Hey everyone!
This week went by pretty fast. I went to a pretty good devotional on Tuesday by Brother Richardson. He's the 2nd counselor in the General Sunday School Presidency. It was really good. He talked about what it means to be a REAL missionary and make sure we're well balanced and doing our part.
Nothing really exciting happened this week. It was just lots and lots and lots of learning. The new cafeteria, bookstore, barbershop, and work-out room are almost done. They should all be finished by the 15th of this month. Elder Vance and I are going to Burger Supreme later today and I'm pretty stoked about that!
The language is coming slowly, but surely. I gave my second lesson in Armenian yesterday and it went well. Sunday night, we all got to watch Legacy. Man, the acting in that movie is pretty cheesy. It was funny to watch a whole chapel full of missionaries bust up laughing at the "serious" parts of the movie.
Well, that's really all that has happened. Thanks for the packages and letters! Sorry if it's taking me a while to respond, but I don't have much time and there are a lot of people to respond to.
Love and miss you all,
Elder Cook
Sunday, July 20, 2014
June 27, 2013 Badaboom!
Barev-sez!
In my apartment there's Elder Hall, Elder Stone, Elder Hanson, Elder Aidukitus, Elder Vance, and me. They are all speaking Lithuanian except for Elder Vance and I. We all get along great. Elder Vance is really good at beat-boxing. Sometimes Elder Hanson and I will sing while he's laying a sick beat. :)
I saw Cameron's parents there and we talked a little bit. I also saw Sam and his brother. It was cool. I'm sad I didn't get to see Jenny! That's cool she was there. I saw Tristam Thomas as well. We didn't get to stop and talk, though. I saw a couple girls from Provo High in the choir. I also saw Sister Porter.
I went to a devotional on Tuesday with Janice Kapp Perry. It was super good! I was even tearing up a little when all of the missionaries stood up and sang Army of Heleman/As Sisters in Zion. You could feel the spirit so strong. I saw Braden Griffen there too and we were able to chat for a while. He's going to Ventura, CA and speaking Spanish.
For Prep-Days, we get to go to Brighams Landing. That place with Burger Supreme and SubZero. I think that's pretty awesome. :D
My schedule is different every day, so I'll probably just send you a picture of our schedule.
Love and miss you all!
Elder Cook
Wow, this first at the MTC went by pretty quick. What everybody else says about it is true. The days are super long, but the weeks are short. The Armenian is coming along. I can say a simple prayer in Armenian and also start a conversation. It takes me about 3 minutes to read the first verse in the Book of Mormon. I don't really know what I'm saying, but I know the right sounds. :) (Well, I know what I'm saying because I already know what the verse says... but... well... you know.)
There are starting to be some funny language mix-ups in class. There are a couple words that sound very similar, but are completely different. One time, a girl in my class accidentally said, "And I know that Joseph Smith was crucified." Another time someone was talking about how our purpose in life is to suffer. It's pretty funny when it happens to other people, but I'm sure I won't be laughing when I say something like that. :) The word "suffering" kind of sounds like "badaboom!", so it's fun to joke about that.
So there are 6 people in my apartment instead of the usual 4. This makes showering in the morning very difficult. We only have a half-hour for everybody to shower, get ready, and be in class. What we have to do is take turns waking up early.
My Branch President is President Mickelsen. He's a really nice guy, but a little strict. He's leaving in a couple weeks for a mission to Germany. In the Branch Presidency there is Brother Parrish and Brother Mangum. They are both really cool guys.
Wasn't that broadcast awesome? I loved President Monson's story about the city of St. Thomas. I really liked L. Tom Perry's talk too. Also... as cool as it would have been for me to be on the screen, I wasn't in the choir. :/ I guess I just have a look alike here that the MTC. :)
[Family insert: We found Shad in the sea of missionaries singing in the broadcast last Sunday. Kristie took a screenshot of it & we sent it to Shad. We looked at the picture again & still think it's him. We're also attaching it to this email so you can see we're right! :)]
I saw Cameron's parents there and we talked a little bit. I also saw Sam and his brother. It was cool. I'm sad I didn't get to see Jenny! That's cool she was there. I saw Tristam Thomas as well. We didn't get to stop and talk, though. I saw a couple girls from Provo High in the choir. I also saw Sister Porter.
For Prep-Days, we get to go to Brighams Landing. That place with Burger Supreme and SubZero. I think that's pretty awesome. :D
My schedule is different every day, so I'll probably just send you a picture of our schedule.
Love and miss you all!
Elder Cook
June 21, 2013 Baresez, hokienar!
Hello, family!
Well, my usual day to email will be Thursday, but I was given permission to send you guys a quick email.
As I said in my letter, they're really not easing us into things here. I taught my first "investigator" yesterday. Thank goodness I taught in English. Armenian is super hard. There's a huge difference between scripted Armenian and printed Armenian. There are 39 characters, but I have to learn upper and lower case. I have all the scripted Armenian (alphabet) pretty much down, but the printed is taking a little longer because it's so
different. So it's really like I'm learning 60+ characters!
I know a couple phrases like, "My name is Elder Cook" and, "There are seven people in my family" and, "I'm not from Armenia" and, "We are missionaries." Just a couple things like that. I'm working on "Jesus Christ is our Savior.", and I almost have it down. A hard one is "Our Father in Heaven." It has some crazy pronunciation.
Before I entered the MTC, some people told me That Armenian is the holy language. It's kind of funny, cause I'm starting to believe them. "How many people are in your family?" translates directly to "How many *spirits *are in your family?". I think that's cool. Also, all of the "gospel vocab" sounds similar. Like, it ends the same... if that makes any sense.
Like I said in my letter, my companion is Elder Vance from St. George. We're getting along really well and I think we'll continue to do so. He's learning Georgian, so we're not in the same class. We split up all the time. I'm in a class with four other sisters called to Armenia. Their names are Sister Tenguarien (spelling?), Sister Andrus (pronounced Andrews), Sister Bowen, and Sister Stauffer. They're pretty cool. Sister Tenguarien is actually half Armenian and is already pretty fluent. She just needs to learn some gospel words. It's good having her in the class. She's a good help to the rest of us.
I learned that "Shad" is a word in Armenian. (pronounced with a long A... like the YouTube video. Shaaaaad. Shaaaad Cooook.) So "shad" means "a lot". Some of the Sisters now call me Sir Cooks-a-lot. :P
As hard as Armenian is, I'm loving it and I think I'll love it even more. My teacher is super cool. The feeling here is awesome. As tiring as 6+ hours of just classroom time a day, (sitting in the same classroom) you never get tired of the good feeling.
In my next letter home I'll write all of your names in Armenian. I did it today during class while I was bored. :D
Anyway, I'll probably send another letter or two before I email Thursday. There's this cool thing called "Dear Elder" where you can sign up and send me a message. They print them out every afternoon. So if you message me in the morning, I'll get them that same day. I'm not sure exactly how the website works, but I'm sure Rett can figure it out. Just google "Dear Elder" and you can probably find it.
Mom, don't send this part on...
Anyway,
Love and miss you all!
Elder Cook
PS To Rett, dad, Jeff: I got a Scottish missionary here to say "IF YOU DON'T EAT YOUR MEAT, YOU CAN'T HAVE ANY PUDDING! HOW CAN YOU HAVE ANY PUDDING IF YOU DON'T EAT YOUR MEAT!? It was awesome :D
Well, my usual day to email will be Thursday, but I was given permission to send you guys a quick email.
As I said in my letter, they're really not easing us into things here. I taught my first "investigator" yesterday. Thank goodness I taught in English. Armenian is super hard. There's a huge difference between scripted Armenian and printed Armenian. There are 39 characters, but I have to learn upper and lower case. I have all the scripted Armenian (alphabet) pretty much down, but the printed is taking a little longer because it's so
different. So it's really like I'm learning 60+ characters!
I know a couple phrases like, "My name is Elder Cook" and, "There are seven people in my family" and, "I'm not from Armenia" and, "We are missionaries." Just a couple things like that. I'm working on "Jesus Christ is our Savior.", and I almost have it down. A hard one is "Our Father in Heaven." It has some crazy pronunciation.
Before I entered the MTC, some people told me That Armenian is the holy language. It's kind of funny, cause I'm starting to believe them. "How many people are in your family?" translates directly to "How many *spirits *are in your family?". I think that's cool. Also, all of the "gospel vocab" sounds similar. Like, it ends the same... if that makes any sense.Like I said in my letter, my companion is Elder Vance from St. George. We're getting along really well and I think we'll continue to do so. He's learning Georgian, so we're not in the same class. We split up all the time. I'm in a class with four other sisters called to Armenia. Their names are Sister Tenguarien (spelling?), Sister Andrus (pronounced Andrews), Sister Bowen, and Sister Stauffer. They're pretty cool. Sister Tenguarien is actually half Armenian and is already pretty fluent. She just needs to learn some gospel words. It's good having her in the class. She's a good help to the rest of us.
I learned that "Shad" is a word in Armenian. (pronounced with a long A... like the YouTube video. Shaaaaad. Shaaaad Cooook.) So "shad" means "a lot". Some of the Sisters now call me Sir Cooks-a-lot. :P
As hard as Armenian is, I'm loving it and I think I'll love it even more. My teacher is super cool. The feeling here is awesome. As tiring as 6+ hours of just classroom time a day, (sitting in the same classroom) you never get tired of the good feeling.In my next letter home I'll write all of your names in Armenian. I did it today during class while I was bored. :D
Anyway, I'll probably send another letter or two before I email Thursday. There's this cool thing called "Dear Elder" where you can sign up and send me a message. They print them out every afternoon. So if you message me in the morning, I'll get them that same day. I'm not sure exactly how the website works, but I'm sure Rett can figure it out. Just google "Dear Elder" and you can probably find it.
Mom, don't send this part on...
Anyway,
Love and miss you all!
Elder Cook
PS To Rett, dad, Jeff: I got a Scottish missionary here to say "IF YOU DON'T EAT YOUR MEAT, YOU CAN'T HAVE ANY PUDDING! HOW CAN YOU HAVE ANY PUDDING IF YOU DON'T EAT YOUR MEAT!? It was awesome :D
Monday, September 2, 2013
June 19, 2013 - MTC Day
The big day finally came. Shad was to report to the new MTC West campus in Provo between 11:45am-12:30pm.
The night before, the Cook house pulled an all night packing party. Mom would add extra items to Shad's suitcase she "knew" he would "one day be grateful for". As soon as Mom turned her back, Shad would sneak the items out. Then as soon as Shad turned his back, Mom found a new place in the suitcase for these "much needed" items. You know....Tylenol...Bandaids....an iron....bleach tablets...Tums...etc. This continued most of the night & the later it got, the funnier it was! Clay & Cole were the gophers until they finally fell asleep on Shad's bedroom floor around 2:00am.
Morning arrived too quickly. We loaded the car and headed to Grammy & Grandad's house for family pictures and a special father's blessing.
The night before, the Cook house pulled an all night packing party. Mom would add extra items to Shad's suitcase she "knew" he would "one day be grateful for". As soon as Mom turned her back, Shad would sneak the items out. Then as soon as Shad turned his back, Mom found a new place in the suitcase for these "much needed" items. You know....Tylenol...Bandaids....an iron....bleach tablets...Tums...etc. This continued most of the night & the later it got, the funnier it was! Clay & Cole were the gophers until they finally fell asleep on Shad's bedroom floor around 2:00am.
Morning arrived too quickly. We loaded the car and headed to Grammy & Grandad's house for family pictures and a special father's blessing.
Final Family Pictures
Of course we had to show our true colors! :)
Cole, Shad & Clay
(While everyone is still smiling!)
Shaina & Shad
Shad trying to get one last giggle out of his lil sis! It worked!
He couldn't resist! :)
Rett & Shad
Buddies & Bros!
Grandad & Grammy (Lewis) with Shad.
Brunch at iHop. There were a lot of other families having a last meal with their missionaries. We enjoyed greeting them & finding out where each were going to serve. One girl on her way to the MTC walked past our booth & asked Shad where he was going. She was on her way to Kansas. She asked Shad what language he would be speaking. When he replied "Armenian", she squealed "ME TOO!!!!" She spun around & skipped back to her family. She was so excited. We think she didn't really hear him. Armenian in Kansas??? But then again, Armenian in California??? :) We thought it was pretty funny. It was great to feel the energy of all the new missionaries on their way to the MTC.
Cole helping Dad load Shad's suitcases. Uncle Todd, thanks for letting us borrow your car so we could all squeeze in to drop him off.
Shad stepping onto the MTC grounds for the first time. Actually....the second time. Aunt Kristie (paparazzi) made him get back in the car & step out again because she missed the shot!
Goodbyes are hard, but we know Shad is where the Lord would have him be.
We are grateful for his testimony & desire to serve a mission.
"Bye Shaddie." He's really leaving now.
There he goes...
One last shot...
Just kidding, one more!
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Missionary Pictures
Now that the official call is here,
time for some awesome missionary pictures!
We were so lucky to have the talented Moxie Photography take them for us.
Thanks guys! You're the best!
Title of this first one courtesy of Grammy Pammy
Monday, July 8, 2013
The Call
February 9, 2013
Beginning in mid-January, you could find Shad's family waiting anxiously for the mailman to bring his mission call. Truth be told, each Wednesday Tracy (Shad's mom) was waiting for the mailman with camera in hand to forever preserve the big moment when the call finally came. February 6, we were sure the call would come. No such luck, the mailman was empty-handed. Tracy left to run a few errands. When she came home, there it was propped up inside the screen door. We still aren't sure exactly how it got there.
Shad was attending Snow College (70 miles away) and wouldn't be home until Friday. The call found a temporary home in the top cupboard. :) Because Shad wanted as many family & friends as possible to come for the "grand opening", he chose to wait until Saturday evening. The Sam's in CA and Ashely from her high school Sweethearts dance were able to participate in the big moment via FaceTime.
Beginning in mid-January, you could find Shad's family waiting anxiously for the mailman to bring his mission call. Truth be told, each Wednesday Tracy (Shad's mom) was waiting for the mailman with camera in hand to forever preserve the big moment when the call finally came. February 6, we were sure the call would come. No such luck, the mailman was empty-handed. Tracy left to run a few errands. When she came home, there it was propped up inside the screen door. We still aren't sure exactly how it got there.
Shad was attending Snow College (70 miles away) and wouldn't be home until Friday. The call found a temporary home in the top cupboard. :) Because Shad wanted as many family & friends as possible to come for the "grand opening", he chose to wait until Saturday evening. The Sam's in CA and Ashely from her high school Sweethearts dance were able to participate in the big moment via FaceTime.
Grandad thought he could pay Shad back for hiding his call when it came!
Shad's friends anxiously waiting.
Let's start already!
Deep breath....
Arcadia California...Armenian Speaking
Wait....WHAT???
Who guessed closest?
Bella!!!!!
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
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