Okay so this week has been crazy, it really kinda feels like a military camp here, but i guess considering we are the "army of God" that is okay. So just yesterday I claimed the title of Arm Wrestling champ here at the MTC, The "beast" is a 250lb Kiribati Native. He is a 3 time boxing champion, and is made of pretty much sheer muscle. He is my roommate's companion and just happens to sleep above me. The first night I literally feared for my life because the bunk bed shifted when he climbed in and the board that his mattress lies on bends way down towards me every time he sleeps up there. He doesn't speak much English, so that is hard for my roommate, but he's a super nice guy. Anyways I defeated him at arm wrestling twice.
So the MTC is great, I love it here and I'm gonna miss being with all the other Elders. We seriously have so much fun together. Also, the spirit is amazing here. It is so powerful and at times completely overwhelms me and makes me cry. However, it is pretty much the same schedule every day, and it is enforced even down to the minute.
Exercise is great, I've picked up a knack for soccer, everyone seems to play here. The food is great, and the juice is even better, but sadly it seems the juice causes a great increase in flatulence... I've really gotta stop drinking the juice, but its seriously made with the fruit from Eden. The fruit used is called Granadilla for anyone wondering, I guess it doesn't grow in the USA, but as long as they've got it in Kenya, I'll be fine. I guess the crime rate here is crazy, so we are staying in a compound like enclosure that holds the MTC, the Johannesburg Mission home, and a church office. The Johannesburg temple is next door. This MTC is tiny. We have a total of 22 missionaries, and we are broken into 2 districts, Helaman and Moroni. My companion and I were called as District leaders the first day, so our district is Helaman and we have 12 missionaries. The other missionaries here are seriously hilarious, especially the Africans! They are so funny and so nice. I am always laughing with them and they seem to love my laugh and smile. Elder Ojok from Uganda is one of the funniest, he reminds me a lot of Jacob Warner, because he eats everything and is as solid as a rock, but also his manner of speech is very similar.
Being the district leader is interesting. I lead my district every night in district prayer (my idea, only my district does it) and I make sure they get the things they need to done. My district is great. We have some great conversations, and we can go from serious/spiritual to laughing and having fun in the blink of an eye. Being here really makes me figure out my weaknesses and strengths. One of my weaknesses is that I have a hard time recognizing what I've done wrong, or when I'm in the wrong. So I guess I need to work on that. One of my strengths is being able to lead and think of new and innovative ways to have group study, arrange the classroom, and teach investigators.
So my companion is Elder S, you've probably seen that from the pictures. He is from Zimbabwe, and will be serving in Zimbabwe. He told me that the Zimbabwean government has some sort of rule that 5/10 to 7/10 missionaries from Zim must serve in Zim so that they can vote in the upcoming elections. He is a really nice guy, he's been a member his entire life, and lives in some nice city in Zim, he says that Zim is a very wealthy country right now because they have found tons of diamonds and minerals in the soil. Anyways, teaching investigators with him is a bit difficult, President Reber said that Africans become very quiet when it comes to spiritual stuff, which definitely could explain Elder S. He gets really quiet and I end up having to introduce us, teach the lesson, ask the investigators questions, etc. There's no more awkward feeling than when you turn to your companion to signal that it's his turn to say something, and he looks at you, looks back at the investigator, and says nothing. That's proven to be a challenge, but I guess it's just something that I've got to work through. I try to help him learn to do things and how to add to what I've said, but its a slow process. I've found that my scriptural knowledge isn't terrible, but it could be better. I study the scriptures regularly, and every time I find them to be more and more eye opening. I've read the Book of 1 Nephi many times before the mission (that's usually the only book I can get through), but now it seems like a totally different book to me, and I really enjoy reading it. Brother Greiner's scriptures have come in handy, but the MTC President doesn't like them because he wants people to only use Preach My Gospel.
The spirit is so strong here, when we're watching the Joseph Smith Restoration movie or even "the District" its hard to fight back the tears that form. I guess when I really feel the spirit I get really emotional, so thats been quite interesting haha, its kinda embarrassing because I seem to be the only one that happens to, but I still love the feeling of the spirit.
This will be my last email from the MTC, we all fly out next Tuesday. 10 of us going to Kenya, 5 to Capetown and 7 to Zimbabwe. One of the missionaries from Kenya is very helpful. I am always asking him questions about Kenya and what it's like, and he makes me excited. When the Health and Safety people came and gave us tips and stuff for our missions, the Kenyan took great offense because he says Kenya is not dangerous at all. SO that should make you feel good mom.
The Temple on Tuesday was great, its tiny though. The power went off in the middle of the session, so that was interesting, but it all went well. the Distribution center (church store) was really cool. They had tons of scriptures and scripture cases made of exotic furs, so i purchased a Wildabeest covered Book of mormon, and a Giraffe Scripture case for my small scriptures. for 15 US.. stuffs crazy cheap here.
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| The Johannesburg Temple |
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| Doing a little bit of service at the MTC. |
So I am going to try and include a Miracle of the week in each email. Seeing miracles help us to recognize the hand of God in our lives, everyday, big and small.
Miracle of the Week: The Big Kirabati missionary struggles to speak English, and it was my job to act as an investigator as he teaches me. Before he started I told him ok, I want you to teach me in perfect English. He told me he couldn't, but I told him "Alone you can't, but with God you can." He then thought about it for a while and when he started to teach again, he spoke in perfect English. He taught me about Jesus Christ and the Atonement perfectly. Once we were done, he couldn't speak English anymore, except for a few words here and there.
With God all things are possible. It just takes a little faith.
Well, till next week from Kenya,
Love,
Elder Hiltbrand
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