2 weeks left!!!

Hey peeps,
     2 weeks left in the MTC!!! I've learned to love the MTC. the devotionals are the best.
Our teachers are awesome! same with our branch presidency and our branch. I love my
district we all get along great. come Monday, 8 out of the 12 Elders in our district are
leaving. 4 of them are going to Portugal. 3 of them are going to Brazil. and 1, my companion
is going to Cabo verde. He leaves Tuesday, which means i get two p-days next week!!!
haha woohoo!!! i'm not sure how that will quite work out but yeah. then it will just be me,
Elder Cummings, Elder Fontaine, and Elder Merkley. so that will be kinda fun for one week.
But other than that, not a lot is going on! oh! except to deal with all the new missionaries,
they're putting two more beds in each room!!! so our room now has 6 beds!!!! but only 4
closets. we get to host again tomorrow. (that was awesome that you saw a pic of me
hosting haha, what are the chances! you should send it to me:)) So we'll either get 2 new
Elders in our room either tomorrow or next Wednesday.
     Here's some advice for 'The Spartans', or anyone going on a mission:
1. Don't focus on things at home. Leave it all behind. Focus on your work and it will make
it so much easier for you. I think the number one problem in the MTC is homesickness.
2. If you have a girlfriend, get rid of her haha. sad, but true. There are so many Elders who
miss their girlfriends and it just makes it that much harder.
3. Lose your pride. There are gonna be Elders that you're going to want to punch in the face
hahaha trust me, i know. But you have to remember that they chose to serve a mission
just like you and you both have the same purpose. usually they mean well.
4. This goes along the lines of 2 and 3, but one of our speakers said Leave any 'extra' baggage
at home. meaning girlfriends, problems, worthiness issues, anything like that. Make sure
you take care of it before you get home. He went on to say the only baggage you should bring,
are the 2-3 suitcases you'll take with you.
5. The MTC stands for "Make The Change". You should be different when you come home from
your mission. David A. Bednar talks about this in one of his talks called "recognizing the Spirit"
he says 'There is a difference between serving a mission, and becoming a missionary. If you go
home and are doing the exact same thing you were before you left your mission, you did not
become a missionary but simply served a mission." Make sure you become a missionary, not just
serve a mission.
6. Last thing, Make sure its your decision to serve. Don't let people pressure you into serving.
You should serve because you want to. Because the Gospel makes you happy and you want others
to have that same happiness. Make sure you're serving for the right reasons.
7. one more thing, bring a dictionary in your language to English, the ones they give you here, aren't
that great. and it will help you a ton.
I hope this helps!! just some things I've learned while being here. I love you all so much!!! thanks for
the letters and packages. the support is awesome! it makes it so much easier to know that I have
family and friends who support me! oh and if you guys wanna see an awesome scripture, read
Mormon 2:4. not words of Mormon, Book of Mormon :) love you guys and thank you Trish/mark and
fam! i loved the letters, i got them and read them. thanks for the scripts!!! I wanted something like that.
I'm in the laundry room right now, wearing my ninja disguise shirt. and the Elders here love it haha.
it gave them all a good laugh:) love you guys!!! tchau!!!