Week 1 - MTC

Email to Dad:
My first couple of days have been great!  My district, which consists of a group of Elders that are all going to the Philippines, are hilarious.  We are constantly laughing, which can sometimes get us into trouble.  Although everyone says I am pretty good at Tagalog, we are all struggling.  In three days we have learned how to pray, bear our testimony, and give a simple overview of the gospel.  It's insane how much work the MTC is but it has been a blast so far.  The MTC food on the other hand is not the best.  Everyone in my district has felt the side effects of processed food in the MTC.  Besides that it is awesome to be here.  I am a little nervous that I won't be able to learn the language but I have to remember that it has only been three days.  Anyways, I do need permatheryn, it's a bug repellent stuff that you can spray on your clothes and sheets.  It will keep bed bugs and spiders out of my bed in the Philippines.  I wood also love any kind of snacks that you could send to the MTC.  Dinner is at 4 so many times I go to bed being a little hungry. 

We are going to the Manila MTC for five days when we arrive, which will be nice because we will get a break from traveling for a little bit.  I forgot to mention that we gave our first lesson in Tagalog yesterday, on our third day here.  It was very difficult and it was disappointing that my companion and I couldn't understand all of what she was saying.  So we were left to saying pasensiya, which is sorry.  I still felt pretty good that I was able to give a lesson, bear my testimony, and say a prayer in Tagalog with only three days of experience.
Kita Kits!

Email to Mom:

The MTC is great!  My companion is awesome and my district has hands down the funniest guys I have ever met.  I will have to send you some pictures of them soon.  Learning the language has been hard and a little stressful, but we are doing great with only having three days to use it.  Yesterday my companion and I had to give our first lesson in Tagalog.  It was a little discouraging when we couldn't understand everything she was saying and that we couldn't answer her questions, but I had to keep in mind that I have only been working with this language for 72 hours.  In that time I was able to learn how to pray, bear my testimony, and give a simple overview of the gospel.  I can say things like Nagpapasalamat po kami para sa ebanghelyo or Taga- Paradise California po ako.  I am continuing to get better but it won't be easy. 

In my district I have like a group of four Elders and we just stick together.  My companion, Elder Perkins is a bit shorter then me, but he is funny and a wrestler.  Elder Ishibashi is from Hawaii and he is super funny and loves to work out just like me.  He constantly tells me how I am a giant and we like to say that he isn't really from the United States.  Then there is Elder Bice.  This kid is hands down, the funniest Elder I will ever meet.  He cracks all of us up.  Him and I have the most problems with the MTC food and he enjoys to make it known to everyone else.  I love all of these guys and overall I'd have to say the MTC isn't to hard.  Although it's a little weird to not be able to stay in contact with everyone all the time, I am not really having any withdrawals from tv or my cell phone.  They have you doing things all day so you don't have time to think about those things.  I found the animal in my luggage when I got to the MTC so we are good.  I need that bug repellent that I sent dad.  It will really help in keeping spiders and bed bugs out of the bed.  it will also kill any mosquitoes that get near me.  I just found out that the Cauayan mission is the most rural mission, so I will be doing a lot of walking and since there are a lot of mountains in that area, I could be walking up to 7 miles a day.  I am a little worried about this since I can already feel that I am losing some weight.  I don't have constant access to food like I used to and dinner is at 4 sadly.  I try and load up as much as I can but that much time can make you hungry.  In honesty, I took for granted the fact that I had access to corn dogs every hour.  Those were very helpful and kept me full.  Because I don't have as much access to food I get tired pretty early in the day and I have to push myself to pay attention in classes, but so far I have been successful in paying attention.  Well anyways I hope everyone is doing well.  Keep me updated on what you guys are up to.  The MTC will be a blast and I will adjust to it by this week is what everyone tells me.