FIRST LETTER HOME

FIRST WEEK

Well today is Saturday and it is finally my P-day. Normally it will be on Friday but for this first week it's today. I'm in here doing Laundry and just hanging next to some of the guys from my district

Well the first day here was pretty overwhelming for sure. Right when I came in they were sending me to all these booths and stuff to get everything set up and to give me everything I need. Then I met my companion after that. My companion is Elder Clark. He's a nice guy and we get a long pretty well.

It was kinda weird saying goodbye to Mom and Dad, because when I looked back I was like, oh man this is real.

It's awesome being here at the MTC and I spend a lot of time in class. The other 2 people that me and Elder Clark live with are Elder Erikson and Elder Buess. Yep, Elder Erikson is the one who lived in my Hall/Ward at BYU. It's awesome living with them because they have been here for like 6 weeks and they are the Zone Leaders so they are pretty good examples to us. They pretty much speak spanish like all the time. They gave me the hint that if I didn't want to wait in line for the shower and if I still wanted hot water, I should wake up at around 6. It's been pretty crazy but I'm having a great time.

Learning spanish is going pretty well. Our second day here, we had a substitute teacher come in who would only speak spanish. He could write in english, he just chose not to speak it. Suprisingly, I was able to understand him pretty well. I think everything in spanish I learned is starting to come back to me, and me and the guys in my district are trying to do the SYL (Speak Your Language) or the HSL (Habla Su Idioma). It's pretty cool talking with guys who have been here for a few weeks and trying to speak as much spanish as you know to them. So far we have learned how to pray, and how to bear our testimonies in spanish. I still have a hard time praying in spanish, but I'm getting pretty good at using spanish to bear my testimony.

After we learned how to bear our testimonies, the teacher made us go out and contact 7 people and ask them if we could bear our testimony's to them. For the first couple I was having to read from my notes, but then later I was able to do most of it without looking. Like I said, I still kinda need notes to pray in spanish but I'm sure it will come. I get a little nervous sometimes about having to be able to teach lessons in spanish because it seems like that will require so much more spanish than I know, and I sometimes worry whether I'll be able to learn it. But I think at the rate we are going, we'll be able to pick it up pretty fast. Our district is great and we all know a pretty good amount of spanish. One of the Hermana's in our District took 5 years of French and then got called to a spanish mission so that's gotta be pretty crazy for her.

But Elder Munk and Elder Stukey are going to Morristown with Elder Clark and I, so that will be pretty great.

I'm excited not to be the new missionary in a couple weeks. I didn't know where like anything was here, but I'm starting to get the hang of it more. The Basketball Court here is still closed, but luckily it will open up on the September 7th, and then I can start balling it up again.

The schedule here is pretty tight. You don't really get to spend much time in your room, but you spend most of the time in the classroom. The food here isn't too bad, but I bet i'll get kinda sick of it after awhile. I guess the important part is, is to make the right choices in what you eat. Haha thanks Matt, Aaron and Caleb for the heads-up about not drinking the orange juice.

Well I've gotten a few letters since I've been here. Greg wrote me a nice letter, and Jessica and Rachel sent me a bunch of cookies, and oragami things and some nice letters as well. It seems like mail is a pretty prized possesion here. I get way excited when I have a letter or a package.

It's been awesome seeing so many people I know here. I saw Elder Chase Bastian with in the first few minutes, and I've seen Elder Trevor Taylor, Elder Benjamin Carlisle, Elder Aaron Funke, Elder Bridger Talbot, Elder JT Alston and a few other people I know from either high school or from college. It's kinda weird having Elder Day here because he reminds me a lot of a mix between my old roommate Trevor Taylor and Conner Rawle.

One of the habits that has been hard to break since I've been here is saying DUDE. I'm so used to saying it all the time and sometimes I'll call some of the guys in the district dude, and have to correct myself. Our first day here someone spoke to us and said "There are no guys or dudes here, all the guys and dudes are home dating your girlfriends" It was something like that, but they gave all of us a pretty good laugh.

I feel like I'm learning to be more responsible, and the Branch President made me senior companion for the first half of my MTC experience and then my companion will be the senior companion for the last half.

It's been hard to find a lot of time to do personal study, and I want to do my best while I am here, and work diligently to learn the language and everything. I'm going to try my hardest and try to strengthen my testimony. Well 17 seconds left gotta go.

Love You