Letters dated Feb 9 - 15, 2011

More excerpts from letters to Aryan

Today wasn't bad, it was pretty dang long though.  Woke up, went to class, went to breakfast, went to gym (just did a ton of push ups and sit ups) then IDK  lol it all is just a blur now.  We just taught the newbees tonight about what goes on here. lol So yeah I was SO tired like the whole day cuz I couldn't fall asleep last night and I have no idea why.  I even worked out some more before going to bed so I could fall asleep but I still just layed in bed thinking and could NOT fall asleep.  So yeah that sucked....me n my companion are gonna go work out soon actually, so maybe I'll be able to fall asleep tonight.  Anyways....enough complaining.  I have a great companion...he really touchy and he's always giving me massages.  lol  I like it.  ha ha  So don't be jealous.  ha ha
OK, so I wanted to write to you about my day.  It was pretty depressing, but it turned out to be a nice day too. So I was sitting in class towards the end of the day and a sister walked in and was like, "is Elder Philpott in here?" I was like, "yeah."  She said that President Hacking wanted to talk with me, so I was a little weirded out cuz he's like almost president of the whole MTC.  I actually know him pretty well cuz he came into our district met and talked with us and then today we saw him in the hallway and talked for a while.  So anyways, I went into his office and he was just like, "we got the results of your medical report, and it looks like you will be staying here 6 extra weeks before you leave."  So I'm just like "WHAT?" That like a whole nother transfer!  So I thought about it and was like "oh wait the doc told me it would take 6 wkes to heal.  So, I had him check again and we found out that they really meant that I was leaving March 8th which is 6 weeks from when it happened.  So that was a relief but still super depressing cuz that means I won't be flying with the rest of my district (on the 21st).  And to top it all off we went and check the mail before lunch, and we all got our travel plans!!  So we were all super excited except for me  :o(.  So yeah, SUPER DEPRESSING!!
Anyways, I got a nice package from my Aunt Leslie and Uncle Bryan that had a bunch of gifts in it with scriptural references that I had to read and guess what's in it. lol  It was great!  They gave me a bunch of snacks in stuff lol  Oh and I also got your last batch of letters, which made my day.
(next day) I got your package today with everything in it.  It absolutely brightened my day!! I was having a long day cuz me n my comps had to have a companionship inventory.  All 3 of us (I'm in a trio now with Elder Howell) cuz we got to class late and our teacher lectured us about how we're leaders and we need to act like it.  So we talked about it and adjusted our goals and got better, but it was pretty awkward and tense talking about it.  So year, today was stressful and long and your package was EXACTLY what I needed.  I'm wearing the fuzzy socks right now and they are SO nice.  Oh lol and I love the Spanish phrase book you sent me.  LMBO your commentary in the romance section was cracking me up! And I LOVE the pita bread!!!lol  Aww oh my gosh....you know me so well and know exactly how to make me smile.  All the guys around me watched me open up the package and they were all like, "Dang I wish my Girl Friend was like that," and I was like, "yeah, I know she's too good for me!" ha ha
Today was pretty nice actually.  It was like 60 degrees today! So we did a little studying outside, which was a nice break from being in the tiny classroom.  Oh and we have this cool teacher named Hermano Adams, and he makes us give him a Snickers every time we're even a second late, and in return if he's ever late he has to get us all ice cream.  ha ha  He was late to class the other day, so he got us all ice cream from the outside world. lol  it was so good!  It was from a place called "spoon it" or something and Hermana Lichfield (really ditsy) kept calling it "Spoon Me" on accident! lol So we were all like, "Hermana do we need to practice teaching the law of Chastity again?? lol"  it was really funny!!  Other then that, today was pretty un eventful....Oh I heard there was another earth quake in Chile in Concepcion....so yeah looks like i'll be doing a lot of cleanup service work.  Anyways....got to go workout with the Tongans now.
Today was another busy day for the ZL's but new ZL's were called to replace us when we leave, so they'll be shadowing us this whole week and be finding out what it means to be a ZL.  So yeah, I'm actually pretty excited to go back to the "lazy" schedule.  ha ha  The only draw back is that time will start going slow again.  Time really flys by when you are busy here.
Anyways, today was cool at the end cuz after te devotional Herman Young (the blond one going to Chile with us) she just started crying after the closing prayer and then asked if she could have a blessing. So we all went back to our classroom and she told us why she wanted a blessing.  She told us that she has rheumatoid arthritis and almost got reassigned to another mission cuz of it. And it started hurting her while she was taking notes during the devotional. So she was scared it might cause a problem before we leave.  So we gave her a blessing for it and it was so spiritual. After it was done we all just kind of stood there and didn't want to say anything to make the feeling of the Spirit go away.  It was great.  Times like that really make me love the mission.
I'm so excited for my apt. with the doctor tomorrow!  I HATE crutches!!  So yeah I hope it goes well and they tell me I can actually leave on time and don't have to stay an extra 2 weeks here in this boring place while all my friends are out in the field already teaching lessons to real people.....ahhhhh......anyways I'll try to stay positive and have faith but it's hard sometimes so be praying for me.
Today I went to the Dr. for my foot and he said that my foot hasn't been healing at all....but he decided to take me off the crutches and just leave me in the boot.  So I'm so happy about that, but it sucks that I won't be leaving with my district.  We are actually getting a bunch of advanced ones in our class Wednesday, so I will be able to get to know them and then when my district leaves next Monday (21st) I will still be with the advanced district, so I will have a native companion.  So I will be learning Spanish and a lot more. 
The temple was great today!  I also saw Cyrus Kinkaids sister.  She was learning Bulgarian on the floor above me actually, so we were always saying Hi to each other.  It was weird seeing someone from Ohio. It just feels like a completely different world here.  Today we went to the "outside world" to get Elder Howell's driving record and it was so weird. lol  like I really forget what it's like sometimes.  ha ha  I'm so happy to be off crutches now!  I can actually walk and get my own food and stuff.  It's great....but I am really bummed I'm not leaving with the rest of my district, but if it's the Lords will then it doesn't really matter to me.  I just took a video of the laundry room.  I'll be sending more pictures and video's to you soon.

Letters dated Feb 2 - 8, 2011

Excerpts from Jared's letters to Aryan.....(I'll leave out the mushy stuff ha ha)

Just got done teaching the new Elders the rules about the residence halls (not dorms ha ha) - it was good.  They seem like good guys, except for one of them seems like kind of a loud mouth.  ha ha  But I'm sure I'll end up loving him too.
So today I really really felt ready to leave and get out of here already, but obviously that's still not happening for a while....but it's whatever.
2 Elders and 1 Hermana left for their missions, so our district feels so tiny now.  Theres 3 Elders and 4 Hermanas left, it's so sad, but I'm getting used to it.  The time seems to be going pretty fast now that we are Zone Leaders.  I feel so old, cuz we've seen so many districts come and go.  The ones that we knew when we first got here are all old news now.  Gym time sux now, cuz all I can do is sit upstairs and do push ups and sit ups and chat with the Hermana's and watch people play games :o) but it's whatever cuz my upper body is getting ripped.  ha ha  I can't do any running for now so I'm putting on weight, but it's all muscle. ha ha  I weighed 151 lbs today! ha ha  So I'm growing - not sure if I'm getting taller yet, but hopefully.
I'm not down about my foot now, I'm getting used to it, but I am pretty bummed that I will probably have to stay here an extra week or so.  Other then that, it's all good and the crutches are making my arms huge.  lol  (Jared did call home last week to tell his Mom that he had a Dr.'s apt. and his foot is NOT healing very quickly and may have to stay in the MTC another 2 to 4 weeks).
Being a ZL is good now.  Tonight was good - we taught all the nuevos and they all seem like cool Elders.  It's always fun cuz we teach them about how to plan goals and use study wisely and then talk about companionship Inventory which is just a time that we're supposed to take every week to sit with our companions and talk about things we're good at and address things we have problems with and so we always do a little role-play for them where we have like a perfect companionship inventory lol - it's fun, we're just like "so...I've noticed that we're good at teaching lessons and speaking Spanish, but we could work on getting places on time" and then he would be like "yeah it's a lot my fault cuz I sleep in" and then I'l be like "It's not just you, it's me too, so lets compromise and set out alarms 5 minutes earlier and see how that works, if it doesn't let's set it back another 5 mins, sound good?"  then we would write it own in our planners.  lol  So it was fun.
OH WOW, me and my comp just got back from the 2nd floor cuz someone told us they were playing rap music, so we had to go take care of it.  So we go down stairs and turn the corner and BAM!! 7 ginormous Tongans all shirtless and doing push ups and chin ups and working out like mad!!  It was nuts!!  So we're just like "um....heeeyyyy....what's up?" and the were like "hey!!! Wanna join us?" (and who could really say no??) So we're like "um, OK..." and we started doing chin ups and push ups and they made us keep going LOL it was crazy!!!  But they were all like DANG, you're all so strong!" LOL  It was hilarious!! But these guys were HUGE!! Seriously their pecs were so big, it looked like they had boobs!! And their body's were just ALL muscle!!
I got back late tonight because Elders Palmer and Hercules are leaving tomorrow so we walked around and took pictures with them of all the special MTC sites.  I'll miss them, they were my ZL's when I first got here and they've been here for like 11 or 12 weeks or something crazy like that, cuz they were waiting on Visa's to go to Mexico.  They are so happy they finally got them.  I'm so glad I don't have to wait on getting a Visa.
Tomorrow is P-day and our district has started going to the temple early in the morning and going to the session early and then eating in the temple cafeteria, it's sooo much better then the MTC food. ha ha  So, I'm really happy about this discovery by our district. lol :o)
Oh, so I wanna tell you a story before I forget, that's pretty funny.  OK so the Spanish word for blessings is bendiciones and this was like my first or 2nd week here and it was my turn to say the prayer in class, and I was saying gracias for our blessings, and I said "vestidos" (v makes a b sound in Spanish) instead, so I said "Thanks you for our dresses" LMBO!  The teacher told me afterwards and I was so embarrassed and the Spanish word for embarrassed is NOT "embaresada" - that actually means your pregnant.  So hopefully I won't get that mixed up sometime LOL.  I'm am learning the language slowly but surely ha ha.
It's P-day...I'm having fun doing laundry today. ha ha  Elder Ragsdale put 2 holes in a paper bag and we are wearing them on our heads.  LMBO I know we are soooo mature!!

A Comboblation

I know, "A Comboblation" is a strange title for this blog post, but I couldn't think of anything to call it. ha ha  Since, I'm the self designated care person (me, Lisa Moarefdoust - Aryan's Mom) of Jared's blog, he has asked me to try to compile all the letters he's sending out each week.  We have his emails home, and then the letters he sends to our family (mostly Aryan) too.  So that's what I guess I will do.  So, you won't be hearing straight from Jared's mouth (unless it's an email to his home that was passed on to me) but rather a "comboblation" of the letters we have received.  Here is a few things from his letters dated Jan 25th - Feb 1st.
Jared seemed to have a pretty good week.  He's foot isn't giving him much trouble but the crutches are.  His arm pits and hands are KILLING, but at the same time he jokes that he is getting "buff!"  One of the Sisters in his District carries his food tray for him at every meal (hmmmmm!?!?).  How nice of her :o)  Stairs are a huge pain (and there are a lot of them at the MTC) .  He's just waiting for the day that he takes a tumble head first down all those stairs.  He takes a walk to the Provo Temple on Sunday's and then again on Tuesday's (for a session).  The walk from the MTC to the temple is all up hill.  Just after he first broke his foot, he "rented" a wheelchair from the front desk of the MTC.  His companion pushed him all the way up to the temple.  On the way down, his companion jumped on the back of the wheelchair and they rode all the way back down.  Jared said they were going pretty fast and he was afraid he was going to "wipe out" at the bottom.  Could you see him now....broken foot, broken arm and maybe even a broken nose.  Luckily he back to hiking the trek on crutches now.  Aryan sent him a "Get Well" package last week.  Some home made cookies, his drum sticks and a few other odds and ends that he was SOOOO appreciative of.  I'm sure it lifted his Spirits.  We don't hear enough of how much he misses her, and she feels the same way about him, but they're both doing what they need to be doing right now and they both know that what happens in the next couple of years is in the Lord's hands.
Jared LOVES being a Zone Leader.  He had the chance to teach some of the "Nuevos" (New) Elders this last week and really enjoyed that.  He remembers how much he looked up to his ZL when he first entered the MTC and now he has other Elder's looking up to him. 
Kind of a funny story....Jared spent a lot of time with our family and he spent a lot of time eating here too!  My husband is Persian (from Iran) and Jared realized that he LOVED Middle Eastern food, esp. Pita Bread.  He told us that one day the cafeteria at the MTC was serving Gyros Sandwiches - which is shaved beef and yogurt inside of pita bread.  He said he was sooooo excited and asked them if he could JUST have the pita bread.  He said that they gave him a strange look and then gave him a few slices of pita bread anyway.  He was pretty happy about that. :o)