Last Day At The MTC

  I can't believe that this is my last day at the MTC!! It just seems like yesterday that I got dropped off here and had no idea what was going on when I walked into the classroom the first day. I've certainly learned a lot here, but I don't feel ready to go out into the field. This morning my companion left at 2 30am , Elders Pearce and Rosen left at 3 30am, and Elders Lauti and Gordon left at 4 30am. So I stayed up until around 12am to talk and help them pack and then I got up at 2am to hang out with everyone before they left and then I went back to sleep for an hour after everyone was gone. I'm exhausted right now but it's worth it cuz they were pretty cool guys and I don't really know if and when I'll see them again. So right now I'm companions with Elders Decker and Bergeson who are going to Canada. They're pretty cool too. We had a good group of like 15 to 20 of us who were all speaking Mandarin and we were all pretty close, but now only 5 of us are left so it's a little depressing. Hopefully I'll see a lot of them in Taiwan when (or if) we get our visas. 
  So some bad news...I discovered a few minutes ago that I don't have the 'privilege' of calling any family when I leave the MTC. I was really looking forward to talking with everyone and with Eric too! (Sorry you went through all the trouble of getting special permission to call me for nothing.) I'm pretty disappointed but hopefully the visas will come in soon and I'll be able to call everyone before I leave for Taiwan, because I'm pretty sure that they'll let me call then. (And Eric, hopefully you can get permission to talk with me again). If the visas don't come, I guess I'll just wait for Christmas to call everyone, so I'll be able to eventually, just not as soon as I would've liked.
  Some good news...since I'm going by train to Salt Lake, I don't have to make sure all my bags fit under 50 pounds! Everyone that left already had to leave behind a lot of their stuff because they couldn't fit it all under the weight. It's because of all the language stuff they gave us. Someone weighed all our books we received and it's like 22 or 25 pounds or something like that, so you either take that or your clothes haha. So a bunch of them gave me some things to hang on to until we meet up in Taiwan and I can give it to them. I was really underweight before coming here so hopefully when I leave for Taiwan I won't have trouble with fitting everything under the required weight. 
  I did eventually get to see a general authority. Last Tuesday, Elder Richard G. Scott came in and spoke with us. It was nice to finally get to hear an apostle speak. He gave a really nice talk. It was a really short one though so I was a little sad that I didn't get to hear him speak for longer. If I get to go to General Conference though, I'll get to hear plenty of talks from general authorities. 
  Sounds like everyone back home is doing well and having a fun time. That would be fun to go camping and cook some good food there. It makes me hungry just thinking of that. I'm excited to get some real food once I leave the MTC. Eric was saying that missionaries in Salt Lake have eating appointments like twice a day, so I'll be getting plenty of good food lol. Apparently most of the time, the missionaries just get tons of referrals from the members to teach their friends so I won't have to do a whole lot of street contacting. That will make things a lot easier. Is it starting to get colder? It's getting a little colder here so I may have to buy a coat if I'm going to be staying in Utah for a while. 
  Well I hope everyone has a good week, and that I'll be able to survive the first week out in the field. I'll let you know my new address as soon as I can. It's too bad I won't be able to call because I was looking forward to it but I guess it's alright. I know I'll have a great time in Utah and make the best of things as they are. I love you all very much.
Love,
Andrew
 
 
Two Mandarin Districts
 
 
Our Beloved Teachers!



 


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