MTC Week One

Hey Everybody!

Mondays are my P-Days, just so you all know. 

Life is pretty good here. I thought it was gonna be really hard to adapt, but it hasn't been that hard. The first few days were pretty long, but they're starting to really speed up now. 

My companion is named Elder Chan. He's from Birmingham, England. His dad is from Hong Kong, but he speaks just as much Mandarin and Cantonese as I do. He's going to Calgary on his mission. The other missionaries in our district are all really cool. They're all going to the US, Canada, or Australia, speaking Mandarin, with the exception of Sister Rafie who's going to Hong Kong. We started language classes immediately after getting here (seriously, I put my stuff in my room and then went to my classroom where I was bombarded by Chinese), and since then we've all learned a lot and taught a discussion in mandarin. The discussion was really rough. Elder Chan and I had absolutely no idea what our "investigator" was saying and our whole lesson was read word for word from a language book, but we both bore our testimonies and got him to commit to pray. At least, I think he did.

Conference was super cool here. All the missionaries in the MTC watched it in the assembly hall/gym. There was a great spirit there as everyone studiously took notes on all of the talks. The seats in the assembly hall are the most uncomfortable seats I've ever sat in, so it was hard to sit there for so long, but at least we all stayed awake. 

In other news, the food is fine. It's about as good as camp food, so I don't mind it at all. Some of the elders in our district woke up early this morning to do a session in the temple, and that was really nice. I have an Ipad here for some reason, so I think I can read emails at any time during the week, but I just can't respond to them. So if you guys want me to know something, just say it's really important and I might have time to read it. I feel like I'm adjusting well and everything is going all right. I hope it's the same there. I'll try to attach some pictures as well. 

(Never mind, Elder Chan and I have both tried to upload a picture, and it's not working. Maybe in future weeks. Stay tuned.)

I hope you all are doing well,

Elder Hadden

Han Zhang Lao

Mormonspeak Dictionary

Conference=General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These happen twice a year, in October and April. The leadership of the church gives direction to the members.  It is broadcast on TV in Utah, and at the meeting houses in the rest of the world.

MTC=Missionary Training Center. This one's in Provo, Utah.

P-Day=Preparation Day:  The one day during the week that missionaries don't have to work.  Instead, they do laundry, write to their families, play basketball, see the sights, etc.