I only have 18 minutes!

so...i have 18 minutes to tell you about what feels like a century's worth of stuff!

We went to San Francisco on Thursday… the French Embassy didn’t approve us to leave this Monday (the 1st)… so our flight plans are leaving from SLC NON-STOP (yeah baby) on March 8th. I can't believe it's that soon!

Thursday was great, hopefully I'll have time to write the funny parts--like having a 19-yr old elder be the travel leader and hearing him try to call for a shuttle by starting out with a "yeah...ummm...we're the missionaries....from Christ's church.umm....we need a shuttle...." I didn't even try to stifle the giggle! It kinda reminded me of matthew the other day on the phone actually...just to give you an idea! so great. The highlight of the day was probably that they forgot to pick us up at the airport, so we were stuck there until 10:30 P.M.

So, we do 75 minutes of "service" every week, which translates to us cleaning the bathrooms here. We are super lucky ducks and got the showers the last two weeks...Which, is awesome and terrible. Awesome cuz you get to use these huge industrial power sprayer things and have to wear goggles cuz the chemicals you use might blind you or something (slight exaggeration--but you do have to wear goggles...pics will be sent forthwith). Terrible because when you have like 60 girls living on one floor, that translates to a whole lot of hair in the shower drains.

Another funny moment was in the RC (referral center) this week. You get like a nifty head set and make phone calls following up on things that non-members have ordered (book of mormons, bibles, free videos, etc...) and then bear testimony and basically try to talk them into letting the missionaries come over.. anyway, because you're calling all over the country, you end up on the phone with some pretty dang interesting characters..or more often, you get hung up on by some very interesting characters. usually it's no problem figuring out what to say, but one of them left me speechless...like ZERO words. I started talking to her and told her who I was and she goes, "Actually, my mom just got murdered and I need to get off the phone." ummm......."okay good luck with that?' I mean what do you say to that really?! The MTC is full of surprises every day!

I am learning patience and how important it is to have the spirit with you. I have come to have a much greater understanding of how seriously awesome the Book of Mormon is.

Oh and yeah--crazy about the Belgium mission!!! We heard about that this week too....so who knows--maybe I'll end up in lots of the same places as Nelson!

I don’t have much time because sweet sister Wang has need of us to re-pack all her bags cuz it was like Joshy man had packed them & because I am emotionally worn out. I haven’t really cried until tonight & sister Wang keeps saying “I shouldn’t waste my diamonds (tears), but man…1. Sister Wang is leaving early tomorrow 2. We had to say goodbye to our elders 3. They made us sing “God be with you till we meet again” @ the departure fireside (just plain mean if you ask me)! I feel like I’m saying goodbye to my MTC Family. We spend so much time together, have shared testimonies, experiences & have grown together & now they’re all leaving to go into the real world!

I’m worried about leaving. I am really scared. The MTC is safe & I can handle it. But I was called to France for a reason & purpose & I am excited to go & seek out those who God has prepared for me to teach. I have faith that they are there – ready & waiting!

It sounds like your lives are absolutely CRAZY! I don’t know how you are keeping up – then again I always did suspect you two had some hidden “energizer bunny” plug-in somewhere in your bodies!

Mom, I missed your admiring all the charming houses w/porches in San Francisco. It just wasn’t the same without you imagining your small-town hick life there!

I love you all to infinity and back and am so grateful for all your support and love!

love, jordo
p.s. I'll send Sister Wang's info in a letter later--tell the Teng's thank you so much!! She gets so excited even when we get mail, and you should have seen her when she got your package of gummi bears!!!???? i will admit that there was some welling of tears. thank you for doing that mom. i really appreciate it. and she thought the note about your boyfriend from taiwan was hilarious.
p.p.s. THAT IS RIDICULOUS!!! who do they think they are trying to split your precious ward…i think you need to march on up and take it up with Salt Lake!!! Then again...i really liked the music and the spoken word idea too, so maybe i'm a little torn hehe.
p.p.s.s. Tell Rash’s thanks so much for the package! The pics made me so happy (especially krew’s hee hee).
p.p.p.s.s. my new email is Jordan.pearce@myldsmail.net (dot instead of _)
p.p.p.s.s.s. This week will be crazy cuz we have 20 new missionaries from all over the world, and some of them know like zero English (which makes explaining rules & schedules interesting)
love you love you love you, I wish I had time to tell you more cuz being a missionary is so full of adventures!