Hello family and friends!
My audience is both my parents, family, friends, and those who know me enough to be on my blog.
The MTC has been a roller coaster of spiritual highs and stress. Both have taught me to be a better missionary. I don't have all the words that I need to explain the experience, nor the time to do so since I only have an hour to write and read email, but here are a few key things:
Because I am a Spanish missionary, I got sent to West Campus where my companion and I interact with only Spanish missionaries. We live in dorm/apartment/residences instead of what the main part of the MTC is, so I have no need of the shower sandals I got. We eat food in a school cafeteria slash hotel breakfast area that is in a trailer. The shear amount of food options astonished me. I could talk more about the food, but I won't. : ) Rest assured I'm eating well Mom.
I leave for San Antonio early Wednesday. the 25th. If I get the chance to write back to you again, I will do it next week on Tuesday. I can only read mail on my PD's (Tuesdays), but the PD will likely change once I enter the field, on the 25th.
My companion is named Elder Zelaya. If he were as tall as Elder Boggess (friend from my ward who will leave soon), he would remind me even more of Elder Boggess. He's a guy who was born in El Salvador, but lived a great amount of time in North Carolina. He's also going to San Antonio, and we leave together. Odds are though that we won't meet again after we separate in San Antonio, I'll treasure the time that I have with him.
Our district has two pairs of elders including my companionship and I, and another pair of sister missionaries. Elder Dean is a missionary from close to Provo, who spent approximately a year in San Diego, but was sent home after dealing with a sickness. After the doctors figured out what was wrong, he was able to return, but it had been a while so he had to come the MTC again. I don't mind because he has taught me many things and helped me along, as I am one of three gringos in our missionary branch of 60. Everyone speaks excellent Spanish.
Elder Dean's companion, Elder Cooper is from Brazil. This Elder just amazes me. He knows a passable amount of English, and his Spanish improves every day. He's bound for Arizona. What's more, when he can't find a way to say in Spanish what he means, he uses gestures. His gestures often defuse the tension in our classroom with humor.
The sister missionaries are Hermana Martinez and Hermana Garcia. Both are very kind, and I get a lot of helpful spanish advice from Hermana Martinez. And out of my district I am the very youngest. The baby, as it were, of it. So yes, even here in the MTC, I feel largely younger than everyone, even when I felt too old to wait to enter the MTC after a year of college.
My branch president for the mission is President Call. He knows the Filmores back in my ward, so it was comforting to know where I come from.
Oh, and thank you Mom for the package. I still have a ton of almonds too, so I guess with all the cashews I'm just nuts. I shared the cookies with my companion, and the other elder pair in my district.
Also, I'd like to alert you all of a service called Dearelder.com. This website allows you to send emails in letter form to missionaries. I prefer this to email because I can read physical letters any time I want after I've received them. I like to have as much time as possible to write back you y'all, but I also don't want to completely ignore your emails to do so. My dad will likely post the information on the blog. This doesn't mean you shouldn't send me email. You should, I love it. But dearelder will certainly help with the whole I-have-so-little-time thing.
In even additional addition: Mom, Dad, feel free to ask questions. I can copy them over and leave my responses below each in a question answer format in the emails I send back.
The MTC isn't perfect, but it is teaching me to speak the language of the spirit, not simply the language of Spanish. Heavenly Father loves me, and I know he loves everyone on the earth too. We usually don't notice it constantly, however.
-Elder Hall
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