"More of a Frat House than College"

 [Subject Line brought to you by at least two MTC teachers]

September 25, 2023

你們星期一快樂！Happy Monday Everyone!! Hope the weather is as good where you are as it is here.

Also, Happy Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement! I can't tell if that started last night or if it starts this evening, but I was reading about it a little in the Bible Dictionary under "Fasts." There's a lot of scripture in Leviticus that I don't quite understand a lot, but I think the symbolism of the sacrificed and freed lambs or "scapegoats" are really interesting, especially seeing how they line up with this autumn season and how much these symbols say about Christ and his atoning sacrifice for all of us. Definitely take a look at it if you have a minute.

We taught our friend Caleb again this week! This one was really rough, we couldn't understand what he was saying most of the time, and then we didn't deliver a super coherent lesson about prayer. It made for a good conversation to practice Mandarin though!

Elder Nash and his wife were our guest speakers this Tuesday. His wife started talking about increasing missionary effort. Elder Nash started talking about our identity (see Pres. Nelson's May 2022 Devotional) and then about the missionary identity and then about inviting and then about opposition and then about choices and then about the law system and the gospel. (It's incredible how much knowledge you can share by going 30 mins over.)

. . . Alright, I'll be honest, I didn't have the greatest attitude going into this one. Something about the way the speakers started off just made me tired all over. I also felt a little bit at times like I was listening to a sermon I'd heard ten times over. Once I started focusing in and out of what he was saying, I started learning a lot more. It ended up being a real good talk though, some things that hit me a little harder were:

-- Opposition isn't always just good vs. evil. There's opposites in a lot of good as well. The opposites of fire and water are both essential for baptism. The opposites of Night and Day are both good (as is the Cole Porter favorite of the same name). Opposition isn't always "bad."

-- Justice often has a bad connotation, but I have to remember that if there's no justice, there's no good consequences for good choices. I am so grateful that there is an eternal law of Justice along with Mercy.

- The missionaries aren't here to force conversion, rather the missionary's job is to enable someone to use their agency even more. After hearing from the missionaries, there is more opportunity to choose for yourself what to follow. After all, that's why we're all here, because we value the right to choose.

. . . aaaaand that's the end of MY sermon that y'all have heard ten times over (amen).

One of the windows broke on our floor! I thought at first someone had thrown something at it, but the custodial staff refuted that, saying there was a bird right below the window. I have a hard time imagining a bird shattering the whole pane of glass, but I suppose those government spies have their ways.

 

 

We've become the buzzards of our residence hall from the way we collect things from other districts who leave. The spoils have been astounding though! Often we get a couple packaged foods, but the highlight from this week is the Tech-Deck skatepark that someone handed over to us. Didn't make for the best study session that day, but it did make for the best kick-flips.

 

 

Yet another favorite quote from the so-called "Frat House" this week: "Shadow boxing tonight on floor 2, boys! You gotta bring coleslaw if you want in."

Yesterday I got the wonderful opportunity of playing piano accompaniment in sacrament meeting. . . after being asked 40 minutes earlier if I could do so. I suppose sight reading could be considered a form of personal revelation "line upon line."

This morning we did a big MTC Cleanse to prep for CONFERENCE ! ! ! ! It was kind of strange wearing casual P-day clothes in buildings where that usually wouldn't fly. As is often the way with group service, the first half was a lot of us helping out with one specific thing (cleaning the bathroom stall doors in this case) while the second half consisted of us standing around not knowing how to help since everything was being done already. 

Celestial Cleaning Kickoff

 We got to deep clean some other things too, specifically Elder Boyle's batch of clothes when he started the washer this morning with my companion's laundry net & half-full bag of tide pods in as well. Whatever sins were on those shirts definitely aren't there anymore.

 

That's all I got so far. I hope all of you have a great week and a Fantastic Conference Weekend!! I'm really looking forward to watching that with you here from the MTC!

Love you all!

-Elder Baer

 

More photos:

 

Brother Birch in thoughtful contemplation

Sister Hutchison with Elders Hart, Baer, Sheffield, Logan, and Elder Biggs

 

 

Cafeteria food.  'Nuff said.

 

 

 Autumn in Provo and snow on Timpanogos