January 5th - Elder Turley's First Week as a Full-Time Missionary!

So basically  my life here has been waking up at 6, then showering and kinda just chillin for a minute until breakfast. Then you have breakfast and it's just cereal and orange juice and hot chocolate. Then you go to personal study and that is pretty cool because I never really realized that if you actually have a purpose for reading it, then the Book of Mormon isn't just words. Next it is companion study, and that is pretty chill.  The first day iI was here my companion wasn't and so I was able to just walk around, so I had a little bit more freedom then most people and that felt good. My companion is Elder Bird and he is from Idaho and we are in a room with six South Americans and only one or two speak even a little bit of English. In my Patriarchal Blessing,  it says that I will be able to get along with all of my companions and that's really cool and I know that is true because although we don't like the same music or movies or anything, he played a lot of League of Legends which as you know that is the game that I played so much before I left, and so we are able to talk about that and that has brought us closer and now we are pretty good friends.

This week has been long and I haven't really had a problem sleeping ... the first day you kinda just pass out which is nice. The second day I woke up a couple times but ever since then I have been able to sleep through the night, and that is weird for me because it is like 5 in the afternoon in Newport when I go to sleep here.  After companion study, it is language and then you have a little class and then you have lunch. The food down here is a little weird but it is pretty good and I have finished everthing but one little sausage so that is good. The peaches down here are to die for, they are super juicy and super good and I eat a lot of those. Honestly, Spanish is hard and sometimes it's frustrating to think I don't know a lot, but a lot of that is because I feel like I have been here forever when in reality I have only been here for one week, and in one week I have learned to bear my testimony and pray in Spanish, and me and my Latin roomates can kinda talk and have some funny conversations about Justin Beiber and Miley Cyrus. (Side Note: Jon thinks Justin Beiber and Miley Cyrus are both out of control). 

There are about 20 or 30 other Americans and a couple from California here in the MTC,  but mostly the Americans are from Utah which isn't a shocker.  It's crazy how we are all getting along ... so that's pretty gnarly ... how we literally just met but are all pretty good friends. Because we are all such good friends, I don't think I have gotten too homesick yet. The first day they told us to read D&C 100, and I think that would be good for you guys to read. I think it is verse four,  but I am not exactly sure.

Every day at 2:30 we go out and play sports, and there were only five elders here before and they took over leadership, so they only play handball which is like ultimate frisby on a little soccer court with a volleyball ... and that is pretty fun.  The weather changes randomly here so it went from being burning hot to Hurricane Katrina status, but it was pretty chill to play in the rain. We haven't really been outside the MTC yet, but we are going to the Temple today, and I am apparently gonna do it in Spanish which might be good cause they help the new Elders with the Spanish so I won't look stupid when I don't have the last part memorized haha. I haven't really been struggling, but I haven't really kicked my cold yet, so that would be nice if you could pray about that because it gets better as the day goes on, but in the morning it is annoying to have a sore throat.

The coolest thing about the MTC is how inspired everyone is and how crazy it is to find easy answers in the Book of Mormon if you are actually searching. The first day I came in and had an interview with the MTC President and told him about my night terrors, and he didn't think it was weird. He gave me a verse in D&C that was about missionaries being scared off by spirits and that they needed help, and they were told that they had all power over the spirits and that because they have been called of God they could not be touched again if they asked God to help them. So that was pretty inspired. My MTC president is crazy smart in that you can ask him anything and he will tell you what it is, where it is, and what it says in the scripture ... it is crazy crazy. 

Of course I love you mother and if you and dad would pray for my Spanish and for my health, that would be much appreciated. I can't really think of much else, my life has just been kinda the same thing every day. I played volleyball and that was cool. The days are long here, but they are getting faster ... they are all pretty much the same but with different things in them.

I love you mom and dad and family and grandparents, I am thankful for y'all.

Love Elder Turley