Another Week

Hello all! It's been a fantastic week here at the good ole MTC. Here's the weekly update. Tuesday we sang in the devotional choir at the Marriott Center, and it was so sweet. It was the last MTC devotional in the Marriott Center until next summer, so we lucked out there. As we were walking over, we heard the BYU marching band playing some TOTO and I couldn't help but sing along. It was awesome. On Thursday, we challenged one of our "investigators" to get baptized and he said yes! Even though it's fake it is still an awesome feeling. On Friday I saw Elder Francis Bernard. That was pretty sweet. I also saw Elder Bryan Cluff. On Saturday Elder Jaynes and I were all alone for the entire day because all the sisters in our district were in the choir that sang in the Relief Society meeting. We had some fun times with our teachers. On Sunday I woke up with the dreaded MTC cold. I'm glad that it's happening now and not when I'm getting ready to leave. I saw Elder Ammon Rassmussen at the devotional Sunday night... we talked a bit and that was it. Monday was tough. The district with our old zone leaders left to Samara, and we said goodbye last night to Elder Davis and his district. The good thing is, almost all of us are going to BYU and we all want to hang together so that's awesome. So here's a little spiritual thought/word of advice for the week. A week ago my companion showed me a Mormon Message called "My Brother Hyrum". I don't know how he knew that movies like that make me all emotional, but he got me good. I was reminded of the time I spent with the special needs kids and how I love and miss them so much. I was reminded of their sweet spirits and powerful testimonies. I was reminded of how they love everybody no matter what, but they usually aren't given too much attention. Sadly, sometimes they are treated poorly. So it reminded me that everybody has feelings and I should be more sensitive to the feelings of those around me. I was reminded of this again on Sunday morning during Mission Conference (our fast Sunday meeting, kinda like a devotional) when a woman stood up to speak. She had lost her voice singing with the choir the previous evening, but was determined to give her talk. When she started to speak, her voice caught me off guard. It was really bad. But I was appalled when missionaries all around me started laughing. It was so bad. It was happening at main campus as well, she started to cry and had her husband finish her talk. I felt so awful. My gosh. I was reminded again that I should be sensitive to everybody's feelings, no matter what. Even if they appear to be ok with it, just be careful. So that's what I'd like you to do this week. Just be sensitive. And watch that mormon message, it'll give you some good ideas. Love you all! I'll be back before you know it.

Andrew