Hannah!
thanks for the funny pictured! I showed them to some of the sisters in my district and they laughed. We have 5 sisters in our district now cuz a new one named Hermana Biggs was added last week. We have ALL the sisters in our zone in our district!
A zone is a large group of missionaries. It is made up of several districts.
A district has about 10 missionaries. There are 5 districts in my zone.
Well its too bad you couldn't see me sing for the Priesthood meeting of General Conference. I was on camera for about 3 whole seconds! It was so cool to be next to that HUGE organ!
Entonces, como esta? Como esta su perro? Yo estoy muy triste por que no peudo jugar con mi perro favorito. Pero esta toto bien.
So how are you? How is your dog? I am very sad because I cant play with my favorite dog. But its all good.
Yo se la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Himos dias es verdedero y jose Smith fur un de Dios. Yo estay muy animado estar un misionero.
I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true and Joseph Smith was a prophet of god. I am very excited to be a missionary.
Well, I LOVE you hermanita!
Love
Tyler
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
October 9th, 2008 (Email)
Hey! Priesthood session was an AMAZING experience. Here's how I managed to get into that choir: Elder Tate, who is now a zone leader along with Elder Jensen, already got to be in the choir for priesthood in April and he wanted to give someone else the opportunity. So one day he walked into class and asked "who wants to be in the choir?" and I jumped on the chance. Since there's so many Elders in the priesthood choir Bro. Brenchley (the choir director) probably didn't remember who I was when Elder Tate and I approached him with the unusual request to have me replace someone in the choir. He asked why Elder Tate was doing this and then he said something I found odd yet foreshadowing: "sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven, correct?" to which we agreed. So of course it turned out later that Bro. Brenchley decided to allow both of us to be in the choir. I definitely had enough experience to be in that choir. It turned out that they chose randomly so there were definitely several very tone-deaf Elders in that choir, but overall I think we sounded great. I TOUCHED THE ORGAN! Not the pipes cuz I was at the very front, but the actual legit organ. And I made eye contact with Elder Holland! It was very strange to watch conference from behind. I tried to find Dad and Grandpa amongst the mass of white shirts and ties and suits but it was impossible. It was like Where's Waldo? Extreme Edition. Well that was a once-in-a-lifetime-gig and I am VERY grateful that Elder Tate gave me the opportunity to experience that. We got to watch the tape of it on Tuesday. Yeah I had a pretty close-up face shot! I knew it would happen cuz the camera was RIGHT IN MY FACE and it made me very self-conscious and nervous. Some people didn't even spot themselves so I feel lucky that I got to have some spotlight. Hey Mom if you want to see it the DVD of Conference should hit distribution centers in a few months. Elder Tate told me it costs like four dollars.
Anyhow GUESS WHAT? I have received the gift of rolling my tongue! It truly is a miracle. My tongue-rolling skills still pale in comparison to others' but I am grateful for what I have. Elder Kemp and I taught lesson 1 en espanol to four little latina girls and an R.M. hermana last night. That was a great experience! I can truly testify that the gift of tongues is real. We've only been here for a month and a week and we can already do so much!
This morning I finally had another chance to go to the temple. I haven't gone for three weeks cuz I had to sacrifice a couple sessions for the choir. I had celestial biscuits and gravy at the temple after the session. It was so amazing. I've also had their celestial waffles and celestial omelettes. So beats the food at the MTC. The MTC food is still doing terrible things to me but I'm coping fine. I don't think I need those pill things cuz I discovered a different and highly effective...medicine...the MTC offers for free: Granola and Life cereal! It's magic! I've gained some weight I think. I'm not sure though cuz I fluctuate so much. Sometimes I'm 127, sometimes I'm 128, sometimes I'm 129... Gym's always after either lunch or dinner so that plus my shoes makes every weight completely inaccurate I'm sure. But still I think something's must've happened.
My district just got flooded with leadership positions. Elders Tate and Jensen are zone leaders, Hermana Choi's the leader of the hermanas(I don't know what that calling's called), and Elder Kemp's our new district leader. I'm senior companion now but that doesn't mean much cuz I've been here just as long as everyone else. It pretty much just means I'm more responsible for planning and making sure Elder Kemp and I are using all our time effectively.
Question: Do I need to have my call letter with me? Everyone else has their's but I don't know what we'd need it for. Do you think you could make a copy of my call and send that to me along with my line of authority? I'm not sure if I have that or not either. Do you remember if I took that with me? If I did I forgot where I put it. I don't have much time to look through my stuff in the room.
Well I'm still doing fine. I'm very very excited to get out of here though. Two months is a long time to be stuck in somewhere so small. It was great to go back to SLC Saturday night. A whole afternoon and evening out of Provo! Hooray! I hope everything's going well with work and school. I LOVE YOU!
Love, Tyler (Elder Lewis)
Anyhow GUESS WHAT? I have received the gift of rolling my tongue! It truly is a miracle. My tongue-rolling skills still pale in comparison to others' but I am grateful for what I have. Elder Kemp and I taught lesson 1 en espanol to four little latina girls and an R.M. hermana last night. That was a great experience! I can truly testify that the gift of tongues is real. We've only been here for a month and a week and we can already do so much!
This morning I finally had another chance to go to the temple. I haven't gone for three weeks cuz I had to sacrifice a couple sessions for the choir. I had celestial biscuits and gravy at the temple after the session. It was so amazing. I've also had their celestial waffles and celestial omelettes. So beats the food at the MTC. The MTC food is still doing terrible things to me but I'm coping fine. I don't think I need those pill things cuz I discovered a different and highly effective...medicine...the MTC offers for free: Granola and Life cereal! It's magic! I've gained some weight I think. I'm not sure though cuz I fluctuate so much. Sometimes I'm 127, sometimes I'm 128, sometimes I'm 129... Gym's always after either lunch or dinner so that plus my shoes makes every weight completely inaccurate I'm sure. But still I think something's must've happened.
My district just got flooded with leadership positions. Elders Tate and Jensen are zone leaders, Hermana Choi's the leader of the hermanas(I don't know what that calling's called), and Elder Kemp's our new district leader. I'm senior companion now but that doesn't mean much cuz I've been here just as long as everyone else. It pretty much just means I'm more responsible for planning and making sure Elder Kemp and I are using all our time effectively.
Question: Do I need to have my call letter with me? Everyone else has their's but I don't know what we'd need it for. Do you think you could make a copy of my call and send that to me along with my line of authority? I'm not sure if I have that or not either. Do you remember if I took that with me? If I did I forgot where I put it. I don't have much time to look through my stuff in the room.
Well I'm still doing fine. I'm very very excited to get out of here though. Two months is a long time to be stuck in somewhere so small. It was great to go back to SLC Saturday night. A whole afternoon and evening out of Provo! Hooray! I hope everything's going well with work and school. I LOVE YOU!
Love, Tyler (Elder Lewis)
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
October 2nd, 2008 Letter
Mom & Dad
Things are going great here at the MTC. Elder Kemp and I are getting along well. We have a unity when we teach and we always feel positive when we use our study time wisely.
There was a fireside on Sunday where this man named Bro. Allen spoke about not doing stupid stuff on your missions. He used examples of things missionaries decided to do the week before: "hey! let's make bombs!", "hey! lets drive 130 km/hr!", " hey! wait over there Elder while I go... do naughty things I don't really want to talk about!" Yeah, apparently Elders make some really dumb moves sometimes. It was an awesome Fireside. Bro. Allen was all hellfire & damnation Isaiah-style. He called out an Elder & a Sister in the audience, pointed at them and condemned them for flirting! So entertaining!
Hey thanks for the package! That was hilarious. I gave Elders Darbro, Clark & Kemp a cup of Flarp each. soon enough the room sounded... well, not much different. Don't be deceived, they all turned into 10-year-olds in a blink of an eye. But the percentage of fart-noises probably only increased by a decimal point. The candy was a hit too. There's probably only a quarter of it left. And of course the cookies are gone. Meanwhile I weight the same. thanks for my retainer/Skousen talk/pictures/ hilarious enveloped television news as well! Much appreciated. I was amused by the letters from my cousins as well. I don't think they comprehend what I'm doing.
At the moment I am drinking a pina-colada flavored Sobe cuz coconut's a natural laxative and I have high hopes it will help me with some personal dilemmas.
I've got to teach my district a lesson about Humility today. I'm going to use the example of the conversion of Saul. It'll be fun.
I only have about 36 pictures on my camera so far. It'll be a little while 'til I send you that SD card. No time, y'know?
I've sent missionaries to several people across the country via the R.C. I thoroughly enjoy the diverse people I get to talk to. Especially the ones from the South. Elder Kemp talked to a guy for 45 minutes! I'm pretty sure that's a record. He taught some Indian man the 1st lesson.
Oh how I miss working in the yard. some people mowed the lawns here this morning and it smelled amazing.
So I had 10 spare minutes when I emailed today, so I take it back; email all you want! I've go time plus Elder Jensen discovered a printer in one of the rooms.
Still working hard. Still doing good.
I Love You!
Love,
Tyler
Things are going great here at the MTC. Elder Kemp and I are getting along well. We have a unity when we teach and we always feel positive when we use our study time wisely.
There was a fireside on Sunday where this man named Bro. Allen spoke about not doing stupid stuff on your missions. He used examples of things missionaries decided to do the week before: "hey! let's make bombs!", "hey! lets drive 130 km/hr!", " hey! wait over there Elder while I go... do naughty things I don't really want to talk about!" Yeah, apparently Elders make some really dumb moves sometimes. It was an awesome Fireside. Bro. Allen was all hellfire & damnation Isaiah-style. He called out an Elder & a Sister in the audience, pointed at them and condemned them for flirting! So entertaining!
Hey thanks for the package! That was hilarious. I gave Elders Darbro, Clark & Kemp a cup of Flarp each. soon enough the room sounded... well, not much different. Don't be deceived, they all turned into 10-year-olds in a blink of an eye. But the percentage of fart-noises probably only increased by a decimal point. The candy was a hit too. There's probably only a quarter of it left. And of course the cookies are gone. Meanwhile I weight the same. thanks for my retainer/Skousen talk/pictures/ hilarious enveloped television news as well! Much appreciated. I was amused by the letters from my cousins as well. I don't think they comprehend what I'm doing.
At the moment I am drinking a pina-colada flavored Sobe cuz coconut's a natural laxative and I have high hopes it will help me with some personal dilemmas.
I've got to teach my district a lesson about Humility today. I'm going to use the example of the conversion of Saul. It'll be fun.
I only have about 36 pictures on my camera so far. It'll be a little while 'til I send you that SD card. No time, y'know?
I've sent missionaries to several people across the country via the R.C. I thoroughly enjoy the diverse people I get to talk to. Especially the ones from the South. Elder Kemp talked to a guy for 45 minutes! I'm pretty sure that's a record. He taught some Indian man the 1st lesson.
Oh how I miss working in the yard. some people mowed the lawns here this morning and it smelled amazing.
So I had 10 spare minutes when I emailed today, so I take it back; email all you want! I've go time plus Elder Jensen discovered a printer in one of the rooms.
Still working hard. Still doing good.
I Love You!
Love,
Tyler
October 2, 2008 Letter to Hannah
Hannah!
Hola hermanita! I heard you've learned how to sing "I Am A Child Of God" en espanol! That's so cool! I have to sing at least 2 Spanish Hymns a day. It's fun! I have a little green Spanish hymn book.
Mom told me Rosie's still being a stinker. I hope she goes back to normal soon. She can't be bad/sad for 2 years!
The MTC's really cool. Remember the huge mountains? I love seeing those every day. One of them looks like Pride Rock off of the Lion King.
So it's true. The food constipates you. I haven't drank any orange juice yet, but all the other food still does strange things to my body. I still weigh the same though. I exercise a lot. I mostly run, but sometimes I play basketball, volleyball and baseball.
There is this Hermana (sister Missionary) in my district named Hermana Choi and she speaks FOUR languages: Korean (she's from Korea), Mandarin (which is a Chinese language), English and Spanish. Isn't that amazing?
Well I'm still doing the same stuff: studying the gospel, practicing teaching the gospel, and learning how to teach the gospel en espanol.
I LOVE YOU!
Love
Tyler
Hola hermanita! I heard you've learned how to sing "I Am A Child Of God" en espanol! That's so cool! I have to sing at least 2 Spanish Hymns a day. It's fun! I have a little green Spanish hymn book.
Mom told me Rosie's still being a stinker. I hope she goes back to normal soon. She can't be bad/sad for 2 years!
The MTC's really cool. Remember the huge mountains? I love seeing those every day. One of them looks like Pride Rock off of the Lion King.
So it's true. The food constipates you. I haven't drank any orange juice yet, but all the other food still does strange things to my body. I still weigh the same though. I exercise a lot. I mostly run, but sometimes I play basketball, volleyball and baseball.
There is this Hermana (sister Missionary) in my district named Hermana Choi and she speaks FOUR languages: Korean (she's from Korea), Mandarin (which is a Chinese language), English and Spanish. Isn't that amazing?
Well I'm still doing the same stuff: studying the gospel, practicing teaching the gospel, and learning how to teach the gospel en espanol.
I LOVE YOU!
Love
Tyler
Thursday, October 2, 2008
October 2, 2008 (Email)
Hey!
Mom & Dad, Thanks for the amazing package! That made my day! The cookies were fantastic! I let one of my teachers, Hermano Pack, borrow "The Meaning of the Atonement" cuz I knew it would probably blow his mind just about as much as it blew mine. And the little updates about The Office and CSI were hilarious! I thought they'd be letters or something so I waited til the end of the day to open them. I showed them to a bunch of the Elders in my zone. Some of them celebrated, some of them scolded me for dropping the news, and some of them looked at me blankly and asked "are Jim and Pam an aunt and uncle or something?" Oh sheltered souls.
Well things are going great with Elder Kemp! We have this unity about us now when we study and when we teach. We've come a long way. We're "tight like unto a dish" now (Ether 2:17). We have the positude. I can't believe I've been here for a month now. It's crazy!! I feel like it's been an eternity yet at the same time I feel like I just got here yesterday. I'm way excited to sing at the Priesthood Session on Saturday. It'll be great to get out of Provo for an entire afternoon and evening. It's going to be weird sitting there knowing that Dad and Grandpa Lewis are in the same building looking at me. It'll be a unique and amazing experience I'm sure. The choir teacher's awesome. His name's Doug Brenchley and he's practically famous. He's been conducting for a couple of decades here I think.
Well my Spanish has definitely improved. I can almost teach the first lesson en espanol now. Last night Elder Kemp and I taught Lesson 2 in English at the TRC and we did pretty good I think. It was probably our smoothest TRC session thus far.
Yeah I'm eating more than salad I promise. This morning for example I had french toast and hard boiled eggs. One day we had stew in a bread bowl. That was awesome.
Well I've gotta wrap this up cuz we're way restriced on time for email but just know that I love you and the church is true!
Love, Tyler
Mom & Dad, Thanks for the amazing package! That made my day! The cookies were fantastic! I let one of my teachers, Hermano Pack, borrow "The Meaning of the Atonement" cuz I knew it would probably blow his mind just about as much as it blew mine. And the little updates about The Office and CSI were hilarious! I thought they'd be letters or something so I waited til the end of the day to open them. I showed them to a bunch of the Elders in my zone. Some of them celebrated, some of them scolded me for dropping the news, and some of them looked at me blankly and asked "are Jim and Pam an aunt and uncle or something?" Oh sheltered souls.
Well things are going great with Elder Kemp! We have this unity about us now when we study and when we teach. We've come a long way. We're "tight like unto a dish" now (Ether 2:17). We have the positude. I can't believe I've been here for a month now. It's crazy!! I feel like it's been an eternity yet at the same time I feel like I just got here yesterday. I'm way excited to sing at the Priesthood Session on Saturday. It'll be great to get out of Provo for an entire afternoon and evening. It's going to be weird sitting there knowing that Dad and Grandpa Lewis are in the same building looking at me. It'll be a unique and amazing experience I'm sure. The choir teacher's awesome. His name's Doug Brenchley and he's practically famous. He's been conducting for a couple of decades here I think.
Well my Spanish has definitely improved. I can almost teach the first lesson en espanol now. Last night Elder Kemp and I taught Lesson 2 in English at the TRC and we did pretty good I think. It was probably our smoothest TRC session thus far.
Yeah I'm eating more than salad I promise. This morning for example I had french toast and hard boiled eggs. One day we had stew in a bread bowl. That was awesome.
Well I've gotta wrap this up cuz we're way restriced on time for email but just know that I love you and the church is true!
Love, Tyler
