Los Conquistadores #7

12.27.10

This last week was a lot of fun!!  It was really good taking to the family and to the band minus Kyler for a while.  It really made my holidays.  For the weekend we mostly just hung out with some member families exchanging gifts.  I got a tie, a hat, and a cool little crocidile cup haha.  Hopefully I´ll be able to send my package home within the next couple weeks. I still have to get a couple more things. 

This last week wasnt really anything that special. We did some work, didnt really find many people but it was still a lot of fun.  Its been really really hot and hard to walk around for long periods of time.  We have been having trouble finding people just because its a new sector so we havent had much success but we will soon. 

That´s about it for this week sorry its not a lot but not much really happened other than Chrstmas.  There is one chapter I want everybody to read for FHE sometime soon which is Jacob 2.  I really like it because at the end of the chapter is says we know what we are supposed to do but why dont we do it?  It also talks about how the parents back then were bad examples and stuff like that and Im grateful that I grew up in a family that taught me to choose the right.  I love my family very much and all my friends who made it possible to me to be out here on a mission serving the Lord.  I know the church is true and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.  I love you all and will talk to you all next week.

Love Elder Ty Peck

 

*Not a very long email since we got to talk to him on the phone on Saturday for Christmas! He said there is no place else he'd rather be. Too bad our Christmas package didn't get there in time, he said hardly any packages got there for any of the missionaries in his area. Bummer. I guess we'll know better for next time!

Los Conquistadores #6

12.20.10

Its almost Christmas already!  Its crazy that I will get to talk to people at home and what not.  I was hoping maybe Eli Luke and Braden could be there too because I really want to talk to them a little bit. 

So this last week wasnt anything special haha sorry it´s hard to get super interesting stories every week.  I do have one though.  So we were doing contacts and yelling at people´s doors (we yell at doors because there are fences around every building here) and we found a super old lady.  She is 78 and we had to sit right next to her and yell the whole lesson haha.  It was funny when my comp yelled the prayer into her ear.  So we taught her a couple lessons and then we showed up saturday.  She got super mad for some reason and we didnt know why.  She told us she got up at 4 AM and was waiting for us to pick her up for church.  We had told her it was sunday morning but she didnt believe us and told us to leave haha.  She was a little crazy so I dont think it would have gone anywhere anyways but she couldnt say our names and she called me Roberto and my comp Carlos. 

We are going into the city today to find a place to print out pics so we can frame them and give them to the families we took pictures with.  We were walking home the other night and some random non memeber family started talking to us and we asked if we could take pictures with them.  They let us in and we took pics around their tree and then made an appointment to go back.  It was super cool. 

Thats about it this week.  2 Nephi 29 is your guy´s assignment for FHE this week.  I was also reading in DyC the other day in section 3 and there is a scripture to Jose Smith about being called again to the work and I thought it was really cool.  Anyways,can´t wait for Christmas!

Love Elder Peck

Oh and I forgot to say Elder Hendricksen is living with us now.  Roth got transfered today and now the elder that mom blog stalked before the mission is living with me.  I havent met him yet because Roth was still packing but I´ll see him later tonight.

(He also went to the Santiago temple)

I forgot to mention the temple was crazy!  I understodd what was going on it was just weird haha thats it

Questions:

1. Grandpa wants to know what your apartment is like, especially the bathroom? Is it nice, or hard to get used to? Any Cockroaches?

Our apartment is ok the bathroom is good but its kinda ghetto at the same time.  its one of the worst in the mission i heard so its not too bad

2. Mom wants to know if you are wearing sunblock?

i havent been haha

3. How close are you to Santiago itself?

like 40 minutes by taxi

4. What do you drink mostly? Pop? Water?

we get pop at like every  house we go in to

5. Do you take a bus to the internet cafes, or is it close by?

we take taxis to internet there are some close by but super ghetto

6. What do you do, other than writing and laundry etc. on Pday? Any sight seeing?

mostly grocery shopping and shopping for you guys lately our laundry gets done by members we went bowling last week which was sweet

7. Can you see the Ande's mountains?

i think so haha im not sure but there are mountains so probly

8. Grandpa wants to know what kind of laundry facility you use?

members do laundry

9. Hows the language coming along? Do you feel like you're getting pretty good yet?

language is coming along good, i was talking to somebody from my mtc district the other day and they said that ive probly made the most progress but thats probly cause i live with a latino who speaks super fast haha .

10. What are your plans for Christmas morning?
in the morning study and stuff as usual then we are going to the house to call you guys and stuff

(and some Spanish)

Voy a tratar de escribir un email en español.  ¿Comó estai locos?  Chile is terrible bacan!  Tanto calor tambien.  Los miembros en nuestro barrio son los mejores y un miembro compró un regalo por mi.    anyways its way too hot to concentrate on spanish right now haha thats all i got for today

We get to talk to him Saturday!

Los Conquistadores #5

12.13.10

The weeks here just get faster and faster.  Its crazy how much time flies when youre having fun and working hard.  We have been getting a lot of help from a young man in the ward who is preparing for a mission.  His name is Luis and he is super smart.  He is actually having p day with us today haha.  He was baptized a little less then a year ago and is going to start his papers in a month or so.  He is hoping to stay in Chile to serve but he also wants to serve in Cali.

So what we have been doing a lot for the members is we decided to take pictures with all the families and we are going to frame then and give the pictures to them as presents so they remember us.  There are also some specific members we are going to buy ties for and stuff.  Hermano Fuentes told me he bought me a present last week too and I told him I got something for him.  One of our first days we got here he was going crazy about my watch and asked me if I was rich and all this stuff.  I havent been wearing my watch because it bugs me a lot and I just look at it a lot which makes the days slower so I decided to give it to him for Christmas.  The members here love us too they are always telling us how much different their homes feel when we are in there. They told me the other day when I was on changes with another elder that they can really feel our love for them and they feel the Spirit really strongly in their homes.  That´s the key here, love the people and have fun.  Get lost in the work and help people come unto Christ.

This last week we didn't really have any crazy experiences or anything out of the ordinary just a lot of teaching and finding.  We dont have very many investigators but the ones we have are really good.  We have been trying to teach this one 11 year old kid who isnt baptized yet.  His name is Cristofer I think I mentioned him last week.  Anyways he doesnt really get anything at all and finally his inactive mom came in and told him this isnt a game its either you get to return to live with God or you dont choose what you want.  It was really cool to see that because she doesnt want anything to do with the church and is pretty rude to us but at least she understands the importance of it.  It´s funny here when we find drunk people too who come up and talk to us.  We practice contacting them in english haha and since they are drunk they think we are speaking spanish and they just agree with everything.  We usually ask them to stop drinking and be baptized.

Sounds like all your new callings are going really well.  Im sure primary will be hard because some kids can be too much sometimes but I have a testimony of a well organized ward now.  My ward is awesome its just nobody knows whats going on most of the time and the bishop just does random things for sacrament meeting since he doesnt prepare much.  He is super cool but doesn't know how to do things yet.  Yesterday Roth and Diaz had some baptisms and the ward mission leader did 3 of them since he knew them.  First of all,  nobody really likes him in the ward because hes kinda weird and second, he lives with a lady he isnt married to.  We were talking to the old bishop and he said he tried to get him kicked out of the ward and stuff because of all the dumb things he does but nothing ever happened.  So anyways when he was baptizing the 3 kids he did it allll wrong.  He rose his left hand instead of his right and messed up the prayer like 3 times for all of them so he had to redo all of them.  He has done that kind of stuff a lot with like confirming people too.  Other than that this ward is awesome haha.

It sounds like Haley is doing really well with everything being the coordinating sister and all.  When I was the DL for my district I learned a lot.  In D&C 120 we in the last 10 verses or so it talks about leadership and how many are called but few are chosen.  When we correct people we do it with sharpness but show an increase of love afterwards.  Ive noticed that when people are corrected its only natural to be a little offened or upset.  When we show that increase of love the people will realize we are only looking out for them and want the best for them.  I've also been learning a lot from all our studies.  The Book of Mormon is just so plain and simple.  The gospel is simple.  Keep the commandments is really what it all comes down to.  People look at everything and think too much about it and make it complicated.  In 2nd Nephi towards the end Nephi talks a lot about how the Lord´s arms are stretched forth all the day long and all we have to do is repent and keep the commandments.  All God asks of us to excercise our faith and follow him.  We told that to an old investigator this last week because he has had a hard life and decided not to get baptized because he doesnt have enough faith.  We shared Ether 12:27 and told him we all have debilidades (weaknesses) and that we just need to recognize them and humble ourselves and the Lord will help us.

Anyways that's all I got this week.  I hope all is going well and home and I'm excited to be able to call home in a couple weeks.  I love you all and miss you all a lot but this is where the Lord wants me right now.
Love Elder Ty Peck

Los Conquistadores #4

12.6.2010

Wow, Ive been here one month already.  Its crazy how fast time goes when you´re having fun.  This is probably some of the most fun Ive ever had in my life.  I mean, the band is obviously the best but this is in the top 3 haha.  Anyways this week we super good.  When I say super good I mean ¨Super cool.¨  I guess mom used that a lot in my update.  We have found a lot of people to teach and we have one kid who really wants to get baptized.  His name is Pedro Castillo and his mom is an inactive member who has been going to the catholic church for the last 20 years or so.  We taught him a couple times and he was asking us how he can get closer to God.  We got him a baptismal date for the 26th of Dec which is the best present ever.  We took him to church yesterday for sacrament meeting which was cool too.  When he said a prayer with us for his first time we had written down the steps in the back of his BOM so that he could have an idea of how to pray.  Rather than saying a prayer he read the steps like, adress Heavenly Father, I ask thee for, please bless me, in the name of Jesus Christ amen.  It was really funny and he realized afterwards what he did haha.  We have also been teaching this other kid whose mom is inactive too.  He wants to get baptized but doenst want to make the effort to go to church on sundays.  Two days ago we were teaching him and he just wasnt understanding anything.  We have explained baptism at least 10000 times and he still wont answer us when we ask him what it is.  His mom finally walked in the room and said that she is going to help us get him baptized and told him this isnt a game and that if he wants to live with his famliy and with God someday he needs to be baptized.  It was super cool. 

We have been visiting a lot of members and they are all pretty cool.  There is one family, the Fuentes, who love us a ton.  They are always inviting us over to eat with them and to hang out.  They always have the best food too so its awesome.  We took some pics with the families that I will send in an email when I get my next box. 

I dont really have any crazy stories for this week but Ive been having a blast.  Our first cambio is almost over but we will still both be here most likely.  I love this sector and this ward.  I feel bad because I was kinda badmouthing the bishop last week of this ward but he is really a good guy.  We had lunch with them yesterday and since I was sick I couldnt swallow any food.  He went into the back and brought me out some sprite, jello and cake.  He is an english teacher so he can speak a little english. He is a good guy but hes a new bishop and so sometimes its frustrating because he doenst really know much but he is cool.  The ward is super good here and reminds me a lot of home with all the different personalities.

Well thats all I got for this week.  Esta misión es la obra del Señor!

Adios Love Elder Peck

He also sent this photo of Him and Hermana Stevens on the flight to Chile. She took it with her camera and emailed them to him today

also here's another of their mission home and ty is doing some weird face

Los Conquistadores #3

11.29.10

This week was awesome and super fast!  I HAD MY FIRST BAPTISM YESTERDAY!!!  His full name is Victor Hugo Garay Sachez and he is from Peru.  He is an awesome little guy.  I have some pics from my comps camera ill send in a little bit.  So since we are opening a new sector we havent had anybody to teach.  It has been really hard because we have no plans and we just get rejected by everybody everyday.  Saturday I was with elder Diaz for the day and we found an old guy and a family that let us in and wants to get baptized!  The family is super cool too they have a Shelley haha and they have a 2 yr old named Amanda.  It made me miss Shelley a lot haha.  We found another lady yesterday too and we are finally teaching a lot of lessons. 

We have been having a lot of fun here.  Time is going by way fast already and I hear it only gets faster.  The members here are awesome too and they love Elder Kanahele and me.  They are always giving us tons of food and drinks.  Our lunches are always huge too from the members.  We eat a lot everyday but work it all off walking around in the hot sun.  The food here is really good too.  Its hard not having American candy though and I havent gotten the package yet but mostly likely tomorrow. 

I dont really have anything else to say other than we have been blessed a ton already!  Im learning a ton and I love Chile!  The people here are crazy and I love all of them! 

Love Elder Peck

Questions we asked:
1.        Do you have to email your mission president every week?
Yes we email him every week

2.        Do you get to email friends and other fellow missionaries?
ya we can email pretty much anybody

3.       Are elders Larsen and Clark in your district/zone? 
larsen and clark are in different zones and i have only seen them a couple times

4.       If so, how often do you get together as a district/zone and do you get to talk to them?

5.       Is there a chance you will get transferred before Christmas?
 i could get transferred before Christmas but not likely since I will still be getting trained

6.       Do you eat more than 1 meal a day?  (Elder Larsen’s mom told me her son only eats 1 large meal a day and it’s been hard for him to adjust to that)
We eat a lot everyday

7.       What did you do for Thanksgiving?
 for thanksgiving I made fried rice and we bought some chicken and had a huge feast

8.       What do you want us to write to you about?
just write about whatever

9.       How often do you write in your journal?  Do you need another one sent to you within the next couple of months?
 i write in my journal every night so I might need a new one in a few months

10.   Are you able to get pictures developed there so you can write on the back people’s full names and the places you were?
We can get pics here but we can send them via email to

11.   Did you get your Thanksgiving package?
I haven't got my package yet but I will tomorrow

12.   How many items have been thrown at you so far?
 I haven't had anything else thrown at me yet

13.   Are you going to send Sam some souvenirs for Christmas?
 I'm buying everyone stuff here for Christmas

14.   How many cats have you eaten?
 probably 1000 by now

15.   How much money do you  get a month for food, etc? 
 we don't get much money but it's enough for food and we all share it usually and we haven't eaten out yet but there is a member and her husband isn't a member but he is a chef here in some really fancy restaurant and he loves us so he is going to make us a meal and stuff soon and we are going to call home from their house for Christmas. I guess how it works is you guys call their house so it doesn't cost anything for them but we still have to plan it all out so i'll let you know. (side note from amanda: longest run on sentence ever ;)
16.   Do you share what food you buy with the other guys?

17.   Have you gone out to a restaurant for a meal yet?

18.   Amanda wants to know what the hypotenuse of the pi of the root of 6 is? 
HOW RUDE he didn't answer my question!!

Los Conquistadores #2

11.22.10

This week flew by.  I had a lot of fun learning and gettng to know people in our ward.  We have been visiting a lot of people in our ward because we need their help getting refrences and such.  We have been working with them a lot like doing service and helping them with everything so they know they can trust us with their references.  Our ward is so awesome (except the bishop, he doesnt really do much).  The bishop is actually kinda rude here and doesnt want to put forth the effort to help us.  Anyways, I have another crazy story haha.  So this week we went to a members house for lunch and she was some old lady.  She gave us some bowl of soup or something that was ok tasting but there was a lot and it filled us up.  Then she brought out a second plate filled with mashed potatoes and these werid meat pattie things.  Kanahele tried one of the patties and said it was like tuna, meat, and garbage mixed.  It was undercooked and disgusting.  When the lady left the room we  wrapped them up in our napkins and put them in our backpacks.  After that she brought out the dessert, which is usually really good because its like fruit with whipped cream on it.  We took a bite and the cream was sour and old and the fruits tasted like they had been sitting in the fridge for years.  When the lady left the room again, Kanahele took out a ziploc from his bag and we threw it all in there and hid it.  By that time I was feeling really sick and I told him we should leave.  We started getting up and then I got really really sick.  I was about to puke but the lady wanted us to pray with her.  Kanahele was saying the prayer and he forgot her name and had to pull out the phone to look at her name haha.  He finished the prayer and we quickly shook her hand and walked outside and I puked everywhere!  It was nasty haha but it made me feel so much better.  We have also been gettnig these desserts that are like these dried peaches sitting in this weird juice with soggy oatmeal around here and everybody loves it here.  Its sooo gross.  They have it for us everytime too and it sucks.  There is one family though that loves us and we had lunch with them yesterday.  They make us some roast beef and potatoes and this super good salad.  I think I mention their son Freddy last week but he is 17 and is super cool.  He has been playing music for us on his computer when we get there haha and I showed him FTS and he really liked sad sad day and turn right.  He brought it up at churuch yesterday and said he really liked it.  We are slowly getting famous down here in Chile.  So I guess they dont send missionaries to Easter Island anymore because of the way they get treated there so they just send senior couples and their is another island in our mission that doesnt have missionaries because the island had a tidal wave during the earthquake.

This week has been a week full of miracles.  We have been trying to get into this house of an inactive lady but she wouldnt let us in for the longest time.  She finally let us in the other day and after we shared a little message with her she broke down and told us she was embarassed to let us in becaue she doesnt have any electricity, running water, or money. She hasnt eating very much the last week and her life was a mess.  On top of that her 17 year old daughter is with this 35 year old guy and they had a baby.  The dad took the baby´s milk and sold it for drug money.  We decided to go buy her a little bit of food and gave her the bishops number to ask for help.  We have also been teaching a guy named Hugo and he is getting baptized this sunday!!!  I get to baptize him so it should be super cool.  My first baptism and Im only a month in. 

Last week for P day we went shopping and I started my Christmas shopping.  I bought some things for Amanda and for Braden so far and we were going to go today but the zone leaders called us this mornng and said that we are having a zone activity today so I probably wont be able to shop. 

Well, these last couple weeks have been an awesome adventure.  I have been learning a lot and I feel the Spirit everyday.  I decided to start the BOM over again but this time Im writing down every single question in there.  The first question is ¨why do you smite your brother with a rod?¨ Haha anyways Thats all I have this week.  Adios!

Love Elder Peck

ADDED LATER:
My mom and Ty emailed back and forth a little bit, she asked him if he wanted pepto bismol and this was his reply:

I´m fine with medicine I was just sick that one day because of the undercooked food but other than that the food is awesome here.  We had empanadas our 2nd day here and afterwards I found out it was cat meat inside haha but I didnt care it was wayy good.

MTC Flashback

I was asked to post this photo on Ty's blog. It's Ty with Haley Pratt and their companions. Our family and the Pratt family have been friends since forever starting with my dad and Steve a loooooong time ago. So when Haley got her mission call we realized Ty and her would be in the MTC at the same time for a couple weeks. Haley is leaving the MTC at the end of December to serve in the Naga, Philippines mission. It was really cool that they were able to track each other down a few times and talk to each other. I bet seeing a familiar face in the MTC was nice for both of them.

(please note: Ty is wearing the tie that I picked out for him and everyone here scoffed at me but he said he wears it the most out of all his ties. Plus, it was on sale for 4 bucks! shhhhh)

Los Conquistadores #1

11.15.10

Wow, its hard to believe Im in a whole other country right now.  I mean I can believe it because I dont understand anybody but its crazy.  I´ll just tell you everythnig that has happened so far I guess.

So the plane ride was extremly long but fun.  I didnt sleep at all the whole time, I was sitting near Elder Larsen and Hermana Stevens so we just talked the whole time plus we were too excited to sleep.  We landed in Chile and we went through all the airport garbage and finally met the Pres and his wife.  They are both super cool and nice.  We went to the mission home which is like a mansion here and its super old too.  We hung out there most of the day and they let us take a little nap but I was still exhausted.  We had a really good lunch and then later around like 6 we met our trainers.  My trainers name is... Elder Kanahele.  He is from Hawaii and he is super cool.  We get along really well too.  He has been in Chile for 10 months and is just about halfway done with his mission.  We got to our apartment a little later after a long metro and taxi ride.  It was a new area for him too so we had to pick up some of his stuff from his old apartment.  We are opning a new sector too which is crazy hard.  We have no investigators and we dont know anybody around here so we have been going door to door everyday.  The first day was so confusing for me.  I didnt understand anybody at all and I could hardly speak.  We only had a few hours of just contacting people and we got into two houses and taught about prayer.  The people werent in our sector so we havent seen them since.  We have two other missionaries living with us named Elder Roth from Washington and Elder Diaz from Honduras. Its cool living with another guy from WA.  Ive updated them on all the sports and stuff because they havent heard much.  The next few days we were doing more contacting and getting to know the members around here.  There are like 1500 members on the list of memebers but only 80 are active.  We have gotten to know most of the members pretty well already and there is one guy named Freddy who is 17 yrs old who is super cool.  We were helping him with his english and after he was showing us his Red hot chili peppers collection.  We got to listen to a few songs and I was soo happy.  Around the 4th day I actually started understanding people too. I dont understand everything they say but I know it for the most part usually..  I have learned a ton too from my tranier.  He is super cool and chill.  We talk a lot about our lives before and stuff and we have gotten to know each other really well.  His job before the mission was dancing with fire in Hawaii.  Its weird though being the oldest in our apartment.  Im like 6 months older than my trainer but oh well. 

The last two days were crazy.  First, we were walkng down the street at like 830 and some kid threw a rock at me but it hit me in the backpack.  Elder Kanahele got pretty mad at the kid but we didnt do anything.  Later that night we were walking down the street heading home and some fleites (wanna be gangsters) threw a beer bottle at me and it hit me in the head.  It was plastic so it didnt hurt at all but it was gross.  Then, yesterday I got attacked by a dog.  Haha its crazy here.  There are thousands of stray dogs everywhere and our sector is super ghetto.  I was told its one of the poorer parts in our mission but its better than most parts of Chile.  I have taken lots of pictures and stuff and hopefully I can put them on here.

Well, I guess thats about it.  This is definately an adventure and I love it.  I cant wait to be able to communicate with people here fluently though.  Para siempre Dios este con vos!

Adios love
Elder Peck

A few things i forgot to mention.  We have one investigator atually named Hugo.  He is going to be baptized sunday!  He had been taking the lessons before from my comp and he is ready to be baptized.  Our second day we were asking for directions from some guy and he took us to his house and we taught him.  We taught him a couple tmes but he is a little crazy and has problems with the WOW just like everybody else here.  His girlfriend is crazy too and we might go back sometime but we cant do anything with him until he gets married.  A few things i want in my package would be a new long sleeve white shirt.  My sleeve had a tear in it and it got a huge stain on it from something.  I dont know how it happened but it did.  And maybe just some snacks.  swedish fish for sure though!

Edit:

There might be more to this post a little later, I am emailing him back and forth right now. He is going to try to send some pictures but I don't know if he'll be able to. I'll also update the title with whatever his area name is.

Missionary Board

A lot of wards have missionary bulletin boards and our ward was no different. It needed an update in a bad way, not only did we have new missionaries out and one missionary return it was just kind of boring and plain. (Hey I can say it I was the one who helped do it last time :)). So I made up a small design of how I wanted it to look then the Pratt's and Peck's (and Rags;)) got together for an FHE activity and did this:

 we have missionaries all over the world and all are in different time zones (cool huh!?) The missionary who just got home also would have been in a different time zone. I have a few things I still want to change a little bit on it. I want to change the "Called to Serve" banner on top just so it matches better. Also I think we are going to add a small caption by each photo saying when they left and when they'll return.

this one is just for you Steve, two can play! hahaha jkjk.

-Amanda

INTERESTING FACT:
Do you know why time zones were created? Well I'll tell you. It was all about the trains. Back in the olden days when the trains didn't travel as far it wasn't a huge deal but when they made the transcontential they had to do something because the train would leave New York at say 8am but then it was supposed to be in another state further away at the same time. So they had to create time zones so the trains could be on time. Small fact. Thanks Bro. Walton for the facts. I hope I explained it right.

1st Letter from Chile!

This is Ty and President and Sister May who are in charge of the Santiago North Mission. This is a letter from them:

Dear Peck Family,

            It was a great pleasure to welcome your son to our mission.  He arrived in good health, is enthusiastic, and anxious to begin missionary work here in the Chile Santiago North mission.  I have interviewed him carefully and find him well prepared, with a strong testimony, and a good beginning foundation in the Spanish language.  I feel honored to be his mission president and know that the Lord has prepared many people here to receive the testimony of the restoration he bears.   Sister May and I will treat him as our own son. 

            Your son will look forward to your weekly letters of encouragement and support.  E-mail is a great way to communicate with him as he communicates with me by e-mail weekly as well.  If you prefer to send letters, the church pouch system is the safest method.  The pouch mail comes several times per week and is delivered to the mission office, where we either carry it ourselves, or send it with missionaries to your son as soon as possible.  You can also send letters directly to his address but the mail system here is unreliable.  The address of our mission for the pouch system is as follows.

Chile Santiago North Mission

MP-Chile Santiago North Mission

Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150

            Thank you for all you have done to prepare your son for his mission.  Sister May and I will do everything in our power to help him have a wonderful and productive mission.

Sincerely yours,

Michael E. May

President, Chile Santiago North Mission

Michael.May@ldschurch.org

Ty has left the Building

Ty left the MTC yesterday morning. He had to wait a little bit at the SLC airport so he called home then and my mom just happened to be home between church meetings to get part of my lesson I had forgotten at home so she got to talk to him for a little bit then. He arrived at the Huston, TX airport around 6 (4 our time) and we got to talk to him several times during his 3 hour layover. He sounds like he's doing well and he said he's nervous but excited to get to Chile. He arrived around 9am (6am our time) in Chile and met his Mission President and hopefully he's adjusting to Chile well!

MTC #15

11.2.10
Dear Family,
So I'm sitting here in the devotional waiting for it to start. People are saying it's another Apostle. I just saw Haley earlier and talked to her for like 20 minutes in line. I heard the band is doing awesome. So Elder M. Russell Ballard just walked in, I'll write more later.
Alright, now I'm in my room. I got your dear elders and you sent me a story from Jeanie and Joe's thing but it's the third time I've gotten it. So, the devotional was way good. He talked about being a "master communicator". I actually let Haley and her comp. into line next to us or else they probably would have gone to the overflow in another building.
Mom challenged me to finish El Libro de Mormon by the end of the year. I guess I could start over because by the time you get this letter, I will be finished. I have like 25 pages left. I've learned so much from it and I can't wait to read it again. You guys should read Hebrews 11. It's a whole chapter about faith and it's way good. Especially verse 34. Verse 34 mentions armies of aliens.
So the last couple weeks have been hard. It's crazy that we are leaving in 5 days! No puedo esparar!
I feel like I will be so confused when I get there. It may seem like I know the language but I still have tons to learn. We have super good teachers though and I feel as prepared as I could ever be. The days have been getting longer and it's hard to stay on task during our hours of study time. My favorite time of day is personal study. We get an hour to just read/ponder/study. I usually just read LdM (BOM).

Pues, estoy muy cansado. Tenia un dia muy largo. Yo se gue la Iglesia de Jesueristo de los Santos de los Ultimos dias es verdadera. Se gue Jose Smith tradujo los planchas de oro. En mi vida, yo tenia muchas pruebas pero mediante oracion y fe. Yo vencia mis pruebas. Yo se que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador y Redentor. El murio para nuestros pecados. Estoy muy agradecodo porla Expiacion. Jesuersito es nuestro hermano y dios es nuesturo Padre Celestial. En el nombre de Jesucristo Amen.

Love,
Elder Peck

(again that Spanish might be typed wrong, it's hard to read his writing in another language)
we also got some pictures that I scanned:

 Caption on the back: Elder Larsen carrying me after I hurt my leg in softball.

 no caption

Caption on back: Me emailing during laundry time

Here are bits and pieces from the letters he sent Sam and I yesterday:

11.1.10

Dear Amanda,

Thanks for the letters/pictures. Written letters are better than dear elders. So we leave the 7th I am way excited. I can't wait to get out of Utah. The weather has been rainy/snowy/sunny.

BTW darth vader would kill charizard. I don't know what else to write.

On the 7th you should have a bunch of my friends come over to the house so I can talk to them too. We will be in Texas around 6 so that would be like 4 your time I think.
Missions are awesome.  You should go on one.  You would love it out here too!

Anyways, I got a ton of letters to write and no time at all. I'll email more stuff in like 20 minutes anyways. Love ya! The church is true!

Love Elder Peck

Dear Sam

Thanks for your letter! I heard you have been playing drumset a lot? That's awesome, Have you been practicing a lot? I heard you have been struggling a little bit. You should pray and ask Heavenly Father for help. I know if you read your scriptures and apply yourself He will help you. I have seen it 100 times here just this week! It's amazing how much He helps us with our trials when we apply ourselves. Well keep doing your best and work hard. The church is true!

Love Elder Ty S. Peck

MTC #14

11.1.10
This isn't a letter from Ty but wanted to post this card from a Hermana (Sister) McKenzie Stevens that came in the mail today:

Peck Family!
Hello hello! err...hola! Yeah, that's better :). I just wanted to take a few moments of your time to tell you what a privilege it was (is) to have Elder Peck in our district. Honestly, I have grown and learned so much from and (and I'm not just talking music and bands ;)) Elder peck has been such a leader to our district. He sets the bar of excellence that we all try and follow. Truly there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Elder Peck is going to do miracles for the people in Chile. I'm so pumped for him.
The thing that I love the most about Elder Peck is his spiritual maturity. I can't even tell you how many little insights he's had and shared with the class, and all the new things I learn from him. I feel so blessed to have had a first-hand opportunity to learn from Elder Peck. At least for me, he's been the example of the type of missionary I want to be when I grow up.
Real quick, there was this one day a few weeks ago that I was pretty down on myself. My companion and I were off, Spanish wasn't coming easy that day, so just not the best of days. But I didn't tell anyone how I was feeling that day. Then halfway through a study block, Elder Peck walks over to my desk and hands me a piece of paper with a scripture from the Bible on it. Needless to say it was exactly what I needed to turn my day around. And all he told me was that he felt like sharing it with me. So that's what I'm talking about! Elder Peck is going to do so amazing. You all should be so proud because I know I am. Thank you for sharing him with us for a few months! <3 Hermana Stevens.

MTC #13

11.1.10

We leave in 6 days!! Last week went by sooo slow though.  We got our travel plans then time just stopped.  Classes are getting longer and it's mostly just review.  The tripan has been back for about a week now.  We dropped off Elder Rouse, the one with the broken leg, on tuesday at the travel office said our goodbyes and the tripan reunited.  Its awesome having elder Clark back.  He is super smart and a lot of fun.  He learned a lot of spanish from E. Rouse too because Rouse was here for 13 weeks! 

 

So we leave the MTC at 11:30 and leave Utah for Texas at 2:35.  I'm not sure if we will have time to call home from that airport or not but we will be in Texas a little after 6 Texas time and we will call from there.  We leave Texas at 9:10PM and arrive in Chile the next morning at 9:50.  It's going to be a looong flight but it will be fun with Larsen and Clark.  We will probably just play pokemon or something.  Larsen got some cards from his girlfriend and we have been battling every night before bed.  I have won 2 times now and lost once. 

 

So I have seen Haley 3 times now.  We have the same P day so I talked to her a little bit today which was pretty cool.  Her companion seems nice even though I didn't talk to her.  We took a picture in front of some sign but I didn't have my camera but she has it on her's.  Tanner Clark from our stake is leaving tomorrow for Bolivia and I got a couple pictures with him too. 

 

I got a lot of letters last week but from people I didn't expect to write me.  I got a letter from Clark's girlfriend's friend and one from one of Charlies friends. 

 

Keep writing me a lot this week.  Somebody tell Eli Braden and Luke to write me letters before I leave the MTC because I'm assuming I wont here from them too much while I'm in Chile.  I got their tape which was cool but when they talked they didn't say much to me and just talked to each other and I couldn't hear most of it.  I recorded 2 tapes for them because I had a lot to say to them and I taught a lesson with my comps to them in spanish.  I'm going to try to find Haley and maybe teach her a lesson in spanish before I leave but we have different meal times so its hard to find her. 

 

Well, I loved the MTC but I cant wait to get out of here.  Going on a mission was the best decision I have ever made.  I'm thankful for all your love and support in my life and all you're great examples.  Tell the ward I say hi and good luck. 

 

Love Elder Peck

MTC #12

10.25.10

Querido mi familia, Hola como estan? Estoy muy bien aqui (?). Elder Russell M Nelson vina aqui la semara pasada. Fue muy interesante pero muy carto.
Ayer, tuvimos Stephen B. Allen por nuestro fuegolado (fireside). El fue muy comico y divertido. Despues de su leccion, Elder Larsen y yo miramos la pelicula de Jose Smith. El espiritu Santo fue muy fuerte duraute la pelicula.

(My dear family, hello, how are you all?  I am very good here.  Elder Russell M. Nelson came here last week.  His talk was really interesting, but very short.  Yesterday we had Stephen B. Allen come speak to us at a fireside.  He was really comical and funny.  After the lesson, Elder Larsen and watched a movie about Joseph Smith and the Holy Spirit was really strong during the movie.)

I will do this part in English. Our fireside from Stephen B. Allen was really good. He talked about how Satan tries to push our buttons by telling us we can't do it or we aren't worthy.
Elder Larsen is definitely a blessing for me. He has strengthened me so much here and he is the one that keeps me going strong.
It's crazy that I leave 2 weeks from today. I heard that we leave Nov. 7th but we get our travel plans probably this week. As much as I love the MTC I just want to leave. I want to teach real people who don't know about the gospel. It's hard teaching other missionaries because they know it all already and it feels like we are teaching a wall. We actually did practice teaching the wall last week in Spanish and it was pretty cool.
Since I will be in Chile soon, tell people to start emailing me. At least while I'm there. Letters will probably take weeks to get there. Make sure everybody knows my email too (see sidebar).
Last week has been tough, we are the oldest district and the newest district has been annoying. I started getting a little frustrated and that drove the Spirit away. I decided that I needed to learn to love them because I was probably the same way.
Well I will email more in about an hour! Iraz lo Justo!

(Do what is right!)

Love,
Elder Ty Peck

NO SE RINDA

MTC #11

10.25.10

We leave two weeks from today!!!!  It's insane how fast its been so far but i heard it gets even faster out in the field.  As much as I love the MTC I just want to get out of here.  I feel so restricted and I want to teach people that arent missionaries or people hired to listen to us.  So this last week we learned a little more spanish, mostly just did review.  We started teaching the Plan of Salvation in spanish too and it is pretty tough.  We dont know all the vocab or verbs yet but we will get it down soon.  I got a few more letters last week than usual.  I got one from Tim Ryan Summer Frobergs and some other people but I dont remember.  Elder Larsen and I have been doing a lot of reading in the Book of Mormon together and everyday we find a new chapter that is awesome.  We read Ether 12 yesterday and Ether 3 another day.  They are both way good.  Alma 26 is also really good and that's what you should all read for FHE tonight. 

We got an apostle last week.  It was Russell M. Nelson.  It was pretty awesome but he didnt speak for very long.  He talked a lot about first impressions with people we meet and to be happy missionaries.  The firesides and devotionals we have are really good.  We had one last week and one of the ladies that spoke sang the whole time.  It was kinda weird but entertaining. 

I just got handed a package slip so I think its the one you guys were talking about.  I also got a dear elder but I dont know who its from yet.  Ill open it in a little bit.

So last week Elder Larsen sprained his knee.  We got to go out into Babylonia!  It was crazy just walking out of the MTC to take him to the Medical center down the street.  It was really cool because we had lots of cars honking at us and kids yelling at us through windows.  They were yelling at us in a good way though. 

When we first got here they gave us spanish scriptures so I got them engraved today with Peck family so I'll send that home with all my other stuff. 

Entonces, El CCM es muy imponente!  Me encanto el CCM mucho.  Mi companero es el mejor y estoy muy agradecido por mis bendiciones.  Yo se que Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial.  Se que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador y Redentor.  El murio por nuestros pecados.  Pecados means sins but I accidently said pescados the other day which is fish.  It was pretty embarassing.  Well, time for me to go get my package.  Hasta la vista!

love Elder Peck

MTC Photos

we got a SD card in the mail yesterday full of photos and videos of Ty on his mission. Here are a few photos:

He also said M. Russel Ballard gave them a devotional the other day. Might figure out a way to upload a video or two later.

MTC #10

10.18.10
Dear mi familia,
I sent you an email earlier today, but we never get enough time to type everything out. So I'll try to asnwer your questions here by looking through past dear elders/emails.
I'll send my card with this letter and I think I'll send al my mail home in my package soon. It takes up too much space but I want to keep it all.
So this last week we taught our progressing investigator George. We taught him twice before, nce about the Restoration and the other time was just a 15 minute follow-up. We had lots of appointments with him but in real life, he had a baby. He finally came back and we had another 15 minute appt. with him. We talked to him about Eternal Families and we shared about our families. He was suprised when I said Amanda is older than me. Anyways, we really felt the spirit and we were able to commit him to read more in the BOM. I can't wait to teach real investigators though.
It's also really weird that it's really hard for me to spell certain words now like prophets because it's profetas in Spanish. My Spanish is coming along really well. We taught the first lesson today to some new elders in Spanish and I hardly had to think about words I needed to say. It's also weird that sometimes I think in Spanish before English. I get really confused sometimes too. We have had a few "english fasts" and by the end of the day we all have pounding headaches.
So is there anything new at home? Sounds like the Seahawks are doing decent. I bet once they get a better QB they will dominate again.
To answer Amanda's question about being people's guides I don't get to be. The district leader signs the district up for that stuff but he signed us up for a workshop that day. I'm excited to see Haley here, I'll probably see her during mealtimes. Some friends have written me requestion pictures, so you should put the ones I sent home on Facebook.
It sounds like Haley's farewell talk was awesome! She will be a great missionary. I am excited for her, I know she will love it. Stephanie asked if she should bring warm clothes and she should. It will start getting pretty cold soon. She will probably be here in the snow too.
Tell Amanda that she will get a written letter when she writes me one. Sam earned his by writing me first.
So I have a pounding headache and need to sleep.
Well, Buenos Noches! Hasta Ver
Love,
Elder Ty Peck

Here are a few photos he sent a few days ago:

MTC #9

(Ty sent a written letter last week but it was like half a page of random "house keeping" items so I won't bore ya'll with that)

10.18.10

Hello everybody.  How's it going?  It's been good here.  Lately its been way hard becasue we are getting into more advanced spanish sutff but I feel like I have picked it up pretty well.  I know my mom said she wants me to include more spiritual stuff but its super hard to when I only have 20 minutes to type.  Ill try the best I can though.

A couple things first....WRITE ME LETTERS!  It's really boring at night here when i dont get letters.  I decided to write some people again today that I havent heard from in a while because I had nobody else to write.  I get dear elders everynight from Amanda which is good and I look forward to those but I also want others to write me. 

Entonces, estoy agradecido por esta opurtunidad que tengo compartir mi mensaje con ustedes.  yo voy hablar sobre la restauracion.  Habia una apostisia despues de la vide de Jesucristo.  Habia muchas iglesias en el mundo de hombros, no de Dios o Jesucristo.  Habia mucho confuscion tambien.  Durante este tiempo, hay un joven se llama Jose Smith.  El tenia una pregunta sobre las iglesias en el mundo.  El fue leyendo en La Santa Biblia en Santiago 1:5.  Esta escritura dice, si tiene una , pidala a Dios.  Jose Smith fue una arboleda y dio una oracion.  Dios y Jesucristo vinieron a Jose Smith y dicieron a el que ninguna de las iglesias en el mundo son verdaderas. 

(Translation from reliable source: Entonces is like a filler word, literally translated it’s “Then, I am grateful for this opportunity that I have to share this message with all of you.  I am going to speak about the restoration.  There once was a great apostasy after the life of Jesus Christ.  There were many churches in the world that were manmade, but none of God or Jesus Christ.  There was also much confusion.  During this time, a young boy by the name of Joseph Smith who had questions about the churches in the world.  Joseph was reading in the Bible en James chapter 1 verse 5.  This scripture says if you have a question, ask God.  Joseph went to a grove of tree and offered a prayer.  God and Jesus Christ came to Joseph Smith and told them that none of the churches of the world were true.)

I know through Joseph Smith, the church of Jesus Christ was restored.  The MTC is so much fun and I have more fun everyday.  It gets way hard but Elder Larsen keeps it way fun for me.  We are pretty much planning on being roommates someday with Elder Clark too. 

Thank you all for your packages and support.  I hope to hear from all you soon.

Love Elder Peck.

(When we are able to we reply real quick so we can email back and forth so here are a few shorter emails we got after this main one)

Some things ive been thinking i want this week are....LETTERS, pics from billy talent and muse concerts and any other concerts, the pics with me and reagan, and i wanted to assign you to read in alma 7 tonight for FHE.  Elder Larsen and I read it a few days ago and its wayyy good.  We talked about it for like an hour afterwards and we would have kept going but we had to go to our room and sleep.  P day went by wayy too fast and i never have enough time to email or write letters. 

well i have some emails so ill read those real quick and reply. bye

next email:

Can you tell the Wilsons i said thank you for their dear elder.  I forgot to bring it with me to the computer so i could answer their questions and i probably forgot a bunch others too but it was really cool to hear from them and Steve.

another:

Hey sam!  I miss going to those football games back when meridian dominated.  too bad you couldnt play this year cause your knee.  The MTC is awesome!  I cant wait for you all to meet my companions they are so much fun too.  Ill send you a letter later today cause i only have 3 minutes left on the computer.

(then Sam asked if he would meet his companions ever)

ya hopefully someday, ill try to bring them to washington sometime they said they want to come.  We are planning on doing district reuinions at least once a year or more while we are all in utah or idaho for college.  clark larsen and i already have a few tri dates planned too for when we get back.

We also got 3 envelopes full of pictures today. I'm too tired to scan them all right now but I will maybe tomorrow and update with some pictures.

MTC #8

10.11.10

Wow P day is already here and its almost over already.  We all just got haircuts and my hair is pretty short again, I didnt need one though.  Im not sure what emails worked and which ones didnt but it had a few that said they didnt send.  So this week was pretty much just another typical week here, lots of spanish, teaching, and contacting.  Yesterday during our temple walk, Elder Larsen and I contacted people out of the MTC which was nice to talk to non missionaries for once. 

This week we acquired Elder Rouse who broke his leg a few weeks ago.  He has been here for 11 weeks and will be here for about another month.  He is companions with Elder Clark now so we don't have the tri-pan anymore. 

I didnt get very many letters last week, just a couple dear elders and one written letter.  It was kinda depressing because nobody is really communicating with me that much anymore.  I have sent tons of letters that never got replied to but I guess that is part of the mission.  One thing I will announce here and now is, I appreciate all your support and packages but.... we have soooo much junk food and candy we cant even keep up.  So I love the boxes but they will probably just go to waste soon so dont worry about sending too much stuff.  How about instead of boxes, you send letters?  I think I have gotten more boxes than written letters.  Kind of sad. 

So, we have one elder in our zone, his name is Elder Ricker.  He is from the Buchanans ward!  We were talking about Zach and Jacob the other night and comparing pictures that we have of them.  We were also talking about when Eli and I went down there on the train and he was saying he probably talked to us at church when we went with them. 

Therer was also a sister I met here who said she is going to St. Petersburgh and got an email from the Lunas a couple weeks before she came in. 

What day does Haley come in again?  I want to look for her when she comes in. Ill tell you all my meal times so maybe we will have the same time and we can find each other.  Desayuno at 8:15, Almuerzo at 1:00, and Cena at 6:00.  Sundays are different though but everybody goes at the same time so its usually crazy.  In gym we have just been playing basketball everyday and when Im not in a game, I jog around the track above the gym.  It's pretty nice here with all the stuff we are spoiled with.  Basketball has been a lot of fun but I had to break up a fight that was about to happen the other day.  I was playing in a game where nobody knew how to play very well and one guy fouled another one pretty badly and they started arguing about the foul.  I grabbed the ball and said hey this is the MTC stop wasting my gym time and lets play some basketball.  One of the guys said to me you need to teach your teammate how to play.  This made me mad but I didnt say anything back...I just drove it to the hoop on him and threw down.  He was on the ground afterwards and he realized he needs to calm down.

I was released from being district leader yesterday!  It's very exciting to be free now haha.  Elder Durrant is our new DL and he is doing very good.  The zone leaders district is leaving a week early though and people are saying Elder Larsen and I are the next ones.  I wouldnt mind that but at the same time I kind of like this freedom.

Well time to go check my laundry and read some dear elders....if i got any that is....i dont think i did and its weird not being the one who collects the mail now. 

Para siempre Dios este con vos! (We got the translation from a reliable source, For always, God is with you!)

Elder Peck

He also sent another email a few minutes later that said they are overwhelmed with junk food ;). I TOLD you mom ! Everyone should write to him too he said he's disappointed because he doesn't get much mail even though I write him 4+ times a week! I guess he wants to hear from others besides his sister.

MTC #7

10.04.10

Well today is P day which means I get to write letters and emails and stuff.  I just got done running through the rain outside because it is DUMPING!  Im soaked it's crazy.  So today we went to the temple again and it's always awesome.  I love being able to go once a week. 

So this last week has been pretty much another normal week.  Lots of basketball, class, food, sleep, and spanish.  We are learning so much spanish everyday I dont know how we remember it all.  We have been speaking in spanish as much as we can and we had two days where we only spoke spanish.  Mom, you should still send those pictures even if I wont be able to fit them into my bags to Chile.  I want to show everybody all my friends and stuff.  I was thinking some band pictures and graduation pictures would be cool and maybe old sports ones.  Amanda said she found some good ties so she should just buy any good looking ones cause I am sick of some of mine haha. 

Conference was pretty awesome.  Dieter F. Uchtdorf dominated the whole conference with his awesome talks.  My favorite was his on the saturday morning one.  He also talked about pride in the Priesthood session which was good.  It was hard to concentrate sometimes because it was so hot in our suits and the bleachers in the gym were not soft! 

I finally got some letters from outside my family this week which was awesome.  I got some letters from the Pratt's which I got after P day last week so I just replied to them today.  It was awesome to hear from Eli, Joe , Stephen, Braden, and Jessica.  I love getting letters, it keeps me going everyday so keep sending them.  Whenever I go to check the mail with my companions and I see that I didnt get any, I get pretty depressed haha not really but I love seeing my name on the letters. 

It sounds like the band is doing really good.  They played at three trees and have written a ton of songs.  They even recorded a few.  I cant wait to be able to play some shows with them again someday.  One of the things I miss the most is my drumset.  Im always drumming on things and I have those egg shakers that I play with in my room sometimes.  The basketball hoop in our room is awesome too thanks so much for it!  We play around every night before bed and let's just say I made a basket that enabled me to write a letter to Elder Larsen's girlfriend today.  Actually I missed but he let me write anyways.  So, mom asked which one was which and Elder Larsen is the shorter tanner one and he is from Utah while Elder Clark is the one with the Tyler Spahr smile as she called it.  He is from Alaska if you cant already tell from his pale skin.  They are both musicians in their past lives as well and we are thinking about making a tri-pan tri-band someday while we are going to BYU.  Elder Clark's first name is Ky actually which is crazy cause I though I was the only one in the world with two letters in my name. 

So, I gotta go collect mail and I have 10 minutes left so I'll get back on later while my clothes are in the dryer.

Les Amo!  LA IGLESIA ES VERDADERA!

Love Elder Peck

Another email a few minutes later had this written:

Just before my last thirty seconds are up i want to say any young man related to me in any way should prepare to serve a mission now!!!!

MTC #6

9.30.10

Dear mi familia,

Hola, como estan ustedes? yo soy muy bien. Como stan sus vidas? imi vida anora es muy bueno!

I got your emails today so I will probably write more in that. I'm not sure if you sent my Spanish notes yet but I could really use them.

Sounds like Seahawks are doing ok with Pete Carrol.
We have two elders from our district leaving tomorrow for Guatamala. It will be sad because they are a lot of fun.

Well I'll write more in my email while we do our laundry.

Love, Elder Peck

Here are a few exceprts from a letter he wrote Sam today too,

Sam!
I'm sure you have no competion in video games now that I'm gone. I was the best at everything. Keep practicing and maybe you can beat me when I get back.
My mission so far is awesome! I'm glad I decided to go. It is the best decision I have ever made in my life.
(insert talk about school/seminary/drums)
Well Sam, start preparing for your mission now. I wish I would have started sooner. I can't wait until you get to go on a mission also. It will be the greatest experience ever. Well keep writing me because I like hearing from you guys.

i yo se gue la Iglesia es verdadera (I know that the church is true)

Love your favorite brother
Elder Ty Peck

MTC #5

9.27.10

well right now we are doing our laundry and there are computers here.  i just got an email from tim hoyt.  im not going to capitalize the begining of my sentences cause im too lazy.  so this last week went by super fast but i didnt get any letters except for a couple dear elders from amanda and a letter from sam.  luke actually wrote me but i got it after p day so i couldnt reply until today so if luke reads this your reply is on the way and i sent a tape today.  sooo i dont know this last week we just learned a lot of spanish and taught a lot of lessons.   we are working on the plan of salvation lesson right now and its a little difficult cause the "investigators" we teach ask questions that can take a while to explain and we only get 30 min to teach.  every wednesday we go to the TRC where i teach pretend investigators and it helps a lot.  we get good feedback and we usually do a good job even though there are 3 of us.  its harder to teach with 3 cause we have to all talk the same amount and we all have our specific sections we talk about.  i usually do God loves us, the great Apostasy and the BOM.  we got a new district this week and they are all pretty cool.  we are getting another new one wednesday so we will be one of the older districts already.  its funny watching them struggle with spanish cause i was in the same position.  we try to help them a lot and we have been contacting them in spanish.  we will say something in spanish and when they have confused looks on their faces we translate for them. 

every night we have a party in our bedroom before lights out where we break out all the boxes that have been sent to us and just snack all night.  its a lot of fun we actually recorded most of one last night on the tape recorder.  so pretty much the laundry room is wayyy hot right now and gets way crowded.  its hard to find an open machine and when we finally do its hard to find a second one for our whites. 

gym has been awesome.  the gym itself finally opened last wednesday and we have been playing lots of basketball.  its a lot of fun but i havent found my shot yet.  usually we just played some beach volleyball or 4 square.  we have two elders leaving tomorrow morning for the guatemala mtc.  it will be sad cause they are way fun.  one of the elders shared with us his experience today about getting hit in the head by a disk in track.  he got  hit in the side of the head and it demolished the side of his skull and took out some of his brain.  he was put into a medically induced coma for a month and the doctors told his parents to pull the plug.  he eventually came out of it and learned how to walk talk and do everything again.  the next year he took first in state in disk, javelin, and shotput.  he was named miracle patient of the year. 

my companions are so much fun.  its crazy that we are already like best friends with each other after less than 3 weeks.  im sure not all my companions will be like this in chile but ill enjoy this while i can.  the mtc has gone by so fast.  its crazy to think that we are almost halfway done. 

well i dont have much time left and my clothes will be done soon so everybody write me cause last week was boring at night when i had nothing to read.  tell eli and braden that doing homework is no excuse to not write me. 

from Elder Peck.