Week 1- December 23rd, 2014

Welllllllllllllllll everyone. I was not even close to prepared for this first week despite what everyone told me. Those first two days are rough. And when i say rough i cant even begin to explain what i mean with words. But at the end of the second day when i thought i couldnt handle anymore and wanted to go home so bad we had our first branch meeting. In it we got to share about ourselves our family and why we are here serving. it was super emotional but as i hate crying in front of people i swallowed it and did what i had to do. That meeting was very emotional for everyone and at the end everyone gets interviewed by someone in the branch presidency. As they were pulling people out i was i wondering who i wanted it to be that pulled me out to talk. I was kinda thinking the president seemed a bit strict and when time went around i did have him. He pulled me out and asked me about any concerns. When he asked it i broke down a bit (well for me) let a tear escape and told him about concerns with possibly having some troubles. But he handled it so well. He said he was always available to talk to and gave me a mini pep talk but it changed my whole mtc experience after that. Then this sunday he i was walking out and he basically ran off the stand and yelled my name because i was already near the exit. He came up and asked how i was doing and said he had been praying for me. This is probably the first time anyone has said that when i've been having some real problems and boy was it a good feeling. Anyways moral of the story is I really like my branch president. And things always get better. After that i did quite a bit more praying. The week was still kinda hard til sunday. Sunday was a REALLY good day. along with what i already told you we also had devotional at night and films right after. I finally was able to watch Meet the mormons. That night was a ride of the feels train express. the devotional was my first real one here and it was amazing. The speakers talked about missions and christ. and then with meet the mormons it was a bit more relaxing then the the daily routine but when it got the missionary at the end it got to like everyone. Lots of mixed feelings come with this whole being a missionary thing but it is honestly super awesome for the most part. 

Now that most of that stuff is out of the way time to get to the more temporal stuff. I guess i should start with companions. My companion is Elder Bannerman. He is a very quiet man with a very deep voice. He is from Fenton Michigan. At the start it was suuuuuper quiet. On the third day we had a bit of issues because when he does decide to speak its usually very blunt and i wasnt familiar with his sense of humor which mostly involves making fun of others. Which as long as its someone there that is laughing with us i dont mind but when they aren't in the room i got upset at him. Ive learned to let it slide a little bit and hes toned it down a bit when people aren't around so its going better. And usually when he makes fun of me i assume its for the fun. you know to preserve the companionship. i guess jared got me ready for this one hahahaha. Elder Bannerman does the same kinda thing where others are complaining and i'm just laughing and out of nowhere my name gets thrown out with a problem he has about me. Caught me by surprise the first time but now i just laugh with everyone. it makes it better for everyone and i know everyone else is struggling too so if it makes us all perk up for a bit that's what matters right? 

As for the others in our district. there is elder ward and elder Moehller (who are also our roomates) and elder barrara , sutton, and Krull. As for sisters there is sister lee ( who has a CRAZY likeness to remi and lexi in my opinion i will try to get a picture to show you guys what i mean ), Scott and Young. For all of you out their doing any counting those numbers dont add up to missionary numbers right? well we have already had two missionionaries who have been sent home. Elder priddy was in our group and on the third day had to be sent home for anxiety problems. i felt really bad for him he was a really good guy. and also the only one around my age. I hope he is able to be happy. As for the sisters, sister young was in our branch but in a different district but her sister was sent home as well so she is now in ours with our sisters. Crazy week. But i truly hope those missionaries get treated properly and kindly. they deserve it. In the short time they were here i could feel their desire to be here and they deserve to be happy. 

A little bit about the other elders and sisters i havent mentioned much. Elder krull is the mini me of daniel tosh. do not look him iup he is an innappropriate comedian but take my word for it. He even talks esactly like him and jokes like him but super toned down. the best part about it is..... he doesnt even know who daniel tosh is. but like 3 other elders are in complete agreeance with me. its hilarious. and the last elder i will speak about specifically is elder moehller, i can not tell you how happy i am to have him in my group. every once in  awhile we are companions for a bit and it is soooo much fun. i love elder bannerman but we are very different. Elder moehller on the other hand is a combination of jaxton with kronks voice. it is the best thing ever. hes all about his rugby and hunting. and he is a super good guy. also like jaxton when we are studying hes got his nose down to grindstone and is just zooming away. but everyonce in a while he looks up and says something that makes everyone just lose it. that is pretty much exactly what jaxton did in every class i ever had with him. Lots of work with a little bit of play every now and then. when i get back if i dont stop saying it while on the mission a lot of his phrases and things he says is just too catchy.anyways the lord knows me well by at least putting me in a room and district with him. speaking of which. just now we had to go change our laundry. we did ours together because we didnt have much. This is when you can all go awwwwwwww. anyways we went to change it. and the first shirt we saw had ink. i was hoping it wasnt mine. the pen not the shirt. we had a good laugh un fortunatley two of his shirts now have ink from one of his pens. luckily tho thats it. it could have been much worse. tender mercies right? before we found out whos it was we both a greed too forgive the other if it was their fault. gooooood times. sometimes i feel like i have to watch the solo missionary because hes not really solo hes a trio but he wanders. constantly. and we ( me and elder mohller are like sight and sound elder? and the answer is always no. hahaha. 

Guess i should speak about the portuguese. I love the language honestly. As i enjoy learning languages but its definetly hard. We have had the the oppurtunity to teach investigotors every other day since we have been here pretty much. by that i mean a teacher pretending to be one. but someone elses teacher so it is more legit. I feel like im learning but sometimes i blank it in those meetings. recently because elder bannerman is senior companioin ( b becomes before m in the alphabet) so i try to let him decide with the lessons and lead more often. i feel like my portuguese is coming along better and i think he does too and i feel like it frustrates him when i say a ton and yank it away. so i let him do a lot and then i do my best to add to what he says. im trying hard to learn. im not the best in the class thats for sure but im pretty decent for learning for less than a week. ill give you a taste of it at the end of the email i guess. 

MTC food is good but also not that great on the bowels. i guess i can leave it at that for those sensitive ears. i figured none of us were concerned about that with me. ive never been really too picky. plus they have vending machines. hot pockets! you have to sing that for full effect. no idea what my weight is if its changing at all. dont know where scales are at here. 

So now that ive been nice and proper time to chew you guys out. i was almost the last person to get anything here at the mtc. and you guys are closer then most. sooooooooo get on that guys. im not dead. some letters would be nice. luckily i have a loving sister and tim. that is all ive heard from besides these emails. emails are good and all but very limited. id love some lettlers and dear elders while its possible. i cant promise many from me.... im usually trying to learn the language reading scriptures or sleeping. and then eating for a bit. thats pretty much it. the four sqaure in gym was as chum foretold. man they get seroius. its hilarious. i prefer me some basketball but elder bannerman isnt much of a sports guys so its tought deciding what to do. also i found nanos ( girl in my singles ward) cousin that came in the same day as me. he is going to mozambique and speaking portuguese he was a nice guy. 

Oh yeah also the only nickname ive gotten so far is elder shark. elder .O (kroll) decided i looked like one so im sticking with it. they all decided so ima go with it. 

As for sickness i am actually still sick..... so thats a real good time. haha. some elders in my distrcit are trying to blame me for getting them sick but its not even the ones i room with are am near by. mainly elder krull. but his symptoms are different so its an ongoing "discussion" haha. yeah i have survived off of day quil and nyquil thank goodness for those. alyssa asked about music allowed in here for a present ( because she loves enough to send letters you know) but no music is allwed here at the mtc. at all.... personal at least so that idea will just have to wait i guess. and i cant take it with me to cape berde because my space is so limited.thanks for thinking of me though unlike some people..... just kidding!

Speaking of cape verde i actually met a missionary yesterday from cape verde. it was a nice wake up that got me excited. he lived there most of his life but has like in boston for a bit. he comes from praia. he told me i would love it and its warm. and i had a nice chat with him for like 3 minutes. i hope i get to talk with him a little bit mroe before we leave the mtc. he is headed to california la for his mission.

Getting excited for christmas here in a bit. sorry i will not be thinking of home. it just does not work for me. i pray for you guys all the time but besides that i just cant think of home. too distracting and hard all around. But i love you all very much and thank you for any prayers sent my way. the spirit from my own prayers and study along with prayers from others is the only thing that gets me through the days. Sorry i had to make just one big letter. i figure its easier and the only way to make my short hour effective. if you could get elder birkys email for me from the birkys i would be super thankful. i need to get some communication with him. in the few minutes not spent on this email. 

i dont think i forgot anything..... so onto some of my portuguese knowledge. 

Meu nome e Elder McMullin. Eu seu que A igreja de jesus cristo dos santos  dos ultimos dias es verdedario. eu seu que deus e jesus cristo amoroso. eu seu que o plano de felizadade es verdedario. eu seu que minha familia es eterna.

I have more but i dont really have time . also spelling is not my forte yet. im mainly working on pronunciation. also i can pray em portuguese so thats cool. 

So to sum it all up i am doing good with the help of the lord and the spirit and letters from you guys. i love you all. and dad this is the email the emails you sent got through. Im not sure if you got the letter yet mom but it talks about christmas. unlike we thougtht i will be calling home on christmas. im not sure on the rules or anything but i need some letters from EVERYONE (at least someone on dads side moms side and sissas household. because i need to know where poeple will be and who all i need to call. it will be between 4 and 430 that is our time slot on christmas day. i also need to know which numbers to call. sorry so far the only letter ive sent was to mom because they asked us to right them. ill try to get some more out but like i said im really trying to focus meu portuguese. so much to say but im out of time. back to the grindstone.... kinda. lno timepl for us today. its closed. so we will probably just study the whole time if im being honest. so p day isnt all that different here in the mtc. if you were expecting a "video games are a waste of time" email coming from me you are gonna be sad because its not coming! i remember both tim and chum had one. but i believe the way we use them with family is somehting that makes me super happy. as long as we are doing what we are supposed to. and i know we all do try to. high fives! also one of the elders in here so the hobbit beofre he came so he asked if he wanted us to spoil him and we all were about to attack him. so many stories. I hope all is doing well at home. all homes for i have many.  2 logan ones a bountiful one and one in orem. the second logan one is the birkys in case you didnt catch that. sissa keep me updated with my little nerds and little p. and parents with my siblings if they dont have the time to write themselves. i realize i didnt get everything taken care of before i left between tahnk you cards and everything. also i never responded to alexs text but if he reads this know i appreciated it very much.I love you all. 

muito amor e blessao

Elder McMullin