Hello good people, I am officially almost 1 week into the MTC. I start in Provo next Wednesday, and go to California on the 28th. I think this email is long, so my bad. I guess just read whatever.
1. Getting set apart
2. First days in the MTC
3. David A. Bednar talk
4. Nacho Libre
1. So I got set apart Sunday. And I now know the exact feeling of having that weighted blanket, and gunpoint. When I first heard it, I thought when people said blanket, it was like a warm blanket that makes you all cozy, but no. It felt like a freakin 200 lb trying to drag you to the ground. And it was weirdly difficult to stand up for the first night. Also, God hired a Spiritual Hitman, who's job is to take me out, onsite, if I don't exercise exact obedience. I don't think I've had exact obedience this week, but I'm still alive, so maybe he doesn't have those exact orders. But I've definitely got a red dot on me.
2. Sunday night I moved into my Grandparents basement, because my house is too loud for me to make comments on zoom classes, or be able to do anything MTC really. Anyway, the first day was long, but since Tuesday, everyday has gone by super fast. Zoom calls take up probably like 7 hours of the day, but we take breaks like every hour. It really isn't that bad as long as I'm focused. But at the end of the day I'll be getting ready for bed and it's like "Didn't I already just barely set the bed? Is it time for Bed already?" I would say I am Medium-High busy. When we're not on calls we do Personal and companion study, and go through the mission portal. One of those things being the Safety Zone videos. I was warned that my sense of humor would deteriorate, but I like to think that I haven't lost it yet. Safety Zone is my main source of entertainment, but I don't really think it's funny. I feel like I'm just waiting to find something funny. Also because I don't really have any sources of entertainment. But it's been good. Coming to the MTC from working in Pennsylvania has definitely been an easier adjustment.
3. While it has been good, Tuesday was kind of a rough day. I woke up late, really sore from exercising for the first time in longer than I will say. So I skipped exercising because I was sore, and I lost the time to exercise because I was asleep. To top it off, I cut myself while shaving with a new razor. I grabbed it from my Parents basement while I was packing. They have a stock pile of things like razors, sunblock and a lot of Body wash? I thought it was like a survival thing at first, because that's kind of what it looks like. But in an emergency, like if the house is on fire, we're not gonna head downstairs and grab 6 boxes of Old Spice Body wash, like what? And this was only my second day in the MTC, but it felt like it should've been like a week by that point, because Monday went by super slow. And thinking you're 2 days in out of 700+ is not a great one. But, anyway, I was at a kind of a low point and had guilt for not having that exact obedience. Later that night we had a devotional from David A. Bednar which really helped, and covered all the concerns I was having. He said things like "You're not gonna be perfect, you're 18 years old". I don't really remember much else, and don't feel like looking through my journal to find out, but basically he helped me feel better about all those things, and the talk made me laugh a lot too. He also said something that I already knew, but just didn't remember or realize that it applied. And that was when he said something like "The way you will get through this is by relying on Christ". And like, no duh, that's how you do it, we've all heard that before. I'm like a missionary now and have probably even said that by that point without realizing or thinking that it applied to me. But that especially helped me feel better about how this is a 2 year package.
4. A couple of days ago, I got this song stuck in my head from Nacho Libre. I don't know why, because I haven't seen the movie in years, but it's like the intro song when he's a kid. I just could not get it out of my head and so I looked it up. It's called "Religious Man" or "Hombre Religioso" and I actually really liked the lyrics. I am sorry, if that's not righteous, I have not read through the whole Missionary handbook yet, but I felt the lyrics passed the test. I did honestly feel the spirit while it was playing. The lyrics go: "I am I am, I am I am, I think I am, I thank I am, I'm glad I am, I'm proud I am, A real religious man". Those lyrics kinda helped me feel like "Yeah, I'm a Religious Man", not to mention the song is kind of a bop. But I would say those lyrics kind of represent how I'm feeling right now. Check in, in a couple weeks when I'm in San Diego. I would actually love it if I could have this song playing in the background like when I'm shaving and getting ready, putting my name tag on, etc. But go listen to it, because it's great.
That's pretty much it. I don't get why people have said that the MTC is "hard but good" because for me it's pretty much just good. Everyone knows the field is hard, but I think I'm probably living my best life out here. Sure it's work, but I don't feel like it's a burden in the slightest. I just really like that I can devote 100% of my time to bringing forth the Kingdom of God. Anyway, I don't really think I have much else to say, feel free to send me an email, and have fun
- Elder Wride
No comments:
Post a Comment