Week 1

HELLO!!

Family I am actually beginning to miss you guys. JK I have missed you from the get go. I am loving it here. The work is hard, but I have never done anything more fulfilling. EVER. I have met so many cool Elders (dudes, I am supposed to give up slang). My district is good. We have a couple of sisters and I am getting along okay with my farmboy companion. We are different in soooo many ways, but similar in enough to make it work. We started learning the first lesson last week and it was easy, then we tried to teaching it. Super hard. I thought there was no way I could do it. After practicing for a few days we had our first lesson on tuesday. We nailed it. The woman seemed very receptive. It was nice to be teaching "real people" (even though they were just role playing as investigators). You could feel the Spirit in a fake lesson. It has strengthened my testimony so much being here. I am so grateful for the MTC. That lesson was the first time I had really felt the Spirit since I had been here. I have been praying hard to feel it, so when my heart was filled with its power it melted my stress and boosted my confidence.

My district is good, but overly sarcastic. Big surprise I know. Mormon Sarcasm. We eat together at all the meals, so we are with each other about 16 hours a day. The food is pretty descent and I have been eating massive amounts but thanks to my limited one hour of gym, and fast metabolism I suppose, I have lost weight; 2 pounds ha. The 8 hour nights are really starting to wear me down and I have been sick the past few days with a cough and cold but I am on the mend. My samoan room mate Elder James snores louder than anyone I have ever met. It is out of control seriously. Even though I can hear it through my earplugs, I love the kid enough that I can mentally block it out. Today we went through the temple and I unfortunately fell asleep. I am just so tired physically and spiritually all the time. It was neat and different going through as a missionary, especially because I have been studying Moses and the Creation these past few days in Personal Study.

I am so excited to get out to the field, but I don't what I would do without the MTC. I would have fallen flat on my face and failed. Say that 10 times fast. I am sorry I haven't sent more letters, our days are packed and I already stay up late trying to fit it all in my journal. Last saturday we had a "service day." Basically a program institiuted to cut down cleaning costs. I was told we were washing windows and such. I put on my silver seven jeans and prepared for housemaid work. Turns out we were scrubbing the bathroom floors with clorox. Pretty well destroyed the bottom of my jeans. I guess just one more way to humble. I should have known with the number of costly apparel references in the BIble.

I love you guys so much and miss you when I think about you, but I couldn't be happier be so occupied with the Lords work. I can feel my testimony growing in so many ways. I entered the MTC with a testimony of the savior and intellecutal understanding of how and why the church worked. I know feel so indebted to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and truly love this gospel. I have never read, studied, and pondered a subject so much. This new adventure does often test my patience and knowledge, but I know that with these trials I learn more. I feel like I have to be rebaptized after all this understanding. I love you so much and will email you next Thursday around this time. Love you!

Elder Dumke