Snail mail letter sent July 9, 2010
Dear Family and Friends,
It has been two weeks since I arrived at the MTC. The first week went by so slowly. This week went by so much faster. A lot has happened!
One missionary, Elder Fuluvaka, who was a missionary from the Haitian group, said that time doesn’t matter here. In a way, that is true. Daily time matters a lot, but every day feels exactly the same. I can’t remember what day I did what. I realize I need to take a small note pad with me everywhere.
On Sunday, we had mission conference. The MTC presidency members and their wives spoke. There are very good devotionals in the MTC! They happen on a weekly basis.
Sister Bertasso talked about gifts of the spirit. You need to discover what gifts you have received from the Holy Ghost. Some of them are kindness, discerning the needs of others around you, the gift of tongues (not speaking a language without doing anything, but an increased capacity to learn a language). You may not always feel like you have it, because God wants us to struggle so that we can learn and grow, but we do have it. God is willing to give you anything that is according to his will, which we ask for in sincerity and faith. We don’t always feel like God answers our prayers, but he does. We are just expecting the wrong answer. We may also be praying for the wrong thing or something which God won’t give us at the time. There are so many things he is willing to give us. We just need to pray for inspiration and spiritual guidance to know what to pray for. (D & C 46:30)
I know I have received spiritual gifts in my life. I prayed for the gift of tongues when I was a junior in high school before the school year started, and I was blessed. Throughout my life, I have had a ton of struggles. I know that God lives and that Jesus Christ is my savior just by the fact that I am here at the MTC and I am doing as well as I am.
Brother Bertasso talked about teaching by the spirit. He said that the spirit can guide our teaching by putting thoughts and ideas into our head, even though they may feel like our own thoughts. Using the scriptures is also a powerful teaching tool, especially the Book of Mormon. I have used scriptures and have ended up confusing people more, but the spirit can help you know what scriptures to use as you practice. Just pray for the spirit, study the scriptures and PMG (Preach My gospel) and have faith. You will mess up a lot before you become a good teacher.
[Note from Mom- Update- The Bertassos Eric speaks of were people we knew in Pittsburgh. I think Eric was only 9 years old when we moved away from there, so he doesn't remember but I will see if I can get him to answer that question in his letter tomorrow. Kathy Bertasso says she can't believe Eric is that old.]
I have noticed that the best teaching moments we have had, Elder Caldwell and I, were when we used a verse, and then testified, speaking from the heart. Don’t ever be afraid of doing that. I stumble over my words, and I am not very good at showing the message, but when I told how I felt, the words felt so much more powerful, even if they weren’t always perfectly placed.
I have a notebook with all of my MTC devotionals/fireside notes in it, which will be a more specific record about what I was taught at the MTC.
I have been trying my best to talk to missionaries who I am sitting next to before a devotional. I have gone out of my way to talk to other missionaries. I have seen so many people I already know here too. I saw Elder Ogden, a friend of mine from when I was 9-12 years old. He moved down to Richfield, Utah after our 6th grade year together. I miss hanging out with him. I have so many memories of him and Elder Spear (a friend from my home stake who left the MTC on Monday for New York, New York South mission). I will always cherish those memories.
Hi Kendall! I am glad that you got your mission call, Spanish Speaking. You will be a great missionary. There are so many great resources at the MTC. There is no better place or circumstances in the world for learning languages. The FBI has come to the MTC and tried to figure out how missionaries learn so quickly, but they couldn’t. The Lord places people in very awkward, uncomfortable situations. I know. He has done that with me. At the MTC, I have felt hopelessly downtrodden and weak. I have been pushed to my limits here. To be a good missionary, you have to realize the full extent of your weakness compared to God. We are very weak. But we are worth everything in His eyes. He won’t suffer those who go unto him and love him to fail.
I saw my mission president’s son here at the MTC while exiting the gym after the mission conference meeting we had. It is a cool story. I was thinking about what the speaker said about missionaries. They have to be missionaries, not only to those who aren’t members of our church, but also to other members, and to other missionaries. We need to be loving and talk to everyone. I have the desire to share everything I have with people, but I am afraid to get out of my comfort zone and be friendly and share my testimony. I saw a missionary in a tan suit next to me as we were exiting from the meeting. I had the feeling that I should talk to him. At first, I thought it would be random and out of the blue, but I decided to talk to him anyway. His name was Elder Janes. I told him that I was going to Florida, Fort Lauderdale- Haitian Creole speaking. He looked excited and said, “No way! My companion is the son of your mission president and wife.” He then pointed back a little way down the line, where Elder Hale was. They were both going to El Salvador, Spanish speaking. I talked to him. I told him that I knew the Halsteds, who are in our ward (Barry Halsted was best friends with my mission president, President Hale). He says hi (to the Halsteds). I was so glad to have the opportunity to talk to him. That happened because I listened to the feeling I had to say hi and talk to him. Heavenly Father is starting to get me to recognize promptings. I have heard so many talks about spiritual promptings. When I was set apart as a missionary, my stake president said that I would be led by the spirit on my mission, which feeling I hadn’t previously experienced. I hope with all my heart that I will be led by the spirit, and that I will know to recognize a prompting when I need to in order to find people.
I love gym time! The gym was closed for the first few days of me being at the MTC because of all of the new mission presidents being in orientation meetings. Because of that, half of the cafeteria was closed off, so the lines were huge. But now that area is a lot less congested. There is so much space now. I love the MTC food! There aren’t quite as many choices as the Canon Center at BYU, but it is good. They have ice cream from the BYU creamery on Wednesdays and Sundays. I don’t drink anything other than water, though. I have two cups of water for every meal. I used to be a lot more dehydrated. I can tell the difference now. I also have a salad every meal, which I didn’t do before. I want to eat better than I have in the past.
I am currently sitting in 11M, which is the building where the immunizations are done. My companion, Elder Caldwell, is getting a hepatitis A shot, because his mom didn’t have a record of him ever getting it. I am sitting behind a group of Chinese missionaries and in front of a group of Spanish missionaries, who are all waiting in a room for their companions to get shots or finish showing people their records. I understand what words they are practicing. [Eric has spoken Spanish for 8 years and Chinese for 2 years]
Anyway, I was going to tell you about gym time. You are only allowed to go during your scheduled times, so we don’t have gym on p-day. I would exercise, but there is so much to do. It takes me forever to do laundry, write and sleep and take a nap. I have noticed that taking naps doesn’t help me here at the MTC. I think so much about everything that I have to do, and about the dreaded moment when my nap will be over, that I end up laying awake thinking about it for a long time. I need to just to work, no matter how tired I am. I have noticed that when I am focused on something else, that I am not tired anymore after a while.
So for gym time, you can go either to the gym in the building 19M where devotionals, priesthood meetings, and firesides are also held or you can go to the field. We have been going over to the gym lately. They have four square, which you have to wait in line for, basketball, which only the first six people to get a shot in a line of people get to play, since there are so many people. There are about 100 in the gym at any time- maybe more. I am not sure. Then there is volleyball, which there is a rotation for too. I have gone up to the floor where there is a track. 10 laps is a mile. I have run 10 laps for 2-3 different days. Then I ran one and a half miles yesterday, this time with Elder Smith, who is Elder Major’s companion (our district leader). My mouth was so dry and the veins in my neck were throbbing. I could hear it inside my head. I was so tired. I will do it again on Friday. I hope to get to a 3 mile run by the end of my MTC time. I also do 30 sit ups a day. I moved it to 35 yesterday. I barely had the strength to finish. I have also been doing 15 pushups a day, making sure that I touch my nose to the ground. I did pull-ups for a day or so. There is a pull up bar in our hallway in the residence, so I had it as a goal to do five a day. I need to add that into my goals too. I will do that at night when we get back from the class room.
The exertion of it is so tiring. Thinking that I will do that again the next day and be that tired is a scary thought. I have felt that way so much in the past two weeks. I don’t like teaching because it is so difficult for me. The language is the easy part for me. I have to teach and there is no end in sight for that. I think of the atonement every time I run. It is very tiring, and it feels like it will never end. But Christ felt so much more pain than I ever have. He was uncomfortable in every way possible. Yet he didn’t quit. Anyone else would have. The love he had for us and the image of our faces in his mind was the only thing keeping him going. He needed us and our encouragement to complete that task. I hope that I can be that loving some day.
I am reasonably happy here now, though I still get distraught over my poor planning skills, which is a big deal in the mission. I also have difficulty being very effective in personal study. It also takes me forever to get ready and to prepare myself for the day. I am adjusting and I am doing decently, but I still am focused on myself a lot. I am worried about whether I will succeed as a teacher. I love being with people, and I want to treat them well, but I get impatient if I have to wait for Elder Caldwell if he is eating after I am finished, and I get jealous when people are doing better at something. I want my happiness to be based on others, not on myself.
I want to have the love of a parent- of my parents. My parents have worked tirelessly to help me and to support my family. That is possibly just as hard as a mission in many ways. You have so many things to do in the daily schedule that it is nearly impossible to keep up. I have been physically exhausted out here at times. But I need to remember that no matter how tired my parents are, they will push forward and forget about that in order to help my brother, my sister, and I. That is what I want to feel. I have been holding the door often for people, complimenting people on things I think they did well, and other things. I do them, but then I feel that I do them because I want to be righteous, not always because I love those around me. I think my district is awesome, but I feel that I am still more concerned for my welfare. I read Moroni 7:48,
“Wherefore my beloved brethren, Pray unto the Father with all energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his son, Jesus Christ….”
I pray that he will bless me for my efforts. He has never failed me before, and he won’t fail me now.
It is around 7 pm. Our other teacher, Fre Nelson was supposed to be teaching us, but he was in a meeting for 45 minutes, so we had MDT (missionary directed time). P-day ends at 6:15 when class begins. Elder Caldwell and I just finished doing a teaching appointment with Pita (Brother Payne). He said that he read the Book of Mormon, but that he didn’t understand it. We went through a passage in the introduction and gave Moroni’s promise to read. In a previous lesson, he told us that he was already baptized in the Catholic Church. We told him that it was great that he believed in Jesus Christ and in being baptized, but that it wasn’t valid because it wasn’t done with God’s authority. I have learned a lot about teaching these past two weeks. It is good to tell and testify, especially when it is done with sincerity. But you also need to ask them questions about why something would be important to them. A teaching appointment should be more like a guided conversation, with you asking questions that will help them understand. You should not teach the lesson, you should teach the person. That is what our Haitian teacher, Fre Jean said. You shouldn’t teach just to get through the material. You should get someone to understand. That is much more important. Preach My Gospel, which is a guide to help people teach the doctrine of Jesus Christ more effectively; it is meant to be flexible. It is just a tool yet a very powerful one. God wants his children to understand the message and do something about it, not just hear it. In the first vision in Spanish and Haitian Creole, it literally is translated as “listen to him” instead of “hear him”. (hear him in English, referring to Jesus Christ). We need to listen to the message and pay attention, not just be in the room hearing something. Hearing is passive. Listening is active. That is one of the wonderful insights that other languages can give you in understanding life and especially the gospel.
Right now, Elder Terry is drawing cartoons on the board. He is a very good artist, and he wants to make that his profession. I can’t remember what specifically he wants to do with that. He has a character named Bear Boy, which is him in a bear suit with a superman cape. He also draws things that we ask him to draw. All of this stuff is during MDT (missionary directed time). During our district meeting after mission conference on Sunday, we had one of our goals that we would not lose focus during our personal/companionship study time. Elder Major (our district leader) put Elder Terry in charge of being accountable for keeping us focused and making sure we are on task, since he is one of the main instigators of our tangents and diversions. I just realized that Fre Nelson isn’t in the classroom because he is interviewing members of our district, not because he is in a meeting. I thought that our district members were not here because they were teaching Brother Payne a lesson.
There is something very funny that just happened. For background information, there is this spray brand called “Glade” that Fre Jean uses in the classroom. Elder Terry and Elder Fenley have gotten into the habit of spraying it all of the time. I am so sick of that smell already and it has only been two weeks. Elder Loder decided to get that spray (the scent is country garden) for our apartment. It is a strong scent. Anyway, Elder Loder was spraying it under Elder Smith’s arm pit, but he accidentally missed and sprayed it in his face a little. Elder Smith was coughing and laughing at the same time. Elder Loder felt bad, but was laughing too. They get so distracted sometimes, but I love my district. They are all really good missionaries! Elder Major is awesome. He is always making sure that everyone is on time, and he comes up with great spiritual language activities to help us come together as a district. We have been reading the Book of Mormon after lunch in Creole, as a group. We go around in a circle. Each person reads a verse in English and then a verse in Haitian Creole. We read 1 Nephi chapters 1-3 together. I am learning so much Creole.
[Note from Mom- Eric has always had some entertaining friends, so I am so glad for Elder Terry and the others who lighten things up for him. You spend so much concentrated time studying that you would go crazy without something lighter to think about.]
I just got out of an interview with Fre Nelson [new teacher]. He got here on Tuesday. He just returned from a vacation in Florida. He went to Florida, Fort Lauderdale-Haitian Creole speaking for his mission. He visited places and people from his mission and he also saw President and Sister Hale again. He said that he was blown out of the water by how well we spoke Creole after two weeks. He is excited to have our district. It is a good district!
I have so much more to say, but this is good enough for now.
This has been an amazing experience. I can feel your prayers and the power of my calling. I know that Jesus Christ watches out for us and that the message I am called to teach is true. I wouldn’t still be here if it wasn’t. I have felt the power of the gospel in my life. I have many rough days ahead of me, and I will probably cry a lot by the time my mission is over, but I know that He will help me and get me though this, and help me find the people who need Jesus Christ in their lives. He did not send me here to fail, and he won’t let that happen.
I need to plan with Elder Caldwell for tomorrow. I will write to you next week. Bye!
Love,
Elder Seamons
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