Well apparently Thursday is P-Day for Sean in the MTC. If you're not familiar with Mormon missions, P-Day is the ONE day a week missionaries get to write letters, send email, do laundry, sight see or just relax and do nothing. It's up to them.
That must be kind of nice for him to have gone in and had that scary, stressful first day and then have the next day be a day to acclimatize and relax a bit; a time to attempt to wrap your head around what's going on.
But since it was his first P-Day, he got to write an email home. They didn't have email there when I was in the MTC 8 years ago, so that is convenient for him. Here is a small excerpt of how things are going in his words:
"Well I made it through my first day and am beginning my second. I won't lie but it is really hard and this is just the beginning. I am going to want my own pillow and maybe the blanket I gave Brooke, it is just nice to try and make it as comfortable and normal as possible. My companion is awesome, Elder Evans from Vernal he just graduated from high school so in a sense I feel older. Elder Bonner and Elder Wilson are the others in our room and we all get along really well. It is going to be really hard these first couple days until I get use to everything. I know I will be okay because I see Elder Lee and Elder Mccleaen and they are happy and doing well. Elder Ramage and Elder Carlson are both in my district but Elder Thorley is in a different one. At dinner all of us Elders met up and got to talk."
A quick explanation:
-Brooke is the girlfriend.
-Elder Evans is the guy that he will spend 24/7 with in the MTC. Roommate and ball and chain.
-The other Elders in his room are missionaries who will also go to German speaking missions. Four to a room.
-The other Elders he mentions are friends from back home who will learn German and go either to his mission or another German mission.
And that is Day 1 complete for Elder Tanner. Things will get better for him, but the transition is most definitely a difficult one.
