First email from Puerto Rico Yippee!!!!

Hola Everyone!

How is everybody doing? I hope well! It is weird to not get Dear Elders anymore. It seems like it has been forever since I actually talked to you all, even though it was just a few days ago. Well I hope that school and work and everything is going well! I did get my package! they had it waiting for me when I got here. Thank you so much! That was totally awesome! I really really enjoyed it so thank you! Well it turns out that my house doesn't actually have a mailbox, so all of my mail will still have to go to the mission home. So I don't know exactly how often I will get it. So if there is something important, send it in email, and the actual mail I think I might get like once every three weeks is all.

Well I made it to Puerto Rico! It was a really long flight here from Texas but we made it haha. I was sitting between two older ladies the whole way and they were kind of funny so that was good haha. Puerto Rico is sooo much different from home! First of all, if I had only three words to describe what stands out to me the most about Puerto Rico, they would be raining, cats, and dogs. It has rained every day since I got here, and just about everyone here has two or three dogs in their yards, and there are just like packs of little dogs and cats that roam the streets. It is super weird, and it is always loud because everybody's dogs bark at us haha. It is also incredibly hot. Like crazy crazy hot here, and it is the cool season right now. I definitely am going to need a while to get acclimatized to the heat and humidity. Just about everything is in Spanish. So I really can't understand anything, because they sure do not speak Spanish like the Spanish that they taught me in the MTC. They can all understand me, but I can only understand about a quarter of them haha. So that has been pretty fun to get used to. My new companion's name is Elder Ortiz. He is from El Salvador and doesn't speak hardly any English, and he has a pretty weird accent too...so there are a lot of times when we can't understand each other, especially the first day, but it is getting better now. He has only been here for two transfers, so as soon as he got done being trained, he started training me haha. He is a really nice guy though and we get along well so that's good! We are assigned to an area called Toa Baja, and we live in the barrio, Macun. There are two other Elders who are in our District and live with us. So far I have done everything by bike, but I think I will be getting my Puerto Rican driver's license fairly soon and then I might be able to drive but I am not really sure. The people here are pretty darn bad drivers haha so I am not really all that excited to do much driving, but it will be nice to have the option.

So a couple of fun experiences that I have had so far, my first lesson that we were going to teach was a lot of fun. We showed up to the lady's house, and she let us in and everything. And then just when we were about to start the police showed up and the whole family had to go with them. Everything was said in very rapid terrible Spanish so I didn't understand any of it, but it was awesome haha. Turns out that it wasn't actually police, it was some kind of social working or something, but they came in a police car so I thought the cops took them away haha. Then another fun thing, we went to eat at a chinese restaurant, and it turns out that Chinese food in Puerto Rico means fried chicken. So I had fried chicken, french fries, and some rice from this restaurant called Super China. It was delicious but not quite what I was expecting haha.

The food here is pretty good. It is very simple, just rice beans and chicken, but the seasonings make it really good. I have been fed by members twice already, and we have two or three more appointments set up with other members to feed us this week. The members are all really nice, and the people in general are really nice, it's just that pretty much only the members want to talk to us haha. Everybody else will offer us water or something, but not that many people want to talk to us. But even though they don't they are all very hospitable. It is definitely a foreign culture here though. I have seen only one white person who is not a missionary the whole first week that I have been here. It is super weird to be the minority haha.

So the area where we are living is supposedly not the best place to live. It is one of the few neighborhoods around here that doesn't have like bars and gates to get in. But I honestly have felt safe the whole time that I have been here. There have been missionaries living there for years, so the people are all used to them, and they are super friendly to us. It is probably not a place I would live normally, it's a little ghetto and kind of sketchy, but I really feel very welcome and safe here inspite of that. It is pretty cool how hospitable the people are to the missionaries here.

Well that's probably about all that I have right now. I am sure there were tons of other things that I was going to say but then forgot as I was writing this. If i remember them I will get them in a letter or something. Well I love you all and I miss you all. Please take care of yourselves and have a good week! Thank you for all of your support! Love you all,

Con mucho Amor,

Elder Searle

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not the greatest pic but I think he looks really happy

 

I think he looks like he is sweating like crazy. I think it will take some time to get used to the weather!

 

Wondering if this is a pic of his neighbors house or something

 

May or may not be his hmble new home???

 

Fish:)

 

 

 

Sorry, I can't figure out how to rotate this pic.  This is him with his companion, Elder Ortiz from El Salvador :)  I think they will be friends forever.  They just look like they will get along. 

 

 

 

BEST PHONE CALL EVER!!

On Monday, October 8 Maveric left the MTC and headed to Puerto Rico.  His flight left Salt Lake City at 6:00 am.  We did not receive a phone call from Salt Lake and we were a little disappointed.  However, as soon as he got off the plane in Texas we got the call.  Best Call Ever!!!  As soon as I heard his voice I broke down.  At that moment I realized just exactly how much I have missed that boy.  We were able to talk to him for quite a while and it was wonderful.  Dave and I both took the day off work and the girls missed school so we could all talk to him.  It was a blessed day!!!  That is, however,  the only time we heard from him.  There were no more calls.  We tracked his flight online and made sure it landed safely in Puerto Rico.  Whew!!!  The next couple days were tough for us.  We just wanted to know that he was okay and that he found the right people once he arrived.  We received an email from President Alvarado, the mission President, and he told us that Maveric arrived safely and he has already been placed with a companion and they are busy doing the work.  We feel very blessed knowing that he is okay.  The only way we are able to handle this is through prayers and faith.  We believe full heartedly that he is doing the right thing and we are so very proud of him.  But, it definately is hard to have him gone.  I ask my Heavenly Father every day to watch over and protect him and I believe that those prayers are being heard and answered.  Thank you to all of you for your prayers as well.  It truly is appeciated.   I love you all!!!  Monday is his P Day so I am hoping for an email.  I will make sure to let you all know how he is doing.  Also,  I am hoping to get an address so we can start writing to him:)

Last Email from the MTC

Okay, I know it has been way too long since I updated this.  I have included the last email we received before he left the MTC.

Hey everyone!
How is everything going? It sounds like there has been all kinds of excitement there lately! It kind of sounds like the whole Homecoming thing was a little bit ridiculous! But it sounds like Kylie is doing alright with it which is the most important thing. Good job Ky, I am very proud of you and I love you a ton! I am sorry that your homecoming experience wasn't what you wanted it to be. Other than that though it sounds like everyone is doing alright. Thats good! I am so super excited to talk to all of you this Monday! All I can say is my flights better not be messed up timewise or something cus I really want that whole layover in Dallas! haha.
Things have been going good here. I have really enjoyed being a zone leader and I am going to be kind of sad to leave that behind. I have had so many more opportunities to help out new missionaries and help them get over the shock and the hardness of getting here. It has been really really good for me because I have been able to see how I can actually help a real person to learn and to grow instead of just my teacher who is pretending to be someone else! So I have really enjoyed that and I have been really thankful for that! It has been an incredible opportunity and it was definitely worth losing what little free time I had haha.
I am super pumped to get out to Puerto Rico! I don't really feel like I am 100% ready by any means, I still have days where I really struggle with Spanish, but I am super excited and eager to get there! I am definitely going to miss my district from here at the MTC though. I have really been blessed with a good district and I was able to make some really good friends with some of the other Elders. But I am excited to meet all kinds of new people in Puerto Rico. And I am also way excited to be fully immersed in Spanish. Even though I struggle with it pretty badly sometimes I really do love the language and I am way excited that soon i will be somewhere where I do not have much of a choice to speak in English. It is going to be so awesome! I have learned a lot in my time here at the MTC and I have definitely enjoyed it, but I am also definitely ready to move on to the next chapter of my mission! It is pretty crazy to think that I am already done with a twelfth of my mission. The time has really gone by fast, and from what I hear from everyone else, it will go by even faster when I am in the field. Before I know it I am going to be writing my last email from Puerto Rico haha, that is pretty crazy to think about.
Once again thank you for all of the support that you have all given me. I really do appreciate it all so much. It would have been a lot harder to make it through 9 weeks in the MTC without all of your letters, and the packages, and everyone's thoughts and prayers. I can't tell you all how much it means to me. Thank you all so much!
Well my email time is just about up, which means it is time to go and get my clothes out of the dryer and then head back and start packing most of them up! I can't wait til Monday when I get a chance to talk to you! I am really looking forward to it! Hope that everything goes well and that you are all happy healthy and safe! Love you and miss you!
Love,
Elder Searle

Update from Elder Searle

Here is a portion of the email we got today...sounds like things are okay!

This week was pretty much just a normal week here at the MTC. It is getting freezing cold in the mornings now. I sang in the choir again at the devotional this week and it was a lot better than it was last week haha. My knees were still killing me at the end because the seats that they have there are absolutely terrible, but it was definitely a much better experience. Everyone in my District is getting really excited and a little bit nervous to leave. I am definitely way more on the excited side here haha. I got to get off of the MTC campus for a little bit to take one of the elders in my district to the chiropractor and it was awesome! haha. I got to see some real people, and the real world again. It was very refreshing! I can't wait to get to Puerto Rico. Something that I learned this week that I thought was interesting is that the entire island of Puerto Rico, with a population over 1.5 million, has right around the same amount of LDS meetinghouses as Tooele and Grantsville. I thought that was pretty cool haha.

So after this coming Tuesday my District is going to be the oldest District in our zone, which is super weird. It is strange to watch people leave that you have met here. It is crazy how well you can get to know them in just a couple weeks. Once they leave there is a pretty good chance that Elder Astle and I will be called to be the new Zone leaders, so keep your fingers crossed that that doesn't happen haha. That would be a whole lot of work, so I am really rooting for someone else haha.

I am really starting to feel kind of comfortable with Spanish. I can pretty much understand everything that all of the teachers say to each other now in their conversations, and I can actually have pretty good conversations with people too! I am still planning on not understanding hardly anything that anyone says when I get to Puerto Rico, but thats all good haha. We have now learned all of the rules of grammar of the Spanish Language, so at least if people slow down and speak simply I should be able to understand them! I am way excited! It has been a good experience to be here but I am definitely ready to move on haha.

Well that is pretty much all that has been going on with me this past week. I started reading Jesus the Christ in Spanish, which is super hard, and I had to get a new watch because mine started going crazy and the alarm would just go off like 12 times a day, so that was pretty exciting haha. Everyone here is getting excited for Conference, I am way excited that my last sunday here will be conference. Oh and we get to watch the Brigham City Temple dedication this Sunday so that should be good too!

Well I hope you all have a good week! Good luck with everything that you have going on this week! Take care and I'll talk to you soon! I should be getting my travel plans next week! so we will know when for sure then!
Love you and miss you all! Thanks for all of your love and support!
Love,
Elder Searle

Week 4

Hey everybody!!
I can't believe that I have already been in the MTC for almost a month! It is crazy to me. After the first few days, the time really has started to go by way faster here. I am still super busy with everything. I feel like my Spanish is getting a lot better now. I still definitely have a long way to go, but with all of the Spanish that I do know, now I don't have to translate stuff in my head anymore. I can just speak it in Spanish without having to think to much about how it correlates to English! So that is really good. Unfortunately I still don't know all that much Spanish, so when I want to say something more complicated I still struggle and usually butcher it! but oh well haha.
My first week of being District Leader so far has been pretty good. It really isn't all that much different except that now I have some extra leadership training meetings, so I have even less spare time haha. But other than that it has been incredibly unexciting haha.
Last Sunday during our weekly fireside, we got to watch President Monson's birthday celebration. It was Awesome!!! It was just like an hour and a half of some stories from his life and then songs that he likes from Broadway musicals and hymns and stuff. There were two people who were stars in Broadway musicals that each sang two songs (the lady who plays the lead in Phantom of the Opera, and the guy who plays the male lead in Les Miserables), and it was absolutely incredible. And then the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang most of the other songs. It was such a good change of pace to just listen to some awesome music instead of just listening to another person talk to us, not that the talks aren't amazing or anything (cus they are), but it was just nice to have something a little different. It was exactly what I needed to kind of recharge my batteries. And now the entire broadcast is on LDS.org, so whenever I am doing my language work on the computers here, I can listen to it! I have listened to "Bring Him Home" from "Les Miserables", and "You Raise Me Up" about 30 times each since Sunday haha. It really makes the language work much more enjoyable!
I am still learning a lot of stuff every single day. I have been reading in The Book of Mormon and Jesus the Christ for my Personal Study time, and it seems like I find something new that stands out to me every single day. I am actually going to finish the Book of Mormon later today, which will be pretty cool. On the first Sunday that I was here, I watched an Elder Bednar talk called "the Character of Christ", and it was awesome. I wish you could watch it but it was given at the MTC and apparently they don't have those anywhere for people just to watch whenever I guess. But in it he said that one of the best ways to study the scriptures is to go in with one specific question and then read the Book of Mormon cover to cover, and find everywhere in there that you can find an answer to your question. So three weeks ago I started doing that with the same topic that I gave my farewell talk on, "How to find happiness and peace", and it has been awesome! I wish I had done it before I spoke on that because my talk would have been so much better haha! It is crazy how much stuff there is in the scriptures about that topic. I don't think that you can go through more than 2 pages in the copy of the Book of Mormon that I used to do this, without seeing something in orange that I marked as an answer. I have learned more about finding happiness and peace in the last three weeks since I started reading the Book of Mormon, than I had up to now in my entire life! It's good stuff haha. If any of you are having a hard time enjoying reading the scriptures, I would recommend trying this way! It makes it a lot better!
Well other than that stuff, not much new out of the ordinary is happening here. The days definitely all feel pretty much the same, and they all just seem to blend together. But I am doing very well and I can not wait to get out to Puerto Rico and really get started! Oh yeah! I guess they had to evacuate the Dominican Republic MTC because of the storms, so it is probably a really good thing that I ended up staying here in Provo!
Thank you all for all of your support and your love! I really appreciate all of it! I hope that you are all doing well and that everything is going good back at home!
Love and miss you all! Talk to you soon,
Con mucho amor,
Elder Searle

 

 

I thought you would all enjoy reading his latest email:)

A few more pics and a little video....YAY!!!

Here are some more pics from the MTC. I also added a couple short videos so you can meet the Elders in his district. He was called as the new District Leader on Sunday which we think is pretty cool. We are so proud of all he has accomplished so far and we look forward to many many more great things. Enjoy the videos....it is awesome to hear his voice!!!

 

 

 

 

He looks like he is really pondering something:)

 

His district!

 

 

He loves getting packages!  Thank you to everyone that has sent him something!!!

 

 

 

 

I am not sure who made these cookies and sent them.  I don't even know if they were for Mav or for his companon but I think they are super cute!!!

 

 

Words from Mav

Okay, I copied part of the email we got yesterday so you can all hear how he is doing in his own words...enjoy!!

 "Well things have pretty much fallen in to a solid pattern here. The days don't all seem to take forever anymore like they used to, which is good, and really most of them blend together. I do a lot of learning and teaching, and now most of everything we do is in Spanish. Yesterday my district even tried to go a whole day without speaking English. We didn't quite make it, but it was still really helpfull I think. I had a huge headache afterwards, but according to one of my teachers here, that is a good thing haha. Teaching lessons in Spanish is definitely the hardest thing that I have to do, and it doesn't help that my companion still does not really speak Spanish at all, but it is still a good experience, and I think that we are getting better everyday. One of the things that I really like about Spanish is how the Hymns sound. There are so many of them that are way better in Spanish than they are in English. We sing a lot, and I am going to start singing even more, because I am going to join the choir now. Since I am going to be here instead of the Dominican for the rest of the time, I will be here during Conference, so I am going to start going to choir practice just in case the MTC choir gets to sing in conference this year. That would be awesome! I am not really all that bummed out about not going to the D.R. MTC anymore. It sounds like their weather has been pretty rough lately, so its probably a really good thing that I don't have to try and fly there today! Yesterday Elder Park got here, and he is living about 4 rooms away from me! So thats pretty cool! Hopefully we will be able to have some gym time together or something. That would be really fun!
So far this week has been really great except that I have a sinus infection, which isn't all that fun! I actually got sick last week. The day I found out that I wasn't going to the Dominican MTC anymore, I also had a terrible headache, so I was bummed out and my head hurt, and then I had to go have a first lesson with a new "investigator". Let's just say that that was probably the worst lesson that has ever been taught by a missionary in the history of the universe lol. I couldn't focus on speaking Spanish at all, and my companion couldn't speak Spanish, so it was a very very rough lesson haha. Now I think that it is kind of funny, but at the time I was very unhappy about that lol. Luckily yesterday we had our second lesson, and it went about 100 times better! It is crazy to me how much your attitude can effect how effective you are as a teacher. It seems like everytime that I am in the right mindset, I am able to remember all of the Spanish that I need to know to say the stuff that I want to say, but as soon as you start getting negative, it just all goes out the door. It definitely has made me determined to be in the right frame of mind to be a teacher all the time.
I am getting really excited to get out to Puerto Rico and start teaching people there. I feel like I am a pretty good teacher when I am able to speak in English, and my Spanish is definitely getting better every single day, so I can't wait until I am able to teach in Spanish the way that I can teach in English right now. I think I am finally starting to have moments where I am getting there. Last Sunday I randomly got called on to give a 5 minute Sacrament meeting talk in Spanish and it went really well. I was able to make people laugh and still feel like I could connect with them while I was speaking Spanish. Unfortunately that is the only time that has really happened with my Spanish so far, but it was really awesome and I can't wait for that to start happening more and more!
Well I hope that everything is going well for everyone!"

I think he is doing okay.  Some days are better than others obviously but overall he is doing great. 

Here are some pics that he sent this week with the email.

Mav and Elder Astle pointing to Puerto Rico

Hangin out on the Temple grounds on Pday

YAY!!  Elder Wells is in the MTC with Elder Searle.  The arrived on the same day!

Cute leis from somebody...I should do something cute like this

Look how cute these cookies are:)

Okay, we have never seen his hair this short!

Look from up top!

Nice side view!

Haven't heard anything yet about this Elder...

Love this pic of these amazing young men!!!  Apparently it was "red tie day"