My Soul is Bursting!

Dear Friends and Family,

I have officially survived my first week at the MTC (or CCM in Spanish)! And what a week it has been. To start, I would like to type out something I felt prompted to write (a bit too eloquently perhaps) while watching a recorded devotional from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, after our live devotional on Sunday night with the Missionary Program President:

"My soul is full unto bursting and I would that I could split the mountains and proclaim the gospel to the undeniable convincing of all peoples. But I am learning that the voice of the Holy Spirit speaks not in earthquakes or firestorms or great winds, but in a still small voice that can and will touch the heart of every child of God that recognizes the ever-loving and ever-inviting voice of their Father in Heaven."

I don't think that I can express the excitement and intensity of desires that I have been feeling toward missionary work this past week. From the second I stepped out of the car onto the curb of the MTC I have been surrounded by literally 4000 of the elect of God. I can say without a doubt that these Elders and Sisters that are here at the MTC are the elect of God. These are not just 18 and 19 and 20 year old kids, these are representatives of Jesus Christ in training, and I am so profoundly humbled to be part of the greatest missionary movement in the history of the church.

The food is pretty good, the weather is a lot better than Tempe, and we are super, super busy. In this email, because i only have limited time to write, though, I want to focus on the things I am learning/have learned. There are so many things that I have learned and that I would love to share with you all, but I will focus on just a few of them. First off, I have learned how important it is to focus on our purpose as missionaries. Our purpose as missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. As missionaries, we are here to invite, and to help. The investigators are the ones that need to come, and receive. Since the second day we got here, my companion and I have been teaching an investigator from Chile named Rogelio. In Spanish. The first lesson was soooooo rough. Like we felt so discouraged afterwards because the Spirit was not there at all and we are terrible at Spanish so we didn't even know if he could understand anything we said. But we have been praying and working and studying so hard the past few days in order to help Rogelio and address his needs that we have learned so much and gotten so much more confident. I can testify that we are not alone in our preparations though. I know that God is helping us learn the language as we focus on our purpose to bring others to Christ. There is no way I could have progressed as far as I have in only 7 days. And even with as much as I have learned, I still don't speak Spanish as well as bottle of Fanta, so I have a lot of work to do. It is important to focus on learning how to fulfill our purpose in Spanish, not just learning Spanish. As I have shifted my focus from trying to learn Spanish to trying to learn how to help Rogelio in his own language, I have noticed a profound difference in my ability to retain what I learn.

I want to testify that this church is true. I want to testify that this is God's work. I know that the only two emotions or feelings that Satan cannot replicate are pure peace and joy. Those are God's emotions and those are what I have been feeling all week while I have been here. I have been working non-stop from when we get up at 6:30 to when we go to sleep at 10:30, and yet I have never been more happy. And this is why we are sending out an army of missionaries to the four corners of the Earth. We are not trying to rack up baptismal statistics, we are baptizing because that is how to gain the peace and joy that comes from coming closer to Christ and from being cleansed of sin. We are on a divine search and rescue mission to find those people that are looking for something more in their life and who are not comfortable in a world of ever-shifting values and ever lowering standards. Elder Holland pointed out in his devotional on Tuesday night that every single prophet before now knew that they were going to fail. Every single prophet knew that no matter how hard they work and how much they preach, their people were going to end up in apostasy. That must have been incredibly discouraging and disheartening. But then Elder Holland said that he bets that God must have told them to buck up, to lift up their chins, and to motivate them and buoy them up he must have shown them our day. He must have showed them us 4000 missionaries at the MTC singing called to serve at the top of our lungs. He must have showed them the 70000+ missionaries spreading throughout the world and they must have wept to know that this time We Will Not Fail! This time we are going to get it! We are destined to win, the victor has already been decided, and I get to be part of the greatest generation of missionaries that this world has ever known!

I know that God knows ME, Elder Moffitt, and my weaknesses and my trials and he hears every word of my sincere prayers to him. I know that he loves me sooooo much, and that he loves all of his children here on the earth. I am not a perfect missionary, I am probably not even a good missionary yet, but if I humble myself God will make me a mighty instrument in his hand. I know that as I serve with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength, God will bless me and all things will work together for my good. 

I say these things as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and as a representative of Jesus Christ, and I testify that I know that they are true.

I love you all back home. Give em' heaven!

-Elder Moffitt

What goes on at the Missionary Training Center? Here are video segments shown on KSL about the MTC experience:
An Army of Faith: Inside the MTC