10/27/09 Flags and snow

10/27/09
Dad,
I don't know whats up, but the picture (of Samantha) didn't go through.

I also already know about mom's moment, because she told me as well as Carissa.

And speaking of pictures, I have zero pictures of anybody, so next package, make sure to send some Wight Family Classics. As well as my mission pic of me jumping over the creek.

Pretty normal week this week, nothing much to say, except the older Russian elders started SYL which is they have to Speak Your Language 100% of the time to other people that know Russian. and its for the last two weeks. NOT THE WHOLE TIME. (Jeff bet Blake that he would have to speak Russian the entire time he was there after a couple of days), hahaha. I win. Life is good here.

I think I will be sending a memory card today, so you can download those pictures and sort through them. I can't think of anything more to say at the moment, so, until next week!

Love,
-Blake


Mom,
I think i will send the memory card today, I don't have, like perfect pictures of everybody, but you can at least see the people in my district.

I really appreciate that last package, I used the tape to finally put up the flag in our room. I hope it stays.The daily box deal is pretty exciting everyday. hahaha .

If you could get me the address of the Clint Carters, that would be nice, they got me a package, and I threw away the box. Same thing with a letter from Grandpa Sensenbach. If you could send those in the next letter so I could write them back, that would be nice.

Today it was snowing when we left the temple, so our district photo shoot was shortened to just jumping pictures outside. Next week we plan on having a stylish winter picture shoot, so we'll get some good shots. Pretty normal week otherwise. not much to say.

Oh, the older group started SYL yesterday, read dad's email to find out what that is, I only have so much time.

I'd like this part I'm about to write to go out TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO SAID THEY'D WRITE. Letters are exciting, and its like Christmas morning getting letters, especially from your friends. SO GET OFF FACEBOOK RIGHT NOW AND WRITE ME A DANG LETTER. hahaha =D

I love you mom... everybody too... and even those who haven't written yet.

я люблю вас!

-Blake Wight

Broken Alarm Clock, What?! Already?

Dear Mother (crossed out) ...Family,

I don't have much to write to you about, outside of what is in my e-mails, which also isn't much. I really am loving the package though.

It's starting to get winter-cold here as of today, yesterday and Sunday were pretty warm, but today it just keeps getting colder. Which reminds me, MY JACKET (which I have already sent to him, don't worry) please send it! And the other few things I asked for besides stamps, thanks.

Russian is coming along, but I'm no pro. My companion, is remembering words and keeping up, but his accent needs some work. I'm trying to remind him of pronunciation and stessing the correct vowels of words, overall- it's going well.

I broke my alarm clock already. I'm on the top bunk and I put my alarm clock on the closet. One night I put it too close to the edge and in the morning, it fell and broke. Crap. (My mom and dad were down in Provo and bought him a new one and dropped it off at some MTC drop box).

Anyways, love you MOM! and Dad! And children. hahahaha
Then he wrote I love you in Russian.

Roommates and Blaze's death

10/20/09
This first letter is to Jeff the second to me (Rachael)
Hope you enjoy..

I thoroughly enjoyed the joke. After I received your message about Blaze, I had some trouble not crying. It made me really think of home, and I think brought my first bit of homesickness, hopefully the last.

Things are great here. I'll tell you about the other elders in my district. Elder Breedlove- super happy guy, that wants to be a freelance "navy seal trained" spy-like guy. I dunno, he is really funny though and is one of my roommates.

His companion is Elder Waite- played lacrosse for SVU, has a girlfriend he expects will not wait for him, no matter how much she says she will. I don't think he will be too disappointed when it happens, not because she isn't great, just because he knows it'll happen. hahaha. He is very realistic.

Elder Brown- this guy has some amazing experiences, super responsible, and my DL. His dad died three and a half years ago. He visited China for two weeks just before he got here. He has worked one of those "Deadliest Catch" boats, and has some pretty cool experiences about that. He made 15 grand in two months!

His companion is elder Weihing, said like "wine" he is a short guy that is pretty good at basketball, although he broke both wrists playing once. One wrist has metal plates, screws, the whole nine yards, pretty gnarly. He is a really nice guy.

There are two sisters in our district, but I don't know much about them though. Sister Dungan is from Hillsboro, is a teacher and has taught in Russia and Ethiopia. sister Hanson's dad is an archeologist, and she herself has led some digs, pretty fun stuff.

Dear elder is probably best, but both is better. if you have to pick one, definitely do dear elder, because I only get 30 minutes on the computer. Loved the picture.

Love
-Blake


Mom,

I remember that one time at DQ, , and I don't know if I'd trust it either. ( I wrote him about our FHE and how we had gone to Dairy Queen afterwards, but I was a little weary because the last time, when I took Blake and Mitch, the icecream was spoiled and tasted horrible)

Life is good here, I haven't gained any weight... I don't think. Today I got the chance to go to an endowment session with some "natives" from russia/ukraine that come here to help us learn. They don't have temples over there, so it was pretty cool because they received their endowments. There are I think nine of them, five sisters and four Elders.

That package with the date things is a really good idea, and it will be a good extra little boost to look forward to the next day. Here the days seem to fly by, it seems that just a few days ago, I was writing you my first letter, and BAM, I'm already on week two!

I hope Braden is having fun, you will have to keep me posted on how things are for him up there in the far north. hahaha.

I got my first taste of homesickness when I got the letter about Blaze dying. It made me realize how much I miss Thunder. There is nothing like the feeling you get from a dog here, and I definitely miss it. Anyways, I'm about out of time, I spent most of my time on dad's letter, so you'll have to read that one too, I forgot to CC that one.

Love- Blake

Sundays... and finally, "the code"

10/13/09
This is Blake's first "letter, letter" home. It is so great to hear he is having a great experience. Enjoy...

The MTC is awesome! I'll answer some questions you asked. Sacrament meeting is cool, one elder and one sister each give a talk in Russian! They are 3-5 minutes long. Oh and we are a branch, all Russian/Ukraine Elders/Sisters. The sacrament prayers are in Russian also, but you receive the assignment earlier in the week. After the Russian talks, one of the branch Presidency's wives speaks, and then one of the Branch Presidency. Everything but announcements and the Presidency's wife's talk are in Russian. It's very cool. Sunday is by far the best day, it's more relaxing, but still we learn a lot. We have devotionals on Sunday and P-day (Tuesdays). The one on Sunday was very good. After devotional we can either study or watch some church films. We watched The Testaments, which in my opinion, is amazing.
Next, the phone code is my birthday, hahahaha, but you already figured that out... (A little explanation is in order. Blake ceremoniously handed the "kids phone" over to Samantha the night he was set apart. He had put a security code on it. He never had a code on it before, so the first week everyday I would ask Blake to make sure and tell me the code so Samantha could use the phone while in San Fransisco. She finally figured it out on the last day of her trip. The stinker....)
Also my companion's address is exactly the same as mine, you just address it to Elder Daniel Mount, instead of me. (I asked for it for surprise package I was sending)
Some things I could use here-stamps and envelopes and a jacket for p-day, that's it for now I believe. And pictures!
My district is very cool, they are all great Elders and Sisters. Sister Dungan in my district is from Hillsboro, which was cool.
Some things we aren't allowed to say here, "dude", "guy", or "awesome". I didn't realize how often I say them. The branch is very "delightful", (delightful is our district's substitute for awesome). Our theme is 100% obedience, which is very cool. Our Branch President came into our classroom during MDT (Missionary Directed Time) and talked with us. I'm glad we have him. Anyways, the language is coming along great, the spirit is strong here, my companion and I get along, its great!
Just a reminder, put up my address and box number on the group and make it clear I have no addresses. (That means he can't write you until you write him.) E-mail is also JUST (underlined 3 times) for family, which I didn't know. Tell people I would love to hear from them!
Well I love you Mom, & also everybody else.

Then he writes I love you (plural) in Russian and his name in Russian. (I have GOT to get a fancy language program so I can type in Russian because it looks way cool!)

P.S. Send a roll of clear or masking tape.

Mom writing again...
I know he would really like a picture of all of his friends and family, so would you please send me a 4x6 picture of you to our home. 7973 SW 189th Ave. Aloha OR 97007 I am putting together a small, friends and family photo album. I would like to send it soon. E-mailing me would work too. Rachael.Wight@gmail.com

THANK YOU!!!

Blake's first P-day!

Hey mom!

1st p-day here in the MTC, which is tuesday... Anyways, the MTC is great, the first few days are pretty rough, but definitely good. Sunday is by far my favorite day here. On P-days, I only get an half hour to use email, and email is for writing to family only. So everybody will have to just write me regular old letters. BTW i hope you have put up my address on the Facebook group. And if you would, send the group a message letting them know you posted the first letter, and that I would really like letters, it really is great to hear from home. I recommend Dear Elder. I miss everybody from home, but I haven't really felt home sick... yet. I have already written a real letter before using this email, so i will probably write the same things twice.

So far my favorite letter is the one that dad wrote explaining casey's hunt. The part when he wrote out the monologue. that made me laugh. I read it out to my district and they thought it was pretty funny too. That is SO Casey.

Melinda was right about food here, it seems like we are CONSTANTLY eating, dinner and lunch are like 4 hours apart. The food here is alright, but the choices are not the most healthy, its hard to try and find the right things so eat so i dont swell up like a balloon. It also stinks that we don't get a whole tone of time at gym. its still fun, but it feels like i don't get a good enough workout sometimes...

I am grateful to you and dad for getting me out so i love doing other things besides living a lazy-mans dream. My companion is twenty one, and decided life stunk, and decided to serve a mission. I try and help him out a lot.

Anyways, I'm sending my letter letter today, so we'll see how long it takes.

I love you mom... and everybody else.
Blake

The Beginning....

Well, Elder Blake was successfully snatched from Delta Airlines this morning at 9:05 a.m. He looked just like a missionary should! He had a grin from ear to ear and you could tell that he was excited. He was starving and tired however. We took him to breakfast and brought him up to our house for a quick snooze. Then, we zoomed out the door and booked it to Provo. We met Blake's Uncle Gary Wight and had a QUICK lunch. Elder Blake inhaled his hamburger and we were off to the MTC. It looked like a traffic jam as we pulled into the designated spot. There were missionaries everywhere directing traffic and welcoming the new Elders. They were wonderful! They had great smiles and just had a loving spirit about them. There was no Huge rush as we had been told. Elder Blake gave them the paperwork they needed and they helped Grandpa Carter and Gary lift the suitcases out of the trunk. (Grandma Carter was crying) (This was an integrual part of the goodbye) The MTC Elders were happy and told Elder Blake how happy he would be here. We all were able to hug him and take this last picture before they walked away toward his new adventure. He was truly in God's hands at that moment. It was wonderful and I am so grateful that Grandpa and I were able to be a part of it! Love, Mom (Grandma Carter)