Week 7 in the MTC and July 7 Letter

Wow its week 7 and it strangely feels like its been 6 months and 2 days all at the same time. I have a theory that the MTC is a parrallel Universe and a time warp. Time seems to lose its meaning. At the end of a day I feel like the morning was a week ago, but if I think back to last week it feels like a couple hours ago. I live in a combination of the Twillight Zone and Ground Hog Day, because I literally do the same thing every single week to the minute. Its just something to think about.

As for the week same as usual. Full of the Spirit and and again my testimony has waxed strong!As for the most spiritual part of the week we had a devotional on Sunday from . ... someone and he spoke about the importance of prayer. Growing up in the Church of Jesus Christ, I was no stranger to the subject but he really opened my eyes to the TRUE power and the necessity of prayer in conversion. How we can truly speak with our Heavenly Father, God, if we have the faith that he will speak with us. vI urge everyone reading this to read 2 Nephi 32 8- 9 in the Book of Mormon and think about what it says. If you don't own a copy of the Book of Mormon, you can read the passage on LDS.org. ;)

This week was a monumental occasion. We recieved 140 new Russian Speaking Missionaries. When we came in there was an older group of missionaries who had been here for 6.5 weeks. When they left I was incredibly envious of them, because they were leaving and how much they knew as far as Russian goes and knowledge of Missionary work. Now, I am that group of Missionaries and it feels great to see how far we have come. Also, since we have gym and laundry together, and there are an extra 140 people doing laundry today was very similar to the civil war. Elders and sisters running doing hurdles over dryers and washers trying to get a empty machine. A line of missionaries camping out to use 1 washer. Some companionships had to sacrifice some of their clothes. Companionship of elders - "So elder, do you want to wash your whites or darks this week"? It was nuts. And extremely sweaty.

Church was new this week. I blessed the Sacrament bread in Russian and was crazy nervous to mess it up. Also, one of elders in my district, Elder Velazquez, who now speaks 3 languages, said the closing pratyer in Sacrament meeting. Started off in Russian then switched to English and ended in Spanish. After he closed the prayer, everyone was like, "What just happened." It was way funny. You had to be there.

As for my working out and gym. Due to the fact that the sand outside melted the first 2 layers of my feet as I stepped out to play volleyball, I have resorted to playing basketball, which is way fun and actually pretty competitive in the MTC.

We are now coming up to 140 push ups and situps every night and have recuited many of the new Russian Elders to join our Work Out group. We are at about 9 now. Well I love you lots and so does our Heavenly Father. Please read the scripture above and tell me what you think ;)


Love,

your Missionary,

Elder Curran

PS please send this to anyone who you think might enjoy reading it. !!!!!!

(letter from July 7, arrived July 20)

Mom:

How are you? My fourth of July was great, but I'll be writing about it in my e-mail, so I'll let you read about it then. Just so you know, it was the Stadium of Fire. We just watched it from the MTC. It was on AFN (Armed Forces Network)? That's crazy. Of all the fireworks shows in the United States, why did they decide to go with BYU's show?

So the event (4th of July reception) went better than you expected. That's good. I'd rather have tons of people show up and not have enough food, than not that many people show up and have tons of food. An event's reputation is 70% dependant on whether it's a full house or not. You may want to use a better RSVP service such as Facebook or something online.

The 4th of July in Beijing sounds fun.

As far as activities, I play mostly basketball related activities and volleyball. We have Sunday night stretching, which is our yoga. It helps me relieve the stress of the previous week. The flu has died down.

I didn't print out pictures this week, so I'll send some next week. I got the card and code and it works. Thank you.

I'll order my t-shirt now. And yes, I got your packages. Thank you.

I think I said something in my last letter about sending me ties. Please consult Olivia before finalizing a purchase. {too late!} She would know exactly what I would want. You can befriend her on Facebook. She is one of my friends.

Well, good luck with work and the kittens.

Love,

your son,

Elder Curran