Saturday, August 27, 2022
Hello everyone!
I have now been at the Provo MTC for two and a half weeks and I am loving it! Being surrounded by over a thousand other missionaries is an incredible experience. Everyone here is focused, determined, working hard, ready to learn, and headed in the right direction. That definitely rings true for my companion and district. Yet again, I am surrounded by great people in my life. They all have qualities that make them such unique students, teachers, and friends. We have grown closer together every day and will continue to do so for the next 4 and a half weeks.
Some of my favorite parts of being a missionary at the MTC:
Spiritual growth. I am learning a lot about the basic doctrines of the gospel. The devotionals are amazing and scripture study has never been so intriguing. I also love just talking with my district about different topics and stories within the scriptures.
Exercise. I LOVE BASKETBALL! We play basketball or a game on the field every day. [note from Hyrum’s mom laurel: he just broke this year's record for making most free-throws in a row at the MTC, so now his name is on the record wall!]
Studying. This is the most studying I have ever done in my life. It’s about 8 hours of Vietnamese and 1-2 hours of scripture study every day. It’s kind of relaxing and I can (and am) go for hours. There is a lot to learn. This is 1000000x better than homework.
Spending time with the district. I try and get some extra studying in each night after 9pm but usually fail because it’s so fun to hang out with the other elders in my group. I’m becoming great friends with everyone in the group.
I have exactly 1 month left until I leave for the field. I feel like it’ll never end. But I also feel like it’ll be here tomorrow. I can’t tell if time moves way faster or way slower as a missionary. But it’s not normal.
And to be honest, the mtc is not the most exciting place compared to the field. I am so so so so so so excited for the field. Please pray really hard for my visa and the visas of my group! That's my biggest concern right now. I'm trying to have faith about it but I know it's not a vending machine. But I will still have faith anyways. Because faith brings miracles!
Last thing. We have been talking a lot about miracles lately as a district. I hope everyone who reads this will start to look for the miracles in their lives, big and small. There are miracles happening for each of us, I promise. Some of them are solving problems. Like putting out a fire. But other miracles come in the form of preventing problems. Stopping the fire from starting in the first place. Sometimes God lets us fall, but he will always be there to help us back up. And other times he catches us before we hit the ground. Both are miracles. God is blessing us all the time, and we need to recognize it.
-Elder McConkie
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| The flags |
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| Sunrise |
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| Sunset |
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Singing in the choir |
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| Chilling with the district in between class and dinner. Elder Burden plays the piano while we all listen and look out the window. Most relaxing 20 minutes of the day for sure. |
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| One of my favorite murals, Moses and the Red Sea |
