Thursday, October 7, 2010

Food: so-so. Conference: great!

Well, before I start off this email, I just want to tell you about a website called Dear Elder.com.  It's a website where you can write letters to missionaries, and then they send them for you.  It's free while I’m in the MTC so if you wanted to respond to my emails using that that would be cool.  Then I could know what I'm going to say before I get to the computer.  And feel free to ask me any questions that you want to have answered.

The food here at the MTC is really not all that good.  But I can understand why.  Most of the time the vegetables are either over or under cooked.  But there hasn’t been a day yet where there hasn't been any food that I'll eat.  As far as the ice cream goes, it is only served on Sundays and Wednesdays, which happen to be the days they serve the best food.  I think it's because they're trying to trick the new missionaries.  Overall the food is pretty good, and I haven't been eating too much or drinking very much pop.  But I did find a new drink that I like.  It's a Mexican drink that they sell at the book store here, called Sangria.  It's kinda like a non-alcoholic wine.  it's interesting and has a different flavor.
I can't remember if I told you in my previous email that my companion was thinking of leaving to go to a more advanced class.  But it has happened, my companion is no longer with me.  I am now going to be the companion of Elder Mayburry.  His companion left too.  So I have to move all my stuff into his bedroom now.  This companionship I can already tell is going to be completely different.  He is definitely a lot slower than me, which I think will actually help me learn the language better.  My old companion knew a lot more than me, and I think I know a lot more than my new companion.  Hopefully I can be a help to him in learning the language.
I got to go to the Temple last Thursday, and I'll be going again today.  Since going to the Provo temple, I've come up with a theory, although this isn't really the most spiritual of theories.  Based on my experience in the Salt lake temple, and the Provo temple, I think they try and find the most comfortable couches they possibly can for the celestial room.  They all seem to be like a cloud.  But the temple is nice.  Although you can tell it's been used quite a bit, it is still a beautiful place to feel the spirit.  And the celestial room is sweet.  It's super white, and there's a massive chandelier hanging from the middle of the room.
When the last group left our zone to go on their mission, they left a room open, and it still is open, and I've just been thinking that it would be hilarious if when Jaren comes this coming Wednesday, if he ended up being in my zone, although I doubt that will happen. 
Unfortunately you'll have to wait a little while for me to get some pictures to you, the computers we use are super basic, and it would take a little too much time from my email writing, but I'll try to send some to you soon.
Español is a fairly difficult language to learn, but that’s just because I want to try translating it directly to English.  I am really starting to understand what people are saying to me, but I have trouble conjugating what I want to say when I go to speak back.  I have to write a 5 minute talk this week on charity in Español just in case they call on me in church.  I think it would be easy to do in English, but Spanish grammar and verb conjugating is weird.  But I have to learn sooner or later.
Oh yeah, Conference was great too.  I don’t think a weekend has passed by so fast in my life.  Both of Pres. Uchtdorf´s talks were superb!  And pres. Monson´s was quite good too.  I thought it was pretty cool to watch as a missionary.  I wish I had arrived to the MTC earlier so that I could have sung in the MTC choir during Priesthood session.  It was cool to watch and be able to pick out faces I knew in the choir.  I've also met some people from BYU.  Gotta go – bye for now!

Elder Dilling

My favourite picture of the Provo temple (below)