Week 1

I'm doing great!!  The MTC here is so small.  There are 38 missionaries, pretty small compared to Provo.  The food is amazing here. I realized when you're really hungry you will eat just about anything.  Everyone that works here is from London and has awesome accents!  My companion is Elder Helski.  He is from Finland and he will randomly speak in Finish and I have no idea what he is saying.

When I first got here I was scared out of my mind.  So much went on and I couldn't keep track.  The MTC President, President Walker, is so cool-- we always see him.  He is an amazing man. He always has some inspiring thing to say to you to pick you up when you're feeling discouraged, which is after all the lessons you have to teach :).  The days are really long! we wake up at 6:30.  Have breakfast at 7:30 and have classes from 9:00 am until 9:30 pm.  It is really draining physically, mentally and definitely spiritually.  When we finally get back to our beds, most of the time I just pass out. 

Sundays in the MTC are the most spiritual days of my life.  We watched Joseph Smith: the Prophet of the Restoration and I have never felt the spirit more strongly in my whole life than at that moment.  We also do choir practice and hearing 38 Elders singing "Called to Serve" is a beautiful picture and an amazing sound. 

P-day is fun because we get to relax.  Which now, is weird to me.  We played ultimate frisbee and had an awesome time together. It was so fun to hang with the guys in a different environment. 

We went to the Preston temple today and it is gorgeous! The grounds are amazing here!  We were at a conference and Sister Walker, who is Gordon B Hinkley's daughter, told us this "Your mission isn't just about what happens to your investigators, its about what happens to you." Amazing talk--it is so true, a real transformation happens and I believe in that.     

  

I know that Jesus Christ lives, he loves us more than we can ever know.  He is our Savior and Redeemer.  Jospeh Smith was a true prophet of God and because of a question he had in his mind we have the restored gospel on this earth.  I love missionary work it is the greatest experience and man or women can have in their life and I would not trade it for anything!