Week 4

 Hello family and friends! Its crazy that it has already been a month its already flying! But to start off, we were out and about and we met a guy named Raul who just happened to be at the MTC picking something up there that day ..anyways so we started talking and he said he wasnt a member so we continued to talk and he said he wanted me and Elder Kwak to teach him so we taught him on Thursday and it went sooo good. He is from Ecuador and is just in Utah for a little bit to learn English. But it went awesome. We are going to teach him again today.  Also on Sunday Brother Newell who is the 2nd counselor in our district said "God has called you with all of your imperfections, to be apart of a perfect work." It was awesome. So then we had an awesome Devo on Sunday with Elder Allen who is like in charge of the missionary program and we sang come Come ye Saints after and it was way good. But Sunday night we started watching Meet the Mormons, and the very last story about the mom who is sending her son away made me cry thinking about my mom sooo i love you mommy :) And yesterday we said goodbye to the other district in our zone as they went off to Montreal, Canada and we were all really close with them and that was sad. Also, someone send Jarom Barnes mom this pic because she made me the coolest apron ever haha. But everything is going so good. The spirit is so strong here and i know its true. Everyone please read the final 2 paragraphs of the Introduction page of the Book of Mormon. It is soooo amazing. also i met an elder from Washington who is a UDUB fan and hates gonzaga haha but he was way cool. Also congrats to all of my classmates for graduating this week (I think..i lose track of time) I love Davis High and it was beyond a pleasure to go to that school and be with the people i was able to be with. Anyways, the church is true i know it without a doubt. Joseph smith was a true prophet and all of the examples like Isaiah 29:11-18, 2 Thess 2:1-3, and many more i know are about the book of mormon without a doubt. I love you all. thank you all for the support. 

Gardez la foi!

Elder Wade

Isaiah 29:11-18

11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, 
Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
13 ¶Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellouswork among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counselfrom the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
18 ¶And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
19 The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

2 Thess 2:1-3, 

1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

Last 2 paragraphs of the introduction page in The Book of Mormon

We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3–5.)
Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is His revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the Second Coming of the Messiah.

This is the awesome apron Jarom Barnes mom Mishaun made for Jesse.

  i learned how to play "If you could hie to kolob" this week on the piano haha good stuff
This is one of Jesse's favorite songs.  If you have time go and listen to it.

Mormon Tabernacle choir singing If you could Hie to Kolob

Davis County represent. Elder Barnes, Soeur Pugsley, Soeur Odom 

( i think they are all going to russia)

Signing off with one last #LiveEmail

Je sais que l'Evangile de Jesus-Christ est vrai, et si vous lisez dans Le Livre De Mormon, l'esprit vous dirais.

Week 3

Hello family and friends! Another amazing week! It is sooo good to hear from all of you and to hear about your weeks. So this week was awesome. We had a devo about ipads and how we can use social media a lot more to spread the gospel. Also, I had the opportunity to give 2 blessings this week which was really cool. There was a sickness going around the place and 2 Elders wanted one. Also i was made Zone Leader this week. It's funny because they give you a cell phone and they have honestly a password for everything so its soo worthless. Haha i got a call this week and i missed it and i tried to see who it was but the password blocked me from calling back or anything. So thats exciting haha. 
So on Monday mon collegue Elder Kwak was sick and so we stayed at the residence for like 10  hours and he was just sleeping so i honestly had personal study for soo long haha it was awesome. But Elder Bastien (my companion at the beginning) left this morning at 4 am so that was kinda sad Haha its like saying goodbye to your family again. Also the Soeurs left Monday morning so that was sad too. It's way exciting too see them go out in the field and i cant even wait 3 more weeks. 
So at our devotional they started off by singing "Praise to the Man" (my fav) so then i turned to my companion and said "The next song will be 'If You Could Hie to Kolob'" (my second fav) and the BAM she got up and announced we were singing If You Could Hie to Kolob and i basically yelled at the devo haha it was awesome. So that was cool.Thats all for this week...thought for the week is dont "endure to the end", "enjoy to the end". Whatever you are going through, just ENJOY it. As long as we are living our lives in harmony with our Saviors, he will bless us. I know that for a fact. I love you guys! \

Elder Wade

the dorm we stay in. me, elder connell, elder bastian, elder warner, edler brook, elder kwak

the original trio aye

Elder Dudfield from Austrailia 

 Like 86 ppg right here hahaha

Colgate, Utah St, Gonzaga, BYU. We all gotta play against each other one day haha

 President Burgess wanted a pic with the guys so this was last week.

 Elder Miller and Johnny G.  Brock left for Argentina on Monday.

 hahaha the one on the right plays football at suu and had i promise the biggest biceps ive ever seen.

 President Dowling (loves basketball) and his wife

Study selfie while my companion is throwing up :))))

 haha there was fireworks outside so we all ran and recorded it 

because it was like we could see the outside world for a little bit haha

 this girl said she loved gonzaga so i snapped a selfie with her.

 she had them winning the national championship too haha

 the people in my dorm play this ninja game in class while im studying. i have a video but it wont send, so this pic will have to do haha. this is through the peep hole and you can see them all the time.

 this pic is 10 seconds old so technically its #LiveEmail

 Elder Harris

The dorm with the soeurs right before they left for the west indies!

Week 2

Hello everybody! Haha i have learned a lot since my last email so i wont make it so boring and long...my bad.

It was such a great and spiritual week. We were in a trio companionship last week but  we got a new member to our district Elder Kwak and they chose me to be his companion. He is from georgia but ancestors from Korea. so he is now my companion but I still hang with Bastien and Connell all the time too. We have such a good time haha and honestly laugh so much. So i had my first hard day in the MTC on Thursday and then as i was going back to class, the scripture Matthew 10:39 popped into my head and honestly I got so happy and it totally changed my day around. Other than that moment, it has been amazing. I memorized Joseph Smith's first vision en francais so that was fun. Haha so the French is going soooo great. Like i said last week, the gift of tongues is sooo real and it is helping out so much. But during this week we were teaching a familiy and i said "ton peche" which means "your peach"...instead of saying "ton peches" which means "your sins". So at the end of the lesson, mid testimony, i said "I know that Jesus Christ atoned for your peaches" and they started laughing so hard. Pretty funny and embarrassing and the sad thing is, i know that it wont be the last time i say something like that. So Saturday night, Elder Warner was having a really hard time about stuff and he asked me to give him a blessing and it was so spiritual. I got a feeling of love for him that i didn't know was possible and its crazy to think that our Savior has a perfect love for us. I cant even imagine it. So sunday was super awesome as well...President Merrill got released after 4 years of being a bishop in our zone so that was sad. But Brother Dowling is now our President and he loves basketball (he played at byu) but he loves Gonzaga so we have gotten along perfectly ;) So then sunday night, we watched the talk by Elder Bednar "Character of Christ" and it absolutely changed my life. Please everyone find a time to read it sometime this week. its amazing. So then yesterday i was curious about what the introduction of the Book of Mormon said, because ive never really read it before...and i started bawling half way through just because the spirit testified it was true. I used to never cry, but ever since arriving at the mtc i get teary eyed over so many things haha im such a baby :') The Book of Mormon is so amazing. Haha sorry im pretty much all over the place with this email. Also my mom came in so clutch yesterday with cinnamon rolls and everyone was crying when we tasted them because of how good they were and how much we miss home made food thats actually really good so thanks mom :) the mtc food isn't horrible but its not like amazing either haha. But thank you all soooooo much for the support and everything. I love this gospel so much and i am having an amazing time!! 

Scripture of the week Mosiah 17 8-10.

They gave Abinadi 2 options...

1. Deny everything he had said and they would let him live

2. Not deny it and thy would kill him

Read what he says its extremely powerful and if you ever doubt your testimony, its a great scripture to read. Anyways...love you all!!

Elder Wade

Matthew 10:39

 "He that findeth his life shall lose it: 
and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."

Mosiah 17: 8-10

 8 For thou hast said that God himself should come down among the children of men; and now, for this cause thou shalt be put to death unless thou wilt recall all the words which thou hast spoken evil concerning me and my people.
 9 Now Abinadi said unto him: I say unto you, I will notrecall the words which I have spoken unto you concerning this people, for they are true; and that ye may know of their surety I have suffered myself that I have fallen into your hands.
10 Yea, and I will suffer even until death, and I will not recall my words, and they shall stand as a testimonyagainst you. And if ye slay me ye will shed innocentblood, and this shall also stand as a testimony against you at the last day.

Character of Christ talk by Elder Bednar:

http://www2.byui.edu/presentations/transcripts/religionsymposium/2003_01_25_Bednar.htm

Here is Elder Miller and Elder David Maynard.  They all played basketball together during the summer for Utah Prospects.  Elder Maynard played for Herriman High School too.  

Here is Elder Miller again with Elder Dalton Nixon.  Elder Nixon entered the MTC last Wednesday.  Elder Nixon played basketball for BYU this year.  Jesse played with Elder Nixon in Jr. High for a year and then Elder Nixon moved to Orem.  Elder Nixon is going to Boston Massachusetts.

Last good bye

People ask how can you let him go for 2 years.  That is such a long time.  And to be honest it is.  It is hard to have him gone.  In fact I was not prepared to feel what I felt when I said good bye for the last time for 2 years.  The only contact we have with him will be once a week when he emails, or if he sends a hand written letter. We will get 
to Skype him at Christmas and Mother's Day as well, but thats it.

Going from talking, texting, and seeing him everyday to not knowing 

when we will hear from him is hard to comprehend...

But... I have a testimony that what he is doing is far more important than missing him.  
I have felt the Savior's peace and love fill the void in my heart everyday.  
I am so excited for Jesse to be able to share the message of the Savior.  I have loved hearing his testimony already on the gift of tongues   I know that he is sacrificing so much, but that he also has been given so much, and 2 years is nothing when compared to eternity.

Here is our last good bye at the MTC (missionary training center).  It was so so hard to let him go.  This video clip is Jesse walking away for the last time for two years. It was so  hard to say good bye for everyone, but we would never want him to leave if we 

did not believe in what he is going to go share with the world.  

 A funny side note, after he walked away I jumped in the car and just sobbed and sobbed.  All the sudden I hear some guy trying to comfort Ellie on the sidewalk who was hyperventilating.  He was the traffic controller and he was probably saying to himself "where are her parents. "  I was like kids fend for yourself, there is no way I can help you right now.  Just try to make it in the car.
-Jesse's Mom

Week 1

Hello everybody!! Such a great first week at the MTC. 

To be honest all of the rumors about the MTC are such a lie. I love it here. 

So real quick a recap of what I did each day:

Wednesday:

We has a bunch of way cool orientation stuff and it was all way spiritual. We sang "Called To Serve" and honestly one of the coolest things I've ever done. My companion is Elder Connell from South Carolina. Haha he is the funniest kid. He looks nothing like me but basically acts the exact same as me its pretty awesome. I also have another companion Elder Bastian from Haiti and he is sooo hilarious. He has the sickest accent ever and it makes me honestly so happy and i kid you not i woke up Thursday morning and my stomach hurt because of how much I laughed. I stay in a small room with another pair of companions (Elder Warner from Washington and Elder Brook from Idaho) and they are all cool kids.

Thursday:

We woke up and had personal study, breakfast, then classroom study where we basically study french for 4 hours straight and then lunch at 11:30. We were supposed to have another 4 hours of study after lunch but my companions didn't have all of their immunizations so we spent the majority of that time running around getting their immunizations done. Then we met with the branch presidency (basically our zone bishopric) and then after that we went and played basketball and i was 2 three pointers away from breaking the MTC record on my first night (i made 17) so ill try to beat that every day haha. you get one chance per day to beat it.

Friday:

We woke up and did service around the MTC for about 2 hours and then we had our first lesson with an investigator in French! Haha it was crazy. We could barely speak for the most part haha and she spoke fluent French. Her name is Sabrina. But we bore our testimonies and it was awesome at the end. Then we basically just had study and study and eat and then study and study and more study haha. You study honestly every second in the MTC i love it. Also our prayer on Thursday was cool because i was with the 4 other people in my room and we all got down and Elder Connell asked that we have the gift of tongues and i though about how cool that was because its like we all rely on our Savior soooo much here. And we cant do anything without him...especially learn another language.

Saturday:

Its all really repetitive. WE wake up, study, eat, study from 8:30-11:30. Lunch at 11:30. Personal study, companionship study, language study until like 4:30 and then dinner at 4:30 and then our teacher Frere Nash helps us out from 5-8.

Sunday:

We woke up and had mission conference. it was so cool the whole mtc was there and we listened to the mtc presidency.After we went to our own zone priesthood and sunday school stuff. since it was fast sunday, we bore our testimonies. I got up and could say about 70% of my testimony in all French. The gift of tongues is soooo real its crazy. I have progressed soo much in the language over the week and its because of the gift of tongues. I can honestly feel it helping me out so much its crazy. 2 NE 32:2 is such a good scripture about what im going through right now.

Monday:

We basically do the same thing every day haha sorry this letter is WAYYY too long. Its really repetitive here in the MTC.

I love it here! Today we woke up and went to the temple and did a session at 5 in the morning and i didnt even fall asleep :) hahaha But honestly the spirit here is sooo strong. I feel it honestly every second here. Its been a great week....except for laundry this morning. It was a disaster haha i needed so much help. Mom you would have been so disappointed if you would have seen me and all the help i needed. Good thing there are a lot of Sister missionaries willing to help haha. Well i hope you all had a great week!

Elder Wade

2 Nephi 32:2
"Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?"

This is Jesse with Elder Brock Miller.  
Brock played for Brighton this year and against Jesse
 in the semi-final state game.  They have also played on the Utah Prospects team together.
They are really really great friends.  Brock is going to Argentina in 3 weeks.
He has already been at the MTC for 3 weeks.

This is Sister Alexa Larson.  She is going to Argentina in three weeks too.
 Jesse and Alexa went to Davis High School together.

 

This is Jesse's district.  All of these people are learning 
French and going to serve in French speaking missions.

This is Jess's companion Elder Connell.  He is from  South Carolina.
Looks they are getting some serious studying in.

Here is another picture of his district.