Week 2 at the MTC‏ February 18, 2016

Buon giorno!                    February 18, 2016

While the first week at the MTC may have seemed like an eternity, the second week felt like a day.  It doesn't feel like there was a life before the MTC right now and it doesn't seem like there is one after it.  We just completely focus on learning Italian and how to teach and invite by the Spirit.  We are getting into a groove and everything seems to be getting smoother as I refine my study habits, get more comfortable with my companions, and my bowels adjust to this food.  At the beginning of my stay here my compamiomship had some problems with communicating and there were some things that we kept bottled up but we have gotten to the point where all three of us feel comfortable saying what is bothering us.  my advice for anybody who is going on a mission someday: don't bottle things up when it comes to your companionships.  There is no good that can come from not talking to the person/people who you literally see every moment of every waking day. I felt so stressed about the language last week but now I have realized that I am progressing pretty well and my lessons are getting pretty darn good.  Now that I'm not reading off a script as much, I can connect more to my investigators and can bring the Spirit to my lessons.  My district has made a goal of not speaking english during our meals and speaking Italian whenever possible so we can get used to using it in normal conversation.  This week we pestered our teachers until they told us some cool Italian slang words as well as some Italian missionary slang (2 very different things) so now instead of saying "we nailed that lesson!" we say "Lo destruto!". We have grown close to this group of Tagolic speaking missionaries who are going to the Philippines and they just left today.  There was this gigantic Samoan elder named Elder Milford who was my host on the first day and he was both one of the stupidest and one of the funniest people I've ever met.  Elder Banto and Elder Cram ( who is the smallest non dwarf man I've ever seen) made sure that we got royalty status in the MTC by giving us a mini basketball hoop to hang in our room since they couldn't take it to the Philippines.  I don't know why they chose us as their favorite missionaries but they certainly showed us how to have a good time in the MTC. For this week's Tuesday devotional Elder Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke!  He went around the room and asked questions and answered some about the process of missionary selection. I already knew all about it but as he spoke I gained a further witness by the Spirit that he and the rest of the Twelve Apostles and the Prophet have the authority and power to run the Lord's church and that it was the Lord who selected me to go to Milan, Italy and not just some guy who thought I would do alright there.  

I'll talk to y'all in a week!

Anziano Younce