Pre P-Day

[I asked Michael a series of questions and here are his responses as the first email we received from him]

[How are you doing? How is the MTC? How crowded is it?]
I'm doing well but I now understand why Matt asked if he's ever going to not be tired again. It's long days and short nights. The MTC is super crowded! I went to an MTC-wide devotional yesterday and the auditorium area was completely packed. There are six elders in my room (which was made for four).

[Are you getting along with your companion?]
My companion is great! Unfortunately, he's leaving tomorrow at 4:45 in the morning because he got his visa (he submitted his papers about a month before me). It's not actually my P-day but my companion gets to email his family because he's leaving and I'm supposed to do what he does. So I get to email you guys twice in one week. My P-day is normally on Tuesdays.

[Have you been receiving and enjoying the goodies and letters we've been sending?]
I got the brownies and there are a lot of them. I've been sharing them with my district (13 people) and we haven't even gotten halfway. I've gotten two letters from you guys so far but they had a huge mix-up in the mail so they're reprinting a lot and I may get more.

[What's your district like?]
My district is really fun. There are 10 guys and 3 girls, soon to be reduced to 9 guys and 2 girls (visas). We make a lot of jokes but we also know how to learn really well.

[Do you like your teachers?]
I actually only have one teacher. I don't know why. Her name is Sister Peterson. She's pretty nice and she knows her stuff (she doesn't know the Portuguese word for jelly beans though). It's a lot of fun and I'm learning a lot.

[How was church in the MTC on Sunday?]
Church was crazy! There's so many missionaries here! I went to a mostly Portuguese sacrament meeting. Even the hymns were sung in Portuguese. Speaking of which, can you guys send me a Portuguese hymnbook? I wanted to buy one at the bookstore but they sell out within minutes. I don't care if it's pocket or normal size.

[Is there anything you need? Do you want some more goodies?]
I think I'm good. I'm really glad Mom made me get the chap stick. I wouldn't have any lips right now without it. But everything is working great, no blisters so far, I've gotten a bunch of compliments on the bathrobe (and it is fantastic).

I was pretty nervous when I was dropped off and it was a little scary, but I threw myself into the work and I've been taking it one day at a time so I'm much better now. I've gotten mostly used to the food, it's not quite as good as the Cannon center, but the MTC has to cook for a bunch more people.

One piece of advice that I thought was helpful was: "You'll fail if you look how far you have to go and you'll succeed if you look how far you've come." I just find it amazing how much Portuguese I've learned. It's about two years worth of language in 4 days.

As they say in Portuguese, "Tudo bem!" Everything's good!

-Michael