Week 3 At the MTC

Date: July 14, 2011 Area: Provo MTC Companion: Elder Eves

Hello Familia!

How are you all doing? I hope everything is going well. Things here at the MTC are going pretty well. Every week gets better and better but at the same time every week I want to leave more and more - kinda funny how that works. I just want to get down to Chile. I guess it doesn't help that this morning I was talking with some people from my district about where out top traveling destinations would be... now I'm really wanting to get out of here. So I don't think I'm going to talk to anybody about traveling anymore if I can help it because this is just torture.

The Spanish is coming along. It’s strange though, there are some days that feel like you have a really good grasp on the language and that you can communicate whatever you want/need to and then others where you feel like you completely suck at the language and you don't know want is going on. Yesterday was like the former so it was a really good day. Actually yesterday was a great day. I had a ton of fun. I understood everything that was going on in class (which, I can usually understand but talking is whats hard) but then I was also able to say everything that I wanted too without too much difficulty which made me feel pretty good. I also just saw a ton of my friends yesterday which was awesome. Those days are always good days. I found a group of guys that are really fun to play fútbol with so I’ve been playing with them every day for the last 3 or 4 days. My friend Nick Sharapata plays too and I just have fun because it’s like we are back at BYU again just hanging out. Also Matt Brandenburg (do you remember him from Thanksgiving? The Virginian?) Well, he just came in yesterday and he is living 3 doors down from me. So now there is him, Evan Christensen Nick Sharapata and I all on the same floor! It’s really cool!

Cutler sounds like he had a blast on the 4th of July with the Downeys! And when is the Catalina trip? That should be coming up soon right? Are Spencer and Cutler still going to China?

Next week there are two people from my district leaving for the Guatemalan MTC which will be strange! Having people leave the district will just make it all weird ahaha so we'll see how that goes. I'm pretty sure that I've told you already but there is a girl in my district right now from Brazil who is going to New York South (so Andrew Jensen and Jordan Walton's mission) and she told my whole district to go down and visit her in Brazil so I thought it would be so fun to go down there for the World Cup in 2014!! But that's a long ways off. We went to the temple this morning to write letters (cause the normal temple time is just left open for whatever we want because the temple is closed for cleaning) and the mountains here are so pretty! They are all green and it makes me just want to go hike them. Its really peaceful to just sit at the temple, the grounds behind the front of the Provo temple (the east side) are really beautiful.

This week in class we watched a talk by Elder Holland that he gave at the MTC a while ago and it was definitely one of the best talks I have ever heard. I don't know the name of it but I'll try to figure that out. It was absolutely amazing! That apostle speaks with so much power, it’s so cool. He talked about his mission and how it was the most pivotal point in his life, that his mission was the foundation of basically everything else that he did in his life. He gave the strong message to never give up, to never quit! He really stressed the importance of not wasting a single minute on your mission because of how important it is and how valuable it is. So, the MTC isn't always easy but what I got from that was that I need to work harder while I'm here. Work hard play hard! So thats what I'm really going to try to do while I'm here. To suck it up, step it up and do better.

We had a devotional the other night by Elder Winkel of the 70 on the Atonement and how important it is in our lives. They really tried to give us all a better understanding of the pain and suffering that Jesus went through on our behalf in order to give us a better appreciation of what it means for us and what it took for Jesus to perform it for us. I never before realized the complete suffering that he went through for us though I am so glad that he did because it gives me the ability to repent and return to my father in heaven. And I'm so grateful that I can do that and that I'll get to be there with my friends and family.

I was reading in the Book of Mormon this week and there was a scripture that I really like. Its 2 Nephi 4:24-35. Read it. It’s awesome. I like that we shouldn't really have to worry about anything in this life, that if Jesus did EVERYTHING then we should be able to handle our problems and trials no problem.

Love you
Elder Holland