Saturday, December 26, 2015

Week 2 - Christmas in the MTC

I don't know what to say about this week, other than it has been so exciting. We had a few more lessons in Spanish this week and we got to meet our long term investigators. Mine's name is Jose Meza, and he's from Guatemala. I don't know when he joined the church, but he gives service to the MTC by pretending to be an investigator for our lessons. We've also progressed so much in the language. The other day the district leader Elder Bezzant and I practiced translating the English scriptures into Spanish. They were fairly short and easy verses, but it was a lot of fun to see how well we could conjugate.

This has also been a week of devotionals. Since last Sunday we've had probably 5 devotionals and 2 special guest speakers. Tuesday night we had the member of the 70 in charge of missionary work come to speak to us. He talked about how the doctrine of Christ is to change yourself and become better, not to be accepted as you are. The MTC choir (mandatory participation for my branch) performed "He Sent His Son" for that devotional. Christmas Eve we watched a video on the Testimony of the Prophets and Apostles from 2000 on Christ's life and his ministry. 

Then came Christmas Day... Let me tell you, Christmas at the MTC is absolutely fantastic. We had an early morning devotional that started with the video "Finding Faith in Christ" which is about the testimony of Thomas the Disciple of Christ. Following that Elder Bednar came and did a Q&A session with our MTC, and 2 others in Ghana and Chile. He talked about Agentsy, which means that we chose to be agents of change in our own lives. He explained that objects, like pens, wait for someone else to change their circumstances, while agents do what they can to make the change themselves. Nephi prayed not for an angel to punish his brothers, but for the strength to break the bands which bound him. It was an inspiring devotional.

Following his devotional we had a special Christmas meal, a reading of "A Christmas Carol" and a special performance by David Archuleta and company. He did fantastic and his reasons for going on a mission were really cool to hear. After his performance we watched "Ephraim's Rescue" which is an amazing Pioneer movie for anyone who hasn't seen it. The whole MTC was either laughing or crying the whole way through. Overall Christmas turned out to be a great day for the missionaries.

I love all of you so much and I'm really glad to know you support me. Thank you for the Christmas packages and all the letters. To anyone expecting a handwritten letter from me, chances are I don't have your physical address on hand, and will need you to send that to me in some form.

As far as pictures go, I will be emailing them home, where they will be put up on elderelderscott.blogspot.com. Get it? Because I'm the elder of the Elder Scott's?  Anyways if you want to see pictures of the things I've been up to, that's where they'll be. I love you all and I want you to know the Gospel is true. There is no other reason 85,000+ missionaries would pay money to leave home for 2 years, and preach to strangers. That's all from me. I'll talk to you next week!

Hasta Luego!


My companion stood under a tree while someone shook the snow off of it.
Elder Horton Videoed his slide, and fell so hard at the end of it.

Non-Utahns are so funny... It's like they've never seen ice before.
Night snow at the MTC
This is Branch 35, Districts E and F.  Elders Left to Right: Hyde, Springer, Horton, Noble, Meek, Cassel, Curtis (bottom), Slack, Scott, Jesson (bottom) Perkins, Bezzant, and Orton. Sisters Left to Right: Hermana Pratt, Blake, Schickedanz, Foutz, Sanchez, and Kingsford. I love this group of Missionaries!



Saturday, December 19, 2015

Week 1 - Provo MTC

Hola Amigos y familia,


This first week has been fantastic. Learning Spanish has been somewhat rough, but I have a huge testimony of the Gift of Tongues, but more on that later. My MTC address is:

Elder Samuel Russell Scott
JAN26  ARG-POS
2005 N 900 E Unit  83
Provo UT 84602

My district has 6 Elders and 4 Sisters. My companion is Elder Noble, and We room with one other companionship. The other two are housed next to us. My room is all going to Posadas, and the other elders are going to New Jersey. 

The Sisters are going to Texas, Virginia, and New Jersey. So far this week I have met my branch president, spent too much time in a classroom and taught an investigator En Espanol! That was rough because it was only our third day and he couldn't speak English. But Through the gift of tongues, el don de lenguas, we were able to get to know him and deliver a message on the love of God.

I love you all and I'm so glad to have your support while I'm here. P-Day is Saturday in the MTC so you can expect emails from me then. I love the environment here and I'm so blessed to be in the branch they placed me in. Thank you for emailing me, it really means a lot to me. Remember that God loves you, and that he has great things in store for you!

Week 1 Provo MTC Photos

Hola familia,


General email will be coming later, but for now I just wanted to send a few pictures, and let you know that P-Day is Saturday. Typically I'll email you in the morning, but I can't be certain.


Elder Scott with his first companion, Elder Noble


First MTC district Elders


First letter home - this came in the morning followed by a real letter in the afternoon.