Nick - Tennesee - 4/23/2012

I don't know how to retitle the reply.  It eludes me.  But either way, this week's been going pretty well.  Walking a good amount, ate some food, taught some stuff.  Y'know, the basics.  My companion hasn't been feeling all that well throughout the week.  His stomach just feels bad, especially after eating.  It's healing though.  I'm pretty sure it all started when we ate at that shady Chinese buffet.  The english elders and he decided that it was a good day to eat there.  It's called "Eat Well."  It was like three weeks ago though.  The food wasn't really bad, I just wasn't sure how safe it was to eat.  I stayed away from raw fish.  He threw it all up afterwards.  That, coupled with the strange types of food the Spanish members give us to eat.  It generally always seems to be swimming in oils.  Always a hefty amount of meat, usually a weird drink.  I don't really like horchata, like at all, which doesn't help.  Thankfully, we've only had that once.  The natural pineapple juice they make is good.  But the apple/pear/cucumber juice I had once wasn't so hot.  We ate mole there too, the same name of the stuff that we ate in Salt Lake with Ty during conference.  But this was way different.  More liquidy and like a soup broth.  The weather here has been a bit weird lately.  It was hot a few days ago, and muggy, but the past two days have been cold, with lows in the thirties.  It'd be cool to see a tornado before we left.  Either that or big hail.  We ate lunch with a member who works in the Emergency Management department of the city, and she told us about a hailstorm that happened during conference.  They were bigger than baseballs, almost softball sized.  She told us that there was a police officer that got caught in it.  It was kind of in the middle of nowhere and so he couldn't drive anywhere safe.  She said that the hail just wasted the car, breaking the windshield and ruining the roof.  And the officer was in the car the whole time.  Pretty crazy.  We're getting members back into doing stuff.  We're lucky that we have a Spanish member who recently returned from his mission, and he has a sister and brother with their families that are fairly active.  He helps us do some of the things we can't really, be a bit more straightforward because he knows the people better.  It's nice.  We have the Spanish and English thing worked out for church now.  Call some callings we extended.  Now we just need to get some more investigators to church.  We're teaching some people, some families.  It's hard with hispanics here because none of them are really wealthy or have jobs they have control over.  So getting them to church can be tough.  Getting deported is a challenge for a good number.  And the favorite phrase of them is "Si Dios quiere."  Which translates to: if God wants me to.  It's the most common evasive maneuver they've got.  Will they go to church?  Will they read?  And thus they reply, if God wants me to, as if it'll just happen without any effort on their part.  So they can be a bit lazy sometimes.  But we're working through it.  People are a bother, eh?  But a lot of it depends on us teaching so that they at least understand clearly enough what we're saying to either try or not try at all.  So learn learn learn.  The MTC really is a good thing.  You just have to carry over what they teach you and actually do it.  And then improve on it, extend it.  So yeah.  Because my companion wasn't feeling good we really didn't bike much, if at all this week.  I'm not sure that we did.  But my knees are fine.  I'm healthy healthy here.  Although I do need to eat a bit more green stuff.  And also, if you ever have to host the missionaries for dinner, actually feed them.  Unless you physically are unable.  Then you are allowed to give them a gift card.  We've gotten a few of those.  Either that or they just take us to fast food restaurants.  One person took us to a local deli which was good.  Really good sandwich.  But the stuff we make ourselves or the stuff members usually feed us, especially Spanish members, really isn't that healthy.  Make a salad if you feed them.  With other stuff, but have it somewhere.  The Spanish members, more so the older ones, really do just press you more and more to eat more food.  Quiere mas, do you want more, is what we are asked when our plate is empty.  Yesterday I had to say no five times to eating more.  She'd ask again every few minutes.   And what's also nice here is that there's a pie place nearby, called Pie Sensations.  They make really good pie.  The owners are members, so we can go in once a week and get a slice of pie for free.  It is really good pie.  The Mississippi Mud one Mom would love and the peanut butter silk reese's one Sam would love.  But they are quite sweet.  I want to try one of their fruit pies but haven't had the chance yet.  Well, on to the next thing.

 

Sam & Matt - That dinner meal sounds pretty awesome.  Cheesy biscuits are missed.  As well as the other things, actually.  It's nice it wasn't a waste of money to get to the dentist.  Feeling better means it was a success.  Polyurethane makes things shiny.  It's like irrigation, but not quite.  The water is probably a bit cleaner, though I still wouldn't drink either in more than teaspoon, perhaps tablespoon, amounts.  Jerah, with another.  Don't know if it's a boy or girl yet?  And that is a lot of small children in one room.  Mischievous children.  Like herding sheep.  Or perhaps cats.  I always thought that camellias were just some sort of small bush or vine or something.  But they're evergreen and can grow up to 20 meters tall?  Now I'm just confused.  Perhaps different types are different.  Just maybe.  Don't you go thinking you can make tea from your plants though.  That's just weird.

 

Alex - I have also been reading the New Testament.  It's interesting.  The first four books, the gospels, are good.  I like John a lot so far.  I like looking at the questions that Jesus asked and think how I can ask better questions when teaching.  Another interesting tip is to notice when Christ is speaking to apostles or to the regular people.  Or Pharisees.  There is a definite difference.  Usually he just speaks in parables to the people, or Pharisees, and speaks more plainly to the apostles, more definition.  It's cool.  And more things to keep in mind.  I'm still only in John right now, so I've got a good amount left to go.  Also, speaking of Claymation, you and Matt might like this youtube video.  I was told about it, but I haven't seen it, I don't think.  It's a claymation called "I like to sit on my pancakes" or something like that.  That phrase should unlock the door somehow.  The description for it was good.  You should teach me how to pronounce things in French.  Because it's always a bother, especially because we have so much family history that Mom works on that's French.  Impart to me this.  French.  Pronunciation.

 

Dad - I like Wikipedia.  It knows a good amount of things.  It'd be cool to talk about King Benjamin's address.  I feel like I just need to flip through the Book of Mormon and label all the major stories or talks that are good.  I think I might.  I wish we had some more study time though.  One hour a day for personal study just isn't enough.

 

Mom - Happy birthday Mom!!  When it comes around, of course.  Also, of course I know when Mother's Day is.  It's posted in Walmart.  I noticed it today.  We helped a member lady move some stuff.  It was all fairly light, or in boxes.  There were stairs, and a turn in the stairs, but it all came through.  It is sad to be moving.  But it'll be good if you let it be.  Hopefully the ward you're in will be nice enough.  I've learned some things about living in the ghetto.  We don't, but it's right by us.  We teach a lot in the trailer parks.  If there's ever wealthy Spanish people that speak good English, then it means that they're Jehovah's Witnesses.  Well, an 80% chance.  If you wondered.

I will expect that refund because I labeled this email as "remember."  Also, I will email Aunt Ronda sometime.  Can't do it today because of time.  Will take pictures sometime also.

 

Take care, all.Family Letter 4/23/2012

Hey Nick,

I decided to come start the letter to you in order to escape the wrath of mom at the dinner table.  Mom  wasn't satisfied with how the dinner timing turned out and was taking it out on everyone.  I think only Grandpa and Grandma were spared.  As you can no doubt imagine, Dad was trying his best to egg her on and going out of his way to annoy.  Personally, I thought the dinner turned out really well.  We had pork roast, scalloped potatoes, and cheesy biscuits. 

This past week hasn't been all that busy.  Matt had a root canal because his teeth were bothering him so bad.  Apparently he's weird because his tooth has an extra root on it compared to most people.  He's feeling a lot better know.  Matt's almost finished everything for our bedroom so we can move back in.  The bed frame is looking really good with the polyurethane on it.  Otherwise Matt's been pumping water out of the pool and flooding the yard and I had an easy work week because a bunch of our kids didn't show up at school. 

Other news you may not have heard is that Jerah's gonna have a baby in October.  Not sure the boys understand yet but Abby's getting excited.  I think she's jealous that Sam and Noah tend to get all the attention and she gets overlooked. 

The spiritual thought from Nursery today is this:  the lesson was all about how Jesus created the Earth and everything on it.  One of the little kids piped up and asked, "Did Jesus make the monsters under my bed too?"  It was pretty funny.  Our nursery is starting to get chaotic because the boys are getting rowdier and we're going to get more kids next time.  I think we'll have almost 17 kids in the end.  Crazyness.

And just so I can continue you botany classes.  Today is Camellia, the camellias, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalaya east to Japan and Indonesia. There are 100–250 described species, with some controversy over the exact number. The genus was named by Linnaeus after the Jesuit botanist Georg Joseph Kamel from Brno, who worked in the Philippines, though he never described a camellia.

Camellias are evergreen and small trees up to 20 meters tall. Their leaves are alternately arranged, simple, thick, serrated, and usually glossy. Their flowers are usually large and conspicuous, one to 12 cm in diameter, with five to nine petals in naturally occurring species of camellias. The colors of the flowers vary from white through pink colors to red; truly yellow flowers are found only in South China and North Vietnam. Camellia flowers throughout the genus are characterized by a dense bouquet of conspicuous yellow stamens, often contrasting with the petal colors.  Camellia plants usually have a rapid growth rate. Typically they will grow about 30 cm per year until mature – though this does vary depending on their variety and geographical location.

Camellia sinensis, the tea plant, is of major commercial importance because tea is made from its leaves. While the finest teas are produced by C. sinensis courtesy of millennia of selective breeding of this species, many other camellias can be used to produce a similar beverage. For example, in some parts of Japan, tea made from Christmas Camellia (C. sasanqua) leaves is popular. Tea oil is a sweet seasoning and cooking oil made by pressing the seeds of the Oil-seed Camellia (C. oleifera), the Japanese Camellia (C. japonica), and to a lesser extent other species such as Crapnell's Camellia (C. crapnelliana), C. reticulata, C. sasanqua and C. sinensis. Relatively little-known outside East Asia, it is the most important cooking oil for hundreds of millions of people, particularly in southern China.

Camellias were cultivated in the gardens of China and Japan for centuries before they were seen in Europe. Europeans' earliest views of camellias must have been their representations in Chinese painted wallpapers, where they were often represented growing in porcelain pots. The first living camellias seen in England were a single red and a single white.

With the expansion of the tea trade in the later 18th century, new varieties began to be seen in England, imported through the British East India Company. The Company's John Slater was responsible for the first of the new camellias, double ones, in white and a striped red, imported in 1792.  By the 1840s, the camellia was at the height of its fashion as the luxury flower.  

Matt and Sam

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            Little brother!

            I am happy to write to you today for two reasons:1. Because i have fingers to type, 2. because i have a brain that can produce the thoughts. Scripture study is good stuff. I especially like the new testament. Today has been all kinds of crazy. I went to hear a farewell talk at 8:30 and then a musical number at 12:30. I performed in the Dance centennial actually Chamber Choir got to sing the National Anthem. It was good stuff. Also I have started making up ideas for prom which is in 2 weeks and the group and all that jazz. It will be really awesome. Mother and father were quite funny at the dinner table today. Insomuch that matt proposed a claymation. We are moving soon and i am graduating soon. Life is finally moving on. I think that this move will be a good one. Optimism rarely goes amiss. Anything you want to know that i can answer? If so let me know.

-Alexander Da Great.

Nick,

I guess I could copy and paste like Sam from Wikipedia, but I chose not to.... I will let your mom tell you all the info to get you up to date on our lives. She extremely grumpy today - bothered by turning 50 in a couple of days I suppose. Will be teaching on King Benjamin's address next Sunday, which I'm looking forward too.

Have not much else to say son. You know what you need to be doing, so pour forth the effort.

Love, Dad

Hi Nick,

This week has flown by.  So, a long time ago Aunt Ronda ( my sister) sent you money for your mission.  $150.  We put it in your account.  You should send her a thank-you.  Her e-mail is ronda@elc-cv.org.  

How are your knees holding up with the biking?  OK so far?  

We get the keys to the new place May 1st.  Will probably start moving slowly then.  After May 11th, it will be all out.  That weekend will be all the big stuff plus the kitchen and bathrooms.  When you talk to me on Mother's Day, the Sunday after, I may well be exhausted.  Dad and I went through and planned where all the furniture is going.  Packed up all the drawers in the office - moved into the brown file cabinet.  Sorted out what food storage I want to keep.  Started cutting up the levis I have for quilts to get those boxes down some. 

Noticed that everyone commented on my mood at dinnertime.  Yeah.  Don't think Dad has the reason right, but I do know I am surely looking forward to leaving for Women's Conference this weds.  Coming back on Saturday.  Then teach our last lesson together on Sunday.  We told the bishop our last week will be Mother's Day.  Hopefully he has already arranged for speakers for that day. 

People at church are learning that we are moving - and moving soon.  Lots of dismay and sadness expressed.  A few tears.  Maybe that's where the attitude came from.  Who knows.  I'm trying to look at it as the next big adventure.  Still hard to do sometimes.  We found some money in a card from one of the Grandma's to you.  $25. Was in a box of junk in Matt's closet.  Thanks.  Remind me after your mission and I might refund it.

Have a good week.  Love hearing about details from your life.  Love you, Mom

Nick - Tennesee 4/16/2012

And another week goes by.  It's true, the mission in the field is far different than in the MTC.  I'm still getting things down.  I need to write down why it's different.  But that'll go somewhere else.  Life here continues on.  Still getting fed, either by myself or my companion or by members.  Earlier today I was eating what I thought was a pear at first.  Looked just like it.  But after the first bite that belief was quickly dispersed.  It was a mango.  Pretty good.  But anyways.  Things continue on here.  I've more or less got my footing.  Need to learn to talk to people better.  Just the basic talking part.  The language really isn't the barrier, just the actual conversation.  It's coming.  Talked to some nice people in the laundromat today, from Mexico.  Had a good number or Hispanic members go to church.  The problem now is keeping them there after Sacrament.  Need to bar the doors or something.  So we're working with less-actives a good amount, but we also teach some investigators.  A work in progress, as always.  Things have been good.  Rode my bike a bit.  It's more hilly here in Columbia.  That's a bad thing, by the way.  Not as bad as Nashville, but it's not nice.  Throw it on the lowest gear possible and pedal away.  Using a bike from one of the other missionaries who doesn't need it right now.  It's good.  Just need to keep going and keep putting more effort into things.  Yup.

 

Gma - Opera.  Nice.  The good part about it is you had a good time.  Well, and that you ate food.  They're both good parts.  Thank you for the history.  It's good to know about ancestors.  Not to lift yourself up in front of others but to remind you that there were others that did good things to, that stood for God.  Lessons can be learned, for sure.  Especially since family history is more personal.

 

Matt & Sam - I remember that Aunt Jeanne and Mom watched that one before I left.  At least, I think it was Aunt Jeanne.  I also remember that Grandma O watched it and Mom talked to her about it.  I remember something about poop and food.  Not what exactly, however.  Probably for the better.  Speaking of Easter egg hunts, there was a church here in Columbia that had an Easter egg hunt with 100,000 eggs hidden.  Or so they said, so y'know.  That's a bunch.  A literal ton, perhaps.  Interesting that you find out you have these allergies now rather than when you were young.  You and Matt are such nice people to dentists.  I am too, usually.  Hopefully I'll change that.  Hand and foot.  An interesting game.  But it is quite nice when you simply conquer and without doubt win.

 

Mom - I am indeed using Spanish.  I am a Spanish missionary, of course.  My comprehension is getting better.  I can generally understand everything, or at least through context.  Except for people from the islands, like Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic.  They speak faster, cut of letters from words and pronounce a bit different.  Then again I hear that in Argentina they speak super fast, use a ton of slang and sound a bit different.  Thus it goes.  House is a tough decision.  We helped one of the English ward members move on Saturday.  Oh my goodness.  She was not ready to move.  Boxes of junk piled up in every room, stuff lying everywhere, the garage filled with garbage.  Bad enough I would almost just say to bulldoze the entire house and build a new one rather than clean it out.  Terrible.  Just don't get half as bad as it was and you'll be alright.  That sounds like a fairly interesting MORP.  Hopefully Kevin had something on under that wonderful gown.  They're a bit scary.  How in the world do you tear a calf muscle doing that?  Oh Alex.  I understand volleyball can be painful, but I was expecting broken ankles or a volleyball to the face, not the calf.  Hopefully it heals quickly enough.  Going through everything will be a good experience.  It's good to cut back a bit.  I like doing it every once in a while.  Well, not that I've really had the opportunity lately, but y'know.  I really want to read the talks.  I haven't had the opportunity to really see them again or read them.  But I hope.  English and Spanish, so I can practice live translation.  My companion did it for Sacrament this Sunday.  Seems somewhat hard, but then I'll know I have rocking Spanish, when I can do it well.

 

You all are wonderful.  Writing to me is a very nice thing to do.  Thank you for doing it.  Tell people I'm still alive if they're wondering.  Running a little short on time, so I've got to finish.  But it's good.  Enjoy yourselves.

 

Love,

Your dearest elder,

Elder HansenFamily Letter 4/16/2012

Nick,

Dear Nick;

Dad and i went to the Arizona Opera  this week, had a good time and ate too much. I wanted to  brag about your heritage, you remember I told you about the Vaudois, well it turns out they received their scriptures from the missionaries of Antioch of Syria in the 120's AD. all the persecution they endured was because they would not give up their bible (specifically John1:7-8) and this is why the Catholics were so angry with them, they wanted these two verses out of the bible because they did not agree with 3 personages in the God Head. The reformation itself owes a lot to these Christians in the French (Italian) alps. they not only preserved , but they show to what lengths God would go to keep his promise. (Psalm 12:6-7). Many of the bibles now in use do not have 1John 5:7-8, that I am sure influenced so many of the Italians to accept the Gospel when Lorenzo Snow offered it. Anyway my great grandfather was one of the first to be baptized and my grandfather was only 6 when he walked from Piedmont Italy, over the Alps, and on to SLC with the first handcart company. You have a lot more special ancestors watching you than I do, but I really feel privileged to belong to this set of Christians. Hope you do too. LOVE YOU Grandma

Hey Nick,

Mom just had me watch a movie called The Help.  Not bad, but now it's nearly my bedtime so I'm just gonna be quick and I'll save the plant description till next time.  Here's some highlights of the past week or so.  I made Matt go on an Easter egg hunt and search the house for his Easter basket.  He officially thinks I'm nuts but he loves me anyways.  I went and got some allergy testing done.  Turns out I'm allergic to quite a few things but I just don't know what things.  They've decided I need to get more extensive testing.  Fun, I just love getting poked in the back lots of times.  Matt and I both went to the dentist and provided them with some good business.  Matt's been bellyaching for at least the past week that they screwed up somehow and he's going to need a root canal.  We'll see.  For a happy thought, Dad and I played Mom and Alex on hand and foot earlier today.  We wasted them.  Neither had even gotten into their feet or closed any piles.  They refused to score it because they were gonna be so negative. 

Matt and Sam

Hey Elder, 

How is Tennessee this week?  Using any Spanish?  Dad and I decided to rent a 3br house.  Can move in after May 1, we probably won't be in a hurry though.  Dad wants to do it gradually and have Matt sleep there to appear occupied.   Hope this is the right decision.  We've gone back and forth on stuff all weekend.  Looked at a lot of apartments, but it comes down to stuff.  We just aren't ready to get rid of it.  Alex has been busy with dance festival.  The program is this Sat.  He went to morp on Friday nite.  She dressed him in a blue fur jacket and gave him a baseball had with styrofoam balls on top for eyes to be Cookie Monster.  She went as the cookie.  I brought home a patient gown for Kevin and he took his dad's walker and his date was his nurse.  Sat. morning Alex took his ACT, a demoralizing experience.  Saturday night he went to a cast party for beauty and the beast and was playing volleyball and came down on his leg.  Not sure exactly what caused it, but my unofficial diagnosis is a torn calf muscle.  Lots of pain.  Some swelling.  Don't think they can do much for it but let it heal.  Of course it's his right leg so driving is a problem.  I can't get him in to the Dr. til tomorrow.  Oh well. 

I went through the house and identified what I need to keep and what to get rid of.  Also what still needs to be gone through and packed.  Somehow I need to decide what/how much food storage to keep.  The problem is where.  It will be easier in a house, but there is still a pretty tight limit.  It all seems overwhelming.  Plus I'm working lots the next few days.  Then next week I work Sunday-Tuesday and Weds. I'm off to SLC for women's conference with Jeanne. 

Have started reading through conference talks.  Really liked Elder Holland's talk.  It's good to go through them.  Have a good week.  Love you lots, Mom

Nicholas - Tennessee 4/16/2012 (to Ty)

From: Nicholas Hansen <hansen.nicholas@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 4:08 PM
Subject: Re: Short email...sorry
To: Tyrel Hansen <tyreljh@gmail.com>


Very bad at emailing?  Not quite.  Missing a few weeks does not qualify for very bad.  It qualifies for a whoops.  Missing for two months would be bad, then four months would be very bad.  Those are my quality standards.  It does indeed sound like a lot has happened over there.  Almost as much as has happened to me.  Lucky you got him like that.  Although I did get to hear him three times in the MTC.  One of the times was quite close, also.  Six rows, I'd say.  General conference was good.  I need one of the conference issues in English and Spanish so that I can read them again.  I just watched one of President Monson's talks with an investigator.  He's going to listen to some more of them.  I think if I was to make something, it would be the recipe for the cinnamon twists that Sis. Halls makes.  They're easier than the cinnamon rolls, but still taste good.  It takes a while to make cinnamon rolls, and I'm somewhat limited out here.  I also very much liked Pres. Eyring's talk.  Reminded me of something Bro. Merkley from Mesa said when he was my Sunday school teacher.  And something I was thinking of a few weeks ago.  But I want to reread it to know better.  I have yet to go to one of these leadership meetings.  I think they'd be exciting.  The dinner group idea is nice.  Seems a wonderful way to get to know people and cook better.  And if you were wondering, the best meal at the MTC was the pitas.  They were fairly healthy, but the sauce stuff, dressing, was wonderful, and it just worked out without being super greasy or providing you with a plentitude of gas.  And they tasted good.  I missed that part.  The food so far here has been pretty good.  Interesting, sometimes, but good.  Haven't had anything gross like menudo though.  My comp has though so it's possible.  Haven't had any real Southern food yet either.  We'll see.  Life progresses.  Get married sometime.  Pass that fancy test you've been practicing for.  You're wonderful.  Thank you for the Beauty and the Beast song, again.  It was necessary.  I was deciding whether or not I should rearrange the paragraph here to make it easier to read but decided against it.  Sorry.  Time is of the essence.

On Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 7:42 AM, Tyrel Hansen <tyreljh@gmail.com> wrote:

I have been very bad at emailing you. I'm sorry, I will be better from now on. A lot has happened since last time I guess. We had Elder Holland come speak to my ward in an FHE.  My bishop is friends with him so he came and spoke to just my ward.  It was really neat getting to know him on more of a personal level.  He talked about what his life was like growing up and what he felt were the important things in life.  He spoke a lot about the Restoration of the gospel and what it means to us.  It was really good.
There was also general conference which was fantastic.  I watched it with a bunch of friends, at BU that Saturday and MIT on Sunday.  I also made homemade cinnamon rolls for everyone because I told everyone that's what mom did on conference Sundays to get us out of bed in the morning.  I think that is true.  Anyways, I really loved Elder Eyrings talk on dedicating ourselves to the Lord and praying for mountains.  Interesting thought, but I think that's what we need in order to become the church of saints that we are supposed to become.  Things will only get harder from here.
Life has been good to me.  Saturday was stake conference which was quite nice.  I took a practice test for the CFA that morning and did fairly well.  Then I went to the leadership meeting.  It was my favorite meeting of all of the conference.  I learned about the power of delegation and the ability to pass a vision of their calling onto those we delegate to.  It was really good and something I hope to apply in my calling.  Then Saturday night I went to a friend's house, there were a few of us there and we all had a dance party, built a fort, and watched a movie.  It was a lot of fun and all of the people there will be here this summer.  I think we're going to start a dinner group to get to know people better, but that won't start until June when school ends. 
Last night was perfect.  My hometeachees invited us over for dinner, a homemade pita dinner, and then we just chatted.  It was really just a great night because it felt like home.  I think it's something that you'll learn more about and come to appreciate more as you live out of the house and especially go away to college, but the feeling of being home is so comforting.  There's nothing like it in the world, the sense of peace you get.  I want to marry a girl that can make my house feel like that, because I sure can't.

That's all, I'm at work so I gotta peace.  Life is good Nick, life is good.

Nicholas - Tennesee 04/09/2012

Oh, goodness.  I'll be replying this way to the emails from now on.  So yeah.  Got into Nashville Thursday night, ate dinner and slept at the mission president's home.  President & Sister McKee, by the way.  It was pretty good.  Then Friday I got assigned a companion, and started working.  It's interesting.  A work in process.  My companion is Elder Monson.  He's half Japanese and lived in Hawaii for eight years.  The first eight years.  So that's cool.  He's going to make some kind on seaweed, rice and spam thing to eat one of these days.  Nine of us came from the MTC, which boosted numbers here from low twenties to around 30.  There were a few areas they were going to close that they don't need to now.  I'm in one of em.  It's pretty good.  The Spanish branch was recently joined with the ward.  By the way, the name of the place and area is Columbia.  Columbia Spanish.  Because of the join, we need headsets for translating to Spanish, and it makes things a bit more difficult.  The first Sunday we had here was actually a stake conference, so I'll be seeing next Sunday.  We're figuring things out, however.  Reactivating people, finding people.  It's somewhat hard to just go tracting here because you have to choose which houses would be speaking Spanish, because we don't want to go knocking all the English doors.  We're getting things done now though.  A work in progress, yes, but we'll make the best of it.  Anyways.  It's nice here.  Temperature wise.  Not really very humid so far.  I'm blanking, more or less.  There's plenty of religions here.  Catholics, Christians, Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Church of Christ, and everything in between, or split off.  It makes things interesting.  I haven't been in any confrontations yet.  We did talk for a while with a Jehovah's witness lady yesterday, which was good.  Anyways, for the second time.  Well, I decided that I might say a bit more here.  Spanish is going well.  I can understand just about everything the natives say, or through context I get it.  Well, depends on who.  But around 80-90 percent.  Argentina speech will be harder though.  A bunch of slang.  That's what'll be the hardest.  Well, I'll learn.  It'd be cool to run into an Argentina family here, but it's fairly unlikely.  Ummmm.  I'm learning.  This mission covers basically all of Tennessee and parts of Kentucky and a little bit of Illinois.  I'm not really big city here in Columbia.  Not really spread out but not so close like the neighborhoods in Mesa.  I realize reading the line I wrote, that it sounds funny.  I'm not really big city.  Heh.  Hopefully everyone thinks I'm weird.  It's a fairly big area.  I'm still figuring it out.  We will be getting bikes later this week.  We have a car every two days, sharing with the English elders.  Things are good.  I'm working through everything, hopefully in a smart way.

 

Sara Anne & Matthew - Calling it a bubble wrap cover makes me think you just bought bubble wrap and threw it over the top.  That'd be cool.  That ceiling needs no touch up work.  I worked on it, so it's perfect, no doubt.  It's nice to sleep in a good bed.  The ones here are actually pretty sweet.  Not huge, but fairly comfortable.  I almost typed fairy comfortable which could work too.  Gardenia.  Lots of fragrance.  I hope you have it in a pot, or raised off the ground somehow.  It's necessary.  Swimming is nice.  Water is good too.  Yup, I'm not sure either.

 

Dad - Interesting.  To some degree I've thought of all that before while studying.  Not so much in depth or specific as Elder Pratt, but it's good.  I think there's still things I need to learn from that chapter.  If nothing else, I need to feel its importance.  One thing that I had a ton of time for in the MTC was just idle studying.  Out here it needs be a bit more specific.  I'm learning to concentrate more while studying and keep my focus.  I'm learning to prepare for everything before it even happens.  Planning is good when done right.  But it is a process.

 

Matt - Towel.  Hmph.  My brain is also tired of thinking today, and it's not even 1 o clock yet.  I could also use some muffins.  They sound scrumptious.  We've eaten at a few homes already and the food is pretty good.  I tend to hiccup when I eat something spicy enough so I started doing that a little bit yesterday.  But it was good.  I like the word good.  It translates well into Spanish as well - bueno.  I am learning to take more pictures.  My companion from the MTC took a ton.  I need to get some of here so I remember it.  Writing also will be something to do.  Hmmmnng.  That poem was actually fairly interesting.  Not a favorite, but it went pretty well together.

 

Alex - Good thing New York went well.  But you lost your wallet?  And 70 bucks?  And pretended you were 15?  Especially because you're really an 18 year old.  Oh, boy.  Sounds like you've got a few things going on.  You should enjoy them.  Columbia here has been good so far.  Nothing crazy yet.  I'll make the best of it.

 

Mom - Good that Ty went.  Game night sounds fun.  I kinda forgot it was Easter.  We got some slightly weird jelly bean eggs, though.  We ate at a member's home, the Abac's.  They're from Guatemala.  They cooked a bunch of meat.  It was quite similar to how Matt and I once ate at Michael's house.  They just threw a bunch of meat on the grill, cooked some beans, had tortillas, and ate it.  A lot of meat.  Like a bunch.  It was good.  I am starting to miss food, though.  I don't know if it's possible that Ty is more awkward than me with a baby, however.  It's pretty tough.  And by saying pretty I'm understating.  There's a word for that that I learned in the MTC that I just can't recall at the moment.  Nashville is temporary, until we get visas.  They just had a group of visa waiters, to Mexico, who had left the week before.  That's why they were going to have to close some areas.  It just depends on when they get the visas.  I've heard so many mixed things about the consulate that I really can't inform you with any real sense of clarity.  But it'll happen eventually.  Probably within a transfer, but possibly longer.  It's weird because visas come individually but I think they send us out as a group, so even if someone gets their visa soon they'll wait longer to be sent until a certain number of the group have visas.  I'm probably just making things complicated.  Yeah.

Family Letter April 9, 2012

Happy Easter.  Hope you're enjoying the change in scenery there in Tennessee.  we've been busy around home but not too busy. 

We got a bubble wrap cover for the pool so Matt won't have to clean it as often.  It should also help keep the pool warmer so we can start swimming sooner.  Shouldn't be long if the weather continues the way it has.  We bought a new fan for our bedroom so Matt's been doing some touch up work to the ceiling and is switching out the fan.  I'll be happy with it, I just wish it had come with a remote.  We're basically done staining the bed frame.  The stain we chose has not been wanting to dry as quickly as it said it should.  Hopefully I'll get my bedroom back by the end of the week.  I've gotten a little tired of sleeping in the game room. 

Not sure what else to tell you about so I'll just leave you with this plant description of Gardenia jasminoides 'Veitchii'.

Design Ideas

With its low, dense growth, this Gardenia is a favorite for limited space. Mounding habit is complementary in Asian-inspired gardens and on mounds with boulders where it appears to spill down a slope. Best planted close to outdoor living spaces in heavy ceramic pots or raised planters to enjoy the lovely fragrance. Keep away from big bushy shrubs which can overwhelm this smaller Gardenia.

Companion Plants

Combine this fragrant beauty with other woodland shrubs and perennials like Masterwort, Coral Bells, Camellia and Evergreen Azalea. Create a tropical container planting for your patio or deck with Mandevilla, Elephant Ears, Agapanthus and Fuchsia.

History

Gardenia is a native of China where it has been cultivated for over a thousand years. Plants reached America directly from Asia in 1761 where John Ellis cultivated the plants at his Yeshoe Plantation. These would be the progenitor for all camellias in England. Ellis named the genus for his friend, Dr. Garden, a physician of Charleston, South Carolina. In the Victorian language of flowers the gardenia came to symbolize secret love. It is a favorite flower for corsage due to its heady fragrance.

Matt and Sam

Nick,

Here some wisdom from my lesson Jacob chapter 5:

Use it to study the metaphors from the Allegory of the Olive Trees

Vineyard = The world.

Tame olive tree = The house of Israel (v3).

Wild olive tree = The Gentiles (those who are not of the house of Israel by birth).

Master of the vineyard = The Lord.

The servant = A prophet or prophets.

Grafting natural branches into the wild trees = Branches of Israel dispersed among Gentiles.

Grafting wild branches into the natural tree = Adoption of Gentiles into Israel.

Nephi defined grafting as coming "to the knowledge of the true Messiah" (1 Nephi 10:14).

Pruning, nourishing, and cultivating = The work of the Lord and his servants to save their people.

Natural fruit = Faithful Saints and their righteous works, worthy of eternal life (v61).

Wild fruit = Unfaithful individuals and their unrighteous works.

Elder Pratt’s commentary: Outline of the history of the world played out in the story of the olive grove.

5:4—FIRST VISIT, PRE-CHRIST.  He cares about the tree.

5:7—House of Israel conquered by Asyrria, Babylon, Rome

5:13—Isles distant from Palestine.

5:14—Ten tribes in the north.  Some of Judah and Joseph in American.  Others, upon isles.

5:15—SECOND VISIT, EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH.  Six or seven centuries.

5:17—The Gentiles in the Apostles’ days

5:20—First group.  Place unknown

5:23—Second group.  Place unknown

5:24—Third group.  Place unknown

5:25—Fourth group.  America.  Tame fruit = Nephites.  Wild fruit = Lamanites.

5:26—Lamanites

5:29—THIRD VISIT, RESTORATION OF THE GOSPEL.  About 18 centuries.  Joseph Smith.

5:30—All sorts of fruit = Sects of Christendom.

5:38—Distant isles

5:40—Wild fruit = Lamanites.  Good fruit = Nephites.

5:43—Nephites.  America.

5:44—Jaredites.

5:45—Lamanites overcame the Nephites.

5:46—Present condition of the Indians (Present meaning, of course, the turn of the 20th Century, and Indians meaning Native Americans)

5:48—The branches tried to support themselves rather than relying on the root.

5:50—Christ is always our Advocate.

5:52—Branches whose fruit is most bitter = The more wicked portions of the Gentiles.

5:54—Roots = The scattered branches of Israel.  The branches of this tree = The believing Gentiles.  [Graft them in unto] them, the roots = Scattered Israel.

5:55—The believing Gentiles numbered with the believing of scattered Israel.

5:56—The believing of scattered Israel numbered with the believing of the Gentiles.

5:57—Those ripened for destruction.

5:63—The last that may be first = Gentiles.  The first that may be last = Israel.

5:70—Servant = Joseph Smith.  Other servants = Those called through Joseph Smith.  (I differ with Elder Pratt on this one: It makes more sense to me that the servant is always Christ, and Joseph Smith is one of the other servants.)

5:76—MILLENIUM.  For a long time = 1,000 years.

5:77—JUDGMENT

Good for your personal study and growth. One of the blessings you are entitled to as a missionary is an increased understanding of the scriptures through study(ponder), prayer, & obedience - The reason is that as a missionary you should have their life in alignment with the spirit and be able to receive and understand the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

Love Dad

Towel,

Happy Easter! I made muffins this morning after taking Ty back the airport. Blueberry, and I had to tell Mom she couldn't eat all of them. I hear you're off to Tennessee for a bit. Hope that goes well for you - it's cool you get to see what it's like back there. Should be getting warmer at least. My brain is tired of thinking today - I even lost Scrabble spectacularly.

This week has been long feeling. Part of it is probably that work was really slow due to the Easter holidays. I'm getting towards the end of this school semester though. Guess what? I went in your old room the other day and a very enterprising little spider had made a nice string of web from the ceiling to your door and then across to the bed on the other side of the room. I would have liked to see it at work - I'm interested in how it pulled the line taught from the door all the way to the bed...

The church has some newer bible videos on the life of Christ that I was watching on their website. They did a pretty good job. They seemed kind of quiet, but I think they might have been going for that. They had the relevant scriptures listed out right below the video so you could read what sections of scriptures it covered - a nice touch.

I hope you enjoy getting out in the field. Just do what you are supposed to and trust that the rest will come accordingly. Also, take pictures and write in your journal. I was looking over my pictures and I am annoyed by two things. One, I don't have more of them, and two, I don't remember everything as well as I used to. The names of places, people, and things is fuzzy around the edges. It's kind of cool to re-tract the paths in my head though. Anyways, keep it all up. And by the way, because his school would not allow him to have dogs Lord Byron came back with pet bears. Here's a fun poem of his for you to read:

The Destruction of Sennacherib

The Destruction of Sennacherib

The Destruction of Sennacherib

The Destruction of Sennacherib

THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

It's based off of 2 Kings 18 & 19. Yup, brushing up on my poetry between calls. Later

- Matt

Well I haven't heard much from you lately besides the bit about Nashville which should be pretty sweet in the mean time. Well new York was bomb.com and completely worth it. Lotsa good memories from that trip. Anything you want to hear about? Morp is Friday, dance festival is wednesday and Saturday morning, and saturday night is the ward country cook off. Tomorrow is my dentist appointment. And I have to find a job soon!!!! Anywho you da man. Carry On.

- Alehandro

Hello Elder Nick,

So, we had a visit from Tyrelius this past weekend.  He blew in on Friday night.  We enjoyed a game night with him and Sam and Matt.  Alex was still in New York.  Ty went to Adam's wedding on Saturday then left early Sunday.  Easter was pretty laid back.  The easter bunny is getting seriously lazy.  Just some candy in bowls on the table.  Next year it will probably just be some bags of candy left around.  Not nearly as much fun as an easter egg hunt, but then we don't have any little kids either.....  It felt like a true empty nester's house for a couple of days this past week with Alex gone.  (even though Matt is here, with his schedule, we never see him during the week.)  So Alex didn't mention he lost his wallet with driver's license and about 70 bucks in New York.  He had to pretend to be 15 to get through the airport security without his ID.  Oh well, he made it home.  With substantially less souvenirs also.  John and Allison with Holden came over Saturday night after Matt and Ty got home.  Ty is less comfortable holding a baby than you.  I didn't think it was possible.  Sam rescued him though.  Holden is getting bigger and chunky.  Happy boy though.    Not much else to report.  Love you lots.  Give us lots of details about Nashville.  (It is a temporary thing as far as you know right?)  Love Mom.Family Letter 4/3/2012


Hello my brother? How fares the mission?  Did you get a chance to sing in the choir for conference? Bradly did along with david archuleta. Pretty cool stuff.  The musical is done. The last night was the coolest for me personally because there was just a really great crowd and I did the best i ever had before. It was just really a good experience. a good ending ya know? Ah ten nthere was missionary week this week! what an opportunity. I got everything that was expected and more. I did really well. The thing is that some losers at mesa didn't even really try for it. I figure they will learn  later on and i shouldn't judge. So we are moving from the house soon enough as you should know and going to a luxury apartments. We are talking a pool, hot tub, a gym, and if i am lucky racquetball courts.  That would be sweet. The only negatives is first it is gonna be smaller, second the parking may or may not suck, and finally it is like 10 min away from everything i am used to. Not nec
 essarily to bad but its gonna be a change. Anywho I am going to New York Tuesday and that should be a blast! Oh and conference was great as well. Many good talks such as the big bang theory applied to a print shop and Elder Eyring's 'I wanted to be a good boy'. Conference seemed to be focused on the family this year.  Good messages.  Welp, i don't really have to much else to say besides carry on brother. Keep on the work that you are doing.  Your letters are fun to read because your train of thought is entertaining and you just to me seem like an overall stud. Keep on keeping on.

- The man
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I have been doing the mundane chore of filing taxes - It is not a morale booster........ After listening to conference I've decided that all my children are better at controlling their angry than I am. I appreciate and love each one of you.

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Hi Nick,
So, to set the record straight, Dad thought Belle looked like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz because she had a blue dress and white pinafore(apron).  Also, Dorothy did sing - "somewhere over the rainbow", a very popular song - probably more so than any in Beauty and the Beast.  I have now sent you all the lyrics of Beauty and the Beast.  Also the lyrics that Alex used to ask Lexy to prom. Alex is the one who re-wrote it.  Loved having the weekend off for conference.  So many good talks.  I'm looking forward to going back and watching them again and studying them.  Lots of food for thought.  So on Elder Whiting, I guess Brad didn't get the e-mail that changed his report date to 3 weeks later, so showed up set apart and ready to be a missionary 3 weeks earlier than they expected him.  I guess they put him in the English learning lessons class until they had a group ready for the Tagalog classes.  We saw him on tv.  Lots of facebook comments on sightings of him also.  You can't o
 fficially sell blood products - that would be ethically wrong - like selling a kidney on e-bay.  However you can sell plasma at plasma banks.  It's used for non-medical purposes - like making cosmetics.  Hoping Alex doesn't have to resort to that.  However many college students use that to provide grocery money.    I also did more cooking this past weekend than in a long while.  Probably since Christmas.  It was good.  Do you know what Pinterest is?  Probably not.  you "pin" different sites or pictures you like on your "boards" that are on your individual sites.  You can also see what your facebook and gmail friends are "pinning" to their boards.  I've been doing this at night.  It gives me lots of recipe ideas and I have a ton of quilt ideas also.  Currently am making one for Matt out of Batiks (like the swirly colors from Sion's quilt).  It seems to have an island feel that is right for him.  Also it will be king size so perhaps he'll find someone to share it with.  Were y
 ou able to figure out when Dad was talking and when I was in our last e-mail?  I wrote it and he interjected thoughts throughout it (ie Dorothy and blood donation comments for example).  Well, back to laundry.  Have a good week.  Love you!!! Mom
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Buenos dias,
Mi nombre es Tengo Guapo. Que es tu nombre? It has been another exciting week here at home. I have yet to hear any reference about the awesome temple food up there. You should take my advice and give it a shot if possible. More so if you have the morning session when they are serving breakfast. I still miss the MTC food. I am missing it right now as I sit here famished. I'm just about to run off to ASU to see if their institute board postings have any roommate postings worth considering. Hopefully they do, because it is expensive to live on your own. Also, I just glanced up and saw Mom misspelled EBay. On another note I still hold the arm wrestling championship title having humbled Alex with both left and right arms respectively. He thinks he will start working out when Mom and Dad move out because they'll have a gym room at their apartment complex. I don't think anything is settled as far as that goes. Also, more exciting news - I went to the dentist for the first time in ye
 ars. Turns out I need 2 crowns and 3 fillings. It's going to do ugly things to my bank account no doubt. It'll be good to have my oral hygiene back on track though. Ha, it's like I'm repenting with my mouth. That would make the dentist my bishop or something. So keep brushing and flossing them tooths. Today's fun fact - ping pong balls can travel off a paddle at speeds up to 160 km/hr (about 100 mph). Hope you enjoyed conference - it'd be extra cool in the MTC.  Priesthood was enjoyable too. I find I get way more out of all them talks when I can read and study them vs listening to them. Lastly, for my disjointed letter it turns out Alex would make a terrible engineer, handyman, or even basic housewife. The projector was overheating because the filter was blocked. His plan was to put an icepack on it to cool it down. It made me chuckle anyways.  I'm off to do some roommate hunting. Then I'll probably come home and eat and then help grandma with her sink. Later hombre -
Tengo Guapo