My Amazing Family!
I can´t tell you how amazing of a gift it was to be able to talk to you guys for 4 hours on the computer. I´m not sure if I was really allowed to, but I was just following my companion. Haha, just like Ryley and Dad said.. ¨Just go with it¨ Of course, I know the situations where I can´t. =) It was sooo nice to see all of your smiling faces and hear all of your loving familiar voices. I honestly couldn´t have asked for a better Christmas being so far away from home. I couldn´t believe that Ryley and Mandi are having another baby! I´m sorry if I didn´t stay on that subject long enough, it´s just so strange being away and having things change. Tell them that I¨M SOOO HAPPY FOR THEM. I will pray about them and the new baby that everything will go perfect. Last night after I hung up the phone I was a little down. We walked back to our house and I couldn´t stop thinking about you guys. I fell asleep and had dreams about being home. I woke up and remembered that you said that in my calendar I needed to read the 24th day. I sprinted into the living room early in the morning (Probably about 2 a.m. your time =) and opened up the letter. Mom, I honestly can´t tell you how many tears ran down my cheeks when I read it. It hit me hard, but after a couple minutes I sat back and really thought about the letter. I felt a warm peace come over me and I felt comfort. I went back into the room and fell asleep until 6;30 this morning. Thank you so much. I honestly couldn´t have a better family and I would do anything for you guys. Including serving this mission. I do have my down times, but I´m always lifted up. I hope I can change into the missionary I want to be. A missionary like Dad and Ryley. I hope I can touch the lives of everyone around me here and can be a useful instrument in the hands of our heavenly father. I will do my best. I honestly can´t tell you how excited I am to be able to talk to you on Mothers Day. I´m just going to focus on the work so time will go faster so I can get their sooner. Haha, anyways. I don´t have any more stories that I can share other than the ones I shared last night. So I´m just going to type until we are finished. Well, I hope that everything is going good at home. The house looked AMAZING when you took me for a walk last night. keep up the good work, Mom. =) Are you guys having any plans for other projects this summer? Do Ry and Mand plan on coming home this summer to stay with you guys for a few weeks until Mand has the baby? I don´t like the random changes thing, so if you could let me know about that kind of stuff it would be great. Hahaha. How about Jess, does she plan on doing track this year? It´s her last year to do it! What about Kass? What´s Cam plan on doing this upcoming year. Aydan goes to school doesn´t he? All and all, I love hearing about home. It reminds me that it´s there and it still will be when I get back.. Haha. I wrote Skylar a letter today and am sending it over to the secretaries with my friend Elder Figueroa. His companion is getting changed this week, so hopefully my letter gets to him. I send a pretty neat picture with it that I will attach in the next e-mail. I have so many pictures I need to send 2 e-mails to you guys today! Haha, I hope you guys like them. I thought they were pretty neat. Try to pick out our Christmas traditions in some of the photos. Like the cinnamon rolls and chocolate milk. Or me opening my presents in my pajamas early in the morning. Haha, I´ll probably carry those traditions for the rest of my life. You guys have been such an amazing family and I´m so proud to say that I´m a Poulsen. You are the most wonderful people in my life and I pray for you constantly. Thanks so much for everything, including the no bake cookies recipe. I´ll make some this week and have pictures next week. You guys have an amazing week and I´ll try to come up with some fun stories and pictures for my next e-mail. Have and amazing week my wonderful family! I LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH! HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR! Just think, on the 1st you can say ¨Danny comes home next year.¨=) Again, I LOVE YOU GUYS! I MISS YOU!!!
Love,
Elder Poulsen
Saturday, December 31, 2011
December 19, 2011
Hello Family!
Well, this week has flown by so quick. On Tuesday we went to the Temple with 3 of the zones in our mission and we had a blast. First, we went through an endowment session in the morning and then after we ate in the temple and went to the church for our skits. They were all way good and I got those 3 packages! I have a couple pictures I took with the packages posted for you. Don´t worry, I hid them in my closet and I promised I wouldn´t open them until Christmas. All of my companions say I´m spoiled. Hahaha. This week every missionary in our district had a Christmas party for their ward and since my companion is the district leader we went to every single one to talk to the investigators that showed up. We ate sooo much food. I think my ward party was the most different. All of the other wards had normal food like spaghetti, rolls, mashed potatoes, fruit salad. My ward had carnitas. This is when they cut up an entire pig, throw all of the parts into a massive steam pot like thing, and then add all of the spices and what not. It cooks for 3 hours and then they pull out the parts, cut them up and you stuff in between a tortilla and eat it. My bishop chose what parts he wanted me to eat. Of course he was creative and I don´t really want to tell you what parts I ate. But you should be able to tell from the picture I attached.=) We also took a picture with Santa Claus at the ward party and I attached a photo of that too. Haha.. Well, this week I´ve been on divisions with just about every missionary in my district. Elder Figueroa, Elder Arellanes, Elder Kleinhenz, Elder Carrion, and for the past two days I have been with Elder LeJeune. They are all such awesome guys and I can´t believe we have our next changes meeting on the 27th! That means that I could get switched companions or moved to a new area. I won´t be the new missionary anymore! Haha, but this week has been fun. One day I walked like 12 miles with Elder Figueroa. It took like 5 hours. We have a couple pictures of the beautiful scenery of Mexico for you guys. =) Then Elder Kleinhenz and I did some work in my area and we made pancakes the size of our plates. We didn´t have a spatula, so now I now how to flip a pancake in a frying pan. I´m pretty happy about that. I have a new favorite drink. It´s called JUMEX Coco Piña, and it´s delicious. I have a pretty sick picture of a massive dust devil that Elder Kleinhenz and I came across. Along with other goofy photos. I get sketched out with some of the traditions here. For example, the ladies greet people with kisses on the cheeks. I can´t tell you how many times I´ve had to shun it. Haha, the worst part is only some do. So when you shake one of their hands you never know when they are going to pull you in. I played in my new soccer shoes today also, and I was very happy. Consider that a Christmas gift from you guys as well. THANK YOU! I love the pictures of you guys in Salt Lake. Was that at the zoo? I am pretty sure that we are going to skype you guys from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Mexico Time. Haha, I have your guys information so I´ll just add you. Just make sure you are on so you can recieve my friend request! If not I´ll just end up calling you guys. :) Well, it´s time I need to write my president, so I´ll talk to you guys on Sunday!! I´m so excited! I love you guys sooo much! Have a great week filled with Christmas and know that I´m thinking about you. Tell everyone that I say Feliz Navidad!! LOOVVVEEE YOOOUUU!!!!
Amor,
Elder Poulsen
Well, this week has flown by so quick. On Tuesday we went to the Temple with 3 of the zones in our mission and we had a blast. First, we went through an endowment session in the morning and then after we ate in the temple and went to the church for our skits. They were all way good and I got those 3 packages! I have a couple pictures I took with the packages posted for you. Don´t worry, I hid them in my closet and I promised I wouldn´t open them until Christmas. All of my companions say I´m spoiled. Hahaha. This week every missionary in our district had a Christmas party for their ward and since my companion is the district leader we went to every single one to talk to the investigators that showed up. We ate sooo much food. I think my ward party was the most different. All of the other wards had normal food like spaghetti, rolls, mashed potatoes, fruit salad. My ward had carnitas. This is when they cut up an entire pig, throw all of the parts into a massive steam pot like thing, and then add all of the spices and what not. It cooks for 3 hours and then they pull out the parts, cut them up and you stuff in between a tortilla and eat it. My bishop chose what parts he wanted me to eat. Of course he was creative and I don´t really want to tell you what parts I ate. But you should be able to tell from the picture I attached.=) We also took a picture with Santa Claus at the ward party and I attached a photo of that too. Haha.. Well, this week I´ve been on divisions with just about every missionary in my district. Elder Figueroa, Elder Arellanes, Elder Kleinhenz, Elder Carrion, and for the past two days I have been with Elder LeJeune. They are all such awesome guys and I can´t believe we have our next changes meeting on the 27th! That means that I could get switched companions or moved to a new area. I won´t be the new missionary anymore! Haha, but this week has been fun. One day I walked like 12 miles with Elder Figueroa. It took like 5 hours. We have a couple pictures of the beautiful scenery of Mexico for you guys. =) Then Elder Kleinhenz and I did some work in my area and we made pancakes the size of our plates. We didn´t have a spatula, so now I now how to flip a pancake in a frying pan. I´m pretty happy about that. I have a new favorite drink. It´s called JUMEX Coco Piña, and it´s delicious. I have a pretty sick picture of a massive dust devil that Elder Kleinhenz and I came across. Along with other goofy photos. I get sketched out with some of the traditions here. For example, the ladies greet people with kisses on the cheeks. I can´t tell you how many times I´ve had to shun it. Haha, the worst part is only some do. So when you shake one of their hands you never know when they are going to pull you in. I played in my new soccer shoes today also, and I was very happy. Consider that a Christmas gift from you guys as well. THANK YOU! I love the pictures of you guys in Salt Lake. Was that at the zoo? I am pretty sure that we are going to skype you guys from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Mexico Time. Haha, I have your guys information so I´ll just add you. Just make sure you are on so you can recieve my friend request! If not I´ll just end up calling you guys. :) Well, it´s time I need to write my president, so I´ll talk to you guys on Sunday!! I´m so excited! I love you guys sooo much! Have a great week filled with Christmas and know that I´m thinking about you. Tell everyone that I say Feliz Navidad!! LOOVVVEEE YOOOUUU!!!!
Amor,
Elder Poulsen
December 5, 2011
Well, Family..
I can´t tell you how happy I was to read all of your e-mails and to hear how you are all doing good in this wonderful christmas season. I was so happy to get that picture that you sent me and I´m going to be printing it out and hanging it above my desk. =) I´m sad that I missed the games of apples to apples and the other fun things that you guys did, but I´ll be back in less than 2 years. Tell Dad to tell everyone at the mine that I say ¨hey¨. Mom, I have good news. =) Jess, don´t stress about your senior year. Just do your best and have fun. Tell Kass to keep up the good work and I miss her. Tell Cam that I´m praying for her to do good in her 1st chair position. Tell Ayd that everytime I see little kids here I think of him. Grandpa Poulsen, I think about you a lot and hope you´re taking it easy. =) Grandma and Grandpa Beckwith, I miss you guys and wish you could see this place. Ry, Mand, and Log I pray for you guys all the time as well. Tell Log that I´m praying that the ¨back-son¨won´t steal his wrinkles. =) Also, give everyone else my love. Haha, well. First the good news. Mom, here we are allowed an hour long phone call home on Christmas or an hour long call on SKYPE! This means you guys could see me again! I´m not exactly sure how it all works, but I´ll find out this week and get you my details so I can spend an hour with you guys on Christmas. =) Well, this week we didn´t end up going to Teotihuacan. (the pyramids) Because we are rehearsing for a skit we´ll be putting on at the temple on the 13th. So, today we played some soccer, practiced our skit, went to the store, and now I´m writing you. This week was interesting. I ate a grasshopper. The guys in my district made me do it. I have a picture of it. Tell Dad that he needs to try the chorizo´s down here. Oh, man. Delicious. My companion and 2 other guys made breakfast and it was amazing. Breakfast burritos with jalapenos, scrambled eggs, chorizo, and cheese. All from scratch. I can tell you guys that our gas loves to randomly turn off. So I´ve showered with a bucket 6 times this week. I don´t have a huge problem with it. I actually kind of like it. =) We have 5 new investigators! 2 of them are a husband and wife. Their names are Sergio and Noelia. They are such sweet people and want to be baptized on the 25 of this month! Christmas! We also found a cute little family when we were knocking doors. There´s the mother, Martha. Along with her two daughters, Paula and Deanna. I have a picture with them in front of their Christmas tree that I helped them decorate. Then they made me snow flakes out of paper. Haha, my interview went well this past week. The mission president from San Diego was the one who audited me. He was the mission president for the San Diego missionaries in the ¨District 2¨. He said he was extremely impressed with my Spanish. He told me that if the other missionaries did as well as me the program would be a success. I´m thinking about buying some soccer shoes. We play soccer a lot, and when I play in my PF´s I get massive blisters. I don´t want to spend money out of my account back home. I want to save as much of that as I can for after my mission. I still have 100 dollars in my wallet from money you guys sent me at the MTC. So I´ll be fine. The missionaries here love it when I talk like a white boy. They always say ¨say verde¨and I´ll say ¨vuuuurrrddddaaaayyy¨Haha, I´m getting along with all of them. They´re like my brothers. I have been wanting to put together a package with things from Mexico and send it to you guys, but I´m not sure how to do that. It wouldn´t have crazy stuff in it. Maybe some souvenirs from Teotihuacan and some Mexican candy. But I do want to send you guys something? Does anyone want anything specific from Mexico? It´s all so cheap down here. 250 pesos is about 20 bucks. With 250 pesos you can buy a lot. Well, I better attach the photos and write my mission president about how everything is going. I love you guys SO MUCH and can´t wait to be able to talk to you all on Christmas. You´re all in my prayers everyday. Tell everyone I love them and I´m doing fine. Hasta el proximo Lunes, mi querido amorosa familia. Le amo.
Elder Danny Poulsen
P.S. I´m sending the photos in another e-mail. =)
I can´t tell you how happy I was to read all of your e-mails and to hear how you are all doing good in this wonderful christmas season. I was so happy to get that picture that you sent me and I´m going to be printing it out and hanging it above my desk. =) I´m sad that I missed the games of apples to apples and the other fun things that you guys did, but I´ll be back in less than 2 years. Tell Dad to tell everyone at the mine that I say ¨hey¨. Mom, I have good news. =) Jess, don´t stress about your senior year. Just do your best and have fun. Tell Kass to keep up the good work and I miss her. Tell Cam that I´m praying for her to do good in her 1st chair position. Tell Ayd that everytime I see little kids here I think of him. Grandpa Poulsen, I think about you a lot and hope you´re taking it easy. =) Grandma and Grandpa Beckwith, I miss you guys and wish you could see this place. Ry, Mand, and Log I pray for you guys all the time as well. Tell Log that I´m praying that the ¨back-son¨won´t steal his wrinkles. =) Also, give everyone else my love. Haha, well. First the good news. Mom, here we are allowed an hour long phone call home on Christmas or an hour long call on SKYPE! This means you guys could see me again! I´m not exactly sure how it all works, but I´ll find out this week and get you my details so I can spend an hour with you guys on Christmas. =) Well, this week we didn´t end up going to Teotihuacan. (the pyramids) Because we are rehearsing for a skit we´ll be putting on at the temple on the 13th. So, today we played some soccer, practiced our skit, went to the store, and now I´m writing you. This week was interesting. I ate a grasshopper. The guys in my district made me do it. I have a picture of it. Tell Dad that he needs to try the chorizo´s down here. Oh, man. Delicious. My companion and 2 other guys made breakfast and it was amazing. Breakfast burritos with jalapenos, scrambled eggs, chorizo, and cheese. All from scratch. I can tell you guys that our gas loves to randomly turn off. So I´ve showered with a bucket 6 times this week. I don´t have a huge problem with it. I actually kind of like it. =) We have 5 new investigators! 2 of them are a husband and wife. Their names are Sergio and Noelia. They are such sweet people and want to be baptized on the 25 of this month! Christmas! We also found a cute little family when we were knocking doors. There´s the mother, Martha. Along with her two daughters, Paula and Deanna. I have a picture with them in front of their Christmas tree that I helped them decorate. Then they made me snow flakes out of paper. Haha, my interview went well this past week. The mission president from San Diego was the one who audited me. He was the mission president for the San Diego missionaries in the ¨District 2¨. He said he was extremely impressed with my Spanish. He told me that if the other missionaries did as well as me the program would be a success. I´m thinking about buying some soccer shoes. We play soccer a lot, and when I play in my PF´s I get massive blisters. I don´t want to spend money out of my account back home. I want to save as much of that as I can for after my mission. I still have 100 dollars in my wallet from money you guys sent me at the MTC. So I´ll be fine. The missionaries here love it when I talk like a white boy. They always say ¨say verde¨and I´ll say ¨vuuuurrrddddaaaayyy¨Haha, I´m getting along with all of them. They´re like my brothers. I have been wanting to put together a package with things from Mexico and send it to you guys, but I´m not sure how to do that. It wouldn´t have crazy stuff in it. Maybe some souvenirs from Teotihuacan and some Mexican candy. But I do want to send you guys something? Does anyone want anything specific from Mexico? It´s all so cheap down here. 250 pesos is about 20 bucks. With 250 pesos you can buy a lot. Well, I better attach the photos and write my mission president about how everything is going. I love you guys SO MUCH and can´t wait to be able to talk to you all on Christmas. You´re all in my prayers everyday. Tell everyone I love them and I´m doing fine. Hasta el proximo Lunes, mi querido amorosa familia. Le amo.
Elder Danny Poulsen
P.S. I´m sending the photos in another e-mail. =)
November 28, 2011
Dear Family,
Happy Thanksgiving! Haha, I´m glad to hear that it was a good one. Everything went good over here. Well, this week hasn´t exactly been the most productive. We had a couple Elders get sick, so I was assigned to be the companion of Elder Figueroa. It was a pretty fun and eventful day, you will be able to tell who he is in the pìctures I have attached. I ate my first habanero pepper. I won´t do that again. I had tears running down my cheeks for like 10 minutes straight. My companion couldn´t stop laughing. I took my first shower with a bucket of water. I´m not going to tell you how it was heated up, which I´m sure you know. But I´ll just say that I had nothing to do with it. Haha. I´ve eaten cactus at least 4 times this week for meals at members houses, and it´s actually really good. I´m still not used to being a minority. I honestly think I´m the only American here. I constantly catch people staring at me, and for some reason I think the people here are obsessed with blue eyes. All of the billboards and stuff having people with blue eyes. I often hear the phrase, ¨Tiene ojos azules¨. It´s cool though. I have become an english teacher. I have so many people asking me to speak to them in English. I think it´s hilarious because they will say ¨Say something in English¨ Haha, it´s interesting. I have a new favorite drink, it´s Sangria. But mixed with lime and salt. A lot of people have to have lime and salt with their food. I think I´m adopting new taste buds. All in all the experiences are great. I´m still adapting, but they are great. Yesterday was pretty interesting. We got to church and the bishop came up to me and said, ¨Hey, we need you to give a 15 minute talk today in sacrament.¨ I said okay and spent like the whole time scrambling to put together a talk. My companion couldn´t stop laughing. Then, when the bishop got up to announce me, he announced my companion! Haha, you should have seen the look on his face. He did a good job winging it though. Today we took a trip to the center of Pachuca. I posted some pictures of that as well. Along with pictures of Elder Cuevas´ 1 year mark. Well, tomorrow is going to be intense. Elder Cuevas was informed that 3 experts from Utah are flying in tonight. They will be with us tomorrow. I will have one of them as a companion, he´s an RM who served in Spain. This is all because of the pilot program, they will be monitoring me and my Spanish. I hope it all goes well. Thanks so much for the picture of you guys in the truck. It was good to see your faces again. =) I can´t wait to talk to you guys at Christmas. Please keep posting my pictures on facebook. I´m so happy to hear that people are seeing them. How´s everyone doing? How´s the fam? Everyone else? Any changes to the house? I´d like a picture if there are. Oh, my companion plans on taking me to the pyramids next week. So I should have some sweet photos for you then. Well I like hearing about you guys a lot more than I like talking about myself. Tell everyone that I love them. Dad, Mom, Ayd, Cam, Kass, Jess, Mand, Ry, Log, Grandpa and Grandma Beckwith, Grandpa Poulsen, Amber, Summer, Josh, the whole family. As well as my friends when you see them. I´ll talk to you guys later. Todo de mi amor.=)
Elder Danny Poulsen
Happy Thanksgiving! Haha, I´m glad to hear that it was a good one. Everything went good over here. Well, this week hasn´t exactly been the most productive. We had a couple Elders get sick, so I was assigned to be the companion of Elder Figueroa. It was a pretty fun and eventful day, you will be able to tell who he is in the pìctures I have attached. I ate my first habanero pepper. I won´t do that again. I had tears running down my cheeks for like 10 minutes straight. My companion couldn´t stop laughing. I took my first shower with a bucket of water. I´m not going to tell you how it was heated up, which I´m sure you know. But I´ll just say that I had nothing to do with it. Haha. I´ve eaten cactus at least 4 times this week for meals at members houses, and it´s actually really good. I´m still not used to being a minority. I honestly think I´m the only American here. I constantly catch people staring at me, and for some reason I think the people here are obsessed with blue eyes. All of the billboards and stuff having people with blue eyes. I often hear the phrase, ¨Tiene ojos azules¨. It´s cool though. I have become an english teacher. I have so many people asking me to speak to them in English. I think it´s hilarious because they will say ¨Say something in English¨ Haha, it´s interesting. I have a new favorite drink, it´s Sangria. But mixed with lime and salt. A lot of people have to have lime and salt with their food. I think I´m adopting new taste buds. All in all the experiences are great. I´m still adapting, but they are great. Yesterday was pretty interesting. We got to church and the bishop came up to me and said, ¨Hey, we need you to give a 15 minute talk today in sacrament.¨ I said okay and spent like the whole time scrambling to put together a talk. My companion couldn´t stop laughing. Then, when the bishop got up to announce me, he announced my companion! Haha, you should have seen the look on his face. He did a good job winging it though. Today we took a trip to the center of Pachuca. I posted some pictures of that as well. Along with pictures of Elder Cuevas´ 1 year mark. Well, tomorrow is going to be intense. Elder Cuevas was informed that 3 experts from Utah are flying in tonight. They will be with us tomorrow. I will have one of them as a companion, he´s an RM who served in Spain. This is all because of the pilot program, they will be monitoring me and my Spanish. I hope it all goes well. Thanks so much for the picture of you guys in the truck. It was good to see your faces again. =) I can´t wait to talk to you guys at Christmas. Please keep posting my pictures on facebook. I´m so happy to hear that people are seeing them. How´s everyone doing? How´s the fam? Everyone else? Any changes to the house? I´d like a picture if there are. Oh, my companion plans on taking me to the pyramids next week. So I should have some sweet photos for you then. Well I like hearing about you guys a lot more than I like talking about myself. Tell everyone that I love them. Dad, Mom, Ayd, Cam, Kass, Jess, Mand, Ry, Log, Grandpa and Grandma Beckwith, Grandpa Poulsen, Amber, Summer, Josh, the whole family. As well as my friends when you see them. I´ll talk to you guys later. Todo de mi amor.=)
Elder Danny Poulsen
November 21, 2011
Dear Family,
Wow. What can I say. There is a whole other world out here. I will just go ahead and start from where we left off. After I hung up the phone with you guys I boarded my flight. It is amazing to see what the world looks like from up above. I had a window seat and sat with Elder Rasmussen and Elder Palmer. When we flew into Mexico City I couldn´t believe what I was seeing. I couldn´t see the end of it. We landed pretty well and got off into the airport. We went through customs and everything and were met by the assistants to the president. They took us in a van through Mexico City to the presidents house. Let me tell you, traffic here is intense. I´m safe, I will never be driving anywhere, but it is intense. So don´t worry. We ended up at the Presidents house which is huge. The 14 of us spent the night there and the fed us like kings. We had a lot of fun. The next day we headed to the Reunion de Cambios. Where they assigned us our first companions. It was nerve racking sitting there watching everyone get their new companion and staring out into the crowd wondering who your trainer was going to be. Luckily, I was assigned to Elder Cuavas. He is 20 years old, a native of Mexico (from Baja California, Mexico), and he knows some english. He´s been out for a year. Then we got on a bus with our things and headed to our new area. We are in the city of Pachuca, in the state of Hidalgo. Our area is Los Torres. Tell Jess and Kass that the city I´m living in is the one that (Pachuca Sunrise - Minus The Bear) is named after. This city isn´t dangerous at all. The people here are so nice and almost everyone is willing to at least talk to us. We got to our house and I was impressed. It was a thousand times better than I thought it would be. I´m living pretty good over here in Mexico, all I can say is that it´s very different from the United States. Each day we wake up, exercise, shower, study and head out. I can tell you that I now know the difference between authentic Mexican food and Margharitas. Everything here is soooo delicious, but they feed us until we can´t eat anymore. Haha, I´m pretty sure I offended the Ward Mission Leader the other day. He offered me pork and I wouldn´t eat it. Well, not such a good idea. I can tell you that I have eaten the pork since I´ve been here. Accidently. The hermanas took us to a restraunt and bought us carnitas. I didn´t know that they are filled with pork until after when Elder Cuevas told me. I haven´t gotten sick, so I´m pretty sure I´m okay. I can tell you I´ve drank the water, but I feel fine and most of it is bottled. My favorite foods here are huaraches, chalupas, tamales, and the candy. Mexican candy is very different form the United States candy, but after you eat it a couple times, it´s addicting. I love Sangria. The soda pop that all of the members have at their houses. I didn´t at first, but it´s one of my favorites. The people here are obsessed with these things called ¨pastes¨. They are like Danish´s but sometimes filled with meat. My favorite kind now is Choriqueso. It´s chorizo and cheese in a crescent-like roll. My companion and I get along great, we are very different, but we have quite a few things in our lives that are the same. All of the people here are so humble. They will seriously give you the shoes off their feet so they can have a friend. My companion gave me one of his watches the first night I was here. It´s Armani. Yea, I know. Haha. Everyone here is always willing to take the time to listen to my Spanish. We actually contacted a few people that we are teaching this week that promised to listen to our lessons if after I can talk with them in English. Haha, the best part is that I have people asking me to help their kids with their English homework. On Thursday of last week we went to a recent-convert families house and they were amazed that I could speak English. They kept having me say words in English and then at the end they asked if I would pray in English. I can tell you that I´m one of the only white people in Pachuca. Every bus we ride on is packed with people, and I´m the only one who isn´t Latino. I get a lot of funny looks. It´s very strange being a minority, but the people here take good care of me. There are 2 white guys in our district. Me and Elder Kleinhenz. He´s from Indiana. All in all everything here is very different, but good. I´m having a great time and my Spanish is coming along just fine. I can now have actual conversations with people. Last night I had a 20 minute conversation with a member who is my age in Spanish. It boosted my confidence quite a bit. Today is el dia de personal. We woke up and went to play soccer with a bunch of other people. You wouldn´t believe how amazing these guys are at soccer, especially my companion. If you see Stones, tell him I have a soccer team for him, down here in Mexico. I have a video to show you guys when I get home. The members that we ate with last night invited us over for lunch today. We had Tlacoyos? Haha, and then they pumped us full of Sangria. They´re awesome. Their names are Jaime, Omhar, and Angel. 2 of them served missions here in Mexico and Angel is only 17. They played soccer with us and now we´re like best friends. After that we cleaned the house and here I am. I wish I could tell you all of the things that happened, but I need to attach some photos. Entonces, thanks for all of your e-mails. It felt so good to read some English! Thanks for the pictures of Kassi! I´m so proud of that girl. Tell everyone that I love them soooo much. Everyone. In the family and all my friends. Tell them I love them and pray for them each day. Don´t worry about me down here, I´m adjusting just fine. My testimony is strengthening so much and I´m so happy I have this opportunity to serve the Lord. Just remember that he´s looking out for you always. I LOVE YOU GUYS SOOO MUCH AND CAN´T WAIT TO TALK TO YOU NEXT MONDAY! I´ll have more pictures. LOVE YOU! (Please put these on facebook. Haha)
Elder Danny Poulsen
Wow. What can I say. There is a whole other world out here. I will just go ahead and start from where we left off. After I hung up the phone with you guys I boarded my flight. It is amazing to see what the world looks like from up above. I had a window seat and sat with Elder Rasmussen and Elder Palmer. When we flew into Mexico City I couldn´t believe what I was seeing. I couldn´t see the end of it. We landed pretty well and got off into the airport. We went through customs and everything and were met by the assistants to the president. They took us in a van through Mexico City to the presidents house. Let me tell you, traffic here is intense. I´m safe, I will never be driving anywhere, but it is intense. So don´t worry. We ended up at the Presidents house which is huge. The 14 of us spent the night there and the fed us like kings. We had a lot of fun. The next day we headed to the Reunion de Cambios. Where they assigned us our first companions. It was nerve racking sitting there watching everyone get their new companion and staring out into the crowd wondering who your trainer was going to be. Luckily, I was assigned to Elder Cuavas. He is 20 years old, a native of Mexico (from Baja California, Mexico), and he knows some english. He´s been out for a year. Then we got on a bus with our things and headed to our new area. We are in the city of Pachuca, in the state of Hidalgo. Our area is Los Torres. Tell Jess and Kass that the city I´m living in is the one that (Pachuca Sunrise - Minus The Bear) is named after. This city isn´t dangerous at all. The people here are so nice and almost everyone is willing to at least talk to us. We got to our house and I was impressed. It was a thousand times better than I thought it would be. I´m living pretty good over here in Mexico, all I can say is that it´s very different from the United States. Each day we wake up, exercise, shower, study and head out. I can tell you that I now know the difference between authentic Mexican food and Margharitas. Everything here is soooo delicious, but they feed us until we can´t eat anymore. Haha, I´m pretty sure I offended the Ward Mission Leader the other day. He offered me pork and I wouldn´t eat it. Well, not such a good idea. I can tell you that I have eaten the pork since I´ve been here. Accidently. The hermanas took us to a restraunt and bought us carnitas. I didn´t know that they are filled with pork until after when Elder Cuevas told me. I haven´t gotten sick, so I´m pretty sure I´m okay. I can tell you I´ve drank the water, but I feel fine and most of it is bottled. My favorite foods here are huaraches, chalupas, tamales, and the candy. Mexican candy is very different form the United States candy, but after you eat it a couple times, it´s addicting. I love Sangria. The soda pop that all of the members have at their houses. I didn´t at first, but it´s one of my favorites. The people here are obsessed with these things called ¨pastes¨. They are like Danish´s but sometimes filled with meat. My favorite kind now is Choriqueso. It´s chorizo and cheese in a crescent-like roll. My companion and I get along great, we are very different, but we have quite a few things in our lives that are the same. All of the people here are so humble. They will seriously give you the shoes off their feet so they can have a friend. My companion gave me one of his watches the first night I was here. It´s Armani. Yea, I know. Haha. Everyone here is always willing to take the time to listen to my Spanish. We actually contacted a few people that we are teaching this week that promised to listen to our lessons if after I can talk with them in English. Haha, the best part is that I have people asking me to help their kids with their English homework. On Thursday of last week we went to a recent-convert families house and they were amazed that I could speak English. They kept having me say words in English and then at the end they asked if I would pray in English. I can tell you that I´m one of the only white people in Pachuca. Every bus we ride on is packed with people, and I´m the only one who isn´t Latino. I get a lot of funny looks. It´s very strange being a minority, but the people here take good care of me. There are 2 white guys in our district. Me and Elder Kleinhenz. He´s from Indiana. All in all everything here is very different, but good. I´m having a great time and my Spanish is coming along just fine. I can now have actual conversations with people. Last night I had a 20 minute conversation with a member who is my age in Spanish. It boosted my confidence quite a bit. Today is el dia de personal. We woke up and went to play soccer with a bunch of other people. You wouldn´t believe how amazing these guys are at soccer, especially my companion. If you see Stones, tell him I have a soccer team for him, down here in Mexico. I have a video to show you guys when I get home. The members that we ate with last night invited us over for lunch today. We had Tlacoyos? Haha, and then they pumped us full of Sangria. They´re awesome. Their names are Jaime, Omhar, and Angel. 2 of them served missions here in Mexico and Angel is only 17. They played soccer with us and now we´re like best friends. After that we cleaned the house and here I am. I wish I could tell you all of the things that happened, but I need to attach some photos. Entonces, thanks for all of your e-mails. It felt so good to read some English! Thanks for the pictures of Kassi! I´m so proud of that girl. Tell everyone that I love them soooo much. Everyone. In the family and all my friends. Tell them I love them and pray for them each day. Don´t worry about me down here, I´m adjusting just fine. My testimony is strengthening so much and I´m so happy I have this opportunity to serve the Lord. Just remember that he´s looking out for you always. I LOVE YOU GUYS SOOO MUCH AND CAN´T WAIT TO TALK TO YOU NEXT MONDAY! I´ll have more pictures. LOVE YOU! (Please put these on facebook. Haha)
Elder Danny Poulsen
November 17, 2011
Dear Brother and Sister Poulsen, We have sent you a picture of your son as he arrived here in our mission. He looks good and is happy to be here. We are very grateful to have him as well. We have also included a picture of your son with his trainer, Elder Cueves. We will strive in every way to support, sustain and train your son so that this will be a life changing experience that will help him to grow spiritually, help him to adjust to the culture and deepen his desire to always be obedient with exactness. Thank you for raising such a good young man. Mail & Packages take any where from 4-8 weeks to arrive. So hopefully Christmas will be sent soon. Fed-X is faster but also more expensive. Our address at the mission is:
Fuente de Piramide No. 1 Piso 1
Lomas de Tecamachalco
53950 Naucalpan, Estado de Mexico
Mexico
Sincerely Yours,
President and Sister Hicken
Fuente de Piramide No. 1 Piso 1
Lomas de Tecamachalco
53950 Naucalpan, Estado de Mexico
Mexico
Sincerely Yours,
President and Sister Hicken
Novmeber 14, 2011
Querido Familia,
I am now in Mexico. I´m sitting in the living room of our Mission Presidents huge house. They are possibly two of the nicest people I have ever met. Our flight was awesome and I had so much fun. It was so crazy how quick planes travel! We got through customs and everything just fine. Now, the other 13 missionaries and I are staying the night here in the mission home. President and Sister Hicken made us an amazing dinner and now I´m sitting here on their laptop writing you guys. Tomorrow we have a meeting in the morning and go to our exchanges meeting. Tomorrow night I´ll be with my new companion in our area. It´s very interesting here, but I´ll tell you about that on Monday, which is my pday. Well, it´s the other elders turns. So I´ll talk to you guys later. LOVE YOU!!
Love,
Elder Danny Poulsen
I am now in Mexico. I´m sitting in the living room of our Mission Presidents huge house. They are possibly two of the nicest people I have ever met. Our flight was awesome and I had so much fun. It was so crazy how quick planes travel! We got through customs and everything just fine. Now, the other 13 missionaries and I are staying the night here in the mission home. President and Sister Hicken made us an amazing dinner and now I´m sitting here on their laptop writing you guys. Tomorrow we have a meeting in the morning and go to our exchanges meeting. Tomorrow night I´ll be with my new companion in our area. It´s very interesting here, but I´ll tell you about that on Monday, which is my pday. Well, it´s the other elders turns. So I´ll talk to you guys later. LOVE YOU!!
Love,
Elder Danny Poulsen
November 4, 2011
Mi querido familia,
Como están? Everything is going great over hear. It'''s been a pretty wild day. In fact, it''s been a pretty wild week. Just to start off, on Sunday the Branch President pulled me into the office and I was chosen to be the District Leader! It''s pretty intense, I pretty much plan and lead my district through each and every day. There''s 10 of us now, our roomate, Elder Davis, hurt his knee and had to stay behind. He was supposed to fly into Honduras last week. But since he had to stay behind, the Branch Presidency decided to assign him to our district until he figures things out. being district leader is some pretty hard work and is kind of frustrating, but I just remember to be like Jesus and things always work out perfectly. We had some really fun times this week, we just got 2 new Elders in our room on Wednesday. Their names are Elder Coffey and Elder Long. They are both from Utah, of course. They''re great guys though and get pretty frustrated with the "Habla su idioma". Elder Ottaway and I are getting a lot better at talking in Spanish all the time and we have a lot of fun with it. We love thinking about random sentences and putting them together in Spanish. I just recieved my own personal Coaching Missionary Study tutor. His name is Hermano Alailima. He''s from Hawaii and is about 6' 6 in. He''s super cool and served his mission in Panama. He had me street contact him outside on a bench and he''s now my own personal investigator. I set up an appointment with him and met at his ""house"" yesterday. It''s hard, because these teachers take investigators they knew on their missions and pretend to be that person. So you have to discern their needs and teach them according to what you feel they need to be taught about the gospel. We had a pretty funny time yesterday. Elder Pristorius and I came up with the idea that we wanted to do a ""flash mob"" on campus. It was probably the funniest thing I have ever done. We did it outside in the plaza for like 3 minutes. I recorded it on my camera. We had 45 people do it with us. It''s hilarious on the camera because you see people walk up and wave in front of our faces and take pictures with us and stuff. The video is so cool, because no one moved even an inch so it looked real. Haha, I wish I could show you guys right now. Today was pretty good.. We woke up extra early and got our laundry done. We woke up at 4:30am and then when we were done with our laundry we went straight to the temple. It was a way good experience. One of our favorite things is eating breakfast in the temple after our session. It''s pretty good food, but it''s nothing like home. But hey, it''s all we have. After that we had some personal study time outside in the shade and that was a good time. Then I took my new suit to get dropped off for dry-cleaning. Then we did some service for the MTC presidency. We were putting together boxes of supplies that will be shipped out to 3rd world countries. Now I am writing you guys. We are anxiously checking our mailbox every hour because our travel plans are coming today!! Like you guys said, I honestly can''t believe that I leave for Mexico in 10 days. In a way I''m so nervous, but I''m so anxious. I know there''s a lot more to learn in Spanish, but I think that I have the basic stuff I need to help me survive when I''m there. I wrote Cammi a letter and sent it out today. There''s some cool stuff inside, I just hope it stays cool by the time it gets there. If it''s not, lo siento. KAAASSSSIIIII GOOOTTT AAA DDEEEERRR!!! I seriously screamed that in the residence hall once I read the DearElder. Man, I''m so excited for her. How was it? Did she have wicked buck fever? It doesn''t sound like it with the way you described her shooting. Haha, that''s my sister. Tell her good job for me and that I miss her. We''ll go hunting when I get back. ;) Anyways, there''s not much else that is new. I stopped gaining weight and am stuck around 167lbs. I''ve been working out as much as I can, but I''m pretty sure I''ll lose 10 or 15 lbs when I get to Mexico. We found our mission on the map on LDS.org. Just go to LDS.org and sign in. Then click on the ""tools"" button and click on maps. Then on one of the lower icons you can choose what you want to view. There''s an option to see the different mission boundaries in Mexico and you can find mine really easy. It''s huge!!! Then you can zoom in with the scroll on the mouse and see truly how much area I have to cover. It''s awesome. I can''t wait to send you guys pictures like Skylar is to his family. Speaking of which, I''ll forward you his next e-mail to me. Anyways, how''s everything at home? Nothing new and exciting happening? Is Aydan a pro at Super Smash Brothers Brawl yet? Did he beat bowser? :) How''s Cam doing. That little girl can speak some awesome Spanish. Tell Kass that I''m soo proud of her and I want a picture? Is volleyball over? how did that go for her? How''s Jester? Is she filling out scholarships like mad? She should be. ;) Does she plan on doing track this year? How are you, Mom? How''s the babysitting going? Have you done anything new to the house? How''s Dad? What has he been doing for fun since it''s getting cold? Hopefully he''s found something. :) How''s Grandpa Poulsen, Grandpa and Grandma Beckwith? Mand, Ry, and Log? Haha, shoot, how''s everybody. Did Enoc get his mission call? Is Jake H. getting super excited? I know he''ll love it. I just ordered some new pictures and they should be here on Monday, then I''ll send them out to you guys. Anwyays, I better head to dinner. I love you guys sooooo much! I can''t wait to talk to you next week! Then I''ll only have 3 days to go! Craziness. I''m praying for you guys like mad. (En Español.) ;) I''ll talk to you guys next week! LOOOVEEE YOUUU!!
Sinceridad,
Elder Poulsen
Como están? Everything is going great over hear. It'''s been a pretty wild day. In fact, it''s been a pretty wild week. Just to start off, on Sunday the Branch President pulled me into the office and I was chosen to be the District Leader! It''s pretty intense, I pretty much plan and lead my district through each and every day. There''s 10 of us now, our roomate, Elder Davis, hurt his knee and had to stay behind. He was supposed to fly into Honduras last week. But since he had to stay behind, the Branch Presidency decided to assign him to our district until he figures things out. being district leader is some pretty hard work and is kind of frustrating, but I just remember to be like Jesus and things always work out perfectly. We had some really fun times this week, we just got 2 new Elders in our room on Wednesday. Their names are Elder Coffey and Elder Long. They are both from Utah, of course. They''re great guys though and get pretty frustrated with the "Habla su idioma". Elder Ottaway and I are getting a lot better at talking in Spanish all the time and we have a lot of fun with it. We love thinking about random sentences and putting them together in Spanish. I just recieved my own personal Coaching Missionary Study tutor. His name is Hermano Alailima. He''s from Hawaii and is about 6' 6 in. He''s super cool and served his mission in Panama. He had me street contact him outside on a bench and he''s now my own personal investigator. I set up an appointment with him and met at his ""house"" yesterday. It''s hard, because these teachers take investigators they knew on their missions and pretend to be that person. So you have to discern their needs and teach them according to what you feel they need to be taught about the gospel. We had a pretty funny time yesterday. Elder Pristorius and I came up with the idea that we wanted to do a ""flash mob"" on campus. It was probably the funniest thing I have ever done. We did it outside in the plaza for like 3 minutes. I recorded it on my camera. We had 45 people do it with us. It''s hilarious on the camera because you see people walk up and wave in front of our faces and take pictures with us and stuff. The video is so cool, because no one moved even an inch so it looked real. Haha, I wish I could show you guys right now. Today was pretty good.. We woke up extra early and got our laundry done. We woke up at 4:30am and then when we were done with our laundry we went straight to the temple. It was a way good experience. One of our favorite things is eating breakfast in the temple after our session. It''s pretty good food, but it''s nothing like home. But hey, it''s all we have. After that we had some personal study time outside in the shade and that was a good time. Then I took my new suit to get dropped off for dry-cleaning. Then we did some service for the MTC presidency. We were putting together boxes of supplies that will be shipped out to 3rd world countries. Now I am writing you guys. We are anxiously checking our mailbox every hour because our travel plans are coming today!! Like you guys said, I honestly can''t believe that I leave for Mexico in 10 days. In a way I''m so nervous, but I''m so anxious. I know there''s a lot more to learn in Spanish, but I think that I have the basic stuff I need to help me survive when I''m there. I wrote Cammi a letter and sent it out today. There''s some cool stuff inside, I just hope it stays cool by the time it gets there. If it''s not, lo siento. KAAASSSSIIIII GOOOTTT AAA DDEEEERRR!!! I seriously screamed that in the residence hall once I read the DearElder. Man, I''m so excited for her. How was it? Did she have wicked buck fever? It doesn''t sound like it with the way you described her shooting. Haha, that''s my sister. Tell her good job for me and that I miss her. We''ll go hunting when I get back. ;) Anyways, there''s not much else that is new. I stopped gaining weight and am stuck around 167lbs. I''ve been working out as much as I can, but I''m pretty sure I''ll lose 10 or 15 lbs when I get to Mexico. We found our mission on the map on LDS.org. Just go to LDS.org and sign in. Then click on the ""tools"" button and click on maps. Then on one of the lower icons you can choose what you want to view. There''s an option to see the different mission boundaries in Mexico and you can find mine really easy. It''s huge!!! Then you can zoom in with the scroll on the mouse and see truly how much area I have to cover. It''s awesome. I can''t wait to send you guys pictures like Skylar is to his family. Speaking of which, I''ll forward you his next e-mail to me. Anyways, how''s everything at home? Nothing new and exciting happening? Is Aydan a pro at Super Smash Brothers Brawl yet? Did he beat bowser? :) How''s Cam doing. That little girl can speak some awesome Spanish. Tell Kass that I''m soo proud of her and I want a picture? Is volleyball over? how did that go for her? How''s Jester? Is she filling out scholarships like mad? She should be. ;) Does she plan on doing track this year? How are you, Mom? How''s the babysitting going? Have you done anything new to the house? How''s Dad? What has he been doing for fun since it''s getting cold? Hopefully he''s found something. :) How''s Grandpa Poulsen, Grandpa and Grandma Beckwith? Mand, Ry, and Log? Haha, shoot, how''s everybody. Did Enoc get his mission call? Is Jake H. getting super excited? I know he''ll love it. I just ordered some new pictures and they should be here on Monday, then I''ll send them out to you guys. Anwyays, I better head to dinner. I love you guys sooooo much! I can''t wait to talk to you next week! Then I''ll only have 3 days to go! Craziness. I''m praying for you guys like mad. (En Español.) ;) I''ll talk to you guys next week! LOOOVEEE YOUUU!!
Sinceridad,
Elder Poulsen
October 28, 2011
Mi Familia,
Hoy es muy bien. Thanks so much for all the stuff you have given me. It's such a blessing to be able to recieve the DearElders from you each week. It definitely keeps me going. Thanks so much for the packages and all that you do for me. I truly am blessed to have the best family in the world. Please tell Grandma and Grandpa Beckwith thanks for their e-mail. As well as Cammi's letter in Spanish. Please tell Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Jim thanks for the DearElder. I was so happy to hear from them. :) This week has been a good week. It went by very quick, but lots of fun stuff happened. Before I get to that, I need to talk to Mom. Thanks so much for getting that net and belt. I was going to ask you for a couple other things. If Dad could possibly get me a box of earplugs that would be amazing. You have no idea how hard it is to sleep with companions that snore so loudly. :) The sweater I asked for was meaning to be a hoodie. Maybe the blue one I have packed away at home. But I should be alright without it. I have my coat. :) The toothbrush I have is the Phillips Sonicare E-Series. If you want to send that stuff I left behind, I would be more than grateful. Thanks for the mp3 player! I haven't got it yet, but I should get it soon. I can't listen to it now, but hopefully my mission president will let me in Mexico. I took my black suit in to get dry cleaned this week and will be taking my new suit in next week. If you want ideas on what to get me for Christmas, you could always send me a couple new ties. I love the paisleys. I learned how to tie a new knot that is pretty awesome, and I'll send you guys more pictures. They're pretty amazing. A lot of them are of the trees here. A couple are of my district and I posing in front of them. That way you can have a nice little holiday photo from Branch 22 District B. :) If you have questions on sending me anything, just send it. I don't have the time to get back to you guys until the next p-day. So if you are worried, you can go ahead. If I don't need it I can just send home all the stuff I don't need when I leave the mtc. That's what Elder Stone is doing. As for this week, everything is going great. Our lessons all seemed to go pretty well. I gave a talk in Sacrament in Spanish this week and a few people said I speak like a native. Haha, yea right. It was random though. They randomly call on you right before sacrament, so everyone has to have a talk prepared that Sunday. Just in case they get called on. I was prepared. :) Elder Davis hurt his leg and can't go to Honduras on Sunday. It's a bummer and we are supposing that he will be with Elder Ottaway and I until it gets healed. I've been doing amazing in volleyball and working out. That's all I do in the gym. People have been complimenting me and I simply say it's because of my little sister Kassi. She's amazing at volleyball. :) I'm glad to hear Jess' headaches are doing better. I've been fasting and praying for her. Let her know that she has a whole district praying for her. We had some new missionaries come in on Wednesday. Or as we call them, "Misionero's nuevos." It's fun to speak to them in Spanish. It's mean, but it helps get them prepared for class. The other night before they were released to their rooms to unpack their things a bunch of us went and hid in their rooms. When they walked in with their stuff there were 15 of us standing in the dark with our arms folded. They all got confused and said.. "Uh.. hey?" Then we all just started filing out of their room completely silent. Then Elder Pristorius (One of the funniest missionaries on the planet) said "Let this be a lession, that you'll never know what we will do next." They were a little scared, but it's good for them. :) Our district has gotten pretty close and it's going to be insane to say goodbye. But it will all be worth it. There's so much more that I wish I could say, but I don't have time. I got a e-mail from Sky, that he sent me. It has some pictures in it. I'm going to forward it to you guys. I miss that guy. I hear he's doing well though. How's everyone doing? How's Grandpa Poulsen? Grandma and Grandpa Beckwith? Dad? Mom? Ry, Mand, and Log? Jess? Kass? Cam? Ayd? How are my friends back home? I've been praying like crazy for you guys. I'm going to send the pictures and stuff to you guys next week so you can see. I also have a card for Ryan and Dani. That's too bad Dad's truck is in the shop. I think it's about time he gets a new one. ;) Tell Jon Pitts hi for me as well as his Dad. President Pitts, along with the rest of the presidency and the bishopric. I met a guy from Mexico City, I'm going to take a picture with him and send it home too. Oh, and I met Elder Skausen! he was at a table and I walked up and introduced myself and one of the Elders said, "Wait, are you Danny Poulsen?" and I said, "No way, are you Brayden Skausen?" haha, we had a good talk and I'll take a picture with him too. That way you can send it to his mom. :) Well, tell everyone that I love them and I can't wait to hear from them. You guys are in my prayers constantly. I know this is the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and that we have the truth. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of god and that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet in these Latter-Days! All of the love from Branch 22 District B. Hasta Luego, Mi Familia!
Love,
Elder Poulsen
Hoy es muy bien. Thanks so much for all the stuff you have given me. It's such a blessing to be able to recieve the DearElders from you each week. It definitely keeps me going. Thanks so much for the packages and all that you do for me. I truly am blessed to have the best family in the world. Please tell Grandma and Grandpa Beckwith thanks for their e-mail. As well as Cammi's letter in Spanish. Please tell Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Jim thanks for the DearElder. I was so happy to hear from them. :) This week has been a good week. It went by very quick, but lots of fun stuff happened. Before I get to that, I need to talk to Mom. Thanks so much for getting that net and belt. I was going to ask you for a couple other things. If Dad could possibly get me a box of earplugs that would be amazing. You have no idea how hard it is to sleep with companions that snore so loudly. :) The sweater I asked for was meaning to be a hoodie. Maybe the blue one I have packed away at home. But I should be alright without it. I have my coat. :) The toothbrush I have is the Phillips Sonicare E-Series. If you want to send that stuff I left behind, I would be more than grateful. Thanks for the mp3 player! I haven't got it yet, but I should get it soon. I can't listen to it now, but hopefully my mission president will let me in Mexico. I took my black suit in to get dry cleaned this week and will be taking my new suit in next week. If you want ideas on what to get me for Christmas, you could always send me a couple new ties. I love the paisleys. I learned how to tie a new knot that is pretty awesome, and I'll send you guys more pictures. They're pretty amazing. A lot of them are of the trees here. A couple are of my district and I posing in front of them. That way you can have a nice little holiday photo from Branch 22 District B. :) If you have questions on sending me anything, just send it. I don't have the time to get back to you guys until the next p-day. So if you are worried, you can go ahead. If I don't need it I can just send home all the stuff I don't need when I leave the mtc. That's what Elder Stone is doing. As for this week, everything is going great. Our lessons all seemed to go pretty well. I gave a talk in Sacrament in Spanish this week and a few people said I speak like a native. Haha, yea right. It was random though. They randomly call on you right before sacrament, so everyone has to have a talk prepared that Sunday. Just in case they get called on. I was prepared. :) Elder Davis hurt his leg and can't go to Honduras on Sunday. It's a bummer and we are supposing that he will be with Elder Ottaway and I until it gets healed. I've been doing amazing in volleyball and working out. That's all I do in the gym. People have been complimenting me and I simply say it's because of my little sister Kassi. She's amazing at volleyball. :) I'm glad to hear Jess' headaches are doing better. I've been fasting and praying for her. Let her know that she has a whole district praying for her. We had some new missionaries come in on Wednesday. Or as we call them, "Misionero's nuevos." It's fun to speak to them in Spanish. It's mean, but it helps get them prepared for class. The other night before they were released to their rooms to unpack their things a bunch of us went and hid in their rooms. When they walked in with their stuff there were 15 of us standing in the dark with our arms folded. They all got confused and said.. "Uh.. hey?" Then we all just started filing out of their room completely silent. Then Elder Pristorius (One of the funniest missionaries on the planet) said "Let this be a lession, that you'll never know what we will do next." They were a little scared, but it's good for them. :) Our district has gotten pretty close and it's going to be insane to say goodbye. But it will all be worth it. There's so much more that I wish I could say, but I don't have time. I got a e-mail from Sky, that he sent me. It has some pictures in it. I'm going to forward it to you guys. I miss that guy. I hear he's doing well though. How's everyone doing? How's Grandpa Poulsen? Grandma and Grandpa Beckwith? Dad? Mom? Ry, Mand, and Log? Jess? Kass? Cam? Ayd? How are my friends back home? I've been praying like crazy for you guys. I'm going to send the pictures and stuff to you guys next week so you can see. I also have a card for Ryan and Dani. That's too bad Dad's truck is in the shop. I think it's about time he gets a new one. ;) Tell Jon Pitts hi for me as well as his Dad. President Pitts, along with the rest of the presidency and the bishopric. I met a guy from Mexico City, I'm going to take a picture with him and send it home too. Oh, and I met Elder Skausen! he was at a table and I walked up and introduced myself and one of the Elders said, "Wait, are you Danny Poulsen?" and I said, "No way, are you Brayden Skausen?" haha, we had a good talk and I'll take a picture with him too. That way you can send it to his mom. :) Well, tell everyone that I love them and I can't wait to hear from them. You guys are in my prayers constantly. I know this is the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and that we have the truth. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of god and that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet in these Latter-Days! All of the love from Branch 22 District B. Hasta Luego, Mi Familia!
Love,
Elder Poulsen
October 14, 2011
Hey Family!
I only have 17:43 minutes to write you so I'm going to answer all of you as quick as I can. Everything is going well here at the MTC. Elder Ottaway and I have been quite the busy Elders. We've been teaching a lesson in Spanish everyday, we are always studying, always moving or going to a scheduled activity. Yea, busy. Anyways, I'm coming along great with my Spanish. The guys in my disctrict think I'm one of the best ones. I laugh at them. They have been trying to talk me into testing out to enter the advanced Spanish class. We just got back from the Provo temple today and it was amazing. I felt the spirit so strongly and each of you were in my mind as I went through. I did an endowment session for a family name for one of the Elders in my branch. Strangely, these computers don't allow us to upload pictures onto the computers for security reasons. So I'm going to print some off of my camera at the bookstore and mail them to you in a letter. If you could I'd love for you to scan them and put them on my Facebook so my friends can see. Everything is going great though. I truly have been blessed to have a family like you guys. I have been getting the DearElder letters everyday you send them, and they bring me such happiness everyday. Our district leader's mom writes all of us? We call her district mama. She's from Samoa, it's Elder Johnsons mom. She sends us packages packed with cookies like every day. It's intense. But I'm still pretty sure I have the best mom in the world. I met Garret Spalka this week, which was pretty fun. He was super excited that he finally got to meet me and I was excited to meet him. You'll have to tell Jim and Bonnie that I ran into Cody Hosier from Alamo. He's going to the Tokyo, Japan mission. He's a pretty legit guy to talk to and his companion is from Mexico city. I tried to have a conversation with him in Spanish, but he talks with super speed. I also ran into Chelsea Baker yesterday who is from St.George, she is the one who was wakeboarding with me and the guys when we were in St.George. She's going to the Winter Quarters Nebraska mission. This week we listened to the general relief society president in the MTC devotional. It wasn't an apostle, but I was still pretty impressed with her talk. The food is good, my district and I love each other, I am doing just fine. I'm glad to hear everything is going well with you guys. Tell grandma I could understand her Spanish. ;) Tell Kass that I expect to hear that she got a deer this friday. Tell everyone I love them sooo much. You guys are in my prayers constantly. I wish I could tell you guys everything, but I don't have much time. Just remember that you are in my prayers every time I pray and that I am working my hardest for you. My district says, "Hola familia de Elder Poulsen! Elder Poulsen es muy suerte tener una familia como ustedes! I'll keep you guys posted on how everything is going. Just know that I'm doing great. I love you all! Keep having fun and living the Gospel. Hasta luego. Ustedes son muy perfecto en mi oyo's. Todo mi amor.
Elder Poulsen
I only have 17:43 minutes to write you so I'm going to answer all of you as quick as I can. Everything is going well here at the MTC. Elder Ottaway and I have been quite the busy Elders. We've been teaching a lesson in Spanish everyday, we are always studying, always moving or going to a scheduled activity. Yea, busy. Anyways, I'm coming along great with my Spanish. The guys in my disctrict think I'm one of the best ones. I laugh at them. They have been trying to talk me into testing out to enter the advanced Spanish class. We just got back from the Provo temple today and it was amazing. I felt the spirit so strongly and each of you were in my mind as I went through. I did an endowment session for a family name for one of the Elders in my branch. Strangely, these computers don't allow us to upload pictures onto the computers for security reasons. So I'm going to print some off of my camera at the bookstore and mail them to you in a letter. If you could I'd love for you to scan them and put them on my Facebook so my friends can see. Everything is going great though. I truly have been blessed to have a family like you guys. I have been getting the DearElder letters everyday you send them, and they bring me such happiness everyday. Our district leader's mom writes all of us? We call her district mama. She's from Samoa, it's Elder Johnsons mom. She sends us packages packed with cookies like every day. It's intense. But I'm still pretty sure I have the best mom in the world. I met Garret Spalka this week, which was pretty fun. He was super excited that he finally got to meet me and I was excited to meet him. You'll have to tell Jim and Bonnie that I ran into Cody Hosier from Alamo. He's going to the Tokyo, Japan mission. He's a pretty legit guy to talk to and his companion is from Mexico city. I tried to have a conversation with him in Spanish, but he talks with super speed. I also ran into Chelsea Baker yesterday who is from St.George, she is the one who was wakeboarding with me and the guys when we were in St.George. She's going to the Winter Quarters Nebraska mission. This week we listened to the general relief society president in the MTC devotional. It wasn't an apostle, but I was still pretty impressed with her talk. The food is good, my district and I love each other, I am doing just fine. I'm glad to hear everything is going well with you guys. Tell grandma I could understand her Spanish. ;) Tell Kass that I expect to hear that she got a deer this friday. Tell everyone I love them sooo much. You guys are in my prayers constantly. I wish I could tell you guys everything, but I don't have much time. Just remember that you are in my prayers every time I pray and that I am working my hardest for you. My district says, "Hola familia de Elder Poulsen! Elder Poulsen es muy suerte tener una familia como ustedes! I'll keep you guys posted on how everything is going. Just know that I'm doing great. I love you all! Keep having fun and living the Gospel. Hasta luego. Ustedes son muy perfecto en mi oyo's. Todo mi amor.
Elder Poulsen
October 21, 2011
Mi Quierido Madre y Padre,
Estoy muy feliz leer su carta.. It has been a really good week but has been very fast. Everything is so rushed. We are the only pilot program in our entire building. The leaders have been talking and are so impressed with how quickly we are learning Spanish. I know that if it wasn't for the help of the Holy Ghost we wouldn't be anywhere. We recieved the newest addition to our zone this week which mostly consists of Elders going to either the Dominican Republic or Argentina. They're all really nice guys. We've been pretty excited that we're not the "new" guys anymore. Elder Ottaway and I passed the sacrament on Sunday and did a pretty good job. I accidently dropped the tray when I was giving someone the bread, but it didn't hit the ground and still had enough on it to give to everybody. ;) We were able to have a devotional on Tuesday and Richard G. Scott from the Quorum of the Twelve spake to us. We were all pretty amazed when an Apostle stood up in front of us and started speaking. Our lessns are going a lot better. Since we have started expanding our vocabulary a little bit more. Our teachers have no mercy on us though. They come across as investigators that aren't interested at all, so it's very difficult to teach them. Especially in Spanish. I've been working out a lot in gym and running. I've definitely put on some muscle. 10 LBS! I'm now 167. Pretty wild. I'll probably lose it all when I get to Mexico though. I also play a lot of volleyball in gym and a couple of the guys say I'm really good. I tell them that I learned it from my little sister Kassi. :) We have service every week so we are lucky to clean the showers. Ha, it's pretty nasty, but good too. We've started a group called "HSI" and attached little stickers to our nametags that say "HSI" on them. HSI stands for Habla Su Idioma. Which translates to "Speak Your Language" in Spanish. This means that all we speak is Spanish unless directed otherwise by a person of authority. So this is pretty much the only time I've been able to speak in English all week. If someone in our disctrict catches us speaking English, they give us little green papers that give us the option of 1. Taking a cold shower 2. Buying treats for everyone 3. Pushups. They get to choose and usually it's the cold shower, because that's the worst. I haven't had to yet, but I'm very careful. We are 1 of like 5 districts in the whole MTC doing it. That's like 50 people out of 2500? Haha, pretty intense. But it's helping a lot. Like I said we are only talked to in Spanish by our teachers, so that means they are teaching us Spanish with Spanish. It's pretty intense. Oh well, this morning we went to them temple and it was amazing. For some reason I just keep loving the Provo Temple more and more. When I walk on the temple grounds with my district I feel like royalty walking in a castle courtyard with knights. It's awesome. I was going to ask you about a few things. The guys in our room, Elder Davis and Elder Stone, are going to Honduras and said their moms bought them bug nets to have around their beds at night. I guess there is a lot of bugs in Mexico and I was going to see if you could order me one. Also, did you ever order me one of those zip belts? I was going to ask you for a new head for my Phillips Sonicare toothbrush if you could. Maybe another sweater? :) I have gotten 3 packages in a row this week. Thanks so much! My district loves your baking. ;) My camera made it here yesterday, so don't worry about that at all. Did you guys get the letter with the pictures I sent you? I hope so, there was one missing. It's the last one. I think my companion stole it to send to his Aunt and Uncle. Haha, oh well. I love that kid. He's amazing. Anyways, I'm running out of time. Tell everyone that I love them and I think about them everyday. I'm praying for you guys! Be happy! I'm so thankful that I have the amazing family and friends that I do. Tell Ryan and Dani congrats for me on the marriage! I'm going to take a photo with my district for them and send them a letter. Tell Kass good luck with the hunt! Aim small miss small. Tell Jess, Kass, Cam, and Ayd Happy Halloween and that I love them. Tell Ry, Man, and Log I love them. Tell Grandpa Poulsen, Grandma Beckwith and Grandpa Beckwith and all the fam I love them. Hasta Luego, Mi Familia!
Love,
Elder Poulsen
Estoy muy feliz leer su carta.. It has been a really good week but has been very fast. Everything is so rushed. We are the only pilot program in our entire building. The leaders have been talking and are so impressed with how quickly we are learning Spanish. I know that if it wasn't for the help of the Holy Ghost we wouldn't be anywhere. We recieved the newest addition to our zone this week which mostly consists of Elders going to either the Dominican Republic or Argentina. They're all really nice guys. We've been pretty excited that we're not the "new" guys anymore. Elder Ottaway and I passed the sacrament on Sunday and did a pretty good job. I accidently dropped the tray when I was giving someone the bread, but it didn't hit the ground and still had enough on it to give to everybody. ;) We were able to have a devotional on Tuesday and Richard G. Scott from the Quorum of the Twelve spake to us. We were all pretty amazed when an Apostle stood up in front of us and started speaking. Our lessns are going a lot better. Since we have started expanding our vocabulary a little bit more. Our teachers have no mercy on us though. They come across as investigators that aren't interested at all, so it's very difficult to teach them. Especially in Spanish. I've been working out a lot in gym and running. I've definitely put on some muscle. 10 LBS! I'm now 167. Pretty wild. I'll probably lose it all when I get to Mexico though. I also play a lot of volleyball in gym and a couple of the guys say I'm really good. I tell them that I learned it from my little sister Kassi. :) We have service every week so we are lucky to clean the showers. Ha, it's pretty nasty, but good too. We've started a group called "HSI" and attached little stickers to our nametags that say "HSI" on them. HSI stands for Habla Su Idioma. Which translates to "Speak Your Language" in Spanish. This means that all we speak is Spanish unless directed otherwise by a person of authority. So this is pretty much the only time I've been able to speak in English all week. If someone in our disctrict catches us speaking English, they give us little green papers that give us the option of 1. Taking a cold shower 2. Buying treats for everyone 3. Pushups. They get to choose and usually it's the cold shower, because that's the worst. I haven't had to yet, but I'm very careful. We are 1 of like 5 districts in the whole MTC doing it. That's like 50 people out of 2500? Haha, pretty intense. But it's helping a lot. Like I said we are only talked to in Spanish by our teachers, so that means they are teaching us Spanish with Spanish. It's pretty intense. Oh well, this morning we went to them temple and it was amazing. For some reason I just keep loving the Provo Temple more and more. When I walk on the temple grounds with my district I feel like royalty walking in a castle courtyard with knights. It's awesome. I was going to ask you about a few things. The guys in our room, Elder Davis and Elder Stone, are going to Honduras and said their moms bought them bug nets to have around their beds at night. I guess there is a lot of bugs in Mexico and I was going to see if you could order me one. Also, did you ever order me one of those zip belts? I was going to ask you for a new head for my Phillips Sonicare toothbrush if you could. Maybe another sweater? :) I have gotten 3 packages in a row this week. Thanks so much! My district loves your baking. ;) My camera made it here yesterday, so don't worry about that at all. Did you guys get the letter with the pictures I sent you? I hope so, there was one missing. It's the last one. I think my companion stole it to send to his Aunt and Uncle. Haha, oh well. I love that kid. He's amazing. Anyways, I'm running out of time. Tell everyone that I love them and I think about them everyday. I'm praying for you guys! Be happy! I'm so thankful that I have the amazing family and friends that I do. Tell Ryan and Dani congrats for me on the marriage! I'm going to take a photo with my district for them and send them a letter. Tell Kass good luck with the hunt! Aim small miss small. Tell Jess, Kass, Cam, and Ayd Happy Halloween and that I love them. Tell Ry, Man, and Log I love them. Tell Grandpa Poulsen, Grandma Beckwith and Grandpa Beckwith and all the fam I love them. Hasta Luego, Mi Familia!
Love,
Elder Poulsen
October 8, 2011
Dear Family,
I'm so happy that I get to e-mail you today. Today is Saturday and everything is going great. I guess you can say that today is our "pretend" p-day. Since we have so much going on this week. Well, stuff that has happened since the last time I saw you is go through the crazy experience of getting settled into the MTC. I was led away from Dad and Mom by Elder Hancock who is 20 years old and is headed to Chile this upcoming week. He showed me where to go and what to do. First, he took me to get my nametag and card for my meals. Along with the key to my room and stuff like that. He led me over to building 13M, which is now my new home. I am in Branch 22 and in district B. A little after I got to my room my new companion came walking up the stairs with his guide. He's awesome. He's 22 years old and from Kentucky. I helped him get his bags into the room and we introduced ourselves to each other. He has finished 3 years of college and is the only LDS guy in his family. His name is Elder Ottaway. We've both been a little overwhelmed with everything by being new, but what can you do. The other guys in our district are amazing. They're Elder Benfit from Oregon, Elder Johnson from Utah, Elder Conner from Las Vegas, Nevada, Elder Wood from Utah, Elder Ottesen from Utah, Elder Jackson from Utah, and Elder Bowles from Utah. Our instructors served their missions in Spain a few years ago. Their names are Brother Keller and Brother Harper. I don't think Ryley knows them, but they speak with thetas. So it's a little difficult understanding at times. Since they speak to us in only Spanish! Haha, we have been struggling to learn, especially since they had us teach our first investigator in Spanish last night. It was pretty intense, but I think Elder Ottaway and I made it through just fine. We got her to read and pray about the book of Mormon and we bore our testimonies in Spanish. My Spanish is coming along great. I've been extremely blessed. We all got interviewed by the Branch Presidency and they chose me to be Senior Companion! It's pretty awesome. I'm a little nervous because our zone leaders are leaving soon, so we'll be getting new ones. Who knows who they'll assign. :) Our district had a great little get together last night and we decided we were only going to speak Spanish from now on. No matter what, so we carry our dictionaries with us everywhere. I had to get 2 extra shots when I got here. Supposedly you need to have a booster for Tetanus and MMR before you head out. So they charged me like $97, I mailed the bill home so it should be there sometime. I tried to pay for it out of the money in my wallet, but the lady wouldn't let me. She said "Don't use that money, that's for emergencies and fun stuff. You should mail it home." Sorry to leave you guys with the bill. You can use my account to pay for it if you want. :) The food is pretty good, I haven't had any complaints yet. My digestive system has been working normally. So everthing is good. Overall it's been an amazing experience. I have pictures for you guys, but for some reason this computer won't allow me to update them. I'll send you photos of my district, my companion, my room, the lunch room, my classroom, my instructors, everything I can next week. Just remember that I'm being well looked out for. Our district does everything together, not because we have to, but because we chose to. We eat together, study together, pray together, sing together, laugh together, and help each other in everything. I love these guys. They're so spiritually strong and are all obedient missionaries. We're all just so excited to be able to speak Spanish fluently. Kind of crazy when we will be able to. Just know that I think about you guys all the time and pray for you (in Spanish) :) Keep staying close to the Gospel and e-mail me back with whatever questions you have about this place. I probably only have time to respond to 1 e-mail, so I'll just do a bulk message to everyone. Anyways, I love you guys sooo much. You have all been inspirations to me and I use your examples everyday. The next e-mail will be better. I promise. :) I love you guys again!! Hasta Luego. Chau.
Elder Poulsen
I'm so happy that I get to e-mail you today. Today is Saturday and everything is going great. I guess you can say that today is our "pretend" p-day. Since we have so much going on this week. Well, stuff that has happened since the last time I saw you is go through the crazy experience of getting settled into the MTC. I was led away from Dad and Mom by Elder Hancock who is 20 years old and is headed to Chile this upcoming week. He showed me where to go and what to do. First, he took me to get my nametag and card for my meals. Along with the key to my room and stuff like that. He led me over to building 13M, which is now my new home. I am in Branch 22 and in district B. A little after I got to my room my new companion came walking up the stairs with his guide. He's awesome. He's 22 years old and from Kentucky. I helped him get his bags into the room and we introduced ourselves to each other. He has finished 3 years of college and is the only LDS guy in his family. His name is Elder Ottaway. We've both been a little overwhelmed with everything by being new, but what can you do. The other guys in our district are amazing. They're Elder Benfit from Oregon, Elder Johnson from Utah, Elder Conner from Las Vegas, Nevada, Elder Wood from Utah, Elder Ottesen from Utah, Elder Jackson from Utah, and Elder Bowles from Utah. Our instructors served their missions in Spain a few years ago. Their names are Brother Keller and Brother Harper. I don't think Ryley knows them, but they speak with thetas. So it's a little difficult understanding at times. Since they speak to us in only Spanish! Haha, we have been struggling to learn, especially since they had us teach our first investigator in Spanish last night. It was pretty intense, but I think Elder Ottaway and I made it through just fine. We got her to read and pray about the book of Mormon and we bore our testimonies in Spanish. My Spanish is coming along great. I've been extremely blessed. We all got interviewed by the Branch Presidency and they chose me to be Senior Companion! It's pretty awesome. I'm a little nervous because our zone leaders are leaving soon, so we'll be getting new ones. Who knows who they'll assign. :) Our district had a great little get together last night and we decided we were only going to speak Spanish from now on. No matter what, so we carry our dictionaries with us everywhere. I had to get 2 extra shots when I got here. Supposedly you need to have a booster for Tetanus and MMR before you head out. So they charged me like $97, I mailed the bill home so it should be there sometime. I tried to pay for it out of the money in my wallet, but the lady wouldn't let me. She said "Don't use that money, that's for emergencies and fun stuff. You should mail it home." Sorry to leave you guys with the bill. You can use my account to pay for it if you want. :) The food is pretty good, I haven't had any complaints yet. My digestive system has been working normally. So everthing is good. Overall it's been an amazing experience. I have pictures for you guys, but for some reason this computer won't allow me to update them. I'll send you photos of my district, my companion, my room, the lunch room, my classroom, my instructors, everything I can next week. Just remember that I'm being well looked out for. Our district does everything together, not because we have to, but because we chose to. We eat together, study together, pray together, sing together, laugh together, and help each other in everything. I love these guys. They're so spiritually strong and are all obedient missionaries. We're all just so excited to be able to speak Spanish fluently. Kind of crazy when we will be able to. Just know that I think about you guys all the time and pray for you (in Spanish) :) Keep staying close to the Gospel and e-mail me back with whatever questions you have about this place. I probably only have time to respond to 1 e-mail, so I'll just do a bulk message to everyone. Anyways, I love you guys sooo much. You have all been inspirations to me and I use your examples everyday. The next e-mail will be better. I promise. :) I love you guys again!! Hasta Luego. Chau.
Elder Poulsen
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