Hey hey hey!
Well this is a happy day. Myldsmail has been updated and now is much more useful, effective, and less lame – helping us all find joy in the weekly letter transmission. So, today was a pretty good Preparation Day. We played volleyball with the zone. There are 21 of us...lots of missionaries. We played some foursquare, too. That was cool. We used my duct tape to make the lines (and Mom, if you could send more duct tape, that would be just great). So we did that until the cleaners got upset and kicked us out. Lameo! And later, we bought donuts. Oh yeah. That’s very rare. And it was just like the Brian Regan bit. I absolutely couldn’t decide when it was my turn to order, and the workers were getting slightly annoyed and began giving me suggestions, and I was even counting out loud how many I had left. That’s the only part that was different. I was glad the donut lady didn’t count for me. (That would have been embarrassing.)
We had quite the week here. With 21 different missionaries in one zone, it’s only likely that there will be more little problems here and there. So, there have been a few little things here and there that Elder Hanke and I are trying to get resolved so that everything and everyone can be better, happier, and doing what they are supposed to do. Elder Hanke and I are still getting along great, and he will definitely go down in history as one of my favorite companions. We had an excellent zone conference with President Chipman. The focus was on the Atonement and it was excellent. We have our zone meeting tomorrow and we are going to base it all off of what we learned last week, and I think tomorrow should turn out really well. The president had me conduct, my first time conducting a meeting like that, and it was kinda cool. Our zone did the special musical number and it turned out really well, actually. We practiced several times and it turned out great. I played guitar, and Elder Bassett (from Utah, where Brother Tesh is from, met Jason Foote and some other Vegas kids on the trip just before his mission) played the piano, and the group sang. Sister Chipman liked it so much that she had us play it again afterward and recorded it. We are proud of ourselves. So that will be on the Mission Piura Christmas 2010 CD – making it pretty much famous.
Things went much better in our area this week. We are already half way through the change which is just nuts. I can’t believe how fast time is going. It scares me. Really. Nothing scares me more than getting to July and feeling like I didn’t do enough. So I don’t want time to go by too fast – I want to be able to work hard and feel like I did all I could. Wow, just five more, that’s crazy. Anyway. Things are going well here. We are very focused on finding a family this before the end of the change that can be baptized. And we actually found a few families in the last week so hopefully at least one can progress. We still need to do better on our own goals. I got Elder Winn’s last letter and it sounds like he is doing great as a zone leader. That is awesome. I am proud of him and he is a good example to me of obedience and putting forth all effort. I also got a letter from Elder Foote that was almost all Spanish, pretty impressive. Sounds like he is getting the hang of everything.
Dad, thanks for the pictures of Dan Lee, Dutch and Michael Olds. Wow, I can’t believe Dan is home already. He looks great! And Dutch. Man, I really miss that kid. Elder Hanke reminds me of Dutch sometimes. Tell him I said hi. Jordan getting coached by volleyball Olympians this past week? Sweet. Do I have a sobrino yet? I suppose someone would have told me that by now. I sure love my great family! Looking forward to seeing you all again soon, but . . . not too soon. I still have a lot of work to do.
The mission still has its ups and downs of course. But I love being here. I love having the name tag on. Or, I think we call it a badge in English. I got ready today and looked at myself in the mirror with everything but my badge on. I didn’t like it. It looks weird. It’s sad to think that is how I will have to dress after July. I love being here and I love the Church. The scriptures have become so much more real to me. I never had a great appreciation for the bible, but it’s awesome now. “Jesus The Christ” is an amazing book that I highly recommend that explains the New Testament so well. So, the mission is great. I still have my occasional challenges, but in the wise words of Happy Gilmore, “At least I didn’t punch anybody.” I have learned a great deal of patience from my mission experience. A GREAT deal. I still have many things to get better at, but it’s all coming with time. So, everyone, live every moment as well as possible, and in the most Christ-like manner you can. I love you all and thank you for your constant thoughts and prayers.
Elder "Mmmmmmm Donuts" Royal
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