First Letter

Hello everyone, this is Elder Peck, reporting on my first week in the MTC, or something like the MTC. I am doing the online version of the missionary training due to the Covid-19 pandemic shutting down the normal MTC's.

I sit up in my sister's old room where we put my computer and desk and other learning materials mailed to me by the church. I have two three-hour classes and an hour of companion study online, and the rest is on my own. It is much harder trying to put six weeks of all-day lessons into six weeks of six-hour lessons where wifi, power, and siblings are all threats to the learning environment. On the other hand, we start classes at eleven in the morning, and are finished by six in the evening with a two-hour lunch break. In the middle. I get up at six-thirty and exercise for forty minutes, shower and get dressed, eat breakfast at eight, then have companion study at nine.

Fixing internet issues

My companion is Elder Mason, a missionary from Bountiful, Utah. We make plans for the day until about 10 a.m. when we have thirty minutes before our first class of the day begins. I fill up my water bottle and prepare my snacks and clean up my desk area. I am then taught by Irmao Franco. He teaches us any topic from grammar to gospel, all from the chilly confines of his apartment. It is winter in Brazil, and the temperature almost dropped to sixty recently. Class is over at one-thirty and I eat lunch with mom, Aaron, and sometimes Maddy. Since I have two hours, I will occasionally take a nap until Irma Gisele's class at three.

It is good to know  that Brazil is three hours a head of us, so they begin at lunchtime and finish at nine. We study Grammar and practice speak your language in her class, as well as usually practicing on an investigator. Alex, her husband, is very patient with our Portuguese attempts. After that, I can go change into my P-day clothes. I do a bit of evening study after dinner, maybe do an activity with my family, then get ready for bed at nine.

Elder Peck and cousin, James, at Hyrum
Dam celebrating Allie's Birthday

A family bike ride around the lake in Mantua for Chris' Birthday

Fixing up his bike for Preparation Day

I do personal reading and study Portuguese for a bit before writing in my journal and going to sleep. But six-thirty is always too early the next morning.

Morning exercise- A bike ride up to Porcupine Dam

It's mostly eating pretzels while finding different ways to sit on an office chair without looking silly on camera.

I am learning a lot and getting a basic grasp on Portuguese. It is nice having my family around me as I continue my training in the gospel and lessons for my mission. This is just the beginning of my work and I know that I will be able to complete it as the Lord requires, and he will bless me with the strength to do it. I hope all of you are doing just as well in these different times. 

Great love,

-Elder Peck

P-day ride over the mountain to Eden for lunch: