May 1, 2011 Sunday

Hola Familia y Amigos,

....I love it here at the MTC - the Spirit is so strong and consistent. It makes a world of a difference for spiritual progression when all you have to worry about is whether or not your conversation in your dorm room is condusive to the Spirit. The latest problem: arguing whether or not Canada or the US is better. ha ha. …. Oh! Funny experience! I was laying in bed the other night and I looked up at the bottom of my companion's mattress and had the strangest urge. I then put my feet on the bottom of the springs and pushed up and down up and down! Elder Benson got some good air and the whole room was laughing even Elder Benson who said afterwards that it felt like a roller coaster. Another funny thing with the MTC is that everyone is gaining weight and it takes a ton of effort to stay thin. It's not good when all you do is sit in a room all day with a bunch of other guys and have all you can eat food in the cafeteria with quite a bit of good stuff. We do have the opportunity to go to the gym and that is awesome! I have been running and working out a lot with another Elder from my district. We have made a "goal" to have abs in three weeks time when he heads of to Honduras.

We had the opportunity to go to the temple today and it was an awesome experience as a missionary. I am beginning to realize how amazing the gospel is and how much I have taken it for granted. It is so true and I have only scraped the surface. I am afraid what makes things unachievable is the idea that if we can't see it, it isn't there. When we are at the bottom of a hill or even on the side of the hill we can't comprehend the view on the other side until we make the effort to climb higher.

Striving to climb a little higher,

Elder Curtis Hanson