Week 6: The Hectic Week
Hey!
So this week has been pretty hectic, but I've gotten through it. I had my first cup noodle yesterday, listened to Elder D. Todd Christofferson make an announcement, hosted senior companions, and I got to sing in a choir - we sang Joseph Smith's First Prayer, and it was broadcasted to MTC's worldwide. I have signed up to be in the choir, so always sing in the choir.
BTW, some missionaries here have some wild senses of humor and get entertained by the most bizarre things. Hahaha. Yesterday, I didn't have dinner at the recommended hour since we went straight from service (setting up the gym for the devotional) to choir; so, when we got back to the residency at the end of the day, I was making cup noodles for everyone — I just wanted to do something nice for my roommates — and all the sudden someone brought a cat that roamed around the MTC into the residency building. I was like, "Come on guys, don't bring the cat inside. Take it back out! We've gotten people in the building who are allergic to cats!" In fact, my companion is allergic to cats. Anyway, They weren't from our zone, but the other people in our building are so weird sometimes —I am not stating that we aren't weird – which we are, just different. Hahaha
Here in Utah, it doesn't rain much so when it rains, everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, goes outside. On Sunday, there was a downpour of rain, but we all were so happy about that since it doesn't rain that much over here. There was singing, dancing, laughing, running, walking and splashing in the rain. All of us were in our suits or dresses, and by the time we got back to our residency, we were all soaking wet. We were all so happy though. Well, no matter what, we are always so happy. I love it!
We sacrifice everything to come on this mission. Some people sacrifice more than what is expected, but we all know it is for one purpose; to bring everyone to the joy we feel, to make sure everyone knows that there is a Father in Heaven (God) who loves us and wants us to succeed. I have met some
missionaries who have to sacrifice by being kicked out of their families for to join our church, leaving sick relatives behind, postponing getting education, and/or losing scholarships for the sake of spreading this truth that all of us know and that the Lord wants us to do. We are the mouths of the Lord, and he wants us to use them to give this amazing gift to others. This gift or the gold (or the gospel of Jesus Christ) that we have, is something we are just trying to give away. Whether or not people accept this present, is up to them, but at least we try our hardest to do share the gift with them because we know the gift will bless them so much and will make them find the true happiness.
Elder Thoreson, Elder Ramirez, and I are going to sing “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” in sacrament meeting on this Sunday, and I can't wait. We picked out the music yesterday…. I wonder how it will go. We (everyone in my district) goes to choir so I wouldn't doubt that Elder Thoreson and Elder Ramirez have amazing voices. There's only 1 problem; there are 3 of us and the part is TTBB (Tenor Tenor Bass Bass) and all 3 of us are Basses. Oh No!! I could probably sing the Tenor part, so I volunteered to do so. I think we might ask Elder Thoreson and Elder Ramirez's companion, Elder Dombrowski, if he could sing with us. We'll see how it goes. The good/hard thing is that it is a capella... well, so we don't need an accompanist. Oh, also, the Tenor part is in Tenor clef and none of us know how to read that so... yep. We'll see how it goes. Please pray for us! ;-)
Good news, so the MTC rents out instruments so I can rent out a violin. It’s only an hour at a time, but we're trying to look on the bright side.
I feel like my sports skills have heightened in the MTC. I can finally touch the rim, and actually make a decent amount of 3's, and am actually really good at volleyball. Exercising is going well but not super jacked yet. Elder Lee said my spirit animal is a horse — I was like "whaaat?" He explained that since my face is kind of longer, and that I have long eyelashes, and that my muscles are very toned, so I was light "aiight.” — well, I don’t know what does it mean…. And, the person that I look like is apparently Alfredo Linguini in the movie Ratatouille with Dark brown hair. Hahaha. We're trying to think of everyone's look-a-likes and spirit animals. If you have any suggestions or realizations, feel free to email…. It would be fun.
Scripture of the week:
Alma 37:6-7
6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.
7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.
This is so true. I've learned this a bunch while I've been here, at the MTC. When we do lessons, we have to make them simple, but that's the way that the spirit can help our new friends out in the field. This time is about everyone else that need this gospel. These are people that I'm teaching, and we are not focusing on a statistic to go in a book, or not just checking off a box. People need this gospel!!
It is my mission and/or duty to give these children of God, the gold (gospel) that is so precious and FREE. Simple teachings can make us wise as we rely on the Lord. God can surely help us out. This pertains to us individually. The small and simple things (reading scriptures, prayer, attending church, etc) are things we all need to do and they can make us all wiser.
I love this church. I know it is true. I know that there are people all around us just looking for the gospel. God has put us where we are so we can bring his sheep or children back into the fold. I found out that these mission calls we all get are predetermined in the premoral life. So this means, no matter where we are sent, no matter what we speak, these mission calls have been designed by God, and agreed by us, and perhaps those that we meet on our missions. Salvation doesn’t come easily. If it was, we wouldn't be needed to do this. God trusts us all to do His work to bring His children back to Him. My branch president, President Collinsworth always says "God loves all His children, but He doesn't trust all His children.” We need to show God that we can be trustworthy in His eyes. I'm just at the start at my mission, but I feel that His trust in me has been increasing each day. I think
trust is the number 1 attribute we must have toward our friends. Our Heavenly Father is our best friend, and if so, why shouldn't we show that same or even greater trust to Him? As we keep his commandments, and carefully listen to His guidance and try our very best to do His will by trusting Him with all of our hearts that He will help us at s time of difficulty, I know that He will bless us so much.
Ooh, this brings me to another point. Another one of our branch presidency is Brother Turpin. He gives great insights about root words in Greek. A ton have stood out to me, but I think this one applies well. It's the phrase "if ye love me, keep my commandments.” The phrase didn't translate well from Greek. In fact, he said the word “Keep” is Etereo in Greek, and Etereo is supposed to be a person in the Greek army or the person that keeps the keep (the keeper). This person's duty was to follow directions according to the keep. This person was not only to receive the direction, but also to follow it, and report. So, the word “Keep” actually means: Receive it, Follow it, and report it. So, when we keep the Lord’s commandments, we are not just to understand them, but to do as the Lord commands, and perhaps even to report our work to him.
That was a lot. Haha. We might face a lot of challenges each day, but Don't Give Up! The Lord is on your side. Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Love you and miss you!
Sincerely,
Elder Jacob Wilson
PS. I'm always here to chat. I can only write back emails on Wednesday but if you send me your address, I'd be happy to letter back a response.
So this week has been pretty hectic, but I've gotten through it. I had my first cup noodle yesterday, listened to Elder D. Todd Christofferson make an announcement, hosted senior companions, and I got to sing in a choir - we sang Joseph Smith's First Prayer, and it was broadcasted to MTC's worldwide. I have signed up to be in the choir, so always sing in the choir.
BTW, some missionaries here have some wild senses of humor and get entertained by the most bizarre things. Hahaha. Yesterday, I didn't have dinner at the recommended hour since we went straight from service (setting up the gym for the devotional) to choir; so, when we got back to the residency at the end of the day, I was making cup noodles for everyone — I just wanted to do something nice for my roommates — and all the sudden someone brought a cat that roamed around the MTC into the residency building. I was like, "Come on guys, don't bring the cat inside. Take it back out! We've gotten people in the building who are allergic to cats!" In fact, my companion is allergic to cats. Anyway, They weren't from our zone, but the other people in our building are so weird sometimes —I am not stating that we aren't weird – which we are, just different. Hahaha
Here in Utah, it doesn't rain much so when it rains, everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, goes outside. On Sunday, there was a downpour of rain, but we all were so happy about that since it doesn't rain that much over here. There was singing, dancing, laughing, running, walking and splashing in the rain. All of us were in our suits or dresses, and by the time we got back to our residency, we were all soaking wet. We were all so happy though. Well, no matter what, we are always so happy. I love it!
We sacrifice everything to come on this mission. Some people sacrifice more than what is expected, but we all know it is for one purpose; to bring everyone to the joy we feel, to make sure everyone knows that there is a Father in Heaven (God) who loves us and wants us to succeed. I have met some
missionaries who have to sacrifice by being kicked out of their families for to join our church, leaving sick relatives behind, postponing getting education, and/or losing scholarships for the sake of spreading this truth that all of us know and that the Lord wants us to do. We are the mouths of the Lord, and he wants us to use them to give this amazing gift to others. This gift or the gold (or the gospel of Jesus Christ) that we have, is something we are just trying to give away. Whether or not people accept this present, is up to them, but at least we try our hardest to do share the gift with them because we know the gift will bless them so much and will make them find the true happiness.
Elder Thoreson, Elder Ramirez, and I are going to sing “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” in sacrament meeting on this Sunday, and I can't wait. We picked out the music yesterday…. I wonder how it will go. We (everyone in my district) goes to choir so I wouldn't doubt that Elder Thoreson and Elder Ramirez have amazing voices. There's only 1 problem; there are 3 of us and the part is TTBB (Tenor Tenor Bass Bass) and all 3 of us are Basses. Oh No!! I could probably sing the Tenor part, so I volunteered to do so. I think we might ask Elder Thoreson and Elder Ramirez's companion, Elder Dombrowski, if he could sing with us. We'll see how it goes. The good/hard thing is that it is a capella... well, so we don't need an accompanist. Oh, also, the Tenor part is in Tenor clef and none of us know how to read that so... yep. We'll see how it goes. Please pray for us! ;-)
Good news, so the MTC rents out instruments so I can rent out a violin. It’s only an hour at a time, but we're trying to look on the bright side.
I feel like my sports skills have heightened in the MTC. I can finally touch the rim, and actually make a decent amount of 3's, and am actually really good at volleyball. Exercising is going well but not super jacked yet. Elder Lee said my spirit animal is a horse — I was like "whaaat?" He explained that since my face is kind of longer, and that I have long eyelashes, and that my muscles are very toned, so I was light "aiight.” — well, I don’t know what does it mean…. And, the person that I look like is apparently Alfredo Linguini in the movie Ratatouille with Dark brown hair. Hahaha. We're trying to think of everyone's look-a-likes and spirit animals. If you have any suggestions or realizations, feel free to email…. It would be fun.
Scripture of the week:
Alma 37:6-7
6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.
7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.
This is so true. I've learned this a bunch while I've been here, at the MTC. When we do lessons, we have to make them simple, but that's the way that the spirit can help our new friends out in the field. This time is about everyone else that need this gospel. These are people that I'm teaching, and we are not focusing on a statistic to go in a book, or not just checking off a box. People need this gospel!!
It is my mission and/or duty to give these children of God, the gold (gospel) that is so precious and FREE. Simple teachings can make us wise as we rely on the Lord. God can surely help us out. This pertains to us individually. The small and simple things (reading scriptures, prayer, attending church, etc) are things we all need to do and they can make us all wiser.
I love this church. I know it is true. I know that there are people all around us just looking for the gospel. God has put us where we are so we can bring his sheep or children back into the fold. I found out that these mission calls we all get are predetermined in the premoral life. So this means, no matter where we are sent, no matter what we speak, these mission calls have been designed by God, and agreed by us, and perhaps those that we meet on our missions. Salvation doesn’t come easily. If it was, we wouldn't be needed to do this. God trusts us all to do His work to bring His children back to Him. My branch president, President Collinsworth always says "God loves all His children, but He doesn't trust all His children.” We need to show God that we can be trustworthy in His eyes. I'm just at the start at my mission, but I feel that His trust in me has been increasing each day. I think
trust is the number 1 attribute we must have toward our friends. Our Heavenly Father is our best friend, and if so, why shouldn't we show that same or even greater trust to Him? As we keep his commandments, and carefully listen to His guidance and try our very best to do His will by trusting Him with all of our hearts that He will help us at s time of difficulty, I know that He will bless us so much.
Ooh, this brings me to another point. Another one of our branch presidency is Brother Turpin. He gives great insights about root words in Greek. A ton have stood out to me, but I think this one applies well. It's the phrase "if ye love me, keep my commandments.” The phrase didn't translate well from Greek. In fact, he said the word “Keep” is Etereo in Greek, and Etereo is supposed to be a person in the Greek army or the person that keeps the keep (the keeper). This person's duty was to follow directions according to the keep. This person was not only to receive the direction, but also to follow it, and report. So, the word “Keep” actually means: Receive it, Follow it, and report it. So, when we keep the Lord’s commandments, we are not just to understand them, but to do as the Lord commands, and perhaps even to report our work to him.
That was a lot. Haha. We might face a lot of challenges each day, but Don't Give Up! The Lord is on your side. Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Love you and miss you!
Sincerely,
Elder Jacob Wilson
PS. I'm always here to chat. I can only write back emails on Wednesday but if you send me your address, I'd be happy to letter back a response.
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| A view from our Provo-Utah Temple visit today |
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| The cat that missionaries brought into our residence |
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