These are pieces of three emails we received from Jake over the last two days. The internet was really acting up, so the missionaries were given permission to write two days in a row.
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Yet another week in the MTC. The time begins to go by faster, and then you realize that the work has barely started! Unfortunately, the temple is closed for cleaning and maintenance for the rest of the time we're in the MTC. So today we just went shopping for our P-day (Preparation Day). The MTC is in a rich part of town, so the stores are very nice and the prices are very good (unless you want something American...American cereal is 16 soles while Peruvian cereal is about 5 soles).
We've been having a flu go around lately. It's not very bad, probably an 18-hour bug, but because of it the MTC President has told us to stop going to churro stands and restaurants. This is particularly devastating because the churros here are cheap, and they are filled with caramel! We also really enjoy the empanadas, which are basically calzones or hot pockets. But both of these are out of the question until we get into the field.
We went proselyting on Saturday, and my companion was an Elder from Ecuador. We did very, very well. We talked to six people from a town up on the foothills of the mountains, and we gave out four Libro de Mormons, and got several referrals for the missionaries in that area. The strangest part about asking people if they'd like to read the Book of Mormon is they almost always ask, ''¿Cuantos questan?'' (How much is it?) Then we need to explain that we aren't salesmen pitching a story about Joseph Smith, angels, and gold plates for money, but that we have a living prophet on the earth who receives revelation from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who calls on us and sends us all over the world to bring the children of God back into the fold. And, yes, you can have the dang book for free.
One lady, who was confused about the relationship between the Book of Mormon and Bible, pulled out her Bible and handed it to me as my companion talked. I then found a ''Proclamation to the World'' in her scriptures. It was really cool, and she took a Book of Mormon. But just to see how the word of God can reach this little old woman in Peru is awesome!
Learning Spanish is really a love/hate relationship, filled with mostly hate. I only enjoy Spanish when I'm talking about the Gospel. Anything else seems unnecessary and reminds me of working at McDonald's. Lots of us have hit a ceiling in the MTC, and we really just want to get to our missions to learn the rest.
Well, I hope that everyone in the states has an awesome week. I hope our internet works next week because I've spent 45 minutes waiting for things to load and there's a line of about 30 missionaries behind me. The gospel is true! I've seen the Spirit touch the hearts of these good people in Peru, and I can't wait to get in the field and share it with everyone!
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Mom, My internet is toast. Please just let everyone know I remember them, but it takes at least 5 minutes to load each page using basic html. My enter button isn't working today, so add paragraphs where it feels natural.
Dad, The language is going well, but it's totally not there yet. I'll be fine by Christmas, but getting there is tough.
Everyone, I have only received two dearelder.com letters, and that is it so far. I've written all of you letters, but I haven't sent any of them yet because I literally have no time. With the temple closed, I'll have more time now. Today was P-day and we went shopping, but I try to never leave the MTC without a Book of Mormon. I couldn't find anyone to give it away to until I was on the bus home. I found a man on the bus reading the Bible, so I talked about the Book of Mormon and gave him one.
Elder Larsen and I are the Zone Leaders for all of the North Americans at the MTC right now. That's kind of exciting, but it also means that we need to go to the tattle tale committee meetings, which is kind of annoying and feels pointless. I guess it's good practice...
All of the Elders in my district and I have boycotted soccer and have been playing football, or frisby, or anything besides soccer. They're all very smart. Most of them are BYU, 4.0 students, and really good at sports. I feel like a slacker compared to them.
I finished all four Gospels this week. That was exciting. We also watched an awesome talk by Elder Bednar. It was a Christmas Day devotional at the MTC. Find it at all cost because I don't have enough time to explain it. Love you bye!
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I answered more questions!
1. What is your typical day like? Are you in class all day?
Typical day... wake up at 6:30 a.m. Turn over and kneel up for a prayer in bed. Grab my shower bag, towel, and flip flops. Walk down the hallway to the bathroom with my eyes shut. (They only have one bathroom on each floor, but they changed the 2nd floor so that the Elders have two because there are so many more Elders than Sisters. The new, second bathroom used to be the Sisters', so I don't know what they do, but their half of the building is a lot different than ours.) Wait in line for a shower because some people wake up early for showers. There are six different showers, so it doesn't take more than 10 minutes to get in. The water temperature has a mind of its own. It'll be super hot then freezing cold in a matter of momentos, so it keeps you on your toes. I probably have a few 2nd degree burns (solo un chiste, I'm fine!). Then I brush my teeth and lament in the mirror because, for some reason, our skin has deteriorated in the MTC... maybe due to stress, or the food, or the Lord is making us less appealing to prospective kidnappers.
We go to breakfast, then we have language study for an hour. There's a book we can study, or we can use a computer program made by BYU called Tall. After that we go to our district room, which is the only classroom we use. We spend about nine hours a day in this room, three of which are personal study. So we can actually go outside during that time.
Our teachers are our mock investigators. Each companionship will go outside, or in the capilla, with our teacher and teach lessons like they're an investigator. During this time, the rest of us study and prepare lessons (or play hacky sack while singing Pink Floyd).
We have lunch, then we have our study time, then physical activity which is an hour long. We have one teacher in the morning and one at night. At night we go back to our classroom, and our night teacher (Hermano Ibarra, who is the coolest guy in the world!) arrives. He's our other mock investigator. We go to dinner, more Spanish class, then planning meeting at 9 p.m. (still in our district room). The cafeteria people give us extra fruit at 9:20 p.m. Then we write in our journals and pray (or mess around) until bed time at 10:30 p.m.
Every second Saturday is proselyting, and every Sunday there's no class. We watch General Conference talks, watch church movies, and do Sacrament Meeting every Sunday.
2. Is Elder Larsen going to your mission?
Yes, Elder Larsen, Elder Howell, Elder Olsen, Hermana Hewitt, Hermana Barker, and Hermana Hooper are all in my district, and they're all going to the Lima West Mission. We have one Elder and one Hermana going to Lima South, and the other three Elders are going to Trujillo. That's my entire district.
3. Brigham and Jared want to know if you have chocolate milk?
NO! Hermana Hooper (she's from Australia, but her family is in New Zealand now, and she's the only person not from Utah, Idaho or California in my district) found some chocolate milk mix stuff at Tottus that they have in Australia. It's not that great, and the milk here tastes like goat milk.
4. Are you able to look at the blog?
No, I cannot look at the blog in any way. Could you please send me a copy of stuff from the blog so I can see?
5. Have you heard anything from your Mission President? You leave in two weeks, right?
No, not a peep. I leave next Tuesday morning. So yeah, it's basically two weeks.
Elder Avery's Third Week in the Peru MTC (August 6, 2013)
Wrapping Things Up at the Peru MTC (July 24, 2013)
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| Super crowded buses! |
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| Tottus, our favorite place to shop! |
