August 26, 2013

Parents,

Pretty good week. We had our first TRC, which is something they do every Saturday here. You and your companion teach a lesson to members who are not acting. It was kind of tough, because we didn't know what to say. We can barely talk about basic doctrine, so trying to help edify people who already know the basics is tough. Hawaii sounds pretty cool. Sacrament meetings here include talks from random Elders and Sisters, and this week an Elder from American Samoa spoke, and he did the whole aloha thing. It is pretty fun.

It's almost been three weeks. I feel like it's gone by really fast, and also taken for ever. 6 weeks left to go feels really long, especially because today at least a third of our zone is going to the Phillipeans, Sibwano speaking. Our hall is going to be empty tonight. Elder Wong, and two of his friends Elders Ly and Chueng, who all were in an advanced class but had to move into our district because of a weird scheduling thing, have been with the Cantonese districts since Friday or Saturday. Wong and Ly left for Hong Kong early this morning, and Chueng is leaving to Oakland California Tuesday night. They've been really fun, but Chueng, who's sleeping in our room, keeps rubbing in how he's leaving before us. I really do wish I could get out and work. I like the MTC, though. I feel that I'm a bit backwards from most of the guys here. I like the classes and devotionals, and gym is fun (we do beach volleyball everyday), but I feel like my district isn't as intense about learning stuff as they could be, and I don't get along great with my companion. He's a great guy, but we're not very similar. It makes things tough sometimes. But overall, it has been very good.

I sent a pretty long letter to the kids, so make sure you collaborate with them. Honestly, not a ton has gone on different from last week, so I don't have much else to say. I keep hearing from everyone who's been to Hong Kong that the food there is amazing. I like the MTC food, but we've already repeated one or two meals.

I'm still slowly getting over my cold. There's not a lot of time to sleep in the MTC, so recovery takes a while. It's been really stormy up here these last few days, couple of rain storms, and a lot of really beautiful skies. Wish you could see it, but I never have my camera with me. Just so you know, I will try to send my pictures back sometime, but as I said, it's fairly inconvenient. Did you have cards to swipe to get into buildings when you guys were here? We have to bring them everywhere, to get into the classroom building or the residence, to eat meals, and buy stuff at the book store.

I don't miss you too much. I wish some things were easier sometimes, (though the language is going very well. The grammar is so much easier than German that it's been really easy. Just the vocab is hard, and since we can't read the characters at all, we have to laboriously pre-mark any scriptures we share during lessons. Literally, we have to find the beginning of the Book of Mormon, which is in the back, then count forward book by book, judging by when the chapter count resets or by landmarks like chapter 60 of Alma, then find the verse. Luckily the verses have roman numbers, though I don't know why.) But I haven't really wanted to quit at all. I really am looking forward to getting into the field, though.

Enjoy the volcanoes. Have you seen the new temple movie? It has a clip from the Hawaiian volcano in it, so I'll pretend I'm with you there next P Day on temple trip.

Love your son or be cursed,

Elder Morrell


David,

The thought of high-probability tree combustion intrigues me. Is there any way to make a map in which survival for long periods of time is almost impossible? Random exploding sand, exploding trees, exploding cows and pigs, etc. Or is it possible to make the zombies actually deadly? Maybe apply the door breaking mechanic to every block... Remember when you persecute the girls on Minecraft to do it subtly, like it's a form of art. Wanton destruction is only fun in the right context. Go psychological, think like the Joker. Or Bane.


Abby,

Next email tell me exactly how much hair you lost. I hope you got a bob. I do remember Mrs. Alexander a little, but she wasn't my teacher so I don't know too much about her. School is fun, if you hate it it's your fault and you should go sit in the closet under the stairs for a while. Some advice (and this is for Rebecca too) about the Minecraft server. Do not hold back against David. Attack him with all your strength, steal his diamonds, kill his horses, and burn his fortresses to the ground. No subtlety, just wanton destruction.


Rebecca,

I understand what you mean about off days, though at the MTC you always have stuff to do, so there's not a lot of time to waste. My eyesight is so bad that it's not hard to tell if I have contacts in or not, though I have fallen asleep with them before. I don't recommend that, your eyes get all sticky and irritated, and it can take a while to wear off. I feel like you are fragile, because out of all the kids you're the only one who has, multiple times, almost passed out or passed out. Eat more red meat. Ask Joseph to explain that order. Maybe if something happens and you tell me about it, I'll talk to you more. Miss you.


Joseph,

I can see that you love me the most, because your letter was longest. You may take any of my stuff that David has away from him. One of the things that has been tough about the MTC is that the only websites we can go on are lds.org, mormon.org, and this mail program. It bugs me to not be able to look anything up, like the history of Cantonese, or science things, etc. Tell Frau Adams Hallo from me. Regrettably, the more Cantonese I learn, the more German I forget.


Miss you all. Hope you wear sackcloth and ashes for me. Enjoy school.