July 22, 2008

Droga Rodzina :)
Czesc wam! Life at the MTC continues to march on and it is going as well as ever. A few rough spots here and there, but i can honestly say I am happy to be a missionary and so happy to be here. I just got back from the temple (for the first time, it was closed like you heard from Bro. Matson haha), which was so great :) We went early, caught a 7:20 session. The provo temple truly is beautiful, i really enjoyed just being in there and enjoying the calm and beauty of it all- i still think the LA temple is my favie. And the morning just got better, because we ate in the temple cafeteria and i stuffed myself to the bursting point. Fed both spirtually and physically in the same building- this Church has got it down pretty good :P So i'll try to remember all the questions and answer real quick - i got my glasses fixed a couple days after they broke- my comp was so excited to take a drive out of the MTC into the "real world" that he was a driving force in making the appointment. But they fixed it for free- so nice of them :) The package was great! Love the food, it's going to be hard to eat it all, but everyone enjoys it. The brownies were great! a lttle soft in the center, but very enjoyable, thank you my little red headed sister. i loved the picture as well.
I was so scared at first reading through the letter about grandpa- i'm glad he's doing well, please keep me posted. I love hearing from you guys- from everyone. It never ceases to make me smile. Especially when i'm having a hard day it's just the best to get a letter and look forward to reading it in the comfort of the dorm. I love you guys so much- sometimes really wish i could call just to say hello and let you know how i love you. But MTC news coming now-
The Polish district is still running strong. We love the language- sometimes the elders have a serious lack of desire to work- it's kindof easy to get discouraged when your supposed to memorized the entire first lesson in Polish, the entire case chart and 20 vocabulary words every day on top of it all. It can be a major bummer sometimes when you think about it all- but i like to just step back and think how we've only been here 3 weeks....not even three weeks yet and i can already pray, testify that God lives and loves us, ask questions, read the Ksiega pretty darn good...don;t understand all that much :P, but i definitely feel like the Lord has been blessing me and the other missionaries in our work. The language will come as long as we continue to work. The more i learn about Poland the more excited i am to go. We hear all about the food, whicih despite popular belief seems to be DELECTABLE. I very excited for that. And the country just seems beautiful and the people so kind. I'm brimming with excitement. I'm so jealous of the Bulgarians- they;re leaving this next tuesday. The Elders we came in with, going to Billings Montana, left this morning. That was a shocker. I couldn't even believe it. They are such great guys and i really grew to like them. We're closer to the Bulgarians cos we live right by them, our class room is by their's, we eat every meal with them, have gym with them. It's great haha. BUlgarians are speaking pretty well- you can see the determination of certain elders and the fruits of their labors- Elder Duffield, the BUlgarian district leader, can really speak Bulgarian well. Well, he knows a lot of words at least. I want to be able to understand a good amount of Polish and say the basic things i need to before i leave- i feel like i'm on my way.
Random side note - I got a dear elder from Ryan and it was the best. I loved hearing from him, he's becoming a great writer and it just made me smile. Also the letter from Jolene a while ago was so funny, she said how she feels liek i'm telling about Hogwarts or the Wonka Factory- and in all actuality it is a pretty intense, different "magical" experience here. I though the comparison was pretty good :P It was so good to hear from Spencer too- i'll write more in the hard copy- k back to MTC.
Elder Maxey is no longer in our district- but he is at the MTC which is a great thing. We had had a pretty intense interview in which i felt that he had given up and really wanted to go home, but i talked with him for a while and told him how much he would be missing out and how much we wanted him to stay- so he has been switched to the Spokane WA mission with the new batch of missionaries that came in last week. It's always wierd seeing a new fresh batch come in cos you know that was you two or three weeks ago, though it feels like an eternity. It's so true what Dad says about the dichotemy of time and it's most apparent here- I can't believe i've already been here 3 weeks, yet the days go by very slow most times, yet again when the next Sunday comes you can barely believe it. It truly is great though. The structure here is set up for major success for anyone who will take it seriiously. You learn, you eat, you learn more, excercise, read scrips, write in journal and sleep. It can get really difficult and it;'s sometimes easy to get down. But i know I have the support of my family, friends and the Lord. And that' always keeps me going. I'm determined to learn this language and learn this gospel. I want to be like Abinadi. I've loved reading about him this week. How his simple, yet powerful and unwavering testimony , even in the face of a fiery death, would be the result of so many conversions. He touched one willing soul who than had a son who had friends who were all eventually willing to submit to the will of the Lord and convert more than i can imagine converting. I want to be like him- to have an uinmovable and powerful testimony.
My time is running low and you'll have to forgive my spelling and frazzled writing, this timer is stressful. I can't really reply to e-mails, so dearelder is probably best and i do a whole lot of letter writing on tuesdays so i'll do my best to catch up to everyone. Life is great here and the Lord's missionaries are ready and willing to work. So many amazing young men and women it makes me happy.
I love the letters from the family- from everyone they just make me explode with happiness. TO hear about everyone, keep me posted about Grandpa and tell him I love him so much and appreciate all his observations and letters and let him know i've been reading his book and loving it a lot. I can;t think of much else to say except thank you for the support and love. I love your insights and scritpures mother. They are so great :) they make me smile and think as i read them, wherever i may be. I love your words of encouragement dad, they mean so much. I love hearing anything (underlined) from you siblings! I love you guys and think about you so much. Keep praying for me- i need all the prayers i can get. Ja wiem kosciol jest prawdiwa.

z milosc,

Starxy Rushton