Week 2 MTC

TALOFA From the Future!!! :)

Family and friends, I love you all so much!!! Today i have a little bit longer to email and have planned better to hopefully get to emails you have sent to me. If I do not get to you I hope you know I still love, think, and pray for you.. Thank you all so much for the love and support you have given to me! Your love and prayers I know are helping me so much. I think it would be a good idea to explain what "Talofa" means. My companion Elder Tauti is from Samoa as are many of the Elders here in the NZ MTC. "Talofa" is hello in Samoan. Talofa Lava is a formal greeting. Elder Tauti has been teaching me as much Samoan as I can remember. However, I am very what they call in Samoa, "Plagi" (plangi) or white. So the words are hard to pronounce for me at times! I am conning to a better understanding however! They pronounce every single vowel in their words while in English we are more reluctant to do so. Elder Tauti even gave me an "ie lavalava" which they wear in Samoa. Not going to lie... I do have the best white legs for it! :D

We have about 20 different nations represented here in the NZ MTC. There are very few of us who come from the US. Many are from Samoa, Tonga, and Australia. Others come from France Switzerland, Italy, Fiji, New Zealand, Vanuatu, and we have one sister from Tasmania! We love to talk about and share one another's cultures/traditions. We love to sing hymns in different languages while we iron and do laundry. I hope the pictures I sent were able to work! Elder Hales and I have introduced the beauty of Hackie Sack to many Elders here and our circle is growing larger and larger! One Elder who I have become really good friends with is Elder Tom from Vanuatu. He is so good at soccer! He makes the rest of us look pretty bad! Another Elder in our Hackie sack group is Elder Mills! He is such a great guy! I meet Elder Mills in the San Francisco airport. He is learning French because he got a French call to Vanuatu. He is from Laguna Beach, California and he know Grandma Wilkinson! WOW! Small world huh?!

 I know a few of you were interested to know what kind of food we have been having while here in the NZ MTC! Breakfast ranges from pancakes with corn in peas in them, French toast, Ham with eggs, and may other things! Lunch has been hamburgers, pastas, what they call "fish and chips" here, and many more tasty things. One of the best Dinners has got be the fish we had last night! Wow! Shout out to Grandpa Wilkinson who told me New Zealand fish was amazing! I do love New Zealand! I love the people here! The teachers here i n the MT C are absolutely incredible. My favorite teacher's name is Brother Vuljion (fillyouin) as in he is going to fill you in!! :D He is the best religious teacher I have ever had in my life. One thing he said powerfully during class was if we listen to our investigators with true love and concern for them we won't have to worry about what to say because the Holy Ghost will fill or mouths. I love this promise so much! I testify of the truth of my teacher's words. The Holy Ghost does fill the mouths of his missionaries who are worth and working hard. Alma 13:24 tells us angels go forth to "prepare the hears of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory." I know the Lord is preparing hearts in Vanuatu for us missionaries to go and serve. This scripture comforts me, excites my whole heart and soul, and fills me with determination. I have loved my MTC stay but the fact that I am leaving next Wednesday for Vanuatu makes me the happiest human alive. I have never been more excited! I am still determined to give my whole heart and soul to God and these beautiful people of Vanuatu I can't wait to meet and serve! We were able to go to the temple last week and yesterday. I love the New Zealand temple so much. The beauty and spirit which surrounds every part of it will leave you with pure joy! Since there is not a temple in Vanuatu I was very grateful for the time I had to go. I will be eager to go to the temple when I get back home! I hope you get my pictures and are able to see the beauty of it! I know temples are Houses of our Heavenly Father. I encourage all who can to go to the temple and partake of the great blessings we receive there!

I have a funny story for you all as well as something The Lord taught me this week! I headed into class one day and dropped my pencil underneath the desk as soon as I sat down. As I went to retrieve my pencil my shirt pocket caught the end of the desk and ripped a little bit. I was really upset at myself and did not have the most positive of thoughts afterwards. I calmed down and even asked God through prayer if He would help me fix my pocket. Elder Tauti reminded me everything would be okay and it was just a little rip in the pocket. Later into the day Elder Tauti and I were dancing, goofing off in the hallway of the MTC, and making the sister missionaries laugh like always. Suddenly elder Tauti hit a Michael Jackson hit/squatting dance move.. and his pants ripped from the top of his crouch to almost his pant leg. Elder Tauti's efforts to hide what had now become reviled to the outside world were in vain. The best he could do was use his little water bottle to try and hide the massive hole. We ran back to our room laughing our heads off! We laughed so hard we had tears in our eyes. We could still hear the sister laughing from the hallway. Poor Elder Tauti! He is a good sport. I was able to sew my shirt pocket as good as new as I perfectly remembered my Momma's sew lesson to me while watching Back To the Future. The Lord will answer any prayer through faith, His own desires, and through hard work on our part. The Lord taught me that day if you have a ripped pocket someone else might have ripped pants. It could always be worse! Someone always has it worse than you. So, we should look to serve others when we feel like our trials or ripped pockets our too much. Chances are someone has ripped pants who needs our help. Let us be more determined to thik of others like our Savior Jesus Christ. I testify as we do we will be helped with our trials and be filled with true joy and love for others. I love all of you so much.I love being a missionary!

My dear parents, I couldn't thank you enough for allowing me and sacrificing so much so I can be here. I feel of your love every day. My backpack, pencils pens, shoes and so much more of what you have provided me are amazing. Thank you. I hope you know Mom that I ham praying for you especially. I know the lord will help you accomplish your school work, calling, and all other desires of your heart. I love you.

Stay strong and be safe my family and friends. Remember The Lord loves and knows each of you personally. I don’t know when my next email will be as I leave this coming Wednesday but  I will do my best to email as soon as I can.

Much love,

Elder LaMont/ Shark bait/ Your Alekken Ty

First Letter

TALOFA TO MY BEAUTIFUL FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!! LIFE IS GOOD HERE IN THE FUTURE :D

It is such a blessing to be able to sit down and share with you some of the amazing experiences I am having here  in the South Pacific. Thank you for your continual prayers, love, and support! I feel the power of your prayers and your love fuel me with much strength to serve our loving Heavenly Father.

My arrival here in the MTC was amazing! I flew in one of the biggest planes I have ever seen for 13 long and exciting hours! Saying goodbye to my family is easily one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. However, the waves they sent me as I went through Air Port security filled me with love and the Spirit of The Lord reminded me of my important calling! While on the way to New Zealand many asked who we were and we shared with them our purpose as missionaries of the Lord. I felt the Spirit work through us as we did our best to be examples of Christ everywhere we went.

My arrival in the MTC was amazing! I absolutely love being here. The first thing that happened upon my arrival was breakfast. We ate some form of spaghetti with boiled eggs and toast. They have these flavors of drinks here to choose from. My favorite is the lime green color which tastes exactly like a green otter pop but I have no idea what it is. "You have no idea what it is... and you are eating it...? Once you get pass the gag reflex a whole world of possibilities opens up!" Haha! I love that quote from Ratatoullie! After breakfast the MTC President meet with me and with his thick Australian accent he told me he felt inspired to call me to be a Zone Leader here in the MTC. I really felt the spirit testify to me that God wanted me to be a leader here. It seems the Stake President was very inspired when he told me The Lord would teach me how to be a leader  on my mission. I am doing my best to serve and love all the missionaries I have been entrusted with. I have struggled learning names but I am getting better and as I have come to know the missionaries here and serve them I have come to a better knowledge of just how much our Father in Heaven loves us. My Companion and fellow Zone Leader is Elder Tauti (Tow-tee) He is a kind, humble, and wise Samoan who will be serving in the Adelaide, Australia Mission. We have worked very hard and set goals to love, care, and get to know all those around us. As we have worked through the Spirit of the Lord we have really helped others and they have come to trust us.

While here in the MTC my jaw started to hurt. (Momma, take a deep breath this story has a great ending. Love you) I prayed for help that everything would work out. Elder Tauti and I continued to go to our amazing classes. The jaw did get worse and one side of my face began to swell. To be completely honest I was really worried and unsure of what to do. I prayed to God asking him to help make sure everything would  be alright. I knew I must have faith. I opened my scriptures and read a powerful verse. The scripture is about Joseph Smith praying to the Lord asking why is going through the trials he is going through in the Liberty Jail. D&C 122 verse 7 which reads, "And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murders, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing sure conspire against thee;if fierce wind s become become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way ; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." I know this scripture is true. The Lord gives us trials to strengthen us. He loves us and He did send us to this earth to become like Him.  As I continued to muster as much faith as I could I felt inspired to go to the MTC President. It turns out he is a dentist! I was given antibiotics and a trip to the dentist a few days after. What I had turned out to be a "Dry Socket." Through my faith I have become fully healed and my face is completely normal with no more pain. My dear family and friends, remember how much The Lord loves each and everyone of you. Our trials are hard for each and everyone one of us but I promise that if you are faithful the Lord will give you so many blessing you will

I have so much more to share but my time has ran out. I hope you know I love each and everyone of you. I wish I had more time to email each and everyone of you. Thank you for your love and support. My parents, I am doing well and am very happy here in the MTC. I am in the right place. I have all I need and I am healthy. Dad, I bought a hymn book and a small quad to use on my misson. That is all the purchases that I made.

Much love from The South Pacific/ The future,

Elder LaMont /Shark Bait / Island Boy

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Learning the language

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