Week 2 in the MTC

My weekly email

My MTC experience has definitely not been boring. Even though I am still deciding if I like the MTC or not, I have tons of crazy stories from this past week. Our p-day is on Wednesday, and we usually make trips to the temple on those days so new missionaries can move into the MTC. It just makes the building a lot less busy. We wake up at 5:30 to get ready, and we all get on a bus to go to the temple at around 6:30. So we get on the bus. For some reason someone had miscounted the seats or something, so I had to sit up front RIGHT next to the bus driver. On my other side was one of the brothers from the MTC. The brother could speak a very small bit of English and the driver couldn’t speak English at all. So it was kind of awkward. 

So the driver turns on the engine and we pull out of the MTC. Literally, less than 15 seconds later, we pull up to the first stoplight and we witness someone open the door to a vehicle on the road, and throw the driver out of their car and he got in. The guy then took off and nearly drove into the front of the bus before swerving. So that was how this week started for us. For the next five minutes, the guys sitting next to me were just screaming in Portuguese and were on the phone with the police. I can make out a lot of what people are talking about now. Enough to get the basic idea of what they are saying. There are some days where I can totally feel the gift of tongues working in learning the language. I can understand pretty well what people are saying and I can kind of hold a decent conversation with people. Then there are other days where I just feel like so stumped and so behind compared to the rest of the class. Regardless, it is still pretty fun to learn a new language. I have decided that I would like to learn at least one more language in my lifetime.

I have been sick ever since I have gotten here. My throat hurts really bad, and I can’t talk too well. People can’t really understand what I’m saying, and it is just getting worse. I have gotten to the point where I can’t sleep until after a couple hours of lying in bed because I can’t stop coughing. I feel horrible, and I know this is making it harder for me to learn and speak the language, but for some reason I still have a very cheerful attitude. I get the feeling that happiness comes from the constant presence of the spirit here in the MTC.

The missionaries here at the MTC are super blessed to be in such a spiritual place. People here say that throughout our entire missions, you will feel the spirit the strongest at the temple, and also pretty strong at the MTC. No other place is like those two. 

For those of you that don’t know, President Nelson came to Brazil which was really cool. We didn’t get to see him, but the MTC did two broadcasts of president Nelson talks. One was given just for missionaries in Brazil, and the other was for all Brazillians. I thought it was extremely cool, but President Nelson needed someone to translate his words as he spoke, so he would talk for a few seconds and they would take another bit of time to tell the crowd what he said.

Our p-day is the only day where we are to walk around outside the MTC, and the city of Sao Paulo is definitely different from America. Everything is pretty worn down here for the most part, then occasionally you will find some really nice shops or places to get food. We spent most of our time at this burger place. I know that I have said it already, but the food at the MTC is awful. Even when we are hungry, we don’t want to eat it. Most of the missionary's diets consist of rolls, rice, soda, and stuff from the vending machine. This one sister ate at the burger place that we went to, and she just started crying. She told us that she was so happy to eat something that actually tastes good and the way that it was supposed to. 

On a completely different subject, some of the missionaries here are pretty weird. I was sitting in bed, while my companion went to the bathroom across the hallway, so I was in our room by myself. I guess my companion, Elder Emig left the door open a crack (Our doors have card locks) and I hear footsteps at the door, so I figured that he was back. I couldn’t see the door from where I was. I turned around, and there’s this hispanic missionary that I didn’t know standing right behind me. He said “Hi” and immediately turns around and walks out. 

I have even worse stories though. I realize that men are just kinda gross, haha. In the bathroom, I could hear two Elders in the stalls next to each other, and they were openly talking about their pooping experience and how big they were. I will not describe how disgusting that it was, but let’s just say that I had to just go to another restroom because I couldn’t handle it. 

On that note, I think those are really some of the biggest highlights of my week. We have learned a lot about my mission though. Some of the stuff was pretty interesting. Here are some…

-It is a very Catholic city

-Bikes are apparently illegal there because bikers get injured so much

-It is among some of the safest places to serve in Brazil

-I have heard rumors that it is the first mission in Brazil that allows missionaries to have smartphones

-I have heard that baptizing people in Belo Horizonte is more difficult than most places in Brazil, but I still think I’m gonna do a good job. 

-For the last, this is just generalized for all missions in Brazil, but apparently possessions are more common in this country, according to the citizens. I don’t know how true it is though.

I think those were some of the biggest highlights of my week. I am really starting to miss being in America. I definitely miss the food and family there the most, but I know this work is more important. As my mom told me, 

“A missionary is someone that leaves their family for a little while, so others can be with their families for eternity.”

-Sincerely, Elder Gibson

This week I just wanted to share a ton of spiritual thoughts and quotes that have REALLY inspired me this past couple of weeks. They have really changed me as a person, and my testimony of the gospel and many gospel topics.  The MTC so far has been really hard, but I know it will be worth it in the end. Every time I feel like I am reaching my limit of how much I can take; God gives me a reason to be happy and to keep pushing on. I can feel His support, and I know that He will bless me greatly for it.  All I can say is that I have been truly happy recently. You don’t need to worry about me. The spirit of the Lord greatly overpowers all negative thoughts and feelings, and even gets rid of them completely. 

            God is slowly preparing me bit by bit for my mission. I didn’t quite realize how unprepared I actually was to go out, and teach the gospel with power, and with the spirit. I have learned so much, and I know that all came from my great faith in Christ, my love for God, and my desire to serve Him. I also heard a quote from my mother this week that I love. “A missionary is someone that leaves their families for a short time so other people can be with their families for eternity.”

            There’s so many gospel topics in here that have really strengthened me, and all are prophets, apostles, mission leaders, my own thoughts as I ponder the many mysteries of God, and how I can do better. The first thing that I would like to emphasize is the one greatest truth. No one can fully comprehend this truth, but we all need to strive to

understand it. Think of the people that you love most. You greatly care about those people, and you are willing to give up so much for those people. Take that love that you are feeling when you think of those people, and know that is how much God loves you, yet so much more. God loves you more than you could ever realize, and some would say that it is a love that is so great that it is called “divine love.” Love is the reason that God has set this entire plan into motion, so we can become better, and even so we can become like him.

           

Go and read D&C 78:17-18 and then keep reading this e-mail.

     We are still children. We are God’s children, and we cannot even begin to comprehend just how much God loves us, and how many blessings that He has prepared for ALL of us in Heaven. He wants us to return to Him, He wants to help us and guide us! “The kingdom is yours, and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.” These
verses really hit me when an Elder shared them on Sunday. God has prepared literal thrones and kingdoms for ALL of us that are down here on Earth. He is in Heaven right now, waiting. Every moment, He is hoping and wishing that we will all choose to return to the Celestial kingdom so He can welcome us into His loving arms. He is just hoping and wishing that we will return so that He can give us eternal peace and joy. That is all that God wants for us, and that is what His entire plan is about. 

            His plan of salvation has many other names too, but one of the greatest names for it is the plan of happiness. And you may be thinking that your earthly life so far hasn’t been completely happy. No one’s life is purely a happy one. 

            God sent us down here so that we could learn for ourselves that everything has its opposites, and so we can learn to choose the good from the evil for ourselves, and to become like God. A good scripture to go along with this is 2 Nephi 2:25. Read it if you would like to

Adam and Eve were innocent in the Garden of Eden. That is until they partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They then became mortal, and would learn the good from the evil for themselves in doing so. But before, they were in a state where they couldn’t progress. They had no knowledge of what was good and evil. They knew some things that they should and shouldn’t do, but they didn’t truly comprehend the difference. While in the Garden of Eden, they were like how we were before coming to this earth. They couldn’t progress, they couldn’t learn or grow. It says this also in second Nephi, in the same chapter that I just shared with you. If Adam and Eve hadn’t fallen, then they wouldn’t have ever learned the difference between the good and the evil. Then if they didn’t recognize the good from the evil, then they wouldn’t have known the difference between happiness and sorrow. It is better that we pass through this life and experience the good, the evil, the pain, and the happiness for ourselves. For if we didn’t know that difference for ourselves, then we wouldn’t have true joy in Heaven, and we wouldn’t have ever known the joy of our redemption. If we follow God’s commandments, and endure through the pain to the arrival of that judgement day, then we will forever live in eternal and pure happiness and in the presence of our loving Heavenly Father. God wants us to know true joy, and to return to Him. He has provided so many ways for us to return. If we truly desire to return to Him, and hold tight onto the iron rod in faith then God will certainly lead us back. He won’t EVER lead us astray. That is His promise. “We won’t be able to survive spiritually in the last days without the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost” Strive to always have the spirit with you. Pray and ask God that you may have His spirit to be with you. Keep the covenants that you have made. Search the scriptures diligently, so that you may have a constant flow of spiritual light and knowledge, also bringing in the spirit into your life. Seek virtuous thoughts and actions, and seek those things that are of the good. Worship in the Lord’s houses, so that you may have better ways of communicating with God.  And last, be obedient to God’s commandments. Also, don’t just obey them because you feel like you have to. Obey them because you want to keep His commandments, and then you will be blessed and invite the Holy Ghost more into your life. 

            Two of the things that I have realized recently that are very important when recognizing the hand of God are faith and obedience. I have heard countless examples of missionary’s faith and obedience to the Lord, and how it has blessed their lives. I have found that it is always the best idea to obey the Lord’s commandments, and do the things that He has asked you to do, and also put your faith in Him, knowing that He knows what is best. We were listening to a talk the other day, and a man was giving advice on how to be the best missionary that you can be. Of course, he talked about obedience. In the missionary handbook it says that missionaries should keep in contact with their investigators daily to see how they are doing and if they need anything. During the man’s mission, him and his companion had been teaching this one couple. They were interested in the gospel, but their next appointment wasn’t for a few days. Every day, him and his companion would drive home and stop by to check up on them. They made the extra effort to check up on them, and to do what the Lord asked, and what he thought was simply being nice

The day of their next appointment comes, and the couple tells him and his companion that they know that this is the true church. And why? The couple had apparently been looking into other churches too, and talking to other missionaries from different churches. Each night that week, they would study together, and pray to God every night that He would tell them which church is true. They proceeded to tell him that every night, immediately following the closing of their study or prayers him and his companion would show up at their door. To the couple that was asking, praying, and searching for the true church, they had felt that this was God’s way of saying, “Here are the missionaries of my church.”

            I thought that was an amazing story. There are thousands of other examples how obedience, even though it may be small, will have a big impact on you, as well as the people around you. God gives blessings to those who are faithful in obeying him, and keeping his commandments. Faith is something that we must all learn to acquire if we hope to receive the blessings of God. When we show the Lord that we trust Him, and are willing to put Him first, then He will bless us greatly for it.    For example, in President Nelson’s talk to Brazilian missionaries he told us to NEVER be afraid to teach the law of tithing to even the poorest of people. Because from his experience, even the people with the least amount of money, always find themselves with more than they had while not paying tithing. I can’t remember which scripture this was, but one says something along the lines of, “Put your faith and trust in the Lord, and serve Him to the best of your ability. The Lord will provide for what ye are lacking.” Given, some people may not have much money for a bit of time, but God doesn’t forget about a person’s display of faith. They will receive blessings. I remember the story of a kid who was sent to the market by her mother and was told to buy this list of stuff. However, her family didn’t have enough money to buy all of the stuff that they needed. But the girl’s mother told her that the Lord knew that the prices were higher than they were supposed to be. She knew that she wouldn’t have enough. She still kept going. When she thought she didn’t have enough money for the rest of the items, she reached in her pocket and found double of what her mother had originally given her.  God works through faith. Put your faith in Him, and He will bless you throughout your life. With both treasures of hidden knowledge, as well as guidance and you will see that He provides miracles. 

            Never forget the power of prayer too. Prayer puts you in a position to be close to God, to have communication with Him, and to have experiences with Him. “Pray always, lest you fall into temptation and the devil will drag you speedily down to hell.” I don’t remember what scripture that was, but I saw it today, and it reminded me that if you keep yourself close to God, then He will protect you from the temptations of the devil, and help you to find further light in your life.

            There’s a lot more things that I would like to share, but I don’t really have too much time for it at the moment. I hope everyone is well.

Other noteworthy information:

-He has his tennis shoes!

-He has had the opportunity go to the Sao Paulo Temple and the Campinas Temple.  

-His goal is to memorize 50 words in Portuguese everyday