How's everyone doing?! How's life been? How's guard going? How's the hunt for a new band director? Mom finally got new phone? That's pretty sweet! she having fun figuring out and getting used to the face recognition and no home button lol?
The MTC has been awesome! You really learn a lot and tbh, I'm glad i'm not learning a new language! well kinda glad... ;) I was talking to Sister Davis and she said all they do in class is study the language and their lessons are basically reciting what they've written down. Not learning a new language is really a whole different experience! My knowledge of the gospel has increased so much! It's kind of insane thinking about how much more I know compared to when I got here. It's been so much fun!! Elder Norton and I are the zone leaders, so we do an orientation with the new missionaries their first night. We just meet with them and talk about general rules and assignments they have for the week like planning a talk for Sunday and meetings with the branch president. We show them around campus and around the residency halls. We also had to teach Preisthood on Sunday and a member of the MTC presidency came and joined us, so that was fun. Sunday's in the MTC are pretty sweet! You have normal sacrament, but then you have district meeting, then Preisthood/Relief Society. Then lots of meetings and ponder time. In the evening, you have devotionals. The MTC district president and his wife spoke on Sunday, then Tuesday's devotional was Elder LeGrand R Curtis Jr. of the Seventy. That one was awesome! He talked about the power and importance of having a testimony of The Book of Mormon. He shared tons of crazy conversion stories!
So we change investigators every week, so we aren't teaching Isaiah and Oogii anymore. But now we're teaching Erica, an older Brazillian lady, and Jasmine. Jasmine is really nice and crazy smart! (just imagine Brayden, but as a 5 foot nothing, blonde lady) She's interested in our religion cause she married a member. She's really smart and understands the Book of Mormon, but she isn't much of a feely kind of person. She wants like hard facts and evidence. Erica is amazing! She's had a hard life and had lots of loss. She was taught that when you die, you lose all memory of your earth life. She was super sad when her Grandpa died, cause she was super close to him! But we taught her, from the Book of Mormon, that we don't lose our memory of Earth, and that we'll be reunited with our bodies and loved ones in a perfect state. She got insanely happy and emotional. She's reading the Book of Mormon and starting to love it and love God!
To answer Dad's questions, ya, those shorts are fine. Elder Dalton has a scale that we can use.
We left Oogii having watched Because of Him video. She loved it and she loved talking about having hope through Christ.
The other 4 elders are going to Fort Collins Colorado
3 sisters ( Sisters Elder, Comstock, and Burnham) are going the Chicago West
Elder Norton and I and 3 sisters (Carroll, Flake, and Minaker) are going to DC South.
I learned a lot this week! I really learned how to teach in a companionship! (Mosiah 18) It's hard to teach with another person, especially when they say something that takes the lesson somewhere you didn't want it to go. But that's what planning and the Spirit is for! Teaching is seriously so hard!! I also learned a lot about faith! Ether 12
The MTC is rough at times, and I've definitely thought like, "What am I doing here?!" or "I just wanna leave and go back home!" But I've always come back to, "I'm here because missionary work is amazing and being a part of someone's journey to Christ feels amazing!" (D&C 18:15-16) Also the feeling you get walking out of a lesson where the investigator really felt the spirit and wants to know more or wants to try harder and do better, is unbelievable! GOD IS SO GOOD AND HIS WORK IS BEYOND REWARDING!!!
I love you all and know that I think about and pray for you all the time!!! ALL OF YOU!!
Love, Elder Duke
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