WEEK 4 - Over The Hill And Towards The Horizon
This email marks the halfway point of my missionary training experience. I have been in Hell (reference, not reality) for three of the four weeks I’ve been a missionary, which is also crazy, but Heaven is just on the horizon. I literally cannot wait to get out into the world of Houston and meet people and have experiences I’ll never, ever forget for the rest of my life. But for now, I stay within the gated confines of a Provo missionary wonderland, filled to the brim with a schedule neither agreed upon nor loved. And, I love it.
Deep down my MTC experience has been nothing short of spectacular, and although I may have ranted/complained/judged somewhat in my prior correspondence, I truly love it here (yes, I love all the missionaries here) and everyday I look back on my decision to serve fondly.
While trekking up the hill and towards the halfway point of my training, I had a few notable viewpoints that I’d like to share (specifically for those of you that are joining me on my missionary expedition). One of the notable spots along the hill was the full immersion of Spanish speaking within my district. In all of our classes, from now on, we will speak in Spanish and Spanish only. I love it. High school Ethan would not believe his eyes right now. On top of becoming immersed (not completely, yet–stay tuned for two or so weeks from now), my companion, Elder Madsen and I had two lessons in Spanish! At the MTC, they hire actors to pretend to be investigators (renamed to “friends”, recently) so that missionaries can practice in a low-stakes environment how to teach a lesson. Elder Madsen and I killed it. Like, the Gift of Tongues is real. I was able to completely comprehend what our actors were saying and respond with no thought and little effort on my part. It was insane. I would hear what our actors would say and, without thinking, I was speaking words that I didn’t even know I had learned and words that they needed to hear.
Another viewpoint along my trek towards the precipice of my MTC expedition was the talk that I gave in my branch (multiple missionary districts combined together) on Sunday. Here are some excerpts from it because I am lazy.
The Doctrine of Christ seems daunting but I promise it is not. Odds are, you've probably already been living it. If you made it here, we're one step closer to fulfilling our missionary purposes and living the Doctrine of Christ. But is that enough? I don't think so. In 2 Nephi 31, Nephi speaks of faith, repentance, baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. But, he also talks about passivity and how passivity is not enough to live the Doctrine of Christ.
“18 are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.
19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.
20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.
21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen.”
It is not enough to have a missionary purpose and it is not enough to learn of the Doctrine of Christ, you must live both of these things–as they should be synonyms of one another. To live the Doctrine of Christ is to live with exact obedience, a desire to feast upon the words of the Lord and invite all others to join you at the dinner table. Imagine how selfish it may be to keep this incredible secret, the secret to eternal life and happiness, from someone who has never heard of Jesus Christ, let alone the Church of Him in these Latter-Days? I can't imagine the pain and weight of such a sin as this. It is exact obedience to the Doctrine of Christ that brings forth miracles.
Anyways, I hope that this view might be something that you needed to see. Yes, you. You that is reading this email. Wow, he just broke the fourth-wall. And now he’s still doing it. Ok, when is he going to stop? He’s not going to.
That was maybe the worst bit of my entire life.
Well, that is the end of this email. I reached the top of the hill and am now climbing over it and the horizon is on the horizon and yaddah, yaddah, yaddah. The end. Talk to you next week.
P.S. Thank you to each and every one of you that reached out and emailed my last week, sorry I had no time to respond, but I read (and loved) every single one of your emails and I appreciate your care, your joy, and your support.
If you want to see all the pictures ever, go here.
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM:
If you want to see just this week's pictures go here.
WEEK 4:
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