The part of the screen where I'm writing is grey. It's kind of unsettling.
So, how are all of your lives? and how does one spell Lord Alastair Wacanach? Not that it matters....
So, life here in the MTC is quite the party. I'm actually really enjoying it. It's been an adjustment, but, it hasn't really been all that bad. First of all, I have an awesome district and an awesome companion. His name's Elder Baker, and we get along pretty well. He's got a great testimony, and a great handle on German. He's a lot of fun to work with. He went to BYU last year and was in my friend Will White's ward. yup. The other guys in our room are Elder Turney and Elder Jenkins, and they're both great guys. The other four in our district are Elder Trent, Elder Hilton, Elder Bateman, and Elder Weeks, our District leader. Those four are going to Frankfurt. I love all of those guys a lot, it's been so much fun to work with them. I usually take for ever to get comfortable with people, but the short time I've had with them has been so condensed that I feel pretty comfortable around them.
So the craziest thing here is just that we're already teaching an "investigator" in German. I mean, that's definitely the sort of thing I expected, and I think it's helping the most, but like most character building activities, it's also something I get nervoused about doing, and a little stressed over. His name's Paolo, and he seems like a really nice guy. The hardest thing for me right now is just knowing what to teach him, what to say to him. It's funny, because that is a much bigger communication barrier than my German is. My German is far from Perfect, but I'm surprised by how good it is after three years with little exposure. And I'm totally going to pretend that when I accidentally capitalized "perfect" it was because I'm thinking Germanicly, but I've randomly capitalized words since approximately forever +/- 1 day. My time is halfway out, but I ran out of things to say. I'm just joshin' your leg, I could blabber on through the millenium. I seem to be typing worse than usual though. Anyhoodles, I'm having the most trouble with just knowing what to say, and freezing up in the same places I'd freeze up in English. I think that's always been part of my biggest problem, and my biggest fear about becoming a missionary. Of course, this is only one aspect of it, because this is mainly just knowing what to teach, which isn't as bad - I feel pretty comfortable with Paolo, and even if I didn't there's still the comfort that he's actually already a member, and understands exactly what we're going through. The biggest thing I'm scared of is just being able to approach people and deal with people I don't know, and be willing to share the gospel with those who don't think they want it. I'm definitely getting more comfortable with the idea though. I'm trying to kind of channel that love I have for people into motivation to go forward with the work. I also feel like I'll be able to sort of hide behind the nametag somewhat - that's probably actually a horrible way to describe it, but it's the first way that came to mind; Since I am a missionary, If people reject me, they'll be rejecting the gospel, not really me. I guess, it's more that I'll be emboldened by the name tag. heh - in German it's kinda like "Name sheild" so that sort of fits - I guess if I think of myself as missionary, rather than just as myself, it will help me to be bold and outgoing in declaring the word. I hope that made some sense. - Kind of if I can see myself as part of something bigger...
The routine here is pretty exciting, there's lots of study time, we pretty much study and eat, and teach. The studying is all broken up in to different sections. One thing I was kind of surprised by is how independent we are - like we're just expected to be in our classroom studying at a certain time without much supervision. I'm sure if we got out of line, we'd discover we were being watched, and it makes sense once I think about it, I just thought it was interesting.
Anyway, I love you all bunches and bunches of honey bunches of oats (without the almonds), and I know this church is true, that Jesus Christ atoned for us and loves us, and that I'm here doing a good work. This really is where I need to be.
Love, Elder Jacob Cloward
