1-24-2012

Hello family!!! 

 

This is such a weird thought, that I'm leaving the MTC and that this is my last P-day! 

 

Last Thursday we got our travel plans :) we leave a day earlier than we originally thought! We leave next Monday! Which was a huge surprise! We report to the travel office at 4 in the morning on Tuesday. Our flight leaves from Salt Lake at 7:30am and we'll arrive in Detroit (random) at 1 pm about (Detroit time). Then we have a 2 1/2 hour layover there and after that we fly to Buenos Aires, a 14-15 hour flight hahaha, that'll be fun. We'll arrive there at 7:55 am, Buenos Aires time. So hopefully I'll be able to call after I arrive! I don't know the schedule or what, I just know we get on a bus after that and go straight to Rosario. If you have any questions can you let me know? I don't fully understand the phone card. Is it expensive? How will I call from Argentina? Will I be able to?

 

Elder Millheim is in our travel group so I'll be with him the whole time! There are 17 total in our group but guess what, we are replacing a group of 35 elders who are all coming home this weekend. Which is insane! I heard that's the biggest group of missionaries the mission has ever had come and go. 

 

I'm sorry but I won't be able to send a video this week :/ Elder Dodge broke his camera and I lent him mine until later this week so I can take pictures before we leave. Sorry! Just a heads up.  But I heard some super cool news! I heard that 'Dear Elder' letters to Argentina are free! Can someone give it a shot to see if it does work? If it does, that would be awesome because then you don't have to pay for every letter! or even stamps and things like that :) It'll take longer than it would if it was going here but that would be nice haha.

 

Can somebody put the mission address on fb or something? If a dear elder is sent here after I leave (which would be Thursday since I can't get the mail from over the weekend) it gets thrown away. Which stinks! 

 

I don't know where that passport holder thing I had from Peru is :/ I thought I had it but I guess I didn't bring it. Sorry! It may be in one of my boxes in my room.  I feel bad I forgot that and that you have to find it! And is it legal for Missionaries to take sleeping pills?Because I think I may need some for the travel.  I can't sleep on planes... I'm nervous I won't get any sleep! 

 

(Genki desu ka?) I forgot what that means... Lauren wrote me and put that in a letter and said that I should at least know that hahaha but I can't remember! I'm losing what little Japanese I knew! hahaha :P There are some Japanese Elders here from Japan and they are so funny! They are going on their missions to Japan but I guess the MTC is closed so they got sent here, then they'll go back to Japan! I gave them some of the crackers you sent me and they got so happy!! hahaha It made me laugh because everyone here doesn't know what they are. One of them when they saw it got so excited and said with a thick Japanese accent "I love you so much" haha,it made me laugh :)

 

Thanks for telling me about Ethan Smith! Chile, that's awesome!! 

 

There is a teacher here who went to Rosario on his mission,and he came to our class to talk to us. We were so excited to talk to him! But the ENTIRE time he was so negative!! It was terrible. It made us all depressed. I can't explain it fully, but he was just super depressing and negative. Almost like he didn't enjoy his mission. I asked what the best part was about his mission and he just said "fulfilling my purpose" and didn't really expound on that. Idk, it was just pretty disappointing. Then a couple days later a teacher came in who works in our zone who went to Rosario (we haven't talked to him because he's been sick) but wow that was a huge difference!!! He was SO excited for us, couldn't even express how much he loved his mission, and explained with such enthusiasm parts of his mission and what the place is like, the people and culture, and great advice. He ended by saying, no matter where we go, it is what we make of it.  Just seeing those two different teachers talking about the same mission, one being negative and the other totally positive, helped me see that more than anything else.  It was a huge difference! It got me SO excited to go to Rosario :) He made it sound like even the hardships are worth it, it made me excited to get out and work my hardest. That was a cool experience I had this week :) 

 

I was chosen to give the talk in Sacrament meeting this past Sunday. It was pretty cool haha about enduring to the end. This next Sunday we are singing our farewell song to the branch :) should be exciting. After Sacrament meeting we watched "The Testaments" and wow I cried! I forgot how good it was :) 

 

I memorized my favorite scripture in Spanish, Alma 26:12. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty proud of myself! Even in Spanish, this scripture provides comfort to me, and motivation. I love it :)

I'm out of time!! I love you all :) Thank you so much for everything you have all done for me :) I hope and pray you are all doing better! I pray for everyone individually every day. 

 

Elder Alek Clubb :)