Well here we are, I have officially completed the first week of my mission. Just a heads up, I only have an hour to write this email and to read any emails. To any of you expecting to get a personal email, just know that it may not happen while im here at the CCM. Also, this spanish keyboard is very difficult to type on, so just accept the mistakes.
(travel day): Travel day was easily one of the hardest days of my life. I never thought that the day would come when I would have to actually leave, but it finally hit me that day. The hardest part was having to sit on the plane, thinking about what exactly I was doing. But eventually, we arrived to the MTC around 3 a.m. and then they woke us up at about 8 a.m. to start the first day of our missions. Luckily, I met some great guys and was able to see Elder Gardner on our way which comforted me a lot.
Day 1: So today was our first real day at the CCM and man, it was a long day. We got assigned a companion and a district. My companions name is Elder Heredia and hes great. His parents are both from South America and although he isnt fluent in Spanish, he knows a lot more than I do. Next, all 55 of the new missionaries had to try and teach one investigator together. It wasnt easy and I definitely think it would have gone better had there been less of us. Other then that, today was kind of a day full of meetings, and a lot of sitting around. But I also just realized that some of my best friends like Abe, Wyatt, and Aidan are now full time missionaries as well which is great to hear but unfortunately i wont have time to read any of their emails.
Day 2: Today was a lot better than the last two days. After eating several meals here at the CCM and now a week of meals, I really love the food. I know its not healthy and all but it tastes great, I dont know how authentic it is though. Like Nate told me before leaving, its rice and potatoes, topped with some meat and more potatoes, which his descriptions is 100% accurate. Also, me and my companion were assigned to teach an "investigator" and we have to teach him for 20 minutes tomorrow, completely in spanish. Also, we got to have some physical activity today which felt amazing and was a great stress reliever. The last part of the day we got to watch a video on some random people and their struggles, and then learn why we should love them and see them how God sees them. Anyways, I feel a lot better today then the past two days and I actually am enjoying being here.
Day 3: Day 3 at the CCM was a pretty good day. We got to learn about our computer program called TALL which will supposedly help us learn the language, but no one can figure out how to use the dang website. It was so tempting to click on the myldsmail.net on the side of the computer, but we just couldnt which was kind of sad. Also, today I played soccer with the Latinos and they were all surprised at how good i was. I scored a couple goals and we just had fun playing together, it reminded me a lot of playing soccer with my friends. We also learned how to pray in Spanish today, but only the most basic phrases. We are supposed to talk in spanish 24/7 but its hard because all of my district are American and sometimes we just want to hear English. Just a couple of funny moments from today: 1) I saw a latino wearing a Bayern Munich Jersey and so I went to go talk to him about soccer, but he was pretty much clueless about it. I asked why he liked Bayern and he just shrugged and walked off, I just wanted to take the jersey from him haha. 2) I met another Latino from Ecuador who talked the most fast Spanish possible. I tried to tell him to slow down but I dont think he understood. I tried to act like I knew what he was saying, for all I know, he was probably just making fun of me haha. Anyways, today was a good day and made me very happy.
Day 4: Today our disctrict learne how to deal with stress. My teacher made us run ladders out on the soccer field in our church clothes and somehow related it back to stress. Ive never been more out of breath in my life by the way, but it was nice to get out of the classroom. And then for some reason during physical activity, I discovered that every Elder is for some strange reason, amazing at ultimate frisbee. I just wanted to play soccer again after getting my butt kicked in ultimate frisbee. Today we also learned how to testify in spanish. One funny experience of today involved another elder in my district, named Elder Ririe. We asked him to say the closing prayer, and he said yes. So we all closed our eyes, and then he started bearing his testimony instead of praying. Midway through, he just said "nevermind" and then started to actually pray. I dont know its probably not that funny but everyone was laughing.
Day 5: Today was the first Sunday at the CCM and it was one of the best days of my life. At first glance of the schedule, all I saw was us just sitting in the auditorium, but it ended up being amazing. We watched a film called "Legacy" about the pioneers and how important our work in the mission is. Then we had some regular church meetings, and last of all, we listened to a talk given by Elder Hollland. It was the best talk that I have ever heard. Unfortunately you cant find or listen to it unless you are at an MTC, but it really made me want to be here, on my mission. I have never felt the spirit so strongly in my life and wanted more of those feelings to come.
Day 6: Today was a huuuuge change from last night. We had to get up at 4 a.m. to go to the International Police to get our visas, which we still dont have. We waited in line for around 8 hours and filled out a ton of paperwork in Spanish. Just like in the US, those gov. buildings cant do anything efficiently to save their lives. I may even have to go back there. I was pretty frustrated from that day because everything took forever and I just wanted to go back to bed, but when we got back to the CCM, everything got better.
Day 7: Yesterday was a pretty good day. Weve been teaching our "investigator" now for around a week and ive realized how hard it is to teach a lesson in spanish. There is so much that I want to say but I just cant. Also, a 20 minute lesson seemed like forever at first, but now we are begging for more time because there is just so much that I want to say. Anyways this whole email thing is pretty stressful and new to me, so just be patient.
Day 8: this morning, we were able to go to the Lima temple which was amazing. Today was our Pday and its nice to have a break. I honestly love my district and have already made some great friends here. I dont get to see Sam as much as I would like to, but we always cheer each other up and have fun. How are things at home? You better not have gotten a dog already, and also send me a ton of pictures when I leave the MTC. I cant get packages here but would love some more physical pictures to have. Love you guys, miss you guys, ill try to email you more and more each time im here but its so hard on this keyboard.
