Week 1

My Family,

;_). Hi! It's great to have heard from you guys. Thanks a ton for writing. It's helped a lot, especially this first week. I only have twenty five minutes to write, so I'll be quick! Get this to George and to Chels, if you can.

I'll respond to all of your guys' questions first: Mom, haha, I've got my typhoid shot. No big deal. It wasn't even a bad one! It's amazing how nervous I can get for a shot when I give them all day long. The oral vaccine seemed like a bit of a pain. I have three Companions. Elder Dexter and Elder Faas. Elder Wray is in my district. We have a SWEET district. Soooo much potential. We are awesome at working hard when we need to, and still having fun with it. So nice. I'll email home pics as soon as I figure out how to, so that you all, Rachael especially, can get to know them. ;_).

Let me tell you, haha, the first three days of the MTC were some of the hardest of my life. There's an incredible amount of information that we're expected to know and retain. We jump right into the Language the first day. There are rules for everything here. It's like I came into the MTC, and had to squeeze into a body that I wasn't shaped for. But, I've been shaped now. ;_). Jeff wasn't kidding. I just had to make it to sunday. Sunday was beautiful. A little bit strange, because every day feels like a sunday. However, there were no classes, and a bit more time to have personal study time. I've found such comfort in the Scriptures. I'm developing a love for them like I never thought i'd have. I find myself honestly thirsting after the Words of the prophets. Thirsting, hungering, and feasting. President Eyering once said that we should, "drink deeply and daily from the scriptures.". What a beautiful quote. I've always loved quotes.

We're teaching the first lesson on Friday, and oh my goodness, there is sooo much to learn. I've spent hours and hours already just studying the first lesson. It's incredibly basic, and we're expected to teach things on an 8 year old level. Very simple. Right? WRONG! Haha! The gift of clarity and simplicity can only come after a deep study of the subjects. It's a gift that takes a long time to get. It's like.... you can't teach all the way up to what you know. If you just took an algebra class, you probably can't teach it that well. But you've gotten so far into the subject, that teaching pre-algebra would be a lot easier. So I'm diving deep, and hoping to come up with some simple answers.

If you guys get a chance, and aren't doing anything serious with your individual scripture study, try just learning the first lesson. It's in Chapter three of Preach my Gospel. Very testimony building. They give you scriptures at the end of most of the 8 main topics in it. Try and get it to the point where you can teach the first lesson. I can't wait til I have it down, and run into a non-member who wants to know some serious truth. ;_).

Time's running out! I love you guys so much. THe beds aren't very comfortable, the showers go cold sometimes, but the Church is True. I love the Gospel so much. I finally feel like I'm where I've needed to be for the last few months of my life. Don't worry about me. I'm not homesick. No offense. ;_). I'm just where I need to be, you know? OH!!!! Big answer: I don't eat too much cereal here!!! Haha!! I eat it for 1.2 meals per day so far.

Rach, Sorry no time, I love you. Thanks for writing me personally. Keep writing things that are going on in real life ok?

Elder stewart