First week at the MTC!

So....We only have 30 minutes every preparation day to do email. It counts down and if we go over time, it starts counting up again and sends the report to my branch president - so I'll have to make this quick. Every day here seems really long but this first week has gone by pretty fast. In just a few hours, my district won't be the new missionaries anymore. The first day here, last Wednesday, was pretty crazy. It was nice because you had a little sticker on your nametag so everyone knew that you were new, and everyone was really friendly. The elders help you grab your bags from the car, and then they introduced me to my host sister, who showed me around the dorms and took me to pick up my books and everything I needed to do.

Then I met the people in my district. My companion, Hermana Ivey, has been going to UVU so we're kind of both Provo girls. I never wanted to claim myself as a Provo girl - and I still tell people I'm from Colorado - but Provo's my home now too. Kind of. Oh well. She's really nice and has a really strong testimony, being the only active member of her immediate family. She's taught me a lot already There are three other sisters in my district - Hermana Dalia, Hermana Riter and.........Hermana Johnson! I knew Hermana Johnson when we lived in Dublin, CA when I was four or five, and our moms are still really good friends. I knew she was coming into the MTC on the same day as I was and that she is serving Spanish-speaking, but it was total chance that we are in the same district. I also live in a room with these four sisters and Hermana Judy who is going to Spain. She's a solo sister because her visa is taking a while to be approved so she's going to be reassigned temporarily and she leaves next week.

So the first day was a blur. And I can't even remember most of it at this point. Thursday was the longest day of my life, probably because we didn't have gym time. Just class and meetings and study time and everything. The schedule here is crazy. They pack so much into one day, it's not even funny. I've also had a hard time falling asleep every night so that makes it harder. I get 6.5-7 hours of sleep a night though still, so I'm surviving. It's nice being busy - without having school, I would come home and have nothing to do at night and I'd be completely unproductive. Now, I'm busy from 6am-9pm at night. In a way, the MTC is just like school, except you're only studying two subjects ten hours a day - the gospel, and Spanish. So I like it in that way.

But sometimes it's hard not to have a choice. I mean, I always have a choice. But I've always been the kind to take a break when I need it. And that's not how life works here. You have to push and push and push - and then you can finally rest at the end of the day. I'm also surprised at how well I'm picking up Spanish. Sometimes I mix up Spanish and French, and I couldn't speak AT ALL in our first lesson, but it's coming, and I understand a lot of it already. We gave our first lesson - get this - on FRIDAY NIGHT. IN SPANISH. Our THIRD DAY at the MTC. It was insane. And then we gave one the very next morning. I felt much better after the second one - after the first one, I was really doubting myself. But "whoever the Lord calls he qualifies." I just need to remember that every day.

I've loved the firesides and devotionals and spiritual workshops that I've attended - they've all helped me learn a lot. I just know I need to rely on the Lord completely and seek to have the Spirit with me all the time. I've felt good this past week. It's been hard, but I know I'm where I'm supposed to be. We watched the broadcast of the temple dedication, and I loved seeing that as well.

Anyways, I'm really out of time. I can't wait for Parker to get here in two weeks!!! He is going to love it - if he works hard. I got a package from my co-workers the other day which was really nice and needed. I haven't gotten much mail, but the mail I got came on Friday, which was the really hard day. So that's all I needed. But if anyone wants to write, my address is on my facebook page and you can write me at dearelder.com FOR FREE while I'm at the MTC. And Mom - you're slacking on the packages if I'm getting packages from Uncle Steve before you!!! Haha. Love you all and hope everything is great at home!