Hey everyone!
It's been a good, final week at the MTC! On Monday morning we will be heading out from the Salt Lake City airport, to Georgia, and then straight to Frankfurt. I'm so stoked...but also a tad bit nervous about being actually gone.
On Tuesday evening, we had a devotional where Elder Anderson came. He spoke to us about attitudes on the mission, and really emphasized that we've been called to our countries/states for a specific reason, and that we shouldn't be discouraged about the "likelihood" of us converting people or even just teaching lessons because there are people who have been getting prepared to accept the gospel. They've really emphasized that this week, actually. We also had in-field orientation on Thursday, and that was one of the biggest topics that they talked to us about. It's made me think about what we have control over as missionaries. We won't have control over a person's decision to be baptized, naturally, but we can have control over our diligence and faith in helping them to accept it. They've really just emphasized constant diligence and working hard on an every-day basis in the mission field. I probably have no idea what I'm taking about right now, though, because I'm not in the field yet, but hey, I'll do my best to live by this.
But anyways, it's been cool. In the six weeks we've been here, we've seen Elder Bednar and Elder Anderson. We would be seeing Elder Holland if we left two days later. He's coming on Tuesday. But two general authorities are AMAZING. I'll count my blessings. Both of them testified so powerfully of the truthfulness of this church, the Atonement of Christ and His love for us. Really cool experiences.
This week, I completed D&C, and I finished the Book of Mormon a few weeks ago in the first half of the MTC! I really wanted to make sure that I read through them as thoroughly as possible, and I'm very glad I did. One scripture that I used in TRC and really like is D&C 58:3-6. It states: "Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. For after much tribulation come the blessings.Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand. Remember this, which I tell you before, that you may lay it to heart, and receive that which is to follow. Behold, verily I say unto you, for this cause I have sent you—that you might be obedient, and that your hearts might be prepared to bear testimony of the things which are to come;"
In hindsight, many of the biggest issues that I had at the start of my MTC experience seem somewhat trivial when I start to think about how much everything is going to change, and the issues others are facing. I love this scripture, because it will be there for me to remember when things feel overwhelming again, and not only that, but it provides great counsel to all who feel harrowed with sorrow and sadness. There have been times in my life where I've felt as though my faith was diminishing, or even gone at some particular points. I think that the problem with those feelings is that people heed them, and then stop acting in faith, by reducing daily scripture studying, getting casual or all together forgetting to pray, stop going to church, etc. But, I believe, that a major part of enduring to the end is continuing to do the seemingly "small" things when you feel as though you are lacking in faith, or any other spiritual aspect of your life. God cannot help us if we remove the tools through which he blesses us. Even if we feel as though the effects aren't showing in the moment of our small and simple acts of faith, if we continue with them over long periods of time, God will surely help us. He wants to, and we need to show him that we desire his help, and then act upon it.
That's my thought for the week. In other news, I learned how to roll my tongue. So I basically have the European languages mastered now. Just kidding. Not even close. But German continues to go well. My grammar is still a bit rough, though. I've gotten much of the gospel vocabulary down, to the point where I can pretty comfortably teach lessons 1-3 and similarly with 4-5, albeit a bit rougher (reminding myself that these are MTC lessons. I have no idea how much it's going to change with real investigators). But I'm pretty bad at conversational German. I hope that just naturally improves when I arrive.
That's the biggest news this week. It's been fun at the MTC. I've seen plenty of my old friends from school. Made some new friends. Really enjoy talking to some of the Dutch-speaking missionaries in our class building. I bump into them a lot and I can vaguely remember a lot of the phrases they use. One day I kind of want to learn Dutch again, but at the same time, I don't want to screw up my German since Dutch is essentially just a weird middle-ground between the two. I like to describe it as if an English speaker heard a German speak for the first time, and then wrote down the sounds that they heard the way an English speaker would write. For example, "Ich auch" means "Me too" in German. "Ik ook" means "Me too" in Dutch." It's pretty funny.
Oh, and we got a new shipment of German missionaries three weeks ago. They're fast-trackers. One of them spent 14 years there and he's fluent. His companion spent one year there and he's pretty good too. They leave with us Monday. They're all pretty friendly and cool. Lots of people are intimidated by their skills though, hahaha!
Also, I fed some birds a bagel today. I think they appreciated it. There was a bit of a scuffle between some over who got the bigger pieces but I think they got it figured out.
Well, this is it. Hopefully this letter sounded more positive. I love you guys! Next letter will be filled with likely culture-shock and EXCITEMENT. I can't wait! Thanks for your letters! Thanks for your support! Keep writing me! I love you all!
Love,
Elder Wallentine
It's been a good, final week at the MTC! On Monday morning we will be heading out from the Salt Lake City airport, to Georgia, and then straight to Frankfurt. I'm so stoked...but also a tad bit nervous about being actually gone.
On Tuesday evening, we had a devotional where Elder Anderson came. He spoke to us about attitudes on the mission, and really emphasized that we've been called to our countries/states for a specific reason, and that we shouldn't be discouraged about the "likelihood" of us converting people or even just teaching lessons because there are people who have been getting prepared to accept the gospel. They've really emphasized that this week, actually. We also had in-field orientation on Thursday, and that was one of the biggest topics that they talked to us about. It's made me think about what we have control over as missionaries. We won't have control over a person's decision to be baptized, naturally, but we can have control over our diligence and faith in helping them to accept it. They've really just emphasized constant diligence and working hard on an every-day basis in the mission field. I probably have no idea what I'm taking about right now, though, because I'm not in the field yet, but hey, I'll do my best to live by this.
But anyways, it's been cool. In the six weeks we've been here, we've seen Elder Bednar and Elder Anderson. We would be seeing Elder Holland if we left two days later. He's coming on Tuesday. But two general authorities are AMAZING. I'll count my blessings. Both of them testified so powerfully of the truthfulness of this church, the Atonement of Christ and His love for us. Really cool experiences.
This week, I completed D&C, and I finished the Book of Mormon a few weeks ago in the first half of the MTC! I really wanted to make sure that I read through them as thoroughly as possible, and I'm very glad I did. One scripture that I used in TRC and really like is D&C 58:3-6. It states: "Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. For after much tribulation come the blessings.Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand. Remember this, which I tell you before, that you may lay it to heart, and receive that which is to follow. Behold, verily I say unto you, for this cause I have sent you—that you might be obedient, and that your hearts might be prepared to bear testimony of the things which are to come;"
In hindsight, many of the biggest issues that I had at the start of my MTC experience seem somewhat trivial when I start to think about how much everything is going to change, and the issues others are facing. I love this scripture, because it will be there for me to remember when things feel overwhelming again, and not only that, but it provides great counsel to all who feel harrowed with sorrow and sadness. There have been times in my life where I've felt as though my faith was diminishing, or even gone at some particular points. I think that the problem with those feelings is that people heed them, and then stop acting in faith, by reducing daily scripture studying, getting casual or all together forgetting to pray, stop going to church, etc. But, I believe, that a major part of enduring to the end is continuing to do the seemingly "small" things when you feel as though you are lacking in faith, or any other spiritual aspect of your life. God cannot help us if we remove the tools through which he blesses us. Even if we feel as though the effects aren't showing in the moment of our small and simple acts of faith, if we continue with them over long periods of time, God will surely help us. He wants to, and we need to show him that we desire his help, and then act upon it.
That's my thought for the week. In other news, I learned how to roll my tongue. So I basically have the European languages mastered now. Just kidding. Not even close. But German continues to go well. My grammar is still a bit rough, though. I've gotten much of the gospel vocabulary down, to the point where I can pretty comfortably teach lessons 1-3 and similarly with 4-5, albeit a bit rougher (reminding myself that these are MTC lessons. I have no idea how much it's going to change with real investigators). But I'm pretty bad at conversational German. I hope that just naturally improves when I arrive.
That's the biggest news this week. It's been fun at the MTC. I've seen plenty of my old friends from school. Made some new friends. Really enjoy talking to some of the Dutch-speaking missionaries in our class building. I bump into them a lot and I can vaguely remember a lot of the phrases they use. One day I kind of want to learn Dutch again, but at the same time, I don't want to screw up my German since Dutch is essentially just a weird middle-ground between the two. I like to describe it as if an English speaker heard a German speak for the first time, and then wrote down the sounds that they heard the way an English speaker would write. For example, "Ich auch" means "Me too" in German. "Ik ook" means "Me too" in Dutch." It's pretty funny.
Oh, and we got a new shipment of German missionaries three weeks ago. They're fast-trackers. One of them spent 14 years there and he's fluent. His companion spent one year there and he's pretty good too. They leave with us Monday. They're all pretty friendly and cool. Lots of people are intimidated by their skills though, hahaha!
Also, I fed some birds a bagel today. I think they appreciated it. There was a bit of a scuffle between some over who got the bigger pieces but I think they got it figured out.
Well, this is it. Hopefully this letter sounded more positive. I love you guys! Next letter will be filled with likely culture-shock and EXCITEMENT. I can't wait! Thanks for your letters! Thanks for your support! Keep writing me! I love you all!
Love,
Elder Wallentine
And here is a picture of our district with both of our
teachers! The lady with her arms folded with the dark blue shirt is one, and
the second-to-farthest left man with the white name tag is the other!
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