MTC Experience

Hey there everybody! It has been an interesting but fun 4 weeks in the MTC. My First day was pretty rough. The day started at 4:30am when I left Medford. I arrived to the MTC around 10:30 and the minute I got off the shuttle it was pretty much go go go the rest of the day. To be honest I wasn’t all that happy to be at the MTC. It was a difficult adjustment to be away from home again and just letting myself be okay with being gone for 2 years was a bit of a struggle. Fast Forward to my first P-day, I got to talk to my family and it felt really good. It is weird not being around them everyday and being able to tell them about my day and things like that. Probably the hardest thing about the first week was letting myself feel like this is where I need to be at this time. Luckily I was able to listen to a talk given by Elder Bednar that is exclusive to the MTC called the character of Christ. He gave a similar talk at BYU Idaho years ago but this one was extra special because he had no notes and just talked freely the whole time. There was a lot of awesome things talked about during the talk but one that stood out to me was when he said that we are in the right place at the right time. This was really good to hear because I was struggling feeling that. The other thing that I learned from the talk and just my time at the MTC is that we don’t matter, lol. But it is true, this is the Lord’s mission. Although by serving faithfully I will receive blessings, it is really about the people we teach and how the gospel can bless them. If we forget ourselves in the service of others we will ultimately find ourselves without even looking. As human beings our natural reaction is to look inward and think about ourselves, but Christ always looked outward. Even during the time he was on the cross, all he thought about was others. His example is so important to me and how I want to serve my mission and live my life.  Christmas in the MTC was a lot of fun. It was busy but fun. We got the hear from Elder D. Todd Christofferson and listen to David Archuleta. Listening to David was really cool because he shared some of his mission experiences in between songs. Then afterwards I got to shake his hand and say hi. The rest of my time in the MTC has been pretty routine. Just learning more about how to teach people and love the people I teach. My district has been a lot of fun as well. My companion is our district leader and we get along well. Our district has gotten pretty close these past 4 weeks so it will be a bit sad leaving them. Having fun with them has made the MTC a lot more fun and enjoyable for sure. During my time here I got to go to the Provo Temple and will go again today. I have also given 4 blessing here too. One to my companion, one to another elder,and 2 sisters. It is definitely good practice and was really cool to do that as a missionary.  I want to end by saying that I have also learned that there is still a lot of good left in this world. There are people out there that have been searching for the gospel and just don’t know where to find it. The adversary is very powerful but nothing compared to the light of Christ that is within every person on this earth. My patriarchal blessing says that I am suppose to find those people. Lastly I encourage everyone who reads this to read the Book of Mormon. It is the most correct and important book on this earth. The 200 years anniversary of the first vision is this year and the Prophet is preparing something big. So prepare yourself by studying the Book of Mormon and why it is so important.
Thanks for all the support! And I leave for Pittsburgh tomorrow! Love Elder Souza