Thursday, May 26, 2011

May 26th

Mother,

Tornados all around you, but not in Bloomington! That's crazy to hear!!! This week has been crazy, weird and amazing. Guess who came to the Tuesday Night Devotional? Actually, before I get to that, let me just say that I got sick with a cold this week. It wasn't fun, but it's okay. Tuesday in choir, we sang This is the Christ and I really liked that song!!! Unfortunately my voice was pretty much gone after I sang since I sang really loud when the conductor told us to. Anyway, Elder Russell M. Nelson came and talked to us about what missionaries do in the field. Yesterday during gym I played a really awesome and intense game of soccer. People kept calling me the Bauer Power and yeah!!! I was the awesome defense of my team!!!

Well, going back in time to Sunday, during the Temple walk, I took some really neat pictures with my nametag and the Temple and other stuff like that!!! I can't wait to get that memory card back to you so that you could see them!!! Anyways, back to Wednesday, Elder Mockler, my companion, is really wanting to get his visa so that he could go to Spain and he really is desperate to get going! When the Travel Office calls the rooms they usually have people's visas and whatnot. So someone calls our room and asks if Elder Mockler is there. He gets all excited and says with an enthusiastic voice, "Yes, I'm here!!" Then the person on the intercom tells him that they changed his appointment to the Clinic and he was disappointed and after they got off we all, including him, started to laugh!! He even said, in Spanish, "Now even the MTC is making jokes with me." Then later that day, a "call" from the front desk came to the residence which is where we were for a little bit. They asked if anyone was there, and Elder Mockler got excited again, and so did I for him, and they asked if an Elder Someone was there. He was disappointed again, and Elder Ferrill and I laughed and he laughed along too. Later on, we were studying outside and we had to go to Elder Mockler's appointment and we had to stop by the classroom to drop things off, someone called the classroom, and Elder Mockler responded and they were looking for Elder Rigsby, at which point he walked out and Elder Ferrill, my other companion, responded to them. It was a funny day!!! How have things been going over there? Anything fun aside from tornado chasing or hiding?
Take care and I'll talk to you next week.

~Elder Bauer~

PS
I got the package and yeah!! I hope to send my card back to you so that you can see all of the things that I have done!!! I'll make sure that I protect the card well!!! Have a happy day!!!!
Elder Julio, hehehe.

Dad,

Your epistles are actually interesting since I'm trying to learn as much about things here as I am trying to learn as much about everything so yeah!!! As for the tornadoes, I heard about them from mom, but not all of that that you just told me!! That's pretty intense!!!! I told mom a lot of stuff that I did here and that has happened and yeah!!! I'm glad to hear that you are finally finishing your chemo!!!! Happy days, all is well!!! I'll just tell you everything that I told mom and hope that you like it. It may all be exactly the same since I don't really have that much time on here as you know, but oh well, at least you'll have something to read as you sit through chemo. Have fun with all of the old people for the last time!!! You should stand up and wave goodbye to them!!!
Oh yeah, by the way, pictures are coming to you guys soon, I hope!!
Take care!!!

~Elder Julio (just for the heck of it.)~
~Elder Bauer~

Thursday, May 19, 2011

QUESTIONS

Questions:
Mother,
Great questions, now here are the answers!!

1. What is your companion’s name?
Elder Hilton used to be my companion in district 42 B, but now it's Elder Carroll. He's been my companion for about two weeks as well as Elder Banbury, but Elder Banbury left Tuesday morning and Elder Carroll leaves tomorrow. They will be in the Spain CCM. I'll probably be put in another companionship soon.

2. Who else shares your dorm room with you?
Elder Carrol is the only one that shares the room with me at the moment, but as I said, Elder Banbury used to be in there with us.

3. Are they all going to Spain, or to a different country in Europe?
In my companionship we are both going to different missions in Spain. When Elder Banbury was here we had all three missions covered in our room!! The District is going to many different places.

4. Did you find the camera extra chip, or do you need me to send you another one?This so you can send me the one you have now and take a new one to Spain.
I didn't find the camera chip when I looked. I may need a new one.

5. Have you heard anything about your visa?
About my visa, I have not heard anything.

6. Which day do you go to the Temple.
I go to the Temple on Sundays for taking pictures and walking around it, and on Thursdays (P-Day) for doing sessions and stuff.

7. How big is the choir? What do you sing, bass or tenor?
The choir has a good amount of missionaries, probably about 150 give or take a few. I sing Baritone.

8. Do you have a physical education class or do you just exercise on your own.
We don't have any sort of P.E. class, it's just a time for us to do whatever we want really.

9. At what time do you exercise?
Exercise time varies on different days. Mondays from 8:35 - 9:25 am, Tuesdays from 1:25 - 2:15 pm, Wednesdays from 6:20 - 7:10 pm, Fridays from 1:20 - 2:10 pm, and Saturdays from 6:20 - 7:10. We don't exercise on Sunday for obvious reasons or Thursday because we have to prepare.

10. What classes do you attend during the day?
The classes I attend are French, Mathematics, Geography, Stellar-cartography, and Science.
JK, Class is pretty much learning the language and the lessons out of Preach My Gospel.

11. How long is study time? An hour?
Study time is spread out throughout the day. I'd say that it totals to be about 3 - 4 hours a day.

12. What is your favorite food at the MTC and which is your least favorite?
I don't really know what my favorite food at the MTC is. They serve pretty decent food so yeah.

13. Are you one of those who welcome the newcomers now?
I do welcome the newcomers just to annoy them. Everyone does it so yeah, it's fun!!! =)
14. Do you have sacrament meeting and other meetings on Sunday?
We have Sacrament meeting and Priesthood, so yeah.

15. Is Tuesday devotional day every Tuesday?
Devotionals are every Tuesday from 7 - 8. This past Tuesday we had Elder Richard G. Hinckley of the First Quorum of the Seventy speak to us and he was really good!!! He opened the last few minutes to general questions and a sister asked him "What's the best lesson you learned from your father?" Everyone ooohed at that!!

16. How are you feeling?
I'm feeling pretty lovely how are you feeling? =)

17. Did you get your scriptures in Spanish?
Yes I got a Spanish Bible and Triple.

18. Do you need any scriptures or books send to you?
I don't need any books sent to me at this time.

19. Do you need anything at all?
I may want my card thing with all 100 Scripture Mastery sent to me if you can find it. If not, I can buy it at the bookstore.

20. Who is Elder Armantrout? Your companion?
Elder Armantrout was in our Zone and left on his mission a few weeks ago. He was pretty awesome!!!
Anymore questions, send them my way!!!

Friday, May 13, 2011

What? Keep this up and you'll need a new suit!

Thursday May 12, 2011

Mom,

Yay is right!!! I can't wait to get going to Spain!!! The food here is still good, but not as good as yours. The hash-browns that I got this morning were crazy crunchy, probably because they cooked them too long. I did get the box of goodies and my ties that you sent me, but I'll save them for when I'm food deprived, plus I've gained 8-10 lbs since I've been here. I really don't want to go out to the mission field Humphrey size so I may send some of grandma's goodies to you! As for my ugly ties, I traded them for lovely awesome ties!!

I kind of want to see my room how it looks like now! Could you send me a picture of it possibly? Well, I hope all is well. Take care and I'll talk to you again soon!!! Love you!

~Elder Bauer~

P.S. Combine all of the emails that I sent you and dad and make it into one post on my blogo (Yeah, I don't know how to say blog in Español)

Thursday May 12, 2011

Dad,

I've tried sharing my goodies with my district, but they won’t eat any of the awesomeness I get. I may send some to you guys since I won’t be able to keep up with grandma's intense cooking skills. I also did get your letter with your geekness, oh oops, I meant Greekness in it, but I did find it rather interesting!! I have a scripture for you now that you may enjoy!! Elder Armantrout gave me this scripture to read and I thought it was pretty awesome! Romans 8:24-39.

Another awesome thing that happened is that on the Tuesday Night Devotional, Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve came and spoke on the Atonement!!! It was a really awesome talk!!! He took 3 words from 2 Nephi 2:8 and talked about them. The 3 words are Merits, Mercy, and Grace. It was awesome!! I actually saw and Apostle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also joined the MTC Choir and according to my companion they sometimes broadcast those on BYU TV so you may see me if they do. I also got a really cool scripture marker from the bookstore here!! It's like a mechanical pencil with a place for 8 different color lead and you can choose the color you want! It's pretty awesome!!!

How are things over there? Any news? Take care and I'll talk to you guys next week!!

~Elder Bauer~

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

FBI Papers came today! They are on their way to SLC overnight mail. Now it's up to the Church to get the visa... LDS Travel for Missionaries had to "update" a lot of the steps to take in order to request the FBI clearance and then the apostille from the U.S.Department of State. We were the pioneers on this great movement! Glad we could help, eventhough it took so long!

Thanks to Patty at the FBI office in West Virginia, for taking this matter in her own hands and getting the seal and docs back to us in less than a week. Also especial thanks to a Bishop in Washington D.C. for suggesting a member in his ward for me to call and ask for the big favor. And the greatest thanks go to Jim for going to a government office spending all morning there until he got the apostille and the documents authenticated. Then he send them back to us overnight. What had taken over 5 months of work, money and frustration, was done in less than two weeks by these awesome people who were willing to help.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

May 5, 2011

May 5, 2011

I will reply to your letter and the emails here. So far, things here have been really fun!!! I have been missing my old district, but it's fine. I'm starting to like this new district and yeah. My new Box# is 287 just so that I get the notifications of any other letters that you send. I was also wondering if you could send me the two ugly ties that I have so that I can see if I can trade them for some good looking ties. I'm glad to hear that the visa is coming along very nicely too!!! To answer Giselle's question, she can drink my drink from World Gourmet since I won’t be back for a while. As for calling on mother's day, I won't be able to call that day since I'll be in the MTC and it would be hard to have over 2,000 missionaries call on that day. When I'm in the field I'll be able to do that though!
This week has gone by fast, yet slow. The first few days of my new District were slow, but they're getting faster. Yesterday it was actually warm and we got to play on the field outside which was fun!! I'm really sore from playing soccer though, but I had more exercise than I have for a long time!!! Today I had the opportunity to go to the Temple and it was a great experience!!!! I really felt the Spirit there and hope that I can do the same thing next week!! I also got a package from grandma and it had cookies inside so I've been eating those! I also did get your package with the purple tie and I really like that tie!! I wore it all day yesterday and yeah!! I've also gotten letters from Megan and those have been fun to read!! Those are the only people that have sent me letters. You should get Rita to put my address on the program so that I get more mail!!! Here it is just to refresh your memory. =)

Elder Ezra A. Bauer
MTC Mailbox #287
SPA-MAD 0629
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, UT 84604-1793

I hope to hear from you guys soon!!!
Lots of love!!!

Elder Ezra Alexander Bauer

P.S. Don't forget to check my emails/PDN Forums/Facebook etc.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Dear Alex. Last week of April

Hello Alex.
It is so good to hear from you.
I am so glad that so far you've had nice experiences. I'm hoping that your second district with intermediate Spanish will be good. Would you have to change dorm and companion?
Giselle sent you a letter in the mail Thursday. By the time you read this e-mail you would have gotten the letter. I also sent you a box on Friday with some envelopes and a purple tie.
I will be posting this letter in your blog in a few minutes.
In Giselle's letter I sent only a note asking you for your e-mail address. I wanted to send you an e-mail, so that when you were able to open your e-mail for the first time there you would have something to read from us, but I couldn't find your address.. Now I have it and I'm so happy to be write to you.
Well, something happening... Your dad went to Springfield to talk to Dolores...(I'm not making this up., that is this lady's name) about the apostille "garbage." To make the story short, we do have to send it to Washington DC... but they said that there is a Senator's office "just a few blocks away" so your dad decides to go talk to them. It was about 30 minutes walk, so it wasn't really that close. By the time he got there he was exhausted, so he asked if he could sit down for a minute... Then he took his hat off, and then he got all the sympathy in the world. They were very nice to him and gave him information of Washington DC like phone numbers and addresses to take care of the next step with the visa. Then, this lady said to him: "You ain't gonna walk back to your car... so and so will take you" So he got a ride back.
Once he got home, we called Washington DC, and they asked us if the FBI Document had had a seal... NOPE. It has to have a seal.. The person on the phone told me that they have a WALK IN service, so if you go there you can get the paper work done the same day. Then they gave me the phone number of the FBI in Virginia to see if I could go there also.. NOPE. They don't do "walk ins". So I started to cry and being frustrated, (since I haven't lost my hair I need to have sympathy in a different way, right? not to mention that over the phone they can't really see you) Anyhow. This lady got so compassionate that she gave me a direct way to send her the document "over night" with an "over night return" and to write Attention Patty, so she can take care of it quickly as it arrives. So I sent it today. We scanned your signature and wrote a letter as if it was you asking for the seal in the document. (She asked us to do that) Hopefully we'll get it back soon.
I am looking for someone in the church who lives in Washington DC, who I can send the document once we get it back, so they can do the walk in for me and then the same day send it back to us, so we can send it to the church.
One nice thing about this is.. The church doesn't seem to know that these changes have happened as of January 25th. So we called them to let them know about it so they can change their requirements to future missionaries.
Not to discourage you, but tonight I talked to brother Chambers at the church and he said that when he was going on his mission, a whole group of missionaries at the MTC got stuck there for 12 weeks until they finally got their visas.. I'm hoping that with "Patty's” help, that won't happen.
Tomorrow I'm fasting for this to get resolved fast. I think the two persons who answer the phone to give me instructions were angels ministering and helping out.
About the pictures, would it be too expensive to print them? You may want to be patient and get enough pictures in the chip and then send it later. Did you find the other one? May be with the "medicines" in one of those boxes.
Your room is half way clean. I found shirts and pajamas that you were supposed to take with you. I'm going to send them soon.
Do you need anything?
We all love you and miss you very much.
Here goes your first cheese scripture used to families in the mission. Moroni 8:2-3 (Just change the name from Moroni, to Alex)
Learn tons.
Love, all of us...
MOM
XOXOXOXOXO