Canada here he comes!

Calvin will be leaving the MTC tomorrow 7/31/12. He has completed his language and teacher training in the last 8 weeks and we are so excited for him to be in the next "chapter" of his mission. Calvin is very excited too, as evidenced by his email last Tuesday:

Hey,

  I  got my travel itenerary this week!!!!!!!!!! I leave from the MTC at 4 IN THE MORNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then, we go to the airprot , and leave at 7:05 to go to Detroit. We arrive in Detroit at 12:31, and then leave for Montreal at 2:05. Then, we get to Montreal at 3:57. So, I want to ask, when would it be best for you to have me call? Oh, yeah, we get to call our families at the airports. I have been told there are no limits, but I'm thinking a half an hour to 45 minutes at most. Does that sound ok to you? I was thiking about doing it here in Salt Lake, but I could do it in Detroit, if I have the time. Anyways, that's my flight itenerary. I enjoyed all your letters, especially the handwritten ones. Goodness, time seems like it's flying by right now. It seems like just yesterday I was here doing P day emails, it's sort of encouraging, but I still hope I get everything i can out of my mission. Oh, I will try to send you a map of the MTC, so you can see on goole Earth where i am. I'll mark on it my residence hall, and where my class is ,etc.

    I have really found the joy music gives me. I miss being in band, and I love being in choir. Unfortunately, I will not get a chance to sing in the chior again, but I got to perform in the chior at least once. I REALLY want to do more music with Chantal and Miranda, so practice hard! I miss playing classical music. Maybe when I get back, I'll join some sort of orchestra, or something. I miss the French horn.

   Anyways, It's great to hear that you went to an Art Gallery. I REALLY have been missing fine art. I haven't been getting distracted by it, but I keep fondly remembering our last art gallery visit. That was a COOL place. [The art gallery he's referring to is The Spool Factory in Johnson City, and is owned by one of Todd's college professors. We went to his show opening a few days before Calvin left for the MTC.]

   Umm... reading back through the letters, I think I missed something, what was that expirement you were trying? [He had sent us the SD card from his camera so we could download some photos, and we tried to send him some photos of us back, but it didn't work.]

   I have begun to earn a love for this work. My French is getting better too, but out of the two, I want to get a love for this work. I want a love for the people. I am very excited to get out into the field. I'm sorry this is so scatterbrained, but when your trying to fit EVERYTHING important into one e mail, you get sort of scatterbrained. I found today, that I need to read my scriptures more. For the past couple of weeks I have been reading Jesus the Christ, which is a good book, but I found great peace and comfort reading the scriptures, and my Patriarchal blessing. I feel super comforted now.

   The past few days I have also wanted to just work out. To just get some weights and go until I can't any more. Working out is one of the few things here that gives me solace. I'm really excited about that. I have been drawing as well, but I have been focusing on not doing it too much. I use it to help me concentrate, in class, and I think for the most part it helps. Miranda, I know what you feel like when you said that you feel really antsy without being able to draw. I just can't concentrate.

I Love you all SOOO much, I think that's why theLord sent me here to realise just how much I love you all

Be the Best you can be

 

CALVIN

Calvin's new address will be:

Elder Calvin Messinger

Canada Montréal Mission Office

470 Rue Gilford, Ste 300

Montréal, QC H2J IN3

Canada

Picture

This is one of the latest pictures Calvin sent us on his SD card. He's studying French, so it's a French copy of the Book of Mormon he's reading.

I'm always serious, and don't call me Shirly - not edited

[The first email we got from Calvin this past Tuesday was titled "No Subject" and said:]

sorry, I had a longer one written to you but I accidentally erased it.

Calvin

[We were so disappointed! But I remembered the joke about Christ and Satan who were taking a test on their computers. They had been at it for almost three hours when suddenly the power went out. Satan went into a rage "I lost everything! three hours and all my time for nothing!" Just then the power came back on and Jesus opened his files to find everything right there. Satan looked at the test proctor and asked, "Why did his stuff come up like that? It's not fair! His stuff came up and mine is lost!" The proctor calmly replied, "Jesus saves." I also decided that my next handwritten letter is going to be in pencil and I'm going to write the entire thing, and then erase it all, and write "sorry, I had a longer one written but I erased it." I'm such a wicked mother!

  Later in the evening, after Chantal went to bed, I was checking my email for other things and I found the email with this title. So we woke up Chantal and read it together. Calvin keeps telling us how much he loves to get mail, and how it's like the breath of life. I wrote to him that when I was younger and writing to a lot of friends on missions, the scripture was Proverbs 25:25 As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Now on to the current email!]

Salutations from the MTC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How is every one doing????? I'm having LOTS of fun here. It's really hard to beleive that I have only TWO weeks until I go out into the feild. Oh, thanks for the help with the photo disk. Unfortunately I couldn't get the pictures from it, but I beleive pictures can be put on Dear Elders. [They can't.]  Miranda, I haven't had tme yet to answer your novel, but don't worry, you'll get a nice long letter from me, in 5 days. The drawing [he did for a missionary serving in our Greene Branch] is in my orange sketchbook, or one of them, but I'm pretty sure it was the orange one. Tell Midnight and Sophie I enjoyed both of their letters, especially Midnights'. It's always fun to read from a cat's perspective. maul him for me please! I had lots of fun expirienced this week. So mom, you are going to be SUPER jelous, this Sunday, our fireside was basically a private concert by Sister Jenny Oaks Baker. That was a REALLY COOL thing to watch! Her husband bore his testimony in Japenese,and her children played I am a child of God. There were three girls, all under the age of 12, who played the violin piano, and cello, and one five year old boy playing the classical guitar. It was a really cool expirience. Who knows, maybe Ishack Pearlman will convert in the next two days, and we can have another testimony by music with him. I would wait in line or three hours for that. It's weird, but out here, EVERYONE does music, usually piano or singing. I have thouroughly impressed many of the people in my zone withmy drawing skills, which is fun.

I cannot wait to hang with Sophie when I get back! It's going to be so fun seeing howmuch she's grown up. I'm also going to enjoy seeing the rest of you and how you've all changed! Miranda, would you get  into carving sarble statues, so when I get back you can carve a bust of me? I think that would be awesome!!!!!! Hmm.... anything else? ( frantic typing sounds in the distance) 

Well, I should warn Mom and Dad to preview the pictures I send them because the girls will probaly print a few out and put them in their walls. (Wipe that drool off your face Chantal)

I had an interesting notion this week. I was reading the appearence of Moroni to Jospeh Smith, and looked up all the prophecies he quoted, and it hit me how cool Christ's secand coming will be. I had watched "the mountain of the Lord" on Sunday, and thought a lot about what should happen before that time and how much I want to see that day of the Lord, and then it hit me. I'm out here to build Zion, to bring to pass those prohesies, so that the LOrd can come. It suddenly hit me how glorious that was, and how important this work is, and I understood why all the prophets wish to sing praises unto God orever, cause that's what I felt like. I'm starting to get a love for this work, and a testimony in it.
I love you all so much, look for my letters in a few days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Calvin

Sorry, I had a brain fart earlier. I couldn't find it in my drafts box.

Calvin

Salutations

Ma chere famille

Bonjour!!!!!! Comment ca va? All is going well here, and I'm having fun! I'm just hoping that I'm focusing on the work enough. Our two progressing investigators are doing super well, keeping their commitments, and getting more and more spiritual knowlege. I've found out what my problem with my French is. My companion and a rescource teacher said that I'm not taking enough time to think through what I'm saying, go figure. The rescource teacher said that my french is very good when I slow down and think about what I say. I'm much more encouraged now. Today we get to go and clean the temple today. It's an awesome experience, but we're going to be there for 3-4 hours, so I don't know what to think, since that steals some P-day time from us. Well, I'll do my best to enjoy it thouroughly, since we only get to do it this once. It was a miracle that it rained, we were really happy that it did so, it cooled the place up a bit. I haven't gotten your package yet, but I anxiously await it. Here at the MTC, letters and packages turn whole days around. Let's see. Oh yeah, tell Grandpa I saw the organist here, and thought about his trip to Europe, and was wondering how that went. I talked with the organist too. I went to my first choir rehersal Sunday, and had fun with that, but I'm not sure we will be going to the one tonight, cause we may want that personal time. What else is new, I don't know so why don't I tell you a little about how things run here. We get up, shower, etc. then go to personal study. Then we have breakfast, then more personal study. Then we have class for three hours, which is where we also do our progressing investigator lesson time, along with "personal study time" like we really get any studying done at all, then we go to lunch, have language study, and then either go to gym or class again. Gym is one of the highlights of the day. I just get to work out and be lost in that. Then we go to dinner, and then either have class or gym. Then it's daily planning, and then it's off to the residence for a half hour of personal time, and then quiet time. I like to do some quick ab exercises during personal time, talk ,and just relax. Then during the 15 minurtes for quiet time, I write in my journal, pray, and do companionship prayer.

I really want to go out into the field and get used to that schedule, and get comfortable, so that it's not so "looming ominously".

OH, my companion and I will now have to share our beautiful room with some other missionaries, because our zone is receiving 44 new missionaries: 11 sisters, and................. Wait I can do this!!!...................33 new Elders. Yeah, our residence is being flooded by them. This ought to be interesting. Well, I can't wait.

I love you all lots and lots, and when I continually think about how awesome it willl be to see you when I get off the plane. I'm not homesick, but I'm just looking foreward to seeing how you all changed, especially Sophie.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Calvin Messinger

Week 5 - Titled "Live Long and Prosper"

  [We got this email earlier in the day than we are used to. I was quite surprised and wondered if there was something wrong. However as I read the email I realized that Calvin's schedule has changed a little, so he was able to email earlier in the day. I'm not editing this for spelling, grammar, or punctuation.]

To my dear family

How are you all doing? Every thing is going just great here. The weather has been rediculously nice here, but I wish some rain would come and cool things off, and put out these feild fires that are occouring all over the place. The smoke is so bad you can barely see the mountains some days.

Now to answering questions, the shorts are AWESOME and I thank you guys sooooooooooooooooooo much, and I hope that wasn't a big hassle to procure those for me. They fit me well, except when I do leg presses. yes mom, you can call me by the name I was born with, but if you wanted to call me Frodo that would be ok too, i guess. Yes there is an MTC choir,but I went for my first meeting this past sunday, and no one ewas there. VERY MAD!!!!!!!!!!! oh welll, there's always the one that's later today. I'm glad to hear that so much is going well with your book, I hope it really takes off. When you upseat JK Rowling, please share your spoils with me!! Let's see.................. Well our investigators are coming along well ( the fake ones that are really our teachers). Some of the most powerful expiriences come when we teach them, and I hope the rest of my mi9ssion has tons more lessons to teach. It's hard to imagine that I'm only halfway through my MTC stay, It feels like I should be leaving a lot sooner, but I am also super glad that I have this remaining time to prepare. What else.. Oh yeah, the temple is closed for the rest of my time at the MTC, and we have to help go and clean it, which will be pretty cool, but I'm really bummed that I can't go to the temple. [This is why his schedule changed.] Temple time or more free time to play instruments and draw and write letters? Temple time, I think, is what I would choose. Thwe temple actually opens the day AFTER our last P-day!!!!!! GRRRR!

Well, ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I think I'm actually getting a bit worse at my French. I've been very blessed so far, it's just that all these tenses drive me absolutely bannanas!  Being really sleepy doesn't help at all either, but I'm pulling through it ok.

Oh, I heard Colorado is on  fire, are Aunt Becky and Uncle Wes and the cousins ok?

umm............. no idea what else to talk about.

Oh, today I was studying, because everyone was actually being quiet for a change, and I was rteading the first chapter in Isaiah, and I understood a lot of it. I might not be looking hard enough into it, but it was pretty cool. I don't know what else to tell you all, thing here go pretty much the same every day. We get up, eat breakfast, try to study, until one of us brings up an interesting conversation, then classes, gym, more fooling, I mean studying, then planning, and then personal time at the apartment.

I love you all, and think about you lots, but not too much.

I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You brother, son, exc.

Calvin Messinger

[Yes, he really does sign all his letters "Calvin Messinger." Even the letters to his own family! Like we wouldn't know who he is.]

Week Four - mostly edited for spelling, grammar, and punctuation

Hello Messinger Family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry that the letters I send home get home so late. I send them on the same day I email you, so the mail is really slow. First, the questions. No mom, I am not feeling forgotten, nor am I homesick, I just was being literal. [Calvin had addressed his last written letter to "Messinger Family - 1" so I asked him if he was feeling left out or homesick or forgotten.] Yes, the law of gravity is repealed for missionaries. I thought you knew that! *wink [A lot of photos Calvin sent from the MTC were sideways, so I tongue-in-cheek asked him if the law of gravity was repealed for missionaries. I asked him if the ice cream they serve at the MTC is from the BYU Creamery - which has FANTASTIC ice cream!] Actually, the ice cream here is just like the ice cream everywhere else, and the food is like the food we get served at school, or that you used to serve at girls camp. Yes, most of the sacrament meeting is done in French.

  Let's see... this sunday was MADNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!! the last few days, the MTC had been gearing up for the Mission president training meeting, so a bunch of the General Authorities were here, so everyone was freaking out that maybe an apostle would be in their meetings. Well, there werent any, and the only people who saw the General Authorities were a select elite group of singers who sang for them in a private concert. So the lines for the food, and to get into the devotionals have been SUPER long all for nothing. It was a really spiritual sunday anyways, in fact, one of the best I have ever experienced.

  Alors, Je ne pense pas j'ai besoins maitenant. Le carte ils nous donne pour le MTC avaient 6 dollars sur il pour nous, so, I buy new pens and such supplies as i need with it, the six dollars actually rolls over each week, je pense. Yes, my french isn't perfect, nor is my spelling, what do you expect? I have actually started a small collection of the church posters, since I've seen some of those paintings in person. I've got Abinadai, Mormon giving his son the plates, and Moroni abridging the plates. Anyways, things are going well here. I'm probably eating too much junk food, but each week we get more and more. That's one of the weird things about this place, we all get so much food from our parents that we each try to give most of our food away. Anyways time's almost up,

I love you all, and I'll send more letters!!!!!!!!!!!
Elder Calvin Messinger