3 weeks to go

This week has been a marvelous week, for a number of reasons.

First (and perhaps the least spectacular, but still fun), we got a new group of missionaries! We got 22 more elders and 11 more sisters in K-Town! The Korean branch is now once again one of, if not THE largest branch in the MTC. We've got 60+ members. Seriously, that's big as far as MTC branches go.

I got to be a new missionary host yesterday when they all came in. It just so happened that I got to host a sister that was going to my mission! It was awesome! The new group seems like a great bunch, and I'm excited for them.

Second (and much more spectacular), Elder Bednar came back! Remember how he did that Q&A thing at Christmas? He came back saying that he received 1000+ questions that day. So since he was assigned to come back so soon, he brought some more of the questions that he didn't get to onChristmas. It was just as awesome the second time! This time, though, he bore his testimony of the Book of Mormon, and OH MAN was that intense! An Apostle's testimony is one of the most powerful things I have ever experienced, and it's that much more amazing when he's right in front of you, bearing it in a devotional setting. We got to be right near the front because we were called to Usher duty that time. People from our branch also did the prayers, and those that weren't Ushering got to be pretty close to the front. President Yost said that we have a friend in a high place of authority watching to give us opportunities like that when something big is about to happen. We were SO happy.
Two of ours got to sit right in the front row. And they actually got called up to help answer a question. They were one of our Zone Leaders and an Australian Elder that had only gotten here the night previous. What a way to remember your first full day, huh? Elder Bednar poked fun at him when he saw the orange dot on his tag (which he called a "dork dot." I don't know about you, but I'd be totally fine to be called a dork by an apostle).

One of the things that he talked about was miracles, and how to get them. He told us that "the more you press for a miracle, the less likely you are to receive one." He told us that if we want to see miracles, that we only need to "pray for the eyes and ears to see and hear the miracles that take place all around [us] every day." If we learn to wait on the Lord, we will find that all the miracles that we really need happen to us all the time. It's just a matter of being able to recognize them.

An example of this actually happened to me this week. I was concerned about something that I couldn't understand, and I was praying to find an answer or an understanding, and I was even planning on praying specifically just for that in the Temple this week. But, I guess it turns out that Heavenly Father, in His wisdom, saw fit to put my concerns at ease sooner than that. Some of the Zone Resource teachers, by assignment, pull out missionaries to do one-on-one with them. I got to do that with Brother Wade (who, if you don't remember, is one of our absolute most favourtie people of all time ever in the whole MTC, so it was pretty fantastic to have that), and he asked if there was anything he could help me with, so I told him about what I was worrying about. He was surely inspired to tell me everything that I needed to hear, because he did just that. The Spirit was felt strongly by both of us in that conversation, and I came out of it feeling so much better and reassured that I was in the happiest mood for the rest of the day and I'm still, in fact, super happy from that experience. To me, it was a miracle, because part of Brother Wade's helping me was a couple of his mission experiences.

I hope that helps some of you that are reading this. I realize that I should probably start putting more spiritual thoughts and spiritual happenings on here because the MTC is chalk-full of them. We're progressing in here faster than we ever have EVER. Seriously, it's the most amazing thing, and I'm going to miss it a lot. I'm going to tell everybody who's on their way to the MTC soon that they need to bring a journal to write down all of the spiritual experiences they have in. You won't regret it in the least bit!

That's all for now, though.

Without wax,

Elder Shaver