Elder Stone

Dear Mom and Dad and Family,
Well the week mark of me being here came and passed! It was fun seeing the new missionaries come in on Wednesday and thinking how quick they are going to grow. It's always fun to welcome people into the MTC. Funny experience. I was walking out of a building with my companion and there were like 10 Hermanas (sisters) walking toward us. As they got closer I noticed that they were taking up the whole pathway that we were headed on. Knowing me, you might have thought how excited I was that there were girls walking our way but the first thought I had as they got closer was "don't touch me, don't touch me." Haha now you know how far gone I really am.
Well I feel like either my mind is going to explode from so much knowledge or my heart is going to explode from so much feeling the Spirit. This week has been really powerful again. We had a substitute teacher come and teach us and she was so powerful! I'm going to put one of her quotes in here because I loved it so much. "You are not eating for you anymore. You are eating so you have the energy to bring souls unto Christ. You are not sleeping for you anymore. You are sleeping so you have the energy to bring souls unto Christ. You are not going to the gym for you anymore. You are going so that you can be fit to bring more souls unto Christ. If you are doing these things just for you, you are only on a mission. You're not a missionary." It was so powerful when she said it. After she was done talking we watched a video of a family who joined the church and then a year later went through the temple and the lady was talking about how she felt the Savior's love so much. At that moment I had a reassurance that our Savior does love us and the Spirit was so strong. I might have cried a little. It's a good thing real men cry, right? There has been so many things that have changed my perspective on life. I seriously feel like I will be writing something down and then mid sentence they will say something else that hit's me and I'm thinking wait! Let me finish my sentence before you saying something else inspiring! I do feel my knowledge increasing by leaps and bounds. I've learned that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not some deep doctrine that is hard to understand. It is meant to be simple! I love that fact. I wish I could tell you everything I've learned in one email but I highly doubt that I would ever finish it. Just last night I had a life changing lesson by David A. Bednar about the Character of Christ. It was one of the coolest talks I have ever read. I'll give you a few points I liked but you should go look it up. It will change you're perspective. He talked about the difference between conversion and testimony and how if you just have a testimony you will fall away from the church, but if you are converted then nothing can take you away from the church. Conversion is an every day process that never ends. He also talked about losing yourself in the work and how you will find yourself. Basically the character of Christ was to turn outward and not be selfish and that is something we all desperately need to start doing. I'm not doing it justice so you should look it up!
So I didn't get to my companions in my last email so I will try to get to them now. First off, my companion's names are Elder Robinson and Elder Bainter. Elder Robinson was my companion to start off with and he is a really cool guy. We are a lot the same in our personality so it works out really well. Elder Bainter didn't use to be our companion but his companion went home because he needed to get some stuff cleared up. I really hope he is able to get back out here. It was a little bit difficult trying to work out a trio companionship because we were already bonded but it seems to be doing loads better now. Elder Bainter is a really smart Elder who knows the Gospel. We are all still super excited to be here and it is fun getting to know them. Well I love you all so much! I pray for you every day that you will be happy. One thing that we all have in common up here at the MTC is that we can feel the Spirit so strong and I hope that you guys will be able to feel it too. Please write me and tell me all the happenings down in Hurricane. Whether it is big or small I really love hearing about everything. Also, if you could tell people about Dear Elder that would be awesome. It's fun hearing from everybody! Well I hope that you guys are having loads of fun! Enjoy that cruise that you are going on this Spring Break. You guys are the one's missing out! I'm gonna try to write a letter today but our preparation day seems to end up being super unpreparational because of all the meetings that pop up. I love you guys so much!
Love Elder Stone