9/30/2023

This is going to be a long Email. It comprises almost my whole time in the MTC because I didn’t get an Email out last week. With that said, please enjoy.

It has been over a week and I am finally writing an Email. I just want to briefly express my gratitude for my savior Jesus Christ. I have seen his hand in my life so much since I got to the MTC and even before while I was at home MTC. I have had a question that has been with me for probably years now. Only once I got to the MTC did I recognize the question and then pray about it. After that I was in my personal study and I found an answer. I have never had an experience like this before and this shows me that Jesus is always there. We just have to reach out for him.

Anyway in my MTC residence there are 6 Elders. Me and my Companion Elder Child, Elder Shaw and Elder Bull who are in my district and assigned to the Nashville Tennessee Mission, and finally Elder George and Elder Rasmussen who are assigned to Peru but haven’t yet gotten their Visas so they are going to temporarily be assigned to Salt Lake City. It is a really fun room that can get both crazy and spiritual.

Kendamas are a huge thing here in the MTC and I can just imagine my brother Orson having a really fun time using his Kendamas here. I personally don’t see myself having that much fun with them. Instead I find my joy in listening to church music while reading my scriptures. My goal is to highlight every reference of God and Jesus in the Book Of Mormon. I am now in 2 Nephi and this goal has helped me stay focused while reading and actually understand the words.

While in the MTC I get a dedicated gym time. I see this as a blessing for me because without it I would be really lazy. My companion Elder Child and Elder Bull are really into the gym. Because of this I will let them schedule the gym time and where I'll just go with and either do exactly what they are doing or find my own thing. There is an indoor track and plenty of workout machines so I have no problem finding my own thing. Along with fitness, food is also important. The food here is mid. It is sometimes good and sometimes bad. One day for lunch it was a Hot Chicken Sandwich. It was by far my favorite meal. I shall also make my family happy by saying I am starting to tolerate fries more. I still don’t like them that much but I have eaten them here. One thing I did try is mixing chocolate milk and rootbeer. The result was a budget rootbeer float. It was pretty good.

Classes here are way better than online. I love my district and how everyone has gotten along. While in class I can feel the fellowship we all have for each other and this really invites the spirit. Granted the times when our District President will look at his companion and start laughing uncontrollably. Despite that, the class is really awesome. Our teachers are Sister Troutman and Brother Gates. Both of them help me and my district feel the spirit and the love God has for us. I really enjoy the classes.

By the time this Email goes out it will be my second P-Day at the MTC. With that said, last P-Day my district went to the Provo Temple and did an Endowment session. I just have to say the Provo Temple definitely is not the Jordan River Temple. I got so turned around but we eventually made it. My companion was a little rushed and forgot some things so we barely made it into the session. I honestly see it as a miracle that we made it into the session with the rest of the district.

Sunday at the MTC was kind of what I expected but also completely different. First things first, Priesthood meeting was before Sacrament which was totally bizarre to me. It was really cool though. Sacrament meeting was very quiet which I don’t think I’ve ever been in a sacrament meeting that quiet before. Something that the MTC does on Sunday is Go and Do. It is a time of about 1.5-2 hours that you can have personal and or companion study, after which you gather as a district and can share your thoughts or any spiritual experiences you may have had. I think this is where the answer to my question actually revealed itself so now Go and Do has a special place in my heart. I also got to go to the MTC choir practice which was really cool. There was maybe over 200 missionaries that went. Sunday night there was a devotional with the MTC president and his wife. They talked about the Book of Mormon and afterwards my district had a great discussion about it and our thoughts on both the devotional and Book of Mormon.

On Monday it felt as if it were a P-Day. We did what is called an MTC Cleanse. Everyone helped clean the campus and all buildings both residence and teaching. It was so cool to see everyone working together to keep such a sacred place clean. Before we started there was a kickoff with a brief history of the MTC which helped everyone realized the importance of these sacred grounds. This day was also the first day we could have class with Brother Gates in person. I just love how real Brother Gates gets with everyone and is so straight forward. 

On Tuesday we had our Devotional with a member of the 70. We had the opportunity to hear from Juan Pablo Villar. His message really touched me talking about how if I get to know the Savior MORE and MORE then my love for him will grow MORE and MORE, and I will want to serve MORE and MORE. It just tells me how important it is for us to read the Book of Mormon and have a personal connection with both God our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He also talked about how Faith is what causes Miracles. Never the other way around. This can help me know why Lamen and Lemuel never trusted in God even after seeing an Angel. The Miracles they witnessed cannot bring them Faith.

The last thing Elder Villar talked about was having spiritual eyes. Spiritual eyes are the way for us to see the potential that the children of God have. It is the way for us to see others the way Jesus does and so we can know how we can help and serve. We all need to strive to use spiritual eyes.

On Wednesday we went to the Provo Temple again. We had our class on the temple grounds and then went inside to do baptisms. I was able to baptize 4 sisters and 1 brother all not in my district. Just knowing the that this is helping others fills me with so much joy. I then confirmed a few from my district and then was asked if I could record for some confirmations. I was a in a little shock because I always thought that it had to be a temple worker but that is not the case. As long as you are endowed then you can record. This simple little experience completely made my day.

Thursday we went to the temple again. If you haven’t noticed by now, I am going by every day for a paragraph. This time at the temple we did Initiatory for the dead. This was my first time doing this ordinance for the dead. It was really cool. I was then reading randomly through the bible just flipping through pages. I didn’t find anything that stuck out to me so I put it back on the table. I saw that th ribbon bookmark was in. I got the prompting to look and see what was on those pages. It opened up to Luke 22. I starting reading on the top left and got down to verses 31 and 32. You could also throw in 33 if you want. Before reading these verses though I felt I should insert my own name. After doing so It felt so much more spiritual for me and personal. Please go and read these verses for yourself and liken them unto yourself. It will help you see how important you are in the eyes of God.

Nothing really important happened yesterday so now we are on TODAY SATURDAY GENERAL CONFERENCE. I am so excited for this except I might have to sit in a really uncomfortable chair in the MTC gym to watch it. Now you have made it to the end. Congratulations to those who read this whole thing and for those who just skipped. I don’t really care if you skipped.

Pictures

1 - I saw my friend Elder Schriner. I went to his farewell before coming here. Sister Segura who is in my district was in his ward.

2 - The Provo Temple. It may be confusing going through it but it is a really fascinating temple.

3 - MTC T4 building at night. I just love the design and scale of the T3 and T4 learning buildings They are newer being built in I think 2018. 

4 - The whole district at the sand volleyball court. That is one of our favorite things to do as a district.

5 - The whole district outside the temple.

6 - Try to find me in this picture of the district.

I just remember I never named everyone in my district. Me & Elder Child, Elder Shaw & Elder Bull, Elder Ison & Elder Anderson, Elder Boyce & Elder Patterson, Sister Coleman & Sister Segura, Sister Hammock & Sister Tyler, Sister Rawling & Sister O'driscol. I really love my District.