Hey everyone,

So hopefully our Visa situation will be fixed soon cause Elder H. and I are anxious to get to the Bogota MTC. We are still practicing fútbol everyday but we’re still going to get smoked by the latinos.

I just wrote a letter like 2 days ago and sent it today so I can’t remember if I'm repeating anything I might have already said. If there's any questions you guys have or whatever just ask me cause I don't really know what you guys want to hear about in the emails.

I just got the box with all the seeds and trail mix. It is greatly appreciated and I do appreciate all the dearelders. Spanish is going along alright. I still will never understand the need for a subjunctive tense or both and imperfect and preterit tense. But, it's all good though sometimes I get stressed out that I can't speak fluently and I feel like I'm not learning quickly enough but just have to remember we’re all still at the MTC and it’s okay.

We got to go to the temple today. It was pretty sick.

I'm trying to get used to the fact that I am always busy and there's always something I need to be doing and there's not a whole lot of down time. I think part of the reason people put on so much weight here is cause all the studying and language and stuff leaves you worn out and starving so you eat a lot even though your body isn't tired, just your mind and it's not like you have a whole lot of time to burn off calories. I think I'm still okay though because I try to eat healthy most of the time.

Sorry, I wish I had more interesting stuff to say but it’s been a lot of the same stuff every week hah... not that its bad, we are all learning a lot but it's pretty much the same routine.

Oh yeah, and you can tell Parker I appreciate the SC2 updates haha it’s always fun to hear about stuff like that. Sometimes we feel really cut off from all things that are going on in the outside world and, yes, that is how it should be, but it was just kinda weird that we hadn't heard anything about the Colorado massacre until like 3 days afterwards.

entonces, he aprendido mucho y se que aprendere mas. estoy agradecido por el don de languas y los maestros aqui. Me gusta mi distrito y cumpanero. me alegra que Dad sea un misionero tambien.

hace diez minutos que la cena empeco'. escribere mas cartas esta semana cuando tengo tiempo. buena suerte y gracias por todo

Hey everyone

Ok so we just got back from the travel office and Colombia has changed their VISA requirements so we will definitely be delayed here at Provo for another week or two.

Oh and they gave us a 5 minute phone call thing so I’ll problem call you guys at like 430 our time or something

Once again I appreciate the packages and the letters. Even if I don’t always get the chance to respond I always read them. And the sunflower seeds were nice if you ever get the chance to send them again.

Things have settled into a routine here. We play futbol every day now for gym time. I scored my 1st goal 2 days ago. I went for a huge home run shot yesterday and missed the ball and nailed the huge defender in the shins with the top of my foot. I kicked him with so much force I actually swept both his legs out from under him. My foot hurts a lot though. It feels like I kicked the top of my foot against a metal pole as hard as I can. I think I’m gonna take a break from futbol for a bit.

Oh yeah there is no way to upload pictures here the only thing you can do is send memory cards home and sense I only have one you guys will just have to wait until I get to Colombia for pics. Sorry.

The spanish is coming along alright. It will really be a miracle when one day I’ll be able to fluently use things like subjunctive and past subjunctive and the difference between preterit and imperfect and all that stuff. Why there has to be 2 different past tenses is beyond me.

The guys in our district are fun. I recorded some video of one of the more eccentric Elders, E. doing his ¨¨interpretive dancing¨¨ to eye of the tiger. It was a little weird without the music, actually it was just weird in general but hilarious. If I can figure as way to send you guys video I will cause recording videos with all these guys is fun.

Some of the days here are really long like yesterday we had all our language study and gym and stuff in the morning then we had 3 hours of class the 30 mins for dinner then 3 more hours of class the 30 mins of additional study then 30 to plan. I’m glad I get to study spanish and gospel stuff so I can mix it up like when I’m getting frustrated with spanish I can just read English scriptures or vice versa.

Steven is gone now it was cool to talk to him while he was here.

I also saw my friend Devin, Elder Storts, from school. He is going to Chile Santiago I think. I also saw my buddy Dalorian, or Elder Collet who is going to Japan and he’s been here for 6 weeks.

Oh yeah and we were told a secret trick to stop the little timer in the corner of our email time so I can actually think for a bit. Yes I know we are only supposed to email for 30 mins but eh I’m doing the typing for 30 I’m just giving myself some time to think hah.

Bueno estoy practicando mucho mi espanol(the accents and n's dont work on email) y mi cumpanero Elder H. es el mejor cumpanero en el CCM. estoy agradecido por la oprtunidad a venir aqui y tener un cumpanero bein. Espero que ustedes esten bien. Estoy agradecido por   la oportunidad ir a Colombia y servir la gente alli. Taz vez un dia hablare espanol mejor y podre comunicar con el pueblo de Colombia. Se que la iglesia es verdadero y Dios envio su hujo para que podemos ser limpios de nuestros pecados y el ha restorado su evangelio y dio el libro de mormon a Josesmith. Adios

Oh yeah and don’t forget I get to call tonight for 5 minutes to tell you my visa hasn’t got through yet. Probably like 430.

Hey everyone,

So we are officially not the newest Elders at the MTC anymore. Feels pretty good it's like not being a freshman in high school anymore.

Anyways I just send a letter home today that explained mostly everything I wanted to talk about but I guess I'll just talk about some of the day to day stuff we do here.

So a typical morning a few of the other Elders and I wake up a las 615 to get in the showers before everyone wakes up and there's a big line. Then we get dressed and eat desayuno (breakfast) at like 710. Then we usually have some amount of study time that usually involves preparing to teach our investigator. I like to study on whatever I feel like I'm lacking the most whether it be Spanish or gospel knowledge. We either get workout time in the morning or at like 3. If it's in the morning we usually go play futbol and if it's in the evening we will go lift or something. We tried playing futbol in the afternoon once and it was 100 degrees.

I'm finally starting to figure my way around here and not get lost all the time.

Elder H. and I are really anxious to go to Colombia. Out of the 10 Elders in our district, 4 of us are leaving after 3 weeks. Elder H. and I and Elder E. are going to the Bogota MTC but Elder E. is going to the Bogota South mission. His comp Elder w. is going to the Peru MTC.

I don't know if I already said where everyone in my district is going but there's 3 of us going to Colombia, one to Peru, 4 to Mexico, 1 to Arizona and 1 to Canada. Pretty diverse and all Spanish speaking.

It's kinda funny how much of getting things done relies on you and your companion. We only have a teacher usually for like 3 or 6 at the most hours a day. It's up to us to make sure we prepare our lessons and do our studying.

bueno, este es un lugar muy interesante y me encanta a todos lod Elderes en mi distrito. Los maestros fueron fantástico y he aprendido mucho. Estoy agradecido por esta oportunidad y estoy listo a conocer la gente de Colombia y invitar a ellos a venir a Cristo. estory agradecido por todas las cartas que me escribieron. Gracias

Elder Chase's first letter from the MTC

Hey everyone,

So i only get 30 mins to use the computer but I'll try to talk about as much stuff as I can.

I met my companion as I was getting into my room cause he showed up at the same time. His name is Elder H. He is really cool he is from Salt Lake and played football and track. We get along really well. He is also going to Cali Colombia and has the same plan of staying here for 3 weeks then Bogota for 6.

There are 10 Elders in my district, Me and Elder H., our DL elder B. and Elder L., Elder J. and Elder J.. Those guys are in my room. Then theres also Elder W. and Elder E., and Elder O. and D. Elder H. and I are the only ones going to Cali and I'm not sure but we might be the only comps who are going to the same mission. 4 of the guys are going to Mexico, 1 to Bogota South, one to Arizona, One to Canada, all spanish speaking. I forget the rest but I am lucky to have a comp going to Cali with me.

I am in the Intermediate class for spanish. Apparently 85 percent of Elders get put it the beginning class so I feel all special. My spanish is getting better really fast. By the way its Saturday morning, our P Day is supposed to be Fridays but got messed up this week because of the whole arriving on Thursday thing. But yeah this afternoon Elder H. and I have to teach our first investigator. He is really just some guy role playing but it has to be in spanish. So yeah kinda nervous for that but as far as our level of spanish, I feel like Elder H. and I are in the top half of the district.

I am always really busy we don't get much down time. Its cool though cause everything we do is really interesting. We are always learning something new and our spanish maestro only speaks spanish to us so you really have to focus or you will get lost. Our last class at the end of the day is spanish its 3 hours long and really difficult so we are all really tired at the end of the day.

Its been hard to fall asleep at night. I guess that's what I get for not practicing falling asleep at 1030 before.

On my first day we met our Zone Leaders who are both white and I was kind of in awe of there spanish plus they had only been here for 5 to7 weeks or something like that. But when I think about my spanish Thursday vs today I feel like I should be in an ok spot when I actuaLLY LEAVE THE mtc. iTS REALLY NICE HAVING A COMP WHO IS AT ABOUT THE SAME LEVEL AS ME IN sPANISH. mOST OF THESE OTHER GUYS ONLY TOOK 3 YEARS BUT HE ALSO TOOK FOR AND WORKED WITH MEXICANS AT HIS WORK SO ITS PRETTY COOL.

sorry i didn't mean to caps but I don't have time to go back and change it.

Oh yeah whenever you want to write to me (and please do its nice to remember theres a world outside of here sometimes hah, not that its bad here its awesome) use dearelder.com like you did before cause they actually print it out and hand it to me like a letter. its nice.\

One thing I like here is that everywhere else its "cool" i guess to slack and not care or whatever but here everyone tries to do everything exactly how we are supposed to and no one is pushy about it either.

I'm not a big fan of the food to be honest. The said the average weight gain during your stay here is 20 pounds. I saw my friend and he has been here 5 weeks and he had gotten really chubby. It kinda scared me and motivated me to eat healthy and try to work out

I saw Steven Morin yesterday it was cool. He is still the same hah. He actually knows Elder H. from track.

I'm trying to write as much as I can remember but the timer ticking down my time in the corner of the monitor is stressing me out so sorry if I've forgotten any important details. I'm having fun though everyone is cool. Its cool to see all the name tags of where everyone is going. It makes me glad I'm just learning spanish.

Anyway I'm just about out of time. I'm not exactly sure what the rules are for letter writing but I'll try to write when I can sorry if its not that often cause we are really busy. Love you all

Elder Chase

Entering the Missionary Training Center

Due to the 4th of July holiday, Brandon's report date was pushed back a day to Thursday, July 5th.  This allowed one last family holiday to enjoy - the finale being the evening at The Stadium of Fire.  

On Thursday morning, after the final packing was done, Brandon had his "last meal" at Wendy's (no surprise to anyone who knows Brandon well).  After lunch, the family (including Grandma Sue and Grandpa Jerry) headed to the Provo Temple to take some last pictures with Brandon (the rain didn't allow for pictures in front of the MTC).  

Saying goodbye to the "other" Chases via FaceTime

 Picture time:

Goodbye Elder Chase!

Elder Brandon Chase will be entering the MTC tomorrow afternoon.  He will be serving in the Colombia, Cali Mission for the next 2 years.  This blog will be updated as often as I receive letters and pictures from him.  We are all excited for this time in Brandon's life and pray that he has a wonderful and successful mission.

If you would like to send Brandon a package or letter, you can send it to the following address at the MTC:

Elder Brandon Robert Chase
MTC Mailbox # 359
COL-CAL 0904
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793