Ni Men Hao!!

First off, I have no idea who anyone's email is. Mom, get me all of those as soon as you can that would be great, just anyone who wants to receive these I guess haha. So MTC is awesome loving it all. I've literally seen all my friends here so that's cool. Not a ton of pics though yet I haven't been carrying my camera like I should.

So I guess Bergen and lauren are coming to the cabin to chill with you mom and dad, that'd be fun for you. Just remember you love me the most forever even if they'll talk to you both a little bit more than I ever did hahah.

So my district is super rad. and zone. These kids going to Taiwan/Australia/Canada/France/US etc are seriously all such studs. I could not have been put in to a cooler zone. So diverse too! Here's the dynamics of the district in a nutshell. There's 10 of us, 4 sisters, 6 elders:

Sister Jenkins-reminds me soooo much of Anjuli tuscano its ridiculous. absolutely hilarious, seriously her laugh is the most contagious I've ever heard. But she's forward and loud and I could listen to her joke around for hours.

Sister Strong- one of those sweet softspoken sisters that you'd think wouldn't hurt a fly. She's sarcastic and can dish back anything to you! I love it when those kind of people totally take you by surprise by their fire.

Sister Fisher- very cultured, lived in a military family so she's lived everywhere. I haven't associated with her as much so I can't tell you as much.

Sister Liu- a Hongkongian, british, girl that only has American citizenship. Straight up Chinese, born there, but only an American citizen. She has fire too and me and her feed off of each other. She's brilliant in Chinese too so we basically answer all the questions kids have.

Elder Vaughn- my comp. No armpit hair yet haha. that should tell you it all. But surprisingly enough I love the kid. Lots of zone members wonder how I put up with him but you know he literally could do anything to me and my temperament is such that i just take it and dont think anything of it. The lord has blessed me immensely to be as relaxed about such a strict life as i have been. He has told me that he is bugged with how relaxed I am about everything because I think he thinks if I yell or get angry at him he wont take 45 minute showers, wont forget everything at the room, wont bug the others with his immaturity so I really dunno what he's irritated by. But once again, I love this kid, doesn't bother me at all which is miraculous to me.

Elder Wheeler- Renaissance man. There is nothing he can't do. He's 20 or so, fresh out of 3 years at Westpoint academy, but the most relaxed, easy going guy youll ever meet. He teaches us how to pick locks and such. Love that guy. His stories keep us entertained for hours.

Elder Robinson- basically me. a little more outspoken than me, but like similar backgrounds and personalities. I'm gonna have some of the best life long friends out of this experience. Robinson is district leader, an awesome one. He's probably the biggest screw off but also the hardest studier of the clan, idk how he does it but he manages and its great love that guy too.

Elder Heaps- from Smithfield. Hes a stud. knows Chinese pretty well too. Not super book smart as he tells me but he's got those streets smarts hahah. I love talking to him, he's so well thought out and can handle those deep conservations. me and him could theoretically solve the world's problems together about everything when we chat.

Elder Elliot- his dad is the organist for MoTab. He's also albert einstein. 36 on the ACT. I'm definitely going to maintain that friendship so we can party on his yacht and mansion in 5 years! but I ran with him during gym and he told me all about this light photon storage thing and how he wants to improve it or something...Mind blowing!! I am associating with some of the most brilliant kids here I have ever met and I love it.

Confession time. I have not done any personal studying at all yet hahah. The district is always waayyyy off topic in a collective discussion/argument. Yesterday we had essentially 3 hours of study time. During that time, Wheeler explained the differences between Cyclones and anticyclones and how weather patterns work. Elliot explained why toilets flush opposite ways depending on the hemisphere. I taught everyone the history of the 12 tribes of israel. and Vaughn very astutely pointed out that Adam and Eve were definitely white, to which all of us busted up and told him to not tell those Chinese people they can't imagine Adam and Eve as chinese anymore. I told him to not be racist and he shouts "I'm not stupid or racist I'm sitting right next to one!" and points right at Wheeler who hadn't yet told us but is half Colombian. So I guess Vaughn has something against hispanics but Wheeler is a stud and just takes it. So there are the dynamics of this group that makes it so impossible to focus when we're all together cuz we all just feed off of each other and get out of control and love being all together. In a spiritual way though! generally. I've felt it a couple times for sure during our bonding moments.

Mandarin is coming great. I can pray, testify, and hold conversation so thats cool. Teaching in chinese is rad too but straight up hilarious because imagine three white people sitting in the same room only speaking chinese! it takes me a couple minutes to calm down everytime I walk into that room before I can start teaching bahaha.

So i've wrote a ton. mom dad I'm sending you a letter at some point thats more personal so be awaiting that either wednesday or thursday. Love you all! Don't be afraid to email or write though. thus far I've only received a package from the Parrs which was lovely while the district is showered in dear elders and whatnot. But ni men are all great!

Wo ai nimen,

Jin Zhanglao

Elder Jensen