Life at the MTC!

Well life here at the MTC is fantastic as always.  And I'm not just saying that so that you guys don't worry about me or anything.  It really is a fantastic place for anyone to live.  The very first days that I was here I noticed that everyone here just rocks at life.  We all do the things that we tell ourselves we should be doing in normal life. We run every day, write in our journals every day, study the scriptures every day, get eight hours of sleep every day.  It's just the best.  And it's not because we're like all amazing people who rock at life, but the MTC just expects that of you and is a place where you can be that way.  Anyways, you asked what my schedule is like every day, what a normal day would be like, so I'll tell you!

I wake up at 6:20, get ready, and we head downstairs to our classroom for daily planning.  I made that sound like it's no big deal, but it's quite a big deal for me. I'm still working on getting used to this time limit thing, not having nearly as much time to do little things as I'm used to.  I've even had to learn how to floss faster!  So I'm always in a rush in the mornings, but I'm getting better. :)  We plan, then we go to breakfast.  Oh and I never told you about the famous MTC food, (or infamous depending on who you talk to.)  It's really not that bad, I just eat cereal and wraps for every meal. :)  We always eat as a giant zone and it's so much fun (a zone is like 4 or 5 districts, and they become like your family. They're also your ward.)  I absolutely love our zone for so many reasons.  First, our branch presidency (which is the 3 men and their wives who are over our zone) have VERY high expectations, especially concerning obedience.  You learn in coming to the MTC that many missionaries aren't as obedient as you think they are.  Really it's shocking sometimes.  But that does NOT fly with our branch presidency, so our zone definitely stands out as the obedient group.  And consequently, we are blessed to be the most united, tight-knit group.  I seriously love all of the elders in our zone SO much (me and my three roommates are the only sisters in the entire zone.)  Anyways, so after breakfast, we usually have gym. Oh my goodness, gym.  It is definitely one of my favorite things ever, and that is NOTHING compared to how much the elders love gym.  It is the cutest thing in the world to see 40 boys running to the gym 10 minutes before their gym time even starts, but they just want to get every minute of it.  I usually run and then go down and play volleyball with our zone.  It is so fun and such a good stress relief.  And we are really blessed to have wonderful, nice facilities to use.  We really are spoiled here.  After gym we might have language study, or class depending on the day.  Then it's lunch, more class, more personal study or language study, dinner, more class, and then bed at 10:30!  I realize that it sounds kind of boring, but it is actually so fun and the day is over before you realize it. 

Sundays are absolutely INCREDIBLE.  We get to go on a walk to the temple, relax a little, go to choir practice (which is so fun and uplifting) and then there's always a fireside with a really cool speaker.  Except this past Sunday? Funniest thing ever.  Alex Boye came to do the fireside, and I was basically shaking my head in embarrassment the whole time.  He's literally insane, but the elders LOVED it and there were definitely some inspiring parts.  Tuesdays are fantastic also because 1) It's p day and 2) there is a fantastic devotional (and choir practice) on Tuesday nights.  Our first Tuesday in the MTC, guess who came to speak to us.  ELDER HOLLAND!! It was the most exciting thing in the world as 2,200 missionaries suddenly stood when he entered the room during our opening hymn.  He gave THE most powerful talk as he stood at the pulpit practically shaking with the intensity of what he was saying.  I was blown away. 

OK, so I felt really silly because I started telling you what I love about the MTC, and I never even got to the good stuff!  You probably think I'm this shallow hermana just partying up at the MTC.  But seriously, one of my favorite things has been teaching.  The third day we were at the MTC, we got our first investigator, Samuel (said in a Spanish accent.)  He only speaks Spanish, so it was very intimidating to teach him in a language that we barely know.  But the more we taught him, the better it got, and my companion and I are really learning to teach as a team.  I absolutely LOVE Samuel with all my heart, and it was so exciting to see him accept the gospel into his life.  We now have two more investigators, Arturo and Elias, and so all of our study time and language time are geared towards meeting their needs in lessons.  It is literally incredible how even though we speak terrible Spanish Heavenly Father's spirit is in every lesson and we come away SO uplifted.