Letter From David - Aug 17, 2018

Hello everyone! Week 4 nearly done and in the bag! I’ve had such a great time here at the MTC learning and growing in the knowledge of the gospel and in the language of Malagasy. I have had a blast with my district and have enjoyed every fleeting moment of happiness with them. They are so amazing to me and I love them to pieces.
On Sunday, Elder Kearon of the seventy and his wife Sister kearon spoke about missionaries and how stressful it can be being one, and the benefits that come from being one.This coming Sunday I have the opportunity to play the piano for sacrament meeting for the first time. On that same day, I will also have the privilege of giving a special musical number. It will not however be my first musical number by any means. On this stay alone, this will be my sixth musical number that I give. I’m truly blessed to be able to share my musical gifts to other missionaries to inspire them to continue their work in righteousness. Everyone in my district is on pins and needles right now, because every Sunday the branch president asks someone with no future notice to come up and give a talk in their mission language. Right around this time, there are a lot of missionaries trying to put together a talk in their mission language. I haven’t given one yet, but that might soon change.
On Monday we had another TRC session, and this time it was over Skype. Our instructors told us that we had a strong possibility of teaching someone that was actually from Madagascar. Unfortunately, I did not teach someone from Madagascar. But, the man I taught over Skype was still a great guy, and I still had a great conversation with him in Malagasy. Not a whole lot happening this Monday, other than we did a lot of Malagasy and not much else.
On Tuesday I gave another special musical number, which was a portion of a song from a play. I don’t remember the name of the play, but the name of the song was “someday we’ll understand”. I accompanied the song on the piano while another elder sang the song beautifully. We played this song for a branch presidency dinner, and it was a real privilege to be able to meet everyone there that was important. Again, a lot of Malagasy but not much of other things.
On Wednesday I thought Tony again, and I gave him the entire first lesson in preach my gospel in Malagasy. My instructors are very pleased with me and my comrades. I’m very proud of them, and how much they work on Malagasy and memorizing. I don’t remember a whole lot from Wednesday other than I thought and I ate drink and slept Malagasy.
On Thursday, which was yesterday, I had the privilege of meeting some people from China. They’re very friendly and open people. I asked them if they could teach me a little bit of Mandarin Chinese, and they taught me how to say a few things in mandarin other than hello. They taught me to say my name is, planet, tiger tooth, and food. It’s not a whole lot, but I’m hoping that in the distant future I can learn Mandarin. I also met someone from the Ukraine. He has so many crazy stories because he was in the middle of the battles between the Ukraine and Russia. He told me the story of how he was sleeping in the bank with his family because there is no running water in his house, and they were trying to help elderly people get money, but they were not connected to the Internet and you need the Internet to get money. In the middle of the night, he said he heard a bombshell come in and hit the ground and explode. It woke everybody up and they never knew where it came from, but the only thing they did after that was run back. I’m so grateful that I live in a country that’s protected by strong loving courageous men.
So tomorrow is a very special day, which reads on the calendar August 18. On July 18, I arrived here at the MTC. This day signifies the one-month marker Of my mission. I cannot believe this much time has whizzed past so fast. It’s indescribable, the feeling that i have been away from home for this long, makes me finally feel grown up.
Next week is the last week that I will email you guys before I head out to Madagascar. It will be the last time that I will be emailing you in coherent times zones. After that, I will always be nine hours ahead for the next 23 months. Right around that time, don’t be surprised if you get an email at around 2 o’clock in the morning.
I’m sorry, I did not take a lot of pictures this week, but I will do better next week. Also, just to put it out there, my parents anniversary is today, so be sure to wish them  happy anniversary. I’m so grateful for all the packages, the love, the mail, and all the support that has been given to me during this part of my life. It’s really inspiring and helpful to me as a missionary, and I know God will bless you for those things.