"Mountains to Climb"

Left to right Elder Chavez. Elder Fillmore, Elder Me, Elder Medeiros, Elder Murdock, Elder Cannon, 2 random Hermanas in our district.

So the second week here has flown by. There is this saying here that the days go by like weeks and the weeks go by like days. and that is so true. I can't believe it's already been a week since I last wrote. But I also can't believe it's only been a week since I last wrote. It's still awesome here. The food is kind of hit and miss.. so meals are amazing and some give you diarrhea (not really but almost). And I've had like 3 gallons of ice cream so far.. 

Elder Medeiros in small hat.

I don't think I told you this but the Friday right after I got to the MTC, so like three days in, we had to teach our first investigator in all Spanish. It was crazy. I came in not too nervous and I left felling pretty good. I was surprised at how well it went. We taught our investigator four lessons and by the fourth one we got him to commit to baptism. Which would be awesome if we didn't find out he wasn't our teacher right after... even though that was a bummer it was an awesome experience! 

Elder Chavez and Elder Spencer St. John

​Me and Elder Chavez thuggin in class.

So there is a small creek like right next to our class rooms called the Garden of Eden and it is the best thing ever. Every day we get like three hours of study time so we always go and sit by the creek and study and it is the most peaceful thing ever. One time I fell asleep while I was reading and awoke to a pigeon bathing in the river. It was beautiful, especially considering I've been isolated from any form of entertainment for the past two weeks. I will take anything I can that's even remotely diverting.

The Garden of Eden is amazing.

Elder Chavez meditating in the Garden of Eden.

The spirit is so strong here all the time it's crazy. I remember one lesson my teacher, Maestro Mecham, taught last week. He had us all pick out a question we had this week about the MTC, our investigators, or the language. He then told us to open up to 1st Nephi Chapter 1 and said a prayer. It was in Spanish but I remember hearing him say something about our eyes being opened to what we needed to see. And then he had us read verse by verse around the classroom. It was amazing, I have read 1 Nephi 1 like 100 times but I noticed so many things that one time I read with my class. And after we had read the first chapter he put on the "Mountains to Climb" Mormon message and by the end of it everyone was crying. It was amazing. Everyone here had come from all over America and just left their families and we hadn't really understood each other until that moment. That was the highlight of my week.

We went to the temple this morning like we do every Tuesday morning at about 8:00 and I finally did my second endowment session which was amazing. Because I wasn't doing it for myself I got to focus on what they where saying instead of being super nervous like I was the first time and it was really cool. It was a great way to start my day.

Thank you Grandma and Dad for the letters! I can't even tell you how happy it makes me getting something in the mail. So you guys are the best. So keep writing me and sending me Dear Elders. 

I love and miss you guys so much! The MTC is great and I'm doing awesome!

Love, 

Elder St. John