Getting
on the plane to Denver, Colorado was easy. Arriving at the airport was
easy. Trying to find the checked bag that I didn't know had been sent
all the way to Salt Lake was hard. I spent 20 minutes waiting for my bag
to come down the carousel, then 30 minutes in line at the baggage claim
counter trying to get someone to help me figure out what had happened
to it. When I finally got down to the counter, the lady there took about
5 seconds to figure out that my luggage was already en route to Salt
Lake. The only problem was that I wasn't- I had to get back down to the
gate. I went down to security, but they couldn't let me through without a
new boarding pass. I then ran to the ticket counter clear at the other
side of the airport, but the plane had already left by the time I got
there. So, they printed me a new standby ticket. I immediately went to a
phone and called the missionary travel office and the shuttle bus
station, and told them the situation. I was told just to wait for the
next flight- 4 hours later. Then, I waited. And waited. And waited some
more. I read through a huge chunk of the missionary reference library.
Finally, the plane arrived and boarding started. Unfortunately, the
plane was already overbooked, and the airport officials were asking if
anyone was willing to wait an extra few hours. I waited anyway, and lo
and behold, 2 standby seats were open! But then, there were also two
other standby passengers, who took both. So I recalled the MTO and
shuttle bus, and this time I got a whole new ticket that wasn't standby.
Then there was nothing to do but wait more. But eventually, after 8
hours at that airport, I finally got on a plane and on my way to Salt
Lake.
The shuttle bus was...interesting. I had
to wait 40 minutes for the next bus, and when I got out to the curb for
it, I was a little surprised to find that it was actually a minivan.
Sure, it had a nice paint job, but when you're cramming 7 full-grown
adults into one, with their luggage, things got a little tight.
Nevertheless, I made it to the MTC after another long while in the van.
At
the MTC, things got fun fast. The second I walked in the door and
checked in, I was handed a phone and told to call home. I got David, and
he said something along the lines of Mom being about ready to have a
coronary because the only thing that the church had told her is that I
wasn't at the MTC. Understandably, she was a little worried 8 hours
after that when I still hadn't checked in. I promised to give her all
the details later, something I am doing right now.
When
I got up to my room and got set up, I met my companion, Elder Whaley.
He's a cool guy! I share the room with him, Elder Jacob Jensen, and
Elder Tessimale (I hope I spelled that right). They are all fun guys!
Elder Jensen spent over a year in the military, and the rest of his life
on a ranch. Elder Whaley's background is eerily similair to mine- about
a year flipping burgers as a crew trainer at McDonald's, learned the
trumpet (I took lessons a few years back), and a whole bunch of other
stuff.
Life at the MTC is pretty strict in most
ways. You have to be dressed up to use the dining hall! To go to any
devotionals or big meetings, you have to wear a suit. Fortunately,
classes are relatively laid back- just a white shirt, tie, and slacks.
There's not too much you can do in casual clothes- this email is one of
the very few, so I'm capitalizing on that. Once I get a cable for my
camera so I can send pictures, I will. The dorms are pretty spartan- one
desk, four chairs, 3 bunk beds, and a few cabinets and dressers. I
still haven't unpacked, and I'm probably not going to at this rate- time
in your room is pretty limited. You pretty much have a little time at
night, and that's about it. There's a load of flu precautions-
apparently, 700 missionaries were quarantined not too long ago because
they all came down with it. There are hand sanitizer stations
everywhere, and get this- at the MTC, you can't shake hands! All the
leaders here are leading by examples, but that rule is by and large
ignored by most of the missionaries. Come on, that's half the reason we
came here.
There's a whole lot of classes to
take- sort of. It's all one classroom, but you have morning and
afternoon 3-hour blocks. Both are about the same sort of thing- learning
to feel the spirit and use it to get inspiration about your
investigator(s), so you can teach them better. I love the missionary
purpose- to bring people closer to Christ by helping them to receive
faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving
the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. I'm just thanking
my lucky stars that I don't have to learn a language- the missionaries
that do stay in the MTC for 6 weeks, not two.
I
can't wait to head out to India! I still don't have my visa or passport
back from whoever I sent them to, so I'm likely just going to have to
hang out in Idaho or Utah until I get my visa. I've heard that they are
notoriously hard to get, so I'm not holding my breath...
This place is so awesome! I can't wait to get letters from everyone (hint hint)! Have fun!
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