FELIZ NAVIDAD!!

Well to say that christmas down here is different than back home is a huge understatment. It is WAY different. everyone stays up to midnight on christmas eve and lights off a ton of fireworks. it was pretty legit to see but people were blaring really obnoxious and loud music the whole day too. but we had dinner with the family that we live with. it was way good cuz we actually had turkey and ham and not chicken for once. our mission christmas party was fun too. it was by the temple so i got some good pics by it. i havent recieved my package from mom yet but im hoping for sometime this week. i got a package at hte party though but it was from the mission and it had like some candy, some socks, a yo yo, and some other random stuff. but at least i got something. on christmas we had dinner at a families home and we were waiting for a taxi to take us back home. we waited forever and after a while, it started to rain. after getting soaked for a couple of minutes, elder lopez said, ¨Feliz navidad compa¨. for some reason i thought that was hilarious and lost it. but yesterday we had a baptism!! they were two baptisms but one of the kids is only eight so he counts as a ward baptism and not a mission one. but its still good that he got baptized and his older brother too. i hope that their parents start comimg to church because of it. their mom really wanted them to get baptized so she obviously thinks its important for them. but ya nothing else to report. It was good to be able to skype my family on christmas. i also called jared too and talked to him for like 15 minutes so that was cool. well i gotta go. Thanks for all your support and love.
From a very warm Panama;

Elder Scrimsher

Merry christmas from Pedregal!!

Theres going to be un Navidad blanca here in panama for me! i dont mean snow but i mean two people getting baptized on christmas! they are angel and ancarlos. they are ages 16 and 9 and their family is member but not that active but the mom wants them to be baptized. we are totally stoked cuz its on the 2nd and 3rd baptisms for my comp and the first for me. we really didnt have that much influence in it but we were over at their house a lot just reading hte scriptures with them and teaching them about reading as a family so we are way excited for them. this week has been pretty good. my comp is Dl so he had to go on divisions with the other elders so i was with elder reyes from hnduras for 1 day. he is a nice guy but is kinda weird and awkward, expecially when he started teaching about the law of chastity to this family that let us in. but he is cool. we are all stoked for the christmas party for the mission on thursday. we will all get the packgages for christmas from family and friends there and its nice to see everyone. we had a way good lesson yesterday and got some new investigators for this week. i guess im pretty blessed cuz elders whiting and voss in our zone havent been able to wash their clothes for two weeks cuz they havent had any water. so they showed up to our meeting today in shorts and t shirts. it was hilarious. weve had our days without water but they have it worse. its starting to get less rainy here and more hot. im not liking it expecially since it should be snowing cuz its christmas but whatev. i keep forgetting that its almost christmas cuz it doesnt look or feel like it outside. peoples houses are decorated but its not the same. we are trying to stress getting referals right now but its hard cuz the members never give us any and never have time to go teaching with us. but we are trying to change that. if zach has any ideas, i would dearly appreciate them. I think im getting better at understanding people here. im picking up more and more of what people say. so im excited about that. i was going to email some pics today but i forgot my cord so it will have to wait. i might end up buying another sd card here cuz im going to eventually run outta room on mine. but everything here is good. thanks for all the suppport from all of you. Merry christmas from Pedregal!!

elder scrimsher

My first 48 hours in Panama

Hola from Panama!

Wow these last two days have been a blur. WE got to the airport at 1230 am early Wednesday morning. President Ward was there to pick us up. He is a pretty legit mission president I think. Dad I gave Sister Ward your email address cuz they took pics of us and she wanted to send them to our parents. I think she has a blog too so you can check that out if you want to know more. My comp is Elder Lopez from El Salvador . Everyone says that he is a great missionary and works very hard. He doesn’t know that much English or at least he doesn’t speak it unless I really don’t understand him. Everyone here talks way fast so I'm having a hard time understanding everyone. But I’m sure with time I'll be able to pick it up. I’m in the Tocumen Zone, Pedregal Area. I’m about 30 min east of Panama City . Elder Whiting from my MTC district is in the same zone so we were together and we had a zone meeting today so I saw him there too. I’ve almost been hit by a car or in a car crash too many times already. Dad I think I’m going to just lock my debit card in my suitcase cuz president and out financial clerk said that we won’t need it and it’s just another incentive for someone to rob me. We get like 240 dollars a month so I think that will be enough. The area I’m in is good according to my comp. He was here a change before. He said that they had five really good investigators but lost all of them in the last two weeks. Two of them admitted that they were gay and wanted to stay that way, one´s mom made her stop, another just stopped, and I can’t remember the last one. Elder Lopez is a way nice companion though. He has been here for 13 months. The mission has a goal to baptize 1000 people this year, which has never been done and we only need 57 more to reach it this month. It rains like crazy here. WE spent 20 mins waiting in the rain yesterday for someone to get the key to the stake center in our area. I was soaked within minutes. My tie, my bright orange one, looks different now cuz it got so wet. Our "house" is a room connected to a member’s home. It is one room with a bathroom that has no lights so I can’t see if there is a spider or snake or other critter in the shower with me. I have no closet either so my stuff is hanging off the ceiling tile things. It’s humid here but not as bad as I thought. The buses are an adventure though. Being slammed up against a bunch of sweaty people and almost getting hit is legit ha-ha. My pday is on Monday, but everyone is emailing today cuz they didn’t have it this last Monday cuz of the changes. Well that’s about it. Idk what my address is yet, but ill try to figure it out. I got to go. Bye bye

Elder Scrimsher

TG from the MTC

Sorry this is coming a little late. The internet was down yesterday. We heard from Elder Holland today. He is such a powerful speaker. He talked about a lot of things and not wanting to be home cuz this is the best experiene we could ever ask for. It was legit. We leave Tuesday. We fly out of SLC at 9:45 am and get to Atlanta at 3:25. I will probably call you guys in Atlanta so it will be about 12:30 for you guys when I call. The plane leaves Atlanta at 5:30 and we get to Panama City at 9:30. I understand not getting anything on Christmas. Ok I gotta go. I love you guys. Have a great Thanksgiving. We are doing a huge service activity today and our district is part of the surpervising crew. It will be chaotic but fun. I love you guys. Next email will be from PANAMA!!

Week 6 at the MTC - live from the Laundry Room

Hola everyone,

Things here are good. Our streak of apostles at devos has ended. We heard from Elder pearson from the 70. He was really good. The weather here is weird. It's been raining a lot but hasn't snowed yet. I want it to snow so I can break out my boots. I probably will anyways even if it doesnt. Dad, you guys actually painted my room? I didn't think that was actually going to happen. It's going to look so wierd when i get back. Thats nice that you had Sis Gayda and Sis Lott over for dinner. That lasagna sure sounds good right now. That's cool about the special on panama that you guys watched. Yes, the temple looks legit. It's in the middle of the jungle and stands out very much. You and mom should visit. Maybe you can pick me up? I know the other elders from Panama are talking about their parents picking them up too so that would be fun. Some of us in the district are thinking of sneaking out on saturday to watch harry potter jk jk. It sounds like its going to be awesome though. At least I can just watch them back to back when I get back. Wow, I can't believe that we are going to be outta here in two weeks. We should get our travel plans on saturday so we are stoked for that. I got some mail this week so things have been good. We are teaching lesson 2 in spanish on friday so we are preparing for that. I think that we will do well. Well I gotta run, my laundry is almost done. I love you all!

From the MTC laundry room,

Elder Jett Scrimsher

11-09-10 Update - week 6 at the MTC

I am doing fine, my favorite mom. I am feeling way better. I kicked that sickness out the door. We heard from Elder Bednar last night. I really liked this last one. Elder Bednar is very direct and to the point. HE talked about distinguishing between doctrines, principles, and applications. I'm sorry I cant send the pics home by email, but thats just how it is here. I'll only have to wait another three weeks and then you will get pictures galore. I've taken some good ones at the temple and such. Just tell Jenner that its not worth is to wait until the end to get the merit badges and Eagle project done. Dad, you need to crack down on him like you did me, but do it know. Chad left today and i got some pics with him by the big map of us pointing to B-town on the map. He will probably have his on his blog soon so you can probably find them there. Like i said everyting is great here. Temple today. We might do some sealings so that will be cool cuz ive never seen those. The weather here is bi polar. It is snowing but it isnt enough to stick so there is no snow on the ground, but its freezing. Ya me and chad met by the map on Sunday and we got some pics, I'll have to send you them. I saw him again yesterday too. It was good to talk to him one last time. It's going to be 23 months till we meet again in good ole B-town. If you are interested, there is a public blog called something like, "Moms of Central America". It's a bunch of moms of elders going to central america on their missions. My comps mom is part of it and so are two other elders moms. So if you are interested you can check it out. We did well in our first spanish TRC on Friday. The volunteer we taught was from Moses Lake so that was cool. Well I gotta go. I love all you guys and i would really love letters before i leave here cuz they will take forever to get to panama. Bye bye
I love you.

11-3-10 - Week 4 at the MTC

Hola everyone,

The weather here has been beautiful. It has been sunny and not cold at all. I can not believe that jenner is a priest already. We heard from Elder Ballard last night. Thats 3 apostles in three weeks. We must really need to hear from them. Thats awesome that Trevor got his call. That's funny that he is going there and the Lotts have Douglas from brazil. Me and another elder have decided to try and audition to perform a piano and vocal song at one of the firesides. The song is "O my Father" but its to the tune of "Come thou Fount". I need to work on the song a bit, but it will be good. Well I gotta finish this up. Dad, if you could send me the address of the Rickords, and some other people of the ward so i could write them that would be nice. I sent some pics home the old way so you can put them on the ward bulletin thing. I love you guys!

Elder Jett Scrimsher

10-26-10 - Still at the MTC

Hello everyone,

 

Things are good here.  It snowed yesterday about a half an inch.  Its melting right now but its supposed to keep snowing this week.  We have to wear our suits everyday now but that's good cuz its really cold outside.  It was weird seeing it snow this early in the season but i guess that's just how it is down here.  Ya grandma told me about little Levi growing.  He is going to be so big when i get back.  Wow i cant even imagine Jenner being a priest.  He does not seem like he should be 16 yet.  I wish i could be there to hear him give the sacrament prayer for the first time cuz i know he will mess up haha jk jk.  I'm sure he will do fine.  We had a devo last night and Elder Richard G. Scott spoke.  I don't think anyone expected two apostles in two weeks.  Elder Scott spoke about recognizing and letting the spirit guide us in our lives.  It was a very good talk.  Oh other news is that i am now the district leader for 38F.  I was caught by surprise about this cuz i was pretty sure it would be Elder Ames, another elder in the district.  But i guess i am.  I'm not excited about the more meetings i have to go to but its cool being able to get the mail, unless i didn't get any.  ME and my comp are doing well.  We are working on Lesson 1 in espanol because we are teaching it on Monday for a teaching evaluation.  Hopefully we will get some good feedback so we can fix what is wrong by next Friday for our first Spanish TRC.  Me and Elder Whiting, another elder in my district going to Panama, are both starting to get sick.  It just started out as itchy throats and i was starting to feel better but now it is runny and stuffy noses and random fits of coughing.  I think ill visit the store and get some medicine because I'm starting to get sick of being sick haha.  Dad, i can just buy one of those bubble envelopes and send the SD card in that. All the other elders said that's how they did it.  Oh and you never mailed my ballot to me so i cant vote for the good guys.  Its funny because an elder in my district loves Obama and no one else does so sometimes we get in little debates but its all good.  Well that's about it.  Make sure this gets on my blog dad please.  O and i met some kid from kennewick the other day.  He left the MTC two months ago and went to new Mexico cuz his visa to Mexico hadn't come yet.  Their visas finally arrived so him and his district came back to the MTC so the could get them.  His name was Elder MAtheson. The name wasn't familiar to me but maybe it is to you or mom.  K i gotta go.  Till next week....

 

Elder Scrimsher

Week 3 at the MTC - from the Laundry Room

Hi everyone,

 

The MTC is going pretty good.  I've been here for three weeks, but it doesn't seem that long.  We just lost a ton of people from our zone but we just got a district last week.  My and my companion are doing pretty good.  We did good on out second TRC task so hopefully we do well this week.  We have to teach the second lesson, so it will be interesting to see how that turns out.  I can only write people whose address I have, so I can't write them if they don't write me first.  (Hint, Hint) That stinks about the fball team.  I really thought that we would do well this year.  I glad to hear that Andrew is back and doing well.  I bet Zach is very happy to see him. I wish I could have seen him before I left but that's life.  We had a devotional last night and Elder Russell M. Nelson spoke.  He didn't speak for that long but what he said was really inspiring.  I still haven't gained any weight so I guess MTC food doesn't affect me.  Well I gotta go, my time is running out.  I love all of you guys!!  

 

Yours truly from the laundry room at the MTC,

 

Elder Scrimsher

From the MTC 10-13-10

Hola dad!! and everyone else that will be reading this email on my blog!

 

Things here are doing good.  Things are starting to settle down for the most part.  Last night at devotional we had Bishop Richard Edgely of the Presiding Bishopric speak.  He did very well and gave us some tips on how to be successful missionaries.  Me and my comp, Elder Polera are doing well.  We taught the first lesson last night to Elder Lake and mills from our district and I thought we did well and so did they.  We are starting to get comfortable with each other so we teach very well.  The food here is nothing to be excited about but at least they are feeding us.  I had Cream of Wheat this morning and it reminded me of home.  I haven't gotten a ton of letters from anyone... please let everyone know that i love letters.  Could you guys please send some pics of home and the fam, my p-blessing, my pedigree chart?  I'm going to try to email some pics later today, but this computer is being gay so i gotta go.  I love you guys!!

 

Elder Jett Scrimsher   

Inagural Letter from the MTC Oct 6th, 2010 - address change also

Dear all:

So today was my p-day and I am an idiot because I didn't realize that we couldn't email out after 6 pm.  So the USPS version will have to do.  My district is cool.  There were 8 of us, 4 going to Panama and 2 going to Mesa AZ Spanish speaking and 2 more to Honduras.  My Comp/ is Elder Polera from North Carolina.  He's the senior Comp.  He is a good guy.  We room with the other 2 Panama elders, Elder Whiting from Sacramento CA and Elder Biesinger from Riverton UT.  Everyone is easy to get along with and fun.  The first 2 days here at the TC were very hectic, crazy, overwhelming, confusing and all other sorts of emotion.  Now that I've gotten into the flow of the MTC so the days are starting to go by faster.  The Spanish is coming ok, I can do a door approach, contact someone, pray and do a basic testimony in Spanish.  I didn't realize how big the MTC was.  I've only seen Chad D. around about 3 times.  How about that MTC choir at the Priesthood session?!?!  If I would have been here 9 weeks ago I would have done it.  It was cool to see elders that we knew in it.  My Branch Pres. thinks I need a haircut soon, but the MTC barbershop is booked for the next 3 weeks solid, so I will get one then.  So far I haven't gained any weight, contrary to popular opinion.  As a joke we have a district goal to gain 200 pounds total together by the time we leave..  So someone is going to have to pull my weight, no pun intended.  It's hard to believe its only been a week since I got here.  Close to lights out so will close for now.  Email and pics coming next week. 

Regards, Elder Scrimsher

WELCOME!!

This is the first posting on my new blog.  On here you will find my letters from me describing my experiences and life over the next two years.  I report to the MTC on Sep. 29th and will stay there for approximately two months.  My address at the MTC is on this blog so everyone that sees this will have no excuse for not writing me.  Ok that sounded a little rude, but I would really appreciate letters.

PLEASE WRITE ME! ;)

Sincerely,

Elder Jett Scrimsher