First Blog Post from the MTC

Hey everyone!!!!!!!

I get 30 minutes a week to use email here in the MTC so this letter will be a bit short. I will have handwritten letter to everyone out sometime today, but since I only have a few addresses ill send most of them Home to be distributed from there. If you want a letter from me directly, send me one! Then I get your Address. Also, Dearelder.com works too for sending me letters while I am in the MTC. They offer free same-day delivery to the MTC and it’ll even attach your address so I can reply! How cool is that!

First week in the MTC! Yikes that was fast. Wednesday when I got here one of the speakers said that the days will feel long, but the weeks will feel too short. AND HE WAS RIGHT! These have been probably the longest days of my life thus far. Every moment is not only timed out, but planned as to exactly what I am going to study when. It helps a lot really since I have no idea where to begin! My companions are cool, and I’m in a threesome! First one (guy on my right ATM) is Elder Grow, he’s from Southern California and he is going to the New York, New York South mission speaking ASL. He a TOTAL basketball nut and it drives me crazy sometimes (being a Baseball man myself), but I love him. The other (on my left) is Elder Frost. He’s from Cleveland Ohio and is going to The New York, New York North mission speaking ASL. He’s deaf but he has cochlear implants so he can hear. He actually came knowing no ASL at all!

Hoo boy this time limit drops fast! I’ll have to leave the rest of the stories I can't tell here to mail letters and the videos I’m sending home today. Dad, you should be able to post the videos on YouTube easily enough and embed them onto the blog. I go into much more detail there as I’m using video recordings to make up my mission journal since I have no writing skills and I can barely read my own handwriting.

TEACHERS:

I have 2 Deaf teachers and 2 Hearing teachers. The two deaf ones are Brother Montgomery and Brother Featherstone. Bro. Montgomery is total deaf and forces us all to learn ASL quickly so we can understand him. Brother Featherstone has a cochlear implant but he yanks it out when he’s teaching. ARG IT’S FRUSTRATING! But it’s okay. He works with us and we have already learned a TON of things to sign. The 2 hearing teachers are Brother Black and Brother Cropper. Bro. Black went to NYNYSouth on his mission and LOVED it and has a ton of insights into how to teach deaf people and teach with the spirit. We’ve learned a lot from him in such a short time I couldn’t write it all down if I tried. Brother Cropper went to Houston, TX on his ASL mission and just got back from it 8 months ago, and he’s already teaching here at the MTC. He has intimate knowledge of Preach My Gospel and is helping us get the most out of PMG and even gives us some insights to like things together. GREAT teachers I love them to death!

Almost all of the studying we do here at the MTC is Missionary Directed, in that we decide what we want to learn and when we want to learn it. There is a list of things that are highly recommended we cover in detail but mainly it is left up to the elders and sisters to decide how much we want to get out of this place. It’s interesting that we learn the same way we teach, by the spirit. I’ve seen miracles here every day! We got a chance to work in the RC (referral center) and got to chat live online with people who log onto mormon.org and have questions about the church. It is great that on day 2, I got to testify of Christ to the world! I LOVE THIS PLACE!

I can feel the spirit so strongly here. It feels like I’m in the temple all the time. I know because I went to the temple to do Endowments today! That was fun and the Provo temple is beautiful. When we left the temple it was such a beautiful morning I just felt like I was in heaven itself. I wish you all could feel what I’m feeling here because it’s simple indescribable. I hope I can keep this feeling into the mission field and into the homes of those I teach!

As a measure of housekeeping (4:39 left.. EEEK!), I need addresses! Especially from Kim, Bishop Shapiro, Pres. Steadman, and anyone else who wants to get info from me! You can either e-mail them to me at tora1188@myLDSmail.net (it’s new) or just send me a letter. Send me a letter though. It’s faster and I get MAIL! Which always brightens days? I love you guys a ton and I wish you all could join me here.

One more thing, I forgot to pack pictures of people! Send me some bright smiling pictures I can stick to my wall. It’s nice to be able to look at my family and friends everyday!

Love you guys a whole ton, and I’ll write the next e-mail next Thursday!

Love,

Elder Jared Tritsch