Kumusta ang mga pamiliya kag mga abyan mo!?

I've been at the MTC for over a month now! Five weeks this Wednesday. Just a few more weeks left and I'll finally be shipped off into the field. I have grown a lot spiritually during this time at the empty sea (MTC). I love my district!! I have met so many great Elders from all over the world. We all have different stories and backgrounds, but we all have the same purpose: to invite other's to come unto Christ. I've grown really close to these Elders and Sisters. Especially with my Companion Elder Rau. He's from Calgary Canada and enjoys skateboarding and snowboarding. Together we are basically the pinaka-dabest teachers! It's been a crazy month, with a lot of adjusments and setbacks, but it's been a blast and there isn't anywhere I would rather be.

 

9/3/12

Monday = P-day! This was a much needed day. It was so great to just relax, spend time writing letters, exercising, getting laundry done, and catching up on sleep. I wrote Grandma, Elder Thork, and Elder Clay. Elder Clay has been doing great! I can already see the impact his mission has made in his life! I can't wait to get to the point where I'm fluent in the language, in the field, already a year in, and reaping with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. During class today we learned more about sentence structure and how we can use it to teach about the three kingdoms. I learned one of my favorite phrases today. "amo lang na siya" (It's just the way it is bro).  Maayo Gid Adlaw.

 

9/4/12

Tuesday = early morning gym day. Tuesday's aren't really my favorite in the morning. Gym isn't fun when everyone is all tired and cranky. I just spent the hour shooting around with Elder Choi. I was on fire though. I don't think I've drilled so many three's in my entire life. I got a package from my parents and Kailey. It was awesome to get pictures from home. It made my day! We had workshop today where we learned about how to effictively teach about the Book of Mormon. I learned sometimes you need to just pause and wait for revelation to come. During class we taught our investigator Robert. The guy is kind of a hard-head. We focused on repentance, and I think the lesson went really well. Teaching is getting a lot more easier in Hilygaynon. It was Budlay Gid at first. (REALLY FREAKING DIFFICULT).

 

9/5/12

Wednesday = Service day! Service day is a bitter sweet day for our district. It's a downer because we have to wake up before 6:00 and clean the huge MTC gym. My companion and I were the first ones there, but we still got stuck with the crappy job. Literally.. We had to clean all the bathrooms in the building. I didn't even like cleaning the bathrooms at my house. Oh well I still served with a smile ;)  It wasn't that bad... It wasn't too fun either tho. During class, Elder Rau and I taught our investigator Joel. This guy is my favorite. He is 18, and loves to have fun. We taught him about the Atonement. Elder Rau shared a story and I shared some scriptures and bore my testimony. We got him to commit to baptism on the 22nd of Sept. One of our best lessons by far! Today the highlight was seeing my buddy Elder Sweeten and Elder Barnes. Elder Barnes is in the room right next to me, so that is pretty sweet. Elder Sweeten and I have a lot of the same schedule. It's was way awesome to see him and to share all our new experiences over the past month.

 

9/6/12

Nothing too exciting. We had TRC today, which is like hometeaching on steriods. That was fun. I also started taking sleeping pills because my Australian roommate snores like an elephant. So earplugs and sleeping pills = a good nights rest for me.

 

The weekend

The weekend was great a lot of great lessons and talks. Robert committed to baptism on the 29th, so Elder Rau and I feel accomplished. I'm running out of email time. We took pics with all the Rexburg missionaries, that was pretty tight. Anyways I'll write back next week. Pallanga taka!! (I love you) Salamat Gid para sa mga pagpangamuyo. (Thank you for all your prayers!)

 

-Elder Sparks