Thursday, June 13, 2013

First Letter!

We received Michael's first letter today. Happy day!! Here it is:


Hey Family,
First off, I want to say thanks for writing! I've gotta say that this week has definitely been the most intense, draining, tiring, amazing week in my life. My district is amazing! We all are super focused on following the rules to the best of our ability and we all support and help each other. My companion's name is Elder C, and he's from Hawaii. He's a super awesome guy with an amazingly simple and strong testimony. I love that guy to death (I'll send you pictures of our MTC stuff when I can get on a computer out in the field).
So, where to start? When I arrived, I instantly felt like Daniel being thrown to the pack of lion's. Everything was incredibly fast paced and we were studying our tails off from the start. I've gotta say that I'm used to long school days, but none of them were spiritually-based, so it's been incredibly trying for me. I'm extremely glad that I came when I did on my mission, because I would have been far out of my league if I had gone any earlier. I'm so glad I tutored in high school because the teaching aspect is really the only thing that has come naturally to me. We have had multiple mock investigators where we have had to teach, and when I get in the zone, the Spirit has been incredible! It's like you can reach out and put it in a bottle. I'm glad I've been sent English because otherwise I don't know if I could have coped with the frustrations that came along with that. The thing is, is that the MTC heavily emphasized teaching with the Spirit on an individual basis. There is no such thing as a rote presentation anymore in the mission field, which is really nice because even though I'm great at memorization, I'd rather be learning this way.
I've been living for the gym time we get everyday. It's so nice to have some personal fun time where you can let out some stress.
The interesting thing is that learning by the spirit really is a completely new language. It's hard to differentiate emotion from spiritual promptings so one of the things I have had to learn is how to transition myself into forgetting everything I know about people and giving into the feelings of charity I have prayed fervently for every night. It's tough, but incredibly satisfying and worth it!
Our district is awesome! We all actually have great singing voices, so sometimes to pass the time we come up with six-part harmonies and go with it. It's super awesome. Last night we talked for hours after lights-out time (I know, I need to go to sleep earlier) and we ended up freestyle rapping the first discussion to each other (don't ask). It was the funniest thing ever!
I was really frustrated when I first got here because I didn't have time to look at my slacks at all. I had to put them in my suitcase and then leave. The thing is, I went to put them on, and they gave me a 46X37. I don't know how my order got messed up that bad! I was however, able to send them back and they didn't charge me. I did need to use my suit pants all week though until I got my slacks yesterday, so I guess all's well that ends well!
Ryan: Everything is a churchy opportunity here! There's absolutely no downtime for anything but churchy stuff. Oh, and my district all loves Nacho Libre and we quote it on a regular basis.
Mom and Dad: I can't tell you how intense this last week has been. It's been the most incredible test of faith for me that I've ever had and I've learned to rely more on the Lord that ever before. For the first time ever, I'm seeing my prayers answered almost immediately, and it's such a humbling experience. I'm glad that you've been able to teach people! One of the best things they've stressed is to see the investigator as God sees them. Looking at their Spiritual potential helps to isolate the best way to help them come unto Christ initially.
Well, I'm out of time now,
Great talking to you and excited for hearing from you again,
Love,
Michael


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