Week #2 - MTC

Alright I apologize for no pics this week, for some reason the computers won’t let me send pictures or something so I might print them out and send them to you later this week. I really do apologize.

Alright, well this week has been pretty interesting, my companion is hard to deal with...He slept during Elder Holland's address! He was the speaker last Tuesday and it was amazing! He is such a great speaker, he talked about how much they (the general authorities) love us because we are helping them do what they were called to do, and that was to preach His gospel, and missionary work can't be like Burger King, we can't "have it our way" haha it's all up to the Lord and what he wants. I think what happened with my companion was as soon as I said I was interested in music, something went off in his head and he didn’t want to talk to me anymore. He talks to another missionary in our district instead and always leaves me by myself. I don’t feel united at all with him and its killing me, but we did teach very well the first time at the TRC (Teaching Resource Center?). We had a companionship interview on Sunday and addressed some of these topics and the 1st counselor asked us if we pray for each other, by name, and said I did, and I have every night. My companion says he prays for the companionship to work, and I want it to too, but I pray every night for him so I can understand how to help him, and it kills me when he doesn’t open up or talk to me at all.

Let's focus on the pluses, shall we? I absolutely love my district, they are all amazing and so much fun to be around and are all very helpful. One Hermana had a problem where she was being abused by her roommate and was depressed, and we both talk about it frequently, how to get over things like that, you just need to understand that Christ felt that pain and understands how you are feeling. If He can overcome everyone’s problems in the world, you should be able to overcome yours (John 16:33) I asked her a bunch about my companionship, as well as other elders on my floor I have come to know. I met someone on my floor from Argentina! And he's a River fan, which makes it so much better!! haha, I love meeting new people here.

Have I mentioned my teachers yet? Well they are awesome! We got a new one yesterday, and she seems very nice, but it was her first day yesterday so she was very nervous. My other teacher, Hmo Dallan, is amazing! He is incredibly smart, and he is so funny, and I have never realized anything till I have been in that class. He is very good at explaining things, like how faith works, but there are some things that stump him, which is so funny. We discussed for an hour yesterday about how you can receive revelation with the brother of Jared story and the stones, because someone thought that the word of wisdom was a commandment, but I guess it’s not, just something you should do…he is so funny. Spanish is coming along fine, I keep forgetting words like "choclo" instead of maiz. Castellano is so much better, but I try to speak Spanish, but my companion can’t understand anything or doesn’t want to so I end up giving up. It’s coming along great though, I’m learning so much here and I’m glad I’m staying the full 9 weeks. I want to build these relationships and learn more. I guess only advanced go early, oh well. I love every minute here and I still don’t feel like I’m leaving to Honduras in about a month

I hope everything is well at home and that all is well for everyone.

Hasta ver! Para siempre Dios este con vos.

Elder Neher

I cant think of anything I need right now, I will write if I do need anything, and I have only received letters from you, I would appreciate it if other people sent me letters, but it’s not needed, it would just be nice to hear from some of my friends once in a while, other than that though everything should be great. I will send pics via mail as soon as I can.

Week #1 - MTC

Hey, it has been one crazy week thus far and I will try to say all that I can in the little time I have. So far I absolutely love my district, they are so awesome, there are 13 of us total, which I've been told is a huge district. There are 2 elders and one sister heading to Mc Allen Texas, 3 elders going to Nicaragua, me, and my companion are going to the same mission, and another elder is going to Tegucigalpa. One elder is going to Connecticut, one to Long Beach, one to Boston, and a sister is going to Rancagua, Chile. I found out the other day that Elder Palmieri was going to be in my district! A lot of people have been asking where he is, so I keep telling them he left.

My companion is good so far. Everyone keeps asking so I'll just say now, the food is great, despite the effects, and my Spanish classes are awesome. We have two teachers, although they might change it to one next week. Hermano Dallon went to Ecuador and speaks good Spanish, but his accent is terrible :P He's really funny though, on the other hand Hermano Hancock is very spiritual, and has a great accent. The first day we were there he spoke to us strictly in Spanish and no one but me understood him, so now I'm trying to help the class with Spanish, although I hate grammar, it’s terrible. I have learned so much while I’ve been here, and it’s only been a week! They want us to exclusively focus on the investigators and finding out more about them than straight up teaching them. I love every minute I’m here, I’m getting so much out of every lesson.

Alright, here's the crazy part, you know how everyone says after Sunday you get the hang of everything and its easy? Well they were wrong, at least for our district. We had awesome zone leaders, but our branch was one of the biggest here, so after we took the sacrament they moved us to a new branch, which has a completely different schedule than what we have, so this week is going to be very interesting. Our first zone was English speaking missionaries learning Spanish, our new zone and branch is the same, but also has Spanish speaking missionaries learning English. Apparently this came directly from the MTC presidency. They want to test something out by having both sides teach each other their new languages, so we might get put with a new companion temporarily. I talk to him in Spanish and he talks to me in English. Should be fun, but it has caused so much problems. Today is my p-day, but they will probably move it to Friday instead, and our class times will change, they may even have us change floors in our residence halls! They did change our classroom for Sunday and Tuesday nights only, but it’s just been crazy, we have no idea what’s going on anymore.

I did get to talk to some of the sisters in our new branch, one is going to Mesa! So I told her about how awesome it is there, and they told me my Spanish was good, the only problem I am having is thinking of the words and right conjugations, but it'll come to me. Now that I got some time I'll list off everyone in my district and where they are headed: Elder Wood, Long Beach; Elder Phillips, Hartford; Hermana Larson, Rancagua, Chile; Elder May, Elder Irwin (who is possibly one of the funniest people I have ever met) and Hermana Platt, Mc Allen; me, Elder Nelson, San Pedro Sula, Elder Maza, Tegucigalpa; Elder Child, Elder Caggiano, Elder Pugmire (I have no idea if he is related or not to President Pugmire) Managua, Elder Evans, Boston. It’s very diverse where we are all going.

Ok, I got the questions about what's my best and worst experiences thus far. Best would have to have been priesthood on Sunday, it was absolutely amazing, I mean granted the teacher was speaking Spanish and English at different times throughout the lesson (which didn’t bug me but threw off all the other elders), I learned so much, it was on one small section in Preach My Gospel about the Holy Ghost. To start off he asked us, "Do you really know who the Holy Ghost is? Do you know him on a personal level like we should? Did you know he gave up his chance for a body to help you?" This struck me really hard, and as I was sitting there I felt this peace and this feeling of love, and I heard "I love you so much." I knew that Heavenly Father and Jesus love me, but I had no idea how much the Holy Ghost loves me too, he loves me just as much as the rest of the Godhead. I then began to think about all the times he helped me, or when I didn't listen to him, but he was still there to help me, regardless of what I have done. Heavenly Father gave up His Only Begotten Son for us, Jesus gave his life for us, and the Holy Ghost gave up the chance to have a body for us, all so that we might be reunited in heaven.

The hardest experience so far is learning to deal with a companion 24/7. Yes I love him, but it’s just been hard for me to concentrate when he wants to goof off, I don’t know, I'm sure it'll get better.

I love hearing from home, it’s great to see how you guys are doing I love you all so very much for the support you give me, thanks!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Neher

ps: I will be sending other letters in an envelope, please try to give them to who they are for, Andrew can give them to the people at school, or their siblings at school. If I need anything I will let you know. I might need some thicker socks, my line of authority, and I guess I'll take that Camelback :P Thanks!

1st Letter Home!

Well the long awaited first letter has finally arrived. We heard from other moms that the first handwritten letter should arrive by the first Saturday, but it appears that Steven didn't get it in the mail until Friday. The letter says that he met two elders going to his mission "today" and one was his companion, so that makes me think that he started it on Wednesday but didn't finish it until sometime later...typical! It's not as long or detailed as we might have wanted, but oh well, we are still thrilled that he wrote and that he is excited about the things he has been experiencing.

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¡Hola Padres!

The MTC is great! A lot different than what I thought it would be. A few things before I tell you how it was. 1) No music! It makes me sad I can’t listen to MoTab, but hopefully my mission president will let me. 2) I have no clue how to use the iPod speaker/alarm clock as an alarm clock, but I’m sure I will figure it out.

Alright, well today was awesome. I met two elders who are heading to San Pedro Sula and one of them is my companion! Elder Nelson is cool, but at first I didn’t know what to think of him because he’s been sleeping all day! But he’s great and hopefully it will get better. So far I can’t find anything…buildings or any of my stuff, but I’m sure that will change too.

Today we did some teaching “exercises”? I don’t know, but they brought in investigators and we were supposed to help them with whatever they had questions about. I never thought I would care that much about helping someone and wanting them to come to Christ, even if they might not have been real investigators.

My district and zone seem pretty good. I’ve only seen them about twice, but I can tell that it’s a great group. I’m so excited to be here, everyone seems great and I’m sure it can only get better from here! I’ll let you know of anything else when P-day comes around!

Con mucho amor,
Elder Neher

p.s. I will practice my Spanish, don’t worry!

p.s.s. I need my line of authority asap, and I guess a Camelback would be nice to have.

Day #1 - Entering the MTC

 
Well, the time finally came to take Steven to the Missionary Training Center to begin his mission. It is a day, that as parents, we have been looking forward to for a very long time. Most of our friends know that the MTC is where Greg and Isabel met for the very first time. It was while both were attending BYU and teaching Spanish to new missionaries and Steven's first visit to the MTC was when he was just a couple of days old. That is a story for another day, but it is safe to say that the MTC has a very dear place in both of our hearts.

Before leaving the home of Abuelo & Abuela Lindheimer, Greg was able to give Steven a father's blessing. It was a special moment and there were many beautiful feelings that were shared. It is really the only time that any of us cried during the goodbye process. We loaded up the cars and headed to Provo to get some lunch. We ended up eating at Rumbi's Hawaiian restaurant which is actually just around the block from the apartment where we lived when Steven was born!

After lunch we headed up the hill towards the Provo Temple. It used to be that the MTC had a nice orientation video & presentation for all incoming missionaries and their families. They would welcome everyone and show a quick video of what life as a missionary is all about. It was a very sweet but gut-wrenching experience and I remember many times walking by the room where they held that meeting and seeing families just bawling their eyes out, with families headed one way and the missionaries headed the other like a deer in the headlights. I'm kind of glad that we didn't have to do that.

We got there about 15 minutes before he was to report and took a few last minute pictures.Then Steven had to say goodbye to his Abuelos and Tia Guga since only immediate family members were supposed to go to the drop off. We loaded up and got in the long line of cars that were trying to get into the parking lot. They have it set up now where you pull into a marked station, pop the trunk and two missionaries with "Escort" tags rush up to your car and unload everything for you. There really isn't much time for pictures or long goodbyes. The two elders who attended our car asked where we were from. When we said Gilbert, AZ, they both got excited and said that they were also from Arizona (Chandler & Mesa) and were heading to Mexico on their missions. They were very pleasant and helpful.

As we were getting ready for one more hug and goodbye, an elder walked up to Steven and began shaking his hand. He didn't say anything, he just stood there shaking his hand until Isabel finally realized who it was. It was Elder Kaleb Baker, a young man who is from our old ward in Kansas City and someone who Isabel had taught in Cub Scouts with Steven all those many years ago. Instinctively, Isabel went towards him with outstretched arms to give him a big hug until she realized that he got stiff as a board and didn't know how to react. There was a senior sister missionary a few feet away tending a water cooler who was watching the whole scene. Luckily Isabel reacted in time to avoid giving him a hug and at the same time saved herself from  getting tackled by the nice senior sister missionary who was about to pounce like a protective mama bear! Elder Baker asked the other missionaries if he could switch with them and be Steven's escort that day and they gladly accepted.

We gave Steven our final hugs and kisses for the next two years and watched him walk off with his former Cub Scout buddy, with a huge smile on his face and never looking back. What an amazing experience! Some might call it coincidence, but I think that there was more to it than that. The Lord knows Steven and he provided someone at the very moment that he needed it to be a support and strength to him as he said goodbye to his family. It was truly a tender mercy from the Lord.

The Trip to Utah

We had decided a few months ago that we wanted to take Steven to the MTC, even though we knew that the family orientation had been discontinued. We wanted to be able to spend some quality time together on the road, as well as with Isabel's family in the Salt Lake City area.

Monday morning Aug. 16th was a little unusual for us. Normally when we leave on a long trip we like to get up and on the road early. For some reason, we all seemed to drag our feet a little and didn't get out until 10:30am. Everything was going pretty smoothly, until we hit Panguitch, UT where we stopped for a bathroom and snack break. Dad had been driving the whole way and needed a break, so Isabel took over. Not more than 10 miles out of town Isabel was pulled over by a State Trooper. She didn't have her license on her and the insurance card was expired, so things were not looking good. When the trooper asked where we were going, Isabel quickly answered..."Were taking our son to Provo to go on a mission". The officer smiled and said "I guess you must be in a hurry to get rid of him". He took her back to his car to look up her license information and as they were back there another call came in and he let her off with a warning. Isabel later said that she had cashed in on the first blessing of having a missionary son!!

We made it to Salt Lake City at around 11pm local time and Abuela Lindheimer had a hot meal of Milanesas (Steven's favorite Argentine meal), mashed potatoes and salad. We ate and laughed for a while before heading to bed. We had to wake up early Tuesday morning to go to the Salt Lake City airport to say goodbye to Steven's cousin, Elder Marcelo Palmieri. Elder Palmieri was heading to Louisiana to wait for his visa to El Salvador. It was great to see him before he left and to feel the excitement that he had.

Later that day we went to attend a session in the Salt Lake Temple. It was very beautiful to see the inside of the temple that had taken the early pioneers nearly 40 years to build. While we were there, Abuela Lindheimer ran into one of the young men that had served his mission with them when they were Mission Presidents in the Argentina Cordoba Mission from 1987-1990. It was a nice reunion. Later we took some pictures around the temple grounds and re-created a couple of mom & dad's wedding pictures (Their 20th Wedding Anniversary was the next day...the day Steven entered the MTC). After the temple we pigged out at our favorite Brazilian Churrascaria, The Braza Grill and went home for a well deserved siesta.

The rest of the day was spent buying a few last minute odds and ends at Wal-Mart, etc. and spending time together. It was a great day!

The Setting Apart

After the Open House we all rushed over to the Stake Center so that Steven could be set apart by President Riggs. It was a beautiful meeting and Steven was given some very wonderful blessings which the family wrote down for him to remember throughout his mission. Everyone who was there felt the influence of the Holy Ghost testifying of the authority that was given to Steven to be a teacher, minister and representative of the Savior Jesus Christ.

Open House

Church got out at 4:30pm, so everyone had to rush home to get a quick bite to eat and start setting up for the Open House which started at 6:00pm. Since there was a Back to School fireside at church at 7pm later that night, we knew that most people would show up between 6-7pm, which they did. Even though it lightened up after 7pm, we still had people coming all the way up until our time to leave for the setting apart, which was at 8:30pm. It was great to have so many friends come by...it helped make the time go by very quickly!

Farewell Talk

Sunday August 15, 2010 was a big day for everyone...it was the day of Steven's farewell talk, his open house and setting apart.

Since our church meetings don't begin until 1:30pm, the day started off slowly and built into a crescendo. Steven had been working on his talk for a couple of days and was not sure how it was coming. He hadn't asked how many speakers there would be, where he would be in the program (ie. first or last speaker) nor how much time he was expected to speak. Instead of making a simple phone call, he just prepared for the worst and made sure that he had enough material to talk for 20 minutes. In the months leading up to his farewell, Steven had been asked to be a companion speaker with the Stake High Council. Each talk had been an ordeal to prepare since he was convinced that he didn't know how to write or give talks. With a little hands on training, he slowly learned how to prepare a talk, but everyone was surprised with how well he gave his farewell talk.

His topic was prayer and later he told me that right before it was his turn to speak, he was feeling extremely anxious, so he said a quick prayer in his heart and stood up to speak. Those of us who had seen him give his previous High Council talks were used to him simply reading his talk, and usually very quickly. This time was very different. Steven stood up and started with an unrehearsed introduction and then proceeded to give his talk in a very calm and precise manner, without simply reading what he had written. I was very impressed and grateful to see the change in his demeanor, delivery and confidence. The Spirit was there as he testified of the power of prayer and how he knew that serving a mission was what the Lord wanted him to do at this time in his life.

After the meeting it was amazing to see how many people had come to see him speak. We had lots of family and even numerous friends who are not of our faith who came to support him. It was a great moment.

Las Corbatas Feas

A few years ago we noticed that the local missionaries in the Arizona Tempe Mission were wearing old, ugly polyester ties (Corbatas Feas). I remember seeing a few winners and ended up talking to the elders about them. You should have seen their faces light up when they talked about their ties! Apparently there is a thrift store in Tempe that sells these old ugly ties at a discount. I remember the elders telling me about how they would go there and purchase full garbage bags of ties for $30, take them to the mission offices and let everyone take their pick. Pretty soon the whole mission was wearing old, ugly ties.

I remember thinking that it seemed like a funny fad and that it would probably blow over in time. Apparently I was wrong! Not only has the fad continued, it appears to have spread because I have seen them on other missionary blogs!!

There is a family in my parents ward in Chandler, AZ who have a son finishing his mission in the Honduras San Pedro Sula Mission. Recently my mom was talking with her friend about specifics of the mission and she mentioned that they have a tradition of getting ties at the local thrift stores and exchanging them with other missionaries and members. Many of the people that they bring into the church do not own ties, so most of the old, ugly ties end up getting gifted to the new converts so they can come to church in a shirt and tie!

We thought that was a wonderful idea, so we tracked down the identity and location of the store (Tiedemann's Family Thrift) and headed there today to start Steven on his way with his first set of Corbatas Feas! I can't help but look at them and wonder where they might end up and whose life they might become a part of...stay tuned!!

p.s. Don't worry...he also has quite a few "Corbatas Lindas" also!!