I just wanted to send you this personal email to let you know that I LOVE YOU AND APPRECIATE YOU. Everybody else in my district is always SUPER jealous, because I'm the only dude who gets mail every single day. I can't even imagine how much effort that must take you. I've come to expect it. But that doesn't mean you have to keep doing it throughout my mission!! Hahaha although I would LOVE THAT.
I hope everything is going well with you. I miss you everyday and hope you find the love of your life while I'm gone. I'm sure you've asked me tons of questions and stuff, and hopefully I answered some of them in my email to Mom.
Keep being the awesome dude that you are!! Love you!!
Elder Gonzales
P.S. I'm going through tennis withdrawals.
OH MY GOSH MOTHER HELLO
This week has gone by so slowly, yet so fast at the same time. I can hardly believe that I've been here at the MTC for 10 days already. I guess you could say I'm a seasoned veteran by now. I've only gotten lost like 8 times this week, which is a slight improvement. Just kidding. I know my way around no problem. I didn't get lost at all. AREN'T YOU PROUD OF ME?!
First off, I have a request. Would you mind sending me a picture of our family?? The one that we took at Bana and Tony's wedding would do just fine. They reccomend that we have a picture of our family, so that when investigators ask, we have a picture to show them. And I might just miss you and stuff. Who knows.
Also, please send me some pictures of my paintings. The best ones, preferably. They're saved on the computer under "Jacob's Wallpaper Pictures" and "Paintings and Drawings". The Salt Lake Temple, the Roger Federer ones, and the Joker ones are a MUST. If you need help, just ask John. Use your best judgement to decide which ones to send me. Thanks Mom!!
Okay, so I just want to start off by saying that the Sabbath Day in the MTC is the BEST. Our Branch president, President Samuelain, talked in Sacrament meeting this last Sunday. I can honestly say that I've never felt the Spirit stronger in any Sacrament meeting that I've ever been to before. Like for reals. I feel so motivated to be a missionary and call people unto repentance. Because Mom. The Atonement is real.
Also, apparently President Uchtdorf was on MTC campus on Sunday?? Elder Hopkins and I didn't see him, unfortunately. We were too busy being GOOD missionaries and studying for our lessons the next day. Uchtdorf would've been proud.
So, there's this thing called TRC. Don't ask me what the acronym stands for, because I honestly have no idea. But it's basically where we are assigned some "investigators", and we have to teach them. The lessons range from 25 to 45 minutes. The word investigators is in quotes, because in reality, these people are actually members pretending to be investigators. They say that some of them are ACTUAL investigators, but I have trouble believing that. Either way, Elder Hopkins and I have been working our BUTTS off trying to provide good lessons for them and teach by the Spirit. It's weird. I've only known these investigators for like a week, but I love them so much already. We've already invited one of them, Stephen to be baptized, and although he's not quite ready, I know he knows it's true. I was prompted to invite the other, Benjamin, to be baptized, but I DIDN'T CUZ I'M AN IDIOT. Oh well. You live and you learn. The sad thing is, we got assigned new TRC investigators this week, so we're not gonna see them again :'(. I guess i'd better get used to that feeling.
Elder Hopkins and I are getting along great. We're totally different people, though. In the lessons, it's basically his job to talk about the doctrine and share personal experiences, and my job to testify, as inspired questions, and articulate what Elder Hopkins is trying to say. We've found that that formula generally works the best, and we're gonna stick with it. I absolutely love teaching.
We've also learned the value of planning. The Lord blesses us when we plan for our lessons. Even if we don't talk about ANYTHING that we planned (which has happened), we are blessed with the Spirit for exercising faith in God. Faith without works is dead.
We also got to participate in the MTC choir.... sorta. We went to choir practice on Tuesday, where we were singing Be Still my soul at devotional. We sounded DANG GOOD, too. But during the break, we took too long, and weren't able to sit back in our seats with the choir. So we sorta just sat on the sidelines, feeling sorry for ourselves. They still sounded good, but they didn't reach their maximum potential. I don't know if we'll do choir again, because Elder Hopkins hates missing his exercise time. He's a baller.
Btw, we got our itineraries last night for our plane trip outta here. I feel like we just got here, and yet here I am, about to leave in a little over a week. I'm leaving on June 26, and have to leave the MTC by 3:30. Yay?? We're gonna fly to Detroit first, then from there to Pittsburgh. I can't wait!! Even though I love it here. I want to be out in the mission field, talking to REAL investigators.
Sooo... on one of the first days here, we were introducing ourselves, telling what our names were, and where we were from. My teacher, Sister Hanshaw, accidentally said that my name was Elder Fontana from Gonzales, California. Hm. That's a first.
Anyways, that's all I have for this week. Keep me updated!! Love you Mom!! Thanks for the letter, it's always appreciated!!
Elder Gonzales
1) Elder Hopkins and I got to teach our first practice investigator this week. We have NO IDEA if he's actually a member of not. Either way, we love the crap out of him. His names Benjamin btw.
2) my Filipino doppelganger, Elder Gonzales. He insisted we take this picture.
3) Dang these new buildings are SO NICE. Balconies are the best place to study. No doubt about it.
4)Every five minutes I see someone from my BYU singles ward, including Sister Barker here. We're not allowed to put our arms around sisters when we take pictures, so we have to settle for awkward thumbs up.
