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| Landing in Colorado |
Well Tyler arrived in CO last Monday and we had the chance to talk on the phone for about a half hour while he was awaiting his flight from SLC to Denver. It was great to hear his voice and especially his enthusiasm. He was ready to go!! There were a bunch of them heading out that day. Since that time we have gotten a letter from him saying he arrived safely and then another letter from his mission president and wife saying essentially the same thing.
For those who don't know much about missionary life (please ask questions if you have them), a mission president and his wife will serve as the leaders of all the missionaries in an area of a mission. In Tyler's case, his mission president and wife will watch over, counsel and lead all the missionaries in the Colorado Springs Mission. They serve for about three years in that position so I suspect Tyler will work with them for the entire time he is out. Once Tyler arrived he was paired up with another missionary but this time it was an elder with more time out/experience than him; someone who knows the area. You will read below, but he was assigned a companion named Elder Fox from GA who has been out a year. The whole mission "system" is very, very organized and there are no worries about finding places to stay and other details like that. It's a well organized and experienced "machine". It's like that everywhere that missionaries serve around the world. Naturally, depending on the places and countries, housing and other daily living experiences differ, but ALL have a mission president (and his wife) and ALL are watched and cared for. It bring me peace!
Tyler will be writing on Mondays. Those are what's called P-DAY or Preparation Day in the mission field. It's a day for them to rest - do laundry, write home, do fun stuff, etc! So when you see "P-Day" know it's his free day.
I have added a lot of my own two cents in the letter this week. ALL my posts are in ITALICS. I just added some extra tidbits of info to clarify or give more info about things Tyler referenced in his letter.
For those who want to write to Tyler, you can always email him at Tyler.Clancy@myldsmail.net
If you want to mail him a package, private message me and I will share his address. Not posting here for privacy reasons.
Thanks for your support!
Lisa
Here is Tyler's letter:
Hi All,
I am in Falcon, Colorado (the mailing address is Peyton though.) There are 3 types of people here - Farmers - Military - or random people that work from home and don't like the city. It is about 15 minutes from CO Springs.
My companion/ Trainer is Elder Fox. He is really nice and has been out here for a year next week. We get along well and he is really mellow in a good way. Elder Fox really likes to do Rubik’s cubes. He has like 5 different kinds. He was captain of the Robotics team back in HS. He grew up in Peachtree City, GA where they drive Golf carts only.
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Elder Fox and his notorious Rubik's cubes
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Elder Turney on the left, Elder Fox in the middle and me at a baptism in Fountain, CO
Elder Turney has completed his two year mission. His Mom picked him up a few days early and they drove around his old areas. He is from California and is joining the Coast Guard when he gets home.
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Today, P-Day, we are going on a hike to a place called the Paint Mines. Sounds interesting. The missionaries in our District are a senior couple from Idaho, 3 sister missionaries - one from Utah, one from South Korea and another from Canada. Elder Smith is from VA and Elder Meyer from TX.
There are rabbits EVERYWHERE. Literally if someone wants a pet rabbit they could just go in their yard and bring one inside. (we actually aren't allowed to touch them because they carry diseases in the summer).
Dad would really like it out here. Even the smallest house on the block has a huge yard, just because there is so much SPACE. So this week was very weird - a missionary in our district had to go home for medical reasons, therefore we were dealing with that most of the week and not actually teaching. We had dinner at a few church members’ homes, but last week was mostly missionary business. Because my companion is the DL (District leader) he had to take care of some important issues related to the Elder who was going home. I’m brand new and so I stayed with another Elder in Limon while Elder Fox took care of the administrative details. Limon is literally the middle of nowhere USA. It is closer to Kansas than anything else. We lived in a trailer and the closest Wal-Mart was 35 minutes away. The cool thing about it was I got to drive. The Elder who I stayed with doesn't have a license yet so I got to drive while I was there. (Usually the senior of the two companions is the driver. In this case - Tyler got the opportunity!)
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Driving on the 2nd day on the mission (Limon. CO)
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| Having a little fun in Limon TRUE TYLER FASHION!! Wouldn't you agree!!! |
We do so much service here. In just one week we have volunteered at a thrift store, a library, helped build a non-denominational church in Peyton and countless other little things. I gave my first priesthood blessing out in Limon to an old lady who we did service for. It went well and she said she felt better.
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Also just a note.
We don't wear shirt and tie always...
whenever we do service (a lot) we wear regular clothes.
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| A few shoes at the mission home |
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| View from the Mission Home |
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my flag on the mission map
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| Checking into the Mission Home |
SO, to answer your question, yes we do live with members. Their names are Bruce and Tammy Wilkes. Bruce is retired Air Force and they are new converts to the church of about a year. Their house is probably the size of ours except they have a basement instead of an upstairs. They are nice and Bruce reminds me a lot of Mr. Jezewski.
We drive a Jeep Compass 2014. It is pretty nice. We probably won't have to bike too much in this area. It was definitely sad to see all my MTC buddies leave and go their separate ways. I will probably email some of them today.
Zone conference is this Tuesday (tomorrow). Church was ok but- I miss our Southern Wards. I am doing good I am just now starting to answer to “Elder” haha. And yes the “20-Mark Note” we actually heard in the MTC from David A Bednar himself! It is amazing and I think G&G would really appreciate it. * WARD is another name for your local Church group - your local congregation. *(https://www.lds.org/liahona/2009/06/the-20-mark-note?lang=eng)
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You know how sometimes when children leave their parents they take advantage of them not being there?
This is an example of one of Elder Fox's lunches.
1/4th of a jar of Peanut butter, Ice cream and he eats the half of stick of cookie dough separately.
no this is not a joke #merica
After reading this and nearly throwing up, I BEGGED him not to do the same ha ha
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Please pass a thank you to the Groesbecks and the Tuimalungas (for the donuts and the CD). I really like the Beyond 5 CD. I am listening to the NTB like everyday and I love them. Do you have Jason Deere's email? Also I am really enjoying listening to The 5 Browns. * (Our family loves the NTB which stands for the Nashville Tribute Band - Jason is the creator of the group and such an incredible musician!! I'd LOVE to write more here about him and the band but this is about Tyler. ha ha Anyway - We are friends with a few of the guys in the band and Chad - one of the amazing keyboard players and vocalists- actually served in the same mission as Tyler just a few years back!! Here is one of our favorite songs/videos from their most recent album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5JzIBBFf6g Another fav of ours: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzE4eEQcF48 )
Glad to hear Connor is heading back to BHS. Sounds like a tough schedule but Mr. Taylor is fun. Tell Rudy I said hello too. (Rudy is our dog!)
I will have a better blog email next week when we have actually done some stuff.
Love,
Elder Clancy
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