Technically, we're in our third week at the MTC! Isn't that crazy?! I still haven't figured out how to upload pictures, but I'll give it another go next week. We got our first investigator last Friday, and taught him about 4 lessons, before we had an evaluation. We loved him so much. It turns out, that he's our second teacher (you get a second teacher two weeks in)! Now we're teaching him (Brother Campbell) role-playing as a different investigator, and our first teacher, Sister Allen, as another. They speak only Korean, so lessons were very, very basic (God, father. Jesus, brother. Book of Mormon, true. Feel happy? Feel Spirit of God), but now we can teach more complex (but still basic) lessons. We're always learning new grammar and increasing our dano (vocabulary). During our first lesson with Sister Allen (as Yusoyang) I felt prompted to speak about prayer and the Holy Ghost. We taught her how to recognize the Holy Ghost, and we prayed with her at the end! It's incredible how excited you get over the progress of a 'fake' investigator. Let Brother Wofford know that we use the phrase "God is our father. We are His children. He loves us." ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL the time! He'll get a real kick out of that. I sang in the choir for our Tuesday Night Devotional (the ones that always have a general authority (usually a 70, which it was that night)) and everybody's telling me I ended up on the big screen, like at Conference! That was cool, and we sang this incredible song titled "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross." It had some extremely high notes for the baritone section in the last section, but I was blessed and I hit them!
In other news, I've become really good at 4-Square. I'm probably close to reaching "Master." (This is really funny because anyone who knows Austin knows that he isn't the most sporty kid out there) It's so exhilarating, but it can also be really frustrating. When I get back, I will take on ANYBODY in a game of 4-Square.
Funny language incident:
In class, Elder Ely (he's in the other companionship in my district) dropped something, so I said "Trouble Cause Hapshida?" The thing is, I meant to say "Hamnida!" "Hamnida" means to do, and hapshida means "lets"! Instead of saying something that basically amounts to, "are you causing trouble?" I said, "Let's cause trouble!" The teacher, Sister Allen, just deadpanned, "What." I just started cracking up right after, because I immediately realized what I said. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I felt really good afterwards. It was very cleansing. It snowed Tuesday morning, and even though it all melted in the afternoon, it was beautiful.
I had an incredible spiritual experience last Sunday. On Thursday, while I was working on this poem, I prayed, asking for revelation, essentially "challenging God," or "testing Him." I wrote down a few thoughts that came to me, then went to sleep. Then, on Friday, during personal study, I was reading the Bible Dictionary (which has taught me SO much! It's incredible), and I came across Nicodemus. He's the man who, in John 3, asks Christ about baptism. It said that he defended him to the Sanhedrin, and gave spices when he was buried. The poem I've been working on is about how those whom the Savior healed/taught/changed their life in a massive way must've felt as they watched him be taken by the mobs, condemned before Pilate, try to carry his cross down the roads of Jerusalem, and be crucified. One of the thoughts I'd written down was, "Nicodemus tried to defend Christ to the Jews, and did so in vain." God truly answered my prayer, and I'm making an effort to be more conscious and faithful of that, rather than that attribute it to my own errant thoughts.
I suggest watching "The Other Prodigal Son." It's a Mormon Message about the other son mentioned in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Having always been curious about that, it was really interesting to me. It bears a powerful message.
Sometimes I feel like Dallin, in the sense that it can be a struggle to stay awake sometimes, when things are slow. It can be tough, and it happens to all of us.
I bear testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is a real, powerful thing that changes lives. The Spirit of God strives among the children of men, and it is there, ready to testify of truth. I testify of our prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and the rest of the apostles. I testify of the restoration of the gospel. Heavenly Father truly does answer prayers, and he answered Joseph Smith's. I know that God is the literal father of my spirit, and that Jesus died, and lives once more. I stake my family's name and reputation on them.
Love,
Elder Lynn.
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