WEEK 1 IN THE MTC!

September 23, 2014

Hey Dad! 

Thanks for the "Four Sets of Footprints." It reminded me of a lot of great experiences!

All Spanish missionaries live in West Campus (Wyview and Raintree Complex). It's pretty relaxed and I really like the environment. I am the only Gringo in the District, but there is one American Sister in the Zone.

My Spanish is coming along, haha, I can’t remember any verb endings so I'm really struggling with that and the gender of words as well. One of the hardest parts is learning how to speak with the formal Usted, because I always learned the "tu" form. So I'm basically learning that as I go. The good news is that my brain is thinking in Spanish, which actually makes it hard to speak English. That’s good and bad. Good because I'm immersing myself in the language, but bad because when I can’t think of a word, which happens very often, I can’t think of it in English either, haha. But I hope that gets better as time goes on. I'm the District Leader here, and everyone in my District is a Native Speaker. My companion is straight out of Mexico for the first time, and he speaks REALLY quickly and mumbles A LOT, it's really hard to understand him sometimes, but it’s getting a lot easier. It's almost just as hard to speak to another Elder who is straight out of Barcelona for the first time. He also speaks with a really thick Spanish accent. His native language is Catalan (or however whatever), so he'll throw in a word every now and then that isn't Spanish, haha. There are two other Elders that are part of a trio, with the Spaniard. They both have lived in the States for like 3 years, so they speak English fluently. They are from Guatemala and Ecuador.

Elder Falquez (from Ecuador/sunset, Utah) and Elder Brossa (from Spain) are part of a trio with Elder Juarez (from Guatemala/Las Vegas). The first two Elders are our Zone Leaders.... There are 5 of us and only 1 shower. 

Most of the missionaries want to play soccer during gym, but honestly, they all stink at it, haha. My District likes sports but they aren't that good. Haha. When we play basketball its just a joke, I can do whatever I want. When we play soccer we play with like 30 Elders so it gets really competitive and fun. My first gym time I dunked it really well for the first time! I got in trouble. haha, so no more dunking.

The package was really nice to have as well! My District all yelled really loud when I opened the box and read that the cookies where for the district! They were all so excited. We live right next to the creamery where we went to after the Houston game, and we cross that same cross walk that connected to our parking lot every day. It brings back good memories. We walk past the parking lot like 10 times a day.

In an older district in our zone, there was an Elder that was 100% Mexican and a couple days ago he was walking with his district and they were talking about something, I'm not sure what. Well he stopped and picked a little twig with leaves off of a tree and said "En mi pueblo, comemos esto." (In my town, we eat this.) and put it in his mouth, then someone said something funny and he swallowed it and it got stuck haha. Long story short, he starting vomiting blood and had to go to the hospital for the night, hahaha, it was really funny. Another missionary in that district has a habit of running away from his companion full speed when he gets anxious.

Well, I don’t have much time, and I don’t think I'm going to write a family letter, but you can share this if you want. You should let mom see it, because I don’t know what I'm going to write about to her. Love you!

Love, Nate

Mom,

Thanks for telling me about seminary! I really miss my friends. Sorry for the short letters! And yeah, it feels like I've been here for a year. The turn-around rate in my branch is 2 weeks so we are already the most experienced missionaries here! Love you!

Yes! We went to the temple; it was a really good experience. We watched a new video that I hadn’t seen and it’s my favorite to far. I really enjoyed it! We got 11 names done. Do you want me to send them back to you? Maybe you could call my mission and ask if we will be going to the temple there? Then I can know what to do.

I might be on to email this Saturday or next Monday, not sure. Just FYI.

(The following are answers to questions from Mom:)

Did you get the package we sent you yesterday?
I got the packaged, Thanks a lot!! Everybody loved the cookies! And thanks for the BYU score:)

Who is your companion? Where is he from? Is he fun? How many other Americans are there in your Zone/District? Is everything done completely in Spanish? How is that going? Are you able to communicate as much as you want? Does your companion speak English?
Elder Florez, from somewhere near Reynoso, Mexico. He speaks really fast and really slurred and it’s hard to understand him, but I really like him a lot. We get along really well. No other Americans in my district. 1 American sister from Bingham 1s in my zone. She ran xc with some of my friends. We do all classes and most things in Spanish. Here's a paragraph I've been sending people:

My Spanish is coming along, haha, I can’t remember any verb endings so I'm really struggling with that and the gender of words as well. One of the hardest parts is learning how to speak with the formal Usted, because I always learned the "tu" form. So I'm basically learning that as I go. The good news is that my brain is thinking in Spanish, which actually makes it hard to speak English. That’s good and bad. Good because I'm immersing myself in the language, but bad because when I can’t think of a word, which happens very often, I can’t think of it in English either, haha. But I hope that gets better as time goes on. I'm the District Leader here, and everyone in my District is a Native Speaker. My companion is straight out of Mexico for the first time, and he speaks REALLY quickly and mumbles A LOT, it's really hard to understand him sometimes, but it’s getting a lot easier. It's almost just as hard to speak to another Elder who is straight out of Barcelona for the first time. He also speaks with a really thick Spanish accent. His native language is Catalan (or however whatever), so he'll throw in a word every now and then that isn't Spanish, haha. There are two other Elders that are part of a trio, with the Spaniard. They both have lived in the States for like 3 years, so they speak English fluently. They are from Guatemala and Ecuador.

How did the picture happen? Are the other guys in it in your district?
A Girl security guard offered to take a picture of us and send it to our moms! Then just barely a girl from BYU sent a picture from the laundry room. The other guys are my district.

What happened after we left you at the MTC? Did you have to wait till everyone got there before you did anything?
We dropped our stuff of at the apartment, then I sat in the classroom and did an online questionnaire on the computer.

How are you feeling? How is your head and your gut? Have you been able to get to sleep? Do you still feel sleep deprived? Have you been able to eat better?
I feel really healthy, but REALLY tired. I eat really well, but I'm almost always tired.

Do you want me to put your MTC address on your Facebook page?
Please put my addresses on Facebook, and mention dearelder.com, just tag me from yours. BTW, thanks for the dearelders!

What are your duties as District Leader?
As a DL I answer questions and make assignments in the district. I do the welcoming every class and everything. I pick up the mail for everyone and hold it till night (which is really fun, haha) basically I just preside over the district.

Do you want me to send you a pack of the Puma socks that don’t have the puma on the shaft?
Yes, send socks please!

Where you able to go to the Ogden Temple Dedication?
We did go to the dedication!! It was an awesome environment with all the missionaries! The spirit was really, really strong when we all sang the Spirit of God at the end.

Do you want me to create a blog with your letters and pictures?
We can’t send pics from the mtc, but I’ll send some in two weeks.

Did you get the letter I wrote to you on Friday that day or Monday? And did you get the one I wrote on Monday that same day?
I got a letter a few letters, I don’t remember when! Thanks.

Do you have enough hangers?
There were no hangers anywhere so we bought some at the bookstore.

I'm sorry I don’t have more time, I have to go!

Love, Nate.

PS. read Dad's email!

The Elders in my District during gym at the MTC.

Elder Falquez (one of the Zone Leaders) and me in the Laundry Room at the MTC.