MTC week 5

The BYU pen Ryan Smith gave me my senior year in High School finally died. 
But it did well, along with a final note it penned.

Just hangin' around, with nothin' to do!

District Picture

All the Elders from my district

Separated from my companion....bad, bad, bad!

Last day of gym at the MTC.  We had to play volleyball!

I can hardly believe it. 3 more days. That's it. I did indeed receive my travel plans this week. I report to the travel office at 4:30 on Monday morning.  Can't wait. big day. huge.

Our Tuesday devotional was given by Melvyn B Arnold from the presidency of the 70. It was good. One of my favorite things he talked about was all of us having a big book of life. Everything we do is recorded in it. Wow, pretty heavy. Lots of bad stuff in that book right? Well, then he said through the atonement, all those sinful pages can be deleted, ripped out. It was just really powerful to me. Before the devotional started I was looking around the Marriott center and saw right behind us some Hispanic Hermanas who had Spanish nametags on. I started talking to them in Spanish. They were fluent, only here for 2 weeks. Elder Powell, Elder Streadbeck and I ended up talking to them for like half an hour or more before the devotional started. 90% in Spanish. It was pretty exciting. One of them (ironically the white one) talked to us super super fast. I had a really hard time understanding what she was saying. But one of the other Hermanas told us (She was from Texas btw) that most Mexicans like to talk slower than other Spanish countries. From what she said, there should be no problems finding Spanish speakers in Texas. She said usually lots of the Hispanics speak English, but many feel uncomfortable speaking English if they do. Interesting.

If you ever want your mind blown, please watch Elder Bednar's "Character of Christ." It was a devotional given at the MTC a couple years ago, and it was fantastic. It outlined any missionaries purpose, and really the purpose on anyone who isn't a full time missionary too. It was very humbling, funny, powerful, and heart-changing for me. One of the things that he said that stood out to me was when he told the missionaries, "Who cares what you want? Get over yourself." He went on to say how the mission isn't for ourselves in any way. It is all the Lord's time in the service of others. He said that a missionary should be their own strongest convert after their mission, but if that is their goal, then they can NEVER accomplish it. NEVER. Just watch it. It's too good. Also, I never got to see this whole talk by Elder Holland, but if you get the chance to watch "The Miracle of a Mission" (I think?) definitely do, because from what I saw it is so so good.

Well, Yesterday was our last lesson with Antonio. Our lesson on Saturday was my favorite yet. We decided to go and do a church tour. We took him to the rooms for Sunday school and priesthood, telling him how there were so many people of his age there to help him. I told him how I thought of priesthood groups as a brotherhood. It's all just a big support group with people who've gone through similar problems. We asked him what he thought Sunday school was. He's a smart guy. He told us probably some place where you do lots of learning. Yeah, good job Antonio. What do you do in school? Well... you ask questions. You come prepared. etc etc. Then he said is there homework. I said kind of. We challenged him to bring a question he had and ask it during Sunday School. Then we went to the Sacrament room. We had talked about baptism a couple lessons earlier. Then we explained that the Santa Cena was just a renewal of your promised made during baptism and confirmation. He said, so it's like getting baptized every week? Exacto. Pretty cool huh Antonio? You can come and feel the cleanness of baptism and receive renewed guidance and comfort from the Holy Ghost every week. He really was excited about that. Then we ended with Elder Powell and I singing a couple verses of "Mas Cerca Dios a Ti" and the spirit was burning. It was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. We had him say a closing prayer right there in the chapel, then we sat for a couple minutes to just feel the spirit and listen. It was great. Then when he went to church he was ready. He understood what was going on. It's so essential to get that understanding and preparedness. Without out it, church could be a scary, or much less meaningful experience. He loved church though.

After we finished Hermano Snyder (our teacher who was portraying Antonio) came up to us and said, "see the difference between teaching the doctrine and having him experience it?" Every doctrine in the church is meant to be easy. It's meant to be helpful. This last week we learned that if teaching a poor family, don't save the Law of tithing for last. To a couple living together not married, the law of chastity shouldn't be a last minute lesson at the end hoping they can get past it. It's all a blessing. It's just how it is presented and if the Spirit is there. Then they can truly understand that all of these laws are blessings for us. 

Well, I gotta go. I Love you so much family! Be strong. Pray for missionary opportunities, and I promise you they will immediately arise :) Good luck. I expect baptisms from you too. And that's not a joke. Love you.

Love, Elder Moffitt