Week 2 - MTC

It's been a great week

So last P day after I sent out my email I was sick and tired of not being able to be in outer space so my gpa took me to Maceys and we got a bunch of green poster boards. Then I put it up on the cupboards behind me and made it look like I have a window in my room which was sweet.

I probably had a little too much fun this week with my green screen. On one of them I cut a whole in the middle and used it so I could put my face on other people's bodies, after I had screenshotted people in my district.

I'll attach a bunch of photos of what I've been doing so you can get a better idea of what it looks like.

I spent last Sunday with my family, and it was awesome. My dad made my favorite meal ever and I got to spend lots of time chilling with the sibs. 

We had a meeting with another teacher the other day who hadn't heard about any of our reassignments so she went around and asked and I said wyoming mormon trails again, except this time we didn't tell her it was a joke right after. She was like "that's seriously so awesome!! congrats!!" and my district was dying. Everyone muted themselves and moved their face off the screen so she couldn't see everyone laughing. Anywho, then we moved on and she never found out. Until she put just me and her in a breakout room and asked how I felt about my reassignment. I panicked and told her it was a joke. 

We had three TRC's this week, except the chick we were supposed to teach the first two times didn't show up to the meeting, so we ended up only teaching one. It was alright. We don't know if the people we're teaching are members or not, which to be honest is kind of annoying because I don't really want to teach somebody for 6 weeks about the gospel that they already know all about. Anywho, since we had a bunch of cancellations this week, me and Elder Hansen watched a very decent amount of our favorite show ever... THE SAFETY ZONE!

If you don't know what I'm talking about go look it up on youtube. It's like a show to help keep missionaries safe. It's pretty dumb, but It's been like two weeks since I've seen something that the world considers to be entertaining, so I love it. It's really funny. I remember my brother Joseph saying they were hilarious and all of us thinking they were so dumb, but as a missionary I can totally see why they were funny to him. 

Nothing super exciting this week, but yesterday we had a mini devotional and it was one of the strongest times I've felt the spirit. I seriously love all the guys in my district so much. I can totally see how the gospel is gonna work on my mission, whether it's through zoom or whatever. It's the Lord's work and I'm hyped to be a part of it. Anywho, last night literally everyone in our district was crying. The moment when I totally broke down was when 

Elder Flygare shared Mormon 8:38, which says 

"...Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies - because of the praise of the world?"

This really got me because, honestly I was feeling lowkey ashamed to be wearing my badge outside of the house. Like when my and my gpa were out in public, I felt weird, and I didn't want people to know I was a missionary. I tried to walk sideways, or cover my badge up, but I just didn't like the looks I was getting. So when Elder Flygare shared that, I broke down, and so did a lot of other Elders. Whether or not I meant to do it, I was acting ashamed to represent Christ, and I've sorta made it my goal that I am never gonna feel ashamed again for being his disciple, and if I get weird looks or whatever else might happen, it's totally fine. I bore my testimony as well, and I think it's the first time since my sophomore year that I cried (in a very manly way obviously) while bearing my testimony. 

Being a missionary is hard, but right now not for the reasons we all think. Like honestly sitting in a chair all day in an air conditioned house is the easiest mission I could ask for so I feel kinda silly saying it's hard, but that's not why it's hard. Being a missionary is hard because I am representing somebody who's perfect, who I'm not even close to being as perfect as. I'm trying everyday to think and be like Christ, but it is so hard. I have big shoes to fill, but I know that as I keep studying and praying hard, that I will be able to represent Christ in a good enough way so that others will come unto him.

The church is true. Of all the things in my life, the only thing that I am sure of is that the church is real. Super grateful for that. 

Love you guys and would be happy to hear from any of you!

--

- Elder Wride

4 Days In! - First Email

Okay, WOW. I have SO MUCH to tell all you guys, which is weird because I thought being in online MTC I would have nothing to say but I really have lots I want to share with you guys, so if you have the time, I hope you'll read through this whole thing.

Here's what I want to cover in this email...

1) What online MTC is like

2) Funny story

3) My reassignment!

4) Crazy news about my reassignment

5) My companion who's actually famous (tik tok)

6) Giving my first priesthood blessing

7) Getting set apart as a representative of Jesus Christ

8) Spiritual thoughts

1) Okay so online MTC is super interesting. Honestly, I have ZERO complaints about it. Truly. Actually that's not true. My only complaint is when I try to change my background on my screen on the zoom calls to make it look like I'm in outer space the green screen feature is busted so it takes out my entire face too. That's kinda a bummer but I'm working on getting that fixed so I can be one of the cool elders who is in outer space. 

Anyways, but here is what my schedule is like....

6:30- wake up, workout, that sorta thing

8:00- zoom workshop with like 400 missionaries

9:00-12:00- district class

12:00-5:45- during this time I have to eat lunch and dinner, do 1 hour of personal study, 1 hour of companion study, and 1 hour of language study. 

5:45-8:45- district class

9:00-10:30- go to bed and check in with my companion

Every district is a bit different, but that's the basic idea. So it's lots of zoom calls during the day. 9 hours to be more exact haha. Originally, I was at my house, but as you guys know the place isn't very ideal for being a missionary. Not to say that the spirit isn't there, it's just...insane. I did my first day or two there but kids were trying to play with me while I was on calls or screaming things like "HELLO ELDER WRIDE" through the vents into the room I was in, so I had to get out. I am currently at my grandparents house who live in holladay. It's SO NICE. My grandpa set up computers for me to do my stuff on, and I have the whole basement. 

It's seriously just so great. I also love talking to them about stuff. The spirit of God is strong in this house haha.

2) So my district is a total party. Not totally, but just enough. I honestly feel like I've known these Elders my whole life. We are all homies. We should also probably stop calling each other "homies" because Hermana Kerr gets very upset. I do a good job of calling everybody Elder but it's gonna take a bit to get used to. Anyways but yesterday we did a show and tell, so I showed them my bowling ball and was like "I bowled a 243 with this bad boy" and everyone was super impressed and I got lots of respect. But then, Hermana Kerr apparently is like a pro bowler and was like "not to make you look unimpressive Elder Wride, but I bowled a 263" and the entire district was like "OOHHHH" and I kid you not I almost cried. That was my chance to prove myself and I blew it. I'm gonna bowl with Hermana Kerr one day and show her up.

3) Alright you guys, so I was pretty sure I was gonna get reassigned and honestly I'm not mad about it, at all. So me and my district were all chatting on google hangouts and one by one they all started getting their reassignments, so I was like "oh shoot here we go" and sure enough, I got a call from mi madre. She was like "President England just called" and I was like "Oh shoot" and then she was like "you've been reassigned to the wyoming mormon trails mission!!!."

Just kidding no that's not it, but for some reason I love telling people that. Not to hate on Wyoming, but dressing as a pioneer every day would be hard for me. Actually we had a zoom call with my district and we were all announcing our reassignments, and my district already knew where I was going but our teachers didn't so I was like "wyoming mormon trails!!!" and it was totally silent and then my teacher hermana kerr was like "wow that's so awesome!!" and then I told her I was kidding and she was lowkey kinda mad that I fooled her but it was great. Anyways, until they can send me to la Republica Dominicana voy ay servir en la St. Louis Missouri mission! I leave August 25. I'm pretty hyped, but the story doesn't end there...

4) So obviously I'm excited, but it's hard to be super excited when I've thought for months that I'd be in the DR a month from now, but the Lord knew that too I guess.

So most of you guys probably know mi amigo/friend Truman, or Elder Pugsley. Me and Truman have literally been mejor amigos for the longest time, and if you knew us in HS then you know how tight we are. We were in Student Government together, both play lots of music together, we're bowling all the time, etc. Basically outside of my family, there's no one i'm better friends with than him. He started his online training my same day and is supposed to go to Tijuana Mexico. After I got my reassignment I sent him a google hangouts message right away about my call to st. louis missouri, then a few hours later he said 

"bruh (should have called me Elder but whatever) my stake president just called. this is literally insane. like i don't think you realize. I'm going to the st louis missouri. no joke. august 25. my mind is blown."

LIKE WHAT!!! It took me a minute to process but then I responded with "dude (should have said elder my bad) we can just not get enough of each other. maybe we should just get married" and then he was like "uh. hasta luego"

Anyways, I got pretty emotional if I'm gonna be honest. Like this was such a tender mercy for me that just proved to me that st louis missouri is where the Lord needs me to be right now. I don't have a doubt in my mind about that anymore. We'll see if we become companions, and if we do let's hope it goes well. I dropped AP stats because we sat next to each other and our combined mental capacity plummeted in there and I knew we were both going to fail the class so I left. Either way, this is a huge blessing. Me and Elder Pugsley are gonna fly out on the same day, same plane, to the same place. How did the Lord do all of that?!

5) Alright fellas now it's time to talk about my companion. If any of you guys use the app Tik Tok, I guarantee that if you don't follow him you have at least seen him. If you don't know what tik tok is, it's basically like Instagram except all videos and honestly it's a pretty stupid social media platfrom. Even Elder Hansen said so. Go look up Ben Hansen on Tik Tok right now. Seriously, unless you don't know what Tik Tok is, go look him up. That, ladies and gentlemen, is my companion. He's 6'6'', famous, ripped, tan, and has a perm. He also surfs. Meanwhile I'm chilling at 5' 9'' or so, skinny, not tik tok famous, very white, and my mom buzzed my head a few days ago so I'm not lookin' too fresh. I also don't surf, I just bowl. Not the most attractive thing in the world. I feel kinda inferior to him because he's so awesome, but yea. Elder Hansen is seriously the best. At first I thought like "okay if he is tik tok famous he can't be a good companion" but he's awesome. Our comp study's are great, we discipline ourselves really well and there's no one else I'd rather be comps with. There are some people in our district who aren't as disciplined, because with this online MTC nobody is making you get up in the morning, it's all up to you whether or not you're going to do those things that invite the spirit. Elder Hansen does a great job, and we make a great team. So ladies, I have an in with the famous Ben Hansen of Tik Tok so maybe be nice to me for the next two years and send me lots of emails and maybe I'll hook you guys up. Elder Hansen is also going to the Dominican Republic Santiago mission, but first he's been reassigned to the SLC west mission. He's such a stud. Maybe you guys will see him while he's up here!

6) Okay, so now lets talk about my experience about giving my priesthood blessings. It's kind of a long story. So I was supposed to get set apart on tuesday, but then my little brother Wesley got sick. They thought it might be covid, so while I was running errands they got him tested. While driving home my mom called and told me about the situation, which meant that I wasn't going to be able to get set apart. Not gonna lie, I was really upset. I kinda went off over the phone about how I "need to leave this crazy house" because the situation also meant that I wasn't going to be able to go to my grandparents. That night, me and my dad gave all my siblings priesthood blessings. It was awesome. He showed me how to do it, and my dad blessed two kids who were feeling sick and I did the other two. I must have done it right because I made one of the kids cry, so that was sweet!!! My dad said on the phone yesterday that my siblings said that my "priesthood blessing worked". And yes we got Wesleys tests back as negative! So all was well and I was able to get set apart

7) My setting apart experience was super neat. My stake president gave an awesome blessing, and no joke right when he said amen and I opened my eyes, I was a new man. Like, it was really weird. In 5 minutes I feel like I turned into my older brother. I've never wanted to do something well as bad as I want to be a good missionary. It honestly felt like right when I got set apart like a big blanket got put on my back, and it's still there. Maybe it's just the millions of people who pray for the missionaries every day, and I just got added to the list! Elder Hansen told me the exact same thing. He literally said "It felt like someone put a blanket on me" and my mom said that when she got released, it "felt like a mantle was taken off me" so I guess God just really likes blankets!!! Anywho, if you're about to get set apart be ready for some weird but good vibes. To put it as simple as possible, I feel like I have a spiritual gun to my head 24/7. It's great, but I really don't want to mess up this time that's been given me to represent the Lord Jesus Christ.

8) Man I already feel like that in just this week, I have grown so much. How is that possible? I'm still in the basement 5 minutes from where I went to high school, but the MTC spirit is here and it's so strong. I know this gospel is real, like I KNOW it. Nothing can or will ever change that, but I'm also excited to serve in missouri and the dr to see that continue to grow. The gospel in the bible is the same gospel here today. It was restored! It's real. And the Book of Mormon has it all. I know it's true. This church isn't the church of mormon, joseph smith, or even president nelson. This is the church of JESUS CHRIST and he's at the head of it. I promise you it's real. A testimony of that comes from reading the Book of Mormon. Honestly it should be called the Book of Jesus Christ, because that's really what it is. Some form of Christ's name is mentioned on an average of every 1.7 versus in the BOM, with an average of I believe 2.5 or something in the Bible. It is all about Jesus. I am so grateful for this time I have to be a disciple of Christ, and I know that if the church wasn't true, the missionaries would have destroyed it a very long time ago. Honestly, two years almost doesn't seem like enough time. 

I love you all and would love to hear from all/any of you! Like seriously. I just talk to my district elders all day every day and I love em but it'd be nice to hear from some of you guys.

Set Apart

Ethan was scheduled to be set apart on Tuesday night, but we had to postpone it because his little brother Wesley was waiting to get back test results for Covid (we had a bunch of sick kids on Monday). Ethan was gone with friends when we told him we got Wes tested and so his setting apart was on hold. He moaned "Noooo!!! I just want this to end!" (Covid to end so the mission and life can start again). I tried to call to get the results, but it was all automated over the phone and the message me to basically just wait if it hasn't been 5 days yet. Blah... well, good news came via text from our pediatrician at 11:15 - Wes texted negative! Yay!!! I didn't see the text until 12:45, and I hurried and called to let Ethan know. He hurried and called the Stake President and set up an appointment to be set apart at 3:45. Life is moving again! He decided to do a mission haircut. I was glad for my chance to give him one with the clippers, since he usually wants it done with scissors so I don't cut it too short. Today I was able to go all the way short though! It was much faster, which I appreciated.

The cut was done quickly, then he showered and got ready. We called and texted our parents to let them know. They were here at 3:45. We all wore masks. Soon we had a new missionary in our midst!

Hugs for grandparents after he was set apart.

How do you feel Ethan... I mean "Elder Wride"?

He said he definitely felt different. "I feel like I have a target on my back..." Well, you kinda do, but you've also got extra angel body guards helping you out now, so you'll be good. He had his first MTC zoom at 4:30, so he got set apart just in time! He was off to the MTC in the basement. Ethan will be going to do MTC at Corey's parents house soon, as soon as we're all better. Ethan shared a spiritual thought during scriptures tonight.

He did a good job trying to teach us, with the usual interruptions that come from our big group sharing all their little thoughts. Near the end, as Ethan testified of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Natalie said "What if it's not true..." Ethan struggled to keep his train of thought on track but also reply to her and said "...It is... No more comments from you..." Ethan and I after prayer, writing down the 5 things that a Moxie pest control guy shared with us to help us be successful in life: Integrity, Gratitude, Work Hard, Keeep Commitments, Perseverance. He was writing other notes in his journal that he learned today.

Looking good Elder Wride. He made it to bed by 10:30.