First, the ever important address update. The one he posted a week or so ago has a minor change, so please make note. And PLEASE send him cards, letters, and packages as often as possible while he is still in country. He'll be headed to the Lima, Peru MTC on/about Feb. 16, so get to mailing!
Elder Andrew Michael Schomburg
MTC Mailbox #291
ECU-QUI 0216
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793
Next I've included a link to the information pages about the MTC. It's a nice look into the place that Andrew will be calling home for the next 2 1/2 weeks: http://mtc.byu.edu/themtc.htm
And last, but absolutely MOST important, his first letter!!! (P-day = "preparation day" - the day the missionaries do their laundry, shop, write letters, go to the post office, etc.)
Hola mi familia!
Dang! These past couple of days have been intense, long, and way fun. I can't even write down everything that I've learned and done, because I honestly don't remember everything. So so much has happened. The first day was really cool. After Hermano Reed and Trevor Sperry dropped me off at the MTC, there was an elder waiting right there to help me out. He grabbed my stuff, I went to a different room and got all checked in and stuff in like 5 minutes. It was nuts. Then I dropped my stuff off in my room (which, by the way, is in the farthest north-western corner of the MTC, as far away from my classroom as you can get), and went to my classroom, where I met my distrtict. Me primero companero is Elder Gulbranson, and he's from British Columbia. He basically the stereotypical Canadian, except he doesn't have an accent or say "eh." He was a lumberjack for awhile though, and he's a big hunter; he once shot a bear on the way to football practice. He's about my height, baby-faced, and pretty much awesome. I'm glad that we're companeros (by the way, Imma be using a bit of Spanglish here, just to get more used to it).
It's amazing how close our district is already. Our room consists of me, Elder Gulbranson, Elder Stevenson, and Elder Carr. Our room is really close, and we have a bedtime prayer together and everything. Everything we do here is so useful, not just as misionarios, but as people. We plan each minute of the dai basically, and that really helps us to be productive. If we don't plan each minute of the dai, we found it can be hard to focus; we had one 4 hour block when we thought we'd have a teacher, but we didn't, so it took nosotros a while to get on task, but nosotros did it (nosotros=we, us). Our directed classtime is a great help. The amount that I've already learned is phenomenal. Hermano Harper says that we'll be at AP Spanish speaking levels within a couple of weeks, and that's amazing for me to think about. I haven't ever had any espanol, but now I can understand a lot of what Hermano Harper y Hermano Chavez say in class. Hermano Harper served in Spain y Hermano Chavez served in Colombia and is from Guayaqhuil, Ecuador, so I get to hear what Ecuadorians really sound like. They're both excellent teachers.
El Espiritus Santo is amazing here. I've had a spiritual experience every day that I've been here so far. The first night we were in a big group teaching thing where there was a large group of new elders and hermanas all acting as a giant companionship to teach an actor who was playing as an investigator. I really felt el Espiritus Santo when the last actor, Bobby, was talking about how much he loved his two daughters, and then when he asked the elder that was talking to him at the time if he could come over and read el Libro de Mormon with him sometime. Bobby said that the elders that had been to his house sies years ago had read with him, and he loved it. Of course, this was all just the actor portraying a fictional experience, but the actors here are muy bueno. They really become the person they're acting as. When he asked the elders if he could read with him, I definitely started to tear up. In fact, I'm tearing up now just thinking about it. It was amazing.
The most important thing that I've learned thus far is that in order to be an effective misionario (I really hope that's the right word, because I'm really not sure haha) you have to love and take a real interest in the investigator. You can't fake the love and just push el Evangelio, you really have to love the person. I think that's a wonderful idea, because having that mindset really helps us to be more like Jesucristo, and as messangers and representatives of Jesucristo we really need to act as much like him as we possibly can. I am loving the amount of el Espiritu Santo that I feel here. Another great way to feel el Espiritu Santo is when we pray en espanol. It's very broken espanol, and it's really more Spanglish than anything, but we are all trying so hard and trying to please the Lord that you can't help to feel el Espiritu. We've had to do some things that I haven't really been super comfortable with, like teaching a lot, and now we have to try to speak and bear our testimonies to 10 people per day. We haven't met that at all, but Elder Gulbranson and I decided to really work hard on that, so hopefully we'll do better.
Everyone here is so nice and helpful. If you look lost or if your espanol really stinks, they'll help you out and point you in the right direction. It's so amazing to be here, even though the first day kinda seemed like a dream. I had never really imagined what it would be like to be in the MTC. I imagined that I'd get on the airplane, and just like a movie it'd fade out, we'd wait a bit, then I'd be walking off the plane two years later as a much more mature man. I know it sounds silly, but I really hadn't thought about what being on my mission or in the MTC would be like. I do now though, and it's the best experience of my life thus far, that's for sure.
I know that I have a ton more to tell you, but these couple of days have had so much packed and crammed into them that I can't tell you everything. I can tell you one thing though; the more letters and packages that you receive, the more jealous everyone else is of you. Elder Carr got 3 letters and a package on the first day, and now he's kinda the butt of some joke haha. They're good natured of course, but letters and packages really are appreciated by everyone here. Oh, also, my address is kinda different from what I've put out. I don't remember it exactly, but where it says 0329 it's now 0216, meaning I leave the Provo MTC on approximately februar 16. I hope that everyone is doing well. I love you all so much, and I'd love to hear from all of you.
Adios!
Madre, if you could put this on my blog, that would be fantastic. I love you guys so much! Bye!
