MTC Week 1

Hey! 

It's not really weird being called "Elder" most of the time. Most everyone just calls me "Woodmansee" (or the Latins try their best anyway).

The MTC is pretty much just like school. You have to wake up early and get ready, then you have to go to class til breakfast, then more class til lunch, then more class til our hour of playtime, and then class til dinner, and then class til bedtime. The classes consist of mainly 4 different things: Language, how to actually teach lessons, personal study, and study for our fake investigadors (who are just teachers here without their name tags). It's normally a struggle to pay attention LOL until we get our gym hour at three, where we just play football for an hour. After that I'm normally pretty awake. 

The food is good, I eat everything except for when they have potatoes, I still can't eat those! But apparently what they have here is pretty common for what they have in the field. It's like meat, (steak, fish, chicken) rice and then something else. We don't really get to go outside ever, it kinda feels like a jail sometimes LOL. So I don't really know what the weather is like though.

We got to go to the temple today and it was like 60 or 70 and rainy, but it normally doesn't rain.

So the only North American Elders here are the ones who all flew to Bogota together, and 8 sisters flew with us as well. I'm really good friends with all of the Elders and the 4 sisters that our in my district.

We all call ourselves "Los Nortes" and I feel like we have known each other for way longer than just over a week!

Me and my companion, Elder ___. 

Even though I can't speak the language very well I think that I'm the best of Los Nortes, and I've made a lot of Latino friends as well but they are all leaving next Tuesday which makes me kinda sad.

I don't really get homesick or anything, because I'm always doing something.  All of the Latinos at the MTC and all but 13 North american sisters will leave on Tuesday, and then we get a new group of missionaries for 2 weeks. No more North American Elders come until 5 days before I leave. The first day seemed like it took an eternity, but since then it's been better. I'm getting used to waking up at 6, I guess. Still, lol. 

And . . . he's off!

Drew's flight to Bogota via Atlanta boarded at 8:09am, so we arrived bright and early at the airport in Orange county at 6am.  After we checked his bags, we found the lower arrivals level of the airport was deserted, so we sat there and chatted (took pictures) until it was time for Drew to go.

Drew never wants to be in our photos.

But we insisted!

We watched him go through security . . .

and then he stopped for a last goodbye.

Here's the letter we got the next day:

Hi guys.

The plane ride was really long and kinda hot, so I didn't really get to sleep that much. When I landed in Atlanta I met up with like 17 other missionaries, like 8 elders and 9 sisters, or hermanas. We all flew to Bogota together, and I guess we're all a part of the same MTC class. The MTC only has like 50 or 60 people in it--it kinda feels like adult EFY. Most of the missionaries in my group are going to Ecuador though. Only 2 others staying in Colombia, so it feels like I'm making friends with all these people I'll never see again. I went to the money exchange when we landed in Bogota, so i have a lot of Colombian cash, lol. 

The p-day schedule here is really weird. It alternates like every Tuesday and Thursday? So the next time I write it will be next Thursday on the 25th, and then after that it will be Tuesday the 30th. I got my name tag so i look official, and the Latins all like me because I said I didn't like American football and I would play soccer with them, lol. I understand a lot more Spanish than everyone else in my group so I think it's a good sign for me!

-Elder Woodmansee

Bogota Colombia MTC