Saturday, November 23, 2013

Week 3!

Today is the last weekend I will have the opportunity to go to the temple in almost 2 years! I guess they put the missionaries that are returning home through the Manila temple, but not till the end. Oh and another cool little fact is my last day is October 21, 2015 so not quite 2 years.

Tagalog is going ok'long. I expected the rate at which we learn the words and phrases in Tagalog would slow down after a week or 2 which it did. Some of the other missionaries in my district weren't expecting that and I think that makes them feel like they're not progressing and that they can't do it. Yesterday we had 2 sisters run out of their investigator lessons in tears because they felt like the language just wasn't coming. I told them that they were crazy (not really). I said that we have only been here for just over 2 weeks, and that we have learned more then most people would after taking 4 months of Tagalog (I actually said that part).
  
I am still having really good time out here. We haven't had any more snow since last weekend but it is still pretty chilly out side. Today my companions and I walked around in the morning in pretty much only lava-lavas and tee shirts (haha). Everyone must have thought we were crazy. I haven't received the package yet but I am sure it will come on Monday. I guess the postal service out here still runs on Saturdays, weird. 
 
Make sure to tell everyone to keep sending mail. It is really cool to get letters during the week through dearelder.com. That way I am able to spend my time on the computer mailing back, not reading mail. My departure date is DEC 18, my mission code is PHI SAN, and my Unit # is 25. This is all you need to send me a letter. My email is erik.nielson@myldsmail.net - you can send mail here too!

To answer your question about our sleeping arrangements, Elder Fa'asavalu doesn't sleep on the floor very often but he did that night cause he didn't like the idea of his bed being on the other side of the room compared to me and Elder O'neal. 

Within the first 4 seconds of being in the MTC, they gave me a filtered water bottle, so I don't need you to send me any filters, oh and the MTC store is big enough to hold everything I could possibly need on my mission so that guy we talked to lied! lol. 

Those pics you sent didn't show up on my computer :( I think you sent too many.

To answer Grandma's question, the food here sucks but there is so much of it and it looks really good that you end up taking way to much of it and that's I why am putting on all this weight - haha! I am 160 now (finally). Continuing on, both my companions are going to the same mission as me so we may end up as companions in the field.

Anyways I love you all a ton and I hope it's not too cold up in the north haha. Have a great week! 

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Photos!!!

These are a few photos I took this past week. Finally I get to send them. I went to the temple for the second time today and had to run through bit of a snow storm to get there. I wish I had brought my camera so I could get a few with the temple and snow covered peaks. Oh well, I will maybe have some for next week. Also I plan on getting one in front of the MTC sign. I tried to answer as many questions as I could so if I forgot something just ask it again. Oh, and my teachers names are Brother Nostrum, Brother Smith, and Sister Stromberg.

My companions









 

Pamilya!!!

To answer everyone's questions I am doing great! Ha-ha. I am super happy to be here and haven't had any trouble adjusting to MTC life. The first day came as a bit of a shock but after that, everything has gone really well. All the teachers are really cool RM's and they expect a lot out of us. I am pretty sure getting absolutely everything asked done as well as singing in choir is next to impossible but I am trying my best.
I have 2 companions that I kind of talked about in the last email. They are both goofballs most of the time but when it matters, they know the jobs that need to get done. I have learned that you can't do the MTC like a Nazi robot or else your companions will hate you and your life here will be the last thing from fun.
Anyways life is really good here I have gained like 6 pounds :) that's crazy ha-ha! Oh and thank you so much for the care packages, both were amazing and really made my day. Tell Ryley congrats from me, oh and ask him when he leaves.
Tagalog is going well but it is pretty hard and requires extreme focus in order to take away from the lessons. Never in my life have I woke up in the morning (at 6 am mind you) and said "Hey, I am so excited to go to a language arts class and then after that I really badly want to study this topic that I don't know that much about.
Gym class is awesome except for all the rules and all the lack of rules. What I mean by that, is the MTC has a lot of crazy rules in place to prevent any injury. They also don't enforce any of the real rules in the games that we play. For example, in Volleyball, you can't dive or hit very hard but you are allowed to hit the net, bounce the ball off the wall and re-serve if you miss.
Anyways I love you all a lot. Keep sending me letters, I love reading them every night. Magmahal po akong kyo lots.

Monday, November 11, 2013

All packed into one weekend!

Me and Santa!! On Nov. 3!
Delicious Christmas Dinner - on Nov. 3!!


 My mom decided at the last minute that we needed to jam some special events into the last weekend that I would be missing out on. Mom put up the Christmas tree two months early - just for me! My sister Kenzie planned a special surprise party on Saturday and almost all of my class showed up! That was so much fun! I have some great friends! And it was awesome of Kenzie to go to that much work!
Then on Sunday morning, there was a Christmas stocking waiting for me to open and Christmas dinner was all ready after church. My Grandma made me a special birthday cake and everyone sang Happy Birthday twice - one for each birthday I will be gone for. Later on that night, while we were doing some last minute packing and labeling, there was a knock at the door and Santa was there!! This was so unexpected! Thanks Santa! And thanks to all my family and friends that made my last weekend at home so special!!



34 Ties - an explanation!

I guess I should explain the title of my blog! I had so much fun collecting cool ties to take on my mission. I had some great people give me some of their favorites, I found some in stores, I ordered some online, found some in my Dad's closet - it was lots of fun! I think I have enough to take now - 34 in total! We even tied some on my suitcases so that I could identify them at the airport!
Here I am at the Calgary International Airport - ready to go!


My sisters, Kenzie and Tori insisted on being there!


Mom and Dad sending me off!

My Family

Me, Tori, Dad, Mom, and Kenzie
This is my family! I have two sisters. Mackenzie is 16 and Victoria will be 13 shortly. Our home is in Rosemary, Alberta, Canada - a tiny village with approximately 500 residents. My mom works in a dental office nearby and my dad is a physed/science teacher at our local school. I was lucky to grow up in a tiny town that not only had a K-12 school in it, but we also have a full-size chapel with a wonderful, supportive ward. I must say, I had a pretty fun child-hood!

Week 1: MTC

Getting mail from family is the best! I have 2 companions here in the MTC. One is Elder O'Neal. Elder O'Neal lives just up the road from the MTC and is a really cool Elder. The other Elder is from American Samoa and is named Elder Fa'Asalavu. Elder Fa'Asalavu is really big. I would send pic of me and my Elders right now but I don't have my card reader with me. 
Tagalog is going great right now "aco mag pagmahal kyo" very much :) (probably spelled wrong). Class is crazy. From day one our teacher hasn't used a word of English, but we are all learning very fast and praying, bearing testimonies, and teaching investigators in Tagalog.
Say happy birthday to everyone for me :). I know this is where I am supposed to be right now. Anyways, I am having a great time in the MTC and can't wait to get to the Philippines, which apparently is getting hit by one of the worst recorded storms in history. 195 mile per hour winds!!!! Anyways I love (pagmahal) you (Kyo) very much. I look forward to more emails.