Elder Wood's Mission Adventures: First week at the MTC

Hello Everyone! So I had written out an entire email and my tablet decided it was a good time to quit. So, here goes try number two!

Oh man, this week has been quite the experience! just to get the first letter out of the way, I arrived, I'm safe, and all is going well!

It's been really hard and I haven't had a break since day one. But it's so cool to have the spirit constantly working through me. The first day, my host took me to the wrong room, so I was late to orientation, but it's all good. My companion is Elder Horikami. His full name is Hansen Dean Kokoa Keaka O Kilani Horikami. It's a mouthful and a half but he's a cool guy. In my room are Elders Horikami, McBride, Davies, Peterson, and ... drumroll ... Osborne! It's been really nice to have someone I know here at the MTC with me almost all the time. Our whole room has gotten along really well. Everyone is cool for their own reasons. Elder McBride is a wizard at yo-yo and he's really funny and kind. Plus, he appreciates Hawaiian music and Queen, so that's a plus. Elder Davies was really quiet at first, but he quickly has shown us that he's not. And I could go on and on about things I've learned about all of them in just a few days. Also, McBride slept on top of the closets the first few nights. So, that's a thing.

We started teaching on day two and just yesterday we started teaching our real investigators. It's crazy because I don't really know what I'm doing yet so I kinda stress about lessons and such. But it's way cool to just use the guidance of the spirit and say things I didn't even know I knew.

(Side note, the second night in, one of the Elders in our room farted. And listen, I wouldn't usually put in my emails about someone passing gas, but this was literally the worst fart I have experienced in my entire life. It gassed out our entire room in seconds. We had to evacuate almost the entire half of our floor. People ran out in fear of death. It brought tears to our eyes and our lungs burned. It was described as spreading like a wildfire in a dry field. Or as a weapon of mass destruction. Anyways, that is all.)

My district has missionaries going to Houston Texas East, which are the Elders in my room. The Texas Houston mission Elders. And some sisters who are going to the Lansing Michigan mission. The Elders in my room have started referring to me as "Quick Draw Magee" because I've mastered drawing our key cards from our sides and swiping the door locks in one motion. Haha, our district has tons of funny little things and habits to keep things fun and interesting.

One cool little thing that has happened is on day two we were challenged to memorize the words we are supposed to say when inviting an investigator to commit to baptism. All my life I have struggled with memorizing things for school and such. But this time I had it down by the second try! It's small but it's a blessing to me!

Another big thing that happened is on the third night we were doing personal study by the water fountain on the east side of the new MTC buildings and two of the sisters from our district came down and asked me and my companion for a blessing for one of them who wasn't doing too well. My companion turned to me and asked me to say the blessing. So we grabbed our white handbooks and my oil and walked to find a more private area. As we walked my mind was going a million miles per hour. I had never before given a blessing of comfort or for the sick. I didn't know what to say or what to do. We found a spot outside that would work, there were a few people around but no one that would bother us. I slowly put my hands on her head still not knowing exactly what I was going to say, but as soon as I started with what it said to do in our handbook, the words just kind of spilled out. I don't remember what I said or anything, but it must have been good because all four of us had tears in our eyes by the end. The spirit is real and I love this gospel.

As I'm sure many of you have heard, there was a lot of damage and destruction in Houston, Texas, because of the hurricane. My whole room is nervous and we are praying for the people there but we are also excited to have the opportunity to go and immediately start serving the people before we get to teach them. I know God will watch over us and everything happens for a reason.

Well, it's about time for me to go to devotional. I love all the support from all of you and I want you all to know how real and big this gospel is. I know it's true. More this week than ever before.

Love you all!

~Elder Wood