Week 1

Hello all of you beautiful people whom I miss so very much!

It's ya boi Elder Terry here and I just finished the first of more than 100 weeks of my mission! This has been the longest week of my life at the Missionary Training Center (MTC). And to make it worse, I've been sick for a majority of the week as well. It started with just a sore throat just before I left for my mission, but by the end of the first day, my voice was basically gone. I actually couldn't speak; I had to just sit in silence for the first three days, which wasn't very fun cause all you do all day is talk. I also got very little sleep. It's definitely a lot better now cause my companion and the rest of my branch gave me a blessing on Friday night, and I was so much better the next morning.

Speaking of companions, I got the coolest one, Elder Stephen. He's a total stud and he and my roommates Elder Ward and Elder Fellows have definitely made this first week bearable with their light-hearted humor. My branch is also just a bunch of studs, and I see them all basically 24/7 in classes and devotionals.

Learning Spanish has also been a cool experience. I'm definitely very lucky to have taken four years of it cause I can pick up most of what's being taught pretty easily. However, it's taking a toll on the missionaries who have never spoke a lick of Spanish in their lives, since we're blasting through the basics, and we've already learned how to say a prayer, teach a lesson, and bear a testimony...in Spanish...in a matter of a week.

Also the highlight of the week is this cat named Sister Mittens, who just strolls around the MTC, and some elders gave her the priesthood as well, which got them kicked out of the MTC jajajajaja :)))

To wrap things up, the MTC food is good, it's cold (not Idaho cold though), and my Spirit is strong. Also it's rough to see people struggling with learning their language, dealing with stress, and just wanting to go home and see their families. I'm straight chilln' though; my motto has changed from "suck it up" to "press on" (it's exactly the same thing, but more Christ-like)

Tengo un testimonio en el Evangelio de Jesucristo. Yo sé que por el poder del Espíritu Santo, podreís conocer la verdad de todas las cosas (Moroni 10:5). También, creo que es muy importante averiguar las respuestas de sus preguntas a través de oraciones. Yo digo estas cosas en el nombre de Jesucristo, amén.

Please email me at ryan.terry@missionary.org anytime to brighten my day (although I can't respond to anything until any Wednesday), or send me stuff at
Elder Ryan Scott Terry
03-10 | PER-LIMS
2005 N 900 East, Unit #147
Provo UT 84602
United States

See you all next week! (With a lot shorter email :D)

Pics:
1. Mi compañero Elder Stephen and I