What a crazy week this has been. Its hard to think that this time next week I will be on a bus headed to the airport. My time in the MTC has really flown by! My District received our Flight Plans Friday afternoon. It is really happening! I'm headed to the Oakland/San Francisco Mission with 8 others next week!
As its been the week leading up to Christmas, my District has been doing well with following up on the idea to celebrate everyone's most beloved Christmas traditions. We went Caroling around the MTC on Thursday (in Chinese) and even got to stop in on the MTC Presidency and their wives. We also created and raced my family's beloved candy sleds (supplies lovingly donated by a fantastic woman) and also converted our classroom into a Nerf gun shooting range. Its been a really fun, but mixed-up Christmas this year. We have some very nice activities planned for this weekend, including a Nativity that my companions and I are participating in. I'm singing a solo of "O Holy Night!" Wish me luck!
We've also had some awesome classes and devotionals. There is a wing of the MTC that allows ACTUAL investigators to sign up to take the discussions from missionaries. Elder Anderson, Elder Thacker, and I made a couple of appointments with Linda, who's currently studying public health at BYU. It was so cool to be the first missionaries she ever heard the gospel from. She had a really strong desire to know the truth. Unfortunately, with all of the extra things going on that will happen this week as we prepare to depart the MTC, we will not get the chance to meet with her again. I learned how much the Spirit can influence a discussion and how powerful our message really is. Its amazing! I've had several opportunities to bear testimony in both English and Mandarin this week. Its comforting to know that regardless of the language we speak, the Spirit can speak to the hearts of everyone! I'll need to remember that my first few weeks in the field.
We've also had a few great devotionals. The Piano Guys, a well-known YouTube group (All RMs) gave our Sunday Devotional, playing some of their repetoire and bearing very powerful testimonies about their own missions and the life and reality of the Savior Jesus Christ. Tuesday night brought Elder Zwick of the 70, and he shared an experience that involved Elder Thacker! We got to meet him afterwards and shake his hand, which was pretty fun.
I love you all, and wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Keep the Savior at you focus and love others just as He did, and your Holiday season will be blessed all the more.
Love and Blessings,
Elder Butters (Bao ZhangLao)
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