Hola mi familia! I'm just sitting here in the MTC, enjoying the comforts of the TALL lab we are able to access; and thought: "Hey, it's P-Day! I ought to send a quick e-mail so the world outside knows what is going on!"
Well, I have officially been put in a "refugee district" with 6 others who don't have their visas. I am the only one on medical delay. And speaking of which, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow where I should get the official news on whether or not I am going to get to go! And, I have spoken with the Travel Office and they said that I could be out of here by next Monday if I am indeed cleared! Huzzah for Israel!
But, back to the new district, my companions and friends from the last Advanced District have left for the field, and as such my new companions: Elder Jolley and Elder Lesueur have been transferred over to this new district. We are keeping positive and always keeping in our minds that the Lord knows all and knows what is best for us.
We have taught quite a few lessons, all of which to investigators that I didn't know beforehand. The first is a woman named Cata (kind of took me a bit to get used to). She is attending a University and has 3 Mormon roommates. So, they hooked her up with our discussions, and she is a golden investigator. She loves the Book of Mormon, loves going to church, and loves having us come over to visit. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation and then started getting into Repentance and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I gave her a demonstration where I was holding a pen and called the pen "Sin." Then, I explained the 5 steps to repenting of and conquering sin, and each time I explained a step, I uncurled one finger. Once I explained all 5 steps, I dropped the pen and explained how that is like the feeling of when we are free from sin. She enjoyed the demonstration, and it helped me to branch out in ways and methods of teaching.
The other investigator we have is Rober. He is a middle aged man who works. All the time. He loves his family, but is always working. All the time. So, he struggles to keep commitments because he says he is constantly busy. He enjoys meeting with us, but then never seems to remember what we taught him when we come back the next time. I enjoy meeting with him, but he is a bit of a struggle to be patient with!
And, as far as the Devotionals that we have had here, on Sunday we heard from a member of the Church General Board. He is one of the Churches Attorneys. His talk wasn't one of the most spiritual and amazing talks that I have ever heard, but he talked about the Lord's Hand in opening the "Doors to the Nations". He gave many examples of how the Church has been able to establish itself in countries that otherwise would have been extremely difficult or nigh impossible to enter. And, since I had studied Political Science a little bit I was extremely intrigued to listen to his talk and hear the different ways that the Lord is allowing us to preach the gospel. Satan has a great hold on many countries still, so we aren't able to preach the gospel everywhere; but the Standard of Truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand shall stop this work from progressing. It will sound in every ear and every nation shall have the truth preached unto them in their own tongue.
On Tuesday we heard from Elder Gavarret of the Seventy. His talk was very good, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. He spoke on how we can better ourselves as missionaries and really emphasized cleanliness. One thing he said is that we cannot go out and teach with power if we are carrying sins in our pockets. He also stressed heavily the need of obedience, and of relying on the Lord. As we read in Luke 5, the Lord tells the apostles to go out a little further into the deep and cast again. The apostles were professional fisherman, and had been fishing for all their lives. That day, they were unsuccessful, doing all that they could based upon their knowledge and expertise. But, when the Savior came and told them to go out a little further and cast the nets on the other side (and on a side note, Simon was willing to do all that the Lord had told him to do) they were unable to reel in the nets because they had so many fish. We link this to ourselves as missionaries, that we can do everything in our power and be the best teachers ever; but without the help of the Lord; we cannot do anything.
A few gems of lessons that we were taught this week are as follows:
1) In the Lion King, when Simba needs to return to the Pride Lands and reclaim the kingdom, he doubts himself and questions why he has to do it. He sees his father, Mufasa, and Mufasa tells him: "You have forgotten who you are. You are my son." Signifying that Simba was born into greatness and had great potential. But, the most important thing he said was "You are more than you have become." This is relatable to missionary work in the sense that we have become such great teachers and people here in the MTC; but even then we are more than what we have become. We have the potential to be even as God is.
2) In Kung Fu Panda the old turtle says: "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift, that is why they call it the Present." I related it to a talk by Elder Holland that he gave in the MTC about 20 years ago where he out rightly told the missionaries: "Don't miss a day! Don't miss an hour! Your mission will come to mean everything to you!" Our missions, these brief 2 years that we are allowed to go out and serve the Lord are nothing short of a gift. We have been granted it, and should love and cherish every moment.
That is about all for this week in the MTC, and I am beyond hopeful for the ability to voyage to Honduras very soon!
Love you all! Until next time!
Elder Tinkham
