Hey everyone i have decided to write
my letters day by day instead of just one big thing so here it goes.
Day 1: I woke up and realized today
was the day I head out.. it hit me pretty hard but even then I had no clue what
to expect or what was coming for me. My family took me to the MTC at 1 and they
were not kidding when they say they kick you out on to the curb and you are
gone on your way. i probably had about 2 minutes at most to say goodbye which
is sad but it is the best way to do it. I was picked up at the curb by an Elder
Bustos, who is a super nice guy. He took me on a little tour of the place which
i had already forgotten in 20 minutes because there is so much to take in.
Eventually he took me to my classroom that I will be studying the gospel and
Spanish in for the next 6 weeks. He dropped me off there and said good bye and
the next thing I know I meet my teachers for the next 6 weeks and they
are speaking Spanish only I have only heard them say 5 words of English the
last 3 days, it was super confusing and it really hit me that I am on a mission
and I am going to be learning a different language to serve the lord in for the
next 2 years. There were 7 other guys in the classroom and they are in my
district. We have a district of 8 guys that we do everything with for the next
6 weeks. They are all super awesome and nice and we are all serving state side
Spanish speaking missions. There names are Elder Pugmire, Call, Shawgo, Brown,
Rust, Escobar and Southwick. Elder Southwick is my companion. He is a great guy
he is from Springville. Well anyways so we sat in the classroom and had our
first Spanish lesson and then we went from there to a orientation. There were
600 new missionaries that came in the same day as me which now makes it so they
have 2400 missionaries here at the Provo MTC. Next we went to dinner and I ran
into Zak Harrison, Daniel Raleigh , Trevor Gasser, Jake Warr, Sky Johnson,
Jacob Mckee and a few other kids that I knew from high school. The rest of the
night flew by! We talked to some investigators in groups and then went back to
the dorms. We unpacked and kind of just sat around because none of knew what to
do next it was kind of funny. The next thing I know I hear this loud noise out
in the hallway and it’s a big group of Polynesians who were giving someone a
blessing and after they finished they called everyone out for zone prayer and
one of them caught my eye and said to his friend, who was a pretty big guy,
that I was a greenie and that I looked like someone that could challenge him in
an arm wrestling match (they do this every week to one of the new missionaries)
so I agreed to doing it even though I knew I had no chance! This guys biceps
were the size of my head, hahaha. At first he let me seem like I was winning
but then as soon as I looked up into his eyes he winked and just pinned me. It
was funny. He is one of the nicest people I’ve met. After that it was quiet
time and lights out to get ready for another long day here.
Day 2: Sorry day1 was so long there
was just a lot that happened. This day was still pretty hectic and lots
happened but not so bad. We woke up and all the showers were taken and there
was a line, also even when you do finally get a shower there is basically no
hot water left :( So now we have to either wake up earlier or shower at night.
Next we went to breakfast for like 20 minutes and then straight to the
classroom for a Spanish lesson to help us prepare to teach an investigator in
Spanish for three hours. Then we went to a seminar in English finally for
an hour or so. Then lunch and straight back to our classroom for another
Spanish lesson to help us prepare for tonight when we actually have to teach a
real lesson in Spanish only. Yeah, kinda crazy how fast paced it is here. I
already know how to pray and bare my testimony in Spanish, which is awesome. So
now when we say room or companion prayers we have to say them in spanglish.
It’s really awesome how fast we go and how fast we learn. The gift of tongues
is a real thing. Next we went to dinner and then straight back to the classroom
for a mini lesson and then we got to meet our branch presidency like our bishop
for the next 6 weeks. They are all fluent in Spanish and super nice people who
care about the missionaries. They interviewed us all personally and gave us
some insights it was cool. They called Elder Call to be the district leader and
I am the senior companion, which basically means nothing in the MTC, hahah.
Next thing we know we are already off to get ready for bed. So after we had
turned the lights off and were trying to fall asleep some of the elder from the
room down the hall around 11:30 came and started knocking on the door and
saying that they were campus police but they had jimmy rigged the door so we
couldn’t open it and we were all just about to fall asleep because Elder
Southwick had been snoring for a while and made it so we couldn’t sleep but he
had just woke up so we were falling asleep and then were wide awake again. Then
the Elders from down the hall tried to do some other stuff but I ran and opened
the door before they could jimmy rig it shut again and they ran off and a guy
from another room came and apologized for them because they do it to everyone
and its super annoying but I guess that’s just part of being new here.
Day 3: that is today. Fridays are my
Pday, which are awesome but are also kind of busy but not anywhere as bad as
the other days. I am currently doing my laundry and email at the same time so I
can save time to prepare our Spanish lesson better for tonight.
Here are some of my thoughts from the
past couple days: First, the showers are disgusting so I am very glad I have
shower sandals second, I can see why so many people gain weight here because
they give you a ton of food. Third, all the leaders make such a big deal out of
the Elder Sister relationships and flirting, it’s really funny. Luckily we
don’t have girls in our district so we don’t have to worry about it. Fourth,
ties are like currency here because everyone loves trading them. Fifth, iI love
it here iI love the people here and I love the environment here. Sixth, write
in a journal. Seventh, the church is true and this is what i am supposed to be
doing. The spirit is with everyone here which creates an amazing
environment.
Well I am out of time so until
next week....
I will have pictures next week to
send you all!
If you would like to send me anything
in the mail my MTC mailing address is:
Elder Peter Lafayette Frandsen
SEP15 OH-CLE
2005 N 900 E Unit 56
Provo UT 84602
I love you all, the church is true
and try not to do anything stupid this week :)
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