Ok once again I have tons to say and not much time so we'll just dive right in
My visa is here! This means that I'm guaranteed to leave on Wednesday morning! We heard rumors that the MTC in Lima was full but we talked to the travel office and they said it is but they're still letting Peru missionaries go, just nobody else haha. We also heard that the first thing they do when we get there is buzz everybody's head!!! Ugh, I hate my hair that short =P
There's an Elder Crowther in my district who's from St George but he's been telling all the new missionaries that he's from New Zealand and talking with a fake accent that everybody totally buys. They asked him to speak Spanish and when he did they were like "Whoa you sound like you're from America when you speak Spanish!" He just laughed and said that he must be making progress. New missionaries, so gullible ;)
There's another elder on our floor whose room is right next to ours that's from Spain and he's going to serve in Greece which is SUPER cool!! He's studied German and French too and his English is amazing. Plus he said he's going to MIT for telenetworking or something amazing like that. There are some very cool people in the world.
The elders in our district have already started making bets on who'se going to be married first when we get back, by everyone elses vote I'm either number one or two, I'm not sure how I feel about that though haha. We're also taking bets on who can grow a Mexi Stache first, the first person who the teacher tells to shave wins hahaha, that just goes to show how mature we are.
Even though we're really not supposed to talk about music or movies or anything like that that isn't produced by the church or whatever there are still people who talk about it, since Harry Potter came out this week I've heard a lot of people whistling the HP theme haha. It also snowed finally!! Most of it melted but then it was super cold last night and now the sidewalks are covered in black ice. My companion is from So. Cal. where it never snows and he's seen snow like once before so he's totally geeking out over it, I have to keep telling him to watch out for the ice haha.
My biology teacher in high school has a twin brother which I knew before, but I just met him for the first time the other day. He works here! Can you believe it! What are the chances haha.
For the Tuesday night fireside we didn't get an apostle again, but we did get someone from the Seventy. His name is Keven W. Pearson and lemme just say that after he spoke I didn't care at all that the prophet didn't come haha. His talk was absolutely incredible, it was the most inpiring talk I have ever heard, General Conference included. I took more notes during his talk than I did during Elder Bednars. He spoke about a bunch of different things centering around missionary work but the thing that stuck out to me most as it did to a lot of other people was when he talked about our divine identity. We are here on missions not to put our life on hold and talk about Jesus for a while, we're here to throw away our old life and bring the souls of men unto eternal salvation. We are literally supposed to begin a new life, get rid of our own self image and who we thought we were and to become who we really are. Mortality induces amnesia, we knew almost everything before we came here and after we die we'll know even more. We are not who we think we are. During this talk I felt the Spirit so powerfully I wished there was a non member right in front of me so I could baptize them hahaha. The whole thing was just awesome and I truly feel that his talk was directed right at me. Another thing he said was that we're not out here to try and teach the gospel, we're out here to DO IT! He said, "'Trying' means I don't think I can do this, but I feel like I'm somehow morally obligated to give somewhat of an effort." And also that "Average is the enemy of excellence. There is not one average person in the Celestial Kingdom, not one." I think I can speak for everyone when I say that his words were just what we needed.
My companion and I got to go to the temple again this morning, it's always a great experience and the perfect way to start the day/week. I did an endowment session for a guy from Hungary who was born over 200 years ago. SWEET!!
My Spanish is really coming along, I'm getting to the point where when I pray I don't have to just say what I know how to say but more of what I want to say. We're also getting better at teaching the first few lessons and will start those in Spanish too very soon. It's not us though, we just pray and pray and pray for the Spirit and if we deserve it then He comes and teaches what we can't. I've felt the Spirit so often and so strongly the last few weeks it's been unreal. I'm so excited to see what else there is for me to learn and to go out and get my hands dirty spreading the Good News!
There's another elder here who plays the piano and he's so amazing with the hymns he plays he made me decide to start playing again when I get back haha, all I needed was the right inspiration.
Well my time is almost up and I have to go do my laundry now but I want you all to know that I love you and I love this gospel and I can't wait to start sharing it with people. Keep sending me your love on DearElder.com!! =)
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Elder Fisher
Hey Everyone! My name is Brittany Thunhorst, and I have decided to upkeep a Blog for our Dear Elder John Fisher! :) I know, i know, this will be AWSM! :)
So here is the first Email that I have received, and I will do my best to update every time I get an Email! :)
ENJOY!
Ok I have a lot of things to share and limited time so I'm just going to jump right in! There are hand sanitizer dispensers EVERYWHERE here!! I counted one time when we went to lunch, from the time we left our room till we had our food in hand we passed 8 of them! Cool.
On Tuesday for the evening fireside Elder Bednar came! It was a super amazing talk on the difference between doctrines, principles, and applications and I definitely learned a lot, and at the end he used his apostolic witness and luckily I was able to write down pretty much the whole blessing. He said that as we are diligent and faithful in our studies here that the doctrines and principles of the Lord Jesus Christ will distill upon our hearts as the dews from heaven and they will bless our families for generations and that we will be able to help others to learn and to understand as well. HOW AWESOME!!!
I already have my travel plans!! This doesn't necessarily mean I have my visa though, however, I've learned that because of the way Peru gives out visas that we can still be in the country for up to six months without one. So that means even if I don't have my visa I'm pretty much guaranteed to be leaving on the 24th. WOOT!!
My teachers here are super awesome! One of them is from Ecuador and served here in Provo and he always has the funniest stories about everything! I've heard from lots of people that eating guinea pigs is pretty popular in South America and he confirmed that. It's pretty much only a delicacy but the species they eat is huge! Propably about the size of a large rat. He also told us there's a species that is the size of a large dog, even bigger than Bella! He showed us a picture and all I could think of were the ROUS's from the Princess Bride hahaha.
He also admonishes us to be really careful of what we say when speaking Spanish because if you don't say something just right it will always mean something completely gay or incredibly offensive and awful. Way to inspire confidence! ;)
My companion and I have both been struggling with illness and are both on the road to recovery, I had the opportunity to act as the voice as our district gave Elder Zoller (my comp.) a priesthood blessing. That was my first opportunity to do that and it was definitely a memorable moment. We've both been to the doctor and he loaded us up on drugs which also has contributed to our recovery haha. In the doctors office there's a picture on the wall of all the Winnie the Pooh characters wearing breathing masks and angry looks on their faces. They're standing by the side of a lake and Pooh is out front holding a stick and pushing a raft with Piglet on it away from them, and down below the picture it says "Swine Flu" hahaha. I about busted a gut the first time I saw it!
We only pray in Spanish now, it's almost becoming natural haha. We've been told to pray for the gift of tongues with every single prayer we say, and also to ask everyone at home to pray for us to recieve that blessing as well, so if it's not too much trouble would you all mind adding me to your prayers? It would be much appreciated =)
We had a great discussion on the Apostasy in class the other day and about the loss of priesthood authority, one of the things we were talking about a lot was the Catholic Church and all kinds of stuff that goes along with it. Our Ecuadorian teacher (Hermano Shulca) was born Catholic but his family converted when he was about 3 so he knows all about their church but grew up in ours. I knew this before but it was still really cool and empowering to talk about it, but since we have the true priesthood here on the earth, every single one of us has more authority than any royal leader in the world, even the youngest deacon has more authority than the pope, he can pass the sacrament, the pope can't. Chew on that for a little bit!!
There's an elder here who always wears this bright red scarf and one time he was right in front of us in the lunch line when somebody asked him about it. He said that his fiance made it for him. My comp and I just looked at each other like oh my gosh who is this guy! He's even wearing a ring on his left ring finger, NOT GOOD!!!
My branch president is pretty awesome and always takes time out of whatever we're doing to give us his 'teaching moments' as he calls them. He's even stopped us during the hymn to have us change stuff hahaha. He came to our residence hall one night wearing a fedora and a trenchcoat and he totally looked like a mobster. He's kind of got a bit of a gut so I also think he looks like the penguin from Batman hahaha.
We've all heard that being on a mission blesses our families and one elder in my district has a perfect example of that. He told us he has two brothers that aren't active in the church, one is an alcoholic and the other just got out of jail. We've been here less than two weeks and in that time both of his brothers have started going to church again, haven't had a drop of alcohol, and both found jobs already. He had the whole room in tears by the time he was finished with his story!! Truly a great example of what it means to be a missionary.
Mom I need more stuff!! The mission isn't at all what I expected so I didn't pack everything I might need haha. The really big box in my closet is the one with all my clothes in it, if you could send me a few more t shirts and some short socks I would love it! I think my green shoes are in there too. My tie rack should be hanging in the closet, could you send me the rest of my ties too? Minus the Christmas ones =)
Thank you so much for the slippers and the junk food! I'm loving it all =)
My time is almost up so I gotta wrap it up, I love you all and I'm so glad I could be here! I'm glad you're my family and I know that this is the best thing I could be doing for me and for you, and I also know that it's not just for me, that it really is for all the people out there that are looking for the truth, my testimony truly has grown enourmously and I am so happy to be out here doing what the Lord would have me do.
I love you all and pray for you every day!
So here is the first Email that I have received, and I will do my best to update every time I get an Email! :)
ENJOY!
Ok I have a lot of things to share and limited time so I'm just going to jump right in! There are hand sanitizer dispensers EVERYWHERE here!! I counted one time when we went to lunch, from the time we left our room till we had our food in hand we passed 8 of them! Cool.
On Tuesday for the evening fireside Elder Bednar came! It was a super amazing talk on the difference between doctrines, principles, and applications and I definitely learned a lot, and at the end he used his apostolic witness and luckily I was able to write down pretty much the whole blessing. He said that as we are diligent and faithful in our studies here that the doctrines and principles of the Lord Jesus Christ will distill upon our hearts as the dews from heaven and they will bless our families for generations and that we will be able to help others to learn and to understand as well. HOW AWESOME!!!
I already have my travel plans!! This doesn't necessarily mean I have my visa though, however, I've learned that because of the way Peru gives out visas that we can still be in the country for up to six months without one. So that means even if I don't have my visa I'm pretty much guaranteed to be leaving on the 24th. WOOT!!
My teachers here are super awesome! One of them is from Ecuador and served here in Provo and he always has the funniest stories about everything! I've heard from lots of people that eating guinea pigs is pretty popular in South America and he confirmed that. It's pretty much only a delicacy but the species they eat is huge! Propably about the size of a large rat. He also told us there's a species that is the size of a large dog, even bigger than Bella! He showed us a picture and all I could think of were the ROUS's from the Princess Bride hahaha.
He also admonishes us to be really careful of what we say when speaking Spanish because if you don't say something just right it will always mean something completely gay or incredibly offensive and awful. Way to inspire confidence! ;)
My companion and I have both been struggling with illness and are both on the road to recovery, I had the opportunity to act as the voice as our district gave Elder Zoller (my comp.) a priesthood blessing. That was my first opportunity to do that and it was definitely a memorable moment. We've both been to the doctor and he loaded us up on drugs which also has contributed to our recovery haha. In the doctors office there's a picture on the wall of all the Winnie the Pooh characters wearing breathing masks and angry looks on their faces. They're standing by the side of a lake and Pooh is out front holding a stick and pushing a raft with Piglet on it away from them, and down below the picture it says "Swine Flu" hahaha. I about busted a gut the first time I saw it!
We only pray in Spanish now, it's almost becoming natural haha. We've been told to pray for the gift of tongues with every single prayer we say, and also to ask everyone at home to pray for us to recieve that blessing as well, so if it's not too much trouble would you all mind adding me to your prayers? It would be much appreciated =)
We had a great discussion on the Apostasy in class the other day and about the loss of priesthood authority, one of the things we were talking about a lot was the Catholic Church and all kinds of stuff that goes along with it. Our Ecuadorian teacher (Hermano Shulca) was born Catholic but his family converted when he was about 3 so he knows all about their church but grew up in ours. I knew this before but it was still really cool and empowering to talk about it, but since we have the true priesthood here on the earth, every single one of us has more authority than any royal leader in the world, even the youngest deacon has more authority than the pope, he can pass the sacrament, the pope can't. Chew on that for a little bit!!
There's an elder here who always wears this bright red scarf and one time he was right in front of us in the lunch line when somebody asked him about it. He said that his fiance made it for him. My comp and I just looked at each other like oh my gosh who is this guy! He's even wearing a ring on his left ring finger, NOT GOOD!!!
My branch president is pretty awesome and always takes time out of whatever we're doing to give us his 'teaching moments' as he calls them. He's even stopped us during the hymn to have us change stuff hahaha. He came to our residence hall one night wearing a fedora and a trenchcoat and he totally looked like a mobster. He's kind of got a bit of a gut so I also think he looks like the penguin from Batman hahaha.
We've all heard that being on a mission blesses our families and one elder in my district has a perfect example of that. He told us he has two brothers that aren't active in the church, one is an alcoholic and the other just got out of jail. We've been here less than two weeks and in that time both of his brothers have started going to church again, haven't had a drop of alcohol, and both found jobs already. He had the whole room in tears by the time he was finished with his story!! Truly a great example of what it means to be a missionary.
Mom I need more stuff!! The mission isn't at all what I expected so I didn't pack everything I might need haha. The really big box in my closet is the one with all my clothes in it, if you could send me a few more t shirts and some short socks I would love it! I think my green shoes are in there too. My tie rack should be hanging in the closet, could you send me the rest of my ties too? Minus the Christmas ones =)
Thank you so much for the slippers and the junk food! I'm loving it all =)
My time is almost up so I gotta wrap it up, I love you all and I'm so glad I could be here! I'm glad you're my family and I know that this is the best thing I could be doing for me and for you, and I also know that it's not just for me, that it really is for all the people out there that are looking for the truth, my testimony truly has grown enourmously and I am so happy to be out here doing what the Lord would have me do.
I love you all and pray for you every day!
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