Week of July 1, 2008 -- To Mom

 July 1, 2008 

Dear Family,

Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!  It's here....I'm so excited....so excited that it overcomes my fear of speaking the language.  I leave tomorrow at 4am in the morning, sharp.  It kind of stinks that it's so early, but I'll be on a plane to Iowa probably at around 7-8am.

Packing has been a real pain.  I hate the 50 lb. rule.  Mom and dad, you were right about not bringing any extra stuff to the MTC then what it told me.  Most of the extra stuff I brought, I'm either getting rid of or I'm leaving it here for those that want it.  Among the stuff that I'm leaving is:
My spanish Libro de Mormon and Santa Biblia that dad and I got in Peru (this was the hardest thing to part with.)
My oldest pair of church shoes...
My oldest pair of running/playing shoes...
a picture frame (but not the picture in it; it's just extra weight)
throwing away socks
and I have absolutely no room for beauty/bathroom supplies

yep, I'm leaving stuff that I can by there, in IOWA....oh, and we got a nice set of scriptures when we came in

Yes, I absolutely hate the 50 lb. rule.  But I finally got my luggage to weigh 50 pounds each.

I haven't been able to say bye to everyone that I've wanted to, although I did see Cody after I went to the temple.  Sad...it's also the last time I'm going to be able to go to a temple in a while.  One of my goals while I'm out in Iowa is that we get the people of Iowa to build a temple.

My district is now down to 4.  3 left this morning, Hermana's Wilcox and Allred left for Madrid, Spain, and Elder Garcia left for Everett Washington.  We had a small "hasta ver" and testimony meeting as a district yesterday evening.  It was really cool.  The rest of the district is leaving tomorrow.

Well, I'm out of time....plus my mind is all over the place....

I love you all....

Elder John C. Gonzales