Week 6

How are you all doing?

I really can't believe that I am 2/3 done with my MTC experience! It really is starting to go by fast. And I am glad, because I really can't wait until I get out to Indonesia! What's crazy is that on top of changing the age for missionaries, they are also changing the length of the MTC for all missionaries. Instead of twelve weeks for missions like China, Russia, and Mongolia, they will be here for nine. Missions that are any other foreign language are six weeks, and English-speaking missions are two. Lucky ducks! We barely missed the deadline.

Thanks to everyone who sent me letters and notes. Hopefully I will be able to write back to all of you today.

Yesterday especially went by super fast for some reason, and I really hope every day will be like that. They MTC is still pretty fun for me, but the food, showers, and activities are becoming very old! We all feel like we have been here forever, but we still have a ton of fun. We play sand volleyball during gym time, especially now, before the weather becomes colder. It is already pretty cold in the morning. We are by far the most competitive district, and playing volleyball is insane! One of our missionaries was talking to a sister, and she asked what we do during gym. He said, “Volleyball.” She then said, "Oh! Are you the ones that are always really loud?" I guess that's us! Gym is great because when you sit down forever, your body really wants to move around, and it feels so good to release some energy once in a while.

A few funny things that happened this week: First, on Saturday after the morning session of conference, we went on a walk to the temple. We were playing with a little ball, and it was thrown into some bushes. I reached to grab it, but it was far away. So I spread my legs really far over the bush to grab it and I heard a HUGE rip! My pants had basically split in two! Everyone in my district, including myself, started bursting out laughing, which caused a ton of attention. It was funny, but super embarrassing! I borrowed Elder Johnson's jacket, since it was really long, and we had to walk all the way back to my room to get my other pants! The whole time, a few Elders in my district were asking every sister we passed if they could sew pants, just to get their attention drawn to me! It was insane! But I eventually made it back, and changed my pants. I will be much more careful now.

Another funny story is thankfully about two other Elders. Elder Johnson and Rogers were practicing contacting investigators in the hallway. Our teacher was pretending to pick up the trash, and the missionaries approached. Elder Rogers came to help him, and hopefully talk to him about our church. He meant to say, "Boleh kami membantu anda?" which means, "Can we help you?" But instead, he said, "Boleh kami membunuh anda?" Which means, "Can we kill you?" The teacher started to burst out laughing, and he told the rest of us the mistake. Things like that happen all the time, and it is so funny!

As many of you see with the pictures I sent, AFHS got together and took a few pictures. It was awesome, because I didn't realize how many of us there were here! We were one of the biggest groups taking pictures in front of the big map.

Conference was also really good, especially as a missionary. It seemed like every talk had something to do with mission work, but I think it is just because that was what I heard as a missionary! It was really cool to be in the big gym with all the missionaries watching conference. There was a very unique spirit there for sure. It did make me realize that the next conference I watch will be in Indonesian! I really hope I can understand the language by then, so I can get a lot out of the messages.

Well, I really would write more if I could, but my time is up. I wish you all the best, and I hope to hear from many of you.

Sampai Nanti!

-Elder James