3rd letter from MTC -- Week 3

Elder Billy Shaw and I 
re-enacting my Peru sloth photo in the MTC.

Ben working in Peru with Youthlinc.  June 2013

Elder Benjamin Steenblik

Sister Fredrickson got a nightgown that says,
"I moose have a hug."  I went up to our Branch President, 
(President Hill) wearing it and he said,
 "Nice shirt!"  He went in for a high-five and I went right past his high-five and went straight for a hug!!!
I'm keeping him on his toes.

Week 3 at the MTC!

Well, this week has pretty much been the same. The days blend here. I feel like I have been here for a year, but then feel like I just said goodbye to everyone yesterday. 

Dutch is starting to get harder. We are learning stuff that I don't even know in English! We have 2 investigators that we teach everyday, so that helps us learn the language faster. When the investigator starts asking questions, we don't have the vocabulary to answer them so it makes it a challenge. It is amazing how much we already know after 3 weeks so I guess we just have to look at the glass half full and continue to learn as much as we can.

Since the gym is closed because they are redoing the floors, we had our devotionals at the BYU basketball arena. It was so nice to leave these enclosed walls of the MTC. While on our journey, I saw cars, stores, schools, and even people! I almost forgot about those things. The seats at the arena are horrible because there is no leg room whatsoever and we have to wear our suit coats so it is unbearably hot. On Tuesday we were able to get awesome seats, and right as it was starting, one of the ushers came and took us down to the seats on the floor of the arena. We just lucked out! 

My favorite part of the week was our war. Momma sent me some squirt guns so we whopped those puppies out and went to battle. The whole zone was running around shooting each other. It was so much fun. We get in trouble every single night from those dang Koreans (not actual Koreans, the people going to Korea so its not racist) above us. Every single day they come down and try to poop our partay. They are totally loud as well so its a little bit ridiculous. We are kind of rivals, 2nd floor vs 3rd floor. There is definitely a beef between us. Scandinavian pride!

We sent the Danes off to Denmark on Monday so it will probably get a little bit quieter on our floor. On Saturday I thought, WOW, I have already been here 3 weeks! Then after watching the Danes leave it turned to, WOW, we still have 3 weeks before we go to Netherlands. All in all, it has gone by fast, but I am still counting down the days until we get to go out into the field! 

You would all be proud to know that I only have one soda a day! I drink lots of chocolate milk so I can get big and strong.

We had to say goodbye to one of our teachers on Saturday. His name was Brother Robinson. He was our very first investigator before we knew he was our teacher. He was one of my favorite teachers no doubt. He has worked at the MTC for 3 years. It was sad to see him go. Speaking of which, he lives on Calla Lily Way which I'm pretty sure is in my stake. So I wonder if any of you know him? He is an awesome guy.  

I am reapin' my sloth shirt today. Everyone just looks at my shirt and just laughs, or at least I hope they are laughing at the shirt.. Although there are no sloths in Netherlands or Belgium, I am still a sloth extraordinaire at heart. 

Thursday was a hard day. It had just been such a long day and we had some really hard, confusing Dutch lessons that we really didn't understand. I was just really ready for the day to be over. That night when we said our companionship prayer, Elder Shaw was in our room so he offered the prayer. He thanked the Lord for all of the trials that we experienced that day and that we might learn and grow from them. Now there's something you don't hear every day!!!!  I have made it a personal goal to thank Heavenly Father every night for the trials that I have faced that day, and that I will be able to become stronger because of them. 

Its a shame to hear that Argentina cheated and beat Netherlands in the world cup. Well 3rd place ain't bad. But if you ain't 1st, you're last! 

It was an awesome week and I learned so much. I love you all! 

                                                                       

                                                                       -Elder Steenblik