Mason's Mission: August 2023

Un Misionero Perdido

Day: The hottest one yet

Pushup Count: 100!!!

Hola a todo!

Week one infield complete! It's been a long week, but I've learned a ton and had some awesome experiences already. Highlights:

- We drive A LOT. Being in the middle of nowhere in the desert means that all of our meetings are an hour away

- We had a district activty, district council, zone conference, and interviews with the mission President - all of which were awesome, but that totals to 8 hours in the car, not counting driving to appointments

- We had a guy rant to us about how the government will be the downfall of society

- We got a pass to get onto Edwards AFB last weekend, so we were scrambling to visit all the members we could before it expire

- Skillet and Hoobastank played a concert on base last Saturday, and I was seriously considering stealing the car to go see them

- Elder Vasquez opened a screen door and a cockroach almost fell on his head

- We finished our evening companionship prayer and opened our eyes to find a cockroach just chillin between us

- I was introduced to a recent convert named Joel, who is now my favorite person ever. Everytime we go over, he's blasting a different metal band, and we're technically allowed to listen to it because he turned it on before we arrived haha. He also has an adorable little dog that I'm pretty sure Elder Vasquez likes more than him

- We have a friend from the Philippines who is so excited to learn. We told him that Christ came to the Americas and he said, "Woah! I had no idea he did that!" Then he asked if it was the second coming so we had to explain a bit more, but his enthusiasm is so cool to me

- One of our friends told us that all we have to do to gain muscle is do curls until we can't anymore, so that's what we do every night, and its hilarious to watch

- I got to play a guitar! Unfortunately I've forgotten most of the songs I knew haha

- I had to record a video for Facebook, and I finally got it right to find out that Elder Vasquez had been recording in selfie mode so I had to do it all again

- "At first I thought she was racist, but turns out she was just shy"

- I had to teach Elder Vasquez how to pronounce Nazi... that was interesting

- We do sooo much work on Facebook, its crazy

Anyways, mostly just a lot of driving and meeting with people over here. Send me an email if your life is any more interesting than that (or even if its not haha).

Spiritual Thought:

Be enthusiastic! The people that we teach are so grateful and excited for the gospel, and I've noticed how much I take it for granted. Don't do that! Be excited and really take advantage of Jesus Crist and His gospel! And don't forget - Dios te amo!

Love, Élder Page

Proof that I can cook (ish)

Joel's House

Elder Vasquez y yo

"Hola! Me llamo Elder Page"

Un Misionero en Bakersfield! (Ish)

Day: I know we had church yesterday, so whatever comes after that

Pushup Count: 94

¡Hola mi Gente!

Well, I'm officially in the field. And when I say field, I mean that literally haha. I've been assigned to the North Edwards Ward, which is literally in the middle of nowhere. So far I love it.

- We had a really cool departing devotional before I left the MTC where we sang "Well Bring the World His Truth", but they changed the chorus to say "now we are the Lord's missionaries". Super awesome and emotional

- Woke up at 3:45 two days in a row to send off members of my district

- Ate chips and salsa with Hermano Hunter while he ranted about nerdy stuff

- Elder Dye gave Elder Holt a buzz and it took over an hour haha

- I ate the best cup of noodles of my life

- Friday we traveled to Bakersfield! A flight to Pheonix and a short layover there before leaving straight for Bakersfield

- We got picked up from the airport, and as we were driving to the mission office, I recieved the news that my trainer didn't speak English :/

- I met my trainer, Elder Vasquez. He's from the Dominican Republic, and I had to translate for him during our short meeting at the mission office

- I ate Raising Canes for the first time ever - just for you Elder Dye haha

- We drove two hours to our area, where I struggled to keep up a conversation in Spanish. It was so hard

- Elder Vasquez gave me a tour of our apartment, and I barely understood it

- I was unpacking, and all the sudden I heard "hey Elder, I've been messing with you." I turned around to see Elder Vasquez and he goes "I speak English, it was all a joke." I was so mad haha! He made me suffer all day! It was really funny though

- I've met so many people and I can't keep any of them straight

- We had dinner with a super nice member who only speaks Spanish - and Mexican Spanish full of slang too - so I didn't understand much, but the food was awesome and I shared my favorite scripture with her

- Here's the deal: we cover an English ward, but our range extends if our friends speak Spanish because the surrounding Elders are English. It's confusing, because I never know if I have to speak English or Spanish

- We went to a farmers market, where Elder Vasquez knows literally knows everyone. We bought dried pineapple mmmmmm

- We have to drive at least 15 minutes to do anything, and Walmart is an hour away

- Bore my testimony in sacrament meeting

- Church was is English, but they hold a Spanish Sunday school class, so we went to that. I understood everything, except for when the Hermana I mentioned earlier was talking haha

- I learned how to play Magic the gathering... I think it's harder to learn than Spanish

- One of our friends got the Aaronic priesthood yesterday. It was really cool, and I got to meet his dog. This amigo loves Magic, hence the reason I had to learn

- Because of the rain yesterday (which is super not normal here), we had to stay home all day after church. We did phone contacting and I attempted to leave messages in Spanish. Elder Vasquez just laughed at me, but he jumped in when I needed him

- The power went out for a second last night, and Elder Vasquez put on a poncho and starting screaming like a little girl - he's a really funny guy

It's so brown here, but it's actually really pretty. I haven't melted yet because of the crazy rain, but I'm looking forward to it. Everyone is so nice and really understanding when I have no idea what I'm saying. I have yet to teach a lesson in Spanish, but I'm excited for it :)

Spiritual Thought:

Pray. God will help you with anything you need. It's been a tough few days, but I've also said more prayers than any other time in my life. I know that he's been helping me and that he will help you too. Because he loves you! Don't forget it!

Love, Élder Page

Con Elder Burningham

Snakes!

Airplane homies

Elder Geary y yo en Bakersfield

Brown (my life now)

Leaving the MTC

Con Elder Vasquez

Un Missionero Saliendo

¡Hola a todos!

This week flew by, and I'm proud to say it's probably been the best at the MTC. I'm really happy to be leaving on a high note, and I hope that I can carry that momentum into the desert. Lots of good stuff happening here:

- Someone stole my journal (just mixed them up because they're exactly the same)

- My district absolutely destoyed a soccer match

- We had the chance to do sealings in the Provo Temple, which was super cool and something I'd never done before. Families are forever!

- Elder Goebel and I lost Elder Dye for a solid half hour

- In Spanish, the word "mujer" means woman, and the word "mejor" means the best. Elder Sutton was trying to say he was going to have the best wife, but he accidentally said he was going to have a woman for a wife, which we were all relieved to find out.

- We started HSI week, which stands for Hable Su Idioma (Speak Your Language) and it hasn't been too hard, but we've forgotten a few times

- My mom sent two of my favorte key lime pies, and I had to improvise a way to keep them cool with what I had laying around in my room

- I woke up last Friday to find that someone had stolen all of the shower curtains and shower heads from all the bathrooms on our floor. As much as I wanted to relive my father's experience in the MTC, my companions and I went down a floor to shower haha. We ended up getting new curtains, so we're actually thankful for whoever pranked us

- We taught a kinda difficult practice appointment

- Elder Goebel got reasigned to Detroit Michigan, but decided to wait until class to tell everybody. But that plan fell through when Elder Dye's friend sent him a message that Elder Goebel was going to be his trainee. It's a small world. Elder Goebel ended up getting his passport though, so after a transfer in Michigan he'll be headed to Argentina

- We had a combined class with another district and I met an Hermana who prefers the 2 mile to the 800. EW.

- I got to run three whole miles

- I got to watch all of the #HearHim videos on Sunday which was super cool, definitely reccommend it

- I found a note in my desk telling me that $100 was hidden somewhere on campus and telling me where to look for the next clue. We happily followed the wild goose chase because nothing interesting happens here. But after checking inside every single exit sign on the second floor of our building we found nothing

- We took the Language Assessment class yesterday and my whole district hated it

- Last night was a devotional from Elder David A. Bednar! Seriously what are the chances that my favorite apostle visits two days before I leave the MTC?!? We sang Hope of Israel as a choir and it was absolutely amazing, and then Elder Bednar gave a VERY direct talk on repentence. The spirit was soooo strong and it was such a special experience

- Last night we stayed out past curfew saying our goodbyes to our branch presidency. It's been tough saying goodbye to all of my teachers and leaders. Sorry mom, but I honestly have to say it's gonna be harder to leave the MTC than it was to leave home

- We played telephone as a district and we ended up finishing with "Hermano Olsen (our teacher) has giant legs and a gigantic sister". Pretty fun haha

Spirituall Thought:

Last night Elder Bednar shared this thought: "If you believe it, why don't you use it?" It hit me so hard. If we believe in repentence, why would we not use that gift? If we believe in the Book of Mormon, why not study it? If we believe in temple work, why not take every chance we get to serve? I want to invite you all to think of something that you believe in that maybe you aren't using fully. I promise that if you start to put more effort into it, you will be blessed. And never forget - ¡Dios le ama!

Love, Élder Page

My makeshift fridges (Inside are walmart bags filled with cold water that I put the pies in to try and keep them cool)

Elder Gneiting behind the closets

Devotional selfie

Mi Distrito

Distrito otra vez

Hermano Olsen y yo

Temple selfies hit hard

Un Misionero Que Puede Sobrevivir

Dia: It's still too early to call it a day

Pushup Count: 83

Hola Mi Gente!

This week absolutely flew by. I honestly don't believe that it's p-day again already. Some cool stuff that happened this week:

- Elder Geary's "cousin" sent us donuts

- We had a very intense argument about disney princesses

- I saw Elder Clark Barry during lunch one day, but I had to speak Spanish, and he thought I didn't know who he was haha

- 5 Elders in my district recieved their reasignments - One is going to Chicago, another to Pittsburgh, two to San Bernadino - and Elder Geary is coming to Bakersfield with me! I'm excited to not be the only Elder on the plane

- I bought Jandals with my MTC card because they give you a certain amount of money each week that I never use

- We had a workshop on the Book of Mormon, and the teacher was from Hong Kong. He had served his mission in Australia, so he learned English with an Australian accent - super cool dude

- "Que significa besame?" - to which the teacher responded, "It means do you want to hear a message about the gospel?" (It actually means kiss me)

- Last Tuesday night at 10pm my district started an English fast - which meant we weren't allowed to speak English for 24 hours - as a practice for our last week here, when we have to speak only Spanish for seven days. We absolutely killed it. I don't think anyone said more than 5 words in English all day. I'm really proud of our efforts and it makes me feel better knowing that we can all at least survive in Spanish

- Apparently I talked in English in my sleep during the fast, but we're not counting that, and then the next night I spoke Spanish - still no Spanish dreams though

- My amazing second mom sent two glorious apple pies that we all broke our English fast with

- "Estamos listos ser locos?!?"

- Elder Sutton can give someone a pretty good welt with a moon ball

- Elder Richins slapped me with a chancla, so I chased him down with a spatula - I won.

- Tons of spikeball

- Saw a kid from elementary school that didn't remember me at all....

- We've had some amazing weather these last couple days

- "Hola! Are you guys going on missions too?"

- On Sunday we walked around and looked at every giant mural in the newest buildings - they're really cool

- Hermano Hunter got a parking ticket and ranted about it for the first 15 minutes of class

- Great devotional from President Mark L. Pace, general sunday school presdident, and his wife on scripture study and prayer

- I mixed up letters in a Spanish phrase, which was super cool (like saying beanut putter or something in English) so maybe I am getting pretty good

- My companions and I have had the chance to teach in Spanish two more times - we're getting more comfortable with it, but it's really hard to explain some gospel topics - Imagine how you would explain the plan of salvation to someone who doesn't know about it - it's pretty hard, and kind of a weird concept - now imagine doing that when you can barely put together a sentence about what food you ate for lunch. Our friend understood us anyway... the gift of tongues is real!

- We got a 99.9% perfect report from our last teaching appointment - she was way too generous haha

- I stood in line for a package that wasn't real

- Elder Holt's girlfriend sent us some of the best sugar cookies I've ever had

- It's starting to look like getting to the laundry at 5:30am might still not be early enough

Thanks to everyone who has emailed me or sent letters/packages. It means a lot and I love hearing from you guys. Please keep it up. I leave in 9 days, which is absolutely insane. What's even more insane is that I have to speak Spanish for almost all of that and I'm not even worried. I am beyond excited to get to California, but I'm definitely going to miss the MTC. It's such a cool place - literally everyone is wearing a tag - and the real world's gonna be a little bit of a slap in the face. I can't wait :)

Spiritual Thought:

I had to teach the plan of salvation in Spanish yesterday, and it was tough. But what I realized as I was doing it is that in reality the plan is super simple. We came to Earth to get a body, to be tested, and to choose Christ. If we do so, we'll be able to live with our Father in Heaven and our families forever. That's it. It's that simple. As I've had to teach in Spanish the simplicity in all of the gospel has been made clear to me. Christ taught simply, and so do the prophets today. If you start stumbling over little details or questions, don't. Remember the basics and go find an answer. I've gotten a lot of questions answered by simply searching and praying. The most important simple truth is the God and Jesus Christ love you. Don't forget it!

Elder Dye tagged up

They stole my phone, so now I have about a million close up pictures like this

El Chad

Con Elder Barry

Upside down selfie

Hermano Hunter teaching calculus

Elder Richins wore the same tie as our branch president

Un Missionero Aburrido (Un Poco)

Day: 1 month since I've been set apart!

Pushup count: 77

¡Buenos Dias!

I'm not going to lie, the MTC is starting to get to me. Every day is the same, and sometimes I struggle to find the joy in it. Because of that, my main goal lately is just to be more optimistic, even if it means being super annoying. With that said, I'm still having a great time, I'm just ready to get to California. Highlights:

- We play sand volleyball almost every single morning, and we're getting pretty good

- Elder Richins and I attempt smack talk in Spanish which is a party

- My amazing mom sent us cinnamon rolls and we ate them with our hands

- We had a full day being taught by substitutes - apparently our teachers don't like us

- I slept with my contacts in

- We went to the temple and did initiatories

- Elder Richins had to walk around with a marker in his shoe for two hours for an object lesson

- I got a sticker of a pug that I put on the back of my tag

- My district made a video of one sentence testimonies in Spanish

- Hermana Hupp got here on Wednesday :)

- I ate a carolina reaper jellybean and started crying - not my manliest moment

- I sang an acapella duet in sacrament meeting - I think it's gonna be featured in the next Pitch Perfect movie

- Chancla fight

- Ceiling tile exploded

- "Mi estomago esta luchando con el diablo"

- I got to run for 20 whole minutes! (I don't think Elder Goebel is itching to repeat that experience though)

- Baby deer running through campus

- Elder Richins asked a sister companionship if he could use one of the chairs at their table, and then straight up just sat down there and stared at them

- "I've got a perro in me"

- Elder Goebel got stuck in a dinner line for 50 minutes

- Last night we had a super good devotional from President and Sister Nielson (note the "i", he's in the presidency of the seventy - we're still hoping for the prophet eventually)

- Our girlfriend sent us cinnamon rolls

- I've met quite a few native Spanish speakers, and I can actually communicate with them pretty well, which is awesome

- We had our first mock teaching appointment in Spanish - longest 10 minutes of my life - but she was really nice, complemented our Spanish, and commited to pray

Spiritual Thought

Last night President Nielson shared the process of creating the new missionary handbook as head of the missionary department. They sent a draft to the first presidency and President Nelson responded with a single sentence, "Add more joy!" They immediatly threw away that draft and started from scratch, and they created the missionary standards booklet we have today. It got me thinking, "How can I add more joy to my life?", and I want to ask you all to consider that question as well. Isaiah 9:3 says, "Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil." I believe that this scripture is talking about two different types of happiness. It's possible to have a lot of things in life without increasing in lasting joy. Its okay to be happy based on the spoils of this life, but I know that the only lasting joy in this life comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ. I've been so happy here at the MTC as I've immersed myself in Christ. I know you all don't have 24 hours a day to devote to him, but I invite you to devote an extra 5 or 10 minutes every day because I know it will help you find more lasting joy. And don't forget - ¡Dios los ama!

- Élder Mason Page