Showing posts with label Companions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Companions. Show all posts

Friday, June 11, 2010

Trainer

Elder Gebert, with his "Papi", Elder Haskell

Jambalaya and Smoothies

In one of her countless boxes to David, my mom sent him mixes to make one of his favorite dishes: Jambalaya. So, he treated his companion and the other set of Elders that they live with to dinner. THEY LOVED IT! And of course, ate it all.
And before you make any cracks about him cooking, David has always been quite the chef. One time, when he was about 4 he got up in the middle of the night and decided he was hungry and needed to fix himself a sausage muffin. So, he stuck a frozen one in the microwave, pushed a bunch of buttons (including the start button), then eventually went back to bed because "it took too long". We still wonder how long that thing cooked. It was a black lump that stunk up the house for days... long after it, along with the glass tray it was adhered to, were thrown out.

All joking aside though, he really is an amazing cook. He always reminded me of the famous chef, Curtis Stone.




Tuesday, May 11, 2010

1st Day in Long Beach!

Elder Gebert, with the Mission President and his wife,
President and Sister Sexton

Yesterday, my parents received a letter from the Mission President formally letting them know that Elder Gebert had arrived safely in Long Beach and was out proselyting by 6PM that evening . He also said that David had been paired with his first companion and trainer, Elder Haskell. David had also sent a letter with his Mother's Day card talking about the experience of being paired with Elder Haskell. They were all gathered in a room and before the assignments were made, David leaned over to his companion from the MTC and said, "THAT guy is my trainer", pointing to Elder Haskell. Sure enough, he was right! He really, really likes him, which is AWESOME news to get. He also wrote that they are in a "verrrrrry Spanish" area. We all got to talk to him on Mother's Day (missionaries get to call home twice a year... Mother's Day and Christmas) and he sounds great. He's very happy to be out in the field and said that they have 6 baptisms lined up. Before he entered the MTC, he had gotten some white pants for his baptisms, but they hadn't been hemmed. So, he left without them and my mom said she'd send them once he got on his way. Well, when he called with the news of 6 baptisms, he said "I need them NOW!". Needless to say, my mom overnighted them yesterday :)

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Boys will be boys... even in the MTC








David has just about reached his halfway point at the MTC. According to one of is latest letters he has a week left of English, then he has to start speaking ALL Spanish. He is really, really anxious to become fluent and is continuing to flourish. The days are beginning to go by a little more quickly, which he is definitely welcoming with open arms. With such early mornings (5:30 am wake up call) followed up with class after class, all the boys are very ready to get out in the field. He said one of the Elders is writing a sci-fi novel and fills them in on what's happening next which David looks forward to, much to his own surprise. He says, "This story this guy is telling is so good. It'll be published for sure." It's funny seeing the pictures that David sends. There's obviously not too much to take pictures of there at the MTC, so it's a lot of funny boy stuff. The giant Easter egg came from Ariel, his girlfriend. The two guys with glasses are 2 Elders that have already left for Spain. There's also a video out there of one of the Elders "eating something really gross for money". Apparently, they came up with a concoction of "ketchup, mustard, chocolate milk, hot sauce, spice cake, etc" (who KNOWS what "etc" encompasses) and paid one of their companions to eat it. Unfortunately, David didn't point out the lucky guy in the group picture.

Along with having some great male bonding time, David has been able to enjoy some great spiritual highs. He's learning so much about the scriptures and was also able to hear Quentin L. Cook, of the quorum of the 12 Apostles, speak. With General Conference, as well as Easter, coming up, we're all excited to hear about David's take on this special weekend. As always, I'll keep you posted!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The Provo Temple



Things have been going awesome for Elder Gebert at the MTC. His Spanish is coming along really, really well. He wrote his testimony in Spanish to Mom and Dad already and said that people come to him for help with the language. His companion has been sick the entire time and has already had to got to the hospital. He's since been quarantined and they think he either has the flu or mono. David said that he thinks it's mono and that he himself feels fine, thank goodness. He's gone through amazing spiritual highs and a few bouts of homesickness, but all in all is doing excellent and, as you can see above, he is thoroughly enjoying himself.