Hello from the MTC west campus!
It turns out that the entire MTC west campus is only Spanish
speaking. I know, that's a lot of missionaries speaking Spanish. It's exciting,
but it would be nice to be able to see more of the other missionary tags with
languages besides espanol on them. It's pretty makeshift, compared to the Main
campus, which I have been on all of three times. The missionaries live in half
of wyview, and students live in the other half. We share the Wyview creamery
and the chapel. Across the street is raintree, which actually has a card swipe
gate to access the campus, but once you're inside, everything is open, unlike
the buildings on main campus. The classrooms are either in the living room area
or the bedrooms. The biggest structures are the big white bubbles to the north
which I was telling Dad about before I left (I took pictures but I can't figure
out how to get them on here - the USB and card readers don't pop up on MTC
computers). I thought there was only one bubble, and that it was the cafeteria,
but there are three, and they are the gyms. The cafeteria is basically in a
portable. They also move around temporary walls inside the gym to cordon off a
'room' and put in a podium for Sacrament Meeting, hence their nicknames -
chubbles (chapel bubbles).
The times I've been on the normal MTC campus: They have
giant paintings and high ceilings, huge hallways and buildings. I was there to
be funneled through to get all my first day stuff last week, so it wasn't that
impressive then because I was being told where to go. Going for devotional
though... that gym is HUGE. My companion and I were both blown away by how huge
it was. I did see Sister Biancardi though! Yay! Neither of us had our
cameras, but there were lots of hugs. Her nametag was a little less readable than
mine is. The last time was today after we went to the temple. We took pictures
with the giant, traditional map. Part of me is slightly sad that I don't get to
explore the main MTC campus and get to know it, but I think they're a little
more lenient about security over here on west campus, and it's fun speaking
spanish with everyone.
Speaking of my companion: Hermana O.... is from Montana.
She is nineteen also, but since she graduated early she's done about a year
more of school than I have, at the University of Utah. No, there's been no
rivalry stuff going on. She's studying chemistry, and absolutely loves it.
She'll tell me about chemical compounds, and sometimes to de-stress she'll draw
them on the whiteboard. It's pretty cool. When our district leader recognized a
compound as a "something-something" alcohol she got super
excited.
When we walked into the cafeteria the first day, everyone
sitting at their dinner started applauding. They knew we were new because of
the pink dots on our nametags, which have apparently been dubbed "dork
dots" since the beginning of time. Some of them applauding had been there
for a whole week (as had our zone leaders and sister training leaders, who
actually left yesterday) but were still veterans. That will be us, in just a
couple of days. WEIRD. I don't know if I can be considered a veteran, but I do
feel like I've been here for a long time. It's just because we do so much in a
day. We spend about 9 hours in class, one three hour block of that time being
personal, companionship and language study, another with Hermana Williams and
another with Hermano Williams. In the first hour with an instructor we teach an
'investigator' (the teacher) who is based on a real person. Hermano William's
character Julio is actually based on a friend of his who is not a member, and
he talks to her a couple times a week to find out what her actual responses to
us would be. The hours after that are discussion, about lots of different
things gospel and missionary work related.
No information yet on travel plans or visas. I will keep you
posted though. A few people from our zone took their trip to Las Vegas
yesterday to pick up their visas, but I'm not stressed, we'll get it when we
get it.
I like the MTC. I've always liked school, and being in class
is where I'm comfortable. I hope that comfort carries over into the real world
of missionary work. I can't stay here for the whole 18 months. I wouldn't want
to, anyway. The whole point is to bring real people closer to Christ.
It's taken me a few days, but I've started figuring out how
to balance taking myself seriously as an ambassador of the Lord and having a
good time. This is a happy work. The POINT is to bring people joy now and
forever. There's a time and a place for quiet study and reverence, and a time
and a place for asking our district leader to try to say things
"American". He's from London, which leads to: the British is coming!
or jokes of that sort fairly often. His parents are actually from Riobamba
though (cool) so his Spanish is fantastic.
Most of the time I really like being a missionary. It was
kind of weird when we met with the custodial people for our service assignment
though, because they were non-missionaries, texting their friends and flirting
with each other, and that was really the only thing that made me start to feel
a little, not homesick, because I wouldn't even be at home right now, but
nostalgic for normal life. I do feel the Spirit much more strongly than I used
to. I just hope I can be a missionary that is able to transfer what they learn
in the classroom to teaching people. The things our branch presidency tells us
they want us to know are a) how to love people, and b) the language of the
Spirit. I get frustrated with myself sometimes though because I don't feel like
I'm patient enough, or focused enough, or whatever it is. But I love Jesus
Christ. I love that He knows me. I love that He loves me more than anybody.
(which, considering how much I know you love me, is an unimaginable amount -
Mom, I miss you too. Even if you always rolled your eyes when I called while
walking home). And if I can get people to feel that same love, the rest should
fall into place.
They say that missionaries are powerful. They're not. The
most powerful ones are the ones who realize how little they actually do in the
conversion process. The Spirit converts, we just help people recognize what
that unfamiliar feeling of peace, love or warmth is. No amount of debate or
intellectual power is going to ever going to give a single person a testimony.
Missionaries have power with them because they seek to have the Spirit with
them by obedience, constant prayer, and faithful study.
I wrote down email requests from both parents onto one sheet
of paper, to be able to respond to them all at once. I thought it would be
easier, but if you prefer getting separate emails let me know and I'll do that
in the future.
Love you,
Hermana Juliana
