Tyzden Dva (Week Two)

Ahoj!

Ako sa mate (how are you)? as i have now been through two weeks at the mtc, i am starting to feel like a seasoned veteran. we got new missionaries this last week and we are going to get more tomorrow. by next week my district is going to be the oldest district in our zone, which is super weird to think about. we are going to see three districts come to the mtc and leave before we leave. everything this week went really well. the language is definitely difficult, but i am just trying to focus myself on learning more everyday. every night i sit on my bed and i try to think of some things that i learned that day that i didn't know before, and everyday they add up pretty quickly. i know that a few months from now when i'm standing on the street corner in Banska Bystryca or wherever i'm first assigned i'm going to scratch my head and wonder what form of gibberish the people are speaking, but i am still diligently applying myself here and trying to learn as much as i can. we had to do a contacting exercise on thursday all in Slovak. i think that we did pretty well considering that we had only had about a weeks worth of experience with the language, but there were still a lot of words that our investigator said that i just did not understand at all. this next week we have to introduce our family and ask about someone else's family in Slovak. toto je moja matka. vola sa Gina. etc. i hope everything is going well back at home. i would love to hear all about what all of you are doing, so anyone who reads this is more than welcome to send me a letter or a message on dearelder.com. i am not surprised to hear that the jazz have been sucking it up lately, but i am still very disappointed. from the newspaper clippings that grandma sent me it looks as though al jefferson has been playing really well, but hasn't been getting any help from anybody else. i feel sorry for the guy. he came to utah to win and we can't even beat teams like the timberwolves! speaking of sports related tragedy, i heard yesterday from my teacher that the Aggies got a 12 seed in the NCAA tournament. that. is. total. garbage. i haven't heard of corruption like that since stalin's show trials in the 1930s. winning 30 games and being ranked 17th in the nation does not merit a 12 seed. i do, however, think they will beat kansas state. ANYWAY, back to the whole mission thing. today we went to the temple and after we got out of our session we all decided to eat breakfast at the cafeteria in the basement at the temple because we had all heard really good things about it. the food did not disappoint. we were all commenting on how you don't realize how crappy the food is at the mtc until you try something else. elder coleman quipped that "if this food fell on the floor, i would still choose to eat it instead of the food at the mtc." i wholeheartedly agree with that statement. not that the food at the mtc is terrible, but every time i eat i just think that a matter of weeks ago i was eating at wonderful establishments such as Hires, Cafe Rio, and Molcasalsa. i guess what i'm am trying to say is CHERISH THE FOOD OF THE OUTSIDE WORLD. you don't know what you've got until it's gone. anyway, i hope that everything is going well back home and that you are all finding the blessings that you need. at our fireside this sunday the administrative director of the mtc spoke and reminded us that as missionaries we are taking part in the greatest miracle of this dispensation--the gathering of the tribes of israel. after the fireside we sat in the gym and watched the joseph smith movie. it was very cool to see joseph be martyred and then turn around to see thousands of missionaries who are all preparing to share his story with the world. i am very thankful for the sacrifices of joseph and the other early members of the church. their sacrifices were certainly not in vain, as the work of the Lord will continue until the Great Jehovah shall say: "The work is done."

 

Dovidenia!

Starsi Meredith