Before you get started, here is a little vocab for all those that don't know the missionary lingo.
MTC: Missionary Training Center. There are several MTC's, but the one Landon went to is located in Provo, UT. He'll go on to Boise from there. He'll be there for a few weeks to study and do some in depth focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It helps for missionaries to be a little more focused and ready to enter the mission.
P-Day: Preparation Day. This is the day when missionaries can do laundry, all of their emails, shopping, maybe a little sight-seeing or an activity that they wouldn't do when teaching during the other days of the week. During his stay at the MTC, he is able to attend the temple on his P-Day.
District: Group of Missionaries. The missionaries are grouped into "districts" just for organizational purposes.
Endowment Session: Time spent in the temple receiving instruction and making covenants to our Heavenly Father.
Without further delay, I present to you Landon's 1st week email!
So apparently my P Days are on Thursday's while I am in the MTC, so that's why I couldn't respond earlier.
My district is absolutely amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better one. We are all so incredibly close, which is crazy, since we haven't even known each other that long. I have yet to find another district that is closer than we are. In fact, members of other districts come to our meetings and join us for some meetings because we are that much better.
There is way too much that has happened this week for me to explain in an email, but it definitely was way better of an experience than I expected. I love the MTC.
We just got back from another endowment session, so now I have been to 4 temples for endowments.
I'm terrible at organizing my thoughts, and I don't really have a camera to send pictures, so I think I'll just close this email until next week.
Also, if you ever meet a Sister named Kotahi Tarawhiti, get to know her, because she is the most spiritual person I think I have ever met in my life.
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UPDATE: This was emailed to us late last night, so around 9 or 10 his time. I was up listening to Hurricane Hermine, kind of worrying about trees falling on our house. So this was a wonderful distraction to read about how much he's learned and enjoyed this week! Not a lot of explanations, but lots of information. Here's the update!
I have a few more moments to email, since I didn't get my full hour in earlier today.
Details from this past week:
- Got lost for an hour on the first day
- There's candy in the strangest places
- I can squat 400 pounds
- Rowing is a full body workout
- Successfully seduced several Sisters with a certain glare
- Figured out what mono is
- I won't explain the above statements
- Gave a Sister a legitimate nightmare about my seductive glare
- Cactus Cooler is a cool soda
- Going to bed at 10:30 is really hard
- Waking up at 6:30 is even harder
- I realized that there won't be a single day of sleeping in for the next 2 years
- Lots of people here have never done laundry
- Apparently I can sing super low bass notes
- I am extremely music deprived
- I have resorted to singing all the songs I want to listen to, I am my own radio
- The Elders in my district sing along
- I can give a mean acapella of Don't Stop Believing
- We have started the trends of "Elder Dude," Sister Gal," blue tie tuesday, and red tie friday
- My companion is awesome
- My whole district is awesome
- The Provo temple is literally walking distance away
- Sickness is a serious problem here
- Cough drops are delicious
- My room has both the tallest and the shortest missionaries at the entire MTC.
- We have created a fully functional and highly complex government to enforce exact obedience, and it is called the Detention Council. It actually works very well.
- Sister Tarawhiti has single handedly tamed our district in the most Christlike way I have ever seen. She didn't even need to say a word.
- I have grown more spiritually here in the past week than I ever have before in my entire life. I would not trade this experience for anything, and now I'm torn because I really want to go out to Boise and serve, but I also don't want to leave this wonderful place full of wonderful people.
I also have found a passage of scripture I really love and would like to share. It is found in Luke 23:39-43, and documents the time when Jesus talked to the thieves that were being crucified on the cross next to Him.
39 ¶And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward ofour deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thoucomest into thy kingdom.
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Note that both of those thieves committed the same crime of theft, yet Christ only addresses the more humble and God fearing of the two when I says, "To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." Jesus died for all of our sins, and no matter what we do, He can forgive us. But we must do our part and humble ourselves and repent. Don't be that first sinner, who asked to be saved without doing his part. We will be saved only after we follow the teachings of Christ.
Until next week!
