September 14th, 2017

Hello All!

It's so crazy that this is my last email before I'm in San Diego! Time flies by so fast. I leave this coming Tuesday morning the 19th. I remember when I first got here, it just felt like I've been here for years. I'm so glad that my MTC experience is over and I'm (sorta) ready for the mission field. I'm excited to see what the next 2years brings me. 

So my companion and I been teaching a young man named Andrew Yujiro Kakishita who is half Japanese and half American who is attending BYU and wants to know what the Mormons believe. The second lesson came and he just shut us down. I was like, "wow" because the first lesson went pretty well, so that was heartbreaking and disappointing. Anyways, I was thinking later on that evening how that was ok, I tried my best but he just wasn't ready. When I get into the mission field, I'll have similar situations just like I had with teaching Andrew. 

This past Saturday we had class in the evening. We went into the main MTC building where there are pictures of Christ all over. I could feel the spirit and His love for me. It was just so peaceful and I was overwhelmed by the spirit. It was so strong that it felt like He was right in front of me and telling me that everything is going to be ok. He died for us so we can be forgiven for our sins. 

Sunday we had a devotional by Chad Lewis who served in the Taiwan, Taichung mission in 1990. After he went on a mission, he was a walk-on for BYU football and later married his now-wife. He always wanted to become an NFL player since he was a young boy. After he graduated from BYU, he went and played for the Philadelphia Eagles and later scored a touchdown in the super bowl. He gave a really good talk about going on a mission and what it takes to become a missionary. When he was a teachers quorum teacher, he taught a young boy named Boeu who then died in a 4-wheeling accident. When the doctors were trying to save him, his mom had his phone and it beeped. The text said, "Make Christ the center of your life." And then I realized that we need to put him first before anything you do. When you wake up, read the scriptures and pray. When you go to bed, do the same thing. 

We had our first in-field orientation on Monday and also TRCs (teaching resource center) we didn't know we had an appointment for 8:30am so our entire district stood them up accidentally. But we had the 2nd appointment later that day at 12:30 and my companion and I almost got stood-up. So we had taco bell for dinner and for those who know me well, know that I HATE TACO BELL!! Then we had class as usual. 

On Tuesday, we had a service day and I felt used because all we did was clean around the MTC. I was thinking we would be doing other kinds of service, but that's ok. We also had another devotional by Patrick Kearon who is the President of the Seventy. I really liked how he talked about how it's our time to change our lives and also other people in your area but mostly you. Wednesday we had more classes and in-field orientation so that's good and I'm learning a lot. Here's something kinda funny, I saw 2 elders walking out of the girls' restroom and they didn't even notice. I had to tell them that they went into women's' restroom, how weird. I went to the Provo Temple earlier this morning as our last time before I head to Cali and it's also my last p-day. It was a neat experience. 

-Elder Luke Newman