October 10th

My Mother
:) putting you down as "my mother" made me remember when we would always read the little kid’s book "Are you my Mother." I will treasure those memories forever. and I am very happy to say that you are my mother. I love you mom.
I am glad that you had fun at the cabin. I am really starting to miss snow. :) here it’s starting to rain more and get a little warmer. but that's really the only change, and I thought to my self that if Provo was on the equator it would look exactly like Nairobi,  as far as plant life and things like that.
  I am glad that Jordan is getting exited :) and it’s a great thing to get exited for! it is already THE BEST THING THAT I HAVE EVER DONE!!!! I know tons of people say that but it really is and you will never know how true that is until you go and find out. I hope you let Jordan read the email I send, it sounds like you do. :) tell him when he gets on his mission he can email me if his mission president lets him, and do you know when he will start his papers? and also has Fano got his mission call yet?
This week will have to be the best week I have had on my mission so far!!!!!!!! It has been so much fun being with Elder Patten!!!!!!! He is just a really really fun guy!!! And we already have some supper cool plans to hang out when we get home! And it also sounds like you and his mom have been in contact with each other :) I think that is supper cool too. But it was nice having an American comp. :) We like the same things we even tried to make American food :) and we did a REALLY good job :) we made cheese burgers :) oh man those were soooooooooooooooooo good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! then we made spaghetti and that was also super good, we also went to a really really nice place to eat named "Spur" and it is just like a nice sit down place in southern Utah. We got all you can eat ribs and it was super!! super good!!! We just had a little taste of home this week :) but it might sound that we spent all our time eating and cooking. but we worked and we taught some really powerful lessons to people! We just work together so well! I can tell that we are going to be friends forever! :) it has been super fun. The only bad part is that we never got to bed on time because we were always up talking and the time fly's so fast!!!!! it has been GREAT being with him :)
But even though it has been great being with him I will get a new comp.  I can tell you that he is going to be just as fun! His name is Elder Sumpsion. ( I think that’s how you spell it) but what is so crazy about him is that he is a Mazugu or white guy! also from Utah. But what makes it even crazier is that we were in the MTC together!!!!!!!!! so I know him really well and he is a cool guy, and you want to know what makes it even more crazy???!!!! You and all of the family have met him!!!!!!! He was the other Elder in the Salt Lake airport when we went there!!!! So you have met my companion. :)  It is just crazy that we were together right from the start and now we are being put back together! :) I know I am going to love it!!!!!! and he should be coming some time this week. He is coming from Mawanza, that new branch that we heard about before I left in Tanzania. :) so it is going to be really cool :)
So about laundry everything is holding up fine the only thing is my shoes are starting to get holes and stuff inside and out, and I have only had them for like 3 months. but I have tried the best I can to fix them so that they will last longer, mostly with super glue :) they still have a lot of life in them so don’t worry about that :) Then about the pants they are all really good but I did get one snagged by a barbed wire fence (which are everywhere) so it has a little hole in it too but its on the inside of the leg so no one will see it, and its not to big.  The shirts I do have kind of a hard time keeping them white, just because it is so dirty here, and washing them is hard!!!!!! I would give ALOT right now for a washing machine!!!!!!! Most of the time when I wash I get little sores on my hands from rubbing the fabric across it so much and so hard but I know that they will heal and get harder so its better than at the start of  my mission  :) and plus I think it is a good skill to have :) 
I am looking forward to your package :) I always love getting those from you!!!! :) and I don’t know what I want for Christmas. plus it should be a surprise :) but I also am thinking of sending a package home for Christmas. the only thing is that I don’t have a lot of stuff to send and some of the things that I would send might brake but I think if I wrap them right it will be good. so I might do that.
Also I will try the pic thing next time because I didn’t bring my cards with me and also I think I will get a usb memory stick here and send it through the mail to you I think that will be the best way for you to get a lot of pics. so I will try :)

 So about the Payson temple, how much bigger is it going to be? Is it going to be the same as the Provo or bigger or what? and how long does it take to build a temple?   Also do you remember those 4 rules that the church has when it builds a temple? because I cant remember all of them. I just remember that there can’t be any dark places and that there can’t be any writing on the wall even for like measurements and things like that,  so if you could tell me the others I don’t remember what they are and even some people here that I have told want to know more about it, so if you could find those out for me that would be great.:)
man I think this is the longest email that I have wrote on mission :

Love to ALL!!