Week #3: Last Week In the MTC

Another week down and only a few days away from flying out... It's crazy that thus time next week I'll be in the field teaching and baking in the sunny 75° weather. That alone will be big change. I'm just praying that I'll get along with my first companion! I leave tuesday! 

So on last P-day, we got to go to the temple cause it was finally open and me and my companions missed the endowment session so we did sealings. That was my first time and that was pretty cool to do. The old guys in the temple are so funny. When we were done with the sealings, an old Tongan man in like his 70's sat us down and told us how to be successful in life.... That is all I understood, almost every word was incomprehensible because he was so old and mumbled so bad. It was so funny because he was talking to us for like 20mim but we just smiled and nodded but don't know a thing of what he said. 

On Friday my companion, Elder Lindsey, had a doctor's appointment so we got to skip class and go to the outside world for the first time! It was kinda weird going out as a missionary. Everybody is looking at you so you gotta make sure you're always behaving. Anyways his doctor's appointment was to set a surgery date to remove a cyst he has on his arm. We get there and the doctor asked when he leaves. Elder Lindsey told him that we leave the 16th. The doctor started looking for a date to remove it and there wasn't really any openings. The doctored saw there was no openings soooo he was like "Lets cut it out right now!" So we, me and Elder Becker, got to sit and watch as they cut out his cyst. It was nasty and I only got a little sick but overall it was nice to go to the outside world... We also bought a few Mountain Dews and Dr Pepper's so that was amazing! 

We've been having lots of classes and we just got new teachers, which was sad because we had the best teachers EVER, but our new teachers are alright. So obviously Sunday, I woke up and had a really bad sore throat, a nasty cough and really bad headache.... to top that off it was Fast Sunday.... I still drank water to help with the sore throat, but not having food turned my headache into a migraine. We went back to the dorm at like 3 and just slept. The next couple days we skipped morning class cause my cough was really bad and they don't want you to spread sickness cause it spreads fast. Tuesday night roles around and we have a devotional every Tuesday and our guest speaker was Elder Bednar! How crazy is that?! Thats 2 apostle's! That's pretty cool! He talked about the process that takes place when a prophet dies. It was a more serious talk and not really any jokes but it was a really good talk and helped me understand the process that takes place when a prophet dies and the new prophet is "sworn in". Anyways that was really awesome to have taught to us. 

So Wednesday (yesterday) we got new missionarys and we got a TON of new ones! Seriously there are so many here now! Anyways when I was standing in line for dinner I went to cut off this Newbee cause he was taking too long and is was good friend of mine who had just showed up. His name is McRae and he's the funniest guy I know and were gonna light this place up! (With laughter and stuff, not a lighter) 

One of the new elders has a hammock so we set it up in the bathroom. Nobody has slept in it yet but someone will eventually. 

Just as before, the MTC has been really good and i've been learning lots everyday and getting better at teaching investigators.

I love and miss you all and hope all things are well!

-Elder Hales

Week 2: Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everybody!!! 

Mission is the weirdest thing! I feel like I've been here for months but at the same time like maybe only 4 days.... idk time is irrelevant here! Like everyday you just don't know if it's a Sunday or Friday, or Tuesday just like time has no value here! Anyways it's been really good here! 

Well since the last email, things  have been getting stressful here at the MTC. The picture that i'll attach should tell you just how stressful. Just kidding, we were doing a role play and our teacher wanted us to close our eyes so I used my tie instead. Which if you ever want to see how good of a listener you are, try closing your eyes (without falling asleep) and you really have to focus it's weird! I'll try to add the video but during sacrament on Sunday my companions got bored and came up with a missionary rap that is actually really good! Missionary Rap

Anyways... I've been really busy lately everyday because this week we started doing TRC's. Which is teaching investigators. Most of them are just trained teachers for us to practice but every once in a while they set you up with real investigators so you have to always make sure you're doing your best because they might be real. So me and my companions are teaching two investigators this week and we've met with them both twice and so far we've been doing really good. We're a little jumpy but we're starting to get the hang of it. We've done lots of role plays in class but for some reason it's less nerve racking to teach a TRC than it is to role play in class. Teaching the investigators gets me excited to get to the mission field even though those investigators will be harder to teach most of the time but my time will come soon enough in a couple weeks. 

So Sunday night was New Years Eve.... It was crazy lit down here at the MTC! We had a devotional that night with Brad Wilcox and Lexi Walker came and sang (look her up, shes only 15 and super good singer). Afterwards, we all went to our dorms and didn't go to bed till like 10:30! That's actually when we're supposed to go to bed so we got a really good sleep that night. Most nights, we're lucky if we go to bed by like 11:00 because we just have so much to do every night and to talk about! Long Story short we went to bed early on NYE so nothing too special happened that night. :P

On Monday our zone all headed out to there missions so we've been the only district in our Branch until just yesterday. We now have like 42 Elders and Sisters now compared to before of only like 16. So now sacrament will actually be somewhat full from here on out! 

An elder's mom sent him a package for NYE but it didn't come on time so we had our own NYE party on Tuesday and stayed up till almost 11:00!! #rebels

Tuesday for lunch they catered Chick-Fil-A and it was amazing! It was real food and we all ate like 3 chicken sandwiches! 

The only problem that I have with the MTC is there Gym rules... We are not allowed to touch the backboard, touch the net, or touch the rim! And we are scheduled for a gym time at 3:45 on Tuesdays but they don't let us use the gym or fitness center so I'm really confused on what that's all about! There are just some rules that I do not understand but I will follow them anyways b/c "Exact Obedience".

I don't remember if I mentioned that we all have a handshake with our district leader but I'll try and add that video too, it's pretty dope! MTC Handshake (Editors note: Elder Hales accidentally recorded wrong so it's sideways whoops. His handshake is at 0:40)  

We heard about President Monson obviously. That's sad to hear but we all know that there is a life after this. That's the best thing about the Plan of Salvation is that we can have eternal life and see the people we love and care about in the next life. Did anyone read the statement Donald Trump released about this death? Go read it, he said really nice things about him. 

Over this last week I've really been learning for myself a lot about the repentance process. Some of you already knows what it really means but I didn't truly understand it till this last week so I'll share in case you didn't know either. The repentance process is not only to take care sins and asking for forgiveness, the process is for making ourselves better everyday and "By changing our thoughts and feelings about ourselves and others to how god sees us and others". Really think about that. If we are looking in the mirror and telling ourselves that we are ugly or we're not good enough than we are sinning because our thoughts and feelings about ourselves are not in alignment with how God views us. The Atonement is SO much more than just making sure we are cleansed of sin for the life after this. When we build our Faith in Jesus Christ and use the repentance process daily, we can be blessed to change our bad habits or change the way we judge others sometimes and help us view them through Gods eyes. I just thought I'd share a little about something i learned and  what I'm trying to do more daily in my life and studies.  

Overall having church everyday makes you learn a lot about the gospel and about yourself. 

I love and miss you all but i know all your lives can be blessed through daily scripture reading and praying everyday. Read Alma 37:36.

I'll pray for snow for you guys because we need it! :P

-Elder Hales 

MTC-Week #1

The MTC is interesting. The days feel long but by the end of the day it feels so fast! Like I can't believe a week has already gone by! At the moment it feels super fast!

When I first got here it didn't really feel real yet. Just kinda felt like a tour in a suit and tie. I was put in a trio companionship. Elder Lindsey is from Provo, so a local guy, and Elder Becker is from South Carolina. Both great guys, interesting in there own way but easy to get along with. In our district there was 10 of us, 7 Elders and 3 Sisters and half of us are all headed down to Arizona in either the Gilbert or Mesa missions. And the other half is headed to cali and boston. 

We have the coolest district! We seriously all just get along so well and are always making sure to communicate and everything! Elder Anderson (district leader) he's a really short American Japanese and is super energetic and we all have these really awesome handshakes he has for all of us (I'll try to throw the video in if I can) and everyone is super impressed with the handshakes! 

We have a 3hr class in morning and night and the teachers we have are phenomenal! They just really love the gospel and love missionarys and are very engaged and still young so kind of immature, which is great cause we get along amazing! 

The thing about the MTC is you sing.... you sing a lot..... like, A LOT!!! I'm pretty sure we sing like 20 hymns a day (excluding Christmas day/eve) and we sing all the verses. THE FOOD! I've been getting that question a lot! I actually love it! They do a really good job at mixing it up and if you don't like what's for dinner they have leftovers from lunch you can choose from. You can have as much soda and ice cream and food and cereal and anything they serve, you can have as much as you want! So if you're ever hungry, it's really your own fault.

I know probably 20 kids from different schools and stuff that are here so that's cool to run into them and see where they're headed. 

One of the coolest things about the new MTC buildings is their mural pictures... wow I can't even explain how beautiful and real and recapturing they are! I'll send a few pictures but they don't do justice for them! What these pictures are, are a fabric picture with lots of vibrant detailed colors that are framed and behind the fabric they have rows of small LED lights that light the entire canvas and make the picture fell alive. You almost wanna step into the picture. We've all tried to take candid photos the capture the "moment".... well these photos are captured MOMENTS that make you feel apart of the doctrine.  

For Christmas eve/Sunday we had a sacrament with just our branch of 18 people. We talked about the nativity and other stuff but i don't remember the other stuff cause i was sleeping. We had a Christmas program and later that night we watched a movie called Christmas For a Dollar. It's a really good show and it's got its fair share of humor as well. 

As good as Christmas eve was, Christmas DAY was full of surprises! In the morning we had a Hot breakfast (although breakfast is fresh, it's usually only kinda warm) and it was delicious! And at lunch, we had sirlion steak! i ate two and it was so darn yummy! In the afternoon, we had a general authority come and talk to us and it was Niel L Anderson! He's really funny and has a very engaging presence when speaking (although i did fall asleep half way through, so maybe not as engaging as i needed :P) and at the end he walked around and was shaking peoples hands. He was headed our way when he started heading out the door, and the Sisters in my district were just dying to shake his hand! So AS Elder Anderson was HALF way out the door, two of the three sisters ran up and shook his hand squeezing past his body guards and it was hilarious! It was one of those embarasing but proud moments of the sisters. After Elder Anderson we had a class and dinner and nothing very significant there. At 7:00 that night we had a devotional and that was all we were told. As we were singing the opening hymn, David Archuleta walked in! The MTC president stood up and explained that we were having a surprise concert with David Archuleta singing and his friend Madeline Paige. Every sister (and some Elders) lost there minds! He was phenominal, he sang obviously lots of Christmas songs and a few popular reverent songs like his cover of Glorious and other songs that just help us all feel the spirit and made Christmas all the better. He shared some stories from his mission that were really inspiring to hear. He had one experience where he was on a bus and spotted a young lady who had piercings and just looked very intimidating to a Missionary who had only been in the field 3 months and only spoke some broken spanish and the spirit told him to give her a YSA Invite to an activity and he talk the spirit no 2 times and finally gave in the third time. Through much broken spanish difficulty, He gave her the Pamphlet. 2 years later he finds out that the young woman joined the church, converted her family and lots of friends and was preparing to serve a mission. It was so cool to see how listening to the spirit can have a huge dominoe effect that changed so may lives by just listening to the spirit. He was very inspiring and made me more excited to get to the mission field. Well Obviously all of us were just wanting to shake his hand and maybe get a photo afterwords but knew it was not going to happen (Including me). Well following his performance and his friends he announced that he was willing to stay a bit longer and shake EVERYBODY'S hand! We all were really excited to be able to shake his hand and that's all it was because there were so many of us and we weren't supposed to take any photos but I asked a sister to get a sneaky pic to prove I'm telling the truth and she Did! So i have a blurry photo to prove I'm being serious!

Anyways the MTC has been really great overall. Learning lots about how to teach through the spirit instead of walking in with just a set layout of a plan. It's the coolest thing being able to learn so much everyday. Like we have a three hour class and every time we feel like it's gonna drag and be a long day but by the end we all feel like we want more time because we get in this learning groove that we just don't want to end even though it's 9:00. It's amazing how my h you learn in such a short time and I've got 2 years of it! One thing I'm struggling with is making sure I say sisters and Elders. We all just keep saying You Guys or Dude or any other lingo we're use too and it's hard to switch how we address everyone. I have so much that I wanna keep telling you all but my fingers can't keep up with me. 

I love and miss you all and if you send me an email any day I can read them and I'll respond on Thursday's since that's my P-day. 

Let me tell ya, as a missionary it's always good to hear what's going on in all of yours lives! Since I don't have Insta to keep me updated  

If I have more time today I'll send more about what I've learned and other things they're happening. 

-Elder Hales