First MTC Email

FAMILY!!!!!So I'm a dork and forgot to write down mom's e-mail address. Doh! So I'm sending this to my email - if Ryan remembers to check my gmail like I told him to, he will be blessed with my correspondance! See how great I am at the commitment pattern already? ;)As an aside, if you want to send me long epistles detailing your fabulous lives (and of course how much you miss me) you can always send me a dearelder.com message - it's free, and mom will have the MTC mailbox number and departing date and all that jazz that makes these things go faster.I really appreciated the cards you left with me, Mom (and the one you sent me, tho it totally freaked out my elders - I think even that much skin [it was a funny hallmark card with trapeze artists] shocked them after only 4 days in the MTC). I appreciated your quote about obedience - it was nicer hearing it from my mom than my district leader. ;) There are indeed a lot of rules at the MTC... I think the saddest one, tho, was that we can't play ultimate frisbee! Sad day! Or co-ed soccer, for that matter. But there's a Swiss sister in my gym period who's all about futball, so there's light at the end of that tunnel. So far the funniest rule is that if we're out on the MTC field for gym, jogging dates ("Even jogging double dates!") are strictly forbidden. Oh, good times. I'm enjoying imagining the scenarios that would force such rules to be necessary.My district is amazing. Elder DeMaas, who's functioning as my companion this week, is a good solid guy from Murray, UT. He plays the bagpipes, looks like Elder Bednar, and is just a solid fellow. Elder Berry is from California and is constantly on the watch for holding doors. He's an endless fount of enthusiasm. Elder Helton is from Maryland, and got called to Holland Spanish speaking (his mom is from Ecuador so he speaks Spanish fluently) but will be with us the whole 9 weeks to get the Dutch in too. They're all incredibly devout about their call (unlike a few elders here) and easy to get along with. Being a solo sister (my comp is goign to Sweden and is in a whole other branch) presents some interesting challenges, like having to make my elders wait outside the door while I go to the bathroom, but they're all super nice about it. The first day when we were asked to bear our testimonies, I was the only one who didn't cry.... They're just great, great Elders, and I respect them a lot. Our teachers our ridiculously different. Brother Christianson is a linguistics machine, and learning from him is like any language class at BYU on acid. He's brilliant and has an interesting sense of humor, so it's easier to maintain consciousness with him. The speed at which we're learning Dutch really is miraculous. We're really blessed. Our other teacher, Bro. Ure, also goes to BYU. He's a bit more on the Preach My Gospel, calm end of things, but he's also fun to learn from. He served in Holland, while Bro. Christianson served in Suriname, so their advice is interesting.Anyway, it's time for breakfast now but I'll be emailing you later today more about my first week and alll the wonderful things going on here. I love you all so much! - Zuster Baxter