Elder Tyson L. Smith: Provo MTC: Week 1

Hey everyone,

It's my first P-Day in the MTC and it's crazy. Every day is jam packed with so much to do. Meeting my district for the first time was pretty cool, most of them super chill and some of them are pretty funny. Some are already making me practice my Christlike love and patience though. My companion (Elder Raif Cockrell, from Jerome, Idaho) is pretty cool, he has great object lessons and I've been able to learn a lot with him. We have a six person dorm room, but it's just us in it, so we have four extra beds and a lot of room.

Classes have been pretty interesting, we have two three-hour classes, one hour of personal study, one hour of language study, and 30 minutes of companion study. It's been nice having a lot of time chunked out to have personal study and I've used it to dive deep into the Book of Mormon. It's surprised me with its depth and I've often only gotten through a couple chapters in an hour because I've been taking note of inspiration and things that come to mind as I read.

My favorite thing i heard this week was an MTC talk by Elder Bednar. It was all about the Book of Mormon. One thing that stuck out to me was how in order to really know of its truth we have to read it ourselves and feel the power of it. I liked that because at times I feel like I've leeched off others' testimonies, and now that I have been doing my own searching and finding I've been able to see for myself and gain my own testimony and know of its truth. The lord loves effort so when you put in the most effort that's when you receive the most and best revelation. If you have a free 30 minutes I recommend listening to it. (MTC Devotional by Elder David A. Bednar)

We've had lots of fun activities as a District, we've played basketball, gone to the gym, and my favorite is sand volleyball. We joined the choir and had a good time with that, singing "Hark All Ye Nations" and "Army of Helaman," I've felt the spirit super strongly. I've gotten to become pretty close to the guys in my district and they're all unique and interesting.

The devotionals have all been really good and focused on the Book of Mormon. As I've studied it rather than just reading it, I've found so many little testaments of its truth and things that I've found so interesting and relevant. I've definitely felt the spirit a lot at the MTC and it's been such a unique and faith growing experience.

However, the food here is pretty disgusting. I don't know if I'll survive here for 8 weeks. The teachers on home MTC hyped it up way too much, it's just a bit better than school food. And I think I'm gonna gain like 15 pounds because the only good food is the desserts. Elders (Grant) Sondrup and (Parker) Woodward came and visited me a couple times and I've seen them around campus. They're pretty far along so they've given me some veteran tips.

Tagalog has been coming along pretty well. Ive been able to create my own basic sentences, but it's also been so stressful and overwhelming with all the information coming at me. But I've been blessed with the gift of tongues and have been able to pick it up pretty quickly.

Overall, the first week has been pretty fun, and I've made a lot of friends, have built my testimony, and have learned a fair bit of Tagalog. I'm proud to be a missionary and grateful for the opportunity.

Elder Smith

(MTC Companions: Elders Cockrell & Smith)