August 23rd

Dear Family,

     The MTC is awesome!!! Elder H and I have been having a blast!  Our whole district is hilarious and we have an awesome time.  We always sit together during meals, and we usually all walk together to our classes and stuff.  It's super cool!

     Today was our first actual P-Day!  It's still a pretty hectic day, but its a great change from the usual 9-hour study halls.  Laundry is a rat race!  We got up at 6:00 and just went to the laundry room as soon as we could.  Even at 6:15 over half of the washers were being used.  Luckily our whole district got an open row of washers before everyone else woke up.  There's literally rows and rows of washers and dryers.  And when your load is done, missionaries aren't afraid to throw your wet clothes out and put theirs in.  And any unclaimed box of dryer sheets or bottle of detergent is fair-game in the laundry room.  It's pretty crazy!  Luckily we had timers on our watch and guarded our laundry from the other crazy missionaries.

     My companion (Elder "Alabama") -our new name for Elder H- and I bought plenty of laundry stuff, and everything worked out great!  Our Zone Leaders recommended that as soon as we started our laundry, we go to a computer lab and print out our emails.  Then while you're waiting for laundry, you can read over your emails & think about responses without taking up the 1 hour time limit they put on missionaries.  It's a great idea!

     What the MTC does for P-Day breakfasts is pretty cool!  Because the cafeteria is a consecrated building, missionaries shouldn't go in without church clothes.  So what the MTC does when you have a P-Day is called a sack meal.  You grab a tray, pick four items (like bagels, orange juice, cereal, donuts, etc), check out your stuff to the register worker, and then put it all in a sack.  Any more than 4 items you have to pay for, but they give you plenty of food.

     P-Day isn't much different than most other days, except for the laundry, emails, and the TEMPLE!!!!  The Provo temple is so awesome!! It's really neat going through a different temple, especially with a large group of missionaries.  We have an allotted time schedule for the temple on P-Days, and our district got to go this afternoon.  Mom and Dad, the new endowment session movie is awesome!!  It was a totally different experience going to a different temple, going as a missionary, and being with an awesome group in such a huge temple!  Missionaries get free temple clothing rentals, so I didn't even bother to bring my pants.  Some elders actually brought their clothes to the MTC, but they're sending it back because there's no need.

     I got the package with the credit card and candy!  Thank you!!!  My companion and I loved the surprises.  I just hope we don't end up being those missionaries that gained 50 lbs in the MTC (true story).   :)  Is the credit card hooked up to my account?

    Give my love and appreciation to the Hancock Family.  They're awesome.  My companion is from Madison, Alabama, and he LOVES football!!  The "Roll Tide Roll" on his snacks made his day.

     Sorry for sending you not-so-good pictures in my email.  Turns out because of the computer's restrictions and my camera's quality, I can only send 2 pictures at a time.  I might just send you an SD card with pictures and you can send it back.

     I love the MTC!! It's a ton of work and fun, but we get stuff done.

                                                           A Igreja e verdadeira,

                                                                     Elder Fuss

P.S.  Barney Fife is now a part of my name badge :)  "Nip it!"

             Oh forgot to mention, my companion and I missed our haircutting appointment because of the temple trip, but I'll let you know how next week's goes.  I'm definitely OK for another week compared to other missionaries around here.

                   Miss you all, but I wouldn't miss being a missionary!!! :)