First Email! - Received Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Dear Dad, Mom, and Hope!

Thank you so much for sending me a DearElder this week Dad, and Hope, i just got your letter today and it made me cry because i love and miss you so much! I'm so excited that I finally get to email my family and tell them all about my first week's experience at the MTC.

Just so you know, Mom and Dad, I'm keeping a journal for my mission and I've been successful at writing in it every night. I've actually really enjoyed spending about 20 minutes every night to reflect on my days here at the MTC.

Dad, in response to the letter you sent me, I've outlined and summarized all the important information about my first few days here, so here it goes, are you ready...?
First of all I was assigned to district 23C, which is a beginning Spanish district. My companion was Elder Atoa, a 20 year old Samoan kid from Salt Lake City. I'll explain the "was" part later in this letter. After meeting with my branch presidency I was pulled out of a class and called to be the District Leader, but my calling didn't even last long enough for me to receive any training. The next morning, during our first session of Spanish instruction, my instructor Hermano Ruckham asked another Elder and I to step out of the class and go take a language evaluation. I was evaluated and the Sister that quized me determined that the other Elder and I belonged in an Intermediate Spanish district. Elder Ivey and I were transferred to district 47B together and we made companions, as we had left our other companions in the other district. Elder Ivey is 19 years old, from Nevada City, CA, and he comes from a big family. Only three other missionaries in our district of 12 are going to Guatemala as well. The only bad thing about that is that all of them, Elder Ivey, Elder Miller, Elder (He's from Canada, hard name to spell), and Elder Wood are all going to Guatemala City South. The other missionaries in our district are either going to Spain, Chile, or California. Our instructors are Hermano Gruber and Hermano Adams. Gruber is big, cheerful, fun, and wants to eventually be a BYU football player. Adams is thin, more serious, strict, and very intelligent. He's only been home from his mission for 10 months, so he's still pretty fresh. Hermano Gruber went to Ogden, UT on his mission, and Hermano Adams went to Chile.
There's my summary, now here's the heartfelt stuff. =P

I NEED TO HEAR MORE FROM FAMILY AND FRIEND VIA DEARELDER, PLEASE!!! I can only respond once a week, but I get whatever is submitted teh day it's sent, so please keep them coming more often! =)

Learning Spanish is a struggle, but i'm trying to do it with a smile and the Spirit. Dad, you were right, I should've read Preach My Gospel before I came, but I've made a goal to read it through once before I leave Provo. I'm very glad that I brought a family picture. I miss and pray for you all every day. I'm doing very well with the 6:30AM to 10:30PM schedule, surprizingly, but i wish we had more than 50 minutes a day for gym. The showers are freezing, but that's okay because it keeps me on schedule. General Conference was IMPONENTE (AWESOME)! I loved every session, especially the third general session. President Monson really got me back on track with my thoughts and feelings. We hardly have any time outside of class and meals to study, but that's okay because we're getting plenty done during regular study time.

I only have 30 minutes a week to email my family (on P-Day) and I can only write letters on P-Day as well. But regardless, please send me DearElder.com letters as much as you can. I LOVE to hear from you! Tell Josh to use DearElder too! I love you all and cant wait until I hear from you next.
With all the Love and Spirit that I now possess, -Elder Preston William Tucker.