POEM

Sy sent us this poem he wrote on April 5, 2012

It is kind of hard to read so I will retype it.

La familia de Woolstenhulme

It as now been three weeks in Lima Peru
In the city it sometimes smells like poo
Futbol is fun
But there is work to be done
But "Yo no hablo Espanol"

I have yet to see a llama
Nonetheless I have a soft cama
The food makes my tummy mad
But for the blancos its a fad
Thank goodness for Pepto Bismol

My district is super awesome
I bet the flowers have blossomed
I do miss home
But soon on the phone
I will talk to you on Mother's Day

Jesus Christ he suffered & died
For our sins his blood he did cry
On the third day he rose
So all of us will knows
We all will live together again

Happy Easter, Elder Sy Woolstenhulme

YO YO YO

April 11, 2012

Hey everyone. We had the opportunity to go tracking on Saturday. It was a great experiences to actually get a taste of the life. It was hard for me because the natives mumble tremendously. but nonetheless I got my two cents in when needed. My companion and I got into 4 different houses and taught the full lesson of the restoration to a lady,  her mother, and her 3 year-old son. We placed two Books of Mormon and we would have placed another but we taught a police officer on duty and he couldn't take it at that time. Nonetheless we got his address and nine others so the Lima central missionaries will have a lot of referrals. All of the advanced missionaries and the Latinos left early this week. So the last three days it was only the two North America districts, mine and the other one that traveled with us, in the entire CCM. Yesterday most of the new Latinos came. It is so much easier to explain to them the rules when you have three weeks of full Spanish underneath your belt. My new companion is from Chiclyao and will be serving in the Lima North mission as well. He mumbles a lot but I'm exited to get to know him. The rest of the North Americas that are traveling here from Provo had a complication with their flight and are departing today rather than yesterday. Today all of the North Americans that come with me are going on a tour of Lima City. We will see the sites and be able to buy soccer jerseys and other goodies. Also we are going to Pizza Hut! It is going to be delicious. I'm excited to actually see the city and not just be confined to the large cement walls surrounding the CCM. Sadly we will be getting a new teacher and my companion has decided to change to a all Latino class, so I will be getting a new North American companion. I do not know if he is someone in my district or one of the new North Americans. My teacher Hermano Lazo is the greatest. He has taught my district so well, he is the reason we are so good at Spanish. He is the "bombdigity," as he would say. I don't want a new teacher, but I will still get to see him everyday. I'm doing great and I can tell these next three weeks are going to be exponentially easier than the previous ones.

!la iglesia de Jusucristo de los santos de los últimos días es la iglesia verdadera!

{with love}

ELDER SY EMMETT WOOLSTEÑHÚLME

Second P day in Peru

April 4, 2012

The weeks are going by faster,  but I am having fun. It is hard to get used to the small maturity level of the Latino companions. It has been a challenge for me to hold my tongue, it is a great way for me to learn patience. We watched all of the sessions of conference in English. They are good at separating the North Americans from the Latinos. So I took about 25 and a half pages of notes. It was great to focus on the words I have never studied conference so diligently. I am having a lot of trials with the food and the heat and the people, but I am learning to love it. I drank a whole 2 litters of Inca cola today walking back from the temple. Nonetheless I am learning a lot more Spanish. I am deeply angered that you have seen the Hunger Games, I am so very jealous. Make sure that Brandon and Landon read preach my gospel diligently because that will be something they will enjoy knowing fully before getting into the field. Remember to check with the bank to see if I can use my card outside of the US. Tell Mr. Ben Kjar I'm rooting for him and he is a stud! I can't wait until I can speak in Spanish and actually tell my companions what I want to say so they will be quiet haha. We sit with the MTC president daily and he is usually in our temple sessions. I listened to the temple session without the head phones today. It was pretty exciting making the connections with the words I know from the session and hearing them in Spanish and actually understanding them. My teacher is the best his name is Hno. Lazo and he is awesome. He says things like "bombdigity" it is hilarious. I am having a lot of fun. Another elder in my district, named ELDER BROWN, and I  have become very close. We are always talking in funny accents and cracking jokes constantly. There is a Hermana in my district that reminds me a lot of Bree and she is very nice. It's nice to have girls in my district finally so its not so crazy loud. We are all getting along so well. Next week we are getting new Latino companions which will be a fun experience. I am exited to teach and learn. Please send me pictures of the family and whatever other pictures. I just want more because everyone asks about my sisters but I only have one picture. So ya anywho I'm going to go play some soccer and write some letters. Peace and love.

 

"¡la iglesia es verdad!"

 

ELDER SY WOOLSTEÑHÚLME

 

 

Here is the address I think, so hopefully it's right,

 

ELDER SY WOOLSTENHULME

Lima Perú MTC

P.O. Box 30150

Salt Lake City, UT 84130

 

p.s. Don't spit in public in a Latin American country. You will get yelled at hahahah

First week in Peru

March 28, 2012

First week. It is so hard to explain all of it, there is so much. My Latino companion's name is elder Olmedo and he is from Lima Peru. Along with Stringham, who is my USA companion, we study in a North American district and we do everything else with our Latin companions. There are a lot of different rules here and it is hard to get used to. It is all in Spanish, but I have some good teachers. I am learning a lot and I am having a lot of fun. Some things really get on my nerves but besides that its great. The food is good. but it is hit and miss. It is hard to adjust to the different styles of cooking here, but its fine. I had some sickness earlier this week but it is all gone now. We play soccer for a whole hour everyday! Right after breakfast we just go out to the giant AstroTurf field and play soccer. It is great I score goals like I'm messi hahah. Today was our first P day and it was great to go to the temple and do a session in Spanish. They gave us translators that also had Quechea and Aymara translations on it so I was flipping back and forth between the three and it was interesting to hear the differences. A few guys in my room got their endowments today as well. and that was a cool experience to share with them. We went to a church store afterwards and I bought a tie with a llama on it. Its hard to calculate the differences in the money. I am exited for next P day so I can buy a soccer jersey. Everything is going well and I am having fun. I do miss home, but its nothing I can't handle. The city is crazy and I thought I was going to be hit by a car when I was walking to the temple today, but it was great I am exited to be able to understand all that is said by the people in Peru.

 

¡la iglesia es verdadera!

 

ELDER SY EMMETT WOOLSTEÑHULME

PERU MTC

March 21, 2012

Hey everyone I have made it safely to Peru. We had a three hour layover in Atlanta where my companion and I tried to give out a few pass along cards with no luck. We boarded the plane and began a conversation with a man named Ron from Tulsa, Oklahoma who heads down to Peru twice a year to build large condos in the city of Lima. We chatted for about an hour as we were delayed on the tarmac. We talked briefly about religion and his beliefs were very similar to the beliefs of our church which exited me. We got to know each other very well. After we departed I immediately began to mark up a Book of Mormon I had bought the day before, marking my favorite scriptures and writing a brief testimony. I gave it to the man behind me and let the Lord do his thing. I saw him read a little bit and after we landed he said it was some interesting stuff. I hope he decides to read more. We got to the Lima airport at 12 and Stringham and I got in the slowest line through customs. We met our rides and all 20 or so of us got on 2 buses and drove 40 minutes through the city of Lima to the MTC. We got there around 2 and went to our rooms. Elder Stringham and I are in the same room, but are no longer companions, which I think is a blessing. My native companion's name is Elder Olmedo, he is from Lima and he will be serving in Mexico. He speaks better English than the other two in our room and he said if I teach him English he will teach me Spanish,  so that's a good deal. We are all just in the computer lab writing our families. This place looks like the garden of Eden. The outside is gorgeous and this facility is so very nice. We are going to get our haircuts and have some orientation. It is going to be tough but it is going to be fun I hope I learn it all soon. 

 

"la iglesia es verdad"

 

ELDER SY EMMETT WOOLSTEÑHULME 

Leaving Soon

March 15, 2012

Hey everybody, guess what I am leaving to the CCM in Peru on the 20th of march. So Tuesday will be my last day in the wonderful MTC. I leave at 5:00 am and I travel from the Salt Lake international airport, from there I will be taking a flight to Atlanta Georgia. There I will have a three hour layover in the wonderful Atlanta airport. Then I will be taking a direct flight to Lima, Peru. I will arrive there at 11:00 pm, then I will travel to the CCM. I have had such a wonderful time at the MTC, I still don't know beans for Spanish but I will be forced to learn it at the CCM if I want to survive. I have grown to love my district and my zone. All of the missionaries here at of the top shelf. I will miss them all dearly. Two other elders in my district were suppose to be traveling with us to Peru, but due to visa difficulty they are postponed until further notice. I am so thankful I am one of the lucky ones. I wont miss the food though. There is a reason we have nicknamed my companion burrito butt. And I'm sure you can figure out why. I met a cafeteria worker who is from Peru and has been to the CCM, she said we should be exited to eat the food. It sounds delicious. I have had many humbling experiences here in these few short weeks in the MTC. I have had my lowest lows, but I have also had my highest highs. I have never felt the spirit so strongly and I have never had answers to prayers so fast. I will miss the MTC but I cannot wait to get to Peru and be submersed in the Spanish language. Keep me in your prayers because I will need it haha.

I love you all and thank you for your support.

p.s. If anyone is planning to send me a package do it soon because the shipment fee is a lot less to Provo then it is to Peru ;)

"la iglesia es verdad" (the church is true)

with love elder sy emmett woolstenhulme.

                           

Week Two

March 8, 2012

weeek twooo!

I finally get what is going on it is like clockwork. I have been marking my scriptures like a coloring book!

my district and I are getting along very well now. It is probably from all the volleyball. I am slowly but surely learning Spanish and my companion is about to leave me in the dust. haha. I am loving the work and loving the atmosphere. We had a fireside by Alex Boye' on Sunday it was AWESOME!!! I never knew how funny he was haha I will never look at him while watching conference the same! He sang "Come Thou Fount" after his hour long talk and it was so powerful. Then as a missionary choir we all sang "Called to Serve". And anyone who has experienced that in the MTC will tell you how powerful that song is when sung by 2000 missionaries. My companion and I are helping each other out a lot. He can speak sentences and I can pronounce words. So we help each other learn. I am having fun and learning a ton the spirit is with me and it is helping me teach.

"la iglesia es verdad"

ELDER SY EMMETT WOOLSTENHULME

Safely in the MTC

First letter from the MTC.

ALL IS WELL!

I have seen Nick y Esteban y countless other friends. I have made new ones and I am feeling the spirit everyday, not all day. But everyday. I will get my shot today. If I can figure out how to.

There isn't much to say. I'm working and having fun!

Make sure Brandon reads 2 Nephi it is the best.
 I LOVE YOU!

Elder Sy Emmett Woolstenhulme

MTC DROP OFF - FEB 29, 2012

   The night before Sy was to report to the MTC several of his friends came over to say goodbye.

On Leap Year Day (Feb. 29, 2012) we dropped Sy off at the Missionary Training Center in Provo.



Bain and Brandon trying (not very successfully) to not cry on the way home without Sy.