These 3 days have been nothing but good times, busy schedules, and a couple miracles.
I'll start with when I got here. Right away, I found a missionary (Elder Fafita) who, like myself, missed the 1 o' clock entrance time. We both were staying at the West campus and stuck together while we tried to find our classes and housing and such. He was an awesome guy and we had some good times trying to figure out where everything was! We discovered we weren't in the same classes or housing and sadly went our separate ways.. It was kinda sad because he was the nicest guy ever! But it gets better. I went into class and met my first companion, Elder Johnson. I'm pretty sure we are twins separated at birth.
Elder Johnson and I are dominating this. We learn, speak, repeat and even sing Spanish all the time. We even make up our own ridiculous songs to remember phrases and things. Together I think we are the best companionship in the MTC. Our Branch President seemed to think so as well because he made me District Leader yesterday! Elder Johnson is my senior companion and I'm the district leader. So he has to report to me about our companionship... It's fantastic. We really like snacks and if anyone ever wants to send us a care package we would greatly accept anything edible. :)
The Spanish is the best. I love Spanish and saying common phrases such as tomorrow, hello, today, please, thank you, and such are weird to say in English! We set a goal to try and learn 10 words a day. We have blown that out of the water. We learn about 50 a day and the best part is, we remember and use them. Our goal for this week is to learn how to pray. The target is to be able to pray in Spanish by Sunday night. After Sunday, no more English prayers. If that sounds crazy, Today we have to teach our first "investigator." IN SPANISH. It's crazy that on day 3 we will be teaching completely in Spanish. That is a miracle to me.
I know my family is dying to know if I'm having a hard time going to sleep at 10:30 and waking up at 6:30. That is my second miracle. We follow our schedule to the second. Right at 10:30 we are finishing prayers and climbing in bed. Right at 6:30 a.mour alarms go off and we are up and getting ready. I haven't had a problem yet with getting up early. That has to be a miracle.
My district is great! It's made up of 8 Elders ranging from Guatemala to England. I love them all and they are the best, funniest, most awkward, spiritual Elders ever. I love our zone too! We are probably the closest and most tight knit zone in the MTC. We eat together, exercise together, and have the best of times anytime we see each other. I know that it is no coincidence or accident that we were placed together.
This has been the funnest and most spiritual week of my life. I have been on my knees constantly. I think by the end of my mission the knees of my pants will probably be worn through. I've been able to focus and learn and take in so much knowledge and there is so much more coming. I love this gospel so much. I love being a missionary. I won't ever forget this experience and wouldn't trade it for anything. This is what I need to be doing with my life and love every second. I have been writing in my journal every night! Elder Johnson and I write BDE at the bottom of every journal entry which stands for Best Day Ever. We try to make every day the best day ever and so far we've been extremely successful.
I love and miss you all and am grateful for the prayers, letters, and all that you do to support me while I'm serving this mission!
Until next P-day,
Elder Paxton
