Week 1.5

Dear Mom and Dad,

Good day to you Sir and Madam. 

It’s officially been an entire week here at the MTC and it’s been pretty awesome.  Classes are going really well.  We have some amazing teachers and we are learning Italian soooo fast.  It’s actually a miracle how much we’ve learned.  In just a little over a week we are praying, testifying, teaching lessons, and leaving commitments.  Granted it’s only role playing but that still counts for something.  I can really feel the Spirit during lessons because Italian is such a beautiful language, but also because I know that I’m doing the right thing.  It’s been a little bit hard adjusting to such a busy schedule but I’m getting the hang of it now.  

The MTC is great.  It keeps me busy and the food is alright but not great.  My awesome teachers are teaching us Italian so much faster than I could have imagined.  Il dono delle lingue (the gift of tongues) I guess.  One thing I don't like about the teaching style is that It seems to be a lot of memorization of long phrases. Rather than actually learning the meaning of the words and the grammar and stuffs like that, I find myself simply memorizing words that I don't know the meaning of and spewing them out.  I would rather try to figure out what I want to say and say it rather than rehearsing memorized sentences in a lesson situation.  It feel less personal reciting phrases.  But it's ok, I'm still learning a ton and loving it.

This week really has been awesome! I finally feel like I've settled into the missionary life-style and its really helping me with Italian and with the Gospel.  Reading the Book of Mormon everyday from paper REALLY blesses my life.  I'm taking it slow and trying to really pay attention to each verse.  If I like a verse I'll highlight it, write down the reference and write what it's about in a little book of scripture references that I'm building up to be my scriptural arsenal.  It's already made such a difference in my ability to use the scripture in a discussion, and also just the way I feel each day.  I really love reading it.

My district is 22D and we are awesome. I’ve made some really good friends already and it’s only been a short time.  We ball up pretty much everyday here at the MTC so I’m gonna be pretty good at basketball in a few weeks.  Il mio collega (my companion) is pretty cool.  He’s a little shy but im getting to know him better and he’s awesome.  I do think he’s a little homesick and I don’t really know what I can do to help him with that.  I hope it’ll get better for him.  Hopefully after a while on the mission he’ll get used to it a little more and it won’t be that bad.

So much has happened and I can’t think of it all.  Honestly it feels like we’ve been here for a month not a week.  The other night I was munching on some cinnamon bears and I bit into one and hit something hard.  I looked down and I literally found a PENNY in there!  My roommates and I died laughing for like ten minutes.  I’m still bamboozled about it.  I could have choked on that penny and died!!  I guess I can sue the company and become a billionaire now so that’s nice.  

Please tell Evan that I miss him too, I miss my best friend too, and I'm super proud of me too. That's really scary that he almost died choking on Chick Fill A!  its kinda odd also because I almost choked on that cinnamon bear penny the same week that he choked on his chicken.

Anyway tell the girls that I love them and miss them.  Tell Eliza to not be afraid of her first day of MIDDLE school (bet you thought I'd say preschool haha, pranked ya).  Tell Audrey to stay cool but not too cool for school, and tell her to do cross country.  

Thank you Mom so much for the packages.  The cinnamon bears were great asside from that one with the penny but other than that everything was amazing.  I feel like I didn't express enough gratitude to you for everything you did for my mission and everything you did throughout my whole life so thank you and I love you.  You too Dad.  Thanks for putting clothes over my head and a roof on my back.  I miss our talks about sciencey stuff where I pretended to not know stuff just so that you could explain them too me.  I love and miss you guys lots!  

It’s been a very eventful week full of spiritual as well as near death experiences.  I love it here.  Until next week, Ciao!

Here’s some pictures for ya

1. The anziani in my district holding our flag

2. Us at the Provo temple

3. At a devotional

4. study time

5. See 1