Hard First Week, but Things are Looking Up

Letter sent by snail mail July 3, 2010



Dear Family,


Hi! So much has happened to me since you dropped me off at the MTC. I am writing to you on Tuesday night, though I won’t send it until Thursday, because that is my p-day. I can’t even remember which day I am doing what, so I better just write this letter with everything overall to make up for the fact that I haven’t had time to write in my journal lately.


This has been one of the hardest weeks of my entire life. I am amazed that I survived it. I was so nervous when you dropped me off, then we were taken through a line where our picture was taken and we got our name badges. Both of mine were in Creole. I have one for normal days and one which has a safely pin on it. I bought a clip which I could attach to the pin to make it easier and so that I didn’t need to mess with the safety pin. It is almost 10:30 so I will write more later.

. . . . . .

Hi again! Today is Thursday! This week has had so many ups and downs. I will continue where I left off. After we got our tags, we also got our room key and a blue card, which we can swipe for meal times and for getting extra items at the book store.

I was so discouraged when we got here. It is all so new and there is so much expected of us. There were several orientation meetings about missionary work. Sister Smith, the MTC president’s wife said that the only thing we needed to do to measure up to the high bar of missionary work was to be exactly obedient to the rules and be faithful. They said that we just need to try our best and just have faith. President and Sister Smith talked about how we were choice spirits chosen to do this work and that there are so many people who are waiting to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ. I felt scared. I still am a little even now. I had to be able to explain the doctrine in such a way that people will want to come into our church and be baptized. I didn’t believe I could do that because of my weaknesses.

I have 8 people in my district. My companion is named Elder Caldwell. He is from Mesa, Arizona. He played tennis and golf in high school. He was in honors choir and student council. He is a very good companion! He is so nice! I have enjoyed working with him.

Our days are packed full of stuff to do. I wake up at 6:20 (ten minutes early) and we still barely make it to district prayer at 6:50 because it is so hard to get the showers at the right temperature. When I turn it on hot, it takes several minutes sometimes to get it warm. When it gets hot, however, it stays that way and it is really hot, even if you turn the knob way down. The showers all have weird things that they do. Plus our room is so cold at night. I was freezing the first night. Elder Caldwell gave me his extra pair of pajama bottoms and long sleeve shirt. I was so glad that I got it from him. I have also been putting on two pair of socks, plus we covered the vent with our towels at night. I also used my microfiber towel as a head covering to trap heat. Don’t worry though because they forgot to give us the fleece blanket that goes under the bed spread. We got those today from one of the employees, so we will be fine now. It is hard to wake up in an unfamiliar room when it is freezing cold and you need to take a shower in a place where the water temperature is not working properly. But I am doing a lot better.

I was feeling so homesick. I have been feeling so lonely that I have been thinking about myself. I was worried about whether or not I could get that selfless love that I need to have as a missionary. I have not felt a lot of that for other people as of yet. I have also been feeling discouraged because it takes me so long to get ready in the morning that I barely have time for studying. Although we have personal study time in our classroom, I am so disorganized and there is so much to study that I don’t know what to study so I just jump from thing to thing, and I don’t know what to focus on first. I have also been feeling tired a lot from the medication that I need to take. I used to take lots of naps- sometimes multiple times a days, so I was having a hard time keeping awake. I was practicing teaching Elder Terry and Elder Loder the first lesson with Elder Caldwell, and I could barely keep my eyes open. I have had some very low moments this week, but there have also been fun times too. I have been doing well with the language! We can bear testimony, contact people on the street, and introduce ourselves as missionaries. I felt good about that.

When we got to the MTC for the first time, we went to the bookstore and got books that had our names on them with a bunch of Haitian Creole and French language guides, Preach My gospel, Book of Mormon, D & C, and Pearl of Great Price- triple combinations. We are only learning Creole in the MTC; we just have the French books in case we need to learn it, since a lot of Haitians speak French as well. Elder Caldwell, my companion, is the only person in our district going to Montreal, Canada, so he will need to study some French, since there are many French people up there. Elder Terry and Elder Loder, who are in the same room as us, are going to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In the room next to us, is the rest of our district: Elder Fenley and Elder Rybin are companions, who are also going to Fort Lauderdale, and Elder Major and Elder Smith, who are going to Orlando. We are all learning Haitian Creole.

I will give you an example of prayer:

Bondye PaPa nou kinan syel la. Nou remesye ou pou aonmi nou yo, pou leveanil la, Pou lamou jezileri Pou nou, Pou Soufrans Jezikria a nan Jaden Jetsemani a.

Nou mande ou Pou beni nou avek lespri a, Pou beni nou avek fos Pou Pesevere eprev nou yo. Nou Renmen ou an pil, Nou di tout bagay sa yo nan non jezkri amen.

[Note from Mom- There were a lot of accents in there that I couldn’t put in, plus not knowing the language, I probably made mistakes. I will have to see if someone can translate this for us.]

There were a bunch of new mission presidents that came in, so a lot of the cafeteria was closed off so that they could have meetings with the general authorities. The gym was also closed off. We have gym time every day except for preparation days and Sundays. The first days in the MTC, up until Monday, we would go to the field across from the MTC. We played Botchi ball (bocce). There is a yellow ball that one person throws out and then there are two teams. One has black balls and the other has red balls. After a turn per person, the color team that has the closest ball to the yellow ball is the winner. We also threw a Frisbee around another day, then we played soccer another day, and we have also played something like Frisbee golf.

There have been so many good firesides! Elder Oaks spoke to us on Saturday, I think. Elder Bednar, Elder Nelson (with whom Elder Caldwell and I shook hands with the other day, while walking through the MTC campus), Elder Holland, Elder Anderson, Elder Scott, Elder Cook were there too, since so many new mission presidents were being trained and oriented.
Elder Oaks talked about how a missionary’s purpose is to testify of Jesus Christ, and to strengthen the faith and understanding of others concerning his role in the plan of salvation.
He also talked about how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only true church on earth. He said that we don’t [he underlined this several times] believe that other churches are evil. Nor do we believe that they are completely wrong. They have many elements of truth, such as how we can be saved through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, and how we have a loving God. But they don’t have restored priesthood authority to baptize people in the name of Jesus Christ. Plus we have the fullness of the gospel and His church. He said that there has to be one true church. God authorizes people on the earth to teach commandments and perform his ordinances such as baptism. If all of the churches were true, then religious freedom would be unimportant.

Just as a personal note, all churches can’t be true, since they contradict each other in some aspects. Some churches believe you just have to be baptized and then you are saved, no matter what you do. Others believe that you have to continue in the faith and keep the commandments of God and repent every time you do something wrong. Ephesians 4:5 says that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” God wanted us to be united together, however, we were still given the choice; He wouldn’t force us to follow in his ways. Now that I am done with my personal note, I will continue on.

I really loved Elder Oaks’ talk. It was very good. He said that saying every church was correct was a form of political correctness. Plus Jesus Christ gave his apostles the power to baptize, which is in Matthew chapter 10. People may think this is closedmindedness, but God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and will not change the organization of his church. By saying that, you say that religion is “a good thing to do” and that it is not eternal truth diminishes the importance of Christ. I know that is not just a “good thing to do” nor was Jesus Christ just a good man. He was the son of God, and worshipping him is the only way for total, complete, eternal happiness that never ends. Many people just stand on the sidelines concerning their religion. They just think of prayer as something “good to do” or something that just makes you feel better. It most definitely does, but you need to make Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father your life. Because I know, as a missionary of God, and someone who has the title of Elder, which is the same title and call as the apostles of Christ, who are authorized by Jesus Christ himself to preach His gospel that God lives. He is there. He can help you in every aspect of your life. He can give you peace and comfort that can’t be compared to anything else you will ever experience in your life. He can enrich your friendships with others, your family life, your educational experiences in college and throughout your life, your hobbies, and he can help you overcome your fears and your worries. He has done that with me throughout my whole life. He has given me a wonderful family, who I love very much. He has sent me to the right schools, with the right teachers, so I could learn everything I needed to learn for success. I have made so many wonderful friends, who have changed my life. I will love all of you forever. You have made me so happy. I would not be the person I am without you. You lifted me up and you were my friend when I was going through my teenage years, with doubts and fears about the future. Thank you so much! I understand now that it takes a whole village to raise a child.

The MTC food is great! It is not exactly like the Canon Center at BYU though. There are many options of food, but there is no international food table, nor the smoothies, nor the wide array of deserts that the canon center has. They do have good drinks though. I just have water though. I would have drunk orange juice, but many missionaries told us that they had intestinal/bathroom problems after drinking it, so we stay away from it.

There is a room connected to the dining area that has sack meals for missionaries wearing casual clothes for service or for preparation day. Every week the missionaries do service by cleaning the buildings on campus, so there isn’t a large janitorial staff. Elder Caldwell and I did all of the bathrooms in one of the buildings. It wasn’t that bad. These buildings are cleaned very regularly. They do the service activities per district. So there are tons of groups doing projects each week. The MTC has over 2000 missionaries. For Elder Oaks’ devotional on Jesus Christ and the restoration, we didn’t even get into the gym where it was being held. We had to go into an overflow room where there were TV’s.

. . . . . . . . .

I am continuing this letter on Friday. I was so busy writing this, and I didn’t have time to finish, so I am finishing this letter during missionary directed time (MDT). Our substitute teacher, Brother Smith is in a meeting until 3:30. I feel so much better than I did for the first four to five days.

Before I continue, I will tell you about Fre Jean (Brother Jean). I met him on campus last semester when I was telling a friend about me speaking Haitian Creole. He walked by just as I finished talking to her. He told me that he was the Haitian Creole teacher at the MTC. He remembered me from when we first met. He is from Porto Prince, Haiti. He has been a convert for 10 years, and he went on a mission to Montreal, Canada as a French missionary, though his native language is Creole. Many Haitians also speak French.

I feel so much better already! I hated getting up in the morning. I was extremely cold and I was scared about how the day would go. I had so many doubts and fears. I felt overwhelmed with how much we had to do. I didn’t have time to study everything that I wanted to personally, especially since I am a slow reader and writer. I was homesick and two years seemed like forever away.

Fre Jean interviewed each of us on Thursday to see how we were doing. I told him that I was scared about letting down all of the people who are waiting to hear the gospel. I was also homesick and missed my family. He told me that he and the rest of the district were my family and that they would always be there to support me. He told me that I didn’t need to worry about not being an effective teacher. He quoted D & C 84:88 “And whoso receiveth you, there will I be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you to bear you up.”
He also told me about the captivity of Alma and his bretheren who he baptized. They were given the strength so that they couldn’t feel the burden on their backs while in bondage, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience.

I also got a priesthood blessing from my district leader Elder Major. He said that I had a big heart and that I needed to always have a prayer in my heart. He also said that I would meet people on my mission who only I would be able to touch. He said that actions speak louder than words. I felt a lot better after that.

I am doing so much better than I was before. I feel comfortable here now. That is amazing, since it has sometimes taken me two to three weeks to overcome my depression after big transitions in the past. All of my prayers and all of the prayers of those who are supporting me and praying for me were answered. Thank you so much for that! I have felt God’s angels bearing me up. He has magnified me in ways that I still thought were impossible. I know that this is what I am supposed to be doing. I have Jesus on my side, and I cannot fail. He has been my unfailing friend. He has always been with me, especially in my darkest hours. He has saved me, my family, and my friends when I couldn’t do it myself. I will love him forever for doing that. I need to quit now, but I will write you next week. I hope everyone will write me and encourage me. Thank you for your support!

Love,
Elder Seamons