2012 September 26th MTC email-last one!

Hello Family, What is up?!

Yeah, it's weird to know this is my last P-day here, but I am also happy to know that in one week I am going to be a legit missionary.  Well, I forgot to bring my travel plans with me, so I'll come back at a later time to send them to you, but I do know for a fact that I am flying from Salt Lake to DC, and then to Vienna, and then to Tirana.  So, it really hasn't completely sunk in yet, but it will in a couple days.  I've gotten too used to this place.

Mom, I did get the camera case and the medications, thanks very much for that, and I'll make sure not to put my SD cards in the front case.  I remember the state (stake) fair, it was ok, I guess, I think I played volleyball.  Yeah, sarcasm was tough to give up, (for a week) and I definitely wasn't perfect, but I think I did a lot better.  I'm glad I can speak English now, there was this new district of Hungarians that had to go a whole week listening to us speak nothing but Albanian, and when they heard us speak English after the temple they thought it was the weirdest thing ever.  It is kinda weird, I'm used to saying certain words or phrases in Albanian now instead of English and I have to stop myself to make sure the people around me can understand what I'm saying.  But, I thought it was really helpful, my overall grammar usage is a lot better now.  That's cool that Laura Johnson (first sister missionary ever from our ward) leaves next week, tell her I say 'good luck' (Taken reference). 

Andrea, that's cool that you're in TSA,(Technology Student Association) but isn't that like the airport police?

Jake, I'm sorry Deep Run sticks at football (again).  Good luck with 10th grade, I'm sure it was as chill as it was for me.

Ok, dad's questions:  1: I kinda understood your instructions, but they were kinda confusing, maybe when I call you in DC you can explain how to call in Vienna. (phone card instructions)
2:  I think I should be ok for packing up, although it'll be interesting.  In Vienna my carry on bag can only weigh 18 lbs, so we'll see how that goes.
3:  I don't think I have any other general questions right now before I leave, if I do I'll ask at the airport.
4.  Yeah, you emailed me your dear-elder and I responded to it.

So, I was already told about BYU and Utah football games by grandpa Jerry, that's ok basketball is better anyway.  That's good that the Cardinals are good, and also that the Nats are legit, I still want that t-shirt if they win the world-series.

Dad, thanks for the letter about you getting in France the first time, it'll be interesting to see what happens, I hope I don't travel to my first area by myself, but I guess we'll see.

Ok, that's about it I think, if I have any other news I'll write it in the letter I'll write next week.

Ju dua,

Elder Palmer

2012 September 19 MTC email

Hey family!

Ok, I think I might have to write a short one right now because I have to change laundry real quick, so I'll probably write another email if this one is kinda short.  Dad, if you wrote I won't get the letter until after this one is already sent, so I'll see you next week.

Ok, mom's questions.  Yes, I do have a few friends from school that write me, and yeah I have enough time to be able to write back, we have like 3 hours of personal time, so I have enough.  Yes, Provo has gotten a little bit colder, but not as cold as I thought it'd be at this point, which is fine by me.  My flight will be that long because of that fat amounts of layover that we are given.  To occupy my time, probably just to read scriptures, practice Albanian, and avoid the tv screen showing The Dark Knight Rises.  33 hours.......

Ok, so mom, I will get my travel plans on Friday, so next week I'll let you know the details when I write, but we're going from Salt Lake to either DC or New York, and then to Vienna, and then to Albania.

So I have been told about the BYU-Utah game already by my teachers, all I know is that we only lost by 3 this year compared to the 482650234795629374865923 we lost to last year, so that's an improvement.

So yeah, we have started Consecration week, and along with that I will not play basketball, nor will I say any sarcastic jokes at all (this will be a long week).  It's tough, I ran into Elder Crowley and it was tough to talk to him because I just had to wait for him to guess the right word.

Eric, when you go to class do you wear your team jacket to let all the girls know that you are a college athlete?  Do you have an ESPN profile?  Give me a rundown of your statistics next week.

Andrea, glad to know you're not completely depressed and don't hate everything in the world, at least you got jazz band.

Jake, glad you got a director for the season, Mr. Chlorie I heard is cool, so you're set.

K, I don't really think I have anything else to tell you about, but I am finally like on the verge of getting out of here and becoming a legitimate missionary.  Too hyped!

Ju dua,

Elder Palmer

2012 September 12 MTC email

Wattup family?

Ok I gotta be quick, I don't have too much time to write because it took me forever to send pictures today.

First, dad, yes, I figured out the Wolverine yesterday.  I just never got around to looking at your instructions because I never had time, but yeah I figured it out.  One question though:  How much memory does it hold up before I have to start erasing pictures?

Jake, I think I have heard of Sister King,(seminary teacher and she is cool) and I think she's cool, but you can be the judge of that.  I can't believe Deep Run lost to Atlee again (football, ugh), that has to be like the 4th time in a row. 

Andrea, enjoy Jazz Band, it's a lot of fun.  They (Striker Soccer Club-Andrea plays) schedule soccer games on Sunday because they don't follow BYU's honor code, or scheduling matters or whatever, but you'll be fine.  I heard you have new intense dance classes, so good luck with class.

Alright, I'll start with mom's questions:  yes, I got the cake.  (Chocolate cake with caramel frosting, family tradition)  It is SO good, like always.  However, when I got it, the frosting was all on the left side, which is fine, i just scooped it on the cake, so it's good.  Um, I don't know people from most of those places that are reading my blog, but the one from Canton, GA is my roommate from college, Chris Van Aken.  He reports next week and is going to San Antonio, so I am looking forward to that.  I am actually only wearing contacts when I exercise, and a few other times, but not too often.  I don't remember how much of a supply I got before I left, either a year or 2 year supply, but I might need some more for the whole mission.  I haven't really been sleeping well, the mattresses are terrible, so it sometimes takes a while to fall asleep, so that's why I am usually wearing glasses. I can't really think of what else I would need from you guys, but overall I am great.

Ok, dad:  I actually got released as DL a week and a half ago.  When you sent your letter saying you found out about it, I was already released ha-ha.  All good, but I am nothing now, my companion is district leader now.  The language is definitely coming along, we have some pretty intense SYL goals this week, and next Wednesday we kick off consecration week, where we speak only Albanian and give up something that we like for a week.  For my itinerary, I leave October 2, I don't know flight plans, I'll get them next Friday.  But from what my teacher told me who served there, we fly from Salt Lake to either DC (it is tempting to go hang out at the airport...but we won't) or NYC, have like a 10 hour layover, and then to Vienna, Austria, another couple hours of layover, and then to Albania.  I'll find out about calling stuff and let you know next week.

Ok, sorry about the short email but I am out of time.  Tell Eric to write to me.  And if the Nationals win the World Series send me a shirt.

Ju dua!

Elder Palmer

2012 Sept 5 email from MTC

Whattup, family? This computer does not let me change the keyboard to Albanian keyboard, which kinda makes me mad.

Anyway, I'll start with answering you're questions for the week.  Mom, laundry is just fine here.  Haven't screwed anything up just yet haha.  We'll see what happens when I get to Albanian though.

Dad, your turn.  1: Labor Day was just another day.  I don't think there are any holidays in the MTC.  The closest is probably Christmas, and my guess is there are just a bunch of devotionals that day, or something, but no days off in the MTC as far as I know.  2:  Lessons are always Albanian.  Haven't taught one in English.  My first two lessons were pretty much just reading straight out of Preach My Gospel, but no English lessons.  3: yes, 'ju' is the exact same thing as 'vous.'  It has the exact same function in Albanian as vous does in French.

Alright, onto normal business.  I can't believe I didn't think of Brother Holdaway. (New bishop) Well deserved!  When you see him, tell him I say congrats!  He's the man, he's gonna do work as Bishop.  So, Bro. Hutchinson and Howard are done already, eh?  Hmmm.  Anyway, so who does Jake get for his seminary teacher?

I'm glad Labor Day was fun for everyone.  Honestly, those picnics were always depressing to me, because I would just think about the next day.  It's weird not worrying about school in September, but it's cool too.

Andrea, way to go on the dance competition, 6th, 5th, and 4th ain't bad at all!

Eric, way to get off the Bench! (Soccer game) Did you help the team win in any way?  Oh yeah, and I saw that guy who was in the singles ward who dated Devynn this last week.  What was his name, Betancourt?  Well, I saw him.  Didn't have the chance to talk to him yet, but I'll try to if I can.

Jake, enjoy sophomore year.  It is the EASIEST year of high school you'll ever have.  So enjoy that.  Do you have a band director yet?

Tell Grandpa Bob happy birthday for me, send me a piece of that cake.  (I sent him a whole cake)

So, no more trees, eh?  That'll probably be weird when I get back if there are no trees.

Ok, sports.  Stinks about(Scott) Layden leaving (Utah Jazz).  Are they going to hire a new coach?  And is it true CJ Miles signed with Cleveland?  You can't leave me out on this stuff.  If it's true, good riddance.  Another headache off the team.  Is Raja Bell with anyone yet?  That's good that BYU won, but I could see them losing to Utah State, especially if we barely won last year. 

So, the Hungarians in my zone leave this week, so my district will be the senior district in our zone.  I've watched 6 English districts leave before ours, 4 of them coming in after us.  I want to get out.  We had a culture class last week, and because of time I can't get into detail now, so remind me to talk about it next week, but I am stoked to get out of here.  Less than 4 weeks!  Oh yeah, mom or dad, can you call the person in charge of my visa to make sure everything's in order?  I just want to make sure.  There's a paper in my file that has the number to call, her first name is Jaime, I can't remember her last name though.  We leave October 2nd, by the way, so get ready for a call then. 

Anyway, that's all I got this week.  Stay happy, and I'll see ya next week!

ju dua!

Elder Palmer

2012 Aug 29th email from MTC

Wattup family?

Ok, so they just installed new software for the computers, so I can send pictures via email now!  So I am gonna do that real quick.  You'll get another email with the other pictures.  I don't have too many right now, but I thought I'd send some.  One is Elder Nair, (Not posted yet) I know him from EFY, he's going to South Carolina, he actually left for the field a couple days ago.  Then there's me with Elder Fiala,(See entry dated Aug 14th, 12.) and then me, Elder Nelson, and Elder Romney.  Elder Romney is the blonde, and Elder Nelson is the other.

Ok, now I'll start the questions, first mom's.  Yeah, I ran into Elder Romney a couple times already in the past week, so it was good to see him.  That's about it for mom.  Dad, 1:  I haven't really had time to use the wolverine yet, so I'll find time to use that this week.  2:  (How much are you lifting?)  Oh,  you know, the max weight they got is 75 lbs, but that's too easy for me haha.  Nah, I'm not lifting a ton but I'm probably lifting more than I ever had.  Elder Finklea and Miller Elder (Hungarian Elder in my zone) are my fellow muskullkokes, and I go lifting with them, and I'm the wimpy kid while they're lifting really heavy stuff.  3:  I'm gonna guess I won't watch football in the MTC, but I know I'll probably hear it every Saturday night.

Eric, because of that I'm gonna talk even more about sports now.  If the Kings go to VA Beach that would be sick, but where would they play?  And hopefully the Jazz will be that good by 2016.

Ok, onto mission stuff.  We've been doing a ton of teaching this week, and with our new investigators, we're not going to receive any feedback for how we did after lessons this time, so we can only hope we do well.  We're doing ok,  So, I told you I'm district leader.  Everyone believes that Me and Elder Tanner will be the next zone leaders for my zone.  Since my zone is made up of one Albanian district, two Hungarian districts, and two big English districts, only missionaries going to foreign places are zone leaders, and since I have district leader training, everyone's saying it's us.  If it is, then it'll probably be cool.

Ok, so what else has been going on?  Not really sure.  The language is getting a lot better, we do SYL (Speak your language) Tuesday morning, all day Thursday, and Saturday night.  We've done a pretty crappy job with SYL as far as accountability goes, but this week we're gonna go hard in the paint and keep each other accountable.  I have almost no problem starting a conversation in Albanian, and for the most part I can understand my teachers when they speak.

So, this week, I finally finished 2 Nephi.  The ending chapters we're a lot about Isaiah's prophecies and the 2nd coming, and that the wicked will perish, so, it's good that I know that now, because if you asked me what happens in 2 Nephi before that I would have had no idea.

I can't believe it's been a whole year since I started BYU.  I remember thinking, "oh, the mission is so far away, I don't have to think about it now."  Well, I'm here.  Jake, sophomore year is about the easiest year you can have in high school, so make sure to enjoy it.  Andrea, 7th grade's pretty chill too, so do the same.  Eric, when you make it on the cover of MLS '14 send me the cover picture. (Eric is playing soccer at SVU this year.)

Eric, go onto my FB page, and if someone with the last name Hoxha added me, accept it.  He's a teacher.

So, wait, why do these emails not go onto my blog?  What's the point of a blog if there's no writing in it.  I'm not going to be able to write in it until I hit the field, so you might as well put these in here.  I don't think I'm writing anything too personal, and if I am you could just take it out.  I don't know, that's what I would do if I could.  (OK, I have been posting the MTC letters....)

Anyway, that's about it.  I'll give the wolverine another shot this week, we'll see how it goes.

Ju dua,

Elder Palmer

*I kept getting emails that it did not successfully send with the pictures, so I wasn't sure if you got them, so I sent this again.  If you got them, then ignore this.

2012 Aug 22 email from MTC

What is up, family mine?  I was gonne write in Albanian, but the computer wouldn't let me switch to the Albanian keyboard, so I wrote it out the way you'd translate Albanian into English.  First, tell Sister Warnick thanks for the letter, it was awesome, I'll find time to write back next week.  Second, can you give me Grandpa Bob's address?  I need to respond to his letter still, I feel kinda bad about it.  I saw my great uncle, the one who works at BYU, who is grandpa Bob's brother, I forget his name.  I can't remember if he's on a mission himself, or if he's in a branch presidency, I think it's the latter. (Uncle Steve and Aunt Karen Benzley, preparing to serve in Rexburg, Idaho at BYU, as a professor.)

So, I'm kinda ticked that I lost the SD card, even though it's my fault. (See previous post about mailing)  I don't know how to get the bubble package, but I'll figure it out.  Dad, I'd retake the map pictures, but Elder Fiala left for the field yesterday.  See if Sister Fiala has any pictures with me in it.  I did get one last picture with him Monday before he left.  I saw Elders Dial and Bleyl walk in today, but I haven't seen Elder Romney yet, but I know he reported today.

I guess that stinks that Mr. Ransome is gone, (High school band teacher)  I never had a legit experience working with him, so  Jake and Eric can be the judge of his departure.  That does stinks that there's no director, what would happen if they don't hire a new one on time?

Alright, I'll start off with mom's questions.  First:  yes, all that money is for tithing, use it all.  Phew, now I can actually be here without guilt now that I am a full tithe payer.  Also, yes I did get both packages.  Thanks for the food, and I missed my VCU hat.  And the chips.  And the European kit kat bars #thebest. 

Alright, dads.  1: Yesterday we finally had our first general authority speak since I've been here.  It was Elder Anderson.  Since it was President Monson's birthday yesterday, he talked about him and his qualities.  It was called "10 things President Monson would say to you right now."  Crap, I wish I had my journal with me, but mostly it was tips on how to be a missionary, so I'll give a few of his quotes:

"Only compare yourself to yourself"

"NEVER ignore a prompting of the Spirit"

ALWAYS testify of Joseph Smith"

"Have a strong testimony of the Savior"

I know those are quotes that have been said before, but I really liked it, and I got quite a bit out of it.

2: I've tried using the wolverine once, and I have no idea how to use it, so if you could maybe dearelder a quick and easy guide on how to upload photos that would be fantastic.  I see you left a lot of family pictures in it, it was good to see your faces again.

Ok, sports.  All I can say is Kevin Kolb needs to go.  Hopefully RG3 will become a beast.  I'm pretty sure there's another quarterback out there unsigned who's better than him.  As far as NBA goes, has Derek Fisher gone anywhere yet?  What about Ronnie Brewer?  Is there absolutely nothing on the Jazz?  Remember, I want every last little detail about the team, no matter how important or unimportant the news is.  I already know it's gonna be Lakers-Heat finals right now, booking it.  And the Lakers will prolly win with Nash and Dwight Howard, so..........

How about baseball?  Are the Diamondbacks playoff bound?  That's all I really care as far as baseball.  And BYU football will be mediocre again, not so sure about basketball. 

Anyway, on last thing.  Can I get Elder Fiala's and Elder Pyron's address?  I wanna send them a letter before I get to Albania and it takes 4 months for them to get it.

Also, about the blog, I don't think I can get on it while I am in the MTC.  There's no address bar or anything, just links to myldsmail and lds.org.  I'll just check it out once I hit the field, and hopefully soon you'll receive my SD card, so there will be more pictures with that.  Anyway, I'm out of time, so I'll see ya next week.

Ju dua!

Elder Palmer

2012 Aug 15 email from MTC

Wattup family?  

Well, I only got letters from dad, and Eric this week......awkward.  (Miscommunication about who pressed the "send" button)  Anyways, I guess I'll start by answering Dad's questions. 1: So, I have rec time 6 days/week and I play basketball twice, Monday and Friday.  That's when I have it at night.  I have it at 1:25 the rest of the week, and I usually go lifting with my fellow muscleheads in my zone #gettinbig.  2: The hardest thing about Albanian is something I can't really describe in under 30 minutes, so I'll just leave it to you to look it up online.  They're called clitics.  In a sentence, if we're using the word "me, you, he/she/it, us, you all, or they"  we have to acknowledge that we are describing "you me he/she/it us you all they" twice.  For example:  Ata na jep neve një libër which means they gave us a book.  "na" and "neve" both mean "us" so they say "they us gave us a book."  Fortunately, it's usually not necessary to put 'neve' in the sentence, so if translated, Albanians say 'they us gave a book.'  Ok, I'm done confusing everyone, you can look it up on your own now haha.

 

So, I already knew about the Dwight Howard trade.  There goes another star I've lost respect for.  So much for striving for competitive balance.  It's gonna be Lakers-Heat finals this year, pretty much without question.  The other teams shouldn't even try now. The magic did not get a good deal in this, I don't think.  They could have gotten more draft picks from that trade.

 

Is Kevin Kolb still the starting QB for the Cards?  I guess even with RG3 the Redskins are still the Redskins. Whatever.

 

I guess that's pretty cool about Romney, don't really know much about that guy, but I'll probably still vote for him #nobama2012.

 

I don't really have anything else to say.  I sent a letter with an SD card in it, but apparently someone told me while they scan the letter it'll erase the memory on it, so my bad if you get an SD card with nothing in it.  Now I know.  (We got the envelope, but someone had cut it open just enough to get the SD card out.  Even in the US, you should use padded envelopes.)

 

Well, that's all I got right now.  Next week you should all write to me.  Oh, and when am I gonna get a picture of the family?  All I got is a picture of me with Marcus and Duncan.  They're cool kids and all, but the fact that I don't have a family picture yet worries me.  Anyways,

 

të dua!

 

Elder Palmer

2012 Aug 8th, email from MTC

Wattup family?

 

Ok, today I'll start by answering mom's questions first. 1:  I have stamps and envelopes for envelopes, they're at the MTC bookstore.  2:  I have not had my last shot yet, I will get a note in my mailbox about when to get them. (Typhoid) Some elders in my district need to get it too, and they have yet to receive their notes either.  3: I did sorta understand granpda's (Bob-wrote him a letter in Albanian) message, however, it's not perfect albanian grammar haha, but I understood it overall and appreciate it.  4:  Things to eat?  Honestly, as time goes on, all the food is pretty much at the same level as far as quality #goodolecannoncenter.  Jeremiah 4:19-20 describes MTC food pretty well.  They do serve Papa John's every friday, but by the time I get there all that's left is crappy pizza that has slices of tomatoes on it #whothecrapeatsthat?  And that's too bad about the Carters moving, they're good people, but I have friends who live in Palmyra, so maybe they'll meet them.  Dad, I'll be honest, I completely forgot you had shoulder surgery, so I hope you're doing well. (Right shoulder)

 

Alright, now with Dad's questions. 1: Yeah, I've seen Elder Crowley quite a few times, he's pretty excited to be here.  2: Our new roommates just arrived today, they will be serving in Hungary, so for the next couple days I'll be at their level of speaking, becuz I've learned a few words in Hungarian from hanging out with the current Hungarians in my zone.  The most interesting thing I learned in Albanian, let's see: çdo ditë unë jam shuffling dhe ne humbëm sepse ti je majmë!  That is "everyday I'm shuffling" from Party Rock Anthem and "we lost because you are fat!" from Nacho Libre.  So, that's about it overall

 

Ok, now time for me to say what's on my mind.  So, apparently the only way to send you photos is to mail you my SD card, which then you will mail back, so I'm probably gonna buy another mini SD card, they have them in the bookstore.

 

Tell Jake he's the man, and tell him and Andrea that I know they have more to say, but he's just too lazy.  (Jake and Andrea didn't much write this week-Jake had band camp and Andrea didn't have much to say.)

 

Anyways, that's crazy about Kevin O'Connor.  It looks like the entire franchise is pretty much entering the modern age of basketball, no more old fashioned management or coaching anymore.  But the new guy they hired is from the Spurs, which is really good, since they're a pretty smart franchise as well, so I feel pretty good about it.

 

So, Elder Pyron's in the mission field.  I can't wait until he and Elder Aldridge are companions, that'll create some interesting stories.

 

Thanks for making Eric do dearelder from now on #wastingemailtime

 

Today was a pretty exciting day because one of my best friends from college, Elder Shawn Nelson, reported to the MTC today.  He's going to Paraguay, so he's gonna be in the Provo MTC for like 3 weeks, and then he'll go to an MTC in either Argentina or Brazil.  I haven't seen him yet, but I'm excited my college friends are finally getting here.

 

I see Elder Fiala often here, he's got about two more weeks, he looks like he's ready to get out of here.  I'm jealous.  I still got like 8 and a half weeks left.  Counting down the days until October 1.  I was talking to people who served in Albania, they said if we had a 200 word vocabulary, we are technically fluent.  Well, I think I know 200 words by now, I'm ready to go.

 

Anwway, I'm outta time, 30 minutes isn't enough.

 

te dua,

 

Elder Palmer

2010 Aug 1 email-first from MTC

Ckemi family!

First, I'll start off by answering Dad's questions.  1: I have no idea how many missionaries are in the Adriatic South mission, but I would hazard a guess a max amount of maybe 120, but that seems really high.  I assume like a 5:1 ratio of elders to motras.  2:  So, yeah, during class and study time she just hangs around with the district, but she is part of a companionship with 2 sisters going to Hungary. Her nametag does have a "solo" sticker on it so people know she can walk around with a bunch of elders.  (There is one sister in his district)  My Philly rommates left yesterday morning at like 4 AM, woke me up too.  We were supposed to get new roommates with English speaking elders, but they haven't shown up yet.  3: the hashtag stuff means absolutely nothing, you can ask Eric.  It's a trendy thing, but I could have just written them in a normal sentence.  I don't have a twitter, but I have given in to using hashtags a bit, so it's just a trend.

Alright, anyway, on to other stuff.  Jake, I'm glad you enjoyed EFY.  I'm sure you got all the girl's numbers and now text them all the time #ladiesman.  Andrea, you're not a beginner at dance, I would know.  It sounds like mom and dad had fun in England, but that's probably because you didn't just explore castles the whole time #justkiddingdad.  (Actually, thats almost all we did.)  So, grandma (Carlene) actually told me about Randy Foye, and that's a legit pickup, especially since he's gonna play backup.  Eric, I think the Jazz already bought Raja Bell out anyway, and I wouldn't be against the idea of Josh Howard coming back, he played well before he got injured last season.  So has Dwight Howard been traded to the Bobcats yet?  In my humble opinion, I think he should just stay with the Magic, and the Magic should just assign him to the d-league for the entire season so he can be humbled.  

So, the language is coming along, I'm getting good at knowing what to say when I teach lessons rather than just memorizing lines.  I've been spending all day looking for Elder Crowley, but that kid has been avoiding me all day.  Also, Elder Wein already left for Chile yesterday, apparently he was already really good at Spanish and they put him in the intermediate class #notsurprised.  Also, tell the Fialas thanks for the tie, it's awesome.  Elder Pyron leaves for Vegas on Monday, a little jealous.  Elder Fiala's doing good, but I hardly ever see him.  Also, remember the kid who played Joseph Smith as a kid in the most recent Joseph Smith movie?  Well he reported to the MTC last week. His name is Nick Whitaker, and I think he died his hair red so that he won't be noticed #didntwork.  I think that's just about it, I can't really think of anything else to say, other than I love you all and I miss everyone very much!

Te dua!

Elder Palmer

PS:  Answer this conflicting question that's going on in my district.  So, when we fly out to Albania, we'll fly from SLC to either New York City or DC, then to Vienna, Austria, and then to Albania.  We were wondering if that, while on the 11 hour (I'm gonna die) flight to Austria, they show The Dark Knight Rises on the plane.  Would it be bad if we watched it? (Yes) Obviously we're advised not to, but it's gonna be right in our faces, and it's gonna be tough to look away from it the entire time.  Obviously this is assuming the movie is played at all, but usually they put new movies on planes before they're actually released, so it's possible. (Scott was bummed that the movie "The Dark Knight" came out two days after he reported to the MTC!)

Also, I just remembered, we're allowed to wear hats on p-day, so can you send me my VCU hat?  I miss it so much.  Falemindirit!
Please?!