Life at the MTC

Dear Family,
Well I have now finished my first week of the MTC! and this computer has been used so much that the keyboard barely works so if the spelling errors approach extreme values I blame it on this lousy keyboard. Well The MTC is going very well! I spend 7-10 hours a day in class learning but it is great! I seem to be always tired but I don't mind to much. Well I don't really know where to go with this so I will just try to get to the highlights but It might be a bit scattered and unorganized. I get to eat 3 meals a day consisting of about as much food as I want and lots and lots of lemonade. The weight gain is fairly dramatic. My companion has already gained 8 pounds and I have gained 0.4 pounds (Which is a ton if you are me!). I get to go to gym like 4 days a week...I think, I don't really know but it is good. I play basketball with my fellow distric buddies. It is good. I am lousy at playing but I am tall enough that I can be of some use occasionally. My companion is an Elder Sizemore. He is a great guy! He comes from North Carolina and loves sports. He is also going to Jamaica with me (we are the only 2 in the MTC). We have become great friends. He is great at teaching and really knows his stuff. I have 2 other guys in my room, Elder Brown and Elder Nash they are also amazing Elders. They are all into Football but I still get along great with them. I have 2 teachers who are both amazing. One of them is a Brother Robinson and he is possibly the smartest man I have ever met. I can't believe how much he knows. He first read the bible completely through when he was 6 and got some rediculous score on his ACT haha. It is wonderful to have him as a teacher because he knows just about everything. My district has been trying to find a song from the Hymn book he doesn't know but after about 25 of the most random and strange hymns we are giving up. He knows every verse to every hymn. I have learned a ton in the past week and have gained excellent teaching skills! I have run into presidentWolsey and a ton of other friends from school. They drill obedience into our heads every single day but it is good. I find that the more obedient we are the more we are blessed and the better we teach. Thank you family for the 2 packages you sent me! It is great to see things from home! I will only be in the MTC for 11 more days and so I will only get around to writing one other email. On Tuesday we had our devoitional and some general authority came and spoke. he was great! and the best part was the hymns! with 3000 missionaries all singing Called to Serve it was amazing! Thanks for getting me my Jeans, It is really annoying to be doing the various service projects wearing slacks/pjs. On a side note the web page DearElder.com is a wonderful way to send me letters! all you do is write a letter on their webpage and send it to me and then it is printed off and given to me. And the best part is is that it is free to use their service if you are a missionary in Jamaica! so unless they decide to change that anytime soon it could be a useful asset for those who are not able to email me (everyone other than me direct family). I will leave you guys to figure all that out. I am having a great experience and learning a ton! my class is really small, only 7 people (it is an odd number but someone left) they are all great guys and we have a lot of fun in class but at the same time we learn a ton! I am on candy overload because if one person gets a package of candy it is mostly split between everyone unless it is something special. But at least it keeps my stomach happy!My companion Elder Sizemore and I were both called to be Zone Leaders so that makes life so much more stressful since we have to go to tons of meetings and be the examples for all the missionaries in our zone (something like 40-50) but it is good. Keeps us obedient! haha well I am running out of time. I don't think I really need anything but if I remember anything I will send you a letter about it. make sure to take my dog for at least one walk a day if not more!!!!!!!
Love you all!!!! -Elder Kent Talbert