P-Day #2

Hey friends and family! Well its my last P-Day here at the Provo Utah MTC. Time flies. When I first got in here the zone leader at the time told me that "The days will feel like weeks, but the weeks will feel like days" I looked right at him and told him that was the dumbest thing I had ever heard (it had been a long day) but turns out he was right. 

This week we spent a long amount of time looking for Narnia holes. For those not familiar with the term, Elders will hide boxes and stuff up in the air vents for future elders. So we looked for that for a while. And we are going to make ours today for future Elders. 

Being a Zone Leader is awesome. You get to know a lot of people and help out. I spoke in front of the whole MTC on Thursday for the Thanksgiving Devotional. It was whack! I was so scared, but I thought it went ok. The spirit is so powerful in helping you overcome adversity. 

We are teaching TRC's and committed 2 of the 3 of them to baptism! It is awesome. I love helping people find their own testimonies. I cant wait to get out there into the field. 

There isnt a whole lot that went on this week. One really funny story. An Elder named Elder Davies is super quiet; he is really introverted. We all like to mess with him, like trying to give him hugs and just make him feel awkward. Nothing mean, he doesn't mind it. He actually ends up laughing more than all of us. So last night he went to brush his teeth and we were all in there and someone said, 'Lets prank Elder Davies" and were all like, "Ok." So we have basically giant lockers that we keep all of our stuff in, and their located across from our beds. So Elder Timmerman, climbed into Davies bed and hid under his covers all the way up against the wall. Elder Duckworth hid in Elder Davies locker. The lights were off because it was past curfew. Elder Davies came in and couldn't see anything. He went to find the alarm clock in his locker and ended up feeling up; Elder Duckworths legs. We all lost it. Later he climbed in bed, got all under his covers, and Elder Timmerman (who was still in his bed) tried to give him a hug. Needless to say I literally laughed for like 20 minutes. We must've woken the entire building up. I was fading so hard. It was awesome. 

I am trying to do better at writing emails and writing in my journal, as well as taking pictures. 

Go read ROMANS Chapter 8 

-Much love, Elder J Steele Rapier

P.S. I forgot my camera cord in my room and I'm too lazy to walk over and come back, plus I'm over email time. So pictures next week I promise. Ill be in Washington early Monday morning. Love you all so much.

P-Day #1

Hey everybody! Coming to you live from the MTC on my fist preparation day! In short, it rocks here! The food is questionable at best but other than that it's great! The days are a lot longer than i'm used to. I am literally tired all the time. The work of god is hastening.

My first companion is Elder Timmerman, he rocks. He is going to play football at SUU when he gets back, and is from Arizona. That being said its still hard to be with someone 24/7 so its going to be hard when I get a companion that I dont like. The second day we were here we must've been doing something right because we were called to be Zone Leaders, so that's been awesome to get to know some more Elders and Sisters and have a chance to further serve our Heavenly Father.

Elders Timmerman and Rapier

Leaf throwing

The first night we were here we got "hazed" which wasn't hazing at all, they just squirted the drinking fountain in our mouths while we lay on the ground and counted how many seconds we could do it for. It was still fun. 

Also, we have 6 elders staying in our room and it is a love/hate relationship. You get to know all of them super quick, but it also smells rank in there. One of the elders has an alarm clock that measures humidity. At one point it was so bad - the humidity was above 80%. We proceeded to steal a fan from our classroom and walk all the way across the MTC campus with it! One of the biggest things I've learned is that elders are still just regular dudes that like to have fun. Some like to have just a little too much fun but that's a whole other story.

The contraband

Also last night the Zone leaders that were in charge when I got here left, and that was a bummer. On the other hand the way we showed them off was awesome. We have accumulated a stash of about 30 nerf guns in a massive box. We spent and hour last night having a floor wide nerf battle. My companion was in sliders and smashed his toe into a wall so bad it was bleeding. There is also this frog that was ceremonially passed down from the zone leaders that left to us. It has been passed down from districts sine 2008!! It's this gross webkins looking thing that I didn't want to be anywhere near! 

Now to more spiritual things, my testimony has grown immensely from being here. You spend so much time in study that it really makes you ponder your relationship with Christ. I almost can't wait to get out into the field. The biggest thing I have learned, and that I want to share with you, is that you must act. As I prepared to serve a mission I always thought that a soon as I actually got my mission call I would become this super spiritual guy who was converted unto Christ through some sort of magic or something. When that didn't happen, I figured it would be when I went through the temple, and when it didn't happen then I figured it surely had to happen when I was set apart - wrong strike three. 

Since coming to the MTC I've learned you must actively seek out God and his teachings. The work you put in will be reciprocated in the level of spirituality that you feel. Right now the main thing I am working on is teaching our investigators by the spirit and humbling myself enough to listen for the promptings! 

Love you all! Write me back so I have something to read in a week, lol. 

Much love,

Elder J Steele Rapier

I'm Alive!

Well, the MTC is actually super fun. I thought it would be super scary but it isn't. 

They want me to email you about a site called dearelder.com so you can use that and send me a letter that will be delivered immediately to me in the MTC. So please do that lots. Also send snacks, lol. 

Um, I love it here. Time passes so slowly but it is so much fun. Tell Ammon to value his sleep because I nodded off this morning in a class. Whoops.  Honestly the MTC is NOTHING like I thought it would be. I've seen a couple kids from high school here as well, so that's awesome. Can't think of anything else. Cant wait to go to work. 

The spirit is so strong here and there is a great love among the elders. Also, I cant get over being called Elder, it just doesn't sound right. 

Anyway keep on keepin' on. Sure love ya! :) 

Elder Rapier