Alright, so I'm sending out this email as a first day email. And then I'll send weekly emails after that.
GETTING TO THE MTC
The flight to San Francisco went smooth. I had conversations with a few people. I also had a tv on the flight. When I got off the plane, a guy said to me, "You look like a Mormon boy." I said, "I am a Mormon boy." To which he replied, "I could tell. You are all good looking and look athletic. You go to the gym right?" I told him that I did. We carried this conversation all the way to his gate. He told me he was going back to Singapore, and then I got to share why I was headed to the Philippines to teach Christ and bring happiness to others.
MEETING UP WITH OTHER MISSIONARIES
After that I walked back to my gate, I sat alone for a few minutes, but then one elder came up and started talking to me, and then another, and then another, and then a huge group of elders and sisters came down the escalator and joined us. We all had 2 hours to get to know each other, and then we got on the plane.
14 HOUR FLIGHT
The flight honestly wasn't that bad. It didn't feel like 14 hours. The guy who sat next to me was so wide that his arms were all up in my space, which kind of sucked, but it was ok. The control for the lights were on our tv screens, and I kept falling asleep with my head on the screen, which would then turn on the light. I felt so bad for the people around me, it happened like four times. The food was really good. They fed us three times. The first time was noodles and veggies with salad, a roll, and a brownie. The second time was a chicken sandwich. It was soooooo good. And then the third time was pancakes, with fruit and a croissant.
THE DRIVE TO THE MTC (MISSIONARY TRAINING CENTER)
The Philippines is so insanely beautiful. Walking out of the airport was such a cool thing to experience. Driving in the Philippines is not. I don't even understand why they even have lines painted on the street, nobody follows them. There is constant honking and beeping from the cars and motorcycles, and everyone is weaving in and out and cutting each other off. Everyone here is an offensive driver. It's insane.
THE MTC
When we first got here, we immediately were brought to the cafeteria and ate waffles, and eggs, and these ham and cheese rolls, and we got lemonade, and tangerine juice to drink. It was so good. We then got our phones, our access cards for the campus, and found out our apartments, and our roommates. Our group is already so close, but I got lucky, and have the two coolest elders in my room . So far there are only three of us in our room, and we find out tomorrow whether we will be getting a fourth person, or if we will be in a trio.
We then got to have a couple hours to shower and rest. During this time, all the boys went and explored the campus. We looked at the basketball court, and checked out the gym, which I am so happy with because it has some free weights (not a lot) and a bench. And then we had lunch. It was rice, with some really good meat with some sort of broth, and a noodle thing. We also had rolls and a soup. They switched out the tangerine juice with passion fruit juice as well.
After that we had a little orientation to go to, and then a health check. They then dismissed us until dinner. So with the time that me and my roommates had, and to get out of our church clothes for a bit, me and my roommates went to the gym. The gym is WAY better than what I was expecting. I got a decent workout in with what they had. After that we went back up, showered, and got ready for dinner.
At dinner, we ate fish, rice, veggies, and the smallest banana I've ever seen. I was super nervous at first, because I hate fish, but it didn't taste super fishy, so I enjoyed it. During dinner, I found out that my companion is Elder Kuri, who shows up tomorrow, so I hope he's cool.
To finish off the day we did a group devotional with the people in my room, and then went to bed.
Thank you for all the support I have gotten today. I love every single one of you!
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