Life Inside the MTC

Heyyyyy!

Man I can't believe how crazy this place is. Time is soooo weird here! I can't remember life outside of the MTC at all-haha. After Tuesday of last week time started flying by, but still the days feel like they last forever. I can't believe how much I have learned since getting here. I can honestly notice it. I noticed it a lot when the new district came in on Monday. Teaching doesn't seem to be the problem as much as connecting with the investigators, trying to find out their needs. Elder Maughan and I are teaching a couple and a college student in the TRC (teaching resource center) so we prepare lessons for them and practice throughout the week trying to help.

Well, crazy weird good news... WE GOT OUR TRAVEL ITINERARY!!! It came on Wednesday! We leave the MTC Tuesday morning August the 3rd at 3AM!!! Our flight leaves Salt Lake around 6AM, we land in Denver at 8AM, so expect a call then! We land in ATL around 2PM so we should get to the mission home around 3PM-ish on Tuesday! I can't believe my time here at the MTC is almost done! I can't believe that I will be a full time missionary for the Lord! There are things that I know that I'm not good at and things that I am good at. I've decided to focus on one of my strengths, studying, learning, and memorizing the scriptures. Doctrine seems to be easy for me. Whenever we teach someone I am getting better at finding a scripture to help them.

Provo, Utah Temple

I went to the temple this morning for Pday. I saw practically half the ward that works there on Mondays.  haha. It was fun. :)

My branch presidency is awesome, they are way nice, way smart, and give way good advice. I love visiting with them. Also the speeches here are incredible. I learn so much and take so many pages of notes.
It's crazy how much we have all bonded in my zone even though it's only been a couple weeks. I will miss the older district that leaves tonight. They are going to West Virginia, Washington, and London.

Thank you guys so much for all of the letters! They help me so much :) while I am in the MTC. Use dearelder.com then in the field we can use email again without the time restrictions.

How was Pioneer Day weekend?? I want to hear all about what you guys are up to! I love you all so much and miss you so much :)

I will write letters home soon, hopefully with some pictures.

Love you much,
Elder Mikey Caplin

The MTC is CrAzy!

Everyone!!!!

Hi! I love you so much!

The MTC is crazy! There are missionaries everywhere going all over the world! Different languages are being taught all around me. People always ask you if they can practice teaching on you. It's nuts. My companion's name is Elder Maughan. We share a room with 2 other missionaries who are also going to the Atlanta North Mission! The rest of the guys in our district are going to Washington D.C. north.

My zone is pretty cool, we all get along well. A zone is about 30 missionaries and that is our church branch also. Every minute of the day they have planned out for us. We have personal study at 7, breakfast at 815, companion study, class, MDT (missionary directed time, we can either read, or learn the lessons, or practice on people) zone activities and lots of other crazy stuff. It's much harder than I thought it would be. The first 3 days are very stressful, emotionally and physically.

One thing that I have learned while out here though is that I am needed in the mission field. There are people out there who I can help and I have an obligation to them and to God to learn everything that I can here so that I can be the best missionary that I can be. Our zone motto is "do your best and the Lord will do the rest"!

One thing that superrrrr surprised me is what they focus on here at the MTC. We are taught daily to "teach the person, not the lesson". We have pretty much only studied how to get to know people, show your love for them, because "no one cares how much you know about the gospel until they know how much you care about them." I have learned a lot here and I am sure that I will learn tons more. I have had about 3 mock preaching experiences and expect to have about 50 more before I leave.

There are SO MANY KIDS THAT I KNOW HERE. Haha. I see kids from BYU and home all the time. It really makes it easier. Ben Layton's group has meals the same time as me, and another kid from BYU lives right down the hall from me. They all give me advice about this place. Work hard. Stay busy. Use your free time wisely.

Well. Here's a little lecture for you. I can only get email on my P-day, which is Monday, so use dearelder.com to write me! I'm the only kid who hasn't got mail from his family yet! We get mail daily. I love you all very much and have seriously realized that my family is the only thing that I really care about now that I am in here.

Please feel free to dearelder me daily (it's free) and send a box of homemade cookies or whatnot. Also send pictures, I will send some to you too :)

I only get half an hour of email time so I will write you more over the post!

Love you lots and miss you lots!

Elder Caplin

MTC Arrival Day

Elder Michael Thomas Caplin

Mikey's family: Jordan, Mikey, Mom, Sarah, and Hannah

Welcome to Elder Caplin's blog! I will be sharing Mikey's news and updates as a missionary on this blog as frequently as I can. Please write to him often! He would love to hear from all of his family and friends.

Mikey entered the MTC on July 14, 2010. He was so excited to finally be there! After getting set apart the night before, he expressed how "pumped" he was to get to work! We were sad to see him leave us for two years, but so grateful and happy that he will be serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Mikey and his good friend Hamilton (from BYU) entered at the same time.

The beginning of a new adventure...