Today we were officially welcomed into the MTC for our pre-mission training. We were up and headed to the exercise room by 5:00am. We walked over three miles on the tread mill and burned over 400 calories in a 45 minute workout. What a great way to begin the day! Then we showered and dressed and made our way to the cafeteria for breakfast.
It was then our goal to return to the bookstore after three years and buy additional bottles of the hand sanitizer that we took to the Philippines with us in 2014. We were disappointed that they no longer carried it. Apparently after the inventor passed away, his children fought over the inheritances generated by the product and the Church was obligated to take it off the market. We did find out that members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve all used the product in their world-wide travels! The sister telling us this sad tale took us into a back room and gave us one of the remaining bottles for our use at Martin's Cove. We appreciated the gift!
Our orientation today was at 10:00am and we got fully checked in. We also got our schedules and an itinerary of the weeks schedule. We had a 1:00pm general welcoming meeting with the MTC Presidency and their wives. They have all served missions and have been mission presidents.
We also got our district assignments and got acquainted with the other 3 couples in our assigned district. Then we had a FHE assembly after dinner this evening with a video of a devotional that David A. Bednar gave on Christmas morning in 2011. He spoke on the Character of Christ.
He taught us that it is not enough to have a testimony of Jesus Christ. He said that about 60% of the missionaries in the MTC that day would fall away from the church within 5 years of returning home if that is all they possessed. They needed to be fully converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and become one with the character of Jesus Christ.
In his fireside he gave some examples of the character of Jesus Christ when He was more concerned about the welfare of others that He was about Himself. One example was when the three disciples could not stay awake in the garden and one of His disciples would soon betray Him. That is when the Roman guard had his ear cut off and He healed it even though 4 of His 12 apostles were not in full support of Him. He turned outward to others when the rest of us would have turned inward and focused on our own trials.
That was huge for me to better understand the principle of turning outward to help others. And it is not enough to just put this principle to work for my benefit. I need to do this especially when it is not convenient and make it a part of my life to be more like the Savior in every thought, word and deed.
Boy do I have a long ways to go!
It was then our goal to return to the bookstore after three years and buy additional bottles of the hand sanitizer that we took to the Philippines with us in 2014. We were disappointed that they no longer carried it. Apparently after the inventor passed away, his children fought over the inheritances generated by the product and the Church was obligated to take it off the market. We did find out that members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve all used the product in their world-wide travels! The sister telling us this sad tale took us into a back room and gave us one of the remaining bottles for our use at Martin's Cove. We appreciated the gift!
Our orientation today was at 10:00am and we got fully checked in. We also got our schedules and an itinerary of the weeks schedule. We had a 1:00pm general welcoming meeting with the MTC Presidency and their wives. They have all served missions and have been mission presidents.
We also got our district assignments and got acquainted with the other 3 couples in our assigned district. Then we had a FHE assembly after dinner this evening with a video of a devotional that David A. Bednar gave on Christmas morning in 2011. He spoke on the Character of Christ.
He taught us that it is not enough to have a testimony of Jesus Christ. He said that about 60% of the missionaries in the MTC that day would fall away from the church within 5 years of returning home if that is all they possessed. They needed to be fully converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and become one with the character of Jesus Christ.
In his fireside he gave some examples of the character of Jesus Christ when He was more concerned about the welfare of others that He was about Himself. One example was when the three disciples could not stay awake in the garden and one of His disciples would soon betray Him. That is when the Roman guard had his ear cut off and He healed it even though 4 of His 12 apostles were not in full support of Him. He turned outward to others when the rest of us would have turned inward and focused on our own trials.
That was huge for me to better understand the principle of turning outward to help others. And it is not enough to just put this principle to work for my benefit. I need to do this especially when it is not convenient and make it a part of my life to be more like the Savior in every thought, word and deed.
Boy do I have a long ways to go!
thats crazy that 60% would fall away! Im so glad you were able to serve the Lord!❤ love you
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