What a crazy week. I've said it before, I'll say it again, time flies.
Last letter from the MTC!
We had a great devotional on Sunday. I can't remember
who spoke but it was all about obedience and how we can be better if we
do everything spot on. He told some crazy stories about lawsuits
associated with missionaries separated from their companions just for a
few minutes. He spoke with power. Right before he spoke he asked us all
to say a silent prayer so that he could be directed via the spirit on
what he should speak about. Obviously someone needed to hear about
obedience.
He made some funny comments about food on his mission.
He said he was a picky eater and that he struggled for his whole
mission. Similar to what Cassie said (thanks for that forward, mom), he
swallowed his food haha. That came up the next day in class and Hermano
Angel touched on some tactics he used (Ecuador).
Some were jokes. They were: drop the food into the backpack, swallow,
spread, "fake spill," feed the dog, put under plate (a joke, I think,
and drink lots of water. He told some hilarious stories about some of
those. He said that during his mission he went from praying like,
"please bless them to make good food," to, "please prepare my stomach
and taste buds..." He told some crazy stories about getting really sick,
like losing 25 pounds over the weekend sick.
Surprisingly, this week has had some thefts from adjacent
rooms of ours. The MTC is a place full of pretty honest people. Two
elders from the new district had a stamp book and SD cards stolen from
their room as well as their clothes dumped on the ground. They told
Elder Myler and me about it and we filed the police report. I haven't
heard any news on it yet. Our room hasn't been touched, partly because
we have a nerf basketball hoop on the door which makes it really hard to
open. That may also explain why we haven't had a cleaning check for two
weeks. No complaints from me!
Interesting experience this week. EVERYONE in our zone
is getting sick. I mean everyone. There is an entire district of 10
elders sick right now not to mention ~8 others in the zone and 3 in my
district. Somehow I haven't gotten sick. With my history of a super
strong immune system, it comes as now surprise (sarcasm.) We had a
leadership meeting last Tuesday and my stomach was pretty painful all
night. I was not in the mood to be sick. I said a quiet prayer to get
better or feel better. When we sat down for the meeting, as soon as we
started the opening prayer I felt 100% better. That stayed that way
throughout the entire meeting. As soon as we said the closing prayer, I
felt just as bad as before. I was strong long enough to get what I had
to get done and then felt poor again right before bedtime. Pretty cool
experience for sure.
You hear so often about the grace of God is the only
reason we're saved, that through grace we can be saved. Yes, that's
partly true. Hermano Angel made an interesting point this week. He said,
"Grace is a sustaining process that helps us through it all." That
really puts things in perspective, I think. Grace isn't the ability to
completely overcome, it is the blessing of being helped. There's that
quote by someone I don't know that, "God takes us to our outermost extremities then carries us the rest of the way." I think those two
quotes complement each other very well.
Elder Myler and I watched Elder Bednar's first talk as
an apostle this week. He looked terrified and repeated over and over how
weak he was for the job ahead. It's cool to see how much he has grown
as a result of his calling. We can be the same way. We're never really
adequate for the job but through faith, we can accomplish anything.
There are these videos we watch in the MTC called, "The
District." A camera crew followed these missionaries in California
around and recorded all their lessons. Some were obviously better than
others. Anyway, we've seen enough of these videos that we always laugh
at the people in them. Apparently they're all still working at the MTC
(They served their missions 2 years ago.) One such, Elder Christensen,
we saw the other day. When we saw him, we all went to shake his hand
because he's a "super star" at the MTC. Not really but it's the only
thing we can really get excited about other than leaving. When I went to
shake his hand, I had to walk after him. He wasn't very excited. I
don't think he likes being a "celebrity." Regardless, we got a good
laugh out of it.
Another good quote that I'll leave up to you to analyze. "Repentance isn't something you do, it is something you become."
Elder
Thorsen still has not received his visa for Lima, Peru. He was supposed to leave for the Lima MTC 6 weeks ago. He has been a great
example of faith through trials. Today he got his temporary
reassignment: Chicago, IL. It is an awesome reassignment. Hopefully he
gets his visa soon since he has no winter clothes. I told him to get out
to Wilmette, IL asap. Too bad Grandpa and Grandma Johnson don't live
there anymore. Chicago is an awesome place, though.
I got a letter from my Mission President today. He sent
all of us Tempe missionaries a letter with the first day itinerary. He
seems very organized. No one else going to other missions got something
like that. It essentially said how excited he was to meet us and what we
should prepare. The first day is crazy. I hope they throw nap time in
there somewhere!
We got to host again yesterday. Our district hosted a
lot of the international missionaries. It was cool to hear where some of
them were from. One Sister was from Italy. I asked her if she followed
Formula 1. She said yes very enthusiastically. Always funny to run into
people who do follow it. People here have never heard of it but as soon
as you get out of the USA, many people know it. I met some Tongans.
Apparently it's not "tawnGa," but "tawnga," with a very quiet and
unpronounced G. Who knew. Again, lots of tears as families said goodbye.
It's crazy how rushed that first day is. I still don't remember a thing
about it.
We had four elders in our zone try out to sing in the
big devotional, the one that all 3100+ people watch. They qualified but
it was all full on Sunday. Unfortunately, Sunday is our last day. Too
bad. Last devotional I took my camera just to see how far I could zoom
in. From the very back row of a "gym" that holds 4 full sized basketball
courts, I could zoom in past everyone in the bleachers and get close
enough to read the sheet music (blurrily) of the pianist. It helped keep
me awake since it wasn't the most interesting of devotionals (Tuesday).
When it is very hot int he room, they sometimes tell the Elders to take
off their jackets. I got a picture before that of all the people in
black jackets and right after with everyone in white shirts. It added a
TON of light to the room. We were singing in the choir so I had a pretty
good view. For some reason we sit in the back left. Mom, we've sung
every week we've been here. It's really cool and is, "the only choir to
not have enough women."
Question time: How did Michael and his hosts of Angels
win the war in heaven? Spirits can't die... what defined "victory?"
Also, what happens to your conscience when you're sleeping?
As I was reading Alma 7:23 this week, a word stuck out
to me (Mom, quote it in here). The word "submissive." When I think of
that word, I think of someone who caves in and who isn't firm in
whatever it is they are doing. In the New Testament, Christ often says
be as children. Children are submissive, they are humble enough to get
in trouble and learn from it. I think that's a lesson for all of us to
humble ourselves and be able to take critique.
Our district has been talking about how lucky we are to
have the two teachers we have. Hermano Angel and Hermana Olsen teach
superbly and have funny stories. Funnily enough, neither graduated High
School but both got into BYU, Hermana Olsen at 16 years old. I think
we're the only missionaries to have two teachers who didn't graduate HS
who go to BYU. Hermano Angel came to the temple with us this morning as a
sort of farewell. It was a great experience.
Thank you Eric, Will, Mom, Sister Hines, Susie, Uncle
Ivan and Aunt Rebecca, Natalia, Grandpa and Grandma Johnson, and Grandpa Wolthuis for the
great letters and package this week! I felt so loved. Replies are en
route but they will be shorter than usual due to the hectic nature of
these last few days at the MTC.
The next letters I write will be from Tempe!
Love you all,
Elder Johnson
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