Hey Everybody!

Life is great here in the MTC. My Companion is Elder Nasilai, and he is a Tongan out of Arkansas. His family is probably the only Tongan family in all of Arkansas. We got off to a crazy start. I went through all the procedural things of getting settled in the MTC then went to my district. But Elder Nasilai was no where to be found. Not till after a meeting and dinner did we finally find each other. Apparently his flight was delayed, and on top of that he got the wrong luggage. So my first day in the MTC I got in a van and drove all the way to SLC airport and back in rush hour traffic. But we bonded and he is a great companion. He plays football and Rugby and is very Tongan both looking and culturally which is funny because he's from Arkansas. 

 

There are two districts of Tongan elders. In my district there are Elder Manu from Bountiful, E. Poulsen from Riverton, E. Fakahu'a from Texas, E. Zitzmann from Vegas and two sisters, Sister Pukari from Papa New Guinea and  Sister Valelahe from Texas. Each Palangi (white person) is partnered with a Poly.  Manu, Nasilai and Fakahu'a are obviously polys and they all know the language. Poulsen, Zitzmann and I are kinda left in the dark because the polys talk a lot in Tongan. Its probably good to be listening to it a lot. I really like the district and it seems like we bonded and became friends fast. As much as I like the MTC, the days are super long. Being super productive for 12-13 hours a day is a big change.

 

The language is hard but I really like it. My favorite part of my day for sure yesterday was class. I love learning Tongan and I feel really good about picking up what I can in the MTC. Honestly I'm probably motivated most so I can know what the polys in my district are saying. My teacher's name is Brother Diel, he is Palangi and he seems like a great teacher. E. Nasilai and I are teaching our first lesson tonight in Tongan which I'm excited for. My favorite word is Fakalakalaka which means progress.

I run into everybody here. If I'm walking around I see somebody probably at least every 45 seconds and I'm not exageratting. It's the Timpview MTC. 

OFA ATU love you all!

Elder Wilson