Another week gone...time is passing so fast, and I haven't even left Provo.  Don't worry about posting everything on time, just when you have time I think it would be nice for people to hear about what I've been up to, if they care :P

Anyway, I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well.  How was your competition in Boise?!  Sorry I was delayed a day on writing back, we had this In-Field Orientation yesterday and I was gone all day learning different stuff about contacting people on the street or at their home, on the park or in the plane.  I feel super good about it.  It's such an exciting work; it's nothing like anything I've ever done.  Like I've told friends about what I believe and why I believe it, but this is so much more different than that.  I'm really excited though :)  That would be so cool if Grandma got to visit you all - though I wish she would've done it maybe a month earlier! Have you all been avoiding the flu? It seems to have gotten its way around the MTC pretty well.  I got away from it for the most part, but I had a really dry throat for a while, and it kept me from sleeping for a night.  Not like every other night, where my Samoan and African roommates usually wake me up around 4 in the morning snoring.  I love them to death, but I had to buy ear plugs haha.  They work surprisingly well!

Speaking of my Samoan friend, he was teaching me the Haka (you can YouTube it) with the dance and words, and I got a lot of it down. It's awesome.  Also speaking of him - he was coming back from a special trip to Salt Lake that all the international missionaries get to do, and I was waiting to pick him up from the Travel Office.  While I was there, one of the ladies called to me and said "Oh by the way - you're not doing a temp(orary assignment)! Your visa is coming in next week and we're going to try to get you out of here by Thursday!" So I exploded into a smile and high fived her and we just had this lovely moment together. I was so happy.  Last week I went in to see where I was going and when, and all they could tell me that I was going to be in Independence, Missouri.  But no longer! My theory is that at first, I was pretty disappointed about having to stay stateside, but after realizing how much of a blessing it would be to be able to stay a little longer, I accepted that I would go wherever the Lord would send me, and that would be that.  And I think God saw that I was humbled and He allowed to me leave earlier! Just a theory...

That being said, I'm not sure if you'd have time to send me Chaco sandals or permetherin solution (to protect me from African mosquitos), so I'll just try to get them here somehow...I'm thinking of things I need, and I'll write you back in a few hours to see what I can come up with.

Love and miss you so much!

Elder Garland

Hey mom!

Are you keeping up on the blog I started for you? Let me know if you have any questions about how it works or if you forgot the username and password.

A whole week has gone by.  It's weird.  It doesn't necessarily feel like I just got here, but I do feel like I've finally gotten the jist of things.  I never thought I'd get used to going to bed at 10:30 and waking up at 6:30, but I think I finally am.  We eat dinner at 4:30.  It didn't sound so crazy when I realized I was eating breakfast at 7 and lunch at 11:30.  I'm not even hungry when I go to bed. Our schedule is pretty tight.  After we leave for breakfast, we don't get back until 9:30, and then we only have an hour to wind down, take a shower, brush and floss, write in our journals if we want, and get into bed.  Our classes are in 3 hour blocks, and sometimes we have them twice a day.  We spend a lot of time practicing teaching people, which I love.  Our teachers act as a "progressing investigator" and we teach them multiple lessons across the span of a few days.  I realize it's not exactly what it will be like in the field, but it helps us get used to the idea of sitting down with people to chat, and they do a really good job of staying in character.  Other than that, we study a lot out of the scriptures and eat a lot and only get 50 minutes in the gym every day, so I do a lot of exercises by myself right after I wake up and right before I go to bed.

Ok so I have some big news! I went in to get my travel itinerary, and they told me that my visa wasn't going to come in before I left the MTC, so they're just going to reassign me to an area in the U.S. until it comes in.  I'll be here for a whole transfer, which is 6 weeks long.  Which also means that I'll be able to write more letters by hand and you won't have to worry so much about me being attacked by a machete-wielding rebel silverback gorilla!  I'll let you know as soon as I find out where I'm                      so I have some big news! I went in to get my travel itinerary, and they told me that my visa wasn't  going to come in before I left the MTC, so they're just going to reassign me to an area in the U.S. until it comes in.  I'll be here for a whole transfer, which is 6 weeks long.  Which also means that I'll be able to write more letters by hand and you won't have to worry so much about me being attacked by a machete-wielding rebel silverback gorilla!  I'll let you know as soon as I find out where I'm going, but they said they won't have it till next Thursday, so when I write you again I will have just found out.  I admit, I was disappointed at first, but my companion (Elder Sato) has helped me realize how much of a blessing it will be to stay for a little longer in the U.S.  Plus, when I went to the temple today I was praying about it and I felt really good.

I've met some really cool missionaries here, like I said from all over the world.  Did I tell you about the French people I met? We see each other every now and then, and it's always awesome speaking with them.  A new girl came into our zone, and she's from Paris, so we get to talk a lot more because we also have gym at the same time.  Which reminds me, I ran a 6:38 mile after not having timed   myself for probably the last 3 years.  I was pleasantly surprised, but I'll be working on getting better.   It was right after lunch, so I had a splitting side ache after like 4 laps (10 laps for a mile).  Anyway. I'm eating a lot, but not too much.  I would have sent some pictures but I forgot to bring my camera to the laundry room, where we have a couple computers to write while laundry's going.

I gotta run, but I'm super excited to see the gym get constructed! PLEASE attach some pictures next time, I need to be connected to the outside world, especially the Garland world! Wish dad a happy belated birthday for me, I can't believe I missed it. Hope he's doing well in Vegas.  It would probably take a day or two for the package to get here, but in light of my newest assignment I may need some stuff, like my scarves and whatnot...I'll let you 

I've met some really cool missionaries here, like I said from all over the world.  Did I tell you about the French people I met? We see each other every now and then, and it's always awesome speaking with them.  A new girl came into our zone, and she's from Paris, so we get to talk a lot more because we also have gym at the same time.  Which reminds me, I ran a 6:38 mile after not having timed myself for probably the last 3 yearsIt was right after lunch, so I had a splitting side ache after like 4 laps (10 laps for a mile).  Anyway. I'm eating a lot, but not too much.  I would have sent some pictures but I forgot to bring my camera to the laundry room, where we have a couple computers to write while laundry's going.

I gotta run, but I'm super excited to see the gym get constructed! PLEASE attach some pictures next time, I need to be connected to the outside world, especially the Garland world! Wish dad a happy belated birthday for me, I can't believe I missed it. Hope he's doing well in Vegas.  It would probably take a day or two for the package to get here, but in light of my newest assignment I may need some stuff, like my scarves and whatnot...I'll let you know!

How's the rest of the family?

Love and miss you all so much, and I think about you every day (I keep that token in my pocket!).

Elder Garland