This is a hand written letter from Aria at the end of her 1st day at the MTC. Some editorial notes:- Aria entered the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah on September 3, 2014 at 12:30 pm.
- Aria's host is probably Sister Morley, a young missionary who's been in the MTC for 3 weeks and is headed for South Korea. When we arrived at the MTC, Sister Morley greeted us, took our photo, and helped Aria with her luggage.
- Sammi Lew is Aria's pre-nursing classmate at Brigham Young University. She's from Hong Kong. Aria doesn't say where Sammi's mission is.
- taiwan taizong = taizhong = taichung = 台中
- Melody Chow is a friend from Pacifica, CA who attends BYU too.
- Jenny's bro Jackson Chio and Minerva are both friends from San Francisco, CA. Jackson is assigned to Thailand. Don't know where Minerva will go.
- Aria's district consists of the 10 in her class. A zone consists of several districts.
- P-day = Preparation Day. It's when missionaries prepare for the week, which usually includes grocery shopping, doing laundry, writing letters, and getting together with other missionaries for sports, recreation, sightseeing, etc.
- The grammar and punctuation is as Aria wrote it.
Sept 3, 2014
Dear Family,
The first day of the MTC was Super Long! Well happy birthday to Alex the big 17! I miss you guys a Ton, actually we have to be more formal + we can't say "you guys" haha I'm taking a lot of notes for classes + everything. So right after you, my family, dropped me off, my host got me books + they are So heavy idk what's even inside yet. Then I got dropped off @ my chinese class room + I was the first one there. I did this online Gym orientation + met SAMMI LEW or Sister Lew I should say. It was exciting cuz I thought she left already. Anyways back to the classroom, the teacher immediately spoke Mandarin to me + I was a little bit confused but I could understand. How do I spell my name? he said it was Zhu but ? My class consists of 10 kids -- 6 girls + 4 boys. 4 of the girls took chinese in a class before, 1 didn't at all + there's me. All of the girls are going to taiwan taizong except me + my companion There's also two boys going 2 Leeds w/ us. The other two are going 2 arcadia CA + new york.
Dinner was so early, @ 4:00! there was fried chicken w/ Mash potatoes + peas. I ate a salad w/ beef, tortilla soup + BYU ice cream. My companion is pre cool. she lived in China for 2 years. She looks like Melody Chow sort of.
Later that day I saw more people I recognized like BYU people + CA people jenny's bro + minerva. Our district went to these mission prep interviews. they were really good + showed us the proper way to meet w/ people. Then we had a zone meeting. Such a LONG day. It's 10:50 right now. there's not enough time for letters + anything.
The first days are so overwhelming. I'm going to die. There's 6 girls in our Room. It's a bit crowded, but everyone is nice. I accidentally brought Shampoo instead of conditioner oops other way around haha.
Our P-day's are on monday, hopefully I'll be a good missionary.
first day down A TON more 2 go!
Love
sister chee
Shi? Jei mei
- Aria's host is probably Sister Morley, a young missionary who's been in the MTC for 3 weeks and is headed for South Korea. When we arrived at the MTC, Sister Morley greeted us, took our photo, and helped Aria with her luggage.
- Sammi Lew is Aria's pre-nursing classmate at Brigham Young University. She's from Hong Kong. Aria doesn't say where Sammi's mission is.
- taiwan taizong = taizhong = taichung = 台中
- Melody Chow is a friend from Pacifica, CA who attends BYU too.
- Jenny's bro Jackson Chio and Minerva are both friends from San Francisco, CA. Jackson is assigned to Thailand. Don't know where Minerva will go.
- Aria's district consists of the 10 in her class. A zone consists of several districts.
- P-day = Preparation Day. It's when missionaries prepare for the week, which usually includes grocery shopping, doing laundry, writing letters, and getting together with other missionaries for sports, recreation, sightseeing, etc.
- The grammar and punctuation is as Aria wrote it.
Sept 3, 2014
Dear Family,
The first day of the MTC was Super Long! Well happy birthday to Alex the big 17! I miss you guys a Ton, actually we have to be more formal + we can't say "you guys" haha I'm taking a lot of notes for classes + everything. So right after you, my family, dropped me off, my host got me books + they are So heavy idk what's even inside yet. Then I got dropped off @ my chinese class room + I was the first one there. I did this online Gym orientation + met SAMMI LEW or Sister Lew I should say. It was exciting cuz I thought she left already. Anyways back to the classroom, the teacher immediately spoke Mandarin to me + I was a little bit confused but I could understand. How do I spell my name? he said it was Zhu but ? My class consists of 10 kids -- 6 girls + 4 boys. 4 of the girls took chinese in a class before, 1 didn't at all + there's me. All of the girls are going to taiwan taizong except me + my companion There's also two boys going 2 Leeds w/ us. The other two are going 2 arcadia CA + new york.
Dinner was so early, @ 4:00! there was fried chicken w/ Mash potatoes + peas. I ate a salad w/ beef, tortilla soup + BYU ice cream. My companion is pre cool. she lived in China for 2 years. She looks like Melody Chow sort of.
Later that day I saw more people I recognized like BYU people + CA people jenny's bro + minerva. Our district went to these mission prep interviews. they were really good + showed us the proper way to meet w/ people. Then we had a zone meeting. Such a LONG day. It's 10:50 right now. there's not enough time for letters + anything.
The first days are so overwhelming. I'm going to die. There's 6 girls in our Room. It's a bit crowded, but everyone is nice. I accidentally brought Shampoo instead of conditioner oops other way around haha.
Our P-day's are on monday, hopefully I'll be a good missionary.
first day down A TON more 2 go!
Love
sister chee
Shi? Jei mei