Week 1: In the books!

Hey there! Everything is going absolutely amazing here at the MTC. Here's a run through if this week so far:

Background/Information to know: So we are all English speaking in my District. There are 12 of us:

Elder Cordel: SLC, UT

Elder Perazzo: SLC, UT

Elder Johnson: Boise, Idaho

Elder Colson: Boise, Idaho

Elder Thomason: Columbus, Ohio

Elder Drasbek: Boise, Idaho

Elder Ugapo: Boise, Idaho

Sister Sika: Boise, Idaho

Sister Ray: Boise, Idaho

Sister Durfee: Anchorage, Alaska 

Sister Chatelain: Anchorage, Alaska 

And of course me.

My companion is Elder Thomason and he is super fun and super chill and we get along well so I'm super lucky to have such an awesome companion. He is also going to Columbus with me.

Day 1: By far the most confusing and stressful day of my life. As soon as I got out of the car I was already running around talking to people getting room keys and badges and what not. After we got all the things I needed we dropped my bags off in my room and the guy helping me with all my stuff told me to go to my classroom in T4-678 which meant absolutely nothing to me so I was like, ummmmmm okay bro. Eventually I got to class and met the other people in my district and they were all super nice. We have 2 teachers that switch off teaching with each other. One teaches in the morning and the other teaches at night. Once we did some introductions we all went to the main building and the MTC presidency gave some talks about missionary work and sent us off to dinner. To be honest, the food is pretty good and it's all you can eat so I'm probably going to put on a few pounds. Later on during the day we had what's called a work shop where a teacher comes in to teach a giant class about certain topics of the gospel or missionary work. The first one the head 3 investigators in 3 separate rooms and in each one we were supposed to listen to their concerns and give them responses. Overall it was super intimidating doing this all in the first day but I had a lot of fun. 

Day 2: So this was technically the second day but our first full day. I had a lot of fun. We started to have a normal full schedule which means waking up at 6:30, getting to breakfast anywhere from 7:30 to 8:15. After that we have class from 8:30 in until 11:30 every day talking about random topics. After that we have lunch which is followed by: personal study, companion study, BoM study, exercise time, and another workshop. They are all in random order and time slots according to the day so it's impossible to tell when you should do something without consulting a schedule. After dinner at like 5:30 till 6 we have second class with is from 6:15 until 9:15.  However this day we were meeting our Branch President and we were going to see which one of us was going to be the District Leader. We got to have interviews with President Lisonbee and after we were done he announced who the District Leader was. Guess who it was. That's right it was ya boi. After the meeting we then headed straight to our rooms which so luckily is all the way across campus from us. And a 15 minute walk away. 

Day 3: Most of day 3 was the same as the previous day but the one thing that made it awesome/stressful was that we met our TRC's. They just had us all walk into a room full of random investigators and pick one to talk to and set up a teaching appointment. So me and Elder Thomason walk in and we some 19 year old just chilling there and we go up and just start talking with him. We talked for about 10 minutes on just random topics just getting to know each other. Found out that his name is Cameron, (so strange right?). In the end we set up an appointment with him to teach him Monday the 11th. After that everything was pretty much the same.

Day 4: Saturday was just like any other day in terms of the schedule. There weren't any standout moments except for getting into discussions about church conspiracies with all the Elders in our district. We talked about if ghosts are just ththe spirits in the spirit world, if bigfoot is really Cain doomed to walk the Earth for eternity, if Adam and Eve had belly buttons, and things like that. We had a lot of fun talking about it and we all grew closer together.

Day 5: Our first Sunday at the MTC. It was a lot of fun. I had to go to a meeting with all the other DL's and Zone Leaders and President Lisonbee. We just discussed district goals and if there were any issues to be concerned about. After that we had elders quorum and relief society for about 50 minutes then we all went to Sacrament. For talks they just call a random Elder and Sister to talk for 5 minutes in the language they are learning. That just happened to be one of the Elders in my district, Elder Cordel. When sacrament was over we had free time for an hour and then lunch. After lunch we met with Sister Lisonbee, the president's wife and talked about adjusting to missionary life for an hour. After that the Elders all went into a chapel room and had a lesson on representing Christ. After the lesson we had a choice: go to choir or not go to choir. I'm ashamed to say but me and 3 other Elders skipped out, but it's not entirely our fault. People told us that it was 2 hours long, so our plan was to take a break for the first hour of practice and then go for the second. But surprise it was only an hour of practice. Afte that disappointment we headed to dinner and then straight to a devotional. We got to meet a general 70 who had a huge role in publishing Preach My Gospel. After he talked all the missionaries left and the first week MTC missionaries stayed for a special devotional. It was a video of David A Bednar giving a talk on Christmas at the MTC years ago. It is titled, "The Character of Christ" and it is by far the best talk I have ever heard in my life. I could dive further into it but there is just so much about it. But he basically talked about how humans are naturally greedy and think abou themselves first but we need to be like the Savior and think of others before ourselves. He shared a story of a single mother with 1 child who found out her daughter was in an accident with 2 other girls and one of them had died. The mother soon found out that it was her daughter that had passed away. When she heard the news her first concern was the other girls parent needing to know about their daughters. This talk touched my heart so much about how we should stop being selfish and think about others first. It's too bad I'll never hear it again because its only available at the MTC to new missionaries.

Day 6: Monday was again just like any other MTC day. We had class, meals, study time, exercise time, workshops, and more class time. However we had our first lesson with Cameron on Monday. I was so nervous to be teaching for the first time. Me and Elder Thomason studying the first lesson on the Restoration. We both had a really good understanding of the lesson and we were confident in out ability to teach. We went into a room with him and started teaching. It all seemed like a blur because the words just came to my mind and they were so clear. The spirit in there was so powerful and I've never felt so close to the Savior. After that lesson it confirmed in my mind that this is where I'm meant to be. 

Overall my testimony when I got here was average. My knowledge and understanding was average. My will to do difficult things was average. Now I have such a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and of the power of prayer. I'm happy that I've come here and I don't want to leave.

I love you so much! I miss you and everyone at home so much. 

Love, Elder Bohn