3.1.11 Update

We got our first e-mail from Andrew today! He only has 30 minutes to write e-mails, so it wasn't a novel, but it was good to hear from him. Here are some excerpts:

The MTC is amazing. If I had showed up here on day one and one of my teachers had said, "Elders, in six days, you will know how to read Russian, sing in Russian, bear testimony and pray in Russian, introduce yourselves and contact people on the street in Russian," I wouldn't have believed him. Truly the gift of tongues is manifesting itself. I have had experiences where I couldn't get a word right for the life of me (For instance, свидетельство, testimony, which is pronounced svee-dyet-yell-stvo). And suddenly the next morning, I have wanted to say it and it came perfectly to my head and I pronounced it exactly right on my first try, instead of my awkward English-speaking mouth failing to make Russian noises the right way, like it did 100 times the previous night.

Although the Spirit is absolutely helping me, it's still really hard work. Every night I go to bed with my head completely packed with Russian. It just bounces around in there, but it usually kind of solidifies in a day or two. I can't believe I used to think the word for "hello" was so hard.

Thanks for all the letters and packages. Good stuff. I love getting mail here. It's the most exciting thing ever. Especially when you get a package slip and the rest of the day you get to be curious to how big it is, who it's from, what's inside... etc. We can't open mail until we are back in the residence halls after 9:30, so it's kind of a nice way to end the day.

I'm having some trouble adjusting to the sleep schedule, but I'm sure it will even out quickly enough. We're getting 7 1/2 - 8 hours of sleep every day. That's plenty.

Then he concludes:

First off, thanks to everyone who sent me letters, namely Danielle, Blake, and Dwayne (immediate fam doesn't count, although obviously I like getting mail from you too). I love getting mail. It's seriously such an awesome thing here at the MTC. I think I already mentioned that, but for reals. It's the best.

Second, every single day I know more and more that this church is true. There are miracles all around this place, and it's filled with insanely awesome people.

Third, for those of you who are getting ready to come in soon (I'm looking at you Miguel), avoid the Mexican food and the orange juice in the cafeteria. It tastes fine, but there are... repercussions.

Thanks for everyone's support. I'm having a blast here and working harder than I ever have in my life. I'll do my best to write back to everyone but I doubt I'll be able to do handwritten letters to everyone I received mail from. So keep checking the blog; I'll be sure to at least include some kind of reply if you send me something.

Love,

Старейшина Broekhuijsen

P.S. You chamber kids owe me a bucket of postcards.