Week 8

What is poppin' everyone? Boy, has this been both a very eventful and non-eventful week.

So first of all, ever since last Tuesday night, it was announced that the missionaries in our mission have been "socially distanced" from everyone else - we basically got quarantined, but we can go outside for a walk, get some fresh air, and go shopping. That's about it though. We cannot teach lessons face-to-face anymore, we can't knock on any doors, and worst of all, we can't have any meals made by the members... nooOOoOooOo!!

You may be saying to yourself, "Wow! It must be hard to be a missionary when you can't even leave your apartment." Whelp, it definitely is different. Luckily I'm in a mission that allows the use of technology, so we have phones to do what would otherwise be done on paper, like planning, putting in info of the people we teach, and using scriptures and watching conference talks. Since we can't teach face-to-face, we teach others through phone calls and video calls. It's definitely interesting to do things like pray over the phone, but it's the best way we can do it, so that's a fun time.

So this week has been pretty uneventful cause we've been stuck in our apartment for a majority of this week. Luckily though, I've been preparing to be trapped inside all day... by staying inside all day... for the past 19 years, so I'm pretty used to it already. Elder Clark and I have tried to make the most of these long days by pretending to know how to cook. Before I came here, the most intricate dish I could put together was some chocolate chip pancakes, so you could say I'm an expert chef. But we've legitimately been cooking some pretty delicious meals - like Sunday afternoon type meals - out of ingredients you'd only find in a college dorm. We've been eating like kings here. Speaking of which, I've already gained 10 pounds since I got to the MTC, and that's a good thing, cause I'm a twig.

Also, just to take a break from all of the missionary studies and teachings, I would find actual joy in cleaning... like I would have fun... cleaning... pretty crazy, I know. So this past week I deep cleaned our kitchen, which was disgusting and disease-filled (I regret not taking a "before" pic).

But on a different note, this past week has been kinda difficult for me to feel like a real missionary. I almost feel like a receptionist with all of these phone calls that we have to do now. But as my wise grandmother once told me... in an email from yesterday, "This is certainly different than you expected but I know something greater is in store for you... you shall be serving the Lord in many ways you cannot imagine."

Sometimes, things don't go according to our plan. But things ALWAYS go according to God's plan for us. We shouldn't doubt the things that he has in store for us. We have challenges, but that's because God wants to see how much we grow when we overcome those challenges. It's all part of His plan.

Thank you all for everything. I hope you are all blessed with health, hope, and happiness in these times.

Elder Terry

Fotos:
1. Pic from the first greenie day after arriving at the SLC West mission and meeting our trainers