December 4, 2014

Hey, everyone!

Hope everything's going okay back in 'Zona. This week has been another busy and interesting one here in the MTC in Provo.

We've been learning like crazy here! Even though we all feel super inadequate with the language, we keep getting reminded that just 2 weeks ago, we didn't know a single word of Hungarian. Isn't that insane?! It's already been 2 weeks in the mission! Only 102 left to go!

The days are very long here, but the weeks go by fast. P-day is a good way to gauge time, because it comes once a week on Thursdays and is kind of like the checkpoint for us. It's been really cool this week to get to experience Thanksgiving as they can only do it here in the MTC! Instead of decorating the Christmas tree or watching the Macy's Day parade like we probably would at home, we spent the day doing service projects and helping other people. (After the email I sent last week on Thursday, we went and made soup mixes for 400,000 meals. Pretty cool stuff haha.)

The elders and sisters are actually starting to go kind of insane lol. I guess that kind of happens when we're in the MTC for 10 weeks. We smile and laugh at some of the dumbest, most random things, and I'm not even ashamed to say that.

Elder Deitrich is the funniest guy ever. He doesn't try to be, but he just says English words kind of amusingly in his German accent and it makes it really hilarious when he says things wrong. Earlier this week, we were telling him how good his English was getting, and he said, "No! Don't tell me my English is good. It hasn't yet! I die you and I eat you." Yeah, we really didn't know what that meant, but we just kinda thought it was probably supposed to be a nice thing to say haha. He and I sing "Mirrors" by Justin Timberlake in the morning, because apparently they listen to American music in Europe and that's the only song he knows the words to haha. He's teaching me how to model, and how to pose well for pictures. He and I pump iron together in the weight room during gym time.

Elder Winegar and I are doing pretty good, too! I learn more about him, and I realize more and more how different we are. But I figure that's probably a good thing! Our differences end up helping us in lessons because we can back each other up in ways that neither one of us could do on our own. He's incredibly smart and he loves to do tae-kwon-do during gym time. We've been learning lots of Hungarian words together and we play little trivia games all throughout the day to try and remember our new phrases better.

The food gets worse and worse here, not gonna lie. That's something to not look forward to sometimes hahaha. On p-day, we have sack-breakfasts and lunches, and today it was a vacuum-packed hoagie sandwich made a few days ago... Weird stuff. Guess they're trying to get our stomachs used to some crazy foods. 

I bought a couple new ties and a belt in the bookstore/MTC credit store today! I'm already getting tired of the same 6 ties over and over, so I think my new ones will help the days feel not so repetetive haha. I just sent my brown suit and grey suit off to be dry cleaned, too! Excited to have clean suits again. (Weird how I was so stoked to have clean suits and do my laundry today hahaha, the little stuff really counts. In fact, I always volunteer to vacuum our dorm and stuff because I miss helping mom do that stuff at home.)

Time is short, and I don't have very long to keep emailing for today! Just remember that everything will be okay in the end, even if we really don't know how that's going to happen in the moment. It's hard to see everyone around us like God sees them, but that's why we're here! It's important to remember that Heavenly Father loves all of us and wants us to be happy. That's why I'm out here learning Hungarian! Just to help other people. Love you lots and hope to hear from you soon! Remember to write! Isten szeret titeket es szeretem titeket!

Priest Elder