How the Days Go By Quickly

Hey guys,

First off let me just say thanks to Aunt Catherine and Sister Gibson for sending me food, needless to say it is almost all gone and I really appreciate it. And thanks to all of you guys for taking to the time to read an email from an elder who almost literally has the exact same schedule every single day (sometimes I forget when it is Sunday, but then I remember when we have sacrament meeting or the devotional).

I think that my new saying may be "how can you be sad when you are living in the MTC?" Doubtless, for you soon to be missionaries or those of you who are just curious, the MTC is a place where you work hard and feel the spirit almost constantly. Learning the language doesn't come easily, even for someone who took 5 years of it in school. I can testify that the spirit aids in the learning of the language as I have observed the skills of my district members increase way faster than I have ever observed in any classroom. Now you may say that we have six hours of classes every day (true) and you study the language even more than that throughout the day, but I know that what is being accomplished in my district would not be possible without the Lord's help.

Some highlights of the week - the temple this morning was great (as it always is). Elder Yu is practicing the violin for a future performance (see pic). Today, during exercise time I ran 80 laps in like 54ish minutes (8 miles) and I think I may hold the unofficial record for laps ran in one exercise time (at least for my accumulative over the last seven exercise times). Speaking of running, congrats to those who ran the Deseret 10K, I heard we had some good Lehi representation and some fast times. 

Other fun facts - I talked with my branch president (like a ward bishop in the MTC) during our temple walk on Sunday (I will try to get some variety in my pictures I promise :) and basically he is one of those people who understates most of the things he does. First of all, he was a mission president in Sweden (not too surprising I guess but I'm not sure how common that is for branch presidents). Second, he knows President Monson pretty well and apparently President Monson asked him to do some things for the church while he (my branch President) was the ambassador to Sweden (He was an ambassador before a mission president). As ambassador he knew President Reagan really well... so that is pretty cool. And yet our Branch President called his job when we first met him 'international business.'

On Sunday, all those who were in the choir sang with the Nashville tribute band during our devotional. It was really fun and it was a nice change in the type of devotionals we normally have. Just a tip if you are coming into the MTC: always sing in the choir because it is fun, and there are so many missionaries that you may not get a seat if you don't. Also, if you are wondering who the Nashville Tribute band is - they are basically a LDS Christian rock band. 

Well, thanks again for reading this, we didn't have any apostles come speak to us this week in our devotionals, but we did have an Emeritus Seventy come with his wife and I would like to share what his wife (Sister Condie) said. "When we truly have a testimony of Christ, it changes every aspect of our life." How cool is that, and I know that the changes made will be good ones. Coming into the MTC is walking into a spiritual edification arena, and you definitely learn a lot. You don't, however, just become a new person once you slap on a name tag. I am still working on having a true testimony of Christ and I know I have a long way to go. The good news is that I have a long time in the MTC, and that I know the Lord will help me. Have fun wherever you are for the next week!

Sincerely,

Elder Allen

The Adjustment

Hi everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this email!

The subject of this heading, though boring, is probably the closest I'll get to accurately describing what the first week is like in the MTC.

The first day is a long day, with unpacking, name tags, referencing yourself and others in a way you never have before, keys, dorm rooms, companionships, and teaching an investigator (on the first day they have all the new missionaries learn how to love investigators by having all of us go in and talk to them. They say that they could be members acting or real investigators, but I'm pretty sure at least two of the three "investigators" we met were members.). My companion is Elder Yu, and although both his parents are Chinese, he doesn't speak any Chinese. He is very good guy and seems to be very willing to listen to whatever the spirit prompts him to do. And he likes to run! This means that I get to do a 10, 20, 30 minute jog every day for however long he wants to go. Exercise time is really fun by the way, my current favorite activity is volleyball.

In the MTC, we start out day one in classes learning our mission language. My teacher is a very nice guy, and I am really grateful that he is white because it is a lot easier for me to understand his Chinese. On day two we started teaching an investigator... in Chinese! It was basically a train wreck because I knew very little church vocab and my companion new the same small amount of church vocab in Chinese. Luckily, we are learning more and more Chinese and we are getting better at teaching. Our investigator is Chinese, and so she has an accent which makes it harder, but really is a blessing. She also has a very realistic background that I think I will face a lot in the mission field, with her not believing or understanding God. I have found that when my companion and I have the spirit when we are planning and teaching our investigator, and as we grow to love her, we are able to teach more simply and effectively. 

One of the big highlights for me, while at the MTC, is the devotionals that they have every Sunday and Tuesday. Elder Yu and I are participating in the choir for these devotionals and it is really fun to sing with the missionaries. The spirit is so strong with all those missionaries singing together. On Sunday, we watched a video by Elder Bednar called the Character of Christ. It was given in the MTC a few years ago and they recorded it and show it to us. What was crazy though was when we finished the devotional, there was Elder Bednar! He held a question and answer session with people in the audience and it was so cool. It was so cool to be so close to an apostle of the Lord. If you can find it on youtube (and I bet you can) I would highly recommend watching that video. It has changed my perspective on who Christ is, my purpose as a missionary, and the nature of the Plan of Salvation.

Well my friends I would like you to know that I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. While I have felt the Spirit before coming here, the spirit has witnessed to me in ways that I had never experienced before coming to the MTC. I'll write to you next week!

Elder Allen

PS if you want to write, nathan.allen@myldsmail.net

I'm here and safe :)

Hey Mom,

We have been given like five minutes to write an email, just to let you know that we are safe, happy, and healthy. It has been a crazy day and we have had a lot of different classes on different subjects and have been exposed to a lot of different situations. Immersion into the language was pretty simple for me, most of the people in my district (classroom of 8) have background in Chinese. I understood about 95 %

They are telling me to go.

Love you.

Elder Allen

The Mission Begins

Nathan gave his mission farewell talk in sacrament meeting on July 10. That evening we had a family dinner at our house.

Avery, Eliza and Ethan with Nathan after his farewell talk.

President Greg Spencer set Nathan apart as a missionary Tuesday night.  He had 4 missionaries to set apart that night (all going in tomorrow from our ward and the 6th ward: Nathan, Easton Gibson, Dallin Stagg and Nick Jackson). Emily and Jordan came up and we all got to share some words of testimony, encouragement and love with Nathan.  There is a great peace and excitement about Nathan serving his mission.

President Greg Spencer and Elder Allen

Nathan reported to the MTC at 12:30 pm on Wednesday, July 13, 2016.

After lunch, where there were a half dozen families eating and then heading to the same place as us, we took last pictures.

Elder Jacob Shipp has welcomed a few of his friends to the MTC in the past few weeks and he was there to greet Nathan, too.