And the First Week is Down!

Every day is a learning experience!  Apparently, P-Day is on Friday as opposed to Saturday like I thought.  Soooo, we got an earlier update than expected.  I'm always tickled to see his name in my inbox.  Enjoy!

Hello!!

Well, the first week was crazy, but things are starting to calm down and I'm getting much more acclimated to things out here. There's never a free moment, but that's most okay. We just keep working (well, trying to work...sometimes the elders revert to "boy-mode," but I try my best to not do so). So many things happen in one day that it would take me at least an hour to write it all down, and right now I have about 24 minutes...dang!

Our district is super close, and that is really cool. We're all kinda like brothers out here, which is really good because we need all the support we can get. Missionary work is not easy, even when you're just in the MTC. Also, we definitely don't get enough sleep for how much we do in a day. I guess this is how it'll be for the next two years though, so I'll just have to get over that.

Oh, we got to do some practice lessons with people in the Teaching Resource Center. The people in there act like investigators, or just like people that you randomly meet on the street, so you get a chance to do contacts in the language you're learning, and then you get to actually teach them. Elder Gulbranson and I have done two lessons so far, and it turns out that we're pretty much the bomb at teaching. Our first lesson we taught we were a bit shaky in the beginning, but we eventually got in sync and the lesson went super well. I even invited the investigator to be baptized on the first lesson! He didn't accept, which is fine, but it got me into the habit. I've decided I want to invite to be baptized on every first lesson, as long as the Spirit says it's okay to do so. I don't see any reason why I shouldn't. If they don't understand that we'd like them to get baptized, or if they do want to get baptized and we don't ask, then it's wasting the Lord's time, and that's just silly. So I'm going to invite to be baptized at least every 1st lesson. I loved getting to get some feedback from the investigators on how we were doing teaching. Our "investigator" last night actually stopped us every now and then while we were teaching to tell us that we were doing good, or maybe so that we could try doing something a better way. He was really impressed with how we taught though and with how we were able to make him feel comfortable and like someone really loved him. It was an excellent experience for Elder Gulbranson and me.

The Provo temple is beautiful. We got to go there today, and everything in there is just gorgeous. It's a very big temple, too. I had no idea it was so big, because it doesn't look that big from the outside, but it's a good 2 or three times bigger than the Denver temple on the inside. It was an awesome experience for me, especially because I got to be there with all of my companions.

Sundays are pretty awesome. The other elders in my district think they're boring and such, but I love all the lessons we learn on Sundays. I love every meeting we have, on any day, actually. I always learn something, and it's a good lesson, too. President Shelley, our district president, has us take notes on every meeting, and it really helps to learn things. Also, Hermanos Chavez and Harper are excellent teachers. The others kinda make fun of Hermano Chavez because he has such a heavy accent that you can't understand him a lot, but if you take time to listen to his lessons, he has some great ones. Also, I like him because he complimented me on my blue and black stripped tie, and that was pretty awesome. So yeah, my teachers, all of them, are awesome.

I don't really know what else to put. We're starting OH SNAP HOW COULD I FORGET THIS. I am officially leaving for Peru on febrar 16 at 11:01 AM. I won't get into Peru until 11:55 PM local time, which is slightly ridiculous, but oh well. That's going to be one long day, but I'm so excited for it. Elders Johnson and Cochrane are going to the Peru MTC the same day, but they have an earlier flight to Atlanta. I meet back up with them at Atlanta, and we fly down to Lima together, so that will be good. I am so darn excited to go to Peru. I'll let you know as soon as I have my address down there, but I don't yet.

Thank you for all your letters and packages! They are very much appreciated! I will admit that when I got the beef jerkey I ate the whole bag in one night, but it was awesome. Please keep writing me! I love getting letters; it makes me feel very loved. :) Also, using dearelder.com is a great way to contact me. I think it's free while I'm in the MTC, and if you send it before noon I'll get it the same day. I love you all! I'll try to make my next letter a bit more exciting, though no promises that it will be. Also, I can only write letters and emails on Fridays (P-Day), so if you don't hear from me for awhile, it's not cause I don't love you, it's just cause I'm so busy! Anyway, love you all! Bonus nachos!

Love, Elder Schomburg