Yekaterinburg, Russia.

Yep. Folks, that's where I'm going. I report to the Provo MTC on April the 24th of 2013. And then I'm off to a magical land of ice and snow and Russian. I really don't have words for this occasion, it's just too grand. I shall surely have to write about it later.
I will say this though. I was not expecting this at all, but I am extremely thrilled about it!! My chess playing will come in handy! I'm really excited to learn Russian, and hope that I can manage it. Apparently the letters don't make the sounds that they're supposed to.

A Story

Tonight I had the privilege of volunteering in the MTC referral center. That means I was at a computer, and when somebody went onto mormon.org and requested to chat with somebody, I got to be one of the people who could chat with them. It was really awesome. I got to talk to lots of people and answer their questions about the gospel.
Anyway, we were supposed to only be getting chats in English, but one time somebody started a chat with me, and they began the conversation with "Hallo. Ich habe eine frage." This means, "Hello, I have a question." IN GERMAN!!!!! I was super excited!!! I was then able to have an entire conversation with this person from Germany, and I could understand everything he was saying and was able to answer back! Folks, my German is definitely not that good. I'm positive that I was able to understand words that I have never heard before in my life. I was able to dispel both the rumor that Mormons can have more than one wife, as well as the rumor that the Mormons are in charge of the NPD (the neo-nazi political party in Munich.) And then, after that, The guy told me that he wanted to learn more about the church!!!! After that, I told him about the Book of Mormon, and then he gave me his address and I was able to refer him to the German missionaries who are going to go to his house to teach him!!!! This is the coolest thing that has ever happened to me. What are the odds that that person would just happen to begin a chat with the volunteer who could speak a little bit of German? Folks, the gospel is true, and the Lord will make sure those who seek it will be able to find it. I'm so very grateful for this opportunity that I had to share the gospel with somebody, and to give them the opportunity to learn more about the Church.




Also, for Seth: After we finished each chat, we were supposed to mark who each person was that chatted with us and what they wanted. The options were like, "Seeking information" and such. One of the options was "Trolling."

I want to be a missionary now.... AND I DON'T HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL I'M GROWN

I cannot express how happy I am right now. Everything in my life has led up to this moment. All of my greatest wishes are fulfilled and also all of my greatest fears are quenched. Brace yourself, world, for elder Oldroyd #2. I am so ready to go. The Lord has been preparing me for this in ways that I had no idea of. My gratitude cannot be expressed by any words my feeble mouth may be able to come up with. My life just changed a ridiculous amount.
To be a part of this is just absolutely incredible. The work of the Lord is moving forward, friends, and I'm going to be right there helping push it along. Wish me luck!

Farewell, Willie

Yes, he's gone. Well, in the MTC anyway, so he's still right here in Provo, but he's officially gone now. It's kinda sad and happy all at the same time. Mostly happy, because now he gets to go convert souls to the truth, and it's gonna be awesome for him!! It's crazy though that I'll leave before he gets back. I won't see him for four years! Well, I'm glad that I have a great example for a big brother, and it's been awesome having him as a friend all my life. What a good guy. I've also comendeered his books, car, phone, Facebook, board games, etc... So that his poor stuff won't we forgotten.