Letter From Matt

This letter from Matt was written on Wednesday June 6, 2012.  We received it two days later on Friday.  Now, two days after that, I am finally posting it.

Greetings

Hi family!

How are you doing?  I know that Mom will answer that question over the week, and let me start this letter off by saying:  Thank all of you who have written letters to me.  I really appreciate it and it brightens up my whole day!  I really want to thank Mom also,  Mom, you always uplift me without fail, and you talk about how things are going and I really appreciate it.

A Day in the Life of a Missionary

Well, everything is the same here at the MTC.  I could give you a quick run-down of a day so you will get how they go.  We wake up at 6:30, get ready, shower, dress and are in the classroom by 7:00.  7:45 we go to breakfast, 8:20 its class time, we usually do grammar, “progressing investigator,” and a fundamental, by the end of that its 11:25 and we have personal study time for an hour.  Then, 12:25, few have lunch.  Next is gym.  It starts at 1:25 and so we have to change and be at the Gym by then.  2”15, gym ends and we have 35 min. to shower, change, go back to the class, grab stuff and then we have technology assisted language learning (or TALL) at 2:50.  We do assignments on computers until 3:55 and then its language study time.  After that, at 4:55 we have ½ hr. of daily planning and then we are off to dinner at 5:25, back to class at 6:10 where we stay filling our little minds with knowledge until about 9:10pm, and then it’s 9:10 to 9:30 additional study time (AKA we can study whatever we want but most people end up talking) then its back to our rooms.  We usually have a room prayer.  Most people talk and stuff, I try to read letters, write in my journal, do an inventory of what I did that day and how I can improve, and finish the day  with a nice long prayer.  By the end of all that, it’s usually 11:0 and then, in what seems like no time, the day starts over again.  So the days pass like weeks and the weeks pass like days and if you aren’t careful a month can fly by totally and completely wasted.

Anyway, thank you for the package, it will be very helpful in the future!  J  I don’t know what else to write,…Thomas!  Keep your shirt on!  Ha Ha…but seriously do. 

The Temple

Katrina, going to the temple is a wonderful opportunity.  I look forward to it every week.  Will you do me a favor?  After I leave the MTC I won’t be able to go to the temple for two years.  Please, will you go every chance you get?  I know that you will be blessed, and more than that, going to the temple is vital for your salvation.  Going to the temple is one of the few things that will actually matter all of your life.  You will never regret it.  We wake up at 5:50 am every P day to go to the temple, and I haven’t heard one person ever complain.

The Scriptures

Thomas, and everybody actually (I only write “Thomas” because we’ve been talking about this.), set aside a time in the day when you can read your scriptures.  Start your reading with a prayer.  In that prayer, be sure to do two things,

1.        1.  Thank God for all of your blessings.  Be specific.  Realize that all good things come from god.

2.        2.  Ask to have the Holy Ghost teach you as your read.  Plead for this with a sincere heart and with the intent to follow His prompting.

As you read, write down things that strike you.  Get a notebook and make it your study journal.  The spirit can communicate to us with good thoughts in our mind.  “Knowledge recorded is knowledge in time of need and will increase the likelihood of receiving revelation.”  As you read, focus.  Think about what you are reading.  If it’s talking to someone, replace their name with yours.  When someone does something and receives blessings, highlight what they did and follow their example.  End your study with a prayer again, thanking God and asking for any further teaching. 

If you will do all of these things for about an hour each day, and follow and live what you are taught, I promise all of you; you will change your lives, that you will be blessed.  God loves you and wants to help you, but you have to do your part by learning and striving to do His will.  I promise as you do this that the Lord won’t lead you astray and that you will have more joy in your life. 

Will you commit to that?  If you do, tell Mom and if Mom could tell me, then I would love it if each of you share something that you’ve learned, if you commit.  If you even do it for 2 weeks, you will start seeing a difference.  I think that’s all.  I look forward to hearing from every single one of you.

Love,

Matthew