!Hola! So it is going great! I finally get to leave. I got my travel plans last Tuesday. I leave the Salt Lake airport next Monday at 8:25, get to Dallas, Texas at 12:05, leave at 3:25, and land in the El Salvador San Salvador Aeropuerto at 5:45. My companion and I are in the same group--just us--and they put me in charge, which stinks because I have to read a whole bunch of extra instructions...but hopefully nothing will go wrong. I am so stoked!!!
The MTC has been a great experience and I have loved it. Granted, it gets long some days, but the weeks go by fast. I have learned so much here, and changed so much. I feel like I have been prepared for this mission and for El Salvador so well.
I'm going to miss all the friends I've made here...because they're all awesome. Especially as zone leader, I've gotten to know them all so personally, and they are all amazing people. But then again, I'm a lot more excited to go than sad about leaving. Who wouldn't be...while the MTC is great, it also feels...confined. I remember I left campus a few days ago to go get some drugs (I've been kind of sick for the last couple weeks... hope these drugs work--I don't want to start out in El Salvador sick). But leaving the MTC and walking down to the BYU Health Center was probably the most exciting thing that's happened. We saw real people, everyone honked at us, it was sunny...yeah. It was awesome. Unfortunately it only lasted about 20 minutes, and when we got back it got cloudy, the sun disappeared, and we realized that we were surrounded by fences everywhere. But it's alright because I'm leaving in a week.
My Spanish is good. I am still trying to grasp subjuntivo, but other than that, it's easy. I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to understand one thing they say once I get to El Salvador. Our teacher, Hermana Nilsen, said that she cried the first week she was in Chile, but I don't think that's going to happen. I'll probably be frustrated, but I'll catch on. As long as I know Spanish by July when the temple open house is…
So my companion and I have become really good friends. I mean yes, we get in arguments about dragons every once in a while, and yes, he's kind of a packrat and has collected so much junk in these past 8 weeks, but I'm going to miss him.
So here's a cool story. One of the cafeteria workers name is Jacob. He's from Guatemala and served his mission in the El Salvador San Salvador West/Belize Mission. He was a zone leader when he was there, and was an awesome missionary. We talk with him every meal he's here, and he tells us stories, stuff about the mission. He was in a gang in Guatemala before his mission, and he was running one day, got shot at, and when he got home and saw bullet shots in his backpack, he realized he needed to change his life. So he went on a mission. He's absolutely awesome.
Thanks for your packages and letters! I realize I'm probably not going to get anything once I get to El Salvador, so thanks! Tomorrow Elder Jordan leaves to Espana. He's such a funny guy. I'll miss him. Being a zone leader has been such a good experience. I love my zone. I hope I'll see them all after the mission.
I'd like to give a shout out to my mom. I remember all those years of school when I'd get home from swimming and she'd make me do my homework, no matter how tired I was. She'd help me understand it though, and she taught me how to study. I am so grateful for that now, because I've been able to have awesome study skills here. I've been able to get down and study and not get distracted. Thanks to my mom, I can concentrate and stay on task better than anyone else. I've learned so much from that. I would not be able to work as hard and stay as focused as I have if it weren't for that. So thanks, mom!
Well, that's about it. Next time I write you, I'll be in El Salvador, probably sleeping on a cot with the cockroaches, scorpions, and giant spiders. But I'm stoked. I am so stoked to be able to go out and bring this gospel to the people there. I am so excited to help make their lives better and bring them the happiness that this gospel brings that I have been able to experience in my own life.
Thanks for your support everyone! I'm so grateful for my family, friends, and pets. They're a real support. The MTC has been great. I love it, the experiences it brings, and all the people in it. It really is the greatest prison on earth. Well, I'm gonna go preach the true evangelio now.
Hasta luego!
Elder Bailey
So a little more. Cause I have time. Thanks for the packages, letters, and support. I am so excited to leave. I feel like I am ready, and I will be an extraordinary missionary!
I pretty much can relate to everyone in my zone. I have something in common with all of them. One of them is Elder Cevering. I like him a lot because he's a total nerd. So we have great conversations that remind me of our dinner conversations...it's great.
Last Wednesday was ice cream day. I had the last peanut butter cup ice cream I'm probably going to have in two years.
Well, that's all I've got now! See y'all in a couple years.
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