the airport or whatever and an employee drives so we just talked to him about his mission and going to byu(all employees of the mtc are going to school at byu, except the older people). and he dropped us off then a way nice lady said the see missionaries all the time there and told us exactly where to go. i had to fill out some paperwork so i did my best and i mostly just put dad's cell number for everything. all the old people were way excited to see us and tell us about their grandchildren but all the younger people kinda just eyed us... weird haha i'm excited. so i went in to the doctor and the got some x-rays and he did like 2 simple tests on me and said, "yeah, we get this like 5 times a day, it's stalecniosydis tendonitis (not the real word but something way big and fancy) all we do is give you a shot and it will be gone within a week." so i did it and i didn't do any kind of co-pay thing but it's already feeling way better so i am allllll good. then the hospital just called the shuttle for us and we waited like 10 minutes for it to come pick us up. and i don't think i've ever told so many people where i was from and where i'm going as i did in that 10 minutes. all old people of course, it's so friendly up here!

classes are way good and i am in them for like 10 hours a day. they always end way spiritually and are so uplifting! i kinda feel like i'm in gospel college and i love it! i can buy anything i ever need and even some things i didn't know i need at the bookstore here cuz they've seen it all and they're ready for anything. we listen to a lot of talks by elder holland, especially the ones where he yells and i didn't know how much love i had for that man until last week. my companion and i are getting way close and we laugh. lots. maybe a little too much but it just lightens the whole serious mood because we are here to represent Jesus Christ. and lots of missionaries are struggling a little with the work load because it's an unobtainable goal. we can never be what we're supposed to be(christ) and some of them don't understand that that's why we have the atonement. my compys been having a touch of problems with it but definately not anything serious so we're all good. The MTC is really just a time to meet God for real for yourself and rely on him for everything like we've never been able to or required to do. it is so awesome here. the spirit is always present and the people are soooo nice. we try to always speak our language we're trying to learn but i've only mastered around 3 words so it's real rough. sorry if i've left anything out but i'm out of time, i love you all! have a nice time in the sun! oh yeah, it's way snowy here.

Note from the mom, asking for prayers for Ben

We got a call today from the MTC and Ben is having some kind of problem with his wrist. They were calling to get his insurance information. I, of course, was at a funeral and did not get his call or the one from the MTC. Just my luck. Ben did leave me a number to call and talk to whoever answered the number. It was a lady in the health clinic. Ben had been in to see them with a sore wrist. The doctor there put a brace on it but it did not get better. They want him to be seen by an orthopedic specialist and he has an appointment on Monday. So, if you would all take a few minutes to send some extra prayers his way that his wrist does not have anything seriously wrong with it, I would appreciate it. I do NOT want this boy to have to come home and have surgery!! We need to keep him in the MTC and learning the language and getting ready to go to Argentina. I do NOT want to have to say good bye again either. Been there and done that!!! Thanks so much.

Hopes we sold his car to someone named Jordan or Stephen

mami, i absolutely am still loving it!!! i can see why people all want to get out in the field so bad though, i just about ready sep my spanish. yes, i get mail every day!! :) that's why dear elder rules cuz they print it off and give it to us. about all the visa business, yeah. scary. we just watch all these guys get held back and possibly sent to montana haha i'm excited for anything though. if i go somewhere else it would be like a double mission! who wouldn't want that? well, most of the elders here but come on. That's the greatest about my car!! did you remove the sticker first? is the kid's name Jordan or Stephen? either way that's a great place for her to be, i hope Jordan likes when it seems like a badger got loose on his seats. the news about the soccer team is the greatest!! i love jake.... and all those guys!! it stinks that i'm missing it all but i've moved on to more mature sports during gym, namely 4-square. every day. it's wonderful here, have no worries about me, the flowers are starting to bloom and the gift of tongues is really beginning to show it's face. oh yeah, i go to the "orthopedic" on monday just so you know but like i called you and such so i hope it all gets figured out, thanks a ton! love you, see you in 20 minutes

Our learning is swift!

letters are easier to do cuz i have no time here and the keyboards don't compare to back home haha but i don't really have t ime for letters either. spanish is coming faster thatn i thought, the Lord does love his missionaries and i willing to bet we recieve among the most prayers ever so our learning is way swift. but for meals i eat everything! they have like 5 different choices of main courses and always fruit, salad, desert, and all kind of great drinks. never worry about the food. daniel hilton worked in the cafeteria while going to school at byu. when we speak spanish everyone sounds exactly like kolby when he called us and spoke spanish even me!! super weird. last teusday elder holland came to the mtc for a fireside and spoke about how missions are forever and it was incredibly powerful the alex boye spoke last sunday and you should look him up. he is sooo funny ! he's an lds musician from england. i figured out this is still real life and we are allowed to wear cool ties so by all means, if you find any you can send em my way. it is pretty crazy that i've been gone 2 weeks cuz it feels like 3 months at least but it's only getting better so no tears. i'm sorry about the awful ty ping. there is no time to correct and the backspace button is pretty much all the way jammed haha . i'm super happy laura visited you!! that's great to hear :) i leave april 23 cuz it's not based on months, just weeks. spanish is a 9 week language and i feel for the missionaries who go straight to their country's mtc (Matt), that would be so tough. oh craziest thing!! i totally know my teacher brother Cristofferson!!! when i first saw him i said, "hey, i know you" and he said he knew me too but we have no idea where from! i'll send you a pic sometime so you can all see if you know but it's killing us i tried to order pics once and it didn't work so i'll try again. love you all :) see you tomorrow