September 19, 2012

That is awesome! What an amazing story! And the picture is great! Is that Grandpa and his sister? Please send my thanks to Grandpa and tell him I am excited to receive his letter. Thanks so much!

From: John Cousins
Sent: Sunday, September 16, 2012 11:45 PM
To: Robert Cousins
Subject: a picture for you

You have been sent 1 picture.

Dear Rob,

Sent a letter to Quinn this past week in response to his query about the conversion stories of his great grandparents and the role of the missionaries. This is a photo of Elder Foss Flake who baptized my dad in Oct. of 1939. He and Elder Poll taught my father the gospel. Strangely enough our paths would cross many years later. Elder Foss Flake was the uncle of David Flake who married my sister and Richard Poll was the head of the History Dept. at BYU when I was a History major there and helped me secure a loan on his signature from a bank in Provo that provided the funds for me to go to France for 3 months in the summer of 1960 to do research for my Masters thesis. Small world eh. My dad got the Aaronic priesthood before joining the Canadian army and going overseas in 1941. If you could get this info to Quinn I would be grateful. I enjoy the blog and it sounds like Quinn is doing great. Love Dad

 

September 19, 2012

Hola! P-day once again. Only one more I believe before the field! Craziness, but I am ready to get out there.

Regional Conference? How big is the region? It's wild how different the church is over here. There are 2 stakes in all of Madrid (soon to be 3!). There are 3 in little old Lindon. You definitely don´t see quite as many steeples, haha. 

Sigh. One thing I don´t miss about home is futbol americano. Haha, obviously when Madrid and Barcelona play the world stops to watch. Speaking of which (and maybe I shouldn´t spread this around, but) the word on the street is that Pres Jackson allows his missionaries to go to one game during their mission. Let´s just say I´m super stoked.

I haven´t met Pres Jackson yet, but from what I´ve heard he´s great (see the above)! I´m excited to get to know him, and I´m sure my surgery will be a lively topic of discussion.

You heard from Elder Oakes? Like, apostle Elder Oakes? Ridiculous. I´m in the MTC nine weeks and never see an apostle. You know that Elder Anderson spoke in Provo the day I left? It´s all good, we get to watch the most amazing devotionals here.

Since when has Sarah started watching Dr. Who? And David Tennant as her screen saver?! Isn´t that a betrayal? It is pretty dang good, as all my friends from school know ;)

Rebekah is getting ready for the GRE´s?! That is crazy! It´s also crazy that I don´t know what that means. Does that mean she´s graduating or getting ready for more school? Or both? Either way, good luck Bekah!

Thanks for the news (sorry if I forgot some). Sorry there is really nothing to share from here. I have a new companion Elder Scheible, from Germany (his father is German, his mother is Spanish). He also speaks excellent English, so we are able to communicate. It´s a lot louder around here with all Spanish missionaries, but my Spanish is getting a lot better. I can understand nearly every word in a conversation, but I´m still working on responding. I went for a run yesterday on a path that just goes through this part of the city. It was nice, with little parks and trees all over. I really like this city. Sorry I have nothing exciting to share, I´m really just waiting to get out in the field.

Thank you so much for the package! I was not expecting that. It´s expensive to mail stuff! I will send the memory card as soon as I have a chance. Thanks for thinking of me, for your love and prayers. I love you!

September 13, 2012

Hola, Padre y todas!

P-day again! Time is really going fast here! This week the group of French missionaries left for the field so Elder Adams and I were the only ones here for a little while. Yesterday about 20 missionaries from all over Spain arrived, and 5 Americans should be arriving any minute now. Things are getting a lot busier here. I´m excited for how much practice I´m going to get speaking and hearing Spanish now. It´s also very obvious now how nice our teachers have been to us. Most people don´t talk that slow. Nothing too exciting planned for p-day today. I need to get a haircut and some dry-cleaning done if I have time. We´ll probably play soccer with the new missionaries, and I will definitively get my butt kicked, but maybe I´ll learn something. Sorry, that´s not even interesting. Oh, but I haven´t told you about last week! Last p-day we went out into Madrid and did some sightseeing (finally)! We saw the Royal Palace, went inside a massive cathedral with these beautiful stained glass windows and stopped at Bernabeu. I didn´t want to pay to go inside, but some of the others did and said it was pretty cool, you got to go anywhere, so maybe I will another time. Haven´t seen any Real Madrid players yet, but I´ll let you know. I took about a hundred pictures, so we´ll have to figure out the best way to send those to you guys. I think probably trading SD cards would be easiest. I still have room for about 1000 though, so let me know what you want to do.

Speaking of pictures thanks so much for the ones you sent! It´s good to see everybody and to her what you guys are up to. How did the girls like Bryce? I never asked, how was your race? We should go to the Tetons sometime after I get back (not to go running, for fun). Thanks for sending me that stuff! And, no I can´t believe, but that´s awesome! GO AGGIES!! 

Erin, you are playing volleyball, that´s awesome! I love volleyball! Hitting the ball does take some getting used to, but after a while you don´t even notice. That´s a good way to make friends with the girls in the ward as well. What else are you up to? 

Sarah, I hope you get the part in the play. Some of my favorite memories as a family are going to see the Christmas Carol together and getting to watch you perform in it. Who are you trying out for? I´m glad you are still working at what you love. Don´t give up!

Sorry there´s nothing super exciting to tell this week. I´m starting to want to be out in the field. Hopefully things will go quicker with more people. Oh, one last thing. No, two actually. First, thank you Mom for your letter! I was going to send a response with the girl´s letters but I ran out of time. I´m glad you have a good class this year, and it´s wonderful to think that you are being blessed because of me. That makes the sacrifice so much better.

Well, I must run, but thanks for keeping me updated! I love you all and pray for all of you everyday. Thanks for everything!

Elder Cousins

September 6, 2012

Hi, Mom! 

Wow, I get to hear from you twice in one week (I received your letter on Tuesday, so it takes about a week for mail to get here)! What a good week! Thanks for all your stories, I love hearing about what you are all up too, even if I don´t have very much time to respond. So Sarah wants you guys to become storytellers so she can live life on the road, eh? Haha! Actually, she would probably be the one telling the stories! Did you hear any really good ones? Any of the same ones we´ve heard before? I´m trying to remember the last time I was at the storytelling festival. I think I missed it last year for some reason.

I don´t remember Cascade Springs, I don´t think. I have the worst memory. That sounds like me though, wandering off into the nettles. Other than that it sounds like a nice place. I´m super jealous, I wish I could get out for a hike. It´s weird not having mountains all around. There are mountains to the South and the West, but they are pretty far off. Hopefully I´ll get to go into them someday.

That´s really nice that people are asking about me. Pass on my thanks to them. I can definitely feel people´s prayers.

I am still doing great! I love being here. It´s hard, but I can feel how much more the Spirit is with me all the time. I am learning so much about the Gospel, and my desire to share it grows all the time. Spanish is coming along great! I can actaully see myself progressing everyday, that´s how fast I am learning. I am using the theta now (though it´s pretty easy to turn it on or off) and it actually is the letter z. So any time there is a z, a ce or a ci you pronouce the theta. Everyone here uses it, so you pick it up pretty quick.

I am almost out of time, but I do have a few requests and then some spiritual thoughts to share. First requests: I was wondering if you could send me a copy of my patriarchal blessing (I don´t have one), my priesthood authority line card (Dad should know how to get that), and (this last one is a little odd) any information or stories you have about the missionaries who taught Dad´s grandparents and started our family in the Church. We listened to a talk last night by Elder Bednar and his wife. I realized while his wife was speaking that everyone in the Church can trace their membership back to missionaries and I felt prompted to find out about the ones who taught our family. I also was filled with gratitude for a family in the Gospel. Mom, I am so grateful you made the choice to join the Church and to be married in the temple. The blessing in my life because of it are innumerable. Dad, I am so grateful that you stayed true to what you know and shared it with the person who means to most to you. I am grateful for your powerful examples and for your love. I love you all, stay safe.

Love,

Elder Cousins