First Week in the MTC

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Provo, Utah

Hello Family and Friends!

My companions are Elders Seitz and Vaughan; I am indeed in a trio. Elder Seitz is a pretty cool guy; he's from Vernal, Utah, he just graduated high school, he's about six feet tall, he's rather introverted, and he hasn't seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Sons of Provo, The Best Two Years, Nacho Libre, or Hot Rod...  I don't dare to see what he says about Ace Ventura. Elder Vaughan is pretty cool too; he is from St. George, he is also around six feet tall, he is very extroverted and very planning... a very planning guy.  His companion didn't show up, so the MTC officials decided to add him to my companionship as clearly I was too amazing and needed more of a challenge when teaching. Seriously though, it's hard to teach in a trio; we have to find something for everyone to say, and we have to be in sync with each other or else the spirit won't be there and we won't have a good lesson. The companions that I'm rooming with are Elders Hansen and Chapman. Elder Hansen is a 6-foot-4 giant, but his mannerisms remind me somewhat of Popcorn. Elder Chapman is about 5 foot 7 or so, so I finally have someone who I don't have to look straight up to see! Elder Hansen and Elder Chapman are the funniest duo I've ever met! Two nights ago, I almost died laughing, they have seen most of the movies listed above, so I'm not entirely alone in my quotes. 

This whole week has been a spiritual overload. Imagine a dog playing with a hose, and you'll see an accurate representation of how this week has been. The teachers here are AWESOME!! Brother McKay (which he seems a little uncomft with, but is still cool about it) is our district's daddy, and Sister Karren is super cool too. They both just got back from a mission not even a year ago, and it seems like they've been doing this for almost two years.... that was dumb. We have two TRC investigators, and we are role playing with our teachers. We will also get another investigator to teach this weekend. There is a lot of studying.  

Four Square here is a big deal: The Elders and Sisters are super competitive, and they have no mercy.  The sisters really intimidate me. It's all fun though, especially when we play as a district. I have the best district here. Elder Weed is a tall red-head, and his companion is a 5-foot-6 brunette with glasses. I like to think of them as Harry and Ron. Elder Prows is a big teddy bear, and the district leader is super cool too. We only have one companionship of sisters in this district though, which kind of sucks.

I don't want to write a novel (but it might be too late), so I'll end with this Sunday. My spiritual mind was hit by a spirit bomb: We listened to a talk that Elder Bednar gave at the MTC from about 6 or 7 years ago, and it changed the way that I read the scriptures and how I view service. Essentially, he said that the Character of Christ is to put off the natural man and turn towards others. Whenever we feel selfishness, that is the natural man, such as sadness, anger, or jealousy. We need to forget ourselves and serve others, and by doing that, we will become completely converted to the Lord. If you think of the Savior, he never thought of himself, and he always served others--even when he was on the cross, he still taught the two thieves with him.

Elder Kleven