Dear Family,
All I can say for this first week at the MTC is that these next two years are going to be extremely rewarding. That is if everything continues to go the way that they are right now.
As for my mission group, there are only three of us, including myself. There is Starsi (Elder, pronounced Star She) Jones who is, I think, twenty one or twenty two years old. He had gone inactive a few years back and went to the University of Oregon. Then this last year, he decided to go to BYU Idaho to see a girl and later decided to take a semester there. He eventually became active again and decided to serve a mission. Then there is Starsi Horvath (Hor Vat) who is from Hungary. He's only been a member of the church for three years and has decided to go on a mission. He is very good at the piano, however, he can't read music quickly. He is more into improv in the baroque style of mainly Bach. He has a very strong testimony through music that he loves to share. Very occasionally he will ask if we can go to the piano for just a few minutes to play the piano, but we have to tell him that we are on a very tight schedule and can't spend the time to do so.
Starsi Jones, even though he was inactive, has a very strong testimony and knowledge of the gospel. I know that he is really going to help our companionship with his knowledge. Starsi Horvath has so much that he wants to tell everyone that sometimes it comes out sounding very disorganized. This especially comes out whenever we're "teaching investigators" who are really our teachers. He gets so excited that he has a hard time focusing on what there is to say. We are all one companionship, but I think that Starsi Horvath has a little bit of a hard time keeping that in his mind. Sometimes Starsi Jones and I will turn around to find that Starsi Horvath has disappeared. We'll search for a little while and then find that he either went to go to the bathroom, get a drink of water, or probably his favorite activity: talking to the Hungarian missionaries. Here at the MTC are a few return missionaries from Hungary who taught Starsi Horvath. He takes every opportunity to harrass them by speaking in Hungarian.
The food here at the MTC is exactly like the food at the Cannon Center on BYU Provo campus, so there's not really much to complain about. I haven't really been eating as much as I used to. It just seems like I'm getting fuller faster. I'll usually eat about one plate and perhaps a salad and then I'm done, so you don't have to worry about me coming back forty pounds heavier -- if I continue to eat this way.
The schedule here at the MTC is just like a bat to the face compared to my schedule before coming here, although I do like having every minute of my day planned out before hand, because then I don't have to think, "what shall I do next?" There is lots of language study, which is AWESOME. And dad, no... my pre-MTC language study did not help any. Maybe with the exception with the ch, j, and c. The rest of the pronunciation was basically new. They taught us a grammatically correct phrase here at the MTC that is comprised of only consonants. The sentance is: Strc (stirch) Prst (pirst) Skrz (skirs) Krk (kirk). However, in pronouncing each one, the "ir" is very short and the "r"s are very rolled. The translation of this is "Stick Finger Through Neck." It's a fun little thing to say when you want to show off to some of the Spanish speakers.
Yesterday, we went out into the hallway one at a time and tried holding a five minute conversation with an "investigator," and I have to say, I failed miserably. Basically the conversation was, "Dobry Den" (good day), "Jak se jmenuete" (what is your name), "odkud jste?" (where are you from?), "jsem/jsme misionar/misionari Jezisi Kristu" (I am a missionary/we are missionaries of Jesus Christ), and then that's where I bombed. I didn't know how to ask anything like, "what do you think of Jesus Christ?" or "would you like to know more?" Anyway, our teacher took us back into the classroom and taught us those simple phrases that would potentially help us transition from introduction to getting a contact.
I've seen quite a few Elders here from school, a few of whom are in the photos I have attached. In the photos, Starsi Horvath is the one with the glasses and Starsi Jones is the one without. And if you don't know which one is me, we'll have a long talk after I get back in two years.
Nevermind. There may be no pictures because I only have three and a half more minutes and I can't get these computers to recognize my camera with all the restrictions they put on them. So you'll have to wait until I send a full card of pictures home and my parents upload them.
I just want to say in closing that I have been having the time of my life here. It is a very spiritual place and you can always feel the Spirit in all the things you do. I highly suggest that you read "Jesus the Christ" if you haven't before. I hadn't and I'm only three chapters in and it's amazing to see the Spirit it's imparted to me.
I love you all and am looking forward to hearing from you,
Starsi Monk