My first week in the MTC was absolutely great. While I'm in
the MTC Friday is going to be my P-day! Things really are great here! My Spanish
is getting a lot better, especially during teaching lessons! It’s just another
testimony to me of how personally involved Heavenly Father is in each of our
lives! Alright, so the highlight of the week was probably Tuesday night when we
had our devotional. There were 10 APOSTLES in attendance. All of them except
Elder Packer and Elder Hales! It was such a special experience to feel of their
love and see them so close. we as missionaries sat up on the bleachers while
all the mission presidents and their wives, the presidents of the 70, and other
general authorities sat on chairs on the floor! What made it extra special was
to see how excited the Mission Presidents and their wives were to look back and
see us as a body of missionaries. It really made you understand that you are
part of something so much bigger than yourself. At the end I also caught sight
of my living prophets teacher Bro. Richardson! it was so good to see him! Elder
L. Tom Perry spoke to us. He shared a whole presentation on the statistics of
the real and tangible benefits for living the gospel. . . for example... fasting
decreases the chance of having blocked arteries by 40%....LDS men live 10 years
longer than other men and LDS women live 5 (or it might be the other way
around). At the end he bore a strong testimony that Jesus Christ does
personally lead this church today and the Spirit was so strong!
Today I also had the chance to go through the Provo, Temple.
It was such a good break from the routine MTC schedule and it was really neat
to go with the other Elders in my district. Most days for gym I've been playing
soccer, but yesterday we got some basketball in as well. On Wednesday as we
were jogging back through the gates we passed Elder Oaks and Elder Andersen in
their cars and they waved to all of us! So cool! On the other side of the
mountains something caught fire a few days ago and so there's been smoke that
been blowing down through the valley throughout the days. I see Elder Smith and
Elder Steele pretty regularly as well as Elder Stott! It seems like our whole
hall from BYU is here. Que mas... Elder Tarr is such a good companion. He
always wants to pray and is so thoughtful and kind. He still reminds me a lot
of Bishop Robinson! (They even play basketball in a similar style!). On Tuesday
for our service time we cleaned the residence hall. Saturday night we got to
watch a movie...The other side of heaven!...and it was a lot different watching
it as a missionary! Sunday night we
watched an MTC address Elder Bednar gave a few years ago on Christmas. He
talked about the character of Christ and how often we see it in the scriptures.
He's main focus was that when the natural man turns inward, Christ turns
outward! It gave me a lot of good ideas and inspirations on how to be a better
missionary. So far we've taught about 6 or 7 lessons...all in Spanish...and they’re
really a unique opportunity to feel the spirit, study the gospel, and learn how
to teach. I love it! As a district we've been memorizing lots of things as
well! So far we have the Missionary purpose, the first vision, invitation to be
baptized, and half of section 4 down. My new best friend is a little yellow Spanish
verb conjugation book that fits in my pocket! I use it all the time and its
really useful.
As far as a more specific daily schedule....here's how my Monday
went. Wake up 6:30...breakfast 7:10...class 7:40-10:40 (lots of teaching
grammar then applying it through role playing)...10:40-11:45 Personal study
(often from Preach my Gospel)...11;45 (lunch)....Workshop from 1230-130...TALL
(computer language study where you have a headset and listen then speak...match....rewrite...vocab
and phrases) 1:30-2:15....Language study 2:150-3:15....gym 3:25-4:15....Dinner
4:45...classroom 5:30-8:30 (during this time is when we usually teach our
"investigators"). then 8:30-9 additional study...9 planning...and
9:30-10:15 personal time....10:30 is
lights out!!!! Again it’s a really interesting pace because you’re constantly
on the move but you always have enough time to make it to places! I also had
the cool chance to talk with a guy on my floor who's from McAllen! He was so
excited when I told him! I'll let you guys know the more I learn!
Send some "Dear
Elders" letters. They are so cool to get! Thanks Dad for yours and for all your help in
getting me out here! it was such a good trip! Thanks as well Mom for the note
as well! Esta bien cuand escriba en espanol!
hope everyone is doing well and enjoying summer in Ohio!!!!
Love,
Elder Cook
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