Hey family! How is it going!! I hope all is well back in the AZ! All is well up here at the MTC!! Looking forward to this week cause we are having an Apostle come on Thanksgiving!! Then the rest of that day is just doing a service project!! It should be really good! This past week has been pretty good. A little long this past weekend. We did a lot of language stuff this past week and we've been reviewing like crazy so it’s been a lot, but it’s coming pretty good. I understand all the concepts and structuring but it’s just the fact of putting it in a sentence and coming up with vocab to use and putting it in sentences is where it gets hard! It’s really not too bad of a language though. The hardest part is just retaining everything you learned before you move on to the next thing. We play games though as a district that helps a lot. Some one says a sentence in English and we have to translate it on the chalkboard and whoever gets it correct first wins and the person that loses goes to the end of the line! We also play "Shot Clock". Someone will say a sentence then the person will translate, speaking it, while the other person is counting down from ten outloud! That’s the hardest game cause it’s hard to focus when some one is "Shot Clocking" you out loud! They help though alot! I was able to see Nate Tingey a couple of times this past weekend. I saw him once just walking around then the other time on the Temple walk yesterday afternoon. It was raining yesterday so it was kinda a bummer to walk in the rain up to the temple then just stand underneath a wall that had a cover on top to not get wet. It was still fun though. Me and a kid in my district Elder Cannon (going to bacolod) just debated the whole time on if the Miami Heat are Lebron James team or Dwayne Wade. I said Wade but he begged to differ. It was a good discussion. If anyone has input let me know!!

 So for a couple of more questions that mom has asked this past week....

1) I don’t need those shirts hanging in my closet by the white shirts you’re going to send me. I wont have need for them.

2) MY Chest pains:

I went back to the Clinic cause they told me to if it didn’t stop after like 4 days. Well it was a week and it still bothered me when I ate. So I went back to the same doctor and he didn’t even pull up my last visit. He just asked if it hurt to the touch and when I said no he just gave me a lame answer that said "If it’s not your heart there isn’t much I can do about it cause it’s hard to diagnose it in the area you are having pains. So I just left with no answer again. Luckily it’s been progressivly getting better. At times it hurts when I eat and at times it doesn’t. I dont know what’s up but I’ve just been praying and I think that’s the best medicine I’ve taken yet for it!

3) Language. Compare to learning Spanish? How I stack up?

So like I said the language is pretty simple just hard to retain everything. I stack up pretty evenly with everyone in one aspect or another. It’s hard to gauge who is the best and who is the worst. I’m not the best and I’m not the worst. There is one kid that understands it pretty good but he stumbles and stutters when he speaks so it’s hard to say he’s the best. I think he thinks he’s really smart cause he was homeschooled so I think he thinks he knows it better then he actually does. If I had to compare it to Spanish it’s two different things. School Spanish was somewhat of a joke. I think if I was learning Spanish I would definitely be the best.. possibly moved up in a higher district. I was at dinner the other night and some kid was talking to me and we started to have a convo in Spanish and he doesn’t know how to speak. He’s some Utah kid that has been here for like 4 weeks. He said Como estas then I said bien y tu? Then he responded with bueno. Ustedes. I just stop and was like you just asked me how I was doing right after you already asked me. He was all confused and was like asking what he should’ve said so I had to like teach him a mini Spanish lesson. This kid had been here for 4 weeks!! haha. Thanks Shauna for speaking to me in only Spanish half the time cause I can understand alot! haha

4) What I do on Sundays?

We have church as a zone in the mornings then after that it’s just studying and disctrict meetings then the Sunday fireside at night. We pretty much just watch mormon messages all day cause those things are awesome!!! We also get on to I’m a mormom and just look at peoples things. It’s like the Missionary FB! haha We also have temple walk at 3-345 and I went to the MTC choir yesterday. It was okay. I may go again but it’s not like I need to really. I may go again to see if it was better next time. The choirister was okay and everyone was just talking the whole time so it’s kinda annoying more then spiritual.

5) Do I need anything??

Not in need of anything really. I enjoy getting letters from the family but I would enjoy some from my friends! yeah mom you said something about putting my address on FB. What ever you want to do I don’t care. Just put my address or the dearelder site up. Whatever you want! BTW... how is the BLOG? Do people read it??

6) You asked me about my mission president?? Did you mean the one in the Philippines or the one here that is over me right now at the MTC..... He reminds me of Count Olaf from the series of Unfortunate Events. If you don’t know what he looks like just google him. Yesterday in church he got up and said that a missionary look should be..... qoute... "Blah ties and Blah hair." He was saying that everyone in the room needed a haircut and what not. I'm getting one today and I’m kinda scared cause I heard half the time the people don’t give a choice and just cut it off. Not a shave but they just chop it off. Hopefully it goes good. My hair is all I got here! haha

Well family!! It’s time for me to get off! Know that I love you all and miss you. I can’t believe I’ve already been here 20 days. Its gone by really quick to me. I don’t know if it has for you guys but it has to me. Know that there isn’t a day that passes by where I don’t think about you all! But at the same time there is no other place I’d rather be than to be serving a mission. It states in the first line of the "Missionary Purpose" that my purpose is to "invite others to come unto Christ." How true that is. I’m not out here to force people to become Mormon. I’m here to humbly and sincerely invite others to come unto Christ. I’m going to the Philippines to share with people how great my life is and how great their life can be if they simply come unto Christ. I know He lives and I know He has a plan for us all. I know that by serving Him, my life will be blessed but more importantly those around me will be influenced by the spirit of the Lord!!

Again I love you all and miss you all!!

Until next week,

Halong(bye in hiligaynon)

Palangga,

Elder Sargent!