June 24, 2015 - Headed to the MTC

Today was the day! June 24, 2015. Time has gone by far too fast. Rob entered the Mission Training Center in Provo. He was asked to be there at 10:15 am but we wanted to go a little early so we could take pictures at the Provo temple before letting him go. We left in what we thought was plenty of time, and it would have been, if there had not been 8 zillion missionaries who's moms had the same idea as Rob's mom. Actually, I make it sound much worse than it really was. When we first pulled into the temple parking lot, we didn't think we would find a place to park, it was so busy, but when we turned the corner there were several parking spaces. I was glad for that. Jay's sister, Ginni, was nice enough to make the drive to Provo with us just to take pictures. I really appreciated that!

After several photographs, hugs and tears, we decided it was time to get on with it. Aunt Ginni was kind enough to give Kenzie, Elise and Keira rides home. Jay, Mylee and I had a meeting in Highland scheduled for right after we dropped Rob off, so we thought those girls would much prefer to go home rather than to a boring meeting with us.  Jay, Mylee, Rob and I left the temple and headed over to the MTC. It was crazy busy but they were able to handle the influx of cars amazingly well. It was obvious that a lot of thought had been given as how to handle a huge amount of new missionaries every Wednesday. They were really efficient. They label your car with a colored post-it note to tell the next usher where to send you. We got a yellowish green note, which was the color for the elders. Sisters and couples got different colored post-it notes. We entered the gates and were directed to go to the left (and to park really close to the curb). We were greeted by an Elder who we found out was assigned to the Bulgaria mission, the same mission as Rob's friend Parker Hansen. He helped us get Rob's bags out of the car and offered to take our picture one last time.

I thought it would be fun to take pictures of Rob walking away, I think in hopes of getting one last picture of him as he turned to look at us. But he never looked back. I think that was a poignant message as to where Rob was emotionally. He was moving forward, not looking back to his old life. I loved it!


First letter from the MTC. Yay! I was so excited. July 1, 2015.

Dear Mom and Dad

I  have to combine your emails because I have a limited amount of time to write you. I will also write a group email. Here is a brief overview of the week. The first day was a bit overwhelming, the MTC is full of dozens of buildings that all look the exact same, there are coverings over all walk ways so you cannot see the sky most of the time. This is hard on me sometimes to never see the sky. I met my companion a couple hours within arriving. His name is Elder Watson and he is literally a genius. He got a a scholarship to MIT and amazes me with his intelligence. Sometimes we do not get along because I like to talk a lot, as you know, and he doesn't. And we all know that when someone is a genius they are often different in other ways. But we do get along. After arriving we had hours and hours of class in Mandarin. I honestly hear more Mandarin than English most days. I struggle top even write this email because we are expected to say anything and everything we can in mandarin. So a lot of my basic vocabulary is escaping me and the Chinese substitutions come to my mind. Highlight of my week is seeing and hearing Caiping! She is apart of the software for learning Mandarin here. She is in the listening tutorials and videos. I love that lady and it was nice to hear her voice. General authorities have been here all week so i have seen a couple of them. I saw the prophet our instruction building is right by where they drop off the general authorities so we saw them probably more than any other people. 

There are about 2000 missionaries here right now and The Mandarin kids are everywhere! The work is being moved forward for the Chinese people. There are missions to Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, France Hong Kong, California Boston, New Zealand and England. On Sunday we walked to the temple and sat in a covering of trees and sang hymns for a long time it was lovely. There have definitely been times where I have questioned my worthiness and capabilities to be here but I have always said coming home was not even an option. Being here for 9 weeks though will be a struggle. I have been literally bowed down in prayer all week (All prayers must be spoke in Mandarin so I am really good at praying in my assigned language) I love you guys and miss you but I know that this is where I am meant to be. 

Love Wen Zhang Lao (Elder Erwin)

Needless to say, I was overjoyed at hearing from him. He seemed to be doing well even with the struggles of his new life. He also sent a group letter to share with his friends and other family members.

Dear Family and Friends 

First week down eight to go. Being on a mission so far has been great and frustrating all at the same time. There are moments when you doubt your own inner strength. Which you should because no one in creation has the inner strength to do this alone. 

Upon arriving to the MTC I went straight to Class where the teacher only talks to you in Mandarin. And the whole day becomes a guessing game. You sink or swim in those language classes and after six hours of instruction you have exhausted all your brain power and your mind and body are exhausted."The days are long but the weeks are short" - President Teng (My Branch President) We are expected to speak in our language all the time as much as we can. so after four days my whole distract has started to transform into a bunch of Chinese people. It is actually pretty hilarious to observe. we here and speak more Mandarin than English most days.

The first few days felt impossible but know I am just feeling empowered to be here. I come to a realization last night while watching the Sunday evening fireside. If you want to have that spirituality in your life the kind that gives you power and knowledge and understanding you must surrender. Surrender your will surrender your understanding and you will feel it. Accept what the savior has in store for you and you have the potential to be a powerful force for the salvation of souls. Once we turn outward in our greatest moments of trial that is when we have realized the power of Jesus Christ's Atonement. 

I love you all and hopefully will be able to write more next week with better time management. 

Love Wen Zhang Lao (Elder Erwin)

July 6, 2015

Dear Family and Friends

Fun Experience:

In the MTC, it is hard to have a good concept of time. When everyday is the same as the last. You become very good at looking for the smallest things to make the day better. On Tuesday, our district had to go and get their blood drawn. I expressed to them my distaste for giving blood. They were excited, to say the least, to see how I was going to respond. There were two nurses there drawing blood, and of course, I picked the... the less than efficient one. But after a few painful moments of her digging through my arm, it was over. 

Next Elder Cole went. He also had the misfortune of selecting the wrong nurse. However, his reaction to her digging around in his arm was not quite as good as mine. He seized and passed out and fell to the ground. The only reason this is funny is Elder Cole is by far the strongest Elder in our district. Everyone who had that nurse had really bad pain in their arms and felt sick for the next couple hours.

Spiritual Experience:

The MTC has a way of making you question whether or not you should be Jesus Christ's servant. I have prayed long and hard all week to know if I was supposed to be here. My answer did not come right away and I felt abandoned by God. I was starting to feel like I would not last much longer if I did not receive some sort of confirmation. My answer did come just like in 3 Nephi 27:29 "ask and ye shall receive" 

My companion and I went outside to study our Chinese lesson. Everyone says hello to everyone else here at the MTC.  We happened to say hello to a "Gold Tag" by accident. A Gold Tag is someone who is here to receive lessons and are not members of the Church. We started talking because her last lesson confused her. She began to ask questions. The same questions that have been on my mind and I was forced to answer. I had to decide, I had to pick a side. Elder Holland has taught that if we are not worthy to teach, the words will be caught in our mouths and we will not be able to speak. 

This is not what happened to me, I was able to testify and the questions I had were answered. as I spoke what I know to be true. As we were saying goodbye, we shook hands and she held it tight for a moment. She looked me right in the eyes and I felt prompted to tell her something. I did not know what I was going to say before I said it. I said "You should know you have a beautiful spirit." Although that statement was true, I could not believe I would say that to a complete stranger. Immediately she began to cry. She explained to me why that meant so much. She had been led to believe that her spirit was tarnished and beyond repair because of things she had been told. The spirit attended us both in that moment. I felt a small portion of God's love for his children, and it was beautiful to behold.

The week ended with a Sunday devotional with Jenny Oaks Baker as the visiting speaker/performer. It was so nice to hear the violin. I have gotten the chance to play back at our resident halls for my district but nothing else. 

The MTC gets better every day. "It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness." I am trying to be the one who lights the candle and be a light rather than someone who is content to murmur against the challenges we face.

Love  

Wen Zhang Lao (Elder Erwin)

ps. There is this thing called Dear Elder. You can google it. If you send an email through them I will get it the same day and I won't have to wait until Monday when my time on the computer is limited. I will be able to respond throughout the week.