Second email from Joshua

October 15, 2012


Thank you for the Dear Elders! I get them almost immediately after you send them, so that's pretty cool (they get printed in the office and delivered to our mailboxes at like 4pm).  And thank you for the letters and packages!

This past week has been awesome! Last Tuesday, David A. Bednar came to the MTC!!!!!!! It was so awesome! He's one of my favorite speakers, and he was actually super funny! He told us that none of the people who speak at general conference have any idea of what the others are going to be speaking on. So, in other words, they speak on whatever they feel inspired to speak on.  He told us that it's everyone's responsibility to be guided by the Spirit when choosing a topic, and that Jeffrey R. Holland's responsibility is to "Light the place up." Hahahaha! Everyone still talks about how awesome his talk was (and about how awesome his previous talks usually are).  We have been super blessed with awesome activities and speakers this week, and you could imagine how strong the Spirit is.  Teaching is becoming much easier for me now and I'm learning how to ask questions that will actually help people understand how the gospel can relate to them and why it's truly important.  A teacher here at the MTC helped me understand this pretty well because we were all having trouble with asking questions that would help build the investigators' faith.  He said that a mediocre missionary can explain why the gospel is important, a good missionary can help others see how it's relevant to them, and an exceptional missionary can help others understand how to make the gospel real to them.  So that's my goal for this week. Also, I'm trying to write in my journal each day, but it's hard because we never have much time.

I have a few stories that I wanted to share from the past week.

I've met a bunch of awesome people in the MTC that I hope I'll get to see again someday. Remember Elder L? He finished his mission in Montana a year or so ago. He's the one that challenged me to a push-up contest when I was like 16.  I did like 54 in a minute and I was feeling pretty confident that I would win.  He got down and did 122 push-ups with perfect form in 60 seconds.  I later found out that he's a gymnast, so he's insanely strong.. haha.  Anyway, I met his little brother in the MTC one day in line for lunch.  He looks just like Elder L!! And equally as awesome.

I met a few other missionaries that have made the MTC really fun.  Elder Christopher P is a really strong kid from our district that made the B Club (I talked about that in my last email).  Elder W is a really cool guy from our district that taught me a lot about teaching, and he's just awesome in general.  Elder M was our Zone Leader, and he was hilarious!! By the way, Elder B (my companion) wrote a song called "Oh Baby" and I recorded it a few nights ago... It's HILARIOUS!! I'm hoping I can send my memory card to you soon so you can see it. I promise it'll make you laugh uncontrollably, and it'll show you what my companion is like.

Elder W is our district leader.  He has great leadership skills and he knows more about the gospel than some of our teachers do.  He tries especially hard to set a good example for us, and usually he does a pretty good job of keeping everyone in line.  One night, Elder K walked into our room to get some snacks (his mom sent him a huge box of candy and bread and nutella).  Elder W, our *perfect* District Leader, was found sitting in a chair, eating Elder K's bread! Elder K asked what he was doing, and as Elder W tried to explain himself, nothing came out of his mouth except stuttering because he knew he had been caught red handed in a dirty deed.  HAHAHAHA. So you can imagine how relentless we are to our District Leader now.

Yesterday we got to bless the sacrament for our district.  That was pretty cool.  We also had an interview with the second counselor of the branch presidency, Brother B.  Brother B told my district leader that I have "the patience of Job."  I guess that was pretty cool.  I think I could be more patient though.  This morning we woke up and went to the temple.  That was a good experience.  Later today I plan on cleaning and taking a nap. I've really learned to love my bed since I've been in the MTC.  I love working, learning, and studying! But it's definitely nice to lay in bed for a few minutes at the end of the day and relax and write in my journal.

That's pretty much all I have for this past week.  I can't wait for M (my note:  Joshua's best friend) to get here on Wednesday! We'll tear it up!!!!!!  Remember Ether 12:27. Best scripture ever! I still read it every day.  Keep praying and be safe everyone.  I love you all, and hopefully I have some better experiences for you next week.  Keep sending me letters!

Love,

Elder Whicker