First Week at the MTC

Hello Family!

I've made it through my first week at the MTC! It's been a crazy one,
but it has been good so far! I've seen so many people I know from back
home in PG or from BYU, and even one from EFY back in 2008. At least
50! It's crazy to see all of us serving the Lord by preparing to be
his servants in the great missionary work!

Before I continue to talk, I am going to say that, for the next 2
weeks, anyone that wants to send me a letter, send it via Dear Elder.
I get it quickly and it is good to get mail :) I won't be able to
write back until my P-Day, but letters of any kind are welcome anytime
:)

Now, I will just explain some of the highlights of the week.

When I got here last Wednesday, August 1st, I left my family and went
through to get my name tag and my MTC id. As soon as I left the building
to head over to meet my host again, I saw none other than the awesome
Elder Michael Case, my elders quorum president at BYU. When I saw him
Elder Devon Terry was running by, so within being at the MTC for 10
minutes I had already seen 2 awesome Elders. The MTC is so great!

The first day I met my companion, Elder Meyerink. He is a fantastic
Elder. He is from Salt Lake and graduated from Olympus High in 2011.
He is headed to the Virginia Richmond Mission. He worked for a nursery
and landscape center for the past year. So he hasn't lived away from
home before. He's quite funny, especially when, last night, he taught
an investigator and they believed that we can be saved by grace alone.
And they were teaching her about faith without works is dead, but she
couldn't wrap her head around it. And he was freaking out for the next
hour and a half. It was hilarious. He's got a good sense of humor and
is great at coming up with analogies to explain different gospel
principles.

So that's my companion. My district is fantastic as well. We have 4
Elders and 4 Sisters. Elder Meyerink and I are two of the Elders. The
other 2 Elders are both headed to the Iowa Des Moines mission with me
and their names are Elder Bowers and Elder Firth. Elder Bowers is from
Thousand Oaks, California and he went to BYU-I for one semester last
fall. Elder Firth is from Kaysville, Utah and graduated from Davis
High School. They are cool Elders and they are fairly quiet, but they
are progressing well. The two companionships of sisters are Sister
Allan and Sister Jepson, and Sister Moon and Sister Smith. Sister
Allan graduated from BYU this last April with a degree in Elementary
Education and she even taught at Grovecrest for a time. She is from
St. George. Sister Jepson is from Hurricane and she has lived for the
past few years in Salt Lake going to the Utah College of Massage
Therapy. With the stress of the MTC it's a shame that she isn't
allowed to share her talents. Sister Moon is from California but she
just graduated from SUU with a bachelor's in Psychology. Sister Smith
is from New York and she has studied at BYU-I as well. I love my
district. We have all been getting along well and it is enjoyable
getting to know how to teach others.

We have been taught a lot and it is a lot to take in. I am not using
my study time as effectively as I should be, but I am ok with that
because I haven't ever learned how to study. I am getting better as
time goes along. I am in the middle of being an investigator, and
teaching two different investigators as well, and later this week
we'll add three more to that. It is a lot to keep track of, but it is
good as we are learning how to teach. My lesson plans are improving,
but we have a long way to go!

The MTC is a lot to get used to but it is getting easier all the time.
We have another district that came in last Wednesday as well and they
are mostly going to the Virginia Richmond Mission. There is an English
Elder named Elder Pelham and his accent is a beautiful thing to hear.
We play volleyball against them most every gym time. It makes for a
lot of fun! All that time playing volleyball in Wyview is paying off!

I love you all and you'll hear me again next week about this time!
Elder McKenzie