Only three more weeks in the MTC

Pictures

 

  Photos

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​Sandals Day (yes, it is approved by our branch president) and


sweeping the floor of a bathroom.

At a devotional with a ton of missionaries.  I love the devotionals!

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Love, Elder HarknessThis past week was fun.  More class and more Tagalog.  I am no longer new at the MTC.  Taught our "investigators" in Tagalog a lot.  It is getting a lot easier.

     Pioneer day (Sunday) was awesome.  New district and zone leaders were called.  It looks like I won't be one of those while at the MTC.  For Pioneer day we sang with the Nashville Tribute band.  It is a Mormon christian rock band.  It was so fun.  We sang in a choir of over 1,400 missionaries.  It was a great night.

     My companion got a package with Philippino snacks in it.  They were actually really good but also a little strange.

     On Tuesday Spencer J. Condie came and spoke to us.  It was an amazing talk.  I feel like all the talks given here at the MTC are like the best talks given in general conference.  

     Sorry I'm not writing more but every week at the MTC is pretty much just the same as the last.  I can't wait to get to the Philippines where I can tell everyone about everything that happens.

Oh, sorry I almost forgot to tell about my district.  They are all great.  The Sisters can be pretty dramatic and sassy at times but they are all nice and get along well with eachother.  Most of the Elders are from Utah.  One is from Beaver and is huge.  One of the Elders gets letters from a crazy girl.  Another Elder is from Oregon and can't stand the water here.  He had his mom send some bottled water from mount shasta to relieve his suffering.  We all get along great and we are all learning the language.  There aren't really any slackers.  We all have a fun time together.  

--

Love, Elder Harkness

Another week in the MTC

​The district
I couldn't find out how to send pictures last week so I will see if I can figure it out this week.  I have a confession, (or the MTC has a confession) that one investigator actually wasn't real.  Darn!  They tried very hard to make us believe that he was a real investigator.  I'm sure I will have real success when I am in the Philippines.

Friday:

Had class and studied for 9 hours.  Brain is fried.  The language is coming though.

Saturday:

Had class.  Taught another "investigator".  Made a lesson with my companion to teach on Sunday for District meeting.

Sunday:

     Good break from the regular routine.  I didn't get called on to give a talk in sacrament meeting.  My companion and I found out we have about a 24% chance of being called on while in the MTC.

      Elder Bednar came in person and did a question and answer with the missionaries.  It is cool to see a general authority with your own eyes and not through a screen.  Even though I didn't ask him any questions it was amazing how a lot of the questions I had got answered even when the question that was being answered didn't have anything to to with my question. (if that makes sense).  

Monday:

   Regular routine.  Taught a new "investigator".  Studied Tagalog.  A lot of the words are really long which can make them hard to memorize.  "Pananampalataya" is faith, "Pagbabayad-sala" is the atonement, and "panunumbalik" is the restoration.  "Kami ay mga misyonero ng ang simbahan ni jesucristo ng mga banal sa mga huling araw" is We are missionaries of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints.

Tuesday:

     Did service today.  It was fun.  Elder Clarke from the seventy came and spoke.  His talk was amazing.  I sang in the MTC Choir.

Wednesday:

     New missionaries came in today.  Seeing them makes me sad.  I feel so bad for them and know what they are going through.  My first day was no fun but I am doing great now.    

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Love, Elder Harkness

The first week at the MTC

Wednesday:

     It was a crazy day.  Finished packing up my room and suitcases.  My kasama (companion) is Elder Petersen.  He is an awesome guy.  I'm relieved to have started my mission with a good companion.  I hope it will stay that way.

Thursday:

     I was super tired today and was ready to go back to bed at 8:00.  Tomorrow we are giving a lesson to an investigator in tagalog.  I hope it goes well.  I expect that our district's investigator will be fake like everyone tells me the investigators here at the MTC are.

Friday:

     We taught our investigator (probably fake) in tagalog.  We had a lot of awkward pauses and flipping through dictionaries to say words.  It wasn't as bad as it sounds.  The language is coming slowly and the words are starting to stick in my mind.  We teach the "investigator" again tomorrow.  We worked on a lesson that seems good.

Saturday:

     We played volleyball for exercise today.  It was super fun.  Exercise is great because I can just relax and take a break from all the things we do here.  We taught our investigator today.  When we sat down I opened my bag and saw that my lesson plan was not there. Good thing my companion didn't forget his.

     I got very discouraged with the language today but I could feel the spirit cheering me on and letting me know that I can do this.  I can't wait to see where I am with the language in a few weeks.

Sunday:

     It was a good day. We had sacrament meeting and a few other meetings.  We walked to the temple as a zone and sat on the grass for a while.  It was very hard for me because my home is only three blocks away and I would have been able to see it if there weren't trees and houses in the way.  I got over it though.  We listened to an excellent talk given by Elder Bednar at the MTC on christmas a few years ago.

Monday:

     We taught our investigator in tagalog for the third time today.  Our teacher challenged us to take no notes to help us.  We did that and were very successful.  The only thing we took were our tagalog scriptures.  The spirit was so strong and when I bore my testimony to him I looked at him and knew he was feeling the spirit (even if he is a fake investigator).

Tuesday:

     Taught the "investigator". It was a good lesson.  I can't wait to teach lessons to people in the philippines!  Listened to a talk from a released general authority.  It was awesome. 

Wednesday:

     We did service for a while today and then exercised.  Taught our investigator.  After the lesson we found out that this investigator is in fact real and isn't a member of the church.  I don't know what he is doing in the United states or much about him. They are telling us that he really doesn't speak English and is a real investigator.  It's crazy! All this time I thought he was fake!  In the lesson we asked him if he wants to be baptized and he said he does but wants to prepare more.  He has started to gain a testimony.  It is just amazing that we have been teaching him and have only spoken the language for a week.  I don't know if our investigator will really be baptized or not. Maybe he was just playing along.  I do know that he felt the spirit though.

-- 

Love, Elder Harkness

-- 

Love, Elder Harkness

MTC

Things are good at the MTC.  Homesickness isn't so bad.  I am doing fine.  Thanks for the packages.  There is a website called Dear elder. It allows us to get the letters during the week.  I have a lot more emails to respond to than I thought and only an hour of time.  Could you guys maybe use that during the week so I have more time to email on P-day.  I don't know how it will work in the mission field though.  My release date is June 27 2018 so it looks like I will have a long summer when I get back.  

     I didn't send in my driving record because I didn't think missionaries drive in the philippines but I guess they do if they are called as assistants to the mission president.  I don't really want to drive at all in the philippines.

First day

I just got here and haven't done much.  I went to my room and dropped my stuff off there and then went to a classroom.  After being introduced I went to a computer lab and took some surveys.  I don't really have much to write about.  I haven't met my companion yet.

     I just realized I don't have everyone in the family's email addresses (this is the only one I could remember).  Can you send them to me?