Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Anything is Possible

Hello Family!

Luckily I have avoided getting sick so far with the exception of a minor cough during week 2. We have been on Tamiflu for a week and a half now because one Elder in our district got the flu. They put him in quarantine, which means he was by himself in his own room not allowed to come out for 3 solid days. It was so funny, not for him but for us. I've been good about washing my hands and eating healthy so that I don't get sick because that could jeopardize when I go to Mexico. There was an Elder in our Zone who was diagnosed with pneumonia the day he got his visa, so he's been here two weeks longer than he should have been.

As far as classes go we technically don't have any class, just MDT all day. Hna. Alvarez (our teacher) is getting a new district of native speakers from South America and Mexico though, so she said we could come to classes with them. We will go to class in the morning and then from 12 on we will have MDT. We are allowed to got he Temple everyday now, and we are allowed to have 2 gym times and when we are not doing that we will be studying. We will be put into district X, the district for all the visa delayed missionaries. We don't take any culture classes, but Hno. Galan is from Ecuador and so he teaches us little cultural things every now and then. We don't really get any culture training until we get thrown to the lions in Mexico. All of the Elders who did not get their permisos are leaving this week to their reassignments. 1 to Ogden, a couple to each of the SLC missions, and one to Albuquerque. It is kind of sad, but also happy. It's amazing how much like brothers the Elders in your district become and it is sad to watch them go. But they are not sad to go because of the incredible work they will be doing. Elder Warr and I will just be waiting for our appointment with the consulate, it could be tomorrow or in 3 weeks no one knows. Plus it is very spur of the moment, the consulate calls and says that they will see the following missionaries, and then we have our appointment later that afternoon.

We had our last classes yesterday. Hno Galan is learning English right now and is trying to pass the English fluency test that will allow him to go to BYU. He asks us about words he hears all the time and it is so funny. The other day he started off class by saying in his heavy Hispanic accent, "I don't know if this is bad, but shut it dude." It was soo funny.

We are starting to realize how close we are to actually being in the field and it is a little scary. Sometimes I think about just how weird it will be to be in a place where people do not speak any English. Somehow we are supposed to talk to random people off the street, in Spanish, and convince them to let us come to their home and teach them. It is a little daunting at times. I guess I just have to rely on the fact that we are not alone out there, we have a member of the Godhead with us in the Holy Ghost, el Espiritu Santo. I guess I've started to see how crazy this whole thing is, and that if I didn't know the truthfulness of the message, well, there's now way I would get on that plane to Mexico.

That phone call was a nice surprise huh? Well I don't notice myself talking any faster, but maybe I am. The relative speed of Spanish and English is about the same when you are talking about what you are actually saying. I will get to call again from the airport on the way down, but I don't know when that might be. It was awesome to hear your voices again. Tell Cameron and Kolby sorry that I couldn't talk to them too, but 5 minutes just isn't very long.

It still doesn't feel like I'm on a mission yet. It just feels like I'm at school. Well, time is running short so I'll just say I love you. The Gospel is true, God is our Father, Christ atoned for us, Joseph Smith was a prophet, and we are anxiously engaged in the most important work that has ever graced the earth. With that knowledge anything is possible.

love
Braden

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