Week Two + A Cursing Elder

Ciao!!

Its officially been 2 weeks in the MTC and now 2 weeks as a missionary. Time is weird in here, i feel like i have been here for a months, but at the same time each day and time is going by so fast now. I think its because we do so much in each day and because for some reason i feel really comfortable being here. not sure how to describe it, but it great. In my classes they keep jamming Italian down our throats. we are in class for atleast 8 hours of the day either learning italian or learning doctirine. The teachers never stop speaking Italian to us, so it really forces me to try and learn it as much as fast as i can. I think im actually doing pretty well with the language. I can understand a good amount of what our teachers are saying, and can get my point across pretty well in broken italian, but still italian. I cant wait to be like my teachers and speak it fluently. So i dont know if i told you how the classes work, but they have us doing lessons pretty much everyday. The first week we had one whose name was Davide, but the second week it turns out he is our second teacher for the rest of the time at the MTC. He is a great teacher, and is fresh off the mission field from the Milan Italy mission so its fun to hear stories about the mission im going to. Before i tell you about the stuff that has happened i need to tell you about a lesson i had last week that i forgot to say, i think... if i told you lst time im sorry. so as we were in the lesson i kept asking him questions. the lesson was on the plan of slavation, so i was asking him alot of family questions and what not, so in Italian to start a "what" question you either say "che cosa" or just cosa, depending on the situation. So for the first half i think i was doing it right, but then for some reason my brain went dislexic, and i switched "che cosa" to "che caso" but i was saying it like it was 2 "zz" where the s is, and in Italian you would just pronounce that as a single z in english. The investigator starting laughing and telling me to stop. as best as he could he told me that i chold never ever say that in italian, so after the lesson i naturally had to see what i was saying to him, turns out I was pretty much cussing him out the entire time. Really bad words... im im not gonna tell you what it meant, but just know its really bad and i felt really bad afterwards... but it was pretty funny. and i guess one to remember. I will get better im sure, and hopefully never cuss anyone out again. OK so now to the stuff that has happened in the past week. On sunday it was easter and we had some really awesome speakers come to the MTC. the first was Bishop cussoe... i think thats how you spell it. BUt he is of the general Authority. he is from france and is really awesome. the really cool part about that meeting was that all 3000+ missionaries took the sacrament while we were in there. It was a really cool experience, and i dont think ill ever forget it. then that night we had sheri dew speak to us, and im pretty sure she is a writer of some pretty important books?... not sure! but she was really good. I think my favorite part of that day though was walking to the temple. We get to go on a walk every sunday, but this one was nice because Keri met me there to surprise me! I know it had only been a week, but i loved seeing her so much! I love my family so much! i kind of got in trouble because i had her walk around with us, but i dont care. i dont feel like i broke any rules... family is important! It was a really cool easter sunday. on monday we had our first experience with the TRC. The TRC is when volunteers who speak italian come in and we just have to go in and teach them and talk to them for 20 min. we did it twice, and to 2 different people. I think that was the coolest teaching experience i have had so far. The first one was a young girl, and i understood most of what she said. But when i bore my testimony, for some reason i could tell she was really touched by what i said, i know it wasnt really good italian, but the spirit was definately there! i loved it. It really showed me that gospel and the doctrine is most powerfull with simple truths and through the spirit. i have always had a pretty simple testimony, but in italian i have been forced to make it even more simple. but still the spirit speaks to people more than anything. it was a cool experience. I loved it! the rest of the week was filled with volleyball, basketball, (both of which people think im awesome at... well i am!) and then more teaching, learning, and mediocre food. But it is still great! This weekend will be really cool because it is general conference. I know being here with all these missionaries will be so powerfull and inspiring. I am really looking forward to it. I wish i had more to say, but ive never been a good communicator. I love this mission, I love my family! I know im supposed to be here and that I will learn so much while im here. Io so che questo chiesa e vero. Io so che Gesu Cristo ci aiuta tornare a Dio tramire Sua Espiezioni. sono molto grato per la opportunita a insegnare questo vangelo. Io so che Gesu Cristo la ama, anche mi ama. Solo mediente Dio e Suoi Figlio Gesu Cristo possiamo essere felice, e torniamo vive con Voi. Nel nome de Gesu Cristo. Amen. thats probably wrong, but i did it all from memory, so it pretty cool. I found out i dont relaly say i love you inless its my wife, so Vi Voglio Benne! thats the next best thing. Ci ve diamo!

Anziano MIller