I'm Alive!

So, the MTC is incredible!!! I love it here! I might not be able to write letters or emails potentially til not next tuesday, but the next, depending upon when I have P-day. My companion's name is Elder Rowley, pronounced like roll, so like rolly polly olee, ya know? Anyway, here we have progressing investigators which is a role-play between us and our teacher role playing as an investigator. It's weird because you expect it to seem kind of fake and cheesy, but it's not. I was talking to one of them and they said that as they role play, they completely separate themselves from who they are in real life and pray to know how to play as their character. As I was talking to Brother Call, one of my teachers said that as he played as Don, and he felt the spirit, it wasn't the same way he felt the spirit himself. I thought that was really really cool. I've been getting pretty good at role playing myself.  We practice it all the time. I usually play as someone I know who isn't a member that I know really well, and it's true what Brother Call said. I've felt the spirit while I was role-playing a few times and it really isn't the same way I feel it. It's crazy. Anyway... I've been learning so much in here! We study for at least 6 hours a day and have another 6 hours of class. It's nuts! I've never studied or prayed as much as I have in here! The best way I've found to really be able to teach investigators is to love them as if they are my brother or sister. I really don't have a goal to baptize people into the church at all. All I really want to do is help others gain a personal relationship with Christ and become truly converted to Him. On Sunday we listened to a talk by Elder Bednar that can't be found anywhere other than at the MTC, so don't try looking for it because it is impossible to find.  It's literally no where. He spoke on the character of Christ. I really loved a story he told about a single mother of one daughter who was the relief society president of her ward. She called Elder Bednar when he was serving as the stake president and let him know there had been an accident with three girls. She said one was dead and the other two were in critical condition. She needed him to go to see which of the girls was dead because the hospital was much closer to him. As Elder Bednar talked to her, he began to realize this lady had two phones in her hands, one on each ear, and he noticed the other phone was with a nurse at the hospital. He was listening and heard the nurse say, "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but the one who is dead has been identified as her daughter." As I heard this my heart just absolutely sank. I couldn't even come close to comprehending the pain this must have caused this mother who lost her ONLY daughter. The first thing she told Elder Bednar, you would expect to be I need help, I need a blessing, comfort me, etc... but no, the first thing she said was "President Bednar, we need to contact the other two mothers and let them know that their daughters are okay." Without even thinking about it, she instinctively was more concerned about the other mothers than she was about herself. This is only the beginning of this story though. He goes on to tell about helping her plan for the funeral and as they were sitting at the table planning the woman said, "President Bednar, I know the way you saw my daughter must have been traumatizing for you. I don't want your last memory of her to be her disfigured and bloody in the hospital dead. The people preparing her body have done a great job and she looks wonderful now. as you know we're having a closed casket funeral, but I would like you and your wife to come with me to see her before we close the casket, so that your last memory isn't of her in the hospital." Once again she didn't even think of herself. She was more concerned for the welfare of Elder Bednar. Now these first two acts would take incredible amounts of love for Christ, but this last experience she had takes something I've never had, or even witnessed someone having. The morning of her daughters funeral, she got a phone call from a sister in her ward who had a head cold and was in bed. She picked up the phone and got absolutely chewed out, she was just torn apart by this sister, who didn't know her daughter was dead, who was selfish enough to demand a meal be brought to her because no one had come by with a meal for her. So, the morning of her only daughters funeral, she took this selfish sister a fresh home made meal to her door. She didn't say a word to her, she just loved her. The amount of Christlike love is unfathomable to me. We all need to strive to be more like this sister and love everyone through out our trials. As we go through trials we need to stop thinking of ourselves and turning inward, and become like Christ and turn ourselves outward. We need to serve and love everyone despite how we are feeling. 

The Elders in my district are incredible! When I start feeling a little homesick, they are like my family. It literally feels like I've known many of them for my entire life. We all treat each other like actual brothers! It's awesome and I love all of them! We all had jobs before we came, and it's really fun for us to exchange stories! Elder Rowley was a farmer on his dad's cherry orchard! Then there's Elder Gilbert who is an alfalfa farmer in Idaho! They make alfalfa hay for livestock. Elder Wiscomb was a sandwich maker at Subway.  Elder Karlinsey actually didn't have a job, but he talks a lot about the things he and his friends did a lot! His stories kind of remind me of Derek's he tells about when he was a teenager! Ha ha! Elder Anderson though I think has the coolest job of all! He builds rocket nozzles, rocket motors, and makes rocket fuel! He's almost 22, so he went to a lot of college before he came, but he's a super genius always talking about all sorts of theories and things! Ha ha. Anyway, that's just a bit about my district. We're having a great time here!

My mom said she wanted to hear some funny stories about what have happened here, and really there aren't a lot and they really aren't that funny. But I'll give you one. Hopefully you'll enjoy it!  Elder Wiscomb and Gilbert wanted to role play with me and Elder Rowley.  We were missionaries first and talked to Elder Wiscomb and that went all fine and good, but when we switched was the problem. I said I would be the investigator and I was playing as one of our progressing investigators named Nicole. So we pretended there was a door and he knocked so I opened it and when I said,  "Oh hi elders!" my voice totally cracked, so Elder Wiscomb thought I was trying to sound like Nicole, so he was laughing pretty hard, and then he started to imitate it, and I started laughing. Eventually all four of us were crying we were laughing so hard and we couldn't stop at all! We took a 5 minute break apart from each other and we were still laughing the whole time! We finally thought we had calmed down and went to go teach again, but the second Elder Wiscomb and I made eye contact, we just all busted up again. We seriously laughed for literally 25 minutes! I don't even know why it was so funny, we just all couldn't stop! Anyway, after that companion study we didn't have a lot of success in being productive so we went to lunch. In the cafeteria we tried sitting as far apart as we could from each other so we wouldn't start laughing again, but as Elder Wiscomb was drinking his orange soda, we made eye contact again and it all came out his nose and all over his and Elder Andersons shirt! It was so nasty!!! Hahaha!  Now he has orange soda on his planner and it's a constant reminder of that terrible day of laughter! I hope you thought that was kind of funny... haha.

I just thought of another one that happened this morning and last night.  Elder Karlinsey has this spray bottle and he sprays all his shirts as he hangs them up to dry so they unwrinkle. I don't know how well it works, but he says it helps... anyway last night he left the room to brush his teeth and then came back to go to bed.  As he brushed his teeth Elder Anderson took the spray bottle so that in the morning when second the alarm went off he would wake up and spray Elder Karlinsey with it! So the morning came and Elder Anderson began the spraying process! Haha Elder Karlinsey woke up to it, grabbed his water bottle to drink from, called Elder Anderson Satan and began to dump the bottle over Elder Anderson's head!!! Hahahaha it was the greatest thing ever! 

I'm running low on time to write, so I hope you all e-mail and write me! I prefer letters because I only get an hour to e-mail. My address is 

Elder Matthew Jayden Mullins
SEP09  AZ-MESA
2009 N 900 E Unit 116
Provo UT 84602

I don't know how dearelder.com works, but if you want to send me a letter through that you can ask my mom how to do it. I've never looked at the site so I don't know what info you need, but she does!

I love you all and look forward to getting your letters and care packages!!! Please let me know how things are going! I'd love to hear from all of you!

Love, 

Elder Mullins!