Written home to the church in Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley.
¡HOLA!
Please take notes and write down any promptings you receive. Haha jk. But not really My first week of MTC has been gnarly! This was the longest and somehow shortest week of my life. So crazy My days are incredible. Here's the average day. I get up at 5 (by choice) and workout, get ready for my day, maybe grab a snack, and begin personal study by 6. PERSONAL STUDY IS MY FAVORITE!!!!!! Always the highlight of my day. I love being able to have an hour for the Lord and I to communicate and get some alone time. He is truly our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful to be blessed with this opportunity to serve Him and have His Spirit as my guide. #blessed This week we had a workshop every morning at 7. Basically these two dudes were teaching over 400 missionaries over zoom. They seriously get me so hyped for missionary work. Especially when they taught about the gift of tongues!! I was crying so much!(feeling the Spirit) I can't wait to continue my español studying. After the workshop we have a morning class at 8 with our district. There are 14 missionaries in my district, two sisters are going to Mesa AZ, my companion and I are going to Independence MO(duh) and the rest are going to New York City. Everyone is so legit. And we're all learning spanish. Brother Ashton is our teacher in this class. He's super cool and is only a few years older than us. This is my favorite class. I learn so much and everyone throws in their own insights. You have no idea how much better it is when people participate by their own free will. Way better than school on zoom. That class is 3 hours(don't worry we take a few 5-10 minute breaks). Then lunch is at 11 and I make Josie or Sadie play ping pong with me until 12. Whoever guesses this song and what it is from gets a free Book of Mormon(except Josie), "What time is it? It's time for lunch! What time is it? It's time for lunch!" hehe MI COMPAÑERO- Elder Rappleye He is totally righteouss! He's 18, from Utah somewhere, is a pro skier(on the slopes), future pro volleyball player, and a straight up hottie. Sorry ladies he's taken though, Christ is his #1. We get to spend a ton of time together studying, planning, and just hanging out. We study until our afternoon class that starts at 1. Sister Smith is our teacher for that class. She's rad. I think she has an accent but I honestly can't tell what it is. She's super young too. Anyway this is where the day starts to feel long. We start off strong, learning and feeling the Spirit, and the last hour is when I struggle to stay focused. God helps me hang in there. There is no way any person could handle all this zoom on their own. #blessedagain Afternoon class ends at 4 so we have a 15 minute break before spanish tutoring at 4:15. I love learning spanish. It is so hard. Learning with mi compañero is a party! The gift of tongues is for real. Dinner at 5:15. This is the only solid family time, if everyone is home. I love being able to share everything I am learning and get out of my room. Fun fact: I have only left the house once and i have only put on shoes once this week. This wild occurance took place yesterday while getting dinner with my mom. It was actually so weird. The sun is so bright. Around 6:30 Elder Rappleye and I study spanish for a little and will possibly meet up with other missionaries in our district. It's going to be so fun when we all go to Provo for in-person MTC. I try to get ready for bed and journal at 8 so I can be in bed by 9. That has yet to happen. 24 hours in a day is just not enough. If there is one thing that I learned this week that I could share with you is that we need to FEEL. I invite you all to say a prayer tonight and ask our loving Heavenly Father if He is there. Ask Him to help you in your struggles, to bring peace and comfort, and I know that if you do this with faith and a TRUE DESIRE, you will feel something in your heart that you will never want to let go of. My mission has helped me feel this more than ever and it makes me happier than anything. I hope by now I have totally blown your mind by how long this. Most of you know me as a man of few words. I love you guys and remember you are all children of God! Elder Templin
Here's a lit song: