Hello from the MTC!

Tags.
Teachers.
Ties.
Training.
Tongans.
Time.
Trying.
Trying again.

It's been a blur of all these and more. Life is fantastic! My brain is too tired to alliterate any more, but I certainly tried. :-)

Well...I made it, everyone! I'm here and I'm alive and I've survived my first few days in the Missionary Training Center (MTC) for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm currently sitting in the laundry room, which is bouncing with energy. It's Preparation Day (P-Day), a day on which missionaries get to relax a little, do their laundry, and have time to correspond to family. Since every other day of the week is filled with intense structure, nearly every minute scheduled from 6:30am to 10:30pm, you can imagine what P-Day is like for a bunch of 19-yr-old boys.

I want to pack this entry full of detail and cleverness and power, but I have a timer on my computer and will soon be kicked off. So this will be just a mind blurp of everything I can think of to say. :-)

So far in this post, the MTC sounds amazingly prison-like. Let me enlighten you. Even though I've only been here for about five days, I've learned SO MUCH about myself and about people and about Portuguese.

Walking into the MTC was surreal. I was dropped off by my dear grandparents, aunt, uncle, and sister. I hugged them goodbye, and was escorted through some doors that would be the portal to my world for the next 9 weeks. Although I was exhausted from a full day of traveling, and my emotions were a crazy blur of nervousness, excitement, and sadness to be leaving my family, the thing I noticed the most when I walked in was the spirit of the place. I could feel it in the air--there's no other way to describe it. This is a place dedicated to the Lord, and you can FEEL it.

Each day at the MTC has roughly the same schedule. We get up at 6:30, go to the gym, eat breakfast at the cafeteria, then go to class. Class is in a small room with your district, a small group of missionaries who are all learning the same language. My district consists of seven elders (male missionaries) and three sisters (female missionaries). We're in that class for many hours each day, practicing the language (for us, Portuguese) and practicing teaching people about Jesus Christ. Our teachers have decided that the best way for us to learn Portuguese is by "immersion" of sorts, so from the beginning of Day One they've spoken to us almost solely in Portuguese! At first it was difficult and frustrating, but already I'm starting to understand a lot more and feel confident that I will be able to be comfortable with Portuguese someday. Hopefully sooner rather than later. :-)

If I've learned only one thing in the MTC, it's this: it's okay to mess up. Each day I'm becoming less frustrated when I trip over my tongue or make a fool of myself in some other way. Stumbling is how we grow, and I'm here to grow, so I guess I better start stumbling.

My time is almost up, but I want to share two quick stories.

First one is short. For Relief Society on Sunday, all the sisters met together as usual (there were a few hundred of us), and Mary N. Cook, counselor in the General Young Women Presidency, spoke to us!! I was in the second row, like 10 feet from her, and it was so so neat. I even got brave and stood to answer a question she asked. What a wonderful opportunity to be able to hear from such a wise woman. Here at the MTC we get to hear from General Authorities and auxiliary leaders (the leaders of our Church) relatively often. Unfortunately I came the DAY AFTER Elder Richard G. Scott spoke to everyone, and apparently I missed an AMAZING devotional. Ah, well. You can't have it all. :-)

Second story. Last night we had an Easter fireside, and an elder from Hungary played an amazing organ piece for the musical number. After he sat down, the main speaker stood up and said "Wow" a couple times. After a few seconds, he asked, "Do you know 'Go Tell it on a Mountain?'" The elder stood and said he did. "Will you play it?" He did. It was absolutely incredible. Afterward, the entire MTC (about 2300 missionaries) rose to their feet and cheered for this talented individual. Tears came to my eyes as I tried to imagine how he must feel. It was a beautiful experience.

My time is up. I love you all! I'd love to hear from you, my address is on the blog. DearElder is also wonderful--you write an e-mail, it comes to me as a printed letter the SAME DAY! And it's FREEEEEE! Thank you for your support and love, and I hope you are doing well.

Com amor,

Sister Petty