Ten weeks at the MTC!

HOLA familia!

So, guess what? We STILL don't have our visa stuff yet and we were supposed to leave on Monday!! We don't have a classroom anymore, or a teacher, or a schedule.. its kinda wierd, we just make our own schedule now lol.. i love it here... but i need to go to Mexico already haha.

Not much has been happening here except for tie trading and waiting for visa stuff and OH, the basketball gym is now open!! finally! lol..

I cant believe I'm on my 10th week here. its flying by now but iv been told it goes by even faster in the field. i just cant wait to teach real people, and be in Mexico with REAL situations... ya know what i mean. you can only have so much "training" until you just need to dive into it.

Its weird to see all the elders leave too. Now, there are only 4 of us! All the other elders got re-assigned to California, st George, and salt lake city until their Mexico visa's come in. We were lucky to have the first part of our visa, which is hard to get. I'm glad i didn't get temporarily re-assigned.

Hey, by the way, i think when i get to Mexico I'm just gonna stick to emailing once a week and not worry about letters. Maybe a letter or package every couple months but its like a 3 week wait for packages and letters.

THANKS! THANKS! THANKS! for the money and hopefully the luggage tonight! seriously thanks so much! :) i miss you guys SO much! I'm sending you a Mexico shirt and some pictures of the pillow room and our TOWER OF CANS! haha. You should get it by Monday .

I gotta go do my laundry now but thanks for everything!

oh and dad, thanks for talking on the phone i miss you alot :) keep it up! your in my prayers!

Love ya fam!

-Elder Haskell

She wants the news? She can't handle the news!

Remember when Bambi's friend Thumper was told

"if you cant say anything nice, don't say anything at all"?

Well, our new saying for mom is

"If you cant handle googling the news in Mexico City,

don't google news at all".

That is all.

Departure to Mexico delayed

We received a call today from Elder Haskell. His departure date for Mexico may be delayed by a few days. They haven't yet received final clearance from the Mexican government. He was hoping to leave this Wednesday but it may be up to a week later. He can call us as soon as he knows and then from the airport just before leaving.

Maybe in our case, they want to be sure Elder Haskell's mom knows he is no longer just a 10 minute drive away!

While talking to the MTC we found out that Elder Haskell has the flu. He isn't sick very often so when he does get sick he tends to stress out a bit (okay, alot). He really, REALLY, hates being sick.

So, being sick, on top of not leaving on time, on top of being super anxious to get to Mexico, and all this after a few weeks of major stress levels due to health issues with his back, leaves us as his family with only one option......

We who know and love him, officially request that in your prayers tonight, you pray for the missionaries and those in charge at the MTC, who come in contact with Elder Haskell, that they will not be overwhelmed by our:

Blond-headed, stressed-out, flu-infected, kind-a Spanish speaking, Mexico bound, excited-to-get-going, mission-loving, means-well-but-can-drive-ya-nuts impatient son.

We love him dearly and know that after these past 7 weeks at the MTC, all those working with him, most likely deserve extra credit in heaven.

Email from Elder Haskell

HOLA

From: Joshua Timothy Haskell
To: brihaskell
----------------------------------------------------------------

Sooooo heres the latest.. out of the 10 elders in my district, 4 of us(including me) are waiting for the Mexico Consulate in Salt lake to call us up there to sign our name and then we can leave... but i have no idea when that will be and its taking them forever to get us up there and we only have until next monday.. so i guess we are waiting here at the MTC until that happens... which is going to be interesting because after monday we dont have a teacher or classroom... so its gonna get interesting in the next couple days haha.. oh and as for the the other 6 elders in my district. they didnt get the first step of their visa's like me so they are getting temporarily re-assigned to the states until their visa's come through. talk about headache!!

And about that 100 dollars, i think elyse is sending me a package this friday or saturday so maybe you can slip it in there with her package. just an idea.. i just hope i can leave soon.. this place is awesome but im ready to leave lol.

i heard about that earthquake in NZ! i hope everyone is ok!! and i hope lindsey is doing good. tell her i said i miss her and love her. and when it comes to dating guys.. its not about the quantity its about the quality. she deserves the best!

I MISS YOU ALL SOOO MUCH! i seriously miss you all alot... can i please get some pics of harley too! i have NONE of him haha! and i was telling everyone about him cuz they all have pics of their dogs so yeah, send it with elyse if u can!

oh and when im in mexico i have no idea what the best way of contact will be, but im guessing Email will be. the one im sending mail from to you today. thanks for your dearelders and stories. i really love getting them.. :) And you ended your last letter with you saying u had to do laundry, but guess what, i have to go do that now too. and im getting a haircut today! :)

Love you alot!

-Elder Haskell