Elder Matthew Matheson's Mission Blog : 2nd P-Day and An Absolutely Amazing Week October 15, 2016

October 15, 2016

Hello Family and Friends!

This week has been absolutely amazing. I don't even know where to start. First things first, there are 10 elders in my district. There are Elder Nielson, Elder Utley, Elder Barnet, Elder Tillet, Elder Ludlow, Elder Hawkins, Elder Davis, Elder Hoole, and Elder Gooch and I.

My companion, Elder Gooch is from Odgen and is about 6' 1''. He is very hard working and brilliant at Spanish. Also, he is very patient. The first week, it sure has been fun getting used to having a an amazing companion around you all day.

Dad will like to know this that Elder Trent Utley is from Richfield and is in Matthew Creamer's ward. He is serving in the Guayaquil, Ecuador Mission. Elder Nielson and him are so fun to be around and have amazing testimonies. Elder Nielson. Is also so amazing at Spanish. He answers any of our questions and is like another teacher to us. I love my district so much. They are obedient to the mission rules and they each are so fun and friendly.

Spanish is getting easier too and I can almost roll my "R" ! In the MTC all of the missionaries and older missionaries testify to you about the gift of tongues. That as you study hard, try and speak in Spanish in class, at lunch, and in the residence hall, and most importantly as you pray fervently and ask Heavenly Father to bless you to teach with His spirit, then you will have the gift of tongues and be able to speak Spanish. Elder Gooch and I experienced this when we taught one of our lessons to Giovanni. (He just became our teacher yesterday and is really called Brother Nash). Elder Gooch and I prayed really hard to have the Spirit and we trusted in the Lord during the Lesson by simple trying to speak the lesson we prepared in Spanish, and it was amazing to see that we could understand his questions and communicate back in our 1 week Spanish Vocabulary. Truly, the Lord answers prayers.

This week has been so spiritual. This last Sunday was so Spiritually uplifting. In our branch meeting, we had fast and testimony meeting. Many of the Elders and Sisters who were leaving that week bore their testimony about the power of the spirit and the gift of tongues. They helped me realize that the MTC is not just a mission training center but the "Make The Change" center where you become a missionary. After an amazing steak dinner, it was our privilege as missionaries to go to to the Sunday Devotional. The speaker of the Devotional was a past mission president who is the head secretary of the mission department. He spoke to us on the importance of repentance and how repentance is not a process that is to make you feel bad or unclean about yourself rather repentance in the Hebrew form of the word means "to turn away from sin and come closer to God." The speaker also stressed to us that an effective missionary is not one who repents less because he doesn't sin rather an effective missionary is some who repents daily, turning away from sin and closer to God.

After the devotional, as a district, we got to go see a recorded devotional from when Elder Holland came to the MTC. Wow, was his talk a call to be a missionary. From Elder Holland we learned that there are only two callings in the church where you get to be called to be an "Elder." These two positions are an Apostle and a missionary. Elder Holland taught us that we as missionaries have the power and authority of God and in some since we are like an Apostle just with a lower case "a". Wow! I had never realized this. In his message he boldly declared unto us not to waste one minute as a missionary. The Lord needs every second we can offer. This inspired message sure shook out any blues in my heart as I realized what an honor it is to be a servant of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Also, I joined the MTC choir. It is such an amazing experience to bear your testimony with over 500 other Elders and Sisters through music. We practice every Sunday after dinner and right before the devotional on Tuesday where we get to bear our testimony with the speaker.

Tuesday, was another day where the Spirit washed over us. It was such a privilege to have Elder Bednar and Sister Bednar come and speak to us. Their message was centered on the importance of studying General Conference. Elder Bednar gave us three steps on how to study general conference and then he would show a portion of a general conference talk to help demonstrate the point. Elder Bednar told us that the past general conference talks should become our walk and talk for the next 6 months. He taught us to look for

1) A doctrine and Principal

2) The Invitation to act

3) Promised blessings

Elder Bednar gave us a prophetic promise that as we would study, search, dig deep, and pray about multiple conference talks, looking for the doctrine in the talk, the invitation to act, and the promised blessings that "you will come to know, not just in your mind, but in your heart, that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.

It has been such a blessing this week to study this past general conference in my personal study and see that as I prayed to understand the words of the prophets and general authorities and applied Elder Bednar's council, a wave of spiritual revelation has come. I am so grateful for this opportunity to be a missionary, and I know this is where I am suppose to be. Thank you for your love and support mom and dad and family. Your letters and prayers have given me strength through out the day. I know Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, and that through His atonement we can repent of our sins and come closer to Heavenly Father and receive daily strength.

Thank you for you love and support!

Love,

Elder Matheson

P.S. Two other Elders and I auditioned with Savior, Redeemer of My Soul and we made the auditions and might play in a devotional or Branch meeting in the coming week.

I forgot to mention it has been such a blessing to see Elder Austin Cox, Sister Kaitie Mackelprang, Sister Stephanie Alger, Sister Sancie Horman, and Elder Caleb Davis at the MTC!