Counting down the MTC Time

Hey! So one week form today i leave. Pretty excited but also pretty nervous. Trying to make these last few days with a real Chinese teacher count. These last week went by so quickly. We got our new Chinese name tags and travel plans. My name is officially He Zhanglao. Last night we had a devotional by Vai Sikahema, played for the BYU national championship team, two time pro bowler in the NFL. It was a super awesome devotional. He just talked about his mission and the impact that it had on his life, really great devotional. Then last Tuesday, we got to hear Elder Scott talk to us at the Marriott center. It was so awesome to listen to him and feel the Spirit that he brought into the room. Also been making a lot of progress on my Chinese this week. Got to spend some one on one time with a teacher so I could get a lot of things that confused my down. I always carry my planner with me and when I hear a word that I don't know, I write it down and look it up. My speaking is getting better and better. Still havent learned any characters but luckily they gave us some triple column Book of Mormons (pinyin, character, english) so that way we can at least read the Book of Mormon. The other day I got to leave the MTC for the first time because my companions glasses broke. We were at Lunds Optical (RIGHT in downtown Provo). It was so weird. It wasn't until I left the MTC until i could realize how strong I can feel the Spirit here. Today I went to the Temple as well. Really awesome. We were at the 9 oclock session so it looks like i just missed you. I had some friends that went to an earlier session though, so you might have seen some of then. THis last week is so weird. Getting ready to leave the MTC is a weird thing to think about. Ive been with my district and zone all day everyday for the last 2 months. We've all become super close. But I'm really excited to get out there in Sydney. Anyway, thats all I got for now!

Love,

He Zhanglao