HEY!!! :-D Howzit going?! :-D I got my email to work this week so happy day!!! :-D
One of the better highlights of this week was that we had Elder D. Todd Christofferson come and talk to us, indeed in the vernacular of today's youth . . . it was awesome. Most of his talk he was just reading out of his scriptures which was funny and cool at the same time because he hadn't told the techies what scriptures he was going to be using so they had to put them up at the moment he said the scripture, and they did a pretty good job :-) It was cool because even though he was mostly reading out of the scriptures, it was really really spiritual and stuff :-) It was pretty cool.
This week has been just like all the others so far except that we got a new district in our zone and I twisted my ankle down the stairs :-P :-D Did you lke how I went into that? :-D Anyway, I was going to gym and I was almost down the stairs of our residence hall when on the last step I twisted my foot. Usually when this happens I go "ow" and then I'm fine, but after I had said "ow" and I kept on walking I realized that my foot still hurt. Then I realized it hurt a lot :-) So anyway I hobbled on over to the gym anyway (because they have a trainer there that could look at it) and I got some ice and learned that I had twisted or sprained whatever holds my arch up in my foot. I was surprised because i haven't had a twisted ankle in years but later I realized that the reason that my foot was twisted was because I had been wearing my church shoes constantly over the last three weeks and even when I got them like five years ago they didn't really have all that much of an arch support. I looked into them yesterday and yeah they're pretty flat :-P :-D So now i'm hobbling around the MTC with a crutch just like Tiny Tim, so I'm constantly saying "God bless, every one" :-D Funny stuff. Mom and Dad if you could mail me some arch support insoles that i could put into my church shoes, that'd be awesome. I'm wearing my tennis shoes so I'll be fine for a while :-)
But I digress. Besides that it been a pretty good week :-) I've learned a ton of spanish and I'm even more sure that I could go to Chile now and teach :-D Maybe thats just my infamous optimism and idiotic confidence talking but I'm pretty sure I could :-D
The lessons are coming along great. We've just finished putting together our lesson plans for the Plan of Salvation which to my great surprise, can be even more spiritual than the first :-D
Our new favorite word in spanish that we say all the time is Sorpresa!!!! :-D One of our teachers, Hermano Twiggs, used to say that he had really really cool surprises for us that were "better than candy" and I guess in a more eternal salvation point of view they were (the surprises were mostly extra time to practice lessons with "progressive investigators" which are basically teachers here who imitate investigators they had on their missions) but we're talking about 19 year olds here. We Want The Candy. :-D So now whenever Hermano Twiggs says he has a surprise we all yell "SORPRESA!!!", so we can get excited for whatever is about to happen :-) Fun stuff.
I'm almost done so I'd like to say make sure to mail letters :-D Also, It's cool to hear from you all and I love reading your letters, but if you're having trouble finding the time to write stuff down, don't even worry about it ;-) I;d like to start collecting really cool stories and quotes to read in my personal study so if you only had time to send a story without any sort of note on it, I'd understand :-) I already know you guys love and can't get enough of me ;-) :-D And sam if you could go to Bro Jones class and copy down or type up the story about the starfish and the blind child with the flower, that'd be awesome. Also if you could send teh lyrics to good king wencesles to me that'd be great :-0
that's it for me :-) until next week, I love you mom, I love you dad, I love you grace, meri, sam, and sophie
Sincerely Jamie McConnell
Friday, May 28, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Some More Pictures
Since Jamie's EMAIL this week consisted of four lines (don't get me started), I thought I would add some more pictures that we received. The one picture with the other missionary is Jamie's good friend from Lake Point, Elder Tyler Davies, and he will be serving in Taiwan.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Second Week
He sounds great! Hasn't caught the place on fire yet...
HEY EVERYBODY!!! :-D Howzit going? :-) So now I'm here to talk about whats been going on, and I'd like to go through a step by step thing of everything so far but that'd take too long so I'm just going to talk about parts :-) If you want specific information that I didn't include in my email then by all means mail me something :-D GO MAIL. Anyway, moving on
My first ever companions name is Elder Brigam James Merrill ( I apologize if I've already mentioned that), and guess what :-D He's a red head :-D First thought "GINGERS HAVE SOULS!!!" I didn't say it though, not until later because I wasn't aware if he'd be offended or not ;-D He's pretty cool :-) I do have to say that there's something to be apreciated about not being with somebody else constantly :-P But he's alright.
My schedule is like everything that I'd normally do in three days, packed into one, and it goes all week long :-P It's actually pretty cool because it makes the days fly by so fast :-) I've already been here more than a week :-D Its also a blessing because at the beginning since you just barely left home, you just don't have the time to feel home-sick, so that's a plus. I think that if I had had more free time then that would have been harder.
I have seen a ton of people from Grantsville here at the MTC :-) Brett Peterson, Trevor Burnside, Austin Gumucio, Gen Graff, Jake Roberts, Nolan Blackhurst, and last but certainly not least the one and only Tyler B. Davies :-D It's been cool seeing them around but its sad cuz we just do not have the time to hang out :-P But it's alright.
For excercise, everyday (except p-day and sunday) I go out to the gym and play volleyball. It's way fun and there are a lot of people here who are really good at it. I'm pretty accomplished at it, if I do say so myself . . . And I do :-D There are a ton of other things to do as well like basketball, soccer, softball, four square and even horse shoes :-) I usually play volleyball though.
My class (there is only one class that you ever go to) is fun, but we spend ALL DAY THERE :-P I'm learning a ton of stuff during this time and its crazy how much spanish you can learn, but it wears on you :-P We have two teachers or maestros, Hermana Burns and Hermano Twiggs, which is really easy to remember because you "Burns" "Twiggs" :-D fun stuff.
As I said, for Spanish I'm learning a ton. I can pray, testify, and pretty easily converse in spanish now with little or no problem. I just have to say "Mas despacio" a lot but I do fine :-D
. . . . . . . . . . I don't really know what to say :-P Seriously, mail me questions and I'll send letters out :-D I only have thirty minutes to type this up but just about the rest of my P-day, I can write whenever I want.
Shout out to Dalin Gomez, YOU'RE AWESOME!!! :-D Can't wait to see you some time in november, december :-D
Oh, I'd also like pictures too with the letters :-D Don't worry about making me homesick. Its always cool to look at the pictures I have right in between the end of my classes and my bedtime :-)
Well I'm done til next friday but until then make sure to stay cool and Be Happy :-D
Sincerely the one and only
Jamie McConnell
HEY EVERYBODY!!! :-D Howzit going? :-) So now I'm here to talk about whats been going on, and I'd like to go through a step by step thing of everything so far but that'd take too long so I'm just going to talk about parts :-) If you want specific information that I didn't include in my email then by all means mail me something :-D GO MAIL. Anyway, moving on
My first ever companions name is Elder Brigam James Merrill ( I apologize if I've already mentioned that), and guess what :-D He's a red head :-D First thought "GINGERS HAVE SOULS!!!" I didn't say it though, not until later because I wasn't aware if he'd be offended or not ;-D He's pretty cool :-) I do have to say that there's something to be apreciated about not being with somebody else constantly :-P But he's alright.
My schedule is like everything that I'd normally do in three days, packed into one, and it goes all week long :-P It's actually pretty cool because it makes the days fly by so fast :-) I've already been here more than a week :-D Its also a blessing because at the beginning since you just barely left home, you just don't have the time to feel home-sick, so that's a plus. I think that if I had had more free time then that would have been harder.
I have seen a ton of people from Grantsville here at the MTC :-) Brett Peterson, Trevor Burnside, Austin Gumucio, Gen Graff, Jake Roberts, Nolan Blackhurst, and last but certainly not least the one and only Tyler B. Davies :-D It's been cool seeing them around but its sad cuz we just do not have the time to hang out :-P But it's alright.
For excercise, everyday (except p-day and sunday) I go out to the gym and play volleyball. It's way fun and there are a lot of people here who are really good at it. I'm pretty accomplished at it, if I do say so myself . . . And I do :-D There are a ton of other things to do as well like basketball, soccer, softball, four square and even horse shoes :-) I usually play volleyball though.
My class (there is only one class that you ever go to) is fun, but we spend ALL DAY THERE :-P I'm learning a ton of stuff during this time and its crazy how much spanish you can learn, but it wears on you :-P We have two teachers or maestros, Hermana Burns and Hermano Twiggs, which is really easy to remember because you "Burns" "Twiggs" :-D fun stuff.
As I said, for Spanish I'm learning a ton. I can pray, testify, and pretty easily converse in spanish now with little or no problem. I just have to say "Mas despacio" a lot but I do fine :-D
. . . . . . . . . . I don't really know what to say :-P Seriously, mail me questions and I'll send letters out :-D I only have thirty minutes to type this up but just about the rest of my P-day, I can write whenever I want.
Shout out to Dalin Gomez, YOU'RE AWESOME!!! :-D Can't wait to see you some time in november, december :-D
Oh, I'd also like pictures too with the letters :-D Don't worry about making me homesick. Its always cool to look at the pictures I have right in between the end of my classes and my bedtime :-)
Well I'm done til next friday but until then make sure to stay cool and Be Happy :-D
Sincerely the one and only
Jamie McConnell
Sunday, May 9, 2010
The First Letter
We received Jamie's first letter yesterday around 5PM. I've copied it below and he sounds great. Sam has posted the pictures of the MTC day on his Facebook account. He's more smart with computers and picture stuff than I am. Plus, he says more people will have better access to them as well. This is probably what we will do in the future once we get more pictures. Most of Jamie's friends on Facebook are Sam's friends too. Jamie did mention that his P-day is Friday if anyone was wondering. Anyway, here is the letter. Have a great week!
HEY EVERYBODY!! :-D Howzit going?! Its been crazy here for me the last couple of days :-P Not bad, just crazy. It's been so fast.
So to begin with I got out of the car for the last time with my family, and Yeah, it sucked. This Elder Ring guy's all smiles and stuff and he's grabbing my stuff and saying "I'll give you a few seconds" So then I give everybody the last hugs for two years and then I headed off :-P Never EVER want to do that again. Anyways, right after the Elder says I'll meet you outside of this building and he walks me in. Then I'm shuffled between like seven different rooms, getting several different pieces of paper and packages and finally they shove me outside. Then Elder Ring takes me to the dorm room where we have to hoist all my luggage up three flights of stairs (no elevator), which was not fun. I only had enough time to drop off my luggage before I had to go to my classroom and the whole other side of the MTC. There I got to watch this orintation video on how to do gym time properly and then I was sent off again. Finally i met my companion, Elder Brigham James Merrell, and I just got to say that he's awesome :-D We are almost always thinking about the same thing, and we both quote the same movies :-D He's really fun. Then went to this group meeting with the mission president and then after that we got food. The food here is great but I've been told that after the second week, that feeling wears off :-P Hopefully it won't for me. Then we went back to class and we had our first class which took about two hours. Then something else happened but for the life of me I cant remember, I'll look it up in my journal later. Eventually after a crazy long day that made us feel like we'd been here for three days, we headed back to our rooms. I unpacked everything (thanks for remembering my hat dad, and if Meri's gift was the diaper ointment then yes I found it, though I don't know what to do with it) and I took I shower and then went to bed. It was a crazy long day.
Unfortunately I can't seem to really remember the next two days but I'll be sure to type those in next time, or I'll just put them in letters if you really want to know. At the moment I have ten minutes to finish so I'm just going to put some information here.
If you really want specific stuff about whats going on, please send me a letter :-) I have a ton more time to write than to type and personally I like them better :-D If you want to email me the best way to do that is to send it through dearelder.com. The website will print off whatever you type into a letter and it'll be delivered to me I think the same day if you're early enough. Again I like letters better. :-D
Just my thoughts, I can't seem to speak or understand spanish when I'm agitated or worried about something :-P It's really weird because they have this rule about not reading letters in class and I did (only just the beginning) and right after my spanish was dead :-P Normally however I'm doing great with the language :-D
Finally how I feel. I'm fine :-) I miss you guys a lot (especially my family) but it's alright because we're way too busy to worry :-D These next two years will be fast and I'll be home before you or I know it :-D
To my family, I love you and I miss you a ton :-) Hang in there and make sure to write ;-)
Sincerely Elder James "Jamie" Farrell McConnell the IV
P.S. Be Happy
HEY EVERYBODY!! :-D Howzit going?! Its been crazy here for me the last couple of days :-P Not bad, just crazy. It's been so fast.
So to begin with I got out of the car for the last time with my family, and Yeah, it sucked. This Elder Ring guy's all smiles and stuff and he's grabbing my stuff and saying "I'll give you a few seconds" So then I give everybody the last hugs for two years and then I headed off :-P Never EVER want to do that again. Anyways, right after the Elder says I'll meet you outside of this building and he walks me in. Then I'm shuffled between like seven different rooms, getting several different pieces of paper and packages and finally they shove me outside. Then Elder Ring takes me to the dorm room where we have to hoist all my luggage up three flights of stairs (no elevator), which was not fun. I only had enough time to drop off my luggage before I had to go to my classroom and the whole other side of the MTC. There I got to watch this orintation video on how to do gym time properly and then I was sent off again. Finally i met my companion, Elder Brigham James Merrell, and I just got to say that he's awesome :-D We are almost always thinking about the same thing, and we both quote the same movies :-D He's really fun. Then went to this group meeting with the mission president and then after that we got food. The food here is great but I've been told that after the second week, that feeling wears off :-P Hopefully it won't for me. Then we went back to class and we had our first class which took about two hours. Then something else happened but for the life of me I cant remember, I'll look it up in my journal later. Eventually after a crazy long day that made us feel like we'd been here for three days, we headed back to our rooms. I unpacked everything (thanks for remembering my hat dad, and if Meri's gift was the diaper ointment then yes I found it, though I don't know what to do with it) and I took I shower and then went to bed. It was a crazy long day.
Unfortunately I can't seem to really remember the next two days but I'll be sure to type those in next time, or I'll just put them in letters if you really want to know. At the moment I have ten minutes to finish so I'm just going to put some information here.
If you really want specific stuff about whats going on, please send me a letter :-) I have a ton more time to write than to type and personally I like them better :-D If you want to email me the best way to do that is to send it through dearelder.com. The website will print off whatever you type into a letter and it'll be delivered to me I think the same day if you're early enough. Again I like letters better. :-D
Just my thoughts, I can't seem to speak or understand spanish when I'm agitated or worried about something :-P It's really weird because they have this rule about not reading letters in class and I did (only just the beginning) and right after my spanish was dead :-P Normally however I'm doing great with the language :-D
Finally how I feel. I'm fine :-) I miss you guys a lot (especially my family) but it's alright because we're way too busy to worry :-D These next two years will be fast and I'll be home before you or I know it :-D
To my family, I love you and I miss you a ton :-) Hang in there and make sure to write ;-)
Sincerely Elder James "Jamie" Farrell McConnell the IV
P.S. Be Happy
Thursday, May 6, 2010
MTC Day!!!
We dropped off Jamie around 1pm surrounded by other grown people crying. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. So his mission is started and I couldn't be prouder or happier for Jamie!!!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Jamie Opening His Mission Call!
Here is a copy of Jamie and one of his best friends Kevin opening up their mission call back in January! It 's fun to look back at this video to see where it all began for them and their missions. You can view it at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guHvQDrXHkA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guHvQDrXHkA
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)