Go

I am getting sent to Long beach.  I wish they had given me some sort of notice earlier. Luckily, all of the other visas for Belgium/Netherlands went through. I got the packages today. Aunt Juleen sent me a camera, and I got the contacts. George sent me a kimono from Japan, it is super cool. I am leaving on Tuesday, so I will be without companions or a schedule here for a day. Maybe I will just go to the Temple and do sessions as long as I can. I am worried about losing the little grasp I have on the language. I will not have language study in the morning, and I will be separated from other speakers and any sort of exposure to Dutch for as long as I will be learning it. 


 I got a notice in my mailbox today saying that my visa did not come through.am the only one who did not get the Visa in time. 
I think it was the apostille. Elder Gemmell actually got his call in November of 2014, but it took so long that he started serving 3 months in New Zealand before he came to the MTC because his entry date just kept on getting delayed. He was kind of a guinea pig for New Zealanders and visas. Elder Steele and Elder Mackay had put their papers in May and June I think, so they had even an longer wait than I had and they got their papers in by August or September. Hopefully, mine will not take more than a transfer, but possibly two. They said that they will notify me as soon as I get my visa, but my guess is that I will get it sometime in February. At least I will get a chance to see what it is like to teach people of my own country. I have no idea when they will send me when I get my visa, or if they would schedule it with the next group or send me alone. 

 I am not very disappointed anymore, but it is a little sad when all of my companions are always talking about next week and the things they are going to do and places they are going to be. We have been doing TRC lessons on Skype with members over there. Today we talked to a guy from Belgium, and he speaks Flemish. It sounds like Dutch words if they were french. No gutturals, and very smooth. It is hard to understand, but this guy said he would feed us every night if we end up in his area. The missionaries were at his house during the lesson. They said there are about 150 missionaries in the mission. He was one of the nicest people I have ever met. I wont be freezing in California, but I also can not go onto the beach. And I won't be very far from Uncle Carlisle. 

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