Elder Cameron Brooks

Cameron in the MTC

2010-07-24T23:33:00.000-07:00

These are the pictures I have from the MTC.

Sorry about the low quality, but I had to post it this way

so that everyone can view the video.

Some people (and you know who you are) who follow this blog

are still living in the dark ages and have dial-up internet. :o)

A Little Homesick in Orocuina

2010-05-10T22:45:00.000-07:00

Elder Brooks and his companion, Elder Roberts

I did get a little homesick last night after the call. Sorry about that though it didn´t even warn me that I was almost out of time and I couldn´t get more minutes because all the stores were closed!!!! So sorry about that. I’m excited to get to work tomorrow and start to get people to church, because a lot of times people only come to church when the missionaries visit them. So we want to make the ward missionary independent and that will probably happen near the end of this cambio if everything goes to plan. But I don’t know if I’m going to be leaving next change because down there no missionaries ever stay in Orocuina for more than two changes. I think that they might give me the boot because I’m the first missionary to ever be trained there and they usually leave the more experienced missionaries there. But anyways, if I end up staying and we get lots of people coming consistently I want to talk to President Chaverri about getting ward missionaries called there to help us out because then we will be able to focus on finding people to teach who don’t have it rather than using that time to re-activate members. So if we can do that it will be a huge help. Perhaps we can reactivate that pastor dude because he totally apostatized. That would be a gynormous help to do that.

So it was nice to talk to all of you yesterday!!! Now I just gotta wait another year pretty much (ha-ha) but that’s ok with me. By then I will be fluent so ill just talk with Papí and, by the way dad, did you ever hear about VOS when you were in Paraguay? They talk a lot in vos down here.

I love you all a lot!!! See y’all in two!

Cam Receives His Call

2010-05-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

I finally figured out how to post this video!

Good-Bye MTC

2010-04-28T22:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, so, I can call both times from the airport. I’ll call before I leave Salt Lake if the opportunity arises, and then from Georgia. I was looking at the pictures on my ipod and watched the video of Brig. Man, it made my eyes water. I love him so much!!!! I miss him a lot and my district knows that. It is kinda funny because Elder Naulu asked me if I write him and I said in a way (ha-ha) and it took a little bit to explain to him the whole effects of what he has and yada, yada. I don’t think he still understands completely but it’s okay. But tell that stink I said to stop giving mommy a hard time and not to move his bed anymore!!! And that I love him a lot.

Well, the language is coming alright, I’m not the best at it, but I have it down enough that I can say enough to teach the lessons effectively, well at least the first three, but that’s ok by me. Some of the teachers have said that they are impressed by how well we have been doing in our Spanish and I have no one to thank but the Lord for that one. I do work to know it, but it seems to me that I learn and remember more than I should so I’m super grateful for the gifts of the Spirit we can receive in our lives, especially as missionaries. Spanish has already started to jumble up my English, when I write and when I talk in English, it’s kind of annoying. But I’ll get over it when I’m only speaking Spanish!!!!

Well love ya much! Gotta go because today is super busy. I got shang highed into doing a presentation for the new missionaries tonight and you know me!! I just couldn't say no!! So I hope that goes alright. Much, love thanks for everything!!!!!

Elder Cameron Brooks

Last Words from the MTC

2010-04-28T22:03:00.000-07:00

Ok so I can call both times from the airport, so I’ll call before I leave Salt Lake if the opportunity arises, and then from Georgia. But I was looking at the pictures on my ipod and watched the video of Brig. Man, it made my eyes water. I love him so much!!!! I miss him a lot and my district knows that. It is kinda funny because Elder Naulu asked me if I write him and I said in a way, hahaha, and it took a little bit to explain to him the whole effects of what he has and yada yada. I don’t think he still understands completely, but it’s ok hahahaha but tell that stink I said to stop giving mommy a hard time and not to move his bed anymore!!! And that I love him a lot. I should get the package today, whether in the morning or at night I’m not sure yet.

Well the language is coming alright, I’m not the best at it, but I have it down enough that I can say enough to teach the lessons effectively, well at least the first three haha, but that’s ok by me. Some of the teachers have said that they are impressed by how well we have been doing in our Spanish, and I have no one to thank but the Lord for that one. Because I do work to know it, but it seems to me that I learn and remember more than I should so I’m super grateful for the gifts of the Spirit we can receive in our lives, especially as missionaries. But Spanish has already started to jumble up my English when I write and when I talk in English, it’s kind of annoying; but I’ll get over it when I’m only speaking Spanish!!!!

Well, love ya much! Gotta go because today is super busy. I got shang-highed into doing a presentation for the new missionaries tonight and you know me!! I just couldn't say no!! So hope that goes alright. Much love, thanks for everything!!!!!

Elder Cameron Brooks

Flight Plans

2010-04-23T22:00:00.000-07:00

Cameron got his flight plans to Honduras! He will be leaving the MTC on Sunday, May 2nd around 8:30 pm to go to the Salt Lake Airport. He will be flying during the night with a layover in Atlanta, GA, arriving in Honduras about noon. He's so excited! And we are so excited to get to talk to him!

Tick Tock

2010-04-21T21:28:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes, yes. It only seems like yesterday was p-day!!!!!! Sheesh time is just flyin’ now. But what I meant about getting sick is that there are some elders who go to third world countries and get diseases that send them home. And I heard that Honduras is actually one of those high-risk areas. Elder Crane had someone he knows come home because he got malaria and he couldn’t finish his mission because of it. But that’s whatever. I’m not worried about it anymore, so it’s ok. But ya, I only got a cold like three times. I went into the med clinic the third time because like the gland thingies in the back of my throat were all swollen. But he said it was just a cold and the drainage from when I sleep was irritating my throat, but its better now. He said it’s hard to escape that stuff here because a lot of elders are pretty dang unsanitary, and I have seen it. Yucko. But anyways I know I wash mine!!!

And as for the pictures, I did set the quality for high, but it’s just the place that we print the pictures from, I’m pretty sure. Because when I compare them to the pictures on my camera screen there is a big difference. It could just also be the pictures sitting in envelopes in the heat of a mail truck too that distorts them a little bit.

Tomorrow we should get our flight plans, and I will write you right away. I know we can listen to music out in the field, just not here in the MTC, because there have been problems lately of elders who don’t clean up their ipod and would be listening to really wordly music. So it’s whatever I guess.

Yes I have seen Mason!!! He found me first though, hahaha! I was looking for him and he was straight in front of me. But ya, he is lovin’ it here - he thinks the food is great. I beg to differ. . . . . but he is also having a hard time because he had to send three other elders home pretty much and he tried to do everything he could to get them to stay. It’s pretty sad. Elders go home for some of the smallest reasons. It bringeth me much grief.

That’s good about grandma thought!!!! Tell her I said get well and I send love!!! I really appreciated Maddie's letter too!! I’ll write more!!!

Much love,
Cameron

Amado or Amando?

2010-04-14T19:26:00.000-07:00

Family~

By the way, Dad, Amando is “loving” :) But actually thank you for the letter. It really helped me. I realized that the Lord really does bless me for my service. In a way, when I read it, it felt like the Lord was saying thank you. It felt really good. Then to top that off, the devotional last night was amazing. It wasn’t recorded either because Glenn L. Pace of the Seventy shared some extremely sacred experiences with us. The Spirit was so strong. It was so awesome, the stuff he talked about. He said that everything was prompted of him by the Spirit to share. And that was really cool. But he talked about the pre-existence and how we made covenants with the people that we would teach in our missions. And to be honest, I had been worried that something would happen and I would get really sick and wouldn’t be able to finish my mission. But I felt so comforted after that. It was awesome. The Spirit was so strong and it just felt like someone had their hands on my shoulders. It was cool.

I do leave on the 4th, but I don’t know when yet. I get my final plans sometime this next week, so I will tell you asap. We actually do not have a Honduras class, but there are teachers here who have served there. I’ll find out the answers to your questions asap.

I think that’s awesome about Cameron though. Dang – I wish I could hang with him sometimes. He is a great kid. Too bad he can’t be over for the phone call cuz he’s pretty much family!! Tell the Munden’s I said that God does have a plan for them and when times are hard, the best thing to do is turn to the Savior. And that times of trouble will strengthen them more than they can see now. They are always in my prayers.

Now to my favorite part . . . I have enclosed within this letter another, which is to Kyle Eutenier. This week I met another elder who my companion was talking to at the temple. And come to find out, he is from Honduras!! It was cool because he said he is the only one of his friends to go on a mission. He is learning English and is pretty good at it. I felt prompted to ask him if he knew Kyle. It was cool cuz he just went off on it. He was like “Oh my gosh, Elder Eutenier?! He was like my best friend.”

He was excited, haha, and his English started to get all jumbled. But it was cool, so we took pictures together and I am sending them to Kyle through you. And get me his address ASAP because Elder Flores wants his address really bad. So I would appreciate that.

Love you guys so much!! Miss you too!
Su hijo, les Amo, (Your son, I love you,)
Elder Cameron Brooks

¡¡Quieran que ustedes tengan felices!! (I hope you are happy!!!)
¡¡y escríbanme mas por favor!! (Write me more please!!!)

Just A Quick E-Mail

2010-04-14T19:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the letter dad. I really did appreciate it. I’ll explain more in my letter home. Sorry I spent a lot of time emailing Logan. But I’ll answer thy questions as soon as I can. I love you dad!!!!! And mom, Maddie and Brigham!!!!!!! And for Molly, I don’t much miss the smell. . . . .

Finished the Book of Mormon

2010-04-07T19:13:00.000-07:00

Hey, so things are going pretty good here!! I absolutely loved Conference – it was a good experience. Thanks for the packages, by the way!! I thoroughly enjoyed them!! The time is flying by here and it is getting out of hand! I lose track of days. Our district is getting really tight and I love it. We all have fun and stuff. It’s really cool. Everyone here was surprised to hear about the earthquake in Yuma. That’s pretty crazy.

I finished the Book of Mormon today. It was super cool. Just like how it was mostly because of secret combinations and wickedness that the Nephites and Jaredites were destroyed. So don’t get into secret combinations or the vengeance will be the Lord’s.

Love Lots,
Su hijo Amando,
Elder Cameron Brooks

Sick Again . . .

2010-04-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, so for the package it’s ok – it’s no big deal :) My companion is from Oak Hills, California, which is southern and Elder Naulu is also from Cali, and Elder Crane is from Twin Falls, Idaho. So I see Davis a lot and he loves it. I’m jealous cuz he leaves next week!!!!!! BAH! I’m not liking it here sometimes. I just got sick again and its pretty bad, but I think I’m starting to come out of it. It’s because a lot of the elders here are really unsanitary. It’s gross. They don’t wash their hands and stuff after they use the bathrooom and stuff. Yuck. Puke.

The place where we go to practice is pretty cool. You sign up on the computer and put down what you want to teach. Then you go work on whatever you wanted to and the teachers give you pointers and stuff like that. It’s pretty helpful. I loved conference, it was really good!! And I only fell asleep during two talks, the ones about sisters. . . . . hahaha But I loved it though, I took a bunch of notes!!! But I’ll write Cameron up a letter today and send it off to him. I’ve been needing to do that all week. I’ll write more today too for you guys. I love you guys a bunch!!!!

Loving It

2010-03-31T22:17:00.000-07:00

Hey so things are going pretty good here! I’m loving every day of it. But nothing new is going on really, except that I had been expecting a package all week!!!! I thought you had sent it last Wednesday!!! So I was expecting a package until I got that dearelder from you guys. But it’s all good. I’ll get it sooner or later!! The food here is still mega boring. I tried eating some the other day and I got mega sick. It did not feel good at all, but I’m better now. I’m pretty much stuck with just eating cereal and salad. Whoopie. Great meal. Anyhows tell Cameron I said word up and I hope he is finding stuff to keep him busy! If you guys can send up some ugly ties it’s a tradition in our zone to have some, and I have none. Hahah.

Hey, that’s so awesome!!!!! I just shot him off an email so that’s really cool. Thanks for sending that one super quick while I still had time!!!And yes I have seen Davis!!! I see him alot actually!!! But he still leaves before me!!!!! BAH! He is super excited to be here. What day does Mason get here?? I don’t remember. I think it was the fourteenth, but who knows. I’m excited to see him. He will love it here. Thanks again for Logan’s email, I really enjoyed it. I love you guys tons!! I’ll write home later cuz the internet is super sketchy today.

Love you all. Tell Maddie and Brig I love them!!!

No Oatmeal To Cry In

2010-03-24T15:10:00.000-07:00

No way!!!!! No watery oatmeal for me!!!!!!! In all sincere honesty, I love it. Haven’t felt homesick and stuff since I got here because this is where I need to be and want to be. But I don’t eat the oatmeal anyways. ‘Tis yucky. But let’s see, the language is coming down pretty good. I’d type some but I can really only speak it. Writing isn't my thing. Sooooo you’ll just have to take my word on that.

I just remembered that Davis gets here TODAY!!!!!!!! I hope I see him, that would be so awesome. And Mason gets here in like two more weeks. So crazy. And for the new guys all that happens is the "host missionary" takes them around and shows them where everything is at. And then to their classroom and leaves them there which is really where the vast majority of my time is spent. Mostly I think it’s elders who are getting ready to leave like the next Monday. I don’t think I’ll get to do it because my p-day is on Wednesdays, which is probably good because I would just scare the new little elders.

The weather has been pretty good here. Mostly cool weather. And it snowed twice the first two weeks!!!!!! But it melted most of the time before we could take pictures and stuff in it because we can only get pictures on p-days and Sundays. I’m super excited for conference!! But no, sadly, we won’t be singing in the tab at all. I’m just finally getting over my cold and stuff, or whatever it was. A huge wave of sickness spread through our whole zone like three days after I got here. The whole cake decorating thing sounds super fun!!@!!! Hope you’re enjoying it mommy! And man oh man I was really missin’ Brig the other day. I love him so much.

The Spanish is going good. I can understand it when people speak a lot more than trying to speak it myself!!!! So in a way I use that to an advantage and learn what they are saying and use it. But, ya our district is pretty tight. There are only four of us now because the hermanas in our district left to Spain. They finally moved all four of us into one room because it used to be three and two when Elder Zenger was here. But he moved up and into a different district, so we finally are all in the same room. So I’ll be glad to get a package from you guy, seeing as the first package I got wasn't even from my family!!!!!!!!! Haha! Elder Zenger’s mom beat you! I want the address I can use to send my bro Logan hand written letters and such please. It would be greatly appreciated.

Love you guys so much!!!!! Hasta ver!!!!!

Life As An Elder Lesson #1

2010-03-17T19:48:00.000-07:00

Hey how’s it going??? Maybe I’ll catch you on the computer or something. So it’s been pretty good this week so far. After next week there will only be four people in our district, and there will also be new zone leaders because some people leave on Monday for North Carolina. But anyhows it’s going pretty good here at the MTC. Food is still super boring and I’m starting to get sick. Whoopee. Just what I need. It’s a huge distraction because it makes it hard for me to breathe when I sleep so I’m super tired every day in class. And the meds you gave me don’t help at all at night. It’s really aggravating. But the Spanish is coming on pretty well. Me and Elder Alba have been practicing contacting and getting to know people a lot in Spanish. We go at least twice a week to a place called the trc (trc???) which is where you go teach other teachers and stuff and they help you improve your Spanish and teaching skills. It’s fun. I can understand Spanish very well, it’s just I have a mental block speaking it because the thought process is a little different in Spanish if that makes sense.

I did get the dear elder package last week and I have not yet gotten the sweater that was sent to me, so I have no idea. But you can order shirts at the bookstore here for your mission. I got one for me for Honduras and I also got one for dad for Paraguay!!! If you guys want me to get you some shirts FOR MISSIONS AND STUFF JUST LET ME KNOW. THEY ARE SUPER CHEAP. Whoops sort of accidentally hit caps lock. Did you forward my letter to Logan?? I need his address also. I need Weston’s and Brandt’s and Jay’s addresses as well. I need to write them.

It seems like I have been here forever, and it also seems like time is flying by for me as well. I can’t wait to get out of here and down to Honduras to teach people. There are some kids here that I just want to smack around. On Monday we were in a large group meeting and there were four kids sitting in front of us. They are in the other zone on our floor and they are Swedish speaking missions. But these kids were acting like freshmen. Honestly, I just wanted to get grab them all and just tell them to grow up or go home in all sincerity. Because if they keep acting like that they are gonna get a huge wakeup call when they leave the MTC, and probably for the worse. And ALOT of the elders here blatantly break the rules. It makes me soooooo mad and the rules are so simple!!!!!!! Like a lot of elders read their mail whenever they get it and stuff and it states that you are only supposed to read it in your rooms during personal time. Me and my dl (district leader), Elder Crane, yesterday saw about ten elders reading their letters when they were supposed to be studying. Argh, people frustrate me!!!!! And another thing is the elders have emphasized the fact that we be polite to all of the sisters here, and the people that work in the cafeteria. Some of the elders I just want to whip them into shape because they don’t respect the sisters or the people in the cafe. There was one guy yesterday that had I been able to get to him I would have chewed him out so bad. He was literally like yelling at a lady that worked in the cafeteria. I was so mad!!!! And Elder Alba! But someone else got to him before I did and chewed him out pretty good. Serves his self righteous self right!!!! We are to under no circumstances are we ever to have like a more than friends type relationship or even slightly flirt with the sisters. So many elder break that rule and it honestly disappoints me. I’m just like come on guys. You’re here to give your two years to the lord, not trying to impress the sister missionaries here at the MTC. They just need to grow up and get over themselves so they can know why they are here. But anyways my time is almost up.

Love you guys!!!!!!!! I miss ya!!!!!

Padres

2010-03-10T23:27:00.000-08:00

Hey, I hope you got my email. So things here are going super great! And I’m sending another letter home which will need to be forwarded to Logan and I will need David’s address as well.

So anyways, I love it here. My district is great! Except Elder Zenger, the one with red hair is no longer with us . . . He got switched to an intermediate Spanish class, so they moved him to another district. But my companion is Elder Alba. He is awesome. He is almost like me in exactness! And the other elders, Elder Naulu and Crane are awesome as well. We both have rooms to ourselves which is very nice.

Spelling MTC.

Back row: Elders Crane, Nualu, Zenger Front row: Alba, Brooks

Elders Brooks and Alba

So as for the food, it’s ok. I’m actually not a big fan. It gets a little boring to be honest so I don’t eat much. And we have gym everyday so me and my comp get workouts in. I have already lost upwards of six pounds.

So in our district now we have four elders and two sisters. And in like three weeks, the sisters leave to the Spain MTC; so it will only be us four elders which will help us learn a lot faster.

So, Dad, I haven’t cried myself to sleep once. I sleep like a baby. So it looks like your “I Told You So” picture won’t be needed. I’ll send a “Guess You Were Wrong” picture!

I got my package from Pomeroy’s with the shoes.

Sincerely,
Elder Cameron L. Brooks

Battle Zone

2010-03-10T23:13:00.000-08:00

Hey!!!!! It’s good to be able to get in contact with you!!!!! But I really don’t have time to email much so I wrote a letter while doing laundry. That was like a battle zone. I had to almost tackle people to get a washer and dryer and to even keep them. Some of the elders here are pretty stuck up and inconsiderate and super moody. It was really getting on my nerves that they were getting all agitated and mad about a simple thing like washing machines. I think the laundry room is the one place here that the spirit doesn't always reside to be quite honest. I could feel a huge difference in there when I walked in. Anyhow, the letter tells about my comp and district. And ask dad about the elder he told me about who came from California and how he knew about him.

k well i gotta get outta here. love you guys!!!!!!! miss you alot~!!!!!!!!

Elder Cameron L. Brooks