Holy cow, it's been another week already. I can't believe time is going by so quickly. Time is pretty skewed here at the MTC. The days feel like weeks, and the weeks feel like days. It's kind of just insane. The food isn't bad so far. I've made some personal goals to not gain weight, and the exercise field has been open, so I've been playing a ton of frisbee. My companion can throw a frisbee pretty far. Frisbee. Frizbee? No...it's spelled with an S. That other one looks like Miss Frizzle. You know...from the magic school bus?
Um. Anyway. Today is P-day. The craziest day of the week. You still have to get up at 6:30, but instead of going to classes and studying a ton, you get to go to the temple (which is really the highlight of the week, along with Sacrament Meeting and awesome Devotionals). Then there's lunch and about an hour of "personal time" That's about all the break we get here at the MTC, because then there's laundry, dinner, and we're back in class by 6. It's so enjoyable though. I really love it here. I've been a little sickish yesterday and today...but it's nothing major. I hope it leaves soon. On the plus side, I was hitting some amazingly low notes in the shower this morning. Hehe. Fun stuff. ;)
Thank you all so much for your letters. :) It's always good to hear how everyone is doing, even if it has only been 2 weeks. I don't remember if I for sure told you, but they're keeping me here for the full 9 weeks. So, my estimated departure date is still July 26th. The rest of my District is leaving the day before, so I might be here alone for a day. That would be interesting. They'd probably end up assigning me to another companion or something...make a threesome. Or maybe they'd just let me go without a companion for a day. Who knows.
I talked to Mr. Mendenhall last week. He plays the organ for the Tuesday Devotionals. It was so good to see him. Also, we sang "Look at the World" in the choir for this Tuesday's Devo. The director asked if anyone had sung it before, and I think I was the only one. Sad day. But now there are about 1,000 of us that have sung it. :)
Yesterday was "new-guy day." We got 1,000+ new missionaries, and they're EVERYWHERE! I'm pretty sure I was seeing more missionaries with dork dots than without (dork dots are the little orange stickers they give you on your first day so that if you ever get lost, people will know you're a dork, and they can help you out. Or. Something like that.) Needless to say, the lines for dinner stretched to the spirit world and back...
The work is going well. We've started teaching in spanish. We have TRC (Teaching Resource Center) every week, where we go and practice contacting and teaching "investigators." It was probably the scariest thing I'd ever done, but it quickly became the most enjoyable. Teaching is really the meat of missionary work. It's what we do. And the more I teach, the more I come to love it. Working with an investigator (whether or not they're just a volunteer acting like a nonmember) is an amazing experience. When we teach with the spirit, it doesn't feel like a role-play. It feels like we're really teaching a real investigator, and the spirit testifies to us and to them that what we are teaching is true.
We watched a devotional from a couple years ago by Elder Bednar about the number one question he gets asked by members. The question is, "how do I tell if something is a spiritual prompting, or just me?" His answer was interesting. He said "Quit worryin' about it! Be a good boy, or a good girl, keep your covenants, obey the commandments, and I promise you that God will be there guiding your steps." The spirit isn't there to slap us in the face and tell us to go do something. It's our job to get moving, and then the spirit will be there guiding our steps. He said, "The more we follow the spirit, the more He trusts us to say what He would say, and do what He would do." If you have the chance, read D&C 80. It's a super short section, directed to a specific person, but verse 3 ties in perfectly with this principle. It's great. If you ever get the chance to watch it, then watch it. Hehe. Really though. It's great.
Well, I love you all. I hope that life is treating you all well, and that you're reading your scriptures and saying your prayers daily. And that you're going to the temple as often as time permits. Be good, don't do drugs, and remember to drink your ovaltine. ;)
Have a nice day, eh? :)
-Elder Cannon
P.S. Think of the most horrid, terrible...evil thing you can possibly imagine, and multiply it by SIX!!!
P.P.S. If you haven't read the first vision lately, read it. And then pray about it. All of us are where we are, and who we are because one 14 year-old boy had the courage to say a prayer. We should know the story by heart, don't you think? :) "Vi una columna de luz, mas brillante que el sol, directamente arriba de mi cabeza. Y esta luz gruadualmente descendió hasta descanzar sobre mí. Al reposar sobre mí la luz, vi en el aire arriba de mi a dos personages, cuyo fulgor y gloria no admiten descripción. Uno de ellos me habló, llamandome por mi nombre, y dijo, señalando al otro, "Este es mi Hijo Amado. Escúchalo.""
I love you all. God be with you. :)
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