First letter from the MTC!

This has been the longest week of my life. So much has happened. We got to the CCM, also known as the centro de capacitacion misional, around 2:00 in the morning--4 and a half hours later I was awake and on the move. We do a lot of the same things everyday. We wake up, shower, get ready and then go to breakfast. The showers here have no consistency whatsoever. They either feel like you are taking a shower in the Underworld with Satan, or you are in the Arctic. But, it's Awesome! After we get ready, we eat breakfast. There is no variety.  We get 2 eggs and 2 pieces of bread--breakfast of champions! Good thing I love eggs. After we eat, we generally have some sort of studying. Its either personal study or companionship study. Right now I am in a trio companionship with Elder Whitaker and Elder Compton. We are nothing alike--oh well. I am sure I could learn a thing or two from them. There are a lot of cool guys here, some that even know kids that I played baseball with. After studying, we have Spanish all day with little breaks called "flex time" here or there. Spanish is going well. I am ahead of the class but it is a good review. We do different activities to learn teaching techniques and ways to study. Lunch and dinner are better than breakfast. We have rice with every meal, and bread.....lots of bread. They are really strict here and it kinda sucks. I have a really cool district though. I am in Manti 1 District 107. I live for the hour of physical activity that we have everyday at 2 pm. I play soccer on this turf field we have. It is actually pretty nice. The games are intense and I love it.

A highlight of this week was when we watched a pre-recorded devotional with Jefferey R. Holland. He spoke on missionary work, and how we are disciples of Christ. Disciples of Christ have to walk where Christ walked. We don't have it nearly as bad as Christ did but we are both missionaries. If it wasn't easy for Jesus Christ, the son of God, why should it be easy for me. I sure do miss you guys. I would come back in a heartbeat because of how much I miss you all, but you all are receiving blessings for me being out here and you all are worth it. Plus, there are people in Huancayo, Peru that are waiting for me. I can't send pictures until I am out of the MTC/CCM!  Trust me there are a lot of dumb rules! We went to the temple today and it was awesome! I went through in Spanish so that was cool! I love you all so much! I can't wait to hear about all your adventures and tell you guys some of my own. Until....?

Elder Durante