MTC – Week 1

Hey Everybody!

My P-days are on Wednesday so sorry that I haven’t been able to reply to all the letters and everything. I like that I am able to reply to all you guys finally.

The first week has been fun and really hard at times too though. When I first arrived last week another missionary helped me with my bags and then took me to get all the stuff I needed, such as my name tag, my MTC ID, room key, and language books, and then took me to my room. A ton of people come in each day [Wednesdays] and so there are a lot of people coming in every week. We then went to our classrooms for the first time and they immediately start talking to you in Italian. We had to do some orientation things on the computer and got through that. We had class time and I met my companion Anziano Just he has lived all over the place and is from Saint George, Utah. He likes snowboarding, skateboarding, and he is really good at drawing. We are all still getting to know each other really well. The other two companions in our district are Anziano Bickmore and Anziano Souwan. Anziano Bickmore is from Vancouver, Washington and is really tall. He likes skateboarding and loves to watch soccer and is a fan of the the Portland Timberlands. Anziano Souwan is from southern Georgia. We are all 19 except for Anziano Just.

This week was super busy and they really get you going on everything all at once. Every day we wake up between 6:00 and 6:30 and you have to dress up in your suit to go eat breakfast. We then have daily planning for the rest of our day before breakfast.  After breakfast we have gym time so I usually wait to shower and then get really ready for the day after that. During Gym time I have been running on the track they have in the gym. It takes 10 laps to make a mile so I have to keep track on my hands. We then get ready for our day and head to our classes for personal study, companion study, and then language study. We do those for an hour each.

It is great to be able to focus on doing our studies. This first week has been crazy because we are still a little confused by our schedule, since the one they gave us when we first got here was all wrong. We had some orientation and stuff the first night to introduce us to the MTC presidency. We met our branch presidency (I think Thursday night) and it they are all super cool, nice, and supportive. The branch president served his mission in Italy and his wife is from Rome.

I have had some really cool experiences from being here already. The second day we were here I couldn’t find my key anymore. The next morning i said a quick prayer before getting ready that Heavenly Father would help me find my key. I went to put on my suit pants and it dropped on to the floor. God answers our prayers and he knows what we need in life. He may not always answer them in the way that we want or expect but if we really need it and he thinks it’s good for us he will answer them.

I have been struggling with homesickness. I really miss my family a lot. The second night it hit me more than the first. I was studying earlier that day in Ether and love Ether 12:27.  [Taylor wanted me to insert the scripture here:  “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”]  We shouldn’t get hung up on our shortcomings, but trust that through a lot of effort and hard work Heavenly Father will help us become stronger. Its hard to have that mindset sometimes, but it is truly necessary in all that we do.

So they don’t only jump right into Italian but we also have to start teaching on the third day we are here to a mock investigator in Italian. I was worried at first but the Gift of Tongues helps us all so much. We prepare for these lessons and I am trying to look at them as a real investigator and put my heart into it. The spirit helps me so much to remember words I need to know in the time that I need them.

Its been a super fun time here, but also super hard at the same time. They keep you really busy and I have typically 6 hours of language study. Our teachers are Fratello [brother] Gessell and Sorella [sister] Preston. They are super awesome and great and teach us a lot and uplift us so much.

We had a fireside Sunday by Brother Heaton and it was on the Holy Ghost and how we need to be directed by it in all that we do. He had missionaries come up that were at the 2, 4, 6, and 8 week mark in the MTC. They shared what they learned and we need to remember we are the Lords instruments in his work. We got to watch the video on elder Bednar’s talk The Character of Christ. Please even if you aren’t a member of this church look up and read or even better listen to that talk.

We heard from Elder Cook last night which was awesome! He gave a lot of great points on what we need to do to be more successful. I will give more info about that next week.  I sang in the choir for devotional and we sang Praise to the Man and we learned the story behind that song, which I don’t have time to share with you right now.  But I felt the Spirit so strong, as we were singing, that Joeseph Smith was a true prophet of God and restored this Church on the earth in this last dispensation.

Sorry I didn’t have a ton of time to email everything.  I am sorry! I have some other emails to respond to. I look forward to hearing from you all again. Dear Elder works well and is fun to hear from you all as much as you can write. Love you guys all so much, and I will talk to you again next week!

Arrevaderci!

Anziano Garrett