MONDAY: We entered the MTC August 1st, 2011. There were 52 Senior Missionaries in our group at the MTC, and over 70 the week before (making a group well over 100). We got settled in, had a great lunch (I had taco salad) and then we had a group meeting at 1:00. We sang "Called to Serve" and it sounded like a well-rehearsed choir. It was so beautiful, and the spirit so great, that it brought tears to my eyes.
They are doing some construction at the MTC and did not have enough rooms for all of the senior missionaries so we had the priviledge of staying at the Provo Marriott (pretty fancy motel). We had a kingsize bed, a living room that had a sofa (hide-a-bed) and armchair, a small kitchen attached with microwave and frig, and a table/desk. It was pretty comfy, and the bathroom was spacious.
TUESDAY: We were assigned to read from Preach My Gospel and prepare to teach the Plan of Salvation to an investigator on Tuesday. The investigator would be a local member/volunteer who would role-play as our investigator. We practiced on each other in preparation for teaching the first lesson on Wednesday. Tuesday evening was a fireside. Before the meeting started we sang "Teach Me To Walk in The Light of His Love" and "Sunshine in My Soul." After the meeting started we sang "Called to Serve." Can you imagine what it was like for us to sing "Called to Serve" with 2,600 missionaries? It was fabulous! I was breathtaking. Our Speaker was Gerald N. Lund who (as most of you know) wrote "The Work and the Glory" series. He was great. He talked about our time line. He explained we
"cannot alter the past and we cannot see the future but we can change our future." He told us to "
exercise faith and learn by faith, so YOU can draw down the powers from Heaven." The real test of our faith is if we will ACT BASED ON HOPE rather than on proof or evidence. YOU HAVE TO act without knowing...without proof, and then come the blessings.
HE TOLD AN AMAZING STORY. Elder Lund has a friend who was a Mission President in San Paulo Brazil. He had a young elder that lived way out in the jungle. It took him four 24-hour days to reach San Paulo. He had to start out on a canoe, then a boat, then a bus, etc. He was VERY backward and shy. The very first day when new elders come the President sends them out with an experienced senior companion and they go knock on doors. Well this young elder said, "I can't do it. I'll die of fright. I can't do it, and I won't do it."
They didn't pay any attention to his objections and sent him out. His companion said, "Watch me, I'll do the first door. The second door is yours. Well they came to the first door and they were turned away. The Sr. Companion knocked on the next door, then stepped down off of the porch and pushed the new elder up to the door. When the door opened it was his sister who had run away from home 4 years earlier. No one in the family even knew where she was. THERE ARE 13 MILLION PEOPLE IN SAN PAULO BRAZIL, AND THE FIRST DOOR THIS YOUNG MAN CAME TO WAS HIS SISTER. The LORD KNOWS US and will bless our lives! The sister and her family joined the church.
Elder Lund told us another story:
He was in Geneva, Switzerland on a tour with the Mission President. The President kept receiving phone calls, and after hearing each report would ask, "Any little miracles this week?"
After this happend several times Elder Lund had to ask what that was all about, and the mission president explained.
In the last zone conference, I received an impression to tell the young men the following: When you go out to an appointment and the appointment falls through, I want you to go outside and TALK TO THE FIRST PERSON YOU SEE. The Lord knows where you are.
Well two elders were in a high rise apartment and their appointment with a college kid fell through. They stepped out of the elevator and there was this HUGE guy, barefoot, in levis and a tank top. He was so large he looked like a frig wearing a tank top, with tatoos up and down his arms. He said,
"Are you the two guys?" They just looked at him, and he said, "I work shift work, and I was just woke up from a dead sleep and a voice said there are two guys out in the hall, go talk to them.Another set of elders had just had an appointment fall through and they went out on the street. A man came up to them and said, "Hey, you got those name tags on. It's something about religion isn't it? The elders answered, "Yes, we're out here to deliver a message." The man said, "I've been thinking about finding a church, would you teach me?
The third story he shared was another time when elders went to an appointment and no one was there. They looked at their list of contacts to see who they might go visit, but the elder said his mind just turned to mud, and he couldn't even think or remember anything as he looked at that list of contacts. Then a man on a bike came up and said, "DO YOU HAVE A MESSAGE FOR ME? I was riding down the street and a voice said, "TURN AROUND, CROSS THE STREET, AND GO BACK. THERE ARE TWO YOUNG MEN THAT HAVE A MESSAGE FOR YOU."
There is no question that the Lord is in charge and HE KNOWS EVERY ONE OF US. It is our testimony that HE KNOWS YOU and loves you. We will write more later. We love you!
We had a great trip to Vermont. We spent a day and a half in Kirtland, and a day and a half in Palmyra. We arrived here at the Sharon Vermont Visitors Center Monday evening after driving in the rain ALL DAY. It is absolutely beautiful here.
