What a Difference a Day Makes! "Tasty" Elder???

Yesterday we got the impression that Jared was struggling with the language and the whole experience.  His first letter was a handwritten letter that he wrote on Friday.  Today, Wednesday, he seems to have a whole new, positive perspective.  Things are looking up!  Here's the email to me:

Wednesday, June 1, 2011 12:19 PM 

HI MOM!!!! I love you! I wrote most of my stuff to dad. I would write more to you but as of right now I have 7 minutes left on the computer.

The first day was a whirlwind! But very exciting.My P-day is today, Wednesday but only lasts from about 10:00 am to 6pm. We go to the temple from 7-10 in the morning and we teach "investigators" after 6. The food (and the MTC in general) is basically BYU exactly. I would go so far as to say it is BYU, MTC campus. The food is good though, I like it and I'm staying healthy. Milk every meal and small portions.

I love you mom. The MTC is great and I'm doing well now. Don't worry about me. At the time I wrote my letter I was very stressed and overwhelmed. But right now things are better. I'm having fun with my three other roommates and things are going great.

Just to let you now, I will never tell you if and how I get injured :p an order from my branch president. Never worry about me :) I'm doing great! I'll see you soon (in two years :p) and I hope you have a good time until next week.

I'm very fond of letters so right me often! Dear elders are amazing too.

Love always,

Yeretz Hammer

PS: Hammer, in Armenian means "Tasty" :p Elder Tasty haha.Much love, bye!!!

PSS Maddie can write to and I can respond to her.

Here's the letter he wrote to Carl:

HI!!!

30 minutes to write emails. My P-day is on Wednsdays for these next 11 weeks.

My companion's name is Elder Maghan (Sounds like Mahn) and he is from Idaho. My other Armenian Elders that I room with are named Elder Dicus and Elder Seegmiller. Dicus is from Idaho as well and Seegmiller is from Ogden. Dicus is going to California Armenian speaking but the rest of us are going to Armenia. All of us except for Seegmiller go to BYU, for the most part they haven't chosen a major.

These are the Elders in my district, and we have three sisters as well. There are only seven totall in my Armenian class/District. Our Zone includes the two Elders in the Georgian district as well as the three elders and two sisters in the Greek district. Today we are also getting two lithuanian sisters and one Latvian Elder.

My teachers names are Brother White and Brother Carlson. They both served in Armenia at different times and they both go to BYU.

My departure date is 11 weeks from my arival date I think. I'm pretty sure. It's on that Wednesday, but I'll check and tell you next week.

I am so overwhelmed by the language and the entire experience here. Armenian is really difficult but I can already read and write it. We were supposed to teach an "investigator" on the second day all in Armenian. We could only speak in Armenian and so did he. It was so difficult but we improved the next day when we taught him. We teach our "investigator" every day except for Sunday. It's good for the language though I guess. We don't have a culture class, but it's kind of mingled with the language class. The language structure is suprisingly similar to romance languages but it is very unlike anything I have ever seen. It sounds like arabic at times and even has a similar gramatical structure to it.

LOTS AND LOTS OF LETTERS! They really make my day. If you don't want to send letters, dear elder.com 's are also very appreciated. Tell people to dear elder.com me. Make an announcement on Facebook for me about it. It really makes me feel better.

Things were really difficult the first two or three days, but things have gotten better now. Not easier, in fact harder, but better. The Lord eases our burdens, not by lifting them, but by giving us more to make us stronger.

Things are really fun here and I have an amazing district. We made our own handshake and chant, and we know how to have fun while working hard at the same time. Armenian is probably the most difficult language here and I get a lot of "woah, what language is that??" when people look at my name tag, but I can see myself learning it very quickly. This is where I'm supposed to be and I'm happy to serve the Lord. We sang called to serve for the first time as a whole MTC yesterday and it was so amazing.

Anyways, anyone can email me right now, but I can only respond to immediate family. So Maddie can write as well if she wants and I'll respond to her, but anyone else's emails I can only read.

I am always busy, there's always something to do, but despite the cold showers, the craziest language, the fact we call it "spirit prison", and the intense schedule, I am having such a great time. The MTC is a whole lot better than I thought it would be.

Other notes:

I play piano for priesthood.

Went to the temple for the first time today... (zzzzzz......it was at 7:00).

I'll send pictures as soon as I can. I need to get them developed first though.

Love always,

Yeretz (Elder), Jared Hammer 

(I would have typed in Armenian, but Gmail doesn't recongnize it)

:)

  

So as you can see, life is better for Elder Tasty, I mean Jared!