Yes! Please send packages! I need 2 more washcloths (just for convenience). If you could send me some food that would be awesome. I'd like those Buffalo pretzels, and beef jerky and A LOT of protein bars. Like those Clif Bars. Dad will know. My roomate (who i have become really good friends with) brought an entire bag of that stuff and it's definitely useful when we are unable to finish our meals. Sorry I didn't e-mail yesterday, the e-mail site wasn't working, so I got permission to e-mail today. My last chance to e-mail before I go out to the field will be sunday. Yeah I'm actually taller than like 70% of the other elders here, it might have looked like I wasn't because there are 2 American elders who are over 6' 5". And one African elder over 6'. But everyone else is pretty short haha. I'm glad you got to see pictures! Before I go out to the field i will be cutting my hair VERY short. Like the other elders. They said it feels sooo much better. I've been playing soccer as well so I'm getting "semi" good at that too :)
Mom, I know you can do it (Brian's referring to speaking in church Sunday on Family History)! That's your specialty! You'll give a great talk and i'm glad you were able to give a speech for Grandma.
Please tell Jacob I love him and miss him and that in case I can't send a letter soon that I wish him luck on preparing for his mission. I know he will have a good time. Tell him the MTC there is all you can eat and to be thankful for that.....haha. Also tell him, "live life a quarter mile at a time". It's actually true (even though it's from Fast and Furious haha). We watched a devotional from Elder Bednar and he said the best thing a missionary can do is to "quit worrying about it, and just work. Don't worry about 'trying' to feel the spirit and forcing yourself to feel it. Because you'll notice once you get to the MTC that they are always saying to teach with the spirit, so missionaries tend to constantly wonder whether they are feeling it or if a prompting is from the spirit. The answer he said is to just, quit worrying about it. If you are a good boy or a good girl, and you're doing your best, you will be successful."
And actually that did end up working for me. The day we watched that devotional I REALLY needed to hear that. I had felt like all my TRC's (Brian is referring to practice sessions) were going bad. But then before my companion and I went to teach "Mr. Brian" (our toughest investigator, who's wife had just died and no longer had faith and didn't even want the missionaries to visit), we said a prayer before teaching him (even though it's not a real investigator) and when we taught him of the restoration (this was our third lesson with him, yeah....it took THAT long just to break his shell to listen to us) I recited The First Vision, word for word, and we said everything that we needed to say and pushed him just the right amount, that at the end we asked him to be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God, and he said "no, I've already been baptized by my priest and he already holds the power", but the spirit told me to ask again. So what i said was, "Are you sure he has that power?" and he said, "Yes, he has performed miracles I've seen it." So I said, "But have you prayed to know for yourself that he has that power?" and he said, "No i haven't." So I said, "Then I invite you again, to pray about the truth of these things we have taught you, and of the restored gospel, and if baptism into this gospel is truly the first step to seeing your wife in heaven." And he paused and said "okay, I'll pray. And if I feel it to be true, I will be baptized."
My companion and I felt SO good after that. I felt so so happy. Noone else in my district (6 companionships) had gotten through to him at all. He argued everything they said to him. But we got him. We were like heroes hahahah.
No we cannot view our blogs. They have a "special" internet explorer that only lets us visit mormon.org, lds.org, and myldsmail.net. haha.
OH, this is super important. Tell Sister Blanchard to tell Aaron and then also tell Jacob, that on mormon.org, brandon Flowers is on the front page featuring his LDS bio (he is the lead singer of the killers)
On my wall on Facebook can you also ask people to be patient with letters from me? So far people only know how to send letters from here to other African countries. And also that we don't think we will receive letters until we are out on the field? Thanks.
Tell Jen good luck on the play! And also that I apologize I can't write another personal e-mail for her, because everytime I get to the end of writing this one i only have like 4 minutes left. Not enough time to write an e-mail. :(
But once I'm out on the field I will have ALL p-day if i need to to write her something.
GRRR I am SO jealous of that weather! It's 85 degrees here every single day. but the humidity puts it like 20 degrees hotter and you're constantly sticky and sweat the second you get out of the shower. OH well. I don't even sweat much anymore like i said last time.
Oh a few more things. I have never drank so much water in my life. I drink maybe 11 bottles a day. We just keep fillin em up and drinking them.
I love you all! Thanks so much! I'll e-mail again on sunday :)
