Elder Myers Dec 28, 2009

hey everyone! i love you!
first off thanks so much for the christmas stuff! it is much appreciated! i didnt have any snack food before christmas and now i have too much! haha

yeah it was great talking to you!i love you all! i dont think that i was too distracted or anything i did feel kind of weird afterward that night but it wasnt anything big so dont worry! this week it will be back to normal (almost, we have to be in by 6 on the 31st and 1st) but im doing great so far in terms of adjusting. like you said its hard but i have done a lot of hard stuff before and i know that i can get through it especially with the help of the lord.

we had a baptism yesterday- anthony our blind investigator... it went well but it was pretty stressful getting it organized and all that, especially because it was right after christmas and there was a lot of people out of town. there is def a shortage of piano players in the ward (especially the spanish ward- sometimes we have to sing accapella! i always wish i had cole's piano talents! cole- i heard you got second in illinois for a young composers thing! nice job! congrats! as always im astounded by your musical talents because that world is so foreign to me! haha but yeah def keep up piano etc for the mission-like i said, it will come in handy- no one in our zone can play the piano except forone or two people and they say they arent good, the zone leaders are always asking "can anyone play the piano????!" i wish i could say i could... so yeah, keep it up! and leading music! thats easy for you i know but i made a fool of myself once trying to do a fast 6/8 song... i kind of just waved my hand... im practicing with my companion though! haha)

that was really random but yeah. this sunday we have our first baptism into the spanish ward! its the chavez family, i ithink i told you their names and everyhting but i know that i told you about them before. they are really nice! and of course im really excited about that.

not too many new things have happened since we talked last... except my companion and i eating garretts popcorn at almost every meal that we eat in our apartment...!

give everyone my love!
im sorry i am so bad at responding/writing letters! im still getting into the groove of the field... and as im sure everyone all knows im a very distracted person and so yeah... sometimes im distracted just when i walk down the street in LA, i dont ever remember being this spacey... maybe its just that i have never had a person follow me around all day... haha but that doesnt mean i wont write! that sounded kinda bad but im just noticing that...

i love you!

Elder Myers Dec 21, 2009

merry christmas everyone!!!!
i cant believe it is already almost christmas here! i know i always talk about the weather but it really is throwing me off! my companion almost got sun burnt the day before yesterday and we were hot in our short sleeve button downs! (the high was 79!)
ok enough of me rubbing in about our warm weather!

some random things that i want to talk about in more detail from last weeks email (im so sorry that it got deleted, i am just going to have to copy periodically)
but the LA temple is ginormous! its so majestic sitting up on the hill! and LA is so dirty that it really stands out! when you are standing on temple hill you can see a lot of the city (because the city bounderies are ridiculous! it just keeps going on and on and on and on!) but yeah you get a really amazing view of the LA smog! and when we went it was a 630 session so we got there when it was pitch black so we got to enjoy all the christmas lights on the trees and bushes on the grounds. i loved the lights on all the palm trees! haha)
after that we went to santa monica. i loved it and it was quite an adventure to get out there on the bus, but we really needed to go shopping (to get white shirts with pockets of course) and it was elder cooleys old area and we would be semi close because we were at the temple so we decided to go. anyway we shopped on the 35d st promenode (sp) we walked on ocean ave in between pico and california streets. we got to see the santa monica pier from a distance. circus olay (sp so i did it semi phoentically, i can only handle spelling in spanish and english at the moment..,. haha) and so they had huge tents out for that. the coast is pretty cool, pretty similar to what i have seen of florida... we also got to see hotel california, as i guessed it was pretty small... anway what streets did you work on/stay at when you go to work there dad? i loved it! it was very different from our area- it was the first time i had seen name brand stores (except downtown but we dont go there that often- like 2-3 times a week and even then only to skidrow, so we dont usually walk around downtown...) anyway yeah the only name brands are one burger king and one taco bell oh and one KFC... haha other than that its all lavanderias (laundry mats), pupuserias (one of my new favorite foods! (pupusas)), 99c stores (we shopped at one today that is in a really sweet neighboorhood like a 3 min bus ride from our apt. its like a mexican version of canal st except there is not that many people on the street, but there is still a lot...) anyway back to what i was saying about santa monica- i was actually kind of disgusted by all the materialism and plastic surgery and just all around vanity but then i realized that it was exactly like the north shore just plus palm trees and good weather... but all in all i liked santa monica... some place i would love visisting outside of the mission but not to work in during the mission. i better watch what i say though with transfers coming up hahaha (we find out where we are going tomorrow night at like 930 and if we are moving we move on wed...)

as for whats going on in our area- i love it! we had a baptism in the beginnning of december and we are having another one this sunday! i also got to preform the confirmation at chuirch in front of everyone for steven (the 17 kid who we baptized in the beginning of december... he is a great kid- i think i have talked about him before... he always does his reading and nothing phases him, he is really mellow- even more so than seth or pete haha)
and the baptism we have this sunday is a 38 blind man who lives with his mom. they are both english investigators (our only ones) but they are both mexican but grew up speaking english so they are more comfortable speaking english... his mom didnt really like us (well the church) but we wrote her a letter and then she soften up- she talked to us for the first time this past sunday when we went to make sure that anthony (38 blind guy- he is blind because he got shot 3 years ago and his eye balls popped out...pretty intense....) was going to be at church...
and then on the 3rd we have a whole family that is getting baptized! they are amazing! like every latin family they always give us a little somethign to eat and drink when we visit. (its like part of the latin culture that its rude/not good hosting to not offer people at least a drink even if they are only going to be there for 5 mins)anyway the mom (maria) the dad (tomas) the daughter (ana) the niece (gisele) the brother (of maria) (jorge-30s) will all be baptized... they also have jasmin (3) and tomas (almost 1ish) who of course wont be getting baptized. it was so nice when they came to church (they went up to the valley this past sunday so they couldnt come...) but i wasnt there- i was at the english ward but elder cooley got to sit with all of them!

so yeah, staying busy! we dont really know what we are doing for christmas dinner (we have tentative plans to go to the fam chavez (the above described family) on christmas eve- we wont be staying up with them til 12 because thats when as latin culture dictates you open the presents- christmas day doesnt really exist for them, just sleeping all day... so its pretty similar to new years... and for christmas day with the less active family that we had thanksgiving with... we have to be in by 6 on both nights and we are going to a soup kitchen for service from 10-2 on christmas day... i think just my zone is doing that but we'll see. i know service on christmas is a mission wide thing though...) but to be honest im kind of glad that we have to be in by 6- ill be able to fnish the book of mormon ( i dont know if i told you but in connection of our "white christmas miracle goal" of baptizing 80 poeple in december as a mission we are reading the new testament and book of mormon in our native lang and highlighting the miracles in them) and call you! and tracting and inturrupting family time would be kind of a bad rep for mormonism considering we are all about families! haha

but I LOVE YOU!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!!!
im sorry i couldnt get you guys presents!
i hope you enjoyed the christmas cards- when i send the memory card home can you (sarah) put up the good ones on facebook? please! there are 700+ so that will be quite a fun task... im sorry! ill try to delete as many of the bad ones as i can before sending the card... inlist my familys help! yay! thanks so much for running my facebook, i didnt think it would be super helpful since i was NEVER on it last summer/spring but people have already written me saying they have been keeping up with me through f book and you and my family (i love they train of info there...) anyway thanks so much!

I LOVE (everyone)!!!
will

Elder Myers Dec 15, 2009

we had a baptism! i confirmed him last sun
working with fam (5 all with a bap date)
went to temple! huge and beatiful!!!
went to santa monica on temple p day last wed looking for shirts
saw pier from ocean ave
zone conf yesterday with x mas dinner. 3 zones were there= half misson or 80 missionaries.
love my area! transfer day is 23. i think ill stay here.,...
love yopu so much!!!!!
sorry to hear about jack! and sorry about other long email!
all is well with me dont worry mom!

Elder Myers Nov 30, 2009

hey everyone i dont have much time because i spent most of my time reading emails but i need to get some info out to everyone:

i can ONLY send and recieve email from my family (siblings parents and grandparents) everyone else i will have to write/recieve snail mail:

Elder Mark William Myers
1591 E. Temple Way
Los Angeles, CA 90024-5801

i dont know if you have to have my full name or not as well as the 5801 but just put them on anyway to be safe i guess. also long story short: mail gets picked up from that address every tuesday and then i get it in my hands every friday....
so snail mail it is! sorry everyone!!!

ok that aside L.A. is awesome!my area is great, we have almost all of downtown. a ghetto (but not dangerous at all) latino neghborhood/all neighborhoods close to the city are pretty much latino.
dad i forgot to write this on the other email but if you ever go on a virtual tour again here is some more specifics: i live in an apartment l on the west side of the street closer to the beverly side... right by the smart and final store on the corner... also we walk up and down 3rd street more than any other street, also beverlery and then 6th... some of the streets taht we have spent the most time on are: we have an investigator on bonnie brae and 3rd (actually 2 and 1 recent convert all around that intersection) also union (drive i think), rampart, burlington etc (the west side of the city)
since i dont have much time ill briefly tell about thanksgiving- we went to skidrow (san pedro around 5th and 6th streets) check it out but its full of homeless people. its on the other side of our area/on the other side of the city... welll we handed out t shirts that we had made. nice dinner at part member family/inactive family. they are nice. they had three friends over. normal US food even though mom is from guatemala./
i speak a lot of spanish
im walking everywhere because i dont have a bike yet.... its fun! get to really feel the city!
pics soon- i think i can email them from here... slash ill mail my usb drive when i get it.... but i want to email some pics home next monday when i have more time so you can put them in the family x mas card- are you doing one this year??

love you!!!!!!!!

sorry i didnt have much time, i will next week but i had a lot of emails to read... everyone- pleaaaase switch to snail mail!!!

Elder Myers Nov 24, 2009

First companion in LA  Elder Cooley

hello from sunny (still) LA!
its really confusing because with the weather the way it is i feel like we should be preparing for 4th of july season not thanksgiving/christmas season. Except all the latin moms say "Hace frio" or basically its cold and take pity on us except that its not haha. It does get down to the 60s in the night. freezing i know. people are pulling out the jackets and beenies and hoods, even during the day. its pretty ridiculous. i wore shorts and a t shirt for most of the day because we played zone vs zone turkey bowel. we played two 45 min games today. we played against the zone that elder riska (my mtc companion is on). It was pretty fun! And after I had my first In 'n Out expierence at the busiest one in the world- Inglewood right by LAX. Ill have to say that its probably my favorite fast food burger joint...

I speak a lot of spanish- most of our work is in spanish- all of our door and street stuff is spanish and most of the lessons are too. All of our dinner appointments except one part member family (the mom is a latina from guatemala but the dad is white or a gringo haha...) and they have a daughter who just finsished up at BYU provo. We are eating thanksgiving with them. we have to be in by 7 on thanksgiving, but we get to spend a 1.5 hours instead of the usual 1 hour or we can go to two houses and spend an hour each.... and before that we are going to make shirts for the homeless people on skidrow (nickname of a street downtownish that is supposed to have a crazy amount of homeless poeple on it. we are going to put scriptures on them and the go hand them out.
i went downtown for the first time last week. it was very different from chicago. not as busy very very hilly and some really cool buildings.but all in all not a lot of buildings....

now we only have 1 guy with a baptismal date. his name is steven he is one of the only people we teach in english. he is a senior and his mom and dad only speak spanish pretty much but he doesnt speak too much spanish, he mostly responds to them in english. he reads the book of mormon every night and highlights parts that he has questions in,... and his date is now the first sunday of december- the bishop made us change it so more members could go to it...
the other guy named anthony we are probably going to drop- he is non escogido, i dont know the phrase they use in english but its from d&c 20:37 you could check. but the direct translation is "choice" people. we are called to reap the white field already to harvest. its going to be hard dropping him but he isnt taking it seriously and not keeping his commitments like coming to church (he has made excuses the past two sundays) and he didnt keep commitments with the sisters before us. He is in his 40s and lives with his mom because he is blind and she has a lot of control over him and she doesnt like the missionaries. so well see if he is still serious and if its just his mom... the sisters taught both of them before. anthony more recently like in october and steven like 5 months ago...

on a more positive note! its great getting to know the members in the spanish and english wards! we eat dinner at members, less actives or part member families about 5 times a week. 99% of them are from the spanish ward. they are so nice and humble! the LOVE the missionaries! so we get to know them over dinner, share a spiritual lesson/thought and then ask for referals and then leave... slowly (its slower than my talkative self would like but i know that my spanish is improving like crazy! im as good as my trainer who has been out for 7 monthsish, granted he was in beginning spanish and worked in malibu-97% english for all of his time before this but still i know that i am being very blessed with that!) my trainer (elder cooley) and i get along very well! we have a lot of good laughs together! we talk to some very fun people on the street as you can imagine! i love walking around in our area and just talking to people on the way to our appointments.

another family worth mentioning is the chavez family. they are soooo nice and we almost always teach the whole extended family (the granparents live with them like in mexico- they came from mex about a year ago i think maybe 3 i dunno... and then some of the wife's (named maria like everyone else we talked to in the latin world haha) 8 brothers live in the arpartment in front of their house. and so we teach the grandma, mom-maria, dad tomas, marias brother jorge, daughter ana and niece gisele and then last lesson with theother brother of maria and his wife but i forget their names. we had spicy chile tostadas (flat tacos) that were delicious. they are so nice!! and we expect a bunch of them at church next sunday!

and finally business:
i dont know if you sent the shirts- could you by any chance send a pocket from one of dads old grungy shirts? i want to ask a member to sow it onto one of my polo shirts maybe.... if you think thats a bad idea i wont.... i cant decide if its a bad idea or not... or maybe illl take it to a tailors and have them do it. i have only seen a couple cleaners in our area (the best named one is def casa de cleaners haha) i havent been into any so i dont know if they would do that weird of a job or how much it would be... i think i might send one home to save for after my mission because i LOVE them-because of the spread collar :) i hope you didnt stress over picking the right shirt at nordstroms, just in case you havent sent them my next size is 15.5 and i wear a 37 or 38 sleeve i think. my suit size is a 37 i know for sure... im sorry i didnt say the size in the other email im sorry!! thanks so much!!!
i think it will be fine just to email me, its free and im pretty sure just as fast, if not faster (the ZLs pick up mail every tuesday and we get it in our hands firday morning) and im usually fine on time on the comp- i have the full hour this week (and always from now on pretty much) i jsut didnt last week long story...

my companion and i are indeed flushing the area.in fact its technically a new area because they split the sisters area in half and now the sisters have half of the old area and we have half of the old area...
i have like 10-15 pills left...

we did not sleep in the mission home the first night... in our apartments...

sorry thats all i have time to respond to, but please keep me updated! i love hearing about the family!!!! tell emma and lucy not to stress about school and ACTs!also yeah- i wished i had applied myself more! i could ahve taken a much better advantage of an AMAZING school...

oh and my bike came- ill pick it up tomorrow because we are all (the people i came in with from the MTC and their trainers) going down to the mission office for a training meeting (13 day training)...

oh and next monday im going to give you the email addresses of my teachers so you can forward some of emials if you want... one of my teachers told me he would like that...

also can you make sure you are saving these emials? maybe printing them out.... imsure thats something i want to save...

ooh and im looking for a scripture case online if i have time, (LDS.org only site we are allowed to go on...) so i think thats the only christmas pres black leather... for a triple and santa biblia


i love you!!!!!!!

Elder Myers Nov 16, 2009

hey sorry i only have 12 minutes now... long story but next p day ill have a full hour...

1 last business item: could you please send me 2-3 long sleeve white shirts? the gold tree or whatever ones work great, but could you see if they come in fitted because i look like a balloon... its just that my Rl ones dont have pockets and i kind of need them- we wear our suit pants all day until 6 (in between general conferences) and then just put our jacket in our backpacks... and i dont like wearing short sleeves with jackets... and at some point it mayyyy dip down to not 70 all day... but yeah maybe its an early christmas present....? thanks so much!

ok a little bit about my area- its called north downtown. we live on s lafayette park place. my boundery is on the N: bevelery/1st street E its the LA river (so i have a lot of downtown in it but we havent gone that far east because we are on foot in a bike area...) on the S its 6th street and on the W its hoover... check it out on google maps! its a fun area- my trainer elder cooley is from washington state but grew up in hawaii (he is white though- his dad is in military) he spent the past 6 months in his first area- malibu. way dif from ours- we see about 3 white people on the street- almost all latinos with a few koreans... its not an amazing part of town (which means its fun!!!) but we live in the nicest street in our area- there are people who pull out of the garages from the apt next to us in beamers... but thats not the norm for our area- we have been offered drugs once (just marijuana) talked to 4 drunk hobos and seen 1 hooker and 2 strippers... hahaha but enough about that except LA people love their graffiti! holy cow wayyyy more than chi or NYC. but dont worry its totally safe, just not the north shore... or compton/watts either....there were sisters in our area before us so dont you fret....!

anyway we have 2 people with a baptismal date! nov 29! i almost got to confirm someone yesterday at church but he didnt show... i went to the english ward (75 people came to church i counted) and my comp went to the spanish ward (diff buildings so we went on splits...) i went to priesthood in the spanish ward... both of them have 6 (including us) companionships in them....

tell grandma david HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!! no time to write an email to her, will try to write her a letter, but as of now we havent found a drop box in our area hahaha...

LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Myers Nov 3 2009

ok so first off i love everyone!
i have no idea if i will be able to email next tues- the day before i leave so yeah...

but FLIGHT INFO- 8:25 Utah time departure on delta, direct flight to LAX. report to front desk here at MTC at 5AM. as for the call i have been asking around and not sure if i can- but i have heard that i can more than i have heard that i cant... ill try to firm up a time but probs between 6AM-745AM utah time i think....

anyway.... but i CAN email in the field (talked to an elder who long story short is back in the MTC now but served in LA... he also said that they didnt have any bikes because they got stolen too much, so just a car, and its safer that way. he was there for two transfers... so wait on the bike if possible? or if you have talked to someone from the mission like one of the people working in the office there than thats cool and forget what i just said...) anyway- i can email in the field- every P- day, read letters everyday, write letters only on p day... so could you pass along my email address? (williammyers7@myldsmail.net) thanks so much! also my address to the mission home please- just email it to whoever you forward this email too- sorry i dont have it memorized and i dont have it with me right now at the comp...

ok continuing with the business items: (please respond asap in a dear elder because they are all pretty time sensitive... thanks so much!)
-how much did that small fan cost? im thinking about sending it home becasue i wont use it- i have been fine without white noise and besides i hate fans because of my contacts hahaha. so if its more than like ten bucks and you would use it ill send it home... otherwise ill leave it with some elders or just ship it to myself with my box o junk. but do expect a letter with my planner from the MTC so you can see what i did everyday yay! and other stuff maybe
-my medication: found out from the doc that it is AGAINST FEDERAL law to send them so he said that all that stuff goes through mission pres, dont worry ill make sure to get focalin xr 30mg. but i kind of need to know/he needs to know whats up with my insurance... btw the doc also said that i was pre selected to stay in US because that med/all ADHD meds cant be taken out of US so i would either have to not put it and not take it or stay in US and im going to LA. dont worry im not mad! im pumped for LA!
-bag- im looking for a smallish bag but i think i might as well get it in the field so unless you find something AMAZING and RIDICULOUSLY cheap dont bother and ill buy one myself in the field... i want to see whats up there- all i know is that you dont carry around preach my gospel and stuff like that... so yeah...
-i got the package and my district and i LOVED it! we have had three root beer sessions to relax after the day... haha and dont worry they liked the scones and i told them that they were even better usually and they were pretty impressed!
- PLEASE SEND THAT BOOK that everyone wrote in from the ward and the moffats and that dad was finishing writing in- i want to have my district and others sign it...

ok sorry that i had so many business items... but yeah getting ready to leave and stuff- i have a lot to care of before LA! YAY

thanks for letter and im glad the funeral was good and that you got to visit with grandpa and grandma (i wrote them a letter today) especially that jack loves talking with them! and speaking of him- my companion (whom im getting along well with) and elder whitney (from cafe rio) LOVE reading his dear elders! he is hilarious!

to answer your other questions- i havent seen john scott yet which is kinda weird, is he in beginning or intermediate spanish?. i liked hosting- i think i kept a sister from crying so thats good... haha and io get to host again tomorrow. i know how the first day works pretty well because that elder i was talking about told me. meet pres and ZLs at airport. luggege taken to mission home. i go tract/work then meet back up for dinner and interviews with pres at mission home... then regular day the next day in my area../... no idea where i sleeep..

ok 5 mins left and i want to tell you a story/that i participated in two more blessings- i annointed my teacher with oil (bro vance because he was really sick last week) and participated in blessing of comfort with and hermana in my district...
also we taught daniel this week- he is billed as a "real" investigator in the place where you prac taeaching but he NEVER broke character and didnt care if we prac teaching skills -when you teach a teacher or volunteer they let a lot of stuff slide so we can continue teaching but yeah he was like i dont need religion in my life, you are being pushy, character was a drug dealer in business school, from mexico (actually is though) and so yeah we "taught" in spanish meaning we tried to get him to leason and it was veryyyy difficult. we have another appointment this thu so yeah
love you

Elder Myers Oct 27, 2009

hey! i love you all!

how was the funeral? was it a very busy week? did you give everyone my love? are you back in chicago again?

here it has been the sameish. I have had many questions (surprise) and everytime we go to the temple we have to ask the temple recorder or someone from the temple presidency to answer them. They are always very nice and take the ten minutes or so to answer my questions (and sometimes elder riska too haha) i am searching/studying the scriptures too dont worry. i am reading the BoM straight through like i said but i find myself sucked into the topical guide and bible dictionary and randomly learning a lot from those.... (ironically i used to hate them- no search bar to be found there...haha)
also there was an amazing devotional on sunday where we got to watch clips of scientest talking about space! it was like the history channel thing that i watched... and about how this location for the earth is perfect scientifically and how modern science is starting to believe the suns energy doesnt come from the core (too long to explain why in an email with 6 mins left- btw i went back to this part... avoid confusion)and that it comes from solar currents (saw taht on the history channel too) but abraham esp fascimile (huge sp) talk about energy coming from Kolab.... and historians talking about Nahom- 1 nephi 16.34 and how modern archiology (big sp) ETC needless to say IT WAS PERFECT FOR ME... not for my investigators... huge testimony builder (yes i know im werid like that...)

ok some random business stuff:
-if its not too much of a trouble to buy the medicine- my eyes are very dry but im managing but if you think that it will be hard to buy them without the insurance i dunno as of now it would be pretty sweet to have non desert like eyes hahaha (how much does it cost though?) maybe get deoderant again while on the insurance... i think im like 2/3 of the way through...
-please send my book thing that people wrote in already- the brown one.... i want to use it as a "missionary year book" for when i leave here and have my friends write in it...
-i have like 12 pills left i think....
-i am going to send home stuff soon that i dont have room for/wont use in LA... i dunno... def i send home my planner so you can see what my day to day is like....
THANKS! love you!

kenzie-
did you get my letter wishing you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!? i sent it without a return address by accident... i realized it didnt have it just as it slid down that blue slide to oblivion... except not because i have seen them take out the letters from the mailbox that is literally 4 times as big as a normal one... kind of intimidating

cole-
hey! how are you doing? how is school? senior year working you to death like all your other years...? i have to VERY random questions well one is random and one is not... how do real organs work? do they just have giant fan type things that blow constantly and then the keys open the pipes and the sound/air rushes through... seems kind of ineffiecient to have a bunch of giant fans.... hmmm but alas no google or wikipedia and im afraid that is one of the questions that cant be answered in the standardworks.... haha also can you send me a copy joseph smith proof thing from EFY? i went to a devotional where he talked about Nahom... very cool... i want to use it for myself (not to convert- it would probably confuse/start a big arguement...) THANKS! and i love you! prepare now for a mission! STUDY the scriptures! study Preach My Gospel! memorize the first vision! get a STRONG testimony! and know how to rely on the Lord and pray specifically....

WELL I LOVE EVERYONE SO MUCH!

ps please tell the browns i will respond next week, i need to go to a different lab (than the comps in laundry room) to print it out... unless they can forward to dearelder like the whittles did (through you it looks like...) i dunno... but yeah i only have 30 mins here which puts a damper on everything..

Elder Myers Oct 20, 2009

hey family!!!!!! i love you!
(log in 1)

jack-
that sounds so much fun! i went to a gymnastics party too when i was your age i LOVED the ball pit! did you?
tell addicus happy b day!
i think you should be the pirate this year and the storm trooper next year if you still fit into it
i sent the pictures last thursday so i hope you have them by now. they are on a CD
i dont think i remember that book which is sad.... actually i might.... yeah i do...a little.... haha
i love Ikea! that sounds fun!!!
bye! be a good boy! i pray for the family every night too! my companions name is elder riska
love you!
will

ps im writing my emails in seperate emails because then i can log out and think and then log back in- that way i dont waste the 30 minutes thinking.... haha

dear dad!
(log in number 2)

if its not too late can i have my mission plaque scripture be 2 timothy 1:7? please and thank you! its short and sweet so they should like that...
well under 250

thanks for the camera case! i love it!!

is there anyway you could talk to bro mulcock about his sweet church bag from NYC and see what company it is and see if they have one that goes on your bike/just a messenger bag that isnt huge.... he has had his for like 7 years so its really durable... but the one here goes on a bike its uphill co if you want to check it out but its 33 dollars and i dont love it... if there was one for around the same price from that company i would probably like it more and that would be a more efficient way to spend 33 bucks otherwise ill just get the one here....

please do send the quotes you liked- over dearelder... you pick out good quotes so im excited. also could you send me that book you were writing in that one time in sacrament meeting? that one that all the people wrote in....? thanks!!!!!

well there is no real segway... im so sorry to hear about grandma! she is def in a better place though. one thing i have learned more about here in the MTC is to always have an eternal perspective... when you try to see it that way it really helps you out in life/saves you a lot of trouble... how are you doing? tell everyone at the funeral that i love them!

ok got to go think about the email to the family
love you so much!
will


hey family! i love you! and i love everyone else that is reading this! first off we got moved to a new building (3rd building! yay) on thursday.... mom is going to freak out but i cant resist telling you guys why. our old building is now the swine flu quarentine building! haha i heard from elder weir in my district who goes to the doc a lot because he has a broken foot that there are 6 people with the swine flu... we arent allowed to make any physical contact whatsoever here... kinda sad... no shaking hands even... also other big piece of news: hermano johnston's last day was monday- he cant work here anymore for many reasons the 2 biggest being he doesnt have enough time becuase he works at a science research lab at BYU and classes etc- he would go from 6:45 AM to 6:15 at night and then he taught us from 6:15-9:30 and then he had HW... and also his wife is expecting a baby! so yeah it was a sad day... but we had a really good lesson. at one point we were being less than spiritual adn then we said a prayer to invite it back and then read from our study journals (mine is the small moleskine one) anyway they are the journals that we take to devotionals and such and the spirit came back. there was such a difference! it is really amazing to notice how spirtually sensitive i am becoming. its also probably easier to notice when you have the abscence of the spirit than when you have the spirit.... also another random thing- i got to leafve the MTC campus yesterday! elder riska broke his glasses last week and so we got to take a shuttle to the optomitrist (sp) to get them fixed... it was only like 3 mins away and all i did was sit there and read the BoM but still... speaking of the BoM i started it again last weeka and i am already like 110 pages into it... i have to read 20 pages a day to finish before i leave the MTC. but its nice to read it straight through again-its so weird the different things you pick up! and i am studying it too- like writing in my study journal,.... its pretty rad hahahaha did you get my CD of the pics that i sent last thurday? was that the right contact box top barcode thing? in conclusion one last thing(well things) that i am leaning aboutis the importance of HUMILTY, FAITH and CHARITY (all are centered around JESUS CHRIST) in all that we do. i am really learning that the gospel is really just Jesus and the atonement and that everything esle is just extra.... love you all!!!!!!!!!!!! will ps theere are some elders speaking french just like 10 feet away and it made me think of you guys! lucy and emma- good luck at Evanston!!!!! swim hard! remember it does end! pps we get to be hosts tomorrow! (the elders that took the bags from me and like walked me inside) so that should be interesting. you have to be here for 6 weeks to do it so yeah we are the big men on campus now,.... hahaha must go time marches on and i have work to do love you!

Elder Myers Oct 13, 2009

hey everyone!
sorry to hear everyone is sick! sarah sent me a dear elder and told me she went to our house on sunday. she was so happy! and she said you had a cold... and ps i didnt get to talk to pres van de graaff on the phone haha, nathan held the phone in the air and i said ?como esta?
anyway to respond to the business items:
-ok thanks to all! will do- pants and contacts...
-but contacts- my prescription....the one i had before leaving was 1.25 R and 1.5 L, i thought that changed... but i guess not because that is the prescription i have hear....
-how do i wash the comforter? just regular? did you get my seperate email about that? and how should i dry it? i am using my own pillows and their sheets that are washed once a week now... its just easier that way...

thanks for the martinellis, candy and cinnamon! haha

ok anyway: i am sending you pics on a CD later this week. some things you might want to know about them (and just ask me questions of who people are or whatever by dear elder and ill respond in the next email)
-the pic with me and four guys in pajamas are the four who left to peru-notice the boulter twins... and then elders bies and serle
-any pic with me and a bunch of people is my district... although now we have a new hermana! long story short she broke her minuscus (sp) she was in an advanced district (they are in the MTC for three weeks) but she is going on her 5th week i believe of being delayed...) she is from guatemala/lived in vancouver the past 5ish years- there is a pic of her and me by the temple...
-my companion, elder riska, is the one with black hair and there are a couple of pics of just him and me... (btw he is the new district leader!)
-the old district leader is the one making a PU face with me puffing out my cheeks. we saw him at cafe rio...
-the guy with dark black hair sitting on a desk by the chalk board is my teacher hermano vance. he is crazy! haha
-if there is a shot of just another person and me its most likely a friend from my floor that i have class on...

anyway.... great to hear about the FHE thing with SW.... so funny! show jack the pics of my room, bed bathroom closet etc... ps i have a new desk and bed as of yesterday-bc our roomates left its only elder riska and me in the room as of right now... we switched to the other side of the room so the door wouldnt be banging into me at me desk... so my new desk has a pic of my water bottle on the AC thing and my new bed doesnt have my comforter from home on it...

lucy- dont stress about the ACT!! junior year DOES end and it wont kill you! just study and try hard. focus on learning not grades! you take your learning to the spirit world not your grades haha
emma and lucy- swim fast! try hard! and dont worry about your times! get your head out of the meets and just swim.... haha

wow ok no more advice....

as for the hump- i def feel like i have platuead (big sp) in terms of growth esp spiritual... i feel like i shot out of a cannon in the beginning and then it peaked with gen conf. but i know that now i have to use my faith and apply what i have learned esp at conf- the lord doesnt always hold your hand, we have agency- thats one of a bazillion things i learned at conf.
but yes elder riska (new district leader cant remember if i told you that)is going to LA too and elder weir (blond guy who doesnt smile in the district pics) and yes we are still leaving on 11.11 but they dont tell us our travel plans until later...

but i love and miss all of you!
will

sarah- what is your address? send me a dear elder with it please... i sent a letter on sept 30 that got returned to me and i havent double checked it but i dont think its wrong....

cassi/family: there is guy who moved out of the second ward when i was in 8th grade. now he is in the arlington ward. he lives on my floor and goes to class on my floor too... i forget his name but i think i recognize him... john scott hasnt come in yet but we are both waiting for him. also i sent you a letter today so youll get that soon...

Elder Myers Oct 6, 2009

hey family! i love and miss you all!

to jack:
i do sleep on a bunk bed, its a big metal one. I sleep on the bottom bunk and my companion sleeps on the top bunk. That is so cool that you have a bunk bed in your room now! There are 3 other elders in my room including my companion. Two of them are leaving next monday at three in the morning for Colombia. I have a desk in my room, i write in my journal and read my spanish scriptures outloud every night before i go to bed at 10:30 (i try to be on time but its kinda hard... im working on it!!) at it. My companion has a spot at the same desk right next to me. I have all the pictures you drew up on the wall above my desk and some other pictures you guys sent me, and i keep the picture book out on my desk... Thanks for drawing me those pictures! i love them!! I have a wardrobe and drawers that i put all my stuff in. Ill send pictures soon of my room and other stuff. Would you like that? There are no pets allowed in the MTC unfortunatley.... Thats so fun that you can eat panera and have play dates! I am having fun but its a lot of work! i hope you are having fun too!! i miss you and i love you!

to dad/fam:
moses 1:39 would be great haha thanks! and im so happy taht you and mom went to the temple! i went today and my companion and i got to ask (well had to because the person in the celestial room wasnt allowed to answer) the temple register some questions. There is so much to learn! haha

to the family:
yeah its been quite a fun week, my companion and i get along really well, although i know i would probably not be friends with anyone in my district except elder whitney who we saw at cafe rio. No they didnt put us with anyone else- only Elders Weir, whitney, orme, myself, and hermana hoegawoening are left.

i LOVED the book you guys sent! i showed some of the elders in my district some pics and jacks dear elder to me and the bro of jared story! hahaha it was so cute!

someone needs to (lovingly) tell those FRESHMAN THAT THEY ARE FRESHMAN AND DONT KNOW ANYTHING haha

I LOVED conf!! i thought elder hollands talk was insane! it was so powerful and bold!i also liked both of monsons talks (one was in priesthood...) Tad R. Callister (sat pm) kent d watsons (sat PM) niel l anderson (sat pm) and elder bednars (sat am) those are my favs from the sessions you missed... it was like the first time i have really truelly enjoyed conference. my whole district commented on how brain dead and drained we feltafter the weekend! haha

but again thanks for the pic book! i love it! i really like all the pics, you chose well- i wouldnt think to put some in but they were all really good choices and im glad they are there!

i am going to send pics soon!i will probably put them on a CD and mail them to you... i have a pic with ian that he wants to get to his parents...

i participated in another priesthood blessing last night- one of the elders in my district asked for one... it was very powerful! i felt the spirit very strongly... my companion (elder riska) gave the blessing...

what about the camera case? sorry i keep bugging you but i want to know if i can return the one i currently have because i dont really like it...

also i could have sworn my perscription isnt 1.5 left and 1.25 right anymore, i thought it was changed... also i have two 1.25 right dailys i believe now- you sent lucys and the doctors just sent one that i got today...

btw did you get my last email? i dont know if i spelled your email address correctly.... illl resend it,...

send my love to the moffats, whittles, laws, grandma and grandpa and the ward!!!!!

thanks for the blessings! i pray for you guys too! stick with swimming and high school i am a testament that 4 years of it DONT kill you (by the way i am indeed realizing how good my education was.... haha random and not judgemental but no one in my district or at my table at lunch knew who chairman mao was... haha but dont worry i am not being prideful etc i just subtly was very grateful for all those intense and gruelling years at NT etc... thanks!

Elder Myers Sept 22, 2009

Hey everyone!
I am going to try to make this email less chaotic haha

Business items:
one of my favorite scriptures:
-Moses 1:36-39
-how long does it take for my letters to get there? also please date your dear elders...
-pics: i know you said you were sending me a book.. but could i have some to put on my wall/bulliten board thing...
-are the pants from missionary mall supposed to be black? i thought we ordered one navy of the silky material and one grey of the regular wool. I have recieved a grey wool one and a black silky one...
-MOM: the scripture from the initiatory is Exodus 40:12-13 (i went to the temple today and we did sealings (as children) and initiatorys. Very cool! and the scripture was on a card on the wall...)
-did you pay my tithing (i forget if you ans that)

stuff to tell you:
for the benifit of everyone (but especially ben and sarah because they have asked me) here is my day to day events: everyday besides tuesday and sunday is pretty much the same with study in the morning then breakfast then gym (basically work out, soccer outside, basketball or volleyball- i usually play volleyball) then class with this really funny guy (he is exactly like me except 24 and a little taller and he likes to watch football haha) who is at BYU and went to mexico city. then lunch, then study with companion- scripture and language, then dinner (food is ok avg cafeteria food which im not used to :( then class again with a more organized mature guy who is married and at BYU... went to madrid on his mission. then read letters/write in journal/hang with the other elders then sleep! the bed is a twin and not at all like my throne of a bed at home haha... sunday is mostly church,study, devotional (with everyone at the MTC) choir if i decide to go to it, and a (church) movie!!

i tallked with ian at the devotional/movie on sunday for like 30 mins before it started. he happened to sit in front of me... haha

here are the names of the people in my district:
my companion elder riska from NC and going to LA
elder whitney (DL and guy from cafe rio) going to monteray mexico
elder weir, linden utah, LA, currently has a broken foot from v ball
elder orem from portland OR going toDC
hermana hogawoning from san diego going to oklahoma city

the following are leaving in a week and a half to go to the puru MTC (various missions in peru)
elder bies, san diego lives in utah i think, arikipa (sp) peru
elder boulter (2 of them-twins), orem utah, one loves sports, one didnt play but both are obsessed with BYU football
elder seryul (sp) from idaho, has a farm with 500 cows,he is hilarious

devotional with elder holland last tuesday was amazing! no time to describe it but it was very motivational, told us to not have any regrets when we come home from our missions...

spiritual expierence that i had in the referal center (RC)- place where you make calls, usually about people requesting church DVDs/bibles/BoMs anyway saturaday i prayed to be lead to someone who would listen to me (all the other times i went i had gotten calls requesting life insurance etc) anyway i talked with her for an hour on saturday and 2.5 hours sunday and 1.5 hours monday. she is an extreme born again christian, from MO, and is totally accepting of the gospel except priesthood authority (she has been basptized 7 times by immersion and doesnt recognize the need for priesthood auth and also she doesnt get the concept of the gift of the holy ghost or the fact that if you sin the HG leaves...- she says shse doesnt think that the HG is schizofrenic (sp) and comes in and out of you...) my companion and i talked with her yesterday like i said and we challenged her to read a few scriptures and to recieve a priesthood blessing from the missionaries when they came (if she consented-she said she had to pray about that and the blessing bvefore hand) we are checking in with her on thursday so ill tell you how that goes.

another spirtual exp really quick: i gave my first priesthood blessing to elder weir (broken foot) before he went to the BYU hospital to get a cast.. that was so cooL! i didnt anoint or seal the oil since that had already been done...

loved to hear about the stake president switch! cal monson as 1st counselor! nice agree with mom saying about james finsihing up with dad and me

thats all i have time for but how are you all? how is school? especially emma... how is jack? how is swim season?

LOVE YOU SO MUCH! dont worry about me please (mom)
ans via dear elder

love
will

Elder Myers Sept 15, 2009

OK so i only have 26 min 30 sec to write to you because i had to set up an account... first off i am doing fine! I got your food package, camera package and clothes from missionary mall. my mailbox number is 181 NOT 328 i have been getting letters but i think you should probably have the right one also put elder mark william myers. OK so the reason why i have a new mailbox number- on Friday an elder and i got moved to a new district,zone and building! it was kinda scary at first but i got moved into intermediate spanish from beginning... i got tested by this secretary person (she just had a convo with me... in spanish) and they didnt really tell me what would happen if i moved (i didnt think that i would be in a new district) anyway- i dont know if you got my letter that i sent to you on the first day... i just got your dear elder note today (Tuesday 9/15) and it didnt sound like you did... but my p day is tuesday now so that is when i will be emailing you... my new companion (from my old district is OK he is nice but a HUGE molly mormon (except for elders) he is from NC and what i gather not a huge town.... we havent fought or anything don't worry we get a long) the new district is really funny and nice but 4-6 people, i forget are leaving to go to the purivian (sp) MTC in three weeks. the elder we met in cafe rio is in my new district- he actually is the district leader. the teachers are awesome! hermano vance is young 24ish and unmarried at BYU went to cuidad de mexico for his mission and is going to be a dentist. He reminds me of myself a lot., he loves Q&A sesion that we have at the beginning of each lesson. we talk about everything including some deep doctrine! i have a lot of questions as you can guess... the other is married went to madrid Spain (has a lisp when he says Cs... haha) is in his final year at BYU and is more organized stereotypical teacher but is nice none the less... a Yesterday a sister and an elder moved into the district and another elder moved back down to his other beginning spanish district because he felt that that district was the right district for him. 

Sorry this is so disorganized but i am trying to say a lot in a little amount of time. ( i dont really know how long 30 mins is for writing an email) but some business things as mom said in the dear elder- i am fine dont worry about me! i am figuring everything out. that being said i still have some business that i cant take care of here (you can buy just about anything here at really cheap missionary prices so all i need is money... they have an ATM... i am going to buy a camera case here and a bike backpack thing. They give us 6 bucks a week that adds up so if you send me food in those care packages things then i could save up for those things. the backpack is like 30 bucks. also i thought that my perscription changed for my contacts...? that i recieved.... also i want pictures! please! when i take enough pictures i will send you the card. but it wont fill up for a while and we can print pictures here i think but i know you will want pics from me... but enough business because i only have 9 mins left...

i love you all! and i miss you! i hope you got my other letter! tell me if you didnt. use the dear elder site! tell others about it and how to work it because i have no idea really what it is... but ill send letters to friends today becasue we have time to write letters that isnt limited to 30 mins... by the way i went to the temple today! it so so big on the inside! haha it was a nice expierence we just did an endowments session... i love P days and sundays! they are nice breaks from our ridiculous schedules, but they are still busy... we got to watch the church movie testaments after our MTC wide fireside on sunday. i almost forgot to tell you! i joined the choir on sunday. its huge and everyone in my district did so i thought i might as well. it didnt go horribly! haha my companion is a very high tenor (but his voice is normal, kinda odd) and the other elder who sat next to me is a very deep bass so it was hard but its all good. there is a chance that they will pick the MTC choir for general conference!!!! so i might be able to go to that (the real reason i joined the choir... haha) i miss everyone back at home and ill try to send everyone letters if i can.. you can forward this as i know you will even though it is chalk full of typos etc because i am typing at the speed of light... next letter i hope i can be less busnessy and imparrt some sage wisdom as dad would say... also tentaviley the thing i miss the most from home besides poeple is my toilet ahhaha the bathrooms arent bad or anything but yeah.... anyway i have to go pretty much there is a timer that couints down and right now it is flashing that i ahve two minutes left give everyone my love! also can you pay my tithing for me? dont worry about me mom! i am taking my vitamens and so i wont get sick! haha btw an elder is alergic to wheat in my group LOVE YOU! no more time

Utah: Antelope Island