Hola me familia y me amigos,
I wish I had a lot to write about today but unfortunately, I
don’t. This week we have just been getting into the routine of the MTC. We wake
up at 6:30, get ready till 7, at 7-8 we study (Hermana L and I read the Spanish
Book Of Mormon out loud, one verse at a time switching back and forth between
books).
Then we go to breakfast which usually includes waffles,
pancakes, something random (yesterday it was a hotdog bun with beans cheese
melted on it) and cereal (3 WHOLE KINDS! But they have frosted flakes, so you
KNOW Hermana Groves has no problem with that). I know what you’re thinking, “ Waffles
and pancakes? Awesome!” Well you don’t
even know the half of it! Apparently they don’t believe in maple syrup here, or
butter for that matter. The toppings we get to choose from are: chocolate syrup, strawberry syrup (yes syrup)
and honey. Basically we’re on a sugar high for the first few hours. I think
they do that on purpose because we can be so dead in the morning haha.
After that we have
like a 3 hour block of class. Our morning teacher is Hermana B. I like her, but
she knows that I am the only person in my class who hasn’t taken at least TWO
YEARS of Spanish, so she kinda singles me out when she’s teaching. Which is
fine, I mean I get what’s being taught, I just can’t memorize 40 new phrases
every day! But she’s cool. I can tell
that she honestly cares about me and my learning.
After class we have
about an hour of gym time, in that time Hermana L really likes to get going. This past week we did a few different things:
we went in the weight room where i just
biked and Hermana did a bunch of weight training stuff (that she remembered
from college softball), we also played
basketball a few times with the elders from our district. Well she played basketball,
I just kinda ran from one part of the court to the other and attempted to block
Hermana L (they put us on opposing teams and they don’t dare guard us). We’ve also played ping pong with Elder S who
couldn’t play basketball with the other elders because he basically broke his
finger the day before being too competitive in… Basketball. Yesterday we played
volleyball with some Elders from a district in our branch. That was probably my favorite gym activity
because I can actually play volleyball and I didn’t look like an idiot. So
HOLLA! That was great.
After gym we have
about 40 minutes to "prepare for our next activity." We never shower
after gym so you guessed it! Hermana L and I study during our free time. We then go to lunch at
about 1 o’ clock and the food is basically a surprise every day, same with
dinner. The only meal we can count on is Tuesday dinner. Its pizza night (by
the way mom that reminded me of you because there were jalapenos and pepperoni
on the pizza, so whoever orders it out is a Mexican version of you), but
anyways the meals are always a surprise. I grab a plate because it looks familiar, like
something Mom would make or something and then WHAT? Not even close to being
similar. Haha its almost ridiculous how something can look like chicken and
taste like… I don’t even know!
Anyway, after lunch
we have TALL which is a computer based program that helps us learn Spanish
grammar and things like that. A lot of
the missionaries here joke about wishing they had TALL with them to fall asleep
at night, but personally I like it, probably because I can move at my own speed
and work on something until I completely get it.
After TALL we have
more additional study time which varies to what we study every day. Friday we
started with a teacher in the afternoon which we didn’t have initially. Hermana
S is our afternoon teacher. I don’t know
if I told you about our investigator Martha, but it turns out that after we
were done teaching her she became Hermana S our afternoon teacher. I really
like her. She is Mexican but served a
mission in Temple Square so she speaks fluent English. Because we taught her
she knows what our weaknesses are with investigators and she tries to work with
them. She also makes sure that I understand things before she moves on. I
really like her because she teaches in a different way, and even though I hate
it, I understand it.
So after that 3 hour
block or so we move onto dinner. I already told you dinner and lunch are about
the same here. Yikes. I honestly thought I wasn’t a picky eater before I got
here, but I was wrong. Although I’ll eat what’s placed in front of me I have to
fight my gag reflexes haha.
The longest part of the day is after dinner. We have to sit
in the classroom for 3 plus hours without a teacher. A third of it is personal language study,
another third is additional study and another third is our daily planning for
the next day. This part is so hard because we’ve already spent 7 plus hours in
that classroom, and now we have a bunch of 18 year old boys unsupervised and
bored. Oh my, if I learn ANYTHING during that block I am forever grateful. You
know me, I basically have ADD so anytime anyone starts telling a story or
talking about something I’m the slightest interested in my attention span is
gone. Hermana L is so good at blocking them out, honestly like I’m way jealous
of her. She’s got this missionary thing down.
So after that, at 9:30
we go to our casa, shower, write in our
journals, companion and personal pray and go to sleep. Repeat the next day. But
we now have two investigators (both of our teachers and their "alter
egos" and that happens during class time every day).
Up until yesterday I
only saw one person I knew from home on the daily, Hermana Alainey Carter. But
yesterday Elder Josh Bolton (from cedar) and Elder Stockton Fisher (from Hurricane
who I was friends with in college) both came and I’ve seen them both at least
twice. So that is really reassuring to see familiar faces.
We also had a live
broadcast devotional from Provo on Tuesday and I actually saw Asher on the
screen twice. So I thought that was pretty cool, they said you couldn’t see
family while in the MTC, pft. I showed them! Haha that devotional was WAY good
btw. Neil L. Anderson spoke about love and sacrifice. I took away this quote from it "We
sacrifice the things we love and we love the things we sacrifice for." Geesh, I wasn’t crying then but I’m crying
now, in the computer lab. I just think deeply about it, and I think about how much I love you, my
family and my friends, and how I know that because I love you so much I am
willing to sacrifice these 18 months of my life for the better. I know that
because I am sacrificing myself unto the Lord I will be blessed and the people
I love will be blessed.
He also said
"Your voice WILL be heard, whether you speak out loud or not". I took a long hard sit and thought about that.
It’s like that quote I had on my mirror "Your reflection reflects in
everything you do and everything you do reflects on you." Your actions may speak louder than any words
to come out of your mouth. Do you realize that? As a bystander on the street
you may change the course of someone’s life. All of us have the obligation to
be our best at all times. If we are bearing the name of Christ, whether it is as
a missionary or just a member of the church, you are bearing his name and you
must live like you believe.
Also kinda on that same subject, we sat with this sister at
dinner a few nights ago who asked us why we were going on missions. We told her, and then she told us her
reasoning, and hers was cool. She was sitting in sacrament, and someone was
speaking on tithing. She was like, "That is a sacrifice to the Lord but
what could I give that would be a sacrifice for me? At the time I was 18 so 18
months was 10 percent of my life so I thought, I should sacrifice myself and
serve a mission." I just think it’s funny how mysterious God works in
order to hasten his work.
Yesterday I got a
letter from Angie and it was awesome! I loved getting physical mail!
I know that I said my
letter wouldn’t be long, and I was wrong, sorry! I want you all to know how
much I love you, and just because I haven’t told my companion anything about
you that does NOT mean I don’t love you. I think she’s afraid that if she gets me
started I won’t stop! Haha I love you all so much and appreciate the support
you are giving to me as I am on my mission. I know that the Lord loves you and
is blessing you for the support. Please keep the faith and have a good
attitude, a positive attitude goes so much further than a bad one. Treat each
other well and show love. The people in
your life are placed there for a reason, and I am grateful all of you were
placed in my life. I love you all very much and hope you have a great week!
1John 4:19
“ We love him, because he first loved us.”
Love always,
Hermana Groves
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