Spiritual Gold

Hey there everybody! Well... the MTC is just a spiritual amusement park! It's awesome here.. when we leave, its sad to say but I will miss it a little bit. But the field is going to ROCK! We are starting our 7th MTC week soon and in our zone, our district will be the oldest district of the bunch. Its kinda weird to think we are the ones that have "experience" here. It is funny.. people here talk and boast about how long they have been in the MTC. Everyone thinks they are the real deal when they have been here over a month but in reality, it means nothing. haha that is something that I have learned about myself... that I really don't go around telling people my of accomplishments unless people ask. I don't know if people confuse that with me not being successful but if I learn something knew or do something half decent I don't need the world to know. Eh I'm just rambling now..

How about something of worth to everybody back home.. I attended a life changing devotional video that Elder Bednar gave here at the MTC 2 years ago. For some reason they keep these devotionals exclusive to the MTC so I don't believe you can get a hold of it. but this is the extreme summary of it.. but This to me is SPIRITUAL GOLD!

The most common question he receives is " How do I know if it is the Holy Ghost or just my mind telling me to do something".. His answer "Quit worrying about it! Quit Fussing about it! Quit stewing! Quit analyzing! Just quit worrying about it! Press forward with faith in the lord Jesus Christ. Be a good boy, be a good girl, honor your covenants, keep the commandments and I PROMISE YOU, In the name of Jesus Christ, that your steps will be guided. as you open your mouth it will be filled, you will be in the right place at the right now and in most instances you'll have no idea why or how you got there." 

How great is that?? I know for me, I really never thought about having the spirit with me all the time.. because we have all felt the spirit when it becomes an overcoming strong feeling and you cant always feel that way. But just because you don't necessary "feel it" doesn't mean its not there... do what you are supposed to do and you will be guided!

as you would expect he told some stories that drive home that point that really pull on your heartstrings!

these were some of my spiritual things i learned that i wrote in my journal

its in the little things we are guided by the spirit.

having no idea why you do something.. is still a spiritual impression.

don't wait to do something until you have a spiritual impression.. you cant be guided when you are not doing anything..

God shouldn't need to shake us with the spirit

ya know, ya just don't know sometimes. you just may never know the impact you have made on someone.

So family.. Do what you know is right.. and you'll be in the right places, at the right times, and If you do that, I KNOW you will be doing the Right things!

~ Love Elder Howard

One Month Down...One To Go

Hey Hey Hey... umm... I hope ya'll remember who I am still! haha we're finally at the month mark! It has been the Bomb.com while here in the MTC. My companion and I still haven't strangled each other yet so I think that's a good thing! (even though some companionship's in our district aren't so far off that idea) We are killing it together!! We only have 1 more short month here and then the real fun begins! GO CHILE!!!! I am pumped! Well this week has been quite eventful I must say.. last Tuesday night we had the opportunity to have Elder Russell M. Nelson of the quorum of the 12 come speak to us. It's incredibly to be able to feel the spirit that they can bring to our lives.

But on a different note, we had somethings that... lets just say...weren't as spiritual as they should be here in the MTC. My district is a just a wild bunch of 12 guys and I love them like they are my brothers! But some of them are really struggling right now! There has been a lot of problems with obedience in our district. I wont say any names but here are some of the problems that are going on in our district.. ( they really aren't a big deal, but just as a missionary they aren't what we are here to do). A lot of Elders have been in a bad habit of missing class, they will just sleep in through the day and not do anything. While in our personal classroom, During personal study half of the Elders refuse to study, they will sit there and talk about inappropriate things and tell very inappropriate jokes that don't allow the spirit to dwell in the room.( we've talked about it as a district and everyone has agreed many times but still they don't change) Therefore, about 4 of us Elders go find a different classroom or place of study and honestly those have been some of my most spiritual experiences as an Elder. Taking myself out of an environment that is harmful, and going to a place of peace is wonderful! ... then a week ago 2 Elders shaved their heads,(not appropriate as a missionary) and when they were confronted by our branch president they lied and said that someone snuck into their rooms( they sleep in 2 different rooms, and the doors are locked) and shaved their heads. My heart sank when they straight up lied to our president in front of everyone! Oh wait there is more! A few of the Elders have been logging on Facebook, Youtube, and searching things on google... they found a way to get past the security blocks and surf the web. One Elder even said he searched photos on google and saw things that a missionary shouldn't see. And the craziest one of all... We had an Elder that stayed back from class earlier this week, therefore the companion has to stay as well. While this Elders companion fell asleep, the Elder snuck quietly out of the room.. escaped the residence building... ran to the back fence... jumped the fence and escaped from the MTC. He ran into Provo, went to panda express (random, I hate to laugh, but it is kinda funny that he chose to go there of all places) then went to an apartment of this girl that he knew down there. Then I guess he came back and they caught him sneaking back over. He had a few meetings our leaders but is just fine. Its tough, because this elder is fantastic. I love him and when I tell this story I don't judge him because I really don't know everything that is going on in his life. Maybe he really just needed that break to release some build up stress. But I guess as far as my responsibility goes... do EVERYTHING that I am supposed to do and be a good example to them. I will throw my arm around my brothers when they are struggling because so far the Lord has thrown his arm around me! I haven't struggled with much so far because of the Lord, so with that extra strength that I have been given... I will help others(Elders), that will eventually help others(Families) for the rest of eternity!

How to celebrate New Year's in the MTC

HAPPY NEW YEARS!! I hope everyone had a great new years.. and hope no one else has already broken their new years resolution.. Because I sure did! hah Well its starting to become just a routine with everything here, but I don't want that to be the case. Ive been learning so much and if I just go through the motions I won't be getting anything near as much as I could if I gave it my full effort.

Here are a couple way cool experiences I had this week.

This last week we had an Elder in our district get really sick, he had mono before he came into the MTC and had been experiencing extreme fatigue, loss of appetite, throwing up, and it got to the point where his eyes were turning yellow. I was super scared for the elder so we made him go talk to the front desk and they rushed him to the hospital. But the cool experience came after that.. I decided to fast for help/comfort with the language, and on his behalf. (the next day) was new years day.. We went to sacrament meeting and had a testimony meeting. There were some elders that told their conversion stories that really touched my heart.. It made me realize how no one is ever TOO far gone to be saved by the grace of Jesus Christ. And that is my purpose in my mission, to help all people, to give all people unconditional love so they may have to same joy that I have been blessed with in my life. Then later that night, we had a devotional with the whole MTC... It was uhh.. lets just say not that enticing. however, after that devotional we had another testimony meeting in our classroom with our district members. There is an Elder in our district named Elder Larson. He is 6'0 220 and I may not have ever seen a more jacked man! His arms alone are the size of both my legs. He is 22 years old and a paratrooper in the armed forces. This is his experience. One day while he was serving overseas, he was in a country in southeast Asia. A few of his army buds were walking around town at night time.. they were just messing around being the immature 21 year old kids they were. They were checking out random buildings and having fun. But eventually they found themselves walking into a human trafficking "house". After they realized what was going on they got scared.. they saw all the guns the men were holding.. and saw the girls being held captive and distraught. Then he made eye contact with a girl who had more sorrow in his eyes then he had ever seen in his life before. She said through her eyes "help me". He didn't know what to do.. he was surrounded by men with guns and he was defenceless.. they left the place immediately. but that woman's face was stuck in his mind. She was being held captive, she was in bondage. He had a dream later that night that they were both in Heaven, they were best friends. She told him that she would be stuck in that situation and he promised her that he would save here( at this time, he was filled with tears). After he woke up, he couldn't live with himself! He said to himself he couldn't let down another person he had already made a promise with in heaven. He decided to serve a mission at 22 years old because he couldn't live with himself knowing that people are waiting for him.

This was such a powerful experience we had as a district! I know people are waiting for me, and I know that I have the answer to their happiness. I WILL NOT let them down!!

There are 2 types of pain- 1. pain obtained from Hard Work!  or 2. Pain obtained from regrets.

Pain from hard work will go away! Pain from regretting not giving my all will tax forever on my soul!

Life at the MTC

Here is the latest letter from Buck

Hola Familia! Hope ALL is well back home. If any of the other family members, friends or whoever want me to add them to the Email list, just send me their Email Addresses to this account. As far as getting a hold of me - hand written and Dearelder.com are the best way to get a hold of me right now while in the MTC. You can send me emails for just a quick update or something like that. But we are very limited on our email time here(less than 30 minutes), and my incredibly slow typing skills don't help.

I'm still kickin' butt and taking names! My companion and I are progressing very well together! We recently picked up 2 new investigators, Juan and Emanuel. We have taught both the 1st lessons for them all in Spanish without any real notes. But tonight is going to be the real test! We get to teach 2 lessons to real people who come into the MTC. We are nervous but I can't wait for the opportunity. Well the honeymoon for our district is now over.. At first everyone was just stoked outta their mind to be here but now people are starting to get on eachothers nerves. Really everyone except Elder O'Brien and I. Half the district wants to work hard and be the best missionary that they can be and seemingly the other half just want to be back home. So we've been having some heart to hearts with some of the struggling Elders and I believe that is helping them along. Our district calls ourselves "THE WOLFPACK"! We walk around howling to eachother all the time. And our District slogan is "como un jefe" aka in english LIKE A BOSS! Well I have some funny stories but You'll have to write to hear about them. I love Ya'll

<3 Elder Howard