Ariel's First Letter from the MTC

 August 27, 2011

Mom and all my kazoku (family),  & friends!

It is my fourth day in the MTC and I feel like I have been here for 4 weeks. The food is bomb, the people are so nice, the language is impossible, and the Elders are unique. My companion's name is Sister Edstrom from Salem, UT. She is a very sweet girl and we get along very well. She is patient with me and my humor that she hasn't fully grasped which is good. My district has 9 Elders and my companion and I. It is a lot of fun getting to know them. We spend A LOT of time with our districts. It was wonderful getting all the mail from DearElder so thank everyone for that! Tell anyone who wants a letter from me to send me a DearElder and then I can write them back because I will have their address. My first Japanese class was a bit of a wake up call. Our teacher or sensai comes into class speaking only Japanese. None of us understand a word he is saying so sometimes it ends up our teacher literally acting things out and us trying to guess what he is saying. It is interesting to say the least. Even though I have only been here four days, we have learned how to greet, pray, and testify in Japanese. Yesterday my companion and I taught our first "investigator" in full on Japanese. It was hilarious we had no idea what we were doing or saying. The days are so long and exhausting here. We are working our hardest from the moment we wake up to the second our eyes close. I know I would not be awake most days if it weren't for the strength of the Lord and all of your prayers so thank you! Today is not our normal preparation day but since it is our first week we don't really get one. We get a few hours today to do laundry and write letters then it is back to work. Starting next week our preparation day will be on Fridays and we will get to go to the temple and then do whatever we need to do. So expect e-mails on Fridays! The spirit is so strong here at the MTC. It is filled with people with righteous desires to serve the Lord. Of course there is comedy everywhere I look which has kept me entertained. Elders are straight nerds. There is an Elder in my zone named Elder St Clair.. He is from St. George I believe and he told me that we are related. I have never seen him in my life. But he says his grandma told his mom and his mom told him to watch for me in the MTC. (maybe you can investigate this mom?) Anyway, I saw Elder Dillon Freeze here (a boy in my single's ward) it was good to see him. I think that is all I got for today. The computer is about to kick me off, we only get 30 minutes and there is a timer. Mom, please tell the rest of the fam to feel free to write me on DearElder or shoot me an e-mail! I want to hear about the first day of school and all the babies and everything. I love all of you so so so much!!!!

XOXO, gossip girl.

.............I mean Sister Swainston...

........I mean Swainston Shimai...

bai.