Well my first week at the MTC is nearly coming to a close.
Saturdays are my P-Days for the next 6 weeks so that's when I'll send emails!
Everything is going pretty well so far, I'm surprised at how
much I enjoy the work sometimes :) My first companion is Elder Freeman, he's
from Santaquin and he's going to the Wisconsin, Milwaukee mission (also Spanish
Speaking). The other 8 people in my district are all Spanish speaking going to
places like Orem, Yakima WA, and Milwaukee. A cool 'Small world moment' was an
Hermana in my district who is going to the same mission as me. Hermana Hopkins
met my cousin Bridger on his mission in Virginia a month or two ago so it was
cool to make that connection!
Our first day was pretty crazy, they fed us so much
information in half a day. It's alright though, 95% of the other Elders and
Sisters who have been here longer are super nice about questions about how
stuff works around here. I think I'm getting the hang of it for now, but
apparently there are still more procedures we'll learn about.
Most of our days so far have been spent in Language study.
The people in my district had different starting skill levels in Spanish so
It's nice to have people that I can help, but also people I can learn from. 2
Hermanas have 6 years of Spanish experience each so they are my and Elder
Freeman's go-to for help. We're trying to speak as much as possible, even
around our rooms and between class. I can tell some really don't like it, but I
have really enjoyed speaking the language as much as possible.
The rest of our time has been workshops and classes on
loving the people in our area, our purpose as missionaries, and different
powers and gifts we have as missionaries. They had one class where they brought
in some 'real' investigators. (There are rumors that some of them might be
actors, but either way it was a powerful experience.) They would have the
classroom of new missionaries talk to the investigators and ask them questions
about what they needed in their life. The whole point of the
lesson was to focus on loving "Joe" or loving "Dwane" and
not worrying about teaching them everything about the Gospel in that
moment.
Yesterday we learned how to pray in Spanish which was muy
dificil. Going from a very basic knowledge of Spanish to memorizing a
bunch of phrases and words that are Church/Religion specific was pretty hard.
All of us were super low energy and tired after our brains were crammed full of
new material. We've got another section of phrases and words we have to have
memorized by 2:00 today so that should be interesting.
The only complaint I have about the MTC is that their beds
are made of metal. I stubbed my toe pretty bad on day one right after I took
off my shoes and I've been waiting on it to heal since then! In all seriousness
though, I'm really enjoying everything so far. My teachers are great, my
companion is great, and The Lord is great :) I can already tell he's helping me
with Spanish and helping me understand new things from the Scriptures.
I love you all! Gracias por sus oraciones!
Elder Thompson
Pictures:
-My view from the classroom
- Roommates/ companion. Left to right: Me (with a weird face)
Elder Freeman, Elder Wall, Elder Fifita.
Familia,
Just sent my email for everyone so most of the good stuff
from this week will be there :)
Just a few things I've wanted to tell you, Yes, the showers
have curtains, it's honestly about as nice as a residence hall bathroom could
be. Yes, I left my toothbrush at home (oops), and Yes, I'm doing the fasting
thing well so far. I'm not sure if there's anything else to write, I think I've
covered most of it but if you have questions/things in particular you'd like me
to tell you I'd appreciate if you let me know! I wish I had a template to
follow or something because what I have in my brain and my journal isn't enough
sometimes :)
Me gusta hablar espanol! Las personas en mi distrito estan
bien!
(I know that might be wrong I'm getting better though :) )
If you get the chance I'd love it if you could send me some
cheap flip flops for showers and my toothbrush! Apparently the best way to send
packages is with some companies that specialize in packages to the MTC. I'm not
sure what they're called but I'm sure a google search would pull up some
options :)
Love you guys, I think about you a lot. Tell Ruby I said,
"Hi" and I'm excited to see the pictures she drew.
Elder Thompson
