well I am finally in South Africa. The MTC isn't too bad they feed us good and they keep us busy. The flight over here wasn't as bad as i expected it to be the plane was only half full so we had plenty of room to stretch out. My companion for while I'm at the MTC is Elder Mamba who is from Swaziland. There are 30 Elders here. There are 22 Elders from the U.S. 1 from Scotland 1 from Australia 1 from Madagascar 1 from Kenya and some from South Africa. The other two missionaries in my room are Elder Knight from Battle Mountain Nevada and Elder Rainibe from Madagascar. Elder Knight and I get along pretty good because are companions have trouble speaking English so we have been helping each other out. We go to the temple every Tuesday while we are here at the MTC . I can't wait to get out of the MTC, I'm learning a lot but my companion is making it really stressful. its still winter here and kind of cold and the days are really short. Every morning I wake up to the most annoying birds I have ever heard in my life. I haven't really got to see what Africa looks like because the drive over here was in the dark and there is a big wall all the way around the MTC. The MTC President is Brother Christensen from St. George. When he saw my name tag he asked me if I was from Oak City, and then he told me how he spent every summer growing up in Oak City visiting family. And that we are probably related. I don't really know what else to tell you, just that i'm doing ok, i miss home and all of you but i'm having fun learning a lot and staying busy. i get to e-mail every Saturday while i'm at the MTC just so you know. it will take about fourteen days for a letter to get here or even a little longer Love, Elder Finlinson