March 2 Letter

Hola mi familia Things have been going well here at the MTC. This last week has breezed by, it feels like I sent my last email two days ago. It's funny how long each day feels though, On wednesday we were talking about how we felt like we had been gone forever and realized for people outside of the MTC, it probably felt like no time. I know that's especially true for Jerusalem. I thought of the Holy City a lot today when I was at the temple. One scripture that I read was Psalm 122. One of my teachers, Hermano Alailima talked with me during Coaching Missionary Study, which is pretty much when the teachers help out their missionaries individually. He's from Hawaii so we talked about a wide range of things. I told him a lot of things about Jerusalem and he said he really liked the idea of going over there and wanted to do the program. He is dating the older sister of a girl i knew in hawaii, Kira Ho-ching. Anyway I rambled on too long about things that werent too important. I want to thank everyone that has been praying for me or sent letters or packages. I want to thank the Nelsons in Provo and American Fork. Gracias as well to all of the students in Jerusalem that wrote to me. I read all of the letters and appreciated the messages. The coolest thing that has happened here so far happened on Tuesday. My district and I went to the evening devotional early because there was a buzz in the air that someone important would be speaking. We got there early and obtained prime seats, which was super fortunate, since the speaker happened to be Elder Holland. It was an amazing devotional. He spoke about missionary work and the Book of Mormon. He said that the church expects a lot out of us and doesn't apologize but also that we are prayed for more than anyone on the earth except for maybe the prophet. He said that we need to continue to convert ourselves and shouldnt change right after the mission. Also that if we do the right things we can be 100% sure to have at least one convert, ourselves. He focused on the very beginning of the BoM and compared the story of Lehi's dream to the first vision of Joseph Smith. He said the BoM is our most important tool along with the companionship of the spirit. I have been learning spanish rapidly and enjoying it. We try to use it as much as possible and i've found that I can read or listen and understand almost anything now. There was one day that we tried to only speak spanish but it didnt work very well. I guess Im kind of a veteran here now but not so much. I still have a month and 17 days left here. Two of the elders in my district (and in my room) are already leaving next week for the Spain MTC. We start teaching volunteers tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. I've recieved a good amount of packages that I've been really grateful for, especially the healthy food. Haven't seen anyone I know from the outside world except for Shalyn. Ran into her today and talked for a bit. It was good to read all of your news. I was really suprised about the snow. I would love to see what that looks like in Jerusalem. It has been snowing a lot here and I've frozen everytime I walk in between buildings. Anyway i read everything else and wish i could respond to more. My time is running out so i have to go. Good luck with everything. I love you all! You're in my prayers! Salaam alakum! Elder Ludlow