28 May 2013 - Week Two at the MTC

Howdy yallllll

          I want that one right there yeauhh!   (family joke)

So for this week, it was a neat time. We had an apostle step in and listen to our class for a bit (out of all classes he came to ours, pretty lucky right) and then afterwards he talked to us about the Missionary work in Japan and how he knows we will baptize people if we just have faith and that we can start the work up and help to increase it so much in Japan. It was a pretty cool experience to have someone like that crying because of the love of the work and his faith in us. His name was Elder Evans. He is in charge of like all missionaries or Asia missionaries or something like that. Also this week in one of my lessons with the investigator I was trying to say I know that if you pray you will feel peace, but peace in nihongo is "heian" and I accidentally pronounced it "hian" which means pneumonia. haha so apparently I accidentally told my investigator if you pray I know you will feel pneumonia. He got real confused and then showed me the word in the dictionary. It was a good time. Also on Wednesday I did 250 push ups. Most I've ever done in one day in my life. It was a rough time. We have this dice game where if you roll doubles you do push ups until someone else in the circle rolls doubles then they do push ups, first one to 150 wins. Then we did some more push ups with another game after. I was pretty tired, not gonna lie. Then we did wall sits. 

Ummm what else happened this week. I wake up like 5 or 6 times a night and remember every single dream now which is odd. Oh also we had a party with the Japanese Elders the other night. Their MTC is closed so they are here and we all ran into their room one night and just started dancing around their suitcases and jumping up and down chanting stuff. It is real funny to watch them Lil Nihonjins. hahah One of the Japanese Elders saw us and then started to run away so we had to chase him and got him into the room to join the chanting party and he just like had both his hands up in the air like doing jabbing moves jumping up and down. Not quite the same as the American fist pump into the air. A great time nonetheless. Also we fit 10 elders onto one of the top bunks for fun. It was 1,600 lbs. We are gonna shoot for 1 ton sometime (2,000 lbs) but I'm a lil nervous I'm not gonna  lie.  As for my sensais, one of them is real nice and chill and funny. He laughs at us when he is doing the pretend investigator cause we will say things totally wrong and he will joke with us after. The other one is real serious and real hardcore about us progressing - like by tomorrow he says we need to have all hiragana and all katakana down as well as we can't use the ninja (The book that is basically the pmg lessons shortened but in Japanese. Basically our crutch for lessons) for any more lessons with investigators. The girls hate him and complain all the time about not knowing Japanese but us Elders know just as much as them. It's nice to have the best of both worlds from our two sensais though. 

Not sure what else happened this week. Oh there was a sister who was going to possibly have to get surgery because of her gal bladder today so my companion and I gave her a blessing on Saturday and she went in today and the doctor told her she doesn't have to get surgery, she will only have to if it gets worse but she said she feels like she is getting better. So that is good. and another one of our sisters went to the ER last night. Those silly lil sisters ;) always keeping us Elders on our toes. Well life in the MTC is good. Just working out my nihongo and strengthening converting myself. How is life back home coming? Kara I'm not quite sure what I want or need yet. I'll have to think about that one. Some gatorades would be nice. I am always so so thirsty. Cassi keep up the good work in life? I'm sure your princesses or dragons or whatever games you play in your head are just gonna shape you up to be the beautiful daughter of God that you are. Mason sounds like you know what your doing in life right now with that whole whistle blowing and such. Livi hopefully you're being nice. Hopefully practicing the violin lots and lots while I'm gone so when I'm home you won't annoy me. Kyle maybe you can work on your fifa skills and be able to beat me when I get home, most likely not though. You just do you and imma do me home boy. Mom how was your b day btw? You can dear elder me bout that jazz. I sure bet it was a dandy time. I sent you and Cassi a letter hopefully you get it. Memorial day yesterday was rough. No soccer tournaments just the usual studying and 6 hour classes. Well I gotta go cause we are leaving to the temple and to eat lunch but I am gonna finish my other half hour of emailing later. Well Sayonara mi familia! (yeah that was a trilingual sentence). if I remember anything I'll include it in the later after the temple.

Much love,

Elder Bloomfield.

         

Kiet Tran (friend from Bountiful, Utah) and Travis

Travis and Elder Conley (?)

                                                        Thought for this week:

21 May 2013 - Week One at the MTC

From now on, I will be posting weekly emails and pictures we receive from Elder Bloomfield as well as a little of my own commentary.

Well first off, I absolutely love my Elders in the District (this is the group he is assigned to). It takes us about a half an hour to fall asleep every night because we can't stop laughing and enjoying each other. Do you remember the Hawaiian kid in my ward going to my same mission?  Yeah that's my companion now. Small world right? The very first day was great. Our sensai (teacher) just talked to us in nihongo (Japanese language) the whole time and no one understood a thing except for those who took Japanese in high school. We also had pretend investigators and it was great. You literally can feel the spirit here 24/7, it is crazy. Day two was all about learning the language. One of the sisters started to cry because she couldn't understand but it was only the second day. I was like come on seriously? It's day two you're not expected to know this yet. You will eventually learn. It is a lot more confusing than I expected though. I didn't know everything was so backwards. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior. In Japanese that would be Jesus Christ Savior I know is. Makes perfect sense to me in English. The language is coming along though. I have already given three lessons. It is frustrating having to read to the investigator because we don't know the language yet but it feels like we are just lecturing to him and not actually talking to him about him. The spirit always comes back stronger when we are bearing our testimony. I can already say my prayers, bare my testimony, introduce myself, plus some other stuff in the nihongo. subarashi!   The elders and I have a great time. Makes learning much more enjoyable. Our sensai is super cool too. We heard some talks on Sunday one of them was from Elder Bednar and it was super strong. all about not being selfish. It was like boom hit you in the heart your a dead man take that missionary. 

Also I've seen Tucker like three times and I see Hilari every single meal.  (Tucker and Hilari are first cousins that are in the MTC at the same time) haha. It is awesome. Hilari is actually emailing right next to me right now and Tucker is about 7 seats away. I see lots of friends here too. I haven't seen Mio (another friend of our family that is teaching Japanese in the MTC.  She just returned from the Fukuoka mission in December) yet. I don't know if she is currently teaching. Beats me. 

Our practice investigator has already committed to pray and read the Book of Mormon and we are challenging him to get baptized next lesson (tomorrow). It is cool to have these experiences and get us ready. I know they will get harder though as we start to learn the language more and the pretend investigators become more difficult. 

Oh also, microfiber towels!  Yeah the best thing since bottled water. Even when the thing is soaking wet I still get perfectly dry! It's awesome! Oh and also mom I still pick my nose. that hasn't changed either. I at first thought about being really serious since I am a missionary now but I am pretty comfy with my district now and I'm a goofball still. They tell me they wonder what goes on through my head. I tell them well most the time it comes out so don't you even worry elder. 

Um mm what else....... We eat as a district every meal, that's a fun time. Oh the food I'm tired of it already. It is just the same sickening food from the Cannon Center and I poop like twice a day. I can taste the cheapness and it is just nasty.  Oh also I just took another pic with Tuck and Hil. So talk to Darci next week and you can get those. Oh also temple walks are real neat. Getting out of this place was just exhilarating! 

Um mm what else to talk about.... Waking up at 6:30am is a dandy time. I can't get enough of it. I'm getting used to it already though. Not yawning too much anymore probably because I am such a man. I am just like the manliest man you know. I  adjust like there is no manana. Oh also every time someone says something to me in Japanese that I don't understand. I just respond in Spanish to confuse them back. It makes me feel like a winner. Its all good in the hood though. 

Umm Dad yeah it sounds like you have some work to do- 5 families to Home Teach. You're prolly working even harder than me here in the MTC.  Mom you could like bake some cookies or something that's always fun. Kyle you're a winner too. You should probably start working out though to prepare for tryouts. Agility work outs are key. Also we could maybe work out some way for you to sneak your suit to me because I can dry clean them for like $8. I think that is cheaper than where you would go but who knows. I'm new to this stuff. 

Ummmm what else, what else. Dear Elders get to me everyday so you can send those whenever and then I can just respond in my emails. That way I already know what to say before I start typing. Mom sounds like your plane ride home was a fun time (It was delayed for a long time and I had to just sit at the airport). It's all about the memories that's what I always say. Also I see Sedge Downing all the time. He's on my same floor cause he is Japanese too. 

Ummmm well I suppose that is all for now. I can't really think of anything else so I will have to get back to you later. Keep up the good work. Livi don't be selfish. Mason be sure and take care of Hershey. Cassi you could prolly help out around the house a bit. and keep up that 46 on the test girl.  You just do your best- you go girl. You're goin places in life with that 46 I just know it. Kara try not to get sick. Kyoshi try not to let Kara make you think she is sick. jk ;) and Erin you just keep doin your thing. Imma do me, and you do you. 

Dai sukidesu! Ai shitamsu. Iesu Kirisuto no mina ni yotte o-inori shimasu, amen.

Also don't forget your culture and respect your Elder (me).

All for one and one for all!

Just noticed there were some things here that I didn't address. My daily routine is wake up at 6:30am . Then go to our classroom for prayer with our district. Go to breakfast. Have some personal study time for an hour, language study for an hour, gym time for an hour, then lunch, we have classroom lessons from Willard Sensai for 3 hours then we will prepare a lesson and our other 3 hours of classroom time we teach a investigator we have named Harukawa. Dinner is usually around 5pm.   We plan for our next day around 9pm then go back to our rooms at 9:30pm and write in our journals, shower, brush teeth, do some push ups, whatever until lights out at 10:30pm (we then laugh till about 10:50 and then fall asleep).  I couldn't have asked for a better Elders in my District they are great. I love my companion too. It is kinda crowded but the meals they have scheduled meal times now so everyone isn't eating at the same time so it isn't bad at all. Just on Sundays when we eat about the same time. I see lots of my friends from school everyday. It's cool.

Well love ya. See you tomorrow.

Elder Bloomfield

1st Cousin -Elder Tucker Bloomfield (going to Argentina) and 2nd cousin on the Ford side -Hermana Jessica Reed (going to San Jose, Calif. - Spanish speaking) that were in the MTC at the same time as Travis.

The District

Elders in the District

                                      

1st Cousin- Hilari Bloomfield going to San Fernando, Calif. Spanish speaking.  At first Travis went to put his arm around Hilari for the picture, but was reminded by the other missionaries that they could only shake hands.  Thus the hand shaking and the laugh.

Thought for this week:

15 May 2013 - "The Drop Off"

We awoke early so that Travis could call Mason, Olivia and Cassi at home in California and tell them good bye before they headed off to school then we finished our last errands and borrowed Grandpa Nielsen's truck, loaded it up and headed to Provo.  On the way, we stopped by Kyle's work to pick him up and say a last good bye to Erin.  Travis had one last request and that was to stop and eat at the Crepe Shop.  As we enjoyed our Crepe's we of coarse also enjoyed our last laughs together for two years.  On the way to the MTC Travis called Steve who was on a business trip and they said their last good bye's.  Steve gave him lots of good advise for teaching and associating with the Japanese people.

Elder Bloomfield was to be dropped off at 1:00pm, so we followed tradition of all the other missionaries and headed to the Provo Temple for some pictures first.  Here are some of the Pictures we took:

 We picked Kyle up from work.  He works in a warehouse, so he didn't have on his best outfit.  They thought by putting Travis's suit coat on him, he would look at little nicer.  Not sure it did the trick.

After taking some  pictures at the Temple, we headed to the MTC.  The Official "Mission Training" sign that Kara and Kyle stood in front of is no longer there, so this was as close as we could get with out actually going through the gates.

The time had come!!!  We drove through the gates at were directed as to where we should drop off.  We pulled up to the curb and was greeted by a friendly Elder who instructed us to quickly say our good bye's and he would escort Elder Bloomfield in through the doors.  

Travis insisted on leaving his tags on his suit case and back pack so he could tell them apart from all the others.   

This is the last sight we got as we needed to move on and make room for other new Missionaries to be "Dropped Off".

Travis John Bloomfield would now be Bloomfield Choro (Elder) for the next 2 years of his life!!!!

Thought for the week:

13 May 2013 - Elder Bloomfield and Companion (Mom) head to Utah

After saying  "Goodbye" to Dad (who had an early morning flight to Orlando) and Mason (On his way to early morning seminary) and Olivia and Cassi as they headed out to school in the morning oh and to the dog Hershey, we loaded the car and headed to the airport ourselves and flew from Oakland to Salt Lake City.  The Salt Lake City Airport was full of missionaries heading out to the various missions around the world.  It was so exciting seeing them all knowing that in 8 weeks after his MTC training, Travis would be just like them headed to Japan.  It was making things start to become more real now.

Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen picked us up at the airport and took us back to their house.  We had dinner with them and then went for a ride to start saying "goodbyes" to Uncle Bryan and Aunt Darci's family, Aunt Julie and Uncle Doug's family and  Aunt Sherry and Uncle Jim's family.  We lucked out and found them all home.  After a long day of "Goodbyes", we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen's to go to bed.

Tuesday, 14th of May, we headed out to run our last errands and make sure that we had everything and it was packed just right.  We even got to swing by and say "Goodbye" to Uncle Ken at work and Grandma Suzy in the Care Center.

                                        Travis and Grandma Suzy Bloomfield

At around 5:00pm, we headed into Salt Lake City with Grandma Nielsen to meet Kara and Kyoshi and Kyle and Erin for one last trip to the Salt Lake City Temple.  We met outside first and took some pictures before going in.  Here are some of the pictures.  As usual, some are serious (not many with this group) and some are not.

                                   Elder Bloomfield "Gazing into Heaven"
                                                 

                                    Elder Bloomfield in front of the "Reflecting Pool"

                                      Elder Bloomfield

                                    Proud Momma and her missionary

                                Grandma Nielsen and Elder Bloomfield

                                     

                                  The Salt Lake City Temple

 Their faces say it all.  Kyle has proudly returned from his mission a year and a half ago and Travis is thinking about what is ahead of him the next two years.             

                         The "Adult Kids" as we call them

                  A kind missionary passing by took a picture of the group all together.

                              Now you see how mature the "Adult Kids" are.

                     A blessing to all be together, but we are missing Dad and wished he could have come with us.

After attending the Temple, we went over to the Joseph Smith Building for dinner.  We ate in the "Garden Room" that looks over the temple.  It was very beautiful as the night lights were all a glow.

                                Never a dull moment with this bunch!

                                 Nice to see they can hold steal and fold their arms.

After Dinner and some pictures by the window, it was time to go.  On the way out we had to take some last pictures.

                                    Acting very "official"

                                              Which one is the Statue?

                                              Salt Lake City Temple at Night

When we got to the parking lot, we said "Goodbyes" to Kara, Kyoshi and Erin as Travis would not see them for 2 years as they were not coming to the MTC "Dropoff" with us.

                                              Giving Sister Kara one last hug

                                           Trying to avoid what ever Kyle wants to give him

                                              Such Loving Brothers

                                            As you see, Kyoshi is so sad to see Travis go.

                                 And now it is Erin's turn.

                               Hard to believe the time has really come.

                   Grandma and Erin did not know Travis was in their picture.  He is so sneaky.

After all the hugs, it was time to head for Grandma's house for a good nights rest as the big day we have planned and prepared for the last 19 years was here.  Hard to believe 19 years had pasted by that quickly and the Primary song "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission" was never more appropriate than now for Elder Travis John Bloomfield.  He has definitely "grown a foot or two" (just over 6'1" to be exact).

Thought for the week: