Elder John Sirrine: January 20th, 2015 The weeks seem to be going by faster and faster!

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A picture of a picture..Utah Capitol bldg in distance

The weeks seem to be going by faster and faster! It's been super fun to see Mckenna Gibbons at breakfast. We get excited when we see evidence that the outside world still exists. (Mckenna is our backyard neighbor, currently working in the MTC cafeteria).

We had some pretty epic Spanish faux pas this week. Not the least of which was from our counter-district. Their teacher (Hermana Valdez) asked the class what they would give up to be a missionary. Then Elder Oaks asked her how to say "chess" in Spanish. She thought he said "chastity", and replied castidad. Well you know what Elder Oaks then said. I thought we were going to lose Hermana Valdez. Good ole conditional tense.

We never ended up getting more districts, so the President never called zone leaders. So Elder Napoleon and I have had the opportunity to figure out how to be district and zone leaders at the same time with no trainers. It's been a little stressful but I think we've finally got it figured out.

Elder Napoleon

Elder Roland is the one with the face

I'm finally starting to adjust to the MTC lifestyle. Probably my biggest challenge has been being penned up with so many people. The first few weeks were really suffocating (quite literally, breathing other people's air makes me feel like I'm in a choke hold.... but less fun).

The MTC has been on flu lockdown for a couple weeks now. No hugs or handshakes. So we do the 'elbow-touch'. It's probably trademarked by the MTC.

Having a clearly defined life purpose is such a big help in productivity. I highly recommend it. One of our teachers liked the missionary purpose so much that he decided to just adapt it for his post mission life - Mi proposito es invitar a las chicas al reino celestial....
Whatever stage of life you are in, I would invite everyone to come up with a purpose statement and say it every single day. Vision is what separates the great from the ordinary. Christ had the greatest vision of any person to come to the earth, and his actions never deviated from that. I testify that the Spirit honors preparation and desire, and I know this is a way to show God our desire and invite his blessing into our lives. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Elder Sirrine