Email from Elder Coleman:
Hello everyone! Today is my first week at the Provo MTC and it's been going great so far. I met my district in person, with 6 Sisters and 9 Elders. Also, me and my companion, Elder Garner, were assigned as Zone Leaders on our first full day here.
The hardest part was definitely saying goodbye to my family at the airport. They were able to walk me to security but beyond that point we had to split. It was a little embarrassing standing in line with my face all red and wet. But the flight itself wasn't bad at all, it was about an hour and a half and my flight attendant even recognized me as a missionary and congratulated me. So many people at the airport I landed at recognized me too, there were a lot of fist bumps and handshakes.
So far, most of our time here is taken up by Fijian classes. My teacher talks to us strictly in Fijian while teaching, hoping that it'll help us learn faster, but at the moment I can only piece together some parts. A couple days ago we had a lesson about Fijian etiquette, and there some interesting rules such as:
- NEVER touch anyone's head
- when walking through people having a conversation or when trying to get by someone, bow down so you're lower than them while saying "Tilou" (excuse me)
- don't point with your fingers, point with your lips
- when someone gives you food and you finish eating, clap three times while saying "vinaka vakalevu na kakana" (thank you very much for the food)
- when someone invites you in to their house, always sit nearest to the door unless invited to sit elsewhere. Couches and chairs are hardly ever used so I need to get comfortable sitting on the floor
We get an hour of exercise time every day, and I've been using mine to play a lot of volleyball. I'm not the best but I've gotten a lot better over the past few days.
Otherwise, the MTC as a whole has been an amazing experience so far. There are so many amazing people and even more opportunities to learn. I'm looking forward to the next three weeks.
Bulataka na tadra (living the life),
Elder Coleman
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