The first few days in the MTC (missionary training center)

The first day was long, and hard. I walked in, got my missionary name tag, dropped off my stuff in my dorm and then immediately went to class. On the first day we only had about 2 hours of class, so it wasn't too bad. After that we did a lot of orientation stuff for the rest of the night. I met my companion and the other people in my district. My district has 8 people, 4 Hermanas and 4 Elders. 6 of us are going to Tempe, Arizona Spanish speaking, including my Companion, Elder Whitted, who is from Colombus Ohio.

After all that orientation we got back to our residents at about 9:30. Then we prepared for the next day, got ready for bed, and went to sleep. Quiet time starts at 10:15, and lights out at 10:30. We then woke up the next morning at 6:20, so we were guaranteed a shower. There are only 4 people in my room, which is nice because my Hermanas have 6 people in their room. We have only 6 showers for about 15-20 of us. So it's not terrible, but it isn't the most convenient. After showers we went to breakfast, and then we had some more orientation before lunch around noon. After lunch we had class until dinner at 5, and then we went back to class after to meet the Branch President and get our own district leader (Who is my companion. But I'm the senior companion? It's a bit weird.) After that we were all dead tired so we kicked in a little early at 10:15. Then this morning we had to get up at 6 so we could go to the temple early (but while we were all taking a shower, we managed to get our door locked and we didn't have a key so the zone leader, Elder Wagstaff, who played on the lacrosse team and is friends with McKay, had to go get a spare for us). But back to what I was saying, What a wonderful experience the temple is. There is so much peace that comes from it, words cannot properly express it. I love my mission already! And I'm only 3 days into it. After email today I have to go and do some laundry, even though I don't have much.

Thank you for all of the Dear Elders that you sent me! I think I got the most mail out of the people in my district. So that was cool.

The language is hard, but I think I will get a hold of it eventually. All of the guys in my zone say that I should wait a week, and I'll really start picking it up. 

Much love to you all

Elder Allen