WEEK 1

Hola! Cuando estoy en el CCM (MTC) mi dia de preparacion es el martes.
That's Tuesday. It has been quite a busy week. My daily schedule
usually goes as follows:

6:30 Get Up, Dress, Brush Teeth
7:00 Report To Class/Additional Study
7:30 Breakfast
8:05 Class
11:40 Lunch
12:30 Gym Period
1:30 Return To Dorm (to shower and change back into church clothes)
2:00 Class
5:00 Dinner
5:45 Class
9:00 Daily Planning - figure out what the schedule is for tomorrow
9:30 Return to Dorm/Write in Journal
10:15 "Quiet Time" (It's not really quiet; other elders are still
talking loud even though we're not encouraged to) - I use this time to
brush teeth and get ready for bed.
10:30 "Lights Out"
10:45 Turn the lights off for real and try to sleep.

Class, you see, is split up into three blocks: morning, afternoon and
evening. During one block we learn gospel-related phrases in Spanish
with Brother Martin (a BYU student studying neuroscience) In another
block we practice teaching the lessons to an investigator, Juan.
Yesterday he asked us about what we thought the gift of tongues was,
and before he asked why he needed the Book of Mormon if he had the
Bible. In the remaining block, which we call "Ciclo" we do personal,
companionship, or language study without having a teacher in the
classroom. There is a computer lab near the classroom where we have a
language study program, TALL, installed for us to use. In my district
there are seven elders and one sister. The sister, Hermana Valle, has
to be separated from her companions during most of the day and has to
have two elders with her. Everyone in my district is going on
stateside Spanish missions; at least three are going to California,
one to Dallas, Texas, one to Fort Worth, Texas, my companion to
Everett, Washington, and me to Florida. Two of the elders were born in
Brazil and already speak Portuguese, making Spanish easier for them
than a complete beginner.

Free time (including Ciclo ) can be interesting sometimes. Somehow the
subject of leap seconds managed to come up in one of my district's
conversations with my companion, Elder Torp, and one night somebody
said, "I could sure use the extra second of sleep!" Also, I found that
my companion also knows how to make chloroform, and was exposed to it
a bit when his best friend made some (inadvertently) while using
bleach to clean a sink that his girlfriend dripped nail polish remover
into. Thankfully it was late at night and he was planning to sleep
anyway, so he just got a bit tired and got to bed before the
chloroform vapors could knock him out.

On Sunday's the day begins as normal, until 11:00. Just after that
time we have district meeting, then lunch, then 2 hours of church -
first sacrament meeting at 1:00, in Building 11 (we call the sacrament
la Santa Cena, and opening business, sacrament prayers and talks
(other
Than those from the branch presidency) are all in Spanish. All
missionaries are supposed to prepare a 3-5 minute talk, and two are
randomly selected without warning to go up and speak just after the
sacRament is passed. After sacrament I return to Building 8 for
priesthood meeting. My district is broken during this time but I stay
with my companion. After church we walk to the temple. When you first
go to the MTC it can feel a bit like a prison, so any chance to get
off compound and see the outside world, whether to run, play soccer as
my zone did Saturday, or go to the temple, is very thrilling. After
you get there it's about 48 hours until you get to exit the compound
(which is fenced on all sides and has many shade structures up so you
hardly see the sun).

After choir (which attracted thousands of missionaries including me
and my companion) and devotional, which was about converts in Ghana, I
watched a great film called the Character of Christ which showed how
even ordinary people can be Christlike if they just leave behind the
natural man and put others' needs first.
In class we speak mostly Spanish when the teacher is there; not as
much during other blocks. Yesterday for the hour just before lunch we
were supposed to speak only Spanish and had to do push ups if caught
speaking English. I also got my allergy shot early Monday morning.

Here, the mornings are crisp at only 55-60 degrees, and classrooms and
computer labs tend to be cold, although it does still get warm outside
in the afternoon and in the laundromat where I am now. I hope the
weather gets more comfortable for you at home!

I also have seen a few BYU security guards at the MTC. I hear they
patrol the dorms after hours and report any lights left on to the
corresponding missionary's branch president.

To Cass, I hope she does OK with the last bit of reading. I remember
that the AP English students had to read How to Read Literature Like a
Professor when it was my senior year, too. Carly, I enjoyed your
tickling through e-mail and hope you like your play date. Depending on
when I find the camera cable I might send you pictures today or next
week. I'm also excited to do the temple endowment today at the Provo
Temple - probably in Spanish. One week down, five to go. Have a nice
week, and I'll be back next Tuesday!

Also, someone I know from BYU Custodial (Hermana LeVitre) is in my
zone and going to Kansas Spanish speaking. She has class in the same
building I do and I run into her all the time, even when running on
the track.