The title of my first email comes from the fact that the Preston MTC is actually in the city Chorley, but they call it the Preston MTC and the Preston Temple because people know where Preston is and because the first missionary work in England was done in Preston. The second part of the title is becuase sometimes I mix up all these British names in my head: we flew into Manchester, I'm living in the Preston MTC which is actually in Chorley, in the county of Lancashire. I'm so happy here! I'm headed to the Germany Frankfurt Mission. Before I got here to the MTC there was talk about me being switched to the six-week program instead of the three-week program I am in currently. Since I got here, that has never been brought up and I don't think it will be. One of my teachers said that I would have been bored in the three-week program. I don't know if that's true, but I know that it has not been as hard to understand German as I thought it would be. In several Priesthood blessings before my mission I was told that German would come easily. I still need to study, but I have definitely been blessed as far as German goes. My district, or the people I go to class with, has two native Germans, two guys who are not native but who are learning German like me, and one sister who has native parents and speaks almost like a native. We learn about our missionary purpose, which is basically the fourth Article of Faith, and other missionary fundamentals, but all in German. I have to ask questions so often that I'm sure it gets annoying, but I do fine. The hardest part is spiritual change. I think changing spiritually is always hard, whatever language you do it in. I love how much German I'm able to speak. And I've loved how much I've improved at teaching the lessons in German. We teach investigators, who are really our teachers, but the Spirit does incredible things when we take it seriously, and our investigators seem completely different from our teachers. My companion is an Australian named Elder Denny. I love being in a companionship with him, we get along really well. He tells me all about Australia and about how apparently, according to him, Australians have a habit of exaggerating what goes on in Australia to make Australia seem better. He's somewhat what you might expect from an Australian, very smooth, very in control. His German is much better than mine, which is good because I can speak German with him and learn German from him. If I don't write again, this will be my email. I just ran out of time, we're going to the temple now. The England MTC is a great environment to be in! There are about 50 missionaries here, which seems very intimate compared to what I've heard about the Provo MTC. I've heard that at the Provo MTC, you only get to know the MTC President personally if you've done something that gets you sent home. Here at the Preston MTC, we all know President and Sister Bunker personally and love them. When we went to the Preston Temple today President Bunker gave each missionary a hug as we were leaving the Celestial Room. The main teacher for my district, Helaman, is Sister Schumann. My German teacher back at BYU one time described this really tough lady who would help teach German as very German. That's the best way I can think of to describe Sister Schumann. Of course she has Christlike love for every class member, but she won't condone settling for less. She's direct about things and very insistent. My companion and I rave about the MTC food--it's so good! We have something different for dinner every night, usually some kind of meat dish with some kind of grain also, and there is always fruit and a salad bar available. We sometimes have hot meals at lunch too, but when it's not pre-prepared for us it's a make-your-own-sandwich or salad kind of thing and it's still so good. Breakfast is cereal, fruit, toast, or something they prepare. They have dessert for us pretty often too and it's always delicious. I've been trying to push myself during exercise time and not eat too much so I don't gain weight. The most obvious spiritual experience I've had so far was listening to a talk given by Jeffrey R. Holland to missionaries last Sunday. I don't know what it's called, but an elder in my district calls it the ''Salvation Was Never Easy'' talk, which I think is fitting. I don't think the talk would have affected me so much if I wasn't a missionary right now. The thing that hit me the most was when he talked about how although we may have reason to ask why a mission is so hard, salvation is not a cheap experience. When we suffer while trying to bring salvation to others, we come shoulder to shoulder to what Christ experienced. That was so powerful to me. The other big thing I have felt is the power of my call and of prayers. There are times throughout the day when it would be easy to stop putting in so much effort, but every time I choose to push forward things go better and I feel increased motivation. I have to make that choice though. I made it through all my flights, I'm in the England MTC now! I found some missionaries who were headed to the same MTC right away, which was really nice. It was such a warm welcome coming here! Luckily they're letting us get used to things for a little bit today. It's rainy and a little cold here in England, it feels nice. My P-Days are on Tuesdays, so normally that's when my emails will come.
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