First transfer!!

Dear Friends and Family,

Another great week here in the MTC, though we are getting a little anxious to leave. I appreciate the package from my family and the letters from friends that I have recieved--Letters make everyday go just a little bit better. Today being P-day I would usually still be at the temple at this time, however, for the next 3 weeks the temple is being cleaned so it is closed.

You may be wonder what the meaning of my Subject line is, but I thought it was rather clever so here is my explanation: I have just finished week 6 and am now waging war in the midst of week 7. Since a transfer usually happens every 6 weeks, had we been in the field we would have gone through our first transfer already. Not to mention on Thursday afternoon my Zone Leaders (who happen to be my two companions) were called down to the front desk and we were informed that our entire residence building is going to be Sister's Housing starting tomorrow (Tuesday) so we were given a sheet of paper that told us our new building, room, and what time we could move--which was this morning from 7 to 9. We have relocated from Building 3M to the recently renovated 14M and so for all intents and purposes, we have had our first transfer. The sad part about all this is that we have actually really been looking forward to this because our lives are just not that exciting here in the MTC since the Mission Presidents left this past week.

Here is the recap on Devotionals and Firesides:

On Tuesday we had an early devotional (4:30 instead of 7:00). This switch in time sort of messed us all up because most Tuesdays at that time we are in the throngs of Language Instruction and in our classroom. Most people assumed that it would be the Prophet since he was down here all last week, and so they lined up hours in advance. By the grace of God my district got 5 of the last 10 or so seats that were available! It was a stroke of luck! The speaker was L. Tom  Perry and the whole thing was rather different. He got up, an delivered like a 35 minute devotional instead of the typical 50 and spoke entirely of Church statistics and benefits the church had on people's health--Apparently because we regularly fast we are 40% less likely to develop clogged arteries. In his talk he touched subjects of health, relationships, family, education and so forth. I say it was different because it was certainly educational but there was no church doctrine to it and I think that left a lot of people wanting more, especially from an Apostle. It was good nonetheless.

Last night's fireside was awesome! We walked into the large assembly hall and noticed that intead of the typical set up, in the front of the room they had a desk and a chair on the stand. The speaker was Brother Ted Gibbons and he rehearsed an hour monologue about the Prophet Joseph Smith and early church history from the eyes of Willard Richards. It was really really well done and evoked a lot of emotions in all of us as we listened to the detailed accounts about tbe mobs and suffering of the saints. The opening hymn was Joseph Smith's First Prayer and during the closing hymn, Praise To The Man, everyone stood up to show their respect for Joseph Smith the prophet. It was one of the more powerful MTC experiences for me as 2500 missionaries stood side by side and sang--very few dry eyes during it.

This week in our classes we have been doing a lot of the same old and working on refining our techniques in different teaching aspects. Unfortunately our investigator A-Hei has moved away so we will no longer be teaching him. We are keeping Kim, and tonight we have our first lesson with a new investigator named Zoey. Coincidentaly, or maybe not, we also lost a teacher this week and will have a new teacher named Jeung Jimouhi (Sister Jeung). I'm going to miss our old teacher Brother Jackson, but oh well, nothing wrong with a 5th new teacher now... Maybe we scare them all off or something.

I hope that Grace and Sterling had a lot of fun at EFY and that dad's pedometer is working well...haha, I may need one for myself. New friends of mine come every week and this week I found Elder Rodeback (Pat Patterson) and took a picture with him. I'm going to send my SD card home to you soon and would ask you to upload the photos. I can try to tell you who is who if you want to write captions. I would also ask that you wipe it after you save all the pics because I have a lot on there from music concerts that I went to and videos that probably shouldn't be on there...

Apparently there are some wildfires raging through Utah? All I know is that the sky is often very hazy and there is a strong smell of smoke in the air. Once in a while we'll find ash floating through the air. Its incredible to go on a temple walk and when you reach the top of the hill you look out over the valley and can't see Utah lake or the mountains through the haze. Can't see any actual fires though. Sometimes the smell is so strong that we smell it through our air conditioning and it wakes us up at night.

This Thursday night, or Friday morning rather at midnight was our Hump minute! We are now more that halfway through the MTC endeavor! Its all down hill from here baby! I can't believe that Chris Tietjen and Derek Christensen leave me a week from today! Atleast Elder Park can be my Colleyville Stake buddy. Speaking of which, because there are no other Elder misionaries for me to go with when my companions have Zone meetings, I often have to go with my companions and welcome new districts that will be in our zone. This week we had a zone of Las Vegas missionaries come in. Among them is an Elder Pauni from one of the Euless wards. I never knew him in Texas but we're friends out here now. Elder Michael Cormier comes in this Thursday so that is something to look forward to! As well as the 4th of July! I have to see if I can find a red/white/and blue tie that someone will lend me or something so I can go patriotic.

Hope you have a great week! Thank you for all your prayers! They have strengthened me a lot, especially this last week which was slightly more overwhelming than weeks past. But 1 Nephi 3:7, "I can do all things"! I know I can, and I know the Lord can help me learn what appears to be an unlearnable language.
That reminds me of another thing, in TRC this past week we taught two lessons. The first lesson was pure gold and the second was not at all! We started with the same question which was, "What is most important to you in your life?" and the first group responded and understood the question and the second group didn't understand it at all! We couldn't, still can't figure it out! Oh, well. Better luck next week I guess. God be with you!

Love,

Elder L. Spencer Siebach.