IT'S P-DAY!!!

HELLO EVERYBODY! 

So my first week in the MTC has been a success! 

I met a lot of my family in Utah and they were all very kind and welcoming and receptive. They gave me a lot of advice for my mission. I've caught onto the Spanish really quickly and I'm learning a lot of "church" words in Spanish, which has been one of my challenges. We've been so busy this past week. There isn't much time to myself. I've been really happy and engaged in the Lord's work! We went to the Provo temple this morning and it was great! I loved conference this weekend. I didn't fall asleep at all and I took notes the entire time! I have about 20 pages of notes. After conference, we had BYU's Vocal Point come for a devotional, where they sang and bore their testimonies about missionary work. My roommates are great. My companion, Elder Benitez Nunez, is from Rexburg, ID. He doesn't know much about the gospel, but he knows Spanish better than me so we fit each other. I know a lot of the gospel principles and doctrines and I pull out my scripture masteries and use them in my practice lessons. 

A lot of people have been asking me about my itinerary which I got on my third day in the MTC, so here it is. On Oct 12, I fly from SLC on Delta Flight 641 to Mexico City, 10:05am-3:00pm. From Mexico City I fly out to Culiacan from 4:50pm-6:01pm, on Delta 7989. I have to be ready to leave the MTC at 5:05am at the Travel Office here. It's only me and a "travel leader" on my flight to Culiacan. I haven't met anyone who's going to Culiacan, nor have I met anyone from the East Coast.

I've been praying for the safety of my family on the East Coast. I heard about the hurricane and I didn't know much but I wanted everyone to be safe. 

I'm going to keep working really hard because I have a lot of time in class and study time. I mostly practice the language. I wrote my first talk in Spanish, just to be ready for when I get to the mission field because our branch president told us that we'll most likely give two in our first month in the field. 

I recommend that everyone watch "The Character of Christ" by Elder Bednar. It's a great talk that I want to apply to my mission. 

Peace and love,

Elder Finkner