Week 9

¡Hola everyone!

I hope everyone has been doing fine and dandy this past week! I know everything is still all whack in the world, but I hope you've been able to find peace and comfort.

So for starters, a whole lotta missionaries are getting sent home for a whole bunch of reasons. It started a week or two ago where missionaries that had already served a majority of their missions are getting sent home earlier to clear up room for a bunch of new missionaries to come in. Missionaries that also have some health conditions are also getting sent home for their safety. And this past Friday they made the announcement that ALL international missionaries are getting sent back to their home countries... which is a LOT of missionaries. There were 25 missionaries that got sent home yesterday in the Salt Lake City West mission alone. It's important to note that most of their missions aren't over btw, they're just gonna get reassigned in their home countries after a 14 day self quarantine.

The good news is that I don't fall into any of these categories - I just got here 🤓, I'm fit as a fiddle 🎻, and I'm in 'Murica 🇺🇸! And I'm actually really lucky to have not gotten my Visa to go to Perú, cause I would've gotten sent home just two weeks after arriving, like some of the missionaries in my MTC district (sorry guys, hopefully you get reassigned to the Salt Lake City West Mission wooo!). So I'm staying here in Salt Lake !!

There have definitely been some miracles this week as well. So, one of the things I miss the most since being "socially distanced" is having meals prepared by the members. Now we cannot ask for food from anyone for our safety, so we cook ourselves, which I'm not complaining about, since Elder Clark and I are professional chefs, of course. But if the members absolutely *insist* on giving us food, we can accept it with caution.

One of the families, ❤ the Duarte family ❤, said they'd beat us up if we didn't accept food from them (which in my book, is *insisting*). So we got some nice home cooked steaks with rice and it was soooo good. Also, ❤ the Grange family ❤ offered to have some flour dropped off at our door. Instead of just flour, they gave us a whole box (a care package if you will) of meats, soups, desserts, recipes, and anything else you could ask for. So now we're 🔥 stocked up 🔥. Also, when we went shopping today, the woman in the line behind us paid for our groceries today !!! We didn't need much groceries cause of the Grange's care package, but still, the Lord blesses us whenever we make an effort to serve others, and that angel of a woman will be greatly blessed as well.

Other than that, there hasn't been much going on here, cause we're just inside all day doing phone calls and being virtual missionaries at this point. So... sorry for the lack of photos.

I am, however, SUPER excited for the church's General Conference, where we get to hear from the leaders of the church about what's goin on and the things we can do to not only get through our challenges, but to overcome and learn from them. To all the members reading this, I invite you to prepare yourselves for General Conference, so that it will not only be memorable, but UNFORGETTABLE." To everyone else reading this, if you're free this weekend (which you are haha), I invite you to look up General Conference online, and give it a watch. I can promise you'll find peace, comfort, and the answers to any trial you're facing.

I love all of you so much. Stay smart, stay safe, stay fun... in that order. Peace 😊

Elder Terry

Fotos:
1. The care package from the Granges. Christmas came early for us woo!

2. Meal of the week: *Tostadas* yummm

Week 8

What is poppin' everyone? Boy, has this been both a very eventful and non-eventful week.

So first of all, ever since last Tuesday night, it was announced that the missionaries in our mission have been "socially distanced" from everyone else - we basically got quarantined, but we can go outside for a walk, get some fresh air, and go shopping. That's about it though. We cannot teach lessons face-to-face anymore, we can't knock on any doors, and worst of all, we can't have any meals made by the members... nooOOoOooOo!!

You may be saying to yourself, "Wow! It must be hard to be a missionary when you can't even leave your apartment." Whelp, it definitely is different. Luckily I'm in a mission that allows the use of technology, so we have phones to do what would otherwise be done on paper, like planning, putting in info of the people we teach, and using scriptures and watching conference talks. Since we can't teach face-to-face, we teach others through phone calls and video calls. It's definitely interesting to do things like pray over the phone, but it's the best way we can do it, so that's a fun time.

So this week has been pretty uneventful cause we've been stuck in our apartment for a majority of this week. Luckily though, I've been preparing to be trapped inside all day... by staying inside all day... for the past 19 years, so I'm pretty used to it already. Elder Clark and I have tried to make the most of these long days by pretending to know how to cook. Before I came here, the most intricate dish I could put together was some chocolate chip pancakes, so you could say I'm an expert chef. But we've legitimately been cooking some pretty delicious meals - like Sunday afternoon type meals - out of ingredients you'd only find in a college dorm. We've been eating like kings here. Speaking of which, I've already gained 10 pounds since I got to the MTC, and that's a good thing, cause I'm a twig.

Also, just to take a break from all of the missionary studies and teachings, I would find actual joy in cleaning... like I would have fun... cleaning... pretty crazy, I know. So this past week I deep cleaned our kitchen, which was disgusting and disease-filled (I regret not taking a "before" pic).

But on a different note, this past week has been kinda difficult for me to feel like a real missionary. I almost feel like a receptionist with all of these phone calls that we have to do now. But as my wise grandmother once told me... in an email from yesterday, "This is certainly different than you expected but I know something greater is in store for you... you shall be serving the Lord in many ways you cannot imagine."

Sometimes, things don't go according to our plan. But things ALWAYS go according to God's plan for us. We shouldn't doubt the things that he has in store for us. We have challenges, but that's because God wants to see how much we grow when we overcome those challenges. It's all part of His plan.

Thank you all for everything. I hope you are all blessed with health, hope, and happiness in these times.

Elder Terry

Fotos:
1. Pic from the first greenie day after arriving at the SLC West mission and meeting our trainers

2. Meeting my new companion

3. Van ride to my new area

4. A sublime quarantined dinner, with a diced pan-fried chicken breast, and a side of rice and veggies, cooked to perfection.

5. Our attempt at making potato chips, which actually turned out really good. "Addicting." -says food critic Elder Clark

6. Sum eggs in da mornin

7. 🌟 A spotless kitchen 🌟

Week 7

Waddup everyone! Hope you're all healthy and not dying! Wooo! But seriously, I hope everyone's doin fine :)

This past week was my last week at the MTC, and as much as I couldn't stand that place, Imma miss all of the wonderful missionaries and teachers that I met there. I'm going to miss my teachers Hermano Astorga and Hermana Rindlisbacher and all of their great Spanish and gospel lessons that have helped me with my teaching abilities and have helped me grow my testimony. I'm going to miss all of the Elders and Hermanas in my district, with whom I had to spend so much time struggling and having fun together, and I can't wait to see all of them after the mission. Finally I'm going to miss the coolest MTC companion ever Elder Stephan, who has seen me at my best and my worst, has helped me to have a bunch of fun at the MTC, and has made me realize how much of a positive effect he's had on my life these past six weeks after leaving for his mission a day sooner than I did.

Also, I hadn't gotten my Visa in time, so I've been temporarily assigned to the Utah, Salt Lake City West mission! It was right in my backyard, so I only needed to take a bus and a train to get there. I met my awesome mission president and his wife, the Mcbeth's, who care so much about each missionary, I can't help but feel at home already.

I also met my new companion, Elder Clark, who has been the best trainer to help me ease into the mission life. He's from Arkansas, he's seven months into his mission, he's a Spanish speaking missionary as well, and he's also the district leader, which means we both have a lot more work on our hands. Right from the get go, on my first day in the field, we went out into the neighborhood knocking on doors. We didn't have much luck the first day, since not one door was answered, but I consider that a blessing cause I was pretty stressed out.

However, on the second day we experienced  one of the biggest miracles. On our way to dinner, as we were walking, a man in a red car stopped in front of us. He said, first of all, "Sorry, I don't speak English," to which Elder Clark responded "Perfect, we don't speak English either!" in Spanish of course. He then went on to say that he just came from Columbia, and that he felt that he needed to go to church, but didn't know where one was (which is funny cause we're in Utah), but we told him where a church building was and even set up a lesson date as well. This is a miracle since things like these never happen in this mission; a majority of the population are either members or have heard about the church already - no one ever just goes up to the missionaries asking to join the church.

We also had the big CoronaVirus scare this week, where it was announced that General Conference could only be seen over technology (and I was looking forward to seeing it in person), we can't shake hands or touch anyone for that manner, and all church meetings are cancelled. We were also told to stock up on food in case we get quarantined in the near future, which we haven't... yet.

This first week in the field has been amazing. The members are the best and most generous people ever, and I have great experiences every day here. I can't wait to see what'll happen next.

Elder Terry

(I also realized I didn't take any pictures of anything since I've arrived at SLC, but you'll see more these next weeks)

Fotos:
1. Building R6 Fourth Floor Squad

2. Best District ever with branch president Devin Durrant and wife

3. You know we had to do it to 'em 😎

4. Class photo 🤓

5. ❤ Hermano Astorga ❤ imma miss you

6. New companion Elder Clark at Spanish Branch RS Pres home

Week 6 - SLC West

I officially completed my time at the Provo MTC and am now assigned to the SLC West Mission.

Week 5

Woot woot it's my last week here at the MTC!!!

I leave this Monday (most likely) to go and start serving the people! The reason I say most likely though is because my Visa is probably not going to go through before I leave for Peru, which means I'm not going to Peru... yet. Elder Fellows did some hacking on my phone and found out what my temporary state-side mission will be in case my Visa doesn't go through. So I'm most likely going to be going to the... Utah, Salt Lake City West mission for about a transfer or two, or 6 to 12 weeks. While this will definitely be an... interesting... experience, I can't really complain because imma be fed well, the weather is great, and I will probably have the opportunity to attend in person to this year's UNFORGETTABLE General Conference in early April.

Also all of the missionaries in my district are here at the Provo MTC because of Visa problems as well, and only 5 of the 10 of us will be going to their original out-of-country missions, while the other five of us were reassigned state-side missions to Oregon, Colorado, Arkansas, Nevada, and Utah (me). This was tough news for some people to handle, but we had a devotional that was practically meant for us, since one of the messages was that we are called to serve, not called to a place. I am highly looking forward to serving the people of Salt Lake City.

Also, I keep hearing more and more news about the severity of the CoronaVirus, and my prayers go out to all of the missionaries in the high-risk areas who have to be quarantined inside their apartments. I'm sure you will still find a way to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ into peoples' lives. Also, my roommates and I discussed and we came to the conclusion that the CoronaVirus should be renamed to be called the Sneezy Cheese Disease. With that in mind, stay safe out there from sneezes, cheeses, and diseases.

On a lighter note, a couple of weeks ago, Elder Ward was eating a "Creamy" popsicle, and while walking up the stairs to our room, the last bit fell off of the popsicle stick. A normal human being would've cleaned it up, but we're not normal human beings. Instead, we left it there to dry on the stairs, and called it "Cremoso" (Creamy in Spanish). Cremoso sat there for a whole week, providing comfort and hope for any being that stood in its presence. However, after coming back from a class, Cremoso was gone, and so were our hopes and dreams. We knew his legacy couldn't die, so there needed to be a resurrection of Cremoso. We grabbed another popsicle and "accidently" dropped it on the stairs in the place of Cremoso Sr. A day later, Cremoso Jr. was cleaned up too. We made a tombstone for the Cremosos on a sticky note to honor them and their service.

A day later, the sticky note was disposed of too. Twas definitely one of the tougher days on the ol' morale.

With that being said, Imma miss the MTC and all of the cool people I've met and unforgettable experiences I've had. The next post will probably be sent from Salt Lake City woo!

¡Hasta luego!

Elder Terry

Fotos:
1. A recreation of a work of art (ft. Elder Ward)

2. Twas a lovely sunset yesterday

3. Cremoso

4. Cremoso memorial (descanso en paz)