Dear Mom and Dad and Family and Friends,
I have had another great week at the MTC! This past week, I battled a pretty gnarly cold but through faith and prayer, you can conquer anything, even a nasty cold. On Tuesday I was 100% percent better. On Sunday, It was such a wonderful experience to be able to perform Savior Redeemer of My Soul for Sacrament meeting. We could feel the Spirit there especially when we reached the crescendo part at the end. I am so grateful for music. It is truly a universal spiritual language of the Soul.
Speaking of powerful music, for Choir practice, we worked on Mack Wilberg's arrangement of "Praise to the Man". Brother Eggat, our choir director is so in tune with the Spirit and knows so much about each piece of music we sing. He taught us how the writer of the Song W.W. Phelps fell away from the church for a time and harmed the church much and was one of the main reasons that Joseph was sent to Liberty Jail but, through the Atonement, W.W. Phelps was able to receive forgiveness and then just a couple months after Joseph's martyrdom he wrote this prophetic song. On part of the song that was particularly meaningful was the part the says "Millions shall know Brother Joseph again." Brother Eggat explained we are all part of fulfilling that prophecy as we spread the gospel at home or abroad through our examples, words, and deeds. As we sang this song for the Tuesday devotional, my gratitude for the Prophet Joseph Smith has grown so much and I know that he is a true prophet and that through Joseph Smith, our loving Savior, Jesus Christ restored His church and His gospel so all of Heavenly Father's children can return to Him forever!
Also, President Russell M. Nelson came and spoke to us. It is so amazing to see in the countenance and eyes of the Apostles that love of God they have for each member of the Church. Some counsel President Nielsen gave that I would like to share is this; We should all strive to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ written in our hearts and become living Epistles of Christ. I had never thought of myself that way before but through our trials and through our actions, Heavenly Father is writing another testimony of His Gospel on us and we can simply share this epistle with others through loving and serving others as Christ does.
This week, was our last week teaching our TRC investigator Julio. Elder Gooch and I both were so grateful for Julio. He is always very fun to teach and very patient when we don't know what to say in Spanish. (In one of our lessons, we were trying to help him understand Lehi's dream and compare the Book of Mormon to the iron rod in the dream, but I had no idea what "iron rod" was. After multiple attempts of trying to say iron rod, Julio helped us figure out the word. When we still couldn’t say it, he wrote it down for us on a sticky note.) Julio has taught us that by striving to love others as Christ does, you can become best friends with someone in only couple of short visits and see them as Heavenly Father sees him. We taught Julio about Baptism and promised him that as he would continue to read and pray about the book of Mormon and go to church with his LDS friends that he would become ready and want to be baptized.
Thank you for your love and support Mom and Dad and all family and friends. Your prayers help me everyday!
Love,
Elder Matheson
P.S. Today or Monday we should get our flight plans and word of our VISA's. It is like another mission call or Christmas eve waiting for them. Our whole district is so excited!
Meeting Sister Caroline Potter, from Cedar City, UT who is preparing to serve in the Paris, France Mission on the Provo Temple walk way
It is so amazing to see so many people like Elder Davis and Elder Steffensen in the MTC! (Former Canyon View Cross Country Team members and fellow MTC Missionaries Elder Caleb Davis, Elder Matheson, Elder McKade Steffensen)
This is what Sunday lunch looks like. It is my favorite as you get steak or cordon bleu with ice cream and soup! Yummmmyyyy!
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