Elder Tory Zollinger's Buenos Aires North Argentina Mission: MTC Week 2

Friends and Fam,

Well today is my second P-day here at the MTC. I have been here for a little over 2 weeks and have 3 1/2 left! Everything is going good! My normal schedule for a day is that we wake up at 6:30, shower and get ready for the day. Then from 7:05 - 8:15 we have personal study. From 8:15 - 8:45 we have breakfast in the cafeteria, and then from 8:45 - 11:45 we have class. All of our classes are in 100% Spanish, and I can pretty much understand most of what the teacher says, and if I don't understand I can pull the meaning out of context. I am still struggling to be able to create and speak sentences on my own though, but I know that will come with time!! Anyway after that from 11:55 - 12:45 we have gym time where we go run or lift or play a sport like basketball or volleyball, that is the best cause we get to get out of the classroom for a while and have some fun! Then from 1:20 - 2:05 we have lunch, and from 2:05 - 2:45 we have some study time. Then from 2:45 - 5:45 we have another class, which is also in all Spanish. Then from 6:20 - 7:05 we have dinner, 7:05 - 8 is personal/companion language study, and then 8-9 we use this language program called TALL on the computer. It is basically a church owned Rosetta Stone like thing. I don't really like it but we have to use it! So as you can tell we have a really busy day here every day! It is so true though when they say that the days are long but the weeks are short in missionary work, cause I feel like I just got here but at the end of every day I feel so tired from studying all day long! It is really good though and I am enjoying it! Yeah to answer a question I got I do keep the same companion the entire time I am in the MTC. It is good I really like him, he just struggles taking things seriously sometimes, and he falls asleep in everything. He does try hard though but he just always has to be entertained or he like can't survive or something. So when class or studying or whatever we are doing gets boring he either falls asleep or cracks a joke, which isn't always appropriate. But he is definitely getting better and working on it!

So this past week was a pretty good one! On Sunday I got called as the district leader because Elder Stout (who is my buddy from West Point and was originally district leader) got called to be the next zone leader, which is awesome considering we have another entire district that is ahead of us in seniority! I am glad to be able to serve my district as the district leader, but I am definitely behind them all a bit in Spanish. So I was actually really surprised when they asked me to do that cause I can barely speak anything haha. Anyway though I am happy to do what I can to help and serve them all! Also, if that was surprising enough, I sang in a choir on Tuesday at a devotional haha! It was actually really fun and my whole district did it together. We sang Lead Kindly Light. It was a really really good song! The coolest part was that it was broadcast to nearly all the other MTCs in the world cause Elder Neal L. Anderson was the speaker! It was an amazing talk that he gave and it was so cool cause nobody knew who the speaker was going to be and when he walked into the stadium (because we do our devotionals in the BYU basketball stadium) everyone stood up instantly. It was really cool though because since nobody knew who was speaking, when he walked in nobody knew who he was, but the spirit just instantly filled the entire stadium so we all knew it was someone worth standing up for. His talk was amazing and it was about love and sacrifice. He said that we sacrifice for the things we love and love the things we sacrifice for. I thought that was a really cool thought! Anyway the most impactfull thing he said was at the end of his talk he bore his testimony and as the very last thing he said was "I testify to you that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ lives, that He lives and watches over and literally stands as the head of this church here on the Earth. And I can testify of these things because I am literally his WITNESS." Instantly the thought came to my mind that wow this guy is a literal witness of Jesus, so pretty much he told us he has seen the Savior face to face. If that isn't a testimony I don't know what is! What else is cool though is as he ended a huge thunder and rain storm hit and they wouldn't let us leave for like half and hour because of lightening. So as we waited he went around and shook hands and of all the rows in the stadium to go up he came right up mine! Sadly though he turned around literally 2 rows before I could shake his hand.... but it was still cool to be like 5 feet away from an apostle!! Of course we all got absolutely soaked as we walked back though haha so yeah needless to say it was a good day! Other than that though this week was pretty normal! Just the same old 6 hours of class a day and hardly understanding a thing haha!

Just a random thought! So I can receive snail mail letters or dear elder letters any day of the week, i just cannot write back until P-day. So if there is something that you want to tell me or if anyone just feels like giving me something to read during the week instead of waiting till P-day I would be happy to get some letters! I think email works the best though but it is just a thought! Also, Jenn has been sending me blog updates but I can't get on any website other than LDS.org, so I can't read what they say haha sorry I wish I could!

So there is something that I really need ASAP. Apparently the church just came out with a new rule, and I'm not sure if this is church wide or not, but in my mission at least we are not allowed to wear back packs while we are in the field.... yeah... sooooo I really need you to order me one of those one strap shoulder bags! Just maybe talk to Adg or whoever it was who told us about those good ones and just have it sent straight to me here at the MTC. Don't get one that looks way nice or anything cause I don't want it to get stolen, but get a sturdy one that isn't going to just break on me within a few days. I guess I can still take my backpack down there but I can't wear it... So just let me know what you think. I guess I could just pack it up and have it shipped home, I will look into it. Just let me know in your next letter or email and I will get on it. I just need that bag before I leave the MTC or who knows if it will get to me in the field.

Anyway I think things are going pretty good around here. Not a whole lot going on, just class, study, eat, pray, sleep, and repeat. Thank you for all your prayers and updates on everything going on back home! I hope that the road trip goes good and Mom's math class starts getting less stressful! Glad to hear that everything else is going well with everyone though! I would love to hear from everybody I do read the emails I just figure it is easier to write one big one back rather than a bunch of smaller ones. Once again thank you all for your prayers and keep them coming! Especially to help me learn Spanish cause I need that one the most haha! Anyway I love you all and thanks for all the love and support! P.S. Pics are my nametape, my district, me and my compainion, and some other west pointers and I!

Love,

Elder Zollinger