The Main Event

Church here on post is just a group of people who gather at 2 o'clock on sunday afternoon in the chapel. There is a couple assigned by the stake to come here and make sure everything is done right and provide infor etc for anyone who needs it. Last sunday I was asked to prepare a 15 minutes talk for sacrament meeting this week (July 19th)

Sunday rolls around and there are twelve people total there. After the opening hymn, prayer, and the sacrament I get up to speak. I prepared a talk based from the message Elder Scott gave in the Oct 07 general conference, as per my assignment, on Finding Truth and Making Wise Decisions. It went pretty well and as planned went about 15 minutes or so. Then I sat down. That is all normal right? You may ask why am I going into such detail about sacrament meeting right? Well the thing is, the brother who conducts, then stands up (which is normal and expected) and instead of beginning a talk he says "the closing hymn will be number. . . " That was it. I was the sacrament meeting talk portion-condensed! Don't worry we didn't have a 20 minutes long church. The church is true everywhere, the meeting started 20 minutes late. This week we also had a sunday school portion (because his wife came this week) and after sunday school she gave us brownies. I love the gospel!

In other news, I am getting into the language stuff now. I have forgotten what it was like to not understand a language. I am studying a language and am totally basmupheled by even the most simple of things. I don't know how to say even yes or no which doesn't matter yet since I can't understand the question the teacher is asking me. I hope my previous experience will help me to maintain my patience and push even harder for fluency while I am surrounded by native speakers.

This paragraph will contain my complaints. The beautiful Monterey Bay is exactly that. That means the land rises quickly up and away from the water. I learned in science class that is why there is a difference between water and land. This land the base is on rises and is hilly. My class is down low. After class we have to do P.T. (physical training) I have to very briskly walk (running would be impossible for all but the best athletes, keep in mind hiking is a better term since the journey is through the trees and up dirt paths) up the long hill. The field is called "Hilltop." Not because it is low. If I walk straight there, which is at a faster pace than most, It takes 24 minutes from class to Hilltop Field. My shins were killing me this afternoon! That was my complaint. There is a bus but it is not a thing you can count on when time is as against you as gravity is.

I still love it here! I even picked up a picture frame to add a little decoration to my still room-mate-less room!