First real Letter

I debated what to do with this letter but I decided to include the whole thing for your purusal... forgive my having to type the whole thing. I have tried to keep it as close to how he wrote it as I could. So here goes and ... it is long! Hello Everyone! Here is my official first letter to all of the world as to how I am doing. To recap all of the time I have been on a mission we will start with day 1. February 6th: I got to the MTC, never to see my phone, or family again for the next two years. Excited and bewildered, I got out of the car, hugged everyone there (Molly, Matt, Gram!, my mom, and said goodbye to the chitlens. My heart raced as we went from place to place, unsewing the front pocket in my coat, and thanks to the lady with the seam ripper I now have an official hole in the pocket lining. Oh well. It will make it. The rest of the day we had a fireside kind of thing. They made us stand for where we were from. They told us that we were the first to be in the MTC 12 yes thats twelve days. And then we were shipped off to class rooms where we finihsed our week long day. Feb 7th: (keep up now) Day 2. We awoke after having met our companions the day before, we met our room mates that night and finished off with sleep. Day 2 started with class at 7:00 and we went until breakfast at 8:00 then, back to the class rooms for several hours until about 12:30 when they finally let us eat some lunch. Then back to class for another few hours until dinner at 17:30. Oh yay!... NOT! The day wan't over yet. After spending all day in that class room... Guess what! More class time. Yes... right up until 21 frekin 30! Ugh. I really dislike long days with a passion. When we got back to our "residences" at 21:30 we learned a new rule. Get this... No singing in the MTC! How am I suppose to make that happen? I had my ipod blasting in my head only two days before ALL DAY LONG!! If you can't tell... that rule was extremely hard to keep. We all want to sing and them telling us no was really hard. The day was really long and everything that happened that day was exciting and frustrating all at once. Days 3 and 4: Friday and Saturday were about the same. We got up that morning (friday) and began in the classroom as usual (by now anyway) and studied. After breakfast we studied more and then had some classroom instruction time. About the only thing that changed was we had meetings with our Branch President because they forgot the night before. (The forgetting thing happens more and more as time goes by I promise) The next best/worst thing that happened that day occured just before bed at about 21:30. Mail came! Personally I didn't see anything but my companion (who is a way cool guy) Got 3 packages, 4 letters and about 6 DEAR ELDER'S. It was way cool that he got as much as he did! He has some serious love going on there! So, now on to DAY 4. It all happened the same short of the mail. The Branch Presidency forgot about us again, so we were not only late to most all of our meetings but, we were unprepared too. (the whole forgetting thing gets really old, really fast) Day 5: Sunday. So, Sunday was a new experience. After all of our continueous studying, we were told to be at Sacrament Meeting an hour earlier because the Presidency needed to leave early. They forgot to mention that we were supposed to go to our other meetings an hour early as well and that they started in enought time to be there. We kept studying and when they did come get us, we were scolded for not being there. I officially love communication. When it is effective, things go well, when its not, you generally end up in trouble someone else puts you in. Its Great! (with a touch of sarcasm there!) The day then ended and we went on with life. Days 6-12: Beyond all the times I wont mention being forgotten this week, things went fairly smoothly. Gym is cool but nowhere near long enough, the food tasted great but dang I gained 2 inches around my waist in 12 DAYS!. Not cool. Day 13: Monday. THis is the day we enter the mission field. It was way cool! We left that morning about 6:00 and headed for the airport. That was entertaining. Security is cool... no stops there. next was into the terminal to wait. I called home and talked for about 15 minutes. Which was cool to hear my mom's voice. Things went pretty smoothly from there, we took an almost chartered jet from there to Tucson. I say almost chartered because there were 50 total seats on the plane and 29 of them were missionaries. Yeah. The Lord is hastening his work. When we arrived, it was a balmy 75 or so degrees outside and beautiful. Going from 20 to 75 really is awesome. It was really nice. After getting here, we went to the Mormon Batallion monument, which was cool, we took pictures there and then went to the Mission Office where we had lunch, and spent most of the rest of our day. After doing so, we went to the mission home where we had dinner, had a testimony meeting of sorts and then split and went to where we were supposed to sleep. There were 4 of us who stuck together throughout the MTC, and then through that night who had been the only 4 in our classroom who were going to Tucson the rest of the 12 (so the other 8) went to the Dallas Texas mission. Day 14: This was the day we found out who our Trainers were, and the area we were supposed to serve in for about 12 weeks (2 transfers) and be trained to do what missionaries do. This was also Preparation Day so we went shopping, emailed parents and just did P-Day things. The day ended pretty well, just another day. Day 15 - what ever today happens to be: I bought a bike some time on Saturday, ordered it on thursday. It is a Specialized Hardrock with disc brakes. It's green (kawasaki green) black and white. I bought a helmet and the coolest lock ever! The lock rolls up into a cylindar about the thickness of 2 hocky pucks thick (they call it the puck) Then the weekend hit and then monday came! P-Day was sweet! We went hiking today and it was awesome! We spent about 2 hours and 45 or so minutes round trip. We reached the summit just as the sun began to rise over the Eastern Horizon. It was truly a beautiful sight. We met some families later on in the after noon and one of them is like Uncle Zane! The one man we met is really cool. He is very skilled in Martial Arts. He also knows a lot of really cool health tips. So there you go! The summary over all is that the first few days both in the MTC and the field are slow, but then they begin to fly by. All things are good here. I have learned to make fresh bread, and tie a necktie in 5 seconds so there's that. Hope everyone is doing well! Please send letters! They are more of a support than you know! Just don't feel bad if it takes me a while to send one back. There isn't a whole lot of time in my day. I love you all dearly! Elder Klynton Frederick

In the Beginning

These are the pictures that came from Klynton's Mission President. One with him and his trainer and one with him and his mission president/wife.

March Week 1

Hey all!!! this week Has kind of been a mess, I really didn't get a whole lot of time to do much because of the work, there is much to say for spending time in different places. I have met a lot of friendly and unfriendly people. Much of my time is spent on a bike but thats normal for this area. The Ward here is HUGE and the congregation that actually comes it tiny.... oh well I'm not in Utah anymore Toto... well all is good here I only have a moment or two to tell you all what has been going on. I had an interesting experience this week with sunday... I HAD RIBS FOR DINNER!!!! thank you to the members who love me tons... they are really good... Unlike some other missions, We are actually assigned dinner appointments with the members so I spend that much less money on food. My companinon is amazing. He taught me how to make fresh bread and that saves a TON on food money too. There is so much I learn from him every day I really don't know how companions can get better... Sorry its short again... Hope all is going well!! Elder Klynton Frederick

Addendum

When his letter gets here I will try to get it on the blog so that all can read it.

Beginning of Week 2 in the Mission Field

Hey ALL!! So, All in all the mission field is amazing. There are hardships no one ever tells you about but at the same time there are more blessings than you can ever imagine pouring out of heaven. This week has been super interesting. I bought a bike and taught some people, there has been a lot going on that way other than you get kicked out a lot. there are some arrogant people on this planet holding out on their decision to really begin to think. oh well. Thank you all for your support! I really wish I had more time to tell you all about this week but I included this weeks summary in my letter my mom will have to post when it gets there in the mail. Thanks for everything you all do! You make this possible for me to keep going. Elder Klynton Frederick

First days in the land of Tucson!

Hey everyone!! Just thought I'd tell you that the weather is AMAZING down here!!! I'm telling you I swear I am moving here for college!!! So first actual story of the week. We arrived here in Tucson yesterday about noon or so and the first thing we did is went to the mission office and THEY FED US DECENT FOOD!!! (little victory there) anyway so after seeing the movie they created for us we got to play some games and really get to know the Presidents Assistants. They are really great elders. I cant tell you how excited I am for the work. By the way, for the sake of Liz, Your brother is my trainer!!! He is such a stud!!! I love him so much. Yeah, off track, after we played games we went to the mission home and we got dinner and then we proceeded throught the night with a testimony meeting a get to know me kind of thing where we filled out a piece of paper with things like what we liked to do and such. Then we split up and headed off to bed. Me and the other 3 elders who were in my MTC district who came to Tucson spent the night at a wonderful sisters house. It was really good of her to house us. Oh yesterday on the plane. Now here is something to think about. There were 29 of us who came to tucson for the mission. When we got on the plane it only had 50 seats. makes you wonder if the church just chartered the entire plane and then sold tickets to those who wanted them after... So its beautiful down here and I really can't wait to send pictures to you all!!! Hope everyone is doing well and everyone is happy! love you all super much!! Elder Klynton Frederick

First Email Home

Hey, I'm glad to hear things at home are going well, I really don't have any stories to share with you right now, the MTC is awesome, the people here are really good and things are going well. I'm sorry to hear that gram got a blood clot, thats terrible, she will be in my prayers! I love you all and just want you to know how much i care! I'm learning so much about the gospel. There is so much I don't know and so much that it takes to learn all of the things that you all now know. Oh by the way... YOU WHO WENT TO THE MTC!!! YOU ARE SO LIARS!!!!!!!! the time is terrible it passes so slowly. Yes its good but ugh it feels like its passing like cold tar in january. NO MORE LIES!!! its not easy but its definately worth it! Mom, I need you to send me all of the OA ceremonies. Get on to dear elder.com and send me a letter every day. the mail is picked up twice a day and its instant. they print it out right here in the bookstore mail room!! i expect to hear from you all. its making it really hard to go through out the day and not have anything to look forward to at night. I will only send handwritten letters on p-day and I can only email on p-day but I expect to hear from you. the other thing I need you to do is write down in your calendar on monday the 18th. that is when I fly out of Salt Lake and head in to the mission field. ya I know its soon but we are the front runner for the 12 day program they are trying. I will spend 12 weeks with my trainer and then i will get my first transfer. I will know more later but I do know that I will call in the morning about 8:00am or so. Please be ready. I love you and hope to hear from you soon! take care of yourself and let me know of anything else going on. I know the lord loves me and wants me to be out here. read D&C 100:12 I think that is the right one I know its in 100 but check it out it will be the comfort you need. love you tons!!!! Elder Klynton Sherman Frederick