Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - Week 5

Hey guys,
Well my mono got over with so quickly and i am extremely happy about that. My throat feels fine and i feel completely back to normal, it is a blessing and i am so grateful for how fast i recovered. THis week i had a pretty cool experience in the TRC, we were teaching a lady in there the second discussion (plan of Salvation) and Elder Giles started out. After his first sentence she looked at me like she had no idea what he was saying, so i told her what he said in Spanish. The same thing happened with his second sentence, so we stopped for a second and decided to try and just teach her the whole lesson in spanish, being that she knew barely any english. Were not supposed to teach the 2nd discussion in spanish until our last week here but we did it anyways and it went extremely well. We were able to get thru the whole thing without too much trouble and she understood it and asked a lot of questions which we did our best to answer in spanish. I have no idea why she was our investigator because my class was supposed to teach in english and she wouldnt have understood like anything. Other than that this week has been great and i am having tons of fun and working hard. OUr zone leaders left for Nicaragua on monday and so our new ones are Elder Toa and Elder Kleinman who are in the older district . They are awesome i really like them a lot. Chase wardrop got here on wednesday and is just on the floor below me so after we get back to our rooms at night i can go see him almost everynight. There are so many of my friends here from BYU it is awesome to see them all, plus i have made a lot of new friends in my district as well as in my gym time. That picture of mark ashley abby and nash is so cute haha thank you mom for sending that. Last night we got to hear from Donald hallstrom from the 70 and he gave a great talk. I went to the doctor again and he said that my throat is better and also said that my blood test showed i am partially anemic and i asked if that meant i could read minds. He said its something that would make me tired all the time and so that would explain all the sleeping in the last year or so. He told me to start taking a multivitamin and so i have been and feel a little bit better. He said if that doesnt help he's gonna perscribe me with perscription strength Jack3d to take 3 times a day. I already have a few of the Elders in my zone hooked on the cotton balls and alcohol haha i didnt even suggest it to them they just saw me and asked then went and bought it. I have gotten pretty skinny from the mono plus the food here isnt the best. Thank you all so much for your letters they are awesome keep them coming!
Mark and Ashley- heard about and saw the pic of the game thats awesome. Mark thank you again for the poo update on abby i could read those all day haha. i love hearing how abby and nash and you guys are doing keep me updated por favor!
Mom- Thank you for the letters and articles you send they are great. I cant really think of anything i need at the moment, the book store here pretty much has everything i could ever need. Im glad to hear you and ashley are still going to Fast and getting swoll too.
Chelsea and Brandon- i tried to go by 8m and see brandon when does he work? ive been eating those protein bars they are soo good even tho i didnt think they would be haha.
Sean and leslee- Leslee your the best at sending packages they are amazing! im glad to hear summy and knox are doing well and that knox is already getting huge for his football career. Sean the temple is closed after this week for the rest of the summer so if you got a chance to come today that would be great, if not its totally fine. We leave here at about 325 and you could wait in the parkin lot or somethin. I know you have work tho so its not a big deal if you cant make it.
Beau-Thanks for the letter! i was dying all week and wasnt sure if i was gonna get one. I love hearing about all the football and working out drama it makes me feel like im not missing out. Thats great you scored a TD and got playing time at ASU, and i know once you guys start hitting you will earn your way onto defense. Right now they just have to give the benefit of the doubt to the seniors. How in the world is alex bernal starting, that wont last a single day after the pads come on. ITs a great sign that your getting playing time this early tho because you havent even had a chance to show the best aspect of your game. and 205 is ridiculous haha i only got like 155 before my sophomore year. your probably already bigger than me i feel so small haha but i dont really care im just gonna worry about that stuff once i get home. Keep emailing me whenever you get a chance to.
I know this church is true and that Jesus is our Savior! I love you guys so much and cant wait to see you all again some day!
Love,
Elder Sitton

Wednesday, June 9, 2010 - Week 4

Hey everyone,

Well this week was probably on of the hardest of my life. My stomach was hurting for like the last two weeks so i went into the doctor last thursday and i got an appointment at the byu medical center. When i got there he gave me a blood test and swabbed my throat for strep cuz my throat had also been hurting. After my blood test i found out that i have Mono and the pain in my stomach is because my spleen is enlarged. Since then my throat has been hurting more than it ever has in my life. Huge puss scabs are growing on my tonsils and you can see them when i open my mouth wide. I had another checkup yesterday and the docter said my throat has more puss in it then he has ever seen in his life. He had all the other nurses and doctors come look because he was so shocked and they were all so grossed out. Ill be sure to send a picture. Sunday was horrible because i tried to go the whole day fasting which meant i couldnt take my medicine. When i got to about 2 oclock i gave up because i honestly couldnt take the pain any more. Nothing really makes it feel better but if i take enough ibprofun and throat longenzes it gets a little better. I am still trying to work hard and stay awake as much as i can even tho the doctor said the only way i can get better is if i sleep a lot more. Im guessing that is why i have been so tired. He said i could have had it for a while and just might be in a relapse right now because that is normally when the side effects (sore throat) show up. I am doing well in spanish and i still love learning it as well as teaching the lessons. I teach my first full lesson in spanish next friday so we will see how that goes. I have lost about 10 pounds so far because it just hurts so bad to eat.Chase wardrop gets here today so hopefully i will get to see him a lot. I met this kid going to toronto west english speaking and he is like my twin were pretty good friends. Last night we got to listen to robert d hales which was awesome! he talked about lightness and dark and how when we are out in the field the people we will see will be able to recognize our light/countanance. Got a new district last wednesday and they are pretty cool. IM getting along better with the Hermanas in my district as well and so were all pretty close as a district. Thank you so much for all the letters and packages, i got the clippers and letter thanks so much mom and dad for all the letters you have sent me! i love the sports updates so keep them coming and dont worry they are not distracting me. thank you also beau ashley mark leslee sean and chelsea for the letters they are awesome i seriously love reading every single one. Leslee those brownies were so gooood. I hung abbys drawing up on my desk for everyone to see and i love hearing about her many bowel movements that i get updated on daily. Mark your letter was hilarious haha. Sorry if this is boring i promise i will write more and all of you when i get to toronto but they just give us so little time. Im not supposed to play basketball with my Mono but it is the only time of the day i can be active so it is too hard to pass up playing. I am glad to hear grandma is doing well and i keep praying for her. The days are all exactly the same so i cant really think of anything else to write. Get to go to the temple tonight and do the 4 oclock session. Keep me posted on the outside world and anyone else who gets mission calls. I know this church is true and I cant wait to let the people of toronto know that. Being here has made my testimony so much stronger and my gratitude for our savior so much greater. Sorry again for not writing all of you i promise i will in the field. My departure date for toronto is july 13th, its on the address that you guys send letters to me. Beau make sure you write me all about passing league and football . Write me back soon i love you guys so much!!!!

Elder Sitton

Wednesday, June 2, 2010 - Week 3

Hey Everyone,
Well this week was another good week. Thank you all so much for the letters and packages you sent. Leslee thank you again for another awesome package and also tell your mom thanks again! I just sent her a letter today. Mom that exercise band is awesome thanks a ton! would it be too hard to send clippers? i figure i would just get them now so i will have them in the field. Thats great Sean that you got into Baylor i didnt know it was such a great school I am so happy for you and Leslee. Well this week we started learning how to teach the second lesson, the plan of salvation. We will teach it in the TRC this friday so we will see how that goes. Last week in the TRC we were teaching this hipsanic volunteer family and they had a little 2 year old daughter and it reminded me of Abby and Summer. She was so cute she could only speak spanish it was hilarious. We have started to also teach a little bit in spanish too which is going well. I like it a lot and it is so fun to learn it. Last night we had our weekly devotional and Bradley Foster from the 2nd quorum of the 70 came and spoke to us. It was a really good talk on why we are here as missionaries. Aaron Rowan got here last week and it was cool to get to see him a few times this week. Chase wardrop gets here next wednesday and we also get a new district that week so it would be awesome if he somehow got put into our zone. I have become friends with this Elder Boyd from Arizona who went to Higley, and I later found out he was friends with Chase in high school ha its a small world. Beau make sure you tell me how passing league goes on Thursday i cant wait to hear how you do. I have been praying for Grandma a lot and please tell her i hope she gets fully recovered soon. I miss you guys a lot and still love getting all your letters. Im sorry i cant respond fast enough but please dont let that stop you from writing as often because i enjoy all of them. Chelsea and Brandon thanks for the package the jolly ranchers are amazing. Two of the elders in my zone are already hooked on washing their face with alcohol haha. I am liking it here more and more and getting used to this being my new life. I cant wait to get to Toronto and be able to find and teach real people. I know this church is true and being here strengthens my testimony so much. I love the book of mormon and know it is true and that Joseph smith was a true prophet. Cant wait to hear from you guys soon!
Love,
Elder Sitton

Wednesday, May 26, 2010 - Week 2

Hey guys!

Thank you so much for all the letters and everything they help me so much! I love hearing from you all so much. Yesterday we got to listen to D. Todd Christofferson and it was such a cool experience. Even though he is probably the apostle I know the least it was still amazing to hear him talk about missionary work. My District is awesome and we work hard but also have a good time. Another teacher started talking to me in spanish the hallway while I was reading and I said stuff back and then when she found out i had only been here a week she said she thought i should move up to intermediate. My teacher talked to me about it later and I decided to stay because it was probably to late and she said i can help her with the struggling Elders and Hermanas in the class. Plus I like my district a lot and would hate to leave them. Last Sunday in Sacrament meeting I was asked by the Zone leaders to translate the Spanish talks into English for the Branch Presidency's wives. It was pretty hard but I only missed a couple sentences out of the two talks. They said that they normally wait to ask elders who have been there for 5 weeks. We also got to teach our first discussion in English to these Actor investigators in the TRC. It was really cool and i Loved doing it. They were hispanic so I imagined they would be like the people i would be teaching in Toronto. Mom could you send a strong exercise band with handles? there arent any here at all. you could also throw in a few snacks if you want.. I feel so bad that i dont writed letters back faster! Leslees mom sent me a package with protein bars and a really sweet letter! Tell her as well as Mr Drury thanks and i will write back quickly. And keep sending emails i have time to read them dont worry. Also, I will get to call at the airport on my flight to Toronto so i cant wait to talk to you guys already. Your guys' letters really are the highlight of my day, i miss you all so much. Yo sé que la Iglesia es la verdad, y que Dios envió Su hijo a la tierra para regresaramos con Él. José Smith fue un profeta de Dios y tradujo El Libro De Mormon a través del Poder de Dios.

Love,

Elder Sitton

Wednesday, May 19, 2010- Week 1

Hey guys,

We only get thirty minutes to email so sorry if its short. The first few days were extremely hard but things are definately getting better. I guess it was just wierd for me because I had never gone a day without talking to you guys and it was overwhelming to think that I wouldnt be able to for 2 years. My companion is Elder Giles from just north of Provo. Really nice kid but is pretty quiet and doesnt say much. My district is cool there are a couple of funny guys in there. There are about 7 other guys and they are all going to Argentina, including my companion. Thank you so much for the emails it was great to hear from you guys and it really helps me. I love hearing about how you guys are doing and whats goin on there. I also got Beaus letter and Moms letter thank you so much! I will write you guys back today and hopefull you'll get it in a couple days. IF you guys write me thru Dear Elder its a one day delivery and its free so if you guys wanna do that it would probably be much easier than normal mail. You could also tell Jordan about Dear Elder if you want to. Its amazing how much we learn here in only a week. I feel like I've been here for 6 months. I like learning spanish a lot and I can already bear my testimony and pray in it. Yesterday we had a devotional and a member of the Seventy came and spoke to us and it was really good. I guess last week was Elder Holland so we only missed him by one day. Mom i bought a watch in the book store for like 35 dollars if you were wondering about the charge on the credit card. I also took pictures that I will send in the mail and you can use one of them for my plaque. We get to play basketball everyday which is pretty fun and its nice to exercise for a little bit since we are in a desk all day. My teachers are really cool and i like them a lot. Dad i didnt really realize what you were saying about the name calling until i got here haha we cant say dude or you guys or anything. its hard to get used to saying and responding to elder all the time. Well im almost out of time so Dont forget to use Dear Elder, and Mom if you could can you send an exercise band, hairclippers if thats not too much of a hassle, qtips, protein bars, jolly ranchers(we cant chew gum its horrible). yo sé que el evangelio es verdadero! I love you all so much keep writing!

Elder Sitton