My Spanish is better than I thought

Week 1 in CCM

Hello everybody!!! :D I am having the best time here at the MTC in Guatemala! There is so so so much I want to tell you! There´s no way I can get to everything I want to tell you all, but I´ll do my very best!

The first day, we met President Cox, the president of the MTC here. He is literally the coolest guy ever. He gets so pumped and excited about everything and he makes us so excited about doing the work! He always tells us that we´re going to baptize thousands and it makes us feel so good. I hope I can actually do that!

My companion is Elder Lawder from Washington state. He´s a super nice guy! We have pretty different personalities though, so it´s a little bit weird sometimes, but we get along alright. He struggles quite a bit with Spanish, so I´m trying to help him and be patient. I really hope I can help him get to where he needs to be! He´s taught me so much about the gospel as well, so I´m grateful for that.

One of our roommates is named Elder Acubeze. He´s from London, and his accent is glorious. When he speaks, I swear choirs of angels begin to sing. Haha his companion and he have been here for four weeks, so they´ve been a great help in showing us around this place.

We´re not allowed to play soccer at the MTC, which is a super bummer. But we get to play either volleyball or basketball every night, so that´s fun!

My Spanish is coming along pretty well! I actually knew a lot more than I thought I did before I came. I still have so much to learn, but I´m really happy with how this is going!

I´ve gotten the chance to use my musical abilities a bit! I´ve played the piano for two devotionals, as well as led the music for two others. I hope I get the chance to use my musical abilities even more!

Unfortunately, there are very strict rules on cameras here at the MTC. We´re only allowed to take pictures on P Day and not inside the MTC, and even then we´re not allowed to send them home until we´re in the field. I´m not sure why, but that´s the rule! So no pictures for 6 weeks. :/ sorry!

We have one "investigator" here at the MTC. He´s not a real investigator, he´s just a teacher acting, but we teach him regularly as if he is a real investigator. We´ve taught him three lessons in Spanish so far, and they´ve gone pretty well! Although it took us three lessons to figure out that he´s an alcoholic. LOL. Word of Wisdom next lesson fo sho.

Although I am definitely having a great experience here, it´s definitely not all rainbows and butterflies. This is by far the hardest thing I´ve ever had to do in my life. There have been many times when all I´ve wanted to do is break down and cry. But I want you all to know that I know this is where I´m supposed to be. This Church is the only true church on the earth. And I know the people of Guatemala NEED this message in their lives and it would be selfish of me to not share it with them. Thank you all so much for your love and support! I love you all!

-Elder Thomas :)

PS...

Just one more quick thing I wanted to tell family!

We have this computer program called TALL that helps us with our Spanish. It´s very helpful, but the first day we did it, our teacher directed us to the hardest section just as a joke. Finally he told us where we were really supposed to go, but I was understanding everything on the hard section! So he told me just to stay there. :) I don´t want to sound prideful, but that made me feel good. :)

Anyway, I love you all so much! They only give us an hour for emailing here at the CCM, but hopefully I´ll get more in the field! Love you!

-Elder Thomas