Sept 15,2010

Everything is great! Still loving the MTC. It feels like the days go on forever, but the weeks fly by. Still plenty of food and its pretty good I guess. Classes are good, but they are a little long. A lot of times like halfway through they'll let us get up get a drink and go to the bathroom. After that I can focus again. The spirit is so strong here.

I got to listen to an amazing talk by Elder Bednar from last year in June. It was really good with a lot of good points. It was all about the most asked question to him, and one that I've thought about as well. "How do I know if it is the Holy Ghost or just me?" He paused for a moment................"the answer to your question is 'quit worrying about it.'" He then told a few stories that he wan't exactly sure if it was the Holy Ghost or just him, it just felt like a regular thought. The results; Pres Packer's wife didn't get kicked off the train in east Berlin, A man was able to watch his son play basketball one last time before his son died, and talks given in general conference all about the temple with no coordination. After each expirience he explained "Be a a good boy/girl, keep and honor your covenants, keep the commandments, press forward, get going and you'll be just fine." That hit me pretty hard. I've been worrying that because I'm not always on a spiritual high, that I might not have the Spirit with me. He then said something like "As you follow the inspiration and commandments given to you, and you become more like Christ, God is going to increasingly trust you and isn't going to 'smack' you with the Spirit every time He wants you to do something." That is exactly what I needed to hear. He then refered to D&C 80 where in vs 3 it says "wherefore go ye and preach my gospel, whether to the North or to the South, to the East or to the West, it mattereth not, for ye cannot go amiss." At the end Elder Bednar promised that our "steps will be guided, the Lord will give you utterence, for ye cannot go amiss." It was such an amazing talk.

Oh yeah, guess what!!! I got my travel plans last Friday!! I leave on Monday (20th)! I report to the travel services here at 11:30 am, and get to LA about 4pm with a 5 1/2 hour layover, then go straight to New Zealand and get there at like 5ish am their time (on the 22nd)! So my visa and everything worked out, just like I said it would! The feeling I got was like the one I get on Christmas haha. I'll either call at the SL airport or the LA airport. I'm encouraged to get a calling card here because its cheaper. I get a 20% discount on everything in the bookstore. I'm debating whether to get a domestic or an international card. If I get an international card I can use it in New Zealand. Which is what I'm leaning toward.

Next time you hear from me (except calling from the airport) I'll BE IN NEW ZEALAND!!!

With Jonathan Kwok