2nd Week

Guten Tag!

Its that time of the week again... P-Day! Today we woke up at 5:30 in an attempt to beat everyone to the washing machines to do our laundry... It seems everyone else in the MTC had the exact same idea because it was crowded as ever! So we didn't get back to the residence till 9 o' clock anyways! But after a nice long nap, we're writting letters, eating lunch, and then heading to the Temple!

In response to Papi's questions:

1) Elder Vitel's parents are Vasile Vitel and Maria Vitel and he is the youngest of 5 (2 brothers, and 2 sisters) and he is the first to serve a mission. He is from Constanta, Romania, he lives on the 10th floor of an apartment building, and is a 2 minute walk to the Black Sea.

2) My Branch President is President Dunn, and he has been a branch president for 4 years. He is awesome! He served in Grandpa's mission (a few years later though)

3) On sunday, we have Priesthood meeting from 9:40-10:30, District Meeting (sunday school) is 1:00-2:00, and Sacrament Meeting is 3:15-4:30. And the rest of the day is for personal study, temple walks, and devotionals! I love sundays!

4) We have Gym for an hour everyday of the week, usually in the mornings from 8:30-9:30, and it is so nice to just work off some steam after sitting around learning all the time!

This week we taught Andreas Muller every night until Friday. We progressed all the way through the 3rd lesson (in German!) and even committed him to Baptism! On Friday, we found out he is going to be our other teacher besides Brother Wright. Brother McCann (andreas) teaches nights, and Brother Wright teaches in the morning. Andreas was a real investigator Brother McCann baptized in Berlin, so it was a neat experience! We now have two new investigators (Michael and Alex) who we teach on alternating days. It is a really good experience learning how to balance our study time, and preparing two lessons, centered on two very different people. It is a special challenge doing it in German!

Last Tuesday, I had the opportunity to be Elder Vitel's Escort through the Temple. It was PHENOMENAL. The spirit was so powerful as I watched the light come into Elder Vitel's eyes as we progressed through the Temple. When we entered the Celestial Room, I really felt like I was representing Elder Vitel's family since they obviously weren't able to attend. I felt there spirits present as he joined our district. So awesome!!!

Sunday, we had a devotional from Brother Littlefield (Dad, you will know who that is) and it was SO GOOD! He spoke about having faith to perform miracles in the mission field... and he shared some amazing examples from his mission. He told us that we need to believe that God is still a God of miracles, and that he is preparing people right now to be recipients through our faith! He also spoke of the inspired nature of every mission call. It was pretty emotional! On the subject of miracles, I am a firm believer! After two weeks in the MTC, witnessed so many miracles! The very fact that we are teaching full lessons, through the spirit, completely in German is a miracle all by itself! But the other night, during a class session, we didn't even realize it, but we had a full conversation, completely in German, as a class, for over 30 minutes! No english! That's how powerful the spirit of the MTC is.

Sunday night, we watched the Joseph Smith movie in German, and I understood what they were saying! and it was awesome! The spirit testified to me that this was the story that would convert many souls in Germany/Austria/Switzerland to the gospel.

I have seen OODLES of people I know. Pretty much 5-6 times a day I see people from high school, college, or from somewhere else. I need to be better at carrying my camera around so I can get some pictures! Somedays it feels like Im back in high school! For all you cherry season fans (and you know who you are), guess who came in last wednesday?? MARK! and he's going to the Phillipines, so he is in the basement of my residence! It was hilarious to see him here.

Well, the time has come to bring this letter to a close.

Love you all, and miss you so much!

Send letters, cause.... they rock.

Love, Elder Bartholomew

Adventure is out there!