First E-mail Home

This past Thursday (which is P-Day for Brock) we received his first email home. I was on the TREK, and didn't have Internet, so that is why I am just now getting to posting this. I have put his email up in the header... elderbrockmason@myldsmail.net. Please write him....

Here is a few excerpts from his email.

Well how is everyone? Here is my email address i just set it up and i can check email every thursday while i do laundry. I LOVE laundry. Well i'm trying to write to all of you some letters as well, to hopefully keep you informed on what i'm doing and how it is going. Read all the letters to each other so that way i can tell more of the things that are happening in greater detail and not have to repeat myself. Well basically the MTC is ok. Not what i expected and i'm not an elder who shouts hallelujah all the time to be here. I would rather be teaching real investigators.

The Creole is coming along. We did a contacting yesterday with a missionary who just returned from orlando where we had to get to know him and teach him things, and ask to set up an appointment, and do it all in Haitian. It was way fun. The grammar for the language is incredibly simple, the pronunciation can be a little odd. Having a Haitian instructor helps a lot though, so we can really hear what the accent is like. So basically the work with the language revolves around memorizing phrases and vocab.

Well how is everything at home? I assume Kari is on trek from the last letter i got from her. By the way, write me lots, i need the support, and i love coming home at night and getting some letters to read. I love knowing whats going on and hearing from you all. I hope Lanie and Bob are enjoying school. I hope Bob's pepper's are growing nicely, and i wish i could be there to taste them with him. By the way thank sister Sabin for the cinnamon rolls! It's funny, they have a half hour time limit on this thing, so as i type there is a clock counting down to when my access will be cut off. Can you say MTC KGB?

Try and tell anyone who wants to write me to do so, i would love to hear from anyone. I should be filling up my camera soon and be sending a card home so you can see some pictures of me and the other guys learning Creole. 3 of the 11 of us are going to Orlando, my companion and another really big white guy who is a football player. He is really funny. He kinda struggles with the language and sounds japanese when he speaks, kinda like Kari i hear! I hope mom isn't crying too much. I pray for all of you each night that you can know how deeply i care for you, and how much i miss you all.

Well i figure i will tell you what my days are like. Wake up @ 6:30, be in class by 7. Then it is scripture study until 7:45, then breakfast until 8:15 (the food isn't all that great but i haven't died yet). then it's back to class for instruction. Basically from then until lunch, we study PMG, practice teaching lessons, learn the language, and have discussions with our teachers who are all RM"S who speak Creole. Then @ 12:30 we have lunch until 1:15, then back in class until 5. We have dinner @ 5 until 5:45, then back to class until 9 pm. Then we plan for the next day (make goals, what we should study, whatever) with our companions until 9:30. Then we go back to our apartment, and get ready for bed and write in our journals. This is normally when i write you all. I sleep in a bed as long as me, about a foot from the ceiling, and hope i don't fall off because i'm on the top. The toilets are worse than my apartment at college! isn't that something. No big though.

Well i should go now, my time is almost up. Write me when you can, and i will be sending you all letters soon. I love you all, pray for me.

Love,

Elder Mason

I got an email from a missionary that use to serve in our ward that now teaches at the MTC... here is what he had to say about Brock...

Hello Mason Family,
So I was here working at the MTC today and who did I run into, little ol' Brock. He ran up to me and said "here's someone you could teach." So then his companion Elder Peterson began street contacting me in Haitian and Brock proceeded to translate. It was great. Brock knows the language so good. The whole time he was suggesting words and correcting his companion's words. He knows it pretty well for only being here a week. We then talked for a few minutes and he wanted me to let you know that he loves you all and misses you so much.
I guess that's all. I'll pass on messages when ever I see him.
Matt Peterson

I thought this was pretty cool that Brock already knows the language so well and was correcting his companions grammar....that is so Brock!

We love and miss him, but all sounds well. Thanks for your support.

Love,

Kari

The FIRST letter has arrived!

Today we received Brock's first letter in the mail. We WERE very excited!

He wrote it the first night in the MTC right before he went to bed. I am not going to post the entire thing, but parts of it....

I love you all and miss you so much. It slowly hit me throughout the day that I am now a missionary and will not see you for two years. I hope that I can remain faithful and work hard to prepare to serve. Thank you for loving me so much, for raising me, and for preparing me to serve a mission. I'm humbled and grateful for the opportunity to serve, and I pray that I can honor the Lord and you all through my efforts. Pray for me.

Tell Dad that I hope I can develop a working spirit like his, and that I can find his tenderness. Tell Mom that I hope to be strong and faithful like her. Tell Kari that I wish she were here to make me smile. :) and tell Lanie that I wish I could hug her one last time. Tell Robert Hoi! We start learning tomorrow, I think we will be learning French and Creole, because the 500 pound sack of books we were given have things in French and Creole. I have to sleep now, hopefully I can wake up. Please pray for me, I love you all so much.

Love,

Elder Brock M. Mason

Brock also wrote little notes on and around the letter:

" Look for more letters soon"

" I love you"

" I forgot that I took notes on the back, so now you have them" - this one made me laugh....

Here are some of the notes he took:

Byenveni!

Fe Konesans (Get to know each other)

Koman ou rele? (What is your name?)

Mwen rele ___ (My name is)

Kikote ou soti? (Where are you from?)

Mwen soti___ (I am from__)

Kikote ou prale? (Where are you going?)

Mwen Prale__ (I am going to __)

Of course there were some tender sweet moments when we read this letter together. Lanie got upset that we didn't wait for her to open it (she lives in a different state) I asked her what she wanted me to do... let her hear the envelope opener ripping open on the paper? She is so funny.

So it looks like things are well. We went to Walmart tonight and made a little picture album for him of our family to have. We are also sending some goodies.

Thanks everyone for supporting him. He is our precious boy and we love him to pieces!

Love,

Kari

MTC Drop Off

This past week our family dropped Brock off at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, UT. He will be spending around 9 weeks there learning the Haitian, Creole language and learning how to teach what we believe to the people of Orlando. See above in the header for the most updated address. We have a MTC mailbox number now. Now on a update of how the week went. Sunday night Brock was set apart as a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was a very special moment for our family. The Christensen's and the Nimer's as well as Mark Sabin were all there to show their support for Brock. And we really appreciate them since we all kind of grew up together. After that Brock needed a companion, so there I was! I didn't watch any TV, or listen to music the entire time I was with him. We went to go get a haircut together, go to the DMV to get his driving record, Chipotle, and where ever he went I followed.... I miss my companion! :(

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Monday night, Dad, Mom, Brock and I (Kari) flew out to SLC to be with Lanie and Robert. We stayed in their one bedroom apartment with them, so we definitely had some SERIOUS bonding time! Tuesday, we went and bought Brock another suit, Dad got one as well. Then we went to lunch with Brock's roommate Jordan and his family. Brock and Jordan were roommates this entire past year, and they reported the same day. It was fun to meet his family and hang out. After that, our family and Jordan's family went to the SLC temple. We took some family pictures, picked up his suit. Then it was time for some fun. We all sat down in Lanie's apartment and went around the room, each of us having to say what we were going to miss about Brock and give him some advice. Brock went last and spoke to each of us what he would miss the most. It was really fun! Then Robert and Lanie had some fireworks in their apartment so we had a little party outside in the rain with our sparklers.

Wednesday morning came, we left for Provo and got to the MTC early to take some family photos in front of the main sign. We cannot go onto property due to the swine flu outbreak. We took some really fun pictures with Jordan as well, and went up to the Provo temple and took even more pictures. After a heated debate on where to go to lunch, we ended up at taco bell. Then it was time to drop Brock off. We pulled up to the MTC, the security guard told us where to go, and it was waterworks from there on. We had a order that we were all supposed to hug Brock in (Created by Lanie) and dad messed it up by hugging him first, so then we all started to laugh and cry at the same time. It was awesome! We had 3 minutes to say goodbye, and dropped him off in front of the MTC. I'm glad that we didn't have to go in and watch the movie that tears your heart out, it was quick like pulling off a band aid.

It was hard to say goodbye, but know that he is going to be doing the Lord's work and loving every second of it! He is the first in our family to serve a mission, and probably the only one. He is also the only Mason, (as in extended family) to go as well. We are so proud of him and will miss him terribly, but look forward to hearing from him. Please feel free to write him. As soon as we get our first letter/email I will post some of it on here.

Lanie and I were talking about how much we are going to miss him. The three of us have always had a great relationship, and it will be hard to not be able to text him or talk to him everyday, but we are very proud of him!