Elder Paolacci and Elder Rider on the streets of Lima stocking up on sweets and snacks
(Dylan hasn't quite figured out how to get his camera to upload pics to me so I am grateful I have been able to snag some from Elder Riders Blog)
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
HEYO FAMILIA!!!
****He isn't a into writing to much info - I inserted a few things in red so you could know what he is talking about.
It has been a good week here in Peru. I guess you could say this place is starting to grow on me. So ya thanks for letting President Campbell know about that, my whole district was waiting for it haha. (He was requesting President Campbell's explanation of Matthew 16 that he taught them once in YM - that must have made a strong impact on Dylan when he was in YM) Thanks for getting the shot record thing figured out, I was kinda stressing about that. (Dylan's shot record got left in Provo) Still haven't gotten any mail. Well, actually I got the dear elders from grandma and uncle Jason, and those were awesome !
I can't really think of anything other than a pillow for you guys to send with the Riders, but a pillow would be amazing! haha (Elder Rider's parents will be going to pick up their daughter who is serving a mission right now in Argentina and the plan is to have her go visit her brother in the CCM on the 11th of October - they have offered to take a little package to Dylan)Elder Riders comp is so funny, he is definitely a trip. Just like Chancho from Nacho Libre. Latino comps are just a little hard to get used to and I am sure North American comps are hard for them to get used to. But we are all learning and growing and learning lot's of patience. It definitely made my week looking at those sports scores!!!! i miss my packers. it might sound ridiculous but the only thing I've been homesick for this week was ESPN (even tho I still miss you guys :) ). We even drew a fake TV playing sports center on our whiteboard. ahh
Things are rough sometimes but it's soooooooooo worth it. I was thinking about texting the other day and it just seems so weird now. (that was a random thought) Well I've been trying to take pics to send you guys but idk if they'll work.sorry
Elder Sheridan is another one of my new best friends, hes soooo awesome. soooo funny. It's gonna stink having to leave these guys after the mtc. Yet again now that I think about it it I'm only a little more than half way through my mtc experience. It feels like I have been out 5 months, instead of 5 weeks. But I think once I get fluent it will go much faster.
On Saturday during proselyting I realized my Spanish needs to be much better than it is. Oh and speaking of proselyting - it was amazing ! We are in kind of the nicer part of the slums (if that makes sense) and we taught less active families. We only got in one house, but taught a really good lesson. It amazing cause the times I speak the best Spanish is while I am teaching and I know it is because of the spirit. It is so cool.
I love it here and can't wait to get out in the field, even though I still have 4 weeks left. I am gonna try to email some pics. (it didn't work - so I am sending him CD's)
I love you guys so much !!!
Elder Dylan Paolacci
It has been a good week here in Peru. I guess you could say this place is starting to grow on me. So ya thanks for letting President Campbell know about that, my whole district was waiting for it haha. (He was requesting President Campbell's explanation of Matthew 16 that he taught them once in YM - that must have made a strong impact on Dylan when he was in YM) Thanks for getting the shot record thing figured out, I was kinda stressing about that. (Dylan's shot record got left in Provo) Still haven't gotten any mail. Well, actually I got the dear elders from grandma and uncle Jason, and those were awesome !
I can't really think of anything other than a pillow for you guys to send with the Riders, but a pillow would be amazing! haha (Elder Rider's parents will be going to pick up their daughter who is serving a mission right now in Argentina and the plan is to have her go visit her brother in the CCM on the 11th of October - they have offered to take a little package to Dylan)Elder Riders comp is so funny, he is definitely a trip. Just like Chancho from Nacho Libre. Latino comps are just a little hard to get used to and I am sure North American comps are hard for them to get used to. But we are all learning and growing and learning lot's of patience. It definitely made my week looking at those sports scores!!!! i miss my packers. it might sound ridiculous but the only thing I've been homesick for this week was ESPN (even tho I still miss you guys :) ). We even drew a fake TV playing sports center on our whiteboard. ahh
Things are rough sometimes but it's soooooooooo worth it. I was thinking about texting the other day and it just seems so weird now. (that was a random thought) Well I've been trying to take pics to send you guys but idk if they'll work.sorry
Elder Sheridan is another one of my new best friends, hes soooo awesome. soooo funny. It's gonna stink having to leave these guys after the mtc. Yet again now that I think about it it I'm only a little more than half way through my mtc experience. It feels like I have been out 5 months, instead of 5 weeks. But I think once I get fluent it will go much faster.
On Saturday during proselyting I realized my Spanish needs to be much better than it is. Oh and speaking of proselyting - it was amazing ! We are in kind of the nicer part of the slums (if that makes sense) and we taught less active families. We only got in one house, but taught a really good lesson. It amazing cause the times I speak the best Spanish is while I am teaching and I know it is because of the spirit. It is so cool.
I love it here and can't wait to get out in the field, even though I still have 4 weeks left. I am gonna try to email some pics. (it didn't work - so I am sending him CD's)
I love you guys so much !!!
Elder Dylan Paolacci
Friday, September 10, 2010
More Photo's
District at the Provo Temple
Just taking a little nap . . . . .
The Most Amazing District
WE ARE GOING TO PERU !!!!
Hangin in the dorms !!!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Heyo!
I just read the email, haha I'm glad you figured out how I was doing the ironing board photos. I'm gonna try to answer your questions first...
My companions name is Elder Cardenas, he's from Lima, and he's really nice. Sometimes its really frustrating cause he mumbles alot and sometimes speaks too fast for me. But he is also helping me a lot with my Spanish so that's good.
The schedule here is a little more overwhelming than the one in Provo, we don't get very much study time so that's probably the hardest part. We have class for about 10 hours a day. I like being here more but I feel like the Provo mtc was easier.
I'm definitely going to be in the ccm for 6 weeks. some Elders have already been told that they are leaving after three weeks, but that was only like 4 or 5 of them.
I really have no idea what my mailing address is so I would just use the one you have, BUT I haven't gotten anything as far as mail goes here so maybe you have it wrong... idk. :)
Like i said this place is harder than the other MTC, not only are you trying to learn the doctrine and Spanish, at the same time we have to translate everything because no one speaks English here (well some do - but they aren't allowed to). It gets frustrating sometimes but I can already see my Spanish improving because of it. My Latino roommates are really fun and they are trying to learn some English which is really funny too. We had Interpol yesterday, it's the first of two steps of becoming legal here apparently. haha and that was a nice break.
We get to go to the temple today so I'm way excited about that. We have driven past it a few times and it looks really so awesome. After the temple we get to go shopping for an hour, I am way excited about that too. I'm going to buy ALOT of snacks, because the food here has zero sugar and it makes it really hard for me to stay awake in classes (haha)
Oh, so while we are on the topic of food all I can say is mas o menos(so so). Not a big fan of it yet but it gets me through the day (haha) it's the complete opposite here than it is in Provo, there we were always stuffed and didn't want any snacks...and here we would kill for any sort of snack.
Well i just have a couple favors i need you to do. 1) call Provo about the shots 2) contact President Campbell and ask him if he can send me his explanation of Matthew 16, i want it really bad, have him do it through dear elder that way it will come printed off and I can go over it during my study time.
Well, I cant think of anything else right now. I'm going to try to get back on and do an email before the temple - but just know i love you guys - I LOVE my family and I really do miss you alot - but the thing that makes it easier for me is that I feel so good about what I'm doing. This is amazing - feeling the spirit so strong continually is amazing and I wouldn't trade it for anything. This is going to be an awesome 2 years, I know I am exactly where the Lord wants me to be and I know I am where I need to be - words cannot explain the awesomeness !!!!
oh and 3) send me sports scores and stuff!!!!!!!!! (packers and sundevils mostly) hahaha
Just remember I love you guys so much! I'm having alot of fun and I can totally see how my mission is helping me in every aspect of my life and I'm growing ALOT!
Con Amor, Elder Paolacci
I just read the email, haha I'm glad you figured out how I was doing the ironing board photos. I'm gonna try to answer your questions first...
My companions name is Elder Cardenas, he's from Lima, and he's really nice. Sometimes its really frustrating cause he mumbles alot and sometimes speaks too fast for me. But he is also helping me a lot with my Spanish so that's good.
The schedule here is a little more overwhelming than the one in Provo, we don't get very much study time so that's probably the hardest part. We have class for about 10 hours a day. I like being here more but I feel like the Provo mtc was easier.
I'm definitely going to be in the ccm for 6 weeks. some Elders have already been told that they are leaving after three weeks, but that was only like 4 or 5 of them.
I really have no idea what my mailing address is so I would just use the one you have, BUT I haven't gotten anything as far as mail goes here so maybe you have it wrong... idk. :)
Like i said this place is harder than the other MTC, not only are you trying to learn the doctrine and Spanish, at the same time we have to translate everything because no one speaks English here (well some do - but they aren't allowed to). It gets frustrating sometimes but I can already see my Spanish improving because of it. My Latino roommates are really fun and they are trying to learn some English which is really funny too. We had Interpol yesterday, it's the first of two steps of becoming legal here apparently. haha and that was a nice break.
We get to go to the temple today so I'm way excited about that. We have driven past it a few times and it looks really so awesome. After the temple we get to go shopping for an hour, I am way excited about that too. I'm going to buy ALOT of snacks, because the food here has zero sugar and it makes it really hard for me to stay awake in classes (haha)
Oh, so while we are on the topic of food all I can say is mas o menos(so so). Not a big fan of it yet but it gets me through the day (haha) it's the complete opposite here than it is in Provo, there we were always stuffed and didn't want any snacks...and here we would kill for any sort of snack.
Well i just have a couple favors i need you to do. 1) call Provo about the shots 2) contact President Campbell and ask him if he can send me his explanation of Matthew 16, i want it really bad, have him do it through dear elder that way it will come printed off and I can go over it during my study time.
Well, I cant think of anything else right now. I'm going to try to get back on and do an email before the temple - but just know i love you guys - I LOVE my family and I really do miss you alot - but the thing that makes it easier for me is that I feel so good about what I'm doing. This is amazing - feeling the spirit so strong continually is amazing and I wouldn't trade it for anything. This is going to be an awesome 2 years, I know I am exactly where the Lord wants me to be and I know I am where I need to be - words cannot explain the awesomeness !!!!
oh and 3) send me sports scores and stuff!!!!!!!!! (packers and sundevils mostly) hahaha
Just remember I love you guys so much! I'm having alot of fun and I can totally see how my mission is helping me in every aspect of my life and I'm growing ALOT!
Con Amor, Elder Paolacci
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Pictures - Pictures - Pictures
We were excited to get a memory card in mail that Dylan had sent us when he left the Provo MTC - it looks like they are having an amazing time !!!!!
PROVO MTC
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Welcome to Peru !!!!
The CCM (Centro de Capacitación Misionalhere - Missionary Training Center in Spanish) is soooo much nicer than the one in Provo. So I guess you can see how excited I am to be here. It is just that I never in a million years imagined how amazing this place would be! I cannot even find the words to describe it.
The rooms are 10 times nicer and the bathrooms are way way nice. The only negative thing I have noticed so far are the pillows, they are just super lumpy and not very comfortable (so I should have found a way to pack mine - just like Ryan said find a way to bring a pillow no matter what - and I left mine at the MTC cause I ran out of room in my luggage)
Well we got in here last night at like 10:30, but our native comps weren't here yet so we could just hang out for a while. My roomies are Elder Rider and Elder Sheridan (can you believe it ???? How lucky am I - this is going to be awesome) This morning we got to sleep in till 7 (woohoo haha) and went to breakfast. After breakfast we filled out some papers and had interviews with President Whetton, he's really cool and I can tell we are gonna love him.
After all that Elder Rider and I played soccer for like an hour and a half because we had a bunch of free time today. The soccer field is AMAZING!!! Oh my goodness, it's a turf field and it has nice goals and a huge net surrounding it so no one looses a ball. Soooooo Awesome !!!! While we were playing our comps had to be in class. After soccer we had to do a bunch of paperwork and stuff, during this time I realized that the Provo MTC never gave me back my immunizations records so I don't know what I am gonna do about that.
Since then we have just been studying and stuff. Our compañeros are on different schedules than us so they aren't always with us. I already love my compañero, he's really patient with me and helps me alot. I feel like I might be almost fluent when I leave the CCM to go into the field.
So last night I got a good taste of culture shock. The airport was a CIRCUS, people and cars going everywhere, it was crazy. Oh and the drive from the airport to the CCM was totally crazy. Lima is so cool looking. I hope I get to spend some time here. The drivers here are ridiculous, I don't know how people don't get in a million accidents. It's just people going for it and not stopping for others, its crazy.
It still really hasn't hit me that I'm in Peru right now, it's just all surreal. Apparently on our pday after we go to the temple we go to a market and get to buy stuff. I just converted half of my cash to soles. and on Saturday's we get to go out and tract. ahhh I'm so glad to be here and can't wait to keep working. I don't have much time left so I gotta go, tell the boys and karleigh and Trent and Morgan I'm really sorry I couldn't talk to them yesterday. Tell everyone I miss them ALOT! Tell Marissa hello for me too !!! Tell Coleton I said good luck with b-ball and tell Logan to not be a goof and tell someone next time he gets hurt. Tell Karleigh I said HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!
I'm really glad I got to talk to you and dad yesterday, it totally made my week. I miss you guys so much and love you all! But I am soooooooo happy I am here and wouldn't trade it for the world. Time to get to work.
I Love You ALL - Elder Paolacci
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Final Day in Provo MTC
Hey Family!
Today isn't my p-day but I got to send an email before I take off tommorow. They said I could call in the airports tommorow so if you guys want I can call 2 times. I get into Dallas at 9:45 Dallas time, and i get into Miami at 2:25 Miami time. So just be expecting a call all day. I fly with my roomies and Elder Sheridan and his comp. I met Elder Sheridan about 2 days ago, he is way nice. I'm really excited about the people I'm serving with, they are all nice. Especially me and my roomies, we are like way good friends already.
Today is my packing day, so it's pretty much like a p-day except I had class in the morning. Haha - its crazy how time feels here. Each day seems to fly by, but the weeks seem to take FOREVER. It feels like I've been here for 3 months. We keep saying its like being in limbo from Inception. (the movie) This place has definitely been the hardest thing I have ever done. Just imagine how happy I am to wake up at 6:30 every morning (haha) But I have definitely grown and learned alot here, it's has been absolutely awesome.
(*****Disclaimer - we have heard of funny stories that missionaries have done at the MTC and we are not suprised to hear Dylan got one in before he left *****)
So I have a funny story. Saturday night I got called up to the front office, and everyone was teasing that my visa got denied. But it just ended up being the contacts you sent me. I was so releaved when I got there and there was a package for me - becuase there are some missionaries who have had problems with their visas. But Elder Norris and I decided to fake that my visa did get denied. So we told our roomates what we were gonna do and they were totally in on it. So we got this one guy to come in our room who we are way close with and I acted like I had been crying. We said my visa had to get resent because someone used my social security number and that I would have to be in the MTC for 3 more months. He totally fell for it! We played it off the whole night and the sad part was that he was being way comforting to me and he said that night he even prayed for me. (then I felt totally bad) but the next morning my roomate Elder Capps went and told him I wasnt getting up because I wanted to go home. So he came in and tried getting me up and thats when I told him. He was a good sport and thats what made it even funnier. Definitely the funny highlight of my mtc experience.
Oh and idk if I already told you but Elder Capps is the one we saw in the distribution center before you dropped me off. He is so funny. Haha I love that guy. Elder Rider, my other roomie imformed me that he's also a really good skier, so I have decided everything I love he is pretty much pro at.
I am gonna miss my teachers like crazy. We had the two best teachers by far in our zone. I loved them. They helped me so much and becuase of them I have grown and learned so much in these 3 weeks.
Well, I only have 5 more minutes so lets see what I can get in this email -
My spanish keeps getting better and better, expect a letter in spanish within a month. I can already give the first couple of discussions in Spanish and I can converse pretty well.
I'm really, really excited for Lima. Like I said, we leave tommorow and we have to report to the travel office at 3am! We get into Lima around 9 and get to the CCM probably around 11. It is gonna be a long day, but I am so excited. I'm nervous about how much my bags weigh - I am cutting it close and I'll be sending stuff home.
I'm going to try to leave Matt Campbell a letter, but I'm not sure how (haha) I'm really excited for him and I'm bummed I won't be able to see him.
I think Coy is giving me a taste of my own medicine cause I havent gotten a letter back from him yet and I wrote him my first week, BUT I am learning patience here (haha)
Well be expecting calls from me tommorow! Try to make sure the kids and dad can talk too !!!!
I Love You All -
Elder Paolacci
Today isn't my p-day but I got to send an email before I take off tommorow. They said I could call in the airports tommorow so if you guys want I can call 2 times. I get into Dallas at 9:45 Dallas time, and i get into Miami at 2:25 Miami time. So just be expecting a call all day. I fly with my roomies and Elder Sheridan and his comp. I met Elder Sheridan about 2 days ago, he is way nice. I'm really excited about the people I'm serving with, they are all nice. Especially me and my roomies, we are like way good friends already.
Today is my packing day, so it's pretty much like a p-day except I had class in the morning. Haha - its crazy how time feels here. Each day seems to fly by, but the weeks seem to take FOREVER. It feels like I've been here for 3 months. We keep saying its like being in limbo from Inception. (the movie) This place has definitely been the hardest thing I have ever done. Just imagine how happy I am to wake up at 6:30 every morning (haha) But I have definitely grown and learned alot here, it's has been absolutely awesome.
(*****Disclaimer - we have heard of funny stories that missionaries have done at the MTC and we are not suprised to hear Dylan got one in before he left *****)
So I have a funny story. Saturday night I got called up to the front office, and everyone was teasing that my visa got denied. But it just ended up being the contacts you sent me. I was so releaved when I got there and there was a package for me - becuase there are some missionaries who have had problems with their visas. But Elder Norris and I decided to fake that my visa did get denied. So we told our roomates what we were gonna do and they were totally in on it. So we got this one guy to come in our room who we are way close with and I acted like I had been crying. We said my visa had to get resent because someone used my social security number and that I would have to be in the MTC for 3 more months. He totally fell for it! We played it off the whole night and the sad part was that he was being way comforting to me and he said that night he even prayed for me. (then I felt totally bad) but the next morning my roomate Elder Capps went and told him I wasnt getting up because I wanted to go home. So he came in and tried getting me up and thats when I told him. He was a good sport and thats what made it even funnier. Definitely the funny highlight of my mtc experience.
Oh and idk if I already told you but Elder Capps is the one we saw in the distribution center before you dropped me off. He is so funny. Haha I love that guy. Elder Rider, my other roomie imformed me that he's also a really good skier, so I have decided everything I love he is pretty much pro at.
I am gonna miss my teachers like crazy. We had the two best teachers by far in our zone. I loved them. They helped me so much and becuase of them I have grown and learned so much in these 3 weeks.
Well, I only have 5 more minutes so lets see what I can get in this email -
My spanish keeps getting better and better, expect a letter in spanish within a month. I can already give the first couple of discussions in Spanish and I can converse pretty well.
I'm really, really excited for Lima. Like I said, we leave tommorow and we have to report to the travel office at 3am! We get into Lima around 9 and get to the CCM probably around 11. It is gonna be a long day, but I am so excited. I'm nervous about how much my bags weigh - I am cutting it close and I'll be sending stuff home.
I'm going to try to leave Matt Campbell a letter, but I'm not sure how (haha) I'm really excited for him and I'm bummed I won't be able to see him.
I think Coy is giving me a taste of my own medicine cause I havent gotten a letter back from him yet and I wrote him my first week, BUT I am learning patience here (haha)
Well be expecting calls from me tommorow! Try to make sure the kids and dad can talk too !!!!
I Love You All -
Elder Paolacci
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