Heyo!
Before I begin I have a few notes.
-There is a lot of information and stories that I want to
share, I'll try my best to get everything out.
- Since there is a lot to share in such a short amount of
time, don't judge my grammar.
- I did send the family a letter in the mail, I hope you
guys got it! I Dont remember what I wrote so I may repeat myslef.
Ok!
So, day one was crazy. And honestly I can't even remember
everything that happened. After recieving some papers, my tag, and room key and
such. I was whisked into a room where a few other missionaries sat, dazed and
confused. A teacher was speaking entirely portuguese and we didnt hear him
speak a word of english until the following day. After our district showed up
we all got to know each other a bit and then headed to a welcome meeting with
the MTC president. He did an activity, having those called from across the
nation to stand up. When he got to the East Coast, he started naming state by
state. New Jersey, one elder from my district stands up. No missionaries from
Maine, Rhode Island or Vermont stood up. One from New Hampshire. Two from New
York. I was ready to stand up and represent CT in a crowd of 830 new
missionaries. He then finally said..... Kentucky. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I didn't
stand....
So my district is made up of 12 missionaries. 8 Elders and 4 Sisters.
The
rest of the day was just trying to wrap my head around a new language. The language has been a lot of
fun. Its been really hard though. Spanish has helped a lot. As Mr. Scavone [Canton High School band teacher that Cooper greatly admires] says
"Fun is the end result of hard work, everything else is cheap
entertainment. Is cheap entertainment a good thing? Yes, but you need to know
where the balance is."
On the second day, Elder F. and I had to teach a lesson to
an investigator
[while in the Mission Training Center- "investigators" are actually returned missionaries that the new missionaries can practice with] named Aquilino....entirely in Portuguese. I had everything I
needed and wanted to say written down and pretty much read right off of it. We have continued to to teach Aquilino. In the second lesson
I wrote everything in english and then translated it on the spot. In the third
lesson (last night), I only brought the headings to each section. We taught the
Plan of Salvation, which was a ton of information.
Here there are no days, just work followed by a period of sleep.
All of the days being to blend and mesh. Our teacher commented on how our district is doing better than any other district in learning the language.
I've seen Braxton A., Diana [a cousin- who is going to the Ukraine!] and two BYUI kids who were
in my classes.
Sunday was relaxing....after Sacrament Meeting at least. Our
Branch President, randomly picks elders and sisters to speak without telling
them before hand. We must have a talk written every Sunday entirely in Portuguese.... this puts me even more on edge. I wasn't picked, but it keeps me
up at night...(not really, don't worry mom).
We have a gym period each monday at 6:40. Its a great way to
kick off our week. Our district plays sand volleyball as the sun rises over
the mountains.
Overall, the atmosphere here at the MTC is unlike any other.
There are plenty of cute sisters which is just awful. You are only allowed to shake
hands with them, flirting is obviously not allowed and sarcasm is also
prohibited. Its been almost impossible for me.
In my second gym period, I was playing indoor volleyball.
The ball came over the net while I was in the front row. A sister next to me
went for it and I went to help. My shoe fell off as I quickly jerked my body.
We both fell and almost collided into eachother. I quickly stood up to avoid
embarrassment. As any good person would do I reached out to pull her
up...without thinking... and helped her up. I felt the entire gym watch us as
this forbidden gesture took place. Its getting to me a bit.
So good news...kinda. The district that's leaving [the MTC] this week
had 11 of the 12 of them get reassigned to the states [temporarily until their VISAs come]. One to the Boston
Mission too. Sooo things are looking bad for most. A sister going to
Brazil got her visa in her second week, she's from Rhode Island and left for [the CTM-Center for Missionary Training in] Sao
Paulo. There is a chance that I will get mine in time to go down there, but
honestly I like it here, and kinda don't want to leave. [Elder Sieber's VISA could come in any day or 4-6 months from now. If it comes while he is at the Provo MTC, they may want to send him to Sao Paolo to finish his training. Rhode Island and CT have their own Brazilian Consulate- so he is speculating that since a Sister from RI got hers while in week two at the MTC, he might also. But we really have absolutely no idea.]
Weird fact, Our entire district is going to Rio and none of
us are right out of high school. Even more impressive none of us are from Utah.
I live in 6M, the Rey L. Pratt Building. Room 435
Thank you for all the letters and packages. Please send
DearElders when you can instead of Emails. I can only check the emails once a
week and only have a half hour to respond. I don't know if ill be able to see all of
them today.
As for things to send [I had asked him for some suggestions.] Food: Fruit Snacks, Sour Cream and Onion [potato chips] and
whatever else. Elders get 6 dollars
a week to spend on stuff. The snacks range from 50 cents to 2 bucks. Not worth
it. would rather save for laundry stuff.
The MTC food has been decent, but not always appetizing. I've
had chicken strips, chicken patties, and chicken cordon bleus...which have been
the highlights as far as meals have gone.
Also I think we have a giant Brazil
flag... if you could send it, that would be awesome. We want to decorate our
district room where we spend 10 hours a day in studying,.
My certificate for teaching in Brazil is only good until
June 23, 2015, so I think that's the return date! [I have no idea what he is talking about, seems like a certificate of teaching could/should be related to the VISA?]
Thats all I have for now. I may send another email if I
remember something else.
Continue to send Dear Elders, and tell everyone to. They
make me sooo happy.. PLEEEEASE!!
And tell my friends to email me and
send letters gosh dangit!
Tata for now!
Elder Cooper Siebers
