Hello again (December 12, 2007)

This is the second installment of republishing my mission emails. I have abbreviated names for privacy’s sake.

Yes, you are allowed to email me, although we are only allowed to spend thirty minutes logged in (it counts it down), which includes reading and typing.[1]

Um...where to start on this letter? Thank you for the package. I honestly don't know what to do with all that candy. My appetite for sweet things has gone down severely since coming in. I have lost eight pounds between coming in and the last time I weighed myself, which was Monday. My pants are way too big and I'm on my last hole on my new belt, and it's a little loose. Fortunately, my old belt still has plenty of room for me to lose.[2]

As for the extension cord, thanks for that, but we actually resolved the problem.[3] Another elder in our room directed us to another outlet by the mirror, which accomodates (that word doesn't look right--man, I wish they sold dictionaries here)[4] the plug. Upon receiving the cord, I asked my companion if he would like to move it where we thought it would go in the first place. He said we could just leave it where it was, although I think the first place would be more convenient except that's where we put all of our boxes. My companion is the king of packages.

So, we are enjoying our music, although my companion usually turns it on and listens to his music. I haven't even listened to the one from J. yet.[5] By the way, everyone who comes in is very impressed by my speakers.

I wrote to you (I think) that my companion knows countless people here. I have met three people (I neglected to tell you these things last week) I have known. D. B. from our stake and formerly ward, and whom I have known since kindergarten, is one of our zone leaders. E. S., who was in our ward years ago, came in the same day we did and is off to Orlando. I greeted him when I first saw him but I don't really think he remembered me. I've also met someone I met last year at Y Weekend who is going to Budapest. He remembered our discussion about split infinitives.[6]

I have made several purchases at the MTC branch of the BYU bookstore--my first day I got a backpack, flip-flops for the shower, a mini hymnbook, a notebook, and the hymns on CD. The only thing they don't sell are dictionaries. The other night we had a health orientation thingy and the speaker introduced us to amazing health products only sold one place in the entire world--the MTC. One is a special kind of hand sanitizer that kills germs for four hours, while most brands only do two minutes.[7] The other is a super filter water bottle. He said that he tested unfiltered tap water and lake water that went through the bottle filter, and the lake water was less contaminated. I bought both of those items (with a replacement filter).[8]

My time on the computer is drawing to a close. Like last week, I'll also write you a real letter while I'm laundering. That may be complicated today since my comp and I both have haircuts scheduled during our laundry time. But we'll figure it out.

I'm sorry this isn't a very coherent letter. I'll try to redeem myself in my paper letter.

Love,

Elder Richard Mark Melville

P.S. This is my last prep day in the MTC!

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[1] This was in response to my mom’s email asking if she was allowed to email me. I wonder if the MTC still has the thirty-minute limit?

[2] I remember calculating that if I kept losing weight at the same rate I did in the MTC, by the time I came home I would literally be lighter than air. I think I lost so much weight in the MTC because my first week there, I didn’t feel like eating, and then it was fast Sunday; and then once I noticed I had lost weight, I realized I could not eat as much and lose more. Apparently I lived a ridiculously sedentary life before if I could lose ten pounds in three weeks in the MTC.

[3] Referring to the fact that I couldn’t plug in my speakers that my mom’s friend got me when I left.

[4] I did later find a dictionary for sale at the MTC. I still have it.

[5] My mom’s friend also got me a cheap MoTab CD, The Spirit of Christmas. I think she got me these gifts because my mom guilt-tripped her for not coming to my farewell.

[6] For that 2006 Y Weekend, see here.

[7] I did like that hand sanitizer; it was more like a lotion, which I appreciated when my hands were splitting apart in the winter.

[8] ...I was less enthusiastic about the bottles after I used them. You had to suck really hard to get the water up. And I was in America, so I didn’t need filtered water anyway.

Howdy (December 5, 2007)

Note: In honor of ten years of leaving on a mission, I have decided to resurrect this blog by publishing my mission emails. I'm also annotating them with ten years of hindsight. I have abbreviated names--it's one thing to write them in an email, but another to post them on the internet. I'm not sure how this convention will go, but I have to start somewhere. This is my first email, with the subject line "Howdy."

Ma chère famille,

Ici je suis en le MTC, et je suis bien.[1] Today (Wednesday) is our prep day, the only time I am allowed to email/write letters. We are only permitted to write on our prep day.[2] The exception was our first day but we didn't have time. It's just as well because my first day felt like a funeral, but since then everything has been just fine.

We usually stay as a district during classes, meals, studying and such, which I like. My companion, Elder Hi. (also going to Spokane), and I are pretty different (he reminds me a lot of [my cousin] Rayce)[3] but we get along fine. He is from Pleasant Grove and knows tons of people here--even his sister-in-law works here. We share our residence with Elders Ha. and M. (from Vernal and Salt Lake, respectively), who are also going to Spokane. Our district leader, Elder W., and his companion, Elder G., are next door. They are going to Portland. Elder W. is all-around amazing as a district leader.

We obviously do not live near the other members of our district, Sister V. and Sister C. Sister V. is coming to Spokane with us, while Sister C. is going to Portland. We supposedly leave two days earlier which means Sister C. will be solo for a few days.

As for me, I am doing fine. It's amazing how the Lord has already blessed me--little to no homesickness or unkind thoughts. I am excited to be a missionary.

I do realize now that I watched WAY too much TV.[4] Things constantly remind me of the various things I used to watch. The first few days I always thought of <i>The Flying Nun</i>[5] because this is like a convent and the show always showed two sisters walking on the convent grounds like we do. But pretty much anything I've ever watched in my life has entered my thoughts at some point.

Oh, a slightly unfortunate event. While the other elders in my residence brought music, I was the only one to bring a CD player. Each missionary only has one small, inconvenient outlet, and the speakers do not fit in the plug, so we are music-less. But we're out of here in not too long.

Well, I need to get ready to do my laundry. I'll write you a letter while my clothes are being washed.

Love,

Elder Melville

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[1] I loved writing in foreign languages, and I never really got over the fact that I was called to speak English.

[2] They told us we couldn’t say “P-day” in the MTC. They really didn’t like initialisms in the MTC.

[3] In retrospect, I think my cousin is less of a jerk than my companion, but ten years later, maybe I only remember the bad things.

[4] This is true. I was obsessed with 1960s sitcoms.

[5] (1) Our missionary email did not permit us to put things in italics, so I tried to use HTML tags. Obviously they didn’t work. (2) Yes, there really was a TV show about a flying nun.

March 14-19, 2016

I have a few extra moments to actually update this thing, so I'm going to return to the tradition of returning to last year's holiday. (Just this time, though. Don't expect more regular posts.)

Monday, March 14. I went to Kneaders for lunch, and I think I had a mint chocolate cupcake. I went to FHE, and Bishop Allen did a presentation with a March Madness theme. Bishop said he wanted to find this meme with a basketball theme but couldn't find one.

Brother Bailey and his children sat in front of me, and his older daughter kept kissing their baby. I leaned up and said, "You look like you're a really good sister," and she said, "I am." On the way home from FHE, I really considered stopping at Village Inn to get a mint pie for Pi Day (since I only eat green pies at that time of year), but I decided against it because it wouldn't be good for my family. I think my niece was annoyed that I didn't. I wrote in my journal:
"Today I went to Kneaders for lunch because I threw away the old sandwiches I had packed. It was rainy and snowy today. Home evening was bracketology by Bishop Allen. Brother Bailey's daughter was kissing their baby; I told her, 'You look like a really great big sister,' and she said, 'I am.' I painted more of my wooden shamrock tonight. I considered buying a mint pie, but I didn't feel like it...."

Tuesday, March 15. I used an informally published book called Ship Brooklyn Saints for the research described in my journal: 
"It was rainy and snowy today. I did some Chauncey West bios (Quartus Sparks and Orrin Smith) when I needed a break. I went to central hub institute for the last time, since we'll probably use a different building next time. Tonight I finished painting my shamrock. Now to let it dry."

Wednesday, March 16. I was able to test out my new trail running shoes on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, and it was also the first time I did a trail run with my Fitbit. I was surprised how fast I was on that trail (since the first part of it is flat, and I only had time for a short run). That night I watched Darby O'Gill and the Little People. I wrote in my journal:
"Tonight I ran two miles on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail for the first time since November! I went slower going downhill. It was my first time with my trail running shoes and my Fitbit. Tonight I watched Darby O'Gill."

Thursday, March 17. I wore my green pants, white shirt, orange belt, green glasses, and green socks to work. I stopped at a gas station on Beck Street and went inside the convenience store to see if they had sweetened condensed milk. They didn't, and I considered buying a king-size Lucky Charms bar, but I didn't. During the lunch hour, several employees were playing Irish music in a conference room, so many of us went down to listen. The Darowskis (whom I hadn't really met yet) commented on how much I got into it. Jenny Reeder sat next to Charlotte Terry and brought her laptop to work. Most of the music was instrumental, but Korben McBride sang "Danny Boy," and I didn't get why everyone was so enamored before he sang it (I don't get why it's so popular). After work, I stopped at Neighbor's Market to get sweetened condensed milk. I changed into my green shoes and "Irishish" shirt to go to tutoring. When I showed up at Camille's house, she said her boss had the same (or a similar) shirt. Doug and Ellie also came for tutoring, and on the way to tutoring, Ellie pointed out that the sign on the freeway had a holiday theme: "A designated driver is your lucky charm." I think I helped out a student in the separate computer room, and when I went back in, Camille wasn't riding home with us, and in the car Doug and Ellie were talking about how awkward it was, because apparently Camille was really mad at Doug. Doug said he wondered where I had gone, because he didn't see all my green. I went home and made avocado milkshakes (out of avocado, milk, sweetened condensed milk, and ice) and went downstairs to watch The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold. I wrote in my journal:
"Everyone liked my shamrock tie, green pants, and green glasses. During lunch hour, I attended a department Irish music concert. When I came home, I made Hawaiian Haystacks with green rice. Then I went to tutoring and helped Myles with vocab. When I came home (Camille didn't ride with us because she was mad at Doug), I made avocado shakes, using the sweetened condensed milk I got from Neighbor's Market on my way home from work. Then I watched The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold." 

Friday, March 18. After work, I drove to Wild Rose Park for my first-ever Fitbit trial on my favorite (at the time) trail. I did both the Wild Rose and Chukar Loops, 2.5 miles, which was a little less than I had expected. When I got home, our old neighbors, the Reeds, were visiting. They talked about lots of things: they were freaked out by the rattlesnake in our window, but Randy said it was a little less scary because of its "cowboy" hat (my Mom said it was a St. Patrick's Day hat, so that would be coming down). They talked about their son-in-law who would jump on their bed between them. They talked about their spoiled grandchild, and they attributed her behavior to not being spanked. They said she went to Olive Garden with her aunt, Nicole, and expected to get her own serving of something, while Nicole insisted they share it. They talked about how their son bought a house before he got a job and then got a job really far from their house. We talked about how four YSA wards meet in my church building. They talked about the Peterson family in the neighborhood, the wife of which had early-onset Alzheimer's or something. The Reeds talked about how sad it was, that they were at a funeral or something and she stared at the floor the whole time. Our cat, Jenny, started meowing because she wanted outside, so Rosa started meowing, and Jenny came up to her foot to be "petted," and Rosa tried to get her to go away. I wrote in my journal:
"Today I went to Nauvoo Cafe for lunch (for carrot cake, of course). When I came home, I drove to the Wild Rose and Chukar Loops and ran them with my new shoes and my Fitbit. And when I got home, Randy and Rosa Reed were visiting. I haven't seen them in a decade."

Saturday, March 19. I ran up to Wild Rose again, and I even went on the lower portion of the trail that had always been closed. It was really muddy, and part of the trail had me going through overgrown branches, right below the North Salt Lake landslide. I wasn't impressed with that portion of the trail, because it was surrounded by houses, muddy, steep, and full of litter. I had to take my shoes off outside when I got home because of all the mud. Then I went with my mom to pick up Allie, and as we were driving down 500 South, my mom was talking about what she could make for Easter dessert, either carrot cake or a cake like my Grandma Judy used to make, with jelly beans and colored coconut on top. I said I preferred carrot cake, because in my treat categories, that's category 1, whereas a decorated cake is only category 3. We went to At Home because I wanted an Easter decoration. I thought about an egg tree, but I got a little fake sugar egg. That night, we went to a musical performance, The Lamb of God, which was interdenominational, and my grandparents joined us. One of the prayers, from a woman preacher of another religion, prayed to God as "Father and Mother," which was interesting. We looked at some of the paintings on display, and we were a bit underwhelmed by the performance. After we went home, I pulled out the box of Easter decorations to put up. While I was decorating, I randomly had the laughable Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons rendition of "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" pop in my head, and I told my mom about how it had their signature style: "You better watch out, you better not cry-y bay-ay-by," and my mom laughed at the way I sang. I had to pull it up on my phone to play, even though it was out of season, since it so randomly popped into my head.
I decided that I would only put up what decorations I could get up that night before 9, since Easter was early that year. I wrote in my journal:
"This morning I ran up to Wild Rose, and I also ran on the portion of the trail near the landslide, which has always been closed. I went six miles and climbed 1,200 feet. Then this afternoon we went to At Home and Smith's Marketplace. Then Mom and I met G'ma and G'pa at a musical production of The Lamb of God. It was OK."