Elder Vaclaw's First Week in Padova!

Ciao mama! I am glad you enjoyed the last letter! There were so many things that I missed telling you about and everything that I was wondering if it would be good or not. It is impossible to perfectly describe just how amazing some things are week to week, so I will just keep doing what I have been doing. Anyways, this week has once again been packed full of awesome experiences I would not trade for anything! To begin, one of the major things that impacted me this week was a some-what older man named Piergorgio, he is a super nice guy, who reminds me of Grandpa in a way. We taught him about family history work that our church does, and I was able to show him the family tree that we had printed off before I left for the MTC. He looked at it for awhile, and was really quiet, and afterwards he looked up and said with tears in his eyes, "questa è miravigliarsi, come posso fare cualcosa come questa per la mia famiglia" ("this is wonderful, how can I do something like this for my family?") Or something like that. My ability to understand is getting better, but I still cannot say or write most of it very well. Anyways. so the next time we visited with him we brought our Mission Leader with us to talk with him about it, and he bore a great testimony and Piergiorgio seems more interested than ever, so that is going very well, and I am hoping for the best with him. Another cool thing is all the member meals I am getting!! I am getting fed sooo much, I heard from other missionaries that you do not get many member meals, but I have gotten 5 in the past 2 weeks! My companion said he usually gets 5 in a whole month. This brings me to say what I heard about the food here, and that is, they still did not describe it good enough. One older lady in our ward had us over for lunch and it was basically a 5 course meal with the most tasty food I think I have ever had in my life. Plus I still feel super healthy eating it all, they always give out fruits for desert, which is weird, but nice. One member family has 2 little boys that are 9 and 11 and they have taken a liking to me, which has been nice, because they seem to make the other members take a liking to me as well. The ward here is great by the way. Last Sunday, me and the other 3 missionaries of the ward sang "Far, far away on Judeas Plain" and the members loved it. The bishops wife asked us to sing a different Christmas song every Sunday. I am also singing at zone conference, and I also played for Priesthood, my companion is also a great pianist, so he plays for Sacrament meeting. I love, and am so grateful for you forcing me to do all those practices and musical numbers I never wanted to do. The additional opportunities that music has given me to serve others are invaluable to me. I have an amazing mother and father to thank for that. My P-day is on Wednesday, so I usually email around the afternoon in a public internet place that costs money. Which is a rip off.. but yeah, I cannot send pictures on here, we have to use the bishops computer for that, and I do not know when I will get that opportunity. A cool thing though! I get my mail at zone conference, which is this Friday, which is my birthday!! I will be getting all the stuff on my actual birthday, which will make it even neater. It sounds like everyone is having fun over there! It is cold over here as well, but thankfully it has not snowed yet. Biking around when it is super cold at night stinks sometimes, but I bought some gloves and a hat, so my fingers and ears do not freeze off anymore. And once you bike for a mile or so you warm up. I love biking through the city though, I think I described in my last letter, but I have not gotten used to it yet. We will be biking and suddenly bike by some massive duomo with statues lining it will pop up, or we will go by some exhibit with art, and all the small stores, big plazas, and all that, are all just awesome. I am glad the Nativity went so well! We are getting the Italians into the Christmas spirit by caroling at the Prato this weekend during the market! It will be fun. I was actually just thinking about how each investigator I have to teach is a gift to me. So it is funny that you bring up that I am giving them a gift. I was wondering what I should be doing, or how I can be as effective as possible as a missionary, and of course that made me think of the investigators. I know this gospel is the gift of all gifts, the blessing it brings and the joy that accompanies it are more valuable than any thing. And how can I not be completely happy giving the greatest gift, to so many people? Needless to say, I am finding so much joy everyday in the service I am giving at this time. I am grateful too for being sent to the family I was. I was seeing those two little boys running around and playing and they were just like me and Sawyer, which made me almost cry right there, because I started thinking of how grateful I am that families can be together forever. It gives me comfort that in this brief time I am apart from my family it will seem like nothing in the grand scheme of things. Tell Jack I love him, and that he needs to e-mail me! I know I got away with not emailing Coleman, but Jack does not get that mercy from me. Even if it is just a short e-mail about video games and soccer, tell me what is going on little bud! Anyways, I love you all, and hope you have a great week. I can not wait to get the presents! Oh yeah, and I love that idea, there are some sweet Buon Natale cards here that I was thinking about getting. Ti voglio bene, Anziano Vaclaw

Austin's First Letter from Italy!

Chillin' at the airport on the way to Italy!

Ciao Mama! I hope to be able to respond to all that! But first, I really need to tell you everything that has occured in this super long week. And these keyboards do not have apostrophes, that I can find right now anyways, so I am going to sound really educated. Anyways, the flights were great, if not a little boring. But still, I sat by some really cool people that actually loved talking about religion, and other things. So right off the bat I felt a little more comfortable with talking to people. I am going to skip all that boring stuff and get straight to the awesome time I have had here in Italia. Well, coming off the plane and out the airport was great! I stepped out, took a deep breath, and smelled Italy for the first time. The air here smells a little like cigarrette smoke. Everywhere. But the cities here are beyond description. Milan is beautiful, every few steps there is a work of art somewhere. It is crazy, I met the president, and he is very kind, and I can tell he is a great man. After I met him, we went to the duomo (cathedral) to do some proselyting. That was where it got weird for a little bit, I felt different going up to people and talking to them with a goal in mind. However, me and my temporary companion at that time were able to give out a book of mormon. It was neat, but for the most part people just say thanks and walk off. Most of them are very polite about it actually. So anyways, after that we went back, had thanksgiving dinner with the president, and went to bed.

After that, we were taken to a nearby church building and assigned a trainer and an area. Okay, and my first area was........... Padova!!!!! It is probably Tulsa sized, if not larger, with tons of people crammed in. I love it here! I am in a biking mission however, and I bike upwards of what feels like 100 miles a day. In actuallity it is probably only 8 or more. I just love Italian cities and people though, the narrow streets, tall buildings, with statues of who-knows-who covering half the buildings, but they look cool anyways. Biking here is pretty safe, cars fly by, but they are careful of bikers. To get to Padova, we took a train, trains are different than I had thought they would be. Not nearly so bad. Now to the important stuff, my first lesson was with an investigator named Jackson. His baptismal date is set for Jan. 11, and he is from Kenya and speaks french, english, and that language that Kenyans speak. He is an awesome guy, and I do not talk a whole lot, because I usually have no idea what is happening, but sometimes I get to bear a testimony or say something real quick and simple. He is an amazing story, he came here to find a job for his children, and he worries about them a lot. However he came here, and he said the first day he was here we was found by the missionaries. After being taught for awhile, he said he felt like he needed to decide to stop smoking and drinking, and has not done so for about a month. We have not even taught him the word of wisdom yet. So I am hoping for the best for him. We have a lot of great investigators, but he is the one who is progressing the most right now. Another one, who I actually talked to on the street is Paula, she is awesome as well. My companion dared me to contact her, so I went up and said something like, "salve, Dio ha un piano per noi, segunda lei, cosa e la scopo de questa vita." Or something, I am sure that is awful grammar. But she just laughed and said "that is a really difficult question" and after talking about that and other things for awhile she said she would love to meet with us, so she is the first person I contacted! I hope it goes well. About what you were saying though, yeah this is a huge sacrifice. But it never feels like it too much, I feel like my face is going to freeze into a smile while I am bikng, because I just love it here! The people are awesome, the place is awesome, and I find more joy doing this work than I have from much else. Sure, it really stinks to wake up at 6.30 and go jogging in 0 degree celsius weather.. plus the heaters in our apartment kind of stink as well, but I love teaching and talking to the people of Italy. One thing that is kind of funny though is how much they wave their arms around, it seems like their arms would get tired after awhile but they do not seem to. It sounds like you all are having a great time as a family! I wish I could have been there, I am sure the cousins were all being super loud and crazy somewhere and the adults were all gathered around somewhere either talking or doing some game. They always seem the same but they never get old. Oh yeah, my new companion is Anziano Lefler, he is an awesome guy, but he was like a track star, and I am super out of shape, so we go jogging and I feel like I am in a military camp sometimes, but he is really nice and is a great teacher who works hard so we will get along great. I will be honest though, about 3 days ago I was feeling really bad about the language, and I know it is only the first week, but I felt like for some reason I know less Italian here than I did at the MTC, like my brain was wiped off all the knowledge I had of the Italian language. So the langauge is my big challenge right now. But I just made about 120 or so flash cards today with some important verbs to remember, and I am going to go through 20 or so a day and do their conjugations and all that, so I am working at it. You are making a big sacrifice too, I feel like yours might be alot more than mine is. Still, I pray for you and dad and jack, and each of the little cousins by name each night. Needless to say my prayers take a little while. Haha. I hope you have a great week, make Jack sing Christmas songs with you, since I am not there. I am singing them over here actually, it must be habit now to start singing those things before Christmas. Oh and also, the members here are awesome. The wife asked me to sing with the primary kids actually, obviously I accepted. So we will see how that goes. I am actually getting somewhat adopted in a way by the Palini family, they have 3 sons, one my age, and 2 that are 12 and 9, and a daughter who is 15. They are super nice, and have made us 2 meals in this last week, so I get to go play with the little kids a little and share a quick message with them. The daughter actually invited a friend to our last one, which I felt went really well. Anyways, I love you! Ti voglio bene, Anziano Vaclaw

Last letter from the MTC!

Ciao Mama! I am leaving the MTC tomorrow morning, so I'm allowed to do laundry and e-mail today, which is awesome, because I've had some great experiences lately I wanted to tell you about. First of all, I can't describe how excited I am to get to Italia!! I know it'll be super difficult with the language and all, but still, nothing could put me down right now, because I'm just so excited to able to be a part of this great work. I can't make this e-mail very long, but I wanted to describe some cool stuff that happened yesterday. Well, me and my collega were just kind of having a normal day, but since this was our last Sunday, we felt like we needed to offer the new, and the current sisters and elders of our zone, the opportunity to receive a blessing if they felt that they needed it. So we went to the branch president and asked if that was a good idea, and he said it was a great idea, so he brought it up in the leadership meeting. So after that we were given the chance to get that all figured out, so we went and asked the sisters and 11 of them (counting new and old), said they would like one. So after we decided who would do blessings for them, me and my companion blessed four, and I had my first opportunity to say a priesthood blessing. I was kind of nervous to be honest, because I know how much faith the sisters have, and I wanted to be sure that what I would say would help them. Before I gave my blessing though, one of the new sisters told us how grateful she was for us specifically, because she could tell that we were doing what we were supposed to, and when she thinks of how missionaries should act, she could see that in my companion and I. That was really comforting for me, and a boost for my desire to serve my mission well. I hope that when I arrive in Italy others will be able to view me and my next companion the same way, it'll be harder, but that just means I must have to work harder. Anyways, I feel like my missionary fire is burning bright again, it kinda dimmed down near the middle a little bit, but I am very grateful that I stayed obedient and hard-working, even if I wasn't super happy about it the entire time as I should be. What's helped me the most is kind of like what Sawyer said, I think of you and Dad and how I need to serve faithfully so that I can come home and tell you I did my best. Beyond that though, I also think of Jack, and all the little cousins. I know that Owen, Sam, Ellie, Lucas, Logan, and all the other 20 or so little buggers (I can never keep a count), will be more able, and willing to serve their missions well, if I continue to pave the way. I know that for me, having Sawyer, Coleman, and Taft on missions helps me feel like I can live up to how they serve, and do my best. On my name-tag are two names, Anziano Vaclaw, and the Jesus Christ, above any other thing, I'm going make those two names as close to being one and the same as I can. Some business type things though, tomorrow, I could call kind of early in the day, so be ready! I might not be able to though, so yeah, just keep your cell phone around you all day, ok mom? And also! If you mail something to Italy, I hear you want to put stickers all over it, and to keep the price listed low, I'm not sure how to say it, so ask Uncle Brian! I'm sure he'd know. Anyways, I love you mom! Hope everyone has a great week.

Austin's entire MTC Zone Ti voglio bene, Anziano Vaclaw

Pictures from the MTC

Austin and his companion, Elder Briand, in front of the Provo Temple

Austin and Elder Brian at the MTC

Austin's District at the MTC

Austin with his companion and another Elder at the MTC

Week 5

Ciao Mama! My week has been fantastic. I just got back from the temple just now, I have to say that I love being able to go once a week, and my companion has personal names so it makes it just a little more meaningful. Thank you so much for all the help! I still feel bad about the camera, but I'm grateful I have someone who's keeping track of all the numbers for me. I get too busy to keep track of it all the time. I will definitely be watching for the Christmas package! And I'll be sure to hint to my collega (companion) that he will be getting something also. But I won't say from who! Well, let me just start by saying that Anziano Briand is starting to seem like a brother to me. We definitely have differing opinions, but we don't argue, and we tend to make those opinions help us with our lessons so that they are even more effective for an investigator. I'm very grateful for your concern about him, I didn't want to ask you to do those things for him, but I can't say how happy I am that you are. He has told me a lot about his family situation, and his faith and positivity about it are astounding to me. His family is not supportive of him, in any way, about his serving a mission, or being a member of the church. They have a very bad view of the church, and express it to him, but lately they have actually been emailing him. And his mom for the first time said she'd keep him in her prayers. So that definitely is a great improvement. Speaking of which, I can't say how grateful I am for the love and support I have. Thinking of how much he has given, and continues to endure, made me realize how blessed I am to have been given such a loving, and caring family. That includes all the aunts, uncles, and little cousins as well. Thank you for his medicine also! He was running out, and his parents don't contact him. Well, despite the few sentences that they send which tend to not be too supportive. And he had no other means to stop those things that he gets whenever he isn't able to take it. I know he is grateful, and I am very grateful for him, and I am also beyond thankful for the things you've decided to do for him. But that sounds like it was a very good talk. I hope Sawyer does well in his new area, and I feel like he definitely will. People definitely turn to the Lord when things such as this happen. I hope you guys have a good thanksgiving week! I ship out two days prior, so I'm missing out this year. But that's ok, I'm sure I'll be getting some amazing food for my thanksgiving in Italy. I'm definitely feeling inclined to be more grateful for the amazing opportunity that I have right now to serve this mission, and to be able to invite others to Christ, so that they will have even more to be thankful for. The blessings of this gospel are really amazing. The way my companion describes how it's changed his life is a great story. He always says how much harder it must've been to grow up in the church though. Which I thought was strange, since it seems like he has had a difficult life. But I asked him about it and he said that having to live the way we live, throughout childhood and through high-school would have been just as, if not more difficult, but the difference is the blessings that support us as we live this way. I know that's true though, so to Jack. I just feel like I need to say that living the way we're supposed to is difficult, and I know you're doing great with it. I remember in high-school especially, which is coming up in no time, it was hard sometimes. But from the words of my collega, there is no amount of fun that is comparable to the lasting joy we receive when we live the gospel. Love you little bro. And since it's thanksgiving, I'm grateful to have been able to spend my last months or two with you at home. What is dad hunting back there, the llama? Just kidding, I'm sure there are some deer or something. I've ever seen anything back there though. And yup, if there's anything thing I know, I know I have an amazing father. And mother for that matter. Make sure to tell me if he ever gets anything though, that'll be amazing news in itself. Indoor soccer is fun! I'm glad Jack is liking it. I know I loved playing it. Kicking the ball off the walls, doing jukes that usually made me just trip on myself.. good times. I hope Jack continues to work at it though, indoor soccer isn't even about winning or losing. Just have fun trying to do fun jukes, cool shots, and other crazy tricks. That's what I felt like anyways. Cole is a good kid, I'm glad Jack's hanging out with him while at church. He should help him enjoy the activities more than me or Sawyer ever could have. I'm glad you're keeping up the good work in your calling! The sorelli here are amazing, they have such great testimonies, and they're so dedicated that they make a lot of the elders look bad sometimes. But yay Ellie! Keep up the practice! When I get back she's going to be playing Mozart. Christmas music is great, I'm going to miss not being able to sing Christmas songs with you all the time. But I'll still be singing them, just in Italian. And I think you teaching piano is a great idea! Music is a great gift to have, I've quickly learned. I often get asked to play piano, sing, or help arrange a musical number, anything. I wish I could say I volunteered for all these things, but they actually came because Anziano Briand brags all the time about my not-so-great talent for me, so people come to me with all these things. I always told myself I wouldn't be thankful for you making me learn piano, but I definitely say a little thank you to you every time I get to help someone with those kind of things. I love you all, and pray for everyone's continued safety and happiness throughout the week. Ti voglio bene, Anziano Vaclaw

Week 4

Ciao Mama, My week has been quite busy as well, and that news about Sawyer is relieving. I heard from Megan that he was alright, although I had no idea what he was alright from, besides what I heard about a large typhoon. We actually had an apostle come and speak to us just yesterday, Elder L. Tom Perry. He mentioned the miracle that occurred as the missionaries were evacuated and completely safe, and also that of the devastation in the Phillipines. It was a great talk, but that also made me worry for Sawyer, I did not know that Tacloban had been hit! I am so thankful to hear he is okay. The Lord really does watch over missionaries, I know Sawyer is in the best hands. This week for me was like most others, I'm so glad that I only have two weeks. I love the spirit here at the MTC, but I am ready to go to Italy! We skyped an Italian yesterday also, and had a lesson with him about the scriptures. He was 15 years old and his name was Fabio, and for some reason, his personality reminded me of Jack, which made me a little home-sick, but we still had a great lesson with him. If most Italian people are like him, I will have no problem getting along with the people of Italy. My knowledge of the language is surprising me as well as my companion, he speaks fluent french, so he came in knowing a lot of the rules since Italian and French or similar in that aspect. But, now we are able to go into a lesson, with only a few scriptures to share, and then we try to just follow the spirit and cover the topics we feel can help them the most. It's definitely been a help to have someone who is basically a free dictionary that I can ask to know what I'm saying is correct or incorrect, but I also know that I have felt the spirit more constantly, and consistently here than I ever have before. Besides that, my week was just teaching lessons and learning, so almost exciting as a typhoon. I hope everyone is doing well! I am doing great, I am making many great friends here. It's okay, I understand that you guys must be frantic, but I know the Lord is watching over Sawyer and I, so don't get too stressed. I'm sure Sawyer isn't half as worried about himself as you are Mama. Anyways, something I think Jack would like; when you a say "good luck" or "break a leg" type of thing in Italian, you actually say, "in boca al'lupo!" which means in english "in the mouth of the wolf." Just thought that sounds cool. I love everyone! I hope everyone stays safe and has a great week. Ti voglio bene, Anziano Vaclaw

Week 3

Ciao Mama! I've had a great week, lots of lessons and meetings and investigators, so basically missionary stuff. I love it though! But yeah, I am so grateful for that miracle. I can hardly believe it yet either. We also had a whole lesson on miracles where that exact scripture was brought up, I wish I could say I never doubted that I could get better, but I pray that as long as I continue to work hard and be obedient it'll stick with me, and it wouldn't hurt for mi famiglia back at home to do the same. I'm so grateful for everyone's prayers, I can see so many changes happening in my life already, and it's only been three weeks! Yeah, he is an amazing singer, and the guys and the two sorelli in our branch always just make us sing during study time or something, so I'm sharing that talent, although I don't enjoy sharing it so much, but they seem to enjoy it enough. We get to hear Elder Perry next Tuesday! I am super excited, and I've actually become quite the note-taker believe it or not. I've actually discovered a way of organizing my scriptures to help with preparing lessons, I might take a picture, because I'm that proud of it. Our teacher showed us how to, and now me and Anziano Briand are organizing it and adding on to it every night. No ask away! I like answering questions, it gives me more to talk about, I really feel like most of what I do here isn't that super exciting, so I hope I'm keeping my letters captivating enough. Halloween sounded pretty fun! I always enjoyed going to the trunk or treat, I just had to act like I didn't as I got older and cooler. Halloween here consisted of us eating your amazing cookies (everyone loved them and said I had the most awesome mom, which I agreed to of course) and breaking open tons of bags of snickers, reeses, chips and salsa and just pigging out as a zone. The zone here has become another family for me, they are all awesome and so supportive. We get along really well and actually we've taken a liking to mind games.. I guess I can attempt to teach one.. ok, my favorite is called "beautiful moon." Actually have Jack only read this next paragraph, so he can get you and dad with it! Don't peek or it'd ruin it!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok little brother, read carefully, It's actually have a very simple game. First, clear your throat, that's the most important part, but do it non-chalantly, so that it seems like no big deal. After that, draw a circle in the air while saying "moon moon beautiful moon" and then draw two eyes and say "with two eyes" then draw the nose and say "one nose" and then draw the mouth and say "and one mouth" then you're done and you say "that's a beautiful moon." They'll try to draw the moon, but they won't clear their throat, that's the secret. They have to make that sound in order for it to be a beautiful moon. Practice a bit before you confuse them. Trust me, it's fun. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anyways, I am super jealous that you all got to see Enders Game! And that's disappointing, it would have to super good to get anywhere near as good as the book. I'm glad to hear Jack working hard at soccer! I miss soccer, my gym times, are at 6 in the morning and 9 at night, so I can never go to the field.. but I play volleyball alot. Indoor soccer is great, Jack is going to love it. The trick is to just go fast and hard the whole time, you can get subbed whenever, if I remember right. I can attest to that though, a mission is already a great experience. Me, Sawyer, and Taft are all sharing an email where we just say how things are going. It's nice to know I have two cousins, and 2 great friends out there doing the same thing. I know that our Savior really does care about, and is actively involved in missionary work. I can see as much in the emails from sawyer and taft and even in my time as I'm preparing to head out. I hope Coleman does well and will be sure to add that to my prayers. I have never prayed so much in my life, but consequentally I have also never seen so many prayers answered in my life either. I'm perfectly ok with you sending them! And oh! I saw Sister Jacobson is it? Uncle Balt's daughter? We've run into each other, I've also seen Trevor just today actually. There are alot of missionaries here from my class at BYU, so I'm running into alot more familiar faces than I thought I would. Have a good week! Ti voglio bene, Anziano Vaclaw

Week 2 - MTC

Ciao Mama! I'm doing great! My second week has definitely been so much better than the first. And time is already seeming to fly by! I now have the first vision, and the baptismal invite memorized in Italian, and me and my colega (companion) have been teaching without any kind of language script, which is really hard! But when I open my mouth to speak it's a miracle I can form sentences at all. I end up saying what I wanted to say, but not the way I wanted to say it, but as long as the Spirit is conveying how I feel about it I try not to stress so much about it. Although I'm definitely working hard on language and on studying the gospel. It stinks to hear about so much sickness going on at home. It's getting cold here too. But I haven't been sick or even felt a little down once yet, even my stomach. I can't believe how it changed so drastically so quickly, I'm still saying how grateful I am for this, even though I've been fine for about 2 weeks now. I remember my Central choir years... I try to forget. It gets better later on. Somewhat. I got an email from dad saying he got some meat for the family! He's such a good provider. You should be so grateful for the meat he got and don't complain about it at all. (I'm saying this because he said you'd complain about it). In all honesty though, make sure you cook it a lot, I trust that meat about as much as I trust the meat I get served in the cafeteria here. Um... I can't think of too many things I'd like for Christmas, I don't really know what I'll need in Italy yet. I probably want a beay, and a scarf! Our teachers keep saying how scarfs are a huge deal in Italy, so might as well show up not looking like a foreigner. Keep sending me Sawyer's letters! We send some to each other, but I still want to hear about what he's doing. He seems to have so much more going on than me, and I can't wait to get to Italy and be as busy as he is. I keep trying to picture Coleman and Natalie's costumes, but I stop halfway because I'm thinking, "Do I really want to see that?" Just kidding! But I hope he does great on the GRE! That sounds good, trick or treating at Jack's age was starting to get weird for me too, although I'd definitely go around and grab all the Reeses I could. Speaking of singing, I sang in church last Sunday with a big Hawaiian that's in my district, we sang Nearer My God To Thee, and he has a great voice. We made the branch president's wife cry, and one of the Sorella said how she needed that song. Not sure what that meant, but I'm glad it helped someone. Oh, I was also called to be the "online media" person. All I really do is pull up videos and other things that are super easy but the old teachers find it really hard. So all my computer experience wasn't for nothing! Make sure Jack hears about that so he can tell you about it when you tell him to get off the computer. I do sing in the choir here, (which does the exact same thing) but they all try so it's a fun thing. I'm glad to hear from you and miss everyone a lot! Ti voglio bene, Anziano Vaclaw

Week 1 - MTC

Ciao mama! This week has been great! I didn't expect anything like this, but I am truly loving it. The language is very difficult for me, it gets mixed up with the spanish I know, but so far I can pray, teach about simple gospel subjects, and bear my testimony, so it has been a very productive week. I don't have my P.O. box number, but I will try to bring it next time for you! But I definitely am missing Jack's company. I hope he's doing well with all the brothers gone, it must be difficult, so it's good that he's doing stuff to keep his mind off it. Luckily I have been doing plenty to keep my mind off of just about everything but the work. But make sure Owen or Sam wears one of those disco outfits we used to have! If it'd fit, that'd be awesome. I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing so well! I have been doing well over myself, I'm humbled and grateful for everyone's prayers and thoughts that I read in the letters. I will work my hardest to live up to those expectations. The flight was the hardest part of leaving, I definitely felt like I was hitting a major turning point in my life. Arriving at the MTC is an experience I don't think I'll forget! I showed up and immediately went to the language class (which I was a little late for) and jumped in headfirst to learning the language. I also met my companion, who is probably the best companion I could've hoped for, who is Anziano Briand. He is a recent convert to the church, from Canada, and has had a very interesting life story. I think he's my first companion to teach me to think of how the investigators feel about the message I have for them. He has led a somewhat difficult life, and his story of coming to the church is inspiring. We work very well together, and some sisters have asked if we knew each other before, because we seem to get along that well! The life here at the MTC is exhausting yet rewarding. I can already comprehend almost everything my teachers tell me, as long as they are related to a gospel discussion, and I know that if I didn't have the spirit helping me learn I'd have no chance whatsoever. I am enjoying the life of a missionary, besides waking up at 6.. praying each morning and night, teaching an "investigator", and learning the language and the gospel is exactly what I need right at this point in my life. I'd like to say i've been working hard, but we could always improve. We try to challenge ourselves and stick to the schedules which we have to do our studying, planning, teaching, etc. My district is also great! We all get along, and i have plenty of friends within the Italian, and Romanian speaking missionaries. Although, it seems that we are the only italian speaking missionaries at the MTC campus! The other ones got shipped out the day before we arrived, I dunno if that's how it always is, but it's still not what I had expected. I miss everyone, and I'll keep you in my prayers. Ti voglio bene, Anziano Vaclaw