ELDER LOGAN CHASE VAN KATWYK
WEEK #5 (Logan was transferred week #6. He called from the airport instead of writing)
7/24/14
Hey everybody!
Naw never get tired from hearing from family. hahah oh Vanessa..... :) The pioneer day parade sure sounds like a hoot of fun! haha and oh good I'm glad Tanner got my letter :) Sorry to hear about the car. That car sure is a mystery a lot of times. I´m sure one of these days it´ll STAY fixed but it sure it´s a champion enduring all those drives and everything. I wish I could have gone to the pageant reunion cuz I´m sure it´d would´ve been super fun. Tell me how that goes!
Answers to your questions: Nope no general authority has come. Only live broadcasts or videos for devotional on sundays. I wish we could´ve had GA´s come cuz that would be a lot of fun.
I actually went to the temple today after breakfast so those pictures will come in this email. And yes all of us missionaries (including sisters) are going to McAllen EXCEPT Hoeft, Fuller, Vargas, Wagner, and Bonzo
Ok so, this week has been pretty good actually. I think the highlight, other than going to the temple, was that Elder Duerst and I recieved feedback of our lessons from our teachers Hermano Cruz and Hermano Galacia (which by the way, had his first baby this week. CONGRATS TO HIM), and Hermano Cruz and Galacia both said that I've come a long way and progressed so much with everything :D that made me feel sooooooo goood! Hermano Galacia was our first investigator before our teacher and he said that he remembered our first lesson and how I didn´t talk much if at all. And Hermano Cruz said that he remembers the first day where I wouldn't talk at all in class either. But both of them said that now, I´m way more confident in speaking, I speak waayyyy more, and that our lessons are great. CHA CHING! :)
There has also been talk about how Hermano Cruz said that he loves my district (15B) because we stretch his ability in his English and that we are all ready for the field and that he´s really excited about all of us. At first it was hard to believe cuz no one could really see him saying that, but when I think about it, I can picture him feeling that. So that whole experience made me even MORE excited to get out into the field. I can express enough how excited I am to get out of the CCM and start teaching real people. I know it´ll be extremely hard but like our missionary objective, to help others 'perseverar hasta el fin' (endure to the end), I have to do the same. And I know that there are people prepared specifically FOR ME to teach them. I´m really glad i´m here right now and I´m excited for the many experiences I´ll have while I'm out there. i think about you all the time and I pray for all of your too.
Let´s see what I´ll have to say next week when I´m in Texas!! woop!!
Love you all lots
Elder VanKatwyk
7/24/14
Hey everybody!
Naw never get tired from hearing from family. hahah oh Vanessa..... :) The pioneer day parade sure sounds like a hoot of fun! haha and oh good I'm glad Tanner got my letter :) Sorry to hear about the car. That car sure is a mystery a lot of times. I´m sure one of these days it´ll STAY fixed but it sure it´s a champion enduring all those drives and everything. I wish I could have gone to the pageant reunion cuz I´m sure it´d would´ve been super fun. Tell me how that goes!
Answers to your questions: Nope no general authority has come. Only live broadcasts or videos for devotional on sundays. I wish we could´ve had GA´s come cuz that would be a lot of fun.
I actually went to the temple today after breakfast so those pictures will come in this email. And yes all of us missionaries (including sisters) are going to McAllen EXCEPT Hoeft, Fuller, Vargas, Wagner, and Bonzo
Ok so, this week has been pretty good actually. I think the highlight, other than going to the temple, was that Elder Duerst and I recieved feedback of our lessons from our teachers Hermano Cruz and Hermano Galacia (which by the way, had his first baby this week. CONGRATS TO HIM), and Hermano Cruz and Galacia both said that I've come a long way and progressed so much with everything :D that made me feel sooooooo goood! Hermano Galacia was our first investigator before our teacher and he said that he remembered our first lesson and how I didn´t talk much if at all. And Hermano Cruz said that he remembers the first day where I wouldn't talk at all in class either. But both of them said that now, I´m way more confident in speaking, I speak waayyyy more, and that our lessons are great. CHA CHING! :)
There has also been talk about how Hermano Cruz said that he loves my district (15B) because we stretch his ability in his English and that we are all ready for the field and that he´s really excited about all of us. At first it was hard to believe cuz no one could really see him saying that, but when I think about it, I can picture him feeling that. So that whole experience made me even MORE excited to get out into the field. I can express enough how excited I am to get out of the CCM and start teaching real people. I know it´ll be extremely hard but like our missionary objective, to help others 'perseverar hasta el fin' (endure to the end), I have to do the same. And I know that there are people prepared specifically FOR ME to teach them. I´m really glad i´m here right now and I´m excited for the many experiences I´ll have while I'm out there. i think about you all the time and I pray for all of your too.
Let´s see what I´ll have to say next week when I´m in Texas!! woop!!
Love you all lots
Elder VanKatwyk
WEEK #4
7/17/14
Hey all!
Honestly, nothing really happened this week. The schedule is all the same so the days are blending together. Which means, it´s going by soooooooo fast!. One more week of the CCM! Anyways, things are getting a lot better every week. Me and Elder Duerst were saying the other night how fast p-day has come because of how obedient we are. Glad the reunion was good. Kalee sent me an email telling me about how she missed me and how she didnt wanna go cuz I wasn´t there haha which is too bad but it´s all good though. OH and i forgot to say Happy Birthday to Tanner and Cammie. Hope it was good! I sent Tanner a letter last week just to send him a letter so I'm sure it´s on it´s way.
Things with my district are starting to settle down and be normal again (thank goodness). Elder Fuller and Elder Hoeft finally talked it out after having a heated conversation to the point that they were almost yelling at each other. But everything´s good now. My district yesterday were asked to help situate the new missionaries coming in yesterday and I saw Trevor McKenzie! By the time I leave here, there will be 1000 missionaries!! And someone told me that they´re gonna be completely filled. Hecka crazy. It´s hard to have devotional on sundays and tuesdays because every..single...seat... will be taken. But ya I had no idea he´d be coming to the CCM. My companion and I walked with the group of missionaries we helped to their 'casas and told them some things that one of the senior elders wanted us to tell them.
Man that definitely stinks about Idaho. Hopefully everything will be fine! but I´m glad I wasn´t stuck in that. fshew!
My CCM branch president , Presidente Romero is from..... no idea honestly. I´ll make a guess and just say here in Mexico haha. We don´t really have Sunday school. We have priesthood meeting and one of the branch presidency gives the lesson. I really like my president though. He´s a really cool guy. When he interviewed me, he was telling me about this hilarious story about him and one of his companions. And last week, at church, it was almost like he was really excited to see me, and he asked how my spanish is going and how I´m doing and feeling and all that. Really cool guy. But ya Priesthood, we just sit there like a class and they just give their lesson. My classes..... Through out the week, we have language, which we use this rectangle looking red book and we just go over the lessons in that, progressing investigator everyday (which is, our teachers pose as an investigator and we just teach him according to his needs), Book of Mormon were we just sit in the back of the class room in a circle and talk about the assigned chapter were suppose to read, Fundamentals, which is basically a book we use for another thing we do called Demonstrate Teaching, and that´s just practice teaching one another on a certain scenario and/or subject. Fundamentals also is used to study certain topics. for example, Teach people not lesson, or The role of the spirit in conversion or just stuff like that. It also has the profiles of investigators from The District videos and we use their profiles for role playing and how to teach from the scenario of that specific investigators. We haven´t been able to go out in the streets and practice. It´s funny cuz were basically blocked in like a jail. Large retaining walls that have fences and the curly barbed wire on top and the perimeter is probably two and a half miles.
Actually, I thought of a cool experience. Our lesson was about the importance of the role of the spirit in teaching and so I was posing as myself as an investigator and these Hermana companions were teaching me and then give them feedback afterwards. It was really cool because we were told to pic one simple thing in our life that we needed help on or anything like that and the ¨missionaries¨were gonna try to figure it out. I didn´t really tell them much about my needs but I did respond to their questions they asked me more in depth than just saying yes or no. It was really awesome because, without knowing what my problem was, I was able to understand what they were saying to help me and it was exactly what I needed.
Awesome to hear about Kassidy still wanting to meet with the missionaries and I hope everything goes well for her.
Glad to here everything is everything and going well. Keep me updated on the outside world! Sure can´t wait to go back to the states soon! and have American food haha. Don´t let my rock band collect dust! :p Sure love and miss you guys!
Keep on keepin on!
~~Elder VanKatwtyk
7/17/14
Hey all!
Honestly, nothing really happened this week. The schedule is all the same so the days are blending together. Which means, it´s going by soooooooo fast!. One more week of the CCM! Anyways, things are getting a lot better every week. Me and Elder Duerst were saying the other night how fast p-day has come because of how obedient we are. Glad the reunion was good. Kalee sent me an email telling me about how she missed me and how she didnt wanna go cuz I wasn´t there haha which is too bad but it´s all good though. OH and i forgot to say Happy Birthday to Tanner and Cammie. Hope it was good! I sent Tanner a letter last week just to send him a letter so I'm sure it´s on it´s way.
Things with my district are starting to settle down and be normal again (thank goodness). Elder Fuller and Elder Hoeft finally talked it out after having a heated conversation to the point that they were almost yelling at each other. But everything´s good now. My district yesterday were asked to help situate the new missionaries coming in yesterday and I saw Trevor McKenzie! By the time I leave here, there will be 1000 missionaries!! And someone told me that they´re gonna be completely filled. Hecka crazy. It´s hard to have devotional on sundays and tuesdays because every..single...seat... will be taken. But ya I had no idea he´d be coming to the CCM. My companion and I walked with the group of missionaries we helped to their 'casas and told them some things that one of the senior elders wanted us to tell them.
Man that definitely stinks about Idaho. Hopefully everything will be fine! but I´m glad I wasn´t stuck in that. fshew!
My CCM branch president , Presidente Romero is from..... no idea honestly. I´ll make a guess and just say here in Mexico haha. We don´t really have Sunday school. We have priesthood meeting and one of the branch presidency gives the lesson. I really like my president though. He´s a really cool guy. When he interviewed me, he was telling me about this hilarious story about him and one of his companions. And last week, at church, it was almost like he was really excited to see me, and he asked how my spanish is going and how I´m doing and feeling and all that. Really cool guy. But ya Priesthood, we just sit there like a class and they just give their lesson. My classes..... Through out the week, we have language, which we use this rectangle looking red book and we just go over the lessons in that, progressing investigator everyday (which is, our teachers pose as an investigator and we just teach him according to his needs), Book of Mormon were we just sit in the back of the class room in a circle and talk about the assigned chapter were suppose to read, Fundamentals, which is basically a book we use for another thing we do called Demonstrate Teaching, and that´s just practice teaching one another on a certain scenario and/or subject. Fundamentals also is used to study certain topics. for example, Teach people not lesson, or The role of the spirit in conversion or just stuff like that. It also has the profiles of investigators from The District videos and we use their profiles for role playing and how to teach from the scenario of that specific investigators. We haven´t been able to go out in the streets and practice. It´s funny cuz were basically blocked in like a jail. Large retaining walls that have fences and the curly barbed wire on top and the perimeter is probably two and a half miles.
Actually, I thought of a cool experience. Our lesson was about the importance of the role of the spirit in teaching and so I was posing as myself as an investigator and these Hermana companions were teaching me and then give them feedback afterwards. It was really cool because we were told to pic one simple thing in our life that we needed help on or anything like that and the ¨missionaries¨were gonna try to figure it out. I didn´t really tell them much about my needs but I did respond to their questions they asked me more in depth than just saying yes or no. It was really awesome because, without knowing what my problem was, I was able to understand what they were saying to help me and it was exactly what I needed.
Awesome to hear about Kassidy still wanting to meet with the missionaries and I hope everything goes well for her.
Glad to here everything is everything and going well. Keep me updated on the outside world! Sure can´t wait to go back to the states soon! and have American food haha. Don´t let my rock band collect dust! :p Sure love and miss you guys!
Keep on keepin on!
~~Elder VanKatwtyk
WEEK #3
7/10/14
Hey all!
Things have been aloooottt better this week because it´s the same routine and it just seems like its blowin by pretty fast. Things with my district are pretty good. There's a little bit of drama because no one likes one of the Elder´s because he acts differently.....Ridiculous??? Definitely. I get fed up with my companion and I keep telling him to be more Christ-like and I tell him this (This should really go in a quote book or something because I think it´s pretty creative. especially from someone like me) but i told him "Accept him for who he is and who God created him to be, instead of someone that you want him to be"..... GOT EM. *clears throat* anyways, other than that things are fun. Elder Wagner, Elder Vargas and I have a thing that at the end of the day, when Elder Wagner showers, Elder Vargas comes in and uses the bathroom too and then I'm brushing my teeth, and we just jam out and sing songs. And i of course beat box hahah :) speaking of which, last night, this latino guy was asking if anyone could beat box and Elder Wagner volunteered me. Apparently there's this Elder that can freestyle rap and so he wanted me to beatbox for him. It was pretty scary because since I play drums they all thought I was gonna be really good. (There is a different between making music with your mouth than with your hands haha) but so there was like three of us including me, feeding off each other beatboxing while this Elder was freestyle rapping. It was wayyyyy awesome. So I met one other drummer at that moment.
The language is coming! I had a Gift of Tongues moment during one of my lessons last week. Me and Elder Deurst where teaching our ¨progressing invesitgator¨ about the Holy Ghost and it´s purpose and what it is and everything lñike that. Normally, Elder Duerst does all the talking for the most part. But I literally talked for the whole 20 minutes during that lesson! I was sooooooo stinking jazzed and I definitely felt the spirit. Afterwards my companion said ¨that....was the best lesson we´ve ever done. You totally nailed that¨. I was sooooo stoked because I was trying so stinking hard to just talk and I wanted to talk a lot more than I usually did. Pretty awesome experience if i do so say myself.
Im sorry to hear about Brother Alplanalp. That guy was a spirit giant and I know he´s in a good place now. Tell alex to write me! OH and texted juliana mikolojkick and Mackenzie benson and tell them to write me to and give them my email :) But ya when I talked to Jossten last week, I asked about Alex and he told me it happened again right after I left. Poor kid, but He´ll definitely be ready to do great things when he gets out.
Miss you all lots. Remember to not forget Rock Band, and my ps3 profile ;) Im glad I´m not forgotten and be sure to tell me what I like to hear! hahah
I sure can´t wait to get out in the field now. The more the time comes, the more I get excited!
Love you guys
~~Elder VanKatwyk
PS - Oh and something really quick. Last sunday was fast sunday so my president wanted all of us to bare our testimony. So i of course got up and bore my testimony in spanish.(moms note: Logan hasn't borne his testimony in church except for the 3 times he's been a youth speaker so to do so in spanish was quite something)
7/10/14
Hey all!
Things have been aloooottt better this week because it´s the same routine and it just seems like its blowin by pretty fast. Things with my district are pretty good. There's a little bit of drama because no one likes one of the Elder´s because he acts differently.....Ridiculous??? Definitely. I get fed up with my companion and I keep telling him to be more Christ-like and I tell him this (This should really go in a quote book or something because I think it´s pretty creative. especially from someone like me) but i told him "Accept him for who he is and who God created him to be, instead of someone that you want him to be"..... GOT EM. *clears throat* anyways, other than that things are fun. Elder Wagner, Elder Vargas and I have a thing that at the end of the day, when Elder Wagner showers, Elder Vargas comes in and uses the bathroom too and then I'm brushing my teeth, and we just jam out and sing songs. And i of course beat box hahah :) speaking of which, last night, this latino guy was asking if anyone could beat box and Elder Wagner volunteered me. Apparently there's this Elder that can freestyle rap and so he wanted me to beatbox for him. It was pretty scary because since I play drums they all thought I was gonna be really good. (There is a different between making music with your mouth than with your hands haha) but so there was like three of us including me, feeding off each other beatboxing while this Elder was freestyle rapping. It was wayyyyy awesome. So I met one other drummer at that moment.
The language is coming! I had a Gift of Tongues moment during one of my lessons last week. Me and Elder Deurst where teaching our ¨progressing invesitgator¨ about the Holy Ghost and it´s purpose and what it is and everything lñike that. Normally, Elder Duerst does all the talking for the most part. But I literally talked for the whole 20 minutes during that lesson! I was sooooooo stinking jazzed and I definitely felt the spirit. Afterwards my companion said ¨that....was the best lesson we´ve ever done. You totally nailed that¨. I was sooooo stoked because I was trying so stinking hard to just talk and I wanted to talk a lot more than I usually did. Pretty awesome experience if i do so say myself.
Im sorry to hear about Brother Alplanalp. That guy was a spirit giant and I know he´s in a good place now. Tell alex to write me! OH and texted juliana mikolojkick and Mackenzie benson and tell them to write me to and give them my email :) But ya when I talked to Jossten last week, I asked about Alex and he told me it happened again right after I left. Poor kid, but He´ll definitely be ready to do great things when he gets out.
Miss you all lots. Remember to not forget Rock Band, and my ps3 profile ;) Im glad I´m not forgotten and be sure to tell me what I like to hear! hahah
I sure can´t wait to get out in the field now. The more the time comes, the more I get excited!
Love you guys
~~Elder VanKatwyk
PS - Oh and something really quick. Last sunday was fast sunday so my president wanted all of us to bare our testimony. So i of course got up and bore my testimony in spanish.(moms note: Logan hasn't borne his testimony in church except for the 3 times he's been a youth speaker so to do so in spanish was quite something)
WEEK #2
7/3/14
Hey Everybody!
This week was.....better hah but really, it was alot better than the first week. OH! before i forget, mom join the group on facebook "Missionary Mommas" apparently theres some pictures on there that im in now. Anyways, ya the CCM is very beautiful but ya everything else is pretty poor. And it thunderstorms here eveerrrryyyy single dayyyy! grrr. Church is very small really. It consists of all of us of District 15 and thats it. pretty small. and yes I have to prepare a 5 minute talk just in case the Lord inspires my district president and I get called to speak in sacrament meeting. I saw Jossten today at breakfast and it was pretty awesome seeing him again. I actually prayed last night to see him cuz I really wanted to.
Glad to see that the trip was awesome. Still bummed that I wasn't there to stand in the circle. But I'm sure I´ll get chances as more babies start coming.
Ok so.... there's an intenstinal virus spreading around here in the CCM and i was lucky enough to not catch it (i got a cold instead thank goodness) but my companion wasn´t so lucky. He ¨felt like death¨ for almost the whole entire week since last Thursday. The intestinal virus caused him to be really sick, have really bad diarrhea (sorry for the info) and constantly running to the bathroom. Thursday night of last week, he ran to the bathroom either to throw up or use the toilet, literally every 20 minutes. He then woke me up and asked if I could give him a blessing. Now knowing me, it takes a while to process things, especially in the middle of the night. But I said yes. Once I was finally awake, and the thought finally processed, I was really scared because I didn´t feel like I was spiritually ready cuz I wasn´t able to prepare or anything like that. Elder Bonzo who's in my district and one of the roomies, did the oil, and I sealed the anointing and did the blessing. Now nothing miraculous happened, but he was finally able to sleep that night, at least for an hour. Everything's ok though because he is doing a lot better now.
On Sunday, we watched an MTC devotional broadcasted from Provo and Elder Bednar spoke. and it was definitely the best talk I´ve ever heard. His talk was about the characteristics of Christ and to do away with the natural man. He said that the natural man was like the Cookie Monster (you told me about this ness) and that Christ turns outward when we turn inward. It was funny and fun to see him be a little sassy and saying sassy remarks.
Things are a lot better here. Less stress. and I actually have a greater appreciation for this church and this gospel. My testimony definitely is being strengthened through all these experiences I´ve had already. and definitely my faith too. Love you guys and miss you guys. and I pray for all of you every night.
Keep on Keepin on,
Elder VanKatwyk
7/3/14
Hey Everybody!
This week was.....better hah but really, it was alot better than the first week. OH! before i forget, mom join the group on facebook "Missionary Mommas" apparently theres some pictures on there that im in now. Anyways, ya the CCM is very beautiful but ya everything else is pretty poor. And it thunderstorms here eveerrrryyyy single dayyyy! grrr. Church is very small really. It consists of all of us of District 15 and thats it. pretty small. and yes I have to prepare a 5 minute talk just in case the Lord inspires my district president and I get called to speak in sacrament meeting. I saw Jossten today at breakfast and it was pretty awesome seeing him again. I actually prayed last night to see him cuz I really wanted to.
Glad to see that the trip was awesome. Still bummed that I wasn't there to stand in the circle. But I'm sure I´ll get chances as more babies start coming.
Ok so.... there's an intenstinal virus spreading around here in the CCM and i was lucky enough to not catch it (i got a cold instead thank goodness) but my companion wasn´t so lucky. He ¨felt like death¨ for almost the whole entire week since last Thursday. The intestinal virus caused him to be really sick, have really bad diarrhea (sorry for the info) and constantly running to the bathroom. Thursday night of last week, he ran to the bathroom either to throw up or use the toilet, literally every 20 minutes. He then woke me up and asked if I could give him a blessing. Now knowing me, it takes a while to process things, especially in the middle of the night. But I said yes. Once I was finally awake, and the thought finally processed, I was really scared because I didn´t feel like I was spiritually ready cuz I wasn´t able to prepare or anything like that. Elder Bonzo who's in my district and one of the roomies, did the oil, and I sealed the anointing and did the blessing. Now nothing miraculous happened, but he was finally able to sleep that night, at least for an hour. Everything's ok though because he is doing a lot better now.
On Sunday, we watched an MTC devotional broadcasted from Provo and Elder Bednar spoke. and it was definitely the best talk I´ve ever heard. His talk was about the characteristics of Christ and to do away with the natural man. He said that the natural man was like the Cookie Monster (you told me about this ness) and that Christ turns outward when we turn inward. It was funny and fun to see him be a little sassy and saying sassy remarks.
Things are a lot better here. Less stress. and I actually have a greater appreciation for this church and this gospel. My testimony definitely is being strengthened through all these experiences I´ve had already. and definitely my faith too. Love you guys and miss you guys. and I pray for all of you every night.
Keep on Keepin on,
Elder VanKatwyk