Christmas Call Notes, 2010

Mom and Dad had some trouble getting a hold of Tyler right at 12:00 because they had the wrong area code for Tyler’s area. They finally got through on the calling card about 12:05. They starting recording the phone call a few minutes in for Jessie, Kevin and Breanna to hear later. They were up at the cabin for Christmas and had Chad with them.

They just asked Tyler what the area he was in is like…

T: Little town areas, little communities so we go around to the little communities

Is it a new area?

We opened the sector there was no work done here at all and there are no members here.

So is it hard?

It was pretty tough but it was a lot of fun. Like I’m having so much fun in this last place. A lot has changed and we have worked our buts off.

So the people that you spent Christmas with, are they members?

Yes well not all of them but they are new members and they just moved into our ward from another sector. They are really cool in fact Sister Sanchez she was really worried that she kept thinking about her kid who is 15 years old and will be leaving on a mission and she was like Oh I hope your parents are worried that you will be alright during Christmas and so she did all these things for us and cooked dinner and everything and she was like crying at the end. She was so sad that we were so far away from home. They are really cool.

That makes us feel good that someone was taking care of you.

Right so I said that I would tell my parents that we are good.

Well tell them thank you very much.

Yeah I got a lot of cool ties and everything.

And you have a new companion now too?

Yeah the new elder, its my second time training so that’s cool.

Where is he from?

Logan, Utah

Oh really that’s where we lived.

Did we live there really?

Well you didn’t but Jessie was born there. Dad –Utah State is where I graduated.

Oh he goes to Utah State.

Chad’s here. Chad- Hi Tyler

Whoa (Tyler was surprised at how deep Chad’s voice was..), hows is going?

Its going good.

That’s good. How is football going?

It’s good. It’s over right now

Did you guys win state?

Oh yeah.
Who did you play again?

Mountain Ridge I think

So Hamilton is doing pretty good in football this year?

M: We didn’t have a lot of competition this year because the top teams lost early in the competition so we ended up playing kind of easy teams so we just kindof blew everyone away. It wasn’t very competitive.

Well that’s alright.

Jessie, Kevin and Breanna are driving here right now and we are trying to get ahold of them but they are in a bad area so they just wanted to make sure I told you Merry Christmas from them and they love you and everything.

Tyler - Ok that’s cool. Its alright. I know that they want to be there.

Mom- We are still trying to call them. We are trying to hook up with them but they are not in a good area.

Tyler- Right
Mom- But we are recording it so they can listen to it. And we are excited to see Lexi too

Tyler- Right me too. That’s very cool that I have a niece.

Dad- Yeah you are an uncle.
Mom- Well you sound awesome. Everyone asks about you all the time.

Tyler- Really? They haven’t forgotten about me yet?

Mom- No, in fact the Scotts that you hometaught. They sent you money again.

Tyler- ah man

Mom- I’ll put that into your account, so if you want to get something you can. You need to write another note to them

Tyler- I’ll write an email. How are they doing?

Dad- They are doing well. They always ask about you.

I forgot to tell you I had to take out money for the bike. We had to buy some things. I haven’t bought anything for a long time. They are going to reimburse me.

Mom- that’s fine. I’ll check it. You did get the work out thing for Christmas right?

Tyler- Yeah, it’s so cool. I’m into working out right now.

Mom- I love the last pictures you sent. Send as many pictures as you can. It makes it easier for us to imagine you there.

Ty- I’m taking a lot more pictures now. Especially during the Christmas time. I didn’t really take many pictures before.

Mom- that’s good. There are a couple things I want to ask you. I don’t know if we can, but have you thought more about us coming to get you?

Tyler- Yes! I want you to come.

Mom- we’ll figure it out. We’re not sure if we can, but we want to.

Ty- I haven’t heard anything bad about coming down. If you can’t financially, then it’s totally fine.

Mom- we’ll need to get tickets soon because it will be a better price.

Tyler- there’s some really cool places that I’d like to take you to. And, there’s some great families I’d like you to meet. Oh! I’ve got to tell you about something. This last Monday, I helped another elder that opened the sector I was already in. They put me with him for the day. Both of us were trained. I went and visited this family. They look so good. He just got the Melchizedek priesthood. They are taking temple classes.

Is that the one you can maybe go through the temple with?

Yeah, that’s the last one I can maybe be there for when they go through because of the time frame.

Is there anyone else that you are teaching now that is looking good?

Yeah.. and no. We are doing well. But, we are starting from zero. I feel bad because I trained another elder, I wanted to have a baptism with him here.

M: How were those rabies shots?

D: Yeah, what was that all about?

T: Did I tell you about the other time I got bit? The first time, there was this dog, nasty looking. It bit me in the back of the leg. It was just a scratch. But, if blood comes out, you have to get shots. So, I went in and got some. It was a series of 5 shots. It wasn’t too bad. I got shot another bite. My garments protected me! I have a garment story. You always look for those stories. I had never had one before, but now I do! Dogs don’t like you here. We get bit a lot.

That’s cool. Did you get our Christmas bard?

I haven’t gotten anything else. You have not sent me many letters, just so you know!! It’s alright. I hear from you Mom every week. Grandma and Grandpa Sheldon write. They are doing really great. They are like baptizing people! That’s really cool. It’s alright though. It’s just funny. Don’t worry about it. It’s just a joke. Once you hit your year mark, your letters stop. That’s exactly what happened to me. I’m actually perfectly fine with the emails. I feel bad because I never write back. I feel fine with not getting letters because I don’t write back.

Yeah those little short emails are hard, but I understand. We’re looking forward to a huge report when you get back.

Yeah, I’ll start making a list of the things I’ll tell you.

One other thing I need to talk to you about. You don’t need to decide, but just start thinking. I just need to know what your preference will be for school. You need to be accepted first. Just think about what you first choice would be.

I would rather go to BYU-Provo. Idaho is far away.

Well, Breanna is there. She’s having a blast.

There’s nothing to do up there!

She finds lots to do. She’s having a great time. But, I understand what you are saying

If I go there, I’d want to pick up snowboarding. I’ve done it before. It’s not hard. I could take her and teach her.

Okay, Well when I email you if you get in, we’ll have to start talking about classes.

Well, just know that I’d like to start going into Electrical Engineering. Something computer related too.

Dad-EE degrees are mostly combined now with computer science.

Tell us more about.. you.

Uh…

What are some things you do on your off day?

Um, we go, I don’t know. We went and played futbol a lot in Santiago. Here in Los Andes it’s all really spaced out. We can’t get together much. We went on a bike ride- 2 hours. I just about killed my companion. This is his first week in the mission and I woke him up early and took him on a huge bike ride. We go to this hill right next to us. Our sector is right by these hills. I run up them everyday. I like to be active now.

Is it nice to be out of gang-ville?

Game world?

Like where you were.. Were it was kind of violent.

Uh. I don’t know. I don’t understand very much.

Is it nice to be out of the city?

OHHh.. the GANG world?? I see. It’s like really calm here. It’s almost boring. I went form the most dangerous to the sector that there are little towns. It’s like the complete opposite. I don’t have to worry about gun shots, drugs, arrows in the streets. It was actually kind of fun!

I’m sure it was exciting for you, but not so much for us.

Right, right. It’s cool here. It’s great. There all country people. They are nicer. They’ll stop and talk to you. It’s easier to train here. They won’t swear at you in English.. stuff they don’t understand

Do you get to the mission home now?

I do a lot. Because I’m training. We go in a lot for meetings that we have to be there for. It’s a long ways away. But we were there for the Christmas party. It was a lot of fun. It was a dinner for the whole mission. I got to see a lot of my old companions.

Do they have zone conferences and mission conferences?

They have something called a zone class. You have a little mtg with the zone and with the district. They don’t have mission conf. anymore. We used to every month. It’s now on a 3 month period. Interviews are every 3 months instead of every change. It’s so the President doesn’t go crazy with mtgs and can focus on the missionaries.

That’s good. It reminds me of the new handbook. Mtgs are cut back so you can focus on the individuals.

It’s all about just having the spirit now. It’s great. It’s all geared towards that. The meetings, everything. Do you have any other questions?

We wrote down some, but we’ve already asked them… ha.

Is it hard to speak in English? You sound fluent in Spanish.

I’m actually doing a good job right now. The last change, I was with a person who needed a lot of English. He didn’t know Spanish. I was speaking a lot of English. My companion was having a hard time. They don’t understand anything. I had to speak quite a bit of English. I had a comp that was native for 4 ½ months. Now, I’ve had two companions right out the states. I’ve had more practice with only Spanish now. My new companion, Elder Rhodes. He’s the coolest guy I’ve ever met. He speaks Spanish really well. It’s true that he’s so good. He’s saying its not.

Where did he learn it?

I don’t know! He’s just really cool. He must have actually payed attention in Spanish Class.

Well, Chad got an A in Spanish, so you can talk when you get back.

Right, I remember those Spanish classes. We’ll see how that goes. It’s two different things.

He’s doing really well. He’s taking honors and got straight a’s.

He’s a stud! It’s weird. Chad, you’ve changed a lot. It’s all really cool. I remember getting your last pic. Mom said you were 15. I’ve been telling everyone you were 13!! You’re 15!! No way.. I thought you were 13 for a long time.

Yeah, we went out yesterday and shot the guns.

Have you gone hunting yet

We haven’t drawn since you left. We are going to put in for bow hunting.

I want to go when I get back

Chad was really excited because when you get home, he’ll be able to get his permit. You’ll be 21 so you can teach him

That’s going to scare me out of my mind, but I can do that! I haven’t driven a car for a long time. So, we’ll see how that goes.

Oh, well maybe we won’t do that!

No, it will be fun. I’ll teach you how to drive on the other side of the road like they do here and everything! I saw a few pictures that you’re using my wake board…. Hm..

Oh, you weren’t supposed to see that!

Oh, right..

Well, we really haven’t been much. Only once this last year. Chad with football, we can’t leave a lot. We only went one week the entire year. I keep trying to tell them into selling the boat..
NO! I still want to go when I get back

We’re going to plan a trip when you get back before college. You’ll go just before and just after. Chad tried Dads, but it didn’t fit, so he used yours, sorry.

You guys are doing well! I saw the pictures.

Yeah, Chad actually clears the wake now once or twice during a run. He does really well. Not quite to your level. Dad and I, we’re having knee and hip problems so we don’t go very much anymore
-we’re on the down side now.

………………… (Spanish Speaking..) Oh, sorry I was speaking in Spanish..

What?

(laughing). You guys haven’t done very much?

Yeah, we haven’t been going very much. We like watching you kids.

I heard that dad lost a little bit of weight.

Yeah, he looks great! I’ll have another 30 off when you get home. He looks good.
Awesome! I’m planning on coming home skinny too.

Breanna is looking so old, college girl too.

Everyone is really different! Jessie’s got a family, Chad’s different, Breanna’s in college. Weird! Everything’s changed. I haven’t heard about anyone else. How’s everyone doing?

Everyone’s really good. There’s not much new news.

I haven’t kept in contact with many people. It’s hard. There are a lot of different distractions, so I don’t talk to many people.

You’ll be surprised with everyone growing up and moving in.
Dad- btw we got our final on the cabin. It’s basically done.

Yes! You’ve got to send pictures!! I haven’t seen them with furniture, since the first ones you sent in the beginning.

You guys did a great job. It looks really good. We’ll send some for sure.

You say it’s good because you don’t know the things I messed up on.

Just don’t look too close.. haha. It’s good to enjoy it after all that hard work. Dad talks a lot about all the time you spent up here.

That’s cool. I loved all the time working on the cabin. I’ve actually used a lot of the skills here on the mission that I learned building the cabin. Like, service projects. It’s just a little heads up for Chad. There are skills you’d like to be able to know. It’ll serve you.

He does a lot of football. He can still help your dad.

You’ve got 10 minutes. I need to share you missionary experiences. Is there anything you’d like me to share? Being ward mission leader, I need to be sharing those.

Well, the only thing I’d like to tell you is the mission, you think of knocking doors, pamphlets. That’s not the mission. It’s about the members. You need a ward that’s willing to work. People that are willing to invite people and be a good help and give references. Everything goes better. The missionaries will love you and help you. The biggest experience I can give you.. well, the biggest thing has come from the members. The biggest differences have come from references from the members. No contacts or things have gotten me baptisms. It’s all the ward members. It’s cool your ward mission leader. I want to do that when I come back. It’s fun! You just need to get the members excited. Have the missionaries pass through the houses. Give them spiritual experiences. Challenge them and then follow through, verify. Help them feel the spirit. That gets them going. That’s just things that I’ve learned.

Dads trying. It’s hard when people aren’t excited about it. It’s hard when it’s an uphill battle all the time.

Well, that’s missionary work! It’s always uphill battle.

Good point!

You’re always fighting with members. Trying to get them to work. It’s the most satisfying thing in the world. Help other recognize the commandment of doing missionary work and how they are not going to get in the celestial kingdom if they don’t do it. Let it weigh on their souls so they are compelled to share the gospel, then they feel the joy of it and they never want to stop. Some of the happiest members I know are the ones that are always sharing the gospel and inviting others to church and getting references to the missionaries. You as our family can be like the example for the ward. You go to get out there and start inviting the neighbors

I agree. I can tell the ones that are out there on a regular basis. They are happy and keep doing it because they want to keep doing it.

As far as cool experiences… it’s hard to think of good ones. As I look back, it’s all in one. It’s hard to pick something out. But, the biggest experiences I’ve had are working with people that were inactive and then when they return.. they come with their family. When they come back and get baptized with their family. Just seeing the contrast in their life and the joy they have. They never want to go inactive. It’s darkness when you are out of the church. As members, you are in the light. You feel the spirit all the time. It’s not strong all the time. Some houses, you go in, it’s so dark. There’s an absence of the spirit. When you walk in, sometimes they just start crying. That’s my favorite thing.

That’s great. Dads been working with some. It’s been neat to see them come back.

That’s great! Just support them. Invite them over, call, and never judge. People get offended really easily. The biggest thing here in Chile, there’s a problem with pride issues. I’ve learned the importance of being humble as a member.

It’s a problem everywhere. Definitely universal.

So, that’s what I’ve learned.

Those are great things.

Has there been any cool games come out???

Chad- Yeah! There’s the Call of Duty games, 3 new ones.

Wow.. They just want money.. Are there other cool.. things?

The Madden games are really good now. Metal of Honor. It competes well with Call of Duty.

Did they ever come out with Assassins Creed 2?

Yes, a 2nd one. And one I’m hopefully getting for Christmas tomorrow.

Wait, tomorrow? Christmas was today!

Not for our family.. We’re waiting for the kids to get here.

They open Presents here in Chile as 12 in the night. So everyone is sleeping here now. Is it snowing there now?

No.. it’s sunny and nice. It’s warmer than normal here right now. It’s 50 degrees.

Wow, it’s almost as warm there as it is here.

We don’t have any snow here. It’s good for the kids driving, but we wanted some snow. Btw, Chad is a dead on shot. He can outshoot me. He is dead on.

Wow! I’m surprised!

Mom- I shot guns too! I actually hit some things too.

Tyler- I’m so excited for when I can go shooting again.

Dad- that’s what’s nice about here. You can go about a mile away just out in the woods. We had a huge buck in our yard yesterday. It had huge antlers.

Wow, that’s so cool. I bet your trigger fingers were itching… Okay. Like 3 minutes.

Is there anything else you need to know? Everybody’s just doing their own thing!

T: How’s the ward?

D: They’re great. There’s a bunch of boys coming up that will be serving a mission. Remember the Platts in the MTC? They’re back now!

T: You know you’re old in the mission when the senior missionaries are back in the home.

M: I’m glad you’re such a good example to your brother.

T: right..

M: Though, I found out about some things… your secrets are coming out. Like car surfing!

T: Ah, man. I only did that like once! Hey, how my car?

M: It needs some work. We might let Breanna take it to school, but when you get home it will be yours. She doesn’t have a car. She drove yours while you’ve been gone. It still drives. It just has some quirks.

T: Alright, I gotta go.

M, D: we’re proud of you! You’re doing a great job!! Love you. Talk to you later.

T: Chau! Bye! Love you.

The biggest difference we noticed from the last call was how relaxed and confident he sounded. Mom and Dad felt like he seemed at home. It seemed that he was a little more willing to talk about his next phase, coming home. Whereas last time he wanted nothing to do with talking about home. He is doing really well. We can tell how happy he is. He tells us often how he doesn’t want to leave. You can tell he has the Spirit and is completely immersed in the work he is doing. He loves the people of Chile. We loved talking to him.