MTC Life- Elder B.

Family and Friends,

Well another week down!  Time is flying by now.  

Wow, I don't even know what to say about the letter blitz!!! It was amazing.  I counted 32 different people sending me messages (kids like Kaden included) and they filled up 12 letters.  Dear Elder puts more then one letter on each page to save paper/room and even put some on the back of the pages.  Let's just say our mailbox was way full.  I don't think that it could fit anymore in it.  I don't think I will be able to write everyone back...but it was good to hear from you.

We had Elder Russel M. Nelson come and talk at our fireside on Tuesday. A lot of good stuff to pull out of his talk about obedience and how to be a better missionary-- contacting investigators and having follow-up appointments.

Reading McKay's letter was crazy!  I sure hope that he can survive the two years.....having people wave guns at you is not very safe.  I'm glad he had the courage to rebuke the guy though.  I'm sure it was for the best and it took the kids out of danger.

I am starting to pick up on a tad bit more Spanish.  I can usually understand most of what our teachers and investigators are saying but don't know how to form my own words to speak back to them.  Sometimes all I can do is nod my head yes and say "si si."  I can speak simply and slowly my vocabulary is expanding.    I love some of the challenges that our teachers are giving us as "investigators" though.  One of them is a man named Eric who doesn't believe in God at all.  Thinking of a way to teach a man who doesn't believe in God and doesn't really want to change and believe is definitely a challenge.  It makes me think though and challenge myself.  I LOVE IT.

Let me know how Corey did at state track.  Saturday was perfect weather for state track.  Also let me know how Daniel did at regionals in Oregon.

Other than that, not too much to report that is new.  Life continues at the MTC.  I'm learning tons and loving it!


All the best,
Elder Howell

Transfer 2- Week 1 (Elder M.)

Hola!

Wow, what a week!  This mission stuff is crazy awesome!  The gnats and the heat are killer though and it's only just beginning.  Summer should be fun...  (I am getting much more tan though!)

First off, Georgia is the best - people feed us everywhere we go!  =D  However, I think they must have all gotten together and decided that this week they would all feed us the same thing because I have never had so many baked beans and pulled pork sandwiches in my life!  Lol, I think I counted 6 plates of baked beans and 7 pork sandwhiches this week - all from different people!  It's a good thing I like baked beans...

We found some SWEET families this week!  One guy we are working with is a Methodist minister, but he's really curious and always has the most perfect questions for us.  He asked his head pastor whether it was ok to continue meeting with us and his pastor told him that he knew this man was strong enough in the faith that he wouldn't be pulled off into anything untrue and to do what his heart told him.  (Kaching!)  Lots of fun.  We also tracked into John a few nights ago and shared with him a few verses from the BoM.  WHAM!!!  The Spirit clobbered him hard and he has taken to reading it and really wants to know for himself.  We had a second evening with him over the weekend and he asked for a second copy to give to his son.  We are hoping to be able to meet with the whole family here soon, but John is really loving the Book of Mormon and especially Moroni's promise at the end. He is a Sunday school teacher and outreach minister for his Episcopalean congregation and he says it frustrates him a lot of times when people take everything their pastor or teacher (himself) says as truth without ever going to God themselves and finding out for sure!  (YES!)  I love that man!  His 14 year old is super into calculus and engineering stuff as well so we have some fun times.

Hmmm, what else....ah, yes!  Story time. So Saturday we met with an old guy that hasn't been visited in quite a while.  He's dying of cancer, but my goodness, he definitely needs the gospel of Christ!  (To set the scene, he lives in a trailer park, smokes up a storm, and was watching the neighbor kids while their mom was away.) While we were chatting, he suddenly up and tells us that he has mystical powers that came to him from God (passed through his grandfather) that allow him to heat things up (whatever that meant??).  My companion and I look at each other and then back at him. I guess he read the skepticism in our eyes because he decided to demonstrate.  He rubbed his hands together, said a silent little prayer, then held his palm a few inches over my arm and asked if I could feel a burning sensation.  ...Nothing.  He waived it off and said it was because I didn't have God in my heart and then told my companion he would heat up a penny for him instead. Again nothing.  We decided not to press it because he suddenly became very distracted with getting us bags of peanuts.  I would have just continued trying to share some of the good word with him, but at that point one of the kids did something to upset him (feeding the cat to much) and he started shouting up a storm and threatening him. He then pulled a gun off the shelf and started waving it around. By that point, it had gone too far, so I stood up and rebuked him (a bit nervously as he had a gun and was pretty riled up) but he got the point and calmed down. We left soon after that, but we are hoping that maybe searching out God for the first time in his life will change him around a lot.

Life is definitely exciting in Brunswick.  :)

Well, enough of my week. Thanks for the updates!  It was good to hear how the family is doing!  I'm sorry that your week also had to be "interesting", Mom. Finding a dead body in an apartment does not sound like a happy experience.  The rain should definitely help the crops in Utah grow well this year though. Did you put in as many potatoes as last year?  Tell Daniel that I am expecting exciting news from him next week about shaving 10 seconds off his time!!!  Lol, or at least 3 seconds...  I know what he's going through with the lonely summer in Logan - not much happens during those months without anyone around. Last summer was pretty good in Hillside with both of us there on weekends though.  Lol, the mail blitz for Benj sounds like a blast!  I bet the mailboxes in the MTC can't even fit that much mail!  Grandpa, thanks for the update on Crystal's wedding. It sounds like you had quite the crowd turn out for that. Brandt sounds like a wonderful guy - hopefully I'll meet him sometime at one of our reunions. Good luck with your summer classes!

My legs haven't bulked up yet, but, they are definitely stronger and should be bulked out by the time I leave this place!  We ride 20+ miles a day - my mountain bike definitely requires more work than Turner's road bike!  I might have to swap out sometime in the future.

Photos this week:

I've never seen a speed "hump" so well warned and marked.

Who's that in the Lover's Oak???  Yeah, that tree is huge!  ...and it's right in the middle of an intersection.

Love ya'll

Elder Awesome

Elder B. Howell

Family and Friends,

First off, thank you for the packages.  I received both -- the one from my mom as well as one from Sheena.  I now have a full drawer in my room just for candy and food!  What more can a teenage boy ask for?

Well I got past one week at the MTC....only 8 more to go.   I have only been here a week but already the days are blurring together.  There is no difference in day to day life.  Sometimes the schedule changes around and your class will be at a different time, but that is just about it.  The food here is pretty bad, most likely because I was raised on my mothers awesome food and nothing can top that.  As McKay said before, I am really thankful to have salad/salad wraps here -- they have saved me many a time from going hungry.   My companion (Elder Lanier) never eats much so our meals are very fast.  With him not eating I have to eat less also so we can get done at the same time.  Even with eating less than at home and having gym time 5 times a week, I think I still gained about two pounds this first week.  Not good.   Elder Lanier is the district leader so he has a little bit more on his plate then I have on mine.  Even with a couple of hours a day that I have to study, what I want I feel like I don't have time to get it all done.

The MTC is more mental then anything else.  I am always tired and get headaches fast in here.  Spanish has kind of hit a stop for the past couple of days.  I feel like a haven't gotten much better.  Before that I felt like I was learning it pretty well.  I guess it has only been one week and I shouldn't be too hard on myself, it will come with time.  One of my teachers has started his "investigator" roll playing -- a man that doesn't speak any English.  This makes it pretty hard to teach a lesson when I only have a 30 word vocabulary.  And then he just rambles off on some Spanish that my companion and I can't understand and we just have to nod our heads and try and understand.  Let's just say that right now the English lessons go a bit smoother.

We have had some fun in here.  My district really gets along well with each other, sometimes I almost think too well and we need to get back on track with the work.  Elder Jackson from Colorado brought a whole suitcase full of Mountain Dew with him.  We guessed it was about 70 pounds of Dew.  It doesn't really matter to me if he has it because I don't drink it.  The other Elders are just loving it.

We had a zone game night for the last half hour of the day one night and played signs....yes, maybe not the most spiritual thing you can do with your time, but you need a time to just have fun here.

Sundays are a little more relaxed here.  We have some personal time.  And we have a time to take a temple walk.  Just a great time to get out of the classroom.  Our district is great, but staying in a 10x15 foot classroom with 11 other people can get old and it's nice to get out and stretch your legs.   Also on Sundays and Tuesday we have firesides.  This past week we had Cecil O. Samuelson and Richard G. Hinckely.  Both amazing speakers.

P-days will be on Thursdays while I am at the MTC.  I will be able to go to the temple and write all my letters on that day.

Gym time is the thing keeping me sane here.  I don't have to be right by my companion during that time -- just in the same building.  So I get to run around the track by myself...because nobody else runs!  I have also taken up some weight lifting, something I have never been into, but I can already tell the difference in strength.  So when I come out of the MTC, I may be fatter but my arms will be bigger!!! hahah.  Well I have to go, time is almost out.

Thank you for all the support from everyone
Elder Howell

Love From Home!

Aligator Snapping Turtle

Hi Mom!

 

I am happily in Brunswick, Georgia and having a blast!  Here in another month, the Macon, GA mission is being dissolved and we get a large chunk of that that will include more of Georgia and some of South Carolina. I'm thinkin it would be fun to be called to Florida and end up serving in three different states...

 

Anyway, here's my new mailing address for those of you who like to write snail mail:

 

Elder McKay Howell

111 Redbud Court

Brunswick, GA  31520

 

Sawgrass Hole #17

On Tuesday, I was emergency transferred from St. John's county south of Jacksonville, up to Georgia.  The day before we left, a bunch of us went to the TPC Sawgrass golf course for P-day and watched the professional practice round before last week's large game. It was pretty fun! I was tempted to take up my own golf clubs and head out to try my hand.  =)  I have attached a photo of the famous hole 17 where the golfers have to tee off across a lake and land the ball on the green on the island. We did get to try our hand with a downsized replica  of the hole that they had built in one of the buildings there - one of my balls landed in the lake and the other bounced off the far side of the island.

 

TPC Sawgrass

 



Elder Turner



My new companion is Elder Turner from Draper, UT.  He is what I would call an extreme sports enthusiast and especially loves skiing. His birthday is today, so we celebrated by waking him up this morning and cooking shrimp for lunch. We definitely have different personalities, but as long as we are staying focused on proselyting and mission related work, everything stays ok. The evenings when we turn in are a different story.... Lol.  It's kind of nice not to be in a trio though - I finally have some closet space!

 

Once again, I am living with the Zone Leaders of the Kingsland Zone. One of them had a band back at home and loves singing with me. We already did a hymn together during a baptismal service yesterday afternoon. So much fun! He has a audio recorder and records us when we sing in the mornings.  Lol, maybe we should put out an album...

 

Downtown Brunswick

So Brunswick is an interesting place.  We have a paper mill and a sewage processing plant right here in town and we get some interesting wind blowing around at times. The sand gnats are also killer.  My companion has scars all up and down his arms from where the gnats attacked him when he didn't have bug spray on.  I can't even imagine what it would have been like to live here 150 years ago when brug spray and enclosed travel had not yet been invented.



My companion and I are also on bikes!  My first day here, we went and picked up a bike for me and hit the roads in mid 90s heat!  Talk about sweating!  I don't think I have ever lost so much water in my life!  Lol, that and I was totally out of biking shape - my legs and groin killed for the next few days.  Thankfully, I am used to it now.  I anticipate my legs will be pure muscle before leaving this place.

 

Hmmm, have I mentioned how there is this curious phenomenon here known as the SOUTHERN ACCENT??!  Yep, some people are just impossible to understand. Are we sure this is actually English that is taught in the schools in the South?  Haha, ok, for the most part it isn't too bad, but when we visit the ghettos and a lot of the black families, I have to pay particular attention to my listening skills.  Oh yes, that's another thing; the ghettos are really fun. We went and saw a new investigator named Spanky the other day, but he was high on marijuana (rolled from the title page of the BoM we'd previously left with him) so we tracted the street around him. About half the houses had bullet holes in them.  In one window alone I counted 6 bullet holes. It really comes alive in the evening though and we get to talk to a lot of people in those areas of Brunswick.

 

On Saturday a thunderstorm rolled through.  The other elders here have cars, so they were out and about, but Elder Turner and I stayed in till about noon doing paper work, etc until we couldn' t put it off anymore and headed out into the rain on our bikes.  I was drenched within a matter of seconds. We had been out and about for about 3 hours and my companion was becoming very surly about the situation when all of a sudden I found some humor in the situation and just started laughing uncontrollably.  There we were, dripping from head to toe, biking through a thunderstorm, while hot, humid, and very stinky (from the paper factory chemicals) rain drenched us.  We did find a miracle that day though - we paused under an overpass while lightning went overhead and a guy stopped his car and talked with us for a while. He took a Book of Mormon and we should be able to meet with him later this week too.

 

The members here feed us well!  If it weren't for the bikes, I KNOW I would gain a lot of weight.  I think members have invited us over every single evening for the upcoming week, so at least you and Chantel don't have to worry about me starving or getting any skinnier.

 

It was good to see that Benji made it to the MTC and is already enjoying his Spanish with gusto!  Bwahahaha!  There are a lot of Spanish speakers here though and I have all the materials, so maybe I'll pick some of it up during this transfer. I didn't get to see his photos of May 4th Star Wars day though, that would have been a blast!  It sounds like both Alecia and Daniel deserve congratulations this week for doing well with school and running in the WAC.  I guess this wraps up the semester for both of them.  It sounds like a successful week for Jacob as well with the selling - 6 systems! Good luck with your summers! 

 

Well, time to go finish cleaning the apartment and putting a new tube in my tire (I popped it twice in the first week).

 

Love ya'll!

 

Elder M. Howell 

 (to differentiate from the other  Elder Howell =P )

Cool Flower






St. Johns Apartment







Week #1 For Elder Ben

Mi Familia,

Wow, what can I say....mission life is crazy!  They really do just toss you right in here.  I entered my classroom about 20 minutes after you dropped me off and the teacher started to talk to me in Spanish!  The name tag may be in Spanish but that doesn't mean I understand it.  Hopefully I'll learn fast!

The first couple of days here seemed like an eternity....by the end of the first day (like 7 hours) I felt like I had been here at least a week!  And the second day was no better.  Most of the missionaries that have been here for a couple weeks say that if you make it past Sunday then the days start to pick up.  Its only Saturday but I think the time is already picking up.  Things are running smoother and we basically know our schedule.  I guess the weeks start to feel like days if you stay in here long enough. 

The first day we met our companions.  My companion is Elder Lanier from Minnesota.  Elder Lanier will be serving in the Tempe Arizona mission.  He has been out here for about a year though going to school at the UVU campus.  Really neat guy and we work pretty well together.  Funny story about Elder Lanier....His parents just moved to Scottsdale AZ about three months ago!  I guess he will just be able to bike home at the end of his mission :) 

The rest of my district is:     Elder Jensen from Richfield, Utah 
                                           Elder Richards from Washington D.C.
                                           Elder Stevenson from Tremonton, Utah
                                           Elder Powell from Arizona
                                           Elder Archer from California
                                           Elder Jackson from Colorado
                                           Sister Naumann from Layton
                                           Sister Hickman form Nebraska
                                           Sister Osborn from Provo, Utah

Luckily I have a really mature district.  These Elders don't act like 19 year olds which is amazing for me!  Staying in a 10x15 foot room with immature people for 9 hours a day could get old fast. Hahah

Friday we really dived into the Spanish side of things.  We learned how to pray in Spanish and then were told to try and not pray in English for the rest of the time in the MTC.  Talk about a shock.  Most of my prayers (that aren't personal morning and night prayers) will be really repetitive until I learn some more words.  Our teachers will be doing a progressive investigator roll play with us for practice.  Elder Lanier and I actually work pretty well together and I thought we taught the first lesson pretty nicely.  I'm supposed to have and teach the first lesson in Spanish on Tuesday.  I think already I have expanded my Spanish vocabulary by about 500% in the first two days.  The Hermanas seem to pick up on the Spanish a bit faster then the Elders.  I think part of it is Hermana Hickman already knows a little Spanish and is helping the other two out....or they are just smarter.

For you people that are sending Dear Elders keep it up!!!  It is always good to hear from the outside world and what is happening in your lives.  My district has started calling me the "Letter King" because the first two days here I got 9 letters!  Keep it up!

Mom, if you could call Elder Martin for me about a bike that would be great.  And I will also need some flash cards for writing Spanish words/phrases on.  Thank you!  Sheena, I'm glad to get your letters.  I actually mailed you a letter today.  Be looking for it.  Alecia, it is crazy that you are moving so soon.  Have fun in AZ.  McKay, thank you for the advice letter.  I will implement it.

Well time is running out for me.  I have to go.

With love,
Elder Howell

 

Post Mother's Day

So I think I told you all of my exciting adventures yesterday, but for Jake and Jaclyn, yes, I am getting transferred tomorrow sometime into Brunswick, Georgia.  Which is pretty intense since I've only been out here three weeks, but I'm pretty excited for it. I may even pick up the real southern accent once I'm out of suburban Florida!

Interesting stories of the week not shared yesterday:

• I have learned of the principle of Revelation by Shower.  Elder Summers was in the shower the other day and came down shouting that he had received the gift of tongues in the shower and rattled off his testimony in Spanish. Lol, it turns out he had memorized it in Spanish before coming out, but he had us all going for several minutes. We do have a guy in our ward though who told us a story of a vision that he had in the shower months and months ago regarding his son that is now coming true....
• One of the other elders I live with is Elder Schuyler (sounds like Skyler). He's a native american guy who grew up on the La Push (??) indian reservation in.....(drumroll please).....FORKS, WASHINGTON!!!  Lol, any Twilight fans out there?  Yep, I'm living with one of those studly indian werewolf guys!  =D
• You already know about my new shower buddy. Photo attached.
• We had a huge fire a few miles from where I live. Fire danger is at high right now until the summer rains begin.
• Florida rain storms are wild!  I honestly feel like putting on scuba diving gear and flippers to go out in it!  One second it is all dry (relatively) and then sprinkle sprinkle WHAMM!  It's like a wall of water descending from heaven or a very large bucket of water being turned upside down.  Can't wait for rainy season...an umbrella can only do so much though and I'll be getting soaked with or without one.
• Photo of the week:  My fun, new, cozy shower buddy!!!   ....after he got taped to the wall and couldn't sting us.
  
  
  I love you all!
  Elder Awesome
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Week....something

Hey Ya'll!

 

Yep, that's right; this may not be the "true" south, but people still say "ya'll" and it's catching on.  So much more useable than "you guys" like we use out west.  :)

Well, I am currently sitting in a dentist's office while my companions get their teeth worked on and I didn't think to bring my camera, so unfortunately, I can't send you any photos of this week. It was kind of a slow week though. We had a lot of work in building our investigators and contacts pool (ie. referrals and tracting galore), but the number of actual lessons was minimal. Some sweet people are popping up though!  I'm excited for the next few weeks here in St. Johns county.

 

So get this. While going through the area book, we found the name of this less active woman who lives in one of the remote parts of our area out by the St. Johns river (gorgeous gorgeous country area!). We ended up out there a few days later and decided to drop by and get to know her. Turns out, she joined the church with her family in her teens, but kind of forgot all about it when she left home and hasn't been contacted by or heard from anyone in the church in over 30 years!!!  We have had some sweet lessons with her over the past week and she is now actively reading and praying again and is full of questions.  She's also one of the nicest people I've ever met.  Lol, only downside is that being so close to the river, we are nearly always swarmed with bugs when we meet her.

 

Second miracle, somewhat similar. We were smacting (smart tracting) around a member's home and decided to head way up the street to contact one at the very end near a golf course. We knock the door and catch the guy just before he's about to go jogging. He immediately recognizes us and says "hey elders!"  We look at each other and say, "have you talked with missionaries before?"  He says, "No, I used to be Mormon years and years ago in Salt Lake City, but I haven't seen any of them since moving out of Utah when I was a teenager."  Turns out that was over 20 years ago. He's now married to a Jewish lady, but he still considers himself to be a "non-practicing Mormon" and we have great hopes of getting in future lessons with them and reaching the wife through him.

 

The best part about this missionary work though, is when we get to meet with people who are really hurting and who recognize the need for Christ. We talked with one guy last night who hit rock bottom and has no where else to go.  Life has pretty much fallen apart for him and he has been desperately seeking something, anything to give him some light and peace in life. My companions and I were out with a member kid (Chris Taylor, leaves on his mission in August. You'll probably hear more about him in the future - he's always with us.) when we ran into this guy, Zach. We spent two hours with him and overshot our curfew, but man, the Spirit was there and it was powerful!  Zach lached onto the gospel like a drowning man gasps for air and we had some very powerful prayers, testimony, tears, and a blessing left with him. P.S.  the Book of Mormon and scriptures have POWER to bring the Spirit in!  I love being in the midst of this!

 

Happy upcoming Mothers Day!!!  I will call between 4:30-5:00pm your time (MDT) on Sunday. I'm not sure where I'll be yet, so I'll have to call you. I'm super excited for Benjamin, though!  Hopefully you are okay with having that as a mother's day gift - one son calling in and another about to leave. Good luck with the MTC, Ben - stick it out and don't go crazy!  The field is totally worth what you'll have to put up with in there.  =P  The cafeteria is pretty sweet though and they do have some pretty sweet firesides...

 

Sounds like it has been a busy family week. Congrats Keith, almost-there congrats to Crystal, and it sounds like Matt had a blast with dance. Keep it up, Matt, I expect to be competing against you in a few years!  :)

 

1. So another interesting story. My companion, Elder Summers, has been striving to find a specific family referred to him by some friends in Idaho before he came out here. He's been at it for 9 months, and is so very close. We have an address for the Novak family, but they are never home when we stop by. The problem is that the address is out of our specific area, but is right next to ours. So we got permission to "poach" this possible contact and they took me with them for the first time this weekend to try contacting them again. They weren't home, but I did get to see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time since being here as the address is right on the beach!  I snagged some fun photos of us near the beach with waves in the background (we are forbidden from actually going on the beach).

2. There are some awesome fruits here. My favorite is kumquats - hopefully that was spelled right. They are tiny and orange and we eat them whole - skin and all. They are kind of like a cross between a lemon and an orange in flavor. Very tart and tangy, but with a hint of sweetness. I want to make a smoothie with them.   There are also the world's largest lemons out here.  Honestly, I think these things are almost as big as my head.  Lol, apparently the skins are very very thick though. I haven't had an opportunity to make lemonade out of one yet.

3. Since my vegetarianism status is kinda on hold for a couple of years, my companions have been having fun introducing me to new things. For instance, we had chicken wings for the first time this week. They got a great hoot out of the fact that I was trying to use a fork to eat my wings nicely and then had to demonstrate how we have to revert millions of years to caveman status and devour a wing with your face while the barbeque sauce drips off your chin.  Lol, I still preferred the fork, but it was kinda fun to have "caveman" lessons.  =D

4. 93 degrees on Sunday - probably close to 100% humidity. Tracting while fasting really blows in that heat. Good thing we can wear short sleeves. I probably drank a gallon of water in the first 20 minutes after the fast ended.  I think I'd rather be here than in Manti with the snow though. We get some pretty sweet ocean breezes coming off the Atlantic.

 

Well, time is just about up again.  Love ya'll!

 

Elder Howell



The Elders Golfing



A flower

A windy picture

The "forbidden" beach

more beach...

A Kumquat