Blog 4: Last Reflections of MTC in Provo, Utah

I finally got time to write another update, which is really the rest of the previous entry because I ran out of time. It´s now 7:10pm in Lima, and I swear this is the last entry about Provo. I´ve been here in Lima, Peru for 3 weeks and have a dumb time limit that hinders me from catching up!

We had Independece Day at the MTC in Provo, and we got to celebrate. American flags were hanging everywhere, and us missionaries got to leave our dorms late at night to watch the fireworks. I had heard that the fireworks were supposed to be so big they would fill up the sky. However, because of our distance from the BYU stadium - which is where the show was held - we didn´t have any sky get filled. I could see them being shot into the air, and they were pretty big for being about 10 miles away. There were a huge amount of missionaries hanging out in the lower part of the MTC campus cheering and singing the national anthem. Did I mention sparklers and glowsticks? There were a few among the couple thousand. The explosions were loud enough to echo off of the mountains behind the MTC, so it was a really cool effect to hear explosions in rapid successions.

In those 3 short weeks in Utah, my companion and I grew attached to our district members, so it was a bummer that we already have to leave them behind. Our teachers´lessons, the sand volleyball, Devotionals, and Independence Day all passed by quickly. I, however, enjoyed most the stories that our teacher Brother Swensen told us about his mission. Particularly about Marcos in Chile. He was a hairy and scruffy man who was always drunk and always found the missionaries on the street thinking they were from the CIA looking for Osama Bin Laden, and would always tell them "¡Arriba los manos!" To avoid trouble, Brother Swensen and his companion would play along like they actually were from the CIA and talk into their watches like in the movies, and later tell Marcos thanks for the tip. The funny thing is, every encounter always started exactly the same because Marcos was so drunk all the time that he wouldn´t remember the previous encounter... sort of like 50 First Dates.

Our district in Provo had many memorable events at the MTC, so the night before we left, it felt like high school graduation all over again because people were signing journals saying goodbye. On top of that, I had to repack everything which took forever. Out of our entire district, my companion Elder VanDuyn and myself were the only ones going to Lima, Peru. The rest of our district, Elder Nash, Echolls, Stafford, Cameron, Miller, Fisher, Chaay, and Udall were going to Independece, Missouri. On top of that, only about 10 other missionaries were going to Lima on July 8th, with my companion and I, out of the whole MTC. I already miss those guys back in Utah. They were really good friends.

3 minutes left on the clock, and I have finished my experience in Utah. Next update I will try my best to sum up 4 weeks in one entry.

Emiliano

Blog 3: Pressing Forward

Sorry for the late update, but getting time to write about my adventures here is difficult, especially with a time limit. For now, this update I´ll just talk about my highlights during the 3 weeks in the MTC at Provo.

I have already arrived at the MTC in Lima, Peru, which is called the CCM (Centro de Capitacion Misional). I had sent my memory card back home to my parents while I was in Utah, but somehow it got stolen, which means the photos of me and my parents outside of the MTC before I departed are all gone.

Therefore, I will try to make up for those photos with a large update. I was only at the MTC in Utah for 3 weeks before I left for Lima, Peru. During those weeks some interesting events occurred. Our schedules as missionaries in training was waking up at 6:30am, having all day filled with classes and studying and teaching lessons, and sleep at 10:30pm. I had breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 30 minutes at around 8am, 1pm, and 6pm. I was exhausted the first day because I had never woken up that early since high school, but I eventually adjusted. In our classes we learned Spanish grammar and gospel doctrine to teach.

During our Spanish Class, one of the Elders kept getting frustrated and wouldn´t listen to our teachers. He was a test of our patience, to say the least. We really had awesome teachers and they had great stories to tell about their missions. In our first week, we already had to teach our lessons in as much spanish as possible to Brother Ortiz, who played the role of "Fidencio" as an investigator. When we taught him, none of us spoke any Spanish except for the prayers. We slaughtered the language and said things that made no sense, but at least it was only practice.

One of the Elders , no matter how hard he tried, could not seem to remember any Spanish taught to him, which our entire district thought was hilarious. He learned more and more, but complained each time how terrible the grammar of Spanish is, or how pointless the teaching is. He wouldn´t admit it, but he knows more Spanish than he thinks he does because he improved a lot from the first day. He just didn´t want to try.

In Provo, the presidency of the church called new mission presidents, so the entire quorom of the 12 was present at the MTC, along with Thomas Monson. I didn´t get to see any of them in person, unfortunately. It was on Friday June 26 when Jeffery R. Holland gave a devotional talk about teaching by the Spirit. It was important to the missionaries, but the gym was already full, so my companion and I, along with many other missionaries, were kicked out and moved into the cafeteria. My companion almost exploded with rage, so I had to calm him down a bit.

We also had Independece Day at the MTC, but I will talk more about that later in another update because my time is running left on 30 seconds. So until next time, I´ll finish later.

Emiliano

Blog 2 : Flight to Peru

Hey familia and amigos, I made it to Peru finally. Luckily we were given time to rest for 2 hours to do whatever we want, such as unpack or take naps. My travel group and I arrived in Lima at 11pm, and we were excited to finally stretch our legs. I had thought that going towards Lima in missionary attire wouldn't attract much attention, but I was mistaken because we had many people at the Utah airport calling out ",Good luck, Elders!"

On top of that, we also had some missionary... practice on board the airplane. I had sat next to a woman who was going to Lima, and she asked me about the mormons and why we are different from other churches, so I taught her the first lesson about the restoration. She was nice and willing to listen, so I gave her a pass-along card. However, as if that wasn't enough, there was a group of people who were going on a two week mission trip to Peru, just like our friend Jaime did. On top of that, we just happened to be sitting by a large group of girls who were going on their mission trip. They asked us some questions about our church and what we believed in, so we taught them, but then the ringleader girl would jump back at us and wouldn't hear the message. Her friends were willing to listen and wanted to know more, but Rose the ringleader wasn't. They were nice though, and wished us luck.

The biggest bump was an old baptist minister from Georgia who came to me on the plane asking about why the BOM said Jesus was born in Jerusalem, but the bible said he was born in Bethlehem. And also he tried to twist my words and started to say stuff like, "Now you mean to tell me that our bible is false, and your book is more correct? Cause it's one or the other." Thankfully, I asked one of the elders to help me out, and he saved our dillema with his testimony and words because he was from Georgia, and was able to talk to the minister named Jeremy. I thanked Elder Fortenberry later for helping me out.

Well I got 3 minutes left on this email, so I'll wrap this up. The computer keyboards here have different keys and are placed all weird. We got to Lima at 11pm, but our luggage took about 45 minutes to come out. When we finally got our luggage and passed through customs, we found our bus driver and loaded up at around 1230 am. The drive to the CCM was about 40 minutes, and after unpacking and going to bed, it was close to 2am. I love you all, I will send another letter or email soon with another blog entry. Bye

Emiliano

Blog 1

Two weeks have passed since I entered the MTC in Provo, Utah. I have been so busy getting oriented and unpacking that I hadn't had time at all my first week here. I can't update my blog at the MTC, so I email them to my dad to post for me. Thankfully I made time to write it out.

The feeling of anxiousness and reality came together on June 17th. I had already said my goodbyes to my mom and dad, and we were just sitting in the car at the MTC parking lot just counting down the minutes to 12:30pm, which was when I had to report in. Finally the time came, and I heard there were a lot of missionaries there, but I wasn't expecting to see hundreds upon hundreds of missionaries, both men and women. We drove to the entrance and followed the guides showing us where to drop me off. I unloaded my luggage, bid one last goodbye, and followed my host missionary to my residence hall, which was quite a long walk away, and it was on the 4th floor.

When I arrived at the residence hall, I decided not to unpack everything I loaded up since I'd only be staying for 3 weeks in Utah. Soon after, my two roommates walked in and introduced themselves. Their names were Elder Crandall, who gets ridiculous amounts of letters and food packages almost every day; and Elder Knudson, who is really laid pack and friendly. Surprisingly, he loves heavy metal, and one of his favorite bands is Death.

My companion was supposed to arrive, but he hadn't shown up. For the rest of the first day, I went to orientation meetings one right after another. All of them shared the same message about being a missionary, and how I'm supposed to act like one and not joke around. I finally met my companion at the last meeting, which was in my district classroom. His name is Elder VanDuyn. A district is basically a group of missionaries that are together taught the same language, and are going to the same mission. The only thing is, my companion and I are the only ones going to Lima, Peru. The rest are going to Independence, Missouri speaking Spanish. We all belonged to district 38 F, composed of my companion and I, Elder Cameron, Elder Miller, Elder Stafford, Elder Echolls, Elder Udall, Elder Chhay, Elder Fisher, and Elder Nash who is our district leader. That means he's basically a class president and is responsible for us. Our branch president is President Kreuger, a bit on t he chubby side, but is really loving and a cool person. Not to mention his hair is fabulously combed with waves. A branch is comprised of 5 districts, and the branch president presides over them all.

After we all got to introduce ourselves and explain why we chose to go on a mission, we finally got to head home to our residence hall. At 9:30pm, everyone goes back to their dorms to get ready for the next day, write in their journals, and just visit other missionaries to hang out. At around 10:10pm, there is a group prayer of the entire top floor, and then we hit the lights at 10:30. The whole first day was long and exhausting, and it sucks a bit that I have to wake up at 6:30am from now on. I'm out of time already. I'll try to update my blog sooner with more info about my experiences here at the MTC in Provo, and with pictures hopefully.