CORVALLIS - Three Oregon State football players are back after spending two years out of the country on missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Geoff Garner of Mesa, Ariz., and twins Kevin and Devin Unga of Laie, Hawaii, are a little older than most freshmen on the team. Garner went to Panama, Kevin headed to Chile and Devin got to know Guatemala. Here are their stories:

Ready, set …

GARNER: "I think the biggest that helped me (was) just playing sports all throughout high school. I learned discipline and I learned how to work hard, so when it came time to give up that sacrifice of two years, it wasn't too hard to go. I was ready, I was prepared to go out there and serve and give up those two years. I knew what I was giving up, but it was definitely worth it."

KEVIN UNGA: "We pay everything ourselves. It's a service that we don't get paid to do it. My family gathered together family and friends, people from the community, families from different states came over and got a little get-together, raised money and raised enough money for me to actually go out and do that."

A shock to the system

GARNER: "When I got there it was definitely a culture shock. My first house had no running water, my bed was just a mattress on the ground and the bugs were running around. I had to shower with a bucket of water. I had to learn how to speak the language and get adjusted to the weather. It was a big culture shock for me."

DEVIN UNGA: "I've actually never been separated from my twin so it was different living in a house without my second half, but it was a great experience being able to get (to) know a different people and share the gospel."

Language barrier

DEVIN UNGA: "I knew 'Hola.' That was about it. At first it was pretty hard; but since you were around it every day and we actually had to study an hour of Spanish every day, you pick it up pretty quick. I think it was about five months before I could get around and say whatever I wanted to."

KEVIN UNGA: "I went to Chile not speaking a lick of Spanish. But within probably six to eight months I was kind of fluent. It took about three to five months to understand the language and then speaking it myself took about six to eight months."

People are people

GARNER: "At first it was hard to warm up to them because the Panamanian culture, they're kind of selfish and kind of rude. They cut in line, they don't care if they cut you, it's kind of every man for himself. It took me a little while to get used to it, but after a while I really warmed up to them and once I got to know the people, I could talk to everybody. I really learned to love the people after a while and kind of became one of them."

DEVIN UNGA: "I was called 'Gigante' when I was out there. Everybody was probably up to my chest and so when they see me it was probably different for them. Which made it easier for me. If I wanted to talk to somebody, they were like, 'This is an interesting guy, he's pretty big, so I will talk to him.' "

KEVIN UNGA: "Everybody knowing that a lot of church missionaries, they come from the States - they' re all blond hair, blue-eyed - and so seeing someone from the States who's not blond hair, blue-eyed, to them it's a big difference. They always ask where I'm from and they don't believe that I'm from the States, I guess."

Foodies

DEVIN UNGA: "I actually love the food. I miss it. The tamales there are different than the tamales made out here. I ate a lot of beans, I had to get used to that. Basically, beans was kind of what they ate every meal, breakfast, lunch and dinner."

KEVIN UNGA: "Living in a poor country, they don't eat as much, so that means we didn't eat as much. Fast food wasn't available in all places and the quality of the food wasn't as great, but it was still good.

"They eat the basics: Chicken, rice, beans. They don't eat as much beans as someone would probably think. They make it in their own special way."

On a mission

GARNER: "Pretty much every day, if I wasn't teaching the teachings of Jesus Christ to people and talking to people in their houses or on the streets, I was also helping them doing service projects like painting their houses, digging ditches and doing a lot of service. Just basically two years of doing service for others."

KEVIN UNGA: "Out on the street, talking to the people walking on the streets, talking to the people in the markets, knocking on doors, doing activities out in the public, something for the community where people would come in and we'd talk to them."

Football is different here

GARNER: "It was definitely hard. I thought about it every single week when we were in season. Every Monday when I got to check my e-mail, my family would send me the update on the scores and if we won or lost. I definitely stayed up-to-date with what was going on with the team. Even though I wasn't there it was still exciting finding out about the big wins.

"I actually left at about 310 pounds and I came back at about 290. Not only from walking about 10 miles a day, because we didn't have bikes or cars so I walked everywhere, but also I played a lot of soccer. They play everywhere, whether it's a dirt field, in the street or anywhere where they can find two rocks to make a goal or anything to get a ball going. I played wherever they wanted me to. It was kind of funny because when I played goalie I filled up the whole box."