MTC Week 4 - Solid
First of all, I want to thank all of you who have been sending me letters and packages, its the best thing in the world to get mail! So thank you!
This week went by pretty fast. We only have 16 more days in the MTC before I am off to El Salvador, and I'm really looking forward to that. I'd say it was a good week, everyday something small will happen that will just change my perspective on different things and it's pretty amazing. For example, I wrote a little about the other Elders in the zone who are awesome. Well, I found out some things that increased my respect for them even more. One Elder is out here suffering from kidney failure and has to go to the hospital once a week, another broke his foot in his last week in the MTC, waited an entire year, and now is back out. Another Elder who is the oldest in his family had his dad pass away a couple months before he left, leaving behind only his mom to take care of the family. And one more has an older brother who was diagnosed with cancer before he came out and was told won't live past a year and won't be able to see his brother again in this life. These Elders are amazing. They could be in college, getting ahead 2 years in life, or at home with their families, but instead they're serving a mission. My experience is 10 times easier than theirs, they are crazy tough.
We had another TRC this week which was cool. We taught her about reading the Book of Mormon and she asked us questions that we were able to answer in Spanish. The gift of tongues is crazy. On Tuesday we had a devotional, and the big thing I got from it was, "Don't chip away at the legacy." Missionaries have built a legacy and we need to behave in a way that will maintain that.
Not much else happened this week. I get called Johnson a lot, which took some getting used to but I actually love it. I know there are a lot of Johnson's out there, but for me I'm pretty proud to be called a Johnson. And a lot of Elders went to Riverton High and know about G'pa Mike which is cool. We get to study outside sometimes, which is really relaxing on these fall afternoons. I read the Book of Mormon a lot, and it's making a lot more sense. When I really study, things just make sense in the book, it all adds up. And also, there is a rumor going around that Elder Holland is coming to speak my last Tuesday in the MTC and oh man that would be tight!
My thought this week comes from Mosiah 27:29-30. It's talking all about Alma the Younger and after he was basically in a coma for 2 days, that's how I imagine it anyways. He then awakes and has repented of his sins. He says this:
"My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more. I rejected my Redeemer, and denied that which had been spoken of by our fathers; but now that they may foresee that he will come, and that he remembereth every creature of his creating, he will make himself manifest unto all."
I love that. I feel like we all have our own Alma the Younger story -- obviously not to that extent, but maybe there was a time in our lives where we turned away from the Lord. We may have been in the darkest abyss, but now we behold the marvelous light of God. There never is a point of no return, we can always come back and turn to Christ, and our souls will be pained no more.
Nos vemos :) Que tengan un buena semana
--Elder Jake
This week went by pretty fast. We only have 16 more days in the MTC before I am off to El Salvador, and I'm really looking forward to that. I'd say it was a good week, everyday something small will happen that will just change my perspective on different things and it's pretty amazing. For example, I wrote a little about the other Elders in the zone who are awesome. Well, I found out some things that increased my respect for them even more. One Elder is out here suffering from kidney failure and has to go to the hospital once a week, another broke his foot in his last week in the MTC, waited an entire year, and now is back out. Another Elder who is the oldest in his family had his dad pass away a couple months before he left, leaving behind only his mom to take care of the family. And one more has an older brother who was diagnosed with cancer before he came out and was told won't live past a year and won't be able to see his brother again in this life. These Elders are amazing. They could be in college, getting ahead 2 years in life, or at home with their families, but instead they're serving a mission. My experience is 10 times easier than theirs, they are crazy tough.
We had another TRC this week which was cool. We taught her about reading the Book of Mormon and she asked us questions that we were able to answer in Spanish. The gift of tongues is crazy. On Tuesday we had a devotional, and the big thing I got from it was, "Don't chip away at the legacy." Missionaries have built a legacy and we need to behave in a way that will maintain that.
Not much else happened this week. I get called Johnson a lot, which took some getting used to but I actually love it. I know there are a lot of Johnson's out there, but for me I'm pretty proud to be called a Johnson. And a lot of Elders went to Riverton High and know about G'pa Mike which is cool. We get to study outside sometimes, which is really relaxing on these fall afternoons. I read the Book of Mormon a lot, and it's making a lot more sense. When I really study, things just make sense in the book, it all adds up. And also, there is a rumor going around that Elder Holland is coming to speak my last Tuesday in the MTC and oh man that would be tight!
My thought this week comes from Mosiah 27:29-30. It's talking all about Alma the Younger and after he was basically in a coma for 2 days, that's how I imagine it anyways. He then awakes and has repented of his sins. He says this:
"My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more. I rejected my Redeemer, and denied that which had been spoken of by our fathers; but now that they may foresee that he will come, and that he remembereth every creature of his creating, he will make himself manifest unto all."
I love that. I feel like we all have our own Alma the Younger story -- obviously not to that extent, but maybe there was a time in our lives where we turned away from the Lord. We may have been in the darkest abyss, but now we behold the marvelous light of God. There never is a point of no return, we can always come back and turn to Christ, and our souls will be pained no more.
Nos vemos :) Que tengan un buena semana
--Elder Jake
 |
| In class studyin' |
 |
| The famous ironsides |
 |
| These Elders leave next week, we got pretty close with them. They were a good support and super cool. |
Comments
Post a Comment