elder emett (the texan)

hey so guess what, my p-day changed to friday, pretty crazy, huh?! so i totally get another emailing session in this same week! I am so stoked about texas!!! Lubbock, texas. I've been thinking of all the texas songs i know and singing them in my mind and it just makes me way more excited. like that one that dad sings,"amarillo by mornin', amarillo is where i'll be" and amarillo is really in my mission so i might really be there!! :D haha and i'm teaching it to Elder Taylor so we can sing it on the plane. so in classes now our teachers really just ask us what we want to learn because we're not even supposed to be here anymore but everything is still way intense and i'm learning tons. I said goodbye to one of my teachers last night for the last time and it was super surreal and sad because he just helped me like crazy and i'll probably just never see him again... i'm positive this'll be the hardest part of my mission is leaving the mtc. But i still have until monday to do all my goodbyes. That is such super great news to hear about the success with the seattle study club thing that dad is doing, flying in speakers from places?! please congratulate him for me on all his major success, and thank him for all the letters that let me know everything that's going on. really those are amazing. i have no idea how he does that... then he does it for two missionaries. taht's incredible!!! anyways, i'll be in Texas the next time i write and this time it's for real! haha love you, i'll see you tomorrow.

-elder emett (the texan)

Still in Provo

  MAMI, oh hi!

This is your son benjamin, still in the mtc in provo, utah. nobody knows about our reassignments yet, but we are positive that everyone headed to Argentina is getting reassigned to a mission somewhere in the states. ISN'T THAT GREAT??!!!  All the older boys talk about how they wish they could have gone on 2 missions and i get to! without even signing up!  and i'ts soooo exciting, it's like getting another mission call because our reassignments go back to some higher authority so we know that the Lord took place in it.  Maybe i won't have a huge awesome party where everyone i ever knew comes to  see me open this one, but we want to have some kind of party here i guess.  We have to be all the way packed by tomorrow night and we should get the reassignments on thursday around morning time. After that we're not sure how long it will  be until we are gone, but we could leave  thursday night sometime.  I get to call you again and tell you about the reassignment so i guess just be ready for a call on wednesday night and all of thursday. also, send me a dear elder telling me which number to call, please? i called the home first and if someone would have picked up to tell me you weren't there i wouldn't have been able to call another number. I told my teacher to guess where i'm  gonna go on my mission and he guessed  to Nauvoo to be a performer.... shows how serious i am. i hope i get more serious i guess, but i sure am having fun and learning a lot! while we are here for our last couple days it is a huge temptation to relax on our studies, but as the D.L. i pretty much have to be doing all the right stuff but i just want to go to the field wayyyy bad! haha but i do love it here, it's nice.  the field opened up for soccer  during gym time and  i got to play!!! i suck!!!! hahahahaha but there  is another elder in my district who is totally boss so i just try to be on his team. well mami, good luck with teaching those priests how to cook!   that sounds a lot more difficult than what i'm doing! i sure do love you , i'll call you  soon! haha i really will :D     p.s. this key  board adds a L OT of spaces, sorry if it's hard to decode this.

 

-elder emett (   the one from provo..... still)

Last email from America!!

mami hi!!
Yes, i got all the treats ever this week! i was a superstar Elder, one of the Elders in my district actually had a birthday so we threw him a 10 minute party ( when we were able to sneak it in) with all the great snacks you sent me! i loved them a ton, thank you so much. I just have one question, in the letter that came with it you said that Chuck, Jesse, and Justin were driving together? who was driving? was it Justin or Chuck? ha, jk, but i'd really like to know. That is such awful news about sister Fullmer :( i will definately keep her in my prayers, she is such a strong woman. Don't worry, i was super nice to the new Elder coming in, although nobody cried so that made it a lot easier. He was just a super regular elder, he looked just like me. we were even wearing the same clothes. aaaaand I get to do it again this week! woohoo! So, we got our travel plans, but not our visas yet. we will know on friday if they came or not, and if they didn't come i guess we just stay until they come because they aren't really reassigning elders going to Argentina right now. So i should leave at 11:30 on Monday, fly to Dallas then to Buenos Aires. then i guess we just bus up to Rosario or something super fun like that. one bad part though... we have like only an hour of time in the airport which, i heard, includes going through customs and things, so i might not be able to call, but mother's day sure is super close!!! :D But i would be in Dallas from 6:15 to 7:35 their time and at the Salt Lake airtport around 1-2:35 so if i call, it would probably be in those times. Of course, that is, if i leave.. super fright. Elder Russell came and talked to us two days ago for a devotional and in that same devotional Elder Archuleta sang us a nice little song, i guess he really does have an amazing voice. i was about to ask him for some tips, but he's gone already. He sang part of his song in spanish and i felt so popular that i totally knew what he was saying! Mami, i connected with a famous Elder! cool, huh? boy oh boy i need to get out in the field. I love this place like crazy, but it also makes you go crazy. juuuust a little. Welps mams, this is probably my last email from America so next time i email you it will be about how i'm super confused! But i'm going to need your emails tons bucuz i hear the mail system down there is just terrible, i can't wait to figure out!!! :D I am really stoked beyond measure, i've been learning all this great stuff, but we can't use it here... sometimes we have to teach pictures of apostles to practice our teaching. And i feel dumb cuz i know they already know all this stuff. I sure am greatful for your and dad's testimonies you bear to me when you write me and especially the great support you always give me. i promise i will try to do all i can to call home ok? -Elder Emett (it's Ben, not Kolby)

He sat in the 4th row for a talk by President Packer!

Dear theammy,
thanks for the emails! and i don't really have much time to write multiple emails or letters home, but would you just thank Dad and Branson for their letters this week?! i love the pictures of nice little memories that dad sends and i'm sure branson is already 8 times as i good as i ever was at soccer things, i never really played in tournaments, he rules. i'm so sorry you only had two easter baskets this year, that's about the saddest business ever! I totally love that you visited Laura in Cedar, i'm not sure why, i'm just super happy that happens. But mami, don't feel obligated by any means to tell me that Laura is in love with Elder Archuleta, we had gotten along pretty well thus far. only kidding, but really. And i totally always write my brother Elder Emett, i guess he just wants to creep on what i'm saying to the family or something but no, that's way cute. send me some of his letters too, i'm super curious about how to make these letters engaging and funny...plus i guess i care about how he's doing. So easter was neato, President Packer came and talked to us on Easter morning. We just heard that there were going to be very important people there so we went way early and got seats on the 4th row so i swear for most of his talk we totally had eye contact. You know the friendly Elders that first picked me up when i got here? i get to do that this week! i'm way excited, mostly to just make things a lot more awkward than they need to be, kidding! i'll be nice. I meet with the travel office this week to finish out all my stuffs so i should leave for Argentina right on time which is the dream here. We don't have to wear suits here anymore because it's finally warm enough so i busted out my ancient camel back that i get to wear everywhere to carry my stuff.

ooh, i totally figured out once i got here that i could definately use my indoor soccer shoes which i left home for no good reasons at all. i'm not totally sure where they are or who would get them... but maybe when my brother kolby gets home you could see if he'll get them out of the attic, he comes home like tomorrow, right? also if you would send me a mesquito net that would be ideal. i don't totally need it now, but i'm gonna need to obtain one before i leave. YOU TALK TO ELDER TAYLOR'S MOM??!!! that's so fantastic!! he's in my district and probably the person i relate the closest to here (he left a girl also) so we're totally great elder friends! i wish i had time to write more, but i'm already 11 minutes over and lots of elders give me glares right about now... so i love you! send my love to the fams tambien. -Elder emett

David Archuletta held the door open for him!!

to me

hahahahahaha mami?! you didn't know elder Oakes was still alive?! that's just a little too funny. I did love conference, we all gathered in this huge building and watched it together with all the lights off, it was like going to the movies :D plus this was absolutely the best conference i have heard!!! my dear sweet brother kolby was correct about the priesthood session. I guess you could say i tried out for the chior... i just filled out a sheet and pretty much all it asked was my experience with a chior so i just wrote that sometimes i sing songs. but they made it pretty clear that you needed to have multiple years of high school experience so there wasn't much of a try out. I absolutely loved my easter "crap" haha. i'm way amazed at how you fit so much into those small envelopes but i'm super glad you can! the brownies were great and devoured in less than a day. And yessss i'm excited to leave!!! don't get me wrong, i love it here! but it's no argentina. i'm a little concerned about the visas cuz there is one elder we talked to who has been here for 14 weeks trying to get his visa for argentina, but i'm still hopeful :) don't worry about the cash, they do have an atm here and calling cards and all that business i need. idk if you know who this is, but David Archuleta is here, you might have seen him in the conference chior, but he is just a neat guy. it's like not even a big deal, he knows we all have the same call and acts just like any one of us. i see him all around the place, one time he held a door for me and we did a little spanish talking but yeah, super neat elder right there. Welp mami, thanks for all your support! let the fam know i love them and i'm thankful for their prayers. have a great easter, i'll see you tomorrow.

Elder Emett