Czesc! Dzien dobry! Jak sie masz? Ja jestem dobzre, dzienkuje bardzo! Kocham moja rodzina! (PS - Don't bother google translating this puppy, because I can't actually use some of the Polish letters, meaning it's spelled wrong - which makes me crazy. But what can you do? Not much, actually. Not much.)
Hello Family! May I wish you all the HAPPIEST of Danielanuaries! What a festive month. I only hope I can do it justice here at the MTC. (PS - Dad, the sisters in my district think you're hilarious. I told them about Danielanuary and read them what you said about it, and then I also read them what you said about me being a sea otter - "Well, someone thinks rather highly of themself!" - and they think you're the funniest. Which you are, so I'm glad they can appreciate it. This one sister was like, "Sister Young, you're family sounds so funny!" And I was like, "Yeah, you know what? They're supes funny. And awesome. I love those people.") I hope you are all well - I am doing just great here! Though it is QUITE wet this morning. And between this week and last I've seen far more worms than I'm happy with. I hate them. They are truly disgusting.
And now. I would like to give a HUGE shout out to Char for getting his mission call! The Philippines? Holy cow! That is amazing! You will be a fabulous missionary! (I'm just assuming you'll actually be reading this ... If he doesn't someone just tell him congrats for me or something, okay?) If you have any questions (again, assuming at some point you read this) about the MTC, lemme know! I will be more than happy to tell you anything you want to know!
Also, shout out to Abbie Webb for her call! Someone tell her congrats for me!
And TOMORROW is Laura's birthday! Agh! The big 19 (which actually means something now for girls - would you look at that?!)! I wish you the most wonderful of birthdays! And I will be singing the Happy Birthday song in my heart all day for you!
The MTC is still good. We're just movin' along, getting a countdown started, you know. No big deal. We just have THREE WEEKS FROM TODAY until we leave. No big. I can't believe how fast time is flying! I'm pretty sure I talk about this in every single email, but holy smackarole! It's crazy, friends. Time in the MTC is crazy. It's a time warp. And a place warp. I don't feel like I'm in Provo. We're LITERALLY living in a bubble. I could be in Paris, or Saudi Arabia, or in the middle of the ocean for all I've seen of the outside world. That's one thing I'm looking forward to about Poland. I'll still be a missionary and all that jazz, but I won't be trapped in this bubble anymore. I'll be able to see the weather in the newspaper. The weather! I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it. You don't realize how much you love a good forecast until it's gone! Also, I heard that it's possible we'll fly from SLC to Chicago and then straight to Warsaw. I need prayers, people. So help me, if my only stop between here and Poland is CHICAGO, I will shrivel and die. If you might pray that I stop in London or Paris, I would, you know, appreciate it. No. Stop. You don't pray about that sort of thing. But if you did ... Well, whatever. I just really want to stop in London or Paris. If only for an hour! So guess what? Our English elders don't leave until the day after as! How sad is that! That makes me sad. We are going to miss them so much! They are so great! The good news is, we can email them since we'll be in different missions, so there is a little silver lining, I suppose.
I have a confession. Just a little one. But whatever. So there's this no music thing, right? I mean, we listen to hymns and stuff, but world music is RIGHT out. We know this. However, if you're REALLY clever, you can kind of (but for sure not really, because it's nigh impossible, and I guess you could just bring whatever music you wanted, but that would be frowned upon in a big way) get around it. You see, there's this thing called mormon.org. And they have these little "I'm a Mormon" videos. You've all seen them. And there is a video about one Brandon Flowers, frontman for The Killers. In the background, there's music. REAL music. Played softely, but still, it's THERE! And he talks, and his message is REALLY REALLY good, and I love that video because it's just good. But also, there's about 30 seconds - 30 beautiful, inspiring, heaven sent seconds - unobsturcted by talking. And I listen to it, and I love it, and it's on the Mormon site, so I can't even think of a way you could say that's wrong (except it's maybe wrong a teeny little bit, but not really! It's not, okay! It's just not.) The end. I love music.
Let's see. What have we done Polish-wise this last week ... We haven't had a lesson since Friday, so by Monday morning I've kinda forgotten all Polish. I believe last week we talked about active and passive voice. In Polish, unless they're speaking in present tense, they tend to use passive voice. Americans do not do this. So that will take some getting used to. Short grammer lesson - Active Voice - I ate the apple. Passive Voice - The apple was eaten by me. Understand? We also talked about complex sentences, and about motion verbs. So that was fun. Polish is hard. I love it to no end, but dagnabit, it is NOT easy. Elder Waskiovic apparently got into an argument with a Spanish speaking elder about which language is harder to learn. Which is absolutely hysterical, because really? I don't know WHAT that little elder was thinking, but serious? Spanish? Ha! Polish is the SECOND HARDEST language for English speakers to learn. What is he smoking (no - elder's don't smoke). In the end, Waskiowic just said, "There's a reason we're here for 9 weeks and you're here for 6," and walked away. Like a boss, Waskiowic. Like a boss.
Thanks everyone for the mail! Getting mail is kinda the highlight of the day, and it really does mean a lot to me! Thanks oodles and oodles!
Let's see ... Do I have anything else to say ... Nope. I don't believe I do. It's been fun, friends! I thoroughly enjoy writing these emails, so hopefully they aren't TOO burdensome to read! I love you all with a bunch of love (pretty poetic, right? I'm thinking when I get back I'm might look into Poet School or something). Have a wonderful day and a wonderful week and a WONDERFUL DANIELANUARY!
Mother - If you would be so kind, I would really appreciate if you could send me a couple t-shirts when you send my skirt (IF you send my skirt ... speaking of which, I would really appreciate if you could get it to me BEFORE this Sunday. I'm singing in Sacrament Meeting, and I REALLY want to wear that skirt. Just because, you know, it's a good skirt. Whatever). There's a box in the top of my closet containing said t-shirts. I would LOVE if you could send my my NY Giants one, and possible my BYU one? I don't know - it doesn't really matter. I'm just in desperate need of t-shirts. So thanks oodles in advance! Also - headphones. They're fabulous, thank you SO SO much! They say don't bring headphones, but then they say if you DID bring them, feel free to use them in the gym to watch the movies they show. And they sell them in the store. Yeah. SELL THEM. And tell you not to bring them. Someone PLEASE explain that one to me!
Unofficial Superbowl
The Superbowl. It's a big deal. We all know this. Friends and family gather, they eat food, they talk - but most importantly, they stare intently at the television. Every so often, a cheer makes it's way through the group, but mostly everyone sits on the edge of their seats, watching in awe and amazement. When it's over, it's discussed in GREAT detail, everywhere, and with everyone. The Superbowl is big.
General Conference is the Superbowl of the MTC. For reals, though. We all gather, watch the tv intently, listen in amazement as the Prophet and Apostles preach. It's intense. And yeah, actually, every so often there's a little cheering (because we're still just a rowdy bunch of kids in their late teens, and no one's perfect, right?). Since there's about a gazillion of us missionaries, we were in four different locations throughout the MTC to watch it. All our classes were cancelled, so basically all we did all day was watch Conference and read our scriptures and talk and stuff. It was fabulous. I loved it so much. We did get to see the in between sessions thing on Sunday (kind of ... we were watching it in the cafeteria, and it was awkwardly turned off half way through for some reason I couldn't explain), and that was fun! Also really weird, because we saw REAL ACTUAL TV COMMERCIALS. Craziest moment of my life. When you go five weeks without seeing a commercial, and then BOOM, you see one, it's kinda bizarre. Sister Wendel and I were sitting with the Bulgars during lunch while we were watching it, and they were like, "Hey, Poland," so Sister Wendel and I were like, "WHAT?!" and looked over and saw it and it was super exciting! Poland Represent!
General Conference was AMAZING! I don't think I've ever loved it so much in all my life. Usually 8 hours feels like a REALLY long time to sit and get spiritual guidance (don't judge! It is a long time!). But now? Psh, 8 hours is nothin'! I spend pretty much every hour of every day now getting spiritual guidance and what not. This was nothin'. And it was SO good. Honestly, I'm pretty sure there were several talks in this General Conference written just for me, Anna Lin Young. Incredible. However, my FAVORITE part of Conference was actually the Young Women's meeting from last week. We got to watch it Saturday night while all the elders were at Priesthood (which I was SUPER grateful for, because I adore the Young Women's meeting! And I thought a lot about my sweet baby sister who is NOT a baby, because I remembered that she was actually there - it was like a little connection to her and my Mama). It was so good. And President Uchtdorf's talk - gosh dang it, I love that man. He is amazing. Absolutely beyond amazing. His talk was written for me. I mean it. Maybe you people were able to get something out of it too, but that talk was written for me. He was talking about our life journey (and of course, being a missionary, I thought of my mission journey), and he mentioned a couple different stories - The Wizard of Oz, A Christmas Carol, and then, much to my joy, THE HOBBIT. Which is kind of the inspiration for my mission. He talked about how Bilbo Baggins wanted to stay comfortably at home and sit in his chair, but instead he went on a adventure and changed the world. Of course, I'm not thinking I'll change the world out there or whatever, but other than that, Bilbo and I are twinners. In our district meeting after we were talking about things we liked, and I brought this up. I said that my family and Lord of the Rings are like this (and crossed my fingers, indicating we were very close. Which is possibly the dorkiest thing in the whole world. But it is true. Don't be hatin' - the Young Family is one classy bunch). And then I said we went and saw The Hobbit the day after I got my call, and that when Bilbo ran out of his house, after the dwarfs and called behind him, "I'm going on an adventure!", both my Dad and I thought about my mission and the adventure I would be embarking on. Hello, Tender Mercy! I mean, really? What are the odds that President Uchtdorf would bring up The Hobbit of all things? Cray cray, right? But I needed a little reminder of what I'm doing here, and why I decided to come out here in the first place. It's because this is where the Lord wants me, and I just need to put my faith in Him and trust that He will guide me on this fabulous adventure. And then, this morning at the temple, one of the temple workers asked where I was going and I said Poland, and she said, "You are going to have a wonderful experience. What an amazing adventure!" These Tender Mercies - I tell you, they are coming out of the no where these days! And I love it so much.
I am so glad I got to be at the MTC for Conference. It was an amazing experience, and one that cannot be replicated. It's just such a different feeling, sitting with thousands of other missionaries, listening to our dear prophet together. And they talked so much about missionary work! It was incredible. Just, wow, you know? That's how it was. Wow.
General Conference is the un[OFFICIAL] Superbowl.
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