Hello from the MTC!
I am here and on my 4th day. It has been a crazy week. The first day had me flustered and and confused with all the information that they throw at you at the start. Right off the bat our teacher spoke only Spanish while giving initial instruction, so you can imagine how well we followed those instructions. During class itself we slowly got used to the idea of communicating using only Spanish. It's day 4 and we're still terrible at communicating but it's amazing seeing the progress our district/class has made already. In the evening, all of the new missionaries got a chance to speak, as a group, to real investigators. I dunno what made them alright with having a discussion with 30 missionaries at a given time, but it was interesting nonetheless.
On day 2 we learned that we would be teaching an investigator (actually a member who is volunteering to act as an investigator, but we had to treat him as such), the very next day. We had to plan a lesson ALL IN SPANISH and teach him. As you'd might expect, it was a disaster for everyone involved. I probably remembered the most from High School Spanish than everyone else in my class, but even with all that I was able to remember, I still understood only half of what the "investigator" said. We will also have to teach another lesson to him tonight. Hopefully it's a bit more organized and less disastrous. Anyway I probably shouldn't be starting off my first real email with negativity like this haha.
My companion's name is Elder Graf. He is from St. George, Utah. He is also going to Lubbock, Texas! He pretty great but kind of quiet, for me even. But he told me about how everything is going for him so far and he seems to be doing alright like me. So stressed out, but doing okay. My class/district has just us two Elders, then three Sisters: Walker, Kentner, and Hadley.
I've had a bit a trouble sleeping these past few days, especially the first day (took me a whole hour and 15 minutes to fall asleep) because there was so much information I had to take in and it kept me thinking all night. The following nights I've been doing better. Adjustment to this sleep schedules has been going better than expected.
The food here is pretty good. I always unintentionally grab more food than I know my stomach can take. For anyone wondering, yes Elders and Sisters can sit with each other and anywhere we want, we just still have to be with our companion.
Today is P-Day so we'll be going to the Provo Temple as a zone, so I'm looking forward to that!
Something that was a cool experience I got to be a part of yesterday: my companion gave a blessing of comfort to a Sister in our district. She was feeling really defeated and kind of depressed after the lesson with our investigator, and it basically destroyed all motivation for her. Our zone leaders came to us and asked Elder Graf if he was willing to give her a blessing. He accepted and gave her the blessing while I stood in on it. I can tell you right now those words that he spoke were not his. He spoke with such confidence, conviction, and authority during that blessing that I knew it came from the Spirit. Elder Graf, as mentioned before, is pretty quiet and very much a follower, so the blessing he gave and what he said caught me off guard. I knew he had the ability to provide a fantastic blessing for the Sister, but it was beyond what I expected. The Priesthood is amazing. The Spirit is real. It is with us whenever we let it and whenever we may need it. I am glad I was able to be a part of that blessing.
I love this gospel and the happiness that it provides. I am so happy I'm here and can learn and grow. Thank you to everyone who has helped me get to where I am in life and who gave me the opportunity to be here. Thank you to everyone who has sent me emails and packages. I want you all to know that I greatly appreciate it. I love you all! Until next week!
Elder Lewis
