Talofa lava aiga!

  It's all good here in the MTC, not much is really going on, it's crazy that it's already been three weeks.  The time goes by really fast.  My samoan is coming along, it's still really hard but i'm getting it.  I can pray really well and bear my testimony fa'asamoa.  And my pronunciation dominates, that's definitely my strongest trait in terms of the language.  I can read really fast and correctly, i just can't understand what i'm reading.  And then when we teach the lessons my companion totally dominates, cause he's fluent in tongan, so samoan is coming really easy to him.  So he pretty much carries the conversation when we teach most of the time.  But it's good, i understand a lot, i just can't speak the words i want to say.  But it's good, there are definitely guys struggling a lot more with the language than i am.  So that's good, it's only been three weeks so it's not that big a deal.  lets see....really not much has happened, the mtc is pretty predictable.  We had more fun with my bouncy balls last night, we got the elastic workout bands that they give us, and we were launching them down the hallway at about 90 miles per hour.  haha it was way funny, this kid got pegged way hard.  i think all the guys on our floor really resent living with all the polynesian districts haha.  I think we are a little rowdy.  But it's good, all the palagi kids are really uptight, we've got to teach them the samoan way.  But it's really good, all the guys in the tongan and fijian districts are super dope, we chill with those guys all the time.  Our zl's are freakin sick, cool guys for sure.  And my companion got made district leader on sunday, so that's cool i guess.  Nothing changes, except that now he and i have to pick up the mail haha.  So i think it's a distinct honor for him.  sekia, sick for sure.

ummm...let's see..Richard G. Scott came and spoke to us last tuesday, that was really cool.  I'd never been to conference or anything, so hearing an apostle speak really struck a chord with me.  It was way cool, his testimony was really powerful.  And then after the devotional on sunday we all went and sang with samoans again, that was way sick.  Two of the guys from the advanced samoan district were leaving the next day, so it was kind of in honor of them.  It was way sick, we had like eighty people just sitting there watching us all while we sang, we drew a whole crowd.  but it was really good, I felt way cool to be included in that.  Some of the samoan hymns are super super dope.  Look up the samoan hymn #54, it's freakin good. We sing it in class like every day.  I don't remember the name, but that's the page number for sure.  The samoans love to sing, and they're all way good at singing.  So it's way cool.  I didn't realize how much i relied on music in my life to inspire me.  And we're not allowed to listen to our cd players and stuff, even church music here in the mtc.  So when we all sing, i really thrive on that.  Music is one of the things that draws me closer to the spirit.  But i never realized that until i got here and had none.  But yeah, it's way sick.

Also, i need you to send me one of those little starfish from my mexico cabinet, that would be most appreciated.  It's kind of a long story, but i'm gonna give it to my teacher.  His name is brother sturgess, but samoans can't pronounce sturgess cause they don't have the same letters, so his samoan name is sitakisi, which means starkiss in samoan.  But we all call him starfish, haha it's way funny.  We give all our teachers a hard time.  Sometimes we teach them lessons and they pretend to be investigators, so next time we do that with sitakisi i'm gonna give him a starfish as a present.  Cause in samoa if you bring them a present, especially food or anything, they're more likely to let you into their home.  But anyways, i think it's only funny if you're in the mtc, cause that's how it goes.  mtc humor is really dorky, but it's cool i guess.  
Also i need some drilux garment tops, those things are sick.  Send me like five or six, that would be way good.  I don't have enough g's to last me the week.  umm but yeah, not much else is going on.  The days here are all the exact same, they go by really quick, but nothing new happens.  But it's cool, the mtc is way dope, for sure deftoats legit sick dope sick dank the illest, it's mean, come at me bro, no foolin.  I'm trying to think of more stuff to say, but nothing really comes to mind, i pretty much told you everything that's been going on.  Sick dank brother, it's all dope in here.

Alofa lava atu!

Elder ianisoni

Hey Yeah Cool Yeah

Hey famfam doglips cool, how is everything 20 minutes south???  All is well here in the mtc, it's sick.   The trio companionship was only for a couple days, now it's just me and langi again.  Which is good, cause langi is freakin tight.  But it wasn't a big deal for that other kid to leave, i didn't really know him.  But it's sick, all the guys here are dope for sure.  I don't really know what to say, the mtc is pretty much the same.  We got up this morning at like five so we can go plank the heck out of the mtc, it's gonna be sick.  Me and Langi and Elder Hansen are stoked on it.  Us three are pretty tight, it's way fun.  I was preparing for the mtc to really suck, but i actually really like it.  But i think that's mainly cause of all the cool bros in here.  To me, every day is just like hanging out with my boys, we joke around a ton and it's way fun.  Maybe we joke around too much haha, it's hard to keep focus during study time when there's eight guys crammed into a room that are all way funny.  But it's good, we're acutally doing really good.  All the guys in my zone are dope too, our zl is freakin tight, he's way funny.  And he's stoked on good music, which is cool.  The language is tough, but i'm feeling a little progression.  I can pray and bear my testimony in samoan.  And i can put sentences together, which is freakin tight cause during language study all i do is put together cool sentences.  Like "Will you tickle my trousers?"  and "May i spank your duck?".  Haha i don't think the teachers quite know what to think.  But it's sick, for sure.  All my teachers are way dope, i like them a ton.  And then so we were teaching this "investigator" for like the past two weeks, and supposedly she was from samoa and only spoke samoan, but then two days ago she's just sitting in the classroom, and we come to find out that "Telesia" is acutally Sister Parker, our language teacher.  Haha so that was pretty funny, all the kids here were shocked.  We teach an "investigator" about every day.  But it's really good, cause then you have to practice the language.  But yeah, for sure dope for sure.  But yeah, i see chase and austin like every day, in fact austin's classroom is like two down from mine.  And him and i have the same gym time, so we play ball and volleyball and stuff.  But all the malagasy kids are super weird, so they don't acutally play that much.  Cause i just wanna play basketball or soccer, and they just wanna play four square or something gay.  Haha but it's sick.   I just wanna study as hard as i can, so i can be the best missionary possible.  Sometimes it's hard to focus, but i guess that's just a part of it.  The spirit is nice here, it's cool to just be surrounded by the gopsel constantly, that's so awesome to me. 

By the way mom, thanks for the krispy kremes, all the tongans and samoans were stoked.  And the ties are sick too, me and my soa are gonna wear them on halloween for sure. 

I was gonna send some pictures, but i don't really know how, i don't know if we can from the mtc computers.  And i had a little card that i had written down a bunch of stuff i was going to say in my email, but i lost it.  So this is what you get.  There was a scripture in James 2, that i thought was really good.  It kinda reminds me of scott actually.  i don't have my scriptures, so i don't remember the verse, but i think it's verse three.  You'll know it when you read it.  But yeah, the mtc is dope, that's for sure.  Me and Langi get along way good, i think i've got the dopest companion here.  It's sick cause i was expecting to hate my companion, but he's way cool and dope and sekia sick for sure.  But we have tons of fun.  Also, katie, i want you to make me an iron on t shirt with my district leader's face on it. i was gonna send you an attatchment, but i don't know how to do that, so i'll just print off the picture and then you can scan it or whatever.  But i need you to do that for me.  I demand this.  But yeah i've only got like 30 seconds left, so keep your steeze.  I love you all, '

Elder johansen

Wassup in the hood brother?

 Eric's first letter from the MTC!

 

Hey Hey hey!!!! Talofa family!!  it's all goood here in the mtc, it's acutally pretty sick.  My companion is way dope, seriously i love this kid.  His name is elder Langi, we get along way good, we're sekia buds.  He's this buff tongan guy from texas, i guess he played football for trinity, which is like the best high school in the country.  But yeah, we're way tight, he laughs at everything.  I'm like the only white kid with a poly companion, all the other white kids are with white kids, and the polys are with the polys.  But yeah, it's sick. All the guys in my district are way dope too, i get along with these guys way good.  I think i would like it a lot less here in the mtc if i was stuck in class with sucky guys all day, but these guys are dope.  Seriously though, we have a group of guys in our zone going to north dakoda or something, and those guys are freakin weird.  But all the samoans are dope sick tight sekia man.  and the tongans are cool too, their class is right next to ours.  The language is hard, but i really love it.  Language class is like my favorite part of the day, it's sick.  I'm really good at pronounciation and reading, but i don't really remember any words or phrases.  But that will come, i'm not super worried, i just have to do my part.  Sunday, was sick, after the evening devotional all the samoans and tongans got together for a jam sesh.  Pretty much we all just got together and sang hymns and church songs in english samoan and tongan.  There was like this sister sitting there crying, i don't really know why, she was probably having problems with her family or something, but we all went over there and sang comforting hymns to her.  It was seriously so sick, i felt the spirit like crazy.  Sometimes sitting in class for twelve hours, you forget your purpose here.  But experiences like that help you remember what it's all about.  Really though, the mtc is dope, i like it.  I've just got to focus more, and learn how to prioritise, cause that's probably my biggest problem right now.  But it's all good, i'm learning.  The food is good most of the time, but i usually just eat rice and stuff cause i don't want to get fat.  Me and my companion work out and stuff, cause he's always saying he doesn't want to get fat.  So that's good.  We've already taught three lessons to an "investigator".  The first two times were a freaking disaster, but yesterday we taught again, and i really felt like we got our message across.  My soa (companion) knows the language really well, he can pretty much understand and say lots of stuff, so he does most of the talking.  Cause everything goes right over my head.  But it's all good, i'm more focused on learning the language of the spirit.  On my schedule it says that i have the same gym time and eating time with the malagasy missionaries, so when austin comes in tomorrow, we're gonna be seeing a lot of each other.  His class is like two rooms down from mine, so that's gonna be way sick.  There aren't any madagasgar missionaries yet, but they all come tomorrow.  So i'm gonna freaking haze that kid like crazy, no mercy.  And chase comes tomorrow too, so that's gonna be way sick.  I don't know how much i'll see him though, i don't deal much with the english missionaries. 

The days are long here in the mtc, you don't really have much time for anything but study, they keep your mind busy, that's for sure.  but it's way good, i like having stuff to do all day, as opposed to just sitting around.  They pretty much speak samoan all the time in class, so that's been good.  I've seen a couple kids from school and stuff, but nobody super dope or anything.  I'm just waiting for my boys to come in tomorrow, that's gonna be sick. Have you gotten rid of theo yet?  If he's there, give him a big kiss for me.  He just wanted to live in my room, so i said he could. I guess that's why he was in there.  That's cool though, sekia sole. Everything's cool here, it's pretty awesome.  Sometimes it sucks, but it's usually dope.  My district leader is super dope, he was sekia tight with my buddy jeff perschon in byu idaho, so it's way good.  I gave him one of my pictures with the coyote and wrote the words "You're a star!" with a signature on it.  And then he taped it up in the bathroom mirror, so all the guys in the building were all talking about it.  haha seriously, there was like a huge croud in there looking at it.  So it's sick here, we have lots of fun.  I throught a fistfull of bouncy balls down the hallway in our residences, and it hit all the elders at the end of the hall playing yugio or pokemon or something.  So they got all mad, haha it was funny.  But yeah all the english missionaries complain about all the samoans cause we're roudy.  haha but it's good, we dont get into too much trouble.  Anyways, i gotta go.  I love you all, you're all in my prayers, the mtc it dope.

Elder Johansen