Word From the MTC - Sept.23, 2010

   My time is limited so one e-mail is all I can provide! Thursday is my pday and you should expect an email around this time each Thursday for the next eight weeks. I'm going to say this now before I forget... Use dearelder.com!! You can send me mail through dearelder.com and they print it out and put it in my mailbox. This way when I read your mail it won't eat into my email time.

   Ok. So this first week is already done and I can't believe how much I have already learned. One day feels like several. My companion will be like, "remember a couple of days ago when we did (something)" and I'll say, "that was yesterday, Elder." Time goes by slow but fast at the same time. Hard to describe. The food... Let's just say it doesn't agree with me :) There are definitely healthy options... but who wants that?! I have what we call "keinfall" which you can probably figure out. As of late I have been eating more fiber dense cereal than anything else. But all is good!

   The MTC is great just from the sheer fact that everyone is here for the same reason. You here the humming of hymns and "hey, Elder!" everywhere you go. Elder W and I sat outside one time for personal and companion study and were approached at least five different times by companionships bearing their testimonies in their mission language. By the end of day one we were doing the same auf Deustch. The rooms are always hot and of course the smell of 10 elders in a small room is always present. But this spirit is strong which is most important.

Elder W & Elder Peterson's TE

   As far as teaching goes, we learn some in class but most we have to experience in a TE, which is a Teacher Evaluation meeting type thing. Elder W and I set up several appointments for the week. There is a teacher there who pretends to be an investigator and never breaks character. Generally they pretend to be someone they know so that they can respond as they would and also hopefully learn some way to reach out to those they pretend to be. We as the Missionaries teach them a lesson. The first one we did was awesome! We taught the lesson really well and were extremely confident. The teacher gave us some awesome feedback at the end. Through these TE's we have learned how to get to know individuals and find out there main concerns and how to address them. We were given this analogy about a doctor prescribing medicine to a patient. A doctor wouldn’t look at the symptoms and then throw out random prescriptions hoping to solve their problem. He would evaluate and prescribe as necessary. We as missionaries must determine whether the investigator hasn't felt the spirit or whether they have but don't want to follow certain principles. After all it is the spirit that we teaches the investigator and our job is invite it and help them understand how to recognize it. We do this by leaving them with commitments that require them to find out for themselves what is true. By the end of the lesson we want them to be jazzed about keeping those commitments. The last TE we did left Elder W and I a little discouraged but we've been working through it. We set up our own TEs with our district and pretend to be people we know. It helps but is difficult because we are often more open than the individuals we know would really be.

   As far as German goes, I've almost reached the extent of what I already know. What I'm worried about is being able to teach in German because I'm still trying to figure out how to teach as a companionship with a strong spirit.  Elder W and I determined that we need to be patient and remember that we're not perfect. Most of our German though is studied during MDT (missionary directed time) that is hard to be motivated to do when you haven't nailed teaching yet. But it's coming. We spend most of our hours in our designated classroom teaching ourselves which is great I think. We have several hours a day with teachers who teach us new things but most of it is up to us.

   I have had some incredible spiritual experiences here but I am running out of time so I will wrap up. I'm doing well and am constantly reminded of why I am here: To invite others unto Christ. Thanks for the mail and remember! DEARELDER.COM! Lots of love

Elder Peterson