sup familia
Monday, June 25, 2012 11:57 AM
Sup yall,
So MTC life...where to begin. Well...after you dropped
me off, they didn't mess around. They pushed us from one station to the
next getting all the preliminary things out of the way. Then classes
started right away. (fyi...this letter may be kind of out of order and
jumbled :). Classes have been good. I'm learning a ton...half of
that learning is learning how much I don't know and don't understand, but I'm
managing. One of my teachers is Sis. Whitney Wedom. Her maiden name
starts with an F, but you should tell Calvin this because they served in the
same mission, and Calvin was actually the person that drove her to the airport,
I think. Crazy stuff. Cool storyish. One cool thing that we
have been learning about is our purpose, and after having a lesson on our
purpose and God's purpose, I realized that as missionaries, our purpose is to
help God fulfill his purpose (Moses 1:39). Also the more I learn, the
more I understand just how simple the doctrine of Christ is, but not
necessarily easy or anything like that. Speaking of which, it kind of
freaks me out thinking about teaching investigators. Sometimes it seems
like there is so much for us to try to teach them, where do you begin.
Also, with that line upon line principle, how in depth should we go. I
don't want to get baptisms...I want to get conversions and conversion to Christ
is a lot more difficult than simply getting some baptized. Some of this
thought process comes from an excellent recorded talk by Elder Bednar called
the Character of Christ. If you can find it online, then do and watch
it. It's long, but oh so good. I feel like my mind's been blown,
but my mental debris is settling to the point where I am being less overwhelmed
by what he said, and figuring out, with God's help of course, just how it
applies to me and how it can help me be a good missionary and a good disciple
of Christ.
My companion's name is Elder Adams. He's from Pleasant
Grove, Utah .
He's a really cool guy, and is pretty dedicated, so we get along really well,
and know how to buckle down when it's necessary. The rest of my district
is really cool too, and we're all getting along pretty well. Oh...another
fyi... I can't remember if I included this story with the letter I sent, but in
our first gym time, I was playing basketball, and foolishly hard core jammed my
finger on the basketball...basically, I punched the basketball with my index
finger and messed it up hardcore. I decided to have it checked out by the
doc since I thought it was just jammed, but it could have been worse. Anyways, the next day, when the doc had
scheduled the visit, it was feeling a lot better, so I went down saying that I
didn't think I needed to come in, but he wanted to see me anyways, so I was
like, Whatev. Nothing broken, so that's good, and it feels a lot better
now :) Good stuff :) Something else cool you should know, is that
I've seen Hayden all over the place as well as some other kids from BYU
including both Robert and Dallin. It was pretty sick seeing all
them. I hand delivered all their letters. Also, I've seen Holly
around a few times. The first time we hugged for the luls, and this one sister
got all freaked out. Lul. But that night or something, in a class
or something, they were all like, "no hugging sisters, no matter the
relation"... so yeah, we kind of stopped the rebellion ;) The food
has been pretty good. On Sundays and Wednesdays, we get creamery ice c
ream which is delicious...of course...and everything is unlimited...ahhhh yeah
:) Good stuff.
The spirit is pretty strong here and I'm really working on
just surrendering myself to the Lord and his work. I try to use all my
study time to the best of my abilities, but as District Leader, I have to make
sure I help keep the others on track too. It's tough finding the balance
between not caring and being a Nazi, but I'm doing my best. Prayer has
become even more important and special here at the MTC. I receive a lot
of comfort through prayer, and look forward to the time of night when I can
open myself up to my loving Father in Heaven. Sunday was good
yesterday. Oh and I got to meet my mission president and his wife.
They are really awesome, and it's going to be a good time :) It's going
to be good times..
Well, gotta go. Not gonna lie though, the missionary
stuff is pretty daunting when I actually try to understand my responsibility
and my task ;)
Love,
Elder Patty
