July 27, 2011 Letter and Photos

Hey everyone!!! 2 weeks in the mtc here in Peru and it is going great. If I look at my Spanish day by day I get really discouraged but it seems like everyday I catch myself talking in Spanish without even knowing or even thinking in Spanish. Today we went to the temple and wow it is such a difference from last time. I totally almost understood everything- not individual words but I got the gist of everything and it was great. I love you all so much. Tamra, I wish I could send Cade a personal letter but I can't get American stamps here so I'm really confined to just email for 1 more month till I'm in the field. Gosh I'm excited for that haha. So I want everyone to go watch The Best 2 Years. We started watching that today cuz we had permission till someone else told us we couldn't but in the first when they are all waking up- that is no joke. That noise in the morning is the worst part of the day. You feel like literally smashing your alarm clock just like in the movie. So Saturday we went out legit proselytizing, wow what an experience. I am so excited for the real mission, it will be the best thing in the world. I understood very little Spanish they were saying because they talk so fast but I can testify that the Church is true and I'm OK. Peru is so poverty stricken it's horrible. They are in cement buildings, no windows, dirt floors. I feel so bad for them and so blessed for my job and my house and everything that I have. With one of my paychecks at home I could literally buy a house here, it's crazy. The food seems to taste more and more better to me every day because I'm so hungry by the time meals come haha. But they are good meals I guess, same rice and meat every day haha. It's all good though. My hair is growing back slowly but surly. I miss it, I look like a goof but it's all good :) I got no one to impress in the MTC. Every day gets better and better, I can't wait to be like the missionaries leaving in a week and know so much Spanish. I'm very excited. Well everyone, enjoy America and be grateful for your trashy cars there cuz I won't be driving for 2 years sounds like. Be grateful for windows and heat and carpet. Be grateful for roads not covered in trash and 3 legged dogs. Be grateful for when you look out to the sidewalk from the bus you don't see a naked man sitting there. Funny story about that but I don't have much time haha. I love you all so much!!!!!!!!!! Love Elder Profaizer... hopefully in the field we have more then 30 minutess to email cuz this really stinks. Love u all!!!!!!!!!!!!

Flat Matt Goes Out for Chinese

Time for another Flat Matt Adventure. This time...out for chinese food! Mom, BriAnna, Jen and Sarah all met in Bountiful for some super delicious chinese food and a nice night with Flat Matt. The waitress was a little unnerved, she had recently returned home from her mission. It was great, he faced the whole rest of the restaurant and he got a lot of stares. We had a great time just visiting together. We ended up getting LOCKED in! The staff was fabulous, they just left us alone and didn't even tell us to leave. What a great night!
Mom and BriAnnaSarah

July 20, 2011 Photos

Peru Tample
Donde es mi gringo? Right here alongside his "5 foot nothing Peruvian" comp.
Is it just me or are all these white people a whole lot taller?
Fancy scriptures cases. Jesus in the garden on the bible and "Jose Smith" in the Sacred Grove on the B of M.
Our gringo in his Peruvian-wear
The gardens at the CCM (MTC)

July 20, 2011 Letter Home

Hey everyone!! Well I have successfully made it through the first week without getting food poisoning or diarrhea haha. I’m doing well I think, lol. Well let me tell you about this MTC, it is 100000% better then Provo!! I love it so much here. The food isn't always the best but it seems every day I seem to like it more haha, and the juice here is pure juices from fruit lol. No Welches here, haha. It’s got seed chunks and all that good stuff and every day its meat and rice haha, just with a different kind of sauce on it. I’m usually so hungry I don't care what it tastes like but if I load up on rice it always satisfies me:) My companion is a Latino straight from Guayaquil, ecuador. He is super awesome and mucho paciencia (very patient), he speaks slow and helps me understand what he is saying. I get so frustrated sometimes but he helps me. My Spanish has more then doubled since Provo, it is amazing what being 100% surrounded by it does for you. I really like it sometimes but when I talk to my english people it is SOOO nice because I don't struggle to get my point across- its not a giant game of charades, haha. We went to the temple today and wow what an experience in its self. They basically just let all of us lose on the streets so we catch these ghetto busses and work our way to the temple. The drivers are so crazy and we are stuffed in there like sardines haha. So soccer is huge here ya know? well us americans are totally into it now. Ha we suck sosososo bad but we make good defenders haha. We just fun at these 5 foot tall Latinos and yell and usually we can stop them before they pull a fancy move or kick the ball right between our legs haha. It’s so fun and they are constantly making fun of us but its ok we love them:) They walk around and when they can’t see us they always go ¨donde es mi gringo?´´ in English that is where is my white boy? Haha it’s funny they are all so patient with us and so nice. Momma Wetten is always on the look out for us white boys. Mamma Wetten is our MTC mom. I cut my knee on the turf field and she pulled me aside and told me all that I need to do so I don't get infection she is so loving and caring. She always is out there watching us and cheering us Americans on. I miss you all so much tell Sister Barton that my prayers are with her and Michael. I sure feel bad about that, it makes me so sad. Everyone- don’t send through dear elder to my email haha. It is a pain the regular email is so much better I think and easier to read. It was really nice to get a letter from Jen in the mail I’m the only one that has gotten one so far. Please tell grandpa that I love him so much and that I know where he is going is so much better then then this crazy world we live in. Everyone don’t be sad about him passing on. I’m going to try not to be. I know that this church is true and that this is Gods plan. I can’t wait to give people the comfort that I have when their loved ones pass on. I’m so happy where I am. I think about quitting when I get frustrated sometimes but then shortly after I feel the strength of God lifting me up and helping me. Tell Forest that I miss him a lot and to please write me- also Cody. I don’t know their email addresses. I love you all so so so much and I miss you more then anything. Pray for me to get this language thanks:) I love you:) LOVE Elder Profaizer

VITAL INFORMATION

For anyone interested in sending packages, do NOT send anything larger than a letter to the Peru CCM (aka MTC). Elder Profaizer will have to pay an outrageous fee of $70 to retrieve any packages. Wait until he is in Ecuador to send stuff. Thanks!

July 14, 2011 Letter from Peru

Hello everyone in the northern hemisphere. This place is incredible!!!!! Let me just tell you a little about my day yesterday. We all woke up at 4:30 to be at the travel office at 5:00 am then we went to the SLC airport to catch our 830 flight to Atlanta, Georgia. We had a 3 hr layover and I was able to call mom and dad. It was so great to hear their voices and talk to them about my experiences. We were scheduled to fly out at 5:30 so everyone boarded the plane and the air conditioning went out so we were all sitting on the airplane at the Atlanta airport for 2 hrs till we finally took off at 7:30. Then from there it was a 6 and a half hr flight to Peru. On the way there there was a lady that sat there and talked to me about the church for at least 2 hrs. She was asking so many questions and to my surprise I was able to answer them. The Spirit was with me so much. I explained to her the first vision and told her about el plan de salvacion (the plan of savlation) it was so awesome and I just felt like if this is how a mission will feel like I would never complain a day in my life cuz it was the greatest feeling. So we arrive at the Lima, Peru airport at about 1:30 or so and by the time we went though immigration and customs it was 2:45. Going though all that was easy though, they didn't even check our bags it was awesome its like they knew we weren't going to cause any problems. So we get out in the big area where we get picked up and there is a 5´ nothing Peruvian jumping up and down with a sign CCM which is the MTC in Spanish pretty much. We all got on a huge bus and started our journey to the CCM... one word for all of you GHETTO this town in soooo ghetto. Bars everywhere and spray paint and wow haha well I fell asleep on the bus and we got there at 3:15 about and as I was grabbing my bags a huge guy comes up behind me and picks me up........ and I hear in a gentle voice "hey elder." Right then I knew who it was. Elder Andrew Adams my roommate at snow. It was such a good sight to see him, I was so happy haha. Well by the time we got to sleep it was 4:00 and we were all up right at 6:30 this morning. Yuck we went and got breakfast and registered. Then the worst part of my day........ they sent everyone upstairs and shaved our heads. I guess a few weeks ago they had a lice scare so they shave all of our heads to like 1/4 inch hair. Its nice but I look funny haha. So it is winter here and the Latinos are all in scarfs and stuff and we are chilling in out short sleeves haha I love it. The humidity doesn't bug me to much. But it is a constant mist of water floating in the air. Its perfect weather out here. I have a feeling I'm going to love it here. the CCM is so beautiful with pretty plants and nice people. My companion is totally Spanish and I have no idea what's being said haha. We spent the whole morning him trying to explain to me where the iron was. This will be interesting for sure... in other words I'm screwed haha. Oh well I guess I can do it:) oh a quick note DON'T SEND ME PACKAGES it will cost me 70 american dollars just to pick it up. haha I love you all so much. Thank you for your wonderful support and now I'm running outta time so I'm going to go lay down and catch up on some much needed rest. love you guys:) LoVe, ElDeR PrOfAiZeR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PHOTOS!

Not sure the story behind all of these photos, they all came fast and furious in one email after the arrival to Peru CCM (MTC.)
I sort of know the story behind this one...I think this girl must be "Charlotte." A new elder arrived from Georgia and has a girlfriend named Charlotte. Matthew and the other guys stole her picture and put their pictures in the frame. They were totally trying to loosen up this new missionary and finally helped this poor guy that it's ok to have fun at the MTC.
***Mom's story (she knows the real story):
Story of Charlotte. One of the elders took a picture of himself (it may have been Matthew, unclear on this) in the same pose as Charlotte and they printed and replaced it in the frame. The tie is from Charlotte and it was the only one the elder would wear. Matthew's guys stole CHarlottes picture and the tie. The elder came banging on their door demanding his picture as they knew he would. They told him he could have Charlotte and his precious tie back if he would sing a hymn for them. He relented, let his anger go and sang the song. They rewarded him with the picture, tie and a box of Jr. Mints. They all laughed, broke the ice and the new elder went away friends.

Somehow I can't think that passing gas or urinating in the bathroom is an issue for the sisters.
Matthew's "guns" are bigger than everyone elses.
Love those smiles!
Temple Trip -Provo Temple.
Elder Pro is the fourth from the right. Apparently he is the short guy in the group.

Welcome to PERU!
Peru CCM
Looks like a great way to start the stay at the CCM!


Oh no, our poor boy had to get a new "do" due to some recent lice outbreaks at the Peru CCM. For a boy so particular of his hair, this is a bummer. He doesn't look too thrilled either does he?
Uber-short.



Hard to believe our Elder is on the opposite side of the earth. Best of luck!

Jen's First Handwritten Letter

Dear Jen,

The week has gone great. I am learning a lot. I am enjoying it. Kinda. I'm having a hard time getting over my life at home. I don't miss it but I would rather be working there than here but I'm sure that that will go away eventually. I am starting to learn the language. I can understand it and speak it very little. (Something illegible written here. ?) It will come. Tell the kids I love them lots and that I miss them a ton. Tell Jaiden that this really is an amazing place and he has to come. I think I should take him up camping sometime when I get back. We'll have man time. About fast Sunday, it was bad. The classes weren't good, the speakers weren't good, and after fasting all that time, we got a little hard piece of meat and fake cold potatoes. It really was a bummer and a let down. I leave to Peru on Wednesday so I probably won't get another hand written letter out to anyone so that's why I am sending everyone a personal one. First off, thank you so much for the package and the fudge. It all tastes so good and my carry on bag is packed for Peru with good American candy. Tell Makynlee and Tessa I loved their pictures. They are such good artists. Tell BriAnna to stay away from all them crazy teenage boys I once was. I'm no longer there to keep an eye out for you guys. She's a good girl though. I did get a dearelder from Cody but I need an email address so I can write him. Well Jen, I love you lots. Thank you so much for all your love and support. Love Elder Profaizer.

Letter from Elder Profaizer

***note: this was carefully edited for easy reading. Enjoy the growing testimony of our missionary!

Hello everyone:) This is elder Profaizer reporting from the Provo MTC for the last time ever!!! whoop whoop!! I am leaving to Peru on Wednesday morning and I am SO excited this week as been so very successful. I'm still struggling with the language and stuff but that is fine I'm finally use to the food and am feeling much better. I was able to stay healthy through a lot of my district being sick thanks to a lot of vitamin C. This week we got our progressive investigator Fidel to get baptized even though they are just characters played by the teachers they are 100% in character of someone that they taught on their mission so its not easy to convert them. It was our 4th lesson and it was going pretty badly. At first I couldn't speak the language so I just listen and pick out the words I can and at the end it was quiet and I just got the Spirit with me and I bore my testimony in Spanish it was broken but the Spirit was there to convey my message and the truthfulness of it. When I got done testifying of it, mi compñaro asked if he would attend a baptism with us so he could know what it was like and he just straight up said, "well.... when is my baptism?" And I felt so accomplished cuz b4 that the lesson was going so bad. It was such an awesome experience. I've never had the Lord and Spirit with me so much. I'm so in love with this all. It's tough and the food seems to get worse every day. I'm so sick of chicken burgers. but its alright just a little bit longer and it's beans and rice ha-ha yay!!!!!!!! not..... but hey everyone that sent me packages. THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH my whole carry-on suitcase has so much candy and American jerky in it for Peru. Those packages and pics from the kids were so great thank you so so so so much it means so much to me, you all are so great. All of you have personal letters coming in the mail after I finish them after this.
So the MTC on the 4th of July....... hahaha mom no we do not get the day off are u joking? LOL.. 9 hrs of class and all that still. Saturday we did get to stay up past 1030 and go out and watch the byu stadium fireworks. Too bad I could hear the Brady Paisley concert. I miss country music so much. I really don't miss my phone although i would like to be in contact with people a little more but the phone was easy to leave for me. I just miss good old country music and working at Allreds.
Next week I'm sure I will have MUCHO MAS Information por usted on the Peru MTC. (p.s that was a little bit of Spanish haha)
Yó sa qúe y la iglasia de jesucristo de los santos de los últimos días is la veda iglasia. ( i know that the church of jesus christ of latter day saints is the true chuch) im not sure the spelling on veda but it meant true. I love you all so much you are all giving me so much strength through your prayers thank you so much. I love you:)
Love your son, brother, friend, your missionary, Love, Elder Profaizer:)

Our boy, the missionary!

Top Row Elders - O Born, Tomson, Christenson, Profaizer, Anderson, Ashcroft, Connoly
Bottom Row Elders - Morray, Martell, Johnson, Shipley, Whitney
Elders - Anderson, Whitney, Johnson, Profaizer

A Mom's Thoughts

Matthew has been gone now a little over two weeks and it is really starting to sink in. Two weeks is nothing but it has felt like an eternity. I find myself clicking to my e-mail several times on Friday waiting for a letter. We were very happy to find a hand written letter in the mail a few days ago. I never thought that chicken scratches could look so good! He is loving his time in the MTC except for sitting in class for 10 hrs a day. He is super excited to be heading for Peru next Wed. One thought that I want to include in our blog is his comments about city kids. Matthew has always been frustrated with city kids that don't have a brain in their heads when it comes to mechanics. He loves to tinker and destroy then build and always has since he was a very little boy. In his letter, he stated that he was sick of the city kids cause there was no one that had a clue how to talk "cars". He is hungry to talk cars and fixing things. I have assured him that he will have plenty of opportunity to help families get their old junkers running or to pound nails in families homes. I think he will thrive when he gets to Ecuador and sees the needs that he can help with. He loves, absolutely loves, hard work and he will have lots of opportunity to put that to work. My heart is full and very tender as I write with the pride only a mother can feel for this fine young man and his desire to serve the Lord. Mom

Future Missionary

Ever since Matthew got his call he has inspired many little nephews that this is the path they will follow. I don't know if Matthew knows how much influence he has on these boys lives. Sunday they talked about missionary work in Primary. Parker was so excited because he has both an uncle and grandparents out on a mission. He was so excited to get a missionary badge and wore it proudly.Then he wrote Matthew a letter. We will be sending this to him when he gets to Peru.
I am so grateful that Matthew has made this decision and is worthy to serve a mission. He has touched many lives by his example. Not just the people in Ecuador but the family and friends here at home as well.

Kim

Powerful Deep Thoughts...

I have been having a lot of deep thoughts roll around in my head as of late (trust me it's scary in there!) I don't know if it's because of this whole new mission experience or dad's job loss or grandpa dying. I think it's a combination of everything together. It's all had me reflecting on a talk I heard Andy Horton give on his "After Graduation" CD. I happen to own a copy of the book and am now so grateful I have it. He talks about the concept of "time" and uses a few scriptural references to back it up (Abraham 3:4 and 2Peter 3:8.) It's still an unknown for sure but I think the whole idea behind it is very powerful and I thought I'd share it here. We have heard that 1,000 years for us here on earth is equal to about a day in the Lord's time. Bro. Horton did that math and figured out a few things:
*42 earth years is 1 hour Lord's time
*1 earth year is 1.44 minutes of Lord's time
*1 day is .24 seconds
*1 Hour is .01 seconds
You get the idea right? So if we lived to the average life expectancy age of 75 then we leave this earth a mere 1 hour and 48 minutes old. Not much in the GRAND scheme of things eh? He did some other calculations that I think are so fascinating:
*You will be 26 minutes old when you graduate HS
*HS lasts 5.76 minutes
*You will be a teenager for 10.08 minutes
*You will spend less than 15 seconds in the MTC
*A 2 year mission lasts 2 minutes and 53 seconds.
*Not serving a mission will last forever.
*The most important thing that any member of the church ever does in this world, which is to "marry the right person, in the right place, by the right authority" will take about .01 seconds.
*You can earn a 4 year college degree in about 6 minutes, 10-12 minutes if you want to be a doctor or lawyer.

Brother Horton goes on to quote Elder Robert D. Hales, "There is a time and season for all of our decisions. Make sure you make decisions in the proper time and season. All of these life-altering decisions will be made in a very busy, relatively short period during your 20's...the decade of decision." He goes on to say, "Many of the decisions you make or don't make will have eternal consequences."


Brother Horton shared this, "If 2 thousand years to us is only two days to the Lord, then it was just over 2 days ago that our Lord and Savior "suffered so much pain, indescribable anguish, and overpowering torture for our sake. It was only 2 days ago that He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He took upon Himself all the sins of all other mortals which caused Him to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit. Since the Atonement was so recent to the Savior and Heavenly Father, we can be sure that they can truly relate to the temptations, trials, pains, and pressures we experience daily. Maybe this will increase our faith as we pray each day and night that they will "ease our burdens which are put upon our shoulders" so that we will know "of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions" (Mosiah 24:14)."

President Brigham Young once stated, "It was revealed to me in the commencement of the Church, that the Church would spread, prosper, grow, and extend, and that in proportion to the spread of the gospel among the nations of the world so would the power of Satan rise." This is an exciting and yet terrifying statement. I hope we are all worthy of the task ahead of us as we raise the kids we have. After all, we only get roughly 1 hour and 48 minutes (unless you are a Profaizer or Hendricks and you might get a few added minutes.) LOL!

Flat Matt Adventures Begin!

Meet Flat Matt. Everyone knows the story about Flat Stanley who gets squished by a bulletin board while he sleeps. He is then able to fit in an envelope and can be mailed and travel the world. We have our own family version of Flat Stanely...Meet Flat Matt. He will be joining our family adventures over the next two years while Elder Profaizer is serving the Lord in Ecuador. Just a little something fun the family is doing to stay happy and excited while Matthew is gone.

Flat Matt's first big holiday since leaving two weeks ago, was a trip to the Brigham City fireworks for the 4th of July.
Lounging with BriAnna and Jaiden while waiting for the show begins. Flat Matt isn't a big conversationalist but he is sure is cute and he gets a LOT of comments wherever he goes. Mom tried to get him to tell them where he wanted to eat for dinner on the way to Brigham but oddly- he had no opinion. Go figure.At the park with some of the fam. Mom, Jaiden, BriAnna, Flat Matt, Dad and Daryl.
Such a handsome addition to the group. He certainly attracted a lot of attention.
Tessa and Makynlee, ready to watch the fireworks with Uncle Flat Matt.

This is going to be a fun few years as we watch all the places Flat Matt goes while real Matthew is in Ecuador. Stay tuned...Flat Matt will be going to the cabin in Island Park, see Kim when she delivers her new baby and help Tam move in to their new house. We really don't think Flat Matt will visit the Crook house as Daryl is too big a brat and likes to cause a heart attack by moving him around and scaring me. We'll see what happens with that.

What a great way to celebrate the birth of our great nation!

Beware the hand written letters.

So Matthew sent mom and Dad some great pics of him and his roommates and the other guys going to the same mission with a hand written letter. I read his emails and I do admit he has grown so much. Yet somehow his handwriting looks worse than any humans I have ever seen. lol I hope mom scans it and puts it on here. It really does look like chicken scratches. Poor Matthew maybe his spanish writing will be better. :(

July 1, 2011

This is the email Mom and Dad got today. Wow, the spelling is horrific and it totally makes me want to cry but considering he gets a whopping 30 minutes to spill all his thoughts, it could be worse. I got the go-ahead to post this on the blog. Can everyone just feel the excitement?

"Dear Family!!
so its my first P-day wow its been great. i woke up at 6:30 prayed and went back to sleep till 8;15 its nice to get a little more rest. we are inbetween doing laundry right now so its time to write to everyone well its kinda hard to email everyone seperate so i am compiling all the letters into one long letter. and mom can forward it to everone.
well i got my travel itenerary yesterday WOOOOOO im so stoked we fly out aty 11:00 july 13 to Atlanta, then to lima puru from there. im so happy i cant even sayYES!!! sorry for the sloppy spelling i dont have alot of time so i have to hurry.
First off THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PACKAGE i loved it!!! and the pictures were awesome. im so happy you sent me some. and of my truck and car haha that made me way happy:) Feel free to send as many more as u want. Beef jerky would be awesome:)
I saw elizabeth the other day and we said hi and she told me and my comp about the choir so we went to that and it was awesome the director is SOOO funny. he is just like Brian Reagen. i also saw Kelsy Facer coming right in and welcomed her to the greatest place on earth. minus 10hrs a day in class haha but the spanish.......... hmmmm its comeing slowly but surely. it is just like being 5 again trying to learn how to read but this time i have to speak it too. and i suck with grammer and all that i know how to say like 30 things and thats it. not enought at all to know even half of whats going on but im able to pick out certain words and get the just of what ppl are saying. well my comp got moved up to intermediat so i got put with the 2 other guys from my room so we are a trio and its awesome Elder Whitney and Elder Anderson are great they know some spanish and are helpin me so much. im right in that spot inbetween spanish and english so i cant speek or write full english or spansh im always spelling english words in spanish its funny sometime like we were talkin about jesus christ and i automaticly was like who is that because jesus christ is JesuChristo it sounds like HesoCresto so thats messing me up everywhere haha oh well
the MTC is great the food here is good i guess haha untill the food leaves your bodyi got SO MUCH GAS haha its way funny cuz everyone does haha. jaiden the food tasts good tho so dont worry when u come u will love it. i eat like 3 or 4 plates of food a meal and at least 4 diet cokes per meal. its GREAT.
Dad
That box undermy bed is just filled with keep sakes and the heavyness is just a huge bag with thousads of pennys i have never cashed in for like 5 years. dont cash them in tho im just collectin them till im old. i should have alot buy then. jsut put in on a shelf up outta the way so kids dont get in it.
I have seen Elder Barton in the MTC several times and talked wit him. he is doing well it seems like.
My branch Pres says that Dear elder is the best way. to send me letters so please keep doing that becaause then i dont wast my 30 mins reading i can just write so thats very helpful.
Nieces and Nephews this is for you. GO ON MISSIONS they are great and also please send me stuff pictures, notes, anything. when our districk leader comes in with mail it is the happiest time of my day so please send lots it makes me so happy. i miss you all so much i expect bug hugs and kisses when i get home ok!!
To the rest of you the same applys. i love letters haha and packages;) the suger is limited here so that kinda sucks i eat more fruit then i ever have. I love you all so much!!!!!! thank you for all your great support:) hope to hear from you soon.
Loe Elder Profaizer"