Week 7

Broadhead Nover and I! We took this one with Polly in mind! Haha!

All of the sisters in my district/bedroom! I love them all!

Hermana Zortman and I... in our pajamas .. She flew off to Chile on Monday morning, so I won't see her for another 17 months! Sad!

Hey!

I don't really know what to tell you all about this week! haha It feels like it's all the same now; the days are still fairly long, but the weeks are SO short! Weird that I only have 12 days left in the MTC! We should be getting our travel plans tomorrow or Friday! Also, we started our consecration week this morning as we left the temple! That means that we can only speak Hungarian until we enter the temple next Wednesday. We also set special individual, companion and district goals for the week. The idea is not that we just give up things that are important to us, but we are really consecrating our lives completely to the Lord and showing Him that He is more important to us than even those things on earth that are most important to us. It's not to make us suffer, but with each sacrifice we choose to make, we fill it with something better that we could be doing. For example, our district chose to:

-Wake up and hour early and go to the temple today and next Wednesday, to do Initiatories.
-Get to class by 6:45 every morning instead of 7 and spend that time doing additional personal study.
-Have a special fast on Sunday to prepare us for Hungary/things that we are each struggling with personally as missionaries
-Spend that extra time, when everyone else will be at meals, on Sunday studying about Christ and Christ like attributes
-Only distributing mail at night right before we go to the residence (instead of after lunch and dinner), so that we have more time in class and are focused throughout the day.
-Use the bathroom and get water only at designated break times throughout the day, so that we don't get distracted out in the hallway or get unfocused.
-Keep the door shut when we're in the class/in study time, so that we can maintain the peace and quiet & not get distracted by people out in the hallway (our classroom is directly across from the girls bathroom and the water fountain, so people tend to gather there and talk a lot)

Then, as a companionship, my companion and I are giving up our breakfast in the cafeteria and just eating a bagged breakfast in our class building to waste less time and we'll use the extra time to study the language.

Personally, I am:
-Not reading mail after today until next Wednesday. I'll have my district leader put it all in a shoebox when he gets it so that I'm not even tempted/can't see who it's from. That doesn't mean don't send me mail though! ;) Please do! I'll read it all next Wednesday and answer back still, just like normal! Plus, it'll be the last week you can all send me mail so easily! Yikes! :/
-No vending machine food at night so that I can hopefully get to sleep sooner. Plus, it's healthier.
-Lights out at 10:20 instead of 10:30, since I usually spend time reading letters at night anyway or socializing. And hopefully it'll help me fall asleep sooner

I think that's about it...It's going to be a great week; I think (and hope)! haha hm.. Speaking of mail, I got a lot of crap this week from my district hahaha On Monday night I got 14 pages of printed off DearElders and one regular snail mail, so the nickname (Elder Van Pelt) has struck again. Oh well. haha Oh, and I can still pick up packages during the week! It's just mail and DearElders that I'm not reading!

Hm... I finally caught the MTC cold this weekend! Worst thing ever! I frequently feel like I'm dying. haha not overdramatic or anything. Which reminds me, Mom, that SudoGest stuff that I got? I've already used 8 of them and there are only 10 in a box... I definitely need a lot more of that if possible, because that's the only decongestant I have and I'm assuming that I'll get sick again out in the field... I might need more of all the cold medicine actually... the night and day time stuff, but maybe just a box more of both of those.. That'd be nice if you can send the SudoGest soon, since I'm almost out. They're miracle workers! I only have to take one every 12 hours! If you can't get a lot of those, maybe you could at least send some of the little red ones?

We heard that in our mission, they had 25 baptisms just in January and February! I think that's probably a record! (For our mission!) So great!

Mom, you asked me in a DearElder a long time ago, probably the first week I was here, what my favorite primary song is... I think "A Child's Prayer" is one of them. We sang it the other day in RS or in a devotional and I remember you always playing on the piano upstairs in Chile late at night and singing to it. Other than that, I can't think of my other favorites right now.

How are things going back home with everyone? I love getting all your letters! And, Dad, I'm jealous that you got to go back to Peru, it sounds like you had fun!

You should go watch the Mormon Message "Expressions of Love" online and see if you recognize anyone in it. I was watching it on Sunday and I almost died when I realized who was in it. haha we haven't seen them in forever! Mormon messages are pretty much the best thing ever! They're so inspiring! I spend a lot of my computer time on Sunday watching those and they play them on the TV’s in the fitness room and that's what I bike to!

My time's probably about up! I'll try to get on in the laundry room and send you some pictures! I took a bunch this week! Oh, that reminds me! I've been talking a lot to some of the Noverek here about future school plans and stuff. I'm thinking I might transfer to UVU with Broadhead Nover and do dental hygiene together. We'll see! I'm torn because I really love BYU and the atmosphere in classes and stuff, so that would be a change, but at least I'd stay in Provo. I'll figure it out in 18 months! haha I'll at least be at BYU for next fall though. Szeretlek!

Sok Szeretettel,
Butterfield Nover