Week 2 ¡Hola!

Life is wonderful here in the good ole MTC. This week has been pretty darn fantastic. 

I hope my BYU Cougars did well yesterday, I could hear some cheering in the stadium, which was pretty cool, but I wasn't able to interpret how we were doing.

 

I met my other teachers this week.  Hermano Litzenburger y Hermano Barnard.  They are pretty awesome.  I got to teach each of them a discussion plus I had a few extra discussions with my other teacher, Hermano Miller.  It's really fun but also a bit frustrating to teach in Spanish.  I've gotten a lot better at it though.  For the most part I don't translate what I'm going to say in my head anymore I just say it.  That's not to say I'm anywhere near fluent though, my vocabulary is pretty limited and I still have to think about how to conjugate the verbs.  El don de lenguas is true though, I'm really learning fast.  One of the best parts about teaching in a foreign language is how much we have to rely on the Spirit to help us.  In reality nobody can be a successful teacher without it, but its a little easier to be humble enough to recieve it when you know you can't adequately explain what you want to.  Sometimes I even say to my investigators something like, "I know I can't speak Spanish very well, but I know this gospel is true and I know that you can know it too."...at least I think that's what I'm saying... haha.  It's amazing how the Spirit is working through us.  I love feeling it testify to the meager message I'm sharing in Spanish and making my words powerful, I know it's real.

 

I'm also loving all the sweet talks and lessons I get to hear.  All three of my teachers are amazing.  They have taught me so much about our purpose as missionaries and how to share the gospel effectively.  I would love to teach here when I come back but that's a long way off. This Tuesday Elder Perkins of the Seventy came to speak to us.  He talked about how to have power as missionaries and it has really been helping me out.  I got to sing in the choir at that devotional, we sang "Jesus Once of Humble Birth" it's a winner.  The highlight of my week though was listening to a talk Elder Bednar gave on Christmas day last year in the MTC.  It's called  "The Character of Christ."  I hope you are able to watch it because it is amazing!

http://www2.byui.edu/Presentations/Transcripts/ReligionSymposium/2003_01_25_Bednar.htm

(Note from Wendy: I wasn't able to find a link to the video, but I was able to find this link to the talk)

(If you ever feel the need to be humbled it's a good one haha.  He talked about waiting patiently on the Lord, because this isn't our work, it's His. He also told some stories of some Christlike people who when the natural man would have them turn in and take time to themselves they turned outward to help others. One of them was a Relief Society president in Elder Bednar's stake in Arkansas who on the day of her teenage daughter's funeral got a call from an entitled feeling sister with a cold chewing her out because no one had brought her any meals. This Relief Society president humbly apologized, and on the way to the funeral service dropped of some homemade soup at the house of this sister. I was pretty impressed, I've got a long way to go...

 

Sorry, I'm running out of time.

 

I've been trying to think of a spiritual thought for you this week. Here is what I've got: umm...read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. I don't care if you've read it 100 times or 0 times. Every time we read that book our minds are opened to the truthfulness of the gospel. I know its true. It changes lives.   

 

I love you all! Keep on truckin'!

 

Elder Clark Roth

Week One: I'm already afraid this is going to end too soon!

Hi Everyone!

I am loving the MTC.  Sorry it’s taken so long for you to hear from me.  I have the latest possible P-day, but from now on you will get my emails every Friday.  The MTC is an amazing place....these last 10 days have been pretty intense. I'll walk you through them:

Wednesday: Clad with my freshly minted Nametag with a special edition orange dot that tells everybody I'm clueless I started my mission. I met my companion, Elder Scott (he is a cool guy and really easy to get along with) We had a meeting with the MTC presidency which was pretty good.  My favorite part was singing Called To Serve, We'll Bring The World His Truth, and Hark All Ye Nations with all 500 of the new missionaries.  Then we had some smaller meetings with about 30 missionaries where we went to different classrooms teaching investigators.

Thursday: We really got going.  On Thursday we had a lesson with our teacher, Hermano Miller.  He taught some basic Spanish but mostly we talked about our purpose.  This is (FYI) to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through Faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. We also learned about our first investigator, Gabi Garcia.

Friday: We taught our first lesson...in Spanish.  They really throw you into the thick of it here.  I was surprised that they had us teaching in our language so quickly.  But I was even more surprised to see that our lesson went well and we could understand, and say most of the stuff we wanted to say. 

I don't actually have enough time to go through the rest of the days but they were busy and fun!  Sunday was awesome: our Branch President is totally awesome and he taught us a very good lesson in our priesthood meeting. Sacrament was a bit frightening because everyone has to prepare a talk in Spanish and then they call on you from the pulpit right before your talk.  I wasn't chosen to show off my 3 days worth of Spanish knowledge...but I was asked to play the piano.  Later that night we listened to a recorded talk by Jeffrey R. Holland called "Missions are forever!"   I love to listen to him.  He had some pretty good lines in there, I'm not sure if you can see/read it, it might just be an MTC thing.  In case you can't here are some of the highlights: He talked about Ammon starting to astonish the King's men and the King and talked about how we have the same authority he did and that we can have the same power.  Then in his classic stern manner he commanded us, "Elders and Sisters astonish somebody!"  It was powerful stuff. 

Then on Tuesday Elder Anderson came to talk to us. I got to sing in the choir which was super cool. We sang "Behold The Wounds In Jesus’ Hands" which is an incredible song. Elder Anderson bore powerful witness of the Savior that I hope I will never forget.  In fact, pretty much every day here I experience something I hope I will never forget.

To answer dad's questions there were 5 missionaries on the flight and one of them was a returning missionary.  In my defense though, there was a flight to SLC that left an hour earlier that had more missionaries on it. I did get to see Lambert and that was totally awesome! He seems to be doing really well and he seemed to speak to me with ease.  Spanish is going well, I am beyond my high school abilities already.

I'm running out of time here but I just want to say thanks for your letters. Thanks to AD, R, B, and L for their packages. Those cookies were sooo good. I love you all, Thanks for your letters.  Sorry I don't have more time...I have much more to say.

This has been an amazing week and each day just gets better.  I know this gospel is true and I love to share it. In 1 Nephi 20 it talks about the gentiles carrying the house of Israel in their arms and on their shoulders.  I can't wait to do that!

I love you all,

Elder Clark Roth

Day 1- Entering the MTC

Yesterday, Elder Roth entered the Missionary Training Center at approximately 1:40 in the afternoon after a very quick lunch at Zupas.

His sister, Amanda, brother, Roy, and sister-in-law, Andee, came to meet him and take him to lunch before dropping him off at the MTC.  They had a quick lunch and rushed him over to the MTC to make sure he was checked in on time. He was a bit nervous but mostly excited to finally get started on his mission. Elder Roth was able to check in with a host missionary and took a few pictures in front of the Missionary Training Center to commemorate the moment.

He is very happy to serve the Lord and to teach the people of Mexico. We can't wait to get our first letter from him and to let you know how he is doing. Remember to keep him in your prayers and in your thoughts. Write him letters to know how his mission affects you.

Elder Roth's MTC mailing address

Clark left Jacksonville to report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on August 15th, 2012. Please write and let him know you're thinking of him.  Here's his mailing address while he is there:


MTC Mailbox 328
MEX-TXG 1015
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT  84604-1793