3rd e-mail from MTC

June 28, 2010 (8:26 a.m.)

Subject: 1/3 done at the MTC!  Or at least it’s close.

Howdy ya’ll:

Temple walk

Wait.  Wrong accent.  Ohhhr herro!  There we go..  Ok, so the return key isn’t working, and every time I press the period it leaves two..  So I apologize for the poor layout..  Anyway, this was a pretty crazy week..   The mission presidents were here, which was cool but really inconvenient..   They had to close off the main building and half of the cafeteria, so we had ridiculously huge lines for meals and had to walk around the biggest building at the MTC..  Which is also right in the middle of everything..  But, we had a sweet special devotional on Friday night..  Eight apostles were here!  Eight!!!!!!!!!  Elders Bednar, Christopherson, Andersen, Holland, Cook, Scott, Nelson, and Oaks were all in attendance..  Elder Oaks gave the talk..  It was on what sets our church apart and he gave 3 reasons:  1) we have the fullness of the gospel; 2) we have the power of the priesthood; and 3) we have a unique testimony of Jesus Christ..  It was an awesome talk, and I didn’t doze off once!  Boom baby!

Now let me tell you about some of Elder Chung’s funny habbits..  He says “Thank Fuzzy” whenever something good happens..  Apparently it’s from that old cartoon, Pepper Anne, but it’s still weird..  He spins when he turns corners or walks through doors..  He breathes through his mouth, not his nose..  He eats all the time, at the decibel level of a 747..  And he used to carry a “manbag,” or what I would call a purse..  Some people’s kids..  Anyway, it’s been a good week..

Every Thursday morning we do service in another building, and the guy that runs it keeps a wall of records for who can finish in the shortest amount of time..  We beat the re-stock and trash record by almost a full minute, but only after using careful planning, advanced tactics, and all of our energy for that day..  It was still cool though..  We’re on the wall of service fame!  Hmmm..

Elder Whinham hasn’t gotten better, but I have a bit I think..  Today at breakfast he started three conversations with the following, “Did I get it all?” “That’s a great movie,” and, “What does that do?” Each time, I had to stop him from talking and ask him what he was talking about..  Each time, he said that it didn’t matter and went back to eating..  It was like Gollum starting a totally random conversation right in the middle of a story, and then telling you it doesn’t matter..

Last night (Sunday), we had a fireside with someone from the Missionary Department.. He told us about Mormon.org 4.0, and it sounds sweet..  He also showed us a new set of DVDs that will help teach missionaries, which was also sweet..  What else, what else, what else?

Oh, have I told you I can’t wait to get out of the MTC?  Well I can’t..  I want to be in Singapore already..  Oh yeah!  I got 10 DearElder.com’s last Tuesday, and that was the last mail for the week..  So, thanks to Julie Belnap, Liz Tingey, and Hanah Russell for making me the coolest guy in my district..

I may not have said this on an email yet, but every couple of days, me Lee and Wyatt pick a new hobby..  This week, we’ve been replying to things with, “When in Rome..”  At times, when it makes the least sense..”  We’ve also been purposely misunderstanding words so that the entire flow of a conversation changes..  Pretty funny stuff..  They only last for a couple days because everyone starts to catch on, and it really loses it’s humor value..  We also did our second teaching in the Teaching Resource Center on Saturday morning..  It was great..  Chung was sick, so he was a little off, but I was able to direct the flow and listen to the Spirit enough to make it good..

I love you all!  The Church is true!  I promise..  Keep writing me often and I’ll reply as sson as I can..  With a humble heart, contrite spirit, and good humor,

Mú Zhǎnglǎo