Wednesday, March 28, 2012

David Archuleta enters the MTC

Dear Family,
How is it going?!?! Everything is going awesome here!! Despite the Visas not being here we
are doing awesome!!! LOL  so David Archuleta is coming in today! HAHA
every week there has been rumors that he is coming in, but it isn’t a
rumor this time, I figured out for sure. Haha he is staying in our
residence hall too!! HAHAHA I was pretty sad to hear about Brother
Price and Travis Butcher:( I hope they are doing ok! Can you get me a
way to contact Travis? I feel really strongly that I should write him
a letter! Thanks.
  Wow that is crazy about everyone getting married!!!!! I can't
believe it!!! I was counting last night and that is like 5? HAHA I
don't know!!!
So last night we had a devotional and it was someone from the 70. His
talk was awesome!! I learned so much about revelation and the Book of
Mormon and everything!!!  It was awesome!! I realized that we have our
own personal Liahona and it is the spirit and the Book of Mormon
together!! Just like Lehi and Nephi couldn't understand the directions
when the people were being wicked, we can’t understand or receive
revelation when we don’t have the spirit with us!!! I have really
been working on following the spirit all the time!!!
  Nate looks good!! Haha Kade is way taller, lol!!! I bet he was an
awesome missionary, and I can't wait to hear from him!!! Lol when you
told me the story about Chandler being able to count to 10 and then he
ran and jumped in your arms and asked for a treat I laughed so
hard!!!!! HAHAHAHA
The house looks awesome!!!I am glad that you are going to the cabin
this week! That will be way fun!!! That is really awesome that track
and everything is going so good for Kade and Karigan! I was pretty
stoked when I heard Kade got 6!! He better get 6'2" soon!!!
 So how is everything going at home? Pretty busy I am guessing between
everything that is going on and what not!!!  So I ran into Elder
Riggs!! I was just sitting outside on a bench and out of the corner of
my eye I saw someone that was walking like Elder Riggs. LOL So I
sprinted over there and tackled him. lol He was so happy to see me and
so was I! He is doing awesome! The Spanish is going great for him and
he likes it! LOL Everyone likes it though because the spirit is so
strong here!!! You can tell that he is going to be an awesome
missionary!!!!!
  Oh I got the package thank you!!! It was awesome!! I was so happy to
hear about Brother Boyd teaching the class! That is awesome to see
such progress! I can't wait to see it in the field!!!! This work is
awesome, and is the best thing I could possibly be doing!! I love it!!
I love having my testimony strengthen every day!! I love spending
time in the Book of Mormon!! I learn so much every DAYY!!! Love all of
you!!! Good luck with everything!! Love Elder Eppich

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Esta Semana ha Sido Marvillosa!

**Elder Eppich is still in Provo MTC awaiting his Visa. He was suppose to leave for Argentina March 12th. Only 4 of the 16 that were suppose to leave for the BAW mission on March 12th have left. Including his companion. He appreciates all those who have been writing him. http://www.dearelder.com/ is the best way now to write him because it is delievered the same day if it received online before noon. Please call or text me at 509-318-0796 if you have questions.

March 21, 2012

Hola Familia,

Esta semana ha sido marvillosa! It was an awesome week!!!! So guess
what, I have now heard from 4 apostles since I have been here and the
whole 1st presidency of the 70!!! I have been pretty lucky!! Last
night Elder Oaks came and spoke to us!! It was awesome! He spoke about
the importance of having the spirit with us all the time, because it
is impossible to teach without the spirit!! I know that is true for a
fact!!! We talked a lot about what we have to do to have the spirit and
what we need to do to keep it. Pretty much everything we need to know
is in the sacrament prayers and it is so important that we partake of
the sacrament worthily!!! I am definitely going to work on that, because
the spirit is so crucial in lessons!!!
  Well this week we haven't been learning any new Spanish because we
have all of the grammar principles....( Haha quick side note, there is
this elder I am sitting next to that is flirting hard core with these
sisters and I am laughing so hard!!!! )  So instead of Spanish grammar
(Haha he just deleted some girls email cause he was trying to
showoff) well we do contacting outside in the campus to the other
missionaries! It is so fun because it actually feels pretty real!!!
Well then afterwards we saw a construction worker that looked like he
spoke Spanish, so we went and decided to talk to him (Elder Hougaard
and I) we spoke all in Spanish and he wasn’t a member so we shared a
quick message with him about families and the Book of Mormon and bore
testimony! He loved it! He said he has lots of Mormon friends, but
none had really invited him to listen to a message, so we got his
address and are sending missionaries when he gets home, he is working
for a couple more weeks then going back to California with his
family. We gave him a Mormon.Org card and have a Book of Mormon for
him! Every time he sees us he waves and says Hola Amigos!! Awesome!!!
Talk about feeling on top of the world!! It is an awesome feeling!! I
hope all works out for him!!!!
  Other than that nothing new has really been going on for me in the
MTC, Oh except I found these wraps that they make here, that are
super healthy it is like subway but with wraps!! I can't believe it
has taken me 70 days to find them!! LOL they are way good!!!
  Well how are things going back at home with everything? I was sad to
hear about the Grandpas (Jenks and Salisbury) that passed away! Luckily we know that we will
all see them again through the Plan of Salvation!! That is such a
power blessing and knowledge!!
How are things at home? Track and what not? Kade and karigan sound
like they are doing awesome!! How are all of the wedding stuff f
going? I heard Kyle is engaged?!?! Sweet!! I am so excited for
everyone! How is David’s foot? How is dad's diet, and how is MCAT
going for Shayne it is soon right? Well I hope all is going well!! I
am doing awesome good to hear from everyone! Love Elder Eppich

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

VISA Delayed

Family,

  Well Elder Streadbeck is gone and Left me! HAHA it was kind of
weird to tell ya the truth I am still living out of my room but I just
am spending all my time with the 3 other elders in my district.
Well there isn't any new news yet about VISAS yesterday none of us got
any, and we are too afraid to ask because they have a huge sign that
says stay away Argentina and Mexico missionaries we will let you know
if we receive your Visas! And I guess they yell at people if they ask,
so if I am feeling a little adventurous later today I will probably
go and ask them, lol.
  So I have had a pretty uneventful week. Last Friday we had In-field
Orientation where they teach us everything about being a missionary
that we don't learn in classes. They talk to us about setting goals,
planning, contacting people and the biggest part they focused on was
working with the members! It was a really good Experience I liked it
a lot!! Then on Saturday we had a normal day with a lot of teaching and
everything. On Sundays we are all supposed to plan a 3-5 minute talk on
an assigned gospel topic and then they randomly call two people to
come up and do it in Spanish!! I had given one the week before in
English on Faith to the Cafeteria branch and so Brother Swenson (
Tyler Hawkins old Mission President from Chile) and Brother Russon,
Our branch counselors, told me not to worry about preparing one
because I had just given one, well I thought I would at least find a
couple scriptures to share. So Sunday comes around, and they say we
would now like to hear from Elder Eppich!!! So I go up there with my
Spanish Book of Mormon and gave a 5 minute talk on Repentance in
Spanish!!! IT was so cool!! It was just flowing out and I was like
"Where is all of this coming from, lol IT was a really cool
experience! Everyone commented on how well I did and that I sound like
a missionary that has been serving for months, I don't know if that’s
the case. LOL
 Last Wednesday Elder Streadbeck and I went to the TRC It is where
members come and we teach them a lesson about different things, this
time it was receiving revelation through Book of Mormon Study. Normally
we teach to about 2-3 people, but this time we get there and then a
Spanish Branch Mutual shows up! So we were teaching them and the
spirit was really Strong!! That is one of the cool things about being
a missionary, we have the authority to promise specific blessing when
moved upon by the spirit! So I promised this one 16 yr old boy some
pretty cool stuff, and then they room was just full with the Spirit it
was so awesome!!! They kept telling us that we sound like we have been
in the field for a year not only 2 months! It is great getting
compliments like that but I realize that it is the Sprit and the Gift
of tongues!!! So I can't take any of the credit.
  Yesterday the last thing Elder Streadbeck and I did was go
contacting. We just walk around the campus and begin contacting! If
they know Spanish then we contact in Spanish and if not then we do it
in English. We pretend like they aren't members and we set up
appointments! It was so much fun! It is crazy though because it is so
hard to teach in English! LOL I am so excited to get to the Mission
field!!
  Well I better get going love you all! I will let you know as soon as I hear
any news!!

Serving with all my heart, might, mind, and strength,
Elder Eppich

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Last Week in the MTC

Family and Friends,

Wow! Time has flown by for sure!! I have about 4 days left in the
U.S.! It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I am so excited to finally be
getting out to Argentina!! It will be an awesome experience!! I cannot
believe how fast the house has been going up!! I hope that it is
going up as fast for you as it is for me!!! How is everything else at
home going?  How is the weather and what not? The weather in Provo is
as weird as ever. I am pretty sure it was like 70 on Monday and then
last night it was snowing.  Haha, who knows,  it is weird here! When does
Kade and Karigan's first Track meet?  I got a pillow from Hawkins and
It has a picture of me and Alan on it and says “We are as the Army of Helaman" It is an
awesome pillow! I was so excited when I got it! I also got a package
from Aunt Linda, she sent me some awesome cookies and some Disney
princess fruit snacks, I am guessing Dax and Dew picked them out. HAHA
  How is David's ankle doing? I bet he is in a ton of pain still!! How
is Kaitlan dealing with it, she still pretty sad?  I should be
fine on all of the baggage and weight and what not.  How is Juan and
Andres doing?
  So on Sunday Alex Boye came and sang and spoke to us! IT was
INCREDIBLE!! You all know who that is right? If not look it up, he
is a singer and is a member of MOTAB! He sang a few awesome songs and
talked about his conversion! He said how even today he still looks up
to those missionaries that baptized him they will always be some of
his favorite people and he will always look up to them! He said it
will be the same for us! So we have to always stay in contact with
them and help them even after their baptism, we need to set an example
of enduring to the end. It was a really power ful meeting, he was
really funny and his testimony was awesome! If anyone isn't full of
AƱimo (Spanish word for I am not sure how to explain it, kind of like
motivation). It was just an incredible experience.  He also testified
of the importance of the Book of Mormon in conversion, we have got
that talk a lot lately and again last night at the devotional! So I am
definitely going to try and incorporate that in to my lessons so much
more!!
  We need to have our investigators begin reading in the beginning of
the book from the introduction to the witness’s testimonies and to
Joseph Testimony. Then through 1st Nephi to Mornoi, because the book
is in that order for a reason and we need to help the investigators
gain a testimony of it and a love for it. It is awesome I have really
gained a love for it as well! Even the Isaiah chapters! I can
understand them and make sense out of them lol kind of cool!!!
  So this week our investigator Javier was baptized!! It was an
awesome experience sitting down with him and planning his baptism and
explaining everything to him and hearing him bear his testimony!! The
spirit was so strong and then I couldn’t help but think in less than a
week I could be helping someone do the same thing in Argentina!!! Our
other investigator Aurora is getting married and then baptized this
weekend!! We are super excited for her to!! My Spanish is definitely
getting a lot better! I have been working hard on it and it is
improving a lot! I find myself thinking and speaking in Spanish
without noticing, and I guess I sleep talk a ton and it is all in
Spanish! HAHA It is an awesome feeling when the Lord blesses us like
he has! He has blessed me with so much since I have been here, I see a
lot of missionaries waste a lot of time and not focusing on what is
important, they all just want to get out of here and get in to the
field, and that is good and everything but, I decided I would learn as
much as I can until I get out there then that way I am not wasting
time and I am always getting better! Elder Streadbeck and I are doing
well! We are teaching some pretty powerful lessons! And we always
find something we can do better!!  Well I love all of you! Hope all is
going well!!! Can´t wait to hear from you in 5 days!! Oh btw you might
ask people to begin sending stuff to the mission home in Argentina
because I won’t be here much longer.

Love, Elder Eppich

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Elder Eppich heading to Argentina

Elder Eppich leaves the Provo MTC heading for Argentina on Tuesday, March 13th. I would love to have letters waiting for him at the mission home in Argentina when he got there and I know he would love it too! It takes letters 1 to 2 weeks to get there via this service. Below are instructions for this FREE online service that is quick and easy. Please text or call me at 509-318-0796 (Kraymer's mom)... if you need help or have questions.

Dear Elder Letter Service
Letters can be sent (free of charge) through
http://www.dearelder.com/
Just click on the "Select Misson" drop-down menu on the right hand side of the website, and choose 'Argentina Buenos Aires West' then click the 'Write a Letter' button underneath the drop-down menu. You may set up an account if you wish, but it is not necessary.
The Pouch Department only sends one package of letters per week to each mission. The deadline on the DearElder website to submit a pouch letter is 12 midnight (MST) on Sundays.

I love this picture.. "Momma's Boys - Strippling Warriors" so Kraymer :)