(Elder Putnam)
Hey guys,
Today marks my third day in the MTC and my first P-day. So
far I'm loving it! There's a lot going on so I'll break down each day one at a
time.
Monday:
I met my companions. I have two since we are the only
Latvian speaking Elders in the MTC at the moment. Apparently there’s also a
trio of Lithuania Sisters, an Estonian Elder, and a Russian Elder that will be
in my mission, but they are in person for the first two weeks for whatever
reason. Elders Bastovs (Elder Bastow) just finished up his first year at
Southern Virginia University where he was on the track and field team which is
dope and he's from Baltimore. He's made some lifting references which has me
pretty hyped up. Big fan of him. Elders Bibijs (Elder Beebe) is from Salt Lake
City and has a wide variety of instruments and languages under his belt. Our
very first meeting, he gave the prayer entirely in Latvian which was a little
scary to me and Elders Bastovs.
There are a ton of people starting online MTC this week
(540+) and in our first meeting they told us that this was the largest Online
International MTC Meeting they've had this year. I thought that sounded like an
ESPN Next Gen Stat. In our second class of the day Bralis Hiltons shared a talk
by Elder Holland from 2012 called "The First Great Commandment." It
was about how when Christ was crucified, all the apostles went back to their
old jobs, Peter going fishing. When Jesus beckons them back to shore, he asks
Peter 3 times, "lovest thou me?" To which Peter responds
"Lord... thou knowest that I love thee." Elder Holland extrapolates
that Jesus likely said something along the lines of "Then why are you
here?... Isn't it obvious that if I want fish, I can get fish? What I need,
Peter, are disciples-- and I need them forever." Ok that was a lot. I
gleaned two things from this:
1. This calling as a missionary isn't just for the next two
years. It's for the rest of my life.
2. I tell people that I love basketball, I love music, I
love my friends and family. But I honestly can't recall a time when I said the
words "I love The Lord." I believe in Him, and I have a testimony of
Him and His gospel but I've never said I love Him. That was humbling. However,
in my prayers on Monday night (after a feeble attempt to pray in Latvian) I
asked to gain a love for Heavenly Father and for His work. I felt the spirit
before getting into bed and I know that although it will take time, over the
course of my mission, I will develop a love for Heavenly Father.
Tuesday:
A lot happened on Tuesday. I woke up earlier than usual to
work out at the Rec Center (I got permission first) and then I came back and
had scrambled eggs which were delicious. In our morning Lesson, Bralis Hiltons
invited us to share a scripture with someone and I felt prompted to share some
with a few people. I've been left on read by one person, one person accepted my
challenge, one person said they'd check out the scripture I shared, but I
haven't heard back from them (You know who you are, and don't even try to say
you're busy I've seen you posting your dunks). Anyways, I'm not that mad. I’m
expecting to see a lot more rejection on my mission. I did realize that sleep
is gonna be a big problem for me when I drifted off at the end of Language
study, but I'm taking steps to make sure I'm awake without the use of caffeine.
Before I fell asleep, we were working on cases for Latvian (cases are the
equivalent to conjugation for nouns) and Bralis Hiltons used the example
"I like children" before switching to a different example. We all
laughed and imma give him a hard time about it going forward.
In class on Tuesday we found out that we'll be doing TRC or
practicing giving lessons to actors. The first person we'll be teaching will be
acting as Ivo, who we "met" outside of the University and know
nothing about. Bralis Hiltons said Ivo could be an inactive member, a devout
Christian of another faith, an atheist, or he could be a Satan worshipper. I
like the last one cause it promotes a bit more of a challenge for me and my
companions. Besides I think Ivo the Satanic Ritualist has a nice ring to it.
It was Alyssa's birthday so we had steak and cake and
watched the Chosen which was fun.
Wednesday: P-Day
Let’s see, I went to the gym again which was good. I got
lots of people asking about my missionary tag so that was fun. not a ton else
has happened today, but Companion study is going pretty well. were all very
enthusiastic about our coming meeting with Ivo so that’s hype. they seem to be
a bit more well read and knowledgeable about the gospel than me but I’ll get
there. During P-day we went and ran errands and stuff to grab last minute
stuff. It’s got me more excited for getting into the field, but I’m also
nervous about the first few months where I won’t understand much.
I’ve been listening to conference talks during workouts
which I enjoy. please let me know if there are any that yall would suggest.
as far as communication goes these are my rules while I’m in
at home mtc:
I’m allowed to read and react to messages people send me on Instagram
and fb messenger but I cant type out a response unless it’s an emergency. but I
can respond to people on P-day it’s just preferred to email back and forth. the
only exception to this is if I use one of these social media platforms to share
the gospel.
Anyways, that’s all I got today. See yall in a week!!
Elders Putnams
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