Called to Madrid South

Officially last week at the MTC!!! So excited to be heading to Spain NEXT WEDNESDAY. Expect an email worth reading next week. As far as this one goes, no promises.  Another week of language grind. In fact this week we are only allowed to speak Spanish with our district. I think it's to help me learn the language, but really, I'm learning patience and Charades. To be able to communicate completely and share full lessons in another language is truly amazing. Learning is slow, but so cool. For example on Thursday we went around campus sharing little messages in Spanish. I spoke and my companion translated. For one companionship we taught, one then translated back into Korean and vice versa. That doesn't really happen everyday. So fascinating. Probably the other highlight this week was cafeteria duty (it's been a long week). Elder Shaheen and I were dishing out food so well, they offered me a contract and a new car if I would not go on my mission. Ofc we had to decline, but...

Today is officially the first month of being a missionary! I feel that somehow I have been here since April and also that I was set apart yesterday. Time moves a little differently here. I apologize that these emails are literally bone dry. You know it's getting dull when I'm looking forward to weekly laundry and Spanish conjugation games. My days are made up of Spanish classes straight to Spanish study. I know studying is kind of my thing, but there is a little more dedication, or should I say desperation, when I know in two weeks I'm gonna be thrown in the deep end. I'm actually so excited I hope you know. All jokes aside the people at the MTC are the real best part. Our classes with the district are always hilarious and I got to meet some people from Oregon. Also shoutout to the GOAT MTC tutor Hermano Summers. I got to say hi to him. I'm convinced that there is not a rude person on this campus.  Through these weeks of learning to teach the gospel and having amazi...

Lots of fun stuff at the MTC this week! I have to thank you all because now the embarrassing moments are now just things to put into my emails. On Saturday we were prepping for a helping others appointment and we find out 15 min before it's someone new. Lesson plan out the window; I guess we're gonna freeball this thing. No problem, I felt pretty capable of answering any questions they might have. Turns out not. The lesson begins by him asking if there are missions in Gibraltar. When that small talk wasn't interesting enough he moves on to asking my comp about the Indian Reservations in his home state of Nevada. At this point I wasn't sure who was teaching who. Finally he turns back to me, and in a completely straight face with earnest curiously and a slight Asian accent, says, "So, why are you so red???" No seminary scripture mastery for that one. Honestly had to just give up at that point.  Something else cool this week was that I had the opportunity to play...

It's my first week at the MTC and it's been a blast! Every day is packed with classes, tutoring, and questionable Hawaiian food. Apart from Elder Jepsen who likes to say "whoops I almost said that in Spanish" the language has definitely been a challenge for all of us. Luckily we are all struggling together. Beginning tomorrow in class we'll be completely immersed!  A typical day begins with basketball or volleyball or soccer. We then drink a healthy amount of chocolate milk and go to a 3 hour class. This class includes deepening understandings of basic discussions such as faith, repentance, the Restoration and how to best teach them. I'm not really a big improv guy myself, but there's definitely a lot of roleplays in class. With our free time we spend time doing personal study, companion study, maybe a workshop, and spanish study. Finally, we have a spanish tutoring class and another 3 hour class in the night. (Evening mock lessons on the grass are actuall...

What an exciting week!  We had our first helping others appointment which is basically where an actor from the MTC pretends to take lessons. It's so interesting to get in a flow when you teach. Principles synthesize into a cohesive whole. When you take time to think of the blessings and truth of certain doctrine, you just feel happy to share. For so much of high school I was wary of sharing anything related to the gospel, partly because it was close to my heart. But to recognize it's power is instructive, even if it's with a fake investigator on zoom. I'm sure in the field in Spanish will be just as easy right?? Wednesday I woke up bright and early, well not bright, it was still dark RIP, and headed down to Utah. Shoutout to Brother Youd for getting us caramel apples, highly recommend. The MTC is quite an interesting place. It's made up of 18 years-olds from all around the world. In one class today there were people from Australia, Fiji, England, France, Venezuela, ...