First P-day

October 22, 2012

Hey everyone!

I only get half an hour to write/read your e-mails and stuff every P-day so Dear Elders would be best. (DearElder.com) Anyways. My first day was pretty good, it's been crazy busy from the start. The first day was crazy, we had to teach in our very first class, that was a little stressful but we got through it ok. My companion is Elder (Mikal) Norton, he's a great guy and a good missionary. For those of you back home who knew him, try to compare him to Tom Setzer. That's the closest comparison that I can come to. A little socially awkward but he's still got some very cool ideas and such. And yes, he's kind of a nerd. :) Me and Elder Norton are getting along pretty good, so far it's a bit tough at times to help him set up a real lesson plan for our investigators (so far we are teaching 2, but we are getting a few more real soon on top of those). He really likes to speak/teach by the spirit. Which is good, but at the same time we have learned and experienced what happens when we don't have a good enough outline or plan for our lesson. We have run short on almost all of our lessons so far. But that's ok, that's something that I need to work on, it's not about the time really. It's about teaching with the spirit as your helper, the spirit shouldn't be what you base a lesson on. But we're learning, so i'm trying to stay positive and not get down on myself or our companionship too much. My teachers are really good so far, and they are all return missionaries as well. So they have first hand experiences to teach us with, which is awesome! Oh by the way, Elder Norton is from South Jordan so, he's a Utah boy just like me :). My district is awesome too, I'll try to upload some pictures to this e-mail but idk, we'll see. My district is comprised of 8 elders whose names are, Elder Brady & Elder Johnson (roommates) Elder Ross and Elder Rojas (Ross is our DL). And Elder Everitt and Lowry. They are all great people and super cool missionaries as well. I think that me and Elder Brady get along best, but really if you can remember I'm very friendly to everyone, so hopefully they all feel pretty close to me. But whatevs! OH! Jason, (or anyone I guess) can you please send me a letter or dear elder about the Fellowship of the Unashamed? It's the one that was in that copy of the scriptures you gave me. The handwriting is a little hard for me to read, but I get most of it :) I really love it! DON! You'll be very happy to know that your letter has kept me here at the MTC. Friday was my hardest day by far. I was getting really homesick and I was really overwhelmed with all the information and I was depressed about how slowly I felt like I was progressing. BUT, I read your letter once I got back to my room, and it really calmed me down. And I just want to say thank you. I really don't know what to write other than that... the food is great. HOWEVER, it really messes with my digestion and it really makes me feel sick. One of my teachers suggested more fruit and stuff like that, and since then I eat a bunch of fruit along with my meals and that balances it out very well. When you're feeling sick and stuff like that, it's very hard to focus on the spirit and what you're learning so that has really helped me out a lot. Thanks for the package, and my silk PJ's mom, that was very nice. The pistachios I don't have much opportunity to eat, but i'm trying to eat them at night. Our study time is in our classroom so we're not allowed food or drink in there. So besides the cafeteria I can only eat snacks in my room. I'm really bad at writing e-mail right now, because I don't know what to cover really. SHOOT! I forgot my camera in my room and I only have 5 minutes left. So i'm really sorry but there won't be any photos this time around. But just know that i'm doing well so far, and this Gospel is a learning Gospel, so just like me, don't get frustrated if you feel like you don't know enough :) I really love you all and I hope to hear from you soon! Please remember to Dear Elder me! It's much faster, and I could really use all the love and support you guys can send!

With Love,

 

Elder DeFreese