MTC BOUND

Wednesday morning July 21st. Time to load up and head for the MTC.

Last meal together for 2 years. We all could have split one pizza since no one really felt like eating much, especially Miles.

Finally our turn by the sign.

..and remember to write every week and keep your jacket buttoned and bathe daily and smile and keep all the mission rules and don't drink the water...

Hasta leugo!

Sure was a great experience dropping Miles off. He actually did the best. Didn't even shed a tear, at least not on the outside. Gave Dallin one last shot at his chin and then punched him back for the last time. Grabbed his luggage, took off with the host Elder and said "see ya in 2 years." Ruth had to yell to get Miles attention and when he turned around Dallin snapped this photo.

He's done a good job so far of writing and here are a couple of his letters.

First Letter

Dear Family,

It’s already Sunday! Crazy and yet it feels like I’ve been here much longer. I love the work. Every morning we get up at 6:20 and say our prayers and head to breakfast. One half hour later I’ve pretty much seen all the Cedar and USU Elders here. I love the Spanish language. Certain hymns sound so much better in Espanol. Namely, Nearer my God to Thee. My companions name is Elder Edelmeyer from Rexburg Idaho. Nice guy. Not someone I’d likely be great friends with. It’s the Lords work and maybe I’m being given a lesson. I’ve learned more Spanish here in a week than I’ve learned in 3 years of high school. It’s great although I still feel slightly mediocre compared to the missionaries who have been here longer but it will come with time which I have plenty of. They are having visa troubles with Mexico. Some Elders have been here 15 weeks waiting on their visas. The record stands at 18 weeks. At that point were getting sent to Salt Lake or Provo missions until the visas come through. I think my thumb may be infected. I rubbed dirt in it after falling at Kanarra Falls. It’s swollen with pus coming out of it. It’s gross and it hurts a lot. Maybe I’ll get it checked out. Thank you for the present and letters you hid in my suitcase. Now I have some pranking material for the other Elders. The first one to write me after ya’ll was Eric Nakken. That’s right, what a dedicated friend. Letters here are like Christmas literally. It turns out I should have brought sandals for the shower. Well I’d like to emphasize the importance of keeping yourself clean. I’ve heard stories but I never thought I would see it. My companion is likely to go home. He has something he didn’t take care of before he left. Hopefully, he can repent and get back out here as he plans to do. Just remember to stay away from opportunities where Satan can tempt us. Just as in the story of David and Bathsheba, he wasn’t where he was supposed to be. He should have been with his army at the battlefield but instead he tarried around his palace or wherever he lived. I also want to emphasize journal writing. Get one if you don’t have one already. Find the desire to write. One of the best parts of my day is when I get to sit and write in my journal. What a blessing! If you don’t’ have the desire, ask Heavenly Father for one. Take advantage of free time to write, read, exercise, practice piano, hang out with family. Forget television. I promise you will be happier. I don’t miss the tube one bit. What I do miss are family and friends. Remember that we are accountable for how we spend our time. Everything this gospel teaches makes us happier. It doesn’t restrict, it protects. In preach my gospel it states,” The laws and ordinances serve as directions for living joyfully, with faith in Jesus Christ and a firm hope of receiving eternal life with our Father in Heaven.” This is the reason that LDS people are portrayed as happy. I love you all so much and I love learning from you. Thanks for your letters and support. I love you all so much. Jesu Cristo es nuestro Salvador. El Evangelio es Verdadero. Love Elder Brooks.

Week 4

Dear Family,

What can I sacrifice? This is what one of my MTC interviews centered on. My teacher asked how I was doing. I replied, “great!” We started talking and I mentioned that I needed to work harder on managing my time and staying on task. (I wasn’t bad, I just thought it could use improvement). He gave me the question, “What can I sacrifice?” Lets say I’m in a large meeting and getting a little tired. I could dose off and nobody would really know, the teacher wouldn’t notice and it probably wouldn’t make a huge difference. However, its little things like that we can sacrifice. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice, so it shouldn’t be a big deal to sacrifice those little pieces of comfort. When we show the Lord we are willing to sacrifice, that’s when we get blessings. What can I sacrifice? The other thing is on not getting offended. The other day in class we had been studying continuously until lunch. However, we couldn’t leave since our teacher was having an interview with an Elder. After we finished our last exercise, (it was already time for lunch), we decided to wait by the couches and talk about deep doctrine. We talked about the formation of the earth and our theories on dinosaurs and Adam and Eve. A teacher from another class interrupted us and said, “Permiso hablar en ingles?” (Permission to speak in English?) We said yes. He then asked us if what we were doing was helping us bring others unto Christ. At first I thought, “Who is this guy?” We just spent 3 hours working and studying, it’s lunch time and we deserve a break.” He gave us ideas of things to work on, after our uncomfortable conversation. Still I was thinking,
“2 minutes, really? Can’t we have a break for 2 minutes?” We started to work on what he said just as our teacher dismissed us for lunch. Even though I didn’t completely agree with what he said, I realized he was just trying to make us better missionaries. It wasn’t worth it to get offended. The last thing I wanted to touch on was music. In one of our firesides, we got to sing “We’ll Bring the World His Truth” (Army of Helaman song). They changed the lyrics to “And we are now, the Lords missionaries.” So powerful. We all wanted to keep singing. The spirit was so strong. It reminded me of D&C 25:12. “For the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me.” The next day I went to the bookstore and bought a children’s hymnbook in Spanish. I love singing all the old primary songs. Songs like “When I am baptized and Nephi’s Courage.” This church is so great and I feel myself growing every day and working on patience. Ok one more thing before I go. Elders here are animals at breakfast! I have never heard so much smacking in my life. Worse than fingernails on chalkboards. Really? Really? They all eat like a pack of ravenous beasts making a sound so unholy that the spirit cannot dwell there. Well, I love ya’ll so much.

Love Elder Brooks.