Week 6: MTC highlights

Hey friends and family,


Another week gone at the MTC and I am finding myself down to the last 4 weeks here.  At first I wanted nothing more than to leave this place and go to the field but to be honest it’s not too bad.  And it is really nice to get all the letters, pictures, and packages from all of you.


This week we had an awesome Sunday full of meetings and classes.  I was also made the new District Leader today for the rest of our time here in the MTC.  It’s nice to have the power but what really makes me feel successful is when my district is happy.  We had a fireside about tithing.... yes tithing. An hour and a half of listening to tithing.  It wasn’t bad, but it just wasn't a super awesome topic to hear about, the best part was that I now have some good scriptures to use for my tithing lessons.


Elder Bailey and I have had a very good week this week in terms of our friendship and as a result we have seen major improvement in our lessons.  We taught Esteban this week who we haven’t had a whole lot of success with but after planning and having a good week with Bailey, we finally where able to commit him to baptism.  It’s so great to finally start having success with some of our investigators.  The trick to getting along with someone else is 1. To look for things you love in the person and just stick to it and 2. stop thinking about ways they can change to make the relationship better, and just change yourself, it’s so much easier.


What’s amazing about being here is that every Tuesday you get humbled again and again. Julie Beck came to the MTC and was the speaker for this week’s devotional, and her talk was very different than what we are used to, she talked about temple marriage.  Even though it was pretty hard to follow, it seems like she sparked a little something and started a train of thought for everyone in the district that lead to inspiration.  Every Tuesday night after the devotional we have testimony meeting and it is the best part of every week because the spirit is at its strongest.  The testimonies of the people are so strong that it’s no wonder why we all used to have such a rough time.  Satan is working hard to tear them down.


On Wednesday there was almost a problem in the district.  Because Elder Bailey has a really bad back that has been hurting him lately, I let him use "Sheryl" (this nice reclining chair I acquired in week 4) to help his back.  But in order for him to sit in it we needed to move the desks.  So this worked for about 2 weeks until someone sat in our desks while the chair wasn’t there and saw how much room there was.  So at dinner I started getting grilled about it and instead of making a big deal about it I told them we would talk about it later.  Then when we left dinner early, I went and moved all the desks over and got rid of my own space.  As a District Leader, I am called to serve my district.  As long as my district is happy and my companion is not in pain, that will be my measure of success.  More space doesn’t mean anything in the long run.


We got a new district this week, which is always a highlight of the week.  There is one Elder from Tonga that speaks almost no English.  Most of them don't speak any Spanish at all, so I’m eager to start helping them figure it out. The oldest district is leaving in 4 days.  That will make us the big dogs of the Zone for the rest of the time here at the MTC.  I guess it’s now time to start being the examples to all the other districts.


Yesterday, they made all of the Elders in our building move to a new building.  So yes in week 5 I had to pack up all my stuff and move to a whole new building.  To top it all off, 2 of the districts in our zone are not even on our floor, so it is going to be more challenging to get to know them. But the nice thing is we don’t have to be in a room with six elders like the rest of the MTC and the room is right next to the showers and the ironing board.  It is a little hot in the room, but because of my persuasive powers I have acquired 4 fans in the last 5 weeks here.  At night it sounds like a helicopter in our room.  Since I like noise when I sleep, I sleep like a total rock now and it only takes me like 3 mins to fall asleep.  My whole room is jealous.  It sucks still being the only one that has to shave my caveman beard every morning. Every guy in my district makes fun of me for it, but I guess I kind of don't mind. Anyway, it’s time for the temple.


Love you all, 


Elder Stewart