Welcome to the MTC!

Well the MTC is fantastic and the myldsmail account has very long functionality and I only have 30 minutes to send emails (which is tough) but here we go.

My Personal days are on Monday, which is the only day that I can write and send emails. If you want me to receive something quickly, use www.Dearelder.com because I can receive those everyday. Elder Jensen is my companion which is totally crazy, but he is leaving tomorrow for Brazil because he received his visa on Thursday. I have a fantastic district with very strong members of the church, but almost all of them are leaving for Brazil because they all got their visas on Thursday with Elder Jensen. So it will be a whopping 3 people in the whole district and all 3 of us will be companions. So I could be here for 2-3 more weeks which is totally fine. I really love the MTC and learning Portuguese extremely quickly. I can pray, testify, get to know someone and express my feelings to an investigator--all in Portuguese. On the first real day at the MTC they asked us to prepare a lesson from the Manual all in Portuguese!!!! It was extremely tough but we did it and it went fine. We have a fantastic language teacher, Irma (sister) Jacobs who is a native to Brazil and served her mission there, too.

It has been the longest 5 days of my life, but everyone says wait till Sunday and everything will speed up. 16 hour days are pretty tough. If you’re going on a mission be prepared to work, work, work, work, and work! But it’s extremely rewarding. I’ve never prayed more in my life, especially to learn the language...but there is a strong spirit in everything you do. I'm doing my best to think less of myself and dive into the work and put all my focus on the investigator. When you get dropped off at the curb a veteran missionary welcomes you and he is called your host. My host said that the MTC is the happiest place on earth and I'm starting to believe him. Everyday my testimony is reaffirmed and strengthened about the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know he lives and that the atonement is everlasting and infinite. I love my Pai Celestial e filho, Jesus Cristo.

Love,

Elder Willard

P.S. Mom, do you remember watching a youtube video with a Coldplay song and a black lead vocalist...he spoke last night at the fireside here at the MTC, Alex Boye!

He was amazing!!

From Mom: Megan Duckworth shared that video on facebook. Here is the link.He was in the news last week because he sang the National Anthem at his own Citizen Swearing-in Ceremony.