MTC-Week #2 January 28, 2015

Elder Fisher has finished his second week at the MTC.  He writes some of his information by e-mail and some is sent by mail—he only gets 30 minutes of computer time a week to read and write e-mails—if there is not enough time to cover everything, he finishes by writing a letter.

“While here at the MTC, I will try writing letters by hand to you so it will seem a little more personal. I did my email this morning in the laundry room but I think I will start doing it in the building computer lab because it is a lot calmer and cooler. Sorry if my spelling is awful, my English has gone way down since I have been immersed in German and I am also capitalizing most of my nouns as well. 

Elder Fisher's district in their classroom--with their teacher.
Everyone in the district will be serving in Germany Berlin Mission.

I am the only missionary from California in my zone (which is about 40 missionaries). I like most of my district, they are enjoyable people and love to help each other with learning.  My companion’s name is Elder Larson. He is from Provo, Utah (very far from home at the MTC). I was put in the position of senior companion for the first 3 weeks and then Elder Larson will have that position the remaining time that we are at the MTC.

I think my high school German may last me a few more days at best. My favorite moment has been trying to find lessons to teach to the “investigator”. Gym time is wonderful--I try running for 10 minutes and I like to play four square the rest of the time. It’s nice to do something besides classroom time. 

Elder Fisher and Elder Larson at the Provo LDS temple.

Elder Alex Nebeker (one of his college roommates from BYU-Idaho) should come into the MTC today (January 21^st) and I hope I will be able to see him.

I have so far had 2 fruits or vegetables a day. The food is starting to get old but it is still okay.  My favorite meal is pizza and it is extremely delicious (this is in response to questions from mom!)

At last week’s devotionals, Elder Ballard talked about how whenever we feel discouraged to think about Joseph Smith and the two others that suffered in Liberty Jail for 4 months. I then started to think about how those men of God eventually gave their lives for the Church and what is two years compared to that?

Elder Fisher's district at the Provo LDS temple.

The brother over all of the missionary department spoke on Sunday and it was a pretty good talk that was very interactive. Yesterday (January 27^th), the speaker was Elder Kacher of the Seventy and he had an awesome talk. He told us that to have a successful mission, we need to keep a positive mindset and also have the willingness to listen to the Spirit. He also talked about how to be the concentrated missionary. I need to give up all my time and energy, follow the Spirit, keep a positive mindset, remember I am an instrument in the Lord's Hand, be obedient, be faithful, and know that I have the authority to invite the Spirit in.

On Sunday nights we watch films here. My district and I watched the “Character of Christ” talk by Elder Bednar and it is a very amazing talk. In the talk, Elder Bednar extended the challenge of reading the Book of Mormon searching for a specific topic or with your current church calling in mind and continue the challenge for the rest of your life. I decided to start the challenge with looking for scriptures related to missionary work and preaching. There are a lot more references and stories about these topics then I thought there would be.

I found a great scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 11:12  “And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit.” I love how it talks about being led by the spirit of the Lord and I would definitely recommend reading it.

Dad, thanks for sharing the scripture from you talk, “And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.” Mark 12:41-44 

Love

Elder Fisher"

The MTC--week 1

January 21, 2014

We received an e-mail this week from Elder Fisher—and he sent a longer letter in the mail (and we are patiently waiting its arrival).  Missionaries only have 30 minutes to write e-mails each week so the e-mails Elder Fisher sent are short and sweet.  I combined the information into one posting:

“I have been getting your Dear Elder letters and I love them.  I forgot my camera so I won't be sending pictures this week.  (Mom note here: thanks to my friend who suggested I send a Dear Elder letter before P-day with questions so I had a better chance of getting the questions answered!)

Wednesday's are my P-days and I am doing laundry right now--there are a lot of people doing laundry!

I started to love the MTC yesterday and my district as a whole is pretty awesome.  The teacher that teaches our district says that we are a very good group of elders and sisters. There are 8 elders and 2 sisters in my district and there are about 40 elders in our zone because all of the German missionaries enter at the same time. All the German speaking missionaries are paired together and all elders are paired with people going to the same mission.  We spend about nine hours a day in the classroom with the district we are assigned.  I taught an "investigator" on my third day in the MTC and it was a little rough.  My companion (Elder Larson from Provo, Utah) did most of the talking but he does most of the talking in the companionship—he’s constantly worried because I don’t say much--I don't think he has ever really been around people who are quiet.

We got a new MTC presidency this week. Elder M. Russell Ballard spoke at our devotional last night and the new presidency gave the devotional on Sunday.

I really liked the scripture dad sent from Mormon 5: 18 “ But now, behold, they are led about by Satan, even as chaff is driven before the wind, or as a vessel is tossed about upon the waves, without sail or anchor, or without anything wherewith to steer her; and even as she is, so are they. 

I found a scripture in Moroni 8: 25-26 this week, “And the first fruits of repentance is baptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins; And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.”.  It talks about baptism and involves all the principles in My Purpose as a Missionary in Preach my Gospel.

Love,

Elder Fisher”

If you would like to see more about life in the MTC, please click on the video link below (watch from the laundry area--you will know what he means about a lot of people doing laundry!):

Life in the MTC

Elder Fisher is in the MTC

After a busy weekend of saying good-byes to family and friends, a talk in the singles ward, and being set apart as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Fisher was ready to go to the Missionary Training Center (MTC).



We drove to Provo, Utah on Tuesday and spent time with Zack--yummy Barbeque!--and tried to get a good night's sleep.



Wednesday morning we had some last minute errands--like taking pictures at the MTC.  While we were taking pictures, one of the sisters who works at the MTC walked by and said, "I forgot it was Wednesday!" We had to laugh because we knew we were not the only parents who have done that--if there are pictures being taken on Wednesday morning in front of the MTC--it must be Wednesday.

We also had one last lunch at In N Out--it has to last Elder Fisher for 2 years unless In N Out has a wild desire to open a restaurant in Germany.  We saw a least 5 other missionaries that had the same idea--we talked to two sister missionaries going to Argentina and one elder going to Australia.

After lunch, we made sure everything was ready to quickly unload at the MTC, gave Spencer our "last for 2 years" hugs, and drove to the MTC.





We were greeted by someone from the MTC and other elders and sisters cheering the arrival of the brand new missionaries. We got 2 1/2 minutes to unload, take pictures and say goodbye--I'm glad we took care of that earlier--we will miss him but we know he is doing the right thing and the right time in his life.

If you would like to know more about what the Missionary Training Centers are like, you can click on the link below:

The Missionary Training Center

It will take you to a Pinterest that has an great graphic about missionaries and their time in the MTC.

4 days....

In two days, Spencer will officially become Elder Fisher.

In four days, he will enter the Missionary Training Center. While he is there, he will learn to speak German (actually, remember his 3 years of high school German and then learn a lot more) and how to teach the gospel in German.  He will spend about 6 weeks at the Missionary Training Center before he gets on a plane that will take him to Germany.

After he enters the MTC, he will write home once a week (either letters or e-mail) and call home twice a year (Mother's Day and Christmas).  

We look forward to hearing about his companions, his teachers, the people he meets in his mission field, his struggles, and his triumphs. But most importantly, we look forward to hearing about his growth in the gospel and his increasing love for the people he serves.

If you would like to know more about what we believe as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons), please click on the link below:

What do Mormons believe??  You can look for Spencer's profile specifically or look for someone who matches your particular interests/demographics for another viewpoint.

You can also watch the movie "Meet the Mormons" at many LDS Visitor's Centers around the country.  Please call for free tickets.