Life as an Uncommon Elder

I JUST PASSED HALF WAY DAY!!!   The MTC is a magical land where you never hear anything from the outside world. I've heard rumors that there was some form of bomb at the Boston Marathon, but know nothing of the incident. When I came into the MTC there was tension in the Euro-Zone because f Cypress, there were issues of Marriage Rights preparing to come before the Supreme Court. I have no idea how any of these things have progressed, just as for most of you, I don't get to share in the joys and pains that you're going through. Even though I'm not there, and can't follow your Facebook or twitter, please know that I do care. I love and miss you all.    There are a lot of things that you have to give up when you leave on your mission. The hardest thing for me has been listening to music. Prior to coming into the MTC, I listend to music like 80% of my waking hours. Now, when I get the chance to listen to music, it's only music from General Conference becaus

Well everyone, it's the end of week 4. Saturday is my halfway mark in the MTC, and things have leveled for me emotionally, I've become much more comfortable with Vietnamese, the obedience is much easier, and life in general is a lot less dramatic. For this, I am grateful. I still have the best companion at the MTC. Life here is so routine it's hard to tell one day from the next. Days are long, weeks are short. I've heard many people say it, and it's true. The days can be long and exhausting, and then you get to a Sunday and you're thinking, wait, what happened to the other 6 days. I'm definitely grateful that I get to be at the MTC for 9 weeks. There are a lot of things I needed to grow up about, and a lot of humilty that I needed to learn. I'm not perfect, I probably won't be perfect, but I've realized that I can't always be right, even though I am (^_-). Sometimes I just have to accept the fact that other people have other opinion

Week 4!!! I'm slowly approaching the halfway mark of my 9 week stay at the MTC. The atmosphere here is definitely different. My companion is awesome, but has asked that I don't use his name online. There has been a lot going on. Over the last week, we've had one person leave to San Jose, California, Another person came and left for Cambodia  and now we're sending off another roommate tomorrow to Fresno, CA, Hmong speaking. I don't speak or understand Hmong, but I'm pretty sure it's harder than Vietnamese. As all of the people I've become familiar with are leaving, I have a feeling these next two weeks are going to be stressful as I prepare to engage with new people.   The devotionals are still one of my favorite things here at the MTC. This last Sunday, an Acapella group from BYU came and performed  They are called "Vocal Point" if you've never heard them or heard of them, look them up, stream it off the internet, and if you want, see

So, it's week 3 (technically speaking end of week 2) and things are moving along at the MTC. I've had a lot of challenges, but overall, it has been very rewarding.   There are a lot of opportunities here at the MTC to come closer to Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. As we study daily, attend devotionals, and do the work of the Lord, we are definitely blessed. The experience here is definitely to refine us as men and women and to get us in the mindset that we are not doing our own work, but the work of God as representatives of Jesus Christ. I have had the most amazing companion who is incredibly respectful, dilligent and hardworking. Often times, he makes me look bad with the amount of effort he puts forth. His example makes me want to be a better person and missionary.   This last Sunday was Easter Sunday. For Easter, they had an MTC wide sacrament meeting. As the MTC currently has 3,000 missionaries, there were 3,000 missionaies partaking of the sacrament at