Be weary of Lamp posts- April 22, 2026 Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC)
Moin!
Ich habe zwei Woche in MTC geblieben, und es ist solala.
An important update on my last email, unfortunately I did not need to get a sick scar on my lat or spinal cord. We can always hope for next time.
An even more important update, due to an accident yesterday, please excuse if this email seems incoherent. But we will get to that.
For a brief summary of another week in paradise:
On Thursday we started our classes in German immersion. To this point we've been learning things I already know, but it's been fun. Also on Thursday it snowed, and I must admit the Provo mountains were quite something in all white. Finally, on Thursday we discovered the chess boards in the rec room. I've become somewhat of a hustler, currently 4-1 with only one spectacular loss.
On Friday I was able to have a super spiritual experience. During our evening class, one of the sisters in our district was having a really hard time, so I was asked to go out of class and give her a blessing. After which, we sat there and just talked with her until she began to feel better. I thought it was a super cool experience that we actually got to help someone for once. Also on Friday my companion totally abandoned me while I was at the doctor.
On Saturday we had another ramen night, and a very heated theological debate at lunch, the details of which I will spare the general public from. It was also on Saturday that the general mood in our district began to sour. Everyone else seems to be experiencing lots of emotions right now but we're all trying to get through it together.
Sunday was, well, not ideal. We have too many meetings in the MTC, and just the whole day was a huge downer I can't lie. Though it ended with me and Elders Pfiffer and Price talking about the gospel and the challenges of the missionary experience until about 12:30. Don't let my companion know. Oh also our branch president, President Stanford, got called as the mission president of the Temple Square mission, and he got replaced by a much worse dude.
On Monday my highlight was going to the orthopedic doctor for a checkup on my knee. He was both the most knowledgeable and funniest doctor I have ever met. He let me know everything going on with my whole knee and we sat and chatted after about his time in the British military, high school track, and his family's latest Christmas vacation to Vienna. He also told me, that I should be able to dunk, and it's all in my mind. So safe to say I'll be taking flight soon.
Finally, yesterday I had the opportunity to become acquainted with a particularly rude light pole. I was simply walking, not paying attention, while talking to two elders, and I slammed into the pole. I have two huge bumps on my head, and one of my teeth is a little rattled. Although the doctor, when I saw him yet again, said I would be fine in a couple of days, so that is good. Please watch where you're walking. So I spent the rest of the day with a headache, but we had a devotional from Elder Kearon, which was really quite a mess to be honest. But, my favorite part of the day was singing alto in the choir with all the sisters from my district. We were in the very front row and I was the only Elder singing alto, and I was killing it.
Anyway, that's the week, it's been fun, painful, and at times somber. Though thinking of Russian literature always seems to cheer me up. Chess too. Anyway, I've still been too busy deciphering the epistles of Paul to write a full first addition to the serial, but I'll leave you with this introduction to a short story or, "poem" as Elder Pfiffer so ineloquently called it.
"I can see it in your eyes that you want to get out". In an instant, I shot awake, drenched in bitter cold droplets. The visage of the lilac woman haunts my dreams still.
Bis bald, pray I won't lose my tooth,
Elder M.J. Smith
Elder Biesinger, Elder Pfiffer, Elder Smith, Elder Price
Best meal so far at the MTC
Dear Elder Smith! Your Grandmother and my Mother are cousins. Both shared the same birthday. My mother passed away in 2010. They were like sisters. I served my mission in the Hamburg Mission February 1975 to February 1977. My first assignment was Hamburg-Harburg. Where are you? Your grandmother mentioned that you are in Hamburg.Let me know!
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