Elder Thornton Version 2.0 (in Puerto Rico!)

Buenos Tardes! Well, folks. I've made it halfway through the MTC! Spanish is coming along better and from what the older missionaries said when they departed, the tail end is apparently a lot easier... Except for the exchanges we get (read: "have") to do with the missionaries out in the field. We said goodbye to all the missionaries going out into the field yesterday - the north americans (and one british Elder) heading to the East and West San Domingo Missions, the Latinos serving all over and the Haitians that are headed back to Haiti, to Jamaica or the Ivory Coast. It was bittersweet as we got to be good friends with all of them (even those that don't speak much English). This week we have two arrivals (of different kinds). We have about 50ish missionaries who will be coming mostly from North America, but also some Latinos as well. The major difference about this group compared to ours is the language. We have a few North Americans who are assi...

Buenas Tardes, hermanos y hermanas! I've made it all the way to week number 2! It seems like its been forever since I left from the airport, and I think I've (mostly) adjusted to missionary life.  Last week I informed you all that the food wasn't sitting well under the impression that we'd all soon be adjusting and after a week everything would be fine and dandy. However I was dead wrong. We are all still having indigestion - most everyone has officially given up eating the eggs for breakfast. :) My mother asked about my duties as a district leader, and luckily, I don't do quite as much as a district leader does out in the field (probably because everyone in my district is located in the same area and we all have the same schedule). But it's pretty similar to what I did as a 1st assistant in the Priest's Quorum. I attend weekly leadership councils with Pres. Gulbrandsen, conduct district meetings, organize lessons for Sunday School an...

Hola mis amigos! This first week in the Dominican Republic MTC (CCM) has been absolutely crazy, and it feels like its been a couple of months since I've talked to all of you! It's crazy how long it feels I've been here; the first couple of days felt especially long, but I think I'm fully adjusted and if the rest of my mission flies by as fast as yesterday did, I'll be home in absolutely no time at all! Flying to the MTC was quite the experience! We had approximately 20 elders and hermanas fly in from the SLC airport and we met 10 more at Atlanta before we flew into Santo Domingo. It was particularly frustrating attempting to learn everyone's names though especially because none of us had any nametags... I sat next to strangers on the airplanes but they were a little bit too preoccupied with sleeping so I was unable to talk to anyone on the flight and with no movies and little entertainment there was little to take my mind off of the nerves and the massi...