Our First Letter! (PS, my heart skipped a beat when I saw it!)

Hi Family!! I made it to the MTC safely and I'm doing great! The first day was a little bit rough just because it was new and I missed you guys and Riss more than I've ever missed anything in my entire life. The first day when I got there, the host that took me in led me to a place where I got some things that I needed, like the nametag and some resource books, and stuff like that, after that he took me to the room that I am staying in and I chose a bed and put my stuff on it. Then he took me to a classroom where we were introduced to our companions and our districts. My companions name is Elder Worley, he is super tall and a pretty big guy, but he is way nice and full of the spirit. After that we had a little get to know you game where we all stood up and told our names and missions and why we were serving. After that we were taught a little lesson and were given study time. By the way, the days here seem to be dragging on forever, but it's fine because I know that this is the lords work and it's what I need to be doing. After we studied for a little bit we went to a big meeting with all of the Elders and Sisters, and we met the MTC presidency, they all spoke and just welcomed us and kinda told us what was going on here and stuff. It was cool to see the diversity of all the Elders and Sisters. There were some from China, some from Tonga, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan, just everywhere! So after the meeting we went to the cafeteria and ate dinner, which was fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas. It was funny because my companion loves peas just as much as I do. He says he takes a frozen bag to school and just eats them right out of the bag haha! After dinner we went to a big room and we all sat down and a guy explained to us that we were going to be in 3 different rooms with 3 different investigators in them. We were supposed to kinda ask questions and teach the investigators in each room. It was just like what we do in mission prep but instead of 2 people teaching it was like 50 haha! So after we went thru all the investigators, we went to a zone conference and met our zone leaders and our zone, they took us on a tour of the MTC and then took us back to our rooms. There we got ready for bed and showered and stuff like that, and at the end of every night we have a zone prayer. It's crazy how much we pray here! One of the people in my zone said he tallied one of the days and said he prayed 24 times! Its really amazing how much closer that brings you to our savior! Then at the end of every night we have quiet time from 10:15 to 10:30 and then it's lights out. The second day was similar to the first except we had a lot more study time, and in the classroom we got assigned to these "investigators" that we are teaching today. It is kinda like mission prep, which I am glad I went to because this would be a whole new experience if I hadn't! Anyways I am running out of time, so I just want to end by saying that I know this church is true, and this has been the hardest 2 days of my life, and I miss you guys and Riss more than ever, but I know that this is what I should be doing right now and I know that I can do anything with the strength that the Lord gives me. The MTC is getting better each day and I am excited to get out there into the mission field and do the lords work. I love all of you, and tell Riss that I miss her and love her, and I'll be able to e-mail her on pday which is Thursday! Tell her I am praying for her and tell her to stay safe. I'm also praying about all of you and I hope you guys are doing good! I'll talk to you guys again on Thursday!

Love Elder Summerhays

PS. My favorite scripture is probably Ether 12:27 :)