The One and Only True Church on the Earth

9/16/13

Mommy!! And Daddy, and the Kiddo:

This past week has been so great!! Our district is so close!! It's so sad to part from les missionaires going to Lyon. They left around 5 this morning. I report to the travel office at 11:30 and should get to the airport around 1ish (we're taking trax...ha) so I should be able to call you around 2-4. My flight is supposed to depart at 5:10 pm. It's a straight flight to Paris. Everyone in my group got their visa's! :) YAY!!! There are 19 in my travel group, 17 Elders and duex Sœurs.

This past week has been absolutely great!! We've bonded so much as a district and my companionship is AMAZING!! I'm really gonna miss Elder Hedquist. A funny thing about him is, well you know what that MTC food does to ya, right? The gas it gives you? Yeah...well some nights, he wakes up for a split second, farts, laughs for half a second, and falls right back to sleep. He has NO recollection of doing this!! It's hilarious!!!

We haven't really learned much about the culture in France. But apparently to say "this is my girlfriend" in French you say "C'est ma poule" which translates as "This is my hen." We've learned the importance of pronunciation and using the correct gender with nouns. Pronunciation is important because if you have a cool sweater and you wanna say "this is my sweater" you say "C'est ma pull" (the U makes the U sound kind of as in Cute") but if you say it all American, you can end up saying "C'est ma poule" (the ou sound makes an oo sound, as in boot). Or like in the word "beaucoup" which means "a lot". If you say it like boo-coo, instead of boh-coo, you're saying "nice butt." (except a more inappropriate word.) And there is your French lesson for the day. :)

While at the MTC, I've learned so much about myself and about who I want to become. I used to be SO prideful (and let's face it, I still am. Just not as much :D) and used to think I could do everything on my own. The MTC has really humbled me. I am nothing without God, Christ, and the Atonement. And now, I am relying more on Them than I ever have before.

For our last class, we talked a little bit about why God gives us trials. Our teacher brought up a talk from Elder David A. Bednar. http://www.lds.org/ensign/2012/04/the-atonement-and-the-journey-of-mortality?lang=eng read it. It's amazing!!

Last night for our sunday night Devo, Ron Tanner spoke to us. Ron Tanner works with T.C. Christiansen and has co-produced 17 Miracles, A Stone Cutter, and Ephraim Hanks, and a couple other films. Well, he showed us some clips from Ephraim Hanks and there was one scene where a boy and a girl kiss. The MTC went WILD when they kissed. I looked over at my companion and was like "Oh my gosh!! What is he showing us here?!" just as a joke. Some Elder behind me yelled out "He shoots, he scores!!" It was SOOOO funny!! If you can, go watch Ephraim Hanks if you can. It's only been out for like 3ish months. From the clips we saw, it was so great!!

I'm so excited to start this next chapter in my life. I'll get REAL food soon!! Yay!! I'm so excited to do the Lord's Work. And I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to learn French, and preach to the French people.

This gospel is amazing, and this church is definitely the one and only true church on the Earth. I love you all so much!!

-Elder Bryant Stanton Wilson