Tuesday, July 22, 2014

The Pit of Despair - Week 2

Bonjour!!

I lived another week. Each day the MTC just gets better and better. I LOVE THIS PLACEEEEE AAAHAJSL:DKjdf;lkgnas;ldfknasd;lvjk!!!!

But at the same time... Get me in France. Haha. Days here feel like weeks, but weeks feel like days... It's so weird.

So basically, I blew up from spiritual overload. Haha.

Wednesday, it was kind of cool to see all the new people come in. It was also nice to not be wearing a dork dot. We call our classroom the Pit of Despair because once you're in there, you're never going out. Three sessions a day, four hours each lesson. I engulf my beautiful soul into beautiful french, beautiful doctrine, and beautiful scripture. I am a level 12349817234 Wizard. Spartan 117.

Thursday was just another day. With MAAARRRYYY. Me and Soeur Bell always sing Disney songs every single day. Our favorite is the one from Hercules where it's like "No chance, no way, I won't say it no, no." And we get up and dance (even though dancing is against mission rules). It's so fun! I can't wait to get my camera (mom and dad.......) so you guys can see what it's like in the Pit of Despair.

"Getting jiggy with it." -Will Smith

FUTBOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!! That's my lyfe now. Me and Elder Lythgoe are the kings of the soccer field. Well actually, Elder Lythgoe is. He is a soccer fairy. So I haven't been running for the past week. I've just been killing hooligans at soccer.

Friday was A Day To Remember (lol). This was one of the highlights of my whole mission experience so far. I woke up, and had the distinct impression that I would need my oil that night. I made sure I had it. That now, Soeur Nelson was feeling super horrible. I was the only elder in my district who had oil on them. OOOOOH. That was the first blessing I ever gave. I was kind of nervous, but it was such a spiritual experience. I almost cried haha. I can't ever be the prophet because I cry too much.

Sunday is definitely my favorite day of the week. It's just a good day because we don't have classroom time, so my brain kind of gets a break. That night we had a devotional, and all the missionaries from the West Campus went to it too. I say MICHAEL BLUTH!!!! HOLLAAAA!!!!! It was so nice to see my home dawg skillet. I almost cried I was so happy to see him. Oh man, I love life. (fist bump)

Yesterday was Elder Lythgoe's birthday. That was so funny. When Souer Hill (our other french teacher) came in to teach us, we sang him happy birthday. I got him out of his chair and twirled him around. Also that day, I don't really know what happened, but after lunch I was walking to the classroom, and I was thinking about Christ (The MTC sorta has that effect on you). It was super humbling to thing about what He did for me. And I get to have His name on my chest? Like wow. That night in our room, there was much festivities. Elder Lythgoe got a birthday cake, chips and salsa, and some other stuff. It was so fun. I felt like I was in Lord of the Rings. Also, Soeur Bell got Lord of the Rings Legos and a magic 8 ball. So that was fun.

Basically, everybody in my district is awesome. We are all such good friends now. We all love each other.

Every Tuesday morning, we get to go to the temple. I LOVE THE TEMPLE!!!!! So that's kinda cool. I guess.

"You SHALL NOT PASS!!!" -Gandalf

"Mr Kraaaaaabs..... I have an IDEAAAAAAAAAA." -Spongebob

"I'm tired of diggin', Grandpa!!!" "Well that's just too dang bad!!!" -Holes
"I'm tired of studyin', Lythgoe!!!" "Well that's just too dang bad!!!" -Me and Elder Lythgoe

Peace out diggy dawgs

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

The Woman's Bathroom - First E-mail EVER

Talofa! Bonjour!

So hi! My P-Day is on tuesday, so get jiggy with it.

So I guess I'll start from the beginning. 

Wednesday was absolutely insane. I get all my stuff, then my host takes me to what will be my classroom for the next six weeks. Well, five now. I knock on the door, walk in, then BAM! Nothing but solid french for the next three and a half hours. I couldn't stop smiling the whole time because, as it turns out, my four years of french came in handy. I understood basically everything that Frere Pistorius, our awesome teacher, was saying. He kept looking at me when I had my big smile, and always just laughed. I love learning french. It's SO fun. I also wore the greenie sticker. I got "Welcome to the MTC" about 129384712093847 times.

So the companionships in my district are my and Elder Joshua Lythgoe. He's from Heber and played soccer. He used to have long luscious hair, and we are basically best friends now. And the other ones are Elder Hynynen, Elder Boynton, and Elder Otteson. Elder Hynynen is from Toronto. Elder Boynton is from London. I have to try hard not to talk in an accent. Haha. And Elder Otteson is from Seattle. The sisters are Soeur Nelson with Soeur Bell, and Soeur Stevens with Soeur Erickson. Soeur Stevens is basically a replica of Kimmie.

So day two in the MTC was definitely the longest so far, but it was still good. Basically, the major highlight of that night was we met our branch presidency. We all got interviewed. I don't know what went through their heads in choosing this, but I'm the District Leader! And I'm the Senior Companion. Basically, being the DL means I'm the Super Senior Companion over everybody in the district.... And I grab their mail. Haha. I also have to attend meetings with the Branch Presidency on Sundays. But I like it. It's a good time.

So that Friday, we had a service project to start out the morning. Elder Lythgoe and I had to clean bathrooms. I can officially say I've been in the girls bathroom, so you can check that off my bucketlist. I also had to plunge the toilet in the handicap bathroom, so I guess it's a good thing I learned that one time. As it turns out, our district (everybody in my classroom) is like one of the most advanced french groups ever. Elder Lythgoe and Soeur Erickson are the only ones who really struggle, but they're already starting to get the hang of it. We also memorized our missionary objective, and now the First Vision. I'm going to try to memorize one scripture mastery in french every day. What else am I going to do with my eleven hours of study time? Also that night, we had our first gym time. I ran with Elder Otteson because he is also a runner! He walked on at BYU last year, he's pretty fast. And I can overview a quick missionary exchange like that super fast since I'm the DL. We saw Elder Sam Sorenson (A runner from Mountain View who signed to BYU) and his companion, Elder Tanner Driggs (A kid from RHS). It was honestly SO nice to be able to run with them. I won't have to worry about getting fat in the MTC, hallelujah. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've lost weight. Also that night, we taught our first lesson... in french. Elder Lythgoe kind of just sat there while I stumbled through the french I knew, but it was good.

Saturday was also awesome. Nothing really exciting happened that day. The only real highlights were when we taught Stephanie (our investigator), and all the study time. I was worried about whether or not I'd use the study time wisely before my mission, but I actually never want it to end! Everybody always gets way into it. We ran that night with the same group.

Sunday was a real toughie. Usually, it's supposed to be like the day that you get refueled, but I got a cold. I was miserable for the first part of the day. But by the end of the day, I was really starting to feel lots better. The blessings of heaven, yo wiggity wack. Basically, it was attend Sunday meetings. Soeur Erickson asked me if she could get a priesthood blessing, because she was struggling and stressed with the language. Me and Elder Lythgoe talked with her one on one (or two on one, whatever), and basically comforted her, telling her she shouldn't worry. Elder Lythgoe gave the blessing. That was honestly the most spiritual experience of the whole MTC experience so far. All the sisters were in tears. HAHAHA LOL SO FUNNY JK NOT REALLY. I told Elder Lythgoe he gave a super good blessing, but he said, "Thanks Elder Walker, but it wasn't me." OH MAN HE'S SO COOL

Monday was just another day. We taught our last lesson with Stephanie. We only taught three lessons with her because we all found out that she's married to Frere Pistorius, and they want us to take the lessons here as serious as possible. That night, we played soccer for gym. I scored the first goal. After I scored it, I and the rest of the Elders from my district yelled GOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!! We should've said BUUUUUUUUUUUT, because that's goal in french, but whatevs.

"Gettin' jiggy with it." -Will Smith