Week 7 - MTC - Ash in the Sky, 10 Apostles, Leaving in 2 weeks, Sacrament Meeting, Learning Guarani, Watching a Movie

Yesterday ash was falling from the sky because of the fires, and it has smelled like a campfire this whole week. It's nothing compared to a couple years ago in Chico, but it's pretty smokey.  

On Tuesday there were 10 Apostles at the devotional and L. Tom Perry spoke. He basically just said how cool the church was and everything, it was awesome. Only Hales and Packer weren't at the devotional, it was great having them all there. Elder Thomson saw Oaks in the hallway and shook his hand. He says that he's not that tall. On the devotional on Sunday when they announced who was saying the prayer it was Elder Meyer (Ivan's friend from our ward) from Chico, so that was cool.

As far as I know I'm leaving the MTC on the 16th of July, I can't wait. We should all get travel plans next week, if it's the same for us as it has been for the other missionaries here. Also from the missionaries I've talked to, if they have their travel plans ahead of time, it seems like they leave somewhere between the middle of the night and 8 in the morning. 

We had a huge Sacrament meeting with a couple other branches here at the MTC, and they had two whole tables with bread and water, and there was 4 people behind each table, and 14 people passing the Sacrament, and they all carried two trays. They don't mess around here at the MTC.

That isn't good that the Temple is going to be closed, but my district gets to help clean it a week from today, so I'm excited for that. 

I was cleaning doorknobs for service today and met a teacher at the MTC here who is from Paraguay, and she taught us how to say a couple things in Guarani, so that was awesome.  She said we could come back another time and she would teach us some more, so we're probably gonna do that so we at least know how to say hi and stuff when we get down to Paraguay. I am learning so much. I don't know how missionaries survived on their missions before the MTC, because I'm learning so much, in addition to Spanish helping me to become better.

On Saturday we didn't have our evening class because of the mission president training, and we got to watch a movie instead, Other Side of Heaven, it was great, but it made me miss Elder Fakava because everyone in the movie spoke with the same accent because of him. I also was able to pick out a few of the Tongan words that he taught us, like 'Poloni', which he said means white man, but probably means more like something more the the effect of gringo. I also learned that in Latin America chicitanas or something like that are delicacies, but from what Hermano Howard told us they just sound like carpenter ants to me. 

We had a couple days this week when we only spoke Spanish, so that was hard, but it helped a lot. I found out last week that Lo Siento doesn't really mean I'm sorry, it just means "I feel it" so that's weird. Yesterday at TRC we taught the same person as the 2nd week we were here, and it went worlds better than the first time. We were able to hold a great conversation about the gospel and everything, and it was great. It was supposed to be forty minutes long, and when we finished it had only seemed like 15 but it had really been 40. 

Have fun on Trek, this is the one time I actually wish I could go with you.

Love, 

Elder Ivan Bowles

 

Mom-I don't feel like I've gained weight and my clothes aren't feeling tight,  but I weigh about 10 pounds more than when I got here,  I told Wil that, so that's how he knows, I'm not pullin a supersize me on everyone. Also, where exactly are the fires? I know there has been at least two, but that's about all I know. I also really like getting Justin's letters, could you also check my email for Mark's letters and Daniel's for when he leaves to Ohio? That would be cool too. What did you name the baby and stuff about Trek?

Dad- are there more details on the president of Paraguay thing, that would be interesting to know about. When do you start up school again?

Julia- That's a great score on the ACT, especially for during the summer when I know, if I wasn't here, that my brain would have been hibernating for the summer.

Kami- That's aweome that you got your contacts, before Elder Johnston left he tried on my glasses and couldn't see it was real funny.

Hailey- ♥

A ride along!

Elder Bowles (his Preparation day) and Elder Johnston leaving for the Dominican Republic

About the MTC

Ivan is in the Church's Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah, young men and women as well as retired men and women from around the world come together to prepare to serve the Lord. The purpose of the MTC is to provide an atmosphere of peace, love, trust, confidence, and respect in which missionaries can prepare for missionary service.

Ivan is dedicating two years to missionary service. Approximately 52,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are currently serving as full-time missionaries. They are called to serve in one of 334 missions in approximately 120 different countries around the world.

Each Wednesday several hundred missionaries enter the Provo MTC. He will have 12 weeks of studying doctrine, learning to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively, and developing excellent communication skills. Since Ivan is serving in Paraguay his training also includes learning a new language. The Provo MTC is well known for its language teaching program. Approximately 50 languages are taught at the Provo MTC. The teaching staff is composed largely of former missionaries, who are well acquainted with missionary life.

Missionaries begin their service at a Missionary Training Center, where they prepare to become messengers of the Lord, bringing glad tidings to families around the world. As representatives of the Church, missionaries believe that people throughout the world can obtain life's greatest happiness from following the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Using state-of-the-art language training technology, the Provo MTC fulfills the prophecy that "every man shall hear the fullness of the gospel in his own tongue . . . through those who are ordained unto this power" (D&C 90:11).
 
The Provo MTC is a beautiful campus designed to accommodate up to 4,000 missionaries. The facility includes a large gymnasium, three cafeterias, a medical clinic, a bookstore, a mail center, laundry facilities, classrooms, and residence halls.
A day at the MTC can involve many different activities, including visiting the cafeteria, enjoying some exercise in the gym, and engaging in personal study. Missionaries spend much of their time in classroom activities.
 
Although the MTC has excellent facilities and an outstanding training curriculum, missionaries feel that the spirit of the MTC is their best learning and teaching aid. The MTC experience is the fulfillment of a life-long dream for many missionaries, and yet they anxiously await the day when they will depart to their assigned missions. After weeks of training, missionaries leave prepared to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with people around the world.
 
For more information about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or to request a visit from missionaries, visit the official Church "Learn More" site, or call toll-free at 1-888-LDS-7700 or 1-888-537-7700.

The above is edited from:    http://www.mtc.byu.edu/themtc.htm   Go to this website to see panoramic photos of the MTC

Week 6 - MTC - Elders in his District, Attending the Temple, Answers Questions, Testimony

Two of the Elders in my district were called to be the new zone leaders, but I don't have a calling yet. There's a good chance that I will be the next district leader. Someone asked where all the Elders in my district are going, I can't quite remember who. 6 of the elders are going to San Antonio, Texas; 3 of us (my trio) are going to Paraguay, 2 already left for the Dominican Republic MTC, and Elder Fakava is in San Jose right now, because he was transfered.

Tomorrow there's supposed to be a big meeting where they train all the new mission presidents, so they're gonna close half the cafeteria, which is already packed because it's summer, and only let us go through certain doors to get there, so that'll be interesting. There's also gonna be a huge Sacrament Meeting on Sunday, and I've talked to like four people who know that they're blessing the Sacrament. 

The Temple is great, it's pretty much the only time that I get to really relax, and not end up falling asleep. I heard that they're going to close it for cleaning or something soon, so that's gonna be terrible, hope it's after I leave.

We taught our ''investigator'' last night, it was really hard, we explained the Word of Wisdom (no drinking alcohol or smoking) to him, and either he wasn't getting it or we weren't explaining it right because of our Spanish, so that was frustrating. We were supposed to be talking only Spanish in our classroom, but that hasn't really worked out so far.

I weigh 165 pounds, so I think that that's 9 pounds more than when I got here, not exactly sure, the food doesn't taste super good anymore, there's just a lot of it.

Mom, that totally sounds like something I would do, with the rice pudding and all. Happy Birthday! I love you so much, and I know that someone would be crazy to want someone besides you as a nurse, because I don't think anything ever really goes wrong when you're around. Also, do a lot of people like touring the new tower or is it just something to do? I think it would be cool but Idk about everyone else. I hope you have a great day today.

Dad, I know that before I came here, I just did what I had to to get my callings done, because I figured if I did it that was good enough, but here I need to do everything I can to help my investigators come unto Christ, even if they are fake, because my calling isn't to just teach them, it's to save them. And I like that a lot.

Kami, I don't have too many tips for running, If you need a workout schedule there might be an old one in my dresser, or Miss Gulbrandsen's phone number might still be in my phone that you have, so you could try one of those. Schedules do help a lot though because if you follow them they force you to improve. As long as you push yourself during workouts you'll be fine though.

Julia, I'm sure you did better than you think you did on the ACT test, that's how things usually turn out. And I prayed for you, so you had to do good. Also, I think I owe 30 cents tithing from when I tested the gross hummus at BYU, could you grab some coins from my coin jar for that? It was in my room somewhere when I left.

Hailey, Did you get my letter a while ago? I sent it to the address on the Dear Elder you sent me.

I love it here, I don't know if some of it's because I forgot what the outside world was like or what, but I love helping our investigators, even if they are just our teachers pretending, so I can't imagine what it will be like with real people. I can't wait to go Paraguay in 3ish weeks, its gonna super crazy. I am learning so much, everything's easier with help from God.  I love the gospel and I love teaching it even more, even if my Spanish is super hard to understand. I know it's true and awesome.

con amor,

Elder Ivan Bowles

Looks like they do find time to nap a bit.

Daily Schedule in the MTC

  7:00 AM   Breakfast
  7:30 AM   Class
10:30 AM   Personal Study
11:30 AM   Lunch
12:25 PM   Gym
  1:55 PM   TALL (Technology Assisted Language Learning)
  3:00 PM   Personal Study
  4:30 PM   Dinner
  5:30 PM   Language Study
  6:30 PM   Class
  9:30 PM   Day Over

Week 5 - MTC - Halfway point at MTC, teaching the teachers, TALL, Peruvian children

I'm about halfway done with my stay here at the MTC, and it's going great. I am learning Spanish like crazy, and it's great. The weeks have been going by faster and faster, and I can't believe that I'm on my 5th week right now. My teachers are great, Hermano Howard said that when he was on his mission reading a scripture to someone it said "don't turn away the beggars" or something like that, and because he didn't know Spanish he said "don't turn away the idiots."  It was funny.

We had clean checks, so that was fun.  They're supposed to be random, but they're really not. One of my companions, Elder Willes got a bunch of air fresheners, so our room smells very strongly of vanilla now. But thats okay, it's better than what it used to smell like I suppose.

Mom, you asked about TALL, it stands for technology assisted language learning, I think, or maybe I just made that up, but I'm pretty sure that's what it stands for. Basically you go onto TALL and you read an explanation on the program about a principle in Spanish and then it takes you through a bunch of practices, multiple choice, or answer the question or conjugating verbs and other things like that. I haven't decided if I like it or not yet, but it is nice having everything I need to know in one place. Also sometimes when our teacher leaves it on it idles out and turns off and makes this really loud angel noise, and it's only funny because no one is expecting it. 

We teach our teachers, who pretend to be interested in the church, about every other day we can teach them. Oh, they really are interested in the church, since they work here and go to church and everything, but they pretend they don't know anything.  When people came in as volunteers to talk to us yesterday, there was a guy who brought in 3 of his sons, who were all pretty young. He was from Peru, and it was great talking to the kids in Spanish, because I knew I could understand what they were saying, and it was awesome.

My comp just got mad that his caps lock was stuck on, so his email's gonna be in all caps to his family back home. Glad that didn't happen to me.

I'm pretty much boss at 4square, just sayin. 

I said the prayer for the bread for the Sacrament on Sunday.  Those prayers are waaay longer in Spanish, I probably was more nervous giving it my first time in Spanish than I was my first time in English.

Julia, there is soda here at the MTC, but I don't remember which kinds, they have root beer, sprite, and some others I think. No caffeine though, no surprise there. I am praying for you and your test,

Kami, that dragon fruit looks crazy weird, thank you for the cookies and letter, even though I didn't get them for some reason.  How is your summer goin'?

Love,

Elder Ivan Bowles

Hermano Howard, Ivan's enthusiastic Spanish teacher

District 20 in their classroom

Practicing

Obviously working hard and having fun

Week 4 - MTC - Messy Room, Cleaning the Bathroom, Crowded Wednesdays

I am learning all I wanted to and more here. Elder Meek and Elder Johnston are in the Dominican Republic now, so our district is down to 9 people. One of our two Spanish teachers, Brother Stevens, tells chistes (jokes) most days he teaches. I'm not sure if they not that funny or if I'm just not getting them because they're in Spanish.

Our room kinda didn't pass a clean check.  The paper they gave us had acceptable and unacceptable both circled so I don''t know what that means.  Mostly probably because I didn't use my clothes bag that day and one of my companions didn't find his in his suitcase until today.

Marlin Jensen, a Seventy, talked on Tuesday, it was spiritual and funny at the same time, so that's always nice.

They got jalapeno bagels here so those are really good, and the egg rolls are good too.  I get as many as I can the meal after they have them from the leftover bar, cuz then I can grab like 5 or 6 as part of my meal, it's great.

I got a haircut today, didn't really need one, but my comps were getting them, and they don't charge you, so whatever.  I broke my toothpaste yesterday, kinda annoying, threw it on the ground in the bathroom and it just kinda popped. I fixed the tube, so I'll have that the rest of the time I'm here at the MTC.

A midget moved into our residence building, it was soo cool, he's probalbly 3ish feet tall. Crazy.

Also, I was talking to somebody who was going to Ukraine, and  I am super glad that I'm going Spanish speaking. He had to learn Russian and Ukrainian (I think that's what it was called, whatever they speak in Ukraine). I also heard that some people who go to Parguay end up learning Portugese as well as Spanish and Guarani.

When we were cleaning the bathroom this week, the person who was with us had lived in Paraguay for a little bit, so we learned some more things about Paraguay. Guarani isn't written down like at all, so that's why they don't teach us it in the MTC, because it would be hard to do. Also we heard that sometimes they say Adios as hello in Paraguay, so thats kinda different. But cleaning the bathroom is fun, you pretty much just spray everything with soap bubbles, and it looks like it snowed inside, so that's cool. Then the person who was in charge came in and said I didn''t need to use that much the next time. It was fun tho.

The MTC has soo many people here. Every Wednesday the lines in the cafeteria are longer becasue of the new missionaries. They hadn't seen the spinny tray taker that everyone puts their dirty dishes on when they're done, so they just kinda stand there and stare at it while they try to decide what to do, it's pretty funny.

Love, Elder Bowles

Ivan's "fixed" toothpaste

The Elder's room

They go EVERYWHERE with their companions, including the bathroom

They obviously have enough junk food.

Week 3 - MTC - Elder Fakava transferred, Foot Surgery, Key Cards, Form Letter

Elder Fakava got reassigned to the San Jose California Mission, I wasn't happy about that because he's not gonna be in our district anymore.  He sure was happy because he doesn't have to learn spanish now, he's speaking English and Tongan. Since Fakava left, my companionship has three people in it now, so idk about that.

I got to watch my companion get toe surgery, so that was cool, he had had ingrown toenail surgery and they missed a loose piece of toenail in his toe so the doctor took it out. We got to leave the MTC for that so that was real fun. After that we mobbed around in Rite Aid and took our blood pressures while we waited for his prescription.  According to the machine mine was  normal, don't remember the numbers though. I thought that I was gaining weight, because during gym when I'd weigh myself, I was always 161, but then I weighed myself in the morning a couple times and I weighed 158. I guess I eat 3 pounds of food for lunch and breakfast combined. Pretty much I really like the egg rolls and curly fries in the cafeteria, they're real good.

We got to talk in Spanish to some volunteers that came by the MTC yesterday, so that was fun. I learned a bit by doing that.

I guess I snore real bad, my roommates say so. I'm also gettin real good at 4 square, just sayin.

I swear that they add a new flight of stairs to our building when we're gone, because it takes longer and longer to get to the top. On Wednesday I got to be a new missionary host, even though it's my second week here. Since so many missionaries come here during the summer, usually missionaries start hosting on their seventh week. I got to show the newbies where their classroom and bedrooms were, so that made me feel like I knew stuff.

For Sundays our branch president says we're all supposed to prepare talks for church, and then during the meeting he decides who he's gonna call on, so that's new.

Oh, and about the VISA, I went and got blood taken for a test. Also they say that they usually don't have VISA problems with Paraguay.

Also my companion got his patriarchal blessing, and his family got to come for that, so that was good for him. The patriarch said that he and his wife got called to the Pacific Islands, but only really talked to people in English because most of the Islanders spoke English as well as their native language. I also found out that senior missionaries sometimes get language training in the MTC but only for a couple of weeks.

Also, funny story, my companion and I found out that they track whenever we open doors with our card.  They track it on the computer, so we wanted to find out if anything would happen if one of us didn't use our card for a couple weeks. I think its cool cuz now I don't have to get my card out to open doors ever, my companion always does it.

Love,

Elder Ivan Bowles

Elder Bowles and Elder Favaka

Ivan's keycard has been badly abused

They are now a threesome - Dahl, Willes, and Bowles

Ivan's building - which it seems gets new flights of stairs added every time he leaves