Week One - 6/12/13
Dear Family,
Well, I survived one week at the MTC. It's been crazy, to put it lightly. The days here are packed from 6:30 am-10:30 pm with things that they have us do. My typical day here goes something like this: we wake up at 6:30 & arrive at our classroom by 7:00 for an hour of personal study. We then have breakfast for 45 minutes & return to the classroom for three hours of language study. After language study we have an hour for companionship study. After that, we have lunch for 45 minutes & return to the classroom for an hour of personal language study. Following that, we have another three hours of language study/companion study/teach an investigator in a language that I can't even speak. Following that, we have what is called Technology Assisted Language Learning (TALL), it is a program on the computer to help you learn words & phrases in Cebuano. We then have dinner for 45 minutes & then we go back to our residence to get ready for an hour of gym time. It's great to run & play some ball to get my frustration with the language out. We then go back for an hour of personal study time & are in bed by 9:30-10:00 pm. The days here are rough. They are incredibly tougher than I anticipated them to be & in all honestly it is extremely overwhelming. I miss you all, I miss my friends, I miss how easy everything is back home, & most of all I miss my music! It's only been a week, though it feels like it has been so much longer, & I am already having withdrawals from not having & playing my music. I have resorted to writing down lyrics of songs in my notebook because that is the closest to listening to them that I can get. As I write them down, I sing them in my head & it makes me feel better/miss it more. I like gym because sometimes I will just go run outside by myself & it is literally then only time that I am not with someone throughout every second of the day. In five short (long) weeks I'will be in Cebu.
My companion's name is Elder Uata. He is from Provo & he is a really good guy. I've gotten to know him & it has been nice. He is extremely outgoing & at times is overwhelming because I am not like that whatsoever. I think it's good though, because we balance each other out. My district is awesome & I am convinced that there is no better district in the entire MTC. There is Elder Adair, from Springville, & his companion Elder Painchaud (Pen-shoe). He is a French-Canadian & is hilarious. He sometimes has trouble with English & I can't imagine how he is trying to learn both English & Cebuano. He is pretty good at English, there are just sometimes a few words he hasn't heard. There are three Sister companions: Sister Adasme (Iowa) and Sister Lercher (Utah). I told Sister Adasme that you were from Iowa but I couldn't remember where exactly. Was it Des Moines? There is also Sister Forbush (Utah) and Sister Pickett (Las Vegas), and Sister Simkins (Utah) & Sister Doud (Utah). There are all great. I'm the only one from Southern Utah, the rest are from somewhere up North. They are all extremely extroverted & at times it gets a littler crazy for me, but I think they are all very fun. Elder Uata sometimes gets mad at me because I don't say much. I'm sure just as he drives me crazy sometimes with his extreme personality, I drive him crazy with my introverted one. Oh well, there are plenty of outgoing people in our district & he has no trouble whatsoever keeping a conversation going with one or all of them.
I hope all is well back home. I miss Krue, Axzelle, & Daxton like crazy. Give them so many kisses for me! I love & miss you guys.
6.12.13
6.12.13
6.13.13
6.16.13
Week Two - 6/20/13
This week has gone by a little bit faster, but not easier by any means. In fact, I dare say it has been harder. The last few days have been especially rough because I am sick & haven't been able to sleep more than an hour a night the last 3 nights. Also, one of my roommates has a virus going around the MTC & has been throwing up for the last few days so I hope I didn't catch anything from him. Thanks everyone for replying. I really love getting your emails...everyone, thank you for your support & words of encouragement.
I have one funny story to share. It's kind of embarrassing, but oh well. So, we are in the middle of class & our teacher gives us a break. I get a drink & walk into the restroom. I'm just sitting there minding my own business & all of a sudden the door opens & I see two pairs of shoes. But they definitely were not Elder's shoes. I hold my breath & think "am I in the wrong bathroom?" After a few seconds I hear one of the sister's scream, "we're in the boys bathroom!" They run out & I hear people laughing outside. Luckily I got away unnoticed, but it was still embarrassing for me. I'm sure they were more embarrassed though.
Elder Staheli
Week Three - 6/27/13
Kamusta!,
Hey everybody, I hope all is well! I always appreciate hearing from you. It makes me feel like I am still somehow home even though I am not there. So, like last week, I have another story to share. Sorry, this one isn't embarrassing.
Elder Staheli
Week 4 - 7/4/13
Dear family,
Happy 4th of July! I hope all is going great & that you guys have a great holiday. Well, I have been out a month now & it's weird to think that I only have 23 months left - less than 2 years! It doesn't make it seem as long if I think about months instead of years.
Elder Staheli
Week 5 - 7/11/13
Kamusta!
Magatdo ko para sa Pilipinas sa upat mga dio! (I leave for the Philippines in 4 days) The language is coming along nicely, I feel myself improving everyday! I set a goal to be comfortable by 4 months. I really think I can do it. The language isn't extremely difficult & I know that if I work hard to learn vocabulary, I will just be able to get down the sentence structure while I'm out there. It's going to be so weird to be fluent when I come home. It's going to be awesome, though. So, for the 4th of July, we had a special 4th of July devotional. We had a few speakers & then we watched 17 Miracles. I had never seen it before. It was really amazing to see how much hardship & trial the pioneers went through to get here. After that, we were allowed to stay up until 11:00 for the fireworks. We weren't allowed to leave campus & since the fireworks were at Levell Edwards Stadium, we couldn't see much, especially with huge trees towering over the fences. It was still nice, though. It has also been pouring rain up here for a few days this week & I am loving it! I love the rain so much. In fact, it looks like it may rain today! Me & my companion are starting to get along better. There are times when we are sick of each other, but there are also times when we really enjoy being around each other. We laugh a lot! I mostly just don't like him in the mornings, probably because it's so early & I'm not a morning person anyways, but he is so I am easily irritated. We got our travel plans on Friday & this is what will be happening.
We have In Field Orientation tomorrow, which is basically a crash course of what to expect, how to survive, what to do, etc. That will take up pretty much the whole day tomorrow. I'm excited for it. Then Saturday, we have class, but since it is our last day together our two teachers are going to bring in pictures of their missions & tell us stories, answer questions, & all of that stuff. Sunday is normal, we have our meetings & devotional. On Monday, the people who are going to Takloban fly out at 11:00 a.m.so they will leave the MTC around 7:00. Those going to Cebu, which is most kids in our zone, don't fly out until 5:00, so we will leave here around 1:00. We will fly from SLC to Los Angeles. From there, we have a 5 hour layover, and then leave around 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. California time. Once we leave L.A. it's a 22 hour flight straight to Manila. I'm bummed we don't get to stop in Hong Kong (the kids going to Takloban are stopping in Tokyo), but that's okay. It's a 14 hour time difference, so it will be quite the adjustment. But I'm excited!
Well, I miss you all. Next time I'll write you, I'll be in the Philippines! Ayo-ayo!
Elder Staheli
7.12.13
7.12.13
7.14.13
Matt had a flight at the airport the same day Dylan flew out. Madison, Jasmine and the kids went in with Matt hoping they might get to see Dylan. Not thinking they really would, they basically ran right into him.
Such a fun surprise!
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