Hola Todos,
I got my flight plans on Friday......too bad I don't have a visa yet. Our whole district went to the travel office today to see what was up. Apparently 6 out of the 9 have their visas, 2 elders are going to a temporary reassignment until their visa comes in, and I alone am stuck on hold, which I'm guessing means I'm here at the MTC for a little bit longer. To be honest though, I'm more sad that our district is being split up than the fact that I'm not headed to Argentina just yet. The Lord has his purposes for everything though and I'm definitely keeping my eyes and ears open to find it. I'll tell you my flight plans just because I feel like telling you anyways: 8:30AM SLC -> 12:10PM DF (Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX), 2:10PM DF -> 6:00PM MIA (Miami, FL), 9:00PM MIA -> 9:00AM EZE (Buenos Aires, Argentina). I'm not sure if the itinerary takes into account the time zone switches (even though that seems awkward), but yeah, all the US flights are American Airlines. I got a calling card for the US and I'll be able to call from the airports, but the international cards will be purchased in Argentina. I'm told that they have them there for cheap. I'm guessing I won't really need stamps too much either. Again, I'll keep you posted as best as I can as things happen around here.I couldn't believe what I was reading about Rockwood! Good luck with working things out--I hope that things do work out in the end. Definitely keep me posted!Speaking of hard to believe: Drew had a vocal solo?!?! I never thought I'd see the day!!! :P
Dad asked about what church is like here. We are divided into branches here, so obviously headed by a Branch President. The branch consists of my zone of 4-5 districts. The callings that we have are more like assignments that are included in our callings as missionaries--in other words, I didn't receive a sustaining nor was I set apart when I became the District Leader. Priesthood is at 9:10AM. The Relief Society meets at an MTC-wide level (10:00) and has their own little devotional-type meeting. Lunch is right before Sacrament at 12:30 and we have a little chapel room in the main building that our branch meets in. One cool thing here is that our Branch President served his mission in Chile, so he knows Spanish. This is important because we get the opportunity to bless the sacrament in Spanish ;) We'll then have our own little district meeting where we take care of announcements and have a lesson, similar to Sunday School. After that is Missionary Directed Time where you can study or head to the temple for pictures out front. Choir practices at 4:15, dinner afterwards, MTC Fireside at 8:00, and then you can watch your choice of 1 out of 4 church films. They rotate every week between "The Testaments", "Legacy", "Joseph Smith", "Mountain of the Lord", and various talks given here at the MTC by general authorities.The Line of Authority works great, Dad, thanks!I haven't heard of an N1H1 vaccine here yet, but I'll keep my ears peeled.Everyone is back and completely healthy from quarantine. We actually got 2 of them back a day or 2 early! It's been nice having everyone together again--our district is so awesome!!!Thanks again for all your love and support. I hope all is well at home. It definitely got cold really fast here, which reminded me of home and how you sent the cold to us ;) I will probably send out my package on Thursday, which I hope I will know a few more traveling/sticking around details by then so that I can inform you.
¡Os amo muchísimo!
-Elder Powell-
October 28, 2009
October 21, 2009
Semana 6
Hola Familia!This is draft 2 of my email home, the email client bugged and lost my draft to you and now I only have 21 minutes instead!!!I laughed when mom mentioned the MTC parody of Hey There Delilah! Yeah, I filmed that one and it went viral quite a few months ago actually. It's cold here as well, but nowhere close to freezing yet! I'm not sure about sending home one of my suitcoats yet, I'll think on it. Felicitaciones con su miembro nuevo! If you're so worried about mental stability, maybe you should be talking to your friends more so that the missionaries can teach some referrals ;) Madre, comeré lo que me envia. Si quiere enviar manzanas, go for it. It doesn't matter to me. Dad, neither I nor any of my district could decipher what you were trying to say when you said ¿Cuál es hasta? Were you trying to say something like "How is it going?" Or were you asking for the meaning of hasta (it's "until" btw)? No visa yet...I'm a little surprised actually, but I'm patient...we'll see what happens. Teaching in Spanish has been going really well! Y sí, he estado ayudando otras personas con español, mas o menos. Jason and Nick, you have an assignment to come up with at least 1 question you have for me about anything you want. I know exactly how curious boys your ages are about everything ;)I finally got to play the piano a bunch this past week for various reasons. It's amazing how out-of-practice I feel after 5 short weeks!I'm not the district leader anymore. Elder Anderson reigns over the district now. It's a little funky only being in charge of my companionship now, but I'm doing fine. Since my district is on a pilot program here at the MTC, we actually lost Hermano McCoy as a teacher and gained a brand-new teacher yesterday. His name is Hermano Chojolan--a little shy and timid, but I think he has a lot to teach us. Our other teacher, Hermano Jackson, will stay with us all the way to the end.I got to thinking the other day: My last name is actually somewhat difficult to say with Spanish pronunciation! :P So I took a couple minutes today and came up with the Spanish way of spelling my last name so that a native would pronounce it as close to an American as possible: Páuel! I thought it was pretty funny looking!That's pretty much it for this week. I'll be starting up teaching lesson 2 in Spanish this week, so a fresh new batch of vocab is coming my way! ¡Tengan una semana buena!Mucho Amor,Elder Powell
Semana 7
Hola Todos,
Thanks for the apples and the pie--super delicioso!
You were curious about a missionary having swine flu............well........3 missionaries were quarantined this past weekend--one Saturday, Sunday, and Monday!!!! Not sure what they had, but it started with a chest cough and led to vomiting. Our whole district is taking 75 mg of Tamiflu a day for 10 days (this morning was pill 2). The church offers (and practically forces upon missionaries close to exposure) the dosage for free through tithing money. The 6 of us that remain are feeling healthy so I think we won't suffer any more losses. We'll start getting people back starting this Thursday, but until then it's going to be quite the unique experience. 2 of the sisters were quarantined so the one remaining sister is a "solo" sister, meaning that her companion is our district, unless she's with a sister from our zone, so her schedule has been pretty interesting. The quarantined elder was in my bedroom so his companion (the district leader) joined my companionship to make it a trio. We're doing fine, no huge struggles going on, it's just a little weird having so few in the district. Hopefully we'll all be over sicknesses by November 2nd!
I've started teaching lesson 2 in Spanish. It's been a little interesting because I have to incorporate the Word of Wisdom into the lesson, which adds even more vocab to learn, but it's been going pretty well. Only 1 more week and I'm in the oldest district!!!Last Tuesday, I attended a devotional with David F. Evans. My love for the Book of Mormon just grew like no other. He made some interesting points, including "How is an investigator going to feel the Spirit and gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon when you give them a 10-minute reading assignment (such as 3 Nephi 11) for a 4+ day waiting period?!" He stressed the importance of using the Book of Mormon in our teachings, to give bigger reading assignments out, and to use the beginning of the Book of Mormon. Your challenge this week: in Preach My Gospel, Chapter 3, Lessons 1-3, there are a bunch of red-lettering headers. Within 1 Nephi, and preferrably in the first like 10 chapters, find a verse/some verses for as many headings as you can. Brother Evans alone pointed out quite a chunk of them in just the first 3 chapters! It seems the Lord intended to place the fundamental basics of the gospel in the beginning of the Book of Mormon, which makes sense, doesn't it?
Speaking of challenges, Nick and Jason still have to meet their challenge from last week ;)My last P-day is next week, so only one more email/letter-writing day from the MTC!!! I guess I should start posting my address down in Argentina:
Argentina Salta Mission
Los Eucaliptus 75
4400 Salta
Salta
Argentina
Double check that for me please. Correct it and me if there's differences. And again, Dearelder.com is going to be a lot better for everyone while I'm in Argentina. I'm not sure what the email situation is going to be like down there (because that would be better than dearelder), but I'll keep everyone posted once I know.Alright, my time is about up.
¡Os amo!-Elder Powell-
Thanks for the apples and the pie--super delicioso!
You were curious about a missionary having swine flu............well........3 missionaries were quarantined this past weekend--one Saturday, Sunday, and Monday!!!! Not sure what they had, but it started with a chest cough and led to vomiting. Our whole district is taking 75 mg of Tamiflu a day for 10 days (this morning was pill 2). The church offers (and practically forces upon missionaries close to exposure) the dosage for free through tithing money. The 6 of us that remain are feeling healthy so I think we won't suffer any more losses. We'll start getting people back starting this Thursday, but until then it's going to be quite the unique experience. 2 of the sisters were quarantined so the one remaining sister is a "solo" sister, meaning that her companion is our district, unless she's with a sister from our zone, so her schedule has been pretty interesting. The quarantined elder was in my bedroom so his companion (the district leader) joined my companionship to make it a trio. We're doing fine, no huge struggles going on, it's just a little weird having so few in the district. Hopefully we'll all be over sicknesses by November 2nd!
I've started teaching lesson 2 in Spanish. It's been a little interesting because I have to incorporate the Word of Wisdom into the lesson, which adds even more vocab to learn, but it's been going pretty well. Only 1 more week and I'm in the oldest district!!!Last Tuesday, I attended a devotional with David F. Evans. My love for the Book of Mormon just grew like no other. He made some interesting points, including "How is an investigator going to feel the Spirit and gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon when you give them a 10-minute reading assignment (such as 3 Nephi 11) for a 4+ day waiting period?!" He stressed the importance of using the Book of Mormon in our teachings, to give bigger reading assignments out, and to use the beginning of the Book of Mormon. Your challenge this week: in Preach My Gospel, Chapter 3, Lessons 1-3, there are a bunch of red-lettering headers. Within 1 Nephi, and preferrably in the first like 10 chapters, find a verse/some verses for as many headings as you can. Brother Evans alone pointed out quite a chunk of them in just the first 3 chapters! It seems the Lord intended to place the fundamental basics of the gospel in the beginning of the Book of Mormon, which makes sense, doesn't it?
Speaking of challenges, Nick and Jason still have to meet their challenge from last week ;)My last P-day is next week, so only one more email/letter-writing day from the MTC!!! I guess I should start posting my address down in Argentina:
Argentina Salta Mission
Los Eucaliptus 75
4400 Salta
Salta
Argentina
Double check that for me please. Correct it and me if there's differences. And again, Dearelder.com is going to be a lot better for everyone while I'm in Argentina. I'm not sure what the email situation is going to be like down there (because that would be better than dearelder), but I'll keep everyone posted once I know.Alright, my time is about up.
¡Os amo!-Elder Powell-
October 6, 2009
MTC week 5
Everyone got a kick out of Nick's shiner! Don't worry, Nick, I showed up to the first day of school with a black eye so I know how it feels.
Conference......wow...I loved it this time around! There were times throughout the whole thing that I thought of you guys. Felicitaciones con el templo en Brigham City! Elder Ballard's talk made me think of Dad. I think I did pretty well in asking all sorts of questions to Dad. I didn't make him pull out the journal though! The whole priesthood session started up a discussion with some from my zone about traditions after priesthood session and I definitely missed having the opportunity to hit the BBQ! I'm sure I'll make up for it in Argentina though! Jeffrey R. Holland is quite the beast at the pulpit. That makes 2 fiery testimonies I've heard from him in the past 2 weeks! Don't forget Elder Robert D. Hales' testimony of God though--He is the one we're aiming for after all, the Book of Mormon is the rod that gets us to the tree ;) I picked out 3 main themes that swam throughout all of the talks: Many of the talks discussed our relationships--more specifically with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and families. We need to have faith and keep the commandments of Heavenly Father. They love us more than we can comprehend. We also need to have a loving bond between our family members. The family is, after all, the central unit of Heavenly Father's plan for us to gain eternal life. Another theme was that trials and challenges will come, but they are meant to be growing opportunities. President Uchtdorf said in Priesthood Session that (paraphrase) "The cold winter will turn into a beautiful spring; I'm optimistic about the future." So obviously, the trials will lighten, just keeping enduring through it with an optimistic attitude and allow Heavenly Father to mold you. A third theme I find is that we need to take care of ourselves the best that we can by forsaking anger, laziness, and temptation while being completely obedient, performing service, keeping virtue, and loving EVERYONE. I know that there were tons more themes throughout conference. What were some of your thoughts?Puedo enseñar en español bien. Sé la doctrina muy bien, pero necesito aprender cómo to address the needs del investigador. It can only get better from here!
It's official, Dad beat me at racquetball :P
Well, it turns out I'm district leader for 1 more week than normal because conference messed with the regular schedule. I'm the senior companion now and I won't be DL after this coming Sunday. It's crazy to think that I'm in the 2nd oldest district now!!!¡Sólomente 3 más semanas!It's definitely getting colder here. There's snow on the tops of the mountains!In other news, I finally played the piano for a solid half hour for the first time on Sunday! Wish I could have more time, but I'm sure I'll get that wish in Argentina.Drew, escribí una carta para contestar su Dearelder. ¡Está en el buzón ahorita!Not much else happened this past week. Just looking forward to a full helping of Spanish this week!¡
Os Amo!-Elder Powell-
Conference......wow...I loved it this time around! There were times throughout the whole thing that I thought of you guys. Felicitaciones con el templo en Brigham City! Elder Ballard's talk made me think of Dad. I think I did pretty well in asking all sorts of questions to Dad. I didn't make him pull out the journal though! The whole priesthood session started up a discussion with some from my zone about traditions after priesthood session and I definitely missed having the opportunity to hit the BBQ! I'm sure I'll make up for it in Argentina though! Jeffrey R. Holland is quite the beast at the pulpit. That makes 2 fiery testimonies I've heard from him in the past 2 weeks! Don't forget Elder Robert D. Hales' testimony of God though--He is the one we're aiming for after all, the Book of Mormon is the rod that gets us to the tree ;) I picked out 3 main themes that swam throughout all of the talks: Many of the talks discussed our relationships--more specifically with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and families. We need to have faith and keep the commandments of Heavenly Father. They love us more than we can comprehend. We also need to have a loving bond between our family members. The family is, after all, the central unit of Heavenly Father's plan for us to gain eternal life. Another theme was that trials and challenges will come, but they are meant to be growing opportunities. President Uchtdorf said in Priesthood Session that (paraphrase) "The cold winter will turn into a beautiful spring; I'm optimistic about the future." So obviously, the trials will lighten, just keeping enduring through it with an optimistic attitude and allow Heavenly Father to mold you. A third theme I find is that we need to take care of ourselves the best that we can by forsaking anger, laziness, and temptation while being completely obedient, performing service, keeping virtue, and loving EVERYONE. I know that there were tons more themes throughout conference. What were some of your thoughts?Puedo enseñar en español bien. Sé la doctrina muy bien, pero necesito aprender cómo to address the needs del investigador. It can only get better from here!
It's official, Dad beat me at racquetball :P
Well, it turns out I'm district leader for 1 more week than normal because conference messed with the regular schedule. I'm the senior companion now and I won't be DL after this coming Sunday. It's crazy to think that I'm in the 2nd oldest district now!!!¡Sólomente 3 más semanas!It's definitely getting colder here. There's snow on the tops of the mountains!In other news, I finally played the piano for a solid half hour for the first time on Sunday! Wish I could have more time, but I'm sure I'll get that wish in Argentina.Drew, escribí una carta para contestar su Dearelder. ¡Está en el buzón ahorita!Not much else happened this past week. Just looking forward to a full helping of Spanish this week!¡
Os Amo!-Elder Powell-
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)