So I can't believe I am in the MTC still. Like it honestly seems so weird to think that I am a real missionary. It sometimes kind of feels like I am just at EFY but its starting to feel more and more real. Haha sometimes its a scary thought but for the most part its kind of exciting. Anyway since I am sure you guys are curious what I've been up to, I'll just kind of describe what my first few days have been like!
After I got here on Wednesday, this huge samoan elder was the one who got my bags for me. Thank goodness, because even he was struggling a little bit with that big suitcase...probably too many bandaids mom. Anyway he was super cool and made me kind of excited to be here, because he just loved it so much. We were almost all done with orientation when I realized I still had my phone! So that was kind of funny. Anyway it all worked out okay and I am here.
My companion's name is Elder Watt. He is a super chill guy. I wrote the family a letter the other day about him and my other roommates but I doubt it has actually gotten there yet. But he is from Moore Park, CA, right above LA apparently. He played football in high school, was at Building 9 in Helaman Halls (we recognized each other but we were never friends), and is just really fun to be around. We have a great time together, we are both easy going and like to make fun of each other for how bad our spanish is. Haha we are seriously both the worst in our intermediate class. I definitely should have done beginner. Most of these kids were in AP Spanish their senior year or took some spanish in college....one of them is an Elder Martinez. Its not even fair. But, needless to say, we are still having lots of fun and I think it will help us in the long run since we are kind of immersed and forced to learn fast. It'll be good.
My other roommates are Elder Long from Las Vegas, NV and Elder Welker from Orem, Utah. They are both good guys. Elder Long is super funny, he was on the BYU Folk Dance team after never taking a dance class or anything, he just thought it would be fun. Elder Welker is quite the character, he is super good at spanish but is goofy and keeps us laughing. We love him. We all get along really well in our room, which apparently a lot of other districts/zones don't so I think thats kind of a blessing for us.
I LOVE MAIL! Haha its so funny, every night when the district leader comes around to deliver the letters to the rooms, we all get so excited. Haha its always a competition to see who gets more. DearElder.com is probably the best way to write me. Even family, its super easy. I think you just go on there and need my MTC Mailbox (#215) and my mission (Chile Concepcion South) and it should get to me the same day. I get those every day, so I can look at them and read them whenever I have time. Unfortunately I can't write letters or emails on any day other than my P-day, which is Friday. They gave us a little half p-day today so we could do laundry and write home, but from now on in the MTC i will be writing home on Fridays. Shout out to Shardae, Sister Mecham, Mary and Joey for being my first letters! You guys are awesome. I'll be writing you guys back today. Sorry if it takes longer, our days are just so packed that its hard to get around to anything.
So some funny stories...Elder Watt and I love to joke around, and since we have the same sense of humor we always try so hard not to laugh during stuff. Like one of our roommates had this loud ticking clock as his alarm clock, and apparently at some point in the night he turned it off. But the next day, Elder Watt and I were both like "I seriously was not going to last 3 weeks with that clock. I almost broke it myself" and we were just cracking up. Since our spanish is so bad too, we always end up laughing during classes because we just dont know what ANYONE is saying. Haha our teacher had to move us from the far edge of the class to the center for "better classroom set-up" but really we know its just because we need people who speak better Spanish on both sides of us so we don't just laugh the whole time at how pathetic we are. But hey, we're having fun, right? Our district of 8 elders loves us just because we are always cracking jokes and trying to keep the mood light. It can get a bit serious here, so its nice to just relax and laugh sometimes.
The last big news for the week (sorry this email is so long) is that we have been preparing for the last couple of days to teach an investigator in Spanish! He is actually a teacher here at the MTC but he converted a year before his mission, so he just acts like his old self before he was a member. Adan is atheist, likes philosophy, is incredibly smart, has met with the missionaries before, and wanted to talk with missionaries again. So thats the back story. Since our Spanish is not very good and we don't have a lot of on-the-fly ability, we had to plan out most of the lesson (which was 45 minutes). We had all this stuff written down about his earthly father and his heavenly father, that we are children of God and that God loves us, and basically the whole first discussion. Great plan, right? Until Adan tells us that 1) he hasn't talked to his father in years and he does not even LIKE his father. 2) He is atheist, doesn't want to pray to something that he doesn't believe in. 3) He has already heard the missionaries - we asked him what he knew, and he already had essentially the first 3 discussions. Well.....there goes the entire plan. And mind you, he speaks a million miles an hour so we only get about 1/2 of what he says. So we had to just set our notes down and just talk. Instead, we asked him what he likes to do. We asked him if those things make him happy and stuff. He said yes. We asked if he LIKES to be happy - and he doesnt. He said he wouldn't believe in a false thing just to make him happy, because happiness can change so fast. So he was difficult. Haha but eventually we talked about how he had a desire to know the truth. We shared with him Alma 32:27 about how a desire to believe is sufficient Faith, and basically just challenged him that he had to work on that desire. I told him that finding something that is true and meaningful isn't easy. He couldn't expect to be sure right away, but that if he would work hard he could eventually feel the spirity in his heart. He kind of challenged us, saying "You PROMISE that if I read and pray, he will answer?" Elder Watt and I both just broke down. We both bore our testimonies that God loves us, and that if we go to him with a desire to know, he will tell us in our hearts that it is true. The spirit was SO strong in the room! We were both in tears, as was Adan. It was such a cool experience. I know he is just a teacher and not a real investigator, but it gave Elder Watt and I such a testimony that the Spirit is what converts people. It certainly wasn't our Spanish! So that makes it easier, confirming that we don't need to be perfect at Spanish to touch people's lives.
I love you guys! Missionary work is not easy. Its pretty hard, and is not "fun". But it is worth it. When Elder Watt and I got to teach by the spirit, it was one of the most amazing experiences! I am happy, and know this is where I am supposed to be right now. Adios, familia.
Elder Brady Tengberg
Here is an overload of pictures of us saying goodbye to Brady and dropping him off at the MTC!
He was so proud!
The final wave goodbye
See you in 2 years Elder Tengberg!
Brady accidentally forgot to give up his phone when he reported and didn't realize until he was already in the building! He had to come back out and the security guard passed the phone over to Dad haha
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