NEW ADDRESS

I wanted to let everyone know that Dan is no longer in the MTC. He has been temporarily assigned to the Salt Lake City South Mission while he waits for his visa. He would really like to hear from everyone and promises to write back, his address is

Elder Dan Israel Lopez
8060 South 615 East
Sandy, UT 84070

He gets mail delivered every Monday, so, just write and send letters throughout the week and he will be amazingly happy when he gets to read all of them at once!

The following is from Dan's latest e-mail:

I have another update....I will be heading to Mexico on November 17th. So I will be in Utah until then....

I'm just shocked by how confident I am speaking Spanish, I just do it as if it were English now....one time (when I went on a companionship exchange for a few hours while my companions, the zone leaders, went to a training meeting) I was speaking it for so long, and around "Hispanics" that when I started speaking English, I sounded like someone from Miami or LA...I freaked out and have am speaking "proper" English now :).

Well, I started a letter to you, but since I couldn't finish it, I just thought I'd do everything through email for this week and then start writing letters and sending them to you concerning what happens after today, and until next P-Day (once again, Monday the 13th).

Ok, pretty much after we talked on the phone, things were CRAZY! Just throwing everything in the suit cases, going to our last classes and things, and then we were going to be off on Friday at 9AM. Friday morning was a little sad, saying goodbye to my new friends :(. But we're all going to keep in touch and so forth, but it's still sad. I can't imagine how hard it's going to be when you're with someone for three months, as opposed to two weeks!

Friday morning came, and me and one of my companions from the MTC (the other one going to Mexico, Elder Fuentes) were driven up to the mission home in Sandy. We didn't meet the President, we just met the Assistants and a few other workers who were there. They took a picture of us for their "wall" thing, and then had us write down our testimonies on this sheet of paper. Next thing we know, we were meeting our companions. First, Elder Garcia and Elder Nielson arrived, and Elder Nielson turned out to be a good friend from my English class! We talked and catched up a bit, and then the other two Elders came, Elders Aravena (from Chile) and Driggers (from Alabama). I was really hoping to be with my friend, but, as my luck goes....Elder Fuentes went with my friend, Matt, and I went with the other two.

Now I'm happy to be with them, but of course, that first day was a little awkward. Elder Driggers has been out for 21 months and Elder Aravena has been out for 15 months. That intimidated me even more, but now I am thankful because they are both experienced and I've learned a lot of things from them that I will take with me to Mexico.

Also, I met an Elder Torres from the companionship I went on exchanges with, he is basically like me but from Los Angeles, it's funny and I'm excited to go on exchanges with them again next week.

I'm running out of time, so I'll just tell you about Conference! Well, because Elder Driggers will be home before the next one in April, we got tickets to go and see the Priesthood session!!! Everyone was jealous of me and said I was really lucky, because that was my second day here, and you don't get to go, but because I was with two older missionaries, I got to go anyways!! We sat in the 4th row!!! RIGHT by the door where the Prophet and his counselors and the Apostles walk in! They were literally 15-20 feet away from me....Oh man, I almost started crying just being so close to them. Elder Perry even came up to us and shook a few hands (in the first row only) and said "you can teach 20 discussions a week!" Now that is a big number for this mission....and then later on he said "you can do 30!!" And when he was walking out after it was over, he said, pointing to us "30! 30! 30!" It was one of the most amazing experiences ever! The only downside was that I sat next to this HUGE Elder and so I couldn't move my right arm. But it was amazing none the less. I didn't get to take pictures though, so that was kind of sad :(...it's not allowed in the Conference Center, even though a ton of people around us where. Oh well.

Now for some experiences....I've taught about 5-6 lessons (I'm not sure) since Friday.....and frankly only 2 were satisfying. We taught to a few people that were already baptized, so that was a little awkward after they told us they were already members. But there was one last night, Gonzalo, oh man...when I bore my testimony to him at the end ( I taught him about prophets and Joseph Smith) I just started crying because the Spirit was testifying to me of the truthfulness of the things I was teaching. He seemed interested, a little bit hesitant when we invited him to church, and he said he would pray to ask if the things were true, and I'm just praying all day that he'll feel the spirit. I always ask you to pray for them, so that they can know. :) Any who, the work will go on! And there are people everywhere, we just have to look!

Please send letters!!! You don't know how happy they make me...emails are always good too, but letters are just better :). Tell me everything! I want to know it all! You can send pictures through email or create a flickr account and upload a whole bunch there.

I love you all and I'm so thankful for everything you've done for me in my life. Now it's my turn to give everything for you. Have an awesome week, and I hope to hear from you soon! I'll send a letter soon too!

Love,
Elder Dan Israel Lopez

MTC - Week 2

Friends, I have less than 2 minutes, so I just want you all to know that I'm doing awesome, and that I'm actually not going to Mexico for a while because of Visa waits. I'll probably be temporarily re-assigned to a Utah mission, but I'll keep you updated. For those who sent letters, thank you, I've sent return letters with pictures! They should get there soon, I hope :)
My email address for now is elderdanisraellopez@myldsmail.net... write to me here if you'd like.
Also, I will be writing a letter to my parents, that will be for you guys, so they should email you later this week with my "full" letter which includes a funny story...k ten seconds...cya
Elder Dan Israel Lopez

First Week

My awesome friends,Before I forget....I NEED PHYSICAL ADDRESSES...if you want me to write to you, of course :)....for at least the next two weeks, I won't be able to directly email, but I'm allowed to send it through my mom.
Well, the big red timer on the screen says I have a 5 minutes so I'll make it quick!
This first week has been absolutely unreal. Nerves, excitment, fear...all of those emotions mixed together plus lots of food, walking, make for a pretty amazing experience. As far as teaching lessons, in one week I've done so much more than I ever thought was possible, and I can only hope that the next two weeks will be as productive!
Now that I pretty much speak spanish only, it's amazing how quickly I'm forgetting some English words.....I refuse to come back speaking with a funny accent, but I'm sure you would all be thoroughly entertained :).
My companions are shy but they know their purpose and who they serve, and so that's really all that matters. They are going to Boise, Idaho, and Mexico City West (I'm going East). My district is AWESOME....when we're together, "shy" is thrown out the window!! Sometimes we're a little too roudy, but once again, they all have incredible testimonies and will do great things.
I've got to wrap it up for this week, but I'm going to pre-write my email for next week, and come up with some clever format that includes "funny story of the week"..."spiritual experience" and stuff like that. I just want all of you to know that I have a testimony of this gospel. I have no doubt of it's truthfulness and even though you're are not "full-time missionaries" you can do great things with missionary work to help out. Have a great week, until next week....
Elder Dan Israel Lopez