A sore bum....and only TWO weeks left!

Hola familia,

Wasn't conference amazing! I got so much out of every talk. It was a lot of sitting though. At least you were able to sit down on couches. My bum was really sore by the end of Sunday. I'll tell about some of my favorite things and some cool experiences from this week in my letter. This week really has been amazing. All of my prayers were answered.

Thanks for the cookies and doughnuts Amy. They were soooo good. Much better than the dougnuts and cookies that we get in the cafeteria. I don't know if I've been gaining weight still or not. I've been playing soccer outside at the field, so I don't get the chance to weigh myself. Lately, I was stuck at about 153. Hopefully I've broken that lull though.

Everyone in my district is going to the Texas Houston South mission except for me. I'm leaving on the 20th of October and they're all leaving on the 21st. I can't believe that that is only two weeks away from today. The time here at the MTC has flown by so quickly. It also feels like it's been a long time after I think about all of the things that have happened here.

I've still been doing really well at writing in my journal. I haven't missed a single night and I write at least one page. I figured out that my journal is only going to last me about a year if I keep that rate up. That means I'll send it home and you'll get to read about how the first year of my mission went. It'll be like a novel though. It'll probably take everyone, except maybe Matthew, a week or two. It'll be an awesome reference for when I get home too.

Thanks for the video Jonathan. It was nice to see you all. The house looks pretty much the same as when I left it. Although I really liked the beautiful flowers on the table.

When I was listening to conference I really liked listening to the people who had spanish accents. After speaking and listening to so much spanish I could see why they pronounce lots of things wrong. They are just saying the letters like they do in spanish.

I met some missionaries serving in the Provo mission this morning at the temple. They were in a different part of Provo than you though. They all spoke spanish. I guess there's a lot of need for spanish speaking elders here too.

That reminds me of visiting the temple this morning. Every time I go it gets better and better and I learn more and more. It's so peaceful and the spirit is really strong. It's my favorite time to just sit and think about things that are troubling me. It's a time where I can just talk to my Heavenly Father.

Last night Elder Burr and I watched the Joseph Smith movie again. It was more amazing than any other time I've seen it. The spirit was so strong. My favorite part was the time when Joseph Smith was just taken captive with a few others. They are laying on the floor in chains and their captors talk was vulgor and disgusting. After he could not listen to any more Joseph Smith stands up and rebukes them. I've never been in a room with so many people that was completely quiet. There was so much power eminating from him. If it was that powerful in a movie I would've loved to have witnessed it in real life.

I never told you how cool I thought the new Click! 500 application is Dad. Sometimes I wish I could help work on it just a little bit. I miss doing that kind of stuff. I'm distracted pretty well though. I love it here. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything (except my family).

I love you mom, I love you dad, I love you Amy, I love you Matthew, I love you Jonathan.

Have a wonderful day. Strive to love each other and follow the promptings of the spirit. I find the greatest joy in helping others.

Elder Ben Arnold