I have no idea why Tanton's e-mail came all highlighted today.  I changed the color of font so that you could read it better.  Hopefully it won't happen again. What an awesome Elder!  I love receiving his e-mails and letters.  They absolutely make my week!!

Adventures from Spain...or Provo....whatever

Howdy, 

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving.  I know I did! I've already told a lot of you but Elder Holland came and talked to us!  It was amazing.  He brought his entire family.  Kids, grandkids.  The grankids all got up and sang for us and it was super cute.   One of the younger ones was like belting it out right into the mic at the start and it was hilarious.  The rest of them got him to calm down though and it was a very glorious thing to watch/hear.  He talked to us about how the Savior was alone during the Atonement but that us serving missions is helping him to not be alone on his mission anymore.  We are serving alongside of him.  It was very spiritual.  It was such a great feeling even just watching him walk into the room.  I did have to wait in line for like 1.5 hours to get into the actual room and not be in overflow though.  It was well worth it.  Also on Thanksgiving we did a big service project where we made backpacks for kids around the world.  We made over 30,000 so that was pretty cool.  That was the highlight of my week.  It sounded like you all had great Thanksgivings too.  It also sounded like Grandma V's birthday bash went over well.  I can't believe she is already 90!  That is incredible.  She really is incredibly strong.  Also, being in the MTC couldn't even stop us from hearing about the HUGE SNOW STORM OF 2010!!! Everyone braced themselves, the MTC presidency warned us (and told us not to throw snowballs) and the morning came and boom, we had a whopping 1/2 inch of snow.  It was pathetic.  These kids, or I mean elders, think they know what Utah is all about now. psh.  Elder Woodbury is pretty stoked on any snow we ever get though. "wouldn't it be great if it snowed again tomorrow?" I love him. He's great. I'm super jealous of all ya'll that got lots of snow up in Cache Valley though.  It sounded like it was actually a bit of a snow experience for you.  By the way, if you notice I say ya'll more now keep in mind that Elder Davis is from Texas and Elder Call is from Alabama. 

So I'll try and hit on some MTC experiences now.  Last tuesday we had our general authority meeting as always.  It was Per G. Malm of the 2nd quorum of the seventy.  I believe he spoke at a recent general conference.  Very thick Swedish accent.  He was funny.  He spoke about missionary work (of course) and how we are affecting the lives of so many people.  Then he had the missionary that converted his father stand up and talk to us for a bit.  It was a really cool experience.  It was cool to think that this seventy might not have the gospel in his life if it weren't for that one missionary, yet look at how many people's lives Elder Malm has changed.  It all came from that one missionary.  Wednesday was not anything too crazy or special that happened that I can remember.  Thursday is the same.  They all blend into one great big day between Tuesday to Sunday. Friday we taught at the TRC (Teaching Resource Center or something) where we teach somebody who acts like a real investigator.  They usually have members come in from stakes around here and act like it but they didn't because of Thanksgiving or something so we just ended up teaching some other missionaries.  Anyways, we taught for our first time in Spanish.  Usually you don't teach Spanish until week 5, but our district is apparently really confident and thought we could do it, so Elder Woodbury and I took the challenge as well.  We did a great job in my opinion.  We were able to say everything we wanted to and answer questions etc.  Of course we conjugated some verbs wrong and messed up occasionally.  But neither of us accidentally said a swear word, told them that WE translated the plates, or told them that Jesus Christ is our loving Heavenly Father (all of these situations have happened to people in our district hahahah) so I felt like we did a good job.  I always seem to be the one that accidentally says the inappropriate things in class though.  I don't know how or why, but it's always me.  For example, Calzones are not food in spanish.  Nope, not at all, so don't use that as an answer for good food if the situation ever arises.  Aaaannnnyways... Saturday is always a really long day because it is the last routine day in a row.  Sunday is usually a pretty good day though.  They do feed us mom.  In the morning we just have cereal, then lunch is always a great meat/mashed potatotes/gross vegetables deal and ice cream bar on sundays! When they open the ice cream bar (sundays and wednesdays) is always a fantastic experience.  But we have sacrament meeting from 8-9, study from 9-11, priesthood from 11:10-12, lunch from 12-12:45, district meeting for an hour after that, then we have study time from 1:45-5, but we get to take a temple walk during that time.  We just get to walk up to the temple and hang out on the gorunds with our district for a bit.  It might not sound like it's that amazing, but it's a nice break and a lot of fun AND we get to take pictures. P-day and Sunday are the only days we can take pictures hahaha one of the great MTC rules.  I did get a picture with Elder El-Bakri finally.  He left yesterday, so we got together on Sunday and did the whole point at your mission picture.  It was great.  He said he was gonna come say bye to me before he left on Monday, but that scoundrel didn't! Or at least I didn't see him. So we didn't get a super official bye, but it was still great to have him here for the first 3 weeks of my MTC experience.  Jake Thomas comes in tomorrow, so that will be fun.  Oh yeah, it's the 30th, so I'm supposed to be leaving for Spain today.  Unfortunately, I still don't have my visa.  I'm a visa waiter officially now.  Whenever it comes I will be off to Espana about 6 days after.  I just want to spend a week or two there.  I'm really fine with whatever, but I would like to get to go to that CCM for a little bit.  When you go out and practice contacts there, you really go out and contact people on the streets.  That would be way nice rather than speaking to other missionaries that Don't even know what the heck you're saying half the time.  I know the Lord will get me there when I need to be there though, so for now I will play volleyball.  Speaking of which, Thanksgiving really messed that up for me! I wasn't able to play volleyball on Wednesday OR Thursday last week because of that.  How lame, right? 

Welp, that's really all I have for this week.  I have also learned more about the importance of the Book of Mormon though.  Even in the MTC it really is a noticeable difference when you don't find enough time to read from it.  It is amazing to me how much of a difference consistent reading in the Book of Mormon makes in our lives.  It is impossible to read a book that testifies of Christ on every page and not find yourself closer to our Savior.  I know it's true.  I want to read from it more, and I challenge anybody who reads this to read more if they find themselves forgetting to at times.  I love you all!

"Never let your faith be difficult to detect" -J. Reuben Clark

Love, Elder Jeppson

P.S. Thanks for all the Harry Potter reviews.  Gavin won the prize though.  He was first.

Anybody out there-if you can get me an address for Branson "Motown" Smith or Connor Perkes, I will love you forever.

Mom-I got my shots yesterday.  I wasn't sure what to do with the billing/insurance deal so I chose the "bill home" option(of course).  Apparently you need to call (801) 422-8940 and pay with a card then request a "HCFA insurance form" which will get you a reimbursement or something.  I don't really know. But thanks and I love you!  Oh also do you still have Meikle's address? AND I bought some more stamps, they sell them here, so I'm set to go on those.  Thanks though :) You're the best.

Greg and Kristina - Thanks for all the letters and I'm glad your birthdays went so well. I hope you guys recuperated from the hard-core skating in time to have fun this past weekend too.  I also hope you didn't get FAT from all the thanksgiving dinners you had. 

Abby - Good luck (again) with the cheer/tumbling shenanigan.  That's cool that Thomas said you were good enoguh to need you on both teams.  love you! read every night ;)

Dad - I just wanted to say I love you.  I don't really have anything specific to tell you other than that.

Stepmom - I love you too

Brad - I love you too.   And yes, I saved the best for last!

Oh heeeeeyyyyyyyyy

Howdy ya'll!

 

First off, they only give me 30 minutes of computer time on p-day. So don't email me or else I have to use some of that time reading it.  If they're short that's fine of course, but I think DearElders are better cause then I get to write more. yay.

 

Life at the MTC is going just as grand as ever.  It seriously is like the same schedule over and over again I lose track of what day it even is.  But today is Tuesday. I know that!  The Spanish is coming along great.  It amazes me how much I have already learned since the start.  Sometimes it feels like I am going nowhere in the language and then I just look back to that first day and realize I'm learning like a ridiculous amount every day and it blows my mind.  The gift of tongues is real!  Thank you mom/dad for the package.  Lots of good stuff in that bad boy! The bag will be great, although I don't even use a bag here at the MTC.  We are just in the same classroom all day everyday so we get to leave our stuff there.  I will have to load tons of stuff into that bag to avoid going over my 50 pound limit with luggage though when I fly out, so that'll be nice.  Speaking of which, I'm supposed to leave here a week from today, but I have not got my visa yet so I will not be leaving on the 30th.  This is very much ok with me though because of a few reasons.  First of all, I love playing volleyball here, and I'm pretty sure it won't be the same in Spain with only 8 people rather than like 50 legit players like here.  Second, hermano De leon is like the most amazing teacher in the world and I do not have any problem staying in his class longer and trying to pick up on his amazing speaking abilities.  He is legit.  I don't really have a ton to tell you all about this past week.  Third reason...Well there isn't really a third reason. I think I'll be there for Christmas, and that's good enough for me.  Mostly it's the volleyball, hahaha. But I wouldn't mind being here until Christmas either, because apparently an apostle comes and speaks every Christmas.  So that would be cool to hear.  Speaking of which, we get a General Authority every Tuesday night devotional, and last week was Elder Pearson from the seventy.  He was legit.  He talked about being a disciple of Christ and how we need to commit.  As a missionary that hit me especially hard.  I am so glad that I have this opportunity to be called as a full time servant! It also applies to everyone else though too.  They really do give great talks here.  We got to watch an old one of Elder Bednar this week also.  We just did it in our class.  He spoke on: If how to tell if it is the spirit talking or if it is just us.  He said "Stop worrying about it.  If you're living righteously, and trying to follow Christ, he will direct you where he wants you to go" or something close to that.  He also talked about how it's more important to consistently live worthy of the temple than to focus on if something is a spiritual prompting or not.  He also hit on how we have to press forward and won't receive any help if we just sit around waiting.  It was crazy good.  It would be nice if everyone could get me their addresses and/or email addresses.  I bought a little address book and I'm doing my best to fill it out with what I have, if you have received a letter from me already then you're good already, but if not you might want to get me your address.  Hope everything went well with your party Greg/Kristina.  It sounded like it went well and everyone had a great time.  I'm glad to hear it.  And Kristina, happy birthday this week! boom. you owned 24 years already. Perfect.  I'm a little upset with the rest of everyone though.  Harry Potter came out at midnight on Thursday and it is now Tuesday and I have heard NOTHING about it.  Anybody that lets me know a great deal about that movie will win a prize.  Prizes are the best.  Thank you again for all that you guys send me already though.  I love it. Especially for uplifting thoughts and scriptures.

 

Today I got to go to the temple again, and I love it.  It's kind of weird not going to the Logan temple, but it's all the same work right?  I am extremely grateful that our Heavenly Father loves us enough to provide a way for those that have passed on to still receive the love and truthfulness of the gospel.  I watched a movie about Joseph Smith and all the persecution the early saints went through to organize this church and it made me very appreciative of all that they went through for us. I love this gospel and I am so grateful to have it in my life.  I'm amazingly grateful for all that you have all been to me as an example.  Don't forget to try and find time to get to the temple if you live near one, the Lord will always bless us for any time we put aside and any sacrifice we make to serve him and his children.  Yo se que la iglesia de jesucristo es la iglesia verdadera de dios y que podemos vivir con dios despues de la vida si seguimos las mandamientos queel libro de mormon contiene.  I will get you a more legit testimony in Spanish later.  I do love you all though! Don't forget it.  Don't forget that our Heavenly Father does as well and he is always there for us.  Pray. Serve. Love.

 

Love,

Elder Tanton Sil Jeppson

 

Mom, the letter I wrote for Grandma Vinson is pretty short.  It can either be given to her now and I'll write one for her birthday as well, or else I can write another one next week for her birthday bash.  Let me know what you want me to do between now and next Tuesday.  I am only writing letters on P-Day.  I feel like obedience is a beneficial thing when serving the Lord, but maybe I'm just crazy.  Also, tell momma El-Bakri thank you for the DearElder and the uplifting scripture/thought.  Also, I am fine without a beanie for now. Thanks though.

 

Abby, good luck on your cheer/tumbling stuff.  It's too bad taht you might have them both on the same day.  I'm sure you can figure out a way to be in two places at the same time though.  You've never let me down before, right?

 

Brad, thanks for the hockey updates.  I love when my Pens and Avs win! that's always a good day.  if you ever find yourself super bored, I wouldn't mind hearing about how the goalies are doing too.  Especially if Anderson is back in for the Av's or if he is still injured, how Budaj is doing if he still playing, If Fleury is still doing terrible this season and if Tim Thomas(from the Bruins) is still on an INCREDIBLY lucky hot streak.  You're the man.

 

Dad, I'm glad everything is going well with your ward.  Tell Austin good luck for me before he leaves. I gave you a whole month and 2 or 3 weeks to do it so don't mess that up.  Also, I wouldn't mind writing him a few times throughout the mish.  I think we could help each other out, so if you can snag his address for me or give him mine or something.  That would be great. 

 

Stepmom,  Thank you for making my Spain cake of fantabulousness.  I don't know if I ever rightly thanked you, so here it is in front of my whole family.  Thank you

 

Greg/Kristina(again),  get feeling better.  I am grateful for all your support and all your letters.  They're always nice to get. 

 

Well, that's all I really have for today.  I wrote some more letters today, so all ya'll can be looking forward to that.  I think I got everybody.  If you feel left out, let me know and I'll write you too haha.

 

 

It's been one week...almost

Hola!

I have been here for 6 days now.  Tuesday is obviously my P-Day, and is it ever glorious! First of all thank you to everyone who has written me letters.  DearElder works like a champion and letters down here are like gold! Nay, better than even.  First off, my companion.  His name is Elder Woodbury.  He is from Phoenix Arizona.  He's great.  He's here for the right reasons and that means he is good to study with/work with etc...  I love that he is from Phoenix because whenever we go outside he is like "Wow it's cold!" or "Look there's snow on the mountains!" It's great.  I have already learned lots of things from him and that is great.  We have a great companionship.  My district is a good district too. At the start we had Elders Woodbury, Jeppson (me of course), Davis, Martell, Andersen, Call, Littlefield, and Hermanas Cook, Humphries, and Lawrence.  The three hermanas and Elder Littlefield all decided to try and test into the advanced class rather than the Intermediate though.  They made it.  So they're gone.  It almost made me want to try.  I am pretty sure that would make me die though. They don't talk about spanish at all, they just teach from Preach My Gospel in spanish all day long.  I would get so lost.  Elder Call is our district leader. I'll talk about them in a minute if I have time.

Onto spanish.  I walked into class and boom, my teachers just started rattling off in Spanish.  Talk about humbling.  Made me realize how much I have to learn in Espanol. It was a little bit hard to deal with at the start but I quickly got used to it and am working hard at it now! I'm glad I took so many Institute/Docrtine classes so I can focus mostly on the Spanish side and don't have to worry about learning about the doctrine as much. Preach My Gospel and Spanish are all we go over in class.  My teachers are Hermano De Leon and Hermano Koller.  Hermano De Leon speaks Spanish natively (from Guatemala) as well as English, French, Italian, some Mayan and some Portuguese.  He's legit. Obviously.  Hermano Koller is from Payson, Utah and just got home from his mission in Mexico in like June or something.  They both served in Mexico.  Both go to School in Provo. 

The food here is not bad at all.  They always have like 3 or 4 different options that you can choose from and they usually all taste pretty good.  Only like 1 meal so far have I been disappointed, and even then they ALWAYS have chocolate milk.  I have had it at every single meal, how fantastic is that? It's delicious! 

So my schedule each day is rather consistent.  Wakeup at 6:30, be to my classroom at 7.  From 7-7:45 I have MDT time (Missionary Determined Time) which is essentially just when I decide what I want to study or work on for that time.  No teacher.  7:45 is breakfast. 8:25 is gym.  9:15 is class until lunch at 12:30.  1:15 is class again until like 5:45 or something around there. Then I have dinner for 45 minutes and then class from 6:15 until 9.  9-9:30 is planning time for the next day and then 9:30 - 10:30 is "think about the day and grow in your companionship time".  It's pretty chill.  Lots of class time.  But it somehow goes by quickly.  It's weird to me that I have been here for a whole week already. 

I have seen lots of people I know.  Jon El-Bakri I see almost daily.  I love it.  I also see Elder Garrett Hinton, Colby Tracy, Brandon Johnson, Jackson Everton occasionally, Zayn Rhodes.  They are all doing well it seems and it's always nice to see them. 

Sunday was a little bit different than the others days.  We have MDT from 7:30 again, then breakfast, then Sacrament meeting from 8-9.  The way they do it is they have 2 missionaries speak in Spanish.  Everyone has a topic and prepares a talk on it, then they randomly call up two and they have to give their talk.  I did not get called thankfully, but I suppose they never call up los misoneros nuevos.  After that there are some leadership meetings from District Leaders and Zone leaders with the Branch Presidency.  The lesser beings, like myself, have MDT during that time.  We met our Branch Presidency on Thursday night.  President Craig is my president with Brothers Jurgens and Claybough for his counselors. Craig and Claybough are nice and uplifting and stuff and Jurgens definitely came from the military.  If your suit isn't buttoned or your hands are in your pockets or you say "guys" instead of "elders" (such sinners, I know) then he will definitely let you know.  

My address has changed.  It's the exact same except the 0112 on it is now 1130, which means my estimated departure date is Nov. 30.  That is if I get my visa on time.  Which is rare around here these days.  So pray for that! I hear there are only 8 missionaries at the Spain CCM right now.  So it would be super interesting to go there. That's for sure.

Quickly: my district.  Elder Martell is from Sandy Utah and he is hilarious. He's one of my favorite elders.  Elder Call is different.  Very businessman-like.  He is from Alabama though. Huntsville. Antoine Dodson is from there. He knows all about that stuff.  Elder Andersen is from rural Oregon, and Elder Davis is from San Antonio. That is pretty much all I have time for.

Greg- Happy birthday this week.  I hope it is full of all the glory that you always wanted it to be.  24 years old I believe? Glorious. 

Abby - Thanks for your letters.  They're great. You can use that iHome if you really want, but it's super ghetto, so best of luck with that.  Keep me updated with any great things you have going on in your life! (that goes for everybody)

Stepmom - Thank you for your DearElder.  It was great.  It was especially nice to hear such uplifting things from my Dad.  Tell that scoundrel to write to me.  And tell the siblings about DearElder. Those are great.

Mom - thanks for the letters.  Especially the hockey updates.  It was great to hear that Colorado and Pittsburgh both won 5-1 last weekend. 

I know this church is true! I love feeling the spirit down here as often as I do.  It's amazing.  Christ is our savior and through him we can live with our Heavenly Father.  I want you all to know I love you.  I am so appreciative of all that you have done for me to help me get to this point in my life.  I have no idea what I have in store for me, but I know that this is where I need to be and the Lord will bless me as well as all of you for all time spent in his service.  I love you all!

  

Love,

Elder Tanton Sil Jeppson

P.S. send pictures

Much Anticipated FIRST Letter Home

Nov. 10, 2010

Dear Family,
I made it. I survived day 1 of 730, it went fast.  My companion is Elder Woodbury from Phoenix, Arizona. He is cool, not a weirdo.  So that's good. I'll tell you more about him in email. Today we just met our district and had a few classes.  It was a long day. The MTC food was pretty good for lunch actually. No complaints there. My district has 10 missionaries in it, 7 elders & 3 sisters (2 3-somes).  I am glad I am not in a 3-some companionship.
Thank you for your letters.  I love you all and appreciate all your support.
I am grateful to be serving my Savior, this is His work.  He lives & loves us.  Never forget He is there for us!
Love,
Elder Jeppson