Elder Cody Mickelsen's Scotland/Ireland Mission: August 12, 2015

The MTC is good and things are really better than I thought. The first day we got here, we got our name tags and we were able to get oriented with the MTC and everything. Then that night, we got our companions. My companion's name is Elder West and he is from London. We are going to the same mission and I am one of the only missionaries in the MTC with a British companion. So I really have an advantage. Hearing the British accent constantly is causing me to kind of do it myself. I hear myself accenting different parts of sentences and saying words different. He has also been helping me refine my British accent in our down time, but I think I'll have a kind of Scottish accent when I speak to you on Christmas. Haha.

There aren't many missionaries here, only about 80, but they have said that we are the largest group to come through the England MTC ever. So we have that going for us. But everyday we get up at 6:30, which was hard the first few days getting over jet lag and things, but it has become habit now.

We have some sunny days and England is so beautiful!! Everything is so green and there are these ancient stone walls everywhere and moss and cathedrals and everything!!

We get up at 6:30 and are in class until 9:00pm. It's crazy. And all of it is church related. We are headed to the Temple at 1:00 and I'm pretty excited. It should be really good. My companion is my really good friend and I have made friends with almost everybody here. We all sit together at every meal and we talk and have a lot of fun. In our lessons, we talk a lot about how we are not teachers and we are inviters. The Spirit is the teach and we invite them to listen to the teacher. And I have had a week solid of just those lessons. We have practiced with our teachers and companions in doing role play and I think it goes well in role play, but it still makes me wonder if the teachers are being merciful to us because we have never really done this before. I did have one teacher tell me that I was a fantastic teacher and that I do a very good job of making the gospel simple and easy. That boosted my morale a lot!

About the food though, it is really good! In the past week, I have eaten a full serving of steak, shepherd's pie and other things. I even tried potatoes but it still might take me a while to get used to them.

I live in a dorm with five other guys and I'll you about them: Us along with one other companionship make up the Jacob District of the MTC. There is Elder Pederson who is our district leader. He is from Norway and he is a total viking. He is more built that any other guy I have ever seen and he is super tough and athletic. Last night actually, my companion was feeling scared and he asked Elder Pederson to give him a blessing. He did and it was in Norwegian. None of us could understand it, but you could feel it! Pederson speaks really good english, but he asked if he could give the blessing in Norwegian. And it was really good. Even my companion who was receiving the blessing felt it and we all felt it, too.

Then there is Elder Winterton. He is from Roosevelt, Utah and he is Elder Pederson's companion. He is a funny guy and likes to laugh and have a lot of fun. Everybody in my district is like that. There there is Elder Plewe. He is from Utah and he is really quiet but likes music and playing the piano and things. He also enjoys a good laugh. There is Elder Ward. He is from Pocatello, and is really cool. All of us like to have fun but also work hard. And that is what Elder Ward does.

Then we have Elder West, who is my companion and he is from London. He is really cool and we became quick friends. He teaches my Bristish words for things and I teach him American words. It is really cool because me and him went through the same Temple in Rexburg, only he went a week before me when he was visiting his brother at BYU-I. So we have that in common. We really enjoy each other company and I'm really glad he is going to my mission. I want him as a companion in the future.

I thought coming here would be weird and awkward, but I decided I'm not going to get anywhere by being scared of what others think about me, so I swallowed that and I try to be outgoing and I have made many friends here. There is probably a group of about 20 or more of us that are really good friends and lads. That's another thing. Friends are called lads and there's lots of other things they say here. Like, a bin is a trash can, or you say, "How'd you find that?" meaning, "How did you like that?"

England MTC August 6, 2015

Anyway, those are the kinds of things that I have been learning! And also, we are going into Manchester tomorrow to do street contacting and to test our skills and things with real people so I'm excited to have a companion that know the lingo for that. Anyway, it's really awesome here and it's one of the best experiences I've every had in my life. I'm excited to leave for Scotland a week from today and to teach the people.

Love you all, and I'll talk to you soon!!

-Elder Mickelsen