A taste of FREEDOM

Hello Everyone!!!!!!

Finally I get a P-Day. It's Thursdays, but since it was our first week last Thursday we didn't need or even get a Preparation Day. I guess we didn't need one but I still wanted ONE!!!! Oh well. I'll get over it in a couple of years. Too easy.
How the heck are you guys?!?! So the best way to say hello which you should everyday is DearElder. Because I will only check this once a week and usually just send out a mass e-mail. Please forward this to ALL our family and friends. Por favor. Shoot!! I don't even know how to say Please in Romania. Probably something similar to S'il vous plait. Ne-u stiu = I don't know! I love the Romanian language. In some ways it makes so much more sense than English yet it is also so much more difficult! I love it. Learning everyday. I can pray now without looking at my notes. Can bear my testimony. Introduce and tell about my family. Including Josh and Aubrey. Cousins. Grandparents. Parents. Siblings. Age. Likes. Dislikes. Basics basically. Today was most excellent. We go to the temple every Thursday morning now. Can't tell you the time, because I know you will fly up and see me. Sorry. If I told you it was at 7 o clock I would have to kill you probably.

Just kidding. The temple was great. My fourth time, a name for a German born in 1822 if you wanted to know :)

Wednesday getting here. Everything was so overwhelming!!!! Got here, my host helps me and come to find out he is going Spanish Speaking and now I see him all the time because his class is right next to ours. Our class where we will spend more time than sleeping!
Our class is 18M 4th floor. I love the floors here because it's like the rest of the world! The 1st floor is the first floor, whether it be the basement or ground level floor. Anyways, stupid Americans. It's okay though. Class is great. I love my teachers. Brother MIles and Brother Irion. Both went to Romania obviously and I love all of their stories they tell. Makes me so excited to go! The food sounds so much better than the U.S. and what it have to offers but we will see once I get out there. 8 more weeks.....in paradise? hehe I hated it the first week! Tuesday, Wednesday, and Today I have really started liking it and I am not just saying that. Tuesday we had a great Devotional from Sister Richards and Brother Bryan H. Richards I think it was and he talked about his experiences in England as a mission president. And there was one thing he said that we will never have this chance probably again. To be in the same area as so many Elders and Sisters that are 100% set apart to serving the Lord and dedicated to Him. Something about that really struck a chord with me and ever since I have loved it.

Every Monday we go the TRC, forget what it stands for but it is where we teach a certain "type" of investigator. This week and the next 3 in English and then the last 4...IN ROMANIANNN!!!!!!!! AHHAAHHHHHHHHHH. I got this though. Remember what I say. Too easy. Too Too easy. (p.s. this is marissa. TRC= teaching resource center)

So yeah Wednesday was great. Got the orange dot on our tags. Class. Had meeting with all 507 new missionaries. Which included Dave Noren, Ethan Todd, Joel from BYU frisbee, Clark Blackham from dorm, and David McDougal - dorm and bball intramural team. Learned greetings in Romanian. Food....eh, similar to Cannon Center, but Cannon trumps the MTC. No contest there.

Going to bed, I fell asleep like that! Hard waking up so early, different for me! Meals were all okay. In the classroom, just being taught basic things in Romanian. Learned how to pray. We had a Branch Presidency Meeting. District Leader called...Elder Nimroe from Hawaii/Utah. He is a great guy. Perfect for the job. Falling asleep Thursday night was a little harder. But i got the job done. Friday I cannot even remember. Didn't really write much in the journal. Nothing special. Saturday was maybe the hardest day. Felt like I have been here for about 4 months. That's probably a good guess. I don't know. I was never going to leave for home. Never a thought. But I just wanted to leave the MTC. sheesh! Just too much. Overwhelming. I don't know. Really didn't like it. Sunday, it was okay. Priesthood. Study time. Then Sacrament. Really great talks. Elder Green. Elder Getty. and Elder Trepnell. 2nd counselor branch presidency. Monday was good. Tuesday was THE BEST!!!!! Wednesday great as well. Thursday. Excellent!

Our zone is basically our floor or elders, a little less I think. The district before us has 3 missionaries, all really great: Elder Farr, Elder Kepkar, and Sora Mullen.

In our district there are 12 of us. All who came in last Wednesday.

Me and Elder Mikolyski - from L.A. Good kid. Home schooled. Has a 22 year old girl friend. Lives like 3 minutes away. Went to Idaho but now going to Provo BYU. He is the 8th of 9 kids. Dad was Catholic. Converted 7 years ago. Now a Bishop! He lives a little north of L.A. I think and we get along really great.

Elder Nimroe - from Hawaii/Utah and Elder Ransom - from Montana, Great Falls

Elder Green - from Friscoe, Texas and Elder Nillson - from Utah, Sandy I think. (They are our room buddies.)

Elder Fonnesbeck - from Oakland, CA and Elder Lee, from Redlands, CA

Elder Durand from South Jordan and Elder Nelson from Friscoe, Texas

and Elder James from Riverton adn Elder Pettit from Missouri.

In our zone we have ASL, Romanian, and English. Got a group of about 10 guys heading down to Houston South mission pretty soon.

I love you guys so much. Hope you all are doing great. And the best way if you would like, I would love if you DearElder'ed me. People kinda poke fun at me getting all the mail. Which I have to keep up the name and tradition. I am counting of you guys. hehe. Love you so much.

Scripture: D&C 4:1-7 Never gets old to me. Got it memorized.

Love you.

Love,

Elder Taylor L Schroedter

Te iubesc.