backlog - part 1

Ok, so, as previously mentioned, there was some confusion on just how much we should include and how much of everything Conor wanted us to include here on the blog, but we've got that all sorted out now, so travel back in time with me ever so slightly to April 22, when he started writing in his journal. He's been doing pretty well with writing at least a little bit every day, or almost every day so far. The trick was, however, how he was going to get those entries to us to update here. His first attempt to send them to us involved taking pictures of the journal with his digital camera, printing off the pictures, and sending them to us with his letters. Unfortunately, he didn't take very good pictures, and so the very beginning and very ending of some of the lines got cut off, and a couple of the pictures are VERY difficult to read at all due to being VERY blurry. But! Never fear! If I absolutely couldn't figure out what was missing, I'll use brackets, but for the most part, I was able to translate things pretty well, if I do say so myself. xD

Now, since there's so much that needs to be posted, I'm going to break things up, since blogspot only allows you to post so much at a time anyway. I'll put things in chronological order and indicate what type of communication it is. Enjoy!


April 22-24, 2011 [journal entry]
There's hardly been time to write for a while, which is why this is 3 days in 1. But Friday was hectic, finishing packing, then getting set apart, which was a great experience. In between I said a few more goodbyes, after was a great dinner out with the fam, and more hectic packing. The drive to St. George on Saturday was long, but enjoyable enough. The [hunting?] at CTR Clothing was great, got everything I needed and then some. Then Dad and I went through the St. George temple, a beautiful building, and great experience. We went to church in Las Vegas today [Sunday] with Dad's mission president, Marlan Walker. Their ward also had a missionary reporting on this Wednesday. His talk also helped comfort me about some of my worries and doubts, and I hope to see Elder Fox of the Brazil Sao Paulo Mission again.

April 25, 2011 [journal entry]
Today was productive. Got all my immunizations done in St. George, and I do mean ALL of them. 4 SHOTS!!! Two in each arm. Man, my arms still ache as I write this. Then we took a trip to Wal-mart for more supply shopping, and then off to Provo, where I met my dad's cousin Pam, her husband Kim, and their son Steve, whose attractive friend Celest was rather aggravating for a guy who can't pursue girls for a while. Oh well. Pam is great, she helped dampen down these doubts still rearing up in my head. By the way, their house is HUGE!! And really nice.

April 26, 2011 [journal entry]
Another productive day. Finished getting all my stuff together!! Arms kept bugging me all day, but now they're better. Kim treated us to a great pizza place for dinner, and he and Pam brought Steven along, who'd served his mission in Chile. He helped keep me from freaking out too much. So I go to sleep (hopefully) ready for entering the MTC tomorrow.

April 27, 2011 [journal entry]
Oh my...What a long, great day. My last few fairwells [hehe...d'aww he misspelled it...ok sorry, back to the entry ^^;], a few more pics with my parents, and then...the MTC. They started us right off, met the 12 elders in our MTC district, and our language teachers, Hermano Burrup and Hermano Catt. Then a meeting and intro by the MTC Presidency to all 343 new elders and sisters. In between all this we dropped stuff off in our rooms, and met our companions. Elder Houston is great, he's about as quiet and reserved as I am. After the pres. meeting was dinner, which was much better than I thought it would be. Then straight into our first session of learning how to teach. It was excellent, and filled with the Spirit. These elders and sisters who entered with me will be great, I am honored to be learning with them, and grow more confident in myself as well.

April 28, 2011 [journal entry]
Day 2, done. We started with an exercise that was meant to help us connect with people and their different needs. Then a "language study" session that was a little confusing, since we did not really have much to study. But we had a great chance to learn more about the elders in our district. Then classroom instruction, which was language learning, learning to teach, and testimony, all-in-one. It was great. After dinner was meeting our branch presidency, and interviews with them. Elder Woods was made our district leader, and I was made senior companion. I hope not to disappoint. Then a tour, and back to our residence hall.