Well, its week two here at the mtc, and Im loving it. But its weird to think that I´m more than halfway done my time here, My estimated departure date for the Peru mtc (CCM) is September 14th. (I think...) Me and a few other elders in my district are super excited to be going, and speaking for myself, a little nervous haha. Im a little anxious thinking about how in one week I´m going to have to use what little spanish I have learned in the past few weeks and put it into full force in a new country, in a new mtc. But we just have to rely on the Lord, and have faith in the missionary porgram that we will do well in the Peru CCM. "there is no growth in comfort, and no comfort in growth" right mom? :) But Im actually one of the only missionaries in the 4 of us that are going in my district that has my visa for sure. (Thank goodness for being candian) so every other elder is stressing about if theirs will come in time or not, so I guess we'll see!
So, for those who don't know, every tuesday we have a devotional here at the mtc, and we never know who is speaking until they enter and sit on the stand. So last week for our first tuesday we were all sitting and waiting in the auditorium when someone in the mtc presidency stands up and just lets us know that: "in the mtc we only stand in meetings when asked to do so, or special occasions, say....when a member of the quorum of the twelve enters the room......" So sure enough, a few minutes later elder Jeffrey R. Holland enters the room. What a amazing experience, Hearing an apostle of the Lord come into a room and speak directly to the missionaries here at the mtc. He gave one of the best talks I've ever heard, and it changed the lives of many of the missionaries here at the mtc. The spirit was so strong as he talk to us about how we, as missionaries, are, along with the prophet, the most prayed for individuals in the world, and how that can give is so much strength and courage to endure all things we encouter on our missions. I'd love to write down his entire talk for you guys but alas, time is limited :)
We also get to go to the temple on tuesdays. I love the temple, although you might be in a different place, in a different temple, the spirit of temples is the same. They truly are the Houses of God and should be one of the highest goals for everybody.
Oh yeah! Funny story. So me and my companion were walking (actually on our way over here to type this letter) and we saw that a meeting of some sort was going on in one of the chapels, so we (being curious teenage elders) (ok, more-so me, being nosy) peeked through one of the windows and saw that a bunch of senior missionaries were in there recieving some training. So, not really thinking much of it, we were about to walk away when I noticed two familiar faces in the chairs next to the door. And guess who it was? Brother and Sister Heninger! I was able to get their attention and they stepped out of their meeting and we had a nice little reunion :) I love them, and am so grateful for the role they have played in our lives. They are going to be amazing missionaries.
Well, we dont really get mail on the weekends and yesterday was labour day....so I wont be able to recieve mail until this afternoon. Sorry if you sent something and I havent gotten it yet! But I Did write a whole swack of letters last week and I heard it takes like about 8 or so days for them to arrive in alberta. ( There's actually an elder in my zone, Elder Olson from Lacombe, who I became friends with and we were able to make some connections through mutual friends which was cool. And he said it takes just over a week for letters to arrive.....if they arrive haha. I've never been the best at the whole "letter" thing, but I'm sure i'll learn fast :)
Thanks again for all the letters and the support from you guys, I love you all very much and am so thankful that I have a family who is 110% in support of me and my mission. I am so grateful I could be serving. Each day I learn more about the gospel and have a deeper desire to share it with the world. Jesus Christ is truly our Saviour, and He lives. My testimony is pretty simple, and even simpler in spanish but I know the church is the restored church.
Love you
Elder Lonsdale
