Hey everyone! First email! Man it feels like it's taken
forever to get the chance to write everyone. I've literally been watching the
clock counting down until I can write everyone; I've never been more excited to
write an email in my entire life.
OK, so where to begin? I guess a good start would be the
beginning, that makes sense right? Ha! Well. OK The flight in was fine; it felt
pretty long, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I just spent the whole time sleeping
and writing in my journal. When I got to the Salt Lake airport, I was able to
meet up with about 5 other missionaries. From there, we all flew to Paris. In
Paris we picked up another missionary from England, then it was off to Spain.
It was definitely really exciting to get to Spain. Our Paris
flight was delayed an hour, so I was worried there would be nobody waiting for
us, but there was a guy there to welcome us. We loaded the vans, and it was off
to the MTC.
The MTC is right next to the Madrid Temple, and it is so beautiful!
I'll try and see if I can get a pic to send in a bit, but we are only allowed
to take photos on p-day and the last day. Since this is our first p-day, I
don't really have any pictures, but I'll send some as soon as I can. The MTC
really is a special place. It is always so easy to feel the Spirit here. A lot
of the missionaries are bugged by the strict rules and busy schedules, but I
love it! It's so nice to feel productive, and obeying the rules really helps to
bring the Spirit to the environment.
We got here Tuesday afternoon. The first couple of days were
just an intro to everything with a lot of devotionals that were really great.
We didn't really have our first language lesson until Friday. While I've been
here, I've discovered my Spanish is a lot farther along then I've realized, and
while I have been here I've progressed so much more.
The gift of tongues is
real, and I can see it in all of the other missionaries and their progress. It
really inspires me. My MTC companion is Elder Heninger from Canada. When he got
here he was only able to say the word ‘much of’, which is not ‘mucho’ at all,
ha-ha. But just this Monday, we were teaching a lesson, and I was having a
convo with our investigator. While Elder Heninger couldn't speak, he was able to tell what
we were talking about. After 3 days of language lessons, it is honestly
amazing.
