Hey mama! How have things been going back at home? Is everyone having a grand fun time without me? Things here are going amazing! The time is flying by faster than I was expecting. In just 8 short days I will be at the airport on my way to Atlanta and then to Columbus. I'm scared to leave the MTC but equally as excited to go into the real world. I'm not sure if I'm ready yet, but it's like what I've been saying, will I ever feel ready? I'm looking forward to the temple today and I'll text and call you when I get back and finish laundry. I love you mama!
Here's the story of my time here at the MTC for the second week:
Day 7: Finally the first P day! It seemed so far away and now its here. I was so looking forward to emailing and texting everyone and especially getting that video chat call. I'm a little sad because I skipped out on the temple to relax a little bit and talk with everyone but I'm still happy with the choice that I made. I wanted to cry when I first saw my mama and dad on camera but I held it together because I'm a macho man. At 5:15 I went to choir with some of the other Elders and had a blast singing Nearer My God to Thee. Then we had our devotional where a member of the Presidency of the 70 talked about the restoration. His overall message was that if we have a testimony of Joseph Smith and the Restoration, then that will be all we need. I also learned that simple testimonies carry a lot of weight. After hearing his talk I felt my testimony of the first vision grow exponentially.
Day 8: Boy oh boy I still can't believe it has been a full week! It feels so crazy to think it's been a week. It's been fast and slow at the same time. Today was really slow for the first part of the day. I think I was a little sad after talking with family and friends cause it gave me sufficient time to think about missing them. But things quickly picked up as I prepared to teach our TRC the Plan of Salvation. Me and Elder Thomason started planning the lesson out and once we got everything down we were so excited to go and teach. As we got in the lesson I could feel the words come to my mouth and I testified of the Plan of Salvation, even the Plan of Happiness. The feeling of the spirit was so strong throughout the lesson and it is still strong within my heart as I write this.
Day 9: Today was overall the same as yesterday except there wouldn't be a workshop to go to. Which is pretty good because I am always on the brink of falling asleep in them. I enjoyed class today while we talked abou the apostasy and restoration. Some highlights of the day was when we got to teach a TRC investigator that we got assigned through email named Andrew. It went pretty well overall and I'm glad that we got to meet with him. Me and my companion just spent the whole time getting to know him and talking about his life so we only had about 5 minutes to bear our testimonies to him. I feel like we still got a strong message across on the power of prayer. Later on that day we had another TRC appointment with Cameron again. We talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ and what we need to do to receive the fullness of the gospel. When we finished the lesson we inviting him to be baptized and he said that he would think about it and that he didn't want to rush into it. This made me happy because it wasn't a no. There is still a chance that we could get him to commit to baptism and that fills me with joy!
Day 10: Nothing much happened for today. I was just the same general stuff. Class in the morning and exercise time after lunch. Followed up by afternoon classes. We got a new TRC today so sadly that means we can't teach Cameron anymore. Now we are going to teach a guy named Ian. He seems really nice and we get along well. He doesn't seem as willing to learn and make the changes in his life for the gospel. I am hoping that we can provide him with messages that he needs to hear.
Day 11: It's day 11 and I still haven't found a way of escape. All of the exits are guarded with SWAT officers. Cameras are everywhere and no one can be trusted. I don't have much longer until they find my hiding place and force me to teach another investigator. I'm just kidding, everything here is fun and I'm enjoying myself. Nothing too significant happened today except for class at the end of the day. In class we just had more practice teaching investigators and focusing on breaking down scriptures for them. It went really well and we got a lot done. I'm looking forward to the Sabbath tomorrow!
Day 12: Our second Sabbath day here at the MTC, what a joy! We had a good start with Pink Tie Sunday and we had a decent turnout. Priesthood and sacrament meeting went as normal. We ran into a snag when after lunch we were supposed to go to a meeting with the Branch President talking about the new missionary handbook and 2/3 of the district was missing. Apparently they didn't realize that they had to go to that so I had to go on a quest to find them. Eventually I found them relaxing in the dorms and we all rushed to get back to the meeting. Everything after that was normal, nothing stood out too much until the devotional. Jenna Oaks Baker and the Family Four came to give us a musical devotional that was absolutely amazing! You should look them up, they have made countless performances across the world and are well known on YouTube. Overall this was an awesome day and I continue to look forward to what is to come!
Day 13: Today went by so fast if I'm being honest. We went to breakfast and then class and it seemed like 5 minutes later it was 6:15 and we had a TRC to teach. Next thing I know here I am writing in an email, its pretty insane! I just got an email about my flight plans and what's going to happen and I'm realizing how long I've been here and how there is only 9 days left. It almost kills my vibe but I'm excited for the field. I'm looking forward to my last week at the MTC and I'm going to make the most of it.
Miracle:
After our afternoon TRCs on day 9 we went back to class and I think that I had the most spiritual moment in my entire stay here at the MTC. (I'm going to say that a lot, it's very spiritual here). In the lesson we were going over in class we had the opportunity to extend an invite to a fellow missionary and give them a promise based on what the spirit prompts us to say. I was terrified because I didn't want to convey the wrong message. So I prayed with all my heart to be filled with the spirits guidance. After this I was able to give Elder Cordel a promise and my testimony on his time here as a missionary. After this we were so much closer as a district and for that I thank the Lord. I truly felt like I was an instrument in God's hand and I can't think of a greater miracle than that.
Funny moment:
We discovered that there was a cat running around on campus. We then later discovered that some Elders had baptized the cat and gave it the Priesthood. It makes it even more awkward when we found out it was a girl cat. How they baptized it or even where they baptized it eludes me. These Elders were supposedly sent home so that's where the story ends. It's funny and tragic at the same time!
Love,
Elder Bohn
Love,
Elder Bohn
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