First P Day at MTC

My first couple of days at the MTC have been great. My companion's name is Elder Roberts who is also going to Raleigh and the two other Elders with us are Elder Postma and Elder Allen who are going to Oklahoma City. Elder Roberts' is from Buckley, Washington; Elder Allen is from Frenchtown, Montana; and Elder Postma is from Cash/Cache Valley Utah. There are ten of us in our district so there are three other sister companionships with us. We've all gotten to know each other better in classes and have been eating meals together. The food is all good, there are plenty of options for meals and there is also endless candy and dessert if you want eat that instead. We share a floor with many Russian and German-speaking Elders who have been here for over five weeks and one room was discovered to have a Christmas tree stuffed in the ceiling and nerf guns in the vents. They also told us about Elder Mittens, a cat roaming around campus and I found him and took a picture. As a room we wake up extra early to beat everyone to the showers and we go to bed a little late because our last class is later in the day so we are getting as much sleep as everyone else. The teachers of our district class are really cool, they are RMs from the same mission and students at BYU. One of my workshop teachers said he was from Texas and got to play football against Kylaer Murray and Patrick Mahomes in high school. Yesterday morning we watched a devotional that was broadcast from the Peru MTC where Elder Holland spoke. Today we are doing laundry then playing basketball and then we are going to the temple together as a district because it is our P-Day. I have attached pictures of our room, our district, our branch in the elevator, and Elder Mittens. The missionaries in our district picture in front of the scripture from left to right are Elder Allen, Elder Postma, Sister Faleta, Sister McKinkley, Sister Thompson, Sister Summerfeldt, Sister Clark, Sister Willis, Elder Roberts, and me. In our room picture from left to right is Elder Roberts, Elder Allen, Elder Postma, and me.

-Elder Thompson

Missionary Training Center- Provo, Utah

Josh's Uncle Cliff, drove Elder Thompson to the MTC at 1 PM. Cliff mentioned that Josh was confident and ready to serve. Josh was able to send us the following short email.

Hi, I am in the MTC now and have gotten settled. I am in my first class with my district and am getting to know my companion and others in my district better. My P-day is Friday so I will be able to talk then. I am learning basics of the MTC and how everything is run. I am very excited to be here. 

-Elder Thompson

Saying Goodbye

 Monday, January 20, 2020, the day was filled with last-minute preparations. Later in the evening, the family went to Leatherby's ice cream parlor to enjoy some delicious ice cream.

Tuesday morning, Josh was asked to attend Bryce's early morning seminary class and talk to the students about his mission preparation. Later that day Ethan, Becki, and Hannah took Josh to the Sacramento airport where he caught a flight to Salt Lake City, Utah. His Uncle Cliff picked him up from the airport.

Officially Elder Thompson

Sunday, January 19th, 2020, Josh was ordained a missionary by our Stake President, President Cocker. Mom, Dad and all siblings were in attendance. Gathering in the Stake President's office as a family for his ordination was a blessing for our family. True love was felt there by all.

Josh's talk in sacrament meeting

Josh spoke in sacrament meeting today. Bryce was the youth speaker.

 Bryce spoke about eternal families. He related it to the Super Bowl. He mentioned how everyone wants to make it to the Super Bowl and in order to get there, you have to put in some hard work. Just like the Super Bowl, families need to put in work to become eternal.

Josh mentioned that him and Bryce must be brothers because they both were using sports analogies. (They did not know what each other was speaking on.) He mentioned that since he was going to North Carolina it might be more important to relate his topic to College basketball. His topic was attending the Temple. He talked about teams trying to get to the NCAA tournament. He talked about the preparation it takes to get there. How you have coaches to help you along the way. He also mentioned that you can't let other thoughts get into your head, like your homework or the cute girl who came to watch your game. He then related this to how we need to prepare to go to the Temple. We have coaches to help us along the way who are not there to demean us but who help us. This he said was the Bishop and Stake President. He also said that we have to stay focused.

Since there were a few minutes left in the meeting, Ethan was also able to say a few words. He talked about the message in the Come Follow Me this week. How we need to hold to the rod. He related this to attending the Temple often and continuing to live worthily to enter there.