I'm on a mission

email 8/21/09
The MTC has certainly been a lot of ups and downs so far, but I have really enjoyed my time here. My companion and I are getting along really well now, and I'm giving it my all. I am having piano withdrawals though... It's sad, I've always been able to play piano whenever I wanted for extended periods of time, and now I have no time at all to devote to it. I know that the stuff I'm studying is more important, but I still feel like I've lost part of me--like I've lost my arms. It's weird.
All the same, my stay here has been enjoyable. Spanish is a great language--I just hate how I'm not perfect at it yet. It will take me a good deal of time to become fluent enough to even teach a lesson or converse confidently, but I speak as much Spanish as I possibly can. I'm testifying, praying, and I practice 'street-contacts' in Spanish with random elders as we go from one place to the next. It's great fun, and it's a great challenge. No one really prepares you for how hard it is (this whole mission thing) but if the next 2 years of my life will be as challenging and rewarding as the first 2 weeks, I'll be OK. I imagine the mission field will be 10 times more gratifying than the meager successes here at the MTC. We jump for joy just when we're able to formulate a coherent thought or sentence in Spanish.
I just know I'm gonna gain weight here. I'm trying to be disciplined and I'm trying to ration how much I eat, but having 3 full meals a day with as much food as I want is too tempting. I'm grateful for the gym here at the MTC. I've played a lot of basketball and volleyball, but the sport which I didn't expect to play here was 4-sqaure. You'd be surprised at how intense some of our 4-square games get. I haven't played it since the 3rd grade, but it’s a new passion of mine. I think I'm gonna go pro in it when I come home.
30 minutes is not enough time to write about all the things I want to write about, so I'll wrap it up. I have some other things I wanted to tell you and ask for but I have to get off of the computer now, so just remember to email me and keep me posted. I'll do my best to get back to you all.
Any questions for me about life so far?

-(Elder) Luke