Dear Luke,
This week I was thinking about your time in the Missionary Training Center (MTC) and I wanted to share some words of brotherly advice with you.
Our Church is one full of "preparatory
things." The Aaronic Priesthood is often spoken of as the preparatory
priesthood, Alma described our circumstance here on earth as a
"preparatory state" (Alma 42:10, 13) and in section 84 of Doctrine and Covenants, we read of a preparatory gospel which is "the gospel of
repentance and of baptism, and the remission of sins, and the law of carnal
commandments." (D&C 84:26-27) The MTC serves as a preparatory period
for the rest of your mission, just as your mission will serve as a preparatory
period for the rest of your life.
Your preparatory period in the MTC could be compared
to another, secular preparatory period in your life. In a way, middle school is
to high school as the MTC is to your mission. You excelled in middle school as
well as in high school. If you are like me, you wondered why you bothered in
middle school. There is no college that looks at your middle school scores.
Getting accepted into high school did not depend on your grades either. In
fact, your grades had no significant impact on your future opportunities. From
that perspective, middle school appears to have been an inconsequential
experience. But the habits of hard work, study, and responsibility you
developed in middle school were consequential and probably did significantly
impact your future opportunities.
In the MTC, you do comparatively little to fulfill
your missionary purpose to "invite others to come unto Christ." From
that perspective, the MTC appears to be inconsequential. But the habits you
develop there will be. Besides getting
accustomed to the basic habits of the daily missionary schedule - waking up
early, exercising, studying, and planning - you have the opportunity to develop
other important habits. I'll mention just two:
1. Journal
Writing: Some of the world's greatest men kept journals.
Among them, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Charles Darwin, Benjamin
Franklin, Lewis and Clark, Andrew Carnegie, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Captain Cook,
Winston Churchill, Sir Edmund Hilary, Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton and of
course, most if not all of the modern-day prophets of the Church (list taken from The Art of Manliness's "30 Days to a Better Man Day 8: Start a Journal"). That, coupled
with the white handbook mandate to "write in your journal," (pg 15)
should be motivation enough, but there is a much more sacred purpose of journal
keeping. As Terryl and Fiona Givens explained, "Remembering can be the
highest form of devotion. To remember is to rescue the sacred from the vacuum
of oblivion." (The Crucible of Doubt, pg 116) Your journal will serve as a great tool to aid you in remembering
the sacred experiences of your mission. It will be a catalyst in the "rescue
[of] the sacred from the vacuum of oblivion." I urge you to develop the
habit of writing in your journal daily while in the MTC.
2. Daily
Accountability: The following counsel is given in Preach
My Gospel, "In your prayers at night, give the Lord an accounting of your
day’s activities. Then review with Him your plan for the next day. Listen for
the promptings of the Spirit." (pg 95) Go through your whole day with the Lord from start to finish, step by step. Thank Him for the blessings you received as you review them. Ask
forgiveness for your mistakes as you get to them. Tell him about your struggles
and successes. Ask Him to bless the people you taught as you
review each lesson. At the end, ask Him how He feels about your day and take a moment
to listen. As you do this daily, it will be very difficult for you to stray
from the iron rod, you will feel spiritual confirmation that the Lord is
pleased with you which will bring contentment and satisfaction to your life,
and you will learn to recognize the Spirit by practicing receiving revelation.
Those are great blessings for a little habit. I urge you to develop it while in
the MTC.
Your time in the MTC will be as significant and consequential an experience as you make it. Make use of this preparatory time to develop habits that will shape your mission and your life.
I'll finish up with this scripture:
"And this is the manner after which [you] were
ordained—being called and prepared from the foundation of the world according
to the foreknowledge of God, on account of [your] exceeding faith and good
works; in the first place being left to choose good or evil; therefore [you]
having chosen good, and exercising exceedingly great faith, are called with a
holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and
according to, a preparatory redemption for such." (Alma 13:3 italics added)
I love you little brother. Keep working hard.
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