Tuesday, September 28, 2010

MTC Expert

Hello Family!
Well...I'm still here in the MTC and we don't know when we will leave still. We go to the Travel Office twice a day to check if the consulate will see us but so far we haven't had any luck. Obviously there is a reason we are still supposed to be here or else we would have been gone a week ago.

Thank you so much for the Liahonas, I was reading one article a day out of the conference edition in English, but now that I have them in Spanish I read one a day out of the Spanish one. I got all the Ensigns out of the box of free stuff that people leave behind when they leave the MTC, I love the free box. I don't think I will need anymore Liahonas for a while because it takes a while to get through them. I use them as newspapers in the morning because we're not supposed to read the newspaper. I got the SD card and thank you for the pictures.

We got new roommates the same day our others ones left, but these ones are native speakers, and one is from Mexico. Being in a class full of native speakers and living with them is helping my Spanish a lot. I can pretty much understand everything except right when I wake up in the morning. They are good and obedient Elders and so I am glad to have them in the room. The district has been reduced to 4 of us, we have been put into the visa waiters district, district X. This week has been long, not because we haven't had lots of things to do but because everyday we might get to go to the consulate.

At the beginning of the MTC, I made a goal to finish the Book of Mormon, and so this week I made a goal to finish that goal. I have a long ways to go and I need to read almost 38 pages a day to get it done, but I have faith that if I don't waste time and put in every effort God will bless me with the opportunity to accomplish it. I have learned a lot while reading this much this fast. It is sometimes nice to get an overview of what happened plus it gives me a refresher on which stories and scriptures are where in the Book of Mormon. I also finished 2 Nephi in Spanish, so that was a large accomplishment because I got through the Isaiah chapters. It was super hard to read the Isaiah prophecies in Spanish, but now that I'm through it reading the other stuff is really easy, I don't usually even bring my dictionary anymore. I feel like as we have worked diligently to master the language and learn the doctrines God has blessed us a lot more than I could ever see by myself.

Started playing soccer with Elder Hare's district this week and it is way fun. All of the people in my district left, so there's not enough for a game, and my companion doesn't like basketball very much so we only go to the gym about once or twice a week. I scored 7 or 8 goals yesterday, it was way cool, but then again the goalie and defense wasn't very good. I finally got to play basketball this week and it was the best gym I've ever had at the MTC. I forgot how much I love basketball until I played it again. I could definitely tell that I hadn't played for over 2 months. Yes I still play the piano sometimes. Mostly just before class and whenever we have an extra 5 minutes or so. The other day I played for the class to sing because we have a piano in our classroom and no one else could play the piano. The hymns have such beautiful melodies, I can really feel a difference in the amount of the Spirit present after I play the hymns. There is something about music that I don't think we fully understand. Music can truly amplify and diminish feelings and express things that we could never come close to expressing in words. I will send a package home as soon as I know when I am leaving.

Oh, and one funny story that's not really that funny. Today when I went to go clean out my shaver before shaving, I took it apart so that I could clean the blades. It just so happens that all of the blades popped out, and it also just so happens that the sink I was using didn't have a stopper on the drain so the blades went tumbling down the drain never to be seen again. So I no longer have an electric razor, but I bought a regular razor from the store so I can at least look presentable. I don't think I need a new one, but I thought I would tell you this story because it taught me something. I have been reading in the Book of Mormon that perfect love casteth out fear, and that when people receive a remission of sins they will no longer want to be angry or contentious. Before my mission I think I would have been mad about losing the razor that I have used since the first time I started shaving. But today I just felt the calm of the Spirit come over me and instead of getting angry I just thought of how I would fix it. I thought about that afterwards and realized that we can tell where we are on our spiritual journey by how close we are to Christ, meaning that how frustrated and angry we get over the little things that happen to us can be an indicator of the maturity of our relationship with Christ. Not to say that I am anywhere near perfect, nor I am saying that I am super close to Christ. There is always room for improvement for everyone, but I can feel His love flowing through my life and I have never been happier.

Well, I love you all, if you have any questions about things that go on here at the MTC, I am an expert now, or if I am not sending enough details let me know. I love you all...

Elder Braden Nelson

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