Second week at the MTC

Hi!  I have a lot to write and a lot of photos so let's get into it!

From my journal, July 12-18:

July 12th, 2016:

P-day!  Yay!  P-days are odd because it's only kinda a break.  There's still stuff to do, and it doesn't help that Tuesdays are devotional days so we miss 17:00 on or so.  [Note: I later found out that everyone has their P-day end at 18:00 (after dinner) so it's fine.  Also, I'm trying to use 24 hour time enough that both time methods feel natural to me.]  Really, the best break has been from classes and doing religious things instead of from doing things in general.

I finally got to send e-mails. so that was nice, but Elder Blood accidentally started Elder Wagley's washer again so we are now waiting for his dryer to finish.  It's already dinner time and they don't offer bagged dinner, so we have to go to the cafeteria & dress in non p-day clothes.  We may not get the chance to eat.

~later~

Dinner was 30 minutes later than I expected (we haven't been to the classroom all day, so I haven't seen my schedule) so we got to eat.

I still feel too tired.  P-days aren't a break, you're still on a schedule doing tons of stuff.  It happens to be doing laundry instead of learning lessons, cleaning the room instead of reading scriptures, ironing instead of teaching.

Anyway, my other notebook is in the classroom, so I'm going to take notes in this book for it.  [Note: I don't think I have photos of this page in my pictures already and I'm typing this up in the laundry room so I can't attach any new photos.  We ran the washer, went to a computer lab with computers that have SD card readers, attached our photos, saved the draft, changed over laundry in the laundry room, and are currently writing in here.]  I guess it will be good to have some sample of my notes.  It's Tuesday Evening's Devotional, featuring Bruce C. Hafen of the Emeritus Seventy.

July 13th, 2016:

Today has gone better.  We all talked and we've changed our attitudes; we've joked around less and invited the spirit (and sleep [in the dorm rooms]) more.

Also, a robe is a good thing to bring [advice for Logan and every other soon-to-be missionary in our ward], a watch or other quiet alarm if you like to wake up early [Note: if you like to sleep in and can get ready in 10 minutes, there may be people in your room who like to get up early.  If you bring a quiet alarm, you can have one of those people wake up to it and quietly wake up the other early risers in the room, giving you some nice peace and quiet.  Also, have those people put their stuff for the morning in a box or a bag so they can get out of the room with as little chance as possible of waking you up], stamps and letters/note cards, extra hangars, money/a home credit card [Note: it's a blessing to have a card that doesn't spend the missionary's personal money.  If they want to buy something reasonable like a water bottle they don't have to sweat it.  The family should talk about using the home-linked credit card before the missionary leaves], and laundry supplies.

Our lesson with our first investigator went a lot better this time, and our second investigator's lesson also went well.  However, they've both been pretty good investigators so we can surely still improve.

July 14th, 2016:

Our service this morning was cleaning the classroom building.  I got vacuum duty.  It reminded me of Splatoon, a video game; in it there's a paint brush you can run around with [to cover ground with paint (which is the main objective of the game)], painting the ground ahead of you.  I miss home.

We played volleyball during exercise today, and coming back from it I got a serious leg cramp.  We'll see how it is tomorrow.

July 15th, 2016:

It doesn't hurt.  Good.  Bananas are good.

More words of advice to the other missionaries: bring a good water bottle and a good razor.  Learn to go to bed on a schedule (21:30 in dorms, quiet by 22:15, lights out by 22:30) and get up and prepare quickly (~6:10 up, ~6:30 out of the room).  Also get in the habit of taking care of dirty laundry/putting away toothbrushes or deodorant [etc] when you use them, because you don't want to spend p-day cleaning your room.  Also, bring a good flashlight, a book light, and a weak flashlight (to avoid disturbing those who are still asleep/trying to sleep [or, if you are going to be that person who rises late and prepares quickly, so you can give it to the early risers in your room so they don't disturb you]).

With that said, I'm trying to pay more attention in class.  I have this unfortunate tendency to stop paying attention right as the instructor gives us directions for an activity...

We've been a lot calmer in class lately; we've become more focused.  It's nice to spend so much time learning without the pressure of having a test on it, but at the same time it's really hard to teach.  One interesting thing I've noticed is that when an investigator prays, it almost always brings the spirit.  It made me think about how I pray and I realized most LDS I know have a "template" for prayer of "Thank you for...," "we're grateful for...," and "Please...."  I'm trying to change up my prayers to be more sincere now.

~later~

Oh my goodness, I had what is probably my most spiritual experience in my TRC lesson.  We taught about families, and when we got to eternal families, she said her father died a few years ago.  I then told her that my dad has been diagnosed with metastatic bladder cancer and started tearing up.  By then we were out of time and so we asked her to say the closing prayer.  She said such a heartfelt prayer; in it she thanked God for the principle of eternal families and paused, then said something [speaking very gently] like "please let it be true... because I really hope it is."  She also thanked God for our visiting her and blessed my dad, my family, and Elder Wagley's family.  Whew!

~later~

Whoah!  I just got a nice gift from the Marbergers, my mom's family.  I also got a letter from Kirsten.  Everyone is so supportive of me!  This really helps me when I'm feeling down.  Thank all of you!

July 16th, 2016:

Things have been...tougher...between me and my companion today.  He went to prank the room by moving the wheeled chairs that Elders Bach and Hyde had claimed; after he did this he asked me not to tell.  I said yes but I started giggling as he asked if I said yes (I sometimes can't keep a straight face when telling the truth!).  He then had me promise.  I asked if my word was not enough.  He said that last time he told me to not tell anyone about it, I had told people.  I asked what that was, and he said it was about how the scrambled eggs go right through him.  He then said he couldn't trust me.  I got mildly mad with him (I didn't change my tone) for not trusting me due to one incident and I apologized.  He asked if I would promise and I didn't respond; I wanted to build trust with him by showing my word was enough.

Later, he expressed frustration at our district leader (not without some cause).  I asked if he wanted to talk to him.  He said no, he knew jerks like him and based on past experiences it wouldn't go anywhere.  I asked what he planned to do and he said simple; he would just avoid talking to Elder Bach.  I asked a little more and he wouldn't say much more.

Later, it was just Elder Bach, Blood, Wagley, and myself in the room.  I spoke up and said "I think you need to talk."  My companion said it was none of my business.  I said he told me that many times before and while some of those times really were his business, some of them made me worried for him as his companion [Note: nothing serious, but not exactly trivial things].  Elder Bach said they would talk later.  ...I don't know how things will go from now on.

~later~

Well, he's appeared to have calmed down [and, from reading my journal later, so have I].

Elder Bach just shared about his cancer journey, his friend's, and those he shared a room with at the hospital.  His friend's mom is a herbalist and has a strong belief that herbs could cure anything... he got taken off the treatments until he was 18, at which point it spread to his lungs and he soon died.  The last roommate Bach had was a young man who was going to get a good basketball scholarship until cancer was found in his knee.  He would spend full days just sitting up on his bed, staring at the wall.  His mom would visit and they would both just sit, staring at the wall for hours, in silence.

Anyway, good night.

July 17th, 2016:

Oh my gosh.  Elder Bednar just talked for my Sunday night devotional!  In person!  I wrote a ton down in my study journal.

July 18th, 2016:

Back in to things.  It's so fast-paced at the MTC--you don't have any "break" time.  Now, contradictory to that point:  I've decided to get a new sketch book to devote entirely to drawing.  And a four-color pen.  Also, I got a shirt with the mission map (Utah state, really) and some other cool stuff.

We taught our second set of investigators for the first time today.  I've only taught the first, as I'm writing this at midday, but it went pretty well.  Anyway I won't have much more time to write at this moment.

(By the way, I still have my cough [from weeks before my mission--it honestly might be the dry air]).

~later~

We're back in the dorms early--we're wiped out from the week and ready for p-day--so I've found myself listening to Elder Blood about personalities.  I'm an INTJ, according to him.  Introvert (definitely), intuitive, thinker (definitely), judger.

_____________

General thoughts:

A few things.  First, some of the dearelder letters replace a lot of special characters (like ') with question marks.  It's not a huge problem and it sends through on the e-mail transcripts fine.  It was one of mom's and some of dad's so it might be a mac thing; whatever dad sent his first message on worked fine.  Second, some (more) advice for Logan: the laundry room has a bunch of identical washers and driers together in long rows.  It would be well worth it for you to bring a flat fridge magnet of some sort to put on the machines you're currently using so you can easily find them later.

Third, I may start sending home all the letters I've gotten because if it continues at this rate I'll have too many to carry.  I think this will not be a problem in the field as the e-mails will stay e-mails instead of being printed out on the field.  Fourth, I have a lot of photos, many of which are from my notebook.  I had two journals, one I type out above where I write before going to bed and the other where I write in class in it.  I've found I've started doodling in the second, though, so much so that I decided to get a third sketchbook and color pens because drawing has become a creative outlet for me at the MTC.  A lot of these doodles are inspired by what I've heard in talks or class.  Most of those don't make sense out of context but I figure are still fun to see.  Other doodles are of random things.  I drew Lucario (a Pokemon) a lot because, as I explain in one page, I miss video games but I can't draw people very well so I'm stuck with Kirby, Lucario, and the squids from Splatoon, of which Lucario presented a good challenge to draw without a reference image.

Responses to letters [I write these in response to specific people but really I write for all who read (if it's private I'll send it separately)]:

• Thank you, Elliot Beard, for your advice
• I did get the oil vial
• My companion is Elder Wagley from MN
• Photo of my schedule is below (near the end) if you want to know what my daily routine is like
• The food is okay, some people in my district really don't like it but I think it's fine.
• The MTC is great, thanks for asking Elder Horman!

To dad:
Q1:  Where is you companion from?

A. My companion is from Minnesota

Q2: What is he like?
A. He loves photography and exploring caves.  He often goes tunnel exploring, as Minnesota apparently has a huge underground cave and tunnel system.  He's pretty nice but sometimes we get on each other's nerves.

Q3: How big is your MTC district or zone?
A. 12 elders.  Blood, Bach, Schlomer (?), Chavez, Anderson, Johnson, Thomas, Petersen, Gailey, Hyde, Wagley, and myself.

Q4: Is the entire district going to SLC East?
A. No; me, my companion, Hyde, Bach, & Blood are going to SLCE.  Everyone else in our district is going to Reno, Nevada.
Q5:  If anyone in your district or zone has a girlfriend, for each person have the rest of you written down dates when they’ll break up? (The person closest to the right answer gets a lunch from the person who was most wrong.)
A. No. Everyone's pretty prepared to be here.

Q6: What’s your most and least favorite MTC food?
A. The MTC has great salads and soups.  There is always eggs for breakfast--the dehydrated, scrambled kind--which I'm getting sick of.

Q7.  What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s happened while in the MTC?
A. Elder Blood got locked out of his dorm room while wearing only his garments last p-day... whoops.  [Logan and other missionaries: never assume your companion has the room key so you can just leave yours in the room.  Always assume someone else will shut the dorm door while you are in the hallway.]

Q8: What food do you miss the most?
A. I don't really miss any foods, but I wish I had more time to eat.  The times I wasn't rushed by the schedule, my companion wanted to go and do something like visit the store (he eats in five minutes!)

My p-day in-field should be Tuesdays but I'll tell you if they are different.

Laundry went pretty well, but Elder Blood accidentally started Elder Wagley's wash again, which locked the door.  I had to wait with him while his clothes dried.

The hardest part of the MTC is the schedule.  It's like if you gave a red bull to the EFY schedule and let it run around for ~five times as long.

The easiest parts are everything not related to the gospel--exercise, cleaning the buildings as service, meals, etc--because it's hard to focus so long on religion [well, anything].  You remember how I always said I was sleepy at church for some reason, and while I'm not falling asleep here I've found it hard to pay attention in classes.

I got the camera and have taken lots of photos!~

Uncle Art: I went on a mission because I knew it would help me.  I had--and still have--doubts about the church.  However I was very certain that everything in the church has the secondary purpose of making us better--even highly symbolic things like the sacrament.  Prayer lets us reflect on the day, collect ourselves, be grateful and happy for what we have, and reminds us who we want to be and what our goals are.  Sacrament helps us reflect on how we can improve.  The character of Christ is a personality we should strive to be just as much as it is a real person.  So I know the Church is good, even if it might now be true.  Really, knowing unprovable things are true only matters in conversion and being a true believer.

So I went because I knew it would make me better as a person and because it would help me mature.

Kirsten: you can talk to me about pretty much anything.  We have exercise time, so yes we can work out.  Music is generally dependent on our mission presidents, but a good rule is whatever invites the spirit.  This generally means hymns, gospel songs, and classical music, but calm stuff is okay (look up on youtube: "Smooth McGroove Minecraft Calm" for an idea of what I'm sure would pass.  Other video game music might not be acceptable [:(].  Spa and meditation stuff is very likely okay.)  Music that "merely entertains," even if it's church appropriate, isn't allowed.  And you don't have to call me Elder Brothers if you don't want to.

I should mention: I share a room with 5 others, so half my district.

To many people: thank you for your cards and your gifts!  I have sent (short) thank you cards but I think I forgot to put stamps on two of them (to the Marberger family and to Sister Delis, I think) so it might be a while in coming.  Or maybe not at all... I'm terribly sorry if that's the case!

Karelia: I have not tried the licorice yet.  I keep forgetting to try it.  I'll probably try it once I'm in the mission field and I'll be sure to write about it!

I should describe my district!

Elder Bach: our district leader.  He had cancer in his arm and went through chemotherapy; he now has metal instead of bone in some of his left arm.  He's been stressed about leading the group but he's done well.  He's pretty responsible, but as I wrote earlier he can be a jerk sometimes (not like he's mean but he's sometimes not as kind a leader as I would like)

Elder Blood: he acts like a goofball when around other people but he's really smart and loves to think.  He's most comfortable alone, as he's told us.

Elder Gailey: he knows the gospel really well.  He's also the most level-headed of any of us and I respect him a lot.

Elder Hyde: he is kinda aggressive.  It's really his nature.  However he can also carry a good conversation.

Elder Schlomer: I haven't spent as much time with him, but he seems nice.  I don't have much to say.

Elder Chavez: he enjoys humor and frequently will quote movies with other people.  He's fun to have around.

Elder Anderson: he's nice and can often offers good advice.  I don't share a room with him so I haven't interacted with him as much.

Elder Johnson: similarly, we don't share rooms.  However he's also pretty quiet so I don't know him that well.

Elder Petersen: he's also nice.  He's tall, too.  He'll joke along with everyone else.

Elder Thomas: he's similar to Elder Petersen, I think.  He's a bit quieter though.

Those are the other companionships in my district.  I don't know the people who aren't in my room too well, but we all want to be here and we're all striving to improve, which is great.

_____________

Photos!  Don't worry, these are google drive links so keeping them will not kill your inbox capacity.  I would save any you want to keep, though, because if I run out of space I will probably have to start deleting the oldest photos.

​

Elders Thomas and Petersen in a funny pose in our room.

My companion on his bed while I play with the color selector mode of my camera.

Elder Schlomer and Chavez making a funny pose.

My companion messing around on a cart.​

​Elder Hyde and Elder Gailey

We found Narnia!​

When you've been preaching the gospel too hard​

Elder Wagley, and my playing with special effects on my camera

I hope they call me on a mission

A bird by its nest, feeding baby birds.

My companion and I with the Utah flag.

Those in our zone who are going to the Utah SLC East mission

Elder Wagley and a care package

My bed in our dorm

My weekly schedule (annotated)

WHEW.  I spent hours writing this.

Love you guys!