[Week 1] Hyperbolic Time Chamber

          Well life here in the MTC is great... I was picked up by Elder Rose and Elder Beazer. It was cool getting picked up by some friends. Alors, my first comp is Elder Call. I knew he was going to be my comp a long time ago, but that's a story for another day! The rest of the Elders in my zone are all super classic. We're all super tight.

         Anyways the MTC is crazy. In my district we call it the Hyperbolic time chamber. A quick explanation: in dragon ball Z there is this room that you can go into and train in... one day in the chamber = 1 year in real time. So all the fighters would go in there and get uber strong. Anyways it's the same here... One day here is the equivalent of a year in the real world. This is good because I'm gonna need all the help I can get before June 18. We work hard from 6:30-10:30 every day. Mostly with French. Anywho, My instructor's name is Frere Lepretre, turns out he almost married Ms. Reed's sister! If anyone reads this that knows Elena Reed, they should tell her. He's a great guy. Total frenchmen. He loved the DBZ analogy and is a fan himself.

        The friday right after we got in, we were teaching out first fake investigator. That was interesting. Elder Call and I went in with a script since we don't speak French. This was allowed for the first discussion. Well, since it was scripted the spirit wasn't there at all haha. But I could talk to him decently. This experience was tough, and one of the top 5 worst feelings in the world is trying to teach a discussion in another language and have no idea what they're saying to you, and you have no idea how to talk back. But the look on Elder Call's face when érik and I were first talking made the whole thing worth it. Imagine Elder Calhoun from Best 2 years face when he's first in Holland. Now times that by 2. Haha Elder Call is a great guy and we get a lot of work done.

        The next day we taught érik without any notes, but relied heavily on inviting the spirit and getting the blessings of this alleged "gift of tongues". Well this discussion was sick. I was talking to him like we were speaking english. Even my comp could say a few words in french! Anyways I know that le don des langues is real... it's soooo sick. The spirit is so strong here in the MTC I love it.

        Though, there is time for fun here in the MTC (well its all fun, but kidding around time that is). We have spotted several dopplegangers. There is this Elder in here who I think might honestly be Will Smith. Me and a couple Elders are gonna try and get a photo with him. Also Elder Smith, an Elder in my room looks just like the actor who plays Zuckerburg in social network. He's a Canadian though :( there are so many other funny stories though but I don't have time to write them all!

         I see tons of friends in here and random kids that I knew when I was a kid. I see Elder rose, Elder beazer, Elder northrup, Elder praag, Elder Wilson, Elder Buehner, And Elder Justin Jefferies almost everyday. I love being a missionary. It's the best decision I've ever made. I love this church and know without hesitation that it's true. I'm so grateful that I found it.

Forever Love,

Elder Benjamin Chase Gruber