Merry Christmas from the MTC

Hermano Hadley (teacher) and Eric





Hermana Allen (teacher)





The view out of the classroom window. You can see Mount Timpanogos, one of the mountains we climbed to the very top of a few years ago, in order to help Eric fulfill a requirement for his Boy Scout Hiking merit badge.





Study Area. You can see Eric's reflection across the room, taking the picture.

Elder Taylor and Eric

Hey everyone, first I want to say: MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! Today I will be trying to write everyone a personal hand-written letter, although they won't be very long. Today is our P-Day unfortunately, so instead of having plenty of prep time and letter time, we have lots of firesides and other things which have been great so far, but it means we won't have much time to write, so sorry that my letters will be hurried and short, and I hope I will even make sense.

Because we started out the day having devotionals and doing laundry, I haven't even had a chance to open my Christmas presents yet. So I won't be able to thank everyone for the gifts and talk about them much until next week, but I do thank you in advance, because they all look great wrapped up!

Hermano Hadley and Hermana Allen have left for their personal Christmas plans and won't be back with us until I think January 1. So we have been having substitutes. One of our subs was Hermano Burkholz, who is also teaching another district, but nevertheless is the most enthusiastic teacher I've had yet. He has lots of energy and does not like to spend time telling stories like Hadley does. For about two days, we had a sub who was the same guy on those 3 short mission prep videos and he's also in the Preach My Gospel videos, so he's kind of a celebrity, you could say. He's gone now, though, and I'm not sure who the next sub will be. I really enjoy this constant teacher swap, though. I think it's helping me learn really well, hearing things from different perspectives, plus the whole "new teacher" thing helps keep me listening.

We got our TRAVEL PLANS! It was like the most exciting day in the MTC! We're flying through Delta, though, which is kind of bad because Delta is the airline that has the most strict and most expensive regulations as far as number and weight of bags. So far I will have to pay $50. to bring my third suitcase, even though it's not very big. These restrictions will be tough to follow, but I'm sure it will all work out. There are nine of us going together. I'll have more details for you as it gets closer.

Today during our morning devotional we heard from L. Tom Perry about the ministry of Christ, it was great, and later tonight we believe that the Prophet will come and speak to us around 7:00!!!!!!!! This means, we'll have to start lining up very early to get a good seat.

Christmas has been great. Last night we had a couple of cool firesides and great activities, and then afterwards we took a walk around to see the lights, and it was fun. Tonight we'll probably do the same. I'll take pictures of it for you.

Also, thank you for all of your suggestions about Spanish. I have been figuring out how to teach in Spanish (or at least a little more so, anyway.) This week the TRC went much better because instead of focusing on the language, I focused on the spirit and the lesson, and as a result, I spoke perfectly and without any long (well, super long, ha ha) pauses! I know I made some errors, but I still did 1,000 times better than last time!!! So don't build sentences, just follow along with what your comps are saying and then when it's your turn, just speak and it'll come. I learn so much here, not just the language, but about the spirit, gospel, etc. I am really glad I got to stay here longer than the stateside missionaries who only stay here 3 weeks. I just know that I would not have been ready in 3 weeks. I feel much more ready now, as I've learned and had many spiritual experiences here, although as far as the language goes, I don't think I'll ever feel fully ready. I guess that's what senior companions are for, though.

We spend very little time here on the actual language, believe it or not. Nevertheless, it's the best way to do it. At the beginning, for MDT, we're supposed to do one hour of : language study, companion study, personal study. I would often sacrifice a little personal and comp study for more language study, but have since realized that the days I spend more time on the language, I somehow learn less. Obedience here is really important, because it's often the small things that help you the most.

I'd love to hear how everyone's Christmas at home went, and I hope you all had a great family time!!! I can't wait to open my presents later tonight, or if I finish my letters early enough, maybe I can open them before the evening fireside!!! I hope you got the package I sent home with some of the things I don't need to take to Argentina, and also all of the gifts I have for the family in there!!!! (Mom's note: So far we have not received his package, but mail delivery can get behind during the Christmas season. Now we have something else to look forward to!)

The next P-Day here will be my last, so Argentina is coming quickly. I am very excited.

There's going to be a talent show in a few hours here, which should be fun, and really, anything new and out of the ordinary here is fun. I love you all and hope you are having a great Christmas!

Love,
Eric


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Skit in Spanish Class at the MTC

During Spanish class, everyone broke up into small groups to create skits, as an opportunity to practice speaking Spanish with the other classmates. This was the skit that Eric's group did, based on Alma 20 in the Book of Mormon. (Click on the arrow in the middle of the screen to watch the video. If Eric and the right side of the screen are somewhat cut off, click anywhere on the video screen again to make the video larger. Your computer may take a few seconds for processing.)

The elders in the classroom, enjoying each others' skits. Eric says that any small diversion is great entertainment while in the MTC. The missionaries keep things interesting for themselves by creating small games, such as the one called "Viernes Verde", which means Green Friday. So on Fridays, everyone tries to remember to wear green.

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Rewarding experiences in the RC

The current tri-companionship: Elders Hanson, Anderson, and Wolff

The classroom for the district. Eric's desk is fifth from the left, with the dark book on it. Since Eric took this picture in "panoramic stitch" mode, the walls look curved, but the camera is fooling us, and it is actually just an ordinary room with straight walls. (Click on any picture to see it larger.)

The classroom Christmas tree, decorated with everyone in the district's drivers' licenses...and a walrus?!

Hey Mom and Dad and everyone, I first of all want to say thank you to everyone who has written to me and sent me packages. I got the "Santa's Sleigh O' Cookies" package and it was very delicious! I also got the Christmas package you sent, as well as Nana and Papa's. They both look great and everything arrived well. I can't wait till Christmas to open everything!

It's too bad about how the post office lost the camera card I was sending home to you. It's really sad, because there are some pictures that were on there that I can never replace. But, don't worry! I have been taking some new pictures and vids on the other camera card to "somewhat" replace what you would have had. I will be sending it right away. I was really glad to get the camera card with pics and vids that you sent me, it was awesome, and I was really glad to see that everyone is doing so well!

The post office also lost something else. They lost Elder Wolff's visa! Elder Wolff just found out a couple of days ago. This means that he has to get a new passport and then re-apply for a visa. So now, instead of joining the other Dominican Republic elders down at the MTC in the DR, he is going to stay here with us Argentina elders until we leave, and then he will be assigned to a state-side Spanish speaking mission until his visa comes.

So Elder Anderson and Elder Wolff are both my companions. Elder Vanderholm and Elder Moncur are the new zone leaders, and Elder Taylor is now our District Leader. In the "new" district we are in, the other elders are all going to the Mendoza, Argentina mission.

To answer your question, they don't really teach us the language specific to our country, they just teach us basic Spanish, and they figure we will pick up the slang, culture, accents and pronunciation when we get there. In fact, many districts have their elders all going to different places!

We taught again to our pretend investigator this week in the TRC, and of course it is all in Spanish now. This time I was trying really hard to remember how to form sentences correctly and which tenses to use and everything. There are so many different tenses! (Subjunctive is really hard.) So I was busy forming sentences in my head while my companions were talking. As a result, when it was my turn, I mixed up the words "pescados" (fish) and "pecados" (sins.) In short, I ended up saying, "Jesucristo sufrio por todos nuestros pescados." That meant, Jesus Christ suffered for all our fish! Ha ha! So I learned how important it is to teach with the spirit. Basically, I had done a lot better last week because I relied on the spirit, instead of the little bit of Spanish that I knew.

Thank you for the tips on learning Spanish. But Dad, do you have any tips to teach by the spirit well, and not let the Spanish jump in front and jumble your thoughts?

I love all the mail I get and I keep all of it. I don't care if it weighs down my bag by 50 pounds, I'm keeping every piece of mail I've ever gotten and taking it with me whenever I move! I just want to remind everyone that my mailbox number is now 216. I still get the mail if it is sent to the old box, but it takes longer because it has to get redirected to the correct mailbox. Also, when I leave the MTC and go to Argentina, be sure not to send any letters here by mistake. There are too many missionaries going to all different countries, and so they can't forward the mail once you leave the MTC, so it just gets thrown away. But I am still here till around January 4.

My watch broke, so I would appreciate it if you could send me one for Christmas. I'll try to send you a picture of the watch so you can find the same one. I got it at Walmart and had two links taken out on each side. It's like 15-20 bucks, I believe. You don't want an expensive watch in the place I am going to!

I'm having lots of fun here, and am not even close to being sick of the MTC. There are many things like pranks and and challenges that go on in our residence areas. Anyone who has been in the MTC, knows how it is. But even though we have a lot of fun, we have many spiritual experiences, too. And while I love it here, I can't wait until I can go out and teach real investigators. Of course at the same time, I'm nowhere near ready as far as the Espanol goes.

Dad, I'd like to know a bit how the MTC was for you. Because I'm sure it's different and similar. For one, we don't have any culture classes like you said you had. Also, we spend very little time actually learning Spanish. The focus here is on the gospel, although, what good is knowing all the gospel if you can't teach it! We also have lots of personal study time called MDT. I got the inspirational articles you sent about Patrick Henry's real words and all of the other ones. I was also surprised to read about how the government used to be all christian, and I was really shocked to hear about the Bible being used in public schools, since that was unheard of when I was there.

You've all asked me to share some spiritual experiences. I've had many personal ones as well as just a general feeling of the spirit. So although none were really "stories" I could share, I just felt the spirit a lot, which helped me. So one night I decided to pray for a spiritual experience that I could use to share with my family to uplift them. The next day I received an answer to my prayer.

It happened when I was at the RC. First, we were late getting there, and so we only had about 45 minutes to do RC work, and you usually have to wait a while before getting any chats or calls. I logged on and received an incoming call almost right away. It was a lady named Norma, who was calling because she wanted a new Bible because "my ole one is wearin' out." I asked her if I could have the missionaries deliver it to her, and tell her a little bit more about it. She said yes, and then I moved on to telling her about the Book of Mormon, which she called "the Mormon Bible". She was a very religious woman and said she wanted to have one! Although, the whole time she was talking like she'd let the missionaries deliver it but she wouldn't listen to what they said. We kept talking and she told me she is a truck driver. I read a couple of scriptures out of the Book of Mormon, and shared my testimony and after giving her the BOM promise, asked her if she believed that God answers prayers. At that point she opened up and said, "I know He does," and she began crying and told me a story she had about God answering prayers.

She told me how one night she was walking back from her mailbox when she slipped on some ice and fell flat on her back. She said she was stunned and was "froze in place" just staring up into space. While laying there, she started praying for help. As soon as she finished the prayer, a man came up and helped her, took her to the hospital, and even paid all her medical bills. That was a really big deal to her because she was very poor and had no money and no insurance. The man said to her that he just felt he should help her even though he didn't know why. Because the man had gotten her to the hospital so quickly, she is now able to walk, at a year and a half later. She knows that it's because her prayer was answered that she is able to walk. She was crying and then she sort of bore her testimony to me. It was very powerful and spiritual for us both.

Anyway, I asked her if she would pray before and after the missionary visit, and she said of course! (She seemed very excited to meet with them now!) And then I gave her the phone number to call to order a Book of Mormon. (We can only send one item to an investigator, so if they want two things, like, for example, a Bible AND a Book of Mormon, they have to call twice.) I arranged to send the missionaries and the Bible and ended our talk. It had been a very long call, like almost 30 minutes. So then, after I had hung up, just a few minutes later, Elder Luce gets a call, and it's Norma again! She was calling to order the Book of Mormon! So now it's up to the missionaries out in her area to teach her. I would like to teach her, so I really hope the missionaries do a good job!

Well, after all that, ANOTHER incoming call on my line! This time it's a Hispanic girl in her 20's wanting the "Joy to the World" DVD. I love questions, because if you ask good questions, then the people kind of teach themselves. Anyway, I asked her why she wanted to order this DVD and she said because it looks happy. (She spoke a little English.) I told her about eternal families and after our chat about that, she gave me the name of her sister for us to call. Now you need to understand that it's REALLY HARD to just get referrals like that, so this was very rare! The spirit was really strong there, and they're going to have the missionaries over soon!

Later that evening, after the devotional by one of the Seventy, we had a very spiritual discussion as a district, it was very cool. I have a really great district.

I have a new favorite scripture. It is Proverbs 28:1.

As a reminder, I will NOT be able to call home on Christmas. :( There are not enough phones (there are like 12 phones and over 4,000 missionaries) so anyone who is just arriving or leaving soon doesn't get to call home. Don't worry, though, I can call when I'm at the airport around Jan 4.

Out of time, love you all,
Eric


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Only 3 1/2 weeks left at the MTC!

Since everyone in the district shares the same mailbox, only District Leaders can take the mail out. But you can look through the little glass window to see if there are letters inside!

Eric with his zone. He is in the back row.

Hello Everyone,

These past two weeks have really flown by and I find it hard to believe that we leave for Argentina in just over three weeks, on Jan 4!

First, I'll try to answer your questions. Yes, I did buy a new backpack here. It's a good bag and is much lighter than the other one, although I still would like to find a more stylish one down in Argentina. I will send my old backpack home (with the tags still on!) as well as a few other items that I don't need before I leave for Argentina.

Thanks for finding out about my computer. It's too bad that it's beyond fixing, but there is a lot of good hardware inside it. Feel free to harvest my computer for parts like the RAM, graphics card, etc. You can tear it apart and use whatever you want.

Sleeping is great here. I'm plenty warm, so don't worry about sending any blankets. Actually, I'm always so tired that I could probably fall asleep outside in the freezing cold within about one minute!

Thanks for the package you sent. It came so fast it surprised me! I was glad because I really needed the lotion. Yes, the racquet balls are just for fun. A little earlier today, I played wall ball (a game) with a few other elders. I also learned to juggle!

Thanks for the tips on learning Spanish. I am trying to focus on the grammar right now, which I am finding difficult. Nevertheless, I've learned quite a bit of Spanish and it's coming along great. We even taught the first lesson in Spanish yesterday, for the first time! We have something here called "HSI", which means "habla su idioma", or speak your language. So we try to speak as much Spanish as we can.

I am back in a tri-companionship with Elders Anderson and Lobo. (Wolff) Lobo's visa is still delayed, which is why. We don't know how long he will be staying here before he leaves for the Dominican Republic.

There is a swine flu epidemic going on around here, and we all got called down to get the swine flu shot. I was the only one who didn't get the shot, because I know that you have researched and don't think it's a good idea. Let's just hope I don't get it, because people are getting the swine flu left and right here, even in my own zone!

We have had a couple of great speakers come and talk to us. The first was Elder R.M. Costa of the Quorom of the Seventy. He is Brazilian and speaks English with a Brazilian accent. He was really funny, and his talk about planning was my favorite talk that I've heard since I have been here!!! Tell David, because I'm sure he'd like to know, that he is from Sao Paulo.

The second speaker was from the Consul of Argentina!!!! He came and talked to all of the missionaries that are going to Argentina. He was also a really funny and cool guy, and he told us a lot about Argentina, and he answered some of our questions. He got us all really pumped to go to Argentina! Basically he said Rosario is the best city in the world, (and he is even from Buenos Aires, which Elder Vanderholm says is the number two most desirable vacation spot in the world, after Florence, Italy.) The Consul talked to us for a couple of hours and really let us know what it's like down there. He assured us it's a safe place, and (the major cities, at least) are safe as far as water, and health wise. He said we wouldn't get hurt unless we wore a competitor's soccer jersey, ha ha.

Glad your trip to Henderson was nice, and guess who you might have seen while you were down there...Elder Luce's family! Elder Luce lives (ha ha, I mean lived) in Henderson, less than two minutes away from where you are!

Mike Hanks left this Monday to go to Belgium/Netherlands. I've talked to him a few times and from my perspective, he has really grown spiritually a lot and is going to be a great missionary.

Thank you to all who have written me. I'll try and send you all a personal letter, but they will be short, because we don't have too much time for writing. Thanks to everyone who's keeping up with my mission by reading my blog. I love all of you for all of your support.

Everyone keeps asking me what I want for Christmas, and honestly, I don't really need anything. Maybe I would like some ties, I suppose, especially ties that could go with my blue pinstripe suit, and also some for my black suit. But seriously, just keep writing me because that's the best gift.

Mom and Dad, I won't be able to call home on Christmas, sorry. But I will be able to call home from the airport. I don't know exactly when that will be, but I will let you know.

I am enjoying spending this Christmas season focusing on the Savior, and his sacrifice for all of us. We went to the temple again today, and it was a very spiritual experience.

I wish you all well, and hope you have a great time preparing for Christmas, and spending time with family!

Love you all,
Eric


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Getting used to the new district

With the (old) district

Hola familia!

Hey everyone, I'm having a great time at the MTC. We're in the new district now, and we have changed rooms and everything. We are now on the third floor, which means going up and down the stairs about ten times a day! Someone asked me about the bunk beds. I am in the bottom bunk and Elder Anderson is up top. Here are the names of the elders in my new district: Elder Moncur (District Leader), Elder Carr, Elder Luze, Elder Davenport, Elder Taylor, and then of course the original four (me, Anderson, Vanderholm and Wolff.) My new district is not as fun as my own (old) district and they don't have the same sense of humor. Just the same, I love my new district because they are very nice! Very nice so they're cool.

My new teachers are Hermano Hadley, who went to Uruguay on his mission, and Hermana Allen, who went to Florida. I miss my old teachers a lot, but our new teachers are still good. Both are very spiritual teachers, although Hadley is my favorite because he's a very powerful teacher and can explain a lot of deep things. Allen is my favorite teacher for the language, though. She is also a teacher at BYU for English and Spanish, so she knows the languages and grammar VERY well, so she can explain it really good!

The Spanish is still going great, although it seems the more I learn, the more I realize how little I know! I'm also learning as much English as I am Spanish, because although I know how to speak English, I don't know the reasons why I speak that way! In other words, I'm learning all the grammar terms and rules in English, so I can translate them over to Spanish. Dad, what did you find as an effective way to learn Spanish on your mission? A lot of our learning is during personal study time, so I'd like your suggestions on systems that worked well for you so I can give it a try.

The "dearelder.com" site's printer was broken from Monday or Tuesday until today, Friday! As a result, I am now getting tons of letters you wrote/sent days ago. My whole district was sad every day about getting no mail, but we knew something was wrong because NOBODY was getting any mail. I might even get more letters later, because they got so backed up, and are catching up now.

I want to thank everyone for everything you are sending me. Mom and Dad, I got the package you sent and everything was great and much appreciated. I even took a picture of all the treats! They were wonderful and I enjoyed them for a long time. Thank you to Nana and Papa, also, for sending me a letter and the care package! The food was delicious, and none of it was damaged when it arrived. I still have some Oreo's I'm saving. Thank you, Aunt DeRonda and Uncle Brett for the care package. I know I loved the Krispy Kreme and so did my whole district! I love getting packages and hearing from you all! Tell Holly and Scott that I said thank you for the letters, and please tell the Hubers that I say thank you for taking the time to write me and send the Christmas card, and tell Mike that of all the missionaries here, the Argentinian elders are by far the best missionaries! Also, tell Ben Driggs I said thank you for writing me and filling me in on what's going on in Aspen Hills Ward. Tell him I'm doing well and am in the "this is awesome camp!" (He'll know what I mean.) Also, tell Cameron I got his letter as well, and that I wish him well! And Aunt Stacey, too! I know that I am forgetting to thank some people, and I really do apologize for it, but believe me, every piece of mail or package I have ever gotten gives me great joy!

And rest assured, all your packages and letters are getting to me. Just as a reminder, my new address is "MTC Mailbox #216." Everything else about the address stays the same. Do not worry, however, if you have sent me some things to #151. It gets redirected to me. The MTC staff knows and understands transfers, so I will still get all your mail even if you've accidentally sent it to the wrong mailbox. In fact, I've gotten a few letters that were just addressed to the MTC without any mailbox.

There are a few things I would like you to send me if you can. I need more stamps and envelopes, and I would really like some balls, like the racquet-ball type of ball or like the "wall ball" type. Just a simple 3-pack would make me very happy!

The MTC is a very spiritual place as I've mentioned before, but especially the TRC (Teaching Resource Center) and the RC (Reference Center.) Yesterday we contacted the investigator ( it is a teacher pretending to be an investigator so that we can practice) for 20 minutes in Spanish, and then taught the second lesson (Plan of Salvation) for 40-ish minutes in English. This was our last lesson that we will give in English, because the next lesson will be the first lesson in Spanish! During the lesson we taught yesterday, our pretend investigator asked a lot of questions, so rather than just teaching the lesson, we helped address her concerns. In fact, we didn't even get to the lesson, but we answered all her questions very well. She tried to stump us by asking all the hard questions, which really aren't hard, but most people have just never taken the time to study them out and find the answer.

I've done well in the RC also, and helped a lot of people with their questions, and have sent the missionaries to visit and also sent out DVD's and Book of Mormons to many people. Next week I think we might starting taking chats and calls in Spanish, which means I probably will regress a bit on all my success!

Today we went to the temple and I did sealings with my companion. It was awesome.

The MTC is looking very Christmasy. The decorations are very nice and pretty much every tree is decorated with lights and all kinds of things. It's kind of like Temple Square, with tons of lights and a manger scene, and they keep adding to it daily!

I'm glad to hear that Thanksgiving went well for everyone. You asked me some of the things I needed and/or wanted for Christmas, and honestly, all I really want is to keep hearing from all of you! I hope everyone is having a great holiday season, and I wish you all the best!

Please send any family pictures you may have. Know that I love you both and I appreciate all you do for me, have done, and will do. I love you and look forward to hearing from your daily letters.

Love, Eric

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