GOOOOAALLL!!!

(*Paul Hill is Joe's brother who is in the MTC and going to Fiji)

Helloo Family,

So first of all, visas are not looking good right now, although they are getting better. The Mexican consulate is being really slow right now, in fact she's on a 2 week vacation right now. It's more than likely that I will either be temporarily reassigned or stay in the MTC for a couple additional weeks. I think that Mexico is the only place they are really having visa issues. But I don't care, I will get to Mexico when God needs me to get there. There is a reason for everything, including this.
Also, yeah getting that letter from *Paul was weird. He just happened to be in the district of someone who had gotten one of my letters, and it just so happens that I was standing right there when he opened it. I see Paul probably 4 or 5 times a week. The MTC is split into a bunch of different buildings like BYU. There are something like 20 buildings. It's nice because we get to walk outside when we are going places, and we usually study outside during MDT (when no teacher is there). The MTC provides everything. Goals, balls, flags, everything. I have played frisbee a couple of times but we're not allowed to play ultimate so that stinks really bad. Usually when we play frisbee we just toss it around. There is also sand volleyball and softball and 4 square. You can also run around the playfields if you want. As far as acronyms go, I don't really know what you mean. All of the buildings have a real name, like the Dan Jones Building, but then they also have a number assigned to them, 1M through 21M. TRC = Teaching resource center, it's where we go to teach lessons to volunteer investigators. It is the pinnacle of what we study for each week, it's game day Friday's, cause that's when we go teach. The TE is where we go teach teachers, for practice.
So far it is still just me and Elder Warr in our room, and I hope it will stay that way. It is nice being able to go right to sleep at 10:30. The haircuts here leave much to be desired...Elder Warr got a haircut that looks like Will Smith's flat top from Fresh Prince of Bel Air. It is way funny, but it is his fault because when he went in he told them to "surprise me." No I don't like pop, I will just have to get used to it when I get there. Also, I will send Darci letters as soon as I have her address, until then it will be very difficult. But I would love to hear from her so if she would send that to me soon I would appreciate it.
A ton of things happened this week so we'll see if I'll be able to fit them all in. Last Wednesday we went to the RC (Referral Center) to make calls following up on people that had ordered things from the church like Books of Mormons and DVD's and things. It is probably the best place on campus except for the TRC. We were supposed to be done calling at 4 pm, but the other Elders in my district told me to make 2 extra calls. So I did. On the second call this lady, Macarena (haha...I know) picked and sounded like she had been crying. I talked to her for a while about what was going on in her life and what she knew about our Church. She said she had some major issues with her son and didn't really know what to do. She was Catholic but didn't really go to Church very much. So I taught her the first lesson and she let me send missionaries over. I also challenged her to get baptized if she could find out for herself if the things I was telling her were true, which she said she would! I get to call her back tomorrow, so we'll see what happens but that was one of the coolest things that has happened to me since I got here. It's crazy how tired you are after things like that. It is physically draining to feel the spirit and teach and respond to people with the spirit.
Also I see Casey all the time because he is in my Zone, which means his classroom is 3 doors down from mine. But a bit of bad news, for some reason they are taking my district and combining it with another district, so they are moving us out of the zone. Therefore, I will no longer be in Casey's zone. They are taking our teachers away from us also, which is probably the worst part because they were the best teachers in the MTC. You think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. That will be the worst, but I know that it wouldn't happen unless there was a purpose for it so I'm trying not to complain too much. But...the good news of the week is that I got my first goal!!! Someone's shot hit of the left post and off the goalies hands, so I was there to kick the rebound in. It was the best. I love it when the South Americans play, because they yell things in Spanish, and although I don't really know what they mean, it makes the game seem way more legitimate. Well I'm running out of time, so I guess I will just say I love you all. I am so thankful for Christ. The Atonement is so much more than I thought it was. It cleans us from our sins, but more than that it allows us to throw all of our trials, infirmities and weaknesses at it. It empowers us to become so much more than we could ever hope to be without it. Every single thing, everything is in someway connected to the Atonement. Well that's my thought.

Love you

Braden