TRIPPING

Me and Elder Ward! 

Another great week at the MTC! Pretty much the same drill here. Language, scriptures, class, and handing Elder McDougal L's!! 

Big news: I have gained 6 pounds!! YUP!! I am trying to put on those lbs before I go to Cambodia and lose them all the first week there lol. Those extra six pounds also put me over the edge of weighing more than Elder Nate Owen! Yay!

I know that the title of my email is slang and that most people may not understand the term "tripping", but it was the only way that I could describe my day yesterday. TRIPPY. So we wake up thinking it's going to be a regular Monday like every other day at the MTC. My companion, Elder Bohman, is acting out of the ordinary and isn't talking much. He states that his throat hurts and that he feels weird. Fast forward two hours to breakfast and Elder Bohman is just hard core lost in the sauce.  He fell asleep on the breakfast table and then he gets up without saying anything and starts walking circles around the cafeteria with his mouth wide open. Straight up CIRCLES. I guess he was trying to find his backpack, but he couldn't remember where he put it and he was so lost. We tried to go do a personal study, but he just sat and stared out the window for 20 minutes, so I eventually convinced him to go back to the room. He fell asleep and was OUT for 7 hours. Honestly, from 9 to 4 I just sat around and tried to study, but there was another Elder stuck in the resident hall because he had hives, who is trying to write a post-apocalyptic book, and he had to talk to me about it for 3 hours so it was pretty tough to get much done. We stayed back and missed our night class too, but he ended up being fine and the doctor didn't know what was wrong with him. I decided to self-diagnose it as the tripping disease.

Other things that happened this week:

1. I have an ear infection which kills, but on the bright side, we got to leave campus and walk down the street which was fun

2. I was searching every day to find Elder Gochnour (Charlie) and finally saw him on Sunday at the devotional. He is a great friend and already knows more Spanish than I know Khmer.... how would it be?

3. We didn't have a teacher from Wednesday to Saturday and I didn't go to class on Monday, so I haven't gotten much work done with the language. But it's all good. I tried to do my best to learn on my own (They are in the process of hiring a second teacher, and our other teacher was in Texas for a family thing)

4. Every morning an Elder yells the top of his lungs the Air Force Fight Song or whatever it is, and it really helps me feel the power of the U S of A baby.

Spiritual Thought:

Chad Lewis, the legendary BYU TE gave a devotional on Sunday and it was amazing. One story that stuck with me was of a young boy that passed away in a tragic car accident. He was always so happy and so outgoing, and everyone would wonder how he always acted so Christ-like. While in the Emergency Room his mom was holding his phone, hoping that his son would make it out alive. He got a buzz on a phone that said "Make Christ the center of your life." Another hour passed and she received another notification on his phone that said, "Make Christ the center of your life." He had set up notifications for every hour to remind him that he wanted to live a life centered around Christ. I got emotional when I heard this because even for me, while on a mission spending on my time devoted to Christ, I find myself sometimes not making him the center of my actions and intentions. This young man was an example of me of the importance that building our lives around Christ can be. The importance of being an example to all in simply the way that we live. And consequently, the joy that can come and the peace that we can receive from doing this.

I love the MTC! Sorry for another long email! Read the Book of Mormon! I have been reading the war chapters in Alma and I love them! Teancum is such a BOSS! Now I know why Ralph liked him so much when he got home from his mission. 

Thank you for everyone for your love and support. Go Utes! Glad we were able to pull out another W against those Cougars! I would love to hear from all of you, just email me @jacob.gochnour@myldsmail.net 

Much love, 

Elder Gochnour