We're halfway there ohhhhhh, just of the MTC

 My roomates:   Elder Robinson & Elder Bennett - Me and my comp, Elder Boden 

Hola a todos!

This week has been awesome! And Tuesday marked the halfway point of my MTC experience, and part of me is really loving the MTC, don't want to leave, and the other part of me is itching to go to Spain. Not sure which side I favor more, but I'm going to enjoy these last 3 weeks at the MTC, and anxiously await November 11th, the day I fly out to Spain. Super exciting!

Elder Boden and me showing our Spain Pride

Here at the MTC, there are these things called TRCs, which veterans may remember. They are basically investigators who you get to practice teaching as missionaries do. It is exceptionally helpful for me because we had to do them in Spanish. On Thursday, we had an awesome lesson. We were teaching our friend, because everybody is a friend at the MTC, about the authority that was restored on the earth by Joseph Smith through the power of God. Our friend took the lesson very well but had a lot of questions when we got to the modern-day prophets part. As my companion did his best to explain it in Spanish, I went to the April 2018 General Conference, and pulled up the talk by Elder Anderson titled, "The Prophet of God." It was an awesome talk and explained all of our friend's questions way better than we ever could, plus I found it in Spanish! So my companion, unaware of what I was doing, invited her to read some general conference talks, and I was like how 'bout this one? What was so cool about that experience is we were not planning on that at all, in fact, we invited her to do something totally different than we had already planned, and the Spirit took over. I will never forget that lesson and will remember back to it in Spain.

I also had the wonderful opportunity to host new missionaries arriving at the MTC this past Wednesday. I had a blast! It was so much fun getting to show these brand new missionaries the way of life here at the MTC, and comfort those who were having a rough day because when you say goodbye to your family for 2 years, trust me, it's a rough day. All I will have to say is they have a very detailed way of doing things when new missionaries come, and they know what they are doing.

In my Book of Mormon reading this week, I came across Alma 56. Love that chapter. It has one of my favorite scripture stories ever. the 2,000 stripling warriors. Verses 47 and 48 say this:

...they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.
And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it. 

These are the men of the army talking, and doing a humble brag of their mothers. I made a little note in my scriptures so I will always remember the love these men show to their mothers. And I can directly relate to the 2,000 warriors because I have been born of goodly parents and was taught by my mother, and I have no doubts. I am a mama's boy. Okay, humble brag over.

I hope everyone has been having a great week. Until next P-day! 

Elder Van Wagenen