Week 5

Apa Kabar!

{What is news?}

Minggu ini adalah bagus! Saya akan bercomunikasi tentang di MTC!

{This week was great! I will communicate about in the MTC}

Hello everyone! It is crazy that I am past my halfway mark here at the MTC. It feels like I have been here for a long time, but it is nice to know that in a little under a month, I will be in Indonesia! The language is coming along great, and we are able to communicate pretty well. If there is a conversation about religion, I am set! But if there is one about anything else, I am in big trouble! I have memorized a descent amount of vocabulary, and we are all able to teach the lessons completely in Indonesian. I really have faith now that by the time we leave the MTC, we will be much more comfortable with the language. We may not be fluent, but we will learn much quicker out in the field.

It is funny to see English speaking missionaries come and leave while we are all still here! We are now the second oldest district in our zone! On Wednesdays, when the new missionaries arrive, my companion and I sit outside and go over flashcards while they all come in. It is really fun to see their nervous faces and remembering when we were in that same situation. Also, at our halfway mark, we changed the leadership in our district. Elder Johnson was the District Leader for the first half, and he did an excellent job. I was actually called to be the District Leader for the second half, and I hope I can do a good job as well. I really wasn't expecting it.

Our classroom time is going well, and we have amazing teachers. One, in fact, was married this past Saturday. He will be gone for a few weeks, so we have a substitute for the mornings. In our classrooms, we have been participating in SYL, (speak your language) and it has gone well. The only thing is we do not know very many common terms, so speaking can be very hard.

This past Sunday, our district went on our temple walk and we took some great photos with Elder Miner's SLR camera. Also, all the missionaries who went to American Fork High School got together for a picture. It was a ton of fun to see everyone! A lot of people showed up, and it was a fun experience. I feel bad, because all the SD card readers at the MTC are gone for some reason, and I’m not able to send all the pictures I took this week. I have seen Elder Gummow around a lot, and we have been able to talk many times. His sister, Sister Gummow, is also serving a mission, and she arrived in the MTC this past Wednesday. I was actually sitting there when she arrived, and was able to greet her! It is so cool that her and Elder Gummow are at the MTC at the same time!

Today is our fifth P-Day, which is really crazy to think about. When I was washing my clothes, the washer I put my colors in was not working properly, and when it ended, the clothes were sopping wet! I put them in the dryer, and when it was finished, they were still super wet! I did another full cycle in the dryer, and they were still quite damp! So I found a bunch of extra hangers in the laundry room, and I hung all my shirts, shorts, socks, towel, and pants all over our room; I really hope they dry by tomorrow! I will never use that washer again.

Thanks to all of you who have sent me packages and letters! It truly is a blessing to have the knowledge that people care for me, and what I am doing. Especially when they are filled with great news like the Broncos destroying the Raiders. I really do miss watching all the games, but I have seen that as I have been away from all that for a while, it has blessed me spiritually, and I am able to focus much more in my studies.

I am so grateful for my time here at the MTC, as it has been much better than I originally expected. My time is limited, and I wish I could write more, but I have to go! I wish all of you the best of wishes!

Saya tahu bahwa Kitab Mormon adalah benar. Saya bersaksi bahwa Joseph Smith adalah nabi. Dan kalau anda membaca Kitab Mormon dan berdoa dengan iman, anda bisa merasa mengasihi Allah. Saya mengasihi keluarga saya, dan saya harapan bahwa saya bisa berhasil. Dalam nama Yesus Kristus, amin. 

{I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I testify that Joseph Smith was a prophet. And if you read the Book of Mormon and pray with faith, you can feel God's love. I love my family, and I hope that I can succeed. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.}

-Elder James