Wednesday:
First day in the MTC is really fast paced filled with smiling faces telling you exactly where to go. I got my name badge and my books and I didn't even have time to think. Which is probably a good thing. 850 new people got here today!
We went to drop my luggage off at my room 409 and I had my first Spanish lesson of the MTC from Hermana Barlow--she didn't say a word in English.. Classic. She is really nice and its awesome to see someone teach with the Gospel. I met my Comp(anion) later. He just graduated high school from Highland and he's a pretty sweet dude! His name is Elder Rodrick and his best friend's dad took a selfie with me at the temple right before I came in.
My friend Dan (love you Dan), told me that old missionaries hide stuff in the vents for the next missionaries to find! I told my roommates this and we found a bunch of sweet stuff, including a Christmas tree!
Thursday:
There is so much faith here in the MTC that we can become great and it's really awesome. My comp and I feel like we're kind of on our own to figure out all the details of the MTC. We have so many classes, and they're all at least 2 hours long.
I learned how to bare my testimony is Spanish today! Yo testifico que El Libro de Mormón es verdador! Our rule book is called "The White Bible" and it's mostly composed of rules made because of problems that Missionaries have had in years past.
I'm still figuring stuff out, but everyone says "just make it to Sunday!"
***MTC = Make The Change
Friday:
Today was Pizza Friday. It was underwhelming despite the hype. The food here isn't necessarily bad, its just Cafeteria food that has to be able to feed 2,500+ (!) people.. But we all pretty much agree that it's pretty good food. My roommates are Elders Poulson, Allen, Gerhke, Whiting, and Roderick. They're all super great kids, and we're all going to parts of Argentina!
We had our first exercise time today, and we played volleyball with Elder Paulson and Elder Dallimore who live around me in Sandy. We also got to play with some sisters which takes away from the onslaught of testosterone I was getting used to.
Elder Rod and I taught our first lesson to an "investigator" today! All en Español! It went poorly, but we will keep working hard. "Hermano Mika" was his name. I sent and received a package from Sophie today too! Hers was super cute and all the Elders in my room got mad jealous.
"Fe es como una semilla" -- Faith is like a seed.
Saturday:
"Everyday feels like a Tuesday in the MTC" -- Elder Roderick
We played some volleyball after a little personal study. You can't keep track of score so we joke around sometimes after someone gets a point and say "that tied the game, elder!" The game is allegedly always tied. I get a big kick out of it ahah.
Spanish was hard today and my tongue hurts. We had a sub today and he inspired me by telling us to envision coming off the plane....suit in tatters... shoes with holes... and just confidence that you worked so hard.
Sunday:
I was the first person to speak in testimony meeting right now! I bore my testimony on teaching with the love of Christ. Its so different than how the world teaches. I also talked about how the MTC believes in humanity. The spirit was super strong.
We had a devotional from the UVU president--Matthew Holland. Last time I heard him speak, he talked about Abe Lincoln haha so I was excited. He spoke about the strength of the BoM, and how true it is, from a historical/worldly standpoint.
Apparently the MTC has movie night, which is pretty sweet. We watched "Ephram's Promise" which was pretty much the corniest movie I've ever seen. A kiss happened and the MTC lost their collective minds. Anyway, I made it to Sunday!
"Keep on praying and go to work" -- President Hinckley
Monday:
Today is the day before P-day and it went pretty fast. We taught Mika again and it went a lot better. It's hard to stay focused working, our schedule is pretty much, Wake up, exercise for 40 minutes, get changed, go eat, study for 3 hours, eat, study for 3 hours, eat, study for 3 hours, and then an hour before bed to write in journals and get ready for bed.
Everyone is getting closer with each other, though and that's a great thing because we all have so many stories about our friends and stuff that we can share. It's great and I have a lot of respect for everyone here!
