First letter from the MTC

Date: July 03, 2011 Area: Provo MTC Companion: Elder Eves

Hola Familia!

How are you all? Today is the first day that we have had to really communicate with you. I sent out a letter yesterday but I doubt it will get there until Monday. Its pretty short since I don't really have a lot of time to do extra stuff here so sorry about that. Thank you for everyone that sent me a letter! They were really great to get on my second day here and I got the most in the district with 4!! (I'll reply as soon as I get time to=)

The first few days here have been pretty crazy. It was awesome coming into the MTC because I kept hoping while driving over that I would see somebody I knew from school who could take me in and show me around because obviously that would be better than some stranger showing me around and also cause I knew it was going to be hard to leave Lindy. So I kept hoping and praying that I would get somebody to take me in that I knew and as we were driving in I saw Danny Jones, my roommate from college, standing on the side waiting to pick people up!! So I rolled down the window and yelled to him to come get me and he found me just a little ways down the road and picked me up. It was definitely a tender mercy to have him there cause it made leaving so much easier.

But he took me through all the registration stuff like getting my room key and Black name tag and books and stuff and just got me settled in. We didn't do very much before he dropped me off at class and I met my companion Elder Eves. He's from Logan Utah and is a really chill, relaxed guy so we get along pretty well. We got put in a room with two people from another district that have already been here for 5 weeks or so and they only have 3 left so its kinda weird being there cause when we get back at night its all crazy with all their friends from their district. We feel kinda like outsiders just cause we haven't had the time to bond with everyone in our hall cause we don't ever do things with them. But the roommates are super cool and I always look forward to the end of the day when I can go back and relax and joke around with those Elders.

The first day right after getting to class they had everyone go to this big orientation meeting with the MTC presidency. It was really boring. And LONG! So I was glad when that was over and the other classes weren't nearly as bad. The first week our schedules are really messed up because of all the newbie stuff they have us do but yesterday and today have especially been good. I always look forward to lunch or dinner when we all eat together because, like people told me before I got here, I've seen all my friends from school ALL THE TIME!! Its so fun to see them and it, more than once, has saved me haha. But its awesome to have those people that I can completely relax around and be myself cause I don't really know anyone in my district well enough yet to do that with.

Actual class has been good and bad the first couple of days. We have two teachers, Hermana Pit from Ecuador and Hermano Wheeler from Ogden. Hermana Pit hasn't taught in Spanish too much yet (which I don't like) but Hermano Wheeler has started to only speak in Spanish which is awesome! They are both really nice and absolutely wonderful teachers! The first two days we didn't speak hardly any Spanish and it was super frustrating to me because I was looking forward to that so much. Those classes were sooooo boring and I just wanted to up and leave the room (which of course I couldn't do simply cause I knew my companion wouldn't follow). They went through all the rules that we have to live by for the next two months (I leave on the 29th of August by the way) and... well lets just say there are a lot of little rules. And I'm learning to live by them =) Obedience is key. I guess they just frustrate me sometimes but I've been praying to be better about my feelings and to be more humble and willing to listen and since doing that everything has become TONS easier. I really believe in the power of prayer. God does listen and answer our needs. He does care about us and wants us to be happy and I'm so grateful for that.

Today was definitely the best day though. We are part of the MTC's new pilot program where its total immersion all the time. Today in class we laid out some goals that we wanted to each accomplish with it and although we were supposed to officially start only speaking Spanish on Monday we decided to start early and we started today! It is really fun to try to speak in Spanish because it forces me to practice! I've found that I'm pretty good about thinking of how to say things in my head but whenever I try to speak it just seems to come out wrong so this is definitely going to help me with that and I've already noticed a difference since we started doing it earlier today. And when I mean total immersion, I mean it. Spanish all the time- even outside of class. So it will be fun.

Well my time is almost up and the normal day that you'll be getting letters from me is on Thursday so now I know that you'll all be waiting at the computer all day on Thursday waiting for my email to come through! Its ok, I would too.

I know that this church is true and that God really does love and care about us. He helps us every day of our lives in so many different little ways which makes life so much easier. I am grateful to be here and love the experience.

Hasta Jueves! Love you!

Elder Holland