August 13, 2014

We're halfway done with the MTC! In just three weeks, I will be in Sweden! I'm kind of excited, but kind of freaked out. I don't really know how my Swedish stacks up to a native speaker other than not well at all. But other than that, it's going to be crazy!

I was able to go to the temple again this week, we get to go every p-day.  I love it in there. Perfect place to be. On Thursday, we had a thing called TRC. Teaching Resource Center, or something like that. It's where people in Provo come in who speak Swedish and you teach them a lesson like you would teach a member of the Church. It was pretty fun, except there was this nine year old girl correcting my vocabulary. That was humbling. But other than that, it was a pretty normal week. I mean, we had class everyday for six hours plus another three hours for study time. And then when there's nothing else to do, you study some more. My language is improving by leaps and bounds, I can tell you that. Yesterday, for instance, my entire district played Mafia in Swedish. It was fun. Äldste Smith and I are still teaching Johannes, a mock investigator, and he is progressing really well. We also met a new “investigator” the other day that we start teaching in two days. It is going to be fun.

On Saturdays and on Mondays we have service assignments. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but Smith and I do a lot of mopping on those days. It's fine though. It's only for an hour and a half. A switch in the schedule.

Oh, this is fun, the other day during a morning "study" period, the Danes came down the hall in the residence hall, and ambushed all the Swedes with water bottles. So we retaliated. What occurred could later be described as a water fight. It was vicious. Many casualties.

Other things that happen in the residents, my district has been collecting water bottles so that we could set up a Kubb set. Kubb is a traditional Swedish game, look it up if you want more on that.  It basically is where you throw sticks at other sticks.  There is a real set we use during gym sometimes.  Anyway, we finally had enough water bottles to make a set, so we have adapted the rules so we could play in our hallway with a racket ball.  It’s fun and better than what everyone else was playing (not me, I'm not that stupid), which was affectionately titled "nut-ball." Just think about it, you'll figure that out.

There were some awesome quotes from devotionals this week. I can't really remember who said them all, but here we go: "To know God, we must talk to God," "It's all about not being the Cookie Monster (natural man)," "We must all resist the temptation to be stupid." There were others, but I can't remember them all now. Just know that devotionals are awesome.

Our Dutchies moved out, and we got a new Dutchy district. They're cool. Funny. I like them. We also got two new teachers. One of them is a Sister, except she's been our teacher for a week and I've seen her for a grand total of an hour. But Brother Witworth is cool. He's brand new.

Also, everyone in my room has begun to participate in an activity we have named, "Pillow Talk." We talk about things like our ideal wives, the country's idiotic deficit, and other random stuff.

For the information of all, but mostly my sister Amanda, I have not gained any weight here. In fact, I have lost weight. I have lost a hole in my belt, and Äldste Smith and I have begun a challenge with each other for who can lose the most weight. We started four days ago, but I'll keep you updated. But just as a fun fact, it's been four days, and I've lost three pounds.

Also, I have found my new favorite name. It's a traditional Swedish name. Torbjörn (pronounced Torbyurn). It means "thunder bear." So we have decided that I am Torbjörn, and Smith is Blixtbjörn. That means "lightning bear."  As you can see, we are creating our own entertainment here.

I think that's all I've got. I hope everyone is doing well. If you want to know something, send it through Dear Elder.com so I can think about it and write about it. Have a good week!

Our MTC group. 

Elder Treat drew this on the white board.
I thought it was pretty funny.

Sorry this isn't a very good picture,
but it is of us playing Kubb in the hallway.
That's me on the end.