4/29/08 letter from Coop

Hi Family!
So it's been another good week at the MTC. Right now I'm doing my laundry and typing away at one of the computers in here.

So let's see, what happened that was interesting this week? Well the weather here is weird and crazy...The weather is really nice here except for the random snow storm. It snowed on Thursday but besides that it's nice and warm.

We taught our first lesson in Spanish yesterday! That was really cool, and really surprising at how much we know. My companion didn't think he did very well but he did. We're at the point now where we've finished learning all the grammar and now it's just gonna be review from now on. Pretty crazy, they must have us at a ridiculous pace, but hey it works.

So here's a funny story. So a few of the Elders in my zone decided they want to start getting in shape again while we're here. Why not while we're stuck here right? And somehow I was appointed to get them in shape, just because I'm the "military guy" I guess. One Elder says he's gonna call me Elder Master Sargent or something like that from now on haha. So I put them through a little workout last night before we went to bed and that was pretty funny but actually pretty fun. There's this one really funny Samoan Elder that did it with us and he's calling our new program the "Body for Wife". hahaha "It used to be body for life but we got the body for wife!" haha maybe you just have to hear his voice saying it.

Hmmm...I need to start bringing your letters with me when I come to write emails, I hope I'm not forgetting to answer any questions but I probably am. Oh I think you asked me if I wanted vitamins a while ago. That would be nice for Argentina. The ones that you gave me before at BYU were called Nature Made I think? They seemed like they were good. But anything would be good.

And I thought that was funny Mom reading about your hippie convention that you went to. Sounds like fun. Why can't everyone just solve their problems with a hug??? haha

Ok I'm gonna go eat breakfast. I'm glad you finally got my birth certificates!! I just hope it doesn't take long for them to get apostaled or whatever thats called. There's a bunch of Elders stuck here because they're having a hard time getting Visas for Mexico. And they're going crazy, I really don't want to be stuck here. I think everyone agrees the MTC is the low point of your mission. Oh and I remember you (mom) asking about meeting with a guy from Argentina. The Argentina consul talked to us on Wednesday but he was just there to tell us about the country and where we're going. It was neat to learn about. Ok gotta go. I love you all!

-Elder Boice

Email letter from Cooper on 4/22/08

April 22, 2008

Dear Family,

The MTC is going great so far! Today is P-day so I got to go to the temple again, and that's always awesome.
Let's see. It's been an interesting week. Our district of 10 elders lost 4 elders earlier this week because they all headed off to the Dominican Republic MTC. The 4 elders that got to leave are gonna be serving in Puerto Rico. It was sad to see them leave because we had a great time together, but I have to admit I'm getting A LOT more done in class now. There's way less distraction so it's way easier to study.
On top of them leaving, our district has been sick just about all week. At least one person has been sick every day, so they stayed in their room with their companion, so there were only 4 of us in class a lot of the time. Very weird, but pretty nice because when the teacher is here theres only 4 of us to teach so it can be more individual.
There seems to be a pretty big gap in how everyone's learning the spanish. My companion is doing really good considering he never took spanish before. Especially considering there's an elder who took 2 years of spanish in high school, but for the life of him he cannot pronounce an (ñ) or roll his tongue. It's kinda funny sometimes, but he's been doing some fasting and really trying so I hope he gets the hang of it soon.
Oh, I wanted to thank you for all of your prayers, they're definitely helping, and I don't know if you've specifically been praying for me to be healthy, but if you have then thanks for that too. So far I'm the only one in our district who hasn't gotten sick.

(the following paragraph must be read with a fine English accent)

And as for my good brother Sir Bradley Sheldon, please thank him for his exquisitely fine letter in my behalf. It was appreciated, yes quite. And as to our little matter regarding a certain pair of jolly good "night vision goggles", please inform him that the location of said item seems to have slipped my mind at the moment. I would like to keep it in the fine working condition in which it remains, however, chin up lad, give it time and perhaps I will find it in me to change my mind.

Ok my time to write is just about up. Thank you to for writing! I love you all, the church is true, and the MTC is doing good. Oh yeah and I'm going to try to mail some pictures home sometime this week. I don't think I can put them on this computer, but I can print them off here.

Love,
Elder Boice

Coop's email on 4/15/08

Ok so here's the deal. I get 30 minutes on the computer every P-Day, so it would probably be best not to send me too much stuff to read, because now I have about 17-18 minutes left to write before it shuts off.
First I wanted to tell you that I did send you a letter I promise! I hope it gets to you if you still haven't gotten it. I sent a letter to you, to Lauren, and to sister Unger, so if sister Unger already got hers you should have gotten yours by now!!!!

I'll always send letters on Tuesday. It may be a different day of the week in Argentina but I will always write. I answered a bunch of your questions in that letter I mailed last week, but you asked me some more in a DearElder so I'll try to answer those now.

1.We get 30minutes each P-Day to email.

2. I have a permanent marker, although I haven't used it (***Trina's note: I couldn't remember if I gave him one so he could mark his name on his things***)

3. They never asked about the pedigree chart. (***Trina's note: the material they gave Cooper before he entered the MTC told him to bring one and I wondered what it was really for***)

4. Yes I have a scripture I thought I gave it to you before I left, but it's in the letter I wrote. I don't have scriptures in front of me but I think its John 15:13? "greater love hath no man..."

5. No I haven't found my CTR ring, lo siento!

6. I like the suitcase but I might not bring it with me because we're encouraged to pack as lightly as possible. Especially since we'll be travelling by bus in Argentina.

7. Yeah I bought a messenger bag here.

8. I like our gym time. we get 50 minutes 5 days a week, so that's nice. I'm trying not to get too out of shape here haha so I'm not eating anything sweet while I'm here. So if you send me cookies or candy I'll just give it away.

9. I get a few letters a day usually, mostly from you and Lauren. =) And I love them!

10. nope I dont need more gym clothes, are you kidding I'm a guy.

Ok I have to go. My computer time is almost up so I need to send this before the computer shuts off on me. Tell everyone hi for me! And let me know when you get that letter cuz it's been a whole week since I mailed it! I'm just hoping you and Lauren got them by the time I send this email. Ok, adios por ahora!

Love you all,
Elder Boice

April 8, 2008 letter

Yay! A great letter for Cooper with tons of details! I sent him a list of 20 questions that I wanted him to answer for me, so before he gives you his answers, I'll provide the question I asked him. Here's what he wrote:

Dear family,
Right now I'm doing my laundry so it's the perfect time to write letters. And I got a letter yesterday with a list of 20 questions, so I better start answering them. I hope you still have the questions so you can see what I'm answering.

1. "Did you get your immunization shots? Did they charge you?"
Yes & Yes. I think I'll go pay for them today.

2. "Did you decide which scripture you want put on your missionary plaque? Brother Holt keeps asking me about that. Which picture would you like me to use?"
John 15:13 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.'

3. "Do you receive these DearElders as a printed letter in your mailbox? Do they seem to get there on the same day we write?"
yeah, they print out the DearElder letters. They print them kinda wierd so sometimes I have to piece them together but I really like it. Usually the letters get to me the same or next day.

4. "Did you receive your box from MissionaryMall.com? You likey?"
Yes and thank you!

5. "Do you have your email account set up yet? If so, what's your address?"
Yes and I emailed you last week but might have sent it to the wrong address. But mine is cooperman88@myldsmail.net

6. "What is your missionary companion's first name? Where is he from? I wanted to write a post on my missionary mom email group and see if his mom is on there."
Mi companero es Elder James Hatch, from Chino, California.

7. "Are you able to go online to see the blog I started for you at scoopdecoop.blogspot.com?"
No, I can't go online. Just to email family. Oh and could you please try to find my little white cord that connects my camera to the computer so I can email pictures from home? I forgot it. Lo siento. *****Trina's note: I did find his cord and will send it in a care package to Cooper this week, so we can finally start seeing the pictures he's taking at the MTC!*****

8. "Do you need anything? Want anything?"
Nope. Don't need anything, but thanks.

9. "Have you listened to all that great stuff I put on your iPod yet? Have you used your iPod speakers yet?"
Yeah, I've listened to it and it's great. It's nice to have music sometimes. Thank you.

10. "Did I already buy you a mosquito netting to fit over your whole bed in Argentina? Do your culture teachers say you'll need one?"
No, and I haven't had any Argentina-specific teachers yet.

11. "Can you receive email attachments, like photos?"
I'm not sure. I wouldn't be surprised if I couldn't but I haven't heard anything about that so you might as well try!

12. "Did you end up buying a backpack or messenger bag in the MTC or is your mission one of the missions that doesn't want missionaries to carry anything because they get robbed so much?"
Yes, I bought a messenger bag. I hear we get robbed all the time, but I'm sure we'll need to bring a bag around with us. *****Trina's note: Gee, great.***

13. "Did you ever pass out those molded chocolates I made for your district? Did you get laughed at for having a wierd mom?"
Yeah, I handed some out but nobody in our room really wants them. I'm not gonna eat anything sweet while I'm hear and and we're helping my companion lost 30 pounds while he's here. That's our goal. Going good so far.

14. "Do you have a calling? Seems to me I was a Visiting Teacher while I was in the MTC. I can't remember if I was a Sunday School teacher too?"
Nope, we don't really have callings. We have a district leader, but that's it so far. Maybe I'll become something later while I'm here. Who knows. I may have to give a talk in Spanish on Sunday though. ha ha

15. "Calvin wants to know how the food is."
The food is pretty good. Everyone has a different opinion on the food, but everyone agrees it has certain 'side effects.'

16. "Brad wants to know how many dates you've been on so far. ha ha"
Tell Bradley I'll be going on the same amount of dates over the next 2 years as he will.

17. "How many times do you go to your mailbox each day? How many letters are you getting every day?"
Someone brings us our mail at lunch and dinner. Letters come at lunch and DearElders usually only come at dinner. (Usually)

18. "What's the name of your district? I was in 'Quetzequatl'."
I'm in District 49B. Not as creative as they used to be I guess.

19. "Do you guys have to take that driving class they used to have? Do the sisters still have that old make-up/etiquette class?"
No, there's not driving class and I don't know about the make-up class.

20. Do you ever read your letters to the other missionaries? I used to read Grandma Darla's letters aloud to some of the other sister missionaries while we ate because she would go into detail about some TV shows that we used to watch together before I entered the MTC. The other sisters loved hearing all of the details, especially when they didn't get any mail. Ok, so let me tell lyou what's been happening on "Dancing With The Stars" since I know you're dying to hear...ha ha"
No, unless there's something particularly funny.

Ok so that's my 20 answers! But I have a question for you. (Mom) I gave my passport to the travel services office today and a lady said they take it to SLC or something. And if I am missing stuff for my VISA they'll tell me what I'm missing. They do passports once a month or something. I don't know exactly how it all works, but I was wondering if you ever got my 3 birth certificates from Georgia. I think I need to get those postaled and signed by some important person or something. I was just wondering if you have any word on that, because I REALLY don't want to be stuck in here longer than I have to be.

Ok well, tell everyone thanks for writing me. Thanks for being such a great family! Tell Calvin, yes I am pretty much a professional now. Are you a ninja yet?

And tell Bradley not to worry about the night vision. It's classified.

And thank you for all of your prayers! I'm sending plenty back your way.

Love,
Elder Boice

April 5, 2008 letter arrived today

We hadn't heard from Cooper for over a week and began wondering what happened to our dear little missionary, when lo and behold, 2 letters arrived today! YAY! Here's the first one, dated April 5, 2008:

Dear family,

Today is Conference and we don't have any classes today, so I thought I'd take a minute to write.

Everything is still going well at the MTC and I'm learning a lot. I remember one Elder telling me when I first got here that he thought he'd learned more in his 9 weeks at the MTC than in the rest of his life. If that's true, then I'm in for a lot more.

Here's a funny story from last night. We had to set up chairs for Conference so when we got back to our room there wasn't enough time for us to read together like we usually do. We decided to all just share a scripture or thought so we could get to bed on time. I flipped around til I could find something to share, so I ended up talking about Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart..." After that my companion said "Now I know we were meant to be companions." He was gonna talk about the same scripture. My companion had said the same thing before, and he's right because there's no coincidences in the people we meet, but it was still a funny experience.

Thanks for writing me more than your parents wrote you, Dad. It's really great to have a father that I can look up to who supports me.

And Mom, that's really cool that your speech went so well in Las Vegas. I guess you guys really are moving to Vegas. And I got your transformer that you sent yesterday, along with a suitcase?! I thought that was kinda funnym, and I'm assuming it was your idea mom. :) Thanks though. I can always use it to bring more things home 2 years from now if I don't use it when I gon to Argentina.

Oh! So I sent an email onn my first P-day but I don't know if it was to the right address or if you still use it. I think my email address is cooperman88@myldsmail.net Let me know what email address you want me to send to, because apparently I'm only allowed to email family.

Oh and one more thing. I put it in the email but you might not have gotten the email so I'll remind you (Mom) again. Lauren said in one of her letters that you still hadn't give her that letter I wrote at Tera's house and asked you to give her. I can't remember what I wrote in the letter, but I'm sure it was a really good one! ha ha

I hope you're reading this out loud at the dinner table because if you are I can just see Calvin's face right now, either with an eyebrow raised or shaking his head with a slight smile. ****Trina's note: I DID give Lauren the letter and Calvin DID raise his eyebrow with a slight smile while I read this part about Lauren!****

Ok, well that's all for now. I love you all and my prayers are with you and I hope everything's ok. Adios!

Love,
Elder Boice

First email from Cooper

Woohoo! Cooper has finally set up his email account for his mission. They said it would take 7-10 days. Cooper's email address is: cooperman88@myldsmail.net
He'll only be able to get online once a week on Tuesdays while in the MTC, so if you email him you won't hear back for about a week. You can still use www.DearElder.com to write to him and he'll get those letters every day. Here's what his email had to say:


Hey Mom. I really hope this is your address that you still use cuz it seems like you always have about 30 different email addresses.

Well, I finally set up an email account because it's P-day. So I thought I would just say Hi really quick. Apparently we're only supposed to email family. I didn't know that. That kinda stinks. But I just sent a letter home so you should get it soon. I'm thinking you got the last one I sent on Saturday? I sent it Thursday morning. So I'm thinking mail takes 3 days to get there.

Thanks for writing me letters! I can finally understand why missionaries love letters from home so much and I've only been a missionary for a week!

Ok, well it's about time to go eat dinner, so I'm off. Chances are I won't see your reply until next Tuesday, (that is if I'm sending this to the right email address).
I love you, and I hope everything is going well at home! I'm doing just fine here so don't worry. Ok now I need to go eat dinner and then read the DearElder letters that I got today. I haven't read them yet! Adios por ahora!

Love,
Your son,
Elder Boice

Coop's letter on 4/1/08

Yay! Another letter from Cooper! Here it is:

"Dear family,
Hola! Today is my first P-day in the MTC. I did my laundry and then we went to the temple which was awesome.

Sorry I had to stop writing for a minute just now cuz one of the Elders in my room broke the heater. I don't know how. I mean he was just jumping up and down on it.

Anyways, the MTC is a great place because you learn so much so fast. I bore my testimony in Spanish on Sunday and we can already pray, meet people, and teach a little about the Gospel as well, all in Spanish. It's great to be here because of the Spirit here, but just like everyone else I can't wait to get to Argentina so we can get to work. The first full day ohere at the MTC seemed like the longest day of my life, but the days are starting to go by faster now.

As I'm writing, a giant slingshot has been built in our room out of elastic work-out bands. But don't worry, we stopped before one Elder thought it would be a good idea to start launching fruit.

Ok, back to the spiritual side of things. I can really feel the gift of tongues (el Don de Lenguas) because I'm learning the language really quickly and I've been able to remember pretty much all the Spanish that I've learned.

We have really great teachers here. Pretty much all of them are really young and have only been off their missions for a few years, which is really cool.

My companion's name is Elder Hatch and we're also rooming with an Elder Facer and an Elder Monson, and we're all from California except for Elder Monson (and no, he's not related to the prophet). One night after we read together we shared why we all came on missions, and we shared some really cool stories. The Elders I'm living with are all great and we're all working hard. We're also all going to Rosario, Argentina. I can't remember if I already told you that in the last letter. Oh, and thanks for all your letters! Tell Calvin I cried for hours after reading his. Well, I love you all and don't worry, I'll be writing every week.

Love,
Elder Boice

YAY! Our first letter from Cooper!

Yay! We finally got our first letter from Cooper! He wrote this the day after he entered the MTC. We're still waiting for him to set up his MTC email account, which they say takes 7-10 days. Until then, here is what Coop has to say:

March 27, 2008
Dear Boice Family, (I thought that was funny that he wrote to us like that)
Last night was my first night in the MTC. Yesterday was pretty crazy, and I hear the next couple days are gonna be crazy too. They say it's like being fed from a fire hose. We woke extra early today, so I have a little time to write before my first class of the day. From now on I'll only be able to wrte on my P-day, which is Tuesday.

I met my companion and I'm in a room with 3 other guys (Elders). They're all great, and there's a great spirit here at the MTC. I met my district yesterday. There's 10Elders in our district either going to Argentina or Costa Rica. Oh, and all 4 of us in my room are going to Argentina, Rosario, which is really cool. I haven't met any other rooms yet that are going to the exact same mission.

Also, if you're wondering, we get to set up email, but it might be up to 10 days before we do that. And I'm just remembering that you guys already heard that.

I hope you guys are all doing ok. I know it's only been a day or 2, but it feels like I'm in a whole different world. I hear this first week will be the slowest in my life, but after that the time starts to fly. Ok, well, sorry this letter isn't too long, but hopefully on P-days I have more time to write so I can give more details. I love you all, and tell Calvin that his letter was extremely emotional. I didn't know you could fit so much emotion on one page. Thank you everyone for giving me letters on my first day! They were great.

Love,
Elder Boice


(So that you readers will know, Calvin wrote this really silly letter to Cooper but on the outside of the envelope he said "Beware. This letter will make you cry.")