Hola!
This has been an interesting week here at the MTC. Things are getting pretty hectic as we continue to practice teaching lessons, door contacts & other things (not to mention Spanish) but everything seems to be going along okay.
I've been working hard to learn the language, but I still feel miles away from being able to go out and proselyte in the field.
I only have 2, maybe 3 more weeks as District Leader, which is funny because I feel like I'm just really starting to get in the swing of things. I taught a lesson last Tuesday after the devotional which went over exceptionally well. I had actually forgotten I was supposed to lead the District Review of the devotional until I was walking back to the classroom, but I lead the discussion as best I could & it ended up great! I have since heard from many of the members of my district that it was an amazing and inspiring lesson, which lets me know that the Lord strengthened me, and the Spirit testified, because there is no way I could pull off a lesson like that just off the top of my head.
Speaking of the members of my district, today is a suspenseful day because on missionary is finding out if he is getting reassigned to another mission and another is finding out if he is getting sent home or not, both for medical issues. Hopefully they will both be OK and be able to continue to serve. I guess we'll find out later today.
Most people at the MTC complain about the food here, but I haven't had any problems with it. The food is basically the exact same things we got at the Cannon Center at BYU. I may have gained some weight since I've been here, but not in the way you think! During the hour of gym time we have here each day, I've been busting my butt and getting back in shape. I've already put on a little bit of muscle mass and have gotten my cardio back up. It's surprising what you can do in one hour as long as you commit yourself and work hard the whole time.
I had a pretty fun experience on Friday as well. A teacher (actually the RM guy from "The District" movies) invited us to play street contacts for his class. Some of us were chosen to be kind and receptive while others were, well to be frank, mean. I got to be one of the mean ones. As the teacher put it, "on a scale from 1 to 10 in obnoxiousness, you should be about an 8." So we had some fun with some of the missionaries by making fun of them and being rude. But come, who doesn't want to have a little fun when you've been given a license to be a jerk? We're told to love everyone all the rest of the time, so this was quite a treat, I guess you could say.
Anyway, I know the Restoration & Plan of Salvation lessons by heart in English now and we're teaching La Leccion del Evangelio Restauredo (The Restoration) en Espangnol for the first time this Friday. So that will be quite an experience. Hopefully, we'll be able to get by without too many slipups and be able to bring the Spirit. (Editorial note by Mom. I have a hard time reading Roland's tiny handwriting, so you will all have to forgive the probable Spanish translation mistakes!)
Now it's time for my mini responses to the bazillion letters that were in the box you sent me!
Dad: my companion is fairly certain that his Great Grandad isn't Jacob Lybbert, but the close proximity and name relation would lead me to suppose that they are at least somehow related. It is kind of crazy how you could pull out a story like that from thin air!
Sarah: You will be getting a letter of your own from me since you Dear Eldered me!
Mom: The Crunch bars arrived just fine and will be given out to my district when we complete our first English Fast this coming week. It'll be a period of 2-4 hours where none of us speak English. The candy bars will be a good reward for a "fast." We're going to keep lengthening the time so we eventually go a whole day with no English.
My asthma is doing fine in this heat, but coincidentally last night I had a nightmare that I had a super bad asthma attack and couldn't breathe. Kind of scary, but it was just a dream so it's OK.
Oh, and those sour Twizzler things you sent me were delicious. Please send more when you are able to. Thanks for the box and all the love & candy!
Nathan: Congratulations on the 10 year anniversary! Kind of crazy that it was that long ago, though. I was only 9 or 10 when you got married. it's weird how I can still remember some of it (and all the sunflower stuff). Thanks for the advice on how to make the most of my mission. Maybe you should teach at the MTC because those are the three big bullet poings all my teachers have been hitting ever since I got here, haha. It was got to get some advice from you and maybe next time I'll be able to write you back in Spanish!
Christian: The three days of permamettings were kind of stressful, but now that I'm in the swing of things it's not too bad. I still have permameetings on Sundays because of the DL thing, but those ones are smaller and not quite so rushed and demanding.
Rose-Ellen: So far my comp is great! He lives in Moses Lake, went to Yakima (if that's how you spell it) Valley Community College and his ward is in the Spokane Mission (same as yours, I'm guessing). The Spanish is coming along well & I seem to be a little bit ahead of the curve in my district. I guess now I need to beware of pride, haha. I haven't gotten sick yet at all, so I'm grateful for the awesome immune system I'm blessed with. I'm grateful that I don't have any health problems potentially in the way of me being able to serve. Natalie and Becca seem to be doing well. It's too bad they probably won't remember me when I get back, but that's OK because I'll still be their favorite when the know me again. How did your eye surgery go? Which method did they end up using? Hopefully the one that allows you to heal quicker. Have any funny Becca/Natalie stories? Hope you're doing OK as a part time single Mom for the Summer!
Anyway, I think that's all for the week, except for one last thing. Maybe Dad will know the answer to this, otherwise if you could, try to look it up for me. My other teacher, Hermano (Franklin) Ortiz, is from Honduras and I'm fairly certain he's like Honduran royalty. According to him, his whole family is in politics. People "know" his family in Honduras. He had trouble adjusting to being unknown in American and plans to return to Honduras and be President there. Oh, and he's loaded. His clothes are way expensive and he has a couple of super expensive watches. So, i'm curious as to the story of his family. If you could find out or like print of the Wikipedia article and send it to me, I would appreciate it.
Alright, well, that's it for now. I'm officially 2 weeks into the MTC and getting into the swing of things. Thanks for the letters and the package and please send more!
Love,
Elder Wood
P.S. We get new missionaires in our zone tomorrow, finally! We won't be the noobs anymore.
