Jan 19th 2009

Hey everyone!I LOVE getting letters from everyone and hearing about what is all going on! Linda, Wyatt, Laura, and Cheryl I love getting your letters but I do not have an address to respond to them at. If you could give me an address to write back to i promise I will! :DSo it has been going well here at the MTC. I am finally really starting to get used to the schedule. Spanish is coming along really well! I am finally really starting to understand most of the grammar and conjugations and be able to form my own sentences(up to about a week ago it was only memorized phrases we really knew) also we practice translating sentences all the time and we know how to do all the right things to conjugate it from English to Spanish. I can carry on a 15 minute conversation now all on my own! :D It’s been really fun speaking in a language I really did not know much about 2 and a half weeks ago. Sometimes we all decide not to speak ANY English for 24-48 hours at a time( my who group does this which is about 12 people, but we cannot speak English to anyone) It really helps us to realize how much Spanish we really know, we can all communicate pretty well actually. I mean it’s really broken Spanish, but we understand each other ha-ha. Our classes are pretty much ALL in Spanish too. Our teachers don’t speak English much at all, even when we are learning about gospel stuff. We have learned a ton about teaching the gospel as well. We teach the big parts of the lessons in English right now, so we learn how to teach in English first and then Spanish. Teaching the gospel has been way way different than just knowing it. My testimony has grown SO much over these past 3 weeks! I feel like I am truly coming to understand my purpose as a missionary and why I am here. I also feel much more determined to make the most of my two years. As Uncle David told me, I really ONLY have two years so I need to do all I can to make the most of it. I also have loved all of the comfort and help I KNOW I receive from my heavenly father each and every day! 2 years used to seem like a long time, but it feels so much shorter every day! It’s weird feeling like I have SO much to learn all the time, but I know that if I put my all into it, the Lord will make up the rest. This has been a very humbling experience all ready and love having the opportunity for the Lord to shape me into some one that can truly help spread His gospel. Oh and also we were taking phone calls and chats in the referral center the other day and I realized what an AMAZING site Mormon.org is!! It has everything our church believes in a whole bunch of cool video clips. I really like the one by Steve young about myths of the Mormon Church. It’s only 10 minutes and definitely worth watching! It’s just a very informational site, you should take a look at it! :DThe companion and I are becoming much better at teaching with each other and with the spirit. Getting along with another 19 year old guy for 24 hours each day is never easy but we work on it a lot and it really has helped me to grow a ton, and especially to be a lot less stubborn! HAHA ;)Hope everything is going okay back at home and with everyone off at school! I LOVE hearing from you and it is way easy with dearelder.com so please write! :)I love you all so very much and could not have had this opportunity without all of your examples in my life and the support you give me!Love, Your Elder,Andrew