Hi! Things are going really well. I'm having a fun time and I'm learning a lot. The language is really coming along.
Thank you so much for the letters you sent me this week!! Please feel free to write me over Dear Elder whenever you want, even if it's just a little note. A day with mail is a happy day. :) It prints out everything for the day all on one sheet (or more if it's all too long), so I won't get too many sheets in my pile. And feel free to let anyone know about Dear Elder who's interested!
Teaching Jonas last week was intense. We didn't have any help; it was just him and me, Elder Tomlinson and our phrase books. We actually got pretty good at conversing with him! It was amazing.
Last Friday we found out that he wasn't a real investigator; he's actually our third teacher. He was so convincing! That was a great experience because even though it wasn't real, I put my whole soul into it and helped someone out, even if he was just acting. It's weird that he's our teacher now. We still call him Jonas even though he's really Brother Winegar.
It turns out that he based Jonas off of a real person in Sweden. Brother Winegar taught him and he felt the spirit and knew the Book of Mormon is true, but wasn't ready to make committments and change his life. So he's still out there somewhere. I hope any prayers you said for Jonas went to him and helped! Maybe I'll get to meet him someday.
We got two new investigators this week, played by our other two teachers. That should be fun! We meet both of them and we did quite well at conversing! We're reading less and less and talking more and more.
Gym is really fun. We've been playing soccer almost every day and I've been scoring quite a few goals! I'm getting better and more in shape every day, which is great. Yesterday I played defense and that was probably the best I've EVER played! Wow. My positioning is a lot better than my ball control, so I think defense is my calling. It's fun to be able to contribute like that!
Elder Tomlinson is a beast at soccer. He used to play a little for his local team, Notts County FC, which is a C League English team. He's a great defending with really good ball control. Also, Elder Sargent has been playing keeper, and he is REALLY good! He's never played soccer before, but he's found his new calling in life. :)
The branch has me playing the piano in sacrament meeting, which is fun. Also, at the beginning of each class we sing a hymn in Swedish, and they always have me set the pitch. I like to set it about 1 or 2 notes low to help everyone sing the melody and so that I can sing alto. It's kind of cheating, but it's really fun. :)
One evening this week, a member of a branch presidency came and talked to the 8 of us Swedes. His name was Bob Monson, and we quickly found out that Thomas S. Monson is his uncle! Bob told us about his son, who is serving in Sweden right now and is coming home this July. He was set apart by the prophet himself, and we got to see a picture. It was cool to hear all the stories about Thomas S. Monson calling Bob up and talking to him about the call. And it was fun to hear about Bob's Swedish grandmother, who really liked his father's moustache and kept saying in her Swedish accent, "Tom, you should get a moustache too. You would look so handsome!" It was fun that our little district of 8 got to share so closely with some of that in a little residence somewhere in the MTC.
All of your support means a lot to me. Sorry I can't reply to everything! I didn't get to see the eclipse because we were in a fireside at the time by the Provo temple president. Oh, and Mom, the 8 of us Swedes all arrived the same day and should leave at the same time. We're the only Swedes here, and our classroom is between the Norsk and the Danes, which is fun because we can kind of understand each other.
I love you all very much!! That's the truth!
I'll tell you a little about everyone in my district. Elder Tomlinson is Brittish and funny, with a great testimony. Elder Day is almost exactly like Derek Kent. He's really goofy and fun, and also has a lot of great spiritual insights. Elder Sargent is confident, practical and great. Those two are companions and are in the same bedroom as Elder Tomlinson and I. Elder Wiliams was an art major and has an AWESOME signature! Elder Francom was an international relations major and really likes Europe and it's people. He's genuine and curious, and really good at the language. Elder Newkirk is HILARIOUS. He doesn't take any funny business, and says great things like, "I'll bet 20 Books of Mormon that this lunch is better than what we'll have for dinner." Elder Tietjen is our district leader. He's doing a good job, and he's pretty funny as well.
I'm doing really well here. I love you all a lot and am looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks for all your support!
Until next week.
Love,
Elder Lawrence
