Week 3 - Boise

Hey Y'all,

This week was pretty good, and also pretty busy. We have been teaching lots of people and and some are progressing well. We also went on companion ship exchanges and it was fun being able to have a new companion for the day! I also was able to see Elder Tuscano my former companion but he sadly hasn't received his visa yet. I have 3 more weeks till I go to India and am super excited! One of the companionship exchanges that I went on was in a very wealthy area here. One of the guys houses we went to he had a moose on his wall. I was very proud, cause every time I see a deer on a wall I tell them they need a moose also. A lot of people were out of town this week because it was the last week of open season, The Denison's (the family im staying with) went hunting and got a lot of deer! We also had stake conference this Sunday which was good. But during stake conference they announced that I would be going up to bare my testimony on Jesus Christ to the whole stake! I kinda saw it coming, but they never warned me before hand to do it, I got no warning on it. That wasn't very fun. We met this guy that goes by the name of "Crazy Horse" and he is really Crazy. He has a "man cave" in his garage where he hot boxes with his cigarettes. Sadly My companion and I were in there trying to talk to him while he was smoking, so we got a bad headache for the day. Other then that its been a normal week for me, it has been getting colder here but not too over baring. We went tracting (going door to door) to talk to people ask them if they needed any service or a message about Jesus Christ. Since its fall we have been raking lots of leaves, but luckily they don't have as many trees as the east coast! 

Love,

Elder Magnusson

(This is Levi's mom... I was doing great til I saw these.... GROSS!  For all you deer hunters, and I suppose, moose hunters... you can envy Levi, at least for this season.)

Idaho Boise Week 2

Hey Y'all,

This week was pretty good, they have whats called an "inversion" where smoke (from fires) coming from up north goes into the city and make it very dry and cloudy. I was able to meet more members this week and have come to see how great the people are here. I think in my last email I made it seem like I was miserable here, but only was homesick for a couple of days.. Once I got into the swing of things here its been great! We have been able to teach lots of lessons and do plenty of service. I got word that ill be headed to India November 17th, so i am very excited about that. I bought curry today, and will incorporate it into my meals so I can get use to extremely spicy food before I leave. I also learned that Rio de Janeiro is a place not a person. I had my birthday this week and thanks to The Denisons (the awesome family we live with) they celebrated my birthday. I was taken out to a place called Tacanos which is a Brazilian restaurant  and got to eat Brazilian food. Which is something I thought Ryan would only do and not me, but his is more authentic haha. It has been raining a lot here, which is okay cause I hear the East Coast is getting lots of rain. My companion and I wrote a song called "Chicken Waffle" which is a spin off racist version of the song "Chicken Fried" by Zac Brown Band. But going back to spiritual things, its very cool meeting people that were recently baptized and to hear how strong their testimonies are. We were walking down the street and a man started criticizing us about spreading the gospel, and telling us that he researched the church, which he didn't do very good research cause everything he said "we believed" wasn't anywhere near what we ACTUALLY believed, but all well. That was the excitement I got this week. When we went through a park I saw a bunch of India people playing volleyball which is all I see when I got to Bogan Park.. Indians are EVERYWHERE. Not much really happened, until next week!

Love, 

Elder Magnusson

Finally some Photos!

Levi and his companion, Elder Thompson

The boys out for Levi's birthday with an amazingly fun family who LOVES Levi!

He was well loved on his special day!

Surprise!

Even a yummy cake!

He's 19!!!

This is the box another missionary mom put together for Levi.  She got his favorites, and then we emailed a letter which she printed out and put in the box.  She wrapped the box and he was shocked and wondered how we were able to do it!!  Hahaha... with help from another missionary momma!!  (her son is in Levi's India mission)

You can tell he loves Boise from the look on his face haha.  He's actually starting to like it but he won't tell anyone but us!

Another Boise state shirt... he will be forced to love it... one way or another!

Fun family that just love Levi.  Mom is taking the photos!

Week 1 in Idaho!

Hey Y'all,

I woke up at 2:30 am Tuesday morning (October 6th) and got on a bus which took me to a train which took me to another train and then got me on a plane. We rode on the smallest plane I done ever ridden on. About an hour later landed in Boise which is known as "The city of Trees". So I went outside and saw two little twigs sticking out of the ground that they call "trees". 

I also learned what Boise State Broncos are, which is funny cause everyone here, hears more about Georgia Vs Alabama than Boise State. 

The air here constantly smells like cigarettes and the water tastes like pencil shavings (don't ask how I know that). The people here are sweeter than sweet tea and DEFINITELY are good at taking care of the missionaries. My companion is Elder Thompson, we are very different people and didn't exactly get along too well from the start. BUT we have been able to find our similarities and are able to build a better relationship off that. He's been out for a year now and says that: "I'm lucky to have him as a companion". 

I get fed every night. When I first got here we went to a boring meeting that didn't really apply to visa waiters. Then for lunch we had Idaho's attempt at making pulled pork which was dryer than an overdone 2 dollar steak. 

I finally got a temporary bike on Saturday and now don't have to walk. The wards we cover are basically two neighborhoods that are right next to each other (so our area's small). We are helping a guy from Scotland restore his RV and he enjoys my "Georgia Twang".   He's married  and has 2 kids and is investigating the church. We also helped set up a wedding reception for a couple people in our ward and made it easier to get to know people better. Elder Thompson is very good at playing the piano and plays country songs while I sing to them. Weird but we found something in common and are starting to become friends. 

The wards I cover is De Meyer park, and Hickories ward in the Meridian North Stake. According  to the Hickories ward I said "Y'all" too much when I bared my testimony on Sunday during fast and testimony meeting. We also have another investigator (Derek and Mary) who are gonna be  baptized in November. We helped them set up their garage sale and mowed their lawn. 

I have been pretty homesick this week, but have strengthened my relationship with Jesus. I now know why I'm in Boise, and am starting to realize why God is sending me to India. The scripture I pondered a lot this week was John 3:16. Me sacrificing my life for two years is nothing compared to what Jesus did for us. Anyways last thing is we taught a nice couple last night, and will see them next week. 

Love,

Elder Magnusson 

                                                                 This photo is from the MTC

A little mischieviousness in MTC week two

Hey y'all,

 

The last week at the MTC did go by fast just like everyone said. Now sure I still fell asleep in class, but near the end of the week was where I actually started appreciating the MTC for what it is. It was great getting to bond with people for a short period of time and will have to say goodbye to some of them later today. I'll wake up tomorrow morning and make my way down to the travel office at 3:35AM to get onto an 8AM flight to Boise,Id. Some of the highlights this week was awarding myself with Companion of the Year. I earned that award because I accidentally locked my companion out of the room for a while, so he was in the hallway in his underwear  because he had just taken a shower. Also we got whats called a "meal card" it works just like a hotel room key. Where you swipe your key to be able to get into buildings, cafeteria, etc. I stuck a magnet to the back of his card which decodes it, so that it stops working. So now he isn't  able to get into buildings and go to the cafeteria. We have made a couple trips to general services for them to re-program the key. But I would just end up de-coding it that night. I finally told him the other day why his key never works. He was okay with it. I also (when I was bored) managed to write a song about how much I hate Utah based of of the song "I Love to see the Temple", I also wrote a poem called Half and Half about a half white half black person, and a singing drama called Angel Soft about Jesus knocking on my door (and no mom these were  not written during class).  On the other hand I was able to have spiritual experiences here, such as watching General Conference. I managed to stay awake for all 10 hours which I am very proud of and took notes. Hopefully Thomas S. Monson is doing okay cause in the last talk he gave he didn't seem to be doing so well. Elder Carter (a guy in my room) has an alarm system hooked up to my back pack (no I don't understand why, but he does) and his backpack alarm started going to during the devotional, he told the MTC it was his alarm clock haha. Anyways, not much else happened this week, but cant wait to get out of the MTC and do the Lord's work! I have slowly started to not like my companion as much. He has weird habits such as slapping peoples back and saying "cupped you" also saying the phrase "hot slam" and saying "do you even listen to drake" in an Indian accent.  

 Elder Magnusson

UPDATE:

We just spent about 15 minutes on the phone with Levi this morning as he's awaiting his flight to Boise.  He's so positive and upbeat about going there, and to get busy doing the Lord's work.  There are about 40 Elders going to the Boise mission this morning, and only he and his MTC companion are heading to India when their visa's arrive.  It's snowing in Boise he was told, so the first thing on his agenda will be to get a coat.  And winter gear of some kind.  Hopefully he'll be able to borrow a few things, as he won't be there too long.  He sounds like my Levi.  I can tell he's a bit homesick, as he's already talking about maybe not going to BYU-I when he gets home and just stay at a local college.  I told him now isn't the time to decide that.  He's got two years to serve others, and he'll be blessed to know what to do about school.  He'll learn and grow and be inspired more about his future as he serves the Lord.  He said okay.  Oh how I adore that boy!!  Oh how blessed I am to be a mom of 5 incredible sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven.  That He entrusted me to be their mom amazes me.  I love them all so very much!