September 23, 2011

Well I finally made it to California. Only I'm not entirely sure I'm still in the United States. They sent me to the north side of Santa Ana, which I'm convinced was recently annexed by Mexico. EVERYONE here is Hispanic. I seriously haven't seen another white guy out on the streets yet. So I think that is pretty funny. My companion is Elder Z., from Chihuahua, Mexico. He is a pretty stinking good missionary. He knows just about everyone. I'm told he didn't know a word of English before his mission. He and I can communicate pretty well in English. As for the Spanish, I have learned that there is a HUGE difference between MTC Spanish and real native Spanish. I can hardly keep up. Everyone here talks so fast, it really throws me off big time. So now I'm have to pretty much start from scratch. Elder Z. is pretty patient with me and tries to help me out. But its a little frustrating right now. I think this is a least I've ever talked in a single week in my life. Hopefully it comes soon.

So they have us out on bikes in our area. Our area, Santa Ana 5 North, probably covers a couple square miles, but there are plenty of people to talk to here. Most of the homes here usually have at least 2 families in their little house. One house we teach, the C. family, has 2 separate sets of parents, and 2 other guys in their house. I think there are 11 people in that little house. I don't know how they all fit in one house. But they are super nice and always like to have us over. One of the other guys living with the C., Juan, is getting baptized this Saturday, in between conference sessions. So that's pretty cool.

So ya, I'm here, I'm confused, but I'm having fun and learning a lot. Hopefully the Spanish will come along soon. 

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FOR THE FAMILY:

*Tell me all about your companion. Name, where from, how long has he
been out, are you two getting along ok?

Elder Z., from Chihuahua, Mex. He has been out a little more than a year and we are getting along just fine.

*Food. What are you eating for breakfast, lunch, dinner? Have you had
any dinner appointments? Cooking?

We usually have lunch and dinner at a member's house. I try to eat as much as I can choke down. The other day, we had subs, with all that nasty vegetable stuff. I tried to choke it down but I almost barfed all over. I do not know how people can eat that crap, the texture of a slimy sliced tomato slivering down my throat was more than I can handle. I don't really know what to do about that.

*Housing. Where is it located, what is it like, an apartment or
someone's basement, Furnishings, what's the neighborhood like?

We live in Villa del Sol in Santa Ana. Its like a set of apartments for low income families. As far as furnishing goes, there's not much. Looks like some nice DI pieces. As far as the neighborhood goes, I think I am the only whitey in town here.

*How was your first church experience today in CA? What was the ward
like? All Spanish?

Church was weird. It was all in Spanish. The chapel we go to is huge. I'm told it is the second biggest chapel in the world. It has 2 chapels, two floors, a full sized gym and an elevator. All separate from each other. The members were all pretty nice.

*How's the Spanish? Do you practice with your companion?

Hard. Everyone talks so fast, I can't believe it. But me and Elder Z. practice everyday.

*Contacts made? Members, prospective members, anyone whom you are their
first church contact?

We talk with a lot of people. We've only been invited in a couple of times. The first lesson always goes well, but when we come back in a day or so, they aren't interested anymore. Not sure why.

*Transportation. Do you guys have a car, need a bike, walking, public
transportation?

Bike. I haven't bought one yet, so I'm riding a member's. I would just go buy one, but Elder Z. doesn't want me to spend so much. Besides, I think he comes from a house where they don't have a lot, so I would feel weird throwing down a couple hundred on a bike.

*Any surprises? Things happen that they didn't prepare you for in the
MTC?

The language. So different. And I'm not sure what to do about the food.

*How are you feeling about this whole experience?

I feel pretty good. Its a little tough right now, but I think I expected it to be hard. So I'm not too overwhelmed right now.

*Do you go to the church building for General Conference?

Yes.
*Do you get to go to the temple?

Haven't heard anything about that yet.
*Do you need anything?
Maybe you could get a new stamp made with the mission office's address. That is where all the mail will go. Tell Sam to log into my Facebook and put the new address up.  

I really could use some food. Other than that, I think I'm good.

Arriving in Anaheim!

Alright I made it to the OC safe and sound. Here is a picture of the group that came in today. President and Sister Bowen are awesome. We are pretty much spending the afternoon at the mission home just relaxing. Its a little foggy today, but other than that, it is totally sweet here in California.

Love you. Talk to you soon.

More info coming on P-Day.
--
Elder Facer

September 16, 2011

Well this is my final email from the MTC. I can't believe I'm finally getting out of the "Provo Jail". Today we are at Infield Orientation, so our schedule for the rest of the time here is a little irregular. So tomorrow I'll will be doing my laundry and going to the temple and whatnot. But I think we're all getting pretty anxious to get out and about. This last week saw some pretty interesting events. On Sunday, for our fireside, we did something a little different. We didn't have a speaker. Instead we watched the special 9/11 Music and the Spoken Word broadcast. It was pretty good. I was a little disappointed in Tom Brokaw's performance, but what can you do? The clips of the attacks always put a lump in my throat. Especially the clips of the second plane hitting the tower. But the music that the choir did was really nice. On Monday, I snapped at Elder T. I was kinda joking around during study time with the rest of the district, when he told us to be quiet. In my defense, he did say it in kind of a rude way, but my response wasn't justified. I just stood up and yelled almost as loud as I could for him to shut up! I think it really got to him, because he was quiet pretty much all day. I felt bad almost all day as well. I apologized to him back in the residence, and said I would try to do a better job of staying focused. He said he really appreciated the apology. So it all worked out good. On Tuesday, Elder Ballard came and talked with us as an MTC. It was a pretty big surprise. We were just sitting there singing the prelude hymn when suddenly the front of the auditorium stood up. I didn't know what the crap was going on. Eventually I figured it out. So that was a pretty cool way to have our last devotional at the MTC. After the devotional, I bid Jeremy farewell. The last of my friends that I'll see on my mission. I'm pretty excited for when we all get back and share all our stories. And it was really cool to have Jeremy just a couple of floors away. On Wednesday, we were assigned to host the new missionaries again. They assigned me to host an international missionary that had arrived the day before. I hosted a guy named Elder Simon, from Kiribati. He is assigned to work in the Washington Spokane English speaking mission. So he has to learn English here. He spoke it pretty good though. He was pretty funny. I guess this is his first time in America, and he told me that he has never been in weather this cold before. I wonder how he'll react to his first winter. But it was pretty humbling helping him with his luggage. He fit all his possessions for the next 2 years in one little suitcase and one backpack. I'm thinking about giving him a shirt or something. But thats about it for the last week. Pretty excited to head on Tuesday.

Answers to questions: 

I will probably send home a package soon. With my memory card. I don't know if I'll have time to write down what everything is. I think I've taken about 250 pictures. Most of them are probably self explanitory.

I did buy new scriptures. They are small. They will be better for tracting. I am going to use the ones that Sam got me for the personal study and keep the other ones in my backpack.

I got my second shot about a month ago. Didn't I tell you this? That was that big 140 dollar withdrawal

The haircut is ok. I'll send pictures.

They do have dry cleaners here. I have gotten my suit cleaned three times. Too many times, I know.

The new mailroom opened on Wednesday. I got the package. Thank you so much. I can't think of anything else. At this point, maybe start sending the boxes to California. I have to start packing tonight.

I feel ready, I'm not sure how prepared I am. I guess I'm just expecting a little baptism by fire when I get here.

4 of the Elders in my district are leaving on Tuesday. Elder O. has to let his finger heal a little longer, so he will be staying at the MTC for like 2-3 more weeks.

Me and Elder T. fly with 12 other Elders on Tuesday. I haven't met any of them.
Sleep is still good.

I'm not sure when my P-Day will be in CA. I guess I'll find out when I get there.

Love you. I am a little sad that this Friday is a little off. I was looking forward to trading emails back and forth. I can't wait to call you guys on Tuesday. I'll call as soon as I get through security. Love you!

I guess there is a rumor that the departing missionaries might get to go to the game tomorrow. That would be so cool. I kinda doubt it at this point, because I guess kick off is at 7:30. So kinda unlikely, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Love you! Talk to you soon!

September 9, 2011

This last week was extremely eventful and quite difficult as a result of those events. Elder B., I might have told you about him, left the MTC to take care of some personal matters at home. He left on Thursday morning It was pretty difficult. He was one of my best friends in the MTC. But going home is the right decision for him now. Him leaving creates a lot of changes in our district. Elder T. and myself are now in a threesome with Elder K. Elder K.'s companion, Elder O. is now Elder R.'s companion, who was Elder B.'s companion. I hope that made sense. Anyways, I now have two companions for the duration of my MTC stay. So we'll see how that goes. I like Elder K. a lot, so that is way cool. We have a lot of the same interests, so it that makes it pretty cool. Some great news, we got our travel plans today. I leave the MTC at 5 in the morning on September 20th. My flight to Orange County takes off at 8:45 and we should land at 9:43 California time. I got a letter from President Bowen earlier this week saying he would be there at the airport to pick us up. So that will be cool. I'm really looking forward to calling my family at the airport. Hopefully I'll be able to call home before Sammy has to go to school. Gotta keep that perfect attendance up. I got my first MTC haircut today. Ryan Francom's sister cut my hair. It was nice to talk to a familiar face about everything that is going on at home. I just realized that today is my last P-Day at the MTC. Next Friday I have infield orientation, so I'm not sure when we'll able to do laundry and write home. But we're coming down the homestretch, getting pretty excited to get out there.
Love,
Elder Facer

September 2, 2011

The shirts are awesome. Thank you so much. Please send more.

I'm probably going to start sending some stuff home pretty soon.

Haven't gotten a haircut yet. I'll probably get one next week.

I pretty much just letters from the family. Gale wrote me once. That was nice.

Saturday is just a normal day. We have class like any other day.

Sunday is just like church. The meetings are more spread out, but its pretty much exactly the same. We have a fireside and a movie every Sunday.
Who is my new Facebook friend? I have not logged on to Facebook.

Elder T. is doing better. He is a tough kid. I guess the MTC doctor told him that he could request a new English speaking assignment as a result of all the stress he is experiencing. But he turned him down. I admired that quite a bit.
I'm going to send my sim card home before I leave the MTC. I need to start taking more pictures.

My weight fluxuates between 163 and 167. I'm not sure how much I've gained.

Bro. Larson said that I'm the best Spanish speaker in the district if that tells you anything.