Sunday, August 8, 2010

The Miracle of a Mission

Hola Familia,

Good to hear from you! The family reunion sounds like it was a lot of fun, sorry I couldn't be there, but I could still feel your love, so I guess that's all that matters. Speaking of temples, we get to go every week on P-day and it is buenicimo. Did I tell you Cathy Beecher sent me donuts last week? yeah. that was awesome. Especially since Elder Moss was kinda frustrated with me that day because I don't do anything quickly and he's a lot more task oriented than I am. also, he's 6'3" and walks really fast, or faster than I do...oh well, of all the things that could be wrong with a companionship, walking at different speeds isn't really the worst one, is it? Regarding visas, Mom, you're right that they used to send missionaries somewhere else once their time in the MTC was up and then send them to their mission. They are no longer doing that, first, because there are so many missionaries that are having this problem, and second, because they want missionaries to get to their assigned mission as soon as possible. If they have to wait too long for a visa, they will simply be reassigned permanently to a different mission. So, to answer your question, yes, there are missionaries that have been in the MTC for 16 weeks. I can't believe I've already been here for two weeks! At the same time, I can't believe it's only been two weeks. @Dad, I won't have time to write a spanish letter today, but you'll get one next week. Regarding parasites: One of the things they gave us along with our language study materials (which are brand new and really useful, Adam didn't even have the spanish materials that I do) was a water filtration bottle and an extra filter for it (so I have two charcoal filters). Supposedly you can put anything in this bottle and drink it. I read up on it and there is definitely nothing getting through that filter alive. Just to be safe though, I'll try to avoid stuff that has to be filtered in the first place. Well, my half hour is already almost up. Oh, and my departure date is 0919, not 0921, I guess it changed between the friday they sent it to me and the wednesday that I got here. So make sure to put that on letters, I don't think you have to worry about it on dearelder. And if Lauren could let facebook know, that would be nice. I miss you all, but I know that I am doing the right thing. I can feel myself changing for the better, and I know that the spirit is guiding me. My teachers, Hno. Hunt and Hno. Pace are awesome. They're very passionate about missionary work and I can tell that their missions meant a lot to them. We watched a video yesterday by Jeffrey R. Holland that he gave to the MTC in 2000 called "The Miracle of a Mission." If you can find it and watch it, I think you'll really enjoy it. He speaks more directly and passionately in it than I have ever seen him, and that's saying something, because he's Elder Holland, and he does not mess around. It really made me think about my purpose and what God wants for me. I have a minute and a half. Anyway, I am so thankful for all of you in my family for what a great example you are to me, especially to Dad and Adam, thank you for serving missions and being so respectable. I love you. Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Fine

2 comments:

  1. Not to intrude on a personal blog, but I'm sure there are many people who are looking for this incredible talk by Elder Holland. I was lucky enough to have a copy of it. I typed it up and placed it on the internet, because I know many are looking for it but cannot find it:

    http://themiracleofamission.blogspot.com/

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  2. Thank you. I've been looking all over for this talk!

    ReplyDelete