Week 3-Q & A time

Sometimes you just need to take the bull by the horns.  My bull is mighty cute but just not giving this momma the info needed, so this week I did a Q & A letter so that I could have the questions answered that I wanted.  My tactic proved successful.  Here's the content of Elder Summers and my question and answer session.

1. German?  How's the language coming?  Are you able to speak sentences or is it a struggle?  

  "My German is going swell.  I can speak decent but not as well as I would like to but that's ok."   

2. Companions and other missionaries?  How are the companionship's going?  Getting along ok? 

Elders Jablot, Summers and Quesada

"In my district is Elders Hale and Sorenson, me and Lingen, Petty and Johnson and the Sisters that are in some of the pictures are Price and Forseburg, but my fav Elder is Joblot, he is from *France and I love him to death! He is the one wearing glasses with short brown hair close to his head if you know which one I'm talking about I really like him, yeah he is just super cool. He has shown me pictures of his family and i have shown him pictures of mine, and unfortunately no, he isn't going to my mission, he is going to the England mission.  His English is going good but he does not really understand it that well.  I don't know how to describe it but yeah, he's my favorite.  I'll get his email stuff but i think it might be a while before he understand English well enough, haha"   

*(side not from mom... this is almost miraculous that Ben has such a kindred spirit bond with the French Elder, he's never thought too highly of the French, tsk tsk.  I love how the softening of his heart has taken place, the true love of Christ is showing and that he feels maybe that preexistence connection between a "long time friend" found again.)

3. Who drew the futball dream picture?  Jack is convinced it wasn't you because the handwriting is too nice.  :)  That was one of my favorite pictures, well they all were my favs, especially the Book of Mormon one with the tag and ring. 

He likes to play futball now

 "The person who drew the picture was Elder Johnson, he wants me to go to college at the University of Utah with him when we get back.   I have a question with my Oklahoma promise, will I still have it when I get back? Like I said Elder Johnson wanted me to go to the University of Utah and its about 3-4 grand. How much is OSU?"

4. Can you share one spiritual impression or feeling that you've had since entering the MTC?  If you can't think of any or don't wish to share it's ok. Can you feel daddy around you?  just curious.:)

(I'm leaving this one unedited because I haven't the foggiest what the kid was trying to say for the most part...)

 "Pretty much all the devos we have are spiritual. I can feel something the ne we just had from Bednar was my fav ots about is it the HG of is it me"  good luck deciphering that :)  STOP THE PRESSES!!!  after rereading this snippet several times I think I cracked the code.... "I can feel something, the one we just had from Bednar was my fav, it's about is it the Holy Ghost or is it me?"  Why was that so hard for me to figure out?  :)

5. How is teaching going?  I presume that you've started giving "discussions", weird, strange, or pretty ok?

"Yeah we started teaching our "investigators" our 2nd day here and its not that bad, I just need more German to get better."

6. What have you done on p-day this week?  

"On pday we go to the market and buy things there, mostly candy and other junk like that.   It's just a fun break form the MTC that's why I go anyways, and when we get back we email and sleep haha."

7. Have you had interviews with Pres. Preston?  

"I have not really had chances to talk with him but i love him." (from my mom's letter...)  "Thank you for what you wrote on the MTC wall with the picture. President pulled me into his office and handed me a slip of paper and on it was a print out of what you wrote and he let me keep it so thank you for that I really needed that."   

8. Do you know how the Mother's Day phone call or Skype will go yet?  

 "I dont know if I can skype you on mday but I know I can call you.  I hope I can skype!  I'll let you know as soon as I can."

  I'm a jingle type of gal, so in my head I sing this song almost daily, "after all there's only (insert number of sleeps until pday) more sleeps till P-day!"  Think a Muppet's Christmas Carol and Kermit the Frog singing about how many more sleeps till Christmas day.  Like I've said, getting a letter is like Christmas, it's wonderful, heart warming, and just not long enough.  Have a fabulous week and remember, there's only 7 more sleeps till P-day!

  

Week 2- It's Picture Day!

Everybody smile and say "cheese!"  It's the first picture dump day from my Elder and I couldn't help but smile, real big.  The letter home this week reminded me of Christmas morning, so happy to open that present but sad that it's only one present.  I could've used about 20+ more presents, but alas, the nice pair of warm woolen socks will have to do.

"Hey Mom,

I got all the letters you sent me along with the Thunder key chain and the pictures that Emma and Hannah sent.  I love them.  

Things are going really great here at the MTC.  I got to go to the temple again today and that was super cool.  Yeah, it's been sunny here most of the time.  So tomorrow we get a whole new set of missionaries, like the elders going to England and Scotland are only here for 2 weeks.  so tomorrow we get a whole new set which is going to be cool.  I love them all here!  There is also a senior couple coming to the MTC which is sweet.  Yeah, everyone is telling me about the earthquake and how Grace threw up on the bus, haha!  The food here is pretty good.  I like all the missionaries.  I'm playing futball(which is our soccer) every day cause there are about 8 or so elders from Spain/France/Hungary and they like to play futball.  They are my favorite elders, they are just so happy all the time!  My German is going good, I can kinda speak now.  But anyway, I hope all is going well.  Tell everyone that I miss them!

Love, 
Ben"

Standing in front of "the arch from that one sister's blog"

3 priceless items..His name tag, his dad's CTR ring and his German Book of Mormon

This little snippet from Katie's letter just tickled my funny bone.  Every mom wants to hear these words coming out of their child's mouth...

"The MTC is going great!  It's like school but better, like it's not as strict and I want to learn!"

Seriously, best quote of the week, "I want to learn!"  Yippee!!  That's it for week 2.

Elder Summers in front of the Preston England temple

Class time

England Missionary Training Centre

Elders Lingen, Summers and Reed

Such a lovely view of the Temple.

Having a little fun on the MTC grounds

Letters Home- First week at the MTC

The England MTC crew, April 15, 2015

The saying, you'll never understand until you walk a mile in someones shoes, became crystal clear on Elder Summers first P-Day.  I waited and waited, watched and refreshed my email, then watched and refreshed some more, looking for the gem of all gems.... The first Letter Home!  I sympathized with my missionary mom friends, felt their pain of missing their sons, but did not fully understand until it was my  turn to wait and wait... and wait some more.  Pretty sure I have each 6 1/2 lines of that first email embedded to my heart and I could care less that it was pretty much one very large, enormous Run On Sentence.  But as Ben would say, "I didn't go to school to learn no English!"  :)

Enough of my idle prattle here's the good stuff, well I think it's golden, his letters home. (p.s. I fixed the grammar and punctuation for the blog but am saving the real McCoy for posterity's sake)

"Hey mom,

 England is super cool.  I  started German lessons the 2nd day at the MTC! My companions name is Elder Lingen and he is cool. I have gotten used to the English area, its not too cold plus I'm inside all day. There is a French elder here and a bunch of English 2nd language people here as well, We went through the Preston Temple today and the French elder took a bunch of names from his family and I got to go through with one of those names, The food is good but yours is better,  I just feel the spirit all around me like I'm not afraid to be a missionary.  Tell everyone that they can call me Ben if they want, and they don't have to end it with anything special.  But yeah its like trying to drink from a fire hose, learning German but that's OK!   Honestly I don't think I'll be able to go into Switzerland.  All I can say right now is the England MTC is super cool, the elders here are great people, most of them from Utah though.  Hope that everything goes well with Katie's friend coming to church and give everyone my love."

And then later that afternoon.. BAM! another letter!  It was Christmas people, no lie.

"I love the pictures you send of pug!  Haha. Also, side note, does everyone know my email address?  But yeah, p-day was really fun.  We went shopping at the local market because I forgot my scripture marking things.  So I had to buy crayons instead, but that's about it.  The left side of the road thing is kinda weird but honestly England is not so bad, maybe cause I'm just around American elders all day at the MTC.  Oh!  The temple is like 45 seconds from the MTC and I can see it from my room!  I can't take a lot of pictures in the MTC but I have some of the temple and that arch we saw on that one sisters blog, I took a pic with me in that so its really cool.  How have the storms been?  It's only rained like 3 times but its been a wimpy rain, so its nothing.  Tell Jacob to email me and others to email me too!  I can't believe that I have around 5 weeks left in the MTC.  It's weird, I can understand what they are saying in German but when I try and speak I can't speak.  I know the words but when I try and use them in a sentence, I can't process them as fast.  But yeah, other than that it's going great, but it is weird having someone with you always.  I'll try and send some more pictures when I take some more.  Talk to you next Wednesday.

Love,

Elder Summers" 

And because I love what he wrote to my mom, I'm including her letter this week too.

"Hey Grammy,

Thank you so much for everything.  I love the pictures you have sent me and I will never stop working until the very end, but first I have to learn the language and that has been my struggle, trying to speak.  I know that as I put my trust in the Lord he will make weak things strong and I know that.  I can feel Papa and Dad around me when i get frustrated at times.  I hope everything goes well.

Love,

Ben"

Well there we have it folks.  Week one, in the books, only roughly 103 more to go.