4 weeks down,100 to go

Ok, so I've only got like 20 minutes this week to email! Sorry! mom, happy belated birthday. mallory, happy birthday as well. So the big news of the week is Elder Washburn injured his foot on monday so he's been limping around on crutches. We traded bunks so he has the bottom one until his foot is better, but the bad thing is when he farts at night, the smell drifts up to me and I wake up gagging. Oh well! The spanish is coming along pretty good! We just went over Direct and indirect sentence structure which was wayyyyyy confusing, but I think I'm starting to get it! On monday, we start the phase of the MTC where we speak ONLY in spanish! It's gonna be crazy! I made a phone call in spanish in the RC (referral center) yesterday. The lady picked up, so I said "Hola, come está. Puedo hablar con María Velazquez?" to which she replied in some thing Icouldn't understand. After I paused for a few seconds, she said "who is this?" and as soon as I said I was from the Church of Jesus Christ she hung up. It was really scary! I've been doing lots of online chats though, so thats nice! I saw Amanda Miller over the weekend! I was walking out of my building on Saturday and she and her companions were studying out on this lawn and she saw me and ran over and we shook hands. That's the most female interaction i've had in a month! haha I sat next to her at the fireside on Sunday night and we caught up. It was really nice to talk to someone I knew! Apparently Bishop McCombs never gave her her harmonica, so she was slightly jealous! Oh, speaking of firesides, we just had one by John H. Groberg last night! It was awesome! Oh, and the ban on handshaking and hugging due to the swine flu has finally been lifted! Exciting right? I never thought Id be so excited to shake hands with people! haha the things we take for granted! Oh, so my new favorite scripture for this week is Luke 9:62- "No man, having put his hand to the plough, looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." How true is that? Just thought I'd share that with you all. So thank you all for the letters! They really help get me through the day! Mom, I didn't get your synopsis of Harpers Island, but that's ok, its not a big deal. I was mad last night when the 2nd counselor in our branch presidency said that he was watching the Tour de France yesterday and I accidentally asked him "Who's in the lead???" and my Branch President said "How does that pertain to your salvation?". It wasn't my fault! I blame the 2nd counselor! If you could just let me know who wins when it's over though, I'd totallyappreciate it! So being District Leader is totally exhausting! I don't actually have to do that much, but the fact that I have like 3 extra meetings a week and I constantly have to keep an eye on the district is wearing me down! But the Lord knows more than we do what we're capable of! I feel bad for Elders Clarke, Wilde and Cutler. They just got called to be the next zone leaders! And I thought I had it tough! So I got my 2nd MTC haircut today! Yes, it really does grow that fast! I'm taking it pretty short though! I'lll send some pictures in a little bit. Oh, also! Thank you so much for the Sour Patch kids! Or as I like to say "Niños del remiendo qué es agrio". haha they're gone already! I need to lay off the candy! The shoe goo has come in handy! My nunn bushes were comin apart, but I fixed em. And the laundry bag makes it so much easier! i haven't broken into the toblerone yet, but i will. sorry, but for some reason, the exclamation point key is turning into a ? so i cant do those, and now the shift key isn't working at all. oh well. i guess i can live without proper punctuation for a little bit. so we finally got a new district in the zone last week. i swear derek asays 6 foot 10 doppelganger is in it. not even kidding. its creepy. also, i worked out my 2nd tie trade with elder larose. i keep getting the better end of these tie trades? its awesome? well the district is doing better. elder clark is getting more and more letters now, up from 0 last week. elder wheatley is learning spanish pretty well, elder petaia and beach are getting along better, i think, and i cant complain about anything except the food. thats not too bad right? tell everyone i'm sorry if they've written me and i havent' written them back. im really short on time and i cant respond to all of theletters and support i've gotten but i really appreciate the letters from everyone. they help me through the days. ok, well until next week. i love you all and think about you all all the time. stay safe. love you.