Emails back and forth

Here is an email chain that we did back and forth on Wednesday.  I was at my computer and was able to email back and forth
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Your half way done with the MTC.  Exciting.  I hope everything is going good.  We read your letters to the boys for FHE on Monday night.  They really liked them.  They all wrote you back, so you should be getting the letter quickly.  I have started a blog for you and I am putting all the letter and emails on it.  When you get back we will turn it into a book for you.  Make sure you take lots of pics.  Probably not a ton now, but when you get to Mexico.  

How was travelling to the Visa place?  Was it nice to get out of the MTC for a while?  Did someone go with you?  To bad you don't get to go to Vegas.  What will you do when the rest of the group does?

I have a friend who's son is in Chihuahua on his mission and just got there 2 weeks ago.  He is loving it.  His name is Elder Cummings.  I dated his mom in high school a few times and hung out with her a ton.  

Ok, I have to get back to work,  love you and miss you.  Be good and work hard.

Papa
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Hi, that's cool. I hope the boys enjoyed that last one. To get the visas there were 10 of us and we traveled by train to Salt Lake. Then walked to the Consult, will we were walking this homeless guy walked up to us and said he was a jack Mormon and he was about to go get high and drunk, and he said sorry for it. I don't know why really. Yeah it was really nice we walked by a Ducati dealership which was really cool. And the next day when they all left I just went with the district above us, so it was fine. How many people did you date in high school? And is it taken her out on a few dates. But love you, miss you.


Love, Elder Dayley
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Hey aquí es una ventaja de mí sentado en el correo electrónico todo el tiempo. ¿Cuál es su plan de P-día? 

(Hey here is an advantage of me sitting on email all the time. What is your plan for P-day?)

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haha me plan esa P- Dia es voy a la temple de Provo otra vez, vamos todas semas. esta bien. es un desafio a leo espanol de google tranducir. pero yo perdono usted de su pecado. que es su plan para hoy? trabajar trabajar y mas trabajar?

(haha me that P-Day plan is going to the Provo temple again, we all semes. okay. is a challenge to read Spanish from google tranducir. but I forgive you of your sin. that is your plan for today? work work and more work?)
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How did you know that was from Google translator?  Did you type that or did you use translator?  Yes plan is to work and more work then home for mutual.  We moved Tate into your room on Monday and then broke down Gage's bunk beds last night.  They are both happy now.
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Haha because of the way it was worded. It was a Direct Translation. And we don't have Google here so that came from my brain. Well I'm glad my leaving brought them happiness. So at basketball I play con Russians y they are really good. This one elder he's like 6'4" and he can drive like none other. I play con ellos everyday, we've all became good friends. One of them is from Pima, and I meant someone who lives in Queen Creek and knew Rachel Waite. So that was pretty cool to talk to people that have a connection with sorta.
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It's nice that they let you play basketball everyday.  It is a good release.  Where is the Russian going?  Do you see anyone else that you know?
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No they are elders going to Russia, sorry. But I've seen Daniel Butters here, and he's already gone to the field. But the only problem is that they don't give you enough time to play, we only get 50 minutes to play. okay my time is but now.

Love you tons, miss you.

Love, Elder Dayley

Half way done with MTC

It's exciting to think that I'm already half way done with the MTC, but then its kinda scary because in 3 weeks I'll out teaching people, in Spanish. But its okay, I'm still doing good.

Thank you for the packages! They're awesome! Especially the letters, blanket and the candy corn! Can you send more of it, me and my companions just ate it up.

On Monday I went to get my visa with 9 other elders, we went on a train to Salt Lake. The MTC picked a elder from main campus as the group leader, he was about 5 foot 6 and looked so scared to be in charge that I felt bad for him helped him with it. But after the train we walked about half a mile to the consult and on the way there, there was a guy that looked homeless walking towards us. When he got to us he said, "I'm about to go get drunk and high, I'm sorry I'm a jack Mormon." All I could do is laugh in my head because he kept saying sorry to us, but I don't know why, because we can't do anything for him if he doesn't have the desire in him to change. So why he was saying sorry, I don't know but at least he felt something. 

That's really all the exciting stuff that happened to me this week, and probably for the rest of my stay here until I get to Mexico. Sorry about the boringness of them, it's really not my fault they're super boring. That's just how my days are here.

Haha well love you all, miss you all.

Love, Elder Dayley

Got his Visa and Happy Birthday Mama

First here is a quick note he sent us Saturday:

So I get to go get my visa on Monday!  (Which would be today.)  I'm taking a train up to Salt Lake to the visa place, then I'll be back here that same day. But what's weird is that everyone else in my district are flying to Vegas on Tuesday and I'm the only one going on Monday to Salt Lake so I don't know what's going down with that but oh well. Tell Grandma Dayley that it's fine if she shares my letters, I don't mind at all. Also I got a slip telling me that my packages are ready for me to pick up but I can't pick them up because the mail room is closed today for some reason which is dumb. I hope mama got my letter by now. Oh the progressive investigator is our teacher that he just pretends to be a investigator. Hope that clears things up. Okay that's all. Oh and I can only write you guys once a week on Wednesday, but today we were allowed to tell you that I'm getting my visa at that's all.

Thanks love you all, miss you guys.
Elder Dayley

Today we got another hand written one and found out his address had been changed.  So anyone that is writing him either by way of real mail, or by dear elder take note of the address change, because his Unit changed as well.  Looks like he has still been getting his mail, but taking longer to get it.

Elder Jacob Dayley
Oct-14  Mex-Chi
2023 N 900 E.
Unit 885
Provo, UT  84602

Then this was a letter just to Juliet:

Dear Mama,
Happy Birthday!  Hope you have a really nice day!  I hope you guys go out and have a good time.  Thank you for always supporting me and always loving me.  Thank you for being a great mom and a great example to me.  I know I show my love for papa a lot more visually, but I really really do love you a ton.  Thank you for the letters.  Everytime I get one it just makes my day a hundred times better than before.  I like hearing that you guys miss me, because I know that I'm not forgotten and that I'm not the only one with missing feelings.  I love you a ton and miss you so much.  Don't forget about me!  You're still not old!

Love,
Elder Dayley

Well we should be hearing more from him on Wednesday!

Week 3 in the MTC and Letters to the Boys

Dear Mama and Papa and the boys,

This week has been pretty good, nothing major happened. Just a normal week, studying like 10 hours a day now. We are teaching two investigators this week. But they are really just our teachers acting like them. But it is still really good practice for us for Spanish and for learning how to teach. It's coming along good. It's pretty fun. There is sorta an adrenaline rush that goes along with it at the beginning. It's crazy how much Spanish I can speak now compared to when I left.

Just fair warning for you guys when I get back I'm buying a street bike and I'm going skydiving and I'm going wing-suit flying. So just warning you so you don't freak out on me. Since you said and I quote, "I don't care what you do after your mission." So I'm just warning you before hand. (I'm not sure where he is going to get all the money for this stuff, because his bank account is going to be empty when he gets back!)

So the homesickness has severely decreased, about to the point of where I just about forgot to write you guys. Just kidding. But I still miss you a lot but luckily I've got really good companions and district members.

I just felt like writing something to each of the boys so if you can have them read it, since it'll just be in this letter.

First, to Colton,

You really surprised me about what you said.  I never knew that's how you felt or that you even looked up to me at all.  t means a lot that I left with us on really good terms.  Because if we left while we were fighting or not talking to each other the guilt would have killed.  Keep on being an example to Tate and Gage, because just like how I didn't know that you were watching me, they are watching you.  Since I'm gone you have to take charge of keeping the peace in the house with Tate and Gage when they fight.  By being patient, calm, and relaxed.  Respect is more powerful than fear.  Love you.

Next to Gager-Wager, Gagey-Wagey.

Of everyone you made me cry the most.  Before you wouldn't touch me at all or talk to me, but that night before I left, how you hugged me and cried.  Dude, I lost it.  That's the most I've ever cried in my life.  You don't even know how much that meant to me.  It makes me teary eyed when I even think about it.  Thank you.  Just remember to be teachable in all things, and be humble.  Those two things will help you become better than you could be, by just going out there all cocky.  There's a difference between cocky and confidence.  Cocky kids are the ones who are good now, but can't go anywhere.  Where confident kids know how good they are, but are humble about it and know that they aren't the best, but strive to be the best all the time.  They do that by listening to their coaches all the time.  And trying their best always.  Love you, Miss you!

Tater-bug,

How are you?  I was just wondering if the kids could get a photograph or maybe an autograph.  Look, the kids they love you.  You are the best! Haha!  (Again, another Nacho reference!)  I want my socks back you punk!  Tate you were my favorite brother, well blood brother.  You would always be there for me, even when we'd be mad at each other, we would make up with each other within an hour.  I don't think that we'd ever been mad at each other for more than an hour.  I would consider you one of my best friends.  I could trust you, and you trusted me.  Tate you go to stop teasing Gage, or you just got to know when to stop.  Just like Gage, be humble and teachable.  The people who can teach you will help you so much more than you can imagine.  Coaches will give you criticism and that's good, it'll help you.  But don't let anyone bad talk you, stand up for yourself and don't be pushed around.  But don't be a bully doing it to others.  Know when enough is enough.  Stick up for your friends also, as you do that your friendships will become stronger and closer because you'll really start to care about them.  Love you a lot!

At the bookstore, they have shirts of each of the missions on them and I bought a Mexico one and was going to buy an Ireland shirt, but they didn't have it, sorry papa. But everything is going good here, enjoying it a lot. Time flows really weird here. Each day is long, but the week is fast, but they are longer because you don't get a weekend.

So somethings I found out about my mission is we don't do tracting because it is too dangerous to do that. (Isn't that what every mother wants to hear, is how dangerous the mission is that her son is going to?!) So how we get to people I don't know. I don't know if you know this, but there is a missionary mom email group that sent something about sending packages to me once I get in the field. But I'm not sure about all the details about it. All I know is that mama should try and get on the email group. I heard also that the mission president and his wife are super nice. Nothing else to write about really. I could say sorry for the handwriting and spelling mistakes.

Miss you all, love you all. Tell Gramma that I love her. Oh, one more thing, but at night I've been having super vivid dreams. The dreams are really realistic and they've all been about you guys and the Wright's. It sounds weird, but its been good to see you guys again. (I actually really lost it today when I read that part.) But love you and miss you tons.

Love,

Elder Dayley

Batch of Letters

For anyone that would like to write to Jacob his email address is for his entire mission is - jdayley@myldsmail.net

He is at the Provo MTC West campus and his departure date is Oct 14, his mission is Mex-Chi, and he is Unit 44.  Once on is in Mexico, you can still write him using dearelder, but you would put his location as Mexico-Chihuahua.  All of those letters will go to his mission home.  They are all free to send as well.

This is actually the first email that he sent us last week on his first p-day.  Honestly it was pretty non-informational, so I didn't send it out last week, but now that I have some other letters to add to it, I will go ahead and add this.

Hey guys hows it going? Everything is going good here. First full week of the mtc done and it was hard but rewarding but also disappointing but at the same super fun!

So mama you were right that I am at the west campus and it is way better here. I got two companions so its a trio of us haha. There was 7 elders and 5 of us are going to Chihuahua and the other 2 are going to Madrid Spain. The other two left this morning at 3 am kinda like what Devon did. But I wasn't the only one to mispronounce Chihuahua when they read there mission call all 5 of us did!  So now its just 5 of us living in a apartment and its super fun.

Papa I appreciate your two line long emails haha, but I'm jealous of you guys going to get In and Out. But I sent you guys an actual hand written letter with a little more of a personal stuff on it for you and mama

Provo is super super nice and the mountains are really pretty I got some pictures to send you guys, tell Kurt thank you for the camera again for me. Oh and thank you for the dear elders they really mean a lot. I got lots of pics for you! 

(All of the pictures he sent are on the blog Lee started.)

But I wake up every morning 5 am and make some soup, I love it! Its the best! (Another tribute to Nacho) But I really wake up at 6;30 shower, go to personal study in a small classroom, then breakfast, then additional study, classroom which is all in spanish. Then maybe lunch I don't remember, but then we go to language study or more study for a few hours then dinner then more classroom time then planning then bed at 10:30. It's pretty exciting.

Remember when you promised that we would build a rally car when I got back well I'm holding you to that!

So now you know why I wasn't super excited to send out just that last week!

So here the 2nd hand written letter we got from him.

Dear Mama and Papa,

Today is my first p-day and it's a Wednesday, and it marks the one week of me being here.  So yesterday we got moved over to the west campus and before hand everyone was saying how much it stunk over here and how it's just not nearly as good, so I wasn't too excited to go and leave, well I actually I was because I did not like the main campus at all.  But I'll explain that in a sec.  But we got here and we have an actually apartment, a three room, one bath house for the 5 of us.  I have loved it here way more than the main campus.  We're on the 3rd floor of a building, we have a view of the mountains around us and there's trees and grass, it's awesome here.  I took a lot of pics for you guys that I'll try and send though email.  I felt like the main campus was of a prison.  Everywhere you looked it was brick building and old trees. 

Needless to say, his first week was harder on his than we originally thought.  He dealt with a lot of homesickness and some depression that goes along with being homesick and the white brick walls of the MTC didn't help at all.  Then he went on to say this.... 

Sunday night we had a devotional which was cool, but after that there was a video about the character of Christ.  In the video was David A. Bednar talking about how in trials we have to turn outwards to others instead of turning inwards.  So I've been trying  to do that and I've been praying a lot for comfort and all that has helped and the fact that we moved to the west campus has really helped me. 

On Monday I played my best game of basketball ever.  I don't know if it's just the floors here or something, but it was really cool actually being able to help my team win and actually being the leading point scorer haha. 

My companions are really cool.  One is sorta annoying sometimes, but it's not anything bad.  An elder in my district, Elder Wright (the non-annoying companion) and I are doing a dirt bike trip in Utahwhen we all get back, because we all ride dirt bikes and they both live in Utah.  

Ever since we left the main campus things gave been 100 times better.  The first three days have been agonizingly slow, but the last three have been flying by so fast.  It's crazy how much spanish I've learned in a week.  I can understand a lot of what the teacher says, but speaking it is still hard.  Over all I'm glad I'm here.  Love you all, tell that to the Wright's too, and tell Brother Wright I'm still expecting his letters he promised.

Love You!  Miss You!

Elder Dayley

So that ws pretty much his first week in the MTC.  Good life lessons and growth.  I'm proud of him for sticking through things and looking in the right places for the help and strength he needed.  So here is what we got from him today.

First batch of pictures

In class with District

The District

Provo Temple

The apartment.

Week 2 in the MTC

Hey Family,

So this is week went  by pretty fast, but the flow of time here is really strange because the days are long and hard but the weeks feel short, but then i feel like I have been here for a year already. I'm really starting to like it now, now that i stopped worrying about myself and cared more for my investigators and my companions. 

We are doing a progressive investigator, we have two this week. they are only our teachers but the really make you feel like they are true investigators. its really cool. 

Mama can you print and send my that picture of my and Tate snuggling that'll be cool. I showed my companions, ha ha they didn't quite know how to respond ha ha

Things here have gotten a lot better now that I'm into the routine of things. It's gotten easier, just the living part but the Spanish is still coming along slowly but surely. 

Yes, i actually do  miss snuggling to be honest!

When i get back i want to watch the lord of the rings all my roommates are nerds about that movie and now they got me wanting to watch it also. So that'll be the first thing that'll we will do as a family! No question asked suckers! 
Okay I'm running out of time now but it was great hearing from you all, and keep the letters coming. they brighten up my day like you couldn't image.

Love you all, miss you all.

Elder Dayley

Week 1 in the MTC

Dear Mama and Papa,

The MTC has been an experience that is unlike any other I have ever experienced in a good way.  It is the hardest thing I have ever done emotionally and spiritually.  I know that my testimony has grown incredibly in the like 36 hours I've been here.  I've also been shown that I don't know a butt load of crap about the gospel (you've got to be a Nacho fan to find that funny!), and all I can do is rely on the things I hear from the spirit.

Spanish is going well, I actually can understand the sentences our teacher is saying, or I can hear key words and piece it together.  I feel I'm doing well in it and tomorrow we're teaching out first "investigator" all in Spanish, so we'll see how that goes.

I actually have two companions, Elder Wright (what are the chances!) and Elder Hogan.  I already asked and Elder Wright has no relations with anyone in Arizona.  They are good guys, they're nice and funny.  We have gotten along really well.

I'm in the Dan Jones building, he was a friend of Joseph Smith and considered one of the best missionaries of this dispensation. In our hallway it is half white people and half Tongan and it is awesome.   One room of all Tongans are leaving Sunday and got a package of just food and they shared a ton of it with us.  This is why I think they are the greatest people in the world, but I know that from Alex Po'oi and The Foliaki's.

Of the seven Elders in our district, two of them are going to Madrid, Spain and the rest are going to Chihuahua.  Both of my companions are going to Mexico.

On Tuesday my Branch is moving to west campus to finish the rest of the time.  So any mail you guys send, I don't know if just to hold off until Wednesday (which is my p-day) or what, I don't know.

This letter is over two days, so today we taught the investigator all in Spanish.  I could understand some of what  he said.  It was a good experience, but it was hard, to try to say what we wanted to say.

But love you all and miss you.  I hope everything is going good.  Hope gramma is feeling better.  I was homesick the first night, but doing good now.  Sorry papa for jumping around a lot and not being organized, but at least the letter is separated into paragraphs.

So this part he wrote in Spanish, which is his testimony.  Not knowing the language and having a hard time deciphering his hand writing, those of you that speak Spanish will know how much I messed up trying to type it out or how bad of a speller Jacob is!

Yo se que Jesuchristo es el salador, y Dois es muestro Padre Celestial.  Yo se que el Euagelio de Cristo es uerdadero.  En el mombre de Jesucristo, Amen.

Love, Elder Dayley