First letter from Nicole. She loves the MTC

Hey Mom and Dad!

How are you? How is life at home? I got your dearelder letter...thanks so much! It was so exciting to walk in this morning and have mail sitting and waiting for me (it would have been handed to me directly, but Soeur Andrews and I were slightly on the late side...it's becoming a bit of a bad habit). And Rachael is the perfect name for her...I'm glad we stuck with that suggestion :)

So things here are going SO well! I really am enjoying myself. i don't think it's quite sunk in yet though that I'm going to be here for awhile...it feels very much like an adult EFY. And soeur Andrews (my companion) is SO amazing! We get along SO well and spend all of our time together, and not just because we have to either. We have so much in common and are so similar in everything, even how neat we are and how long it takes us to eat, haha. She's from San Diego and heading to Toulouse, France, which would be SUCH an incredbile mission. She goes to BYU-I and is studying English teaching with a minor in French, so like the exact opposite of me. There are 12 kids in her family, she's the 7th child, and the more we talk the more we find have in common. It was so funny; yesterday during gym time we went jogging for like 45 minutes just around the track and talked nonstop. About every 3 minutes we'd pass this group of elders on one of the weight machines and they just started laughnig at us after awhile because we never stopped talking and the things we talked about were so random...it was great :) And we both love to laugh; our class has come to the conclusion that we're the giggliest girls here. I love it.

And the classes have been wonderful so far. We're with the same group of elders all day, so that's fun to get to know them. Elder Dautel is from Germany, serving in Wisconsin; Elder M (I can't remember his full name...it's way too long) is from India, serving in Provo; Elder Pedebone is from Samoa serving in Orlando (I think); Elder Mourin is from Montreal (!!) serving in another Canadian mission; and Elder Boer is from Italy, serving in London, England. It is SO much fun; it's great to see the differences between the cultures. For example, Elder Boer is SO outgoing and SO energetic and loud and it seems like most of the other Italian missionaries are similar in personality. it makes class so much more enjoyable. We were sitting there yesterday waiting on our teacher and he just started singing Phantom of the Opera in Italian and then Hakuna Matata, also in Italian. It was so great. Then you can tell Elder M from India comes from a culture where men are more dominant...he's very respectful, but just in some of the things he says and does, it's fairly easy to see. But they're all great guys, and a lot of fun. We're in an international branch, and it has the largest group of sisters out of every branch in the MTC. There are about 32 sisters and around the same amount of Elders. So far, Soeur Andrews and I are the only American ones; everyone else is international. Many are from Samoa/Tonga (I can't remember who is from where) or Asia, and I'd say almost half of them are serving in the Temple Square mission. It's pretty neat.

Then, what else? The food is pretty standard...nothing too exciting. Getting around here though is AWFUL! Soeur Andrews and I have not found one place yet without having to look on the map, and we realized today that we're the ONLY people we've EVER seen looking at the maps. But I'm sure we can't be th eonly confused sisters, so our goal today is to catch someone else also looking at a map ;) Everything else is going really well. We had the gym time yesterday, which was fun, then every morning at 6 they have a work out program for any sister who wants to come, so this morning we got up and did kickboxing, and it was SUCH a workout. i loved it though; I think tomorrow is pilates and we're going back for that. We've pretty much accepted that there's no way to be on time for evreything though...no matter ho hard we try, or how early we leave, we end up getting lost and getting there late. But we're going to try harder from here on out :)

Oh, and to answer Tiffany's question from her letter, I have ran into several people I know! It was SO crazy..Becky Perez, my freshman roommate, reported here the same day I did! She's going to the Chicago North, Spanish-speaking mission. I had no idea she was even here, and then she came up to me and started talking! It was so crazy. Then I also ran into my Sophomore roommate Sophie who's been here 3 weeks and is going to Long Beach, CA, Spanish-speaking. That was SO exciting! And then I've seen Alex Peacock from my study abroad several times...it's just so crazy to see so people that I know here. I wasn't expecting to see anyone except Alex. It's great.

Oh, and yesterday we had to have our medical records checked and receive any immunizations we needed. They didn't have a paper for me at the beginning, so I had to wait in this HUGE line to see a woman about it, and she made a new paper for me and worked out all my shots and everything. We just guessed on the Hep A one because I couldn't remember when I received it. But that took awhile, and I decided not to get the flu shot, and they weren't too happy about that, but they let me do it anyways. But the whole procedure took close to an hour and a half, so we only had 5 minutes for lunch, making us late to our next class. But our teacher didn't mind much. Oh, and I met my branch president last night! He's so great :) we had a branch meeting and then personal intreviews, and I walked in and he said "Wow, you never stop smiling do you?" and then went on to tell me I have a beautiful smile that he's sure will help open doors to me. Made my day :)

But anyways, my time is almost up, so I'm going to have to stop writing...I hope all is going well at home and that you all have a wonderful week! Thanks for the letters, I always appreciate them. I love you tons!!

Soeur Nicole Lindsey

PS: Tiffany: thanks so much fo the MLIA: i laughed SO hard, especially at the leaf one...it's totally something I would do :) I shared them with Soeur Andrews and she died laughing.

And Michelle: thanks for the package! I loved it...it made me laugh so hard! Soeur Andrews thoguht it was so cute, and the chocolate chips were a great touch. Anyways, love you all SO much!! And I am glad I'm here after all :) I really won't have this opportunity again, so it's good I'm doing it now. thanks for all the support. i love you!