August 9, 2016
Hi Fam!
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| Elder Roderick reports for duty. |
I hope you guys are doing alright! I'm glad the roof is still on our
house with me gone and everything. To be honest, this is one of the first times
I’ve had a chance to think about home and all that stuff and I really miss you
guys! I’m kind of glad our goodbye was so short because I would’ve cried like a
baby if it were any longer. I walked into the MTC with Andrew and as soon as I
got in there and received my tag I saw Elder Will Larsen and we had the BIGGEST
hug. He is so awesome and I immediately knew I was in good hands. We sat down
in the introductory meeting and immediately sang "Hope of Israel" and
I instantly felt the spirit so strong and I knew I was supposed to be there.
My companion is Elder Amann and he is way fresh. He went to Skyline and
then to USC for year. We are making connections all over the place. I love my District
and we have all gotten a long really well. It took me a while to get used to
the Heramanas because obviously, they are older and at first they acted like
they were our moms. But, now they are all good and I’m trying to convince them
to do my laundry. LOL! My Zone is way tight too. I’ve gotten a long really well
with the Elders in the other District that came in last week, as well as the
one that came in this week. Elder Dallimore and Elder Paulson are way sick. The
District that arrived this week has two Elders that are going to Mendoza and
they are just like me so we've been telling each other sooo many stories. I
love it! It’s been nice to have some kids that are just like me who I can relate
to.
I love my teachers, Hermanas Barlow and Tolk, as well as Hermano Hicks,
who is way tight too. They only speak Spanish which can get really frustrating
but I learn so much everyday. So far I have learned soooo much Spanish! All of
my prayers, testimonies, and the three lessons I’ve taught have been in complete
Spanish and its so awesome! In each of my prayers, I have prayed for the Gift
of Tongues and I have seen it work so much. I go in my lesson and spit sooo
much Spanish and then I walk out and don’t even know what I said. When I was
able to speak so well that I committed my first investigator to read El Libro
de Mormon and get baptized I was soooo hyped. Elder Amman and I were just
running around the class cause no one else could get him to do anything.
HaHaHa!
I’ve learned sooo many things while I’ve been here and my testimony
grows everyday. We have a teacher instruct us between breakfast and lunch and
then we teach after lunch then after dinner we have ciclo which is an hour each
of personal, companion, and language study. The best part of my day is
seeing my homies. I see all of the homies literally everyday. Elders Croft and
Nonu have class in the same building as I do so, I can see them whenever I want
and it makes my day! I feel so comfortable here now and I am having so much
fun. I try to stay busy and not think about home but it's alright. I'm living
on the main campus right next to the store. The food is obviously nothing like
my momma's cooking but its good and I haven’t really had a bad meal yet.
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| "In Two!" |
Since I’ve been here, I have laughed the hardest I ever have in my entire
life by just telling stories and relating to all these kids. The best part of
the MTC is that there aren’t any cliques down here. Everybody just gets a long and
we have a good time. We are all so different and that makes everything so much
better. The most surprising thing about the MTC is that there isn’t much
supervision. If you wanted to sneak out or just ditch class and take a nap you
totally could. Obviously, I’m not doing this, but I could. One of the
highlights of the week was when Ma Willow Jeppson dropped off some Czech pastries
for me. My roommates and I chowed on them during ciclo. Honestly, that made my
day! Another surprising thing has been that all of us get along so well. Honestly!
The most difficult for me is to avoid comparing myself to others. I work my
butt off to study this language and when I talk to the teacher and I say some
ridiculous thing I feel so stupid and think of kids who are in the intermediate
class can just say whatever they want. At first, I started to feel a little discouraged,
but I'm taking it slow and learning so much already.
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!
August 16, 2016
Hey Fam!
Another week down in the MTC. It really seems like I was just talking
to you guys! To be honest, this week was a little more rough than last week.
After talking to my friends and family back home I got pretty homesick and
started thinking too much about what was going on back home. But, later Tuesday
night, after emailing, we got to hear from Neil L Andersen and it was sooo
cool! He gave such great insight to us missionaries and really was motivating.
Then, on Wednesday, saw Lambson walk in to the MTC and it really made my day.
He had the deer in the headlights look like I did but it was great.
My teacher Hermana Barlow has kind of gotten sick of Amann and me and
all of our jokes so she hasn’t been taking any of our crap and this has made
class seem sooo long. She's really sweet and a great teacher but she’s put a
stop to our fun. However, we started to get taught by our first investigator,
Brother Mecham, and he was sooo cool. He moved to Las Vegas so he only taught
us twice but both of his lessons were my favorite so far. He pushes us with our
Spanish, but helps us if we are confused and then really brings the Spirit into
the room. Also, Brother Allred started teaching us this week and we kind of got
off to a rough start. He made me take off the Batman Lego guy I had on my shirt
and then made me take of my bracelets, which is technically a rule but no one
said anything about taking them off before him. He told me, "Obedience
brings blessings but exact obedience brings miracles." The Lego guy and bracelet
aren’t that big of a deal but this experience made me realize how important
obedience is.
I learned many things this week but the most important thing I learned
was not being discouraged if an investigator doesn’t keep a commitment or doesn’t
want to be baptized. Time is precious and it takes time for people to convert
to this gospel. I realized that the needs of the people are soooo much more
important than what I want.
We teach so much everyday now and Amann and I are really progressing
together. We started TRCs which are basically a 45-minute lesson with an
investigator that are filmed. Our teacher watches them and gives us a critique
on how we did. They are a little intimidating but really cool. My investigator
is Maribel and she is such a sweetheart.
After a tough middle of the week, Sunday and Monday were so rewarding.
Sunday morning, we had our ciclo time and I was able to study and be
productive. It was my first normal sacrament meeting in the MTC and it was a
great experience. I passed the Santa Cena and was able to teach priesthood and
that was awesome. I taught about enduring to end which might seem like a weird
topic to teach to 18 year-old kids but we had a great lesson and the Spirit was
present. I have learned to love to teach and have improved so much. Sunday
night we heard the talk "Character of Christ" by David Bednar and it
was the coolest thing I have ever heard. It taught me how converting to Christ
is the most important thing we can do. The main lesson I learned from Elder Bednar’s
words is the importance of turning outwards to others instead of inwards to
ourselves, especially while I’m a missionary. This is such a great concept to
remember because that's how Christ lived.
Yesterday was the first time I hit the weights since I have been down
here and it felt so nice. My man, Shad, and I went hard and I am so sore
today. Almost every day this week I have been able to have a good
conversation with one of my friends and it makes me feel soooo much better.
But, I have also made sooo many new friends down here and it seems like we have
been friends for years. Specifically, Dallimore, Paulsen, Arshad, Poulson and
Schelley have become my best friends. We share so many stories at night time
and sometimes it’s hard to go to bed because I have been laughing so hard.
Now I’ll try to answer some of Mom’s questions. My regular day
consists of three long periods between meals. One of them is our ciclo time
which is our study time. Another is with a teacher during which we receive
instruction and the other period is for TRC's where we teach for 45-minutes
then our teacher critiques our teaching.
After that we usually have a lesson for an hour.
Sundays have turned into my favorite day! On Sunday we have ciclo in
the morning where we usually end up writing our talks for Sacrament Meeting and
quietly reading. Then we have Sacrament Meeting. Sacrament is all in Spanish,
besides the two main talks, which is awesome. Spanish church hymns are soooo
much cooler than the English ones. After sacrament we have lunch then priesthood
and district meeting which is basically just Sunday school. We then have our
temple walk and those are nice because everyone in the MTC is out there. Before
dinner on Sundays we usually tune in to some dope talks that we like or Mormon
Messages. Dinner is usually something more special because its Sunday and then
we have a devotional which is always cool.
At the end of the night we have movie time which is our choice of a dope
devotional that they have recorded or the movie 17 Miracles or something like
that. The Spirit is everywhere on Sunday! I just love it so much!
Pday is also soooo chill. We participate in a session at the temple
then usually email and do laundry around lunch time. I'm getting a haircut
today and then I’m planning to go ball with Lambson. After dinner we have a
devotional too so we literally have no class. It's very nice to have a break.
Highlights of the week are probably teaching, seeing my
friends and actually being able to talk to them. During the last two Sunday
devotionals I’ve sat next to Andrew and Thomas and we've caught up its been
great because it keeps me normal. I also love going to the temple and telling stories
at night. In a package I’d like to get some canned caffeine and especially the
flavor blast goldfish. We went through a carton of those in 3 days. Any home
cooked goods are great and the toaster has been the talk of the dorm room!! You
should’ve seen the reactions my roommates had when I pulled it out of the box!
This week was a rollercoaster but I am so grateful for the tough times
because they make me stronger and a better missionary and cause me to remember
my purpose. I love being a missionary. I'm not here for myself or any of my
benefits; hopefully they just come along the way. I am here to help others
come unto Christ and share with them the happiness that this true gospel gives
me! I love my family so much!!
Elder Roderick
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