I'm not sure when my letter will get to you, but it will be after the weekend (I'm going to have to send it today because it will be pretty long, and I haven't had the time throughout the week to get it all finished. Also I need to write the Jaalah and Tamsyn back too). Most of what I want to tell you about is in there, but I'll write this email anyways just for you :). Oh, and in case Tamsyn needs this by Sunday, I'll translate "I am a child of God' for you here, too. it's: "Ja som diet'a Boha". Pronounce Ja like "yah" in hi-yah! (what someone might say when karate chopping something) . Pronounce som with a long o, like in "oh" or "so" or "know". diet'a is pronounced dee-eh-ta (eh being like the e in "red"). Boha is pretty much how it looks, with the a being like the a in Ja. Same with the a in diet'a. Hopefully that explanation makes sense haha.
Things are going quite well here, and the language is coming along. It's much slower than I would like, but it's coming. I wish I could just know it in a day. But I can't :p . i was sick for most of this week (I had a cold), and that made things pretty difficult. It's hard to keep focused or stay awake or learn when you're sick. Especially being sleep deprived, which is what a mission does to people. My teacher said he was always tired every day of his mission, but when he got home he was fine. Hopefully my body adjusts enough that that won't happen, but I doubt it.
It was raining lightly when we got out of the temple this morning, and I thought to myself that if it was like this every day in England, I really wouldn't mind at all. Unfortunately, I have the feeling that the rain will be coming down a little harder there most of the time.
Slovak is pretty different from English. I know I say that every time, but more and more I learn how different it is. there's no such thing as articles in Slovak (no the, a, etc.). also, pronouns are almost always optional, because the way the verb is conjugated shows who it applies to. Also, adjectives and nouns have to be conjugated to match the case they fall under when following prepositions and verbs, and when certain things want to be said. Like "Boha" means "of God", but there are five other ways of saying it to change it's meaning off the base word "Boh" (which just means God). Really confusing, and I have to memorize all those cases. the cases also change based on what kind of noun it is. then they're different if they're plural. That's only a small portion of what I have to be able to pull from memory at conversational speed for my sentences to make sense :p. And of course, there are random exceptions to every rule we learn, which we also have to memorize. Needless to say, I still need to use my notes when teaching my investigator.
Speaking of whom, my companion and I have been very successful. He has been keeping the commitments he makes with us, where he hasn't kept them for the other companionships. It means we're doing something right, which is good. A couple lessons ago, Starši Williams was nearing the end of his part of the lesson when I got an impression to give Peter the baptismal challenge. We had certainly not planned on this, but I decided I probably should if I was being prompted. So I flipped way back in my notes to where I had written it down a couple weeks ago, and when Starši Williams had finished I gave the challenge. my companion looked at me like "this wasn't in the plans", but then Peter says "áno!", which means yes. It was so crazy! We were really excited. well my time's up now, so I've got to go, but my letter will be there soon. I love you very much, and miss your hugs.
Love,
Zach
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