Max with MTC District.

Max and his companion in the MTC

 

Max’s First E-mail!!

Hello family and friends!

   This has been an amazing experience first off! The time has just flown by and I love the MTC! It is basically a missionary factory here! So right after you guys dropped me off they took me away and put me through this orientation. It was just a blur! People were handing me things and talking to me and it was a really fast assembly line. Since then we have just been studying Spanish and learning about the gospel and how to teach. Every day we have so much to do and get done. The first two days were a little overwhelming. I was in shock! They were teaching us so much and giving us tons of assignments. To top it all off it was all in Spanish! They threw you right into the language. The language has been relatively easy for me. They want to move to one of the intermediate or advanced classes, but that would mean I would have to leave my companion, room, district and everything. I have prayed and talked to my branch president (who is so awesome and we have a lot in common) and he told me he thinks it would be better if I stayed in my class right now. I decided not to move up.

 

 My companion is a really hard worker! I like him a lot. He is from West Valley, Utah. His name is Travis Roberts (Elder Roberts) He has a girlfriend and loves music. We have a great relationship. He is not very good at Spanish though, hahaha. On the third day we were here we got to teach an investigator (actually a member actor) and we had to do it in Spanish. The investigator was from Mexico and investigating the church. It was insane! We have taught him 5 times now and yesterday he accepted baptism! It felt so good! I was practically jumping out of my seat when he said “si”. It was not easy though. There were many times when he did not know what we were saying and we did not know what he was saying. We probably sounded like 2 year olds but that’s why the spirit is the converter. It was funny when he would talk for a while and we did not know what he was saying and I would look at my companion and say “you got this one elder.” Too bad he would look back at me while laughing and say “no comprendo” – hahahaha.

 

 It has been such a great experience though. It really does humble you. I can not wait to be fluent. I have felt the spirit soooooo much. There are so many amazing speakers and teachers and other missionaries that I can learn from. My district is really cool! There are 6 companionships in my district. One elder from St. George is the class clown of our district. He tells us so many stories about his funny life and we all die laughing. I have become good friends with some of the other guys and love playing basketball at gym time with them! Gym is so awesome. It feels so great to run around and yell and just relax your mind. I am getting really good at basketball so you better watch out “Chip” (Nic). One guy actually is going to play basketball at BYU when he gets back. His name is Elder Smith. He is like 6’6″ and can “throw down”. Everyone wants him on their team. My stomach is pretty messed up from the Cannon Center food – haha. I loved the Dear Elder candy package but I would love some power bars or healthy foods!. I love getting letters and reading them at night. Tell everyone to send letters! I miss you guys a lot! Write me letters not emails. I don’t have a lot of time on the computer but I have a lot of time to read letters.

It is so crowded here! This is the time of year when the MTC is most full. There is something like 3000 missionaries in here. I have run into so many people . . .  a whole bunch of friends from school and many others. I have talked to Jacob a lot, and Steven Dougherty. There are 4 people to a room. We sleep in bunk beds. The rooms are like dorm rooms and the bathroom is like at Helaman Halls. I only have time to write and email on P-Day. Also it is the only time I am allowed to. So we have our dorm room, which is where we sleep and a classroom where we live. It is  on the fifth floor of this building which is great because we have amazing views of the mountains and BYU campus.

 

 I have accomplished so much and learned how much you can actually do if you spend your time wisely. I want to write you all every day because there is so much I have to say!!!!!!! I love you all and miss you. Spiritual thought: We are given authority from our calling, but we can only attain power through obedience. Christ is the ultimate example of humility which means he has attained ultimate power in his teaching. We must “walk even as he walked”. We need to follow Christ’s example in every way. I love you all and with talk to you next week!!!!