Elder Patterson is my companion, a great elder. He's from St. George, went to SUU for a year, likes to do a lot of the same things I do, mountain biking, xbox... you know, college kid stuff. It was funny, yesterday, another elder said something about "tidings of comfort and joy", and Elder Patterson and I both simultaneously started singing a lyric from the Canadian Tenors... it was hysterical! I definitely want to plan to do more things with him outside the mission field when we return. We have a lot in common, except he has a cooler head than I do, sometimes... Oh well. It's evident that the Lord puts you with who you need to be with....
A typical day at the MTC... Wake up at 6:30 a.m., shower, get dressed. Personal study, breakfast, more personal study. Class (3 hours long), lunch, more classes. Gym, dinner, language study, computer language study (T.A.L.L.), daily planning session. Personal time, bed time--all before the hour of midnight... cool, huh? I'll send you an actual schedule so you can see.
The residence hall is basically like a dorm, but not as rowdy. We can't be ridiculous because we still have to strive to keep the spirit with us. That doesn't mean there aren't some loud elders, though. There
are 4 missionaries to a room, 2 companionships. Bathroom and showers are right next to the room, it's a good set up. I walk up and down a set of 72 stairs about 4-6 times a day, I am mainly indoors most of the day, studying and preparing for lessons, and learning Spanish.
I'll admit, the food is getting old because it's all the same. Most of it is good, but it's really starchy and I'm trying to be reasonable during meals. I think some jerky and Doritos would treat me well, every once in a while... I don't think I'm getting enough of those in my diet :) BTW, thank you for the M&M's, you are awesome. And the Ikea pillow saved my life... Thank you again!
Elder Koeven
P.S. I really wanted to go on the 50-Mile hike with Wilder. I hope it went well and that he wasn't driven crazy (or driving anyone else crazy!). OH, and I love getting the "Dear Elder" letters from you because they arrive so fast; I really enjoy hearing about recent things going on there....