HeyO!! :-D Howzit going?! :-D
Things here at the MTC are basically the same except for a few minor changes here and there :-) Some goods news, I got my travel plans today :-D I'm heading out on monday July 5th to Chile :-) Yay me. I'm pretty excited :-
So anyways, something cool this week, we're having a new mission presidents training conference here this week so we have a ton of new mission presidents here and also a bunch of the Quorum of the Twelve as well :-) They'll seriously just be walking down the halls while we're in the main building :-D We've been advised not to swarm.
Something not so cool this week :-P I've been sick since last friday :-P It wasn't too bad until monday when I went to the Health Clinic. They said that it's probably some sort of inflammation in my stomach and they gave me some medications. I went in today for another check-up and they did some blood tests. I'll get the news at 2
Because of the new mission presidents training in the main building and the gym building, we've been forced to go out to the field (Playing field not mission field) for gym. It's really cool, I've just been resting in the shade during the last two times because I wasn't feeling up to playing it, but there's a lot to do at the field :-) Unfortunately, it's boiling lava hot there :-P I haven't had to worry about since I've been in the shade, but the majority of my district and zone have gotten sunburns :-) So I guess its a blessing to be sick :- That's basically it for me :-P I've missed a lot of class this week so there's not much news there. We taught the second lesson this week in Spanish which was really cool :-) I'm pretty confident con mi espanol :-D I guess for you Dad, you could talk about how praying makes things that seem to be difficult to you seem easy because when you pray you can be guided in what you do :-) THat's mostly it this week. Until next week Mom, Dad, Sam, Meri, Grace, and Sophie, I love you and Be HAppy!!!
Sincerely Elder McConnell
Monday, June 28, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
HEYO!!!! :-D Howzit going?! :-) I'm doing fine in what we like to call in espanol the CCM :-) I still don't know what that means for sure :-) But no, life here at the MTC is doing good ;-) Its long and repitive to the extreme but besides that it's great :-)
We didn't have an apostle for devotional this week but we did have the president of the seventy here :-D Elder Donald L. Hallstrom gave a great talk to us about how we are a covenant making people and how we should always be keeping our covenants and how they can provide protection for us during our entire lives :-) Which is very important to remember especially while you are on your mission :-D
We got a new district this week so now me and Elder Merrell are no longer the only missionaries in our room :-) It's alright but the extra space was really nice before the noobs showed up ;-) :-D Just kidding :-D We have an Elder Taylor and an Elder Tidmarsh and they are both really cool :-) We've already started to make them say their prayers in spanish ;-D I should feel mean but I really don't care and it's good for them anyway :-D
Spanish is coming along great :-) I'd type this email all in spanish but its weird figuring out what the keys do when they're on a spanish setting so just take my word for it :-D seriously though, it's pretty amazing how much I know from just the last 6 weeks :-) I can teach the first two lessons completely in spanish and now that i think off it, I bet I could teach a lot of the other lessons just by ad-libbing my spanish :-) I can't always say what I want to say with what I have so I have to use what I know :-) It makes teaching very VERY simple :-D
The food is weird. That's really all I have to say :-)
A lot of the older districts in our zones are leaving these next couple of weeks so we're all starting to feel really old :-P In the MTC weeks are the equivelant of maybe 3 months in the outside world :-) No joke. In comparison to the new districts, we are like those crazy old men on the top of mountains who have all wisdom :-D It's a temptation not to abuse this power :-D
We heard the other day about a prank that was pulled on some new elders. Apparently when they got to their dorms and were unpacking the first day, another elder walked in with a belt tied around his arm and then proceeded to give himself his insulin shot. Obviously if you aren't aware that the elder was diabetic then this situation would be a lot more serious ;-) Also the belt added a little to his act :-D Anyways no one told these elders that he was a diabetic for the next two days :-P That's just mean :-D
Note to dad: I think that I only have a buck fifty on my card and I don't think that it'll be a problem because I don't need anything really, but if you could put some money on the card that'd be great.
Oh yeah, my foots healing really quick :-) The orthodics are working wonderfully so no worries :-)
That's really it for me :-) Remember to write and to my family Mom, Dad, Sam, Meri, Grace, and Sophie I love you. And the rest of you reading this are alright ;-) :-D
With almost all sincerety
Sincerely Elder Jamie McConnell
We didn't have an apostle for devotional this week but we did have the president of the seventy here :-D Elder Donald L. Hallstrom gave a great talk to us about how we are a covenant making people and how we should always be keeping our covenants and how they can provide protection for us during our entire lives :-) Which is very important to remember especially while you are on your mission :-D
We got a new district this week so now me and Elder Merrell are no longer the only missionaries in our room :-) It's alright but the extra space was really nice before the noobs showed up ;-) :-D Just kidding :-D We have an Elder Taylor and an Elder Tidmarsh and they are both really cool :-) We've already started to make them say their prayers in spanish ;-D I should feel mean but I really don't care and it's good for them anyway :-D
Spanish is coming along great :-) I'd type this email all in spanish but its weird figuring out what the keys do when they're on a spanish setting so just take my word for it :-D seriously though, it's pretty amazing how much I know from just the last 6 weeks :-) I can teach the first two lessons completely in spanish and now that i think off it, I bet I could teach a lot of the other lessons just by ad-libbing my spanish :-) I can't always say what I want to say with what I have so I have to use what I know :-) It makes teaching very VERY simple :-D
The food is weird. That's really all I have to say :-)
A lot of the older districts in our zones are leaving these next couple of weeks so we're all starting to feel really old :-P In the MTC weeks are the equivelant of maybe 3 months in the outside world :-) No joke. In comparison to the new districts, we are like those crazy old men on the top of mountains who have all wisdom :-D It's a temptation not to abuse this power :-D
We heard the other day about a prank that was pulled on some new elders. Apparently when they got to their dorms and were unpacking the first day, another elder walked in with a belt tied around his arm and then proceeded to give himself his insulin shot. Obviously if you aren't aware that the elder was diabetic then this situation would be a lot more serious ;-) Also the belt added a little to his act :-D Anyways no one told these elders that he was a diabetic for the next two days :-P That's just mean :-D
Note to dad: I think that I only have a buck fifty on my card and I don't think that it'll be a problem because I don't need anything really, but if you could put some money on the card that'd be great.
Oh yeah, my foots healing really quick :-) The orthodics are working wonderfully so no worries :-)
That's really it for me :-) Remember to write and to my family Mom, Dad, Sam, Meri, Grace, and Sophie I love you. And the rest of you reading this are alright ;-) :-D
With almost all sincerety
Sincerely Elder Jamie McConnell
Friday, June 11, 2010
Week Five
HEYO!!!!! :-D Como estan ustedes? :-) It's weird not be at home and at church where I can just ask people but its alright :-) I'll be home soon :)
So anyways, this week was mostly like the last ones :-P Nothing bad about that, but regardless it makes it hard to write stuff :-P For devotional this week, we were visited by Elder Robert D. Hales which, in the vernacular of today's youth, was awesome. :-D He has a very unique speaking style. He is very very quiet and has a very soft kind of voice but at the same time the feelings you get when you listen to him are the same as if he was shouting his words :-D Cool stuff. We did our first ever TRC lesson in SPANISH this week :-D It went pretty good, if I do say so myself. and I do. :-D Spanish is coming along nicely.. We are still learning new stuff everyday :-) It's insane how much I've learned in the last five weeks :-P It doesn't even feel like five weeks :-P Time flies like an arrow and fruit flies like a banana ;-D :-D A shout out to Tyson Cook, one of my teachers here served in Vina del mar and he knows you :-) Hermano Nelson if that rings any bells :-D Also to the Pearsons, thanks for the talk and the two stories in the mail :-) I really liked reading them :-D Something funny that keeps happening to me, Tyler Davies is constantly leaving me notes in mandarin just about everywhere I go ;-D He's even gotten into my journals somehow and at the time I was a little surprised but then i realized that this is Tyler we're talking about. Of course he's been in my journal :-D I'm sending a picture of what JFMIV looks in mandarin home today so you guys can see it :-) Another funny thing that I don't think that I've talked a lot about is four square at gym :-) When I first heard that four square was something that you could do during gym i thought " Seriously? Four square? Like when we were in elementary school?" .. .. .. Not even close.. Here, four square is a game of stragedy and skill. Some elders get together to come up with different playing styles and tricks that they can use during when they play. They've even named some of these moves. Leadfist, Payzont Punch, the Spiderman, it's insane! :-D Its funny how four square can be something really fun to do even at nineteen :-D Something spiritual that I learned this week is how personal the scriptures can be if we take the time to read them. Some time ago I found this section in the D&C and yesterday i refound it and it had the same kind of impact that it had in the past :-D D&C 39: 7-13. Read it, it's about me! :-D Even if scriptures don't call us out by name they are meant to be for our benefit and they can help us out during any time of trial. It's like having Jesus Christ for a companion when we teach :-) It's a powerful thing.
Well that's it for me this week :-P I apologize for not typing more :-P There isn't that much to type. Always, I love you Mom, Dad, Sam, Meri, Grace, & Sophie :-) Make sure to stay cool and BE HAPPY!!! :-D
Sincerely Jamie McConnell :-)
So anyways, this week was mostly like the last ones :-P Nothing bad about that, but regardless it makes it hard to write stuff :-P For devotional this week, we were visited by Elder Robert D. Hales which, in the vernacular of today's youth, was awesome. :-D He has a very unique speaking style. He is very very quiet and has a very soft kind of voice but at the same time the feelings you get when you listen to him are the same as if he was shouting his words :-D Cool stuff. We did our first ever TRC lesson in SPANISH this week :-D It went pretty good, if I do say so myself. and I do. :-D Spanish is coming along nicely.. We are still learning new stuff everyday :-) It's insane how much I've learned in the last five weeks :-P It doesn't even feel like five weeks :-P Time flies like an arrow and fruit flies like a banana ;-D :-D A shout out to Tyson Cook, one of my teachers here served in Vina del mar and he knows you :-) Hermano Nelson if that rings any bells :-D Also to the Pearsons, thanks for the talk and the two stories in the mail :-) I really liked reading them :-D Something funny that keeps happening to me, Tyler Davies is constantly leaving me notes in mandarin just about everywhere I go ;-D He's even gotten into my journals somehow and at the time I was a little surprised but then i realized that this is Tyler we're talking about. Of course he's been in my journal :-D I'm sending a picture of what JFMIV looks in mandarin home today so you guys can see it :-) Another funny thing that I don't think that I've talked a lot about is four square at gym :-) When I first heard that four square was something that you could do during gym i thought " Seriously? Four square? Like when we were in elementary school?" .. .. .. Not even close.. Here, four square is a game of stragedy and skill. Some elders get together to come up with different playing styles and tricks that they can use during when they play. They've even named some of these moves. Leadfist, Payzont Punch, the Spiderman, it's insane! :-D Its funny how four square can be something really fun to do even at nineteen :-D Something spiritual that I learned this week is how personal the scriptures can be if we take the time to read them. Some time ago I found this section in the D&C and yesterday i refound it and it had the same kind of impact that it had in the past :-D D&C 39: 7-13. Read it, it's about me! :-D Even if scriptures don't call us out by name they are meant to be for our benefit and they can help us out during any time of trial. It's like having Jesus Christ for a companion when we teach :-) It's a powerful thing.
Well that's it for me this week :-P I apologize for not typing more :-P There isn't that much to type. Always, I love you Mom, Dad, Sam, Meri, Grace, & Sophie :-) Make sure to stay cool and BE HAPPY!!! :-D
Sincerely Jamie McConnell :-)
Friday, June 4, 2010
Week Four
HEYO!!! Howzit going?! :-D I'm doing just about the same that I've been doing the last three weeks :-P It's not bad but still :-P
There isn't really anything to talk about this week :-P I'm learning spanish really well. I'm still completely sure that I could go to Chile right now and teach but again that might just be me ;-D :-D
Our devotional this week was by an Elder Bradley (something) Foster and it was really good. He talked about how we as people are really insigificant in the grand scheme of things. He showed us this video talking about the size of the universe and it really puts things into perspective :-P We are quite small. Then after that he talked about how because we are really small, we should never cease to call upon God (Moses something something). It was a really cool talk. After, instead of singing a hymnbook song we sang a childrens hymn (I think it's called Childs Prayer) and that was amAzazazing :-D I hadn't sang the song since primary but I could still remember the words :-) Really Cool. Now imagine almost 2 thousands missionaries singing it at the same time :-D Really really cool :-D
To Dad. all the shoes fit. The boots and the shoes are awesome and the insoles fit in everything. So, One less thing.
Today I left the MTC . . . to go to the doctors. :-D Had you going didn't I? :-D We went to a Dr. Mullinax which is hard to say even if you haven't been speaking in spanish :-P Basically it was the same as last time except less shots and he killed the root of the toenail so that it wouldn't bother anymore. Oh, and when he was cleaning the hole out he shoved a giant cutip into it which kinda spooked me. I didn't feel it I was pretty numb but regardless, if you see someone stick you with something, you're going to be a little bit surprised. So that happened and then after I got casts made for my feet so I'll get those insoles sometime soon :-)
Oh, next week we are indefinitely teaching the lessons in espanol :-P I can do it but its still kind of weird. In hindsight, I'm probably not going to be teaching in english a lot but I guess I was hoping for someone to be like "Oh yeah Elder McConnell, All of your areas are going to have only english speaking investigators. We'd just thought to make you learn spanish as a joke". Nope. Here comes reality. :-D It'll be fine though :-)
Since that's all I've got I'll end with a message. We're commanded to pray always. This is easy enough "PRAY SO YOU CAN GET BLESSINGS" and you're like " . . . ok". Easy enough, but have we ever considered that we could be the answers to other peoples prayers? If you constantly have the spirit with you, you will be more sensitive to promptings that you might recieve to help out someone else. To show how darn awesome this is, I suggest that you all go onto youtube and watch "lessons I learned as a boy" by Gordon B. Hinckley. I know you'll love it :-D
Well that's it for me. i love you mom dad sam meri grace and sophie and as for all you other people, you're alright ;-D :-D Just kidding :-D Until next week
Sincerely Elder James "Jamie" Farrell McConnell the FOURTH!!! ;-D
P.S. . . . . . . . . . . . .Be happy :-D
There isn't really anything to talk about this week :-P I'm learning spanish really well. I'm still completely sure that I could go to Chile right now and teach but again that might just be me ;-D :-D
Our devotional this week was by an Elder Bradley (something) Foster and it was really good. He talked about how we as people are really insigificant in the grand scheme of things. He showed us this video talking about the size of the universe and it really puts things into perspective :-P We are quite small. Then after that he talked about how because we are really small, we should never cease to call upon God (Moses something something). It was a really cool talk. After, instead of singing a hymnbook song we sang a childrens hymn (I think it's called Childs Prayer) and that was amAzazazing :-D I hadn't sang the song since primary but I could still remember the words :-) Really Cool. Now imagine almost 2 thousands missionaries singing it at the same time :-D Really really cool :-D
To Dad. all the shoes fit. The boots and the shoes are awesome and the insoles fit in everything. So, One less thing.
Today I left the MTC . . . to go to the doctors. :-D Had you going didn't I? :-D We went to a Dr. Mullinax which is hard to say even if you haven't been speaking in spanish :-P Basically it was the same as last time except less shots and he killed the root of the toenail so that it wouldn't bother anymore. Oh, and when he was cleaning the hole out he shoved a giant cutip into it which kinda spooked me. I didn't feel it I was pretty numb but regardless, if you see someone stick you with something, you're going to be a little bit surprised. So that happened and then after I got casts made for my feet so I'll get those insoles sometime soon :-)
Oh, next week we are indefinitely teaching the lessons in espanol :-P I can do it but its still kind of weird. In hindsight, I'm probably not going to be teaching in english a lot but I guess I was hoping for someone to be like "Oh yeah Elder McConnell, All of your areas are going to have only english speaking investigators. We'd just thought to make you learn spanish as a joke". Nope. Here comes reality. :-D It'll be fine though :-)
Since that's all I've got I'll end with a message. We're commanded to pray always. This is easy enough "PRAY SO YOU CAN GET BLESSINGS" and you're like " . . . ok". Easy enough, but have we ever considered that we could be the answers to other peoples prayers? If you constantly have the spirit with you, you will be more sensitive to promptings that you might recieve to help out someone else. To show how darn awesome this is, I suggest that you all go onto youtube and watch "lessons I learned as a boy" by Gordon B. Hinckley. I know you'll love it :-D
Well that's it for me. i love you mom dad sam meri grace and sophie and as for all you other people, you're alright ;-D :-D Just kidding :-D Until next week
Sincerely Elder James "Jamie" Farrell McConnell the FOURTH!!! ;-D
P.S. . . . . . . . . . . . .Be happy :-D
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