First Week at the MTC...
Sorry it has taken me so long to write back. Because my p day is on Thursday they didn't let us write on the first Thursday so I had to wait a full week and a day to write.
Wow!! this first week in the MTC has been something else. It has been so jam packed with stuff that I can hardly believe how much stuff I've been able to do. When I first walked in, they loaded me up with a bunch of papers, my schedule, they gave me my name tag, and I am also getting an iPad for my time in the MTC. Sadly I will not be able to keep it when I go into the mission field. Right after I got all of my stuff, my host walked me to my dorm and we dropped off all my luggage. I didn't even have time to unpack anything when they shipped me off to my first class. This is where I met my companion for the first time. I already said this but his name is Elder Dillon Meyer. He is from Ogden, Utah and he went to Weber High School. We have gotten along pretty well! He played baseball for a while and he is really into all other sports so we have had been able to bond over that.
My district is awesome!! there are 8 Elders and 3 Sisters. The Elders names are Elder Lungren (he's the district leader, he's from Saratoga springs, and he is way good at basketball, he played in the 5A all star game this year. I saw him to a 360 dunk on one of the hoops in the gym, it was crazy!!) his comp is Elder Baird , Elder Peterson (he's from Gunnison Utah, and we all make fun of the fact that he's from gunnison because there was only 80 people is his graduating class, it's a real small town) his comp is Elder Halstead (he is from Vegas, and he's just a big teddy bear), then there's Elder Huls (he's also from Idaho Falls, and he's a pretty quiet dude I haven't gotten to know too much about him) and his comp is Elder Reeves (he's a such a hoot! he is probs the funniest guy I have ever met! he is really loud all the time though and it sometimes makes it hard to study during study time, so I haven't been as effective as I had been hoping I would be during those times. But he has helped us grow so close together as a district, because of him we have a lot of way good inside jokes that I probs don't have time to explain #everybodyeats!!!). The sister's names are Sister Chong (she is from Hawaii and she is really quiet) Sister Lee (She is from Idaho Falls as well, she actually went to the same high school as Elder Baird, but she is also really quiet) and Sister Daniels (she is probs the most spiritual person I have ever met! being in classes with her has been way awesome, and she always gives really good advice about missions, probs because she served for 3 months in Salt Lake before the MTC for some health reason that I can't remember) over this past week we have been able to bond so much! we are all way good friends at this point and we do everything together. We eat together at every meal and play ball together during exercise time. We stay up most nights just telling stories about our hometowns and dumb stuff we did in high school.
Some more specifics about what I did during the week. Classes are usually one in the morning and one in the night. but on tuesday we have a devotional at night so we have one class during the day, on Thursday is p day so we have one TRC (I'll talk about these later) and one class at night. And the sunday schedule is crazy. there are so many different meetings that we have. Sacrament, then district meeting (which is basically sunday school), then priesthood meeting, then we have singing time with our zone, then choir practice for those who want to (I convinced everyone in the district to do it) and then we have a devotional. Elder Ballard came and spoke about keeping our focus on the mission and locking our hearts, it was way good!! and then we watched a video called the Character of Christ. It was given by Elder Bednar and it was honestly one of the best talks I have ever heard. It was about our true purpose as a missionary and trying to be more how the Savior was, I was like almost in tears for half of it, the spirit was so strong as it was playing. The Tuesday devotional was also amazing! Elder Anderson came to that and he talked about importance of prayer and the power of faith. It is pretty amazing having so many of the brethren coming to speak to us!! Classes are really amazing! and I love my teachers Brother Bennett and Sister Linford (no relation to any Linford we know), they are so inspired and they have taught us a ton! We have mostly just been learning how to teach the doctrine of Christ more simply so that everyone can understand it. We also have talked a lot about teaching by the spirit and using prayer in everything that we do, because this work is something we cannot do by ourselves, we need the Lord by our side and the Holy Ghost with us at all times if we are going to succeed. TRCs are basically just teaching investigators in these little fake living rooms that are set up in the buildings. Not all of them are real investigators, in fact most of them are members, but some them are really investigators so we have to assume that they are and treat them as such. We have two investigators right now, Lawrence Tuttle and Andrew Kakashita. We have only had one lesson with each. And our lesson with Lawrence was honestly pretty awful, we rushed through too much material too fast and I think he was just confused by it all. Our lesson with Andrew went much better, we slowed down and really focused on teaching to his needs rather than just spitting out a bunch of material. We still have a lot we need to improve on though.
I love you guys so much and all the letters and emails and treats have honestly helped me soooooo much and I am so grateful to have a family who loves me so much!! I miss you guys, and it is hard sometimes, but I know this work is true and that I am here for a reason.
Love Matt
PS thx for the medicine mom I have already needed to use it, everyone in our district got a pretty nasty cold. haha don't worry I'm fine. and I will send pics in like 5 minutes I know you want to see everyone.
Wow!! this first week in the MTC has been something else. It has been so jam packed with stuff that I can hardly believe how much stuff I've been able to do. When I first walked in, they loaded me up with a bunch of papers, my schedule, they gave me my name tag, and I am also getting an iPad for my time in the MTC. Sadly I will not be able to keep it when I go into the mission field. Right after I got all of my stuff, my host walked me to my dorm and we dropped off all my luggage. I didn't even have time to unpack anything when they shipped me off to my first class. This is where I met my companion for the first time. I already said this but his name is Elder Dillon Meyer. He is from Ogden, Utah and he went to Weber High School. We have gotten along pretty well! He played baseball for a while and he is really into all other sports so we have had been able to bond over that.
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| Elder Shields and Elder Meyer (MTC Comp) |
My district is awesome!! there are 8 Elders and 3 Sisters. The Elders names are Elder Lungren (he's the district leader, he's from Saratoga springs, and he is way good at basketball, he played in the 5A all star game this year. I saw him to a 360 dunk on one of the hoops in the gym, it was crazy!!) his comp is Elder Baird , Elder Peterson (he's from Gunnison Utah, and we all make fun of the fact that he's from gunnison because there was only 80 people is his graduating class, it's a real small town) his comp is Elder Halstead (he is from Vegas, and he's just a big teddy bear), then there's Elder Huls (he's also from Idaho Falls, and he's a pretty quiet dude I haven't gotten to know too much about him) and his comp is Elder Reeves (he's a such a hoot! he is probs the funniest guy I have ever met! he is really loud all the time though and it sometimes makes it hard to study during study time, so I haven't been as effective as I had been hoping I would be during those times. But he has helped us grow so close together as a district, because of him we have a lot of way good inside jokes that I probs don't have time to explain #everybodyeats!!!). The sister's names are Sister Chong (she is from Hawaii and she is really quiet) Sister Lee (She is from Idaho Falls as well, she actually went to the same high school as Elder Baird, but she is also really quiet) and Sister Daniels (she is probs the most spiritual person I have ever met! being in classes with her has been way awesome, and she always gives really good advice about missions, probs because she served for 3 months in Salt Lake before the MTC for some health reason that I can't remember) over this past week we have been able to bond so much! we are all way good friends at this point and we do everything together. We eat together at every meal and play ball together during exercise time. We stay up most nights just telling stories about our hometowns and dumb stuff we did in high school.
 |
| The District |
Some more specifics about what I did during the week. Classes are usually one in the morning and one in the night. but on tuesday we have a devotional at night so we have one class during the day, on Thursday is p day so we have one TRC (I'll talk about these later) and one class at night. And the sunday schedule is crazy. there are so many different meetings that we have. Sacrament, then district meeting (which is basically sunday school), then priesthood meeting, then we have singing time with our zone, then choir practice for those who want to (I convinced everyone in the district to do it) and then we have a devotional. Elder Ballard came and spoke about keeping our focus on the mission and locking our hearts, it was way good!! and then we watched a video called the Character of Christ. It was given by Elder Bednar and it was honestly one of the best talks I have ever heard. It was about our true purpose as a missionary and trying to be more how the Savior was, I was like almost in tears for half of it, the spirit was so strong as it was playing. The Tuesday devotional was also amazing! Elder Anderson came to that and he talked about importance of prayer and the power of faith. It is pretty amazing having so many of the brethren coming to speak to us!! Classes are really amazing! and I love my teachers Brother Bennett and Sister Linford (no relation to any Linford we know), they are so inspired and they have taught us a ton! We have mostly just been learning how to teach the doctrine of Christ more simply so that everyone can understand it. We also have talked a lot about teaching by the spirit and using prayer in everything that we do, because this work is something we cannot do by ourselves, we need the Lord by our side and the Holy Ghost with us at all times if we are going to succeed. TRCs are basically just teaching investigators in these little fake living rooms that are set up in the buildings. Not all of them are real investigators, in fact most of them are members, but some them are really investigators so we have to assume that they are and treat them as such. We have two investigators right now, Lawrence Tuttle and Andrew Kakashita. We have only had one lesson with each. And our lesson with Lawrence was honestly pretty awful, we rushed through too much material too fast and I think he was just confused by it all. Our lesson with Andrew went much better, we slowed down and really focused on teaching to his needs rather than just spitting out a bunch of material. We still have a lot we need to improve on though.
 |
| Baird, Huls, Halstead, Shields, Meyer, Petersen, Lungren, Reeves (Left to Right) |
Love Matt
PS thx for the medicine mom I have already needed to use it, everyone in our district got a pretty nasty cold. haha don't worry I'm fine. and I will send pics in like 5 minutes I know you want to see everyone.
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