"A slot machine with a chihuahua :)"

"Yep, first thing we saw off of the airplane in Vegas."

Me and Elder Hiskey with the new Mexico shirts we bought."

"Cool pic of my nametag on the plane :)"

"Me just about sleeping on the airplane on the way to Vegas."

"The hymnbook Sister Mortensen made for me."

Letter 9-25-2013

Hey!!! Well I'm back!!! Another week gone by! So this whole week has been super super crazy because quite a bit has happened, good, but crazy! But here's a short rundown of what I did last week. So Last Thursday, day after Pday, nothing special except for a got a letter that told me I was going to Vegas the next Tuesday to get my Visa. Saturday also wasn't special. It was another good ole day at the MTC. Sunday was good! Well Sunday's are always good. We had a speaker, don't really remember his background, but his name is Brother Bateman. His talk was really good! So that Sunday was pretty crazy. We found out a LOT of news, and I'll talk about that in the next paragraph. Monday was pretty good, normal, but exciting. And then there was yesterday......Tuesday. We went to Las Vegas to get our Visas, but I'll tell the whole story in a paragraph or two, just trying to get the rundown of the week. And then there's today. At the temple we did initiatories which was really cool!!!
News: So there is a lot of big news regarding our branch/district. So lately we have noticed that no new districts have been coming into our Branch, and so finally on Sunday our brother Russon, from our Branch Presidency told us the news. So I guess eventually they are going to want to get all of the Spanish branches in the Provo MTC into the Mexico MTC, so lately there have been a lot of changes, and so our branch is one that is being transferred to the Mexico MTC. The last day is for our Branch, before it is shut down, is October 14....our departure date, so that means that we are the last district. Weird huh..but what's weirder is that right now we have only two districts in our Branch, and the other district is leaving this coming Monday, and that means that the last two weeks at the MTC our district, only the 6 of us, will be the only district in our Branch, Branch 56. Weird part is that we are a district and a Branch, so every single one of us will have some calling whether it be Zone leaders, or district leaders, or sacrament coordinators, or whatever. Sacraments will also be weird because since there are only 6 of us, and 4 have to take care of the sacrament, there will be only 2 in the seats. Haha, cool and not cool at the same time.
More news: So I guess the MTC president asked our Branch President, President Mortensen, to pick two people to say the closing and opening prayers on Sunday for the fireside with a general authority speaking. Yep......me and Elder Beifuss are the two he picked. So I guess no biggee, just this coming sunday we'll be saying the prayers in front of almost 3,000 missionaries.....yeah I know, a tad bit scared, but I'm actually super excited!!!
Las Vegas: So yep!!! Unexpected but pretty cool, in the mail last Thursday we got an itinerary about traveling to Vegas the next Tuesday, yesterday, to get our Visas. It was a CRAZY day, long and crazy. It started with us waking up at 2:50 am so that we could shower and be at a building on campus at 3:35. From there we took a bus to the frontrunner, which was super fun, the frontrunner is really fun :) But then after the frontrunner we hit the Uta trax, which took us to the airport. When we get to the airport a guy found us and helped us print out our flight tickets, only to find out that the flight was delayed two hours....2 HOURS!!! So we ended up being at the airport for 4 hours, with nothing to do. Yeah I know......so then thankfully our plane did end up leaving at the right time, at 10:30 am, and we got to Vegas at about the same time (since technically we got there at 11:30, but the time difference made the time in Vegas still 10:30). It was the coolest experience! SO MANY people just came up to us and just wanted to know everything!!! Out in the real world, missionaries are famous :) So the plane ride was fast, barely less then an hour, and during that time, even though I wanted to sleep I just learned 30 more words from the flashcards i bought. So then it got time where we got Vegas.....seriously the first thing you see when you get off the plane are slot machines....HOLY COW!!! But it was still cool. The things in Vegas though disgusted me....It was horrible....I didn't know only being in the MTC for 3 weeks would have changed me so much, but it has! So in Vegas, we met a Elder/older guy, who was serving as the man who picked up missionaries weekly for visas. He talked to us for a while, brought us the Del Taco, and brought us the Mexican consulate. That was pretty cool because Everything in the consulate is in Spanish!!! So then we were seriously not in Vegas for very long, because our flight back was at 5:45, and we got the airport at like 4. Me and my companion for the day, Elder Hill (from another district), didn't have seats assigned, so then when we did get seats assigned they were in the front, row 8, and the other missionaries were back at like 24,25ish. We got back the MTC around 9:30 and wanted to get to bed, but just got caught up with writing in journals and what not. But all is well because I'm back here :) So Good news: I got my visa, it's only good for 6 months, but I guess our Mission president will renew that for us.
So that's all the major news, just little other things: We learned a new phrase in spanish that is pretty cool, so whenever you want just spell the word Socks: In Spanish, Eso si que es, which said properly is literaly, in English, S O C K S, and in Spanish it means, It is what is is!!! I love it :) haha, on and also another one, slang to Mexico, Que Padre, which means like cool, or legit!!! I love it here....kinda sad that we'll be the only district, but still loving it.
By the way, the charger was the right one, and thanks for everything else, but especially thanks for the love and support :) On hard days, at the end of the day, getting mail, is sometimes the helping hand that day! Still drinking chocolate milk everyday ;) (that was to Jon) My Spanish is still coming along!!! Days do get hard, but then you stick it through and then you see the hand of God and it changes your mindset all over again!

So I have one challenge, and it will definitely make an impact, you all could do this during Family Home Evening, or really whenever. Go on lds.org and look up the newest mormon messages. There's three parts, like 3 minutes each, and their called the Bread of Life part 1,2, and 3. It is from Cristofferson, and is just amazing! Has changed me :)

La Obra de Dios es mas importante que todas de las obras en el Mundo!

-Elder Loveless

"Me by the cream soda tree (yes, I have my glasses on!)."

"So this tree smells legitly like cream soda. Everyone told us there was one on campus, so we found it! This is me and Elder Hiskey smelling the 'cream soda tree'."

"People love me...I have SO MUCH CANDY."

Elder Loveless and the zone leaders. "These two were probably the 2 most spiritually in tune missionaries ever."

Elder Loveless' zone the day before one of the districts left for Mexico. The "old man" in the middle is the branch president, President Mortensen.

Elder Loveless and Elder Beifuss' Model Pics

Elders Beifuss, Warner, Ellis and Loveless

Elder Loveless and Elder Beifuss at the temple on Sunday for their temple walk.

One of their teachers, Hermana Gibbons. She is not there anymore because she had a baby.

Letter: 9-18-13

Family,

So last week I wasn't able to write as much as I wanted to, because it was my first p-day and we were all just figuring everything out, so today I'll give you every nitty gritty detail! And btw, there is handwritten mail coming your way! (Spanish to Dad)

So here's a rundown more or less of my weekly schedule! Mondays are good, nothing too special on Mondays. Instead of going to the gym for exercise though, we stay back and do whatever we want, which is called personal exercise. Me and elder Ellis from my district usually go running 3ish miles, which is keeping me from not getting too fat from all the food! On Mondays we also have something called TRC, but I'll talk a little bit about that a little more later. Not sure if that was happening back when you were in the MTC dad, but it's awesome! Later we have TALL, which I'll talk about more too, and then the rest is classes and preparation time. Every day, we have 16 hour work days, and there are no breaks. It is work for 16 hours. 

Tuesday is pretty neat because we get a general authority to speak to us. We have had 2 from the seventy come so far. Off the top of my head, I can't remember their names, but they are always amazing! I mean one of the seventy talking to us directly....it's pretty cool! Also, our whole district, all 6 of us, have joined the choir! It is super fun! It is also a nice hour break on Sundays and Tuesdays during our long days. We also go the gym, which is awesome, because we play volleyball every day :) Other than that, Tuesday's are too different then any other day.

Wednesdays...now this is our P.day, our break/preparation day! Every P.day, Wednesday, we get to go to the temple early in the morning and do whatever we want. Today and last week we went and did boys sealing to parents! It is SO amazing! I never knew what the marriage inside the temple would be like, but now I have seen it done for the dead. The man there said the living ordinance of marriage is a little bit different, like an extra sentence or two, but it's super cool! I love being in the temple! It just takes all the stress of the week away!!! Also on P.day we have our hour to email anyone, which we do as our laundry is going. There are computers in the laundry room which is really nice! So a rule in the MTC is that you can write to anyone any day, but only email people on P.day, but our Branch President added his own rules, and that includes only writing letters on P.day as well! Sometimes I question, but then I realize he is a man called of God and that it is for our benefit. We don't have gym time on Wednesdays, but can work out if we want with all our extra free time.

Thursdays aren't too special, they're literally just a normal day at the MTC, not bad of course, but busy and the whole time is filled with classes and what not.

Fridays are also normal, but at we have gym at night! Friday night is the best gym time because we get to go the a field between the temple and the MTC grounds and play soccer :) Man are those some good times!!! Soccer with a bunch of missionaries, oh yeah!!!!

Saturdays are also good, but they are the same as Thursdays, nothing in particular that make them stand out.

Sundays are the big different day, because of the fact that we go to sacrament and also to priesthood meeting! Me, another elder, and one more elder in our zone can play the piano, so last Sunday I got to play the hymns for Sacrament meeting, and I get to play the hymns for Priesthood meeting next Sunday! The Branch President's wife is SO nice, and she got me the Spanish version of the hymn book, spiral bound, with my name on it! It is super great, but yeah! So also on Sunday nights we have a speaker, not usually from the seventy though, just other people that are in the MTC program. And that's a normal week!

So I don't know if my visa is fine yet, one elder in our district is going in tomorrow to get his visa, but the rest of us haven't heard anything yet. It should be fine though because we still have like 4 weeks.

The CCM has been super great so far!!! I feel the food is getting to me though, because it is soooo good and unlimited, so I have refrained from eating so much!!! I surprisingly haven't really gained weight though.....I guess my metabolism is just that cool!!! So about the TALL program, it is pretty much like rosetta stone, but better because it teaches us how to teach lessons in spanish!!! It is really great!!

So cool story time........and it's about the TRC I was talking about. So sometimes here at the CCM I feel that the spirit isn't as strong, because whenever our teachers try to use the spirit for stories and such, our minds are just trying to translate the whole thing so the spirit doesn't work as well. So in a TRC, you and your companion go into a small room and, in a way, home teach a member of the church. So me and Elder Beifuss went in to this lady and had prepared our lesson about the Plan De Salvacion. Within 5 minutes of talking I messed up on a sentence, and was about to correct it, when she stopped me and said,"recuerda. La idioma del espiritu santo es mas importante que el Espanol." (remember, the language of the spirit is more important than the Spanish) That touched me so much!!! From then on in the lesson the spirit directed everything. I felt the spirit more then ever before!!! At the end, all of us on the verge of tears, (the sisters name was sister Applegate) sister Applegate told us," Puedo ver la luz en sus ojos! Ustedes seran finaminal misioneros!" (I can see the light in your eyes. You will be phenominal missionaries.) After the lesson me and Elder biefuss looked at eachother and all we could do was smile!!! We know how it's done now!!! Our Spanish is not great, but we have the universal language of the spirit which is most important thing!!! 

So our investigators aren't real...he is just our teacher, hermano rios. We actually got a new investigator named Pedro, and he is living with his girlfriend and they have 3 kids. Sooooo now we have to teach him about the law of chastity, so we've been praying for days our lesson with him tomorrow goes well!! 

This work is great and I continue to love more and more being here!!! I love the MTC!!! It is definitely going to be sad leaving this place, but it will be OK, we still have 4 weeks here!!! It gets hard, but the fact that the lord loves me and helps me through everything is the best feeling ever!!! You all are always in my prayers, and keep all the missionaries in your prayers, cuz now that we've gotten a little more into it, there are a lot of missionaries that just don't care very much. But it's okay!!

Yo se que El Libro de Mormon es verdarero, y es Dios. Yo se que JesuCristo fue crucifico para nosotros. Yo se que las familias son juntos para siempre. Yo se que Jose Smith fue un profeta de Dios. Yo se que JesuCristo es nuestro salvador. Yo se que Presidente Monson es el profeta verdarero en la tierra ahora, y yo se que mediante la fe en JesuCristo y su Expiacion, algo es possible!

Love you all, and there are letters on their way! (thanks for the Spanish email dad, I'm sending a handwritten letter all in Spanish to you)

-Elder Amormenos

Zac's room at the MTC

Elder Warner's drawing of Elder Loveless

Elder Loveless and Elder Hiskey

Elder Loveless with his companion Elder Beifuss

Sunday temple walk - Zac's district - Beifuss, Loveless, Warner, French, Hiskey, Ellis

Zac's Nametag

"Still can't believe I'm a Missionary"

2nd day at MTC in class "(our 2nd home)"

Letter 9/11/13

Dear Fam,

Okay, so there's a lot to say so far, so hope you all are anxious and excited to know what's been going on :) (No mom I can't look at the blog) So the first day here at the MTC (in Spanish CCM) was just crazy and hectic! Once I left the car, I was led to about 1,010 different places, where I picked up everything I needed and went to the dorms and what not. I really don't remember much from the first day except for the fact that I met my companion and district! So there are 6 elders in our district, (yes elder Hiskey is in our district, he's a pretty funny kid) and we all just get along so well! It's pretty cool because we all are going to Mexico Chihuahua, leaving the same day and everything. My companion, as some of you all know, is Elder Buifuss! He's the district leader, and as his companion I'm kind of the assistant district leader, but it's not too hard because there are only 6 of us. Elder Buifuss is from Santa Barbara California! But all in all, we all love it! It is SO GREAT here!!! To see the Lord bless us day by day! Cool story, a few days ago I pushed a little too hard on our personal workout day, and my muscles were so sore I almost could barely move around. I woke up the next morning still sore, and so I knelt on my knees and said a prayer, asking Heavenly Father to bless me with strength and health. I ended my prayer and I was able to stand and walk without pain. It was insane. My muscles were still a little sore, but then that night as I said another prayer, I woke up the next morning totally fine! No pain at all, even to touch it! I just love the Lord :)

So Spanish has been going fairly well, better then I thought of course! We have one investigator, Victor, and we were able to ask him to get baptized yesterday, and he said yes. It is so hard to teach in Spanish because we have only been able to teach with scripts, so the spirit has not been able to be as pradominent in our lessons. But we have one more lesson with Victor, tomorrow, and we are teaching without script! We prayed before we started to plan for our lesson tomorrow, and oh yeah, we've been blessed! So we're really hoping that our lesson will be lead by the spirit tomorrow!

We are SO SO SO busy here at the CCM, so there's really not much time to think about much things other then our work. In Our district, the Spanish district, I guess missionaries don't get too depressed or sad or anything because we have too much to worry about, and of course we all love the Lord :) But do pray for all the missionaries, because although we may be fine, stress overcomes us, and a few of the missionaries have cracked, because literally at the end of the day our brains are on fire because of home much Spanish was shoved into our brains. I do love the Language though, and I'm happy to be speaking it :) We have learned how to say prayers in spanish and our testimonies in spanish, and of course our lessons!

I've seen a few elders I know, but it's all good because that's not what's important, sharing gospel and bringing others unto Christ is what's important! Oh and here's a little message to Jon, The chocolate milk is AMAZING!!! I have literally have had 2 or more glasses of chocolate milk for every meal the last week!! haha, so yeah! The Food is also so amazing, but I'm pretty sure it's just amazing to fatten us up!!! I did get all the packages so thank all of you that sent packages, I love packages :)

So to end this weeks letter, I would just like to bear my testimony in Spanish:

Yo se que El Libro de Mormon es verdarero. Yo se que Jose Smith es un profeta de Dios. Yo se que Dios nos ama y nos ayuda todo el tiempo. Yo se que mediante la fe en JesuCristo y su Expiacon nosotros ayudemos. Yo amo JesuCristo y Dios, y este testimonio me ayuda a vivir feliz, en el nombre de JesuCristo, Amen.

-Elder Loveless

1st Letter! Yeah!

Driving to the MTC.

Goodbye Elder Loveless, we love you!!

Zac's Host at the MTC.

September 4th, waiting for our turn.

The night before the MTC!

I'm leaving....whoah!!!

Hey everyone, it's Elder Loveless here, just doing one post! I am SO excited to be serving God :) It is going to be amazing! From here on out my family will post my letters on this blog, so check weekly!!! Here's my info. so far:

email: zachary.loveless@myldsmail.net

MTC address:
Elder Zachary Daren Loveless
OCT14 MEX-CHI
2009 N 900 E Unit 126
Provo UT 84602

I love you all :) See you in two!!!

-Elder Loveless