THE MTC PROPER
March 21, 2018
So there we were, all six of us Elders in my district, sitting in the commons area of our residence hall, journaling away about our MTC Day 2, and listening to the other Elders in our Zone (A Zone is a collection of districts of companionships of missionaries) as they were yelling in their room behind the closed door. I had mentioned in passing that I had brought a pack of face cards with me, because, you know, maybe someone would like to play Mao or Go Fish on P-day. The Zone leader heard this, and asked to borrow them. And that's how they ended up playing "Lies" and yelling in their room.
So back to us precious angels dutifully journaling in the commons room. Soon, we hear footsteps from the hallway from the entrance. Brother Brenchley, the 1st counselor of our Branch Presidency (a Branch is kind of like a small-ish congregation, and the Branch Presidency presides over the Branch), and he's scary. Like, imagine Richard G. Scott wearing glasses, but more of the Elder Holland temperament and fire.
He had come to drop by and talk with us after a meeting, making sure that there weren't any breakdowns happening after Day 3, and then everyone starts yelling in the other room. Brother Brenchley looks in their direction, because up until this point the occasional outburst and the like had been heard, but not like this. He starts walking to the door, and we all started cracking up, because we knew what would happen.
Brother Brenchley knocked on the door. "WHO IS IIITT!?!?!"
After the third knock, the Zone Leader finally stood up from their game and opened the door.
"He- Hey, Brother Brenchley!"
"What is going on in this room?"
We were just silently dying outside, because the situation was just so ridiculous, and probably really hard to explain for those Elders. We love them so much! And actually, at the end of this second week, we had to say goodbye to them. They gave good final advice, and they're going to be fantastic missionaries.
But now that the funny story is out of the way, I need to talk about my second week at the MTC (Yes, I am aware I'm behind, but I think I'll get caught up soon)! So, where to begin...?
In the MTC, one of the tools, in addition to the Missionary Handbook (which outlines the Missionary rules that are set to help us feel and teach in God's way), Preach My Gospel (a Missionary reference, which takes what we know from the scriptures and applies it to Missionary work, creating a guide to help us teach), and the classes at the MTC (Taught By the Terrific Brother Tongish, the Lovely Sister Karren, and others, like the Stupendous Sister Schmitt), we also have TRC's (Teaching Resource Center), which are a mixture of actors and real investigators that we prepare lessons for to teach. So it's just like an actual lesson. The other cool thing is that after a lesson, we receive a survey that these TRC's have taken. That way, we can gauge what it is we need to improve for our next lesson.
Our first TRC was someone by the name of Andrew, and he was a tough cookie. He had no concept of who God was (He was from Japan, so not even the Christian culture that you can gain from Osmosis in America), except for the bits of what he heard from his fellow students at BYU. We went in and taught a lesson, my companion Elder Tripp and I, and we felt ok leaving. Like, the lesson wasn't great, but we were still learning, so what else could we do?
Well, later we got that survey back from Andrew. It tore us apart. One of our main goals was that he would feel of God's love, and he specifically said that he didn't feel any of that, and he felt completely confused. That was really rough on me in particular, and I just went home and cried that night. If I couldn't teach this man, my first investigator, then how could I be a Missionary and Emissary of my Savior for the next two years?
That next day sort of drug on, and I was really mope-y. But then, I realized that I hadn't been reading in the scriptures. I had gotten busy, and had just forgotten to do so. And so, with another lesson with Andrew lined up that night, I turned to the scriptures, specifically The Book of Mormon, and started reading. And it was incredible what happened.
I had a good reading and studying time in the scriptures, but then we went to the lesson. I felt more confident. I spoke much more during the lesson, and when the survey came back for that night, it was better. Not great, I had more learning to do to ever achieve that, but still much better.
There is power in the scriptures. Specifically, there is power in reading the words of The Book of Mormon. Opening its pages opens a door to invite the Spirit of God into your heart (Also, power in prepositions). And if we really read, and really study his words, then we can really invite his influence into our lives.
We kept pushing on, kept learning, and kept teaching. Our lessons got better, and Elder Tripp and I figured out how best to work with each other.
And that's the most I can recall from week two. I could probably say more, but I really want to get caught up, so sorry for brevity.
Keep loving people, everyone!
Elder Richardson
P.S. PICTURES! I have some, and I'll dump them all on you later, but for now, here is my district!
Benjamin Richardson
California Redlands Mission
Feb 28, 2018 - March 3, 2020
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