3.5 Weeks at the MTC

*Mom's Note - This time, I was at school when I talked to Gabe. I was in my classroom getting ready for school on Friday at about 1:00 when he called. We had a good chat, but students kept coming in to say hi, so then we talked again when I got home. He seemed like he was doing well and was totally comfortable now at the MTC. He likes his new room mates that he got a week or so ago, and he loves all the guys in his district. He says his companion, Elder Walker kind of annoys him at times with his whistling and piano playing and sticking to his side like glue, but he's grateful that he's a good guy and not a jerk like some other elders at the MTC! He's gotten really close to a guy named Elder Allen over the past couple of weeks who lives in his hall. Gabe said that he has been there for about 9 weeks and is going to Taiwan for his mission, so he's been struggling to learn Mandarin the whole time. He said his district always makes fun of him and was teasing him for getting a blessing. I can't believe other missionaries would be so mean! Gabe went through a hard time when he first got there and was struggling to learn Spanish, but he was really blessed to have a great group of guys in his district that he's now grown close with. Gabe mentioned on the phone that maybe a reason he went through such a hard two weeks was so he could be a listening ear and an empathetic friend to Elder Allen. Elder Allen left this week for Taiwan, which Gabe was sad about, but he said he plans to email him over his mission. Gabe also said he's got an appointment to go on a bus tomorrow (Aug. 26) and meet with a Spanish consulate at UVU about his visa. It looks like everything is on track for him, Elder Powell, Elder Adams, and a few others to fly to Spain on Sept. 2! Gabe's companion, Elder Walker, who is supposed to go to Barcelona, is getting reassigned to Louisiana for a few months until his visa comes through. It sounds like that happens a lot. I was secretly hoping Gabe might get a few more months in the U.S., but he is excited to be going soon! He also said he got to play in a foosball tournament against some elders on his P-Day a couple days ago and he said, "Me and Elder Walker haven't lost yet." ;) 

Friday- Another P-day, it was awesome. I did sealings for the first time at the mount tipanogous temple and that was super fun. The guy doing the sealings was really cool and told us a really cool story. I got to call home and email people which was really nice and then we had an evening class with Brother Middleton. His classes are always super fun. Today we practiced sharing scriptures and testimonies with another district in spanish. It went pretty good. As of right now I basically sounds like a toddler and only speak in really simple phrases. But I can convey most of my thoughts, which is fun. 

Saturday- Today my district decided to only speak in Spanish at all times which was interesting. It actually wasn't to bad. My teachers are really good at teaching spanish and giving us a spiritual experience. In hermana Cox's class we had a really spiritual experience while learning about the atonment. We even stayed 20 minutes after class just to continue sharing our testimonies. It was a really good experience.

Sunday- Sundays are always really nice. The "go and do" study time is always a really good experience. Almost everynight for a couple of days I've been having chats with a elder named Elder Allen whose learning Mandarin. He leaves this Wednesday. But he's been here for like 9 weeks and he's had a really hard time for a lot of reasons. One of which, is his district treats him horrible. But we talk every night and it's really cool to see how much of a positive outlook he has still. It been really nice getting to know him and we've had alot of really good spiritual conversations at night. It's also been really nice to be there for him and to try and help him feel better. Talking to him also makes me realize how great my district is. I've learned alot though from talking to him and I've loved getting to know the people here.  

Monday- Today was pretty boring. One cool thing though was during our 3 hour class with Hermano Middleton we had a really spiritual experience while talking about the importance of being a representative of Jesus Christ. But besides that nothing exciting happened.

Tuesday- Today was pretty fun. The food today was actually really good which was an amazing experience . Spanish is going pretty well. We practiced teaching people about prayer in spanish today. Then we had our devo with W. Mark Bassett. He talked about how much joy the gospel can bring to peoples life. Specifically the joy of repentance. It was a really good talk and after we had a discussion with our district and our Branch President. It was really good. Today was also Elder Allans last day so we talked before bed because he leaves tomorrow at 3 in the morning. It's nice though that missionaries have emails and facebook now, I can keep in touch with everyone from my mission.

Wednesday- Today my district got to help welcome new missionaries. New missionaries arrive every wednesday and missionaries who have been here for awhile take them from the parking garage to their dorms and help them get situated. It was a pretty fun break from classes but it was sad to watch other missionaries leave their families. It was also a weird feeling too, because it feels like yesterday that was me but also like that was so long ago. I got to host one of my friends from highschool though, which was awesome. We went over some complicated spanish grammer concepts today which was a little confusing but not bad. My teachers do a really good job making classes spiritual and fun.

Thursday- This morning when our district played soccer the field was pretty wet which made it really funny because everyone kept falling. We also had our last class with Hermana Cox today because she's getting married. It was really sad because she's a really good teacher. We also are loosing Hermano Middleton because the college semester starts soon. I got really lucky with my teachers. It's amazing how much I still feel the spirit in their class even though it's all in Spanish. My new roommates are also pretty cool. We sit and tell stories every night which is always really fun.

2.5 Weeks at the MTC

 *Mom's Note - The time talking to Gabe was a lot better. He seems to be getting pretty adjusted to MTC life. He even said he's feeling ready and excited to leave for Spain in a couple weeks! He says he won't miss he won't miss the super long cafeteria lines and he's excited to be able to go outside in Spain and walk around and not feel like he's just trapped in a one square mile radius (or less.) He said he was happy to go to the temple today (Friday) and he loved the bus ride there because the driver was playing actual country music on the radio and every missionary on the bus started singing along to "Country Roads." He said he didn't realize how much he would miss actual music on his mission. At 2:00am on Tuesday morning, the four room mates that had been in his room since day one with him and his companion, had to leave the MTC and head to their missions in Texas and Utah, and even though they were kind of messy and loud, he said he missed them once they were gone! He got 4 new room mates two days ago on Wednesday and so far he says they are good. But he only has about 2 weeks and 3 days left in the MTC, so either way, he won't live with them long! It's crazy to me that he's more than half done with the MTC now. Here is his update!

Friday- Today was P-day and it was pretty great. We went to mount Timpanogos temple this morning which was really great, its so nice to relax and just focus on the spirit during temple trips. The bus ride with our district was also really fun. After I did emails and called home which was nice. We had another spanish class in the evening which went alot better than yesterdays. I understood more, not alot, but a little more. It was a pretty great P-day.

Saturday- For whatever reason this morning, they gave us only 2 french toast sticks for breakfast. The food here is always worse on weekends. Me and Elder Walker had another fake investigator meeting again(helping others appointment) and it went really well. I'm so excited to actually get to teach people, even though they probably won't be as nice as the actors here. During our class with hermano Middleton, which was only in spanish, I understood the whole thing I just didn't understand every word. But the testimony he gave at the end, even though it was in spanish was really spiritual. Then I got to eat dinner with my highschool friend, Davi. Which was awesome. 

Sunday- Today was the first time I woke up when my alarm went off and not an hour before. I also slept the whole night and didn't wake up once, which hasn't happened the whole time I've been here until today. Then we had sacrament and some mini lessons and talks by other missionaries which was really spiritual. Go and Do today was really nice, and I spent most my time in Mosiah and Alma. We then had choir and the most uncooked chicken ever for dinner. We then had a devo which talked a lot about conversion and how true conversion is the constant growth of someones testimony. They also said the phrase "when your not coming closer to Christ, you're falling backwards" which was a cool way of saying that you always have to be trying to come closer to him. Which I really liked. My roomates have actually been pretty clean lately and I've actually really started liking them, but they leave Tuesday at 2:00 in the morning, which sucks. Especially because me and Elder walker will not be getting alot of sleep.

Monday- We played soccer this morning against some guys who played pro mongolian soccer before they became missionaries. It was probably 2-12, but we scored the last point when we said "next point wins" Me and Elder walker also ate lunch with two senior missionaries named the Jacobs. They were really fun to talk too. Then we had class and went to bed. Its our last night with our roomates but they've really grown on me and I'm sad to see them go now. I really hope our new roomates aren't weirdos

Tuesday- Today I learned that currently there's 2200 missionaries at the MTC which is probably why the lunch lines are crazy long. Also there's 840 missionaries in the chior. So it's not too impressive I "made the chior team". Today the devo was by David Bednar which was awsome. He went into some really cool details about how it really wouldn't have been possible for Joseph Smith to write the Book of Mormon without him being directed by God. But after giving solid facts and evidence he said that though physical evidence is good the best witness to the Book of Mormon is the individual spiritual experiences we can all have. While writing this in my empty room with Walker, I realize I miss our old roommates. And I really hope the new guys were getting tomorrow are as good as them. They were pretty funny and they did clean up when we reminded them. I feel bad for complaining about them before. 

Wednesday- I've gotten to the point were the days are starting to feel repetitive All day is basically spanish class and I I'm learning alot everyday but it hasn't "clicked" yet. All my teachers say it while eventually while we're in the feild and I'm praying everyday it will. Our new roomates are pretty clean and normal which is good. One is from Hawaii and going to the idaho falls mission ,which includes a lot of area including Rexburg.

Thursday-For the most part I think these roomates are going to be pretty good. It might be too early to tell but they all seem pretty nice. Spanish went pretty well today, im improving alot everyday and im so excited to be able to speak the language without giving myself a headache. Brother Middleton also gave a really good testimony about how powerful pray with investigators can be. I really like all my teachers, they all do a really good job teaching.

1.5 Weeks at the MTC

I think I am going to start out each little entry with a "Mom's Note", but then copy and paste Gabe's email home that describes his week. I want this to be Gabe's mission journal that he can have for when he gets home, but I'll also just quick put a paragraph of my perspective. ;) Also, I am NOT going to be an English teacher and fix all of Gabe's spelling and grammar mistakes. ;)

*Mom's Note - The past week was really rough because we weren't sure if Gabe was feeling any better of not since the first chat. The first time we had talked was only about 44 hours after we had dropped him off at the MTC, and he didn't seem to be in good spirits on that first Facetime call. I was doing my best not to just get in the car and go drive down there to pick him up and tell him, "You're not ready. It's ok. We can try this again in a year. Just come home and do BYUI and live at home for a year." I know Gabe would've NEVER done that (or at least unless he was feeling REALLY bad), but I had nightmares about him taking a bus from the MTC and just coming home those first few days. Thankfully, this last time we talked, it seems like he is doing better. We have all been trying to navigate life without Gabe here and trying to figure out just how often we should send Gabe messages (me, Josh, Sophia... that's another story...) but I think we are all slowly figuring it out. We just want Gabe to thrive and get adjusted to life as a missionary, and hopefully it just keeps getting better! Here is Gabe's email update of his first full week at the MTC!

Email sent on P-DAY, Friday, August 9, 2024:

Hey Mom, I've missed you all so much I hope it's gotten better for you since i first left. I really im doing pretty good and you shouldn't worry. We have a temple trip from 7:40 till about 12:30 where we wont have wifi, so i won't be able to message. But I'll message you as soon as I get back. Then we can call. Here's the summary of my week, I love you.

This is the summary:

Friday, August 2 (two days in the MTC) - Today was p-day and me and Elder Walker started out our day off by going to the basketball courts. But after doing the orientation we ended up just going on a run because the courts were so busy. Then we had breakfast which was pancakes which were really good. Then we did laundry and personal study. Then I got to call my family which was really nice. Then I did some memorization and wrote emails. At 12:40 we weny to the Mt Timpanogos temple which was really nice. Especially because I got quite time to just sit and think, which I haven’t really had since getting here. It was really busy in the temple and we didn't leave until like 4:30. I prefer Rexburg's temple though. The bus ride back was very hot, and took about 40 minutes. But I gotta get used to the heat. Then we had pizza for dinner, I try and have fruit but it all tastes bad. Then we had a really good class with Brother Middleton. He gave a really good testimony about understanding how to feel adequet as a missionary. Then we came back to the room did some study and went to bed. Elder farmer, one of my roommates going to texas, tried learning spanish in one siting but got bored after about 5 minutes.

Saturday, August 3- Today me and Walker started off our day by going running and doing pushups and situps. After we did some study we ate french toast sticks for breakfast and then went onto the the devo class building balcony to study. Then we had a spanish class and I felt pretty behind compared to the others. After that we had one of our lessons with a fake investigator(helping others appointment) it went kinda well but we accidentally read the day wrong. We were supposed to teach next saturday, so we stole the sister missionaries apointment. They came late and waited for us to finish before telling us. Then we has stirr fry at lunch and it was pretty good. We then had a really spiritual 3 hour class with brother middleton. Sadly though, he's going on a trip all next week then the last week After we ate ham and potoatos for dinner we then had another 3 hour class with sister Cox. It was really fun and was also very spiritual, eccpecially because of how well the two lessons complimented each other. Then I ended my day with some spanish study and journaling.

Sunday, August 4 - Today was the my first fast sunday of the MTC and it was quite the experience. Me and elder Walker did some studying then went to sacrament meeting, which was fun. The testimonies of the other missionaries was really good. Then we had Elders Quorum which was pretty good. After we had a 3 hour break where we spent time with our district and studied. After that we had "go and do" which started with all of us in the gym where we learned about how we can let the spirit guide us while we study. Then there was a really good solo singer. But after that big meeting every district went into a classroom for individual personal study, which was really enjoyable. Our district, for whatever reason, decided to do chior practice which made us like 30 minutes late to Dinner. My horrible voice gets drowed out by the other 600 people luckly. I was very hungry Dinner was crazy!! Everyone was starving so everyone was going back for seconds and the lines were incredibly long. Everyone was moving super fast to get food. There was too much going on.I ate this weird breaded chicken an ham thing with sauce that tasted so bad but I was too hungry to care. After me and Elder Walker chatted with our district and Elder Fetuao and Elder Farmer. We then had a big devotional about the book of mormon which was awesome. After we had a discussion about it with our district. Then our district and couple others cleaned up after the big devotional which was funny cause the guy in charge was getting mad because we weren't moving fast enough. All my roommates are getting annoyed with our roommate, Elder Christenson because he leaves his stuff everywhere but his own bed. And his companion, Elder Lovel waits to read till 10:30 so we always have to persuade him to go to bed. Im starting to miss Caleb as a roommate.

Monday, August 5 - Me and Elder Walker did kickball this morning for our exercise with our district. It was super fun. After we had breakfast which was ok, but everday I feel more excited for Spain food. Then we had spanish class. It turns out everyone was confused so im not alone. Im not ready for full emersion on thursday. After we had a workshop and we learned about how to build relationships with members while on our mission and how that can help us reach non-members. Then we had lunch and chatted with our district which was fun. After we had a 3 hour class with Sister Cox where we talked about how when we serve other and help them with their problems ours would fade. Then we had dinner then another 3 hour class with our sub because brother Middleton is out of time. She seems nice, but we definitely didn’t feel the spirit as much. After, we got ready for bed and I studied and journaled and then we we heard the national anthem being sung. Everyone was on the staircases singing and when I got there they switched to Armies of Helaman which was fun. 

Tuesday, August 6 - Today was pretty fun. Me and Elder Walker went on a run with the district, which was pretty funny. After we had breakfast then Spanish class. Every spanish class makes me both excited and scared for full emersion. But after Spanish we had lunch then a 3 hour class with Sister Cox. She shared with us part of "the conversion story of bill carpenter" which was amazing. If you have time you should definitely listen to it. I have never felt the spirit so strongly during a MTC class. After that we had dinner and quickly hurried to choir practice. I'm so glad we did choir because it guaranteed us a spot in the devo room where Carl B. Cook spoke. A lot of people had to go watch it get broadcasted in another building because the gym wasn't big enough. It was an amazing devo and He talked about how he struggled a lot learning German for his mission but the phrase "I didn't call you to master the Language but to serve with lord with all your heart, might, strength" came to him through prayer, which I really needed to hear. Then we talked about the devo with our branch president which was another really great testimony session. Our roommates Elder lovel and Elder Christensen have upped their game by leaving all their belongings thrown on half of one side of the room. I once again im missing caleb as a roommate.

Wednesday, August 7 - Me and my district played soccer this morning for our exercise and it was awesome. It was so fun to play soccer again and it was a really good workout too. After we had breakfast we did some companion study and went to spanish. Today was our last day of english in class, I'm pretty nervous about tomorrow. It's safe to say I might know the least spanish in the class. But I know I'll get it, even if it takes a while After that, me and Elder Walker did personal study then had lunch. After lunch our district went into one of the classrooms and listened to Elder Walker, Hermano Chase, and Elder Madsen practice a piano/violin/singing preformance their going to do on an upcoming Sunday. I just practiced Spanish the whole time. Today was also the first time new missionaries got here, which was weird to see because it felt like we got here just yesterday, but also that we've been here forever. After that though we had a 3 hour class with Hermana Cox. The biggest take away from that class was that as long as we try our hardest it doesn't matter how fluent we are in Spanish, because the lord will help us with the rest. After we had the worst steak I've ever eaten for dinner, and my standards aren't that high. Then we had another class with the sub for Middleton, Sister Hayine, it was pretty good. We learned about different senerioes we would encounter while teaching and it was really interesting and fun to talk about. After we went back to our room and studied. I had a headache most the day, a runny nose, and sore throat. So i hope that clears up tomorrow.

Thursday, August 8 - Today I still felt a little sick, but it's not too bad. We played soccer again this morning which was really fun. After breakfast we studied Spanish and the Book of Mormon. Then we had our spanish class. Today was the first day of emersion and it was quite the experience. I wasn't even close to understanding every word but my first 2 teachers did a good job making sure we understood almost everything. It was pretty fun learning Spanish, but after the first hour of constant interpreting I had a headache. Today, like everyday from now on, we will usually do about 7 hours of spanish in class. Which is a lot. But it'll help us learn faster I hope. Our evening class sub was such a fast talker and I don't think I understood more than 20 words. After class we hurried to bed, today was very tiring. But I know heavenly father will help me progress in both the language and my knowledge of the gospel, I just need to keep trying.