First official update! :D I'm so excited to get this all written out for everyone. I've certainly got a lot to go through - I'm probably going to have to buy another journal here so running out of paper isn't a concern in Maceio. But anyway!

Erich at the MTC - Volume 1

Herro world! Minhas queridas pessoas, I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that the Erich Gubler you know will not be returning from the mission he left on. The MTC was not what he expected.

The good news is that a certain Elder Gubler WILL be able to return safely, due in part to what the MTC has given him. Also partly because it feels like he's been here an age already.

This place is like a little bubble, a whole 'nother world right within Provo. I had no idea. I feel completely isolated from the town I thought I lived in.

It's...actually pretty nice.

First week here is a bit rough, but I think I've got it much easier than my colleagues and companion currently...I have a distinct exposure to Portuguese they do not. I'm able to understand most of what my teachers say right now.

I'd like to take this opportunity to let my Portuguese teacher know how much I appreciate her right now. I'm able to focus on the content of the lessons I'm giving/given because I'm not worried about whether or not I will be able to understand my instruction - muito obrigado, minha professora! Espero voce ensina outras pessoas como bem voce ensineu-me! Voce deu-me uma abencoa grande!

A perfect example of this was when we got thrown into a "progressing investigator" scenario on our third day - speaking only Portuguese, and for most of us it was the first time hearing or speaking both the language and the lesson. I was frustrated that day - our egos were basically thrown to the ground and stomped on. I didn't sleep well that night.

BUT. Me and my companion, the amazing Elder Shaw, weren't exactly ready to give up. What's a rough day, if we can but get through it?

Did I mention we get to do a progressing investigator 5 days of the week?

I think I'll briefly describe the roomies now. The first I should mention is, of course, my companion. Elder Shaw is from Washington, a serious guy with a good sense of humor. He's also a vegetarian, because of this view of the Word of Wisdom. I think it's cool he's willing to make that lifestyle change (which I understand is recent) because of what he feels is best. The other companionship in our room is Elders Polatis and Jessee - a cool pair of guys who come from St. George and Salt Lake City, respectively. They're a lot of fun to be around, and we all have a lot of laughs before we fall asleep each night.

I think the biggest adjustment I've had to make so far is my workload. I took things pretty easily in life retrospectively - I usually spent only around 5ish hours doing work before I came here, and now I've got 16-hour days. It's not so bad as I thought it would be...just very tiring. I'm pretty grateful for sleep nowadays. :P

Four of the thirteen Elders (no Sisters!) in my district got their visas on the second day being here. They're lucky - they get to go to Sao Paulo on Tuesday, and the next Sunday go to the Sao Paulo Temple! I hope mine and Elder Shaw's get in soon...I would so love to go there at this point, even if it did mean another set of crazy orientations.

I'm always getting asked questions about Portuguese by Elders whenever a teacher isn't around - I'm able to answer or refer sources for most of them, and I feel good about that. Must be my inner UCAS (and a great professora! :)

I know I won't be able to remember much more than this, so I'm gonna refer to my journal for some of the anecdotes I've written down.

"During the MTC orientation, we had some interesting Elders get called up to the podium, most just randomly. Elder Steers, for instance, was asked to recount his experience opening his letter. He had many friends and family around him, some on Skype. 'I'd been waiting years to tell this joke...I opened my letter, and said 'You have been called to the Baghdad North mission.' I told them where I was really going after the noise died down a few minutes later.'

"We had an Elder from Dominica, who was hasty to point out that his country was very different from the Dominican Republic. There were also a couple of missionaries from Yorkshire - extremely fun accents to have around here.

"I think I might be slightly doomed to playing the piano for my branch - I had a member of the branch presidency come up to me and comment 'Yeeeeesss....we really like piano players in our branch, Elder Gubler.'

"Me: 0_o Okay?

"A certain Elder Patrick Stars got called to the front office today. The entire district laughed for about a minute straight.

"I should probably keep a running count of who sends me how many letters."

Resolve to endure to the end!