Week two in the MTC

Oi Familia,

Sorry for the boring subject line, I feel like its a Grandma Boone letter :).

Mom, thanks a ton for sending me the extra suitcoat, I mean suitcoats. Just one wouldv'e been fine but I've worn both so thanks :). Also thanks you so much for the chips and salsa. Those were such a nice break from cafeteria food. Also, I forgot to tell you thanks for the Mangos last week, that was the best surprise ever. I know you sent me more, but I can't remember everything but thanks for all of it. You're the best.

This week has really flown by. I can't believe I only have four weeks left here. It's kind of overwhelming to think in a month I'll be teaching real people in a language I barely know, but I think that's why they focus so much on learning the language of the Spirit instead of the language of Portuguese. We do a ton of Portuguese, but most of the focus is learning how to depend on the Lord and rely on the Spirit for teaching, because he is the one who really does the teaching. We watched a taped devotional by Elder Bednar and he said that most investigators think the missionaries are crazy the first time they meet when they talk about angels and gold plates and a bunch of other crazy stuff, but they invite them back because they feel good when they are there. So I think it's more important to bring the feeling and invite the Spirit to do the teaching. I definitely think it's good to know how to teach as well, and listen to investigators concerns, but that will come as I learn to depend on the Spirit to speak the language. With that being said I think I've made huge strides in the language. We taught a lesson yesterday and understood most of what our "investigator" was saying, and was actually able to answer some questions. That felt amazing :).

Probably the biggest challenge for me is that my district tends to get distracted really easy and it's kind of frustrating when people are goofing off. But it's getting better. They are all great guys, but 13 of us crammed into a tiny room leads to some challenges.

Saturday I sprained my ankle really bad playing basketball. It looked like I had a baseball in my ankle, and got a nasty blue and purple color. I walked around on it for a few days, but decided to get it looked at yesterday. The doctor thought it was just a sprain but sent me down to the BYU Health Center to get X-Rays just in case. Haven't heard back yet but it should be good. It's not very painful, but it's kind of ugly looking, and the doctor said no basketball for the rest of the time here. That will be tough to swallow.

Like I told Amy, my favorite part is teaching our "investigators". It's really good practice, and I love the progress we make every day, both with the investigator and in the language. Every day I see improvement. Still have a long ways to go, but I'm getting there.

Sorry, I have so much more to say, but am out of time. I've learned so much but it's kind of hard to express in a couple paragraphs.

Love,

Evan

P.S. the computers don't pick up my camera so I'll use my comp's SD card reader to send pictures next week.