August 3, 2010

Hi!
Ok so I would really like to write everyone back individually, but I really dont have the time, we are only given about 20 min in the MTC to write, so this email will have to do for everyone haha I Will try to include comments for everyone, but cant make any promises, sorry :P Ok so Mom and Shannon got a ticket!?! thats so awesome! one rule you must always follow is never speed on the reservation!! come on people!! Im glad you guys had a such good time at the derby! im really sad i missed it! I wish i could of come! Well here i go on giving you a run down on my mission the first week! Ok so, I have the most awesome companion ever! He is from Zambia and is so strong in the church! We have a ton of very deep doctrine discussions. There are only 14 Elders in the MTC, it is so tiny! We are all super close though, its awesome! there are only about six from the states all the rest are from Africa. There are two from South Africa and one from England. They talk very wierd over here and have alot of different words for things, like they call trucks, buckies and the call a ping pong paddle a bat! its fun getting use to the languages and talking to the other Elders who dont speak much english. The airplane ride was the worst thing ever! I spent all of Wednesday on the plane and had massive Jet lag for the first day. We all were up at like three because we could not sleep! oh well, im use to the schedule now haha. We get up at six thirty and go through the normal schedule of reading and studying then have classes all the rest of the day. The food here is something to get use too, its all very different from home, but some of it is so good! They drink 100% cream milk here and its very different haha The rest of the food is really good! THe room im staying in has two bathrooms and alot of beds, but its only me and Elder Thole in there! Im so excited to study with him! We got called to Assistants to the President too! I was really shocked but that calling but it is a good calling and fun to serve the other Elders. I was very humbled by the calling. I am the only one who plays the piano too! so i play for all the meetings and such. Ok so we went to the temple already and its so small! I was shocked! It is the smallest temple I have ever been in, even smaller than the Vernal! It was a very good experience going! I feel like all the elders here are my brothers, and i love it! I wish I never have to leave! haha well thats a lie, but I love it none the less! Well as you know, there are some Elders here from the states, and we were talking about little sisters... Shannon might be receiving some mail soon :P hahahahaha im serious about that too :) I thought she would like that hahahahaa ANYWAYS.... I have some really cool money from Madagascar, Zambia, and South Africa I will be sending to you guys soon and some other small things that are awesome. I should of broutght more regular clothes for working out, we are going to the mall Saturday though so im going to be buying some more stuff there. The Debit card is the best thing ever, because dollars dont work over here haha so when i get to Uganda im going to switch all my money over to the Uganda money :) So my favorite teacher is Brother Roberts, he is from here in South Africa and is an amazing teacher, i learn so much from him every day! On sunday we had all the regular sunday meetings and had alot of personal time in which i slept, because every day here you get very tired haha we work alot! The days are going alot faster now, thats what happens when you get lost in the work, it seems like i just got here yesterday. I love all the Elders! they are the best! ill tell you more about them next time, because im running out of time! AH!! well i learned how to play rugby and are teaching everyone how to play basketball, all the Africans at least haha Im the best one here :P Ok so there are a couple things i need, one would be ADDRESSES! I left home with absolutely no ones address! I went to write people and i dont know any! not even Katie's!!!! I need her old one and her address at her grandmas house so i can write her there after she moves out, that would be greatly appreciated! And send me anyone elses who wants a letter, like keith and preston or whoever else. And encourage people to write! i now know how it feels to get letters and i want more!! haha well i think thats all I can think of.... oh its winter here so it gets pretty cold at night, its about the same as a Arizona winter, maybe a little warmer haha well good luck moving in! Tell shannon and michelle to have a good time at EFY! Tell rachel to hang in there and she will feel better soon! and tell jenna to chill out! hahaha and i miss you all! Love you!

Elder Kendall :)

ps- mail takes like two weeks to get here so if i send letters, I probably wont get the reply here, so if you get a letter from me, send your reply here and they will just send it to my mission, it will just take a little longer! Thanks!

This is Karen talking now. I might have to edit some of the answers like us getting a ticket? I don't know if I want everyone to know that! ha ha I guess you gotta just love us for who we are right?