R2D2 and the Urim & Thummim

 

“Hello my family.  I hope I bring honor.”  I learned that from the Asia bound missionaries on the 2^nd floor. 

I really enjoy mission life.  My roommates and I have grown pretty close and we have a lot of in depth conversations; one went too late into the night and we paid for that the next day.  When I don’t sleep enough, I find myself falling asleep in random places throughout the day; like leaning against a wall waiting for my comp to come out of the bathroom or resting my chin on my hand in a position similar to “The Thinker” statue while reading something in class. 

My roommates are all very unique.  One is a dancer, one’s a skater, and one comes from a military family. They all have somewhat of a taste for nerdy things like Star Wars and such – just like me and they all work hard.  My comp one day said to the class: “I like Star Wars and I love the gospel, but I hate it when people try to use Star wars as a reference for the gospel.” I told him I thought Star Wars could have been inserted into Preach My Gospel and would work as an effective missionary tool.  Take for example Count Dooku in relation to Korihor. He tried to persuade the people of the galaxy but was trampled in the end.  Obi-wan and Moses both had the ability to move things and led their people to a safe exile. Both even had the same beard.  Chewbacca and Esau were both hairy and cared about their stomachs.  C3PO, R2D2 and the Urim & Thummim could interpret over 6 million forms of communication and they continuously pop up throughout the story.   The other elders gave me some support and we came up with a lengthy list.  My comp eventually saw the humor.  We have had incredibly funny conversations as a district but we have also had serious ones.  We sometimes have seven hours of straight Spanish class which and the pace forces us to work hard.  I am the youngest in the class and have had the least amount of Spanish – by at least a year. Most of these guys took Spanish straight through High School.  So, I have really had to high tail it.

I cracked up at Meg’s story about her Spanish and I can’t wait to be in Mexico.  MTC life is very structured but I am grateful for that.  One way to shed the stress is to run it off.  We are given 50 minutes of gym and I spend the whole time running. So, I haven’t gotten plump, even with all this delicious food J.  Speaking of food – it is so crowded here that the lines go out the door and sometimes there are no seats. So I eat standing up.  Also, at night when I break out my bag of Cracklin Oat Bran the others tease me about eating dog food.  Now I know how dad feels when my buddies give him heat for eating Fiber One.  But I just laugh and keep eating my heaven cereal.

Other great things from this week: We were sitting in our district room and doing our comp language study one day. We had been hitting it pretty hard for a while so and I proposed the question "who would win in a showdown, a grizzly bear or a crocodile? This turned into a very serious debate and the elders passionately defended their animal. We threw the advantages and disadvantages on the board to get a better perspective. I personally would want to take the grizzly into battle, but then again i have never seen a crocodile in the wild.

 

Spanish is coming. I focus on vocab as you can’t really conjagate a word you don't know. When mom is listening to someone speaking Spanish or watching Spanish TV, she gets this focused smile on her face, because she loves it and wants to know what is being said. I think I get this look as well during our class. Which is better than the jaw-dropped look that I had from utter confusion on the first day.

Fun fact: An elder that is in our room worked on the same egg farm that was in Napoleon Dynamite and he had a jedi braid growing throughout high school and when he left, he braided it up real tight, cut it off and now his girl friend has it hanging from her key chain.

As my comps name is Dean, I grabbed some rocky road in the cafeteria one day and brought it to him and said in my best Forest Gump voice, "I brought you some ice cream Lt. Dean" he responded right and said you "ruined my life." Now we all call him LT. Dean.

I play the Conf talks and BYU Speeches on my mp3 player at night and in the mornings while we get ready and sometimes the whole zone will come in and listen. Thanks for the mp3 dad. Elders will be strewn all over our room to hear them.

Thanks for sending me Meg and Meisha's letters. It really is great to be out at the same time as them. I have felt the spirit on my mission like I never have before and I know they are having the same experience. It changes you and I diligently seek for the comforting moments when the spirit testifies and brings clarity. Tell Meg that I am nostalgic about Italy and wish I could talk to M&M about their experiences. Meish was in the ocean up to her ankles?! Naughty, naughty.

Thanks for the pics. The other elders thought Cate was attractive and I had to tell them to scatter. Congrats to her about the patriarchal blessing it made my day when I read that she had received it. Owen is my little man and I was pretty proud of the hair he was sportin' while he was putting on his snow shoes.

Elder Ballard spoke to us in a fireside and at the end of the talk gave us a blessing that:

1)      We would be aware of what is going on around us;

2)      We would never take undo risks;

3)      We would be entitled to His love and blessings;

4)      We would feel at peace night and morning;

5)      Our love for the Lord would be accelerated more than we ever thought possible.

Mom talked to me about several of those items in her advice to me before I left – so this blessing stuck out. 

While I have been here I have felt the spirit constantly and I feel lonely without it.  We were told that the stages of being a missionary are:

1)      Extreme Love – this where you feel the spirit and love everything; i.e., I love the church, my comp, the towels, etc. (Or all the sisters screaming when they see each other.)

2)      Mad at the world – this is when you are annoyed by the way your companion chews;

3)      Grin and Bear It – This is where we mature and move on when stuff happens.

I have now been around this track a few times and know it will continue. 

While reading my scriptures I have had a few insights which I have presented to my teacher. She is great and elaborates if she can – or she tells me not to ask questions when they don’t pertain to the investigator. 

For example:

1)      It appears that Nephi learned of the Savior when he received the plates and started reading them. How great was that?

2)      Nephi said he talked to the Spirit as a man – I have never thought about it that way.

3)      Our teacher told us that an apostle was on his horse and looked to his right and was eye to eye with a man covered in hair. He commanded the man to depart and when he got back to H.Q.  he asked Brigham Young about it and Brigham said it was Cain.  I wonder if people mistake Bigfoot for Cain.

Tell Steve thank you for the family history.  My comp and I had a great time reading while ironing our shirts. Also, my shoes are great and I recommend slip-ons for Will, Zach, and any future Elders.  

Epiphany of the week: People sometimes say that God hasn't answered their questions or that they just don't know if this church is true, without even diligently seeking the scriptures. I have found myself guilty of this before. God prepared a way for the scriptures to be brought forth and they are in essence an answer book. We read the answer he gives us in the scriptures and through the prophets; then we pray to see if it is true. We can’t ask a question then expect an answer to appear.

I love you all and think about you all the time.

Speen

 

Spence Hasn't Bothered to Take Many Pictures Yet