More Than Half Way...

Dear family and friends, It's been a great spiritual week here. We heard from L. Tom Perry last Tuesday, and there were nine other apostles there with him. It was awesome to see all of them. All of the new missions presidents who were being trained were there as well. Among these was my boss from my time in Alaska, Kirk, and his wife, Pam. Although I didn't get to talk with them, I saw them from a distance which was pretty cool too I guess haha. Both of the sisters who merged into our district last week left this week, and my companion leaves on Friday. I'm pretty sure I'll be back in a triple companionship at that point. One thing I've been striving to do is read the Book of Mormon, and it's crazy how I can get into it way more now than I ever could before. Some days it's hard to put it down when I have to teach or do companionship study. I'm so much more intrigued by the stories in there than I've ever been before. Don't have much time to write more this week but all is well. Love, Elder Oxborrow

Bonjour, tout le monde!

It's been a fun/crazy week. I've had fun adjusting to my new companion. He's a big help for me since he has a good memory of what we plan for lessons haha. He doesn't speak the language specifically well but he always does his best and always remembers what we have planned for the lessons (when I sometimes forget). Saturday was the start of the training of all the new mission presidents who will be serving in various missions. That takes place here at the MTC, and is done by the general authorities, therefore, the main building is pretty much on lockdown. That also means that the dining hall got cut in half, and is much less capable to handle the growing number of missionaries here. On sunday the line for dinner extended far outside the doors of the building. That part isn't fun, but it has definitely been a strong spirit here knowing the general authorities are among us. I'm pretty sure we're going to be hearing from either an apostle, or a member of the first presidency tonight at the devotional. It's crazy trying to get a good seat. We go a half hour early to line up, and I'm pretty sure we're the last ones there. This morning a member of our district flew out to San Francisco for his visa, and all but three of us (including me) in the district will get to do this. I don't get to go since I don't need one for Canada. This morning we did a session for Elder Guymon's (Elder Alex Munns' companion) family names. It was the last temple trip I'll have here since the temple will be closed down starting this week through the end of July. On Sunday night after the fireside they showed a video of a talk given by Elder Bednar a few years ago at the MTC called the Character of Christ. It was crazy how much it inspired me. He talked about Christ's tendency to turn outward when the natural man wants to turn in and seek self pity. He gave the example of Christ's infinite suffering in the garden, followed by finding his disciples had fallen asleep on him, followed by finding that he had been betrayed; and after all this, the first thing he thinks to do is heal the soldier's ear who was there to take him captive. So incredible. It's really the first time I've heard a talk and consciously pondered about how I could apply it to my every day life. It was a great experience. Well all is well here. Still learning as much as I can. Love you all. Love, Elder Brenden Oxborrow