The first night in the MTC

Wednesday, June 5, 2013 (the first night)

I'm sitting in bed after my first day completely exhausted but happy I'm here.  I miss you all so much already.  I want to thank you for letting me serve a mission and preparing me my whole life so that I'd be ready to serve.

My MTC companion is Elder Lutz.  He is from Austin, Texas and is also going to Belo Horizonte.  We get along well, so I don't think we'll have any problems the next 6 weeks.

The first class was all in Portuguese and I had no clue what the teacher was really saying!  Fortunately I could catch a few words that were similar to Spanish.  I can't wait to learn more.  On Friday, we have to give our first lesson to an "investigator" in Portuguese.  I don't know how that will go down.

We then had a large welcoming by some of the directors of the MTC.  Over 900 missionaries arrived today!  It's amazing to see how many young men and women are ready to do the Lord's work.

I saw Mindy, or should I say Sister Marsh, today at dinner, along with about 20 of my friends from BYU.  It's almost like living in the dorms again.

Tonight we got into large groups and helped to talk to 3 "investigators."  Missionary work will be extremely difficult.  I know that it will be worth it.

I love you so much,
Elder Marsh