Letter #3: Week 4 (Technically) – The Long Climb

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Well week number four is upon me and I’ve almost been here for one whole month. Life here at the Provo Mission Training Center is really just the same thing day in and day out. My journal entries have shrunken from one big paragraph to just a couple of sentences. It feels like just yesterday I wrote you guys.

Personal study time
Personal study time

Most of our dai senpai left Monday. Our zone shrunk to just three districts. One district has two people in it, the other is ours, and the third is a group that came in the same day with us. So it is a little more quiet everywhere. Anyway, it feels like we have been here way too long. All I want to do is just get out and into the mission field.

Choir this week was great! We sang Jesus, Once of Humble Birth. The Spirit was so strong. The song was so beautiful.

The language has been coming on good. Feels like I still have a hard time speaking it even though understanding it on paper, writing it, and listening to it I’m still very good at. I think I underestimated how hard this language would be. My teacher gave the description that it is like English but the sentences are backwards so trying to work that out while speaking is difficult. But I’m sure when I’m speaking it everyday in the field those puzzle pieces will connect.

This week I made an analogy abut learning this language. I said to our district:

“It is not hard to imagine this language as this towering brick wall that seems impossible to climb. Instead, imagine it as a rock climbing wall. There are certain steps that have been placed by the Lord so you can easily make your way up. Not only that but you’re connected by a cord so you won’t fall off. You are always connected to the Lord and he will put things in the way to guide you.”

I think I heard that analogy somewhere before but I forgot the reference.

rock-climbing

The one thing I’m struggling with though is the food. I can go on and on about how terrible this food is. Sometimes we get “decent” food, but the majority of the time it is bland and has no real flavor. I think that’s the hardest thing about the MTC. I miss Panda Express (lol). I swear I’ve been having a Panda crave for ages now. Also missing the tasty home-cooked meals. So that’s why I’m hoping that these days go by faster. I want to get out of here and eat real food! (lol)

MTC Cafeteria
MTC Cafeteria

I think one of my favorite parts here is going to the temple. It is a great thing to do an endowment session once a week. I really look forward to doing that work. I love the peace the temple brings. It is cool to see things in a different way than the previous times. This week, one of our district members has a bunch of names from his family so we are doing initiatory and endowment sessions for them. Can’t wait!

mtc-150219c

Anyway, I can’t wait to hear from you next week!

Bryce-choro