buddyplus6: First Email from Elder Stewart

I won't post each time I get a letter from Elder Stewart, but this one was exciting because it was the First one and we had waited 8 days to get it! It seemed like an eternity. Here are parts from it... We will be starting a blog just for him, but have not done that yet.

So sorry about not emailing. It's not my fault. Our p-days are on thursday, and since last thursday was a lot of MTC orientation and stuff we didnt get a p-day and had to wait until this week.

My companion is named Elder Baldwin. We are about as different as could possibly be haha. He is from virginia. He is 21. He is very loud, and i am very not. He doesn't like excercise, and i do. He is bigger than me, not so much height but in overall girth. I don't really know how to describe him. Things are working out though. He is really nice, and we get along. Our roomates are Elder Holm and Elder Carling. They are both very nice as well. Elder Holm is 19. he likes sports ant stuff. He is big and strong. Its fun being on his team in basketball because he just destroys people in the paint. Elder Carling seems smart. he likes video games, and science. he and Elder holm are quite a bit different as well, but somehow things are working out.

There are 16 people going to Albania. That's way more than any of us expected. There are 8 boys and 8 girls. 4 and 4 in each district. Motra Bettinger from Ontario is in my district. She seems pretty nice. I don't know all of them super well yet though.

Our Zone is made up of the Albanians, the finnish, the Hungarians, and the Estonian. The 2 Hungarians, and 1 Estonian leave this monday. We get 10 Hungarians this wednesday. I really like talking and haning out with a couple of the finnish elders, and some of the Albaninas in the other district.

Here at the MTC i have seen Greyson Smith from Raymond, and that girl from Cardston that we saw while on our backpacking trip. it was very cool to see some people that i knew. I havent seen Mandy yet. I'm not sure if i will. They turned the west campus into a spanish/portugese campus. English, and all other languages are now on the main site.

The food here is very yummy. i can see why a lot of people gain weight. YOu can be as health concious, or as not as you want. It is always all you can eat. They plate most things for you, but they don't care if you come back for more. They have tons of deserts. Chocolate milk all the time is true... same with cereal. I have tried to make healthy decisions, but it has been hilarous to see what my comp comes back with. he is quite the comic relief all day long. i havent found the subway stuff yet. im thinking it may be on the other campus.I believe the mongolians used to be over there before they switched everything around. It really makes a lot more sense because of how many Spanish speakers there are, and it is just better for organization.

Gym time is a riot. Some days i run, some days i play basketball. They have a track upstairs. I believe it is 200m. its definetly not the coulees, but it does the trick. As long as you stay in the building you dont have to be with your companion for gym. Matt is gonna love the basketball if he comes to this MTC. Shoot for teams, games to 7. 3 on 3. They go fast. They are very quick games. Lots of running. Man defense. The only thing that is crappy is that they kick me out of gym class every time I dunk. in gym they also have volleyball, four square and wieghts/ machines. i dont do any of that stuff, but lots of people like it. Every time i get to gym class i have to do something intense because we sit for most of the day.

our Albanian teachers are very cool. Sister Atkin served her mission under pres Ford so she is pretty fresh back. She is super nice, and a good teacher. bro McGlothin is 24 married, and has a baby daughter. He is a good teacher. i can say a lot of gospel stuff in albanian, and other simple stuff, but thats about it so far. My comp and i have taught 4 lessons so far. The first was on Saturday. Some go better than others. I learned my testimony right away just cuz of my blessing. i think i may be the only one who can do that without prompts right now just cuz I made that a priority. A few of the sisters are probably the overall best at the language. They work pretty hard, and are picking it up quick. I'm trying super hard to learn it, but am pretty relaxed. Some people get pretty frustrated but so far my comp and I have found laughing off our mistakes is the best way for us to suceed. One of our bigger mistakes was we didnt know the word for ready. We challenged our 'investigator' to baptism and she just kept saying je gati. We didnt have a clue what that meant. We just kept teaching, and left confused and without a baptismal date. Anyway we figured it out, and we know what to do in our 'next lesson' with her that we dont actually have haha. i really like teaching, but it is very hard.

The speakers and devotionals have been very good. On sunday night we watcghed a video of a talk given by Elder Bednar entitled the Character of Christ. It's a fabulous talk! Find it and watch it. L. Tom Perry will be here on Tues. im pumped!!!

Our first councilor in our branch pres knows the petersons. His name is bro taylor.

Talk yo you on thurs. Mom you will be happy to know my suit coat is at the tailor! Im happy you made it bach to Canada safely!!

Elder Stewart

Elder Stewart's Albanian District. Two of these girls we had "met" on Facebook before they got there. Technology is amazing.

This is a neat statue. We assume it's at the MTC. He sent another picture that is close up of the missionary tag on the statue. It says "Elder Stewart".