Changes coming up

We have been pretty stable for a while now, so it's time for some changes, and they're good:

Change #1 (not unexpected): Michael is coming home July 21, the day before my birthday. We're very excited, but school starts just a few weeks later so he'll be off to SUU before he has time to be bored. He has, however, offered to help with the manual labor parts of change #2. He is still planning on a cello career and can hardly wait to get home and play.

Change #2 (somewhat unexpected): When it came time to apply to the PhD program last fall, Joe offered me a surprising option, to apply to schools outside our area. I didn't give him a chance to back out, and quickly sent off applications to six schools, of which I was accepted at two. Whee! But neither of those was the University of Utah. So we took a couple of weeks to make our decision, and in August we'll be moving to Albuquerque for me to start the PhD program in Linguistics at the University of New Mexico. They have several faculty who work in sign language linguistics, and Phyllis Wilcox, who will be my advisor, has written a book called Metaphor in American Sign Language--I can hardly wait.

This means selling our house here and buying another in Albuquerque, all while writing my thesis (long story, but I'm writing it this summer before I go--no stress--and my MA should be official in the Fall). We have a likely buyer for our house, a friend who is pretty cramped in their house and wants something bigger, and have made some contacts in Albuquerque, so we're hoping the transition will go smoothly, or at least with shreds of sanity still intact. It looks like all the kids will be coming with us when we move, though Michael will be off immediately to Cedar City and SUU. Joe will be able to keep his job and telecommute full time, which we consider to be a great blessing, things bein' how they are.

Letters from Michael--7/30/08

Hi everybody,

I actually didn't send out an email last week, because I didn't have a chance to get to the computers after I set it up. I assumed when I was writing my letter that I would have a chance to send one. So this is my first email. However, since I have limited time on the computer, I will still send snail mail letters.

My audition went very well. Sister Boone was impressed, and I'm going to be playing in the Departure Devotional this Sunday, the day before I leave. It's nice to be able to play the cello here; it feels good.

Good luck to Naomi and Benjamin on trek! I hope they have an amazing experience there as they learn a little bit about what the pioneers went through to get to Zion, the sacrifices they made to follow the Prophet, and the blessings they received as a result of their righteousness.

This email account will still work after I leave the MTC. It won't expire till a month after I get home from my mission, so you can still send me emails, although I would certainly appreciate having things in the mailbox. :) I'll let you know once I get there if President Colton has any particular restrictions on email or anything.

I'm pretty sure in Florida my P-days will be on Mondays. Again, I'll let you know if that changes.

I'll write more (and respond to Naomi's and Dad's emails) via the US Postal service. Thank you for your prayers, and I love you too.

Love,
Elder Michael Wager

p.s. Please tell the Bishop I would like Mosiah 28:3 on my plaque.

Letters from Michael--7/23/08

Dear Family,

The MTC is so amazing! I'm learning tons of stuff about teaching, and it's all focused on teaching by the Spirit. I'm so excited to get to Florida and start teaching for real. I feel the Spirit here so much more often than I ever have before, every time anyone bears their testimony.

Happy Birthday, Mom! I hope it was a great day for you.

The resources they have here are amazing. the Teacher Evaluation Center (TEC) is where we can practice teaching teachers who have returned from missions and they give us feedback. In the Teaching Resource Center (TRC) we teach volunteers posing as investigators (mostly they are actually members). In the Referral Center (RC) we take and make calls from pass-along cards and commercials. Dad, were any of these things here when you were? They're really valuable for helping us learn to teach.

My email address is michael.c.wager.FTM@myLDSmail.net . You will probably have gotten an email from me before you get this letter, but I just thought I'd tell you anyway.

I got to play a cello yesterday! The MTC has a violin and a cello that missionaries can check out to play at firesides and meetings and such. Tomorrow, Sister Boone, the mission president's wife, is having auditions for musical numbers. Hopefully I'll be able to fit into the schedule before I leave since I only have less than two weeks. I'm going to Florida on August 4th. It's a nice cello, although the bow has issues. I'm planning on playing Hymn #322 out of the hymnbook.

I hope things are going well at home. I haven't gotten any mail from you yet (although I haven't checked the box yet today). I love you all and hope that everything is great while I'm gone. Always remember that the Lord lvoes you and will take care of you if you let Him.

If you go to DearElders.com, you can write me letters and I'll receive them the same day while I'm in the MTC. I'll have to wait until P-day to respond, though. There are a lot of Spanish-speaking missionaries here. Frequently, they will approach us and bear their testimonies or teach a lesson in Spanish to us, and I've found that I can actually understand most of what they say! It's really cool; I think it's in preparation for me for the Spanish speakers I'll meet in Florida. It's just Spanish, not other languages (although I can still understand French and German, of course).

On Thursday, my district had a visitor in our class. President McArthur of the MTC in Japan came and sat in on our class while Brother Medaris (one of our teachers) taught us how to use scriptures in our teaching. It was really cool. I told President McArthur that Dad went to Japan on his mission, and he thought that was really neat. He was apparently in town for his daughter's wedding and decided to visit the Provo MTC to see how it was done in English.

My district consists of eight Elders: Myself, Elder Cheever, Elder Hyer, Elder Fernsten, Elder Wire, Elder Elmore, Elder Adams, and Elder Johnson. The last three are headed for Macon, Georgia and the rest of us are going to Tampa. Our teachers are Brother Medaris from Nebraska, who served in Alberta Canada; and Sister Clark, who's from Johannesburg, South Africa and went to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on her mission. Both of them are excellent teachers and help us learn a lot. We are all really close as a district, and we love each other.

I just got your letter. It's nice to hear about things at home.

Our Branches are our zones. We just have Priesthood and Sacrament Meeting (and Relief Society for the Sisters). The Branch Presidency does most of the speaking, but each missionary prepares a 5-minute talk for sacrament, and two of them are called up during the meeting to give their talks. I played the piano in Sacrament meeting, and I messed up pretty badly on the opening song. But the others were alright. After sacrament we have a District Meeting, which is conducted by the District Leader.

Elder Cheever and I get along great, as does everyone in the district. We're a good match, and we both help each other be better. He's a great District Leader, and we work well together. I like having a companion to help me always be where I'm supposed to and everything.

I love you all; keep up the good things, and keep the spirit.

Love,
Elder Michael Wager

Michael's Letters Home--7/16/08

One of the things I'd like to do here is post letters Michael writes home. I'm going to try to do this chronologically, so here's his first one, written the day he went into the MTC:

Dear Family,

This has been a long day. I've had so much information crammed into my head in the last few hours that I'm sure I'll need to be reminded of most of it. It's an amazing feeling to be here in the MTC with 22,000 other people who are all here to serve the Lord.

My companion is Elder Cheever. He's from Murray, and he's our District Leader. I've been assigned to be the Senior Companion. Our Preparation days are Wednesdays, and we will be getting email set up here, probably next week. We're limited to 30 mins on email and can only email our families.

This is really an amazing place to be. I'm so excited for the next three weeks and the next two years. I know that the Lord will bless me and you as I serve Him.

Love,
Elder Michael Wager