Funny though i should get so many cautionary letters this last week, I actually have been humbled significantly this week. Although i have not got into extreme trouble, meaning not even a wick of trouble with the branch presidency or anything they love me haha, but a little with the fresh off the boat RM teachers.. Our district is known to be the party district in these parts. which causes us a lot of trouble as it turns out. apparently weve been too rowdy and the other districts like us too much. funny how trouble goes here in the mtc.
Both of our teachers in the same day wrote the same things on the board.
-no eating in class
-no breaking the dress code
-no playing stick pull or anything with mop handles
-no stealing the decor from other rooms
-no wasting the lords time
I am guilty of every single one of those things. every one bahaha so yes i was squirming uncomfortably in my chair slightly. our teachers still love us though and really this list was pointed towards the whole district, everyone is guilty of everything. so I wasnt cornered up or anything dont worry. but maybe God is saying i should start obeying completely?
I mentally lost it a few days this past week. the prison walls finally started caving in on me and my free spirit blew up. the tongban would ask me any given question and because i was a mental wreck all i could respond was "HEN HAO" or "TING BU DONG" which mean "very good" and "i dont understand", respectively. he was slightly fed up to say the least. also the district is getting ticked that I have worn the exact same green tie everyday for two weeks now. I NEED SOMETHING TO MAINTAIN MY SANITY AND IF WEARING THE SAME BRILLIANTLY GREEN TIE EVERYDAY HELPS ME GET OVER THE MENTAL CRACKING EVERYONE IS EXPERIENCING THEN IMMA WEAR THAT BLOODY TIE TILL IT FALLS APART AND MY DISTRICT WILL LIKE IT. there is my rant. I have been better the past weekend so dont worry I will not be attending the psychiatric ward here, I'm perfectly mentally stable.
One of the major things that i accomplished this week is I finally figured out how to explain the concept of who God is. that may sound slightly sacrilegious however if any of you have ever tried to teach people who have absolutely no concept of God or heaven youd understand that its basically the most dreaded and difficult topic of mine. sometimes i feel like saying "I DON'T KNOW WHO GOD IS I'VE NEVER MET HIM!!!" but i know that wouldnt go too far and i apologize for all the caps its just that topic helped lead to my mental breakdown. its all good now though. its as easy as 1,2,3 now and me and Vaughn straight up wreck those lessons to the point that no investigator would ever dare not be willing to pray at the end of it bahahah.
One morning during study hour, Vaughn and I were going over our lesson plans when suddenly the thought occurred that we need to find a goldtag (actual investigators the church pays to come meet with the missionaries here) before i even finish getting all the words out one just appears!! so we taught her about the restoration. prophets is also a sketchy topic with most people. Dad here is where you are an honest savior in my mission. I shared the story of you listening to Pres. Hinckley's counsel to get out of debt and how that blessed our family so abundantly that compared to most people we've skated through the recession just fine. thank you so much for heeding the prophets words. and also sharing that story with me so i could then share with others. you shouldve seen our investigators eyes. they lit up and went wide open. she really liked hearing that. I think that was the kill shot for this week in our many lessons we've taught.
We had a devo by Elder Groberg the other night...the actual missionary from the best two years. it was dope. but he said something about how he vowed with his companion that theyd share their testimony with 3 people every day. one day at night Groberg realized they'd only shared it twice. but his comp said something along the lines of "It's too late now. We'll make up for it in the morning." but Groberg persisted and ended up finding his third opportunity who months later was baptized. this little story spoke volumes to me. The day before, so last monday to be exact, Vaughn and I were going to the temple. We made it nearly to the grounds before we realized neither had our recommends. so we went back. then once we got there with our recommends mine still wasnt activated so for the first of the 40 times i've used it I had to sit in the front for 45 minutes to wait for it to get activated. then we got into initiatories and the wait was over an hour. so I said to Vaughn, "chance missed. we are too late." as we were walking out, the front desk caught us and said they needed two men up in sealings pronto. so we made it up there and skipped all the lines and witnessed some beautiful sealings. though that temple experience in sealings probably wasnt overly influential for anyone, it was a good eye opener for me. I dont want to be that comp that says "It's too late, we'll make up for it later." I committed to this work when I accepted my call. the time is now. I need to get with it 100% or miss out on some awesome opportunities. I'm so glad I learned this in the MTC so in the field I dont make similar mistakes. Hold true to your word and give it your all right now. dont settle for compensating later. hahah i know all of you just love getting advice from so called "wise 19 yrolds" but perhaps that might be of some use to one of you.
This week has been the most spiritual week in my life. I've grown so much. I understand now when Nephi writes there are many more too sacred of things to be written. Some things are too beautiful they honestly cant be put into words. but know this, I am forever changed by the experiences I've had in the past week. My heart is refined. Jesus is my Savior.
Love you all! hope the outside world brings you great happiness because it sure does bring me happiness hearing about it lately!! keep me updated on all the news and everyones whereabouts and send me letters I eat them all up!! its crazy how fun mail becomes in the MTC. Sad I missed the family outings of this past week. Know that I love you all. youre all amazing!!
Nimen dou bu zhidao duoshao wo ai nimen!
Jin ZhangLao
Elder Jensen
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