First letter as a missionary!

THIS is why I'm here:
http://lds.org/media-library/video/mormon-messages?lang=eng&id=2009-10-38-lifting-burdens#2009-10-38-lifting-burdens

Hello! Just to go ahead and get this in there...I love the MTC! Seriously it's been so great so far. It is most definitely intense- everything we learn will be crucial to the work we do in the field and the rest of our lives as opposed to half of what I learn at college :) (hardy har har but really) and whenever you care a lot about what you're doing it can be more stressful in the best way possible. We have a packed schedule as you probably already know from 6am to 10:30pm which has made me realize how much time I normally waste on the computer and other random things. Also it appears that my cell phone was too much a part of me because I seem to be experiencing something like phantom limb syndome. It's embarrassing, but sporatically I reach for my phone. What phone? And who would be texting me? About what?? Yeesh.

Ok so my companion here is Hermana (Sister) Pyle. She is from Salt Lake City and she will be serving in Albequerque, New Mexico after her training here. She is Spanish speaking as well. All of the missionaries in my branch are Spanish speaking. Also, they are great! Ah I keep getting off track. Hermana Pyle is extremely sweet. She has been having some trouble with the language so far which has caused her some grief (we are in the intermediate group, so it's a lot faster pace than beginner) but we're making baby step goals and I'm sure we'll see progress as we continue to work hard. It's really nice to have someone to pick up the slack when your brain goes AWOL and also someone to teach me through example the things that I need to work on.

Now for the stories I think. First story takes place before I entered the MTC! I flew in, and Randi, McKenna and Calvin were kind enough to fetch me from the airport. We were playing tetris with my suitcases in the trunk of Randi's car, won the game, shut the trunk...only to realize that the keys were part of the tetris game. Yes, friends. We were stuck in Salt Lake before my entry time. It is already more funny than distressing. The no-good police guys at the airport "weren't allowed" to open the trunk for us and it ended up taking us between an hour and a half to two hours to get someone there! When he did get there and helped us out no problem McKenna asked him if people told him that he is awesome a lot. He just said, "Yep." Ha! Well thanks, dude. In the end, it all ended up just dandy. I entered late after eating something substantial, and everything has been normal since then. More or less.

My first night we had an activity teaching this one guy (just a simulation) with basically a missionary gang (there were like 30 of us! 30 on 1: Not fair!) and I came to a very painful realization. This is where this email gets real. I consider myself a fairly intellectual, observant person. I've experienced a lot for someone my age. I realized during this activity that somewhere along the way I had aquired this idea that my understanding of the gospel could effectively teach anyone. I was wrong, dears! So incredibly wrong. I'm glad I learned that within ours of being at the MTC. I've learned that the Spirit is what touches hearts. All of the knowledge in the world cannot create conviction, and conviction is where conversion comes from. Every religion and every group against a given religion has logic that makes sense. Logic will get us nowhere, and that is why faith can be such an ellusive concept, especially for people who have become accustomed to letting their brain guide them. I am embarrassed that I've been so prideful in my explanations of my faith. Pure articulation means nothing. This gospel is one of simplicity and truth. Now that I've kind of been pushed down by this realization, it's a beautiful thing as I grow in understanding.

A few other quick things:
-I am actually going to be here until the beginning of February. The intermediate program is 9 weeks, and I'll have an extra week for visitor's center training. So...yeah.
-Thanks to Keenan and Steph for your letters! They were so nice to get :) I'll be writing back today!
-One of my teachers offered for me to move up to the advanced class in Spanish which is natives/fluent people! Yeeuh! But I declined because I would prefer to feel more confident before I do this for real. Plus Hermana Pyle and I need each other. Of this, I am sure. There is a lot of growth to be...grown. Uh.
-Umm why does everyone talk about gaining weight in the MTC? The food here is not great, guys.
-Sorry this isn't very long: I only get 30 minutes to email a day. Post letters are preferred until then and once I'm in NY I'll have more time to email. I have much more time to write actual letters though!
-My normal P-day is on Thursday, this is just a short one because they felt sorry for us for having to miss ours this past Thursday.

Welp that's all the time we've got for this week, folks. Join us next week, different time, same place. (Unless you're on a laptop. Then you can move.)
Que tengan un buen dia!
Hermana Raines