Buenas Dias Familia!
How is everything going? I loved talking to you the other day! It was so much fun to talk and hear your voices and see how everyone is doing! It sounds like everything is going great in Utah, but Elder Lanham and I have been talking, and we´ve decided we really aren´t missing too much! Everything, besides our awesome families and friends (Oh, and the gym for Elder Lanham.. haha), is here in Guatemala right now! It really is a blessing knowing that we are all being blessed and watched over by our Heavenly Father and we have NOTHING to worry about. I´m a little bummed out that I haven´t been able to see Christopher and Tanner´s games! Oh well, I know you are tearing it up out there, and I know that there is nowhere else I should be right now.
Congrats on everything that is going on with basketball right now Christopher and Tanner, it sounds like you´re doing great! Seriously, I couldn´t be more proud, i´m always telling the little Guatemalan kids (and sometimes parents) about my huge brother that´s only dieciseis(16) and is so much taller than me. ha. They are so funny when they hear that, I usually say it just to see their reactions . =)
While i´m thinking about it, I realized that while we were talking on the phone I had so much to say and so many things I wanted to hear about, I don´t feel like I was able to express how thankful I am for the Christmas Package! I felt like I just started telling you more stuff I needed! Really though, the Christmas package was AWESOME. Thank you so much for all of the little toys and food and everything else! I completely appreciate it, and WOW it was awesome.
You had a lot of questions about whether or not we´d have people cleaning our houses and making us food. Well, I´m pretty sure this house is the only one that has a lady come and clean it. The rule that lets us eat with families is missionwide, as long as they have received a pamphlet on how to cook for us, what kind of water to use, and just a bunch of stuff to keep us safe. SO, you have NOTHING to worry about. I have my big blue Nalgene bottle and I just fill it up with my pure water before I go out, and every time I get the chance I fill it up and drink it.
In the other houses we give our clothes to a member to clean them and she brings them back, but in this house we have a washer and drier so we just do it. So either way, it sounds great to me.
You were asking what to include in another package. You really don´t need to do that, BUT if you do send one, send healthy stuff! I feel like I can get basically everything I need here, minus healthy foods. I´m at the halfway mark on my green juice (that stuff goes fast) but I really think that stuff makes a difference. Also, The ama ama would be great, both sound good, but more raspberry if thats ok! Anything that´s healthy, or a tie, go ahead and send it! Don´t go buy ties though, we can get them cheap here, I´m just saying if there are any ties in my closet that you would care to send, that would be great.
Anyways, yesterday was the big day! I had the opportunity to give my talk in front of the whole ward. I´m not sure why they chose to have the missionaries speak the week after a greenie comes in, but oh well! That´s what the MTC and CCM were for. Seriously though, it looked like the ward had doubled from last week. I´m not sure where everyone was last week, but this week that chapel was FULL! I was perfectly fine until the last minute, and I got a little bit nervous. I just kept praying in my heart though for the gift of tongues and for the spirit, and just to relax.
Well, I got up there to the podium, pulled the microphone CLEAR up and crouched a little tiny bit and just started talking! I was speaking about missionary work, and I challenged the whole ward to pray for missionary opportunities every day, and make it their new years resolution. I talked about how Joseph Smith prayed, and he received an answer to his prayers in a BIG way. I said that if they would pray with faith they could receive the opportunity to take part in missionary work, and share this awesome message with their neighbors. It made PERFECT sense to me, which worries me... Usually when it makes sense to me they have no idea what I´m talking about... haha They were very nice and said they could understand it though.
Oh, I forgot to tell you, I think it was 2 nights before? or 1 night before, I can´t remember... I was sleeping, and went to roll over or something and I hit my head on the cement windowsill right next to my bed... I just fell back asleep and didn´t even realize anything, other than my head hurt a little bit. The next morning I woke up and was just doing my thing, and was washing my hands and looked in the mirror... hahaha Let´s just say I was REALLY surprised to see a big gash in my forehead! It isn´t deep or anything serious, just a big red mark. So, my 2nd week in this ward, the first impression a lot of the people in this ward get is this missionary with a big gash(of course it´s not as big as I am imagining it, I was just self conscious...) in his forehead and a thick english accent. =) Everyone kept asking what happened, all the missionaries got a big kick out of it. Mom, I don´t need stitches or anything, It´s healing up as we speak.
So, we were able to eat at the Hermano´s house who only has one hand, and he is the nicest guy ever. He came with us to an appointment and really testified incredibly well, and could relate with the investigator, because he had the same questions as she. Anyways, it turns out he works for NuSkin and has been to Utah once. He said he didn´t like all the expensive fast food but loved the temple. He was trying to sell me some NuSkin! haha So if you ever need Nu Skin, I´ve got the hook ups. Don´t worry.
You should have heard Christmas Eve Night at midnight, there was a HUGE roar of fireworks. It is almost impossible to sleep on New Years Eve and Christmas Eve here because the people go CRAZY with their fireworks! It´s a constant roar of fireworks for a good half hour or so. The firework laws here aren´t anything like they are in Utah either, so these fireworks are LOUD and BIG. It´s really the coolest thing ever.
Ok, I have 2 more funny stories. There are HUGE hills here in our area. It´s nice because I get a good work out while we´re walking up and down and all over. Anyways, as we were walking, we saw this lady pushing a wheelbarrow up the hill. She looked like she was having a hard time making it up the hill, so we asked her if we could help. My companion started, and I, thinking we were about halfway there took it from him so I could help too. Well, We weren´t even close. It was quite the spectacle for some reason, all of the people were laughing so hard. I guess they just aren´t used to seeing a Canche Gringo pushing a woman´s wheelbarrow up a hill. They got a kick out of that.
Oh, and I don´t have much time, but lets just say we had to hitchike, and it truly is possible to fit 4 missionaries plus 2 Guatemalans in a 2 door Honda Civic Coupe. Elder Lanham was nice and let me sit on his lap. IF he hadn´t have done that I proabably would have had to walk. Maybe we should look into a Civic for the family.
I know this work is real. THis work is changing lives. I´m so thankful for the opportunity to represent the ONE and ONLY true Church of Jesus Christ. We just need to keep him and the Atonement at the center of our lives and everything will work out.
I love you all so much! Thanks for the updates on everyone. I´ll keep praying for people.
Elder Micah Melville (Melbeeay)
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
SURPRISE
Hola Familia,
How´s everything going? So i´m here on Monday, and there is no email from the family! I´m thinking it´s probably because you were waiting until Tuesday or Wednesday to write. No worries. It turns out we write on Monday, even though Tuesday is our Preparation Day. This week Preparation day is the 24th though (Wednesday). Elder Lanham wanted me to tell you sorry for telling you the wrong day! No worries though!
Can I just tell you how lucky I am? I think i´m the luckiest missionary in the mission, not even kidding. My companion is awesome(Oh, i found out Panamanians speak INCREDIBLY fast... whew!), I´m living in an awesome house with awesome missionaries, and because these missionaries have cars, we get rides every now and then! Elder Lanham and Elder Meza (his companion, from Honduras, who is awesome by the way) drive a Toyota HiLux (A weird looking Toyota Tacoma) and the secretaries have a van. Alright, that´s not important, lets get to the good stuff!
Yesterday was my first day with the ward we attend, it was pretty crazy! The churches here are really nice. Some even have air conditioning! Everyone was REALLY nice in the ward. A little too nice, because everyone wanted to have nice long fluent Spanish conversations, and I´ve learned so much it´s been a miracle, but I still don´t know THAT much. That was a little overwhelming, but it was still really great. They wanted mi companiero, myself and Elder Lanham to speak too, so I prepared a talk in spanish, but it turns out they didn´t need us yesterday, so next week we´re on!
I met this guy who doesn´t have a right hand, just a nub. He is the nicest, coolest guy ever. When he introduced himself he grabbed my left hand and stuck his nub into the back of my hand, and you know me, not being used to that whole deal was a little weirded out. It was really an awesome opportunity to meet him though!
We had an investigator there who supposedly has been going a lot, his name is Pablo. He is twenty-two and lives with his 15 year old girlfriend and her mom, who are both members. He has been having lessons for a while, but needs to either marry his girlfriend, or move out. They want to get married but he doesn´t have the money. They live in a one room cinderblock house inside this little community. It is VERY humble, the people share bathrooms and everything else. It has been very fun to meet them and be able to share the gospel with Pablo.
Mom, You´re going to LOVE this. So, it was my companion´s birthday the other day and this family gave us some cake! The lady dishes up the cake from a corner of their one room house, and hands me my plate. I look down and there is a big piece of cake with an ant on the plate! Don´t worry though, I flicked the ant off of the plate before I ate the cake. It´s just an ant, I can´t wait to see what else is in store! haha.
So the other day we went on companion exchanges because my companion is the district leader and had a meeting. My companion was from Chile, and didn´t speak english. I was a little nervous before, but can I just tell you that the gift of tongues is real! We didn´t even have any problems communicating! I know my Heavenly Father knows and loves me and is helping me through the spirit every single day. We found this BIG family who lives in a BIG complex with their family only, and they have been REALLY receptive the 2 times we´ve contacted talked to him. I´m hoping and praying this will somehow work out!
I´ve had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Elder Lanham twice already, and I´m going on another with him today! We share the same area, so it´s normal for the companionship who lives with the Assistants to go on exchanges with them! I LOVE going with Elder Lanham... He is one of the most amazing missionaries I´ve ever met, and i´m so thankful for him. Together we´ve contacted full buses(I let him do most of the work on that one, That was tough!), had such a good time trying to find families to contact (at one point we saw a family go past, looked at eachother, and just turned around and ran to catch up to them, leaving the member who was going with us back in the dust all confused... hah oops!), and we visited a member family last night, had an incredibly spiritual lesson about missionary work, and the lady stopped and started to cry, and the dad asked us to give his little baby a blessing who had been sick. I LOVE THIS WORK!
I´ve fallen in love with our area, El Carmen. We live in a place called Boca de Monte, and walk to our area each day, but it´s not too far. I LOVE contacting and teaching in the evening, because we climb up this big hill to where people live, and we can see all over the city, and see all the lights. It´s perfect right after the sun has set because you can see the amazing city lights, and on the other side of the city you can see this HUGE volcano. It´s definitely a site to behold. Once I figure out the whole picture thing i´ll be sure to send some pictures!
K, so I´m already starting to get sick of the music on my iPod, and I´m wondering if you could, when you get a chance, burn a few CD´s to send in the next package. I don´t want ANY music that even comes close to breaking the rules, but I´m thinking there have to be some songs by Josh Groban, Michael Buble, or SOMEONE that doesn´t break the rules... haha Here is the rule straight out of the white handbook:
¨Listen only to music that is consistent with the sacred spirit of your calling. Music should invite the spirit, help you focus on the work, and direct your thoughts and feelings to the Savior. Do not listen to music that pulls your thoughts away from your work, merely entertains, has romantic lyrics or overtones, or dulls your spiritual sensitivity by its tempo, beat, loudness, lyrics, or intensity.´´
I got a box of Ritz Bitz with Cheese from Heather, and I got the letter from Grandpa, as well as a package from yáll! I haven´t opened the package yet don´t worry. Thanks a ton for these gifts! You all are awesome. I decided I wasn´t going to spend the money on me from grandpa, and i´ve already put half of it to a good cause! Thanks a million for everything!
I love you all so much, thanks for all of the support! I got an email from Uncle Nathan, and Grandma! Thanks for the emails and letters and everything, It really is a big help.
I know that what I´m doing is right, the Church is true, and Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. I´m so thankful for him.
Talk to you in a few days!
Elder Melville
Monday, December 22, 2008
YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE THIS!
Hola Familia!
Well, I´m sitting in a little internet cafe thing, with some latino music playing and big souped up school buses driving past! They literally are school buses, just all painted and totally decked out with stereo systems and what not, it´s incredible. I really am having a hard time believing this!
I loved all of your emails this week! Hey little Critty, thanks a ton for the email! I totally appreciate it! I´m so glad keeping Christ at the center of your life has been helping, I really don´t want to be all preachy and be constantly telling you what to do, but I kinda wished I had an older brother telling me stuff when I went through high school! Let me know if I get annoying :) We watched a movie the night before we left the CCM about Joseph Smith, and Presidente told us to pay attention to the role Hyrum played in Joseph´s life. I was thinking about you the whole time! You and Tanner are such great brothers, and I´m SO thankful for the love both of you show me! I love that we are best friends, there isn´t anything better than that. I miss you two so much!
Grandma sent me an email about getting $100 put into her hand! I loved that! That´s so funny, if there is anyone that deserves something like that to happen, it´s my sweet, loving grandma. I´ve been thinking a lot about my grandparents while i´ve been out here, and I am so lucky.
The Guatemalan Temple President and his wife both took classes from Grandpa Melville at BYU, and they had nothing but nice things to say about him, and I´m so thankful for his example. I feel him in my life so much, and I think about him ALL the time. I can´t even describe it. I can´t even start to describe the influence Grandpa Savage, Sherrie, and Bob have had in my life as well, I´m so thankful for them.
Everything went well on my transition from the CCM to the field, We got to go spend some time at the Presidente´s house (Beautiful, I felt like I was back in Utah when I walked in there) and guess who came to pick us up? The one and only Elder Jesse Lanham! It was SO good seeing him. He is the coolest elder ever, and Presidente had nothing but EXCELLENT things to say about him in my interview. So while all the missionaries were getting their interviews we got to play ping pong and visit with the Assistants and Office missionaries, as well as Presidente´s wife! So I not only was able to see Elder Lanham, but I got to spend a day with him! How awesome is that? That´s not even the clincher though, just wait!
So after we all had our interviews, Presidente took his time (FOREVER) deciding where we were going and who would be our companions. (Ok a stray dog just came walking up and is standing here sniffing around right next to me... ha They´re EVERYWHERE in Guatemala. This is real!) So when Presidente was done he called the Assistants into his office, and Elder Lanham came out with a huge grin and kept telling me how excited he was for me! Presidente brought out a topographical map, and showed us where we would all be going. I was one of the last ones to be read off, but found out I would be living in a house with 2 other companionships! Guess who? ELDER LANHAM! So not only did I get to see him for a day, I´m living with him! I get to see him every day! I´m still in shock, everytime we see eachother I just think, ''wow, what are the chances!?'' He made us a nice healthy delicious breakfast this morning, and lets just say everything is awesome. I´m just thinking how they usually put the trouble missionaries with the Assistants... Uh oh... haha I´m being obedient I promise!
So i´m serving in a place called El Carmen. It´s right outside the Capital, and I´m staying in the nicest house in the mission. Everyone keeps telling me how lucky I am to be living in the nicest house, with one of the best trainers! We went right to work last night and it was crazy! I was teaching and bearing testimony (mostly bearing testimony, the teaching part is still coming) in spanish to people, and it was unbelievable.
My companion(my ''dad'') se llama Elder Muñoz. He is from Panama, and i´m pretty sure he speaks a lot more english than he will let me know about... Basically, all we speak is spanish. He is way nice and friendly, and he said when we found out, that when he saw me at the Presidente´s house he knew we´d be companions! He´s a hard worker and has already taught me so much! I´m SO thankful to be so blessed.. Seriously, it´s incredible. I´m EXTREMELY happy to say that so far I haven´t had a canche companion yet! (canche means white... at least that´s what they call me. haha) So from Tongans to Latinos, i´m doing just fine!
I love hearing all of the updates, they´re so great, and i´m SO thankful for all of the prayers, I can feel them! Keep them coming, but just know Í couldn´t be happier, and i´m just loving everything about this mission thing!
I asked Presidente about emailing friends, because i´m trying to be 100% obedient (it´s a lot harder than it looks) and he said that we can email other missionaries with his permission, but no one else other than family. So, i´ll be using slow mail for everyone else! Sorry! I love getting letters though, keep them coming!
Please tell Sherrie thanks so much for emailing me, it means so much! I love getting her emails, and I will email her back one of these days when I get a spare few minutes on here! Just make sure she knows I really appreciate it. (I just saw the coolest bus drive by)
Elder Lanham will be sending you a picture of us together, so keep your eye out for that! I´ve gotta go get some groceries, love you so much, keep on keeping on, and I´ll see ya soon!
Elder Micah Melville
Well, I´m sitting in a little internet cafe thing, with some latino music playing and big souped up school buses driving past! They literally are school buses, just all painted and totally decked out with stereo systems and what not, it´s incredible. I really am having a hard time believing this!
I loved all of your emails this week! Hey little Critty, thanks a ton for the email! I totally appreciate it! I´m so glad keeping Christ at the center of your life has been helping, I really don´t want to be all preachy and be constantly telling you what to do, but I kinda wished I had an older brother telling me stuff when I went through high school! Let me know if I get annoying :) We watched a movie the night before we left the CCM about Joseph Smith, and Presidente told us to pay attention to the role Hyrum played in Joseph´s life. I was thinking about you the whole time! You and Tanner are such great brothers, and I´m SO thankful for the love both of you show me! I love that we are best friends, there isn´t anything better than that. I miss you two so much!
Grandma sent me an email about getting $100 put into her hand! I loved that! That´s so funny, if there is anyone that deserves something like that to happen, it´s my sweet, loving grandma. I´ve been thinking a lot about my grandparents while i´ve been out here, and I am so lucky.
The Guatemalan Temple President and his wife both took classes from Grandpa Melville at BYU, and they had nothing but nice things to say about him, and I´m so thankful for his example. I feel him in my life so much, and I think about him ALL the time. I can´t even describe it. I can´t even start to describe the influence Grandpa Savage, Sherrie, and Bob have had in my life as well, I´m so thankful for them.
Everything went well on my transition from the CCM to the field, We got to go spend some time at the Presidente´s house (Beautiful, I felt like I was back in Utah when I walked in there) and guess who came to pick us up? The one and only Elder Jesse Lanham! It was SO good seeing him. He is the coolest elder ever, and Presidente had nothing but EXCELLENT things to say about him in my interview. So while all the missionaries were getting their interviews we got to play ping pong and visit with the Assistants and Office missionaries, as well as Presidente´s wife! So I not only was able to see Elder Lanham, but I got to spend a day with him! How awesome is that? That´s not even the clincher though, just wait!
So after we all had our interviews, Presidente took his time (FOREVER) deciding where we were going and who would be our companions. (Ok a stray dog just came walking up and is standing here sniffing around right next to me... ha They´re EVERYWHERE in Guatemala. This is real!) So when Presidente was done he called the Assistants into his office, and Elder Lanham came out with a huge grin and kept telling me how excited he was for me! Presidente brought out a topographical map, and showed us where we would all be going. I was one of the last ones to be read off, but found out I would be living in a house with 2 other companionships! Guess who? ELDER LANHAM! So not only did I get to see him for a day, I´m living with him! I get to see him every day! I´m still in shock, everytime we see eachother I just think, ''wow, what are the chances!?'' He made us a nice healthy delicious breakfast this morning, and lets just say everything is awesome. I´m just thinking how they usually put the trouble missionaries with the Assistants... Uh oh... haha I´m being obedient I promise!
So i´m serving in a place called El Carmen. It´s right outside the Capital, and I´m staying in the nicest house in the mission. Everyone keeps telling me how lucky I am to be living in the nicest house, with one of the best trainers! We went right to work last night and it was crazy! I was teaching and bearing testimony (mostly bearing testimony, the teaching part is still coming) in spanish to people, and it was unbelievable.
My companion(my ''dad'') se llama Elder Muñoz. He is from Panama, and i´m pretty sure he speaks a lot more english than he will let me know about... Basically, all we speak is spanish. He is way nice and friendly, and he said when we found out, that when he saw me at the Presidente´s house he knew we´d be companions! He´s a hard worker and has already taught me so much! I´m SO thankful to be so blessed.. Seriously, it´s incredible. I´m EXTREMELY happy to say that so far I haven´t had a canche companion yet! (canche means white... at least that´s what they call me. haha) So from Tongans to Latinos, i´m doing just fine!
I love hearing all of the updates, they´re so great, and i´m SO thankful for all of the prayers, I can feel them! Keep them coming, but just know Í couldn´t be happier, and i´m just loving everything about this mission thing!
I asked Presidente about emailing friends, because i´m trying to be 100% obedient (it´s a lot harder than it looks) and he said that we can email other missionaries with his permission, but no one else other than family. So, i´ll be using slow mail for everyone else! Sorry! I love getting letters though, keep them coming!
Please tell Sherrie thanks so much for emailing me, it means so much! I love getting her emails, and I will email her back one of these days when I get a spare few minutes on here! Just make sure she knows I really appreciate it. (I just saw the coolest bus drive by)
Elder Lanham will be sending you a picture of us together, so keep your eye out for that! I´ve gotta go get some groceries, love you so much, keep on keeping on, and I´ll see ya soon!
Elder Micah Melville
LAST WEEK IN THE CCM!!!
Hola Familia,
How is everything going? By the sound of it, everything is going great! I´m really glad to hear that. Everything is going great here too! It´s my last week in the CCM! Can you believe that? I´m so excited to get out of here, but at the same time when I think about it i´m just like.. ''Oh geeze, I need to learn more spanish!'' The spanish is going great though, really, it´s such an amazing experience, and i´m loving everything about it.
I know i´m kinda bad at answering questions, so I´m going to try to answer all of the questions I can remember really quick so that I´m not leaving you all in the dark!
The temple, as well as my mission home and the CCM are all really close together, located in the South Mission. Everyone going to other missions have to wake up in the middle of the night and get on a bus for X amount of hours to get to their missions... The Central missionaries just wake up at a decent time, get some food and walk across the street! From there, who knows! No clue about the Quetz Temple... Sorry!
Elder Misini and I conduct a ton of meetings, close down the building every other night, and we do whatever President needs. It´s been a really cool experience! I´ve gained a lot more respect for all of my leaders over the years, trying to lead is a LOT easier said than done. I love it though, It´s kept me busy working hard!
Well, You all basically know the whole CCM (Centro Capacitacion Misional) drill after all of these weeks, and it´s basically the same thing every day, wake up, eat, study, sometimes have an AMAZING lesson from President(who has definitely changed my life), eat some more, study more, go to Casa de Cre (where we practice our lessons, a house outside the temple. The church just buys the houses around the temple for all of the people who come from MILES and MILES away to stay so they can visit the temple.) study more, eat, get taught spanish, and go to bed! It really has been awesome and I love it.
I have learned so much here, and I just want to share a few things i´ve learned.
1. The gift of tongues is real
The gift of tongues is real, and just like so many other things here, it all relies on the spirit. EVERYTHING has to do with the spirit. When ELder Misini and I have the spirit, we can basically teach anything we need to. When we´re lacking, it´s a WHOLE different story. It´s so cool.
2. Attitude is EVERYTHING
Sometimes life gets hard, and we have to do things we don´t really want to. DO IT, and DO IT with a good attitude. I´ve learned to make it good! Just smile and keep working and everything will work out fine. It makes life so much easier.
3. My Heavenly Father Knows and Loves Me - So he gives me challenges to Make Me better.
Haha, I love this part. I KNOW that Heavenly Father knows me. I know he knows all of us. He knows our weaknesses, and he gives us things to humble us and make us better. How do I know this? There are so many ways, but one is through all of my PET PEEVES. Just about all of my pet peeves have shown up here in the CCM. Whether it´s my Companion wanting to put his nasty, muddy, gross sock in with my whites, People laying on my bed with their face all over my pillow, people leaving their used floss on my bed, stepping on my shoes where ever I walk (Personal space doesn´t exist to tongans... haha), people CONSTANTLY touching and going through my stuff, and so many other things, It testifies of my Saviors knowledge and love for me. I´m so thankful for that. These things would have just about KILLED me at home, but here I´ve been blessed with peace! These things have barely even bugged me! They´ve actually made me laugh, because I know I woulcn´t be able to stand it at home, so it just makes it that much better. Life is good.
4. In Utah, we take the Gospel for granted. You don´t even understand how much these latino missionaries lives have been changed through the gospel. That´s how I open my conversations with them a lot of the time, ''so how is life outside of the church? before you converted?'' The answer is NEVER good. Actually it´s ALWAYS bad. Their lives have changed so much. We have something awesome here, and we need to stop taking it for granted and appreciate it! GO to mutual, Go to meetings, This is here for YOU! DOn´t ever go to a meeting without receiving revelation! (pres clark)
Sorry this is so scatter brained! I hope you can make sense of it.
Love you so much, hopefully i´ll write on monday! We´ll see. maybe not. Just know I love you and miss you but I LOVE THIS WORK SO MUCH! Love you all, thanks for the emails and letters.
Elder Micah Melville
How is everything going? By the sound of it, everything is going great! I´m really glad to hear that. Everything is going great here too! It´s my last week in the CCM! Can you believe that? I´m so excited to get out of here, but at the same time when I think about it i´m just like.. ''Oh geeze, I need to learn more spanish!'' The spanish is going great though, really, it´s such an amazing experience, and i´m loving everything about it.
I know i´m kinda bad at answering questions, so I´m going to try to answer all of the questions I can remember really quick so that I´m not leaving you all in the dark!
The temple, as well as my mission home and the CCM are all really close together, located in the South Mission. Everyone going to other missions have to wake up in the middle of the night and get on a bus for X amount of hours to get to their missions... The Central missionaries just wake up at a decent time, get some food and walk across the street! From there, who knows! No clue about the Quetz Temple... Sorry!
Elder Misini and I conduct a ton of meetings, close down the building every other night, and we do whatever President needs. It´s been a really cool experience! I´ve gained a lot more respect for all of my leaders over the years, trying to lead is a LOT easier said than done. I love it though, It´s kept me busy working hard!
Well, You all basically know the whole CCM (Centro Capacitacion Misional) drill after all of these weeks, and it´s basically the same thing every day, wake up, eat, study, sometimes have an AMAZING lesson from President(who has definitely changed my life), eat some more, study more, go to Casa de Cre (where we practice our lessons, a house outside the temple. The church just buys the houses around the temple for all of the people who come from MILES and MILES away to stay so they can visit the temple.) study more, eat, get taught spanish, and go to bed! It really has been awesome and I love it.
I have learned so much here, and I just want to share a few things i´ve learned.
1. The gift of tongues is real
The gift of tongues is real, and just like so many other things here, it all relies on the spirit. EVERYTHING has to do with the spirit. When ELder Misini and I have the spirit, we can basically teach anything we need to. When we´re lacking, it´s a WHOLE different story. It´s so cool.
2. Attitude is EVERYTHING
Sometimes life gets hard, and we have to do things we don´t really want to. DO IT, and DO IT with a good attitude. I´ve learned to make it good! Just smile and keep working and everything will work out fine. It makes life so much easier.
3. My Heavenly Father Knows and Loves Me - So he gives me challenges to Make Me better.
Haha, I love this part. I KNOW that Heavenly Father knows me. I know he knows all of us. He knows our weaknesses, and he gives us things to humble us and make us better. How do I know this? There are so many ways, but one is through all of my PET PEEVES. Just about all of my pet peeves have shown up here in the CCM. Whether it´s my Companion wanting to put his nasty, muddy, gross sock in with my whites, People laying on my bed with their face all over my pillow, people leaving their used floss on my bed, stepping on my shoes where ever I walk (Personal space doesn´t exist to tongans... haha), people CONSTANTLY touching and going through my stuff, and so many other things, It testifies of my Saviors knowledge and love for me. I´m so thankful for that. These things would have just about KILLED me at home, but here I´ve been blessed with peace! These things have barely even bugged me! They´ve actually made me laugh, because I know I woulcn´t be able to stand it at home, so it just makes it that much better. Life is good.
4. In Utah, we take the Gospel for granted. You don´t even understand how much these latino missionaries lives have been changed through the gospel. That´s how I open my conversations with them a lot of the time, ''so how is life outside of the church? before you converted?'' The answer is NEVER good. Actually it´s ALWAYS bad. Their lives have changed so much. We have something awesome here, and we need to stop taking it for granted and appreciate it! GO to mutual, Go to meetings, This is here for YOU! DOn´t ever go to a meeting without receiving revelation! (pres clark)
Sorry this is so scatter brained! I hope you can make sense of it.
Love you so much, hopefully i´ll write on monday! We´ll see. maybe not. Just know I love you and miss you but I LOVE THIS WORK SO MUCH! Love you all, thanks for the emails and letters.
Elder Micah Melville
CCM!
Hola Familia!
How is everything there in Utah? Everything is great here, as usual. Of course, there are some times that are so hard! Things can be so frustrating, but like I said the first email, whenever anything gets hard, I just know that something awesome is around the corner, and that's what gets me through! ha I´m not sure if this is something you can gain a testimony of, but I´ve done it, I´ve gained a testimony of smiling. When things are tough and you´re not sure how you´re going to get through something, all we need to do is keep smiling. Everyone kinda gets a kick out of me here, they call me ´´Smiley´´ and things like that. Really though, It´s helped me so much. It kind of symbolizes in my mind that when i´m smiling i´m trusting my Heavenly Father. No matter what is coming up next, just smile! It shows our trust and gets us through even when we feel like all we have is a smile... Really we have our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ backing us up. That´s all we could ever need.
Things have been awesome here. I´ve just been working hard here in the CCM! Studying hard, working on the ESPANOL and what not. I basically feel like a bruddah being surrounded by all these Tongans all the time. OH! That reminds me, we got 4 new missionaries from Provo... 2 Gringos... and 2 more polynesians! Can you beleive that? I couldn´t believe my eyes. It´s kinda like a Tongan gang here in the CCM, it´s pretty funny. They are so laid back! Which is such a good thing, it´s helped me so much, but at the same time, they don´t really care about rules. This has been a huge struggle for me, because I feel like i´m always the bad guy breaking up their party when I go to get my companion to go to class and all. I say that but truly they are awesome to be around, they have so much love and i´m so thankful for that! Dad, How did you deal with disobedient companions?
Mom, I´ve basically given up on wearing my contacts, they´re bugging my eyes again. SO, I´ve just been wearing my glasses and i´m kinda geeky but it´s all good! haha We´ve been eating great, i´m just packing on the pounds! All of these Frijoles(beans) are treating me right! haha I´ve just been keeping up on my allergy medicine and everything is working out fine.
We have SO many latinos here now. My spanish has gotten SO much better just in the last few days. I love hanging out with them so much, They have big happy smiles and are just so dedicated to the work! They are a really good example for us gringos! I´ve made friends with a bunch of them and they are the coolest. These Latinos are serious about their missions. A lot of them have gone to school, and could be making a good amount of money, starting a life for themselves, but they´ve chosen to go on missions! Last round one was a Lawyer, and this round i´ve met a Dentist! ha They are legit professionals, and they´ve given all of that up for now to serve their Heavenly Father. How cool is that?
So, Only two more weeks in the CCM! How exciting! I feel like I need to improve my spanish SO much more, but I am so excited to get out there and start doing some real work! Being an assistant has brought a LOT more responsibilities, so things have been pretty hectic, but It´s been such an awesome experience!
Christopher and Tanner, You two are SUCH studs, I think about you a lot, and i´m SO proud of both of you! You both are so awesome, I can´t even stand it! Start preparing now for your missions, don´t go crazy about it but you know, make sure you´re praying and reading your scriptures, it will make all the difference! I´m always telling everybody here how cool you are! All the latinos that have seen my family picture say that my family is so ´´Hermosa´´ haha I´m not COMPLETELY sure what that means, but from what I got out of it I think beautiful? ha Who knows.
Keep me updated on everything! Try sending things through regular mail, I think it´s going faster than the pouch nowadays...
Oh, we were in the south mission for splits! it was so cool. I forgot to tell you about all the dogs, chickens, cows, and tons of animals everywhere! It was the CRAZIEST thing ever but I loved it! I can´t wait to get out there!
I´m so thankful for your awesome examples to me, I love you all so much! Thanks for everything! Keep being awesome, remember Christ in all that you do, I´ve been trying to do that and it has helped me so much. I love you all so much, Just know i´m doing awesome, and I couldn´t be any happier here in the CCM. I STILL love it! My emails must be soo cheesy but it´s true, I just can´t get enough! Love you all.
I got a lot of emails and i´m so thankful for that! Just so everyone knows i´ll be writing them letters back! So it might be a few days... Or weeks... haha
How is everything there in Utah? Everything is great here, as usual. Of course, there are some times that are so hard! Things can be so frustrating, but like I said the first email, whenever anything gets hard, I just know that something awesome is around the corner, and that's what gets me through! ha I´m not sure if this is something you can gain a testimony of, but I´ve done it, I´ve gained a testimony of smiling. When things are tough and you´re not sure how you´re going to get through something, all we need to do is keep smiling. Everyone kinda gets a kick out of me here, they call me ´´Smiley´´ and things like that. Really though, It´s helped me so much. It kind of symbolizes in my mind that when i´m smiling i´m trusting my Heavenly Father. No matter what is coming up next, just smile! It shows our trust and gets us through even when we feel like all we have is a smile... Really we have our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ backing us up. That´s all we could ever need.
Things have been awesome here. I´ve just been working hard here in the CCM! Studying hard, working on the ESPANOL and what not. I basically feel like a bruddah being surrounded by all these Tongans all the time. OH! That reminds me, we got 4 new missionaries from Provo... 2 Gringos... and 2 more polynesians! Can you beleive that? I couldn´t believe my eyes. It´s kinda like a Tongan gang here in the CCM, it´s pretty funny. They are so laid back! Which is such a good thing, it´s helped me so much, but at the same time, they don´t really care about rules. This has been a huge struggle for me, because I feel like i´m always the bad guy breaking up their party when I go to get my companion to go to class and all. I say that but truly they are awesome to be around, they have so much love and i´m so thankful for that! Dad, How did you deal with disobedient companions?
Mom, I´ve basically given up on wearing my contacts, they´re bugging my eyes again. SO, I´ve just been wearing my glasses and i´m kinda geeky but it´s all good! haha We´ve been eating great, i´m just packing on the pounds! All of these Frijoles(beans) are treating me right! haha I´ve just been keeping up on my allergy medicine and everything is working out fine.
We have SO many latinos here now. My spanish has gotten SO much better just in the last few days. I love hanging out with them so much, They have big happy smiles and are just so dedicated to the work! They are a really good example for us gringos! I´ve made friends with a bunch of them and they are the coolest. These Latinos are serious about their missions. A lot of them have gone to school, and could be making a good amount of money, starting a life for themselves, but they´ve chosen to go on missions! Last round one was a Lawyer, and this round i´ve met a Dentist! ha They are legit professionals, and they´ve given all of that up for now to serve their Heavenly Father. How cool is that?
So, Only two more weeks in the CCM! How exciting! I feel like I need to improve my spanish SO much more, but I am so excited to get out there and start doing some real work! Being an assistant has brought a LOT more responsibilities, so things have been pretty hectic, but It´s been such an awesome experience!
Christopher and Tanner, You two are SUCH studs, I think about you a lot, and i´m SO proud of both of you! You both are so awesome, I can´t even stand it! Start preparing now for your missions, don´t go crazy about it but you know, make sure you´re praying and reading your scriptures, it will make all the difference! I´m always telling everybody here how cool you are! All the latinos that have seen my family picture say that my family is so ´´Hermosa´´ haha I´m not COMPLETELY sure what that means, but from what I got out of it I think beautiful? ha Who knows.
Keep me updated on everything! Try sending things through regular mail, I think it´s going faster than the pouch nowadays...
Oh, we were in the south mission for splits! it was so cool. I forgot to tell you about all the dogs, chickens, cows, and tons of animals everywhere! It was the CRAZIEST thing ever but I loved it! I can´t wait to get out there!
I´m so thankful for your awesome examples to me, I love you all so much! Thanks for everything! Keep being awesome, remember Christ in all that you do, I´ve been trying to do that and it has helped me so much. I love you all so much, Just know i´m doing awesome, and I couldn´t be any happier here in the CCM. I STILL love it! My emails must be soo cheesy but it´s true, I just can´t get enough! Love you all.
I got a lot of emails and i´m so thankful for that! Just so everyone knows i´ll be writing them letters back! So it might be a few days... Or weeks... haha
THE BEST WEEK EVER
Buenos Tardes Familia!
Alright, I have had one of the best weeks ever, i'm not even sure where to start! This has definitely been a week to remember, and I am LOVING serving this mission! I miss you all SO much, but I love this!
Christopher Melville.... WOW you are so cool! I can't get enough when I hear about you! I can't believe you played Varsity, and even did the Tip Off! Atta kid! You're a Melville, keep working hard and tearing it up out there!
Tanner, How is basketball going for you!? Good I hope. Let me know! I heard about the BYU vs. Utah game, my heart hurt for a while but I kept wearing my ''The Quest'' T-Shirt, I haven't lost faith. haha The President had a paper outside his door that he updated the score, one number in red, one number in blue, with the time left in the game. It didn't say anything else on it so you had to be a fan of either Utah or BYU to be able to figure it out. It was pretty funny. He's an awesome guy.
I just got back from Wendy's! We also ate McDonalds this morning. haha This came at a perfect time, I was really starting to miss my nasty greasy american food! We went to the ''Park de Central'' and got to get our shoes shined and teach people! We taught this guy named Abraham, and It wasn't us that's for sure, but he was blown away by hearing the gospel. We gave him a Book of Mormon and a pamphlet and he just started reading! We had him read Moroni's challenge to us and had him read 3 NEPHI 11. That is such a good chapter, for our lives, and also for missionary work! Before that we went and saw a big map of Guatemala that showed all the volcanoes and mountains and stuff. It was way cool.
Yesterday, we went to Las Culinas. It is this HUGE camp thing that the church owns, where thousands of people in Central America come for things like youth conferences and camps and stuff... It was really good. We said goodbye to the Viejos (Older Norteamericanos) and the Latinos who are now heading out into their missions! I made some friends with the Latinos and NorteAmericanos and it was really sad to see them go! Exciting though, That will be us in two weeks!
I got my soap dish thing back from Elder Hautau. I'm not completely sure, but I think he stole another one so he could give me mine back... haha Ok, Ok, i'm just assuming that, but he just pulled another one out of thin air... Maybe someone gave him one. (: So don't worry about sending one, and I realized there are so many stores and stuff down here, and it's all pretty cheap, so you don't even have to send anything if you don't want to! Everything is awesome.
Ok, I have to tell you about divisions with the south missionaries... Talk about one of the highlights of my life here in Guat! We started in the morning, and got to work all day until 5 or so... It was so cool! We rode one of those CRAZY busses all the way up into the mountains (you can see volcanoes all over down here... haha It's incredible.) and we just got out, went to their house and got ready, then went right to work! My companion was Elder Romrell from Idaho Falls, he was way cool and knows Dustin Locke! Anyways, we walked so far and so long, but I was so pumped. He had 2 lessons planned for us to go teach, but they both bailed, so we did a ton of contacting. I totaled 16 contacts! My companion 17, so we were contacting like crazy. Out of those 33 contacts we were invited in to teach 4 lessons! My companion was having me teach big chunks of the lesson too... WOW talk about scary, but talk about cool! It all worked out, I said basically what I wanted to say too. It's definitely the help of the Lord. There is NO way I could have been able to do it without his help, and I am SO thankful for that. I have felt his hand in so many things here on the mission! Anyways, out of that day, we were able to get 5 new investigators, He said we were on track to blowing his record day out of the water. It was so exciting. I wish you could have seen the houses we were teaching at and the places we were walking, it was incredible. I found myself walking a narrow 6 inch or so path with jungle all around me wondering where I was, and thinking to myself, ''There is NO way anyone lives out here!'' Sure enough there were TONS of little tin roof houses with dirt floors and one or rooms for tons of people and kids and stuff.. I loved it so much.
Even though I was able to talk a lot, this really helped me realize that I need to keep working and giving it EVERYTHING to be able to learn Spanish. I know with his help I can do anything though, and i'm so thankful for that.
I have to go soon I only have 2 minutes left... I got a letter from Heather last week and Christian this week! Keep writing! I love it. You can dearelder to the guatemalan mtc too.
Oh, Elder Misini and I have been assigned to be the new assistants to the president here in the Guatemalan CCM... I could use ALL of the prayers you can offer, but I know you're praying for me... I can feel it. THanks.
I love you all so much! I miss you a ton, but LOVE it out here. The Church is true. Read the BOM like crazy, it works wonders! It{s TRUE!
LOVE YOU ALL
ELDER MELVILLE
p.s. i{ve been speaking spanish in my sleep... oops.... haha
Alright, I have had one of the best weeks ever, i'm not even sure where to start! This has definitely been a week to remember, and I am LOVING serving this mission! I miss you all SO much, but I love this!
Christopher Melville.... WOW you are so cool! I can't get enough when I hear about you! I can't believe you played Varsity, and even did the Tip Off! Atta kid! You're a Melville, keep working hard and tearing it up out there!
Tanner, How is basketball going for you!? Good I hope. Let me know! I heard about the BYU vs. Utah game, my heart hurt for a while but I kept wearing my ''The Quest'' T-Shirt, I haven't lost faith. haha The President had a paper outside his door that he updated the score, one number in red, one number in blue, with the time left in the game. It didn't say anything else on it so you had to be a fan of either Utah or BYU to be able to figure it out. It was pretty funny. He's an awesome guy.
I just got back from Wendy's! We also ate McDonalds this morning. haha This came at a perfect time, I was really starting to miss my nasty greasy american food! We went to the ''Park de Central'' and got to get our shoes shined and teach people! We taught this guy named Abraham, and It wasn't us that's for sure, but he was blown away by hearing the gospel. We gave him a Book of Mormon and a pamphlet and he just started reading! We had him read Moroni's challenge to us and had him read 3 NEPHI 11. That is such a good chapter, for our lives, and also for missionary work! Before that we went and saw a big map of Guatemala that showed all the volcanoes and mountains and stuff. It was way cool.
Yesterday, we went to Las Culinas. It is this HUGE camp thing that the church owns, where thousands of people in Central America come for things like youth conferences and camps and stuff... It was really good. We said goodbye to the Viejos (Older Norteamericanos) and the Latinos who are now heading out into their missions! I made some friends with the Latinos and NorteAmericanos and it was really sad to see them go! Exciting though, That will be us in two weeks!
I got my soap dish thing back from Elder Hautau. I'm not completely sure, but I think he stole another one so he could give me mine back... haha Ok, Ok, i'm just assuming that, but he just pulled another one out of thin air... Maybe someone gave him one. (: So don't worry about sending one, and I realized there are so many stores and stuff down here, and it's all pretty cheap, so you don't even have to send anything if you don't want to! Everything is awesome.
Ok, I have to tell you about divisions with the south missionaries... Talk about one of the highlights of my life here in Guat! We started in the morning, and got to work all day until 5 or so... It was so cool! We rode one of those CRAZY busses all the way up into the mountains (you can see volcanoes all over down here... haha It's incredible.) and we just got out, went to their house and got ready, then went right to work! My companion was Elder Romrell from Idaho Falls, he was way cool and knows Dustin Locke! Anyways, we walked so far and so long, but I was so pumped. He had 2 lessons planned for us to go teach, but they both bailed, so we did a ton of contacting. I totaled 16 contacts! My companion 17, so we were contacting like crazy. Out of those 33 contacts we were invited in to teach 4 lessons! My companion was having me teach big chunks of the lesson too... WOW talk about scary, but talk about cool! It all worked out, I said basically what I wanted to say too. It's definitely the help of the Lord. There is NO way I could have been able to do it without his help, and I am SO thankful for that. I have felt his hand in so many things here on the mission! Anyways, out of that day, we were able to get 5 new investigators, He said we were on track to blowing his record day out of the water. It was so exciting. I wish you could have seen the houses we were teaching at and the places we were walking, it was incredible. I found myself walking a narrow 6 inch or so path with jungle all around me wondering where I was, and thinking to myself, ''There is NO way anyone lives out here!'' Sure enough there were TONS of little tin roof houses with dirt floors and one or rooms for tons of people and kids and stuff.. I loved it so much.
Even though I was able to talk a lot, this really helped me realize that I need to keep working and giving it EVERYTHING to be able to learn Spanish. I know with his help I can do anything though, and i'm so thankful for that.
I have to go soon I only have 2 minutes left... I got a letter from Heather last week and Christian this week! Keep writing! I love it. You can dearelder to the guatemalan mtc too.
Oh, Elder Misini and I have been assigned to be the new assistants to the president here in the Guatemalan CCM... I could use ALL of the prayers you can offer, but I know you're praying for me... I can feel it. THanks.
I love you all so much! I miss you a ton, but LOVE it out here. The Church is true. Read the BOM like crazy, it works wonders! It{s TRUE!
LOVE YOU ALL
ELDER MELVILLE
p.s. i{ve been speaking spanish in my sleep... oops.... haha
ELDER MELBILL!! haha
Hola Familia!
Well, It´s been another awesome week here at the C.C.M. I love it so much. I´ve had my down days, and I´ve had my awesome days, just like we´ve talked about before, it´s all so good though, and good for me!
How are you!? I want to hear all about everything! I´m loving the emails, they´re great. Keep filling me in on everything! I love hearing about all of you. I´m so glad you made the basketball team Chris! You´re so cool! Tanner, you made a basketball team too! Great job. I´m jealous of your crazy talent. I´ve been playing a lot of volleyball out in the backyard... haha It´s pretty cool. They´re working on construction here at the CCM and every morning a whole truck load of Guatemalans come pulling in, I´ve never seen so many people in the back of a truck before! It just kinda makes me happy to be here when I see that, no clue why, but I love it.
So I found out yesterday that Presidente Christensen was one of the authors of the ''Gospel Principles'' book the church puts out. That just goes to show how awesome he is. Seriously, He is an AMAZING person, I can´t get enough of his meetings and his lessons and stuff, he´s such an awesome person.
We watched the Testaments yesterday, and I was totally blown away. Y'all need to watch that ASAP! It´s so good, you´ll love it. I love how it shows Christ´s love for us. He lives. I KNOW that he lives. He is our savior, and we can go to him for anything. Any struggle we have in our lives, he´s there for us,and he´s felt it! I´m trying as hard as I can to come closer to my savior here at the CCM,and it´s been such a cool experience.
I just got back from the temple just over an hour and a half ago! Talk about an amazing experience. It´s such a small little place, but the spirit is so strong! Oh, and can you say... SPANISH!?!?!?! hahaha What a shocker. That was almost as shocking as seeing beans and pancakes right next to each other on the same plate. I love it though.
Speaking of small, everything here was made for a Guatemalan, when I look in the mirrors I have to squat down, because when I´m standing straight up I can only see from a little below my nose down. This makes me laugh every time. I always think of the movie ''ELF'' where Will Ferrell is living with all of the little elves in santa´s workshop and just start laughing to myself. Then I see the Elders who are a lot bigger and a lot taller than I am, and laugh even harder.
I love the latino missionaries. They are so cool. Even though there is a language barrier there are some i´ve gotten really close to. None of them can say my name, because in spanish the double ''L's'' make a YUH sound. haha so Melbill, Melvi, and Melviyay are the norms, but it´s always fun seeing what they come up with next. I love the Latino Missionaries here.
There is an Elder Savage here from texas, he doesn´t know any Savages from American Fork... but I just thought that was interesting! We must be related or something!
K so I was thinking, and the only things I can think of that would be good in a package are cup noodles, and a little container to put my soap in so that it doesn´t get all nasty. I had one I bought at the MTC but I left it in the shower and ELDER HAUTAU stole it. haha I just let him keep it though, it´s all good.
I keep forgetting Sis. Wise´s advice about telling who has written letters. Well, Now that I remember, I haven´t gotten any letters yet! I´ll let you know when I do. It´s all good.
K the computer is going to log me off in 5 minutes and my spacebar is broken. If I stop doing spaces just know that´s why.
I just saw a picture of UTAH, Looks like you´re all covered in snow! That´s awesome! I hope you´re loving it. The weather here is great. I got sunburnt Yesterday. haha I´m going on splits tomorrow with missionaries from the south mission! and I saw missionaries from central at the temple who knew Jesse! It was one of his companions.
Well, I love you all so much. The Church is true no matter where you go, no matter what language you speak. I love that. I lovethe Book of Mormon! Read it! Just know everything is good here! I love getting emails keep them coming! I´m just way happy with everything though!
Love you all so much!
ELDER MELVILLE
Well, It´s been another awesome week here at the C.C.M. I love it so much. I´ve had my down days, and I´ve had my awesome days, just like we´ve talked about before, it´s all so good though, and good for me!
How are you!? I want to hear all about everything! I´m loving the emails, they´re great. Keep filling me in on everything! I love hearing about all of you. I´m so glad you made the basketball team Chris! You´re so cool! Tanner, you made a basketball team too! Great job. I´m jealous of your crazy talent. I´ve been playing a lot of volleyball out in the backyard... haha It´s pretty cool. They´re working on construction here at the CCM and every morning a whole truck load of Guatemalans come pulling in, I´ve never seen so many people in the back of a truck before! It just kinda makes me happy to be here when I see that, no clue why, but I love it.
So I found out yesterday that Presidente Christensen was one of the authors of the ''Gospel Principles'' book the church puts out. That just goes to show how awesome he is. Seriously, He is an AMAZING person, I can´t get enough of his meetings and his lessons and stuff, he´s such an awesome person.
We watched the Testaments yesterday, and I was totally blown away. Y'all need to watch that ASAP! It´s so good, you´ll love it. I love how it shows Christ´s love for us. He lives. I KNOW that he lives. He is our savior, and we can go to him for anything. Any struggle we have in our lives, he´s there for us,and he´s felt it! I´m trying as hard as I can to come closer to my savior here at the CCM,and it´s been such a cool experience.
I just got back from the temple just over an hour and a half ago! Talk about an amazing experience. It´s such a small little place, but the spirit is so strong! Oh, and can you say... SPANISH!?!?!?! hahaha What a shocker. That was almost as shocking as seeing beans and pancakes right next to each other on the same plate. I love it though.
Speaking of small, everything here was made for a Guatemalan, when I look in the mirrors I have to squat down, because when I´m standing straight up I can only see from a little below my nose down. This makes me laugh every time. I always think of the movie ''ELF'' where Will Ferrell is living with all of the little elves in santa´s workshop and just start laughing to myself. Then I see the Elders who are a lot bigger and a lot taller than I am, and laugh even harder.
I love the latino missionaries. They are so cool. Even though there is a language barrier there are some i´ve gotten really close to. None of them can say my name, because in spanish the double ''L's'' make a YUH sound. haha so Melbill, Melvi, and Melviyay are the norms, but it´s always fun seeing what they come up with next. I love the Latino Missionaries here.
There is an Elder Savage here from texas, he doesn´t know any Savages from American Fork... but I just thought that was interesting! We must be related or something!
K so I was thinking, and the only things I can think of that would be good in a package are cup noodles, and a little container to put my soap in so that it doesn´t get all nasty. I had one I bought at the MTC but I left it in the shower and ELDER HAUTAU stole it. haha I just let him keep it though, it´s all good.
I keep forgetting Sis. Wise´s advice about telling who has written letters. Well, Now that I remember, I haven´t gotten any letters yet! I´ll let you know when I do. It´s all good.
K the computer is going to log me off in 5 minutes and my spacebar is broken. If I stop doing spaces just know that´s why.
I just saw a picture of UTAH, Looks like you´re all covered in snow! That´s awesome! I hope you´re loving it. The weather here is great. I got sunburnt Yesterday. haha I´m going on splits tomorrow with missionaries from the south mission! and I saw missionaries from central at the temple who knew Jesse! It was one of his companions.
Well, I love you all so much. The Church is true no matter where you go, no matter what language you speak. I love that. I lovethe Book of Mormon! Read it! Just know everything is good here! I love getting emails keep them coming! I´m just way happy with everything though!
Love you all so much!
ELDER MELVILLE
Frijoles Y Panqueques!
Hola Familia!
I´m here in BEAUTIFUL Guatemala City, trying my best to type on a spanish keyboard.... haha So this letter won´t be as long as the others! Lo siento!
We got here last Tuesday, and today is our first P-Day. Can I just tell you how awesome this is? Flying into the city was such an awesome experience, we flew in at night time, and we could see all of the lights of the city. I could see soccer fields, and all kinds of cool stuff from the air.
We got to the MTC and had some Pizza Hut ''Pizza,'' but it definitely wasn´t like the Pizza in America. The mission president here is such an amazing person, He has already taught me so much. I´m so thankful for him! Mom, his wife is a nurse, I just thought you should know that. If I ever need anything i´ll just go running to her don´t worry.
I got a new companion! I´m just switching from one Tongan to the next! Elder Misini is my companion, and he is an awesome person. Teaching and Learning have both been so much easier with him here in Guatemala. Elder Hautau has another pretty good companion, and I help him still every now and then. I´m pretty sure I told you about Elder Misini earlier, but he is half Tongan Half Maori, from New Zealand! Pretty awesome huh? We taught a lesson yesterday, and the native teacher said we were ''Fluent,'' haha I just laughed and said thanks. She asked how many years we had studied spanish in high school, and I said none! She didn´t believe me and I could hardly convince her otherwise. (I memorized the phrases so it made me look good :) )
Every morning I wake up, go up to the window in our room, and RIGHT outside our window is the Guatemalan Temple. Can you believe that? It´s just right there. There is a Shell station inbetween the temple and the MTC, and that's kinda funny, but it is such a cool thing to go to bed to and wake up to every day. I am so blessed, i´m not sure what I did to deserve all of this! We see cars driving around like crazy, peeling out constantly, and ladies walking with huge baskets on their heads down the street. It´s been such a cool experience.
I wasn´t smelling too hot after traveling the whole day in my suitcoat, and on the last flight into Guatemala, a nice lady came and sat next to me. I was SO embarrassed. haha Anyways, I found out she knew hardly any english, and I knew even less spanish! She lived in New York for 2 months 25 years ago, and that was all the english she knew. Well, with my 3 weeks of spanish and her 2 months of english, by some miracle we became friends. We talked the WHOLE flight, and next thing I knew I was teaching the first lesson... In spanish. Of course there was a whole lot of english mixed in, and and hand signals as well, but we understood each other! She said she lived 2 blocks from the church and had a book of mormon but had never read it. I bore testimony after teaching her, and said I know it´s true! I wouldn´t be on a mission if I didn´t know without a doubt it is true! At one point in the lesson she started saying ''It´s true.'' ''It´s True.'' It was amazing! She said she´d read the book of mormon, and I told her to tell the missionaries Hi for me when she talked to them. This was such a cool experience, I wish I could go into greater detail but I have 4 minutes left and I´m a little handicapped on this spanish keyboard.
Oh I need to tell you about the food. Frijoles(Beans) are a constant here, as is Rice. The second day we had beans and pancakes! haha It was so weird seeing those two things right next to eachother on the plate! It´s all good, I´ve loved the food here!
I am roommates with one of Christian´s friends from Soccer, His name is Elder Dineheart. Tell Christian about that for me!
I hope everything is going well. I LOVE it here. I´m about to go do a session in the GUATEMALA TEMPLE! Life is good! The beds are soft and everything is great!
Take care in the snow back in Utah, I´ve already got some sun on my face.
Time is up! Love you all so much, I miss you big time but I just LOVE it here! Thanks for everything.
See ya soon,
Elder Micah Melville
P.S. I´m so glad you got to see the picture of Jenny and I!
We got called on to teach sunday school on sunday... talk about intense. BUt way fun.
I´m here in BEAUTIFUL Guatemala City, trying my best to type on a spanish keyboard.... haha So this letter won´t be as long as the others! Lo siento!
We got here last Tuesday, and today is our first P-Day. Can I just tell you how awesome this is? Flying into the city was such an awesome experience, we flew in at night time, and we could see all of the lights of the city. I could see soccer fields, and all kinds of cool stuff from the air.
We got to the MTC and had some Pizza Hut ''Pizza,'' but it definitely wasn´t like the Pizza in America. The mission president here is such an amazing person, He has already taught me so much. I´m so thankful for him! Mom, his wife is a nurse, I just thought you should know that. If I ever need anything i´ll just go running to her don´t worry.
I got a new companion! I´m just switching from one Tongan to the next! Elder Misini is my companion, and he is an awesome person. Teaching and Learning have both been so much easier with him here in Guatemala. Elder Hautau has another pretty good companion, and I help him still every now and then. I´m pretty sure I told you about Elder Misini earlier, but he is half Tongan Half Maori, from New Zealand! Pretty awesome huh? We taught a lesson yesterday, and the native teacher said we were ''Fluent,'' haha I just laughed and said thanks. She asked how many years we had studied spanish in high school, and I said none! She didn´t believe me and I could hardly convince her otherwise. (I memorized the phrases so it made me look good :) )
Every morning I wake up, go up to the window in our room, and RIGHT outside our window is the Guatemalan Temple. Can you believe that? It´s just right there. There is a Shell station inbetween the temple and the MTC, and that's kinda funny, but it is such a cool thing to go to bed to and wake up to every day. I am so blessed, i´m not sure what I did to deserve all of this! We see cars driving around like crazy, peeling out constantly, and ladies walking with huge baskets on their heads down the street. It´s been such a cool experience.
I wasn´t smelling too hot after traveling the whole day in my suitcoat, and on the last flight into Guatemala, a nice lady came and sat next to me. I was SO embarrassed. haha Anyways, I found out she knew hardly any english, and I knew even less spanish! She lived in New York for 2 months 25 years ago, and that was all the english she knew. Well, with my 3 weeks of spanish and her 2 months of english, by some miracle we became friends. We talked the WHOLE flight, and next thing I knew I was teaching the first lesson... In spanish. Of course there was a whole lot of english mixed in, and and hand signals as well, but we understood each other! She said she lived 2 blocks from the church and had a book of mormon but had never read it. I bore testimony after teaching her, and said I know it´s true! I wouldn´t be on a mission if I didn´t know without a doubt it is true! At one point in the lesson she started saying ''It´s true.'' ''It´s True.'' It was amazing! She said she´d read the book of mormon, and I told her to tell the missionaries Hi for me when she talked to them. This was such a cool experience, I wish I could go into greater detail but I have 4 minutes left and I´m a little handicapped on this spanish keyboard.
Oh I need to tell you about the food. Frijoles(Beans) are a constant here, as is Rice. The second day we had beans and pancakes! haha It was so weird seeing those two things right next to eachother on the plate! It´s all good, I´ve loved the food here!
I am roommates with one of Christian´s friends from Soccer, His name is Elder Dineheart. Tell Christian about that for me!
I hope everything is going well. I LOVE it here. I´m about to go do a session in the GUATEMALA TEMPLE! Life is good! The beds are soft and everything is great!
Take care in the snow back in Utah, I´ve already got some sun on my face.
Time is up! Love you all so much, I miss you big time but I just LOVE it here! Thanks for everything.
See ya soon,
Elder Micah Melville
P.S. I´m so glad you got to see the picture of Jenny and I!
We got called on to teach sunday school on sunday... talk about intense. BUt way fun.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
FIrst Week Down!!!
Hola Familia!
How's everything going? K so I have hardly ANY time to email, because I swear the longer i'm here, the shorter the days get! The first full day was basically a marathon.... It seemed like years. Ever since then, I have been CONSTANTLY scrambling for time.
I LOVE the MTC. Seriously, I don't know if i've ever been so happy. Of course there are some ups and downs, but i've fastened my seatbelt and i'm ready to go! I've never done so much studying in my life. Spanish, English, companion study, you know.... I've just been running from one thing to the next! I feel like i've been working so hard during the day, the second my head touches the pillow i'm out! Then, when I wake up it feels like i've just blinked. The past few days i've been waking up just a minute or two before the alarm goes off... Ha, Kinda weird, I thought i'd be savoring every last second of sleep, but we're actually waking up at 6 am instead of 6:30 to get a nice hot (SCALDING) shower, and have some peace in the morning to get ready.
My companion is Elder Hautau from SLC, but originally from Tonga. He is a great kid! He is VERY shy, even more shy than I am! Imagine that.... ha He actually reminds me of Kyle from my seminary class in SO many ways.... Definitely a good thing when we want to have fun... Definitely a struggle when we're trying to teach. It's taught me a lot about patience and love and just chilling out and taking a few more minutes on everything. Even walking. haha
I have seen so many people here that I know, I saw Geoff Tribe today, saw wide-eyed but excited Jake Merrill yesterday, and Ryan Payne. I've seen lots of guys from High School, and I saw Dan Stephenson, my roommate! He has been delayed for a while, visa's maybe? I'm not sure.
I live in a room with three other guys. Elder Hautau and I, and Elder Douglas and Elder Misini. Elder Misini is from Tonga as well, and on the bottom bunk of course... haha and Elder Douglas is from Kaysville. Elder Douglas and I are really tight, we just kind of hit it off, but we all did in our room, it's great. All of us will be going to Guatemala City Central. Elders Misini and Hautau both speak Tongan, and have more "cousins" that you can imagine.... haha So Elder Douglas and I have no idea what is going on between the two of them most of the time. It's intimidating because sometimes we can tell they're laughing at us. Funny though. They're extremely nice.
An Elder came up to Elder Misini he knew, and was all, oh man, I heard you had 5 pigs at your farewell! Elder Hautau (quiet Elder Hautau), piped up right at the right moment and was all, "Pfff, you only had 5 pigs at your farewell? I had 10!" We all laughed and thought they were joking.... ha Only to find out later it was nothing but the truth. I think i've heard everything with these three, but every day I hear something else that totally blows me away. haha
K so, If at all possible, I need my blue nalgene water bottle, I can never get enough water. I also need a long sleeved T-shirt and a sweatshirt. Maybe my greenish blue and white one? Maybe my blue Timpanogos Lacrosse one? I dunno. Not both though. I also need 2 more T-shirts. Other than that i'm great. We've got a whole lot of candy in the room... and two BIG cans of corned beef.... (You don't want to know. ;) )
Alma 26:12 would be great for my scripture, thanks! I'll try to answer as many questions as I can but dinner is starting and I have to go asap. It sounds like the BYU Tourney was a party! I need Ryan McOmber's address, tell him to send me a letter or something.
Tanner, Sunday is NOT very restful. We are allowed a 30 minute nap, but I didn't even dare lay down, you all know how I nap, and there's no way i'd be able to get up again! On sunday we study on our own for a long time(not long enough!), then walk up to the temple and chill, then study more. I can't get enough. Man, I sound like a missionary... ha
Oh, ha the food is pretty good, but it reminds me of Betos. Not necessarily Betos, but the feeling you get after eating Betos. Constantly. 3 meals a day, every day.
Oh I love getting letters, don't stop! They're great! Thank you so much for the packages and everything else, they are so fun to get and go open! I don't need any more candy though, i'm starting to get sick! Thanks though.
Mom, I wore my contacts once. They made my eyes really red and I haven't been able to wear them since. So.... You're right. Maybe you can ask Dr. Lewis what to do or something? Don't freak out or anything, just ask him what he suggests, and dearelder me. I'll go to the health center if you'd like me to. Just let me know what he says first.
Don't write me back emails, Just dearelder me, because I can only check emails once a week, when dearelders I can read whenever. My P-Day is on Thursday, and you'll get emails then.
I really don't think the MTC and Temple are in my mission, I'm pretty sure it's in Guatemala City Central. I'm so stoked to get down there though! I'll get a calling card and everything no worries.
K so I don't even have enough time to proofread this, so if things don't make sense or whatever, just do your best to guess! ;) Just remember I love your letters, tell everyone Hi for me, and that I'm doing great. I need Jordan Wilkey's email address. I'm not sure if i'm allowed to email him but if I am I will send an email.
K one minute left before my computer shuts off!
I love you guys so much, you all are so awesome. Stay happy, and just love life! I could not be any happier than I am in the MTC! Stay in touch, write letters, not email, dearelder! haha You guys are awesome
Love you guys,
Elder Micah Melville
How's everything going? K so I have hardly ANY time to email, because I swear the longer i'm here, the shorter the days get! The first full day was basically a marathon.... It seemed like years. Ever since then, I have been CONSTANTLY scrambling for time.
I LOVE the MTC. Seriously, I don't know if i've ever been so happy. Of course there are some ups and downs, but i've fastened my seatbelt and i'm ready to go! I've never done so much studying in my life. Spanish, English, companion study, you know.... I've just been running from one thing to the next! I feel like i've been working so hard during the day, the second my head touches the pillow i'm out! Then, when I wake up it feels like i've just blinked. The past few days i've been waking up just a minute or two before the alarm goes off... Ha, Kinda weird, I thought i'd be savoring every last second of sleep, but we're actually waking up at 6 am instead of 6:30 to get a nice hot (SCALDING) shower, and have some peace in the morning to get ready.
My companion is Elder Hautau from SLC, but originally from Tonga. He is a great kid! He is VERY shy, even more shy than I am! Imagine that.... ha He actually reminds me of Kyle from my seminary class in SO many ways.... Definitely a good thing when we want to have fun... Definitely a struggle when we're trying to teach. It's taught me a lot about patience and love and just chilling out and taking a few more minutes on everything. Even walking. haha
I have seen so many people here that I know, I saw Geoff Tribe today, saw wide-eyed but excited Jake Merrill yesterday, and Ryan Payne. I've seen lots of guys from High School, and I saw Dan Stephenson, my roommate! He has been delayed for a while, visa's maybe? I'm not sure.
I live in a room with three other guys. Elder Hautau and I, and Elder Douglas and Elder Misini. Elder Misini is from Tonga as well, and on the bottom bunk of course... haha and Elder Douglas is from Kaysville. Elder Douglas and I are really tight, we just kind of hit it off, but we all did in our room, it's great. All of us will be going to Guatemala City Central. Elders Misini and Hautau both speak Tongan, and have more "cousins" that you can imagine.... haha So Elder Douglas and I have no idea what is going on between the two of them most of the time. It's intimidating because sometimes we can tell they're laughing at us. Funny though. They're extremely nice.
An Elder came up to Elder Misini he knew, and was all, oh man, I heard you had 5 pigs at your farewell! Elder Hautau (quiet Elder Hautau), piped up right at the right moment and was all, "Pfff, you only had 5 pigs at your farewell? I had 10!" We all laughed and thought they were joking.... ha Only to find out later it was nothing but the truth. I think i've heard everything with these three, but every day I hear something else that totally blows me away. haha
K so, If at all possible, I need my blue nalgene water bottle, I can never get enough water. I also need a long sleeved T-shirt and a sweatshirt. Maybe my greenish blue and white one? Maybe my blue Timpanogos Lacrosse one? I dunno. Not both though. I also need 2 more T-shirts. Other than that i'm great. We've got a whole lot of candy in the room... and two BIG cans of corned beef.... (You don't want to know. ;) )
Alma 26:12 would be great for my scripture, thanks! I'll try to answer as many questions as I can but dinner is starting and I have to go asap. It sounds like the BYU Tourney was a party! I need Ryan McOmber's address, tell him to send me a letter or something.
Tanner, Sunday is NOT very restful. We are allowed a 30 minute nap, but I didn't even dare lay down, you all know how I nap, and there's no way i'd be able to get up again! On sunday we study on our own for a long time(not long enough!), then walk up to the temple and chill, then study more. I can't get enough. Man, I sound like a missionary... ha
Oh, ha the food is pretty good, but it reminds me of Betos. Not necessarily Betos, but the feeling you get after eating Betos. Constantly. 3 meals a day, every day.
Oh I love getting letters, don't stop! They're great! Thank you so much for the packages and everything else, they are so fun to get and go open! I don't need any more candy though, i'm starting to get sick! Thanks though.
Mom, I wore my contacts once. They made my eyes really red and I haven't been able to wear them since. So.... You're right. Maybe you can ask Dr. Lewis what to do or something? Don't freak out or anything, just ask him what he suggests, and dearelder me. I'll go to the health center if you'd like me to. Just let me know what he says first.
Don't write me back emails, Just dearelder me, because I can only check emails once a week, when dearelders I can read whenever. My P-Day is on Thursday, and you'll get emails then.
I really don't think the MTC and Temple are in my mission, I'm pretty sure it's in Guatemala City Central. I'm so stoked to get down there though! I'll get a calling card and everything no worries.
K so I don't even have enough time to proofread this, so if things don't make sense or whatever, just do your best to guess! ;) Just remember I love your letters, tell everyone Hi for me, and that I'm doing great. I need Jordan Wilkey's email address. I'm not sure if i'm allowed to email him but if I am I will send an email.
K one minute left before my computer shuts off!
I love you guys so much, you all are so awesome. Stay happy, and just love life! I could not be any happier than I am in the MTC! Stay in touch, write letters, not email, dearelder! haha You guys are awesome
Love you guys,
Elder Micah Melville
Friday, October 17, 2008
Saying Good-bye
Well...Micah entered the MTC on Wednesday. He wanted a cheerful brunch, with no tears, and we did our best to oblige. He was so smiley and happy all morning. He just couldn't wait to "get the show on the road." At the end of the new missionary presentation, Micah said, "K, well, see ya" and he stood up to leave. He wanted good-byes to be quick and, again, tearless. We hugged and he was the first missionary out of the room. It made it a lot easier for the family knowing that he was anxious to get started, that he was prepared and that he wanted to be there.
Before he left, he had a steady stream of friends coming by to say good-bye. On Micah's behalf, I want to thank all of you for the influence that you have had in his life. He has had some really great friends over the years and as a parent it really means a lot to have good friends in your children's lives. Thank you for your support....for coming to his farewell, for hanging out with him, and for stopping by to say good-bye. It meant a lot to both of us!! Here are some pic.'s of some of you who came by. Sorry I didn't get all of you!!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Micah's Farewell
Future Missionaries
Cousins-- Grant and McKay
Cousins--Melanie and Jennifer
Haley & Amanda
Proud Mama
Amal an Matt just chillin'
Our favorite....Rachele
Uncles--Jim and Terry.
Reminiscing about the good ole' days!
Caitlin & Jessi
Awesome Friends
Cousin--Jordan
Love these guys!! BYU Lacrosse Buds
Elliot & Ryan
More Cousins
Even more cousins
Uncle Terry and Leah ( a cousin)
Shauna--you got it....a cousin
Cousins Everywhere!!
Ashlee, Becca & Kal Pal
Jake, Ryan & Brandon
Cute little cousins
Haley, Amanda, Hannah & Mark
Cousin Julie and new fiance'
Our favorite neighbors ever--The Iveys
Cousins....again
Shane & Emilee
The Beck Fam
Alysha, Marianne, Lexi and Audi
You guessed it....MORE COUSINS!!
Hannah, Haley and Amanda
Lacey and Amber
Grandpa Savage
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