Hello family and friends!
Mom-for the record, yes. I am receiving all of your packages (thanks, by the way) and my boots got here two days ago. All is well in that regard. Your many treats have been a morale boost for me and my entire District, as well as some very lucky people in my Zone. Everybody knows that Mama Boone loves them :)
Wow... I've just gotta say that this experience has been positively wonderful! I feel myself learning and growing in ways that I had never thought I would. Being here, surrounded by the Spirit all the time and living the rules has led me to experience some truly wonderful moments. The food is pretty good, and the chocolate milk in particular is AWESOME. I've officially put on 2 pounds since I've been here-which is a testament to the food in and of itself. The schedule is pretty rigid and there's not a lot of free time, but it's good. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure that I'd just be chilling around the apartment and not doing a whole lot. But they've put enough in to stay busy and productive.
My companion's name is Elder Sutherland. He's from Centerville, Utah and he's just a great guy. He's a tall, skinny guy with glasses-reminds me of someone else I know... haha-He's our District Leader and there's a reason for that. He has a positive attitude and a sense of humor that nothing can damper. He's been sick since before he came into the MTC, and yesterday, he took a turn for the worse. He was given an executive order by our Zone Leader, Elder Price, to just sit in bed and get better. He was throwing up and had a slight fever. I had to just stay in the room with him to make sure he was OK and to help him in any way possible. In the few times when he was actually awake, he was cracking jokes about how he's gonna get me sick if I'm not nice to him. We get along so incredibly well-we're best friends already. Please include him in your prayers, cuz this illness is really taking it out of him. It's honestly a miracle that he's been able to do the things that he has so far, and with any help, he'll be an even more incredible Missionary once he's better. So PLEASE pray for him.
As a matter of fact, they already have us teaching "investigators" (role-played by our teachers). My particular favorite is Patrick, role-played by Brother Chambers. He's a single, 74-year old man who has been seeing Missionaries and going to Church for a while, but has been an "eternal investigator" for a while. Elder Sutherland, and I went in to teach him the first time, and it was a struggle. We had no flow, the Spirit wasn't there... it was just AWFUL--So bad, in fact, that Brother Chambers had to stop the role play and give us a teaching moment. We had to rewind to the beginning and try again. He opened up to us and told us about his family relationships and how they weren't where he wanted them to be. He's divorced and wants nothing more than a relationship with his son. Elder Sutherland and I had to totally scrap our lesson plan and tell him what he needed to hear. Once we did that, the Spirit was there and the lesson went smoothly. We challenged him to pray for his son every day until our next visit. For the next few days, Elder Sutherland and I learned a lot about effective teaching by the Spirit, and two Sisters in our Zone (Sister Johnson and Sister Bauer) helped us to realize the power of genuine caring. They gave us a mini lesson, and Elder Sutherland and I tried to pinpoint what made them so effective. When the word "genuine" came up, we stopped. That was it. They genuinely cared about EVERYONE. Elder Sutherland and I decided to try that out: we prayed for Patrick and his son, that they could share a better relationship. We studied for Patrick and tried to learn something in our lessons to help Patrick specifically. On our next visit, we started by asking him how he did with our challenge. He said he had been praying for his son every day and that he continued feeling a longing for something more. This was wonderful, because it led us right into a discussion about the Plan of Salvation and how he could be with his son forever. Patrick stopped us partway through and gave us a quizzical look. He asked us, "Not to come across as rude or anything, but... why do you care? What's so important about me and my son that would lead you to tell me these things?" *ENTER HALLELUJAH CHORUS, SUNG BY HEAVENLY ANGELS* Elder Sutherland started by telling Patrick that we are his brothers, and as such, want him to be happy; we also know that families bring happiness, and we want nothing more than for him to experience the happiness that comes from strong families. Furthermore, I added, as messengers of Jesus Christ, we are here to bring His love and to express how much Christ wants him to be happy and to grant his desire to have a fulfilling relationship with his son. The difference this time: we meant it. Every single word. Patrick sat there, amazed that these two boys would care. The Spirit was so thick in the room that I'm not sure that just a knife would cut it-you'd need like some kinda machete. I then said, "Patrick, if you pray to know that what we're telling you is true, and you receive that confirmation, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding His restored Priesthood Authority?" HE ACCEPTED. Through the tears of my unadulterated joy, I saw Patrick smiling too. We then closed with prayer (offered by Patrick) and left. Elder Sutherland and I just sat there for a while. We were both crying, and we just gave each other a HUGE hug. That joy, that love-that's what Missionary work is all about. It's not teaching the best lessons. It's not knowing the Gospel perfectly. It's being able to love everyone unconditionally and to use that love to draw them to Christ. It only took me almost 19 years to realize, but I'm glad that it happened now. This Gospel is truly amazing and I know that I'm where I'm supposed to be. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I love you all and appreciate and can feel your prayers on my behalf. Again, I love you all and hope you all know that and feel my prayers for you.
Love,
Elder Alex Boone
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