"Turning Out"

Hey guys!

Another week come and gone! Hope Macey had an awesome birthday, sounds like you guys had fun! I'll be writing a letter today for Macey and Dad today so check the mailbox. Thanks for the medical help mom! I got my test strips. I haven't gotten any letters about Jared yet but hopefully I will today. I hope he is doing well, I've said many a prayer in his behalf. (Note: Jared had surgery on his shoulder (too much volleyball!), literally as Zach was sending his letter. Surgery went really well, better than we could have hoped. Just no volleyball for a long time.)   I hope Connor gets his visa soon! I met an Elder from New Zealand this week and he was way cool.

Well we are currently 5 and a half weeks into the MTC, it honestly is hard to believe. Time flies here! We watched an old devotional film in class the other day by Elder Holland and I think it's known as the "Don't Go Home" talk. He talks about how he would tie each missionary down to their chair if he was allowed to because his mission meant so much to him. (Gotta love that guy) But it got me thinking, how much does my mission mean to me already? The past 5 weeks have brought more growth and change into my life than any other time period ever. I can honestly say I'm not the same person I was when I came in. Now thinking of all the progression that's possible in the next 22 and a half months, my mission just seems to be more important to me every day! I can't wait to go serve the people of Maryland!

This week we also watched one of the best devotionals I've ever seen (another film). This one was Elder Bednar and it was called "The Character of Christ". In it he talked about how we as humans are very "turned in". We think only of ourselves or occasionally our family or friends. He proceeded to talk about how one reason Christ was perfect was that he was constantly "turned out". Think of when he suffered in the Garden and came out and a bunch of guards are there to take him. One of his apostles chops a guys ear off and Jesus heals him! He doesn't complain or think about his sufferings, which was the greatest of all suffering. He had just bled from every pore yet he is concerned about a man, who wants to kill him, and his ear. Christ is such a perfect example and I'm so blessed to be able to represent him and share his Gospel. So my challenge would probably be this week, try and turn out, not in. I'm trying and honestly I'll be trying for the rest of my life because it is so hard!

Well as of this week my district is the oldest in the zone! We are doing well, Elder Young and Elder Permann are the zone leaders and they are awesome. I wish I could send you pictures but it will just have to wait til Maryland. (We can't even print them anymore here). Next week we'll host for the first time. This means we get to pick up an Elder's luggage when he first arrives and guide him through! We're all pretty excited.

Me and Elder Young convinced our district to start playing soccer a couple days a week, hahah. Although I've been getting a lot better at basketball (we play every day), I just love soccer. Plus it's out in the sun and let me tell you, you don't see much sun here. So we've been having a lot of fun with that. Elder Young played in high school so he's pretty good. I also got to go to physical therapy with Elder Wright this week. Which essentially means I got to work out for two hours straight! I loved it, they have treadmills and machines and free weights. So I'm excited to go again this week. The only part thats hard is there is two TVs there playing ESPN. I resisted the temptation, hahah.

Well I hope all is well in the Greene home! Sounds like California was awesome! Sorry its 109 mom, all the kids here are like, wow it's so hot. And I just laugh cause they don't even know. But theyre all going to Honduras so they better buck up! Out of time, love you guys!!

-Elder Greene