letter number 5

Hey fam,
well another week goes by in the mtc and i can't believe how fast time flies. Yesterday in our presidency meeting with president dean i literally felt like it was deja vu from last week ha i love that about this place though is that when your working hard time goes by nice and quick ha Well to report on my health i feel so good. mom im a 10 now so don't you worry. The medication helped a bunch and the only day i felt sick was the day i went to the doctor but i'm taking really good care of myself and no need to worry. I think that was just to make sure i was on my toes and make sure i take advantage of the mtc. Well i'm happy to report that the basketball gym is officially open and they are letting us play 3 on 3! it's so fun i can't get enough of it. I think the lord really knows us 19 year old men and knows that we need an hour break per day so we can run around and sweat and do all that jazz. its amazing how many good bball players are here but i am holding my own when i play. My shot is really starting to pick up and i'm starting to feel it ha i know thats not important but i just thought i'd let you know anyways.
> Well this week was a great week for spanish. we really are starting to really get after it when we study and we are speaking more and more in class. All of our prayers, himnos and thoughts are in espanol. We are contacting people at the mtc like crazy. Our district made a goal to have 200 contacts this past week and we had 198! our district is crazy how motivated and how many goals we have. We also taught 40 lessons this week between 5 companionships so that was really good as well. We teach one more time this week in english and after that the rest of the time is espanol only! so keep praying for me but i also am excited to keep speaking more and more of it and to start teaching it. This week we have to teach someone how to pray in espanol and i can do that but i've been studying a bunch to be able to do that ha. The other day in class our teacher had me stand up in front of the class and she starting teaching the 1st lesson in spanish and then looked at me and was like ok your turn to say something about this principle and it was amazing but i actually did pretty well. one thing i have figured out since being here is when you get put on the spot and you have to speak espanol it makes you realize how much more you know than you think. I think i had some serious help from the man upstairs for sure but i am starting to get this language running through my big noggin! This week elder bowden and i taught preisthood meeting and it was a great experience. we taught about personal revelation and how it is key that we as missionaries need it in our teaching and in our lives, but not only for us missinoaries but that it is important for everyone to get that own personal revelation. We taught a really good lesson and elder bowden shared a personal story that was really amazing. I can't believe how much we are coming together in our teaching and how much better we get as we go on. Oh and the lesson was in english ha im not anywhere near that YET. ha The firesides this week were pretty good. no general authorities or anything but there was still alot of good info that was shared. Tuesday it was the temple president from the ogden temple and him and his wife came and shared some experiences from their temple. They also tied missionary work in to the temple and how important it is to get people to the temple. He really stressed getting the priesthood holders baptized and that if a dad is leading the charge in conversion then we are golden! Basically he just said that as we baptize we need to remember that that is the first step and the next is to get them to the house of the Lord. It was really a cool talk. The talks that are given are all so different and we never really know what we are going to get.But each one has been really uplifting. This guy said a quote that i loved and it was "if you think you can or you think you can't, you're right" I had heard this but it really got to me this time because how we look at what we are doing is what makes the difference and i truly am loving it here and loving what i am doing! The fireside last night was all about prayer. He was an mtc administrative director guy ha sorry i don't have my notes with me i forgot his name. But he really hit on that prayer is so vital in conversion. We always focus on fulfilling our purpose as missionaries but the first step for people is to have faith in Jesus Christ and to have that faith we must pray to our father in heaven. He said a lot of missionaries look over how important it is to really focus on prayer. I have seen what a difference prayer has made since i have been here and really praying with real intent and im excited for other people to see that. Oh ya me and the elders in our room had to move to the other side of our building this week because we were out in the middle of no where by the phillipino missionaries for the first few weeks but not a big deal. Our room is much bigger though that is for sure! I think our old room used to be an old custodial closet! haha No but it's fun our whole zone is right by each other and i love our zone! we have some people in there that are just goof balls but that also keep it light and funny which is good. I didn't think i would become such good friends with some of these elders but i can tell that some of them are going to be good friends for more than just the MTC! We have the best branch president! I have never met someone who always just shows love and is never mad. THe other day he was saying that he wont allow himself to have a bad day and i truly believe that he hasn't had a bad day. He really shows so much love to elder bowden and i and it is so great to work along side of our branch presidency. THey all are great men and i love my calling. Well fam the work is going great and i love it here so much. I really have realized that if i had the chance to leave this place i wouldn't ever! I really think you'd have to drag me out of here because i know this work is so valuable and is going to be the standard for the rest of my life! Thank you all for your letters and packages and love. They mean the world to me and i love to hear from all of you. Thanks again and know that i love and pray for everyone and all of you. This work is amazing and i just love it here and this opportunity to serve. LOVE YOU ALL until next week,
Elder hammer/martillo