In the MTC

Elder Walker wrote us the other day!! We were all really excited. My mother was somewhat upset over the fact that he hadn't written us, but then we received his e-mail thus he was forgiven.

I had sent him a handwritten letter to him with poems written by Russell Elkins when he served his mission in Guatemala. He collected it all after his mission and had it published as My Mormon Mission Poems: A Witty Poem a Week for 2 Years. I sent Elder Walker two of his MTC poems as follows:

When we say grace in the MTC
We always put one hand on our cup
This act may seem irreverent
But keeps others outta yer 7-up
The cafeteria food can be tough to eat
Yes, yes, even the fruits
To keep us from having food fights
They make us wear expensive suits

Once upon a time
In the MTC cafeteria
Arose a loud crashing sound
Among the elders’ mass hysteria
Someone dropped his food
The room cheers and it roars
The crowd gets even louder
If things bounce twice or more
When it comes that time of night
When I kneel down to pray
I ask my Father in Heaven
To help me not drop my tray 

In Elder Walker's e-mail back to my family he responded with a poem of his own that I'm suitably impressed with:

Those poems about the MTC:
Incorrectly apply to me
All this talk about the juice
Makes me want to make a truce

We all do pray
but I must say
It's not the tray
It is our day

I've got laundry!
I've got pants!
but the one thing I can't do is dance!

I've got suits!
and I've got ties!
I've got to watch for Satan's lies!


(if you count the syllables for the first two poems on each line, you'll be more impressed) 

Elder Walker also wrote a little about his travel to the MTC with his friend:

At both airports I was at with Elder Russell Fischer, there were more than 8 groups of people (1-4 each) that came up to us and knew that we were missionaries even though we didn't have our nametags. This was word for word what they each said, and what we responded:

"Coming or going?"
~Going, we report to the MTC tomorrow.
 ... Are you excited? ...
~Absolutley!
... Where are you going? ...
~I'm going to South Carolina... I'm going to Las Vegas.
... Oh, that's where I went on my mission ... (two different people told us that, one to each of us)
OR
... I have a brother/sister/cousin/etc. that lives there his/her name is: ___. When you get there look them up ...
OR (like once)
... Oh, I've never been there before, but I've heard it's nice, you'll do great elders. 

Elder Walker's certainly kept his sense of humor. He informs us that he's working hard and enjoying it. He's learning more than he ever thought he could and he's been keeping up on his goal to memorize 2 scriptures a day for his whole mission. At the moment he's average for the past week has been above 2 a day, but he honestly has no idea if he'll be able to stay ahead of it because of his schedule.

And that's really it for week one. Keep him and other missionaries in your prayers. Until next week!