MTC, week 2

Hola mi familia!
Greetings from the MTC!

My departure date from the MTC is officially Feb 1. I leave at 4:30 pm and catch a flight to LAX and then a red eye to Guatemala, and get to Guatemala at about 5 am. :)
So... expect a box from me. I'm going to mail home my coat and other winter things, as well as my temple clothes (I can rent).

So now that I have that part done, My routine here at the MTC is getting more regular (just in time to go to a new MTC). We wake up, go to an early AM exercise class, come back and get in our pros (proselyting clothes) and go to the class to study for personal study. Then we go to breakfast and MWFS we go to the gymn, then shower and go back to class (some days we have Hermano Osuna, some days we have Hermano Pepper, and some days we do companion study), then idioma (language) study. Lunch is at 1230 and then class again, dinner is at 6, then class again. Then we plan for the next day and go to bed.
P-day is a lot different. We go to the am exercise class, go get a sack breakfast (b/c we don't have to be in pros) and go and eat it in the room, shower, study and then come and write you. Then we get to go to the temple, then lunch, then comp study, then laundry, then idioma, and then Tues devotional. Then district meeting, then plan and go to bed. :)
I'm learning a lot, though I am not learning as fast as I'd like to. My comps and I get along well. And we have a lot in common.
I'm enjoying this experience, and I'm starting to understand what I'm being told when the maestros talk in Spanish. I hope I get it even better by the end of the week so that I can understand what they say in Guatemala.

Love ya all, and I'll let you know as soon as I do how to reach me in Guatemala. My comps say that Dear Elder works in all the MTCs they think. So if nothing else that will work until I can let you know on my P-day.
My comp says she thinks we can call and tell you that we arrived safely so I may be calling next week(and maybe not maybe someone else will call you).

Love you all
Mem

First week in the MTC

Hola!
The MTC is nothing like I'd expected, but it is very fun I've learned so much and I’ve only been here for almost a week. I have a strange request for you computer savvy people. I want you to write to me using www.dearelder.com It is like e-mailing, but I get a hard copy and since I can get a dear elder any day of the week whereas I can only get on a computer for 30 min on p-day it would make my time more effective if you could. I understand though if you can't make it work.

The MTC has been a very fun experience. Yesterday we had a "scenario" where we made conversation and bore testimony in Spanish. I was able to do it, & I was able to understand most of what they said (I think partly because they spoke slowly). I am part of a trio. My Companions, Hermana Newren and Hermana Atkisson, are both from Utah. Hermana Atkisson is going to Nicaragua and Hermana Newren is going to El Salvador east. We have some great elders in our district and some fun teachers. It was a little bit odd for me to be older and the same age as my teacher. One of the teachers, Hermano Osuna is from Mexico and in Mexico you can go on a mission when you are 18, so he's just recently back and he's only 20. Hermano Pepper has been teaching here for 1.5 years and he's 23 same as me. Today is Tuesday and it is our zone's p-day. We get to go to the temple today and I'm so excited. Hermana Atkisson has some medical stuff that wasn't right on her papers so we have to go to the medical center and we may not make it to the session this week, but we can still do initiatories.

There is so much to do and the longer I'm here the more things I realized I forgot. I forgot to give my address to so many people and I forgot to get so many addresses.
I don't have much time left so I'll say I love you all so much and thank you for your loving support.
Love Mem

PS: I have another 5 min and I imagine my compañeras will use all their minutes so I'll say a little more about the MTC.

The schedule is pretty hectic and there is so much to do all the time. The first three days I felt like I was back in the nursing program with how overwhelmed I felt and how much information I was receiving. But The lord helped me and while I am still receiving so much information every day I am coping a little better, although when the others in my district started getting mail I was a little bit jealous, I’ll admit.

The language I'm doing OK at but I'm struggling a bit on the grammar but it'll come with time. My goal is to be able to understand most of what people say to me by the time I leave the MTC and to be able to communicate what I want to others as well by using my own words and not memorized phrases.
GTG



Note from Dani: Mem said in an aside note to me that she could email family from the MTC, but she has to "snail mail" anyone who's not family. I'm waiting to hear back weather I can post her ldsmail address on here or not. :)
But in the meantime, ya'll can send her letters through dearelder, and you won't have to spend a stamp. :)

About "dearelder.com"... Memorie can receive your letters almost immediately through dearelder, while in the Provo MTC and it is free (no stamps)! Once she goes to South America, her letters should go out pouch mail, once a week. And it's still free through dearelder. :) ---I believe I got that all correct... I tried to learn it all from the website. If anyone knows differently let me know and I can change this...

Additional Note: For those of you like me who read blogs with a reader, Mem created a side bar on her blog that has her mailing addresses listed on it. The current one is this:
Sister Memorie Sue Allen
MTC Mailbox #259
ELS-SANW 0317
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793