July 23, 2011

July 23, 2011

Hola! Greetings from the MTC. Today is our first P-Day. After this first week, we switch to Fridays, so that's when you should be expecting my next email. Anyways, this first few days has actually been pretty good. My companion is Elder T. from Mesa, Arizona. He is a nice enough guy and we get along fairly well. He is a little guy, probably about 5'5", so I really enjoy walking and standing beside him because it makes me look/feel much taller. He is also going to Anaheim, and we're learning Spanish together. I warned him that if we ended up being companions in the field that I would force him to go to Disneyland him me at some point. Of course, he said he would abide. But anyways, the Spanish has been coming along pretty decently. They don't waste anytime here, our very first classroom session was probably 75% in Spanish. Our teacher, Brother Pitcher, is a good teacher and a pretty nice guy. He just got off his mission to Concepcion, Chile two months. But the MTC dragged him back to help us out. Its amazing what we've learned already. I feel like I've learned more Spanish in 3 days at the MTC than I did in two years of Jr. High Spanish class. I suspect a little divine assistance could be in play. Yesterday, we had to teach an 'investigator' a lesson in Spanish with nothing to read off of or anything else to assist us. I don't think they would actually put us in that position with an actual investigator at this point, so I think the 'investigator', Cristian, was actually a BYU student volunteering or something. I think they told us that he was a real investigator in an attempt to motivate us further. Anyways, me and Elder T's lesson was extremely basic, just a very brief introduction to our core beliefs and to El Libro de Mormon. I felt like I could understand what Cristian was saying, but it was frustrating to not have a very wide vocabulary and not be able to express my thoughts and formulate a semi-intelligent response. But I'm confident that I'll be able to do that in no time. I think I'm actually enjoying my time at the MTC. The last few days have flown by. My sleep has been alright. I usually fall asleep around 11:15, after about 45 minutes of struggling to get comfortable. I've been waking up at 6:25, and I haven't required more than 2 naps of no more than 20 minutes while I've been here. But anyways, my time is short. I love you guys, I miss you guys, but I'm having a great time, and I know this is where I'm supposed to be. I'll be sending some nice handwritten letters as well. Send my love to everyone.

Love,
Elder Facer