"It's been good to get that extra week under my belt, I felt like I've come closer with the ward and our investigators and it has been good. I've really tried to contact a lot of people... usually getting rejected but there are times that I talk with them and get their info so that we can pass it off to the Spanish missionaries or YSA or French Sister missionaries that work the same area as us... and ever so occasionally US! Ha I feel pretty confident in my ability to speak french well and clearly with the people (well, usually I do) but then when it comes time for them to respond to me... that's when it all goes down hill. Usually I look at Elder McMurrin to have him help me when I try to make the calls or when we're talking to somebody on the street. We were actually talking to a member at church this past sunday and I was having a hard time understanding him and I looked at Elder McMurrin for help but for whatever reason he didn't help me and I was glad because it forced me to really really apply myself and figure out what was being said.
"It's really funny to hear mom say that in argentina nobody had a cell phone, let alone a land line. In Montreal, most everyone has a cell phone and that's really crucial for us in our work. We ask every person for their number so that we can give them a reminder call before our appointment. If we don't get their number, the appointment never works out and we get smurfed (we show up, they aren't there). And that is very very frustrating!
"The thing about Canada is that most members here are 1st generation members. It's beginning to be 2nd generation members, but they're not quite that far in their progression. It's really up to the missionaries to keep them going and help them out.
"So Molly made mention of this - the work is definitely hard in the mission field! I've actually thought about this since being here. The MTC is great and I love the teachers that I've had (Soeurs Pace and Cutler and Freres Magre and Wilcox) they truly taught us how to be good teachers and missionaries, but there is nothing that can be said for on the job experience.
"So a lot of times we start stating our purpose as to why we knocked on their door and a lot of people say no. So we ask if there is any service we can do for them. The way we say that is «Est-ce qu'il y a quelque choses nous pouvons faire pour vous aider?» But what I said on this particular instance is est-ce qu'il y a quelqu'un nous pouvons faire pour vous? So is there anyone we can do for you? Then I hurriedly changed it to Quelque choses!!! My comp was trying hard not to laugh!
"Then a few days later we were at a D.A. with a less active, Daniel Bolduc, and the less active's best friend who is not a member. I asked what bezu bezu bezu meant. I had heard my comp say it on the phone. They said kiss. So that brought up another question. «Then what does baiser mean? I thought that was to kiss. They laughed so hard and then explained.... that it was a vulgar way of how you make a child. And it all made sense as to why Soeur Pace was like «you don't need to worry about that !!!!» when I asked her. Ha definitely was embarrassed.
"We were tracting the other day and knocked on the door and a man answered. He was muslim and was not the nicest to us. I asked if he had friends that might be interested in our message and he was like «Well, we are in Quebec, nobody is interested!» And went on and I couldn't really understand him. So we left his house and then were knocking the floor below him when we heard him come out and say something. We couldn't understand him and so he had to come to our level. It was really nice of him because he had just washed two apples and was giving them to us. There are a lot of muslims here in Montreal that we knock into and while they do not want to hear our message, they are nice to us."
***********
Again, it has been refreshing to get an email from Travis. Rich and I were talking yesterday about how differently you feel when it's your own sibling serving a mission. In my mind I still picture Travis as the cute 8 year old who would wear his "Future Missionary" tag to church each Sunday. It is thrilling to see him grow and get more life experience. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to have appointments fall through and people not caring to listen to their message; but this will teach Trav valuable lessons- ones that will help him for the rest of his life.
It is such a blessing to know of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Much of life presents trials and obstacles to over come, and the gospel makes taking those challenges in stride possible.
I am so thankful Travis has made the personal choice to serve a mission.
We love you, Trav!
-Jessi
Monday, September 24, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
Week 1 in the Field: First Area
Elder Mortenson's new P-Day is Monday, so we can all look forward to emails and updates then :)
"You all are probably wondering where I am and who my trainer is... as was I until last Wednesday. My trainer is Elder McMurrin, he's a cool guy from Arkansas and we are in the Hochelaga/Montreal East area (HO/ME). So Hochelaga is French speaking and Montreal East is English speaking. Which means that on sunday, we have 5 hours of church to go to since we cover both branches. It's kinda crazy. It's been bad cause I've just super tired with all the walking and things that we've been doing that I was definitely nodding off once in at least 4 out of the 5 meetings. But it is good here. Our area literally covers the East half of the island. So that is way crazy and the missionary who was here before me was REALLY trunky (he went home and I'm taking his spot) and so we've been having to just try and build up our base again and find places to tract and teach. And because of how things are here, only the Africans and the Hispanics will really talk to us. We have some pretty solid investigators here and so I'm hoping that we'll end up baptizing a couple in this transfer. We've looked through the area book and have found a couple families that may have fallen through the woodwork and so we're going to try and contact them today (oh and by the way, Monday is my new P-day)
"So things are looking promising but there is for sure a lot of rejection that goes down day in and day out and I've only been here for 6 days. Ha it was funny because I thought that I would be starting my mission out in either Ottawa or a really far north area like Chicoutimi or Alma... but it turns out that I took the metro for 10 minutes to my first area. We share an apartment with the Zarahemla elders (spanish) and so that is nice. It's fun to go home and have others to talk to. We ride the metros here like crazy and so it is just kind of interesting and definitely not what I am used to. Running for busses and riding the metros in a big city... can you say paradigm shift? ha Klamath Falls is no where even close to this but it's been good thus far. I've taken some pretty good pictures here. I forgot my chord today but hopefully next Monday I will remember to bring the chord and I can send them to you. Today I got a really cool picture of me and Elder McMurrin in the Botanical Gardens and so I'll have to send that to you soon. I guess we're going to go to Vieux Port today as a district which is like the old part of the city and hopefully I can also get my first putin.
"We do this thing called Metro contacting here where if the car isn't too packed or too empty we'll each start on an end of the car and just talk with everyone. The first contact is always the hardest but then it gets easier and it can be fun at times. I've had an Asian tell me that is name was Jesus before... I think he was just making fun of me as I was getting his number. But oh well. One time we were on the platform and I saw this black guy standing there and I wanted to contact him but I didn't know how to start the contact (he was fairly young and was looking down.. kinda appeared not too happy) so I asked Elder McMurrin how we should start the contact (in english) and we were talking and saying that we'd wait till we were on the metro to contact and so forth... then he just walks away from us and we're like "did he hear us?" and so I looked at him right as he looked directly at me... "so yup... he heard us." Elder McMurrin then said "dang bilingual people!" ha the guy made here he walked at least a car and a half length away from us and we were left standing there just feeling super awkward. Got to love it. My French is actually fairly good when I'm the one asking questions or talking... it's a whole other story when I'm the one listening. I can pick up phrases here and there but it is difficult to understand people especially since people have a Quebecua accent or are from Haiti and so they mix in Creole with their french. But I've been able to get around thus far and it has been good. I'm glad that Elder McMurrin can understand what they say... normally I just have to read body language and can get the general feel of how the conversation went. I'm trying to learn it all though. All the signs are in french and the metro is in french and whatnot. There is a fair amount of english here and when I can't understand people on the metro, those who can speak english take pity on me and are like "Parlez-vous anglais?" "Oui oui!" "oh, ok. Just speak that to me" and of course I feel like a dwebe but it works out.
" It was neat yesterday because as we were trying to find a place to teach, we walked by this one apartment complex and could see a guy with grocery bags and a crutch type thing and so we knocked on the door to ask if we could help him. At first he said no and then we started talking to him. We ended up teaching a first, placing a bofm, and actually helped him with taking the groceries to his apartment and set up a return appointment for this friday. He's from Haiti. Pretty much everyone we teach is from Haiti. I really hope it pans out with him because he is really cool. He got in an accident of some sort and so now he has half of a prosthetic leg. We'll see how it all goes down.
"Don't forget to pray for me.
Thanks, Love you all
Elder Mortenson"
************
It was a pleasant surprise to get this lovely email today :) I wasn't sure when his new p-day would be, but it's nice that it's on Monday now!
Rich has shared quite a bit with me about his mission over the years, and it is interesting to see Trav have similar experiences. It is evident that he is growing and learning; especially assimilating to a new culture and climate. I love hearing the real stories of what it is like for him to contact people. I can only imagine the courage it must take to strike up a conversation (about the coolest, most important thing in life: the gospel of Jesus Christ!) in a foreign language.
The gospel of Christ is truly incredible. We are so blessed to know of our Savior and are blessed by the power and protection of covenants with God.
I came across this beautiful article by Elder Holland about the importance of uniting with other Christians and strengthening our faiths through our common ground. If you have a minute, I definitely suggest incorporating this into your daily gospel study :)
http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/08/standing-together-for-the-cause-of-christ?lang=eng&query=compassion
With much love,
Jessi
"You all are probably wondering where I am and who my trainer is... as was I until last Wednesday. My trainer is Elder McMurrin, he's a cool guy from Arkansas and we are in the Hochelaga/Montreal East area (HO/ME). So Hochelaga is French speaking and Montreal East is English speaking. Which means that on sunday, we have 5 hours of church to go to since we cover both branches. It's kinda crazy. It's been bad cause I've just super tired with all the walking and things that we've been doing that I was definitely nodding off once in at least 4 out of the 5 meetings. But it is good here. Our area literally covers the East half of the island. So that is way crazy and the missionary who was here before me was REALLY trunky (he went home and I'm taking his spot) and so we've been having to just try and build up our base again and find places to tract and teach. And because of how things are here, only the Africans and the Hispanics will really talk to us. We have some pretty solid investigators here and so I'm hoping that we'll end up baptizing a couple in this transfer. We've looked through the area book and have found a couple families that may have fallen through the woodwork and so we're going to try and contact them today (oh and by the way, Monday is my new P-day)
"So things are looking promising but there is for sure a lot of rejection that goes down day in and day out and I've only been here for 6 days. Ha it was funny because I thought that I would be starting my mission out in either Ottawa or a really far north area like Chicoutimi or Alma... but it turns out that I took the metro for 10 minutes to my first area. We share an apartment with the Zarahemla elders (spanish) and so that is nice. It's fun to go home and have others to talk to. We ride the metros here like crazy and so it is just kind of interesting and definitely not what I am used to. Running for busses and riding the metros in a big city... can you say paradigm shift? ha Klamath Falls is no where even close to this but it's been good thus far. I've taken some pretty good pictures here. I forgot my chord today but hopefully next Monday I will remember to bring the chord and I can send them to you. Today I got a really cool picture of me and Elder McMurrin in the Botanical Gardens and so I'll have to send that to you soon. I guess we're going to go to Vieux Port today as a district which is like the old part of the city and hopefully I can also get my first putin.
"We do this thing called Metro contacting here where if the car isn't too packed or too empty we'll each start on an end of the car and just talk with everyone. The first contact is always the hardest but then it gets easier and it can be fun at times. I've had an Asian tell me that is name was Jesus before... I think he was just making fun of me as I was getting his number. But oh well. One time we were on the platform and I saw this black guy standing there and I wanted to contact him but I didn't know how to start the contact (he was fairly young and was looking down.. kinda appeared not too happy) so I asked Elder McMurrin how we should start the contact (in english) and we were talking and saying that we'd wait till we were on the metro to contact and so forth... then he just walks away from us and we're like "did he hear us?" and so I looked at him right as he looked directly at me... "so yup... he heard us." Elder McMurrin then said "dang bilingual people!" ha the guy made here he walked at least a car and a half length away from us and we were left standing there just feeling super awkward. Got to love it. My French is actually fairly good when I'm the one asking questions or talking... it's a whole other story when I'm the one listening. I can pick up phrases here and there but it is difficult to understand people especially since people have a Quebecua accent or are from Haiti and so they mix in Creole with their french. But I've been able to get around thus far and it has been good. I'm glad that Elder McMurrin can understand what they say... normally I just have to read body language and can get the general feel of how the conversation went. I'm trying to learn it all though. All the signs are in french and the metro is in french and whatnot. There is a fair amount of english here and when I can't understand people on the metro, those who can speak english take pity on me and are like "Parlez-vous anglais?" "Oui oui!" "oh, ok. Just speak that to me" and of course I feel like a dwebe but it works out.
" It was neat yesterday because as we were trying to find a place to teach, we walked by this one apartment complex and could see a guy with grocery bags and a crutch type thing and so we knocked on the door to ask if we could help him. At first he said no and then we started talking to him. We ended up teaching a first, placing a bofm, and actually helped him with taking the groceries to his apartment and set up a return appointment for this friday. He's from Haiti. Pretty much everyone we teach is from Haiti. I really hope it pans out with him because he is really cool. He got in an accident of some sort and so now he has half of a prosthetic leg. We'll see how it all goes down.
"Don't forget to pray for me.
Thanks, Love you all
Elder Mortenson"
************
It was a pleasant surprise to get this lovely email today :) I wasn't sure when his new p-day would be, but it's nice that it's on Monday now!
Rich has shared quite a bit with me about his mission over the years, and it is interesting to see Trav have similar experiences. It is evident that he is growing and learning; especially assimilating to a new culture and climate. I love hearing the real stories of what it is like for him to contact people. I can only imagine the courage it must take to strike up a conversation (about the coolest, most important thing in life: the gospel of Jesus Christ!) in a foreign language.
The gospel of Christ is truly incredible. We are so blessed to know of our Savior and are blessed by the power and protection of covenants with God.
I came across this beautiful article by Elder Holland about the importance of uniting with other Christians and strengthening our faiths through our common ground. If you have a minute, I definitely suggest incorporating this into your daily gospel study :)
http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/08/standing-together-for-the-cause-of-christ?lang=eng&query=compassion
With much love,
Jessi
Friday, September 14, 2012
More Pictures
This tie tac was Travis' Grandpa Roy's, so it has special meaning for him.
Long Awaited Pictures!!!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
5 AM Phone Call
Travis flew to Canada yesterday! He woke up bright and early to get to the airport, and during his lag time he got to call home- yay! It was incredibly good to hear his voice. If I could bottle it up and replay it every now and then I would... Such a little piece of treasure :) Trav is doing really well. He said a little somethin somethin to me in French, and I couldn't tell you what on earth he said, haha. He is really excited to get to speak with people in French and is working on how to introduce himself in a different language. He wrote us a short email and said that it was cool to hear people speaking French and to see signs in a diff language. He has an eager spirit, and is willing to do the work requisite to be an effective missionary. I hope for his sake that he gets along well with his comp and that the members in the area love him and treat him well (he'll have to earn it...).
Talking with Trav felt completely normal, just extra special. I was happy that he had time to call me and that we could share a laugh or two together and got some quick questions answered. He is rock solid, I just love my baby bro!
I'm dying for some pics! We're still working on that one... But they'll come!
-Jessi
Talking with Trav felt completely normal, just extra special. I was happy that he had time to call me and that we could share a laugh or two together and got some quick questions answered. He is rock solid, I just love my baby bro!
I'm dying for some pics! We're still working on that one... But they'll come!
-Jessi
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Week 8
The beginning of Travis' email cracked me up. He has true blue blood! Still keeping track of his Cougs while on the mish :)
"Speaking of montreal next tuesday, I have indeed received my travel plans... and we were as giddy as logan and shaff for micky d's! We were all shouting and exclaiming our joy! Come to think of it, I couldn't have told you about that last week because we got them on Thursday - the same day BYU played WSU and dad had to rub it in my face that he was there and I wasn't! I heard we won 30-6 and that Alisa is the starting RB..."
Travis flys out really in the morning to Detroit and then on to Montreal. "I've heard that we probably won't do any tracting that first night and I'll meet my trainer the next day. So excited to see who he is and what he is like. I hope to be like Kirby Heyborne in the best two years and work our tails off. Here we go! I will probably have time to call some family in SLC, but not very long and at 6 in the morning or so. Give me some feedback, yea nay?" (Is that a question? YEA!!)
"So the crazy thing that happened this week is that a few minutes after finishing my letter to you I ended up running into an Elder Thackery... yes, none other than the Thackery's that used to live in Klamath and were our great friends. I thought it was cool to see him (not sure if it was preston or logan) and he said he was going to Chile. Anyways, I continue on my way to choir practice when all of a sudden I ran into another Elder Thackery! Turns out that the second one is in my zone and is going to Lyon. I've been able to talk to him several times since then. He saw me speak that first sunday and has wanted to say hi but didn't get the chance. It's been way neat to catch up
"So I spent about 6 hours in the emergency room this past sunday.... not because of any injury to me. hahahaha one of my comps has a history of epilepsy and it was the worst storm combining against him this past sunday. He hasn't had a seizure in about 7 years, but he hasn't been getting enough sleep (9 is the best for this case and for him) and then we were fasting, and then we were also singing our special musical number in front of the entire branch. So we all had nerves (Brightly beams our father's mercy was the song) and i was shaking a little bit but then I see my comp's music really shaking and then he was still shaking but was sitting down and whatnot. So we finished the song, said the prayer and then we were just trying to figure things out. He initially thought it was a seizure (which is way bad because he'd have to go home for 6 months and make sure the problem was stable before he could come back out) and so we gave him a blessing. It was really neat having the opportunity to give him the blessing and just feeling the power of the priesthood work through us as missionaries. We then took him to go get some food and then I went with him to the ER. The doctor gave him an IV and did a CT scan on him and everything turned out normal and the doc thinks it was more of a fainting episode but he had to talk to the doctor at the MTC and now he has to go talk to a neurologist. This might set back his departure date for canada. I don't know. I hope it doesn't but it was scary. We're fairly certain that it wasn't a seizure but the stakes are high.
"To respond about my french talk - it actually came pretty easy. I mean there were times when I didn't know how to say things and so I either said them in english or tried to find a different way to say it. Overall, if I really want to have a conversation in french or write french here, I can do that with a fair amount of ease. I still have a lot to go and I'm sure that I'll get a big slab of humble pie come next tuesday, but I'll keep trying my best.
"Also - just some quick thoughts since I'm over time already. I love going to the celestial room because I can always receive revelation there! It was neat today. As I read in mark 4 I realized that we need not have fear that we will perish in the storm so long as christ is there with us on the boat. If we stand with Christ, we stand on solid ground that can't be torn asunder. There are also some great scriptures in Helaman and the latter half of Alma. I'm in hel 13 right now. I'm hoping to finish the book of mormon soon so that I can start 2 other bofm's with the emphasises "We were strengthened through the Lord" and "The Character of Christ." Also - in a talk elder Bednar gave he said - Christ turns out when the natural man turns in. 2 Cor 4:8-18 is also very very good!"
*********
This week's letter has me super excited for Trav! I know he will do wonderful out in Montreal. I can't believe he goes so soon... His faith is an example to our family. Travis has always been the type that wants to succeed and do better than his predecessors (a virtue and a vice because some times he forgets that age, maturity, and personal experiences carve the individuals road a much as personal desire and zest). I think this drive for success will quickly lead him to the Lord for help and guidance. I think he will have many tender moments with the spirit that buoy him up and give him a testimony that will never leave him. I am thankful for his example and friendship. He's truly one of the great youth sent here at this time to be a marvelous servant to the Lord.
Love you, Trav!
Jessi
"Speaking of montreal next tuesday, I have indeed received my travel plans... and we were as giddy as logan and shaff for micky d's! We were all shouting and exclaiming our joy! Come to think of it, I couldn't have told you about that last week because we got them on Thursday - the same day BYU played WSU and dad had to rub it in my face that he was there and I wasn't! I heard we won 30-6 and that Alisa is the starting RB..."
Travis flys out really in the morning to Detroit and then on to Montreal. "I've heard that we probably won't do any tracting that first night and I'll meet my trainer the next day. So excited to see who he is and what he is like. I hope to be like Kirby Heyborne in the best two years and work our tails off. Here we go! I will probably have time to call some family in SLC, but not very long and at 6 in the morning or so. Give me some feedback, yea nay?" (Is that a question? YEA!!)
"So the crazy thing that happened this week is that a few minutes after finishing my letter to you I ended up running into an Elder Thackery... yes, none other than the Thackery's that used to live in Klamath and were our great friends. I thought it was cool to see him (not sure if it was preston or logan) and he said he was going to Chile. Anyways, I continue on my way to choir practice when all of a sudden I ran into another Elder Thackery! Turns out that the second one is in my zone and is going to Lyon. I've been able to talk to him several times since then. He saw me speak that first sunday and has wanted to say hi but didn't get the chance. It's been way neat to catch up
"So I spent about 6 hours in the emergency room this past sunday.... not because of any injury to me. hahahaha one of my comps has a history of epilepsy and it was the worst storm combining against him this past sunday. He hasn't had a seizure in about 7 years, but he hasn't been getting enough sleep (9 is the best for this case and for him) and then we were fasting, and then we were also singing our special musical number in front of the entire branch. So we all had nerves (Brightly beams our father's mercy was the song) and i was shaking a little bit but then I see my comp's music really shaking and then he was still shaking but was sitting down and whatnot. So we finished the song, said the prayer and then we were just trying to figure things out. He initially thought it was a seizure (which is way bad because he'd have to go home for 6 months and make sure the problem was stable before he could come back out) and so we gave him a blessing. It was really neat having the opportunity to give him the blessing and just feeling the power of the priesthood work through us as missionaries. We then took him to go get some food and then I went with him to the ER. The doctor gave him an IV and did a CT scan on him and everything turned out normal and the doc thinks it was more of a fainting episode but he had to talk to the doctor at the MTC and now he has to go talk to a neurologist. This might set back his departure date for canada. I don't know. I hope it doesn't but it was scary. We're fairly certain that it wasn't a seizure but the stakes are high.
"To respond about my french talk - it actually came pretty easy. I mean there were times when I didn't know how to say things and so I either said them in english or tried to find a different way to say it. Overall, if I really want to have a conversation in french or write french here, I can do that with a fair amount of ease. I still have a lot to go and I'm sure that I'll get a big slab of humble pie come next tuesday, but I'll keep trying my best.
"Also - just some quick thoughts since I'm over time already. I love going to the celestial room because I can always receive revelation there! It was neat today. As I read in mark 4 I realized that we need not have fear that we will perish in the storm so long as christ is there with us on the boat. If we stand with Christ, we stand on solid ground that can't be torn asunder. There are also some great scriptures in Helaman and the latter half of Alma. I'm in hel 13 right now. I'm hoping to finish the book of mormon soon so that I can start 2 other bofm's with the emphasises "We were strengthened through the Lord" and "The Character of Christ." Also - in a talk elder Bednar gave he said - Christ turns out when the natural man turns in. 2 Cor 4:8-18 is also very very good!"
*********
This week's letter has me super excited for Trav! I know he will do wonderful out in Montreal. I can't believe he goes so soon... His faith is an example to our family. Travis has always been the type that wants to succeed and do better than his predecessors (a virtue and a vice because some times he forgets that age, maturity, and personal experiences carve the individuals road a much as personal desire and zest). I think this drive for success will quickly lead him to the Lord for help and guidance. I think he will have many tender moments with the spirit that buoy him up and give him a testimony that will never leave him. I am thankful for his example and friendship. He's truly one of the great youth sent here at this time to be a marvelous servant to the Lord.
Love you, Trav!
Jessi
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