Hola !!!!
I'm SO EXCITED to be here! I love it so far and things are
really going great! So far I've seen everyone I thought I'd see and its only
been like 3 days! I see Elder Steele at lunch a lot, Elder Stott (McAllen, TX)
is on the same floor as me for classes as is Elder Cadden, and I run into all
the others at random points throughout the day! La primera dia estuvo loco! i
was so lost! The MTC is hard to get around at first because all the buildings
look the same and you can't always see the mountains because of the overhang!
Right after Dad dropped me off, I went into the main
building where they took my photo for my ID card and check my medical records
and most importantly gave me my missionary tag! Yo soy Elder Cook! On Wednesday
we had a meeting with the Mission Presidency and also went to some workshops
where as a group of about 30 or 40 missionaries taught an investigator. Life
here is really busy, but you always have time in between activities to make
sure you get there on time or run back to your residence hall or classroom to
get things. We also met our teacher (Hermano Johnston) on Wednesday. From the
start he only spoke in Spanish and its been crazy but not too bad. Its really
frustrating sometimes to try and learn Spanish from someone who won't help you
out in English. So about my district..(my class). I'm the only Elder going to
Texas in my district and my companion Elder Tarr is the only other Elder going
state-side Spanish speaking. He's headed to Mesa Arizona! Elder Tarr is awesome
and we're already really good friends! He's the nicest guy and reminds me a lot
of Bishop Robinson! So I am in the intermediate Spanish class and I'll be here
for 9 weeks (August 20). There's 5 companionships in our district and the other
Elders are going to Nicarauga, Honduas (one with Elder Sears), and Chile! Funny
thing about Elder Tarr...he actually went to Kearns high School and knows CC
Marsh very, very well! Talk about a small world! He lives in West Jordan and
went to Utah State last year! He's really into music and is just an awesome all
around guy. The other companionship that we share a room with is Elder Bever
and Elder Willes. Both of them lived in helaman Halls at BYU and I knew Elder
Bever pretty well. Elder Willes is the best spanish speaker among us and we always
ask him como se dice las palabras. So right now we're on a mixed up schedule
until sunday because its our first week, but weeks 2-8 we'll have the same
schedule.
One surprise to me was that when you have personal time it
really is up to you how you spend it. For example, when we wake up (6:30) we
have a good 30 min or 45 min to prepare in whatever way we think is best for
the day. We've eaten breakfast around 7:10 each day then we go to a different
building for our classes. Whenver we have class its always with Elder Johnston
in the same room and we spend more time in there then we do in our residence
halls. After class we've had gym time where we can go play sports in the gym,
go run out by the temple grounds, go play soccer, or go lift weights. After that
we cna go back and shower and change and then we've had lunch back in the main
building. Following lunch we have indivdual study time where we're supposed to
study in English (doctrinal concepts and PMG). Each days been different this
week but from Monday on it'll all be the same! During class instruction we
start with a prayer and hymn and then nuestro maestro gives us a task to learn
(such as praying, testifying, or door approach etc.) After we're taught a
concept we have time to practive it for 15 or 20 minutes and then we'll
practice together as a class. Elder Tarr and I have tried to speak spanish both
in and out of class and its really helping alot! I'm definitely towards the
less experienced end of the class which is discouraging sometimes but it just
motivates me to work more at it! At some
point following class either before or after dinner we have time to go to the
computer lab to use TALL (Technology assisted language learning). It's a
computer program to help you learn all the phrases, sentences, and ideas in all
the lessons! It helps alot and really is good for drilling sentences y
vocabulario! Yesterday we had the chance to teach our first investigator and
things actually didnt go too bad! Elder Tarr is a really great listener and he
saved us a couple times! Things were going great until we got to the part about
the first vision. I handed our investigator a pamphlet on the restoration so he
could read Joseph's own words and he looked confused. He started reading about
the priesthood. I realized I'd handed him the pamphlet open to the wrong page.
As i reached forward to fix the page, I realized that the front said "The
Restoration" not "La Restauracion".....ay!!!!.....I'd given him
and english pamphlet! I quickly grabbed it back and started re-introducing the
first vision while mi companero quickly found the account in the Joseph Smith
history. It was pretty funny!
I got a dear elder from Bro. Drake and a letter from Ashley
Sapp! It was awesome! Im so grateful to be here and im so grateful to be a
missionary! i know this church is true and I know with all my heart that we are
all Heavenly Fathers children, that He loves us and that the gospel is His way
of bringing happiness with us! Share the book of mormon with a friend this
week! I love you all so much!
Con amor,
Elder cook
