This week like all the others has been extremely packed with meetings and classes in the MTC! We have all gotten used to it though, and if anything, it helps the time go faster when we are so busy! This week flew by so fast! Tuesday was a pretty rough day for me mentally, but we have a big devotional every Tuesday! Beforehand I said a prayer that I would have the Spirit with me to have some questions answered… And normally my comp and I try to sit in the very back because they fit over 2000 of us in that little gym! Well right as it started, some guy for whatever reason moved us and one other companionship to the very front row right in front of the speaker, Allan F. Packer from the 70. The opening hymn was Called to Serve… I think its safe to say that I felt the Spirit as over 2300 missionaries sang that song behind me! During his talk he looked right into my eyes as he said,” Do not delay your teaching until you feel as though your testimony is strong enough for others to rely upon!” That was a crazy experience for me because my first lesson in Spanish was the next day with a real investigator!
During TRC in the MTC, we are able to teach real people who have an interest in the gospel. This week, we got to meet people from Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Ecuador, Spain (they have a weird lisp), Mexico, and probably more that I can’t remember! My companion and I were able to understand everything they were saying! Our actual amigo, investigator, is Ronald Brito! HE is from Paraguay! He has been in the States for only a few months, and he is studying English at BYU! He lives with his younger brother here in Provo. Surprisingly he has made a lot of member friends at BYU who recommended that he come to the MTC to talk with the missionaries! He lives right behind a church building, and he has even gone to a couple of YSA sports activities there… His dad is Jewish, but he doesn’t practice, and his Mom is Catholic, but Hermano Brito never really attended the Catholic church. His parents and a couple other siblings still live in Paraguay. Anyway, this week we started Lesson three with Hermano Brito, which is about the Gospel or the Doctrine of Christ basically. We started off with the Atonement, Faith, and Repentance in our first lesson! It went SO WELL!! We were able to clearly communicate our message to him and we answered a ton of his questions! Luckily in the MTC, we get to see a survey that he fills out about us, and he said that our message was very clear! Our Spanish is getting so much better! Its amazing how far we have gone in three weeks since we are studying so hard for the language everyday! Anyway, we ended that lesson with an invitation to read and pray about the Book of Mormon! Our next lesson was the day after, so on Thursday! We followed up on our invitation, and he was able to pray, but he hadn’t had a chance to read yet! So we invited him to do it again, but he had a really good experience with prayer! He had never really prayed how we do in our church which is like more personal and more of a conversion with our Heavenly Father… He said that he felt peace and comfort, and that it definitely felt different than normal. We told him that that that was how the Spirit feels when it is present! We moved onto the lesson which was Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the end. We spent the time mostly talking about baptism because he was very interested in the way our church does it by full immersion and he had a lot of questions in general. We were able to answer every question, and shared a lot of scriptures with him, and his eyes were totally opened on full immersion and why it was so important. He also was able to understand the Priesthood, ordinances, and covenants. The spirit was so strong in this lesson,and there were definitely times when the words coming out of my mouth were not my own… The gift of Tongues is real, and I’ve been praying for it day and night with faith and it was granted to me in that lesson! So many prayers of mine have been answered in the MTC! Although it may not be our favorite situation here, my testimony has grown so much of this Gospel!
Anyway, besides TRC, the MTC is basically the same everyday so there’s not too much to talk about! The intense studying of Spanish is paying off, and its getting better daily! I know I have a long way to go, and its important to stay humble, but its good every once in a while to see your progress!
This week in my personal study I was able to finish 3 Nephi, which took me forever because I’ve gotten to the point where I’m studying so in depth that an 18 verse chapter takes me a full hour to get through… Anyway, in chapter 28, as Christ gets ready to return to his Father in Heaven, he asks his 12 Apostles what they desired. Nine of the Apostles wished to go directly to the Celestial kingdom following there death, that they did not need to wait until the Day of Judgment. The other three desired to never feel the pains of death, and Christ tells them that they will be blessed to minister unto the Earth until his coming, when they will be translated into Heaven. Later on in the chapter, Mormon describes the effectiveness of their ministering on earth in verses 17-23:
17 And now, whether they were mortal or immortal, from the day of their transfiguration, I know not;
18 But this much I know, according to the record which hath been given—they did go forth upon the face of the land, and did minister unto all the people, uniting as many to the church as would believe in their preaching; baptizing them, and as many as were baptized did receive the Holy Ghost.
19 And they were cast into prison by them who did not belong to the church. And the prisons could not hold them, for they were rent in twain.
20 And they were cast down into the earth; but they did smite the earth with the word of God, insomuch that by his power they were delivered out of the depths of the earth; and therefore they could not dig pits sufficient to hold them.
21 And thrice they were cast into a furnace and received no harm.
22 And twice were they cast into a den of wild beasts; and behold they did play with the beasts as a child with a suckling lamb, and received no harm.
23 And it came to pass that thus they did go forth among all the people of Nephi, and did preach the gospel of Christ unto all people upon the face of the land; and they were converted unto the Lord, and were united unto the church of Christ, and thus the people of that generation were blessed, according to the word of Jesus.
I love that phrase “but they did smite the earth with the word of God” ! I will leave it at that! I invite all of you to ponder on these scriptures and to study this chapter, especially because I’m not the best at explaining it! This passage was so powerful to me during my study! My testimony has grown so much during my time here, and I know with absolute certainty that this is the true church… As I memorized the First Vision in Spanish this week, my testimony of Joseph Smith has been strengthened as well! I know that our Savior has felt everything that we are going through in this life, and I am so grateful to have Him in my life! I’m excited to grow closer to Him in the next few years and throughout my life!
I love all of you! Thank you for your prayers and support! I can feel the effects in my time here!
Love,
Elder Curtis