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