Saying Goodbye to My MTC Friends

This has been one roller coaster of the week. As I go back through my journal it's sometimes really hard to believe that I used to feel that way just a few days ago. For example, on Thursday I wrote that I might have had my best day in the MTC yet. I think that I was probably right, it's going to be a tough one to beat. That morning we had class and we were working on Russian grammar and things seemed like they were making so much more sense. Russian grammar is tough stuff, especially considering that I don't know anything about English grammar. That's one funny thing about learning Russian - English slowly starts to make a lot more sense. It felt so nice though to feel like I was progressing in the language and that some of the basic puzzle pieces were being put together. Like anything in life, but especially a language, you just have to put in the time. It's like moving a huge pile of sand - right now I'm using tweezers, picking it up and moving it grain by grain, but slowly over time as I continue to progress with the language, I can start moving that pile a little faster and a little faster. Eventually, I can probably graduate from a pair of tweezers to a small spoon. While it doesn't feel like I'm making much progress in the moment, the effects over time will show. The amazing thing about this work though, is that while I'm moving the sand grain by grain with tweezers, the Lord is behind me with a shovel, scooping sand into the other pile for me. Without his help I wouldn't be anywhere close to where I am now, and without his help in the future, I'll never get to a place with the language that I need to be. I love the Lord so much and I know that as I continue to put my faith in him, he will bless me.

Me and Elder Jones, one of my best friends here at the MTC. He's going to Lithuania.

Another amazing event that happened Thursday - we had another TRC meeting, which is a teaching lesson with a member who probably is going to BYU who speaks Russian. We had so much to prepare for it and so little time. Me and my companion were a little stressed out. But as we were changing after exercise, I noticed that our roommates, Elder Hansen and Elder Becktel hadn't made their bed or changed their old sheets, so I decided that I was going to do some service. I grabbed some new sheets for them and completely made their beds. It took out like a solid 20 minutes of valuable planning and practicing time but I knew that if I did this service for them, me and my companion would be blessed for it. It absolutely manifested. We barely finished planning our lesson in time for the TRC. We literally showed up at the very last moment - arriving right as we were told which room we were supposed to go to. Could not have been a few seconds later. We immediately entered into the first room and to our surprise, there were two men. We had only taught solos before so this was a new experience, but we had an amazing lesson. Could not have possibly gone better. It was so much fun and it all went so well. We asked some good questions, they asked us some tough questions, and the spirit was so strong. At the end, one of the brothers that we taught gave us both a big hug. It felt so good to know that the Lord was guiding us in the work and that we were able to touch his life with our message. Our second lesson went just as well. I know that we were blessed because we decided to put ourselves second and to put others before ourselves.

Me and Elder McCann, another one of my best friends here at the MTC. He looks a little confused about the posing for this photo even though he is the one who suggested it.

The TRC was also really fun because we got to see Gary again! Gary is the brother that we taught in the last TRC. He was so excited to see him and came over to talk to us. It's just so much fun to be able to develop a friendship like that through spreading the message. Gives me great hope that I can develop that kind of a relationship with the members out in Ukraine. The opportunity to spread joy, hope, and happiness is one of the greatest aspects of missionary work, so it's very encouraging to feel like we're doing well at that section of missionary work while we're here at the MTC.

Elder Frazier, another good friend here at the MTC. He's also going to Kyiv, speaking Ukrainian.

Sadly after that the week only got harder and harder. On Sunday I was called to be district leader, which really isn't that hard considering that now I'm just a glorified mailman, but it does add a little bit of responsibility onto me that didn't use to exist before. It's just made me realize that I have a lot to work on. There's always room for improvement in our lives, sometimes it's just daunting to realize how far that improvement has to go.

Me and my MTC fathers, Elder Hansen and Elder Becktel the night before they left for Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine.

Another really sad moment from this week is that my MTC Dads "died" this Tuesday morning. They left for Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine at 3:45 am. I will miss them so dearly. The rest of our zone that arrived before November 14th, left on Monday, so our zone went from being the biggest in the MTC to one of the smallest in 4 quick weeks. Elder Hansen and Elder Becktel were such a great source of knowledge, encouragement, and joy to me during this first month in the MTC. It was fun to grow a great relationship with them and to become great friends. They'll both be going to BYU when they get back, so our experiences together aren't over yet, but it'll be a long 23-month break.

Our MTC family posing in a Slav Squat and our Russian smiles.

The last challenge from the second half of this week is that I got really sick with a nasty cold. Made it so much harder to focus, to stay positive, and to feel the spirit with a clouded mind. When it's tough to feel the spirit, everything here gets so much harder. The MTC is a tough experience. It's hard to do the same exact thing every single day, but there are so many good moments as well. Missionary work has brought me so much joy into my life so far, along with reading the scriptures, obeying the commandments, and actively striving to become more like Jesus. It's crazy to think that I'm almost 1/24 of the way done with my mission already. There's still so much to go, but I'm excited to be able to experience this level of happiness another 23 times.

Love y'all so very much. Keep on remembering what's most important in life, especially during this Christmas season.