Week 2

Week 2!

Goedemiddag mijn familie!!

Second P-day, oh wow this day couldn't come fast enough! My collega Elder Nielson doesn't like these days very much, but I enjoy them because you can just relax.. thanks to all the letters, I've responded to everyone I recieved one from (with the exception from Dad, and mom.. you get emails =)) So Kim, Tiffani, DeVan, Chris, and Abby are the letters I sent out.. if anyone sent me a letter.. didn't get it.. sorry..

But okay life at the MTC is still going great.. felt like earlier in the week I hit a wall with the language.. I mean I started off pretty quick, with the prayer, testimony and contacting but I didn't feel like I was progressing.. but I worked through it.. tried harder, improved what I could say, and I feel (not great) but definitely better about the whole language thing.. it's insane, we did our second trc on monday, and were just contacting in dutch and what not.. nothing too big, and we get invited in to talk a little more.. sister kraemer goes off and almost teaches the entire first lesson in dutch.. it's disgusting, but really cool.. my comprehension is definitely better now because she can hold these conversations with people.. ha ha actually she would have taught the entire thing, but I kinda blew it for her, after she had read a scripture about one church, and what not, I piped in (because I was excited to be able to talk) Mogen wij onze booschap terugkomen? Which means can we come back later.. oh well.. she forgave me.. I told her I panicked =)

Cool thing happened today though during lunch, last week during P-day we met this sister who's going to Guatamala on her mission, and she was excited to meet us because she had a friend from the netherlands who she had talked about the gospel with. She gave him a dutch BoM and everything. She didn't have his address with her so we gave her our info and what not.. but she never left us his address. So today we run into her again, and she told us that she had been trying to think of a way to get us the info without it being an "letter to a Elder" so she had it all ready and everything. So I have my first referral as a missionary ;)

Sunday night we have firesides, and it was just great. The talk was by a former mission president in Chicago and he spoke on obedience and everything and that was good. Took good notes, just forgot them otherwise I'd share them with you =P but the beginning we had a musical number by a few elders going all over the place and they did the hymn "Praise to the Man" The best version of the song I have ever heard.. and well since it's my favorite hymn it was extra neat.

Last night on Tuesday we have firesides, and a member of the 1st quorum of the seventy spoke to us.. it was really good also, took great notes again ;) You'd be proud of my organizational skillz i'm developing ha ha, actually everytime I do something I think of a better way to do it, so I'm still kinda in the process of trying how to organize stuff like scriptures and what not.. My scriptures I brought are kind of a mess with how much I've been marking them, and trying to figure out how to organize all that data.. I'm thinking I may want new ones by the time I leave.. because it really is a mess.. I'll worry about that later..

Oh also sunday night got to watch the Testaments, really great to watch that again, I was bothered with my lack of ability to really explain about the atonement, so I went in with a prayer that I'd be able to write my own personal testimony about the atonement, and throught the course of the movie I wrote 3-4 pages worth of stuff.. it was wonderful.. next TRC were teaching about the Plan of Salvation..

This email is all over the place.. just another thing to add on my "need to organize" list.. ummm.. yeah okay so food. Food here is pretty good.. not going to lie, I can easily see how someone can get fat while being here.. luckily for me I haven't been gorging myself, and only usually take one helping of the main meals.. there have been exceptions, like when they had raviolli.. or when I'm craving something but for the most part I'm doing really good at not getting fat!! Every meal, breakfast, lunch, and dinner since I've been here I've had at least 1 glass of Chocolate milk.. kinda my own unique tradition.. don't know why.. but I started out doing it, and I'm going to keep doing it.. thought I'd just share that with you all =)

So my companions and the sisters going to the netherlands have gotten there travel plans, they leave monday at like 6.. they fly into atlanta and then to brussels.. i've been told that's the standard route for missionary's to take going to the netherlands.. so that's prolly what I'm going to be doing.. Don't know what's going to happen on monday when the leave, haven't been told anything, don't know if there just going to let me room by myself for a few days til' wednesday or if there going to make me move.. then move back.. I do know however that whoever my new companions are it'll only last 3 weeks because I will get new dutch companions when the come in three weeks.. so three different sets of companions while I'm here.. pretty crazy huh!

Thanks for the packages of food, don't prolly need any more oreos.. or doughnuts or that sort of thing.. don't have any time to eat them and when I'm back in the room, I don't feel like eating them... but thanks!! The elders on the floor have enjoyed them.. Did really like the crackers and cheese though!! You can keep that coming for as long as you want ;) okay.. well.. I'm prolly leaving stuff out.. but I can't think of anything else to write.. so hope you enjoyed the pics.. just wanted to let you know what's it like here.. and oh.. can't remember how to charge my camera if you could dearelder that to me dad taht would be wonderful =)
Ik hou van jullie!!
Tot Ziens!!
Ik weet dat de kerk waar is!
Elder Joseph V. Mohrman