Cara Famiglia,
Buon Giorno! Come state? Italian rocks. I will explain the [title of this post] later.
First things first, thanks to everybody for the packages. I got the DearElder package(I think I mentioned that last week), and then I also got mom's Christmas package with wrapped stuff. Anziano Scheurn loves all the stuff you got him, he is in fact wearing the Washington DC shirt right now. Also tell Sister Karen Daniels thanks so much for her package! I just got it yesterday because the mail service was closed Christmas Eve/Christmas Day and then Sunday as well, but it was like Christmas all over again! She got me a bunch of awesome food and wrote a great letter. I'll be writing a response later today.
Hmmm not much is going on at the MTC. In Italian I just call it the MTC, but with the C you say the 'che' sound in English. So like...M-T-Chay. There's a saying I've heard a lot that the weeks feel like days and the days feel like weeks which is definitely true. Wednesdays are the worst days because we have gym time in the morning right after breakfast and then straight up class until 9 pm with breaks for lunch and dinner. In gym I usually run a mile every day and then play some basketball or volleyball. I need to learn how to make layups. And to answer mom's question, I have had one soda since I came in, it was a Jones BubbleGum Soda bottle from the bookstore; Jones soda is good, but not the best soda I've ever had.
Christmas was awesome! The festivities started on Christmas Eve when Presidents and Sisters Breinholt and Clegg spoke to us in an evening fireside. Good messages about giving the gift of service and how Christ was the greatest give Heavenly Father ever gave. Another cool part was when Sister Clegg had everyone in the auditorium sing the 12 Days of Christmas MTC Style in sections based on where we were seated. It goes like this by days: 1-A Rock Solid Testimony, 2-Two haircuts free, 3-Three new companions, 4-Chocolate Milks, 5-Hours of gym, 6-Six Thirty Wake up, 7-Lukewarm Showers, 8-Hours of rest, 9-Vaccinations, 10-New Commandments, 11-Loads of Laundry, 12-Hours of classes. They are all really funny and true about the MTC.
Christmas Day the big surprise was the visit of Russell M. Nelson. He spoke in our Christmas Day Devotional and talked about missionary work. Apparently the following countries have been dedicated for missionary work: Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Angola, and Montenegro. Ask Jason Richards if he knows the capitals of all those countries. He also gave a funny quote where he was talking about people asking us if we believe in the Bible. He said "of course we believe in the Bible, our members wrote it!" It was comical. Elder Nelson also spoke in the Christmas Day Fireside where some MTC people did a condensed rendition of a Christmas Story, pretty well done. He also spoke at Priesthood Meeting on Sunday Morning about the Abrahamic Covenant and gave a ton of scriptures about it, very interesting. He also spent a lot of time explaining what the original Greek and Hebrew words in the Bible mean.
Not much else is going on, just class all the time. P-day is good, although the Temple is still closed so we have a ton of free time with nothing to do today. Haven't gotten to go yet unfortunately. Also, I have determined that the worst parts of being on a mission are the following: 1)Shaving every day, and 2)wearing a watch. I don't like either of them. But I''m coping. Just kidding, it's not a big deal at all, but I'm not used to it so it's kind of annoying.
Tell Taylor Richards congrats on her mission call! Anaheim California Spanish Speaking woooo!! That would be sweet. If I see any missionaries going there I'll tell them to look out. This week I also saw a Vanem! I was like 'Hey, my brother went to Estonia!' He was a solo elder though, and he was hanging out with the Elders going to Finland. I've also seen Elders this week with tags in Creole(going to Boston), Vietnamese(going to Australia), Cambodian, and Marshallese(going to the Marshall Islands). Whenever I see someone with a cool language on their tag I ask them where they're going. I've also seen Elder Dickson a fair amount this week, I talked with him for about 15 minutes before the Christmas Day Fireside so that was cool. In his district there's a kid who was in my ward at BYU.
Oh before I forget! The subject of my email refers to the Missionary Talent show which was Christmas morning. One of the numbers that was most hilarious was a bunch of Russian/Ukrainian elders got up on stage. Then they started singing Bad Romance by Lady Gaga but instead of singing 'caught in a bad romance' they sang 'you missionary now' in English with thick russian accents. It was hilarious. They also did a bunch of dancing that was reminiscent of the music video. Everyone gave them a standing ovation. We also got to watch Mr. Krueger's Christmas on Friday night, that was cool, being able to watch a sort of actual movie.
This week I read Our Search for Happiness by M. Russell Ballard and also most of True to the Faith. I'm also about 200 pages into Jesus the Christ and it is blowing my mind. James Talmage is the man. There's so much knowledge packed into that book that it makes the Savior a lot more real. It's helped me gain a greater appreciation for what He did while He was here. I also printed out and put up pictures in my room of some of the notable spots on our trip to Israel which helps remind me of what's good. I know this Church is true, and that Joseph Smith really is a prophet of God who translated the Book of Mormon. Love all you guys.
-Anziano Benjamin Smith
P.S. Tell jason richards thanks for the emails and I'll be writing him back. Also tell Sally Evans/Susan Hekking thanks for all the letters from people in the ward. Even though some of them still say 'have fun in Washington' its still good to get letters.
