MTC Week 3

 

December 5, 2012

hey family…how are all of you guys doing? i miss all you guys so much. i can't beleive that i have already been gone 3 weeks. it honestly seems like it has been like a week at the most. i don't know really what to tell you guys because the mtc is pretty repetitive. nothing really exciting happened this week besides the fact that i scrape everybody in volleyball, basketball and 4 square. that’s just because i am raw though. gym really is the best time of the day and i am probably the best athlete in there. i know i need to work on my modesty but really i’m raw. i have started lifing weights again too which is fun. i switch off between weights, running, and sports everyday. i still really enjoy all of the guys in my district. my companion is still great and we get along great. all of the guys are just awesome and i am going to miss them when i have to leave. elder krey is probably the person i am most close to and most alike to. he is the elder from brentwood. he is the man and i really enjoy spending time with him. he is going to the same mission as carter…tallahasse florida. his companion elder gibbs, who i also really like, is from cottonwood heights and is going to wisconsin. everybody i talk to has pretty much nothing bad to say about guatemala. i have met several people here who have served their missions in the northern region of guatemala just like i am and they say it is incredible. they tell me you have to hike from village to village and the people are just so great. i have also made pretty good friends with elder johnson. he is from the cottonwoods as well and he is going to thailand. he is friends with elder gibbs from back home and that is how i got to know him. i talk about thailand with him all of the time…every chance i get. if he wasn't excited to go there before he will be now. he says the language is nearly impossible to learn. i beleive him to because he tried to teach me how to count to 3 and i could barely learn that. he is like 1 of 5 people that are at the mtc right now that are going to thialiand and i have made pretty good freinds with all those elders. my language is coming along pretty good. i am not the best in the class but i am defintily not the worst. i have found that the best way to learn the language is just by speaking it as much as i can. when i speak the language i sometimes can't beleive how much i know…its crazy. its weird though because sometimes i get really confident about my spanish and then i can get negitive too and think that i know nothing. its crazy though how you can absorb information here because the spirit is so strong. if you were to put me in a classroom for 12 hours a day back home i would commit suicide, but here i can bare it and actually i enjoy it. i have great teachers and i enjoy learning. the thing that i have learned the most here though is the strengthening of my testimony. i have been praying for a stronger testimony of the church since i got here. while we were in personal study we were listening to the mormon tabernacle choir and reading our scriptures. we were listing to “come thou fount of every blessing”. that song literally makes me cry everytime i hear it. it is the most beautiful song i have ever heard. anyway, when i was listening to that song and reading the scriptures all of a sudden i got hit by a train…that train was the spirit and i was at a loss of words…i couldn't speak. the spirit just testified to me like it had never testified before…it said this church is true; you are making god happy by being here and joseph smith is a prophet. it was all as clear as day. i have never felt like that in my entire life. i then continued to read my scriptures and i was reading somewhere in mosiah when the first verse i had read since getting that feeling it read something along the lines of “now that you know the gospel is true follow my commandments and endure to the end.” i will get you guys the scripture but i can't remember what verse it is right now and i don't have my scriptures with me. then like 2 minutes later another verse spoke to me…the spirirt was burning up my body and again i couldn 't speak. i had kinda been stressing out about all the stupid little lies and little sins i had done my entire life and was wondering if i would ever be forgiven, then i read this verse and it said something along the lines of “after begging forgiveness from god you are forgiven and your heart shall be filled with joy so much that you can't speak.” It was something along those lines. again, i will get you guys the real verses. but anyway that was exactly how i felt…i felt so much joy that i couldn't speak. it was incredible and was one of the best moments of my life. its incredible…i have always had a testimony but not a very great one but now i cannot deny this church…i can not doubt it as a whole. ya i might doubt certian things but through prayer and personal revelation i can get a testimony of it…it is incredible though that because throughout almost all of high school i thought that being mormon was a burden, a chore, and not a gift. but after being here for 3 weeks i have conluded that i am 1 of the few lucky people on this earth to be born into the church…everything makes sense and its the best. the church is true and joseph smith is a prophet. I don't know what i did in heaven to deserve the best family in the world and to deserve to be born in this church. i can't stand the thought of people going throughout their entire lives not knowing why we are here and what god has promised to us after this life if we are faithful. again, i have no idea why i was born into the church but i can't thank my heavenly father enough. i have experianced a happiness here in the mtc unlike any other happiness i have had in my life. this mission is the best and i am so glad i am here. it is the best thing that could have happned to me. i know this church is true and that i am where the lord wants me and i can't wait to share this same happiness with the people of guetemala who have nothing and who have no idea about the message i am about to bring their way. they may have nothing now but when i tell them this message and get somebody to listen and to join i can guarantee that even though they may have nothing they will be among the happiest people of this earth. i know this to be true. i love all of you guys and miss you so much. i love your letters and keep them coming!

love,
elder call

 

hey, sorry i didn't respond to your letters in my last email it’s because i didn't have them with me. i am now doing laundry though so i can write you again real quick. the scriptures i was telling you about in my last email are mosiah 4:6 and 4:20. 2 really good scriputes and the spirit just testified to me that these 2 really apply to me. dad congratulations on finishing the marathon you have done a marathon for every year of my life thats incredible. i don't know of anybody that has done that many. i am bummed about not leaving to guatemala today but there is a reason for it and this mtc isnt that bad. the thing i am probably most upset about is the fact that i wont be in the mayan land for the end of the world which is suppossed to be on december 21. to say that i was there for the end of the world would have been awsome. on the contrast though the rumor around this place is that the prophet and 1 other member of the first presidency is supposed to speak to us on christmas. dad, i don't know how but i didn't get here with the socks that we bought at cabellas…i’m mad. if you have those socks or know where they are could you please send them here please. i think the last time i saw them was at grandma browns either in the basement or in the car. the costco levis fit good and i think we did well with the rest of my clothes. i will though at some point need more socks. the socks i have now are really thin and they will probably wear out pretty fast if i had to guess. the boots are awesome…i seriously love those things. i don't need anything for christmas that i can think of besides those couple of things i just mentioned. i will need another journal at some point in my mission because i go through about half a page a night. there are not enough pages if i write that much so i don't need 1 now but i might like half way through the mission. i don't want to write less in my journal just to save space. i don't need anyting else for chirstmas but if you do send stuff everything else will just be icing on the cake. i will let you know if i need anything else. thanks family, you guys are the best. tell ben that i got his letter and i am writing him a seperate letter today. i will mail it out today as well so he should get it soon. thanks family for everything