MTC Week 3

So it seems Elder Siemers' e-mail got cut off for some unknown reason this week. So don't be surprised when it comes to an abrupt end.



Life is good here at the MTC. I have somehow managed not to gain any weight. We finally found a scale and weighed ourselves the other day.

Earlier in the week we were informed that we would be filmed as part of a documentary that will be played between the Sunday sessions of General Conference. We were all nervous, and a little excited. They were going to film one class from each language and they picked us for Portuguese. We cleaned our classroom the night before. I even brought our Brazilian Flag back to our residence hall and ironed it. I told my roommates in the morning that I was going to be called into the travel office over the loudspeaker during the filming. It would be the perfect touch for their documentary. Our room is pretty crowded so I knew the camera was going to have to be in the hall. I sit directly opposite the door so I knew I was going to get some screen time. Our teacher, Irmao Allred was so nervous that wrote out our complete lesson on the whiteboard. It took him about 20 minutes to do this because he was trying to make it as nice as possible. He even drew some pictures which he has never done before. 12:15(filming time) rolled around and a lady stuck her head in and told us we were not going to be filmed. We were all so bummed out. I was looking forward to having everyone see me on conference sunday but not anymore. To make matters worse, the day after I got a letter from dad telling me he had just been filmed and interviewed. Salt in an open wound.

Portuguese is coming along slowly. I haven't taken a language class in years so it's been hard trying to remember language learning techniques. Portuguese is really weird because words are so similar to English or Spanish words. It's like they decided to spell everything completely different, but then developed a way to pronounce letters so that the words sound almost exactly like an English word, or a Spanish one.

Elder Toala and I decided to sing in the Choir this week. We sang "Be Still, My Soul". It's one of my favorites, so it was really nice being in the choir. I don't think Elder Toala wants to go again so that will probably be the last time we sing in choir. Unless I work out splitting with other missionaries in the district.

It was snowing today while we walked to the Temple. It was extremely beautiful. By the time we came out everything was covered in snow. My whole district are a bunch of wimps. Myself and like one other Elder actually enjoyed ourselves. Everyone else was just complaining about being cold and wet. I thought it might be a good test of my waterproof shoes so I walked through as many puddles and as much slush as I could on the way back from the Temple. The shoes work great. My feet were not wet at all when we got back.

The devotionals and firesides have been really nice. Elder Toala and I watched Legacy last Sunday. We have an option to watch one of 4 or 5 movies. He had never seen it so we checked it out.

Two Elders from our district got their visas earlier this week. They were called into the travel office and 14 hours later they were on a plane to Brazil. One of them was Elder Tyler, one of my roommates. He is a really neat guy. We mourned him for 3 days, but we moved in another member of our district into our room today.

MTC Week 2

This week has gone by so much faster than last week. The first week, we were on a weird schedule and had to go to all these meetings to introduce us to misssionary work. This week we got on the schedule that we will be on the remainder of our MTC stay. The first 4 days in the MTC feel like and eternity. Even though I have only been here for 9 days or so, it feels like 2 months already. The first week was so slow, but now the days are flying past.

We got to go to the Provo Temple today. It was really nice. I enjoyed going there because it was my favorite when I was a kid. It is so much bigger than the Medford Temple, and compared to other temples it really isn't that big.

Elder Toala (Meu companheiro) and I have been getting the most mail in our whole district. Just the two of us have got more mail than the rest of our district combined. He is pulling ahead of me though, because he now has received two packages and I have only received one. He also has one or two letters more than me. So, everyone, let's see if we can beat Elder Toala for the most letters!

Our lessons have been really nice. We have been focusing on getting to know our investigators and teaching lessons through the spirit so we can direct the lessons to their needs. It's so awesome. This feels so good. It feels so much like the feelings I had during my farewell talk. Just loving people for who they are. The other day we did a role play and Elder Toala and I tossed out almost the whole lesson once we started teaching. It was awesome. We ended up just talking about Jesus Christ, His Atonement, and repentance.

Portugues is coming slowly, but it is coming. I realize that I will not be able to learn the language before I leave the MTC. I do not have the ability to do so. I have been praying to Heavenly Father to bless me with the Gift of Tongues. I can learn the language with His help. I know He will make my weakness with the language a strength as it says in Ether 12:12 I think.

There was an awesome devotional by Elder Holland you need to check out. He gave it at the MTC sometime in 2009 and it is awesome! I don't remember what it is called but see if you can find it. It is so awesome. You can't take notes fast enough when you listen to it.

Elder Toala says oi.

Tchao!

Elder Siemers

First Email

I've now been the MTC for 3 days. The schedule our first week is really weird, but next week will be our regular permanent schedule. P-days will be on fridays. 252 missionaries reported the day I reported. My companion's name is Elder Toala. He wasn't there on the first day, so I was going around with a few other elders from my district. I lost them at dinner, and instead of trying to look for them, I decided to just sit down. I walked over to 3 elders and introduced myself. One of them pulled out his information packet and my name was listed as his companion. We found each other when we weren't even looking. Elder Toala is from Seattle, Washington. He's a tall, skinny Samoan. We are getting along really well.

Most of the missionaries going to Brazil are from Washington, California, or Oregon. Visas going through other places just aren't getting through. People are started to get their visas quicker and a lot of missionaries are going to Brazil next week. They had been reasigned to other missions, but their visas just showed up so they get to go straight to Sao Paulo. I think I might be able to go to Sao Paulo because most of the visas come through after about 4 or 5 weeks after they are submitted electronically. I sent mine in 3.5 weeks ago, so I might get mine. Most of the missionaries here didn't submit their visas until after they arrived at the MTC.

Portuguese classes are pretty intense. Irmao (brother) Kunzler and Irmao Allred are our instructors. They speak only portuguese while teaching portuguese. They only speak English when we are discussing other aspects of missionary work. How to get to know investigators and such. After the second day, all our prayers in class have had to be in Portuguese. We are trying to learn very fast. Portuguese is actually a fairly easy language to learn. I think I will survive.

We have 14 people in our district. 3 of them are sisters. Elder Lott was called to be our first district leader and after a very careful process of picking the people on the left side of the page, I was selected as Senior companion. We all get to take turns being senior companion, so it is not a very big deal. Our district gets a long really well.

The food is good, and yes Ty, the tiolet seats are very comfortable. I've stayed away from all the dessert and soda, because we sit all day. It is very easy to gain weight here at the MTC.

That's pretty much it for now. We only get 30 minutes for email in the MTC. We are very very busy all day. One of the Elders in our district has renamed hours to eternities. I've been doing pretty well with being productive with my time. You get so much thrown at you the first few days, it's hard to keep track of everything. I guess I'll talk to everyone later.

Elder Siemers

Day 1

Elder Matthew Roger Siemers received his mission call on October 30, 2010 to serve in the Ribeirao Preto, Brazil Mission beginning March 9, 2011 for a period of 24 months.

By the morning of March 8, 2011 Matt had finished packing, shaved off his sideburns, and was ready to go. That night at 8:30 p.m., he was set apart by President Morris of the Medford, Oregon Stake as the newest missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The above photo was taken minutes after he was set apart. On March 9, 2011 at 6:10 a.m., Elder Siemers departed the Medford Airport for the Provo, Utah Missionary Training Center (MTC).

While in the MTC Elder Siemers can be reached at the following address.

Elder Matthew Roger Siemers
MTC Mailbox # 214
BRA-RIB 0510
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

Before Matt left he set up this blog. It will be updated regularly with his latest emails and letters from the MTC and Brazil. If you would like, you can use this blog or Matt's Facebook to leave him words of encouragement and support. I'll make sure he receives all of those via email.

Check back regularly for updates. Even though Matt won't be able to "script, direct, record, or edit" this adventure, he will undoubtedly still find a way, through his letters, to entertain, surprise, and inspire us all as only Matthew Siemers can.

Good luck, Missionary Matt! We're rootin' for ya! :)