From Elder Daniel...

Hey Dudes,

Guess what. I totally got my first (in font)baptism!!!! It was really my second one I guess.... but it was the first one where I was in the font. It was on Sunday, and it was like the raddest thing ever. Apparently I dunked him waay to hard but he didn't mind. I just dunked him Gunnell style so there was no question on whether or not he was baptized. He's a cool kid from Jacksonville Florida. His brother had gotten baptized the week before I got here so he was thinking about it, then on Sunday he came to church and said he'd do it. It was way fun and I felt the Spirit really strongly, even though everyone was laughing cause I dunked him so hard.
That's cool about the letters, I was beginning to think my mail was getting stolen or something. Yeah, my areas really ghetto. But its fun. We heard a bunch of gunshots the other night but DON'T FREAK OUT. That's just life in the hood. I'm a little disappointed that I haven't gotten into a flaming row yet, but there's still time. I'm probably gonna be out of Tacoma by the end of the month 'cause I'm a greenie and we get moved around a lot, so I'll send my address when I know.
My pants still fit. I'm actually not really even showing any signs of gaining weight at all(other than what the scales say) all though I'm not really surprised considering how much the Samoans feed us. Still haven't got any letters from any homies accept Nathan (which was hilarious by the way) but I remain hopeful.Yeah, having tons of fun preaching the word. And reading the scriptures is getting way more fun. Yes, a recipe book would be good, and I'll totally send you the memory card when I remember. I love you guys!!!

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

Daniel's Latest Letter...

Hey moms!

Thats cool, we haven't really been rained on that much yet. I've only had to wear my coat like once. Last week was pretty cool, my comps baptized this kid but I'm not counting it as mine cause I didn't help. It was way cool though. We were in the middle of a meeting and talking about how we didn't have any baptisms set up that week, and he called and asked us if we could do it that day! Freakin Sweet, man. My companions/trainers are the coolest. They are as follows: Elder Cook from Centerville Utah, Elder Schull from Plain City Utah, and Elder Waggner from Medford Oregon. I cant believe our first transfers almost over, AND I STILL HAVEN'T HEARD FROM MY FRIENDS! whats up with that? I gotta get Chars address so's I can congradulate her. She's married now right? Guess what! I'm up to 150lbs!!! ridiculous huh? The first week I was here we didn't eat that much and I guess someone got on the ward's case cause they've been feeding us like crazy, and not just spaghetti too. We are over the Somoan ward so we basically get like 20lbs of food every time they feed us. Have you ever heard of Taro root? Yeah, things are going good. My companions are Uber hard-working. I beat Elder Schull in wrestling like my second night here. Elders Cook and Waggner don't believe that I like to box....teehee. Well, I love you guys, make sure you get on Nathan/Chad/everyone else/Corryns case about writing me. That would be nice. I love you all and I hope your enyoying yourselves. The Church is true, Tacoma is hot, and Samoans are crazy.

LOVE
Elder uppencamp

First Email From Tacoma

Here is Daniel's first email, unedited.

Yes, I am, in fact, on a mission. Cool huh. I'm in Tacoma proper so sorry, no vampires yet. I'm in a four-some with my zone leaders and another newish dude. They are so freakin awesome! Apparently Tacoma is the highest baptizing mission in North America. I didn't believe that at first but I guess we're doing one this weekend. Yeah, so awesome. It's hot here and it has yet to rain, what the heck. Oh, I got my bike and its awesome, though I don't think I'll ever get to ride it in this area cause we have a car. We talked to these two black girls yesterday and gave them a tour of a chapel and they were diggin' it for sure. Speaking of which....is Emily back yet? you gots to post this e-mail mom, because I gots to tell Char CONGRATULATIONS!!!! on getting married that is. I have a bunch of Samoans, asians, and black people in my area, it's rad. I feel so....diverse? Anyhoo, my mailing address is 5801 Orchard St. SW apt 76 Tacoma, WA 98467. So get everyone to send me goodies, and like a letter or something. So yeah, I'm loving this whole missionary thing, I'm really excited right now. I hope I don't lose the fire I'm feeling for along time. Tell Andrew to get a job, tell Nathan/Chad they need to writes me, and give Simon something to chew on that resembles Barrack Obama. Well, I love you all and I hope your already gettin blessed.

LOVE
Elder Uppencamp

A Surprise Phone Call...

We got an early call from Daniel today! He bought a calling card at the airport and chatted with us all while waiting for his flight. He says the MTC is "Da Bomb" and that he loved it and gained 6 lbs. I asked him if the food was good or what, he said "No, there's just lots of it."
Daniel, 17 other elders and one sister all flew out to Tacoma bright and early. He will report to the mission office and then get assigned a trainer and area.
He says his MTC companions where amazing and that they didn't fight at all. (Except for the occasional wrestling match in the hall. Daniel is undefeated.)
He sounded happy and excited. He kept saying, "Guess what? I'm a missionary!" and "I don't know what else to say. The Church is true." etc. He is still Daniel, just more so.
We'll put his current address up when he writes his first letter. He begs everyone to write! He doesn't understand why everyone didn't instantly drop everything and write to him every day. ;) I know he would love the occasional letter from anyone who has the time.
He sends his love and thanks for everyone's prayers and support!

Busy, busy, busy...

We survived summer! Getting Daneil off, the weeklong for Boy Scouts, Girls Camp, and Youth Conference. We had so much fun! Now we all need a month to sleep it off. :)

Youth Conference was at Utah State in Logan. We had a lot of workshops, games, swim and gym activities and a dance. John Bytheway spoke to us and that was great but I really loved our Stake leaders speaking to us. They are all amazing people and great examples.

There are a few photos in the slide show from Camp and Youth Conference. Daniel promises MTC photos soon!

I Hope They Call Me On a Misson...

Daniel received his mission call to the Washington, Tacoma mission. He reported to the MTC yesterday, July 29th.


Thanks so much to all the family who came out to support him and say good bye and good luck! We had such a great time visiting with everyone even if it was short.

I'll keep his contact info updated so we can all keep in touch with him. I know he would love to hear from friends and family as often as he can!

I have a bunch of photos to upload but we are having difficulties with our one remaining computer now so it will take a while. I wanted to get things here updated without waiting for the photos.

Technical Difficulties...

I've tried to update several times but we have had the worst luck with comuters! Aaron's laptop was stolen from our home and then 2 weeks to the day later our home PC and external hard drive melted. We lost everything we had not backed up to CDs. I thought we were safe because of the EHD, so we learned a hard lesson. Aaron also had an EHD but it was connected to the laptop when it was stolen. The only way to truely protect your stuff is back everything up on CD or use an online source to store everything.

We had great family photos we had taken in the fall.
Also, photos of Rachel's musical, Joseph and the Amazing Techincolor Dream Coat. She was in the chorus and was a dancer.
We had photos of Matthew's band concerts with close-ups of him playing his cornet. He did so well in band! He's a natural.
Jake was in his school play and was Father Escalante the explorer. He sang and did a great job with his two lines.

Lots of other photos of everyone were lost too. You'll just have to use your imaginations!