"The Church Is Not A Burger King..."

"We will not hold the pickles."

-Jeffrey R. Holland. In the flesh. 50 meters away from me. Glorious devotional.

 

Well gang, it's week 2 down at the ninja training academy, and things are starting to get spicy. If you didn't get what happened with that quote, Jeffrey R Holland showed up at the MTC to do a devotional so that was probably one of the most epic things i've ever seen. I WAS LIKE 50 m away! I could make out his jowls!

There are a lot of russian and spanish guys here at the MTC. Like a lot. And at first, I kind of felt a little jealous that I didn't get to learn a language or anything, but after the first week here, I'm kind of glad that next monday (sept 6) is my departure day. Got mah travel plans cha ching! I mean, the MTC isn't like bad or anything, but I couldn't imagine staying here for 12 weeks. That would be soo brutal. Like, I just want to get out in the field and start spreading the message, you know?

Also, I gained 5 lbs. my first week at the MTC haha. It's because they force you to eat at certain intervals of the day, and if you know me, you know i'm almost never hungry. So i pound back 3 burgers a day, unlimited fountain drinks, the occasional ice cream snack. I'm gonna be a big boy.

Also, i forgot to mention this in my last weeks letter, but I met and hung out with Zach Shaw a bit, as it was his last week here when I arrived. That was kind of cool. And 2 days after he left, Ross came in. Funny story about that, my companion Elder Berry met him first, and I wouldn't have known about it if this little exchange had happened:

Elder Berry: Man, that Elder had a pin sticking out of his shirt, and it stabbed me when I shook his hand

Me: Ha! I was busy putting my tray away and missed it

Elder Berry: Ya, look out for an Elder Humphreys

Me: ELDER WHO?!?!?

and ya, we met up later on. So it's pretty cool.

Also, i would like to request the addresses of all the guys I know who are on missions so I can send them some letters. Blake, Jeremy, Tyler, Max, Bryan and anyone else who I missed. (i only have 30 minutes to type, so sorry if I forget anyone, but it's pretty stressful)

Another thing i forgot to mention, was that my first Thursday night here, my companion Elder Berry started feeling really sick, so I was asked to give him a preisthood blessing. My very first one. Which was a very nerve wracking experience. Although I think i did a good job. He puked twice and then felt better. He's from Logan UT, and is a really fun nice, spritual guy. We get along really well. Hes going to Honolulu Hawaii though, so next sunday he will move into a different room and I get put with the 2 other guys in my room that are going to Col Springs.

I've already had the opportunity to play piano a few times, prelude, opening hymn, that sort of thing. I found out that Choose the Right when played at very high speed sounds like a hoe-down song, much to the delight of my teacher and district. And Sweet Hour of Prayer sounds like a sea-shanty. ahh...good times with the district.

Some are probably reading my letter wondering if I do anything spiritual at all. Well, the question is more of, do i do anything that isn't spiritual. If i'm not studying the scriptures, Preach My Gospel, Jesus the Christ, or some other work, I will be practicing teaching, or something else that is spiritual. I've had a lot of great experiences teaching volunteer investigators. And also some not so good experiences. A word of advice, never try and teach a shortened version of Lesson One really quickly in an attempt to mix it together with Lesson Two. It just doesn't work. Unfortunately the concept of dispensations is really confusing to some people. Basically I screwed up the lesson by talking too fast and not letting my companion get in a word. Oh well, live and learn. I guess this is the place to do it.

And really, the spirit at the MTC is like EFY testimony meeting but multiplied by 100. The people here really truly want to be here and really care about the gospel. And being a Canadian who can do a pretty good batman imitation and is pretty legit at freestyling makes life pretty fun sometimes.

Also, is it too late to change my "missionary scripture" I found one (a legitimate one) that I would like to use more. Let me know. it's the one in Alma where he talks about "experimenting upon the word".

Also, here is your scripture of the week: Phillippians 3:2. Check it out if you want a laugh.

And ya, times almost up, but I don't know about next weeks letter because I will be flying all day. So it might be a bit. But just so ya know, if you try to send me a letter, It will take about a week to get here. and If i get it on a tuesday then I can't write back until the next monday. So don't be offended if it takes a while to get a letter back from me.

Peace.