MTC Week Two!

Hello everyone! I wish you the best, and hope that your lives are going well.

Mine is quite busy. As I have said before, my schedule is extremely packed to the brim, and I must be very discriminatory with my personal time so that I can actually do the things that I need and want to do.

My mother (Hi, Mom ) has repeatedly asked what Sundays are like at the MTC. How about I tell you what yesterday was like?

So, I got up at 6:30 am (or very close thereafter), showered, and got dressed. On Sundays, personal study starts at 7 am in the classroom, whereas the first activity of nearly every other day (breakfast) starts at 7:10; and if you're late to breakfast you just have less time to eat. Therefore, it is more difficult to get to the classroom at 7 on Sundays, and I think that I have yet to make it there exactly on time. But, still, I get there!

Yesterday was different than most Sundays because it was Fast Sunday. Usually, we have breakfast at 8 am after personal study, then Priesthood meeting at 9:10, then more personal study from 10 am to 12:10 pm. District meeting would start at that time, and then Lunch at 1 pm.

Now, this is the usual schedule. Yesterday, however, we had personal study from 7 am to 9:40 am. Our branch is part of a new pilot program apparently, and there are certain activities that they want us to do on Sunday, like a Preach My Gospel Doctrine Assessment, or PMG Principle Assessment, a Language Study Checklist, a Scripture Study Checklist, etc.

Another part of the online course is watching a documentary called "The District." Actually, we first started watching "The District 2", and then we watch the first "season" after that. It is footage of real, live missionaries, real, live investigators, and documents the daily life and activities of missionaries. It is very cool, and I can't believe that they had all of those actual discussions with cameramen around them! This is a good thing to watch, because you can feel the Spirit of missionary work. Although, it does make you sort of wish that you were already in the field:)

Yesterday, I was supposed to watch the third and final episode of "The District 2." However, the link just took me back to the second episode, and there was no way for me to get to the third one. So, I chose to watch something else. Maybe that's not what you're supposed to do, but I did :) And I am so glad that I did.

Instead, I watched the address that was given on Saturday by President Uchtdorf at the General Relief Society Broadcast. It is an incredible talk! I loved it. It was definitely something that I needed; and I have no qualms that I watched it :) I highly recommend for anyone who has not seen it to watch it now.  It's only twenty one or so minutes, and it is worth it. Also, don't stop halfway through, please. Watch it all at once :) That's how we're supposed to listen to Conference talks the first time, right?

Anyway, so after I watched that recording (and actually, I ran out of time, so I had to finish it later; this is why I recommend watching it all in one go the first time around...), we went to mission conference. It was really great! There were talks, a musical number, more talks, a congregational hymn, and then the mission president, President Gordon Brown, and his wife, Sister Patricia Brown, spoke to us. For most of his talk, however, he yielded the time over to two visitors, whom he hasn't seen since 1972.

They were a couple that he had knocked on the door of while he was a missionary. They have served in many different capacities, served missions, and so on. They had stayed in contact after their baptism, but lost contact and hadn't talked since 1972. What a special experience, to see them, and hear their testimonies.

Well, my time is about up, so I get I will just have to write the rest of my schedule down, and Mom can type it up and send it out!

I love you all so very much. I am doing well, even though it is very difficult for me sometimes. Yet, the Lord is there for us, and He wants to help us to be able to bear the load which we are called upon to carry. He will help us, if we will trust in Him, in His power, in His voice. I think also, though, that we need to not just trust in Him, but to truly trust Him. He means what He says:) And He is always there, waiting for us to exercise our agency in such a way that He can bless us.

I love you all:) Boa tarde, e boa sorte! (Good afternoon, and good luck!)

Sincerely and truly,

Elder Reid Empey