This has been, by far, the BEST week yet at the MTC. SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED, and I feel like I could never write long enough to explain it all! I really don´t know where to begin. Time goes by SO FAST here, and I need to do better at writing in my journal because I will write in it at night and the next thing I know, it will be 5 days without me writing anything. Haha I also lose track of days here. I can´t believe it is already September! It is unreal that I have almost been out 6 weeks. It has went by so fast. We can't listen to really any music here so we are constantly singing songs we know. It is so funny! There is nothing more fun than singing "You'll be in my heart" by Phil Collins every day with a shower room full of guys. Haha That is why I asked for the Disney songbook because we sing a lot of disney songs here.
I got to go to BYU with Elder Shirley and Hermana Rozsa and a lot of other missionaries to obtain our fingerprints for our travelers visas! It was so fun visiting BYU and I am SO EXCITED to go there when I get back. They had both already been to BYU for a year and showed me around. I have learned so much from so many people here and have become really good friends with over 100 new people here. Most people are going to BYU after the mission, and walking around when everyone was out on their second day of classes for fall semester really got me excited for college. Elder Shirley is the best. He is so smart and we enjoy doing all the same kinds of stuff. He plays piano really well, and he is amazing at skiing. He went 35 times this last winter at BYU! haha We are planning on going a lot when we get back.
I only have 3 more classes here at the MTC. It seemed like we would never stop having class. Haha I have one tonight for 3 hours, and I have two 3 hour classes on Saturday. All classes are entirely in spanish. I have learned so much in them, and I get to teach our class Subjunctive with Noun, Adjective, and Adverb Clauses tonight. I have been preparing a lot for it, and It should be fun! ha Our teachers are great! They are so uplifting and have they always have the best stories to tell. They also bear AMAZING testimonies of the gospel and how it has blessed their lives and they are always enjoyable. We have In- Field orientation tomorrow which I do not know too much about but they said it is very fun and informative. Every Sunday night here, we get to take down all of the set up in the gym after the devotional as our service. There is so much to do and it usually takes over an hour. My favorite part though is at the end where this guy tells us an amazing story about brigham young and we all (about 100 missionaries who did the service that night) give the "Hoorah for Israel" Cheer. He always says, "and if you do it just right, your family may even hear it back home. " I liked that.
I am going to miss it so much here at the MTC! Lots of people are ready to leave, but now that it is time to actually leave, I think I could stay a lot longer. As we were singing our Choir song for the devotional on Tuesday night, I was looking out across the sea of missionaries realizing it was the last time I would really get that opportunity. It made me think of the words to the Nashville Tribute song ¨Hardest thing I ever loved to do´´ which has the lines ¨´´ And my favorite song I ever loved to sing, filled the MTC on angels´ wings. As the chorus filled my sould 5000 strong, I wished it would just go on and on...´´ We sang the song ´´Lead Kindly Light´´ and Sweet hour of Prayer. It was my favorite devotional yet.. Probably because it was my last.
Piano has been such a blessing for me here. I will have played every sunday that I have been here for sacrament meeting for our zone as well as a few special musical numbers. Hermana Rozsa and I tried out in front of this committee for auditions and they loved our number and it went great. They asked HER to accompany the choir with a countermelody to Sweet Hour of Prayer on Tuesday night devotional. Haha I was kind of jealous that I didn't get to play for the whole MTC though. There are so many pianists here though that I feel like if you don't know how to play, you are in the minority.
I got to see Kelsey Rust last Friday. She is super excited to be here. It is hard seeing people you know because you aren´t supposed to hug them. Haha It is so tempting though. I also saw aunt Vonda!! She was an usher for new missionaries. I have seen Russell quite a bit here. He is still teaching in a building close to mine.
RACHEL HALE!!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!! I never would have thought you would get sent to Buenos Aires! Haha You are going to love it. I didn´t actually get to find out until yesterday because we missed the mail on Tuesday and Mondaywas Labor Day. It was killing me not knowing where you were going. So happy for you. Maybe we can stand on our boundaries and give each other a good missionary handshake. Haha
Aunt Ashalita!! ;)) You are the best!! Thank you so much for your packages, cards, and advice. They mean so much to me!! I wish I could have more time to write back and truly thank you for it, but we hardly have any time here for that at all. Lol Just know that means so much to me and I will use that stationary throughout my whole mission. The guys in my district are Jealous! haha Thanks for all you do for me!! :)
Well tomorrow is my last Gym time. I love gym time, and lately we have been playing soccer on the missionary fields every day. It is so much fun, and a lot of the guys are pretty good at soccer. I hold my own though and actually score quite a bit. I don't know if I will be able to hold my own once I get to Argentina though. Haha On monday.. we were in the middle of a soccer game when a paraglider got caught in a cloud above us and had to emergency land right in the middle of our game. That was kind of cool! HAHA He just said he was happy to be alive. He had jumped off of squaw peak and flew 8 miles. It looked fun.
Mom- Thank you so much for your dear elders on Fridays and Wednesdays. They are really uplifting. It is so fun to get mail here! Also thank you for all the packages you and everyone else in our family has sent me! Also, thank Grandma and Grandpa Rust and Grandma Caten for their letters. I feel bad because I don't always get the chance to respond back to everyone, but let them know that I appreciate their thoughts, and that their letters really do mean so much to me!! :)
Dad- Thank you so much for your letter. That really helped a lot!
So I got my haircut today and they cut it short.. like really short. Haha I guess the saying about the MTC barbers was true.
Reilly Caten: Thank you so much for your letter that I recieved today!! That meant so much. I am sorry I don't have time to reply back, but know that I am thinking of you and all of your amazing accomplishments. Thank you so much for your letter, and I have seen 2 of your friends already! haha I really hope you decide to serve a mission! You would love it!! :)
I just got your package like an hour ago!!!! Thank you all so much for that! I absolutely LOVE the tie, picture, and everything else! That was so thoughtfull. I had to go ahead and open it because we are already starting to pack and stuff and I had to organize it. Mitchell, I loved your picture!! That was so good. My roomates loved it! Haha Alyson, Thank you so much for your card! That was seriously so nice and thoughtful. My roomates say you are pretty cute! Haha
Well, I am not entirely sure when the next time that I will be able to email you all will be. I am also not sure when my next P-day will be and what it will be like trying to communicate with you all while in Argentina. I am sure we will figure it all out though. Thanks for all the letters, packages and prayers everyone.
I am going to miss the MTC and all of the amazing people here so much. They have taught me so many things that I will remember forever, and I am so grateful to have had this experience!! I wouldn't trade it for anything.
As I have been preparing for my journey to Argentina, I have had the words of "lead kindly light'' in my head. It goes, "lead kindly light amid then circling gloom, Lead thou me on. The night is dark, and I am far from home, Lead thou me on"
I hope all is well with everyone! I have to go, but I will let you all know what is happening next from Argentina. Love you all!!!
Con Amor,
Elder Caten
