Spencer here, and this is a new post that Jordan sent me to put up here. So enjoy!
Hey Everyone!
So my first week in the Missionary Training Center out in Provo is over, and it's been super fabulous so far!
The food isn't too terrible, and there is as much of it as I want so that's definitely a good thing for now.
Aside from that, there has been ample time to study the scriptures and learn things, so the majority of this email is probably going to contain stuff about that.
As I've been here so far, on the average day we have at least two hours set aside to study, most of which is personal study time. So I've been reading some awesome scriptures and after this I'll share some thoughts on them.
Recently, one of my favorite chapters to go to is 3 Nephi 27 as there's so much great information to learn from it.
For example, in the first few verses (4-10 or so) Christ is super patient with his disciples as he explains to them in great detail why his Church needs to be called in his name.
Additionally, in verses 13-21 he lays out his gospel in such awesome and plain language that it had never struck me before how simple the gospel really is.
The rest of the chapter has some awesome blessings and things as well, but I haven't gotten around to really studying it yet as I've also studied elsewhere in the scriptures.
We spent some time in 1 Nephi 1, and it's kind of ridiculous how much you can get just from the first verse of that chapter. For example, it shows in the first line how important family is to the Lord.
Then it moves on to let you know that learning is also important to the Lord as it comes right after that. It continues to relate how even through afflictions Nephi was blessed of the Lord.
And he ends the verse telling you that because of all the things the Lord has blessed him to know and see he makes a record of his proceedings. I find it pretty cool that he says he is making the record "of my proceedings in my days" as that shows that even the prophets are only going to talk about what they know. It's just awesome for me to see that.
If you keep reading the chapter dissecting each verse like that it's pretty awesome how much you get just from the first chapter of the book.
For a random note, I want you all to know why I decided to come out here and serve a mission for two years. It certainly wasn't a choice I was pressured to make, as all of that pressure was relieved once the three brothers before me didn't go. So, it was totally my choice to come, and I don't regret it for a minute. I'm here because of the fact that I love my savior Jesus Christ, and know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and is true with all my heart. I wouldn't deny those things for the world, and I'm super grateful for the chance I have to serve the people of Oklahoma for the next two years, and I hope that you all can bear with me as I send you word perhaps kind of infrequently.
On another note, my district here in the MTC is pretty awesome! We have 6 elders (including me) and 4 sisters, so there's a total of ten of us who are all going to the same mission. My companions Elder Pinder is from Boise and is kind of ridiculously awesome. He enjoys singing, and in addition to that has a great sense of humor that keeps me happy and upbeat. He definitely makes this experience a lot more fun than I had planned on it being. Our zone leaders are Elder Garner and Elder Hoddy, yes that is actually his name... and lots of people here think it fits him. They're pretty great, and are both from Utah (one from Orem and one from South Jordan). In addition to them, we have Elder Watkins (our district leader) and Elder Martin his companion. Elder Watkins is from California and loves to sing as well, and he's like 6' 5", easily the tallest of our bunch. Then there's Elder Martin who is from Utah and enjoys singing but thinks he's bad at it and is about 5' 10" and ends up being the shortest of our bunch of Elder. Then there's our awesome sisters, starting with Sister Cooper who is from Riverton, Wyoming and played basketball on her college's team before coming out here. Then there's her companion Sister Williams who is from Utah, and is pretty great at just being an awesome example and happens to be the Sister Training Leader (which basically means she helps train the sisters). We also have Sister Roberts from Boise who does a pretty good job of keeping us all on our toes with her sarcasm and humor that make her a joy to be around (but seriously... it makes the MTC a lot less of a prison to be here with such awesome people). Her companion is Sister Durfee who is from California and is one of those people who loves to sing Soprano because she can make it sound good... not that I have anything against Sopranos....
So that's our district! Our zone has a few awesome people still, but most of them left yesterday. But staying behind we have a few sisters going to the London Visitor's Center, one of which is the previous Sister Training Leader Sister Walmsley who is from New Zealand and has a ridiculously sweet accent. Aside from that, the MTC is just pretty awesome :)
I've learned so much here it's kind of ridiculous, and on a slightly random note if you ever get a chance to watch a talk by Elder Bednar called "The Character of Christ" seize it immediately. Like really. It's kind of ridiculous how awesome that talk is.
'Til Next Time,
Elder Jordan Nielson
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