Time to Put the MTC in the Rearview Mirror

May 04, 2017

Time to Put the MTC in the Rearview Mirror

There are four of us in the district going to the Arizona Gilbert Mission and we all leave Tuesday morning at like 6:30 in the morning. What's funny is that they made me travel leader and I'm definitely the “most likely to get lost” person in the group so yay irony. It's okay though; I'll just defer to Sister Foster and do whatever she tells me to.

Classes are great. My new favorite part is when we pick a chapter to study in the Book of Mormon and study it as a district. The MTC does this thing called TRC where members (sometimes investigators but usually members) come in and role play lessons so that we can get some teaching experience and apply what we've learned. Last week we had Patty and Liela (Liela was easy going and fun to teach, Patty was an atheist who asked bold questions but was also really very kind to us as she did so). This week we have Karisa and Kiyomi. Karisa is easygoing and willing to learn, and Kiyomi is a tad bit difficult. Kiyomi's main concern is that she doesn't believe that God loves her at all. Sister Foster and I have really no idea as to how to help her. At least not yet.

I kind of hate emailing because there's a lot to say and not enough time and I
don't know how to say it all.

ELDERS. IT CLEARLY SAYS NOT TO TAKE THE ICE CREAM FROM THE CAFETERIA

I sang in the choir (actually I mouthed words in the choir because I couldn't hit most of the notes) at the MTC devotional this Tuesday. Guess who spoke? ELDER RASBAND. Cool stuff, apparently a general authority only comes once every few months. If you can look it up, you might even see me.

I only have like 15 minutes left, and I still need to email the branch presidency, so let's get down to the spiritual realization of this week.

A few weeks before I left Mom and I were talking about something that she had heard at some seminary thing I think. It was something about how the youth in the church were leaving their faith as they left their homes. So many teenagers weren't grounded in any sort of testimony so once they were on their own and didn't have someone insisting on things of the gospel they just gave up on it all. The past couple of days I've been thinking about missionary work as far as the youth are concerned and how to best help them grow in their personal belief in God and Jesus Christ. What I've learned here at the MTC is that deep conversion is about personal communication with God, learning what He wants for/from us, and then trusting in Him and doing what He asks of us. It starts with prayer and scripture study. That's what's so great about the Come Follow Me program, it constantly urges us towards personal study of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Read your scriptures and say your prayers people.

I have another thought to share, but I don't have much time left so here's this jumbled thought process:

1. Teenagers (probably most people but I don't really know what it's like to be an adult, so I'll stick with the teenage perspective that I have experience with) are insecure. Duh.

2. Teenagers are insecure for a variety of reasons. Family problems, hormones, bad friendships, general stupidity, blah blah blah. Totally normal. Not fun, but normal.

3. Teenagers seek security (because no one likes to feel insecure) in a variety of things. Boyfriends/girlfriends, what they wear, what they have, large friend groups, and whatever else you can think of that applies. This generally results in not so great decisions based off of what the world thinks is cool in order for them to feel accepted by people and hopefully help them feel less of the insecurity they struggle with. The thing about the “cool things of the world” is that they are in a constant state of flux. Everything is always changing, at least half of it isn't particularly good for society in general, and insecurity continues.

4. There are two scriptures—Hebrews 6:19 & Ether 12:4—which refer to Jesus Christ as an anchor to our souls. If we can help our struggling friends in their teenage years develop a relationship with Jesus (through prayer and scripture study namely) then the trouble they get themselves into will probably decrease.

5. Let's talk about one last thing in relation to all of this. There's an Elder here who has a gorgeous girlfriend back home. For real, I saw a picture, and she is physically a solid 10. Wow. This Elder jokes about how he can't believe he got her. Something about her being way out of his league. Fair enough. But this Elder is good at his core. He has spent time and effort magnifying his God-given divinity. That divinity speaks of a God who is alway the same, today, yesterday, and forever. It speaks of a stable and unfailing love. This girlfriend of his has probably seen in him the security she is looking for so duh she dated him. Maybe that's judgy. I don't know I'm typing everything so fast. Or, you can take my companion, Sister Foster. Throughout her life, people have referred to her as their second mom. She's my age, and yet people associate her with the idea of what a mom is. Why? It's the same thing as the Elder, she is good at her core, has magnified her divinity, and so her character speaks of the safety and security God offers.