Well, I'm here at the MTC! I am going to start by getting some of the most important questions out of the way. My Preparation days or P-days are on Wednesday. However, my first day I came in was a Wednesday so my P-day was filled with introductions. Yes, they do speak entirely in Spanish, starting day one. If you're lucky your teacher will explain the complex words to you in English. Needless to say, I am so thankful I took that Spanish class. Because of the class, I knew a handful of verbs, nouns, and numbers. I also learned how to conjugate. These are things that were not even mentioned during my first week. It's that fast. By day three, they had us teach an investigator completely in Spanish. All I can say is that my Spanish capabilities are growing and that I am so thankful to have this opportunity to learn the language before I head out. And yes, our schedules are busy. But nothing I can't manage.
Now the food is great at the MTC. Much more variety and plus I don't have to cook. They have three different courses you can choose from almost every meal. However, they don't want you taking food out of the cafeteria. So we always sneak out an apple or banana or some fruit for later. But the second day we met the teacher, we had all snuck out extra bananas. And in the middle of class, we all pulled out our bananas put them by our ears and started making ringing noises pointing to an extra banana on the table. You have no idea how funny it was to see that teachers face with complete and utter confusion as he picked up that banana phone to answer our call.
Thank you so much for all the letters, I will try to get to as many as I can.
Elder Irizarry
So what can I tell you about my week? Well, to start off I got off the plane and met five other missionaries going to the MTC. Out of those, I found out two others were also being called to Panama. One of which ended up being my companion. But out of roughly 300 missionaries that came in last Wednesday, only six were heading to Panama. Our district and supposedly a district of young women elsewhere is the group heading out to Panama currently. But I love my district, these guys are just really laid back and fun guys that aren't afraid to say what is on their mind. Our zone is a group of districts heading to similar places or speaking the same language. The zone leaders are super cool, the first thing they immediately taught us QUE PASSSSA. Which is the Spanish equivalent of WASSSUP. The first night we got into the apartments they took extra bed sheets and taped them up to the showers. Then turned all the showers on hot and let them run for a while. Literally, they turned the showers into a sauna. Soon after, we all got in and just sang songs that we knew. It was so incredibly hot that the members of my district all looked at each other and realized, as sweat was rolling down our faces, this is what Panama is going to feel like. But instead of being in basketball shorts and T-shirts we will be in white shirts and ties. So we were all were laughing about how unprepared we are for that heat. But also how unprepared Elder Hollander was. He came from the middle of a cruise around Greece so he wasn't too concerned about packing. Just about every day he remembers something he wishes he would have brought. So here is a picture of our companionships when we went on a walk around the temple.
Elders: Tenney, Hollander, Kuhn, Heathcote, Chavez and Irizarry.
Oh, but at day five I felt confident enough to give my prayers solely in Spanish being able to say what I want. Well, I tend to use Spanish and cover up the rest with French and then if I don't know the word in either I change a word like "napkin" to "napkino". But I mean, that doesn't happen very often. But also we realized that by five days being around each other constantly, that we have so many inside jokes already. We all have nicknames. We all give each other a bad time. Just genuinely close guys.
Teaching wise, things have been great. Our first teacher we found out was a substitute after two days. And since we have four subs and until we finally got our actual teacher. My theory is that the first substitute was supposed to be our teacher and we scared her off. And each teacher after that was supposed to be replacement teachers, but we scared them off as well. Oh, but in reality, it's been great because each teacher has had a different purpose of what they thought was important. So I felt like I've been learning rather well.
Now the food is great at the MTC. Much more variety and plus I don't have to cook. They have three different courses you can choose from almost every meal. However, they don't want you taking food out of the cafeteria. So we always sneak out an apple or banana or some fruit for later. But the second day we met the teacher, we had all snuck out extra bananas. And in the middle of class, we all pulled out our bananas put them by our ears and started making ringing noises pointing to an extra banana on the table. You have no idea how funny it was to see that teachers face with complete and utter confusion as he picked up that banana phone to answer our call.
Oh, how the time flies by. The joke is that we feel like every meal is a new day because so much has happened between that time. However, our district is really close and we do everything together. So we were dying because of my companion, Elder Tenney, has a reversible tie. On Sunday, he wore one side and on Monday he wore the other. Elder Hollander, attempted to chew him out for wearing the same tie for three days in a row. However, not only did we give Elder Hollander a bad time at lunch, but also after exercise time when he tried it again confident he had worn that tie three days in a row, and even once more attempt right before we went to bed.
In our exercise time, we've been told not to get too competitive. We have played sand volleyball just about every chance we get. We go ham and cheese. It's really fun but even better is that we aren't that bad. Even though we were told not to be too 'athletic' Elder Chavez got hit and got a bloody nose and just about every round someone is 'falling with a purpose' (because diving is not allowed). I love it, it took me a day before I felt comfortable, but I'm not terrible. When we don't get the chance to go to the field there is a gym which has been renamed to 'The Iron Chapel'. They have a rowing machine. Let me tell you, I remember being a lot better four years ago. WEIRD, right? But my endurance is lacking, my strength is better. It was filled with some fun memories as I hopped back on.
Today we got to the temple, which I loved. It is nice to be able to be back in the temple. I have already been missing it. We weren't in long, but the time was great
Even though, this first week hasn't been the smoothest of rides. I feel at peace. The devotionals that they have are absolutely incredible. Just so powerful and you can undoubtedly feel the spirit throughout the meeting.
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| This is a picture I spotted in the hallway of the MTC, it is of Bishop Hoybjerg as a missionary when he was serving in Spain. |
Elder Irizarry