Elder Jacob Anderson: Two Weeks Down One to Go

Another week down in the MTC! It’s crazy how fast time flies here! It literally feels like it’s still the first week! I'm learning so much everyday and sometimes it’s hard to catch everything I'm learning so I'm always writing stuff down! We had a great morning at the temple! It’s always nice going there. Also I leave on the 23rd so next Wednesday at 4 am were gonna be on our way to the airport. Our flight leaves at 7:25 and we have a layover in Denver, Colorado and then we’re on our way to Iowa. I am the leader for all the missionaries going to Iowa so I guess I just need to keep track of all of them. One of the elders girlfriends sent him a basketball hoop to put on our room's door so last night we were having some fun playing basketball in the room, it got pretty intense! haha Ever since I got here I have felt like I have known everyone, they all look so familiar it’s creepy! It feels like deja vu, it’s weird because everyone says the same thing like we all had a dream about being here already or something, its really cool. Its also cool how all the districts seem to get along so well, and how they were chosen so perfectly, I love my district I have made some awesome friends here.

Yesterday we had Elder Gary E. Stephens talk to us in the Tuesday night devotional. He gave a nice talk but in the night devotionals it is so hard for me to try and stay awake, everyone is usually pretty tired. We are always trying to catch a break, it’s normally not too bad but two of the best districts here left yesterday morning at 3:30 and they weren't gonna go to bed. Most of the time when districts leave they just stay up all night cause everyone leaves at like 3:30 to 4:00 am. We had to say goodbye to some super awesome elders! It was sad saying good bye!

We got two more TRC investigators this week and they both started off a little rough. It’s hard trying to teach with my companion. He always takes up the entire time and I only get to talk for a little bit. All my teachers know that he takes up too much time and won’t let me talk and they tell him to try and even it out and I tell him after every lesson but he’s not really getting better. Even the Branch President told him. But the first TRC investigator we had was awesome! The first two lessons were rough but the last two were awesome and we felt the spirit so strong and he said he would get baptized! But very few TRC investigators are not members. His name is Johnny, we saw him on Monday and we talked to him and he is the coolest kid. haha We could be best friends because he’s so cool! haha But he told us he was mormon and showed us his garments and we all laughed and were bummed that we didn't actually get a baptism. But he’s still awesome.

Also it was nice to have fast Sunday on the first Sunday we were here because the first few days are hard but I'm definitely feeling the blessings from fasting and all the prayers so thank you. I taught Priesthood on Sunday on repentance, it was an amazing lesson the spirit was so strong it was crazy. Me and my companion were spittin flames of the spirit the whole lesson. The Branch President was there and everything! Everyone was thanking me for the lesson after! Because repentance is a huge thing as a missionary, without repenting we can’t have the spirit with us and as we continue to not repent our spiritual growth will slow down and even stop. So I challenged everyone to add repentance to their nightly prayers! Sundays here are awesome! We have some stud missionaries here, so the lessons in priesthood are crazy good. I just had one of my very good friends from high school pass by so I ran out and jumped on him! It was so awesome seeing him it made me so happy!! It was Elder Steele Rapier. I hope he rooms close to me or has the same exercise time as me so we can have some fun!

My companion has been making me go to choir, I didn't want to go at first but I thought it would be cool and the spirit would be super strong so I went. But we sit there on hard chairs for around 2 hours and the first day was just practice! I thought we were singing at the devotional but no! They take choir pretty serious here so I never know what they are talking about. But we did get to sing in front of a an Apostle so that was kinda cool but I'm not doing it again! haha

Well I think that sums up the week pretty good! It’s safe to say it was a great week and I love being a missionary and I can’t wait to get into the field! I wanna bear testimony of the power of prayer and repentance! I notice when I pray at night and in the morning, and like night and day my days are so much better. When I don't the days are long and hard and make me homesick. With repentance and prayer we can build our faith and have a stronger spirit with us. So always remember to pray with a sincere heart and real intent and don't put off repentance even for smaller things as it slows down your spiritual growth. Have an awesome week, and don't forget to email me and send packages!!

Love, Elder Anderson