First Official Week In The Provo MTC
Hey everyone! I have made it through my first official week of the mtc! I am so happy!
Getting dropped off was a weird experience! Lots of missionaries and crying families! Luckily, I was a happy guy! I was quickly whisked away and I have been going nonstop this whole time. The biggest blessing was that as soon as I entered the mtc I felt much better. It was a true miracle! So thank you to everyone who was praying for me! I felt those prayers and they worked!
Unpacking and figuring out an android phone was fun. All the Elders were really struggling on how to work this android phone! It's a lot different than an iphone haha. We had a devotional and we all got to sing called to serve which was such a special experience! I have been waiting to sing called to serve with all the missionaries for a long time! The mtc president is awesome and had some good spiritual thoughts.
The food is sadly not that great! I was hoping for some insane gourmet food, but I got the “feed the masses” food. The lines are literally miles long to get food. It's usually like a 20 minute wait in a line for a little plate of food. So I am constantly starving. It is crazy how many missionaries are here. With all the 648 missionaries that came in on wednesday there are about 2,100 missionaries! So with all these hungry Elders it is insane trying to get food!
My district is fun and we have already had some really funny discussions. The room arrangements are packed. The showers are not the cleanest. And wow the beds are very uncomfortable. My back hurts from that mattress haha.
My comp is pretty funny so we are all joking around which is fun, but at the same time we are trying to focus. On Thursday we got all our language books! It was sooo heavy! It probably was 12 pounds. I heard that the Chinese language has some of the best books you can get and wow there are a lot of books for me to study! A funny story is that all the missionaries thought I was going to be very different from the zoom. They all had a weird perception from the zoom. They all thought I was going to be a jacked, 6’3, mega deep voiced ginger. Don't know what they were seeing, but it was pretty funny for them to meet me in person. Studying the Chinese language is so much fun! I was able to do a 20 minute role play discussion about the plan of salvation! I love teaching in another language.
My mom really wanted me to make sure I was going to take pictures. So I have been making a conscious effort to take pictures. The girls commented on how impressed they were with the picture taking. They said it is normally them having to take pictures…I felt so proud haha.
Crazy story is that an Elder came running down to our dorm yelling about a gas leak. "Get out immediately. Grab whatever you want and leave soon. This is not a joke." So everyone is grabbing stuff and racing out. I could start to smell it at this point. So we got out and I was holding my shoes and socks and some of my books. I had just gotten out of the shower...at least I was dressed in my church clothes. My companion, Elder Reynolds, wasn't so he couldn't go into any buildings or get food. So he was a little stressed haha. We decided to sit at a picnic table and study. Then the people who were mingling out by our building decided to hold a group prayer. We decided to join and all knelt down. Right before we started the group prayer a security guard walked out and told us it was all good....we all cheered haha. Glad to be alive haha.
We got to go to the temple 3 times this week! Very special experiences! We did baptism and that was awesome. Sad not doing it with my usual temple buddies, but still fun! We did initiatories on friday and that was a special experience because I got to be a proxy for my 9th great grandfather! I could feel him there and how happy he was! Then this morning we woke up at 5 and went and did an endowment and I acted as proxy for my 9th great grandfather again! The celestial room in the Provo temple is gorgeous. We all sat in there for like 20 minutes and just pondered and marveled at the beauty of that room! Spending time in the temple is awesome.
We had a special devotional on Sunday and everyone felt the spirit. We got lots of time to study! Everyone studied the Savior's atonement and that was a very special experience. I ran across one of my all time favorite talks, it is called “In the strength of the Lord” by Elder Bednar. I would highly recommend you go read it. It is all about how you can use the Savior’s enabling atonement to help you in your life. I realized that in this mission I am really going to have to lean on Jesus Christ and use his enabling power. The talk does an amazing job of explaining how you can draw on that power. The scripture that has been the theme of the week is Alma 26:12 which states “ Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things.” And I know that if we use Christ's enabling power we will be able to do all things through him.
Another point that was made in a devotional was the difference between testimony and conversion. I invite everyone to make sure they have a testimony. But don’t stop there. In the words of Elder Bednar a testimony is a launching point to conversion. We must strive to be converted so we will never fall away. So I invite everyone to make sure you are converted to the Lord. Do what you must or change what you have to, to make sure you are all in with Jesus.
https://speeches.byu.edu/
I love you all and I am so grateful for all your prayers and support! It's hard trying to adjust to this new life! It's crazy! I am just excited to go to Australia! Just hoping that my visa comes in time! Keep having fun and keep making a conscious effort to draw closer to Jesus Christ because he is the way, the truth, and the light of our lives!
Here is a link to some of the photos of the week!
-zhang zhanglao (Elder Jones)
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