Andrew

Dear Homies,

 Andrew has been serving for over 13 months now.  The year has flown by.  He is really happy and has been serving near the center of Santiago for the last 7-8 months.  He knows he is there for a reason and an investigator who left his area is now back and is going to get baptized on Nov. 16.  He thought he would be long gone from the area when she left, but now he will witness the fruits of his labors.  If you didn't know already, Andrew's sister Sarah was just called to serve in the England Manchester mission.  We will have 3 missionaries for about 4 months until Eliza comes home from Boston.

We hope you all congregate at our home again when the missions are done.  We also hope everyone is well and happy.  Keep working hard.  We miss you all.
--
Christine

Sarika and Shilpa

Heya Cowards!

Yeah G’day from Indjuh! Just outchea helping orphans and such.. and having the time of my life! Jake-Hawk’s post got me thinkin about ch’all and I figured since all I’ve been doing is running to the toilet the last few days, I better drop a line to the Homie Blog. I’m a greenie round these parts and although we’ve been here for about 6 weeks the constant stares and jaw-dropping reactions still make me weirdly uncomfortable. I had a guy come up to me today in the market, and all he said was, “For Obama!”, and with a double fist pump we both continued walking like nothing had happened. Haha Chambialys’ are some crazy people man. Ripped a bowl with some local farmers last week too.. not really but definitely been offered it dozens of times hahah!

We spend our mornings out at a rural school that YMAD has been to before, with the occasional trip to some new undiscovered school that we have heard about from our college students that we teach in the afternoons. The schools that YMAD expeditions have been to are great to go and visit and work at, but the schools that we have found out in the boonies of the Himalayas are real special. My buddy Josh and I are without a doubt the first white people to ever have gone to these schools. I compare them to like an interlodge day at Alta when you got to stay the night, and the canyon is still closed, but you get those untouched, dreamy laps in the Ho. They are completely unspoiled and the children have this starry-eyed, glazed over look to them the first time we arrive. It is an unexplainable feeling to be able to teach and bring hope to these impoverished children that have no knowledge of what a toothbrush even is.

The high school expedition along with BROOKE LANGE get here in about a week so Josh and I are driving out to Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama lives to pick them up from the airport. We’re spending the weekend out there and I am so stoked to peruse through the Tibetan markets and see the colors of the city. It’s like a Tibetan hippie village dude, so stoked! Sounds like everyone is doing well and enjoying their very own special adventures. We are all lucky enough to travel the world and experience different cultures and give back to people who are not as fortunate as us. Everything from missions to serving our country to getting a higher education, we are so lucky to have the opportunity to do all of these things! That’s my philosophy as to why I try and help others as much as I can, because I didn’t do anything to be born into an awesome, caring family and have all the modern amenities, just like these orphans didn’t do anything to be cursed with the burden of having no one to guide them and help them through challenging times and everyday life.

NZ was a trip and a half too.. but I’m not gonna get into that. Just know there was a whole lot of hunting, spearfishing, playing rugby, and working on the farm.. All things that make for a dream summer for me hahah!

Love you brothas! I can NOT wait for us to all be back kicking it and just enjoying each others company. MANDATORY: everyone has to pitch 5 grand in 2017 and we will buy a beach house in Costa Rica and have the time of our lives! (That means you Jacob, you can’t flake out on this time too!.. or so help me I will bring the pain train!)

Peace out from good ol’ Chamba, Indjuh!

Matty T

The first picture is of Sarika.. who is the absolute cutest little thing there ever was. And the second one is of my newly dubbed little sister, Shilpa. 2 of my favorite crazy little goons!

HOMIES!

How y'all nerds doing?

So many of you probably have a lot of questions for me like where did you get those burns or why I keep forgetting to take the garbage out, but I'm not here to talk about that stuff. I'm going to tell you guys about my trip to California with chase!

     So to start off we went to LA first to visit chases father, we spent about two days or so there which was nice, we ate some dank food and saw some dope stuff like a lego store where you can buy lego blocks in bulk... then we made our way up the coast to carmel and monterey... really nice place to retire when you are 85 and just want to walk on the beach at 5 am and sample wines and paint the same bush in your front yard. But actually was nice and calm. they have an awesome cheese shop in carmel, and monterey is more or less an aquarium and cannery row. 

    Next stop! San Francisco! San Francisco is probably one of if not the best city in america, i absolutely love it there and every time i go there I have nothing short of an amazing time. the saturday of out last weekend there was honestly the greatest day of my life but ill get to that later! So when we  first got into the city chase and i walked around the city down by market and powell, it felt great to be back there! so later that night if my memory serves was the night we went and saw Harry Connick Jr play at symphony hall in downtown SF and he killed it! I dont know how you could go wrong with Harry Connick... The next day we drove north across the golden gate (which i attached a sweet photo of that i got during a catamaran ride through the bay), to go see the red woods for a little day trip. I put some of the more memorable photos form the red woods. they were really amazing, i had never seen them before so if was definitely an experience for me... on our way back into the city to explore haight ashbury, we stopped by golden gate park to see where we were about to have the greatest weekend of our lives! 

    So now we come to friday, day one of the outside lands festival. friday was great we saw some awesome people, it started with Zedd, an awesome DJ, and then Yeasayer, super awesome live. to finish off the night we caught a little bit of Sir Paul McCartney which i attached a photo of from the back so you can maybe get and idea of the amount of people there. Then we finished with pretty lights, a killer DJ that tenderized everyones insides with some kickin bass. so ill skip to sunday real quick, sunday I saw Hall & Oates and Red Hot Chili Peppers! amazing! both of them! i saw some other bands that day but i could go on and on about everyone i saw so i wont...

     Now its saturday... so saturday started early for chase and i, we had to get to festival early to make sure we were able to get all of the necessary t shirts and foam hands for all the homies. we then saw a local band that killed it! and then we went to go see atlas genius... they were real good but its safe to assume that every band there was amazing. we then saw young the giant! and yes glange i screamed for you! and then shortly after young the giant, the two greatest DJs in the world started setting up there stations. DJ numark and Cut Chemist because next on stage was J5!!!!!!! if i could make confetti shoot out of your computer and make it explode i would, but oh well. i have attached some photos of this! hopefully they suffice for now, i have more, and videos dont worry. But yes they were more amazing then i ever could have imagined, and i would have given up a testicle to have had you there with me glange! i cried several times and joined 2na in every single verse! there's too much to say about it so i will save it for later. but i went on to then see the yeah yeah yeahs and phoenix which were equally as mind blowing for me... it was constant ear orgasms for about 6 hours. 

   hopefully thats put some light on what happened during the trip, i know you were probably waiting to hear about it glange! 

adios for now homies! love you all more than life itself. hope you enjoy all the pictures. 

-- 

Riles Per Gallon

I've been reinspired...

 

Alright guys, with glanges recent post after a long hiatus, I've been reinspired to write something, so....leggo! Im gonna focus on whats happened recently for now instead of trying to go back all the way to the summer and my euro and Guatemala trip (cuz then i feel obliged to write EVERYTHING haha). Im back at Pomona, ive got a sweet dorm thats a single in the same building as I was last year. It has a door straight outside which is killer, and the building is the nicest of all the ones on south campus (mostly freshman and sophomores). Only problem was that for the first week (until about two days ago) it was SCALDING HOT! ;) But seriously it was consistently 88 F in my room, needless to say Amy and I got the biggest, best fan we could find, and i still nearly died. Oh also its a decent size room, plenty of room for a bed on the floor or whatever...at home homies, im looking at you over a break...or away homies, maybe shoot over for a weekend from NY, FL, BZ (whatever, yeah i made up that shorthand for brasil), CL (CH is taken by switzerland, ja, pretty sure they dont know how to spell), USSR...;) and of course CArifornia, etc, that would be totes cool. 

Im taking Organic chem with lab (shut up Roach, i dont even want to hear about how great/easy it is, its not!), Sociology, Psychology, and German film and media studies. I thought my schedule would be kinda garbage, but I actually really like all my classes, expect maybe that first one, although its not awful just yet--too early in the semester. Im also signed up for intermediate tennis which has been super fun, despite the fact some people are a little better than intermediate and idk what theyre doing in that class haha. Im trying to get into friday soccer, but the best thing Ive been doing with my time has been rockclimbing! I got a pass to a nearby gym for $80 for the semester including equipment rentals, so needless to say, pretty dank deal that I didnt dare decline (POP QUIZ: which rhetorical device was just used? if youre an english/journalism potential major serving a mission in FL you have to answer!!). And my good friend who lives right next to me, Luke, has a car so we can drive there. Its supa fun, highly recommend when yall get back home soon!

for J-COBB: on my cruise in the Mediterranean I became good friends with these Brasilian girls, so now I know how to say some stuff like mea nome e Pelle, boa noite, amanhã, beijo Oh yeah! and i really want to visit Brasil for the world cup this next summer... and ive got an invite to visit those friends...who happen to live is são paulo...where someone else I know might live...so....!!!!

Take it easy boys, you know I love you all dearly!

Pdub

First three pics--my dorm room. Second to last picture is how i do reading, in my fully reclining lawn chair, in my room. Last picture was in our guatemalan hotel, it was everything I had to not 'deface' the picture by finishing the signature!

they dont always use anesthetics...

HEY! so if you have read Gardner's letter on the blog you would have found out that i came home for surgery. That would be true, and the church would not let me do the surgery over in Russia, they dont always use anesthetics... FUN.... soooo they shipped me back home for a few weeks. We tried to keep it all on the down low so that i stayed focused and didnt get caught up in everything back home. I am still in the recovery stage and am doing well! We are estimating that i will return to Russia in around a week and a half, maybe 2 weeks. We will see how i feel. Its been a real challenge for me having to leave what i love, and to come back home. Granted being home has its plusses, for example ive been going to the temple, ive got a nice bed, eating good food, but at the end of it all its just hard. Ive spent the last 8 months trying to focus on the mission and leave everything that was here behind and then it just comes right back. Thats been the hardest thing. 

I am very excited to go back! and i know that the Lord will help me catch up and he will make up the difference in what i cant do by myself. He will help me with my language, and help me get it back to where it was and better, he will give me the strength that i need to push forward in the day even though i still might be a little weak from the surgery. The lord is mindful of all of us and its really cool that he has helped me through this challenge, its been a real blessing that ive been supported and helped and loved by those around me to help me get better and get back to serving the lord!

Love you all!

Elder Ninow :)

Werr Herro!

Biggest comp-ship and smallest comp-ship in the mission!

I want to learn spanish so bad!

Family and Friends -


Everything is going so great! I can bear my testimony and pray in Spanish, and we've taught three lessons to a mock investigator already. At first I brought in Preach My Gospel and a bunch of notes and stuff but it didn't go very well at all. Our 3rd time I went in with only scriptures and though I had to speak extremely slowly, I thought it went great. My grammer is getting better and my vocabulary is growing. I've been studying Preach My Gospel pretty thoroughly and it's been helpful when we teach. Elder Pace is an awesome companion by the way! We hit it off immediately. I love everyone in our District. We have a lot of fun together. We study about 8 - 9 hours a day, and it can be hard, but I love it. There's so much to read and learn that I sometimes wish we had more time to just sit and read scriptures or from the missionary library, but I guess I'll have plenty of time in the months to come. I want to learn spanish so bad! I literally can't wait until I'm good enough to be able to buy books and use them for language study.


Elder Pace and I did a 24 hour fast last Sunday, mostly to ask for help with learning the language. It strengthened my testimony. After we broke our fast we watched the Character of Christ, which was a talk Elder Bednar gave in the MTC a few years ago. It answered some questions I'd been wondering about while reading the BofM. You guys should watch it; if you listen with the right spirit, I promise it will touch something in your heart. After our fasting and prayer, I've been working on moving my focus from myself to others. I'm starting to understand how easy it is to be self-centered without even noticing it. Anyways, just know that I'm learning a lot and enjoying my time here, and I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to serve. Ben and Zach, I hope you guys are having tons of fun; I love you so much. Tell Hanna and Anna and all the friends hi for me! Ad Mom, thanks for the package. I don't really need anything else off the top of my head, but my roommates and I always welcome food! I'll take some pictures of Elder Pace and our District and upload them later.


Love you all! Nate

Greetings from the high seas my friends!

Greetings from the high seas my friends. Yesterday marked one year since I left home for the academy. That was really crazy to think about. I know for you missionaries in the field, when that one year mark roles around you will feel just as strange as I do. I started reflecting back on how much my life has changed since I left. I have a new place to call "home," new streets to roam, and a new set of friends...but they just aren't the same as the one's back home. Those streets, hangouts, and pals back home hold a special place in my heart. I think about home everyday. I think back to the nights spent in Andrew and Chase's basement, the adventures taken on Bonneville golf course, late night runs to Moca, and most of all cruisin' the streets with the best friends I could ask for. Thanks for those memories guys.

Now, too much less reminiscent things. For some of you, I really haven't given you too many updates since I saw you last. So, let's go from second semester until now. The first big thing that happened was sea trials. The way we finish off your first year here at the academy is by doing a 15 hour long continuous physical evolution to pretty much beat the crap out of you. Then they pat you on the back and say,"hey, you actually have rights again." So, you know that's always good to hear. It started at 2:30 in the morning to a wonderful clanking of pots, bells ringing, and people yelling. Then we were out running, jumping over stuff, doing push ups, and beating on each other by 3 a.m. I would like to say that I made it through the entire thing without a problem, but at about 13 hours in they threw me in a pool and pretty much tried to drown me.(i.e. handed me a 30 pound weight, told me tread water, and sprayed water in my face with a hose.) So, at that point, you could say I struggled...anyways, the video I posted will hopefully explain Sea Trials a little better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6EezlKM67Q&feature=share

Pressing on, the next thing we did was the Herdon Climb. Even though sea trials is a culminating event, here at the academy we go hard. So, that means we have two. The Herdon Climb has been going on for years and in it the freshman class must scale the Herdon monument after it has been greased down by the senior class. Once they reach the top, they freshman must replace the plebe "Dixie Cup" with a midshipmen cover. The event is timed and goes in the history books. So, if your slow it just reflects badly on the class. Ain't nobody want that. Again, I have kindly included a video to reify your understanding.

http://www.abc2news.com//dpp/news/region/anne_arundel_county_/naval-academy-freshmen-climb-monument-to-mark-end-of-their-first-year

Since classes were over, but I was still stuck at the academy, we had a lot of free time and as a result I decided to culture myself one Saturday and attend the Preakness. Although the triple crown hopeful Orb did not win the race, it was definitely worth it. While I was at the race they had concerts on the infield and I was able to see Afrojack, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Florida Georgia Line...and Pitbull. Did not really care too much for the last one. It was a blast and I will definitely be headed back next year.

To finish off my action packed month of May, we had graduation. All midshipmen have to go support the graduating class, but it was definitely worth it because the President spoke at graduation. So, know I can say that I have seen both the President and First Lady in person.

 (pictures included)

So, for the last month I have be on my "Summer Cruise." Sounds like a blast right. Well, that is a half truth. I had a lot of fun on the weekends when we went down to Virginia Beach, but the days spent on the USS Anzio were a bit long at times. USS Anzio is a cruiser, so it's major focus is anti-aircraft. Although, it does have the capability to engage other surface ships and fire missiles on land. Although this all sounds so interesting, I was on the ship almost a month and in an attempt to spread all the interesting and cool things out we only did that stuff for about an hour each day. The rest of the day involved a lot of sleeping aka "going to work in the fan room" ;), watching movies, reading, and attempting self-made food challenges (Ex: An entire loaf of bread transformed into a single PB&J...bread toasted. Ya, it was rough. Almost had the whole thing down in 5 minutes.). Hopefully, I can get the videos of those epic meal times up on here at some point.

I had a lot of fun in Virginia Beach. One of the first days we were in port, we went to the Kenny Chesney concert...ya, that's right country music. You heard right. I am into that scene now. Judge me as you will, but it is like a way of life here at the academy. The midshipmen cling to republicanism, guns, BBQ, and country music. At least they are patriotic ya know. Anyways, after that we spent the next two weekends at the beach just hanging out and walking the board walk. Being beach bums for awhile was definitely not a bad time. As per usual, I have become a darker shade of white. Gardner knows what I'm talking about. After our time at the beach, we went back out on the Atlantic for a couple days and I got to drive the ship (i.e. give the commands for course, speed, direction, etc.). That was a pretty cool feeling, but following those four days underway I was done with the Anzio and done with my cruise.

Now I am back at the academy serving out the last part of my summer training. For this session of training, we have to prepare a bunch of charts and learn to how to run a ship ourselves so that we can take it down to Norfolk, Virginia all by ourselves. Pray that we don't crash the thing. I worry about the intelligence of some of the people on my ship.

Finally, it is my birthday today, but more importantly that means that it is Elder Ely's birthday. Happy Birthday man! It sucks that you are not home with the fam and friends, but obviously I can relate. 

Well, that's all I've got for now. I hope this message finds you all well. Keep doing the great work that I read about in all of your messages and come home safe. I miss you guys! 

MIDN 3/C Tyler Roach

P.S. Sports!

I hope you are well and happy!

This week was really good!  We had a series of miracles happen in our ward and I am really excited.  First we were able to finally find a house for sister missionaries to move into our ward. In four weeks we will split the ward and we will have four missionaries here. That will be so awesome because I know the ward will improve with success and excitement.

Then we were able to set a baptism date for two families in our ward. There is a couple whose son is a member and they have been investigators for a long time but they needed to get married and we set a date for them on August 23--a little far away but that is when they are getting married so we will just wait patiently and work hard with them. The other is a woman named MJ who was an old investigator who stopped listening but then we found her in the street and started teaching her again and now she has a baptism date for July 20. Two miracles!

Last we received two strong references this week from members. These two people, F and M are people who are prepared to listen to the gospel and to find answers to their doubts. They need the Gospel in their lives. There is a difference between finding new investigators knocking doors and working with members. The references from members are already prepared and interested. Our contacts are really new to the Gospel and don’t understand, so they need more work to prepare and many times are not willing to listen. I know that working through the members is the best way to do the work. But I am really excited to be working her in El Mirador. A lot of things are changing right now.  

I hope you are well and happy!

Love, Elder Christensen

Check out my blog:

drewbabeinchile.blogspot.com

What up y'all.

Everything is good at the MTC... well i guess it is as good as it can be for being the MTC ya know? but i have a pretty cool group of guys but my comp and i have had a few rough patches haha.... But i am having a pretty good time now that i have settled in and started to really know how to work.  I see Christian quite a bit, enough for my whole district to know his name and be friends with him haha so... It is so nice to see him around here and makes it seem more like home everytime we talk and see each other.  Cook is on my same exact schedule so i am sitting next to him as we speak e mailing or i guess as i write! Its nice to see him and talk to him as well! But reminiscing makes it harder to be gone sometimes.  I hope all is well there!

 

Love,

 

Elder Barker!

Dear Homies

Please check out my blog at

http://drewbabeinchile.blogspot.com