We just received the following letter from Matthew. We call it the "deer in the headlights" letter since he'd only been in the MTC for a few hours at that point.
Hola Familia!
I just finished my first day at the MTC. It was hard. I was directed into a room in which I sat all alone for about 5 minutes. Then people showed up and I was talking and having a good time. I ran into a guy from Detroit and we talked about hockey on the street and the Red Wings. Then the MTC coordinator got up to the stand and everyone got quiet. I expected a welcome to the MTC speech or even just him saying "Welcome to the MTC". He just explained a few things to the hosts and then said "Go". It was about 30 seconds of talking. Then I found my host and got my luggage and went to a little waiting area. Then I was sent back to the large room with chairs. I was confused but then I was ushered down a hallway in which I was given a name tag and had a very bad photo was taken. The camera was very low to the ground and I was very high off the ground. It didn't look very good. I was then taken to a classroom in which I waited more. I think I was kinda early to everything. In retrospect, putting me in a room with nothing to do was a bad idea. I may have gone into a mini panic attack. There wasn't any freaking out or running or crying (unlike some missionaries) but I got very quiet and very still while I worked through it. I had class and a mini devotional. I may have nodded off three fourths of the way through that. I was very tired. I had dinner which was mashed potatoes, carrots, chocolate milk, and a nice piece of grizzle. It had some meat on it but it was tough to get to. I had more classroom time and went to bed. I sort of slept but it was kinda unfruitful. Today has been better. I feel like my companion and I are less awkward. It still is bit less so. He's a very quiet guy. He's also going to Tallahassee. About half of the guys in my district are. One of the biggest disappointments was this morning when my alarm went off. It made sort of a buzzing or beeping noise. I guess I just expected it to ring with those bells on top. Alas, it was not so! Woe is me and all that.
My companion is Elder P. I was kinda wondering if that was our French exchange student. The I realized I was mixing his hero Jimmy Page and him together. He's a nice guy. He's from Bountiful Utah. For those of you that don't know or don't remember that layout of Utah, it's about an hour north. I'll talk more about it next letter. I haven't taken any pictures yet but I should. Anyway,
Love,
Matthew
