Hello everyone!
Well, I've been in the Missionary Training Center for about three days so
far. Honestly, there have been quite a bit of mixed feelings about this entire
thing, but overall it has been wonderful--so far, at least! I was expecting it
to be unbelievably stressful and/or overwhelming upon arrival, and
although we have been busy, it's better than I expected.
On Thursday we spent about four hours in the classroom studying German, and
yesterday we spent over six hours doing the same. While that sounds long, and
probably awful to some, I have loved being able to study German and I
hope that I am taking advantage of it to the absolute best of my ability. I've
been doing my best to speak German all the time, but it's hard in the mornings
when my mind is barely functioning with speaking English.
I've been practicing praying in German as well as bearing my testimony and
although it is coming along a bit slowly, I'm having a lot of fun and it's super
satisfying to be able to articulate...kind of...my needs and desires to Heavenly
Father before I go to sleep and multiple, multiple times throughout the day.
I think I've coped with mission life pretty well these last through days
(although it has only been three days so I mean, I hope I am able to last
this long) but I did have my first little panic attack last night before I went
to bed. We had to do a lesson with an "investigator" in German and I thought I
was able to speak decent, considering our time at the MTC, at first, but our
lesson plan fell apart and we didn't rely on Preach My Gospel as much as I think
we should have, which was probably why we screwed up as badly as I think we
did. I've been praying that I'll have the ability to be humbled to a point
where I will have to rely just as much on the Holy Ghost and its teachings, as I
would on my work to learn the language, and so I think that this bit of stress
is definitely good. We're going to be teaching another German lesson on Monday
morning and we're going to be better prepared, both spiritually and mentally...I
hope.
I'm sharing a residence hall/room with my companion, Elder F, and
another companionship in our district, Elder H and Elder A. They're all
pretty cool, but I think I'm a bit of an odd-one-out because they all love
football, baseball, and basketball...all sports that I can't play nor have paid
a whole lot of attention to. Their interests are more closely aligned, but they
also like soccer...er, I mean, "fussball", and I've grown to love playing that
in the last year, so that's something. We're getting along well and at this
point none of them seem disgruntled off the bat, so we don't have many concerns
in that area. We're pretty focused in our lessons and when we study German, but
I feel bad for Elder H because out of the four of us, he is the only one
who hasn't taken German in high school so he's a bit behind our [mediocre]
German skills. But he's actually made great progress and I'm excited for
him!
Also, if the pictures get through and you can see them, you will notice
that 3/4 of us Elders are wearing conflicting college shirts. So the tension is
rising. Just kidding.
The sisters in our district are cool as well. One girl, Sister Griffen,
was born in Scotland and grew up in New Zealand, and has what she has named a
"dodgy" accent. I think it's awesome though. Sister Weiler is going to Utah
State after her mission and has already run Cross Country there, and she's one
of the only ones in our district who actually likes to run, so we've talked
about how much we hate/love running a bit. That's good. We also have a Sister
Johnson, who also likes running a bit. She's companions with Sister Moeller,
who was born in Germany to a convert family, but her dad has fallen away before
she left on her mission. She and Sister Johnson both have a strong testimony I
think and they've helped to bring the spirit to the classroom, along with the
other two sisters. It's good to have sisters because they keep the Elders in
line, I think. Haha!
Oh, and the spirit. That is one of the first things I've realized upon
arrival to the MTC. We can feel the Holy Ghost here so powerfully and I know,
when I look around at the hundreds to thousands of missionaries here, that we're
truly doing God's work. And I am starting to see a bit of the gift of tongues
appear in some people, like Elder H. The spirit facilitates our learning
both of the German Language and Gospel so well, and it's really amazing. At the
end of the night, I get a similar feeling that I would get when I worked at the
temple. I'm tired of course, but the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost
for these many hours gives me a sense of energy in my exhaustion that keeps me
motivated, hopeful, and most importantly, I hope, faithful. I also think that
the spirit is the reason you can cram four eighteen-to-twenty year old guys in a
classroom for six or more hours and still be working effectively the whole
time. I've felt it bring focus to all of us. That's truly a miracle.
While none of us have been able to speak very well, I can tell that we're
still getting helped because we're forming our foundation more quickly than I
ever anticipated.
I've been called as a District Leader for the eight people in my district
for three out of the six weeks we'll be in the MTC. It's no big deal, but hey,
that means I have "mail duty" and basically if my elders and sisters don't get
their mail on time, my life is on the line. Other than that, though, I'm doing
my best to make sure all is well with everyone. So far, all seems to be
well!
The zone leaders in our...zone...are super awesome as well. One of them
reminds me of Parker H. And, if you know Parker H, then what need I
say more?
Yeah. So I'll have plenty more actual experience by next week with the
MTC. I'll let you all know if I'm collapsing by then. It's awesome right now
though. No place I'd rather be. While I am homesick, I'm relieved to finally
be able to start my mission, and I kind of just have felt through the last month
that it was time for me to go...hahaha, so I'm "relieved", but in a weird way.
I hope you know what I'm saying, but if you don't, just keep reading and know
that I miss you all. In summary, the food is good, the schedule is busy but
great, and the spirit dwells among us. It's a great combination.
I love you all and can't wait to hear back from you, friends and family!
Also, I heard I will be getting a new nephew this week! That's super
exciting!
Love,
Elder Wallentine
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