Buna ziua (Ben letter 2/8/2019)

So this past week has been a very interesting week, as I now have arrived at The MTC. My district has gotten settled in and got into the groove of things. Especially my and colegul mea. Varstniul Robinson is a real life cowboy from the border of Utah and Wyoming. He was raised mostly by his grandparents and is extremely smart. Also he won State in calf roping in utah. Also he worked a lot of long hours wearing the whole cowboy get up, a revolver, shotgun and all. His grandparents own like 50,000 some acres. Anyway him and I have taken into our own hands to start going above and beyond because we are a little ahead of the rest of the class. We are now memorizing 40 nouns, 10 verbs and 5 adjectives a day, along with learning new grammar principles and verb conjugations in new lessons everyday. It has been quite hard to stuff it all in my head, but I pretty much study all day with coleg mea, so we are on top of it, and the language growth has been amazing. We also pray for Darul Limbilor just about every hour of the day, which is the gift of tongues. There was one time we had to teach our teacher in a role play about Jesus, and other Gospel messages. It did not go well at all. Our language we spoke was as good as it could be at this stage, but there was something missing. We did not have the Holy Ghost with us. What we said made sense and we didn't slip up on any Romanian words, but our message was weak because we were teaching, and not the Holy Ghost. When we aren't studying language, we are going to workshops, lessons, and devotionals to help us learn more. For anyone that doesn't know, we wake up at 6:30 am and go to bed at around 10:30. We usually have 2 language lessons at either end of the day that last around 3 hours. We have personal scripture study for 1 hour, and companion study for 2. We have a workshop for an hour and a half everyday and also language study time for the rest of the day. If you guys get the chance, watch the video about the first 4 missionaries that go to Turkey. Its pretty much like that except not as language based, and more English scripture study. Also tomorrow we are doing an English fast, that colegul mea and me wanted to do, so no English for 24 hours. Not everyone is super excited, but that's because they're lazy. Anyway on our floor live the Elders going to Madagascar, Italy and Brazil. Every District has a different culture but we all get along fine. I just feel bad for the Anziani (Italians) because they don't study enough, and that's gonna hurt in Italy. Also the food here is alright. 

For a spiritual thought, it's hard to narrow down what I have felt this week. But there has been one overlying message that I have felt, and will always be the message no matter who you are or where you are in life. That is that if you center Jesus Christ in your life, it will change for the better. You will see the people around you for what they are really worth, and that is a child of God. You will have better thoughts, be able to know how to help others around you and know what your purpose in life is. When you use Jesus Christs Atonement correctly, the knowledge you will get will make you change the way you act, think, and live, all for the better. I have a true faith that God loves me enough to send us his Son, Jesus, to die for you and me. And I cannot wait for the day that I get to meet Him again, and feel the scars in His hands and on His feet, and thank Him for atoning for my sins. Anyway 

Eu iubesc tu

Varstnicul Stanfield

I had asked him about basketball and exercise. He had told me before he left that he wasn't going to play basketball because he'd just get mad....but he did and I got a long and somewhat cocky answer. He is still COMPETITIVE Ben and so full of it!

So it’s been quite the week in the gym playing basketball this week. To make a long story short I have been on the shooting tear of a lifetime, pretty much making every shot I take so it’s pretty weird. I didn’t think there were any basketball players here but there are actually a couple. One went to a JC and is going to Utah state and the other is going to Rice. Then there are a bunch of others that played at horrible schools and have no scholarships so I don’t count them.  So when we played I usually just end the game by making 3 or 4 3s in a row, as all the games go to 7 and go by 2s and 3s. Pretty much the same game I grew up on, half court and everything. So I do have a reputation for being really good so when I went to play these guys there was a bit of a crowd. After they finally let me play, I just started schooling them. They are both not very tall, but still taller then me, but all they could do was shoot. Super easy to guard and they were skinny and slow so it was a lot of fun. Not only did I beat them I was messing with them. With the Utah state kid I dribbled between his legs and got a layup. Also I would tell them to guard me close and I would point to the ground so they were closer, then drain the shot in their face. Idk why but I seriously cannot miss. Anyway everyone gets super hyped and stuff, so these guys were getting mad I was beating them. On this one shot I blocked him right back into his face making him fall to the ground, and he called a foul. Everyone didn’t boo, but said stuff like all ball and the normal trash talk. But I said no fine its a foul....Anyway now he won’t play in the same game as me which is super lame. But everyone else likes me because I told em a c teamer should play basketball in Utah and maybe I would be on the jazz. 
Anyway that's the worst thing I did and I felt bad. But I mean that’s when I flip to sports mode so besides that nobody even knew I played sports until then....Anyway mom is probably worrying about me because it seems as though I am not changing....Everything has been really good in teaching in my classes. My language teachers are so awesome and different then I thought they would be. 

Ben was also impressed with his companions name: Tack Handley Robinson. He thought that was very cowboy sounding.