MTC Week 1

Hey Everybody! 8^)

Gonna define some missionary lingo before I begin. 

MTC: Provo, Utah Missionary Training Center. Where I'll be for the next 8 weeks learning Japanese and how to teach. 

Companion: one of the most important rules for a missionary is that they have to be with another missionary of the same gender literally 24/7- within sight and sound. So your companion is kind of the other half of your life as a missionary

Elder/ Choro (japanese) and sister/ shimai: Our new first name. Sets us apart from normal dudes as we represent the Lord. 

District: A group of missionaries serving in the same area. ie- My district consists of one other Elder companionship and a companionship of Sisters. This district works, learns, and hangs out with eachother most of the day.

Investigator: They will be real people when I go to Japan but for now, the MTC gives you people to practice teaching to, usually return missionaries that know the language you are studying to speak. You are to prepare a lesson to teach them in the language almost every day.

P Day: Thursdays for me. The day we have time to chill and do laundry and basically not learn all day. 

Man oh man where to start. The MTC has felt like a whole different life from before. It feels like I've been here for a 40.5 years. I've learned so so much in this past week I hardly even have time to think! Most of it just flies over my head, in one ear and straight out the other but Its kind of cool to have a focus that intense.

The food we are served here is the highest quality processed food I've ever had the opportunity to eat, often times featuring powder potatoes, bagged chicken patties, and the highest quality angus beef. Also featuring straight out of the bag peas, carrots, corn, and french fries! its wonderful. For beverages, you get to choose between high quality non caffeinated sodas, a plethora of minute maid juices, and the best of the best chocolate, 2% and skim milk, straight from the cow. Truly blesses to be fed such an eloquent meal 3 times a day, all you can eat.

My companion... oh boy. Elder Thompson is the name, building robots and making corny jokes is his game. Haha kind of a geek but he's great for me cause he's like my own personal tutor for japanese and is very motivated to do the work. Basically the exact opposite from me so its chill. He has been suffering from a mild case of nausea in the early mornings.

My schedule goes as follows: 

Get up every day at 6:30. Go to the gym at 6:40- 7:35 to ball out on all the other elders- you know i do work. Shower and get dressed. Breakfast at 8:20 or something. The rest of the day we study the language, the scriptures, and prepare to teach our investigator, Yuki san, in Japansese. Lunch is usually around 12:30. Dinner is around 5:30.  Back in your room by 9:30. Lights out by 10:30.

Learning Japanese has been such a struggle but it's coming along. I now know how to construct simple sentences in my head and can do a little more complex sentences when I write it out. My Japanese accent is money!

Real Nihonji missionaries (japanese people) showed up 2 nights ago. I laughed out loud when we took a picture of them they all said "peeeaaaaceeee!" and did the famous trademark peace sign!!!! And they laugh at everything we said like a pack of wild monkeys- super high pitched and would wake up a den of hibernating bears. Very entertaining to make fun of while they aren't looking!

Yesterday in our lesson with Yukisan, I said "seiteki" when trying to describe prayer. What I should have said is reiteki which means spiritual. But you all know how those asians like to do with their language and make just one letter change the meaning significantly. Seiteki = sexual. So good for me, I said prayer is a sexual experience hahaha.

Love and miss you all, hope you all have a great week!

Elder Dallin Robins

PS: Congrats to my two main home boys Ryan Nearon and Aaron Christensen for getting their mission calls to Berlin, Germany and Luonda, Angola (Africa). SO COOL!

The Elders I room with in front of the temple.

My district in front of the temple. We strive every day for excellence in executing the Japanese trademarked peace signs.