Hello!
This will be the last letter I send from the MTC! We received
our travel plans last Thursday and I am leaving Monday, the 29th. We check into
the travel office at 4:30pm, and our flight leaves at 8:05pm! Luckily, our
group is not one of the ones who leaves super early in the morning. We fly to
Los Angeles at 8:05pm, arrive at 9:05pm, leave to Honk Kong at 11:15pm on the
29th, and arrive at 5:55am on the 31st! Isn't that crazy? We basically skip a
day because we cross the International Date Line. We will leave Hong Kong and
fly to Jakarta, Indonesia at 9:30am, and will arrive at 1:20pm. We will be
greeted by the Mission President and his wife, go to the Mission home to eat,
and then rest a bit. After that, we will most likely go out shopping to get a
few things, and spend the night in the mission home! I am incredibly excited to
go. I’m sure this week will go by slowly!
Thank you for all the packages and letters I have gotten. I love
everything that has been sent, and I feel very blessed to have so much support!
Aunt Karen, thank you so much for the English Toffee! It was really, really
good! Aunt Leslie, thank you for the letters and the Halloween package you
sent! I also loved all the messages from all my fantastic cousins! Thank you to
Grandma James for the pillow and snacks, they will come in great handy as I
travel so far. Thank you all so much!
The MTC was pretty good this past week. We are really improving
with the language, and we pretty much feel that we are ready to go. Our
teachers are trying to teach us as much as they can, and we keep asking them
for stories in the Mission field. They tell us some pretty insane stories, and
I can't wait to have my own so I can tell all of you! Last Wednesday, our
District was assigned to host the new Missionaries. There was not
a huge group of people coming in, but we each were able to host about
two Missionaries, and it was a lot of fun. I hosted two who were both
going to different places in South America, Spanish speaking. It felt
very strange to host new Missionaries, because it felt like just
yesterday when I was one of them.
On Thursday, as I said earlier, we were expecting our
travel plans. It honestly felt like Christmas! The day went by so slowly,
and when dinner finally came, we were able to get them! We were very relieved
that we all had plane tickets, because sometimes one or two Elders in
a District have problems with visas and such, and they have to wait in
the MTC until they are approved. I have heard of some Missionaries
staying an additional three weeks! So all went well.
We had TRC this past Saturday, which is where we teach
members in the language, and try to help them with anything we can. This week
it went really well. My Companion and I taught two people, one a wonderful
return Missionary, and the other, a lady who was from Indonesia, but is living
in Utah! It was very humbling to teach a real Indonesian, and I think we did a
pretty good job with the language. It really is so strange to learn a new
language, because I mix Indonesian and English all the time! Our District loves
it, because unlike some other languages in the MTC, there are only nine
speakers of Indonesian. So we can pretty much say anything in front of anyone,
and they will have no idea what we are saying! It is like a kid’s dream, where
you and your friends have a secret language that no one else can speak!
Sunday was our second to last one here in the MTC, and it went
well. Our Branch is very cool, and everyone in it is super nice! The devotional
Sunday night was also really good, and we gained great advice for the mission
field.
On Monday, our District's good friends, the Missionaries going
to Madagascar, left. There were only four of them, Elder Arrington, Elder Ham,
Elder Horne, and Elder Evans. They were on our same floor in the classrooms.
They would always play Volleyball with us during Gym time, and we all had a lot
of fun together. Elder Horne and Evans were our Zone Leaders, and I got to know
them very well. We will miss them, and we wish them the best of luck in
Madagascar!
Today was quite sad, because it was the last time we were able
to go to the Temple for the next two years. I realized it on Sunday, and I
promised myself that I would pay as much attention as I could. It was a great
experience! I really felt the spirit, and it helped prepare me for the
departure to Indonesia.
Well, I have run out of time, but the next time I email, I will
be in Indonesia! I hope all of you reading this are doing great, and my Mother
will post my new mailing addresses if you want to send anything! Thanks for all
the love and support!
-Elder
James
{Please see previous post with pictures from Week 8}
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