Halfway there!

So yes this week I passed my halfway mark and it feels like a great accomplishment, but also an eye opener of how fast time has gone by and how soon I am going to be in the Philippines! Everything is blurring together even more than ever! 

Our District had the opportunity to host the new missionaries this week and it was one of the weirdest experiences I have ever had because I was on the other side of things this time and I felt absolutely horrible taking away those missionaries from their families! It's just pretty sad for everyone!

The language is crazy sometimes it feels as if I know exactly what I am saying and that I am making a ton of progress and other times it seems as if I'm not moving anywhere. But like I have said before the GIFT OF TONGUES is real!

By Thursday my district will be the oldest missionaries here in our branch we are getting about 30 new missionaries for our branch this Wednesday.

We have had the opportunity to teach lots of new investigators and do a lot of TRC (which is when we go over to a different building and teach volunteer BYU students and they pretend to be investigators. It's kind of intimidating but sometimes the students are even more nervous than we are!

So lately now that I've gotten so sick of the food I've just stuck to simple stuff like oatmeal, bagels, fruits and veggies, wraps, salads, sandwiches, and soups it makes me feel so much better and I stopped gaining weight! ;) I think 10 extra lbs is enough for the Philippines right?

I've seen a lot of friends come and go because they were going state side so they were in and out in 12 days!

Seeing my cousin Dallin really makes me happy I got a few pictures with him and he lives in the residence building across from mine!

Things that I learned this week was how strong prayer is and how it can help you with anything you are dealing with! 

I don't have much time like usual so I have to go now.

Love, 

Elder Warnick

Almost half way!

Today was a week of ups and downs. 

There was a lot of rainy days so it seemed to but kind of damper on things but I realized that the important thing was to find out the little things that would make me happy! Like PERSONAL STUDY! Personal Study is the one hour of the day where I can be by myself and with the lord as well. I never realized how much I cherished being by myself. 

When something is difficult or bothering me in life I was so used to just getting away from it and walking away from whoever or whatever was bothering me.

The MTC is NOT the case! With a constant companion you have to learn to deal with problems instead of walking away from them. This experience has taught me how to be patient.

We had a chance to hear from Sister Jenny Oaks Baker during our Sunday Night Devotional, she is the daughter of Elder Oaks! She had a great message about using the talents that Heavenly Father has given you.

During our temple walk this week I saw Elder Bateman and got a picture with him! It was so great to be able to see and talk to a buddy! And it seems as if I see him all the time now!

My Cousin Elder Dallin Warnick arrived this week and I have seen him twice! Seeing familiar faces is one of the most joyful things here at the MTC! 

My District is one of the oldest ones here now on our floor because everyone has shipped out and we are almost to our halfway mark! We are getting a new district leader on Sunday/switching SR and JR companions.

We have really picked up on the language this week and are teaching 2 investigators! Jose and Marialina our lessons are generally 20-30 minutes long and are like 95% Ilanggo! It is so tough but pushing yourself to speak the language during the lessons really helps with the progress and understanding of it. The toughest part for me is the fact that Ilanggo is reverse of English so if I were to say "I KNOW THE CHURCH IS TRUE" in ilanggo it would be "KNOW I TRUE CHURCH" but i guess it makes sense in Ilanggo. Apparently the key is to think simple and not try to complicate things/follow english grammar.

I also was sick this whole week because apparently a week or two into the mission districts all get sick? That's what some of the other districts were telling us because if you are constantly around a group of people and living with them it is pretty easy to get sick. But I'm finally feeling better plus Elder Ehninger (i can never spell his name right) gave me a blessing the morning after I realized I was sick. It was his first blessing ever and you could tell that he was nervous but I'm glad that he was able to give it to me and he did a really good job.

The MTC is a great experience but this food is going to be the death of me! (Jeremiah 4:19-20 That verse describes the food here perfectly ;) ) And I have gained 10 lbs already! I look the same so I have no idea where it is all going but my teacher told me how I'm going to loose it all anyway.

Our service that we do each week is working in the cafeteria we get to put away food in the freezers and date boxes and such and there was a gated off place downstairs that our supervisor told us not to go to. There is a sign that says "Any missionary found beyond this point is subject to being sent home" he said he doesn't know what is back there but he is pretty sure that it is like some secret escape route or something.

But all in all I'm doing good and pressing on!

TAKE CARE

Love,

Elder Warnick

2nd Week

Well it seems as if I'm finally in to a routine now, sleeping and eating and class and language. It all just kind of blurs together. This past week we had the chance to teach an investigator 4 times it was all in the language so it made it extremely hard and the lessons had to be super short and simple.

My District is such a great group of elders there is now 7 of us because this Wednesday I got another companion so now I am in a trio. (makes it a little bit easier to live with Elder Clayton because he is super strict yet somehow is slow at the same time so we are always late to things... the other elders are super funny and awesome the other two elders that I room with are Elder Ehninger and Elder Heslop. They're a pretty good team and the other two are Elder Paskett and Elder McCracken they went to the same school together and now they are companions! It's crazy!

We play soccer every day during gym and it's such a nice break! 

I'm definitely learning patience with my first companion because he is literally always by my side even if I step outside the door to get a drink or throw something away he has a heart attack because I left him for 5 seconds... Unbelievably frustrating.

Oh well! On Thursday I saw Elder Joel Bateman and I really almost cried! It is so crazy to be here at the MTC because everything is so confined, you feel as if you aren't even in Utah anymore! I also Elder Tyler Stanley and he is just the coolest! He was supposed to go straight to England but they had problems with the visas so he is here for two weeks! 

I memorized how to invite someone to be baptized in Ilanggo so I guess that is progress!

Well I have to go change my laundry now... 

AMAT-AMAT (little by little) 

Love,

Elder Warnick

First Couple Days!

Well it's finally here and it is the craziest thing that I have ever done.. Its so weird to have this name tag on and to be representing the church. But just like everything around here, you just get used to it! 

Once I was dropped off I was handed books, and materials as well as important information that I needed to go throughout the day. I guess they try to make it as easy for the new elders as possible, but with that little orange dot on my tag it really didn't make me feel very helped. Despite the constant "Welcome to the MTC elders" from all the "older" missionaries.

We started off class right away there is 6 Elders in my district and they are some of the coolest guys I have ever met! Our teacher Bro. Winfield is the coolest teacher at the MTC he is really patient with all of us and he served in the Bacolod Mission as well.

The routine is pretty easy. Waking up at 6:30 is a lot easier when you have a good reason to get up. (to beat the rush to the showers) The MTC is super organized and they have everything scheduled down to the minute.

The language is hard but amazingly comes pretty naturally if that makes any sense? They encourage us to SYL (speak your language) at all times. Which is hard but definitely helpful! So many words are going through my head all the time and it makes talking extremely confusing!

Without a doubt P-day has been the best day so far. Going to the temple as well as getting 2 Packages in the mail were the highlights of my day next to wearing normal clothes again! My branch consists of 3 districts half of us are going to Bacolod and the other half are heading to Iloilo but we all are struggling to learn Illango together.

The whole companion deal is probably not my favorite thing in the world because who knew that it would be so annoying to have someone wait for you outside of the bathroom and always be within "sight and sound" but i know that he means well and he helps me a lot with the language and being punctual. Because "if you're not early, you're late."

I've seen a lot of people here at the MTC like Brady Clark who got to escort be which was a huge blessing because I had no idea what I was doing and it was awesome to see him as soon as i stepped out of the car.

I've also seen Henry Clinger who graduated with me and was on seminary council with me. He just hit his hump (half way mark) and seems like he knows everything that he is doing.

Other kids from payson that i got a chance talk to were Connor Mitchell and Gunnar Mortensen. It's nice to see a familiar face now and then.

Everything is going great and I'm learning a lot!

Love, 

Elder Warnick