Hey friends and family,
Wow has this has truly been something else. I honestly cannot believe how incredible it is here. Every minute of the day is a minute that you can be doing something productive and it is honestly the best. The days are super long here, but the week went by quickly in retrospect. It is super weird. So before I talk about how my week went in general I will talk about what happens in my average day here at the CCM(spanish for MTC). We wake up at 6:30, then we have time to exersize from 6:40 to 7:30. After that we have breakfest shower and get ready for the day. After that we eat and go to class. We are in class most of the day. We have 3 class blocks and they are broken up by meals. so breakfest class lunch class dinner class. Then we go to bed. So there is a lot of learning that is done here in the MTC. Especially when you work hard and really focus on what you are doing and what your purpose is as a missionary. Okay, now for the good stuff. This is what happened Wednsday. So for those of you who do not know, my parents(who I love a ton) dropped me off at the curb of the MTC. I gave my Mom a hug then my Dad a hug then I gave my Mother, who I love so much, one last hug before I left and entered the MTC. Leaving my sisters and parents last wednsday was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I was fighting back tears for the next hour or so. After I got dropped off, the people here led me into a room where I got my name badge that says elder burris, then they gave me some general things I need such as books and card and key for room etc. Then we went to this massive devotional with all of the missionaries that came in on the same day as me.It was awesome. Haha all of us sang called to serve, hundreds of brand new missionaries, and I felt the spirit super strong during that. I honestly love the work here. Everyone here wants to serve God. That is why I am here. I want my actions to bless the lives of others in a way that is very genuine and real. I want to make other people happy. It was nice hearing from everyone. I love getting letters, honestly everyone who has any desire to write me do so. I have the oppurtunity to print off the letters earlier in the day and read them so I have more time to actually respond to people. So if you want to write me and you do so I promise I will read it and it means a lot here. I am so glad that I have taken the time this past year to write Taylor Allen weekly because I now realize how special letters are when you are away from all of your family and friends. So yeah the first dau was completely shocking. Just super super packed with things to do and so tiring. But that is honestly how every day is here. It is packed full of things you are invited to do that are going to help you become closer to Christ and bring others closer to Christ. So I got here on a Wednsday right? Two days later, like my first friday here, they had me and my companion teach a lesson completely in Spanish. It was super cool. The investigators name is Ella. She is really nice and we have taught her multiple times since. Then this week we got a now investigator named Evalice and she is a lot harder to work with and teach. But I am learning a lot and it is incredible. My companions name is Elder Smith. He is awesome, we get along really well. He is from Utah and it going to Florida on his mission. We are both really modivated to learn and we compliment eachother well in lessons. He is able to keep conversation going for a longer time then I am able to in Spanish. But I am really good at consicely bearing testimony of what I know to be true and it really brings the spirit. We have been playing some volleyball here in the mornings for gym time and everyone thinks I am incredible. Like I will dig a ball and everyone claps. Its ridiculous. For all my friends out there with calls coming into the MTC the only advise I can really think to give you is enjoy the time you have at home. You will miss it. The work here is great but looking back I wish I would have enjoyed my time with my friends to its fullest a bit more. And the other piece of advise I can give you is as soon as you say goodbye to family and roll up the the MTC be ready to come here and work. I mean really work. That is the only way to be happy here. And when you do that, and really work ahrd and put your soul into this, you will feel joy you have never before experienced. I want my family to know that I love them. Keep eachother happy, Rico and Rocky obviously included. I am doing well here. I have already caught the vision of it. I know it is hard, but I also know that hard things are what make us who we are. Be happy, find joy in everything and be greatful for how much you have. I love you guys. You are everything to me.
Wow has this has truly been something else. I honestly cannot believe how incredible it is here. Every minute of the day is a minute that you can be doing something productive and it is honestly the best. The days are super long here, but the week went by quickly in retrospect. It is super weird. So before I talk about how my week went in general I will talk about what happens in my average day here at the CCM(spanish for MTC). We wake up at 6:30, then we have time to exersize from 6:40 to 7:30. After that we have breakfest shower and get ready for the day. After that we eat and go to class. We are in class most of the day. We have 3 class blocks and they are broken up by meals. so breakfest class lunch class dinner class. Then we go to bed. So there is a lot of learning that is done here in the MTC. Especially when you work hard and really focus on what you are doing and what your purpose is as a missionary. Okay, now for the good stuff. This is what happened Wednsday. So for those of you who do not know, my parents(who I love a ton) dropped me off at the curb of the MTC. I gave my Mom a hug then my Dad a hug then I gave my Mother, who I love so much, one last hug before I left and entered the MTC. Leaving my sisters and parents last wednsday was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I was fighting back tears for the next hour or so. After I got dropped off, the people here led me into a room where I got my name badge that says elder burris, then they gave me some general things I need such as books and card and key for room etc. Then we went to this massive devotional with all of the missionaries that came in on the same day as me.It was awesome. Haha all of us sang called to serve, hundreds of brand new missionaries, and I felt the spirit super strong during that. I honestly love the work here. Everyone here wants to serve God. That is why I am here. I want my actions to bless the lives of others in a way that is very genuine and real. I want to make other people happy. It was nice hearing from everyone. I love getting letters, honestly everyone who has any desire to write me do so. I have the oppurtunity to print off the letters earlier in the day and read them so I have more time to actually respond to people. So if you want to write me and you do so I promise I will read it and it means a lot here. I am so glad that I have taken the time this past year to write Taylor Allen weekly because I now realize how special letters are when you are away from all of your family and friends. So yeah the first dau was completely shocking. Just super super packed with things to do and so tiring. But that is honestly how every day is here. It is packed full of things you are invited to do that are going to help you become closer to Christ and bring others closer to Christ. So I got here on a Wednsday right? Two days later, like my first friday here, they had me and my companion teach a lesson completely in Spanish. It was super cool. The investigators name is Ella. She is really nice and we have taught her multiple times since. Then this week we got a now investigator named Evalice and she is a lot harder to work with and teach. But I am learning a lot and it is incredible. My companions name is Elder Smith. He is awesome, we get along really well. He is from Utah and it going to Florida on his mission. We are both really modivated to learn and we compliment eachother well in lessons. He is able to keep conversation going for a longer time then I am able to in Spanish. But I am really good at consicely bearing testimony of what I know to be true and it really brings the spirit. We have been playing some volleyball here in the mornings for gym time and everyone thinks I am incredible. Like I will dig a ball and everyone claps. Its ridiculous. For all my friends out there with calls coming into the MTC the only advise I can really think to give you is enjoy the time you have at home. You will miss it. The work here is great but looking back I wish I would have enjoyed my time with my friends to its fullest a bit more. And the other piece of advise I can give you is as soon as you say goodbye to family and roll up the the MTC be ready to come here and work. I mean really work. That is the only way to be happy here. And when you do that, and really work ahrd and put your soul into this, you will feel joy you have never before experienced. I want my family to know that I love them. Keep eachother happy, Rico and Rocky obviously included. I am doing well here. I have already caught the vision of it. I know it is hard, but I also know that hard things are what make us who we are. Be happy, find joy in everything and be greatful for how much you have. I love you guys. You are everything to me.