Adam Week 2 Email

Hello Everyone,
I finally found a computer that works! How lucky am I! So today has been great, actually, this week has been great. We had all the new Mission Presidents and their wives at the MTC this week. That meant that all of the First Presidency and 10 out of the 12 Apostles have been at the MTC this week. Unfortunatly, I only saw 8 out of the 12 and none of the first presidency... NUNCA! It was a little depressing because there were rumors all over saying that we were going to have sacrament, or preisthood with the Prophet. We did get to hear a talk from Elder Oaks, which was awesome. You could see how important the gospel is in his life by the way he felt about it. I hope that I can be a Spiritual Giant like he is.
So this week has been going great. Other than the great talk we hear, pretty much the same, except everyone was really squished. We had half of the amount of space for lunch. And we had to go out to the field for our gym time. I hated the field, because there's no Volleyball there. Well, there is, but the sand on the court is SO hot that you have to dig a hole for your feet so they don't get burnt off!
Here is a funny story/comment for everyone reading this. So, on wednesday last week we got new missionaries. None in my zone, but there were about 100 new ones. So i walked into dinner on wednesday and a bunch of the newbies are running around trying to figure out the lunch room when i was a litteral GIANT! We call him "Goliath". He is 7 feet tall and towers over everyone. Everyday at lunch and dinner take 30 seconds to scan the room for him and you can usually find him pretty fast. The best part is that we found another kid that is new who we named "David" because he is about 4 foot 8. I want to get them to stand next to eachother some day. I talked to "Goliath" today in the lunch line and found out that he is from Canada, played basketball for SUU, and has a size 16 foot. (That made me feel a lot better about myself.)
So we're getting roommates tomorrow. I'm really upset. I LOVED having a room to myself and Elder Whittaker. Well, we moved all of our stuff into the drawers and I'm really really upset. I have half the room, and twice the roommates. Oh well, that just means I have more opportunites to do service for them... right?
Everynight is still pretty cold as usual. I am getting used to it however and I don't need you to send me a blanket. If I really need one, I can get the janitor/housekeeper people to get me one. I will survive! My cold is going away. It started getting better last night and now I just have an annoying cough. It's practically gone though.
Another funny story, so today some of the Elders and I got bored. We hear a story from our teacher, Hermano Rupper the coolest teacher in the WORLD!, that you can break into rooms using floss, an envelope, a vaccuum chord, and a hangar. Here's how it works. You poke a hole in the envelope. Then you thread the floss through it and slip it through the top of the door. You lower the envelop until it hits the floor and you pull it out with the hangar. Take off the envelope, fold the vacuum chord in half, and tie the floss to it. Now you need to pull the floss out of the top of the door, which pulls the vacuum chord up. Once you get the chord over the doorknob on the inside, you start jerking the chord so that it moves the doorknob... which will open the door. It probably doesn't make sense, but we tried it. We got to the point where we were about to put the chord on the knob and this janitor walks by. He sees us and starts yelling "What are you doing? You know that if you get caught breaking into someone's room you can get sent home!!!!!" He was so mad, but it was so funny. We were all laughing so hard.
Well I love you all. Have faith in the Lord that He can help you and me through everything. I love it here and wouldn't want it any other way. The spirit is so strong and you can feel everyone's love for you always.

Love Always,
Elder Adam Paulsen

John Week 1 Email

okay yeah i don't think the email will really work that well. Letters are definitely the way to go.. So yeah.. Well I'm happy im here.. umm one of these days i think we should just mass send a bunch of letters to me over the weekend, because (well i told you in the letter,but oh well) Elder Rawlings got 8 things in the mail.. and thats the record.. I think that would be way awesome to blow that record out of the water! ha anyway things are getting better here.. it feels like i've seriously been here for ever! like i've heard that the days are like weeks and the weeks fly by because they all blend together..
well things are coming along now.. i just got to memorize spanish words and phrases and I'm golden.. My companion is from Des Moines, so thats cool He is from the metro so he is a city kid like me..
I like it here, i feel the spirit all the time, and i get to eat as much food as i want during breakfast, lunch, and dinner.. So what more could i ask for, right? but maybe you could send me like a few more ties or something, I can tell I'm going to get way sick of the ones i have now.. Also about the shoes, are you just getting one pair? i have one pair that i haven't touched yet.. and i heard from another elder that you will just cycle through your shoes.. so that by the time the first one is dry you will be on your 3 shoe.. or something like that.. but yeah thats how its going.. Bye love you all!

Adam Week 1 Email

Hey all, here are the boys first emails home. We get Adam's emails on Tuesdays and John's emails on Wednesday, those are their P-Days.
Here is Adam's first letter we received last week.
Hey Everyone, This last week has been CRAZY!! The MTC is a completely different experience than i expected.. I'm going to start off by saying that everytime i push the period button, it puts two periods, look.. .. .. .. and the enter bar doesn't work........ talk about quality.. Here's a fun fact for you all.. If you remember when you dropped me off, i was escorted by a host missionary that had been in the MTC for a while.. Ya, that was Elder Hass, formerly Tyler Hass of BYU Basketball.. He's famous here, everyone kinda swarms him so i thought it was funny that i didn't know who he was.. Here are some answers to those questions, I don't get any of johns emails or letters, so i don't actually know if we both get dear elders or not.. The DearElders must not be working that well.. I've only gotted one or two from mom and dad, so you need to figure out if you are sending them to both of us.... seperately.. I see John all the time, it's really weird! I thought it was going to be the occasional glance from across the lunchroom, but i see him about twice a day. The cupcakes were great.. thanks nat, They came in more of a ball of cake, but it still tasted good.. I couldn 't get any of them to john, but i let him know that you sent them.. It's hard to get anything to John, because he lives in a different building so i only see him at lunch and between classes.. So spanish is going so great.. I feel like i can't talk to anyone, but i'm learning so much.. You can definetly feel the spirit a lot.. I love getting hand written letters, because they are great suprises everyday.. And emails are hard to read and write back to.. I could really use some........ hmmmm, i can't think of anything.. Well, District Leader is pretty good.. All i do is have to assign the other elders and Hermanas to say a prayer, song, or thought everyday. And i get to pick up mail.. I love that, you get to see how much people love you..... ha ha, just kidding, but seriously.. This week has been the longest week of my life, but everyone, i mean EVERYONE, tells you how much better it gets.. I love it here and it's built my testimony so much.. I love this Gospel and can't wait to share it with the people of Costa Rica.. I love Jesus Christ and everything he's done for me.. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and the prophets today are so inspired.. I love you all and can't wait to get your letters.. Till next Tuesday! Elder Adam Paulsen P.S. I can say most of that testimony in spanish...... That's right, I have the Gift of Tounges!

Adam - June 29, 2010

Hello Everyone,

I finally found a computer that works! How lucky am I! So today has been great, actually, this week has been great. We had all the new Mission Presidents and their wives at the MTC this week. That meant that all of the First Presidency and 10 out of the 12 Apostles have been at the MTC this week. Unfortunatly, I only saw 8 out of the 12 and none of the first presidency... NUNCA! It was a little depressing because there were rumors all over saying that we were going to have sacrament, or preisthood with the Prophet. We did get to hear a talk from Elder Oaks, which was awesome. You could see how important the gospel is in his life by the way he felt about it. I hope that I can be a Spiritual Giant like he is.

So this week has been going great. Other than the great talk we hear, pretty much the same, except everyone was really squished. We had half of the amount of space for lunch. And we had to go out to the field for our gym time. I hated the field, because there's no Volleyball there. Well, there is, but the sand on the court is SO hot that you have to dig a hole for your feet so they don't get burnt off!

Here is a funny story/comment for everyone reading this. So, on wednesday last week we got new missionaries. None in my zone, but there were about 100 new ones. So i walked into dinner on wednesday and a bunch of the newbies are running around trying to figure out the lunch room when i was a litteral GIANT! We call him "Goliath". He is 7 feet tall and towers over everyone. Everyday at lunch and dinner take 30 seconds to scan the room for him and you can usually find him pretty fast. The best part is that we found another kid that is new who we named "David" because he is about 4 foot 8. I want to get them to stand next to eachother some day. I talked to "Goliath" today in the lunch line and found out that he is from Canada, played basketball for SUU, and has a size 16 foot. (That made me feel a lot better about myself.)

So we're getting roommates tomorrow. I'm really upset. I LOVED having a room to myself and Elder Whittaker. Well, we moved all of our stuff into the drawers and I'm really really upset. I have half the room, and twice the roommates. Oh well, that just means I have more opportunites to do service for them... right?

Everynight is still pretty cold as usual. I am getting used to it however and I don't need you to send me a blanket. If I really need one, I can get the janitor/housekeeper people to get me one. I will survive! My cold is going away. It started getting better last night and now I just have an annoying cough. It's practically gone though.

Another funny story, so today some of the Elders and I got bored. We hear a story from our teacher, Hermano Rupper the coolest teacher in the WORLD!, that you can break into rooms using floss, an envelope, a vaccuum chord, and a hangar. Here's how it works. You poke a hole in the envelope. Then you thread the floss through it and slip it through the top of the door. You lower the envelop until it hits the floor and you pull it out with the hangar. Take off the envelope, fold the vaccuum chord in half, and tie the floss to it. Now you need to pull the floss out of the top of the door, which pulls the vaccuum chord up. Once you get the chord over the doorknob on the inside, you start jerking the chord so that it moves the doorknob... which will open the door. It probably doesn't make sense, but we tried it. We got to the point where we were about to put the chord on the knob and this janitor walks by. He sees us and starts yelling "What are you doing? You know that if you get caught breaking into someone's room you can get sent home!!!!!" He was so mad, but it was so funny. We were all laughing so hard.

Well I love you all. Have faith in the Lord that He can help you and me through everything. I love it here and wouldn't want it any other way. The spirit is so strong and you can feel everyone's love for you always.

Love Always,

Elder Adam Paulsen

John - June 29, 2010

kay yeah i don't think the email will really work that well. Letters are definitely the way to go.. So yeah.. Well I'm happy im here.. umm one of these days i think we should just mass send a bunch of letters to me over the weekend, because (well i told you in the letter,but oh well) Elder Rawlings got 8 things in the mail.. and thats the record.. I think that would be way awesome to blow that record out of the water! ha anyway things are getting better here.. it feels like i've seriously been here for ever! like i've heard that the days are like weeks and the weeks fly by because they all blend together.. well things are coming along now.. i just got to memorize spanish words and phrases and I'm golden.. My companion is from Des Moines, so thats cool He is from the metro so he is a city kid like me.. But definitely the band kid that would get kinda annoying after a while.. Like today he got so anxious about his mail.. He made a pretty big argument about it.. and if we had asked nicely to our district leader he would have gotten them.. So i can tell this will not be the only problem he has here.. And he is always saying how he just can't wait to get out of the MTC.. I like it here, i feel the spirit all the time, and i get to eat as much food as i want during breakfast, lunch, and dinner.. So what more could i ask for, right? but maybe you could send me like a few more ties or something, I can tell I'm going to get way sick of the ones i have now.. Also about the shoes, are you just getting one pair? i have one pair that i haven't touched yet.. and i heard from another elder that you will just cycle through your shoes.. so that by the time the first one is dry you will be on your 3 shoe.. or something like that.. but yeah thats how its going.. Bye love you all

Adam - June 22, 2010

ey Everyone, This last week has been CRAZY!! The MTC is a completely different experience than i expected.. I'm going to start off by saying that everytime i push the period button, it puts two periods, look.. .. .. .. and the enter bar doesn't work........ talk about quality.. Here's a fun fact for you all.. If you remember when you dropped me off, i was escorted by a host missionary that had been in the MTC for a while.. Ya, that was Elder Hass, formerly Tyler Hass of BYU Basketball.. He's famous here, everyone kinda swarms him so i thought it was funny that i didn't know who he was.. Here are some answers to those questions, I don't get any of johns emails or letters, so i don't actually know if we both get dear elders or not.. The DearElders must not be working that well.. I've only gotted one or two from mom and dad, so you need to figure out if you are sending them to both of us.... seperately.. I see John all the time, it's really weird! I thought it was going to be the occasional glance from across the lunchroom, but i see him about twice a day. The cupcakes were great.. thanks nat, They came in more of a ball of cake, but it still tasted good.. I couldn 't get any of them to john, but i let him know that you sent them.. It's hard to get anything to John, because he lives in a different building so i only see him at lunch and between classes.. So spanish is going so great.. I feel like i can't talk to anyone, but i'm learning so much.. You can definetly feel the spirit a lot.. I love getting hand written letters, because they are great suprises everyday.. And emails are hard to read and write back to.. I could really use some........ hmmmm, i can't think of anything.. Well, District Leader is pretty good.. All i do is have to assign the other elders and Hermanas to say a prayer, song, or thought everyday. And i get to pick up mail.. I love that, you get to see how much people love you..... ha ha, just kidding, but seriously.. This week has been the longest week of my life, but everyone, i mean EVERYONE, tells you how much better it gets.. I love it here and it's built my testimony so much.. I love this Gospel and can't wait to share it with the people of Costa Rica.. I love Jesus Christ and everything he's done for me.. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and the prophets today are so inspired.. I love you all and can't wait to get your letters.. Till next Tuesday! Elder Adam Paulsen P.S. I can say most of that testimony in spanish...... That's right, I have the Gift of Tounges!

More Farewell Pics

Farewell

Adam and John's farewell was last Sunday the 12th. Thanks to all those who showed their support. It was a wonderful day. Here are some pictures....

Mission Pics

Here are some of the boys missionary photos they got taken!

The Call

See Adam and John open up their mission calls! Of course the had "rock off" as my dad calls is to see who gets to go first.
Here is Adam opening up his mission call...
And John...
They originally were supossed to leave on different dates, but then later John's date was moved up so they could leave together.

USU Volleyball

Adam played on the Utah State men's club volleyball team his first year. Here are some clips from his tournament in Vegas!

Mesquite Vacation

Since the boys were leaving so soon we didnt have a ton a time to plan a big family vaca. So we settled for Lake Mead to give the boys one last boat run!



Here are some videos we took during the trip...



Dont mind the cheering, we are enthused boaters!



Adam is the only one in our family that can air chair, that thing is gonna be collecting some major dust the nest two years!

Johnny Wakeboarding