First thing first. I have Laura's charger but I can't find mine. Are you sure you put the gray one in the backpack? Because I can't find it... And yes, I did get the letter from Grandpa. I actually keep it close to me because I love the experience of the piano player. It helps me to stay focused. Tell Grandpa thank you!! Also, the snackage is amazing!!!!! That granola saved my life on Sunday because the cafeteria for breakfast is just sugar cereal. And those almonds are so good!! Where did you get them? Tell Cari thank you for the cookies. Those are a life-saver too. You would not believe the weight problems here.
I know! Three more weeks! The days are somewhat long but the weeks do go by fast. I'm somewhat excited and also nervous. I mean, I'm going to be living in Italy for the next 22 months...and speaking Italian. Hopefully. Also, we got a new district leader! And guess who it is? Collega! I'm so proud of him!
The language is coming along. We can actually have a conversation with everything we've learned within the past three weeks. Even better, to teach a lesson. Pretty good, right? Collega and I actually got to talk to an Italian native from Genova! He spoke so fast that both of us just stared blankly at him but then he realized we've only had three weeks to learn the language so he slowed down. A lot. Still had trouble understanding him but it was a good experience.
Last night we had Elder Scott talk at the Tuesday Night Devotional! It was so cool! And I've been singing in the choir so that was a cool experience too. But here's the best part. Elder Scott gave the missionaries at all the MTCs around the world an apostolic blessing. Twice. And both blessings were for the gift of tongues. Flippin' sweet!! It was such a spiritual experience! He also added a cool thing about sisters serving missions. He promised the sisters that for their service they would have eternal families and the right husbands. It's a big promise. A side note for the lil' sis.
So, today, we got to go to the temple!! And the new temple video is amazing! You'll like it. You need to go if you haven't yet. After going through the temple, I've felt so much comfort and peace, and I'll explain what's been happening this past week. So remember when I bore my testimony about serving a mission when Austin told me that our song was going on the radio? Well, one of the Branch Presidency members was present at that meeting and I guess my name went to the top. Now, they want me to do a special musical number this Sunday! And I haven't really played these past few weeks! All I've really been doing today was practicing an easy arrangement of "Nearer My God To Thee". Okay, it's not easy but more intermediate. I don't have that much time to learn a good arrangement so...I even changed up the ending so it sounded better. More professional. Collega isn't really happy sitting with me while I'm playing the piano. Actually, he's fine with it. He just reads the scriptures and stuff. Anyway, I've been nervous since last Sunday because these public performances don't go very well for me. But going through the temple helped me a lot. I just learned I needed to have faith and God will bless my piano playing. It's like the piano player Grandpa wrote to me about.
Thank you for the letter you sent me earlier this week! I knew you would agree with me about Elder Bednar's talk. I'm still trying to shift my whole perspective where I can be outward. I guess I need to talk to more people. At least get comfortable with it. As a missionary I'll have to talk to more people. I love your thoughts, mom.
There's something that's really satisfying I want to talk about. Everyone in my district has been experiencing some kind of trial that really backs them up to the wall of faith. I had one a few weeks earlier but some other fellow anziani have been experiencing hard things too. When I first got here I didn't know my collega or anyone else. In fact, only two anziani knew each other before the mission in the district. One of our teachers told us one day that she sincerely believes that our district was formed in the pre-earth life. Now here gets the interesting part. Several of the anziani in the district said that everyone looked familiar when we first met each other but none of us but two have ever known or seen each other!!! We've only known each other for three weeks and within those three weeks every single one of us have experienced all kind of emotions on the spectrum! Not only that but we've also given blessings of the afflicted and comfort (according to the situation) to each other simply because we feel the bond of friendship and love! It's such a crazy way to live!! I'm not even sure who I'm going to be when I get home or if I'm going to be emotionally wrecked. There's only so much a man can take...
Tell dad that I'll try write him if I have time. I've still got to do laundry so I'll shoot him an e-mail. And I'll still send the charger. Also tell him that I'll try to send some pics. My money situation is fine.
Tell the fam I love them and I miss them!!
Love,
Anziano West
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