Letter from James - June 2, 2010

     Hey Everyone!

     Si I got your package today! Thank you so much! I needed that shaver. I have been having to shave everyday and it is hard to use the razor to trim my sideburns. And thanks for the pants, too.

     My language is doing...okay. I still struggle, but I don't every give up. I have found so much for the great love for this gospel. We had a wonderful meeting yesterday that got me even so much more excited for the mission field. We have to speak in our branch our first Sunday there. I am so nervous - lol. I'm thinking this what what I might want to talk about. My accent is terrible. I may say words I don't mean to say, but I know that if I bring the Spirit and really show that I love this gospel, it won't matter how bad I say it.

     Our teacher, Brother Snow, is leaving this week for Lietuva. He and his wife are moving there for three months. He is doing an internship working there. One of us will be in his branch if we serve in Vilnius. Tomorrow is our last day with him. I'm sad we are saying goodbye to him. I hope I see him there.

     I can't believe how fast time has flown. Everyday we are like, "This is our last time..." for everything. Tonight is our last Devotional. Sunday we watched the movie, "Joseph, Prophet of the Restoration" for the last time. I really love that movie. Especially the parts with the missionaries in England. I lvoe missionary work so much. It bothers me when missionaries goof off. In our zone, some of the missionaries were being way too roudy, so we had to take care of it. It was some of the American missionaries. It just bothers me when they goof off and it gets distracting, but I try to tell them nicely that I am trying to study.

     I just got to third Nephi in the Book of Mormon and my goal for this week is to finish 3rd and 4th Nephi by the end of the week then finish it on the plane. A lot of the plane/travel time will be language study. One of the Latvija teachers looked over our travel times and it is a total of 31 hours all together. Wow. And I thought driving to Nebraska was long - lol. But I love airports, os it will fly by - hopefully not too fast so I can prepare myself.

     I bought a small tape recorder here that uses normal size tapes so I can send recordings home and listen to tapes from you. Tell everyone they can send me tapes, too.

     I have seen Taylor Alplanalp (another young missionary from our neighborhood) a lot. We always talk to each other. He leaves in about two weeks for the Madrid MTC. He's waiting for his visa.

     We don't know about our visas. But if we don't get them, we get to spend 90 days in Lietuva (Lithuania) and if they still don't arrive, they will send us to Ireland.

     I'm a little over halfway through writing in my journal. I'm going to read it while on our trip. I was reading a couple of pages from when I first arrived here. It's so cool how much I forgot then remembered when I re-read it. I write in it a lot so I will remember all of my experiences. Just being here in the MTC, I have so many stories of faith, courage and struggles I can't wait to share with you.

     So, I am not a fan of the hymn, "Called to Serve." We sing it so much that it is definitely not a song I think of with missionaries. We sang it last night (again) at the devotional and let's just say I'm glad it sis one the the last times - lol.

     I hope all is going well at home. Send more pics of the family whenever you can. I love you all so much. Thank you so much for your love and support. Tell Parker I loved the dinosaur picture he colored.

     Su myliu daug,

     Vyresnysis Sanfordas