OUR 1ST LETTER !!!

We received our first letter from Jared. I think I've read it 50 times ! It was good to hear from him:

Dear Family
Today was really long. I still can't believe or get used to the fact that I am actually on my mission! The MTC is really cool. The spirit here is so strong. My first companion, well... other than Dad, is Elder Spicer. He is from Pocatello, Idaho and he is a year older than me. He's going to Belgium, so he won't exactly be in my same mission, but in my same area.

My other roommates are pretty cool too. Elder Christiansen is from Centerville, Ut and Elder Jolley is from Fresno, Ca. I told him that's where you grew up Mom ! The meetings here are pretty long. Tomorrow ( Thursday, Jan 29th) we will be in class for 14 hours ! Our P-day is normally on Fridays, but this week, it will be on Saturday.

We have to prepare a 3 to 5 minute talk for next Sunday ( Feb 8th ) and we have to prepare it in French ! I hope I can do that. I just wanted to let you know that I am okay. Things here are so great ! I 'll write again soon. I love you all and I miss you all!

Love
Jared
( Elder Walch ) Isn't that cool???

So there you have it. His first official correspondence as a full time missionary. I've discovered a website that you can write to him in the MTC for free. They will print out and deliver your letter while he is in the mission home. It is dearelder.com. I know lots of people knew about this but this is my very first time of writing a missionary ! You will need to know a couple of things. His name, of course, and then his MTC mailbox is #104 and his mission code is SWI-GEN and he will be leaving the MTC on March 30th. Other than that, you can just log on and create a free acct and write him for no cost at all to you. It's really pretty handy. Sister Jones in our ward said that her son told her that the saddest thing for a missionary is an empty mailbox. So write to him. He'd love it !

Elder Jared Walch

MTC Mailbox #104

SWI-GEN 0330

2005 N 900 East

Provo, UT 84604-1793