Week 5 "Here it Comes!"

Six days left of the MTC, and I'll be flying to Paris.  Who knows what will happen, and what I'll be doing.  All I know for sure is I'll be serving the Lord, doing my best.  I wonder what it will be like talking to people about the gospel.  I'm a bit nervous, but I feel like the Lord will make it all work out; once we trust in him and go to work, there's not much else we have to do, except smile and make the best of it.  

Me, Elder Diederich, Elder Smith (tommy smith), he's going to montreal, and his residence is two over from mine.

     I feel blessed because of my experience here at the MTC. A lot of my thoughts have been on my purpose and calling here at the MTC.  Our district has some amazing elders: After talking to the elders in my district multiple nights here and getting to know their individual circumstances, we come from a lot of backgrounds.  Some elders never planned on a mission, while others saw no other path. All in all, I'm glad each one of us showed up here on July 9th.  We've all overcome a lot of different things, and through God's power, we all got here to the MTC.  The big adventure has yet to come, though.  

Here is me taking a selfie, wearing the elephant tie in my closet.

    I've been thinking about my years before the MTC, and the things I went through to prepare.  Concerning gospel matters, I feel like I've had  a lot of consistency. Doing things like trying hard to read my scriptures or study when I didn't want to, have helped me bear the long hours of classes, for just one example.  I think there will be those hard days when I get to France as well, when I feel tired and don't want to work, but really, why would I stop working when I'm there to do just that?  I like the quote that David O. McKay found that said, "What-ere thou art, act well thy part."  So I think, what other reason would I be on a mission than to spread happiness to people and work hard? I feel like as I keep this mindset I'll have a good mission.

The one and only...map picture! The two french elders are pointing to Tahiti, because that's where they're headed!

    Besides all the motivational upbeat talk, a mission really is hard, but it's do-able.  Sometimes I get down on myself because I feel annoyed with people, or I didn't follow the spirit in the best way I could have.  After that, I sometimes am disappointed with myself, because I feel like I know what is right, and how could I ever, when I've been so blessed to know the truth, be too scared to do what I think is right? Agh.  Well that's my struggle right now. Every day, I pray to know with a stronger conviction that this church is true.  I also pray to know how to follow the Holy Spirit better, when I feel like I'm promped to do something difficult. I pray for the ability to love those with whom I interact.  I know that many people are praying for my benefit, and that's one thing I have felt SO much since being a missionary, the prayers of others.  I have felt so good here at the MTC.  The worries I listed previously are really just few of the small challenges I have.  In the long run, I know the Lord is going to bless me SO much.

Here is a cool cloud formation I saw on the Sunday walk!

    I love you all, and I hope you have a great week.  I'm so ready for the flight, France, and the opportunity to finally be out it the field, doing missionary work!