Dear Friends and Family,
I am now officially a missionary and at the MTC. Most of you know that I was a mini-missionary and right now, I REALLY miss being out in the field. The MTC is a great place, but it's SO different from actually teaching and finding people all day and only being with your companion really instead of your whole district a lot of the time. The MTC is so peaceful and I just feel so calm here. It is great to know that the Lord is looking out for me. The first day, right after you dropped me off at the MTC, the elders helped me carry my bags to my "host sister" who helped me find things and get my supplies. My "host sister" just happened to be Laurel Ehlen (a girl from my home stake)!!! It was so great to see a familiar face right from the start. Since being here, I have found out that I am in Advanced Spanish. Oh my goodness!!! That is intimidating. We sat as a district and went around and said our name, where we are from, and how we learned Spanish. I am the only person who learned Spanish as a second language. They are ALL native speakers. They are all from the US as well, so they speak English just as well as I do, but their Spanish is so much better than mine! It helps me a lot that they all speak so well.
Well, anyone who speaks Spanish know that Argentines have a different accent. The first day, Elder Cardenas (an elder in my district) asked where something was. I said, "por alla" He just looked at me kind of dumbfounded and was like alla? WHAT are you saying Hermana? I then realized that he wasn't accustomed to the "ll" sound or the "y" sound that Argentines have when they speak, so I pronounced like he would have said it. Since then, he thoroughly enjoys asking me to say various words so he can hear how I say them. I never realized how much it was going to shock people with the faint accent that I have because I know I still have a pretty thick gringa accent!
The food, I don't know why anyone would rant about the food. The desserts are delicious, and the food isn't awful. However, excellent and MTC food should not be placed together in my opinion. The wraps are delicious however and so that may just be my meals for the next however long I am here for.
My teacher, Hna Riez said that on my card it says my departure date is September 5th, but that in Advanced Spanish, you are only here 3 weeks. So I have no idea really how long I will be in the MTC and which MTCs I will be in or any of that. They told me not to ask the travel office because they are so busy and that I will eventually find out! So who knows! One thing that is kind of weird is that I am the only person I know besides my friend Kourtney Kimes who is going to Peru. She's in beginning Spanish though so I rarely see her. She may know other people going to Peru, but we haven't met anyone else.
I also ran into Sister Jenknavorian. She worked in the TRC when Cassidy and I would go. It was so fun to see her! She called out my name across the room and gave me the biggest hug! I do miss giving hugs to people! I have the hermanas though and Laurel is just down the hall on my residence floor and so if I ever need a hug, at least I have someone that I know well that I can go to!
I'm not sure what else there is to tell you! I will tell you about my District! OH!!! And my companions. I have completely left that out. I am in a trio! I have Hna Ibarra and Hna Corrales. Ibarra is from Illinois and Corrales is from Colorado but was born in Mexico. Both of them speak Spanish super well and are so sweet. They are both 23, so I feel like the baby! But we have fun together. They are a little bit more quiet usually than I am, but they make me speak Spanish lots! I think I bring the comic relief to our companionship! I just am super happy hear and smile lots! And we laugh a lot!
It is so fun to see other sisters that I didn't even know were going on missions! I love it! There aren't very many sisters in comparison to the elders, but I do love the sisters that are here. The elders seem SOOOOO young. I'm used to seeing missionaries closer to the end of their missions and it's really cool to think that these little boys, these elders are going to be like that.
Also, I am pretty sure I am never doing my hair. Especially at the MTC. We wake up and have a half hour to get ready. And then we have gym time in the middle of the day and usually shower after gym because it is HOT outside and we are gross after exercising. So aka, there's no point in doing my hair. It's just going to go up ALL of the time, except probably on Sundays.
Well, to share more of the spiritual stuff, although it's a lot different in the MTC because I feel like everything is more for me and there aren't investigators or a ward, just other missionaries to help. But, we went to a workshop yesterday about people. The first sentence in Preach My Gospel, after the purpose statement is "You are surrounded by people." My first thought was, ya no kidding Captain Obvious. But really, in the world that we live in, everything we have is trying to get us to forget that: the technology, work schedules, and fast pace of life. I got to thinking about how it's so much easier as a missionary to remember the people around you when you are in the field because you are always trying to find and teach and baptize. However, it is my goal while I'm at the MTC to remember this also. Our goal is to bring others unto Christ. Others includes the people I am surrounded by here. I'm not going to baptize another Elder or Hermana, but I will be able to be a friend, bring a smile to someone's face, help say something that will bring the spirit into their lives more and strengthen their testimonies. I am so glad to be me! But I am also very grateful that everyone else is different! I am so grateful for my teachers, companions, district, zone, and my roommates (Hermanas Kennedy and Jones) who all have something different to share!
I love you all and wish you the best week!
Love,
Hermana Carly Jo Lang
PS. Write me letters if you have time! I'm always happy, but support from family and friends brighten a day no matter how great the day already was.
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