Saturday, October 29, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Elder Devin Pfister email Oct. 28, 2011
Hola Padre y madre!
Thanks for all the mail! getting mail is like the best part of the day! Some cool things that happened this week were that I got to give my first blessing. My companion got really sick so the zone leaders came and helped me give him a blessing and he got mostly better by the next day. and a bonus is i got to take a nap while he was sleeping which felt great. Another cool thing is that one of the teachers here just got back from panama so i was talking to her and apparently there are over 300 islands in Panama and there are tribes on them we get to teach. and if you're lucky enough to go over there you get to learn a new language, Kuna or something like that. It has a whole new alphabet and stuff so it would be really hard but way cool too. Also the mission president lets us go to the temple most p-days down there so I'm excited for that.
The mtc weirdly enough is starting to feel like home to me. I feel like I've known and been friends with the elders in my district for years. i feel like i know some of them better then some of my friends in Logan. and my companion is great, he gave me a tongan haircut, which is super awesome! and a cool tongan rugby shirt.
Thanks for all the mail! getting mail is like the best part of the day! Some cool things that happened this week were that I got to give my first blessing. My companion got really sick so the zone leaders came and helped me give him a blessing and he got mostly better by the next day. and a bonus is i got to take a nap while he was sleeping which felt great. Another cool thing is that one of the teachers here just got back from panama so i was talking to her and apparently there are over 300 islands in Panama and there are tribes on them we get to teach. and if you're lucky enough to go over there you get to learn a new language, Kuna or something like that. It has a whole new alphabet and stuff so it would be really hard but way cool too. Also the mission president lets us go to the temple most p-days down there so I'm excited for that.
The mtc weirdly enough is starting to feel like home to me. I feel like I've known and been friends with the elders in my district for years. i feel like i know some of them better then some of my friends in Logan. and my companion is great, he gave me a tongan haircut, which is super awesome! and a cool tongan rugby shirt.
So as you suspected i found my missing sock in my suitcase somewhere so no need to send me anymore. And to dad, remember when i was trying to figure out that story for my farewell talk about the guy on the top of a hill and a guy on the bottom and poisoning by degree but you said someone must have made it up? Well I found it! Alma 47 or 48 verses 8-19. :)
Thanks for the Halloween package! I now have way more sugar than i can eat haha but my tongan comp. loves it and he can eat alot. also I really enjoyed the glowing pumpkin snow globe. I'm excited to see the Australia book you guys are making, those books are really fun. I will be sure to mail grandma today.
Are you excited to go to Brazil? Did you have problems getting a visa? Because there are a ton of elders here who are supposed to be in Brazil but they can't get visas. Every elder is supposed to go to the Sao Paulo mtc so there aren't supposed to be any here at all, but there are some who have been here over 9 weeks and are getting reassigned. I think there is a way that i can borrow a coat and give it back to the mtc as long as it is in good condition so i don't think i'll need a coat. I've been lifting and running a mile most days. And we play soccer alot which is super fun! Can't wait to go down to panama and get schooled by the latinos haha.
Spanish is going good, i can pray, testify, get to know someone and teach the first lesson pretty well. :)
I got to do sealings today in the temple; it was really cool! It felt super spiritual and sweet to be able to seal people that can't do it themselves. It's really nice getting to go to the temple and relax and just feel the spirit in a nice quiet peaceful setting. It also reminds me of going to the temple with you guys and it makes me miss you. And it's cool I can go to the temple in Panama.
In answer to your questions, I had to use a knife to eat my cereal because I grabbed one to spread cream cheese on my bagel but I didn't get a spoon for my cereal. My roommates are still on and off - going at each other, the bad part is the lows are getting lower but the highs higher too. And half our district is leaving on Tuesday so it's only gonna be 6 of us left. My Spanish is going pretty good i think. I can get to know people, pray, testify and give the first lesson pretty well. I am still kind of frustrated with it though cuz I can't focus as much on the gospel while I'm learning Spanish, I have to focus on that more. One really fun thing here is playing soccer during gym time. I'm excited to play with the latino people even though they're going to school me. It's getting kinda cold here but we're inside most the time so it's not bad. It's funny watching the people from like Arizona freezing to death while the people from Utah are still in shorts and are fine haha.
I'm sorry to hear that the car hunt for Cory isn't going so well. Hopefully he will find one soon before it gets really cold in Logan.
For Christmas the only thing i can really think of that I want are ties, ties and more ties. It's cool, at the mtc everyone trades ties and stuff. I'm proud to say I have the coolest tie in our district. Everyone is jealous of it and have offered to trade 4 ties for that one. They even stole it once but I got it back :) but besides that maybe cool pen or nice little day planner or something. I'm not really sure; anything you think would be nice for a missionary to have.
some things i could use are:
-a little simple calender
-another pair of jeans (the boot cut ones, no holes in them)
-my black Nike sweats
-a few more pairs of white ankle socks
-my brown flip flops(the blue ones are too small)
-and maybe a plain black zip-up hoodie
oh and Dad, could you photo copy those pages in your mission scriptures with all the good bible verses pertaining to the Book of Mormon? Those come in really handy in our teaching.
Thanks, I'll be sending most of it home before I head down but it's getting pretty chilly right now.
Any luck on Kevin's address? If you want something to tell the priests, tell them to study their Preach my Gospel like no other. Besides the scriptures it's the most used thing here. Before any of the teachers will help us with anything, they tell us to go and read that section of the PMG even if we've already read it alot. We use it for everything!! I wish I would've really studied it before I came. And I wish I'd read Jesus the Christ, True to the Faith, Our Heritage and Our Search for Happiness.
All of which I just bought so I can start reading.
All of which I just bought so I can start reading.
Thanks for all the mail and packages! They are what keep me going sometimes. but you'll be happy to know I'm not really homesick at all anymore. Lots of my district are getting really homesick but it already passed for me.
I can't think of much more to say... any more questions? How's life going? Pet and give Yukon a treat for me!
Thanks for everything! You guys are the best parents ever!!
I love and miss you guys so much!
Love, Elder Devin Pfister
Friday, October 21, 2011
10/21/2011 Letter from the MTC
Buenos dias!
Hey everyone, still doing fine, in fact the time here is flying! I can't believe I've already been here over a week. The days feel so long but the weeks feel short. On tuesday for our devotional we had apostle Richard G. Scott come talk to us. We have a 70, 12 or 1st pres. member every week! He talked about always being ready for spiritual signs... and more but there was too much and there's too little time to write.
So my companion is Elder 'Atuake. He's from The big island of Tonga. He's way buff but shorter than me, he says all he did in Tonga was lift and eat. He's pretty really quiet because English is his second language and he's not that good at English. But once you get to know him, he becomes the typical Tongan who's really loud and hyper. He's pretty funny too, always saying things like, "Oh, he's a Samoan, In Tonga we hate Samoans and we fight and beat them up with our muscles. But now, i am a missionary, i love him. I wait to beat him up till i get home." haha all sorts of things like that. And apparently it's disrespectful to not eat when someone else is eating in Tonga. Another Tongan was chillin in our room and i gave him a treat and he said, you eat too? and i said i wasn't hungry but thanks and he explained that in Tonga that would be really disrespectful. Maybe that's why all Tongans are huge. He's very spiritual once you can understand him. He's really knowledgeable about the scriptures and stuff. Once he learns how to speak Spanish, he'll be a great missionary. He's struggling to learn it though and i don't blame him, learning a new language through a second language. He's cool I like him.
The Spanish they are teaching us is overwhelming. but I'm slowly getting it.
So i got some cereal today but realized i didn't have normal milk so i thought of [Mike] and tried it with chocolate milk and [he's] right, it was pretty good! i also had to eat it with a knife which was kinda challenging.
well i'm out of time, they don't give nearly enough.
Remind everyone they can mail me through dearelder.com (for free)!
Thanks for everything! I love and miss you!
-Elder Pfister
Hey everyone, still doing fine, in fact the time here is flying! I can't believe I've already been here over a week. The days feel so long but the weeks feel short. On tuesday for our devotional we had apostle Richard G. Scott come talk to us. We have a 70, 12 or 1st pres. member every week! He talked about always being ready for spiritual signs... and more but there was too much and there's too little time to write.
So my companion is Elder 'Atuake. He's from The big island of Tonga. He's way buff but shorter than me, he says all he did in Tonga was lift and eat. He's pretty really quiet because English is his second language and he's not that good at English. But once you get to know him, he becomes the typical Tongan who's really loud and hyper. He's pretty funny too, always saying things like, "Oh, he's a Samoan, In Tonga we hate Samoans and we fight and beat them up with our muscles. But now, i am a missionary, i love him. I wait to beat him up till i get home." haha all sorts of things like that. And apparently it's disrespectful to not eat when someone else is eating in Tonga. Another Tongan was chillin in our room and i gave him a treat and he said, you eat too? and i said i wasn't hungry but thanks and he explained that in Tonga that would be really disrespectful. Maybe that's why all Tongans are huge. He's very spiritual once you can understand him. He's really knowledgeable about the scriptures and stuff. Once he learns how to speak Spanish, he'll be a great missionary. He's struggling to learn it though and i don't blame him, learning a new language through a second language. He's cool I like him.
The Spanish they are teaching us is overwhelming. but I'm slowly getting it.
So i got some cereal today but realized i didn't have normal milk so i thought of [Mike] and tried it with chocolate milk and [he's] right, it was pretty good! i also had to eat it with a knife which was kinda challenging.
A few days ago the branch pres. came and talked to us and said i could probably use a haircut so I'm getting one later today. They gave us a spanish dictionary and tons of spanish grammar books and i bought one too. My sunday schedule is full of meets and devotionals and a movie. I don't have the schedule with me right now but next time I'll give more details. Because it's fall we have to wear our suit everyday which is really annoying. You should be proud, i haven't missed a day in my journal yet. it's easy here to write during quiet time. I've been taking some pictures, i'll try to get more in. I'm not sure if i can email them to you from the MTC, but once i get out i bet i can. I can print some though, would you want me to mail you some pictures?
I really enjoyed your scripture of the day, thanks! I wish i could've have seen the tarantella, that sounds cool. Also being right next to the big mountains makes me wanna hike everytime i see them. I'm jealous you guys got to hike in southern utah.
well i'm out of time, they don't give nearly enough.
Remind everyone they can mail me through dearelder.com (for free)!
Thanks for everything! I love and miss you!
-Elder Pfister
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Elder Pfister's first email (excerpts)
Hola,
The MTC is going well. I was kinda discouraged at the beginning but I'm good now. The Lord has blessed me to keep me busy and focused. Spanish is going really well and I'm learning so much so fast. SO much faster than i expected. we're in class usually 6 hours a day just for spanish and more gospel and teaching techniques. So much work and so little time to study. We are so busy here and usually it's good busy but sometimes it's just boring busy. My campanion is Elder Atuake and he's a Tongan. He's way cool, I like him. My whole district is pretty cool, no really weird or annoying ones. My P-Days are going to be on Fridays, different the first week.
I have learned to meet someone, pray and bear my testimony in Spanish, not enough time left today but will testify in Spanish soon!
Exercising is easy here, they have gym time. My companion and I rocked the field at soccer yesterday.
There is a website called dearelder.com. They allow you to write me a letter on their site and they print them off here and give them to me that day. I would appreciate if you could do that because then I can get and read your letters during the week and think of what to reply to you before I'm on the computer because we only have 30 minutes a week. And it's kinda tough to reply in that time.
Thanks for all the prayers and support! I can use as many as you can afford to give me. I miss you guys, wish I would've spent more time with you when I could've. I've seen Speedy, Jake Mortenson, Derek Larson, Micheal Francis and some other guys from home here but not really any time to talk to them. Don't worry about me too much, I'm doing fine. Getting up early hasn't really been too hard... yet.
Love you guys so much!! Missing all of you but starting to enjoy it here! They say the first week is the worst so it should get better!
Adios!
Love Devin!
P.S. Packages are great!
The MTC is going well. I was kinda discouraged at the beginning but I'm good now. The Lord has blessed me to keep me busy and focused. Spanish is going really well and I'm learning so much so fast. SO much faster than i expected. we're in class usually 6 hours a day just for spanish and more gospel and teaching techniques. So much work and so little time to study. We are so busy here and usually it's good busy but sometimes it's just boring busy. My campanion is Elder Atuake and he's a Tongan. He's way cool, I like him. My whole district is pretty cool, no really weird or annoying ones. My P-Days are going to be on Fridays, different the first week.
I have learned to meet someone, pray and bear my testimony in Spanish, not enough time left today but will testify in Spanish soon!
Exercising is easy here, they have gym time. My companion and I rocked the field at soccer yesterday.
There is a website called dearelder.com. They allow you to write me a letter on their site and they print them off here and give them to me that day. I would appreciate if you could do that because then I can get and read your letters during the week and think of what to reply to you before I'm on the computer because we only have 30 minutes a week. And it's kinda tough to reply in that time.
Thanks for all the prayers and support! I can use as many as you can afford to give me. I miss you guys, wish I would've spent more time with you when I could've. I've seen Speedy, Jake Mortenson, Derek Larson, Micheal Francis and some other guys from home here but not really any time to talk to them. Don't worry about me too much, I'm doing fine. Getting up early hasn't really been too hard... yet.
Love you guys so much!! Missing all of you but starting to enjoy it here! They say the first week is the worst so it should get better!
Adios!
Love Devin!
P.S. Packages are great!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Elder Pfister at the Logan Temple October 9, 2011
Elder Pfister's last weekend at home
Elder Pfister was set apart on Oct.10th, 2011 (Sunday evening) by President Kent Wallis. Normally missionaries are set apart on Tuesday evening, but President Wallis will be traveling then, and his councilors are also unavailable.
Brittany and Mike came from Boise, and Ryan and Katie were also there. The previous evening we had a spooky Halloween dinner at Ryan's home, followed by bowling (won handily) by Emily Peterson. Ryan's house and yard are well decorated for Halloween, and we had a fun time.
Brittany and Mike came from Boise, and Ryan and Katie were also there. The previous evening we had a spooky Halloween dinner at Ryan's home, followed by bowling (won handily) by Emily Peterson. Ryan's house and yard are well decorated for Halloween, and we had a fun time.
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