August 8th, 2009

I won't have time to write until next Friday, so this letter is for the whole family. My first day at the MTC was pretty crazy. I met mi companero, Elder Jimenez, and we clicked instantly. My other 2 roommates are great Elders, Elder Parkinson and McCulloch, and we all get along extremely well.

I'm not gonna lie, this is definitely the HARDEST thing I have ever done. The first day I felt like I had a target on my chest because of the orange dot on my name tag (signifying 'New Elder'!) I was still really excited though, and I was so excited that night I couldn't hardly sleep. However, I must say that by that second night I just wanted to cry myself back home. Spanish seemed like an impossible language to learn, my brain was fried due to the information overload, and I couldn't see any light at the end of the tunnel. I had zero time to write home, zero time to think; I was just bombarded by a new world and I felt like I was drowning in it.

Fear not, today I am doing well and I have gotten through the worst part of the mission: the first three days. All the Elders told us that if we could make it to Sunday, then everything would get easier/more enjoyable. They were right.

I really do love it here, but I'm afraid I'll get super fat with all the food they feed us. They let us eat as much as we want, and so it's easy to overeat. You'd be proud of me though-I'm showing enough self-discipline to only get 1 monster helping of food . . .

Tell Matt and Shilah 'felicidades' on their wedding, and tell them not to feel bad that Andy and I couldn't be there --"(We) are doing a great work, and cannot come down . . . " Who can name that story!?

The Church is true--it is so true! I love the spirit in the MTC and I love being able to dedicate all my time to the Lord. He created me and all I have is a blessing from Him-I feel like I'm giving my body back to Him for 2 years. In no way does that make up for all I owe Him, but it's the least I can do.

I love you all so much, and owe you so much for helping me get where I am today. Ask Faith and Janice to start a blog for me. I would be so grateful if they did. They could even post this letter. (your welcome, Luke) I have so little time to write but next week I'll have email capabilities, so I need you all to write me and include your email addresses in there so I can reach you all.

Adios! I love you!

Luke Shepherd