MTC Half Over?!

It's been a pretty busy week. I do have some news to start with though. I have been called as the new District Leader for my district. It's a great opportunity for me to serve others in my District, and try and be a good example to them and encourage them.

Last Friday we went to the TRC and had a conversation with someone that is a native spanish speaker (She talks really fast!) After that we taught the plan of salvation (in english) which went pretty well.

On Sunday we just did the regular and then had a fireside that night. It was actually one of my favorite firesides here I think. It was by President Brown. He talked about becoming a 100 watt light-bulb missionary. He said this includes: worthiness, attitude, desire, faith, obedience, planning, etc. He also gave us this diagram pyramid of sucess. It started at the bottom with "Desire to serve", then "Obedience", then "Preparation", Then "Hard Work", "Spirituality", and "Christs Divine Attributes" at the Top. After that fireside we got to watch the Testaments, which was a pretty cool movie. I had watched it before with Caleb.

On Monday we had a really good large group meeting about "Baptizing and Confirming people is central to your Purpose." I liked when he talked about how you serve the gospel is important. Like if you were giving a piece of cake to people that represents the gospel, it's a lot better when you serve it on a plate with a napkin and a shiny fork, instead of grabbing the cake, squishing it in your hands, and throwing it at someone. That's sort of how teaching the Gospel can be. You don't just want to throw all this information on people, but you want to teach to their needs, and deliver it in the best way that you can.

On Tuesday we had a devotional with Paul B. Johnson which was pretty excellent. We've been learning more and more spanish and I think everyone in my district is getting a ton better.

The Basketball courts finally opened!!! It's so exciting, I hadn't played in so long, but now it's so great to get back on the court.

Thursday me and Elder Clark taught like 2 lessons in Spanish. We were supposed to teach these other missionaries about prayer, but I guess we didn't really know that and we taught a lot of the whole first lesson in spanish (and talked about prayer). Last week I was able to memorize Joseph Smiths first vision in Spanish, and it makes for a lot more spiritual lesson.Then last night we taught our teacher in spanish (as a progressing investigator) and we taught a lot of the second lesson. I think the gift of tongues is really coming to us. Our progressing investigator (teacher) committed to be baptized after the hermanas who taught him after us asked him. That was a pretty exciting feeling too.

So I had a pretty awkward experience yesterday, that's for sure. SO I was doing interviews of all the senior companions in my district right? So It's kinda weird having to interview sisters in the first place, but whatever. So you are suppose to interview them together which is what I did, so the first companionship I took to the TALL lab and interviewed them there (next time i'll remember that I have to leave the door open), but the next interview was where it got bad. So Hermana Word and Hermana Jarmin got back from studying, and I told them that I needed to interview them. So we leave the room and they were like, "Oh lets just do the interview in here." Let me tell you that this place was a Janitors Closet (talk about close quarters). For some reason I didn't say like, "Nah, lets just go outside". So we're in this Janitors closet (which isn't as small as you probably are imagining but also isn't very big) and we just did a standing interview. I'm standing next to the door, and they are standing a few feet in front of me. We're talking and we get a knock on the door and a guy asks for a vaccuum. There wasn't one. Then he comes back a few minutes later and asks if there is a broom. There was and while one of the sisters was grabbing it, he was like... "What are you guys doing?" I told him we were just having an Interview, but I knew it probably looked really weird. Well I guess you learn new things everyday. Never have interviews with sister missionaries in closets! Right? That wasn't super smart of me, but I'm still trying to get the hang of things. Well I think thats mostly it for the week.

Wow, I am 1 month through my mission! It seems like it went by slow, but in another way really fast. I'm halfway done with my MTC experience. I'm learning a lot though, and I'm loving the food even though I've surprisingly only gained a few pounds. Well gotta run.

The Gospel is True

Love You All!! Good luck in all your endeavors!!!

Love, Elder Hicks

Another Great Week! Friday Sep 17, 2010

Hello Everyone,

Well last Sunday went pretty well. For our district meeting me and Elder Clark taught a lesson about the American Revolution in being a big part of the Restoration of the Gospel (Thank You American Heritage haha) and we also taught about how the Book of Mormon and the Bible support each other. It was a good lesson I thought. On Sunday night we had a double movie night because the GYM was closed so we couldn't have a fireside.

Our District:

Back Row: Elder Rindlisbacher, Elder Clar, Elder Day, Me, Elder Munk, Elder Stule.

Front Row-Hermana Word, Herman Jarmin, Hermana Butchkoff, Hermana Holland

Anyway, so we went to the first movie and decided to go to the Joseph Smith movie again because like one of the Hermana's hadn't ever seen it before. It was pretty great watching again cause I totally love that movie. After that we took some pictures and said our farewells to the oldest district that was going to leave on Monday morning. Sadly that included Elder Beus and Elder Erikson (from my BYU ward) who were our great roommates, and who I felt really taught me a good amount and were great examples to me. We had like a bunch of elders and the 4 hermanas in one classroom and we sang "God be with you till we meet again" in spanish of course. That's what we always do when somebody is leaving the MTC and it is always pretty powerful.

(Elder Beus and I. )

Me and Elder Clark are starting to get along a little better. Our district leader showed us this thing about companionship relationships and explained the 4 steps. First you have forming- which is when you are on your best behavior, Next you have storming- which is where you see flaws and are fighting, then you have norming- where you just learn to "deal with it" (And this is where most missionaries are here) and then you have performing- where you ask yourself "Is it I?" My teacher Hermano Rivera had a progress meeting with me last night and he said something a little bit about companionship relationships. I need to get to the point where I ask myself... What do I need to change about myself to make this companionship stronger. That was pretty great for me to hear. It's nice having so many great leaders and people around that can give me advice on being a better missionary.

Yesterday I volunteered for Elder Clark and I to teach the plan of salvation in front of the other people in our class. We left the room while the teacher told some of our classmates what they needed to be as investigators, and then we went in there and taught it. The Plan of Salvation can get pretty tricky to teach because you need to make sure it's simple, but it's also a pretty deep topic. I think through the Spirit me and Elder Clark were able to teach a good lesson, and answer most of the questions our investigators had.

Spanish is coming OK. It's still really hard and I'm having a hard time understanding all the tenses and everything, but I'm sure through a lot more studying and the Spirit i'll be able to pick it up one of these days. Yesterday I was working on memorizing Joseph Smiths witness of the First Vision in spanish. You know, the one where he says, "I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head..." It was pretty difficult, and I'm trying to memorize it by just having the first letters of the words written on the board and memorizing it from there. Tonight we are going to the TRC to do some follow up committments in spanish, and then teaching the plan of salvation to some investigators. I think it will go great though, we just need to practice on our spanish things that we need to say.

So sometimes in the MTC it can be hard not to get distracted from thinking about life before, life away from, and life after your mission. That is usually the case for me. I was reading in Jacob this week, and in chapter 4 it talks about how the Jews were basically spiritually blind because they were looking beyond the mark. This was a really good scripture for me to read. Maybe I can become somewhat spiritually blind to the reason I'm here, the importance of my mission, and the great opportunity I have to be here. I need to not look beyond the mark.

This is Elder Goggins (from the shire haha)

I just wanted a picture to show our differences in height.

I don't really know where he's from,

but I think when he introduced himself to our district, he said he was from the shire

( Hobbits place from the Lord of the Rings).

Elder Rindlisbacher and I.

He and Elder Day left this week to go to the

MTC in the Dominican Republic.

Everything is going well, the gospel is true, and my testimony is continuing to grow.

Another Week!

(pre-mission picture with BYU freshman roommates all out now on missions except one who isn't 19 yet)


Wow, it seems like this past week went by pretty fast. But at the same time kinda slow. So I don't know exactly what to put in these letters, but I guess i'll just try and review the week to let you know what i've been up to.

First of all, thank you everyone for the packages and for the letters. I will try to get back to all of you as soon as I can. I have a lot of letters that I have to write today, but I'll do my best. So... last Friday me and elder clark had our first teaching experience in the TRC. We started off the TRC by having to contact at doors and get to know people in spanish. Then after our last spanish contact we had to go to a room for a few minutes to make some last minute preparations to our lesson that we were going to teach. Luckily we got to teach in English, but the lesson went so much better than expected. Normally me and Elder Clark wouldn't really be teaching in unity and we sorta just went through the first lesson trying to get all the info in. But last Friday we truly taught with the spirit, we taught in unity, and we taught to the investigators needs. We didn't even get to the restoration, we spent the whole time talking about how "God is our Loving Heavenly Father" and then we talked a lot about the Atonement. I bought a pretty cool picture book that can help me in my lessons to give people a better image of what's going on. So that lesson went great and me and elder clark were pretty happy about it. I feel that I can express my feelings really well and teach the gospel pretty well in English, so it's kinda hard to think about how i'm ever going to be able to do it in spanish, but I still have a lot of time to learn the language, and the spirit will help me learn the language and say what needs to be said.

I will not lie, it is hard not to get distracted while here at the MTC. Maybe it's cause I grew up here and I went to BYU and all, but sometimes I'll be thinking about life before the mission or life after the mission, or wondering what other people are doing right now. Last Saturday we had gym time in the evening. There had been some talk about the football game, but going outside was the hardest part. Walking out to the volleyball fields we could hear the crowd going wild at times and it was just pretty strange to hear all the noises and not be able to know what was going on. I'm trying to stay more focused and to not think so much about before or after the mission but sometimes it can get pretty tricky.

Sunday was a pretty great day. I love sunday's here just cause it seems like you get a lot more time for personal study and you're not always going to class. I wrote my first talk in spanish that I can use in the field, although i'm sure when I get into the field and read it to myself, I'll laugh pretty hard at it because it probably doesn't make a lot of sense. Anyway, we had our first fast and testimony meeting last sunday, and I had the opportunity to bear my testimony in spanish. It was sorta weird speaking spanish up there because I'm not really used to it yet, and it's hard to say exactly what I'm feeling because most of the parts of my testimony are just phrases that i've memorized. I'm sure I'll be able to truly testify and bear my testimony from my heart pretty soon. On sunday we had devotional and then we watched the movie Legacy. It was pretty good, but for some strange reason the movie seemed to be sped up so it made the movie look kinda weird and made all of us laugh at times.

We've been working on doing more spanish stuff this week and tonight in the TRC we have to get to know people and share a message with them about families in spanish. Me and Elder Clark have been doing some contacting lately trying to accomplish the same objectives, so it probably won't be too bad. We also have to teach the message of the restoration again tonight, so hopefully we can have a lesson that goes as well as last weeks went.

On tuesday we had a devotional with Elder Snow from the 2nd quorum of the 70 I believe. His wife started out and talked about her experience when missionaries came to teach her. She said that she didn't really understand a lot about being a mormon after they talked to her, but the feeling that was in her house while the missionaries were there was such a great feeling, that she wanted that feeling there all the time. This applies great to us as language learners. Sometimes we will have to go to investigators homes and they may not understand a lot of what we are saying, but if we can teach with the spirit, the spirit can testify to them about what we are trying to say is true and it will leave a good feeling with them that they might want us to come back. Elder Snow talked about choices, and how the choices we make, reveal who we are. It asked us some deep questions that we had to think about. They were questions like "What have you learned from all of the choices you have made?" It was a pretty great talk, and I'm still working on making all the right choices to be a better person and be a better missionary.

We watched a video this week on a talk from Elder Bednar. He talked about "Becoming a Missionary." Just because I'm living a missionary life doesn't really make me a missionary. I truly need to learn why I am out here, and do my best to bring others unto Christ. When I go home I shouldn't just change back to the person I was before I left, I should be a different person, a missionary. Elder Bednar talked about how you can go home after your labors, but you should never leave the field. Just because the mission is over doesn't mean I should stop doing missionary work. It was a pretty great talk and I am trying to truly become a missionary.

I saw Elder Loveless this week. He just barely got here on Wednesday so that will be pretty cool to see him around. I'm pretty sure Elder Bastian is gone though which is kinda sad but it's cool that he's out of the MTC and in the field. The MTC choir is going to get to sing in priesthood session of general conference this year. That would be neat if I got to go and sing there but I'm not sure I have enough experience. They make you fill out this paper telling about how there isn't a lot of time to practice so you need years of experience and stuff. I knew I didn't have that, but I filled one out anyway and said that I sang in choir in 8th or 7th grade, and I sang in a ward choir for a little bit. Hopefully I'll get to go, but I probably shouldn't plan on it.

The b-ball court opens up this week, so I'm pretty excited. Volleyball has been fun, but this is the longest time in a long time that I haven't played basketball, so I'm ready to get back on the court.

Don't worry mom, I'm probably gonna gain a lot of weight here at the MTC. I've realized that I eat so much. I always get so much food, and my breakfasts are pretty huge too. The food isn't too bad here, it's not as good as home, but I just have to deal with it I guess haha.

I love you
the gospel is true
Elder Hicks

Week Two in the MTC

Just here in the MTC doing pretty well.

This week has been a pretty good week though. Time is very odd in the MTC though. In a way it has gone by really slow, but this week seems to have gone by fast. Just like they say, the days feel like weeks, and the weeks feel like days. I have a theory for that though. We do so much every day that by the end of the day I can't really remember what I did. You add up all the days of the week where you don't really remember what you did, so you feel like you haven't done much, and boom! It's Friday and the week seems like it went by really fast even though when you're going through the week it feels like forever.

Spanish is starting to get a little more tough though. My headstart helped for sure, but now we are all coming up on about the same level. Thankfully we don't have to teach a lesson in spanish until like week 4 or 5, but that doesn't mean we aren't learning anything. Today I have to go to the TRC and "meet someone" in spanish. So it will be something like, "Hola, mi nombre es Elder Hicks. El es me companero Elder Clark. Somos representantes de la iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias. Cual es su nombre?" Something like that, and then we ask them a few questions and then we're done. We also have to teach lesson one today in the TRC in English. I know about the lesson, but me and my companion still have a lot to learn in teaching with unity. We don't really prepare very well together, so how can we be expected to teach well together? It's like we both read the lesson separately, talk about it a little bit, and then expect to be able to teach as one. That isn't working very well, but we are both still learning.

Last Sunday was a pretty great day. It was fun to have most of sacrament meeting in spanish. Our branch president makes everyone write a talk every week and then in sacrament, he'll call on people to read their talks. So you never know if it's going to be you or not. For the first week we were allowed to write our talks in English, but from now on we have to write them in Spanish. He mainly wants us to write every week I think, so that in the field, we will already have some talks prepared. This week isn't as big of deal though because it is fast and testimony meeting, so we would only have to bear our testimonies.

On Sunday night we had a devotional with Brother Heaton who works here at the MTC (I think it's Caleb's friend Jeff's dad) Anyway, he gave a good talk, and then after that, we got to watch the Joseph Smith movie. I love that movie, it is so great.

Anyway, on Tuesday we had devotional with Elder Hinckley and his wife and they gave us some great insights on having a successful mission (Sister Hinckley talked a lot about being optimistic). Then we had a district devotional with our branch president and his wife. Something he said really struck me though. One of the elders in our district was re-asking a question that was asked in devotional about learning to love your investigators. He told us to look at Mosiah 5:13 and replace the word man with missionary, and replace the word master with Investigator. And in some cases (if you are trying to learn to love your companion) change the word master to companion. I guess that's what you have to do to love everyone, is just to serve them. That's how I will better learn to love my companion here at the MTC, by learning to serve him.

We also watched a video this week, that was a talk by Elder Holland from 2000. It was purely based on missionary work. It was a really great talk and there are a couple of points I would like to share. He said that some of the hardest lessons, are the best education we get. Although I sometimes have a hard time here, it honestly is the best education I'm probably going to get in my life. He also said that there is no promise for heroic success on our mission, but we need to make sure to pledge heroic effort. This is good for me to realize that if and when things aren't going very successful on my mission, all I need to do is just try my best. I know that that is really all that I can do. He also shared with real power saying something about how if you go home early (not counting if you get sick, or there is an emergency or tragedy) you will ruin your life. I can totally see how much regret one would feel if they came home early.

Gym time here is pretty great. We usually play sand volleyball every day, which is a real blast. The b-ball courts don't open till the 14th now, so I guess I have to wait a little longer. It's awesome living with the zone leaders though, and trying to follow the great example that they set.

Thank You so much for the propels, and for the lemon bars, they were delish. And good news! I found my ring! Now i'm gonna be more careful with it.

Well I gotta run.

Love you all so much,

Talk to you next week!

The Gospel is True!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Hicks