Day 1 - MTC Dec 29, 2010

Hey family! (I totally forgot the family e-mail address so I'm sending this to Dad--Dad, pass this on!)

Day 1 at the MTC has seemed really long, but I'm not at all overwhelmed. I think the worst part was just anticipating what was going to happen before I got here. Now that I'm here, I'm loving it! I have two companions because one sister's companion got stuck somewhere (probably thanks to the ridiculous snow storm that's been raging all day). My real companion is Hermana Brown. She is super sweet and I think we're going to get along just great. I love her already. Hermana Yingling is our adopted companion, and I'll be sad when she won't be paired up with us anymore. She's really fun and nice. Both of them are from Utah, so we make a great all-Utah group. :)

We've done a LOT today. It almost did feel like boot camp just because they kept throwing stuff at us and steering us in random directions with little to no explanations. After saying goodbye to dear Laurel at the curb, I was rushed to my dorm room where I dumped my stuff, then I was just chucked right into a Spanish classroom. I struggled a little bit, but it was nice because the teachers were totally understanding and they are so eager to help. I knew they wouldn't be trying to get us to fail, but it was still nice to see that it's actually true. Anyways, then we had a new missionary meeting with the MTC presidency, which was really informative and spiritual. I've been taking tons of notes already. I'm probably going to go through a lot of notebooks here.

After all the Christmas food and Goompa's grub at the open house last night, I wasn't even tempted by all the various meals at the cafeteria that I could have pigged out on. I settled for a Greek salad, and I felt great about being so moderate until I learned later on that I won't get to eat breakfast until 8:00 tomorrow. We ate dinner at 5.

Anyways... The best part about today was when we went around to three classrooms in a large-ish group. In each classroom was a seriously excellent actor who pretended to be a clueless investigator. We were supposed to carry on a discussion as if we were all collectively a single pair of missionaries. In the first classroom we struggled badly. Everyone was afraid to speak up or do something wrong. But it got so much better in the second classroom. It started out similar to the last one, with everyone trying to pound out complex doctrine that just confused the investigator all the more. Finally, someone managed to spark interest by proclaiming that God has a body and isn't something, but someone. When I saw how much that changed her idea about religion, I swallowed my fear and raised my hand to participate. I asked her if knowing that God is someone makes it easier to believe that she is a daughter of God. When she faltered a bit, I testified to her that she was a daughter of God and that he loves her and that because he loves her he has restored his gospel on the earth so that she can find happiness. Not to brag (seriously) but the Spirit was so strong. The whole atmosphere of the class changed, and from then on the group as a whole was so much more at ease and was so much better at answering questions. At the end, the "investigator" I'd testified to broke character and gave me a thumbs up. It felt so good. It was like an adrenaline rush of the Spirit (a Spirit-rush?). I want to feel that way all the time.

Wow, having only a half hour at a computer is really nerve-wracking. I'm kind of surprised I wrote as much as I did, but holy crow this was only one day and I left out most of my morning ventures! I don't know how I'll do it next Tuesday on P-Day... But just know that I love you so so so much. I can't thank you enough for being so supportive and setting such a great example for me. When you (Dad and Mom) left me at the airport and I was struggling not to look back at your abandoned puppy faces for fear of crying, I couldn't help but thinking with my spirit soaring, "All because two people fell in love." You have been such amazing parents, and to any other family who reads this, THANK YOU!!

Reminders: DearElder.com is the best way to get ahold of me in a jiffy. I don't know how I forgot but I didn't put my MTC mailbox number on my contacts list and you need it to Dear Elder me. My MTC mailbox is #88. I was seriously panicking when I realized (five minutes after I arrived and was cut off from all communication) that I hadn't given that to you, so please write that down ASAP. Also, please print out the pictures that Laurel took of me today and put them in my mission scrapbook, along with this e-mail. Thanks!

I love love love love LOVE you!! Take care and know that I'm loving every minute as a missionary (so far)!

---Hermana Springer (aka Carly)

P.S. Getting my nametag was awesome. And the dork dot is now off of it so yay!