Week 2

HAHAHAHA! I got Lacey's email first and dshe practically said she was getting married in New York for $1234, and I was confused. Having only a half hour to reply to emails makes it difficult to go back and reread things for clarification. That's exciting that Mom is finally going to New York City. You'll have to send me a souvenir. You probably got my letter yesterday or possibly later today, but I have my flight itinerary and we're flying out of SLC at 6:05 AM on Tuesday. We have to report to the travel office at 3:00 AM. My luggage will have to be paid for whether I want to or not, and I think I can probably expect to pay extra for weight. I am going to be gone for a year and a half, so if I have to pay extra, it very well may be worth it. That being the case, I kind of need to ask for a bit more cash. I'm supposed to have at least a hundred on me for emergencies and I used up some of it to adjust my wardrobe for modesty. They have a secret sister boutique here with cute stuff, but I mostly needed some under shirts and not camisoles. I'll be sending home things I won't need in about a day or two to save on the weight, but if you could send me some cash for luggage, that'd be great. I will be reimbursed for whatever was under weight, so I don't think I'll need to ask for more cash for at least a month. If you want me to, I will keep reciepts and send them home so you know I'm not just partying on your dime. I'm very thankful that you've made this possible for me to do, and the last thing I want is to be tempted to be dishonest with my parents.

Our classroom, it has been surmised, is the hottest room in the building, and we're in the basement of the George Q Cannon. We've begged to move to a different room, and those chairs, being what they are, have driven me to sitting on the floor. I've fallen asleep several times, mostly during practice teaching, and it's insanely difficult to pay attention to studying. We're all going to be terrible missionaries at the rate we're going. The other two sisters often leave to go study because we spend of personal study time drawing on the chalkboard, quoting movies, and watching Johnny Lingo (accessable via LDS.org which is attached to our class TVs). I feel like I'm morphing into a nineteen year old boy; completely inable to concentrate on anything and competing to be the funniest elder. It'll be nice to not be around so many boys soon.

If ever I felt like I was in the military, this is the time. We wake up, get ready, plan, eat (lots of variety, and their soups are amazing), class, study, eat, gym, class, teach, eat, study, study, study, bed. That's a typical day in a nutshell. I like having the structure, but something tells me that the field will be easier in a lot of ways compared to the MTC, as well as harder in others.

We had Dallin H Oaks talk to us yesterday at Tuesday devotional. I was on the third row. He brought a heavy feeling of the Spirit when he walked in, and it was amazing. He talked about having the Spirit always, because as missionaries, we can't teach effectively without it. Then he emphasized that we can gain the Spirit when we take the sacrament every Sunday and that it's up to us to maintain that Spirit throughout the week. I've been having a hard time feeling anything this week. It's very possible that it's the congestion that's distracting me, or more likely the not studying (though it's difficult to read 2 Nephi when your nose is stuffed and cutting uoff your breathing), and I've been slightly depressed about the idea that maybe I don't have the Spirit. Maybe I'm not teaching by it. Sister Spencer assures me that she feels it in our lessons, but I'm having a hard time. Then again, Elder Bednar said a few years ago in a talk given at BYU-Idaho that the Spirit doesn't always have to hit you like a train. Sometimes in doing the right thing and being a good person you can have the Spirit and be prompted without even knowing it. I have the hope that I do carry that Spirit with me, even though I feel a little lost or unsure much of the time, and I'm encouraged knowing that taking the sacrament is a chance to renew that feeling again. I've been learning a lot about it's significance, but that will have to wait because I only have three minutes left.

MY first week at the MTC

The MTC is really great so far. I'd bet that the whole system has changed since Dad was here considering that we no longer teach by memorized lessons but by the Spirit as directed by Your Purpose, which is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them recieve the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, repentance, baptism, recieving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Nothing else matters more than that, so everything we teach is up to us, but should fit into that motto. Classes are entirely made up of teaching scenarios. We teach each other, we teach real investigators, inactives, actors, and our teachers who roleplay as some of their investigators from the field. I have to roleplay as an investigator whom I know personally. It's pretty fun. Otherwise we do a lot of personal study which is increasingly difficult to focus on because we do everything except eat and sleep in the same classroom and it's hard to want to read the scriptures when we're still getting to know each other. Our classroom is what's known as a district, and we have four sets of missionaries. Two sets are going to Louisiana and the other two are going to Philedelphia. Most districts have all elders or maybe two sisters, but ours is half and half. That's rare. The other sisters are going to Philly. Sister Spencer is my companion, and she is really fantastic. She used to be inactive and felt like she needed to go on a mission after a break up. She's from Salt Lake, went to Olympus high school, and has the best attitude out of the whole district. It's been really difficult to have a bad attitude here since everyone is so great. The food isn't bad. We get a lot of variety except on Sundays when we had to eat cold cereal and roast beef. No choices there, and you know how much I don't like those sorts of meals.

So teach is all I do. It's really hard. Some investigators get bored, others want proof, and I'm finding that my testimony is being challenged left and right. To think that this is a cake walk in comparison! Still I feel that I'm strengthened, especially in prayer. It really is the key to knowing whether what we learn is true or not. It brings us an increase of faith, and when we increase faith by praying and following that commandment to pray, we're repenting. Whe we're repenting, we're following Christ's example. When we follow Christ's example, we are more in tune with the Spirit. When we're in tune with the Spirit, we're enduring, and the whole cycle repeats itself. It'll be interesting to hear how the boys like it when either of them get here. It's very challenging but so simple.

I don't know if I got all of Lacey's pictures in her email, she described more than I got. Maybe if I have time after this email I'll look again. (Our internet sessions are timed). I really miss the dogs, so thank you for updating me on how they're doing. I dream every night that they're crawling all over my bed. I should probably tell you that I'm sick. I got a bit of a fever on Sunday and I'm still suffering from coughing and a stuffed nose (only one nostril at a time. Annoying!) That's brought me to tears a few times, always of congestion. I did forget a few things and have a few things I wanted to ask you to send.

Athletic socks- I think I looked at them and thought "....nah." I completely forgot that we have gyms here (which are awesome, by the way)

Nude nylon foot socks to wear with my shoes. I don't need full nylons because Louisiana is stifling, but I really need to wear socks with all my shoes I'm discovering.

A toothbrush holder

I. Need. Mt. Dew!!!

For my birthday I kind of want pieces of everybody to remind me of you. It can be something I can use, it can be something I can eat, it can be something I can look at every night when I go to bed and greet me when I wake up. Framed pictures would be nice.

Something to share for my birthday.

Before the Sunrise

I’m feeling rather inspired to post one more thing before I go. Really, this blog might come off as a bit weird since the entries will be diced up little pieces of hurried emails written by yours truly and directed towards my family, so I need to get a bit out there that’s, well, ME. I certainly don’t want to look back at this blog and think, “What on earth was going on with my writing? You’d think I was five!” No, this is more a reminder for myself of the person I was before. The person who’s about to embark to Louisiana and come back as someone else completely. At least, that’s what I’m aiming for.

So what do I write about two days before leaving? How about getting a letter yesterday from my mission president requesting a plethora of new things to add to my ever shortening list of preparations that was only ever supposed to get smaller and not bigger? This list of things to do include a long trip to the DMV to stand in line and purchase a driving record as well as buy a bike and have it shipped to Louisiana.

Here is my first complaint: Humidity?! Bikes?! SKIRTS?! Really, I’ll do it, but I didn’t really think sister missionaries did that sort of thing. To be honest, I have no idea what it is exactly that sister missionaries do, as the only ones I’ve ever met have been in visitors’ centers and… that’s about it. I’ve never seen one in a car, on a bike, or in a bathroom. Are they allowed in bathrooms? So no matter how many mission prep classes I take, I don’t feel prepared. Everything we talk about goes in one ear and filters through this machine called the ‘Sure, this is what ELDERS do’ processor and out the other ear.

Then I guess I could talk a bit about freaking out yesterday at having all these new things thrust upon my plate, and how I decided that I wasn’t going. I’d make it through the MTC and come home and call it a learning experience. After all, I’m having a terrible time coming to grips with the fact that I won’t get to listen to Fleet Foxes or Simon and Garfunkel for a year and a half (Yeah, I’m a total hipster like that). I went to sleep thinking about all these things and how I was going to give up for the sake of my musical fixation, when all of a sudden I was awake and in stake conference where the topics were all on… need I say more? It was practically the gunshot I needed after getting on my mark, getting set, and going. This is really it. This is exactly where I need to be at this point in my life.

But really, what I want most to express is how upset I am that someone stole the last of my Thin Mints right off the table next to my cot.