I loved the cinnamon rolls, thanks a ton! I had a few and then put them in our "drawer of consecration" where every Elder in our district puts their extra snacks and whatnot, and then it's up for grabs. There's a loooooooot in there, haha! By the way, for mails and packages and whatnot, could you make sure to put my middle name there too? Apparently there's another Richard Walker in the MTC, and I've gotten like 3 of his letters, which is really a downer when you're so excited about getting mail. I was worried those cinnamon rolls were for him, because there was no definite thing on the note saying it was from you, and the mailing address was in Provo or something. And you don't need to worry about sending the money belt or the laundry bag, I bought some at the MTC bookstore here. Everything is dirt cheap for missionaries, and I really needed a laundry bag quick. It's all good though!
Life here feels... like life I guess. You guys know I'm terrible at analyzing my own feelings, but I'm just feeling kinda normal. The only thing is that either I'm a workaholic, or some of the other elders aren't quite as focused as they could be. Maybe a little of both, I dunno. I feel crappy bad talking anybody, but I CAN'T WORK IN THE PLACE SET APART FOR WORKING!!! Whenever there's freetime, it always ends up as a conversation about one thing or another, varying from good kinds of rifles to rolex watches to who's the best character in Super Smash Bros. to farts to t.v. shows......... I'm losing my mind, cause I can't study in the classroom, and then I feel like I should be doing more, and then I try to go outside to study or something but I can't go far cause my companion is still in there and I still can't focus and I just get more and more frustrated and I try to learn something for the lesson that's coming up or the talk I have to write in Italian every Sunday or just try to memorize a phrase to use in lessons as needed but I can't cause I'm so frustrated and the other elders are so loud and everything and I'm sure we're annoying other classes that I've seen them diligently studying and I almost wish I was in a class like that and then I feel bad about wishing that because I really do like my companion and the other elders and I just want to explode!!!!!!!
But yeah, life's ok here. Going to the temple today will probably help. Hopefully.
The language is coming along ok. We made a commitment as a class on Monday to speak in Italian pretty much all the time after an inspirational lesson from one of our teachers, Fratello (Brother) Bulloch (who I think is the best teacher by far, he's just so passionate and plain and let's us know what we need to do but also makes it seem possible). That commitment lasted until about dinner time. I tried really really hard to keep it going, but it's really hard to keep talking in Italian when no one (but the Sisters) in the class is really trying to keep it going. Thus more frustration. Fratello Bulloch also gave such good reasons to keep trying, like how making the commitment to speak in Italian is like putting our own personality on the altar, since we'll be sacrificing opportunities to make the same comments we normally would in English simply because we don't know the language. He also let us know how much he personally loved the people (he served in Milan), and wanted us to be our best for them. He also made some other great points which I wrote down somewhere, I'm pretty sure. But even with all the setbacks, I'm learning it really quickly. My companion and I got a new "investigator" Monday night, and I was able to understand ALMOST everything he said, and converse pretty well. It was awesome.
Ok, question answering time: The food's decent sometimes, forgot to bring my camera to the computer today (sorry), no MTC choir at conference, and I've only played piano once (yesterday, I was kinda upset and needed a good piano session in, but the pedal didn't work at all, so it stunk).
By the way, I really would like some letters, from you guys and friends especially. It's really a downer going like 5 days without anything when there are a couple of elders who get at least 3 letters daily. One time someone got 8. And one guy gets a letter everyday from his girlfriend. It's not that I'm homesick or anything, it's just a good feeling to, I dunno. I just miss friends most of all, cause I worry that they'll forget about me, and move on. I'm not as worried about that with family, and I guess that's why I said "friends especially", sorry if that was bad wording. Managia, now I feel bad. ("Managia" is Italian for "dang").
I love you guys! A lot!
Ciao!
Anziano Walker
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