This week has been very good! Andrew arrived yesterday, and it was great to see him! HE seemed excited to get going! It will be fun to have him here! We had a Tuesday night devotional from Elder Cook!! He did fantastic! It was a great talk. He talked a lot about the mission assignment process. He described the revelation that takes place while he and other apostles sit in the assignment room. Obviously he is a very spiritual man, but I don't think I realized just how spiritually in tune the apostles are. he spoke of specific experiences when assigning missionaries. It made me realize that we are more than a number to the apostle, and to the Lord. Elder Cook made it very clear that the apostles take assigning missionaries very seriously, and that it is a very exciting part of the job. He said that on the screen a picture of us comes up. It has details about us.. grades, health, known languages.. they get to see a lot of the stuff that we fill out. Based on our information one of the first things that they ask themselves is 'which mission president will benefit us the most.' He says in many cases that answers where we should go. The then look at missions and receive revelation. Elder cook made it pretty clear that getting to know our mission president is vital. He is the best fit mission president in the world for us. Needless to say it got me pretty excited to meet President and Sister Ford! Elder Cook also talked about how it is important to have faith, be humble, and be outgoing. He also talked about the need for us to get to know the members, and to push missionary work in wards. Its funny because he is not the first apostle I have heard say that while I have been here! I know I was a pretty bad missionary before my mission. I was to shy to bring up gospel discussions. I'd encourage you all to be better than I was. Being an example is good, but not everyone will ask us about why we do things, often we have to bring it up. Elder Cook said we need to be confident. We can't dilly dally. We are talking about Eternal Salvation. He said that quite a few times. He said that often times we feel inadequate. I now I do sometimes anyway. But, he also said that President Packer says at least once a month to the 12 that he feels inadequate, so i guess feeling inadequate is just part of this earthly experience. Elder Cook said we need to do as Elder Packer and just keep doing our best! It was a great talk! I'll get to hear from at least two more apostles before I leave!! Sweet!!
How about that #ChristmasDevo on Sunday! I thought it was pretty excellent! The violinists, and french horns were quite good!! Something to aspire to Sara and H, and all musically inclined cousins! It was cool to see Russel M. Nelson speak because he was just here at the MTC! There were also a few mentions of missionaries serving! That was cool!
The Finnish Elders and Sisters leave here on Monday! I am going to miss a lot of them! I don't really know the sisters, but I've had a lot of good times with many of the Elders. My time here at the MTC is winding down!! Scary! But super exciting! It will be good to get into the field and be immersed in the language, speaking with people who know what they are saying as opposed to our broken MTC Shqiplish. (Shqip is Albanian, Shqiperia is Albania)
I haven't really gained much weight here at the MTC! I'm hoping I'm taller!! I have nothing to check against. I don't fee short here though surprisingly. I am taller than a lot of Elders, so I am grateful for the height I have.
I don't have any knew pictures this week. Maybe I will take some this week. The Christmas lights here look amazing!
Take Buddy on walks!
Love, Elder Stewart
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