Thursday, August 9, 2012   Week 1

 

Hello family!!

Today is my first preparation day. They will be on Thursdays for the remainder of my time in the MTC. During the day we have the opportunity to attend the temple, email, and take care of laundry and any other personal affairs that we need to get done with our time. The temple was fantastic this morning, and it was neat to be there with a lot of other missionaries. I'm particulary enjoying the time in the temple since I'm not sure whether or not I will be able to go when I'm in the field.

SO. Since you're probably wondering what it's like here at the MTC, I'll do my best to include the multitude of things we do to prepare for our service in the mission field. The moment I arrived on the first day, my bags were taken and I IMMEDIATELY went to class and started learning how to teach the gospel. There is NO time to waste here. The days since have gone something like this:

6:20am - Arise and have personal prayer and get ready for the day

7:00am - Arrive at the classroom and meet as a district

7:20am - Breakfast

8:00am - Class time and teacher instruction

12:00pm - Lunch

12:40pm - Class time and language instruction and study

3:40pm - Personal study usually...

5:00 - Dinner

6:20 - Gym

(and then in the evening we usually have conferences of some sort, and other meetings)

9:30 - Personal study

10:15 - Quiet time

10:30 - Lights out

There are variations of this for conferences and gym times and what not, but that's basically how it works. Sundays are extremely busy and that's when we have zone conferences and plenty of other meetings. During our first Sunday here, my companion Elder Crowley and I were asked to prepare and bless the sacrament. It went really well and the Spanish wasn't too hard actually! That's the other thing to keep in mind is that since the minute we got here, nearly everything has been in Spanish. During that same testimony meeting, we also bore our testimonies in Spanish. Our district has been extremely blessed and we actually got a lot of compliments from Elders that have been here for weeks or months that our Spanish is as good as or even better than theirs!! We have been extremely blessed and know that because of our prayers we have received El Don de Lenguas, or the Gift of Tongues. The learning curve here is like none other on earth. It is really strange that my thoughts are already turning over to Spanish and that it's becoming a sort of second nature.

Elder Crowley and I, without exaggeration, taught an entire lesson on eternal families, the order of prayer, and some of the Restoration all in Spanish the DAY AFTER we GOT here. Our investigator's name was Angel Gonzales, but our lessons with him ended yesterday. It has been enjoyable to teach, but somewhat difficult considering that we can't always express what we want to with our limited language skills, but it has been rewarding. Angel will be coming to church with us on Sunday and if we were teaching him more, we would hope his testimony would be to the point where he would accept baptism this next week. It has been very enjoyable teaching him.

My district is so awesome! So a district is several Elder comanionships that work together in their district. We have 10 Elders in ours and they're all great. They have some incredible stories. Some are the first missionaries in their families, and some are the youngest of huge LDS families. Others have overcome incredible obstacles to be here. One Elder who I'm good friends with has pulled back from actually being in jail just a few years ago, and has turned His life around to serve a mission. He promised Heavenly Father that if He could get him to Utah, that he would be a missionary, so that request having been fulfilled almost immediately, he is here to serve alongside us as representatives of Jesus Christ.

I want to share some of the doctrine that I have been studying in my preparations to teach the gospel. I have been studying a lot about what my purpose is, and what it means to be a missionary. "Our purpose as missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." I have thought a lot about that, and also studying to learn how people (including myself) can truly become converted to the gospel. I studied the lives and missionary service of Ammon and Aaron, and of Alma and Amulek. I want to be like those great men and teach with the power and Spirit of God to the convincing of souls that Jesus is the Christ. I want to share something that one of their "investigators" said when he heard about the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the father of a man named Lamoni who was taught by Ammon. He has been taught about God by Ammon's brother Aaron, and thus exclaimed, "What shall I do that I may have this eternal lief of which thou hast spoken? Yea what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy. ... O God, Aaron hat told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thous art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day." This King's marvelous testimony and willing sacrifice of all things for a gospel of which he did not yet even know is INCREDIBLE to me!! I want to do whatever is necessary to testify in a way that others will attain that same attitude and want to know God with that same passion.

I testify that the gospel is true and that it has been restored to the earth in full. I know that Jesus Christ is my savior and is the foundation of this gospel and of all righteousness. I know that we have a prophet who speaks with God and who directs this church according to His will. I testify that I am here because I know the gospel is true, and that all people can attain happiness in this life through it. I know that God loves us and wants us to live with Him again. I bear this testimony in His mname. Amen.

I want to add that I miss my family, but I know that the experience I am gaining here is so valuable and that I can return as man in two years time! This is as much for me as it is for those that I will teach. I encourage everybody to look up some of the talks by our general authorities, including those by Elder Holland about The Book of Mormon, and one I heard yesterday about missionary work as compared to the sacrifices made by Jesus Christ. These strengthened my testimony, and I know it can yours too.

I will try to be consistent with my letters, and I will say that there is more that I want to say, but my time is limited. I will probably be sporatic in what I put in my letters, but know that all is well. And the food is pretty good, and I'm trying not to gain weight.

Love,

Elder Talbot