10 Days Left in the MTC

Hello everyone:

Business - I am not sure of what my itinerary is going to be, but I know I only have one more full week in the MTC. I can't believe it's passed so fast. Because we didn't get to call at Christmas, we might get to call from the airport either at Salt Lake or in LA. Might. I am extremely excited for Mad Ant.

One more week and I am outta here! I am positive it will be harder that I can imagine, but I'm not really worried. I've worked hard and learned a lot. I'm sure the Lord has many new challenges awaiting me on the island, including wild gidros (lemurs) and a very unstable political situation. We hear it's worse than it was before. We need to be prepared to be evac-ed to South Africa if things get worse. Ok, whatever. We hear that everyone is angry, the president, etc. Apparently, the one guy who should be the president is not or something like that. The good thing is that the Malagasy people don't kill each other super easy, it takes a lot to rile them up.

I have lost 14 pounds here. I have never been so lean. I probably have lost some muscle mass, but straight fat too. I've been eating pretty well, but no big protein shakes like at home. I feel better, no stomach crazy anymore. My song for the fireside went pretty well. The best thing is I got to have a cool conversation with the mission president and his wife while waiting for it to start. This is funny - after I sang, some people said, you need to perform opera. And then the Mo-Tab lady said, sing for your pleasure but don't major in music. Ha. Me singing at that fireside, the Lord did 99% of the work and got me well in time to sing. My friends got the whole thing on video.

I am zone leader now. It is an alright position. All of the responsibility and none of the perks. Wohoo. Last night we had to bring in 21 new Elders. What a treat that was. Missionaries going to Indonesia, Malaysia, Oklahoma, and California. I learned before this to never aspire to leadership unless there is a substantial pay increase. I have a great zone, though. We all have a lot in common and we all know how to have fun. You have to have fun in here sometimes or you go crazy from being serious all the time. We have had some crazy times that shall go unmentioned but make us laugh. Ninja battles may have been involved. They all know about Brady and they think he's the coolest bro ever and he is.

For all the people who read the blog and sent me a letter through Dear Elder, I will write you back the regular mail way because I don’t have your email addresses. If you want an email, send me your address.

My message to all - pray. We can ask the Lord for anything we may or may not need. He may or may not give it to us but if we never ask there can only be one outcome.

Love you all so much, Elder Cryer