Ashes of the Wake

Howdy family, hows it going? Como lleva? I haven't figured out how to make upside-down question marks yet on a computer. But it's good. So... Not a lot has been going on. We have a week and like 5 days till we leave for the field. I'm ready for it, I'm ready to get out of this dank prison and out into the field and actually do stuff.

This week was kinda crazy, on sunday our Branch President, President Dickerson, walked in and basically decided on a whim to change up our companionships in our district. Not just for the day but our remaining time in the MTC. It was pretty random, we had to switch rooms up in the dorms and every thing. I got paired up with Elder Armstrong, formerly Elder O'Keefe, he's gotten his name changed cause of something to do with a step dad or something but anyway, Elder Armstrong is from somewhere around LA in California, he's one of those typical jock types who are into sports and dirt bikes and motorcycles and whatnot, and he's from California and his family is quite wealthy, he has like $80 ties and whatnot. I don't know why anyone would spend $80 on a tie but whatever... So we don't have a lot in common but we get along really well, he knows a lot of stuff and we teach together really well for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is the fact that our Spanish is about at the same level so, so far our leccions have gone well unlike before with Elder Wood because he knew all spanish and I would never really speak a lot and just chip in every now and then.

So yeah, Spanish goeth well, Yo se todo espanol. Pero yo no se todo espanol correcto. Har har. I can actually speak like all day in spanish, I haven't just because nobody else will but I could, I could get around. This last week and for the next week we're getting into the intense stuff, all the subjunctive tenses and whatnot as far as the actual subjunctive verb endings go they're pretty simple, the trouble is knowing when to use them, luckily there are some triggers or conjunctions that let you know when to use subjunctive stuff but still it's kinda vague, we don't have anything like in english so it's rather bizarre.

So we've gotten a couple new districts, and when the rest of the zone goes in there to meet them we all introduce ourselves by saying our name, where we are from and where we are going. And then we'll all sing 'Tengo Gozo En Mi Alma Hoy' which in english is the 'There is Sunshine in My Soul Today' or something like that. I can't even remember any hymns in english anymore. Unfortunately we don't actually sing it, we roar it, which much irreverence, clapping during the chorus, echoing the "hay's" and ending with a bunch of arribas and stuff. So yeah, it's not really a hymn when the whole zone signs it. It quite traumatizing. I remember when they did it to us on our first day and I was thinking that these people are freaking insane. Anyway, during these I'll say: "Me llamo Elder Rice, soy de Glasgow Scotland, voy a Houston Texas." Yeah, I tell them I'm from Scotland, and speaking spanish with a fake scottish accent is fun. And they actually buy it! Harar! It's probably because when we play soccer out on the field for gym I shout and scream with my fake scottish accent. It's fun, they think I'm absolutely insane. Which is great. Because I am going insane, I don't like care about anything anymore, sometimes I even forget I ever lived anywhere other than the MTC or knew anyone else aside from my zone. And I just don't care about those sorts of things. My companion likes to talk a lot about what he wants to do when he gets back, I don't cause I don't really care at the moment, nor do I think about it. Which is good.

Well I'm out of things to say. Oh and NO Austin you cannot have the speakers, or the player, or my itunes account number, if I were to give it to you, you would be able to buy songs and crud with my debit card. just get that music rescue program and rip the songs off the ipod and put the files into itunes. It's simple.

There will be one more e-mail I'll send you before I get out to the field so peace out.

----- Elder Rice