MTC Week 2

Hey everybody! I have been getting hang of the MTC lifestyle and that made this week slightly easier. The constant headaches from the first week are no more!

We had another excellent devotional on Tuesday. Elder Clark from the Seventy spoke, and he spoke with such conviction and power it was impossible not to feel the spirit. He gave us so many things to do that I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do all of them. He told us to be exactly obedient, follow the Spirit, go above and beyond, among many others. It is overwhelming with the language to add on to it, and that is why I have had to constantly rely on the Spirit.

Earlier that day, Belgium had a few tests for us. In order to be allowed into their country, we had to have our blood taken, and collect a stool sample. I won't go into the details, but the second was particularly disgusting!

My pride has been a huge barrier in the MTC. I've always been incredibly confident, but I have always viewed that as a strength of mine. In the MTC, it has been my greatest foe. As I wrote in my last letter, the MTC is impossible for anyone without the Spirit. I realized that and started receiving spiritual gifts for it, and then started to take credit for them. "I am learning the language quickly." "I am an excellent teacher." " I am such a loving person." etc. I even knew that it was the the Holy Ghost that was making it possible for me to do these things, and I would remind myself the moment I thought something like that. I still lost the Spirit, and I had to work really hard to get it back.

I honestly cannot believe how much the MTC has changed me in less than two weeks. Emotions have never made sense to me until now. I never realized what the Spirit really can feel like until I got here. I am going to do my best to keep it with me. I hope I will never forget what it feels like because there is nothing like it.

On Sunday we got to watch the Nashville Tribute Band, a Mormon country band. They played some excellent music, and I realized how much I miss music. We're not even allowed to listen to Hymns in the MTC besides when we sing. The MTC choir provided backup, and with 1500 missionaries singing it was way cool. I wasn't able to sing with them because my companion didn't want to go. I'm sure I'll find a way to convince him to go at least a few times.

After, we got to watch "Legacy" for our Sunday movie. I think it was specially approved for Pioneer Day. I think the MTC broke me, because my eyes were watery way too much. I think all of us missionaries enjoyed the romance in it a little too much :). Every time there was anything remotely romantic the entire room would giggle and whisper. I'm really glad they let us watch it because it taught me things that no other video could have.

My companion and I have been getting along well. He certainly wouldn't be my best friend in a normal situation, but he is an excellent missionary and has sincere devotion to the work. He eats incredibly healthy, so I always feel bad because I make him wait for me to finish my food, which is normally a few plates more than his salad without any dressing :). It is sure a good thing I can't get fat.

He also loves to weight lift, so for exercise time we go down to the gym. He lifts weights and I run on the elliptical. I get in about 4 to 4.5 miles before he's done with the lifting, so it works out pretty well. The elliptical is great because I can watch church videos and talks while I'm on it.

Sorry the email is so long again! The temple is closed today and so we have an empty 3 hour block with only this to do. I miss you all, and thank you for your support!

The later photos are with a different camera, so hopefully they are better.

Photos with my companion and district at the temple.

The white bag is the "pooper scooper bag" or the stool sample we had to give them.

With Love,
Elder Thornton

MTC Week #1

Hello everyone!

I honestly have absolutely no idea where to start. Everyone told me the MTC was hard, but I was in no way expecting how hard it really is. If you know me well, I'm not really the most emotional guy, but this week easily beat all the emotions in my live by 100 times. I'm sure I've cried more this week than the rest of my life combined.

This week has been absolutely unbelievable, and I will try to give you an adequate summary, but even that will barely give you any sort of idea of what it is really like.

The moment I arrived, they let me give a hug to my mom and dad and then immediately got me my stuff and sent me to class. I met my district, and they are pretty cool. My companion is Elder Vander Werff, and he is a pretty great guy. Elder Geddes, who I know from jr high and high school is in my district. His companion is Elder Jensen, who is pretty cool, especially cause he laughs at my jokes :). The sisters are pretty great too, but I think they think we are really immature.

This Wednesday over 680 missionaries arrived at the MTC, and there are 2400 total. It is really crowded, but there is an up-side to that! I have seen so many missionaries that I know, including Elder Ethan Wilkinson, Bryant Ferrin, Michael Hebert, Ben Mullins, Logan Mackay, and Isaac Larsen, who I got a picture with.

The days here have been overwhelming, We study and learn all day long, and we taught our first investigator in Dutch on Friday, less than 48 hours after we arrived. We will be teaching that same investigator every day this week, in Dutch, which we obviously still don't speak. This was the hardest thing for me, because I hate to not be in control, and nothing is less in control than teaching an investigator in a language you don't speak, and then she responds in a language you don't speak. I've now learned that there is no possible way for me to do this on my own, and I need to rely on the Lord and the Holy Ghost in Order to preach.

The Spirit here has been incredible. Every time I feel inadequate, or that I can't keep on doing this, the Holy Ghost has given me an overwhelming feeling that helps me continue on. I think the reason why they make the MTC far too hard for any young man to handle is to teach us that we CAN'T handle it. We have to let the Lord handle it. I've never been challenged this much before, and I haven't ever felt before this week the feeling that I couldn't possibly do it. I tried to rely too much on my own abilities, and it worked for the first few hours. After that I couldn't. They teach us the hard way that the Holy Ghost is the only way to teach.

Dutch is a fairly easy language because it sounds so much like English, and I feel okay about it. I'm really really far from being fluent, but I am picking up a few useful doctrine terms and regular terms like graag gedaan (you're welcome), and alstubleift (please).

Sunday was a huge relief from the building stress of the MTC. We had a lot of personal study time, which really helped me get away from the freaking out I did earlier about teaching in Dutch. We had an excellent devotional after dinner. we watched Elder Bednar's talk "Character of Christ." It basically taught that in order to emulate Christ we need to turn outward in hard times instead of selfishly turning inward.

Right after the movie ended, everyone stood up, and I thought that maybe we were letting the MTC presidency out first. Then we sat back down and the President starting thanking Elder Bednar for his talk and for being with us. At first I thought he was being sarcastic, but then ELDER BEDNAR himself came up the the pulpit!!! He took questions and gave some really incredible answers. He is by far my favorite member of the twelve. I love his sense of humor, and I feel like he really understands the youth. I highly suggest looking up his "Character of Christ" talk.

My photos aren't incredible, but I hope you enjoy them. They are of my district, roomates, Isaac Larsen, and the name tag that I will be wearing for the next two years.

Sorry for the long email! I told everyone that I would make sure my emails were going to be short, but there is no way to fit everything that I want to even in this long of an email. I would love to recieve emails and letters from you!

I miss all of you!

Love,
Elder Thornton