(Hi my friends! I can feel your prayers, so thank you!)
Okay so this week has been a week. A really long week. Like, the longest. So long. Like, think of the longest thing ever, and it was even longer than that. It was NOT a blessing to have had my travel plans for so long. UGH.
As many of you know, ELDER VINCENT IS BOUNCING. Im leaving this Tuesday. Its a blessing that I get to go to the Salt Lake airport, because I get to gaze upon the beauty, that IS the G on the Mountain. I never thought I could miss something like that. It's something that is so significant to me, and I'm so glad I will get to see it at least one more time before I go to Africa.
Elder Ellison is one of my roommates, and he sleeps ACROSS the room from me, on the top bunk as well. I LOVE Elder Ellison. He's such a happy person, and he is so kind. He's always ready to help EVERYONE.
BUT. HE GOT SICK. AND YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE GET SICK.
THEY SNORE.
AND ELDER ELLISON IS NOT. I REPEAT, IS NOT, IMMUNE TO SICK SNORING.
You know when you go see a movie, and the THX thing comes up, and you think your ear drums are gonna pop? That's Elder Ellison snoring. You know when and airplane takes off how you cant even hear your own thoughts? THAT is Elder Ellison's snoring.
Well, I myself got a little under the weather, and I couldn't sleep. So my insomnia + Elder Ellison's snoring, became a SERIOUS problem. OH. MAN. I have never prayed for patience more IN MY LIFE. oh maaaan hahah!
But one night, I was just NOT FEELING IT, and since I lvoe Elder Ellison SO SO SO much, I decided I was not going to wake him up. Instead, Elder Abbott and I departed from our room, and went and slept on couches that were WAY TO SMALL for a normal sized human to sleep on. BUT. the moral of the story is: GOD WILL MAKE YOU PATIENT.
SO, here at the grand ol' MTC, my district has 2 investigators, 1 specifically is named "Auspice". He is a total stud, and I really like him. Well, Wednesday was our very last lesson with him. and we knew what he needed: Auspice needed to know how he felt to spirit. SO, ELDER ABBOTT AND I PLANNED THIS BOMB LESSON THAT WAS GIVE HIM EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTED AND THEN WE WERE GONNA BAPTISE HIM. It was gonna be siiiiiicccckkkk. SO we based our ENTIRE LESSON on the Scripture Galatians 5:22-23. it was going to be so rad.
Well the MTC hasn't given us bibles, because they got back ordered. So this whole time, our district has only had 3 bibles, and 1 of which we found in the "Lost and Found". So I asked if we could borrow a french one, and elder Linderman was like "heck ya its in my bag" so I walked back into the classroom and saw Elder Abbott going through a bag so in my mind i was all like, "Oh rad, Abbott is grabbing the bible."
So we knock on Auspice' door, and we go in, have AN AMAZING PRAYER, AND AN AMAZING OPENER. Auspice asked us EXACTLY the question we practiced in our role play: "I just dont know how to feel spirit. what does the spirit feel like?" (But he said it in french) SO, JUST LIKE WE PLANNED, I motioned Elder Abbott to WHIP OUT GALATIANS 5 AND THE SPIRIT TO JUST FLOOD AUSPICE. but when I looked at Abbott, he looked back at me and said (in french),"Elder Vincent has a scripture in Galatians 5 that will answer that question."
Then it hit us.
We.
forgot.
to bring,
a bible.
the ENTIRE LESSON was centered on a scripture in the bible.
And we didn't have a bible.
Long story short, our SUPER AWESOME, "AUSPICE IS GETTING BAPTIZED" Lesson, turned out to be the most awkward, scrambling, spirit driven, super "winged" lesson there ever was. That was so bad. So embarassing. We kind of just rolled into a backup lesson about following the prophet and invited him to watch General Conference, so still good, just not as good as it could have and should have been.
AGAIN. God WILL teach you patience.
I went through the Refiners Fire this week. I prayed for humility, and for the ability to think about what I said before I said it. I had a couple of really not-so-good interactions with people this week, because of the hardness of my heart and for the sake of trying to be funny. I realized, that I hadn't allowed to Spirit of the Lord to change me before. one night this week, I was praying my soul out, because Enos told me to, and the Spirit slipped Bishop Stuckis words into my head. While we were on the trail for trek, and i was all yoked up, being a Bad-A, he told me, "Ethan, (Elder Vincent) Do you know what it means to have a broken heart and a contrite spirit?" and I had no idea. He explained the word contrite means "ground to a powder". He said just like bread, we don't eat the wheat. You have to grind it, till its a fine powder, THEN you can work with it. And That's whats been my problem here at the MTC. I wasn't allowing God to grind me down. We can all be wheat or tares. But just so you know, the tares get burned. So try and be wheat. In Ether 12:27, the Lord teaches that if we come closer, He will show us our weakness. That sounds backwards doesnt it? Isn't God supposed to help us? Man, I pondered on that a BUNCH. And I came to the conclusion that He shows us our weakness so we can allow Him to grind us to that powder, so he can make us strong. Like bread... shoot. that didn't work as well as I wanted it to. but you get the point: God makes weak things Strong.
This will probably be my last email in the United States for 2 years. Hopefully.
I just got my last haircut in the US. and if Kristy Edwards is reading this, just know I REALLY missed our haircut/rant sesh today. like a lot.
Also, mom. I miss you and being able to rant about EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING. Dad, I miss you and working with you and getting your opinion on everything. Josh, I kinda miss you, but tbh Im really used to 1 of us being a mission. ;)
Melanie, I miss you and I miss arguing with you about really stupid stuff. Like, Seriously.
Tavas, I miss you so much. I called my companion Tavas and Tav a total of 22 times this week. He is jealous of you.
BUT EMMA. I . FLIPPIN. MISS YOU. Geez. Why did you have start playing all these rad sports AFTER I left! I love you so much, and it's so cool how many stories I get to tell about you. All my friends here at the MTC think you are a stud!
So, everyone always says "the field is white, already to harvest."
WELL.
IM GOING TO AFRICA.
and Elder Segal said on the first week,
"The field isn't white for us Elder. The field is BLACK."
:) I cannot wait to be in Africa.
I cannot wait to help those people find the joy, and comfort that I find in this gospel.
Je t'aime.
- Elder Vincent
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