Terve Family

Ok, so I only have 25 minutes and this keyboard isn't that good so here goes.

Has it been a week already?! The days are long, but good, but seriously, woha, already a week.

First off, thank you for the Dear Elders already! They come twice a day so that should be the way to communicate with me while I'm at the MTC. I think my departure date is Dec 28 or 27. I think you have to state that and my mission when using it. So kiitos!

Ok, so my toveri (companion) is Vanhin Fuchs, from Austria. Awesome guy. Fluent in German and English . . . thank goodness. Every ne else in my district is from the states. We have 2 sisars (sisters) and 6 elders (including me). There are 2 elders and one sisar in the group ahead of us and when they leave next month we should be getting another big group like ours in. We are truly blessed with a good district. Nice, good people. No weird/interesting people, haha. We are all good friends already and have a lot of laughs. They're all pretty funny. When congratulating each other we say Lut Veli! (Stones, brother) haha. And then we bump fists.

We've already learned how to count, introduce ourselves and say a prayer in Finnish. Now we're learning the different cases and rules and grammar . . . which is A TON. But it's fun. We have good teachers. Veli Bush and Veli Mock. There is still a long way to go, but we are all confident and excited. The group ahead of us can speak Finnish so well already, and they are only 6 weeks in. We have 12 weeks, haha. Whenever other elders and sisters here at the MTC see our name tags they are all like woah, where are you going?! We tell them and they are amazed and proceed to say, it's the hardest language and stuff. A guy learning Chinese told me that the other day! He said he's got it easy. Hahaha

Hmmmm . . . . What else? . . . . Oh, I've already seen so many people I know, from Utah and BYU friends, i'ts fun seeing them again.

Getting up early is getting harder and harder. We wake up at 6:15 so we can run to the shower and find an open one before they are all taken, so we don't have to wait in line. Then most of our day is spent in a chair in the same classroom for hours and hours, reading, studying, learning, etc. We sing in Finnish and pray in Finnish before and after we start or end a class or leave for a meeting or meal.

Well I'm almost out of time. It's about to kick me off. But I love you all and want to tell you I know Christ lives. I'm so grateful for His Atonement and for this church. It's true. The message is great. That's why I'm here. I've noticed His hand in my learning this past week. Got to go. Keep the Dear Elders coming! Love ya! Hei Hei! Kiitos!
-Vanhin Watson