Kids Meals For Shitzus

4 weeks of MTC done!!! I'm so excited to go to Puerto Rico. Or not, I don't know if I'm actually going. Still haven't got my flight info... and literally everyone has it in my district, besides the kids going to Chile. But their call is wack right now because there are kids in Chile proselyting, but the borders are closed. So, I don't know what the church is thinking. The border closure got extended 7 days or whatever it is, so maybe they're still waiting to make a final call. I'm not sure. But it's annoying because I'm not being reassigned. It's a freaking US territory, for crying out loud. That's the same as going to a state. Lol, so like, where the heck is my flight plan? I don't know. I'll get back to you on this disaster.

Okay, so as the title implies, my grandma last week, I was staying with her, and she was babysitting my cousin and uncle's dog. It was so funny. We went to Kneaders, and she bought a whole kid's meal for the tiny dog. And the grilled cheese was bigger than the dog. Lollllll.

As I sit here and ponder MTC and these last 4 weeks, I see how much I've felt the Spirit. And truthfully, it isn't always there... or so you thought, or so I thought. I was on Facebook in the Missionary Tips and Hacks group (only missionaries allowed, sorry losers). Anyways, I wanted to share what I read in there, and I feel like it's so true. "ALRIGHT! Don't hate! I'm a greenie and I'm in need of some spiritual advice... We had a training in District Council the other day about feeling the Spirit, and everyone shared how they feel the Spirit and then shared really cool experiences of when they have heard/recognized the promptings of the Spirit. It really got me thinking, and almost made me a little sad when I was comparing myself to them, because I realized I don't have very many experiences like that. It made me feel like I'm not being a good enough missionary because I feel like I'm either not good at recognizing the Spirit, or I just don't know what to look for. I don't even really know what I'm asking, but if you have any experiences where you really recognized the Spirit, feel free to share. Or any talks, devotionals, etc. Or how you know that YOU recognize the Spirit (I know everyone recognizes it in different ways), PLEASE feel free to share!! Thanks in advance." Ella Hansen said this. I don't know who that is, tbh, but it was something that made me ponder. And then this kid replied with this:

"Not so much on the topic of an amazing spiritual experience, but more to your comment of not having a ton of them. It's really not the norm for us members. For a lot of us, we've had the Spirit for so long, it's like breathing. We only notice it when there's a problem. Elder Bednar came and spoke while I was in the Provo MTC, and one of his main points was don't hyperventilate if you can't recognize the Spirit every single second. You're a baptized member, you have the promise that if you're living your life right, it's going to be with you. Sometimes you won't notice that it's with you. So just be good and go forth. It helped me a lot as I entered the field to remember that, especially when we feel so much pressure to always be on the ball and the most spiritual people in the world (which isn't true, but sometimes we can get that idea in our heads.) But in reality, the Lord just wants us to try our best and go to work. If we do that, then the Spirit is going to be with us a lot more often than we realize.

As I was pondering this, I felt the Spirit crazy right, ahah! It was telling me that what that kid is saying is true. I am always here, and you'll always have me when you're doing the right things and inviting me into your life. One thing I really liked is it testified of the truth of the constant companionship. Now, as an 8-year-old and having that constant companionship, it is true. I only feel and recognize the Spirit when it's very strong. It's not like it's not there; it's just that it's something I'm used to, so I don't notice it as easily. Which is sad, but it means that I have done pretty good in my life to be used to that feeling. I like to equate it to breathing. Like when you breathe, you don't notice because subconsciously you're doing it. It's something you've done so much and so often that you don't think about it. And when you think about it, you notice it. Or when you breathe hard after a run... after a spiritual run, you feel your breath, you try to catch it, you feel your chest huffing and puffing. Same thing goes for the Spirit, especially if you've been baptized since you were 8. The Spirit is there, just sometimes you need to look for it or it has to be super strong for you to notice it's there.

As I'm writing this, I am feeling the Spirit testifying that it's always there... so cool to know that and have that feeling. He's always there, and Christ and God are always there. Also, His thoughts are facts. We get this idea as members that we're supposed to always have amazing spiritual experiences, and yes, sometimes that is the case. We will receive revelation, but you won't always have amazing experiences that are super strong. None of us or most of us aren't going to see God and Jesus Christ like Joseph Smith (Spanish way to say it). We just aren't. We won't get to see Him in this life. Like, it just most likely won't happen to you. But we will all have the Spirit with us.

Funny story, so me and Elder Wiesler have to teach members, and it was awesome. Those experiences are so fun (my least favorite part of MTC). So that means MTC must be fun if I still think they're fun. Anyways, I always do minimum talking, and he does all the work. What am I supposed to say? I can't say it in Spanish. Anyways, we were actually doing a lesson with our teachers this time, where they pretend to be someone, and we don't know what's happening. But Elder Wiesler asked Gaby to be baptized after the second lesson. She said no, LOL. It was so funny. I don't think he was meaning to ask that, but it was so freaking funny. Then the next class (afternoon class, different teacher), we were doing our little rooms while the other half of the district taught, and we were the ones that didn't teach. And we were in a room talking for an hour and a half and ended up watching "Coco". Vamossss!

BBQ PARTY! I went Tuesday night to the district BBQ, and I got to meet 8/12 kids in the district, and that was an absolute blast! Seeing and meeting everyone in person was so awesome. Shout out to Herman for being the shortest. We all ate, then went and hung out and talked. Afterward, we went to the temple and took pictures at the Bountiful Temple, and that was so cool.

Puerto Rico missionaries - My mission friends have been messaging me, Elder Roeser to be exact, and he is telling me lots of stuff. He answers my questions about things, he's a stud. They ended up having a service project this week, and he told them about me. He said they're all so excited to meet me, and the "zone leaders are hyped that you are coming." In that moment, I was feeling God's love super strong because I knew I was needed in Puerto Rico for many reasons, especially all the kids I will meet. I'm so excited!

Español is actually awful but improving majorly. I literally can say, without a doubt, that I will get it, I will be okay, it will come. The patterns and conjugations are all making sense, but I just need vocab and to remember and learn lots more, sentence structure, and how to roll my Rs.

Elder Bottom Pork - Okay, on the real seriousness, Elder Topham is such a cool kid. We just have that bond, that brother bond. We get each other, we just understand. We're so alike but so different, it's really weird. The only reason I'm bringing this up is last night, as we were driving home from the BBQ, me and him had the Spirit so strong (for me personally). I won't go into details about it because that's personal between me and him. I just want you guys to know how much I appreciate that kid and what we talked about and experienced last night on the drive home. I know he's going to be a good missionary for sure. I love him, he's a stud!

Along with people I appreciate a lot is Elder Wiesler, my companion. I love the kid so much. Him and Topham are definitely so spiritually strong, the whole district is. But I love my companion. Him and I have the greatest comp studies, and he has the most awesome outlooks on things. The kid is so kind, and he's just a legend!

Nicknames - This week, we got some more nicknames for the district. Here are all the nicknames we got:

Elder Topham: Elder Bottompork (I came up with this because "bottom" is the opposite of "top," and I chose another part of meat from a pig, lol).

Elder Weaver: Señor Burrito (he was pretending to be an investigator for our teachers and said his name was Senor Burrito. Poor Latina teachers, they probably think we're racist white kids).

Elder Wiesler: Elder Weasel (I called him that in my email last week, and I liked it, so I made it stay).

Elder Putnam: Elder Pootnam (don't know where this one came from, idek, not very creative).

Elder Leffler: Patato (with 'a's because it's funnier, and I didn't know how to spell potato, so that's awkward). But let's act like it was on purpose from the beginning. Also, he's from Idaho, and the kid is literally the definition of a small-town boy, as we like to say. He is so Idaho.

Elder Seedall: Elder Sees All (truthfully uncreative, it just sounded similar).

Elder Trost: Elder Trost (he, yeah...). I seriously cannot get the kid to laugh or smile or talk. He's so freaking shy. None of us get anything out of him, except Elder Bottom Pork made him laugh once.

Me: Elder Dosie (the teachers call me Tewie, idek why, and they all called me Dos because it's "two" in Spanish, and then they added the 'ie').

Hermana Stokes: Hermana Stonks (at first, we thought of "Hermana Stocks," but then Watermelanson reminded us of the "stocks" meme, "stonks," and she became Hermana Stonks).

Hermana Melanson: Watermelanson (she had to bring watermelon to the BBQ, and Elder Topham came up with Watermelanson).

Hermana Moulton: Herman (we couldn't think of a name for her, so we just removed letters and words and ended with Herman).

Hermana Thrasher: Hermana Trasher or Hermana Trash (our teachers can't say the "th" sound, so they call her this, and it kinda stuck).

Scriptures - I absolutely love the scriptures. Lol, I started the Book of Mormon on June 18 again, and I could probably finish it today. I just entered Mormon, I'm like 89 percent done. Maybe I'll do it so I can read it in a month because my goal was to finish it in the MTC, and that's definitely happening. Lol. Also, on July 1st, I had the goal to read all of the New Testament in 27 days, and, well, I am a little behind because of the Book of Mormon, but I'm at Acts, and I will catch up when I finish the Book of Mormon. I will do this thing!

It's crazy how much I learn every time I read, and I truthfully find out new stories or things every single time I read! Every night after class last week, I've been going outside and reading on my grass. It's so nice to get some fresh air. I literally hate the computer now. So glad I will be done for a while after 2 more weeks.

I love the MTC, but it is flying, and I am going to be sad when it ends and I don't see all the kids in my district every day anymore. But I am so excited for Puerto Rico. It's crazy to see how many things have changed and how much I've changed over these 4 weeks. And I'm so excited for the next 23 months of growth that I will have in my life.

Also, shout out to Leffler, Elder Wells, and Sedall. They're legends, and our car ride from the templo was lit, such good topics!

One thing I just remembered about me and Topham's talk that I decided I will share is the temple and temple marriage. We were just talking, and I told him that when I'm home and ready, I am 10000000 percent getting married in the temple. And you know, that was never a goal of mine at all, I didn't care. But now, after going to the temple and experiencing my views and how my life has changed these past 4 weeks, I know there's no other way to get married than in the temple. The moral of this story is that it's crazy how much I have changed and how much my goals have changed in just 4 weeks, and it all comes down to experiences. And I know that that is true. If I didn't have my testimony experience last year, I wouldn't be on a mission. And if I didn't go to the temple and repent and be worthy, I wouldn't know what I'm missing. And if it weren't for the mission, I wouldn't realize certain things. All I'm saying is that experiences truly do make us who we are and what we are. Shout out to Elder Weaver. I totally just read his email, and I'm stealing his quote because I believe it too, and I know it's true. Our spiritual bodies only want to be with God, but our mortal bodies weigh us down, and Christ is the reason we can return to Him. Christ sacrificed His life so we could have eternal life. 2 Nephi 2, my favorite chapter, explains it so well. In the whole chapter, but mainly, I wanted to share verses 28 and 29:

Verse 28: "And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator and hearken unto his great commandments and be faithful unto his words and choose eternal life according to the will of His Holy Spirit."

Verse 29: "And not choose eternal death according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which give the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom."

Exactly what Weaver was saying, our mortal bodies make us fall. They're the reason we can't return with God. They weigh down our spirits, and it's because of the flesh that Satan has power. Don't let him have power. Helaman 5:12, build your foundation on the Redeemer, the Mediator, the Son of God, and you won't fall into temptation. You won't be utterly cast out. I challenge all of you to gain a testimony of Christ and the Atonement. If you need to repent, do it! Learn of Christ, understand the Atonement. It's a beautiful thing.

I'm ending that note on a funny story. So, we were on Zoom, all of us, and the teacher had one duo, so it was 10/12 of us. And we were teasing Small Town Boy Leffler, asking if he takes his horse to school and puts his horse in the stable, and that his school has stables instead of bike racks. And Leffler goes, "No, we all drive trucks to school." Oh yeah, that's still Small Town Hick. And then we got onto guns, and we were talking, and Elder Weisler comes back from the baño, and he sits down. Elder Weaver goes, "Elder Weisler, how many guns do you have?" Elder Weisler replies, "I got tons of Nerf guns." And then out of, like, his pocket, little Leffler pulls a Nerf pistol out and says, "Oh guys, these are the best Nerf guns." I think I haven't laughed harder because he is just so Idaho-like, literally so Idaho. That's the only way to put it. We love you, Patato boy.

This week, on Friday, we had a workout, and it was abs. We had an ab workout class, and I have abs. And I just pushed myself so hard that after, I couldn't push out my poop without pain, and my butt was so sore from the planks. No one told me you were supposed to clench when planking. I think that's the first time I've ever planked correctly. I couldn't sit without pain for 2 days. I also ran 2 miles on the treadmill and pushed myself way too hard, and I puked up hamburgers from my smoker, and I had pickles coming out of my nose when I blew it for 3 minutes. I had pickle chunks in my nose.

Also, "te ama" means "I love you," and so I was trying to find the stem of "love," and I don't know how love works in the Spanish language, but apparently "ama" means "wet nurse," which is someone that breastfeeds other babies. But let me just say, when I heard "wet nurse," my teenage mind got a little traumatized and thought it was a nurse that hooked up with patients. I don't know, don't ask me, I was traumatized. So, note to self, "ama" in Spanish alone means "wet nurse," and it's not what it sounds like. Lol.

Photos for the week:

All of us elders in the district.

Me on Sedall's lap.

And the kids in Puerto Rico, my elders, my companions in Puerto Rico.

me and weisler watching coco in class (in spanish of course)