Still in the USA...in Provo - week 4

Hello family and friends!

I'm sorry if its a lame letter this week, but nothing really happened. It was a way boring week and we are still here at the MTC so nothing is going on. Some good news though.... The Provo Temple is open again! It's been closed the last 3 weeks for cleaning and what not so today we were able to go to the temple and it was so fun! I missed going to the temple a lot! We are so blessed to have so many temples so close and have an opportunity to feel the Spirit so strongly in the House of the Lord. If only they had a temple in India.. I tried to convince our supervisor for our district to let me call President Funk and see if we could maybe go to the Hong Kong temple or something but he didn't think it was as funny as I did.. Whatevs!

I was thinking the other day and I missed Edward's birthday.. So happy late birthday! Oh and happy 24th of July! Pioneer Day at the MTC is not as fun as you'd think.. The food still sucks and there are no fireworks. However, the devotional on Tuesday night was amazing! We listened to Gary J. Coleman, who is an Emeritus Seventy, and he was like a baby Elder Holland. He kinda yelled at us for like twenty minutes about how important the Book of Mormon is and I just felt so strongly that the Book of Mormon truly is the word of God! Combined with the Bible, it is super scriptures! Haha so the kid that's in most of my pictures wanted me to tell everyone hi! His name is Elder Averett and he is from Springville, Utah and went to Springville High. He is like a small version of me and we have so much fun. We tasted Raspberry shampoo and some Glade (I don't know if Emmie reads this but it reminded me of her) French Vanilla spray, neither of which tasted like they smelled. False advertising at its finest.

We found out this week that we are supposed to take it day-by-day about the visas and when they get here, we will be the first ones to know. They also told us that someone in the higher-ups requested that we don't be reassigned so it looks we are going to be stuck here until the visas get here. LAME! It's so boring all the time. I do get a lot of study time though which is sweet and I totally love all the extra opportunities that I have to study my scriptures and receive personal revelation. It's pretty sweet.

Congratulations Alvey family! Now, I'm going to have to get to know 2 Alvey children instead of one. Oh well that means I'll have another cute little cousin to play with!

So we were playing volleyball at gym a couple days ago and I was wearing my Jordan football shirt and this really tall, buff kid walks over to me and tells me that I looked super familiar. Turns out he played for Davis our senior year and I went against him a few plays! Haha it was totally awesome! He was 1st team all state and commited to BYU before he decided to go on a mission. His name is Elder Hinds. It was super fun to reminisce about football, especially that game, with someone who went to Davis. That was my favorite game to talk about! It was so fun:) haha well.. I'm running out of things to say.. Thanks to Mar-Mar and Hannah Belnap for the letters! Totally cool of you to not forget about me already!

Well, I love you all so much! Thanks for all the love and support! I was reading in Alma 56: 44 and the question that Helaman asks the Stripling Warriors gave me the chills when thinking about it as a missionary..

ello family and friends!

I'm sorry if its a lame letter this week, but nothing really happened. It was a way boring week and we are still here at the MTC so nothing is going on. Some good news though.... The Provo Temple is open again! It's been closed the last 3 weeks for cleaning and what not so today we were able to go to the temple and it was so fun! I missed going to the temple a lot! We are so blessed to have so many temples so close and have an opportunity to feel the Spirit so strongly in the House of the Lord. If only they had a temple in India.. I tried to convince our supervisor for our district to let me call President Funk and see if we could maybe go to the Hong Kong temple or something but he didn't think it was as funny as I did.. Whatevs!

I was thinking the other day and I missed Edward's birthday.. So happy late birthday! Oh and happy 24th of July! Pioneer Day at the MTC is not as fun as you'd think.. The food still sucks and there are no fireworks. However, the devotional on Tuesday night was amazing! We listened to Gary J. Coleman, who is an Emeritus Seventy, and he was like a baby Elder Holland. He kinda yelled at us for like twenty minutes about how important the Book of Mormon is and I just felt so strongly that the Book of Mormon truly is the word of God! Combined with the Bible, it is super scriptures! Haha so the kid that's in most of my pictures wanted me to tell everyone hi! His name is Elder Averett and he is from Springville, Utah and went to Springville High. He is like a small version of me and we have so much fun. We tasted Raspberry shampoo and some Glade (I don't know if Emmie reads this but it reminded me of her) French Vanilla spray, neither of which tasted like they smelled. False advertising at its finest.

We found out this week that we are supposed to take it day-by-day about the visas and when they get here, we will be the first ones to know. They also told us that someone in the higher-ups requested that we don't be reassigned so it looks we are going to be stuck here until the visas get here. LAME! It's so boring all the time. I do get a lot of study time though which is sweet and I totally love all the extra opportunities that I have to study my scriptures and receive personal revelation. It's pretty sweet.

Congratulations Alvey family! Now, I'm going to have to get to know 2 Alvey children instead of one. Oh well that means I'll have another cute little cousin to play with!

So we were playing volleyball at gym a couple days ago and I was wearing my Jordan football shirt and this really tall, buff kid walks over to me and tells me that I looked super familiar. Turns out he played for Davis our senior year and I went against him a few plays! Haha it was totally awesome! He was 1st team all state and commited to BYU before he decided to go on a mission. His name is Elder Hinds. It was super fun to reminisce about football, especially that game, with someone who went to Davis. That was my favorite game to talk about! It was so fun:) haha well.. I'm running out of things to say.. Thanks to Mar-Mar and Hannah Belnap for the letters! Totally cool of you to not forget about me already!

Well, I love you all so much! Thanks for all the love and support! I was reading in Alma 56: 44 and the question that Helaman asks the Stripling Warriors gave me the chills when thinking about it as a missionary..

Love,

Elder Head 

MTC photos...Lookin' Good Elder!!

Wow...week 3 already!!

Hello everyone!

So unfortunately.. This was a little bit of a bummer week.. We were all excited to be missionaries and we were expected to ship out to India on Monday! And then on Friday we had a super secret, India-only mission meeting and they told us that there were things that we had to memorize to tell the passport agents. We were supposed to take our tags off and tell them why we were there. We aren't allowed to say conversion or convert in India though because convert in India means to coerce or force someone to change their ways. They have a bunch of anti-conversion laws, which is weird. But we had that meeting and then we went off for In-Field Orientation where they review everything that we learned and then we broke up for lunch. At lunch, we got the news that all of us were dreading... Our visas didn't come! :( oh it was so sad. The rest of that day was just a drag. We were all sad because we were all pumped to go out and teach and then that dream was dashed.. Oh well. We watched a video on patience by President Uchtdorf and he told us that we must work harder now than ever before because this gives us an opportunity to work even more on becoming the best teachers we can be. So it looks as though we will be here another week.. Which makes me sad but I know that it happened for a reason and that I have some more time to work on being the best vessel for the Spirit ever!

  While it was a sad week, there were definitely some things that made the week better. First off, I got to talk to my wonderful mother on Friday to tell her the bad news! I mean it wasn't the most ideal situation to talk to her but its better than telling her I wanted to go home, right? But they let us call home and I got to hear her voice for the first time in almost three weeks and it was just amazing. I have the best mom in the whole world! I am so glad that she was there to pick up because there was only one other Elder in my district that connected with his parents so that was good.

  Also, I was able to give my first priesthood blessing on Monday night.. That was so crazy!! One of the Sisters in our zone was sick and she really wanted a blessing so my companion anointed the oil and then I gave the blessing. There is something so unnerving about placing my hands on someones head and being a vessel for the Spirit to tell this wonderful sister the things that the Lord wanted her to hear. I opened my mouth and for 5 seconds nothing would come out. And then wham! Words started coming out of my mouth. I don't remember what I said, but after the blessing, she told me that she immediately felt better and comforted by my words. Right after, I felt the Spirit so strongly and I felt the love of my Savior as I reflected on the blessing. The fact that we have the power to help perform miracles is amazing and I feel so lucky to be able to use the priesthood whenever I get the opportunity. It was just an amazing experience.

  Elder Averett, my favorite person in our district, and I have competitions to see who gets the most stuff everyday. We get the most letters and packages and lately, both sides have been slacking slightly as neither of us are getting a multitude of packages and/or letters.. So pick it up and make me the most popular Elder ever! Haha but I'm not promising I'll write everyone back.. I get so bored writing all my letters because I can only do it on P-Day and I do it all in one spurt and I get bored and distracted and yeah. But write and send packages :)

  Also, I get to see Elder Farnworth like everyday and it is so amazing. I love that guy so much! I am so glad that we are able to be here in the MTC and I get to see the changes! He is doing so amazing and he is picking up Spanish so well! Sometimes he forgets that I don't speak Spanish and he talks to me like I do so I just smile pretend like I know what he is saying. I'm pretty sure that this isn't on the DL but he just got made District Leader in his district! He is becoming quite the spiritual giant and its so cool to see!

  My teachers want to be on my email list or have my blog stuff so here are there email addresses: Brother Karsen Yack - karsen.yack@gmail.comand Sister Sili Latu - latu.sili@gmail.com. Sister Latu has a video that she took of us singing and if you ask her for it then she will send it to you and you can put it on the blog and then everyone can hear my amazing singing voice!

  Well, I'm running out of things to say.. The MTC gets pretty boring and all but I love and miss all of you and can't wait to hear from you!

Love,

Elder Head

Visa delayed...sad....Ryan called to tell us....HAPPY!

Today while making a quick lunch between hair clients at 12:27pm ;) my phone rang and the caller ID indicated Provo, UT.  I quickly answered.....on the other end I hear, "Hi mama!"  Oh my.... it was so great to hear Ryan's voice albeit only for 5 timed minutes!!  He then informed me that their visas had been delayed and would be residing in the MTC for another week.  He said that the group was a bit disappointed but they hope to have things in order soon.  He sounds great and said he is really enjoying the MTC and has had many humbling and great experiences.  He does have a bit of a head cold and so being his mom, I would love to run down and take care of him....I will refrain :)
Five minute call from missionary son = a very happy mom!  Love you Ry!

2nd Email :) Missions are great!!

Hello family and friends!

Thank you so much for all the letters and packages that you send! It feels so nice to know that I'm loved! Things here at the MTC are going well. I seriously learn so much here its crazy! We go over a lot of the same stuff, but every time, without fail, I learn something new. So this week, we had to go teach at the TRC (I don't know what the acronym stands for) and we taught two seperate non-members in three days! Now that may seem like not a big deal, but after teaching members exclusively, it was super nerve-racking because we wanted them to have a good experience with the missionaries. Ha we tried our best and it went well! Our best isn't enough but the Spirit works extra hard to make up for what we lack! Speaking of the Spirit, I am constantly uplifted. It may seem like it would be really hard to not think of home while we are here, but we are constantly preoccupied with class or teaching or stressing about teaching and all that good stuff so I don't think home very often. And when we are able to keep our minds focused on spiritual matters, all of the other things seem to not matter as much. Not saying that you guys don't matter, but I have OTHER things to worry about.. So earlier this week we got our travel plans! But we don't know if we have our visas or not... So everyone pray for us to get our visas! But we leave Salt Lake City at 11:05 AM on Monday the 16th. We land in Chicago O'Hara airport at 3:05. At 8:35 PM we fly to London Heathrow and land at 10:00 AM on the 17th. Then at 2:10 that day, we fly for 14 hours to the Bangalore Airport and arrive at 4:30 AM on Wednesday! How crazy is that! After waiting for so long, it is so weird that we are actually leaving to go to India. We have talked about it for so long and its finally about to happen and its so weird! Haha I'm way excited though! It's gonna be so hot and humid and everyone wipes their butt with their hand.. But I'm so excited! It is literally going to be an adventure.

So there was a talk that we listened to Sunday night and then we went to this movie and my companion, Elder Hyer, wanted to go listen to a talk given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland back in 2006. We decided to go and Elder Averett and Elder Pierce (who is black, weird right?) decided to go with us so half our district went. We got there and the video started and the first thing that Elder Holland says that he hasn't prepared anything and that he is going to go entirely by the Spirit. And then he gave the best pump-up mission talk I have ever heard. It was titled, "Missions are forever." It was amazing! He told us that we are apostles with a lowercase "a." It was so cool! and then he told us that as missionaries, we are supposed to struggle on our missions but we can't go home. That was so cool! Sorry Mom.. An Apostle of the Lord said I can't go home early... ;) haha but then he told us to be happy in all that accompanies our mission. Naturally, I have a few concerns about going to a place as weird as India, but if I go being happy with all of it, it will be one of the greatest experiences of my life. What a promise! Anyway.. He continued and then he quoted a chapter of the Book of Mormon that I have been in love with lately. It's Helaman Ch. 5 and everyone should read it because it's so good! He then told us that as missionaries, we need to be bold and go out and astonish somebody. That really touched my heart. By this point I wanted to jump on a plane right then and fly to India and convert the whole country! And then he told us to teach with power and authority. We have been given power and authority to act in God's name and we need to use that power and authority to teach as many people as possible. Then, he answered a question that I had been wondering myself for a few days. Why are missions so hard? The reason its hard is because salvation is not a cheap experience. To become like the Savior, we need to struggle as He did. He then said that every mission is tough, but with faith, anything is possible! I love the gospel and the Apostles and the Spirit so much! It can turn a bad day into a good day so fast!

A quick thank you to the Osborne family for the wonderful treats they sent me. My district enjoyed them more than I did.. Haha and mom! I need you to send me some Tide-To-Go-Sticks, butt wipes so I don't have to wipe with my hand, batteries, some more zip-ties, and maybe a power inverter? They said that I might need one. I don't know. Don't get mad at me.

I got a hair cut today! She wasn't near as good as you Mom but she is the next best haircutter that I have ever had!

I love you all! Write me letters so I can look cool in front of my district when I get more letters than them.

Elder Head

Finally.....It's Here!! The 1st Letter :)

Hello everyone!! Sorry it took so long to write.. Our P-Day isn't until Wednesday! I was worried on Tuesday that Mom would show up to the MTC when she didn't get a letter or email on Monday and when Tuesday passed I kept expecting to wake up to the PA asking me to come to the front desk and Mom would be there waiting fro me to ask why I hadn't written yet. Thanks for being patient :) haha! So the MTC is great. The Spirit here is just off the charts. Everywhere I go, I feel the Spirit. It is so crazy! The first weekend was nuts! I have never been so busy! Our set schedule keeps us constantly moving and learning and doesn't allow for a ton of free time. I put some letters in the mail and you should get those soon hopefully. That's so cool about the missionaries. I've met a ton of missionaries that are headed for Russia that totally hate the MTC because I guess learning Russian sucks. Everything came along well the first few days and then they threw us into the refiners fire. We have to go in to teach mock investigators with a simple plan that is outlined in Preach my Gospel as the first lesson. However, we aren't necessarily supposed to teach from the lesson, but to find out what each investigator needs. That sounds so simple but it really is rather difficult. On Wednesday, I got my first two companions. Yes, I started out in a trio. It was actually a really rocky first two days because the other two in the companionship don't really get along and then they both bugged me so we were in a conundrum. Thankfully, our branch president, his name is President Myers, decided to split up the trios because we had two and then a companionship of two. So I got moved from the trio and Elder Hyer and I began our companionship. Elder Hyer is from Las Vegas, or Henderson as I came to know, and he is 19. He's a really nice guy and he's funny and cool, but he is slightly nerdy. But I can deal with that. He is a really nice guy and loves to constantly read his scriptures and ponder them and then quiz me about them and tell me about them. So I'm learning a lot from him about dilligent scripture study. We have taught 7 or 8 lessons all with mixed results. Our less active's lesson went AMAZING and then later that day we met with a mock investigator man named Anthony. Anthony doesn't believe that God exists and doesn't know anything about Christ or what he did for us. He's a super great guy, but he frustrates me beyond belief because he won't do anything to know for himself that these things are true. It kills me and makes me angry, but that's one of the Christ-like attributes that I need to work on. We took an attribute assessment to determine which Christ-like Attributes we really need to work on.. Mine were: dilligence, patience, charity, and humility. Surprised? Because I sure wasn't. I kind of had an inkling that that is what was going to show up. Elder Hyer and I prayed for help on all of those things and he answered humility and is trying to answer patience. I felt so humbled after our experience with Anthony. We have 8 Elders in our district and we are ALL going to India! Six of us are going to Bangalore and the rest are going to New Delhi. I really enjoy being with them. They are all great guys and we all get along pretty well except for the two who were my original companions. They don't work together well and argue a lot. They need to talk some things out for sure.. We had such a spiritual experience on Sunday though! Ted Gibbons spoke at our Sunday night devotional and he did a one-man skit. He played as Willard Richards and discussed with us completely from memory, the Prophet Joseph Smith's last few months on the Earth. At the end, he bore an amazing testimony of the Prophet and the Spirit was so strong. Then we sang Praise to the Man. As we sang, some Elders stood up and then everyone followed suit. As we sang a simple testimony of the work that the Prophet Joseph did for this dispensation,  the organist started getting really into it and we were basically yelling the lyrics of the song. I had the chills the whole time and I had tears come to my eyes. I love the MTC. It is really difficult and challenging but there is no place that I would rather be. Heavenly Father is preparing 8 young men to become Elders and travel to India and he is not making it easy. I love my Heavenly Father so much for the opportunities that he gives me and for the wonderful family that he blessed me with. I love you all so much!

Love, Elder Head

Oh and the food here is disgusting and I don't like it.  Also, I would really appreciate a comb. Thanks! :)

Ummm.....Elder, where art thou?? ;)

So Ryan has been down in the MTC for 5 days, 23 hrs, 51 mins and 34 secs :) not that we are keeping track...well apparently he doesn't have a p-day as we still haven't heard from the cute little guy!
Every time my email alert went off on my phone yesterday I thought, "yay...here's the first letter...",  but sadly nothing.  As you can imagine, I am thinking that perhaps Ryan isn't really there....maybe he's opted to live in a van down by the Provo River!  Well we got a phone call last night from bishop asking if we'd read Elder Farnworth's latest blog post.  We hadn't but then quickly looked it up!  Alas....there has been a Ryan sighting!!  He is really down there and Zac has talked to him!  So happy to read about this and yes, we are still patiently waiting for his "first letter".  For the love...please let his p-day come soon!
Love you Ryan!