Bonjour tout le monde!
This has been a crazy week so far! So, as most of you know, I started my mission this last Wednesday, but not as a normal mission would start. Under normal circumstances, I would be in Ghana right now, preparing to speak French and teaching the people of Benin and Togo. However, because of Covid-19 and the worldwide pandemic, everyone is doing the Missionary Training Center from home. Even though I was disappointed in not going to Africa right away, I was still excited to get started!
My first day of classes went by both fast and slow. I’m not going to lie, I was a bit scared to click that zoom link at first, but I was still excited to meet the missionaries in my district, and one of my two new teachers. One teacher teaches the morning class, and the other teaches the afternoon class. Most of the first day of classes was just kind of getting to know each other, and learning what it will be like to be a missionary. Also, in the afternoon we had a mass zoom meeting/seminar that was basically a “welcome to being a missionary” meeting. There were over 400 missionaries in that meeting, which means that there were over 400 missionaries starting that day as well!
The second day of classes was a lot more language study, with a little bit of scripture study. I’m not going to lie, French is a lot harder to learn than I thought, but i’m sure that I will get it eventually. It will take some time. We also had a seminar that morning about our purpose as missionaries. It was so uplifting, and I can’t wait until I get into the field, and teach those in need!
The third day of classes was more of the same, with a seminar that morning for all those learning new languages. I knew I was struggling to learn French, but after this seminar I realized that it will take time, and not everyone gets it right away.
I think the hardest part for me so far is all the free time. We have 3 hours of class in the morning, 3 in the afternoon, and some days we have one-hour seminars. On top of that, we have an hour to do language study, an hour for personal studies, and an hour for companion study. That sounds like a lot, but it’s at our discretion when, or even if we do it. I think i’d rather have a set schedule, but in the end it will probably be better for me.
My district consists of 12 missionaries, four sisters and eight elders. Of those people, all the sisters and two elders are going to Tahiti, two elders are going to Madagascar, two elders are going to The Republic of Congo, and my companion, Elder Ward, and I are going to Benin. My district is pretty awesome. A lot of us will just hop on a zoom call, and talk for a while most nights. It’s nice that we get along, because we’re stuck with each other for the next 6 weeks. Sister Reed is the best, but she told me to say that. But don’t tell her.
I don’t know if I will be keeping this blog every week while i’m in the MTC, mainly because I will be doing the same things for the next 6 weeks. As of right now, I’m waiting on a reassignment, which could be anywhere in the United States, for a short period of time, until I can go to Africa. I’ve heard of missionaries getting reassigned to Hawaii, and others getting reassigned to places like Wyoming. Let’s hope for Hawaii haha. But in all seriousness, I will go anywhere the Lord calls me.
That’s it for this week. Feel free to email me, i’d be happy to respond to anyone :).
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