Elder Hooker at the MTC

We received a package from Jeffrey that he mailed before leaving for Mexico. He sent home his shoes, his alarm clock and photos. Here are a few excerpts from letters we received during the last few weeks.

September 2, 2008

I know that I have never in my entire life studied as hard as I am here. It’s going to be weird when I get out to the field and when I get to collage and what not because first off, I’ll have time to do whatever I want when I’m in the field and secondly, when I’m in college, I’ll have everything studied with a few hours left in the night. I actually can’t wait until I get to do something like that.

We do go to church as a zone (a bunch of districts that are going to the same area) in one of the multi-purpose rooms that are sectioned off for chapels. We don’t have classes and mostly just study. We do have to prepare a five minute talk every week and the presiding authority just calls on two missionaries to talk with no warning. I have become the pseudo-permanent conductor though for my Chapel since I’m the only one who knows anything about music and can kinda sing well. (Elder Hooker at the Provo Temple.)

September 5, 2008

We lost a member of our district last Wednesday so we're down to only nine now. He had to go home because he developed a tick in his neck and it was just getting worse the longer he stayed here. We think it’s because of the stress so being home should help him. On the topic of stress, I still feel fine stress-wise. Everyone else is breaking out in pimples and what not and I haven’t even gotten one yet myself. I am feeling better now, but I still have a runny nose and somewhat of a cough every now and then. I think I might get me some more Halls and things from the bookstore. (Elder Hooker at the fountain at the Provo Temple.)

September 9, 2008

As for Visas, they seem to be picking back up with a few districts getting out of here on time so I figure that I won’t have to wait for long. As for cash, I should be great since I don’t even get to use a mission vehicle down in Mexico. We don’t even get bikes. Elder Clevenger will be my companion the whole time we're here so it’s a good thing that I get along with him. Also, yes everyone in my district is from the USA.

September 12, 2008

As for visas, it seems that I was wrong about them. The district that just got their flight plans out actually went to the travel office today and found out that their visas had been revoked after all. They have to stay here for two to four more weeks while they go through. I hope that they get this all figured out by the time that I have to leave this place. I can’t wait to get out into the field and to speak Spanish and all. I know that ill just butcher the language for a month or so, but ill try my hardest to do it right.

September 19, 2008

Everything is going great for me here and I really love it here. It will be not cool when I have to leave, but México will be awesome. I’ll try to write a letter in Spanish at least once, but it might be pretty lame and short. It might not make too much sense either. Anyway, I love and miss you all and I’m working hard here. I know that you are not ignoring me and I’m really grateful for all the notes and what not that I get, even if it’s short. I can’t wait to get out into the field and ill see you all in two years. (Elder Hooker and his companion, Elder Clevenger, from Mesa, Arizona, at the MTC)

September 26, 2008

We went to the consulate last Wednesday and got our visas already. We don’t even have our flight plans yet and we already have our visas. That is just amazing luck. Oh yeah, I finally got a letter from Cassandra. I had forgotten that she was moving to Illinois for the next couple of months (I forget how long) so she moved in with her sister there. Things are going good for her and it turns out that she’s getting married next May. Yeah. That’s a fun letter to get. Seven weeks of nothing and then "Oh, by the way, I’m getting married next May." That’s not the way she said it, but I’m too pissed right now to even care. Oh well, that’s just my luck. At least I had one good day this week where I got my visa early. (Elder Hooker at far left and Elder Clevenger with their entire district showing off their flight plans to Mexico City and Cuernavaca.)

September 29, 2008

I got your letters and first off, no, you don’t get a prize for a Dear John letter. You do get ridiculed some though and told the quote "if your girlfriend wont wait for you, your wife will" at least thirty to fifty times. I stopped keeping count after a while. Also, we got our flight plans last Friday. Our district leader thought that it would be funny to hide them until the end of the day for us to get them. We leave this Monday morning at 3:00 in the morning.

Jeffrey flew out on Monday August 6, 2008. He called us from Cuernavaca on Monday night but no other new yet. Stay tuned.