November 30, 2016

November 29, 2016

We are going 30 mph on the freeway and it is driving Davey nuts!
I keep telling him to have patiences, it's like telling acrying baby to stop crying haha :)

Love ya,
Mom

Love that picture. Yeah the snow has been crazy. My companion wants to have snowball fights all the time. Texans. Figures :)

There was this news story on Thanksgiving. We didn't see you.

That was a cool service project. Super boring though. I scooped 507
cups of lentils into bags. I'd rather rake leaves. Oh well.

Chase,

This past well has been a busy week, but fun. We headed down to St. George with the boys, dad, and me. Katelynn and Jeff felt they shouldn't travel with being so close to her delivery date. Katelynn had decided to call Trevor and Suelynn to see if they could join them for Thanksgiving dinner - which they ended up doing. Kates said she and Jeff had a lot of fun with their family. I truly feel our family as well as Trevor's family will be blessed with living close.

Dad, the boys, and I had a wonderful time in St. George. We went straight to the Moss' and visited with Judy's, Jeff's family, and grandma and Grandpa. We gave them highlights of you and shared your last email with pictures. They loved reading and hearing about your new adventure. We then headed to the Coombs'. It was fun to visit with Tonya's, part of Janna's, Cheryl's families, and Grandpa and grandma. Janna and Summer were the only ones who came. Jeff stayed home with sick kids. We had yummy food and a great time visiting. The kids went out and played basketball while the adults visited. Dad got us a motel to stay in, which knowing me was nice. The next day we went hiking on the red hill, had a picnic, went to Santa's workshop, visited with the Moss', and then part of the Coombs' went to the movie - "Fantastic Beasts and where to find them". I LOVED the movie and you would have too. You'll have to put that on your must watch list when you get back. After the movie Davey and Brayden went to Tonya's home where she was hosting Hanna, Katherine, and a couple of their girl friends from BYU. (They showed up for the movie, they had dinner with other family members)

We headed home the next morning to go to the BYU basketball game and them the football game. We had a great time being together. The football game was cold but barable - dad had bought us hand warmers and I used them for my feet and hands.

On Sunday Brayden spook in church. Like normal Brayden did not want help from his parents. The first of his talk was good, but he struggled with the end. I think he learned the importance it is to prepare and not wait tell the night before.
I'll share one thought with you that I shared to the boys this morning, in the talk "Look to the Book, Look to the Lord" by Elder Gary Stevenson in the last general conference he quotes President Benson: “The Book of Mormon teaches us truth [and] bears testimony of Christ. … But there is something more. There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. … You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path.” I know that when you take the time to study the Book of Mormon, even if it for ten minutes a day, we will be protected and helped to resist temptation. You will be blessed to feel his love your Savior has for you and you will begin to realize you aren't alone he will always be there for you when you are struggling to learn the language, having the stress to share a lesson, not feeling well, or even missing us your Savior is their he knows what you are going through, he knows you can do it,  and most importantly he loves you.

Hope you have a great day today and hope this week will be amazing! Find the joy in all things. The gospel is true! Live it! Love it!

Love you always,

Mom
xxxooo

Thanks so much mom. Love hearing about what you guys are doing.

Love that thought by Gary e Stevenson. I called elder Anderson coming and speaking to us. We were all placing bets on who would come for thanksgiving. What can I say? The spirit of prophecy is just a great gift. ;) im calling d Todd christofferson for Christmas. :)

Honestly, besides hearing from elder Anderson, thanksgiving sucked.  Haha I wasn't homesick at all but the food was terrible. Only thing that was really good was the apple pie.

Missed all the good food we have at grandmas 

Awe... the force is strong with you (haha). I'm glad you enjoyed Elder Anderson. Not to brag, but we did have great food - sorry yours wasn't good.

I wanted to share something I read this morning...
"We [partake of the sacrament] in remembrance of the death of our Savior; it is required of his disciples until he comes again, no matter how long that may be. . . . Why are they required to do this? To witness unto the Father, to Jesus and to the angels that they are believers in and desire to follow him in the regeneration, keep his commandments, build up his Kingdom, revere his name and serve him with an undivided heart, that they may be worthy to eat and drink with him in his Father's Kingdom. This is why the Latter-day Saints partake of the ordinance of the Lord's Supper" - President Brigham Young

Hope you have a wonderful Sabbath day  :)

Love you always, 
Mom
xxxooo

Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed this thought. That's a really cool insight. :)

Let me know if I ever get too sappy with you... I can tone it down, at least I'll try.

Mom

No your fine. I'll let you know though :)

One thing that I would like is a box of Kleenex and maybe some of the
pocket size ones as well. Toilet paper quality here sucks.

Chase,

Did you get our Thanksgiving package?

Mom

Yes thank you! Everyone loved the jerkey. And the poo pourri is great:) I'm going to take the big one with me. Did you send the same thing to elder Coombs?

Yep, I hope he found the funny in it.

I'm glad you liked it :)

Mom

Just got done with the temple. Did a 7:40 session. Now doing laundry.

Love to see your handsome face :)

So do all the sister missionaries. :)

Haha, I love how humble you are!!! Davey has taught you well ;)

Mom

Humility is my strongest Christlike attribute

You are soooo funny!

Just got done with laundry

I just printed the picture off - thanks :)

Mom

I finally feel adjusted to the Empty Sea life.  Haha.  Let's see, we had Thanksgiving last Thursday which was a good break.  The day before we were placing bets (not really, just guessing) in our district about who would come to speak to us.  I guessed Elder Neil L. Anderson.  And yep, I was right. :)  He was super good.  Talked about the importance of living in Thanksgiving Daily.  Just like explaining that we owe everything to God - our bodies, our every breath, everything.  So we need to constantly be thanking him for everything - big and small.  Really cool.  After the devotional we did a service project to help feed children.  We just made boxes and boxes of lentil casserole.  Yum.  It was pretty boring.  I scooped 507 cups of lentils into meal bags.  Yes, I counted. Cool to help out though.  After that we watched Ephraim's rescue which is such a good movie!  Thanksgiving dinner (well it was actually lunch, I had a PB&J for dinner) wasn't very good.  Haha it was probably the worst I've ever had.  The apple pie was good though.

Then on Sunday we had a devotional by the head of the missionary department or something.  His last name was Allen i believe.  But he talked to us about mission life, and boyfriends/girlfriends, and really focusing on our missions.  He was super funny and a great speaker.  I hope my companion learned something from him about keeping his eye single to the glory of God, and not on his girlfriend.  He acts like he's already married to her.  Haha

Speaking of my companion, I kind of had a tough time with him last week.  He can just be super immature at times and not focused at all on the work.  I'm trying to love him though and keep his head on straight.

The language is coming along pretty good.  Nowhere near fluent, but slowly progressing.  I've been dreaming in Spanish for almost a week now which is pretty cool.  Also, the last lesson we had with our investigator Federico went pretty good.  I didn't read from my notes at all!  Was able to just talk to him in castellano and understand most of what he was saying back.  That was an awesome Tender Mercy.

I've got to say exercise time is probably my favorite here at the MTC.  Playing speed is my favorite.  I try to keep my pride levels low so I make sure to just come in Second.  Although one time I accidently won a game.  :)  

Also, got a big box of donuts from a mystery person, but it was super good.  My district and I loved them!  And thanks mom for your package as well!

Couldn't figure out how to upload pics last time, but I got it this time!  I'll send some more pics from my Ipad as well.

And I also got my voice recording uploaded from like the 3rd day.​

More pics.
1. My companion elder barmore. Don't let that face fool you, he's crazy. Haha
2. Doing laundry
3. Enjoying snow
4. Enjoying snow plus elder barmore in background
5. First shoe shine!
Hopefully those are in the right order :)

Can you view the pics and recording I sent?

How is the quality of the recording?

Email time is up, but I'll try to send my journal entries later today.  The big one is the one about my companion. So read that for sure.  We're doing better though.

How are things going this last week.  Are you "struggling" still?  

It's hard. But this week has gone a lot better as far as the language
and lessons and such.
I've hard a hard time with my companion at times though. He can be
immature and wild sometimes.

I had a companion that the mission president said, "Just stay with him, your job is to just be with him, I don't care if you teach or not, just try and help him."

You will have companions that try you.  Just do what you know is right and be forgiving and humble and know that it will help you in the long run and make you a better roommate at college, husband, father, etc.  It will also help them if you are that way.  Endure it and you will be blessed.

We really missed you at the games on Saturday and at Thanksgiving.  It was hard on us too.  Did you get the pictures we sent as we did stuff? 

Yeah, that's all I've been trying to do. To stay humble and loving. I think it will help me with future companionships as well

Yeah I got your pictures. Heard about the game against usu and about Taysom. He hurt his elbow? 

Just told Daley this, but Honestly, besides hearing from elder Anderson, thanksgiving sucked.  Haha I wasn't homesick at all but the food was terrible. Only thing that was really good was the apple pie. Haha

Mom said she sent you some turkey, ha ha.  Did you get that?  Sorry the food wasn't great.  I still am eating healthy so mine wasn't great either.

Yes, Taysom ran a lot during the game.  I asked everyone around us, "What is up, he is going to get hurt."  Sure enough, he was going for a touchdown and tried to jump over a guy going for his legs and got his legs cut out from under him and came down on his arm and hurt his elbow.  Today they announced that it was worse than they thought and he won't play in the Poinesetta Bowl. The ironic thing was that it was against USU that he got hurt both times before and they were season enders; So, he has been out with season ending injuries 3 times in the last 4 years and all three times were against USU.

Como esta su espanol?

That's crazy with taysom. Too bad. Yeah haha I loved (and my roommates loved) the turkey jerkey. The poo pourri was a nice thought too. That has come in handy.

Mi espanol es mas o menos. Jaja castellano es muy dificil pero, estoy aprender. La lecciones es no facil. Pero, entiendo mas y mas. 

I've been dreaming in Spanish for almost a week now too. Kind of weird but really cool.

Sounds like your Spanish is coming really well.
I am in training now so I am not at a computer and doing this on my phone.
Are you going to send out a general email update on this last week? Can you add those email addresses I sent?

Yeah I will

I saw you asked mom for Kleenex, is there anything else you need? Anything you've seen other missionaries have that you think would be good to have?
How about your birthday or Christmas, what would you like or like us to do for those days?

I still haven't decided if I want to get like a thing for my ears or scarf or gloves now or when I get down to Argentina.  I'll let you know.  And only things I can think of for gifts is like a tie or something.  I don't know.  

OH! I need my patriarchal blessing and priesthood line of authority.  My blessing is in the cabinet under Chase or Chase Mission.  If you could like type it up and send a copy digitally or physically that'd be great.  Physically would be best.  And maybe a scripture case for my spanish scriptures.  And a mini PMG and mini PME.  (But I can also buy those here) So let me know.

OK, I'll look into the 

I'll use your lds.org login and try to get the official priesthood line of authority from the church (like the one attached) but I for now I have attached mine and you just add your name to the bottom of it.

I've also attached a picture of my new badge, it just came finally.

And send me an sd card reader.  For my camera so I can send pictures from it.  Just one that has a usb attachement to plug into the computer.  If its expensive then don't worry about it.

Thanks

Is it just an SD card?  There are several kinds, just making sure.

Yes, just the normal kind. Remember when we bought the camera at costco?  Just that kind

OK, just making sure.

Hey, we found out who gave you donuts.  Davey's ex - yes Alex did that and nobody knew.  We joked that she was going to wait for you.

Wow, I thought it might be here, but wasn't sure.  Tell her thanks! :)

And can you save my recordings at home on the computer -  and my pics?

Yes, I will save everything.  I am thinking of using the memories section of Family Search but wherever it is it will be saved.

The recording worked and we can view pictures.

Good, thanks, I'll stay in touch on my ipad for about another 2 hours, then choir, then devotional, then bed.  :)

Awesome, it is so good hearing from you and chatting a little.  Like I said, we really missed but know you are doing what is right and are where you should be. 

Waiting with elder barmore outside the barbershop. He needs a haircut

We briefly talked about a razor and/or trimmer.  Did you get one?

No, I haven't gotten one. Don't know if I need one or not. What do you think?

I think it actually might be nice just to trim my sideburns when they get long. I don't think I'll need any attachments for it.

I was wondering if a small one with attachments would allow you to cut your hair too between haircuts.  I saw this.  I had one like this at one time.  It didn't last long but I liked it while it worked.

Well I think we're not supposed to cut our own hair. I know we can't in the MTC, but I don't know about argentina. I don't think attachments will be necessary because it'll just take up more space

Waiting for choir to start! :)

Sorry I've missed visiting... I got busy at work.

I loved reading your weekly and look forward to your journal notes. I'm not able to listen to your recording at work, I'm hoping I will be able to do it at home.

Love you so much and have a wonderful week!

Mom

Katelynn said she was able to listen to it so probably.

Okay, I'll try it when I get home

you know I'm making a collage of you mission to keep at my desk... and this one is a keeper, haha

Haha that is not necessary ;)

It might not be necessary to you but I love coming to work everyday and seeing your face... Love you

Haha okay. :)

November 24, 2016

Well the Empty Sea is sure different than I expected.  It was so overwhelming like the first three days.  I got like a 30 lb bag full of language material. And then we jumped right into the studying.  We study for like 10 hours a day.  That includes language, gospel, companion, and personal study.  Mostly language study though.  And like 7 of those hours is without a teacher or anybody.  Just our district in a tiny classroom.  So there's no direction or instruction or anything.  That's kind of stressful.

In my first Spanish class, the teacher only talked in Spanish, and we jumped right into teaching PMG (PME in spanish) lessons.  I kind of thought we would learn the basics of the language, and then practice giving lessons, but I was very wrong.  I think on my second day we taught our first investigator.  Yes, in Spanish.  It was very hard.  His name is Federico and we had 20 min with him. It's hard putting together lessons in Spanish.  But the hardest part is when he talks because I have no idea what he is saying.  Es muy dificil. I try my hardest though.

My companion is Elder Barmore.  His spanish is even worse than mine (No judging) so the lessons are very difficult.  I do most of the talking.  He is from West Texas.  He's a good guy.  We don't butt heads too often.  Elder Dean is our District Leader.  He's interesting.  He loves to talk and try to lead meetings.  I think he thinks that because he is District Leader, he has to talk to us all the time and give like speeches to us.  Idk, he's a good guy though.  So 6 of us (Elder Dean, Elder Simon, Elder Robinson, Elder Hardy, Elder Barmore, and me) are going to Neuquén Argentina.  And there's even more in the empty sea going there too.  It's pretty popular.

Let's see, today I went to the temple and did a session so that was really cool. and Tonight we have a devotional.  I love P-Days (Tuesdays) and Sundays.  Because we can just relax (well not really relax), but we don't have to study for so long.

It's been hard but I know this Church is true and I know this is where I need to be.  :)

November 23, 2016

November 22, 2016

I'll send more pictures. Also I can respond all day today.at least when I have time to. I'll send another email when we go to the lab

Sending you another email letting you know I am okay.  Haha.  I can read emails throughout the week, but only send emails on my P-Day.  Don't know when that is yet.

Have you seen the elder Pena? Are the other elders in your district going to Neuquen.

Haven't seen Pena. There are ten in our district. And 6 of us are going to neuquen. Even more missionaries going who aren't in our district

So we just got told our p-day is tuesday - or at least it should be.

And they also mentioned Dearelder.com but you already know about it.  Haha

Awesome, it is been really good to hear from you today after just seeing you and sending you off. It made Mom feel really good to hear from you.

Great! I've loved receiving them already!It is like you are checking in with me every little bit and I'm loving it! Are we able to email you back and forth on your PDay?
Love ya, xxxooo
Mom

Yes. I'll send the pics when I go to the lab though.

I got here well.  I got a very heavy bag full of spanish supplies.  I got an ipad mini.  I don't know if i'll have it in argentina, but i think i will.  After that, i got taken to my classroom and met my teacher and classmates.  My teacher is a sister who served in roseville california.  She was only talking in Spanish and it took me a minute to interpret.  She took us into this computer room where I did a quick survey and got to sneak you an email.

Love you!

Have you seen Scott yet?

I've seen elder Coombs a bunch. And a lot of friends from lehi and st. George

Hey brother I miss you so much Mom wants me to tell you that she feels like it's Christmas because you are replying to everyone I don't know what to say but I love you and I miss you have fun time on your mission and I'll try to email you love you tell me about how your week went how was your first week of the MTC

Thanks bro. Keep emailing me. I'll email you back first! :) if it's Christmas then you should get presents too

Going to breakfast. Won't be able to respond until about 12

Chase,

I had Whitney ask to be my friend on Facebook yesterday and then sent me a message asking to be added to your email list. I hope you are okay with me telling her yes... her email is whitneyemeasles@gmail.com.  How would you like me to handle this in the vuture? Would you want me to set up a group so you send us the emails and then I forward them? Or do you want to add them? I'm happy with either. Have a wonderful day :)

Love you, xxxooo

Mom

Thats fine. Thanks

Chase,

Whitney Measles also asked to have you add Natalie to your list, nbwilliams97@gmail.com.

Love ya,

Mom

Cool. I spilt BBQ sauce on my suit coat so getting it dry cleaned right now. Hopefully it comes out

Dang I'm sorry you spilt it on your suit coat, but I grateful you are at the MTC and they will be able to clean it.

Let us know how we can help with the money, when/if you get charged.

Love you

Starts on page 3, ends on page 7.
And again, I'm doing a lot better now then I was. But it's still hard
and stressful.
Just show these to family. :)

Chase,

Well how is the MTC?

How are you? Are you feeling good? (Tired/sick)

Have you met any kids who you have felt you have a connection with? Someone who could be a true friend?

Are you warm?

Do you have enough to eat?

Are you happy?

Can you tell I miss you already?

Dad and I  were asked to be Ma and Pa of the up coming trek in July. We are excited to be able to go with Brayden.

On Saturday we had a really long busy day or I should say... it was a dad kind of day. We started at 10am and dropped off Brayden's football gear, then went to the football pre-game, then the football game, then we went out to eat at a restaurant called Oregano's (the food was fabulous), we were then planning on going to the girls basketball game but dinner took too long so we missed it, and then we went to the men's basketball game. During the game Davey got a text from a girl (Monica) who he had taken out once before who wanted to do something with him. Dad told him to invite her to the game which she ended up coming and watched the last half of the game. Dad thinks she looks like Taylor Swift, she kind of resembled her. She was friendly and you could tell she was totally into him...I'm just not sure if Davey was into her. After the game we followed her home because Davey decided to watch a movie at our home.

Brayden gets to speak in church on Sunday and he still hasn't started to prepare. I hate putting things off to the last minute.

We will be going to St. George on Thursday morning to have Thanksgiving dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Coombs, Cheryl's family, Tonya's family, and Janna's family. We are planning to go hiking at Snow Canyon, decorate Christmas Houses, and go to the movies.

Oh, I wondered if I can email you back and forth when you get on to do your emails? Do you want me to do some voicemails? Also, you had another girl want to be added to your email list. Dad and I wondered if it would be easier if we created an email list and forward your letters to them or if you would prefer to add people to your list?

I know I'm asking to many questions, but I need to know you're okay.

I love you Chase so much and I'm praying for you daily... actually everytime I think of you, which is a lot!

May the Lord bless you and give you strength to be able to do all that is required of you. When you get discouraged remember your blessing you were given when you were set apart as well as your father's blessing. Pray always to get the help, comfort, and guidance you need.

Love you always,

Mom  xxxooo

It's hard but good at times.

Just the friends that I have seen.  I like seeing Tayla Savage the best.  She's a good friend.  Whenever I see her we talk.  She'll leave about when I do.

So I leave on the 28 of December.  And I'll get home from my mission on October 30. Interesting huh?

I have plenty to eat.  The food is Great.  Just like the canon center.  I drink cranberry juice and chocolate milk everyday. :)

I haven't even open the candy we packed.

Am I happy?  Well I just wanted to get out of the MTC like the first couple days. I'm happy though.  The spirit here is good.

Let me know how trek goes and how brayden likes it. 

Tell Brayden he doesn't need to prepare it until Sunday morning : )

Tell the family on thanksgiving I love them and miss them.  Save me some turkey!

Thank you for the prayers.  Means a lot.  A LOT

Love you so so much!

I love your pictures!!! I love to hear you will be coming home in October - this makes me really really happy :)

Love you too,

Mom

xxxooo

Did you get my email I sent last night?

The long one? Yeah I did. I'm waiting till my time in the email lab to
read it and respond to it.
Do I need to buy dryer sheets

Funny... the long one (haha). I'll try to wait.

Dryer Sheets... I can get you some and send them to you by tomorrow, if you want.

I sent you and Scott a package today and they said you should get it by 3 today. Let me know if you get it today.

I got donuts yesterday! Was that it? :) 

And I can buy dryer sheets here, I just didn't know if it was necessary

Davey never used dryer sheets, but I like to use them because it helps with static.

I didn't send you donuts... Dad and I sent you something I hope you will laugh about. You probably won't see it until tomorrow or later today.

You don't know who the donuts are from? Whom ever they are from that is very thoughtful.

Haha. I have no idea who the donuts are from. Maybe katelynn? They said to elder chase moss happy thanksgiving or something like that. No note or anything. They were really good though. My district appreciated them. Maybe it was my girlfriend. :) haha jk.

funny, you never told me you have a girlfriend (haha). Well whoever it was that was really thoughtful!

How do you like the MTC? and your first companion?

I'll tell you more about it in my email. But it's hard mom. Really hard. I'll send you some pics of my journal entries as well. But I'm doing a lot better now than I was the first couple of days. I just want to apologize for my attitude to as well. I miss you so much and I kick myself for how I treated you. So please forgive me. 

Ahh just writing that got me crying. And I'm in the laundry room with a whole bunch of elders around.

Tell the other missionaries you are around you have something in your eye...

I know you were stressed and worried about the unknown... don't worry about it. I love you know matter what. I'm sorry to hear it has been hard, to be honest with you it has been really hard to have you gone. It definitely has been different sending you than with Davey. I find myself praying for you almost on an hourly basis, having a strong feeling you need the extra prayers.

I know you can do anything!!! Not just because you are so smart and spiritual, but because the Lord is there and he will help you through everything you are going through.

Okay change of subject cause now I'm crying at my office desk... how is doing laundry? Have you ruined any of your clothes yet, haha?

Haha tell you're students you have something in your eye. :) laundry is good. Just drying right now. I've only used 2 shirts and I'll think I'll stay to that. Wear one for 3 days, and then the other one for another 3, then wash them. I have one of daveys ties. Not sure how that happened... 

Maybe Davey snuck it is so you won't forget him, haha. Just keep it - he won't know it is missing.
Sounds like a great plan with the shirts... less wash is always better.

What other things are you planning on doing today?

After laundry I'll email, then dinner, then choir, then a devotional, then a district review, then get ready for bed.

Choir? Will you be singing in the Christmas devotional? Or what is the singing for?

I loved reading your email and journal entries. I'm sorry it has been so difficult, but remember your Heavenly Father won't give you more than you can bare - even if you think he has. Faith will go a long way.

And NO Brayden can't wait until Sunday...those who procrastinate will only have tummy aches. (haha)  At least their moms will.

Love ya so much and I will keep praying for you. I hope this week will be better than last week.

I don't know. I just know it means less time in the classroom. That'd be cool if it was for the devotional though. I think we do something for thanksgiving and Christmas but not sure what.

I think this week will go a lot better but keep sending me emails
throughout the week or use dearelder. Can't wait for the package!

I will definitely be sending you emails and maybe some pictures.

Love you,

Mom xxxooo