First Email from the MTC

April 5, 2013

Thanks for looking up the Visa site, that is exactly what I needed. I guess once it goes to the next step, it moves pretty fast. I hope I get it when it’s time to leave. We only have a half hour to write, so I think I will do a handwritten letter, too. Anyway, thank you for all the Dearelder letters! Those are great.

The MTC is going so well. So I have already taught like four lessons to an "investigator" named Henrique. It is so awesome. My companion Elder W was only my companion for like four days, and then he got his Visa and went to the Brazil MTC. So, now I am in a trio with the Elders I was living with, Elder H and Elder B...Elder B is our District Leader also. That reminds me, our District is so great. Everyone bears their testimony all the time, and have such great faith. We are all very close too. We can all laugh together, which is great, and we can all be spiritual together, which is even greater.

Oh, and thanks for the Easter basket package! Easter was an AWESOME day!!! We had a Sacrament Meeting with the entire MTC. Yes, a Sacrament Meeting haha. So that is like 3000. It was symbolic of the New Testament story when Jesus fed 5000. So that was really nice, and we got to hear from the Presiding Bishop.

I have just been doing so many things, I can’t think of it all, and I have a clock counting down the time in the upper right hand corner. It is stressing me out...but I’m trying to say everything I can! I sang in the choir for Devotional too. We sang, “I Feel My Savior’s Love.” There are so many people in choir though, so it’s not a huge deal haha.

One of my favorite parts of being here was during the Devotional on Easter Sunday, we sang “Called to Serve” with all the missionaries here. We sang the first verse very softly, and then the next verse medium, and then got louder, and when we sang “Called to Serve Our KING!” we all stood up! So many missionaries standing up at once, the bleachers were shaking, and then we sang the last verse so loud and standing up. It felt so great. We were like an army! 

Another one of my favorite things is the Character of Christ talk by Elder Bednar that he gave to the MTC a couple years ago. We are able to watch the videos on Sunday nights. My favorite thing is that when the adversary was tempting Jesus with food, he wasn’t tempting Him with the temptation of hunger, he was tempting Him for who He was. He said, "if thou be the Son of God," and it made me think, yeah, He can easily withstand a temptation for food. But he was tempting Him to act out of His character, to forget who He was. That’s why we need to remember who we are.

Anyways, I’m out of time, sorry! I’ll write a hand letter. I love all you with all my heart…I know the Savior lives.