MTC District 22C pictures

                                                          My Companion Elder Harris

 My District

MTC Week 5

Hey everybody!

Another week at the MTC has come and gone. Time is really starting to pick up. There is a saying that goes around here that says, ¨the days are long but the weeks are short´´ and it is totally true! I don't know how but it is exactly how it feels here. We do alot of the same things here each week, but I have moments in each week that i love! Each week we read, as a district from El Libro de Mormon. We start out with a question, and we look for the answer as we read. We still don't know much Spanish, but we are still able to find answers from El Libro de Mormon. It's really cool and I can always feel the spirit as we read it. I also love Tuesday nights! Each Tuesday we get to hear from a general authority! Last week we heard from Elder Echo Hawk who spoke at this last general conference, he was really cool to hear from. He is a convert and shared his story with us, it was really neat! I´ve also grown to love my personal study hour of each day. I look forward to it. There is so much to learn about this Gospel, and every time, without fail, i learn something new and personal during my one hour study time. I also love meeting together with the 2000 or so missionaries as we listen to the devotionals. You can feel every one's spirit, and when we sing it is the best. I love being here with all the other Elders. We sing To Bring the World His Truth on a regular basis, and every time we sing it the spirit is so strong! It is definitely all the Elders favorite song to sing. They changed the lyric ¨We will be the Lords missionaries¨ to ¨We are NOW the Lords missionaries¨ It gets me pumped every time! One of our first weeks here we were challenged to catch fire in the Gospel, and I feel like I am doing it, and I love it.  I love you all!

 

Love, Elder Higgins

Week 4

 

Hey Guys!

I'm still doing good at the MTC, still doing the same ol' stuff. Going to class, and attempting to speak spanish, and learning how to teach the Gospel. Last Tuesday Elder Bowen came and spoke to us. At one point in his talk he needed an Elder to come up so he could demonstrate something. He didn't ask for people to volunteer by raising their hands, he just chose someone. And that someone he chose was me! It was cool, our eyes met and he just called me up. He threw a book at me and i had to catch it, Then he did that a few more times. Then he said receive the book and handed it to me. He was trying to demonstrate how we need to teach, and approach people. I think.. I was just trying to catch the book, and i couldn't really pay attention. It was really funny though!

We have a really fun Branch presidency. They come around and visit us at nights sometimes. They are all really sweet old men. One of them loves to give all the Elders Embraso's, which is the spanish equivelant to a hug. It was kind of surprising the 1st time he did it. Brother Merril and His wife, another one of our branch presidency, are crazy into politics. They eat lunch with our district on Sundays, and tell us about the Election. Sister Merrill has some MITT bling that she wears all the time. I think it's super funny!

 I can't wait to get to California, it's getting cold here! We have two sisters in our District that are leaving to go to the Peru MTC tomorrow. It will be sad to say goodbye to them, because they are apart of the District 22C family. I've learned so much already, and I'm excited to keep learning. These 4 weeks have been awesome! My testimony has grown tremendously. Well I got to get off. My time is up..

Thanks for everthing,  Love Elder Higgins

Week Three

Hey guys!

I'm still doing good at the MTC, and still learning lots too! My Spanish is still getting better. We (my companion and I) don't have to bring notes when we teach lessons anymore, and we can answer their questions for the most part. We are getting the teaching fundamentals down as well. We are starting to act like actual teachers. It's pretty cool. All the days run together and it feels like I've been here for longer then I have, just because so much happens, and because I'm awake for the majority of the day, and learning stuff! I love P-days! We call them our holidays. Speaking of holidays, they are putting up Christmas lights around here. I'm excited to see them all lit up!

So, as if General Conference wasn't spiritual enough, they had Elder Bednar come and speak to us the Tuesday after. It was so cool to hear him talk to us. He just got up there and talked to us. Nothing was scripted so it felt more personal. He said some really cool stuff!  He mentioned the recent missionary announcement and said how he loved to hear people speculate about what was said during the apostles meetings. He liked to hear what all the members thought about the reasons for the change. He called it apostolic humor. It was pretty funny. Then he said there was only one reason for the change. The Lord will hasten his work when His work needs to be hastened. That was the only reason for the change. I thought that was really neat. Alot of things are going to change! He also taught us about taking notes and studying and stuff and he said a lot of other really awesome things. It was great! We had a guy come speak to us this Sunday and he was talking about all the changes taking place at the MTC. They are adding a lot of buildings, or redoing buildings to house more missionaries. They are shortening the weeks missionaries stay here by 1/3. That will be effective in January. So the missionaries that would originally stay here for 9 weeks are staying for 6 now, and the missionaries that would stay here for 3 will stay for 2. Our teachers say the curriculum won't change either. Missionaries will just learn quicker. The change that will affect me is this new training program. When we get to California, we will be trained by the same companion for 12 weeks, and then we are expected to be Senior companions and trainers for the new 18 yr old missionaries right after. It all sounds really exciting to me. God is hastening his work right in front of our eyes!

Con Amor,
Elder Higgins

Mission Scripture

A mission plaque will displayed in our church building. The scripture Elder Jordan Higgins chose to be on the plaque is:

2 Nephi 31:20

"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and all men.  Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father; Ye shall have eternal life."

First letter from MTC

Hey guys, I only get to write on Pdays, and it's only for a thirty minute period. They have this little timer counting down at the top right corner. It't kind of intimadating. So anyway i have to hurry and write everything, because a lot has happened.

It's great here. I love it! It's pretty tough though. The very first day, after they let me drop off my stuff in my room, i had my very first class. Our teacher came in and she starting teaching us, but everything she said was in Espanol. It was nuts! I'm already starting to understand a lot of what she says, although finding the words to say, and speaking spanish is a lot harder. They had me and my campanion teach an investagator on friday, and as always we had to teach it in Spanish. We couldn't say much at all, but it was cool to see that we could communicate with these people just after three days here. It was kind of frustrating because i knew what i wanted to say, but i couldn't say because of the language barrier. It will come to me though... Eventually!

My companion, Elder Harris, is great. It already feels like we have been friends for years. He is from St. George, and he is going to Riverside with me! We are expected to leave on the 27th of November. That means we get to spend Thanksgiving in here! It's kind of funny my friend Brook Gledhill texted me earlier this summer and said she had met a kid that is going to Riverside and is reporting the same day as you. She was talking about Elder Harris. My district consists of 6 elders and 4 sisters, It's like our little family unit here. The days go by fast here. It's mainly because they don't even give you time to catch your breath, which is a good thing. We are constantely studying or in a class.

Sundays are really different here. They are held in a small room, and only our zone, which is made up of 4 districts, attends. It was kind of neat. however, i miss the feel of the 6th ward. It was fast and testimony meeting this week. It was cool because all of the district D elders that left this week, or are about to leave, shared their testimonies. As always it was in spanish. They seemed like they knew so much! It got me excited.

Well, my time is running low and i don't know what happens when the clock runs out so i better wrap things up. I really do love it here. My campanion is great! And the spirit here is tremendous. it's like a constant buzzing! it's amazing!

Love,    Elder Higgins