Lashi Long

Hello everybody!

This week at the MTC was the same old same old. Things here can get really repetitive. I can definitely tell that my Chinese is getting better though. It's kind of weird to think I've only been here for about 5(?) weeks now and can give gospel lessons in Chinese. It's really tough still, especially when you're trying to figure out what they're saying.

This was also a really sad week. I had to say goodbye to my Canto friends! They left for Hong Kong a week ago(?) and I miss them so much. I got really close with a Cantonese speaking missionary called Elder Farr. He was so awesome and we would spend most of our nights talking about South Park and stuff.

Lately, we've put that puppet you sent us to work. We've been playing with that dragon puppet like crazy. One night one the Elders in my residence decided it would be funny if we got the puppet and harassed people in the bathroom stalls. So we did it. It was super funny. We were all dying! It's interesting to see how people react. So anytime someone is going to the bathroom we give them some entertainment. Many of the Elders will try to pet the puppet. Hilariously they all say the same thing, "Oh SO CUTE." It's pretty funny. It's probably only really funny because we're in the MTC.

One night we were laying in bed and one of the elders said, "Turn on the lights right now." So we all got up and we're like, "what's up?" He found a white handbook wedged between the top bunk and the bottom bunk. Inside it had instructions of how to get to a Narnia hole. The Narnia hole was a vent above our door, but we had to access it by going in the hall and popping the ceiling square board things. We found a note that said, "Have fun!" There was a silver star wars AT-AT in it. We're thinking about leaving something. I think we're considering leaving the dragon in the vent. It's name is Lashi Long. Which translates to: the crap dragon. We even use the little drums you guys sent us. We're going to leave the dragon with instructions and diagrams on how to harass the people in the stalls. The funny part about this all is that some of the elders have gotten REALLY good at operating the puppet. So it almost looks like a real small dog thing. Sometimes I have to do a double take to make sure someone's not keeping a freaking dog or something. It really does look like something out of Team America World Police.

Anyway, this week was just another boring dreadful week at the MTC. Can't wait to get out of here. We get new Cantonese speakers today so that'll be interesting. We're definitely going to use Lashi Long... I love the pictures of Grandma and Grandpa Burge with their matching eye patches! Super cool and funny. I miss you all so much! Thank you for the Cup of Noodles. We ate 3 each the night we got them.... All of the elders say thank you. They also say that it was the best meal they've eaten at the MTC. Teehee. We love the chopsticks! They work great! Sorry to hear they were hard to find.. That surprises me too..

My favorite MTC meal is probably the Navajo taco. I thought I was going to be sick afterwards but nah. We eat burgers here like literally at least once day! They're not very good either. We had some ribs and steak, that was probably one of my top favorite meals. Honestly though, it's burgers everyday. I don't know why. They have some good salads here. Sometimes they're freaking weird and put like weird stuff on them. My favorite is when they put chicken on top. Like I'm pretty sure school food is better than here. I don't know why it's so bad. I miss fast food in general. They cater on Mondays to the MTC, but every time they bring something ,like last Monday was Taco Bell, it just doesn't taste the same. It's almost off. I miss Cafe Rio a lot. Our breakfast is kind of retarded. They set up our schedule so we have to get what's called a "sack breakfast" it's like cereal, milk, and some yogurt. It's alright but our schedule is set up so that we have to eat it almost EVERY morning. When we could be eating the hot breakfast served by the MTC. It sucks. They bring in pizza and it's alright but it almost seems old/cold... I don't' know..I haven't had the biscuits and gravy here. The pasta here has stopped up a lot of the elders in my residence. I was smart enough not to eat that. We don't have desks. For some reason we have like 6 beds in our room which is retarded. So we only have a table. Bringhurst has some Chinese light saber chopsticks. Those are used often. Our room is on the second floor, but the MTC won't let us open our window shades AT ALL. I miss my mama's cooking for sure though!

Hey, I ran into Calianne Timothy at the temple. We went to school together, until about eight years ago when she moved to Texas. She got called to the Montana Billings Mission. This picture was taken with her camera. She is already in Montana now, but she emailed the picture to me on her last p-day.

My testimony has grown so much since I've been at the MTC. I didn't really believe people that the Spirit was strong at the MTC. But it really is. I love to read the Book of Mormon now, especially in Chinese. When it's in Chinese it almost has a different meaning when you read certain verses.

Love,
Silas