FINAL WEEK IN THE MTC!

Ok, I REALLY don't have too much time today--I have to do all my packing and finish up a bunch of other stuff today. 

It's exciting and a little scary to think I'll be in the field next week, but I know the Lord has been preparing me and those with whom I'll speak. 
Tell the family I say hi, I love them, and to share the gospel! 

Love,

Elder Gaughan

Almost Done

Thank you so much for the updates! I'm so sorry, I was responding to other people and I'm really slow with this, and I ran out of time. Here's the news for the week: I ran into Elder Logan Nelson and Sister Danissa Dunn! I seen other people here that I've known here, but those was by far the most exciting and coolest experiences. I got my travel plans for Texas! I'm leaving the 24th at 4:30 in the morning (from the MTC) with three other missionaries in my district going to Dallas. I'm sad to think I have to let go of the elders and sisters in my district, but I'm excited and ready to go out into the field. The night before on Sunday, I'll be singing in the giant MTC choir for the church-wide missionary work conference on the 23rd. If any of you are going to that, look out for me! Mom I got the package, thank you so much! That was so nice of you to do in the midst of all the packing and everything going on right now. I loved the Sprite packaging too, that was a nice touch. 

We belong to the true the church of Jesus Christ, and this is His work. We have so much to be grateful for! Good luck with finishing the move, I'll be praying for you!

Love,

Elder Gaughan

Missionary Training Center

Well it's been a good week here. On Friday morning, someone from the MTC's PR or something came into our room, gathered together our district, and told us we'd have a group of baptist ministers visiting our class with the president of the MTC and Elder Hinckley (President Hinckley's son, the emeritus General Authority). Unfortunately it messed a lot with our focus for the day, but the experience itself was really, really good. They came into our class, and besides asking a few questions, spent 15 minutes praising us for being here and spending our time in the Lord's service. They even said a blessing over us and prayed for us, it was amazing. And we all got permission to say the baptist "amen" as the head minister talked about how loving the Savior is the great commandment, so that was pretty fun. But really, it showed me that there are good, good people outside of our church that love, serve, and know Jesus Christ, and that it's not quite so much "us against the world" as I always thought. One of them offered a prayer, and it was one of the warmest, most sincere, and most beautiful I think I've ever heard. It made me think a lot about how I speak to my Heavenly Father and how I treat my prayers. 

The MTC is a humbling experience. Every day the Lord teaches me that I need to depend on Him, and that I have no hope of being the missionary, companion, or leader He needs me to be without His help. Especially in terms of learning to love people like the Savior--I'm starting to understand how fundamental that is, and why it comes before everything else. I read 3 Nephi 17 this week, and I feel like I just got the smallest glimpse of how much He loves each of us, and how much He helps us every day. 

Love,
Elder Gaughan

                                       Our District during a VIP guest visit

Life is Good

Wow, things are really crazy over there. I'm sorry, I spent too much time reading and working on other letters so this will have to be a quick one. The district is doing well, we're learning and growing a lot. We set a goal to speak 100% Spanish yesterday, so that was hard, but went well. We're doing good though. I realized the other day that almost whenever I speak I end up slowing down a lot and "um"ing through a lot of my sentences. Haha we taught a native speaker last week, and I had to keep myself from laughing when I heard him talk and realized I barely know what I'm doing. But things are good. Did I tell you that there's a sister from SVU in my district? Crazy right? Her name is Sister Libby Braddy. I didn't know her too well before, but it's been cool having someone from my "previous life" here. Things are good besides that. Your weaknesses really come out in here, and you start to realize just how far you have to go. But every day is inspiring and motivates me to be a little better, and to lean on the Savior a little more. And don't worry, I have a lot of fun too. My district is hilarious and our teachers are awesome.

I'm praying for you guys, I hope everything keeps moving forward well. The gospel is true! 
Love, 

Elder Gaughan