Quote of the week:

"The Lord doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called"


Thursday, August 4, 2011

Week 1 MTC

Hey Family!

So since Saturday I have been doing great. We've had 2 AWESOME devotionals, one on Sunday night and one on Tues night (It's the same every week). On Sunday Brother Swenson taught us about love. It was amazing. I don't have my notebook with me right now, so I cant remember the quotes he said, but he talked about how we need to love each other and also how Christ loves us personally. I will send you more info in the Letter. On Tuesday Elder GERALD LUND (aka work and the glory author) spoke to us on Faith and how we can help other people take the leap of faith. He said that people gain testimonies from listening to testimonies. I'll send you more info on that in my mail too.

So dad asked about the food... The food isnt that bad! They always have fruit, so I take advantage of that and I always try not to have a ton of carbs because we sit around for 8 hours a day. I eat pretty healthy except they have cookies that are really good with milk.... haha. But they also have really good chicken salads that I usually get for lunch.

Sleeping is kinda tough. The pillows not very nice and the mattress isn't any better. My back hurts every day so I stretch it a lot and that seems to help. I miss my chiropractor! It usually takes me a while to fall asleep, but thats kinda expected. I go through phases of that at home too.

So its Thurs night and I havent even seen Jon yet! I look for him everywhere too! Ugh! Maybe Ill see him at dinner.

The trio companionship I was in is now a regular one! Elder Lynn moved up to the Advanced spanish class, so now its just Elder Christiansen and I in our 4 person room! Elder Lynn was a good guy. He was good at spanish and was on the Ballroom dance team at BYU. ha! He reminded me on C3PO by the way he walked.

Jackie sent me a package this week with little candies and REALLY good cookies. That was a nice surprise! I always look for her or Andrew to drive by when Im playin soccer out on the missionary field.

Thats fun to hear that the girls are up at the Foleys! What Are they gunna do there? When are they comin home? I love the Foleys!

So, I absolutely LOVE getting the DearElder letters! I look forward to them everyday! I could never get enough, so keep em comin! I can only write back on my p-day though(thursday). Thanks for all the letters though! I have to try not to cry every single time! haha but I'd rather get dearelders than emails for the next 8 weeks.

So Andrew told me about how he read the Book of Mormon every day of his mission and I'll probably do the same. I love everything about it. I find comfort from it every single time I pick it up. It's my stressball when Im overwhelmed. I started the day I got here and Im already in Mosiah 8. I look for every opportunity to read. I know that if anybody picks up that book, they will see a difference in their life. I have gained a stronger testimony of the Book of Mormon in just the last week. I know it contains the word of God, is an alli to the Bible, and testifies of Christ. Read 3 Nephi 11.

Im gettin into the grove of things here at the MTC and having a good time! My spanish is comin. I make flashcards when I don't know a word, which is pretty much the whole entire day. I can read Preach My Gospel in spanish now, which is pretty cool. I can't wait til I can just speak it without thinkin so hard. Tenses are really hard from me but I know a lot of vocab.

So here's my testimony in spanish without my notes:

Mi testimonia es simple. Yo se que el Libro de Mormon es la palabra de Dios. Yo se que el evangelio de Jesucristo estaba restaurado mediante Jose Smith. Yo se que la expiacion de Jesucristo estaba por mi pecados, mi cargas, y mi dudos. Yo se que tenemos un profeta en la tierra que habla con Dios. Yo se que Dios ama nosotros.

I'm thankful for all the support that I have been given so far. These 8 days have gone by pretty fast! I heard an elder say that the days go by slow but the weeks go by fast. I couldn't agree more. I love you all so much and think about you every day. I miss you so much... but know I'm in the right place, doing the right thing.

LOVE,

Elder Hjelmstad

P.S. So I found out I can't email pics in the Mtc, so I just went to the bookstore to print off some to send home for you guys to enjoy. and tell Jenee to write me! everybody has except her!

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