Saturday, October 25, 2014

Hodge podge of Emails from today

Hey everyone!!
I am going to be online until a little after 11:00. So I am online to chat back and forth for a little bit. I can't wait to hear from everyone for a little while. It'll be nice to actually have time to talk to everyone for a little bit. And I will have some time to respond to personal e-mails, So whatever you have to ask or say, bring it on. :)
I love you guys

Hey Dad,
I think I will need another one of the SD card adapters if you can do that. I think someone stole it from me, and I want to be able to send pictures to you guys. I'm not sure what happened to it at all, so I just want to be able to send you pictures still.
The district is doing really well. I don't know if I told you guys yet, But I have been made district leader. And I feel like it is going pretty well so far. The only thing I am not looking forward to is Sundays. Other than Sacrament and priesthood, I have to go to meetings with the Branch Presidency pretty much all day. Now I know how it feels to be in a bishopric in a way. Haha
I am so glad that we have some time to just talk back and forth a little bit. It makes my P-day just that much better. And I still love getting letters each day. All of the Elders in the district like to say that it is our daily Christmas when we go to check the mail. The letters seriously mean so much to me.
-Nick

Hey Mom,
I really liked the package. It was great. :) thank you guys for the pictures, and for the banner signed by Bronco. That is so cool!
I told Dad this, but I need a new SD card adapter, because I don't know what happened to mine, so if you could do that I would be very appreciative.
I am on the other side for about another 40 minutes, so If you have any questions or anything, lay them on me!
I love you
-Nick

Dad,
That's what I thought too when I was made District Leader. I thought of that line in my patriarchal blessing too. That would be cool if you could come to my classes. I learn so much from the teachers that I have. It could be a day in the life of Elder Carbine. :) I will have to teach you some basic Spanish when I get back for when we go to Veracruz on vacation, but you probably won't have to worry too much, I will be able to translate for you whenever it is needed. :)
The pez dispenser was perfect. Haha It made me happy. Along with all of the pictures.  It made me happy to see all of you, and to even see the dogs.
I'm still here for a little while, so keep questions coming. :)
-Nick

Mom,
Thank you for getting me another adapter. I really don't even know what happened to it. I really didn't see myself becoming district leader. But obviously my Branch President, President Sanchez saw more in me than I did. And I really think that some of it has to do with what it said in my patriarchal blessing about me being a leader. That's what dad told me too.
My P-days are always planned out, so I don't usually have too much time for fun plans. It'll be so much more different in the field. But today the guys in my dorm decided that we were just going to skip breakfast and sleep in. You have no idea how good that felt to even sleep in an extra hour.
My travel plans should be here this next Friday, and my VISA is fine because I went to the consulate in Salt Lake. That finalizes the visa, and just makes sure we are who we say we are.
I am still here for a little bit!
I love you too!!
-Nick

Dad,
One cool spiritual experience I had is teaching one of the practice investigators. I keep finding that I will say something in spanish, and realize that I forget what I said right after. It just solidifies my testimony that the Gift of Tongues is a real thing.
I find that the hardest thing about the MTC has to be how many classes we have. I find that I haven't been able to read the Book of Mormon as much as I have wanted to, but I still get in as much as I can. What I like best has to be learning how to teach. It is still stressful, but it is so cool.
Tell syd that her response will be there soon. :)
-Nick

Thank you guys for writing me today!
You have no idea how much it makes my day to talk to you, and makes me feel like I am back home with all of you guys. The pictures made me feel that way too. I love seeing pictures of our family, and being able to see you without seeing you.
I do have an idea what this hour means to you, because it means a lot to me too. It seriously is like Christmas each P-day.
I am out of time, but I just want you guys to know how much I love you. I know I didn't say it enough, but I really do love you guys so much.
Thank you for chatting with me today. It seriously made my day.
I love you guys so much!
-Nick

Saturday, October 18, 2014

3rd Email 10/18/2014

Mom and Dad,
I am doing pretty well! Thank you for the pictures of Lia, they put a smile on my face. :) I am so excited to go to the temple, I can't wait to feel that peace at least for a couple of hours. I am getting along great with all of the guys in my district, and we all really do have a blast. My mailing unit is 381 I mis-typed, but I am having a great time. I will try to write some letters here and there too, because I can write those even on days other than my P-day.

A typical day for me is usually 3 hours of class, an hour of gym time, lunch, 3 more hours of class time, then dinner, and then 3 more hours for our personal studies. It is a lot of stress, but it is beginning to get easier and easier as all of the days go by.

I'm glad that you're not too worried about the tie, I wasn't sure. But I am so glad I got to see that picture of you guys and Bronco too. That is so cool! 

I hope you guys have a great day today. I am out of time to write today, but like I say I will try to hand write some letters too so we can talk even when it isn't my P-day.

I love you guys and I can't wait until the day that I get to see you again.

I am trying my best not to get homesick, but sometimes it is hard. I will try my very best. I love you so much!

-Nick

2nd Email 10/18/2014

Hey Guys!
I hope you guys all liked the pictures. I tried to get you as many as I could. Those pictures in the package made me happy. I feel better seeing pictures of everyone. Dad, I love that picture of you in the MTC. That really made me smile. It looks like you had a lot of fun in the MTC too. I feel like the stress is getting a lot better. It is always still there, but I think I am getting better at ignoring all of the feelings of stress. I'm going to send one email to everyone, but I will have a little while to email, so feel free to send me personal emails too.

That's cool that Logan is going into the MTC soon. I am excited for him. I haven't heard anything from Tasi, so I don't even know the status on him getting out on a mission. How is everyone doing? No more tears right? :) I hope you are all doing well. I am doing pretty well too. I still get so frustrated with the language, but I know that it will come so long as I am working hard and being optimistic. Today a little after 1:00 I will get to go to the provo temple to do an endowment session. And I am pretty excited for that. :) 

Dad, I have a question for you. I was told silk ties will get ruined in an environment like Veracruz, is that true? If so, that green tie of yours that I really like is 100% silk. I want to be able to wear it, but I also don't want it to get ruined while I am out in the field. On my last P-day which was 2 weeks ago, we went to burgers supreme for lunch and that was pretty good. But we are not allowed to go off campus other than going to the temple on our P-days on main campus. They are a lot more strict here than on West Campus.

My new mailing address is:

Elder Nicholas James Carbine
NOV 10   MEX-VER
2013 N. 900. E Unit #381
Provo, UT 84602

I'd like to go back and forth for a bit, so I'll let you guys respond with anything you want to say. :) I have been looking forward to this for a while

New P-Day after his move to the Main Campus 10/18/2014

Hey guys,

This email is going to be short so I don't use up all of my time e-mailing before you are awake, so I wanted to at least send you some pictures that I have taken.  I will continue to take more, but I will be back on to e-mail you all around like 10:00.  I ran into Elder Lowry at General Conference!  And many times before he left for Mexico.  He was in my zone.  I love you guys.  I will get on in a little while so I can talk to you all.  Probably around 9:45 to 10:00 I should be back on the computer.

I love you,

Nick





Wednesday, October 8, 2014

1st Email from Elder Carbine 10/8/2014

Dad, Mom, Kenzie, Sydney and Justin

I am doing great so far! Its hard right now with learning Spanish, but I know that will come with time, study and patience. I have felt the spirit more in the MTC than I ever have, and it is an amazing feeling. I can definitely feel the saviors love in my life, and I can feel your prayers, because the first couple days I was having a hard time, but now i'm getting more into the groove of things, and I can tell that it is only getting better from here on out.

I am on the West Campus, and right now it is the place where all of the Spanish speaking missionaries are staying and studying, but on October 15th we are moving to main campus. Everyone just keeps telling me to enjoy the freedom while it lasts. But today started out really well! We got to go to do an endowment session this morning, and that was the best way to start out my first P-day at the MTC. After we were done at the temple we decided to go to Burgers Supreme and get some food that won't send us to the toilet every couple hours...And I went and got a Jamba Juice before we came back to email.

My Spanish is definitely starting to come. It is really hard and I can only understand so much right now, but el don de lenguas es verdadero (the gift of tongues is true.) I can say a rocky prayer in Spanish, and I know that will get better, and I can also bear my testimony in Spanish. We have a teacher named Andres who is our "Practice Investigator" so mostly every day we have to come up with a lesson to teach him, but the hard part is it is in Spanish as well.

I can already feel those blessings that President Rowland gave to me, and I can personally testify that the gift of tongues is real. I have learned more in the MTC than I have in 3 years of High School, that's how amazing this work is.

Conference was amazing! I have never enjoyed conference as much as I have at the MTC, and I felt the spirit so strong as I was listening to the talks and writing down notes from conference. The Sunday session was hard on all of my District though. We were just all so exhausted that we all pretty much ended up falling asleep in the auditorium seats where we were watching conference. That's one thing that's hard about the MTC is that I just get so exhausted every single day. It is hard work. I really wish that I could have sang in the Priesthood session with all of the other elder's, but I missed being able to do it by a week. I thought it would have been a blast.

My companions name is Elder Ryum. He is from Korea, and he is here on green card. He moved to the US when he was 6 years old. He and I have got along great! we both say at the end of each day that we can tell that we were meant to be mission companions.

I miss you guys all a lot! I pray for you guys every day and night. I know that it's going to fly by after the first couple of months. Especially when i'm in Mexico and not in Utah where I'm only a small drive away. I'm so glad to hear what dad's new oncologist said to him! That cancer is never coming back. I prayed for Dad a lot yesterday because I knew it was his 6 month check. Thank you guys for all of the letters! It always makes me happy to get to hear what's going on with the family. I'm only going to do one email for everyone today, because I have limited time on email. But I will try to give myself as much time on P-day to send you all an email, and i'll keep writing back to your letters.

Kenzie: I miss you so much. I miss just being able to come over to your apartment to play Halo, and hang out with you and Justin. I really enjoyed having all of that time to bond with you and Justin. You are my best friend. And I can't wait to see you. Like I said in my letter, less than two years (Sept. 12, 2016.) I can't wait to get home to see you, but I also can't wait to get out into the field in Mexico. I love you and miss you.

Sydney: I miss you little sister! I want you to know that you are a great young woman. I can tell you are getting more engaged in the gospel, and I love it! Never ever take the gospel for granted. It is an important part of all of our lives. I know that the savior is such an important role in all of our lives. I love you and miss you!

Justin: My ninja brother in-law! I miss you so much. I'm so glad that I got to spend time with you before I left for the MTC. It means a lot to me. I've always been so glad about how close we are. I considered you my brother before you and Kenzie got married, and I will always look up to you as my brother.

Dad: Thank you for being such a great example to me. Without your example, I may have not decided to go on a mission at all, and that would have been a stupid choice. I can already feel my relationship with Heavenly Father growing, and I love it. I am so glad that I made the choice to go on a mission. I don't know where I would be without the gospel in my life. I love you so much, and I'll see you before you know it. P.S. the food here does not agree with me at all. it feels like they put a laxative in everything they prepare for us, and it is no bueno. I ate at Burger supreme today, and all I could think about was going to BYU games, and being with you guys. But it feels nice not to have to go to the bathroom for a while for once.

Mom: Thank you for being such a great mother. You are an amazing strength to me, and the family. I'm glad that we had the chance to watch the price is right every morning before I left. :) it may only be a TV show, but it was a bonding experience before I left. I can't wait until I can see you all again, but I also can't wait to truly serve. The MTC is cool, but I already want to be in the field. I love you so much.

I could hear and see the BYU game from where I was and it just about killed me. All night until it was over I could hear it in my apartment. I know it made me really miss the family, and just going to the BYU games. But I have a higher purpose as a missionary.

This is it for this email, but I want to bear you all my testimony in Spanish.

Yo se que Jesucristo es el salvador, Yo se que el libro de mormon es verdadero, Yo se que Presidente Monson es Profeta verdadera.

I love you all, and miss you all so much. You are all in my prayers every day. I cannot even wait to get into the field, but I also cannot wait to see all you guys again. I miss you guys like crazy.

The gospel is true!

-Nick