1st Letter-Finally!

Hey family!  I miss you soooo much! Thanks so much for the letters that you sent me and thanks Aubrey and Ava for the pictures.  They made me smile so much and it was so good to hear how everyone is doing. I hope I will have time to write grandmas and grandpas, aunt Karla and her kids, and Sister Reese (Dell'oso), but if not thanks so much for the support and I'll write soon!
Wow, I do have a bunch of stuff to tell you! Oh yeah, P-days are on Thursday.  I'm doing so great!  This is the happiest time in my life thus far.  There is so much joy that comes from preaching the gospel and I feel my testimony growing exponentially every day!  D&C 18:15 talks about the joys of missionary work and "how great shall be your joy in the kingdom of your father" and I haven't even taught a real investigator yet!  I love the MTC!  There is such a strong spirit here all the time and I'm sure if there is one place that the Lord smiles on often, it is where his missionaries are.  The first few days were kind of crazy, but I still loved them.  Now that we're on a schedule the days go by fast.  I feel like there isn't enough time to do everything in the day.  It's been good to see lots of friends like Cody, Chandler, Jake McGlothin, Hermana Nelson, etc.
I love my companion!  He is awesome!  His name is Elder Durrant and he's from some made up town in Idaho called Kuna.  We don't have a ton in common but we get along really well.  I know that the Lord puts companions together for a reason and I know that he has strengths that I don't.  He works REALLY hard, which I love.  That's probably the biggest thing we have in common besides our testimonies.  He grew up on a farm and is sort of a cowboy so he knows how to work.  We do say "Bring it on" and added "Cowboy up" in the mirror every morning.  Good thing I worked with Carl this summer, right?:)
My district is great!  We all love each other a lot already and we have a lot of fun, more fun than most districts.  We are so blessed to have hermanas for 3 weeks too.  They are going to Guatemala and the Peru MTC in two weeks but they truly are great examples and are so inspiring.  PS-nobody told me there would be cute sisters in the MTC.  Don't worry, I'm not flirting with them or anything.
I have learned so much in the past week.  My perspective on missionary work has already changed.  I know the Lord has helped me so much this past week with everything and I thank you for your prayers (especially Ava's) :).  I feel them and I feel the Lord's help.  For example, Spanish.  There have been some things that we're expected to learn that seem impossible to do in such a fast time, but as I pray, study, and work hard I am able to do them.  Like my favorite scripture says "in His strength I can do all things".  I can comfortably pray, contact, get to know someone, and bear testimony in Spanish.  Yesterday, I memorized the first vision in Spanish as well.  Just remember family that you can do great things with the Lord's help.
Mom and Dad, you were right in assuming that I'm in class most of the time.  We also have companion, personal, and language study everyday.  It's a busy schedule and can be tough, but I really love it.  I feel like I have so much to learn about the gospel and missionary work!  We went to the TRC on Tuesday where you teach mock investigators, and it was a really cool experience.  I felt the Spirit so strong and once again felt the Lord's hand in our teaching.  One thing I've learned most about is loving the investigator.  The WHY of why do missionary work.  We should teach the gospel because we love our investigators and want to share the best blessing we have with them.  Anyways, in the TRC we asked our investigator if he thought there was a God and he said yes because of the joy that his children bring to him.  I then related how much joy comes from families with the story of how happy I was when I received letters from my wonderful little sisters.  That really pulled at my heart strings and I think it pulled at his too.
CONFERENCE.  Ahh man it was so good!  Maybe its just because I'm a missionary and EVERY talk and song seemed to apply to me, but it seemed better than ever.  How did you like the MTC priesthood choir? Wish I could've been in it!  There was something definitely special about sitting in a room with thousands of missionaries for conference.  When President Monson walked into the conference center I received a powerful witness that he is a prophet of God.  We are SO blessed to have prophets on this earth today, more than we even know.  Where would we be without them?

Arriving at the MTC

So I bought a jet pilot pen the  day I got here and its already out of ink. WOW!  I took about 30 pages of notes from conference.  I'm not going to tell you all of my favorite talks, but what I will say though is follow the prophets!!! I liked what Elder Costa said about how the prophet's words are God's priority.  They should be our priorities.  I promise you that as you all go back and study them and strive to be 100% obedient you will be so blessed and happy.  That is one of our main goals here in the MTC, 100% obedience. I feel those blessings already.  And...the prophet talked about missionary work first!!!!
I loved Elder Holland's talk.  It made me think of you a lot mom and dad.  Thank you so much for sacrificing to raise me and for being great parents. I love you.
Most of all I challenge you, family, to do missionary work! Its hard but the hardest things in life are the ones that bring us the most joy.  I'm learning that here a lot.
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! Keep writing because I appreciate the letters so much.  Know that I'm happy and the Lord watches over me and you.  Follow the prophets and be happy! We are so blessed in this life.
Testifico que el Evangelio de Jesucristo is verdadero y trae felicidad.
Love, Elder Ward