So after I said goodbye to everyone at the airport Elder Flygare and I headed to our terminal. There we met Elder Aubrey who went to Highland High School and is going to the same mission as us. On our flight to LAX the flight attendant was Mormon and she hooked us three Elders up with snacks and drinks and stuff for free, it was super chill. At LAX the rest of the Elders eventually joined us so we could all fly to Guatemala. There's probably 25 or so of us, 22 Elders and 3 Sisters. 9 of us are going to the East Mission.
The Flight to Guatemala felt really long, it was so hard to sleep, and I sat next to an old Guatemalan man who would randomly yell and it's funny now but on the flight I was pretty uncomfortable haha.
When we arrived we had to fill out some documents and then head to our bus. Outside the terminal there was a midget with no legs riding on a skateboard (no lie, thats how he moves around) trying to sell pens. There was also a guy selling shoe shines for a dollar so Elder Flygare figured it was worth it to get his shoes shined.
Our bus was an old school bus and we loaded our stuff in the back and got on. In Guatemala there are essentially no rules when you drive. People just honk basically continuously so people know they're there and then proceed to do whatever they want. We got within a few inches of motorcyclists and other busses every like 10 seconds.
They have Mcdonalds and Taco Bell and everything in Guatemala. The city is beautiful and surrouded by green mountains. You get used to the humidity quickly and then once you do its the best weather in the world. It rains just about every afternoon but the rain isn't cold and the droplets are small so if you're outside when it rains it's awesome, especially because it usually rains when we have sports time so we play Speed on the basketball court in the rain or volleyball in the rain.
Anyways, when we arrived at the MTC we got paired up with our companions and I'm with Elder Flygare! We share a bunkbed and it's super dope, I'm basically his new twin now.
When we arrived in the MTC we got to take a nap (The only one so far) and then we got to work.
Everyday we wake up at 6:30 and shower and get dressed. At 7:30 we have breakfast and then at 8:00 start personal study for our hour but at the MTC you meet with your district to do "Personal Study" so we do study but we end up talking a lot too.
The next hour is language study. Elder Flygare and I try to study Spanish together using the Spanish For Missionaries books that they gave us or by reading the Book of Mormon outloud or any other techniques we can think of. After Language study our teacher comes. In the morning we have Hermana Estrada and in the afternoon we have Hermano Ruiz. Estrada is Guatemalan and just recently got back from Her mission to Honduras. She's strict sometimes but we joke with her all the time and she laughs at all of our antics. She speaks English pretty good but needs help with certain words sometimes. Hermano Ruiz is like the chillest guy I've ever met. He knows all of our pop culture references like the "Bruh" vine thing and some others. He went to LA on his mission and also did English immersion programs in elementary school and stuff so he speaks English perfectly and if you talked to him you would just think he's a California bro. We spend most of the day learning things with them and Hermano Ruiz also pretends to be an investigator in the evenings and we teach him lessons in Spanish.
My district is so chill. There's 8 of us, me, Elder Flgare, Elder Aubrey who's from Gilbert, Elder Chabries who went to West Point for a while and is a few years older than us, Elder Kanold from San Diego who reminds me so much of Nate Lemieux but way less spazzy, Elder Jarvie who is kinda shy and bad at Spanish but is super nice, Elder Gurksnis from Texas who was going to play baseball for BYU and is just kind of a laid back southern guy, and Elder Duncan our District Leader from Bluffdale Utah who is really spiritual but not in a "better than you" way and he's the best story teller I've ever met.
Lets see, umm the first night was hard because I was finally coming to terms with how long 2 years really is. It's hard work here and as fun as it can be there's not a whole lot of time to mess around and just chill. I was missing reading Harry Potter to Madi and I was missing having Netflix or League or something else to just let me escape reality for a while. On a mission its just you and your thoughts, All the time. There's rarely distractions other than sleep and so you really have to come to terms with who you are as a person and you have to become comfortable in your own skin and in your own brain.
If I can be honest without bragging, I'm certainly the best Spanish speaker in my district, perhaps out of all of the one-weekers in the MTC. People always ask me for help and I'm glad to give it. I'm not perfect though and I still have my struggles with the language.
Talking to the Latinos is great, like 30% of the people here are natives of Spanish Speaking countries. They are all so funny and chill and they'll talk with you and be patient with you and tell you stories and stuff. They like to give people nicknames too. Elder Jarvie, the shy one from my district, has been named "Woody" by the Latinos and whenever they walk by they salute him and say "Sherriff" in broken English and occcasionally attempt to sing "Youve got a Friend in me" (also in broken english) whenever he is around.
I want you to know that I love you. I'm having a great time here but I'll always have a piece of myselft back home.
At the MTC the spirit is so strong and it's amazing to be here. The church is true. The Book of Mormon is the Word of God. Joseph Smith was a prophet and Thomas S Monson is God's prophet on the earth today. It is such a blessing to know these truths. Please cherish the gospel and remember the Lord in all you do.
Love
Elder Dawson.
Glad to hear you guys are doing well! I'll write a separate email with all the details of my week but first I'll answer your questions.
What do you need?
I dont think I really need anything. If you guys want to send me handwritten letters though then that would be cool :)
Oh and also If you wouldn't mind giving some of my friends my email that would be cool too.
We can send you anything. I'm thinking we should have sent you with some vitamins. What do you think?
If you want then that would be fine but I'm sure I can get them in the field.
If you want then that would be fine but I'm sure I can get them in the field.
Did they give you a filtered water bottle?
Not yet but they have like five gallon water and ice style water dispensers everywhere and we just use juice bottles to fill up with clean water. They said they would give us the filter later.
Yes so now I have two which is nice.
Do you get to take a Walmart trip? I never put sunscreen in your bag. Maybe you buy sunscreen there if you can.
Not yet but eventually we're supposed to go I think. The only time we go outside is for sports time and it always rains during sports time anyways so I wouldn't really need sunscreen. Its overcast here anyways all the time its super sick.
When do you go to the temple and the market?
I went to the temple today and it was awesome. We could do everything in English too which was nice. The temple here is beautiful and its like two doors down. We can see it outside our window. I would show you the picture I took but they had to take away our cameras a few hours after we got here because people have taken pictures of sisters and stuff and they dont want people to have cameras in the CCM any more.
Love you!
Elder Dawson
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