About the MTC
J: And then there’s the other thing, like the MTC, it’s really nice being in the MTC, because even though you’re like, expected to be learning all this stuff, all you time is planned out, so as long as you use the time they give you, you don’t need to worry about am I, you know, am I doing good enough, because you’re doing the best you can, which means you are doing good enough. You know? So you’ve got companion study time, you’ve got personal study time, you’ve got language study time, you’ve got time using this program called “Tal,” goodness me, “Tal” is really crazy. I don’t really like it. It’s a language-learning program. It’s a lot like, uh, what is that program that everyone likes?”
(Voice from the background, Elder Reed): “Rosetta Stone.”
J: Yeah, Rosetta Stone. Elder Reed is still trying to get ahold of his family. (He went on to describe how it’s like Rosetta Stone that it shows you something and you have to say the word)
More MTC
(He was talking about how the MTC is really great because there’s time that you’re just hanging out with the guys)
J: We’ll be doing something, we’ll be talking about like what movies, we’ll like make a list of movies that we’re all going to get together and watch after the mission, or like talk about the relatives, you know, good and bad stuff, different things. The dinner, the food’s really nice, it’s one of the reasons I’m so glad I’m not in Provo, besides, you know, everything else in Provo, It’s nice because we get catered meals and everything.
D: So, by catered . . . what do you mean be catered exactly? Because I know it’s catered, but what does that mean specifically, in this case?
J: Well there’s a staff here that makes just food for us, that’s a catering service, but I think it might be operated by the church or something, maybe not, but basically, the, uh, idea is that they make the food for us, and they serve it to us cafeteria-style, but um, it’s always really good. Like, we got, we’ve had like pizza sandwiches . . . right now there’s only 15 of us because there’s a gap between 2-weekers, for a week, so there’s only 15 or 16 of us, which means that we have, uh, like he can experiment. The chef like, he made corn dogs this morning, which is like an experiment. And he gave them to us, and they were good.
Even More about the MTC:
J: Sometimes it’s kinda like that except for not only are you hanging out, you’re also, it’s like spiritual, you talk about spiritual things. Like Elder Reed and I, we always keep Elder Summers up all night talking about different things, like – oh, I found this scripture in the D&C I think you would really like, and it pertains to, you know, like the speed of light and different stuff. He really liked the thing about light, speed and time dilation in Abraham.
D: Lol. Nice.
J: It’s nice because we have only 3 in the room, whereas there are only 6 bunkbeds. We can have anything we want basically.
D: Do most people have 2 or 3 in their room, or are most people having 6?
J: Right now, there’s, uh, normally with the 2’s, almost all of them have 6 people in them. Right now it’s us, then the rest of the people in our district, of course there are different ones for the girls. All the other guys in our district, they have 4 in their room, and then the ESL students, they have 6 in their room.
Anything else you want to tell us?
J: I don’t know, just one thing I really learned very well is, uh, like, I came here, and I just thought to myself, you know, your like worst case scenario, its just ridiculous, you and the people here don’t get along at all, the whole thing is ridiculous, and then what you do is, you um, worst case scenario is, if that happens, I mean you’re never going to see these people again if that’s the case, so you don’t have to worry about, you know, you don’t have to worry about pleasing them. You can just do whatever you . . . you know, you can just be yourself. And in the end, I ended up becoming better friends with these guys than I would have in any other way. So I guess that’s just what it is. Like don’t care what people think about you. Just – just do it. Just be yourself.
R: Just listen to Nike. Just do it.
J: Yeah, that’s right. Oh, we also, all the time when we’re playing soccer, we yell like (in a British accent) “Scott Sterling! He’s like a brick wall.”
R: His face is like a brick wall! Like a mustache lion dragging a gazelle across the Serengeti .
J: Like our teacher got hit in the face, and we’re always quoting that when it bounces off the goal post, we’re like (British accent again) “Scott Sterling!”
-----------------------
I'm certainly stoked that we go to the field next week, and I'll be praying for you guys from here!
I'm going to miss the other missionaries, but that happens anytime you transfer, I'm definitely going to miss the teachers and the time we have always to study and learn.
Ok, talk to you later!
J: And then there’s the other thing, like the MTC, it’s really nice being in the MTC, because even though you’re like, expected to be learning all this stuff, all you time is planned out, so as long as you use the time they give you, you don’t need to worry about am I, you know, am I doing good enough, because you’re doing the best you can, which means you are doing good enough. You know? So you’ve got companion study time, you’ve got personal study time, you’ve got language study time, you’ve got time using this program called “Tal,” goodness me, “Tal” is really crazy. I don’t really like it. It’s a language-learning program. It’s a lot like, uh, what is that program that everyone likes?”
(Voice from the background, Elder Reed): “Rosetta Stone.”
J: Yeah, Rosetta Stone. Elder Reed is still trying to get ahold of his family. (He went on to describe how it’s like Rosetta Stone that it shows you something and you have to say the word)
More MTC
(He was talking about how the MTC is really great because there’s time that you’re just hanging out with the guys)
J: We’ll be doing something, we’ll be talking about like what movies, we’ll like make a list of movies that we’re all going to get together and watch after the mission, or like talk about the relatives, you know, good and bad stuff, different things. The dinner, the food’s really nice, it’s one of the reasons I’m so glad I’m not in Provo, besides, you know, everything else in Provo, It’s nice because we get catered meals and everything.
D: So, by catered . . . what do you mean be catered exactly? Because I know it’s catered, but what does that mean specifically, in this case?
J: Well there’s a staff here that makes just food for us, that’s a catering service, but I think it might be operated by the church or something, maybe not, but basically, the, uh, idea is that they make the food for us, and they serve it to us cafeteria-style, but um, it’s always really good. Like, we got, we’ve had like pizza sandwiches . . . right now there’s only 15 of us because there’s a gap between 2-weekers, for a week, so there’s only 15 or 16 of us, which means that we have, uh, like he can experiment. The chef like, he made corn dogs this morning, which is like an experiment. And he gave them to us, and they were good.
Even More about the MTC:
J: Sometimes it’s kinda like that except for not only are you hanging out, you’re also, it’s like spiritual, you talk about spiritual things. Like Elder Reed and I, we always keep Elder Summers up all night talking about different things, like – oh, I found this scripture in the D&C I think you would really like, and it pertains to, you know, like the speed of light and different stuff. He really liked the thing about light, speed and time dilation in Abraham.
D: Lol. Nice.
J: It’s nice because we have only 3 in the room, whereas there are only 6 bunkbeds. We can have anything we want basically.
D: Do most people have 2 or 3 in their room, or are most people having 6?
J: Right now, there’s, uh, normally with the 2’s, almost all of them have 6 people in them. Right now it’s us, then the rest of the people in our district, of course there are different ones for the girls. All the other guys in our district, they have 4 in their room, and then the ESL students, they have 6 in their room.
Anything else you want to tell us?
J: I don’t know, just one thing I really learned very well is, uh, like, I came here, and I just thought to myself, you know, your like worst case scenario, its just ridiculous, you and the people here don’t get along at all, the whole thing is ridiculous, and then what you do is, you um, worst case scenario is, if that happens, I mean you’re never going to see these people again if that’s the case, so you don’t have to worry about, you know, you don’t have to worry about pleasing them. You can just do whatever you . . . you know, you can just be yourself. And in the end, I ended up becoming better friends with these guys than I would have in any other way. So I guess that’s just what it is. Like don’t care what people think about you. Just – just do it. Just be yourself.
R: Just listen to Nike. Just do it.
J: Yeah, that’s right. Oh, we also, all the time when we’re playing soccer, we yell like (in a British accent) “Scott Sterling! He’s like a brick wall.”
R: His face is like a brick wall! Like a mustache lion dragging a gazelle across the Serengeti .
J: Like our teacher got hit in the face, and we’re always quoting that when it bounces off the goal post, we’re like (British accent again) “Scott Sterling!”
-----------------------
I'm certainly stoked that we go to the field next week, and I'll be praying for you guys from here!
I'm going to miss the other missionaries, but that happens anytime you transfer, I'm definitely going to miss the teachers and the time we have always to study and learn.
Ok, talk to you later!