MTC Week 6 - cont

We received Sean's letter in the mail today, dated 7/30/2008:

Dear Bushka y Papi,

Very good job at sending a list of questions! Now I will be able to focus my thoughts. First off, can you send me Gatorades? Haha you don't have to, they have Powerade here so it doesn't matter. But it would be nice to have something to drink in the room. Haha ok I know that is a stupid request, but it was on my mind. My camera is fine for me, unless you don't like the quality, but I don't think it is necessary to get a new camera. Oh yeah something else... PLEASE look online for a laundry bag that has some kind of a shoulder strap on it. Everybody has one so they have to be somewhere.

The blog pages were cool from President and Sister Benton. All of us here going to BAW were pretty excited to read them. Yeah, Drake comes in today, but he won't be in our Zone. They don't keep missions together. There are 14 Elders and Sisters going to BAW that came in on the same day I did, but obviously not all are in our Zone. We did get a new District today, but most are going to Puerto Rico, and a few other places. One is going to Buenos Aires South I think though.

Kyle left on Monday. We said our goodbyes on Sunday but I didn't know he wasn't leaving until Monday afternoon so I kept running into him on Monday, and it was turning into one of those prolonged awkward goodbyes, so I finally yelled at him, "Will you just leave already! You are making it very awkward!" We exchanged e-mails so it will be cheaper to keep in touch.

Sorry to hear about Grandma. I got one card from her about the same time I sent her something so she didn't respond to the first letter, but I wrote her today, and Grandma Wilma, so hopefully it will help a little. Anyway, I keep the situation in my prayers daily.

OK, question (answers) time.

1. The stuffed animals are just toys we had in our classroom, except the duck is called the Pato de Feliz which is awarded by vote to the District who spoke the most Spanish, but mostly it is a popularity contest. We happened to win the week we took pictures.

2. Preach My Gospel is pretty much the textbook of missionary work. All the lessons come out of it, and our teachers usually mention parts of it throughout the day. It is basically what a lot of our Large Group Meetings (LGMs) focus on. LGMs are basically seminars we have once a week. It is about the same size as the meeting we were in the first day when missionaries went one way and families went the other. They usually focus on a certain chapter of Preach My Gospel.

3. My clothes fit fine. My shoes are fine. If you want y0u can send some different ties, because I will probably send some home before I leave. The conservative tie rule is very flexible around here I have found out. Basically, no pink. Other than that I have seen everything.

4. My daily schedule is very structured Mom. 6:30 wake up. 7:00 Personal Study in the classroom in missionary attire. 8:15 Breakfast. 8:45 Class. 1:00 Lunch. 1:45 Class. 6:00 Dinner. 6:45 Class. 9:00 Plan 9:30 Residence Halls 10:30 Bed. That is the basic structure. During the day, gym is thrown in at different times for each day. Tuesday nights are Devotionals. Monday Mornings are LGMs. Saturdays at 11:30 is always our Teaching Appointment, which is the big official lesson that we teach volunteers in. So during those huge chunks of class, our two teachers rotate who teaches. They have set hours, and then there is always a few hours a day called MDT (Missionary Determined Time). That is when we teach Pedro (Tuesdays and Saturdays) or go to the Teaching Evaluation Center and practice like with Sister Gibson who gave that feedback I sent last week. So basically we are in class, or teaching.

It is getting harder to remember what happened during the day because it seems like the same thing happens every day. It is great though. I can't wait to get out into the field but at the same time I wouldn't mind staying in the safety of the MTC. Every day I think to myself, "Wow, I can't wait to get to Argentina and start working!" Which is usually followed by, "Wow, how in the world am I going to be able to do any of this in Argentina!?!" Don't worry, I know the answer, but for some reason that doesn't stop my mind from asking. Anyways, time is up yet again. And yes Dad, I do spend the whole 30 minutes writing you on the email. Only last week I didn't. OK, I LOVE YOU !!!!

Love , Sean