Week One: "Coming to you live from the MTC!"

Hey Gleave Clan!

 

First off thank you sop much for your letters and package. Everyday you get letters its like a mini christmas and you just get really excited to read them. It's funny at college Mom would text me and be like "went to Costco today and got samples" and I would just think "Oh well cool?" But now when I get your letters I just think to my self "TELL ME EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR LIFE." So its good to get the daily update.

 

It's weird how fast everything is moving now. The first day was rough. So loooooooooooong. Literally we had 4 hours of "personal study" and 3 hours of class and two workshops all in the first day. It was insane. I was like just get me out of my dang classroom. The first lesson me and my companion taught was literally a disaster. It's like the teachers purposely set us to fail, then teach us what we have to do better right after so the lesson sticks.

 

My companion is the bomb. His name is Elder Langi and yes he's a poly. He's from South Jordan and is going to the U next year to play rugby. He literally knows every poly here. Theres like unspoken code between them and they just yell across the campus Togan phrases at each other. They will come up to Langi and be like "Haaayy Langi where you from?!" And there likes whats your name? "Oh Hi Im Elder Glea-" "Hey Langi you know this person that went to Bingham highschool?" Haha its like Im invisible to them hahaha. I dont care though I think its funny. He reminds me of Grandpa. He just falls asleep all the time sitting strait up in his seat. I kinda had to talk to him about that because it was happening literally ALL the time. Yesterday he prayed everyday before class so he wouldnt fall asleep and he didnt at all! Tender mercies I guess.  He's 18, so he doesnt have the most gospel knowledge out of the group but his testimony is incredible. Its like everytime we are teaching, I will talk to the investigator, get them to open up, find their needs, then Langi comes in with a spiritual punch. We are a deadly 1, 2 punch. No fake investigator stands a chance.

 

Thats mostly what we do now. We'll teach either our teachers pretending to be an investigator, or teach real converts that just pretend they are themselves before being baptized. Lucky, me and Langi got the two easiest investigators. Just kidding. We got the two hardest. And It sucked. The first person we taught was our teacher who was pretending to be a guy named Jacob. The people they are portraying are actually real, so they know how to act like how the person really would act. It's the weirdest thing, when we are role playing like that, it actually seems like they are real people! Like ACTUALLY are gators. So you can really feel the Spirit, like almost more than I've ever felt it before. Our first guy, Jacob, said he was going through some rough times because his house burned down, his car burned down, he has to stay at his friends place and ride his bikes to class. We were so ready to go teach and planned on teaching him about how God loves him and then we got in there and we were like so do you believe in God? and he was like well I tried praying him to once, and he didnt answer. and we were like uhhh...well... hahah we were so bad at teaching then. So lets just say our first lesson didnt go well. Funny thing is when then had a lesson on how to invite others to pray! Funny how that works. But then when went in the next lesson and we were talking to him about how he has to pray and why to pray and how to pray. When then invited him to pray right then and he was like, "well...I mean I dont know..." Then the Spirit just over came me and almost literally yelled at him and I was like, "Look. We can tell you that God is real. Your brothers (they were members) can tell you God is real. The who world can tell you God is real, but until YOU find out for yourself, youre never going to know if he's real." I was like wow wait stop gleave whats coming out of your mouth right now? You cant yell at an investigator! but then he prayed, and during his prayer he said he knew God exsisted all along. Even though it was role play, the spirit was insanely strong in that room. Since they are baised on people, we actually pray for them, pray for guidence on how to help them, and it seems like they are actual people. Its the weirdest thing. So we were working with Jacob the next few days, and we had a lesson that was not so spiritual. We asked him to read the BOM but we didnt really convince him to do it. So we checked the next day and he was like ohhh nooo i just got too busy. So that was frustrating. Unfortuanitly, he was being played by our teaching Brother Ferrin, who is an amazing teacher. But yesterday he told us he was assigned to a new district, and we couldnt teach him anymore. So yesterday was our last day with Jacob, and we just talked to him. We convinced him that he had to read the BOM and really really desire to know what it says and if its true. He told us that he he wasnt trying his hardest when he read and only did it because he knew we'd check if he did or not. We told him that unless he was going to try, he wasnt going to get anything out of it. He then told us he was worried about the rules our church has, and why we had to follow them. In class we learned about letting the spirt talk and just kinda stop thinking while you teach, and I had an answer chosen out and then I was like okay stop and just thinkg. And then I had a thought of dont say anything at all. And so I didnt. And Langi came in with a scripture that said basically you might not see the reward of your faith untill you try your faith. And that really hit him. I know that it was the spirit that told me to stop, and it was just a testiment on how much you have to rely on the spirit to teach. Turns out Jacob is Brother Ferrins brother, and he was incredibly inactive. He told us that Jacob was ridinng his motorcycle last year and he was going 195 mph and got pulled over and had to spend a week in jail. He said that he had been prompted to pray for JAcob to read the BOM, and when he heard that he went to jail he was like "what the heck?" Jacob had read the BOM a couple times before, butnever really commited to reading it earnestly, but after he got out of prison he called Brother Ferrin and told him he read the Book again and gained a testimony of it. HE has to wait to be rebaptized, but he recently got married and is striving to go to the temple with his wife. Pretty amazing story, right?

 

 My teachers are awesome! Sister Ruyon is an amazing teacher. I was like hi im elder gleave, im from littleton co. And she was like WAIT! Im from there! Talk about small world right? It's weird how much a mission can change someone because even though they are 22 years old, they are better teachers than I've ever had. Teaching the gospel is a lot harder than I thought, and they seem like pros at it. In class, they are such effective teachers, but they are able to bring the spirit so strongly. I have another teacher who only got back from his mission in december, but he seems like hes been teaching the gospel all his life. I feel like they are cheating they are so good at teaching, but I figure (hope) I will get to be as good as them. I mean from where I am now to where I was a week ago is seriously amazing. I learn so much everyday!! I mean when you have to teach you have to find their needs, you have figure out how to make a lesson to those needs, how to ask inspired questions to meet those needs, how to make them and actually love them, make sure they are using their free agency for good, get them to have a desire to read something thats not easy to read, and you have to do this all in less than 20 mintue lessons. It's literally the hardest thing ever.Okay not ever. but its hard. Ive taught 7 lessons so far and Ive barely gotten pass half the first discussion because we have spent all the time just trying to figure out their needs and getting them to trust us. Whether that makes me a bad missionary? I dont know. But what I do know is I'm a dang better missionary then I started.

 

Besides from teaching lessons, theres so many other spiritual experiences that we have. Im running out of time here so I will write you and tell you, but I just want you to know I'm so very happy. Ive grown closer to the lord here then Ive ever been. I love my district, my companion, and my teachers. I literally see so many people here! I saw three coming here to write this one being sister harper! Have yet to see Nathan but I'll keep an eye out for him. There is so much I want to tell you but I dont have enough time. So I will leave you with this:

I love you all. I miss you all. And Christ is our savior, he lived and died for me as well everyone else. He is my inspiration.

 

If this makes you sad just think about how the next time I will be writing you I will be in HAWAII!!!!

I love you all so very much.

I cant wait to here from you again!

Warmest Regards,

Elder Gleave

P.S. take out or leave in what you want for the blog. I dont care!