Elder Pack

Hi everyone! This has been a crazy week so far. Even getting here was crazier than normal. The plane that we were on to Denver had engine trouble when we were waiting to take off, so they delayed us an hour or so to fix it. We got here alright though.  I'm in Wellington, which is about 20 north of Fort Collins. It's more of a rural area, so a lot of the members are really independent. We also split the area, so me and Elder Unruh, my companion, are staying with two other elders while we wait to get an apartment. It's pretty cool though. Fortunately, the zone leaders got us some mattresses, so we're not sleeping on the floor, but we did have to move the weight bench into another room.  This area is pretty beautiful. We got the side of the zone that has the mountains, so it's nice to drive out there and see the cool landscape. We've also taught a few lessons, which is also cool, but everyone we're teaching right now has been being taught for years. Hopefully, ...

Ethan gets to call home on Tuesday (p day) and on Saturday (because of Covid). So we got a call today and he looked so good and happy! He told us about the trip to Colorado (the plane had engine trouble so they were delayed while it was checked out), his companion, his area, what he has been eating (he had a TV dinner for the first time and wasn’t sure what to think of it), and what he has been up to (visiting members and finding people to teach).  They are living in an apartment with another companionship until they get one of their own (the area was split so now there are 2 sets of missionaries in it) so he hasn’t unpacked or anything. He is living out of his suitcase right now.  Courtney showed him the rooms Bryan painted (Ethan was glad he wasn’t here for those) and then we got to chat. It was fun to see him and he was so happy.  We love Elder Pack!

July 23, 2020 Sister Palmer, Ethan’s mission president’s wife, sent us an email letting us know that he was assigned to the Wellington, CO area, that P day is Tuesday, and giving us the rules about communication. Bryan loves maps so he immediately pulled up a map on the computer and began looking for Wellington. It is just north of Fort Collins and the church he will attend is close to the mission office. His area is quite large and has some cool mountain biking areas in it. 🚵 Here is the map of Ethan’s mission with the wards all designated. 

Hello, we are so happy to have Elder Pack   in our mission. He is currently serving in Wellington, Co. Your son's preparation day will be every Tuesday and they also have been given permission to call on Saturday during this time.  I am including the guidelines from our church leaders as to how they are to communicate with family.  Our hope is that he will be able to share his mission with you and you will in turn strengthen him out here. With Love, Sister Heather Palmer The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recently approved updates to the missionary communication policy. Effective immediately, missionaries are authorized to communicate with their families each week on preparation day via text messages, online messaging, phone calls, and video chat in addition to letters and emails. Missionaries are encouraged to communicate with their families using the approved method that works best for them and their families. The means of communication may vary depe...

July 21, 2020 In true Ethan fashion, he didn’t pack until Tuesday morning. We did a load of laundry and he packed and we still had a ton of time before his 1:10 flight from St George.  We played games, ate breakfast, talked, and waited to go to the airport. When it was finally time, we loaded up and drove out. Bryan dropped us off at the front and I took the airport picture while Bryan parked the car. Ethan went in and got himself all checked in. Thanks for the suitcase scale we borrowed from Grandma and Grandpa Oman, his suitcases were under the weight requirement and he had no problems. He had his ticket for St George to Salt Lake and another for Salt Lake to Denver. Then we had to wait. We took pictures, chatted, and got ready to say goodbye. A nice woman took a family pic for us. And then we had to give final hugs and say goodbye. This was tough but he is going to be an amazing missionary and he is so ready and prepared to go. Ethan went through security. I think he would be g...

July 19, 2020 Church today was a time for Ethan to say goodbye to some people in the ward. It started out as a usual Covid-style sacrament meeting. Ethan had to bless because we only have half the priesthood there and everyone sang quietly because masks muffled their voices.  After the sacrament was over, the counselor in the bishopric who was presiding (Brother Hintze) stood and said that the planned speakers that day...the missionaries serving in our area...hadn’t shown up. But lucky for our ward, we had 2 missionaries doing home MTC who would be leaving that week. So he called on them to speak to us.  Ethan started by saying that since doing home MTC he has found that he isn’t as nervous to get up and speak in front of people. Teaching investigators online has gotten him more comfortable. He then shared a bit about his experience and shared that he had challenged himself to read the entire Book of Mormon during his MTC experience. He finished in 10 days and had a strong tes...

Bryan, Courtney, and Ethan went on one last mountain bike ride before he leaves. They went to the Temple Rocks trail. Courtney wasn’t a fan but Ethan and Bryan has a great time.  Ethan is really hoping he get a biking area and that he has mountain bike trails in his area but we will see. I’m glad they were able to go today.

Hey everyone, I only have about 4 days left until I enter the mission field. I have my last classes on monday, as well as my last teaching experience. I'm not nervous yet, but I'm sure that I'll get there as the time gets closer. As far as the teaching experiences go, my companion and I are definitely improving. We were able to teach the same person several times, so we've gotten experience teaching some of the later lessons. Our last experience will be with this same person, so we're going to talk about the doctrine of Christ. As far as everything else goes, not much has changed. Next email will say something much different, but for now, my schedule remains the same.  Something cool that did happen was that I was able to finish the Book of Mormon today. I started reading it about 10 days ago, to see if I could get through and mark up my new set of scriptures before I left. I was able to accomplish my goal, and I feel much better about using my scriptures to teach n...

Dear friends, I'm still working my way through the MTC. I'm actually enjoying it because I'm learning so much. I feel a lot more confident now than I did a week ago about missionary work. Part of that is because my companion, Elder Pena, and I were able to teach a few people the first lesson. It was a teaching experience, so we taught members who were pretending to be non-members. It was really helpful because I know what I have to do better next time I teach. I got my flight plans yesterday. I leave from St. George to Salt Lake on the 21st, then fly to Denver. I'll get to see the other 2 elders in my district who are also going to Fort Collins, so that'll be cool.  And that's what's going on for me this week. From, Elder Pack Hey, if anyone would like to come by our house on Saturday, July 18th (Ethan's last P-day in home MTC) and say goodbye to Elder Pack, you are very welcome to do so.  He flies out on Tuesday, July 21st.

July 7, 2020 We have great neighbors and friends. Ethan has been spoiled in the home MTC. Angie Evans brought him a brownie and chips as a MTC care package. Lori Brown brought some mints for him to snack on while in the MTC. The Dodds brought Ethan a pj shirt, which is awesome!

Hey everyone! How are you doing? I'm doing pretty good so far. The online MTC is a new experience for me, to say the least. It's strange to wear my church clothes every day when all I do is sit in front of a computer. I'm learning a lot every day and I can tell that my testimony of the gospel and of Jesus Christ is growing stronger.  Sorry that this is so short, but there's just not a lot to report here at the home MTC. Just know that things are going well and that I'm learning to be a better missionary. See ya, Elder Pack

July 1, 2020 I won’t blog everyday but I wanted to put down the home MTC schedule on the first day. It will vary but this is general. 6:30- wake up, exercise, get ready, personal study, find things to do 9:30-1:00- class with District Companion is Elder Pena from Arizona who is also going to Fort Collins. 1-4:30- free time for lunch, study, etc 4:30-5:30- seminar with all new missionaries There were over 325 and the Zoom was limited to 300 so they had to start a new meeting with a higher limit. That is the most missionaries they have ever had in one class since online MTC began. There are a lot of missionaries! 5:30-9:30- dinner, time with family, reading, trying to keep busy The Zoom link had issues before the first class but we got it worked out and things went find after that. 

June 30, 2020 When we got the mail today, Elder Pack had a package. It contained his name tag, his card making him official and some handbooks.  Courtney and I moved furniture and got his room ready for the MTC. Bryan later got the computer set up and ready for Ethan to start classes on Wednesday. He is all set, except his room gets a little hot during the day so we may need to get a fan for him. Courtney got the house ready to be a MTC. We will be living mission rules while Ethan is doing the MTC. We went out to dinner as a family to celebrate and then Ethan had a FaceTime call with our Stake President, who is now the mission president for him at home MTC experience. Then we went to the Stake Center for Ethan to be set apart as a missionary. He was given a beautiful blessing when he was set apart to be a missionary. He is going to be a great missionary. I’m excited for him.