What a week!

Hello everybody!

 

I hope all of you are having a great week!

 

Life here in the MTC continues to be busy busy busy but still loving it. We have been getting snow almost everyday this week but still pretty nice temperature(at least I think so).

 

The language is still coming along fairly well. The progress is slow but sure. It takes a little while to get in the groove of learning a new language but its kinda fun. There are times that I will spell write something in spanish because its shorter than the english version or it was just a really long day.

 

A couple of days ago I ate something that didn't set well and I got sick and ended up throwing up a few times. Luckily it was just something I ate because it would be awful just to lay in bed all day. Everything is all good now and I am very grateful for that.

 

I just want to say that I love the gospel. It just makes sense and I don't know where I would be without it. The spirit here in the MTC is so strong all the time. I know that without the spirit, I couldn't learn as much as I have about the gospel and the language in 10x as much time.

 

Yesterday we got a new district of Elders and Hermanas in our Zone. It was fun trying to get to know them in the few minutes before we had to go to bed. Hopefully we didn't scare them too bad. We just told them to make it to Sunday and then they will make it through.

 

Thank you to those that have sent me letters on dearelder.com. I love getting mail and seeing how life is outside of the little bubble of the MTC. Hope you all enjoy and have a great week.

 

PS Hopefully I will have some better stories once I get to the Mission Field. Everyday is almost the same so its hard to come up with good stories.

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First Week

Hello World.

 

I know its been a while since I have written anything but thats only because I have been busy getting ready for a mission and finally entering the MTC. Today is my first preparation day so I can finally email and do laundry and whatever else I need to do for the next week.

 

My companion is Elder Brown from Hawaii. He is an awesome guy and has an awesome spirit about him. We have to spend every moment of the day together so we had to get used to each other really quick. My dad always says if you can survive having a companion for 2 years, then marriage should be a piece of cake, at least you get to pick your wife. .

 

I will be here in the MTC for 6 weeks instead of 9 weeks. My district is one of the first to be on the new 6 week program. The language is coming along rather well for just being here for a week. I can bear my testimony(rough) and say a prayer(really rough) in spanish. I love my teacher Hermano Zuzunaga. For a few days none of us could tell if he could speak english or not because all of our lessons would be in spanish. Surprisingly we could understand him. Eventually we had a lesson in english so we could understand the doctrines and apply them to ourselves. I was surprised to find that we only have a 3 hour block on most days of acutal class time where the teacher is in front of the class teaching. The rest is personal and companion study of the doctrine and then the language. I feel like I know way more from the last week here than I did in 2 years in high school spanish.

 

The second day we got here we had to teach a lesson to an investigador, IN SPANISH. Lets just say that it was rather rough but the spirit was there and we knew that Heavenly Father was helping us. We taught the same person 5 lessons and yesterday was our last time. Although we weren't able to cover a lot of things, it still helped us realize just how much we really have to rely on the Lord for the things that we fall short on. On sunday we watched at talk from Elder Bednar called "The Character of Christ." It was about forgetting about ourselves and focusing on others. He also so that if we lose ourselves in the work then we will be blessed. I know that is something that I need to do and I'm working hard on it.

 

My zone is all spanish speakers going to a bunch of different places. 5 of the 6 guys in my district are going to Kennewick Washington also. 5 of the 6 girls are going to Nashville Tennessee. The other 2 in the disrict are going to Denver CO. Its always awesome when we get to share our thoughts in class because the spirit is so strong in there.

 

For those that want to write me you can send messages through dearelder.com and I will usually get them the same day. I won't be able to reply until Thursdays because thats my preparation day.

 

I just want to take a moment to bear my testimony.

 

I know that this church is true and that Joesph Smith really did restore the Lord's church on the earth again. I also know that through Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, anything is possible. When we keep His commandments because we love Him, then we will be blessed beyond what we can imagine and our very nature begins to change as we become closer to our Savior. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and I know the things contained in it are true. If you want to come closer to Christ then the best way to do that is follow his example and to read about his life in the Scriptures. I know president Monson is a prophet called of God and I know he speaks the word of God. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

 

PS Feel free to send messages on dearelder.com. I would love to hear from you all.

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.