Chapter 1: Mission: Possible. In the beginning.

March 5, 2025

Hello friends and family! I am currently writing from the fabled Provo MTC! I've made it through Home MTC just fine and it's been a lot of growth for me already. I've been able to meet my district and my companions. It turns out, I'm in a trio! I've got Elder Larsen and Elder Stout as my companions, and they're really cool! We've already connected so well and I can tell we're gonna grow so much as brothers in Christ!

I don't have much time today. It's already 10:15. Today was technically my P-day, but it was kinda skipped because it was arrival day. I wish I could write more, but I really gotta do get to bed. Expect a much better constructed email next week.

But I will do a quick spiritual thought. For the devotional tonight, they talked about the Character of Christ. It was very impactful and reminded me of my lifelong pursuit as a disciple of Christ and what that means. Oftentimes, as imperfect people on this earth, we tend to be selfish sometimes and look inward. It's the natural man in us. But that's where Christ is different than us. In times of difficulty, he looks OUTWARD rather than inward. Let me illustrate this.

Christ, after his 40 days in the wilderness, is tempted by Satan. You know the story. It's safe to conclude that at the end, he must have been pretty drained spiritually and physically. He stands strong against the adversary and rebukes him. And then it is written in Matthew 4:11, "Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him." But it turns out that this is actually an inaccurate translation. If you look in the footnotes, you'll see Joseph Smith translated it into its original content:

JST Matt. 4:11–12 "And now Jesus knew that John was cast into prison, and he sent angels, and, behold, they came and ministered unto him [John]. And Jesus departed into Galilee …"

The point is this: Christ, when he was fatigued spiritually, physically, and just had an encounter with Satan, he turned OUTWARD. He thougbt of John and sent ANGELS to him!

And that is something I am committing to pursue from this point onwards. To practice and get better at looking outwards, eventually all the time and continually. If I can do that during times of difficulty, I will be so much better off on my mission. 

There is so much more I want to write about, but let it suffice for me to say I am so honored to be here, to have the privilege to spread Christ's restored gospel and prepare the world for His return. I could have been born in the dark ages, and lived and died without the knowledge of the truth. Yet Heavenly Father has reserved me for these last days. Its very comforting to know that He has placed trust in me to be a representative of Jesus Christ. And I'm not the only one. All of us have been reserved for these last days, with all of the challenges and distractions of this world. Heavenly Father knows each and every one of us, and he loves us so much.

I'll work on getting a Google photos album started. For now, enjoy these photos!