September 7, 2010

Hola Familia,

How is everything going? Thank you so much for the Labor Day package and the awesome balloon fish thingy with the Swedish Fish. I loved it. Everyone was staring at me when I got it from the mail room so I decided I should take it back to my room before I went to class because it would have been really distracting. I also received the hard drive and SD cards. It is really nice and looks really expensive. I hope it didn't cost too much. I realized that if a 4 GB SD card can hold 1500 pictures or something and the hard drive has 160 GB, that is a lot of pictures. So I have been taking a ton of pictures. Hopefully not too many of them are worthless.

2 weeks later. It's having a hard time.

Thanks for the updates on everyone in the Email Letter. Hannah's birthday sounded great. I wish I was there. I hope Emily and Hannah do good and have fun with dance.

So my usual schedule is: We wake up a 6, take a shower, shave and get dressed for the day. We go to Desayuno at 7. Then usually we go to class at 7:30 and Hermano Salmon teaches us until Almuerzo at 11:30. Then at 12:15, we go back to class and have MDT (Missionary Directed Time). Sometime during the day we go to gym for about an hour (It is a different time everyday but same every week). Cena is at 4:30 and we go back to class at 5:15 where we have more MDT until we plan for the next day at 9. At 9:30 we are back at the residency hall. We write in journals and usually everyone kinda hangs out. 10:15 is quit time and 10:30 is lights out. I like the schedule, our meals are really early but I am used to it now. PDay we go to laundry at 6 to beat the crowd and eat a sack breakfast. Then we have to clean our room and shine shoes and put clothes away and write letters and email. We get to go to the Temple after lunch which has been great. We have a Devotional on Tuesday too which is awesome, especially when Elder Holland came. Elder Richard Hinckley came last week and I don't know who is today. I hope it is good. Sunday I have a bunch of meetings because I'm DL. We have Priesthood after I do those and Sacrament is a little after almuerzo. Time has been really weird. It feels like forever since I wasn't a missionary but the weeks have gone by super fast. It's the Twilight Zone. And it freaks me out because I feel like I don't know enough Spanish.

Hermano Salmon

Oh, but yesterday we finally got our official second teacher. It has been really frustrating because we have had subs and sometimes no subs and a lot of extra MDT which means it gets harder to keep everyone focused. But her name is Hermana Mejia. She is from Peru and I am SO excited because last night she pretty much retaught everything we have learned in the past 3 weeks. She is really going to help us and she doesn't speak English as well and said she is pretty much only going to talk to us in Spanish.

Hermana Mejia

So as far as Mission Lore. I knew about the orange dot on my name tag and I saved it. But I have not seen a Cream Soda Tree. I haven't even seen cream soda. The big thing that just started (and ended) was a spoon that someone in our zone took from the cafeteria and the game was to get it into someone else's pocket without them knowing. It was pretty funny but next thing you know, everyone had a spoon in their pocket. And no pranks so we banned it.

Trying to write really fast. But the food is great. It is free and it is all you can eat so no complaints.

I feel bad I don't have enough time to write in email to cousins or grandparents. They sent me nice letters so I will write them back on paper.

My spiritual thought is 2 Kings 6:15-17 and it is about how we always have help from both sides of the veil. The thought is really inspiring and I love it when Elisha says, "Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." Fear is the opposite of Faith I have decided.

Love you all very much,

Elder Jonny Hardy