Elder Waddell 11-28-11

Hey all is going well. The weather has been strange but it was beautiful and clear yesterday. Ian and Lianne got baptized on Saturday so that was a good day. Most of the snow is washed away right now and the rain is coming down just like normal but it'll be back soon. I haven't gotten any packages. Maybe they'll be in today. But did you send my sd card??? I haven't gotten it so that worries me. The sun is setting a little before 4 now and we're in the most southern town in Alaska. But it doesn't help that even if the sun wasn't setting we never see it anyways because of the rain. This week is Zone Conference so that's exciting. We get the Prince of Whales elders tomorrow then Wednesday we fly to Juneau and we come back on Saturday. So it'll be nice meeting the other missionaries and being in Juneau. But it will be significantly colder so I’m not sure how well that dog is gonna hunt. We had a good Thanksgiving with the members and we kinda floated from house to house a little. It was nice. Man Christmas is in like 4 weeks. I wonder if I'll still be here. Probably so ha. Hmmm. The work is still going well here. We have another conditional baptismal date so that's cool. My training is almost done. Just 3 weeks left. So that should make it easier to get Language study done. Right now it's been pretty challenging to get that done and it's taking its toll. It's frustrating. It's gonna be so hard to actually become fluent here. Especially here in the winter where nobody speaks Spanish. But I'll probably be somewhere using it soon and with someone who's good at it. Oh you know what would be cool? If you guys made some "business cards" for me, That has  a picture and our home address and my mission address and such so I can give it to investigators or converts or members you know? That would be cool. Elder Dean and I are gonna make some Christmas cards and we're gonna find some ugly sweaters and do something dumb ha. It'll be a good time. Oh man the lack of sun actually kinda takes a toll on your health too. I've been slightly moody and tired and just not feeling healthy recently. I am gonna get a lot of vitamin d3 today. Supposedly they make a vitamin supplement specifically for people in Alaska because of the difference in diet and sun and weather and such haha, So maybe sometime i'll have to get my hands on that. hmm what else is happening...oh.. Tony chacheres... i miss them. oh and I wrote Regan last pday. I better get a speedy response you slacker haha.I feel like I'm forgetting something again.... oh well. Thanks for the update! I love you all. All is well in Zion.
Elder Waddell

Elder Everett Escobar  11/28/11

Hello mi familia,

My Avaira contacts huh (: that's actually funny because, I was going to tell you today that I needed some more. How ironic (I don't know the lot numbers right now but I will look). As for my drivers license it says, " Iss 01/06/2011 Exp 08/18/2011", I don't see 2017 anywhere on my license. By the way, you may be able to get ahold of Elder Bingham today. I also need some more deodorant (I dont know if that was in the package that you sent or not) and I also need thermal garments (I have been told that they are absolutely essential in January and February). I'm glad that ya'll had a great Thanksgiving and I'm a little sad that I didn't get to help in decorating the christmas tree this year too, it's definitely different. But the christmas decorations are being set up all across the Boston area so hopefully I can get some good pics. Elder Yim and I have constantly been singing christmas songs, it's been fun. I have been reading, 'Our Search For Happiness' by Elder Ballard and becomes more and more clear to me that, that book alone would make a great christmas gift to anyone who is investigating the church.

Well Thanksgiving was great for us, Andrew Navarro and Brad Talk took us out to eat at IHOP for brunch (it was muy bueno) and Eric Nicholson (awesome guy, he helps us in our scripture studies every week) from one of the other Singles Wards invited us to a Thanksgiving feast at his friends house in Cohasset, Massachusetts. It was great, we had a awesome time. The day after Thanksgiving Brother Wanamaker (Member of the Bishopric in our ward) and his family invited us to their home in Belmont for dinner. Brother Wanamaker served his mission in Fiji and he has two of the most cutest/polite little girls (Aly 4yrs and Camilla 2yrs old), I've ever seen. We had a swell time with them as well. The missionary work was kind of slow this week, but overall it was amazing. I have been so tired this week, it's ridonkulous, it's mainly due to the sun setting earlier, it gets dark at 4pm here. Oh, Chris Battoo also got confirmed at church yesterday which was another good experience. Chris is doing well and he feels a difference in his life. The mission life is going great so far and the following months will be even more challenging but great (or so I've heard from multiple sources). I can't wait for P-day snowball fights in Boston Common. By the way today is Elder Yim's 14th month mark! Anyways hope everything is going great, hope we can get this DLicense thing worked out.

Love ya'll,

Elder Everett Alan Escobar

Elder Everett Escobar  11/21/11

Hello my family,

I'm happy to say that Chris did get baptized yesterday, however it was a headache/rollercoaster to actually get everything ready, different things just kept popping up. So yea, I baptized him yesterday! It was a great and uplifting experience for Chris, me, and everyone that was there. Unfortunately, Elder Yim forgot his SD-card reader at home so I am not able to send you any pics today ): oh well you'll get plenty of pictures next week.

It's going to be crazy coming back to Liberty Ward and seeing all of these new families and all of their children, Summerwood, huh... Remember Liberty Ward will become a Stake of it's own one day, it's coming. Poor bishop, I'm going to write him today, hope he gets to feeling better. 

This week we have gained two investigators, but we won't be able to meet with them this week because they have tests in school and then right after that they are going home for Thanksgiving, yeah! /: By the way, I talked to Sister Evans and she said that she can reimburse me through my Support Card for some of the meals with investigators and members. This week was great! Tell Danny to try everything on the table at Thanksgiving Dinner, he's bound to like something. Tell Aaron to have fun at camp and to watch out for Sasquatch! As of right now we only have a meal appointment for breakfast on Thanksgiving day and I'm pretty sure that's going to be at IHOP (: Things have been busy this past week and it's all about to slow down especially with a lot of people leaving for the holidays.

By the way, Mom you would die here in the fall and winter, it's not even winter yet and the low for today is 29 degrees with gusting winds. Yep I'm pretty sure that you'd scream till you explode, but I don't mind it being chilly. I heard that it's supposed to snow again this week, why can't the weather just hurry up and make it snow everyday, instead of every other week? Anyways, all of the once beautiful leafs that were on the trees are now gone, they have fallen off. So yea winter is basically right at the door! (scary, just kidding). I enjoy the members in the University Ward, they are so missionary minded and our Bishop is Roger B. Porter. You should ask Bishop Thomas if he's heard of him, Bishop Porter is really famous in Harvard University, the Government, and in the Church. We have 3 other famous members in our stake: Clayton Christianson (he's been mentioned in General Conference, was a member of the Quorum of the Seventy), Henry Eyring (Henry B. Eyring's father), and of course MITT ROMNEY. Crazy stuff, eh?!

Well I gotta go hope you all have a good day and Happy Thanksgiving!

Elder Everett Alan Escobar

Elder Tellez email 11/28/11

Hello again to all my friends and family,

This week has been good. For Gramma: I have gotten Mrs. Donna´s emails, tell her thank you. Thank you for your emails, they are much appreciated. I love hearing from you. Tell the Rucker´s they are in my prayers. Thak you for the advice. I write there names in my journal and I have the addresses and emails. Plus, we are going to hang out after the mission.

So, I baptized my first investigator, Angel, this Saturday. it was great. We have another one this coming Saturday for Jésus a 12 year old boy. Spanish is still coming along. There is only Elder Lastra and me in the house. We have beds, a toilet that flushes, sinks, a shower (no hot water so we don´t really use it, we just boil water and but it in a bucket), a fridge, a little stove burner thing, a washer, a dining room table, a microwave, a toaster, chairs, desks, and other tables. Oh and we have a closet for out clothes. Yup, that is the house. The chapel is nice, there is a soccer/basketball court in the back. It is incredibly hot here but that´s ok. I don´t really need money, I get enough every month. Momma, I can just give Elder Lastra my english hymn book and you can just buy me one and keep it there for when I return or I can just get one when I return. How is the ward? How is the family? How is life? Tell Megan that it´s all good, she´s busy. I will either get that care package in December or January, I only recieve mail once a month. I still can´t really understand everyone here, therefore I can´t really respond back. But it takes time as people have told me numerous times. I will just be patient and study hard.

For Bianca: Awesome! You went on dates, I am so happy for you. He sounds a bit feminine, but I´m sure he is cool. That´s good, if home is where you need to be, then that is where you need to be. Find a better job than Jack in the Box or just go to a junior college. Keep being productive, don´t just lay about the house. Help momma and gramma, practice with Josh on school and the trumpet. Set a good example. You already know how to do these things, haha, I am just rambling.

Well, till next week. I love you, everyone. Take care.

Elder Tellez 11/21/11

¡Hola, hola, hola! ¿Comó están?
Hmmmmmm details, ok. My first area is Isla, Veracruz it is 3 hrs from Ciudad Veracruz (Veracruz City). You can look it up on the map and the internet. My companion is Elder Lastra, he is awesome. He knows little english. He wants me to teach him english while he teaches me spanish. My español is mejor, pero es no perfecto. The people here are so humble, we walk down the street and say ¨Buenos dias¨ ¨Buenas tardes¨ o ¨Buenas noches¨ and they smile, respond and wave back. I am incredibly quiet whe we are teaching because i don´t really know what they are saying. my week was ok but I was a little down. But my spanish is picking up! I talk more We are seriously going to have a baptism every week. We have one this week, his name is Angel, he is cool. He is super old as well. Thank you everyone for the emails, they are much appreciated. The town is small and a little rundown, but I love the rama. Our house is a nice size, of course there is no AC, but that is all good. It incredibly hot down here. We have a toilet that flushes and stuff. We have a shower but no hot water so we just boil some. I have basically ruined 5 of my shirts because I sweat so much. I washed them, but the stains are still there, it´s all good though, they will eventually come out. The pants are not as bad, the stains are not as visible. My suit jacket has a huge visible sweat ring on the back and front, but I never wear it, I only wore it on my first day. The food is terrific, I don´t know what half of it is, but that´s ok, I won´t even ask, I will just enjoy. The plane ride was fine there was another missionary that sat next to me the whole way, he used to be one of my companions in the MTC. He was going to Veracruz as well. Nobody greeted us in Mexico City, but we just had an hour layover so we just ate, and I introduced that missionary to mexican food. He loves it. The Mission President and his wife greeted us at the Airport in Veracruz. I like him, he speaks very, very little english, but it´s all good. Oh, Elder Lastra wanted me to tell you to send me a small english hymn book for him. He will give my the money to pay you back and we will find a way to send it. Please and thank you, haha!! So Adam is home? Wow, I am glad he is ok. Tell him I said hi, and to write and email me. Tell the ward a everyone that I said hi, and to write me and send me emails. They celebrate Thanksgiving down here too, we will just eat at a member´s house. I had to prepare a lesson for Family Home Evening at a family´s house this evening, we have an investigator coming too, exciting, haha. There are only two people that I have found that speak english in this city: an old hermana that plays the piano in sacrament and a 17 year old youth who is really cool and wants me to help him speak english better. He also wants to go on a mission so that is cool. I am going to be here in Isla for 6 Months and then I go to Veracruz City. Well that is all the time I have. ¡Hasta luego! ¡Nos vemos! Love ya

Trinity 11-21-11

Thanks for the Pictures! I got both of the packages and I had forgotten what you said about the Amazon package so I haven't opened it ha it's just been sitting there waiting for me. But before you send the others remember I might be leaving here by the 18th and I don't think you can send anything except for USPS to the mission home. Because they only forward they don't spend money. Christmas Sunday we only have sacrament meeting that's at 10 a.m. It got kind of chilly here. It was in the 20's and the first snow froze and more snow piled on it. so that was exciting on the hills. There were a lot of people sliding down hills and stuff ha. We were lucky to get our studded tires on when we did. And I still had to push the car some ha. I ate it last night right after I stepped out of the car ha. I stepped into a foot of snow with slick ice at the bottom on a steep hill and didn't brace in time. So that's been an adventure. We've been working hard and we should have two baptisms on saturday! We got some new investigators and we're still working with most of our older ones. Some seem to be progressing pretty well and others not so much but maybe they need time. We met an anti lady the other day so that was exciting. (not) I was talking to someone who might be interested and knew a lot called herself a "dry mormon" and such and this lady came up talking about how she grew up a member and she knows Joseph Smith is burning in hell and all of this ridiculous stuff. And the whole time she was trying to get me to argue with her or whatever so eventually I was just like you know and I know that we can talk hearsay all day and run circles but unless you do what we ask with humility without guile and with a real desire to know and read and pray about it you can never get an answer and you can never know. I'm not gonna waste my time running circles with people like that. There are people who are humble and want to hear what we actually believe out there and she's walking up to people telling them they believe in a heretic. I'm not 100% sure how Christ spent his time but I don't think he taught people to try and break each other down. The worst part was that there was that other lady who said at one point she believed in Prophets and then this lady comes in and just tries to tear it all down. I wasn't too happy. But I think we can find that other lady again we know some members know her. But besides that it's been an awesome uplifting week and even that helped a lot because we had a lot of good discussions with members and how they gained a testimony of the nature of Christ and all of those kinds of things so that was interesting. I'm not sure how many of those kind of people there are in Alaska. so far we've only met 2 obnoxious ones ha. But anyways we've seen some exciting progress in some investigators this week and the Zone leaders are coming from Juneau for a day for comp exchanges and next week we go to Juneau for Zone conference so that'll be exciting. Morgan and his family are moving to washington before December so that's sad but they're excited about being closer to a temple so that will be great for them. Oh how exactly do you make shoyu chicken?? I think there was something else and I'll probably remember it right after I get off but i'll write it down for next week if I do ha. Well I love you all and i'm kind of jealous of your weather ha but not too much. All is well in Zion

Elder Waddell

Elder Tellez first email from Veracruz!!! 11/15/2011

Hola mama. ¿Comó está? I´ve made it safely to Veracruz. It is sooo beautiful. Yup, don´t worry, I am doing the Lord´s work. Write me a lot, por favor. No tengo mucho tiempo, pero I love ya. Tell everyone I said hi. Snail mail takes about 1 month. ¡Yup, nos vemos! My P days are cada lunes (every Monday). So, till then.

Trinity 11-14-11

Thanks for the football update and the pictures ha. Everything is going well here. It snowed last night like 4 inches or so and our car was not prepared for it ha. We couldn't make it up one of the streets to go up to our apartment because the traction was so bad ha. But we'll get the studded tires on soon cause I guess it'll just be snowy from now on. I'll attach some pictures. One is the beginning of it snowing and a couple is of us eating some african Cayenne pepper or something. Congratulations to Emily for the scholarship that's pretty good ha. Man before I know it they will have been in college for a year and be passing me up! Thanks for the packages i'll let you know what happens. This week has been weird because the first few days we had Prince of Whales elders and they had to run around and do stuff so not a whole lot got done. We sent them off on Wednesday and the same day brought our car into the shop and found out our brakes were gone and the calipers busted ha. So we didn't have a car until Saturday night. But Thursday was Jace's baptism so that was awesome! Well that's about it for now i gotta go. Sorry this one was short. Maybe more will happen next week ha. I love you all. All is well in Zion.

Email from Elder Tellez Thurs. 11/10/2011

While I was at the Service Auction at church, John called the house :-(
He was able to talk to Josh and gave Josh the info on his flight for Mon. Talk about mixed feelings. Yay!! John called!! :) I wasn't here and didn't get to talk to him. :( Josh got to talk to him!! :) Now I get to look forward to Mon :-)

Hola mama. I am doing well. I am assuming Joshua told you that I called and hopefully he gave you what my travel plans were. I will talk to you at the airport on Monday so be ready for my call at like 7 o 8. I will try to call your cell phone. Yup, they let us call our family to let us know that we are safe or something, so long as it doesn't interfere with my focus and whatnot. Let grandma know that I received her package but I never got her check. Money is incredibly tight and it just seems like there is so much stuff that I still need. I just found out that I am supposed to carry $100 emergency money but I only have like $3, but I don't think that I will have to pay for my luggage. I will talk with the travel office here at the MTC and explain my money situation. I'm sorry I'm complaining to much, I'm just muy concerned. Thank you grandma for the package. Thank you Mama for the dearelder, I really do appreciate letters from people. The reason why I was saying that it would take like 2 months to get mail or packages is because the holidays are coming around and mail will be crazy. Another reason is because I have heard that is takes a couple of months to recieve things sometimes in Mexico, so I will be depending on emails alot. How is everyone doing? I hope everyone is doing fine. I will be sending you a package of like 85 pics. Some are pretty pointless but some are good. There are some really good sights here. Well that is all for now, just be ready for my call monday morning, i don't really want to waste quarters on a voicemail. Te amo. I love you. Tell everyone I said hi and to write me or preferably email me.

Elder Everett Escobar   11/7/11

Dear Escobar and Everett Family,

HOLY GUACAMOLE, Danny has grown a lot, he may even be taller than me when I get back! CRAZY! Did he start eating real food? Or what? If so, keep it up maybe he will be able to dunk (basketball) on me in the future, WOW. Anyways, Chris's baptism got pushed back to this coming Sunday because of some unfortunate time restraints, thankfully he is still eager and ready to be baptized. This past Sunday was great though we had a lot of members bring friends who wanted to learn more about our beliefs and I'm pretty sure that we may have some new investigators in the near future.

I did receive a letter from my 3 tias in Mexico this week, however it was hard for me to read, especially since it was in cursive. It was even hard for me to read the address on the envelope. So could you send me their address? So that I can send them a letter back. So Aaron is in the jazz band and being somewhat of an entrepreneur in school (just like I was haha), that's cool! I know a lot of people in the University Ward that play jazz at Berklee College of Music. My street smarts are indeed getting better, I am remembering addresses, buses, and trains that we usually take. Well, the work is progressing, the University Ward has had 2 baptisms this month, if Chris gets baptized he will be the 3rd. So keep praying. By the way I have not bought any winter boots yet, I plan on doing that today or next week. Oh and I did receive your package this week, thank you so much for the toothpaste and toothbrushes. I have heard from Samuel and John through e-mail, but have not heard from Trinity. How is he doing? Keep telling grandma and grandpa and the ward that I love and miss them. What is the Hairs' new address?

Love Ya'll,
Elder Everett Alan Escobar

Trinity juggling :)

Trinity 11-7-11

 Hey! Thanks for the email! We're doing great here in Ketchikan. We got our transfer calls and suprise suprise we're staying here ha. I sent my camera card this past week so you should be getting it if you haven't already. It has a lot of pictures. This place is gorgeous. Hopefully if you guys actually get the chance to come up to Alaska you can spend some time here. Even though it'll most likely rain everyday you're here ha. We don't need anything just support like always ha. Yeah Morgan is awesome he got the priesthood yesterday and he's baptizing his son on Thursday so that's exciting! The work is still moving here. We taught 17 lessons this week which is a close second to our best week. We've been working hard and growing. I haven't gotten any bigger luckily haha but seeing as we're moving into the holiday season I'm not sure if i'll keep it off. But it's all good either way. I'm glad to here football is going well. I love dads beard. He would fit in perfectly here. There are quite a few people in the ward with more hair on their face than head it seems ha. We've been trying to work with the members and build their trust in us. I know it sounds funny but i'm pretty sure if we can get a little better at basketball we can get a few more investigators. The first thing I heard on my flight to Alaska was that "Basketball is King in the Bush"  And everybody plays on wednesday nights and a lot of nonmembers come. So If we can start getting spiritual thoughts and stuff in there and gain the trust of some of the members and nonmembers who play every week... that's just one way into their hearts. But we don't have anytime to get better so we'll just try to make them laugh I guess haha. But we have thanksgiving dinner with a couple who always work a lot with us and give us referrals so that'll be great. My spanish isn't failing but it's not getting a whole lot better. We don't have all that many opportunities to use it. But by February I'll be in Anchorage I think and there will be more there. Oh it snowed a little the other day... the rain washed it away in hours haha. That wasn't a fun day to knock on peoples doors. We're getting our brake pads replaced soon and our blinker and our snow tires put on. Things have just been moving along I'm sure we'll hit some bumps soon but i'm not too worried about them. I think that's about it. Oh the InsideOut a Capella called "Reverence" would be sweet ha. well that's it. I love you and all is well in Zion!

                     Elder Waddell 

Elder Escobar  10/28/11 (letter in mail)


Dear Escobar & Everett Family,
I just wanted to forewarn you that I will not be able to reply to any of your emails on Monday. However, I will be able to on Wednesday, because this is "transfer week" so P-Day is on Wednesday.  By the way, President Evans has ordered that all of the missionaries be in their apartments by 6pm on Monday (Halloween), because supposedly people will be dressing up as missionaries, all thanks to the Book of Mormon Musical.

Oh yeah, and it snowed yesterday a little bit and I heard that tomorrow  we are supposed to have a 'snow storm' that evening.  Just so you know today is Friday, October 28th.  And just to let you know, one of our investigators, Chris Batto, is getting baptized on November 4th and tonight Chris told me that he wanted me to baptize him.  I was in awe!  He said that he really enjoys listening to me and my testimony and that I have made a big impression on him in his life.  How sweet is that?! I don't take any credit for it though, if it wasn't for the Lord, I may not even be in Massachusetts, so Heavenly Father can take the glory since it truly is Him that speaks through me, without Him I am nothing teaching-wise. 

Well anyways, gotta go, LOVE YOU!

Elder Everett Alan Escobar

 Elder Everett Escobar  11/2/11

Hello Escobar and Everett Family,
Thankfully we were not one of those apartments included in the power outage. However, I have already experience 12 inches of snow in the past week, CRAZY! It's not even winter yet, ha, new experiences but it's fun. Thank you for the recipes and the food storage ideas. Dad I'm glad that you liked your gift package, there's actually a cool record store perpendicular to the street that we live on. I am so glad that you were able to meet/talk to the Smiths, they really are an amazing family and were truly one of the Lord's tender mercies towards us. They're awesome! We have been working hard with our investigators, Chris Batto's baptism has been pushed back to this Sunday but he's still getting baptized. I don't know if you have received my letter already, but I mentioned that Chris wants me to baptize him, I'm still in awe about that. We are trying feverishly hard to gain new investigators. Yesterday we had a breakthrough, we met a guy named Eric on the street, he was interested right off the bat. WE HAD AN 1 1/2 HOUR DISCUSSION WITH HIM IN THE FREEZING COLD (MOM YOU WOULD HAVE DIED HAHA) AND IT WAS WINDY. I ONLY HAD A LONG SLEEVE SHIRT ON, but it was refreshing though. I did however put my coat back on after we talked with him. Yesterday was an amazing day, we hadn't been having that much success in finding new investigators in a while! Well I hope that everything is alright at home. Oh and tell Ms. Harbour, "Thank You" and that I did receive her package and that those brownies were amazing, I am writing her a thank you letter today. Well I gotta go. I'm sending pics in another e-mail.
Love ya'll,
Elder Everett Alan Escobar