Over the hump...at the MTC

AJ has passed his half-way point at the MTC and is doing great! Here are some excerpts from the letters his first month.

March 3, 2011
This might have been one of the toughest weeks of my life. It made me really think about why I am here. But I know that I am in the right place and I know we will all receive many blessings because of it...We got to go to the Provo temple this morning. It was weird cuz I am used to the Mesa temple and the Provo one is a giant oval. I am so proud of Aunt Kelly going. I told my district and they all said that was so cool. I've really learned how important the temple is!...My teachers are awesome. They are Hermano Toone and Hermano Teerlink. Hermano Teerlink is my favorite because he is so funny. My schedule throughout the week is pretty much the same. Wake up. Sing with our zone at 7. Breakfast at 7:30. Class from 8-12. Lunch. Gym time from 1-2. Class from 2:30-5. Then dinner. Class from 5:30-9. Prep time until 9:30. Then we have a little personal time until bed at 10:30. Sunday is a little different and Tuesday nights we have firesides.

March 10, 2011
Everything is going good. This week really was so much better than last. Our district is just like family. We eat together, sit together wherever we go, walk together, and just enjoy being around each other...Spanish is going good. We only have a couple rules left to learn and then it just comes down to practicing talking and learning words. But we have learned stuff already that the district a week ahead of us hasn't learned, and we are catching the group 4 weeks ahead of us...Sending some pictures with this letter.

March 17, 2011
This week went by so fast! Like honestly it feels like just yesterday that I was writing you. Sunday was a good day cuz we basically just relaxed all day and did nothing. Monday was alright except when i rolled my ankle. It was my bad one which is the left one. I was playing volleyball and I went up to block someone and when they guy hit it he came under the net a little and I landed on top of his foot. Its still pretty sore but I can walk OK. So I'll be fine. The last 2 Tuesday devotionals have been really good. No apostle yet, but they were both from the first quorum of the 70 and gave great talks. I also sang with the choir on Tuesday. It was awesome and I sang bass with one of the guys in my zone. I've figured out that I kinda like to sing when its like that. Then Wednesday we got a new district and we are still trying to get to know them. One of the guys threw up yesterday though when they first got here. It was kinda funny.

March 24, 2011
Hey everyone. everything is going good here this week. Monday and Tuesday were weird days though cuz it snowed in the mornings and then the sun came out and melted everything. Then about an hour later it was snowing again. I want to share what happened last Thursday. After class we went back to our rooms, but we had a little get together in one room. Elder Manning asked Elder Clare to give him a blessing cuz E. Manning had been sick. It was incredible having us 9 missionaries surrounding him and giving him a blessing. The Spirit was so strong. The other time I have felt it that much is when we gave mom her blessing in the hospital. That's how powerful it was. We ended up giving Elder Blanch and Elder Tonks a blessing also and it was the same feeling every time. It brought us closer together and I felt like we truly became a family that night. They are like brothers to me .So then Monday, Elder Hafen and Manning got their visas to go to Spain. It was tough on us all. It felt like saying bye to family yesterday. But thankfully Hermano Toone is such a good teacher that he could tell we were all sad yesterday morning and he gave a powerful lesson that cheered us all up. We all think he is going to be an apostle one day. He seriously is that good...I don't know what you want to know about my companion. I guess just think of the exact opposite of me. He is not athletic at all and plays piano. He has never had a girlfriend in his life and hasn't even held a girls hand or had his first kiss. He is patient and nice to everyone and won't correct anyone ever cuz he doesn't want to offend. He is slow going everywhere which is the only thing that drives me crazy sometimes. But I'm glad he's my companion...Its weird to think that I'm half way done in the MTC now. And as of today we switch to all Spanish and aren't allowed to talk in English anymore so its gonna be tough for a little while. But I think I can do it, hopefully. Wish me luck. I hope everyone is doing okay and I love you guys.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

AJ and friend Josh Roberts from Mesa

AJ and companion Elder Wheelwright

AJ and his comp on their temple walk

AJ and Elder Manning, his district leader

...and the funniest guy in the MTC.

AJ and E.Wheelwright going over lesson plans

Feeling a little more relaxed

District 35A - left to right

E. Blanch, E. Hafen, E. McCabe, E. Tonks, E. Manning, E. Rodriguez,

E. Mlazgar, E. Wheelwright, E. Clare, E. Lawrence

First Email from the MTC

Here is AJ's first email from the MTC. I must have asked him a hundred questions in the preceding week. He tried to answer many of them. :)

Hey everyone i finally get to email. I just want to say thanks to aunt courtney. i love the pictures that i got. they are on my cover of my folder. and thanks to aunt jenny i got you email. It snowed my first 3 days here and it was awesome to see. I saw josh my first day. he was my escort. and i have seen him almost everyday. there are 10 in my district. 5 districts in my zone except one just left so now its 4. 4 are going to spain, 3 to chile vina del mar and 3 to chile santiago west. 4 missionaries in my room. my luggage basrely fits under my bed and i have the bottom bunk. the food is just like high school cafeteria food and it upsets everyones stomach. but we eat as much as we want. we get gym time everyday except pday and sunday. my companion is from utah and he plays the piano really well. mom to park the car you pick the stick into gear to get it to stop moving. they gave me an english and spanish preach my gospel, spanish scriptures, spanish language learnign books, a water purifier, dictionary and a spanish hymn book. we dont speak all spanish yet but we do as much as we can for the first month and then we will switch to all. but our teachers teach in almost all spanish. im glad i finally got to tell you how it is here.

thanks for writing
aj

Chile, Santiago West

The big send-off...AJ and family at the airport.

AJ was called to the CHILE, SANTIAGO WEST mission. He entered the Provo MTC Wednesday, February 23 around noon. He sent us a letter that first night. Here are some excerpts from that letter...

The atmosphere here is amazing. Everyone is so positive and helpful. Today in class we learned a little about each other. There are 10 elders in my district. I think it’s a smaller group. There are

about 4 classes in each zone. 3 of us are going to my mission, 3 are going to Vina del Mar,Chile and the other 4 are going somewhere in Spain. The Spain elders leave in 3 weeks, the rest of us stay for nine. All of the elders seem pretty cool. I saw Josh Roberts today too. He got me all set up and we are eating dinner together tomorrow. My companion’s name is Elder Wheelwright. He is from Utah.


My P-Day is Thursday’s but we don’t get it tomorrow so that’s why I had to write a letter. Not only do we only email on P-day, but we also only write letters then too. But, I’ll still do the best I can to always write you. Its getting close to bed time now so I’ll talk to you again next week. Pray for me.

With all my love, AJ