Tues, July 29, 2008

"So technically I will have been in the MTC for 3 weeks by this Wednesday but the MTC considers this the 4th week (because they consider the first 3 days here to be the 1st week)."

"Everything is still going really well overall. I realized that I really needed new scripture because the ones I came with I have had since I was 8 and they're already falling apart. I didn't want to totally destroy them on my mission. I bought new ones here at the MTC bookstore. I figured that was the best place to get them because we get 60% off and we have free engravings. I got pretty much the same ones I use to have except navy blue this time and they're silver around the sides. They are really nice, I like them a lot. I'll have to take a picture of them."

"I am planning on printing out pictures today, but I'm probably not going to be able to send them until next P-day."

"So one of my roommates is from College Station, TX so he has told me a little about Houston. Apparently the humidity makes it really cold in winter. I really didn't think it would be cold at all because the average temperatures in winter are like in the lower 60's. I guess they don't take humidity into account when they take those averages. So I might need that trench coat after all, I'll have to play it by ear and ask my mission pres what he thinks. I know it does rain a lot and there are apparently huuuge thunder storms. I really excited for that. I want to experience one hurricane before I leave too."

"Thanks so much for getting that bike Mom, you're the best. I also don't think I thanked you enough for helping me with all my packing and helping me get ready to go. I think I was actually pretty stressed out inside and I was definitely FULL of anxiety. I just wanted to get started already and get rid of all that anxiety, but until then my mind was pretty preoccupied and I think I felt pretty uptight. So thanks for that. And for taking care of everything else you do. I realize how blessed I am to be in the family that I'm in...we are really an amazing family."

"I know I already said it but Dad, I really appreciated your letter too. I know it must have been pretty tough to be home alone for so long after having to say goodbye. I don't think I've ever told you, but whenever anybody asks me who my hero is, I always say my Dad. I always have about 5 million reasons why that is. I appreciate so much that you do and all the life lessons you have taught me, whether you actually physically taught me something, or just taught me by example. I'm pretty sure I've got the best parents out there. I also love all my brothers and of course my sister. I remember being at home this summer when everyone was in school, one of my favorite parts of the day was when everyone would get home from school. I love always having my siblings around me. Christopher and Steven have especially been really helpful and supportive to me these last few years as I have been moving on and going to BYU and preparing for my mission. One of my regrets about my first year at BYU was that I wish I had at least stopped over and visited a LOT more. But that's the thing about mistakes, you only have to experience them once, then you learn from them and change so you wont have to experience them again."

"I think another thing I've realized is how much I really like music/hymns. My first devotional here we sang Army of Helaman and Called to Serve. Those were some of my most memorable experiences here. Last week we sang Come Come Ye Saints. The last first really stood out to me; I've never really paid attention to the words before, but they are really inspiring. The second counselor in my Branch Presidency is named Michael Ohman and he has played the organ in the Tabernacle and for a lot of general conferences. He plays for a lot of our devotionals too, he is reeeally good. That's half of what makes the songs so good. The organists always add in all this fancy stuff to make it sound more amazing in the last verse and it really creates a lot of energy. It's a really amazing experience to hear a massive room full of missionaries singing these songs."

"I played 4-square for the first time yesterday. There was some super nerdy MTC 4-square guru who supposedly knew every rule and got super mad anytime anyone did anything wrong. He always got mad about everything, it made me laugh. I purposefully got him out every time. I ruled in the serving square, also called the King square, for like 20+ serves one time. Ever since they have given me the nick name Elder King Cole. It was pretty funny."

"I love you all",
Chase

Non-Dated Letter, We Received it about July 26, 2008

In this letter, Chase talks about going to the temple on his P-day. He said it was awesome. The Provo temple was just reopened after being cleaned for several weeks. "It was a really neat experience and we are going to get to go every week. We've got a really good district that is always motivated and we all are here for good reasons. It makes every experience better."

"I actually got sick for about 18 hours. there is some sort of virus spreading and 3 people all around me have been sick for like 6-7 days. I finally started to get really congested yesterday and had a headache and a lot of drainage. After going to the temple today I feel almost 100% better now. It was a really good feeling. I was actually praying in the temple that I would start to feel better so I could stay focused and work to my full potential. I was feeling pretty bad at that time. As I was walking back from the temple my nose just cleared up and my headache left and my throat doesn't hurt anymore. Things like this have happened so much already. "

"I remember praying about certain things really hard. I was praying to have the Holy Ghost with me all the time. I wanted to know how to best accomplish that and the next day we happened to have a meeting on this exact topic. It clarified a lot of things that I didn't fully understand and it answered every single question I had. This has happened 2-3 other times."

" My prayers were answered in different ways, but I could clearly tell that they were the answers I was looking for. I have also found that I understand the scriptures so much better. As I read I feel myself translating some very confusing language into words I understand. I figure out things I've never understood before. It's great."

Dear Elder....

I just learned (or re-learned) that you can write to Chase FOR FREE by using the service at:

Dearelder.com

It is VERY easy. Go to that site. Sign-up by putting your name and a password down. To write to Chase you will need his mission code - that is on the address over there at the left, it is: TX-HOUS, and you will need is MTC departure date (also over on the left) which is: 0909. (That means Sept 9th).

When you write to him you need your name, address - then you write. They, at DearElder.com, print out the letter and mail it to the MTC for free, AND it gets there that same day. It is great.
Try it!

If you want to use this service when he gets to Texas, that will cost you .42 a letter, but for now it is free. We like what is free.

July 22 Letter

Chase talked about his schedule - now that all the training is over:

"Monday's are pretty draining because we have breakfast in the morning, then gym, then MDT (missionary determined time) which is when we get to choose what we want, how, and where we want to study. So those were all of our breaks right away in the first half of the day, then after lunch we have class for 4 hours, dinner, then class for 4 more hours. My teachers are really good though, so its not so bad. Our main teacher told me that our district has picked up Spanish faster and other teaching concepts faster than any district he's taught in the past 2 years that he's been here. He said that we are a very special district and that only every once in a long time a district like ours comes through. He said that one reason for that is probably because I'm doing a really good job as district leader...it was a really good compliment.

I went to the RC (referral center) yesterday which is where you call people who asked the church to send them a Bible, BoM, movie, etc, and you ask them if they've received it and you try to tell them more about the church. So the first lady that picked up from me a some 62 year old black woman from Kentucky with a very thick accent. She was clearly one of those crazy ladies who don't get very many chances to talk to people so she was very excited to talk to me. She told me her whoooole life story and talked about a bunch of really random stories. I kept trying to relate everything back to our church so I could talk to her about it but she was more interested in what she had to say...it was pretty funny though. She told me she had problems sleeping at night and started telling me about some show she saw on PBS that comes on at 3am and she said some guy named "Bobby Pins" came on the show and she thought it was quite a hilarious name. I told her that if I have trouble sleeping at night I like to read the scriptures to help calm me down. Then she makes like 1 comment about the Bible and starts telling me some story about one of her kids. After like 15 min of trying to talk to her about the Gospel I had to tell her I had to go. I love the RC though...its great practice for being on the mission field. I'll have to tell you all that story when we talk on the phone because its much funnier if you hear it with the accents and all the crazy stories she told.

So gym is one of my favorite times of the day. For the first few week I went running with Elder Strickland who is the guy from the air force academy. This week we have all been playing soccer every day. It is so much fun. Its probably that much fun because I dominate everyone. I always score like 3 goals then go back and play defense and never let them score. It's really fun.

I don't remember if I told you but I decided to start doing pull-ups every night. The first night I did 8 pull-ups, not I'm up to 12. My goal is to be able to do 20 before I leave the MTC. There are 2 missionaries in my district who are like blackbelt martial art pro's so they've been teaching me martial arts stuff. Its pretty fun."

Sat July 19th - LETTER

Chase wrote on his 1st P-day, Tues, the 15th.

He was happy to have a day to do catch-up and relax a bit. He has enjoyed the devotionals and meetings. They have been motivational and interesting. They watched a video called "The District". Cameras followed 3 different sets of missionaries in Texas. It showed them teaching, planning and pretty much everything. They watched the investigators progressing.

On Sunday Chase went to 6 meetings and they counted how many prayers they said....24 in that day.

"I think this time was the best for saying good-bye. the fastest ones are always the best. I felt really good and calm after saying goodbye to all my brothers. I walked down that hallway and I felt so ready to start working. A lot of anxiety had been building up inside me that last week before my mission. I just wanted to go already. So when I was finally by myself at the MTC I knew my mission had finally begun and all that anxiety left and I felt so good."

"They did make me watch that blasted orientation movie though. All of the Elders who were alone sat together so we just talked to each other and made friends. As soon as that movie ended we left and went right to our rooms. It felt really good knowing I already said my good-byes and I knew after that movie ended I wouldn't have to endure some torturous good bye."

His companion is Elder Hickman. "He is from Northern CA. He is a pretty neat guy. He knows a lot about the gospel and he is a very loving person. He is really nice to every person we talk to."

Chase is in the Intermediate Spanish class.

Once again he talked about his food and how he likes it. He drinks Guava Passion fruit every meal.

"One of our teachers has spoken about 90% Spanish since day 1 and our other teacher is easing us into using Spanish. We are learning how to teach all the lessons in English first, then by week 4 we are going to be doing everything in Spanish. We've learned to pray and bear our testimonies in Spanish so far. We say all our prayers and sing our hymns in Spanish".

For gym, Chase has played Frisbee, soccer and gone running. He really enjoyed the running. He ran about 4 miles in 43 minutes. He enjoyed the slower, even pace.

Chase has 2 Sisters in his district, one who is not afraid to speak her mind. One that gets very easily offended. (What a pair!) The first time Sister-Speaks-her-Mind came into class she got mad at them (the Elders) for NOT standing up when she entered the room! Every time she got up, for any reason, at any time, she told us we needed to stand up for her. It got pretty ridiculous when they had to stand up 4 times during lunch! Chase spoke to his Branch President about this and he explained to him and the Sister, it is only necessary to stand up the first time she enters a room.

RULES: Chase cannot refer to Elders as guys i.e.; "Can I help you guys?", or "You guys are awesome!" They must always be referred to as Elders. They must also always have their suit coats buttoned up when they are standing.

"You can always feel the Spirit here. Miracles happen daily here. So many of us feel the gift of tongues so strongly so often. I am learning so much so fast I can't believe at the end of the day that I could learn that much in a day."

What's a 2nd Dinner

For those who don't quite understand the 2nd dinner....

You've eaten your regular dinner at the regular time. It is now hours later, you are just about ready for bed and you find yourself hungry! You need a 2nd dinner. Most anything will do. At home, it is usually cereal. Cereal is not going to work for Chase, unless he wants to eat it dry....ok, I sent him a box of his favorite, Apple Cinnamon Cheerios.

Video of the Leaving

This is the morning of Wednesday, July 9th.

Chase just got in the car. This is him leaving, driving down the road to enter the MTC.

3 honks means I Love You.

Pictures - MTC day, July9th

Out in Front of Nana's house just before they all get in the car to go. I love Chase's everything. Boys, tired of the picture taking. Chase face - funny, so Chase.
Great picture!

All the "well" children. (Griffin was in the house, VERY sick.)

Getting in the car!
Pulling out!
Now that Chase is gone, the tradition is to go the Chili's and drown our sorrows.
Notice there is a "Chase" sign right next to Chili's.

At the table
In honor of Chase, Christopher got the Bacon Cheeseburger.

Orientation for This and That

Chase has reported that the first week is always the hardest, there are so many orientation meetings and its really tedious learning about where everything is, what everything is and how to do everything. Thankfully, they are just about done with all of that and they can get down to the real business.

His district is full of very hard working, motivated, missionaries. They are all determined to get the most out of every second they have at the MTC.

They have 2 really good teachers. One is VERY devoted, intense, the other really passionate about missionary work and he loves teaching the missionaries.

THE FOOD: good; just like the Cannon center. Full course meals; salad, fruit dessert and main meal. He feels very satisfied, until he gets hungry for his 2nd dinner, which strangely is not served at the MTC.

Chase says he is very happy where he is at. "The Holy Ghost is very strong here and we are learning how to use the spirit through our teaching.

Hungry for that 2nd Dinner!

Apparently, the only time Chase is hungry is the time he would usually eat his 2nd dinner.

He is looking for some snacks....any ideas?

I am sending a few items, if you can figure out how to send donuts, do it!

First Letter!

We received a letter from Chase today!!
He wrote this letter on the evening of his first day.

His first day was "pretty interesting and eventful".

He says he has "been looking forward to starting his mission", "excited to experience the things that his dad and brothers have experienced."

He has seen at least 6 people that he knew from his BYU ward, in particular he mentioned Glen Cummings. He said it was "really nice to talk to all my old friends again and to know they were going through the same thing".

"Someone else from my ward is on my floor too and he is going to be serving in Arcadia, CA speaking Spanish. He'll be leaving pretty soon. His name is Elder Polanco.

"It has been a really good day. Everyone is very nice and understanding. This whole campus feels very spiritual, almost like temple grounds. I am really excited to wake up tomorrow and start learning and working. I have also been asked to be the district leader. (There are no callings here, they just ask you if you will accept the responsibility to be a District Leader or whatever."

"I liked our drop-off situation. Skipping that movie made it a lot easier. They just sat me by other elders that were alone and we left right when the movie ended. It was not too sad."

Write!

If you would like to write Chase while he is in the MTC:

Elder Chase Barton Cole

Texas Houston South Mission

Provo Missionary Training Center

Mailbox # 83

2005 N. 900 E.

Provo, UT 84604

Now, It's Elder Cole

Chase was set apart as a Missionary today, Sunday, July 6th.

To celebrate, we packed all his missionary suitcases.

Count down, or Count up?

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Chase spoke in church today. It was a great talk and a great meeting.

We had an open house from 4:40 to 9:00pm at our house. So many people came. It was nice to visit with them all!