INTRO
Saying this week was rough would be an understatement. I don't have much today because I was going through it, but enjoy some good stories, and some cool spiritual experiences.
I MISS AMERICA
We watched a video called Meet the Mormons, and in the video it goes around telling people’s stories. One story that it shared was about a former pilot during WWII. It showed a flyover, and an American flag, and I have never felt more patriotic in my life. He also happened to live in Arizona, so seeing my home made me a little sad.
MENTAL ISSUES
Alright, time to get serious. For some reason, I get super vivid dreams. It has been that way my whole life, and they stick with me throughout the day or sometimes a couple days. Most of the time, this causes me to fall into a kind of depressive state where I just need time alone to think about what the reason for the dream was, and how to resolve it. Back home, I can go to the gym, or go for a drive to figure it out, but being here, I am with someone all hours of the day, and have a strict schedule to follow. Well this week, I had a dream every night, and each dream was a different sin I have committed in the past, and along with them, a person that I have hurt. This caused me to think about it a lot, to the point where I wasn't participating in class or devotionals, and was staring into space thinking about what to do. I just felt so much guilt and shame wondering why I let myself do that. I didn't find an answer in those two days, but I was able to find peace eventually after talking to the MTC therapist and having her open my mind to things that I hadn't thought of before.
TIE TRADING
A big thing here is tie trading. The Elders have decided that Sunday nights on the first floor of building four is the spot. We all headed down, and everyone was down there. It was the coolest thing to see, everyone was showing off what they had to offer, and the energy was up. Then it immediately dropped. All of a sudden, we hear, "what is going on here" in the MTC President's voice. Silence was throughout the floor, and nobody hesitated to shut their doors, or head for the stairwell. THE FUNNIEST STORY CAME FROM THIS, but if you want to hear it, look at my google photos, and watch the video of the kid that it happened to explaining it, because I can't do it justice.
CRAZY EXPERIENCES
One night, I was sitting there thinking about how I wish I could have an experience that would prove the gospel to me. The next day, I got the feeling that I needed to message a friend, I messaged them, and asked how they were doing. They responded that they were stressed out about figuring out what they wanted to do in life, and if they wanted to go on a mission or not. I asked what their concerns with going on a mission were, and they shared that they were worried about having to talk about some past issues. I was able to share my experience with that, and how It was such a blessing to me when I did talk about my issues. They said thank you, and that I helped them out. I felt good, but it wasn't till the next day that I realized that it was an answer to my hopes for wanting a cool experience. When I woke up, I had messages from them telling me that they had opened up their mission portal, and that the conversation that we had was an answer to their prayers. That moment made me feel the spirit so strongly, and I am so proud of my friend for their decisions, and am so happy I got to experience that.
Another experience was during choir practice. Every missionary in the MTC is singing Sisters in Zion/Army of Helaman and in the song, there is a line that says, "and we will be the Lord's missionaries to bring the world His truth," but instead the words were changed to say, "and we ARE NOW the Lord's missionaries to bring the world His truth." When I first read it, I thought that it was cool, but it wasn't till we actually sung it that I got chills running through my whole body. I just thought about how I am a missionary for the Lord, and how if He were to see me today, how happy it would make me to be able to walk up to him and tell him that I am doing this because of how much love I have for him.
My final experience has to deal with family history work. I am beyond bored here, and a form of entertainment I have found is researching my ancestors. One ancestor in particular is John Tanner. He is my 5th great grandpa. He is also a prominent figure in church history, with a video on the church's website all about him. A question popped in my head about if he got any promised blessings for his family members. So I did some digging, and I found a story where he donated $2,000 to the church, and Joseph Smith promised him that his family will never have to beg for bread again. Another blessing for his family was something that is talked about in my patriarchal blessing, and it just shows to me the truth of the gospel, and that these things are not coincidences.
CONCLUSION
I love you all so much! Please message me, I am so bored. Hopefully you guys are reading these and getting something from them.
With my companion,
Spencer
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