Conference

This week has been a good one. Last P day was good with the extra email time so I could not rush all the typing as much. I didn't have any pictures so I had to take some. We went to the temple and did sealings for the first time and I thought it was interesting. We have also eaten at the temple a few times. It is super cheap and the food is way better than the MTC. In fact, I never really liked eating at the MTC but that is okay because it never was about the food. Afterwards, we talked to a girl outside (Because the elders just had to) and we found out she was from Japan. Her mom is the only member in her family and she opened her mission call right in front of us. She got called to California. It felt good for her to have someone to be with her while she opened her mission call but it was also weird. She decided to get a picture with us too.
We had TRC and the lessons we taught went super well. What activities has Hyrum been up to? Elder Price and I were super unified and we could feel the spirit which was our goal. We had a meeting where they told us about all of our books and what they do. It is nice because I found out a bunch of information about them that allows me to study more effectively. They just started doing the meetings which will be a lot nicer for newer arrivals. One of the days we learned how to walk up some of the residency walls so we are up by the ceiling like Spiderman. One of the elders wanted to learn how to dance because he found out I knew how so one night (in the residency) I showed them a little bit of Stomp. I only showed some stepping in place and a little clapping but they think it is the coolest thing.
We also found out this week that our classrooms have cleaning checks. I love Hyrum Elwood. We got a paper with 0 points on it because it was kind of messy in the room and no one knew about the checks. We haven't had one for the previous 3 weeks and we moved buildings so often that they forgot to tell us.
Conference was amazing. I've never enjoyed it so much. It is a different experience being with 3000+ missionaries close to your age who are all getting super excited for conference. I took a good amount of notes on things I really liked and prayed for. It was a relaxing and spiritually exhausting day. I will share a few things. During conference there were some talks that seemed like I wouldn't need to pay attention because they were directed towards women (for example: Elaine S Dalton) but instead I decided to apply the talk to me and it also helped make conference a better and more enjoyable experience.
Craig A Cardon-Christ forgives again and again based on the desires of our hearts when we truly repent. How much more does that mean we need to forgive others? It is a commandment to forgive everyone.
Robert D Hales-A true friend doesn't ask us to choose between them and the gospel.
Dieter F Uchtdorf-Darkness cannot exist in the presence of life. Very good for resisting temptation. We must be tactful about that.
Jeffrey R Holland-Be true to the faith you do have
L Whitney Clayton-The quality of how we do something is our gift back to God
Thomas S Monson-Obedience is the first law of heaven.
We had vocal point come for one of our devotionals one night. I have never heard of them but they were very good and sang several hymns. Afterwards, we watched a recorded video of Elder Holland speaking to the MTC. It was funny and I have never seen him crack so many jokes. I think the field will open up soon when the weather gets better. I think that will be great for the elders in my district but I will also enjoy it alot. I wake up early every morning and lay in bed so that I am not waking up early to be away or study away from my companion like the handbook says not to do. I lay there so I am not breaking the rule but one of the mornings I couldn't see the extra line on the alarm clock and i accidentally jumped out of bed at 530 instead of 630. It was kind of funny but at the same time the Elders don't like getting up early. Lucky for them, I don't turn the lights on till 630 so they just heard a soft thump of me jumping off the bed and then an Oops as i saw the real time.
We have had some good lessons recently with our MTC investigators. We committed Nikita to baptism and the word of wisdom in one of our last lessons. Sometimes the language is difficult but the teachers say afterwards that it is really funny how i am not worried about knowing it because I will just stop in the middle of the lesson to ask my companion what they said when i missed a phrase.
I've been getting decent at volleyball. Hyrum now is a good time to start participating in things you want to do because once you get in high school things can take you places (If you want to learn music or dancing or another talent then find a way to do it). Some days it is super crowded and other days the second court doesn't have a lot of people. 4 on 4 volleyball is the best because everyone gets to participate. We don't have to wear suit coats all the time in the MTC anymore unless there is a devotional or sacrament meeting. Yesterday i forgot that i had lost my room key (i think someone took it off my desk) and we did an exchange so all of the elders in my room could go to choir. Then i realized i needed a suit coat for the devotional and i had to borrow a slightly small Green suit jacket to go with my black pants and purple tie. The devotional was great and talked about personal revelation. I feel like i really learned some good things that will help me as i seek personal revelation throughout the day. I finally got my MTC card working again last night and went and got a Big Bopper out of the vending machine. Hyrum would be jealous.
Some of my thoughts are really random and out of order but I take a lot of it out of the journal I keep. Hyrum is an awesome brother. -Elder Elwood