Pictures from the MTC!

Week 2 at MTC

This is Mom.  It may help for you to know that Jesse is answering some of my questions in his letter below.  Here are my questions - When you go out of the compound do people stare at you?  When you get time to play soccer, do you come back in all sweaty and stinky and get to shower?  Do you remember to keep your eyes and mouth closed when you shower? Sorry, I 'm still a mom who worries about her son :) 

hahaha moma thank you so much! :) everything is going great! well we never really leave the compound except to fetch soccer balls or go to the temple, which is what we did today, which is why this email will be short but yes they all stare at us in the cars ahaha and everyone who is hawking (selling stuff in the middle of the road) targets us because we look like the white rich men. But yes the showers are super nice, good pressure, any temperature so that is a blessing. One of the kids here is on a Cambodian professional soccer team, so that is pretty sweet, I'm better though ;) haha sorry it was necessary. Yes i remember to keep my eyes and mouth shut while I shower, but we got tons of water things to fill up our bottles so i never get too dehyrdated hahaha. I don't even wear mosquito spray or anything outside. There are no mosquitoes here really, I have no bites, but we always keep our windows open, but we have screens on the windows. I have been sleeping great now which is awesome. I just got my haircut by some black african barbers haha,first time for everything. Yeah, I was so excited to come email everyone that I haven't even looked yet....I just know I was bleeding from both my ears haha and they made me sign my name on a list like the others elders...but I was refered to a sheet of paper with a "W" on it...as I was the only white missionary to get my haircut haha :) but everything is going great. I don't really need anything. If you can't get me a camera or anything that is fine, my alarm  clock randomly turned on the other day and it has been working perfect since so that truly is a blessing since i prayed about it :) I am so excited that I have less than a week left in the mtc. It has been good but I cant wait to leave. I am sorry that I have so little time to type. Keep shooting me questions, as Sunday will be the last time I can answer questions about mtc and ghana haha but maybe they will let me call from sierra leone airport? who knows :) but i love everyone so much and I pray for all of you! Thank you so much family, sorry again for not talking very much, but I love you :)

Ghana Missionary Training Center

Oh, moma that sounds like a great week and I am so glad that everyone is doing well. Thank you so much for fasting for me! I woke up on Thursday morning and I haven't felt any pain since!:) thank you so much family for yours prayers :) wow it has been a long week. I feel like I have been here forever. All the elders are just ready to get out. To answer some questions. I took a bunch of pictures of the place so you will know what everything looks like when i finally get the time to upload some pictures and what not. We get to go to the temple again on Wednesday but i am with the second group so i may not get a chance to email which would be very unfortunate :( but we did get our KFC! which was awesome and very refreshing :) They wash all of our clothes once a week and i am fortunate enough to have enough clothes to last me a week and more but many of the Africans do not so they are washing theirs in the sinks most of the time. It is good here, but we all want to get out hahha. There is only me and my companion in my room, but we are the only room like that. Most have 4-6 at least hahha. I know pretty much everyones name by now which is pretty cool. I know a bunch of african phrases in a bunch of languages. It is so cool having so many cultures mixed here and realizing how different everyone is. Its not like the difference between Utah and VA. Bordering countries can be as different as like an American and A mexican, so it is pretty awesome to learn about all their unique qualities and everything. I have been doing money exchanges with everyone, trying to accumulate money from every country that is here at the MTC, but their exchange is terrible....like if they give me 1,000-3,000 of their dollars, it will only amount to 1 dollar in American money, so lots of the Elders dont want to trade because they feel like they are ripping me off haha but I tell them its okay and its like I'm buying souvenirs. So classes have been hard. I have learned so much this week my head is going to explode.

 

Elder Hill, another American, and I want to become awesome missionaries so we got up everyday 30 mins early and stayed up 30 mins late to study our scriptures and find scriputures in the Bible and Book of Mormon that we can use in each specific circumstance. That is going great and I am learning so much. We have 2 teachers. One is hilarious and great and from Ghana. He is the man and I learn so much from his love and his teaching. 

 

But above all this I am very blessed and life is going great here :) I am so happy and I feel the spirit so much everyday. It is truly a great and marvelous experience here, but I believe it will be alot better when I get out in the field. Some elders stopped by the other day and we met some Elders at the temple as well and they told us life is 10x better when you leave the MTC :) I cannot wait to leave but i am truly enjoying my time here, as much as I complain. Keeping asking questions because I love to answer but I am running out of time haha. Soccer is great and competitive and I am still doing work. The Africans are great to play with but i definitely own them :) i know...my pride is still here :) I love you all so much and thank you so much for all your prayers and fasting. I can testify that they are working. I love you all! Havve a great week :)

Life in the MTC

Today was great, we got to go to the  Accra temple in Ghana which was awesome. Traffic is crazy and it took a while to get there but it was amazing. Almost 75 percent of the missionaries had not received their endowments so it was really special to help and witness that. I got to do baptisms and confirmations and endowments so it was a great spiritiual experience today :)

We payed off one of the van drivers and he promised to bring us KFC tonight so we are super excited for that. The meals here at the MTC are just recycled and it is getting real old real quick. fish fish fish weird stuff weird stuff weird stuff bread bread spaghetti rice rice rice rice rice hot chocolate haha but its like 9 items that they rotate...so in 2 days you eat everything the mtc has hahah so its getting pretty old.. but I am very grateful for the food I have now. I am probably gaining weight from how much they feed us which is good since all the Elders from Sierra Leone say that there is like no food in Sierra leone and Liberia :/

We started having freetime to exercise this week which is awesome. I have played soccer the past days and it has been great hahaha. all the Elders say that I am the best white kid they have seen play in Africa. I'm the only white elder that plays soccer hahaha...:) but it is tons of fun and I am usually a captain haha. The field is amazing...for Africa haha.  There is hardly an even patch...but at least its grass. We have two goals that are about 2 feet wide and 2 feet tall but we make it work. Its so much fun and its going great. I just love any exercise at this point. We have only left the compound twice...to get a socccer ball and to go to the temple and both were GREAT! For the hour long drive to the temple ...just poverty, fires,  funny billboards, traffic, and kids playing soccer. Driving is absolutely nuts. I could never do it. Every car, no matter how nice, has at least 5-10 dents all over it.

The MTC experience is getting old for us quick haha we all just can't wait to leave and get to work. I pity missionaries who stay for 9 months...but we only have one foreign speaking missionary from ivory coast learning English but he is only here 3 weeks as well. There are Elders from all over here. Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Zimbawe, Ivory Coast. It is pretty awesome. The spiritual experience here is great. From 6:30 in the morning until 9 at night you are studying how to teach but we don't really get to read the Book of Mormon as much as I would like. We all consider it a relief when they ask us to read from it. I do love being on a mission but I can't stand this compound anymore. I cant stand this building anymore haha. I need to get out and get to work :) Bu t I love you all so much and I pray so much for all of you. I miss you like crazy and this is so hard...I haven't even gotten to the field yet...but this is hard...but I have the lord who eases my burdens so I have faith that I can endure. It is going to be a great...long 2 years haha. I love you all family. Love you Jen. Love you all. Have an amazing week. I love seeing pictures from you momma and thanks for the one of Jen. It is very refreshing. So please keep writing me and sending me pictures. Although I am surrounded by people all day...I get lonely you know hahaha? I need contact from you guys. I love you all. Have an a great week!!!!! If you got any questions feel free to ask, because there is too much different here for me to just explain so please ask questions...makes it lot easier to tell you stuff!:)

Elder Sumrak is now in Africa!

Had a little extra time so I thought I would tell you all about my day. The airplane ride was okay. I met up with 10 elders in Atlanta, and then we got on the flight to Ghana. It was alright. The food was mediocre, but I endure :) We arrived in Ghana a little late, and some of the Elders had problems finding their luggage after we had gotten through customs and everything. Apparently, their bags were accidently forwaded onto the next flight to Sierra Leone. Getting through the airport was a little nerve racking. I was pushing one of the like 6 trolleys with our luggage on them and people kept trying to direct me to the wrong places so they could nab our stuff but I pushed on through and we met up with a bunch of African Elders who had arrived before us. We got our way out of the airport and their were 2 vans waiting for us. We loaded up one with only luggage, and crammed about 12 elders and 3 sisters in the other one. It was about a 45 minute drive to the MTC from the airport. Traffic is crazy. Its just like the videos from youtube. Everybody is just darting around and it always looks like an accident is about to happen. At every stoplight, tons of vendors walk from car to car, balancing their goods on top of their head and knocking on your windows trying to get you to purchase their goods. It was a really unique experience. It was very sad to see young boys knock on the window asking for money, as we are not allowed to give them any. Well we got safely to the MTC and we checked in and had some quick dinner which was very good. Fried chicken, yummy rice, and some oranges that were green? :) We unpacked and now I had some extra time to write an e-mail while my companion, Elder Amumi from Kenya, sets up his email address. The MTC is in a little compound which is pretty cool. The MTC President said that there is only 45 missionaires staying here these next 3 weeks which is pretty awesome. We have our welcome meeting in a little bit so I have to go but I just wanted to let you know that I love you all. I am so excited to be here in the MTC and learn as much as possible. I can't wait to get out into the field and start teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love you all. Stay safe! I don't know when I can e-mail next but expect one soon!

Ready to leave!

Time to go to the airport.  First time wearing the official nametag:  ELDER SUMRAK

Washington DC Temple

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

A wonderful day at the temple!