MTC Week 1: Goodbye and Hello

Wednesday: After I said my goodbyes to my family, I got my mission stuff, dropped my bags off in my room, and went straight to class. There I met my companion and district. My district consists of six elders and three sisters. My companion, Elder Harvey, is 6 foot 7 and loves basketball. He went to Provo High and we have so much in common. Then, we had dinner. I love the food here. You can have as much as you want and there is such a variety. Next, we had some meetings where we met the MTC president and his wife. After a day full of missionary stuff, I went back to my dorm, unpacked, and went to bed.

Thursday: It was a day full of classes and devotionals. I don't remember much of what happened Thursday except that we got to meet our Branch Presidency. Everyone new in our zone introduced themselves and bore their testimony. The spirit was really strong in the room. After that, they interviewed us and assigned zone and district leadership. I was assigned as the district leader, and my companion, Elder Harvey, is my assistant. I was grateful for the calling as it has distracted me from the shock of the MTC routine.

Friday: Today my companion and I had our first opportunity to really teach together. The teaching went really well. I learned that some of the most important things are loving the person you teach and having the spirit when you teach. Throughout the lesson, I tried really hard to listen so that the spirit could speak. By doing that, we were able to have a successful lesson.

Saturday: One of Saturday's highlights was I was able to play basketball. I was glad I had Elder Harvey to give me some good competition. This really helped me to relieve some stress building up from the last couple of days. Saturday was a long day, and I was glad when I was able to get to bed.

Sunday: I was really glad that Sunday came because I was able to have Sacrament meeting. There was such a comforting spirit there, and it really gave me a boost. We had a chance to go walk around the temple where we took a lot of pictures and bonded as a district and zone. That night we had a chance to hear from Lloyd Newell. He's the guy who narrates Music and the Spoken Word. Under the direction of Brother Eggett, we were able to do a MTC and the Spoken Word, with Lloyd Newell narrating in between, just like he would do with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Afterward, I had a chance to listen to the Character of Christ talk given by Elder Bednar, which really me to focus on my purpose as a missionary and what I need to do to become more converted to the gospel.

Monday: It was back to classes in the morning and afternoon. I was able to teach my first TRC investigator with Elder Harvey. That was a really cool experience. We weren't able to really teach a lesson, but we got to know the investigator, so we're prepared to teach him next time. Later that day, I was able to enjoy more spiritual experiences in class, basketball, the elders in my zone, and lots of good food. That night we were able to teach our second TRC investigator. We really had to rely on the spirit to answer our questions.

The people I've seen that I know since I got here are James Wadsworth, Cade Young, Nathan Byers, Emily Kenny, Kate Mitchell, and Annie Wood. It was a comfort to see them, and really cool to see them as missionaries.

Overall my experience in the MTC has been very spiritual. I have been grateful for the many tender mercies as I'm adjusting to the missionary life. The Church is true, Jesus is real, and life is good.