First week at MTC

Dear Everybody,

I am sorry that I haven't sent any personal communication to anyone. I don't have contact information, and I left the email list in my apartment today. This is my first P-day, so there are still a few bugs. Let me tell you about the MTC. I have no idea what it is normally like. I am on west campus, which is very different from the main campus that most people go to. We have better rooms, showers, beds, food, and a lot of other things. Basically we live in the former freshman dorms. The problem is that we are the first German missionaries to be on west campus. We still don't have all of our materials, (hopefully we can get those today when we go up to the temple and main campus) our computers aren't fully set up, our teachers don't know the schedule, and because of the new training times, there are no experienced Elders who have been here for a long time to show us what to do. We have one, Elder Cole who has to stay because of recent surgery for another three weeks, so we are lucky, but he isn't in our district, so we don't always see him. Our branch is a good 17 missionaries. We have three sisters. Six of the 17 are going to Berlin, including my district. The rest are going to Frankfurt. You teach a lesson on your second or third day here to someone who roleplays being an investigator. That was an interesting experience. My companion, Elder Lawyer, had no German experience before coming to the MTC. Let's just say, I taught the lesson, and he sat there looking wide-eyed at the investigator and I. It is actually weird typing in English because I only use it when my zone doesn't understand the what I am saying, or I have to express a complex idea. Our classes are in German, and I read mostly in German switching to English for clarification. We have a lot of study time, gym everyday, and hours of class time. Our district leader aptly put it. "The MTC is like spirit prison." Studying the gospel, going through our planned schedule, ours in a classroom, room inspections, the sound of the megahorn stating that gym time is over. (We don't actually have a gym yet. Those are being built.) And lots of missionary work is being done. The food is slightly better. It is weird that I have already been here for a week. New missionaries came in today. We were the welcomers when only a week ago, we were the ones being welcomed. For those of you who are preparing to come on missions, my word of advice is to study Preach My Gospel even more than you have been, and get used to studying. You have about 8 hours the first real day here for study. Not even joking. Get used to it. And study your language. A lot. And don't be afraid. We are taught to invite investigators to be baptized on the first missionary discussion. That can be a bit intimidating. (Not really. All they can do is say no.) The MTC is a place that can really prepare you, but it is up to you. No one holds you accountable for how effectively you study or if you do. (except maybe your companion if you have a good one) Learn exact obedience. Lastly, learn how to deal with not having any privacy, ever. You are never without your companion. But it's good. It looks like I am going to be here for six weeks. I am doing everything to try to get it shortened, but there is the problem of, if I leave, Elder Lawyer is without a companion. Wouldn't want that to happen. He and I are flying together and we are going to make it through our MTC experience together.Tomorrow is lesson number five with our "investigator". We are going to invite him to be baptized. (We didn't the first time because we didn't know we were supposed to. And I was the only one talking. Our investigator like to make it hard for us by giving one word answers.) Here is to hoping that we can manage. Thank you all for your prayers. Die Gnade sei mit euch. 

sincerely,

Elder Perez

P.S. My mom is running a blog about me and my adventures. She works really hard on it. Ask her about it. It's great.