Letter #2

 Hey everybody, how's it going? Thanks for all you emails these past few days. I love hearing how all you guys are doing, it's unbelievably awesome to get to read all the stories and things you guys have going on! I so wish I had the time to answer each of your emails one by one, but just know that I'm reading and enjoying all of them!

I can't believe that I'm almost done with the MTC already, this past week just went by super fast. It feels like I just got here like a day ago. At the same time though it feels like I've already been here forever. The days just kinda run into each other  and it is super hard to remember which day is which, even though I've been trying to write down everything (well, almost everything, I've missed some things here and there) in my journal. 

Sunday was fun, we got to meet our MTC branch, the group of missionaries we go to church with, and had a great testimony meeting. We also had what the MTC calls a Go and Do experience, for the first hour of the meeting we got together with all the other missionaries (there was a thousand, maybe two thousand of us) and listened to a message from our MTC president and then broke off by ourselves for 2 whole hours and told to study basically whatever we felt like. It was supposed to be spirit-driven, which it definitely was. I decided to study how I felt God's love for me and then it turned into how can I be more efficient in sharing God's love with others, which is kind of my purpose as a missionary. I felt my desire to share the knowledge of Christ and His love with others increase tenfold during those few hours. 

Tuesday was by far the best day this week. After Sunday it seemed like nothing could top the feelings I had but I was proved wrong. The day started off pretty normal, waking up a little tired (a lot tired) and getting to work,  first trying to get the day planned out, some studying, and then a little volleyball with the district. Classes were normal, talking a lot about baptism and the importance of it as well as how to better teach and interact during a lesson. But later that evening we had a devotional which I gotta say, best and most spiritual time of my life so far. First, I and a few members of my district got to sing Hope of Israel with the MTC choir, which was amazing and sounded super cool. 

After that, we got to hear from the one and only Dieter F. Utchdorf, a member of the twelve apostles. His message was so inspiring and felt super personal. I learned so much from it, one of my favorites being that success as a missionary doesn't depend on how many baptisms you have or how many people you talk to, but rather it means doing well over the things we have control over, such as our thoughts, feelings, and actions. We can't choose how people react to our message or how willing they would be to join the church, but we can choose how we portray ourselves and how we share the gospel. 

The rest of the week was just a blur. All the classes and studies just ran together. But I definitely learned a lot, my love for the Savior and for His children has grown so much here.

Again thanks for everything, cant wait to hear back from you guys! Next time I email, I'll be out in St. George as a missionary for real! I miss you guys! 

Also, I'm pretty sure I got all the issues with the emails figured out but if you hear of any problems or if you guys know of anybody who wants to be on my email list just let me know.