Jon's letter to his cousin, Jonah, about the MTC

Matt and Carolynn gave us a copy of a letter that Jonathan sent to Jonah last week. We thought you might enjoy reading some of it:

Dear Jonah,

How's it going buddy? It's your cousin Jon. You will never guess what I've been going through since I saw you a couple of weeks ago. If you remember, I'm on a mission right now. I am still in the MTC which is where they teach us how to be missionaries for Jesus. It's a lot like primary to tell you the truth. Everyone is dressed up, tired, always wants treats and loves to sing songs from the Children's Song Book!

The great thing about being here is getting to learn about Jesus and his prophets everyday. It is a little sad to be away from home but I get over it when I kneel down and pray. (My knees always hurt) The bad parts are the long hours and the fact that people don't always get along. Being the Zone Leader has let me help people be friends though. You can ask your parents what a zone leader is if you want. It basically means that I am in charge of 24 other Elders. They give me a headache!

Anyway, I hope you are being good. Make sure you are nice to your little brother and to your sister.

Talk to you later!

Elder Jonathan Larson

Surprise E-mail!

Today we had a great surprise. Jonathan sent us an e-mail! It is the first e-mail we have received from him since he entered the MTC:

"Hi dad. It's just your missionary. I find myself in a curious location this morning... I am sitting in a hospital with Elder Hatch. He broke his foot and we fear that there might be some damage to his plantar facia, so he is about to get an MRI. There is obviously a computer here in the office so I figured I could drop you a line. I hope you are all well and not missing me too much. Tell Mom I have put on about 4 pounds. That should make her happy. If you respond to this quickly, I may be able to write back. If not, I guess I'll hear from you later. Love ya. ~Jonathan~"

As zone leader, it was Jonathan's responsibility to take Elder Hatch (Fort Worth, Texas Mission) to have the MRI of his foot. Unfortunately, it looks like he will be delayed in leaving the MTC for a few weeks. (Poor Elder Hatch)

We were so excited to be able to message back and forth with Jon for a few minutes. I am hoping that we will be able to "talk" with him like this while he is in the West Indies.

We were able to arrange his call home from the airport on Monday morning, June 9th. He leaves for Port of Spain, Trinidad bright and early that morning (7:05 AM). We are all glad that he leaves early enough to be able to talk to Shane before work, Michael before marching band practice, and Amanda before school.

He said, "One of the new Elders was on the freshman basketball team at USU. It's fun playing against him. He can pretty much run around everyone but me. I even blocked one of his shots yesterday. He's 6' 7'' and I blocked it! I was king of the court until he knocked me off."

He has been able to attend the Provo Temple and says he will have one more chance to go on Friday.

Jonathan seems to be in good spirits and enjoying his time at the MTC and is looking forward to leaving for the mission field.

Letter from MTC

Today our second letter came from Jonathan. Enclosed in his letter to the family was a letter from the MTC Mission President, Pres. Boone. The following is a quote from that letter.

"Dear Elder Larson:

Congratulations on your calling as 'Zone Leader'. You have been called by inspiration and given the responsibility to be an example to the members of your branch. As you personally maintain the high standards of the Missionary Training Center, and keep yourself spiritually prepared to receive the promptings of the Holy Ghost, you will be an inspiration to the missionaries in your branch."

In his letter, Jonathan said about this new calling, "President Brown thinks I can do it and I don't want to let him down." (President Brown is his Branch President.) He has only told us about a couple of his responsibilities as Zone Leader. First, he gives "the grand tour and explains all the rules" to the new elders in his zone. Second he is responsible for settling any problems the members of his zone may have.

Other Quotes from his letter:

"Life is still fine here at the MTC. We don't really do all that much other than sit in class. I think we are averaging about 10 hours a day in there."

"Tell both sets of Grandparents and Amanda that I'm sorry I haven't written back to them. We might have a lot of time sitting in class but there is no down time. We are always studying and writing lession plans."

Jon received the box we sent him containing his juggling balls and a jump rope. He and his friend from home, Elder Fawson, have been "enjoying" them!

First letter from the MTC

Jon's first letter home came today. He seems to be doing well.

He says that he has seen about a half dozen guys that he knew from high school. He really likes his teachers and branch president.

There are 8 other missionaries in his district: 4 of them are going to the West Indies with him and 4 are headed to Fort Worth, Texas. Jon said that he is in a "triple companionship". He has two companions, Elders Barker and Findlay, both from SLC and he has been made the senior companion.

Quotes from his letter:

"Life is pretty good here. They feed us well but they don't give us enough time... so in order to get full, you have to really chow down."

"I'm learning patience right now. Elder Barker is a really nice guy but he is starting to fry my nerves."

"We just finished up our health and gym orientation. Tell Cam and the other missionaries that are leaving soon that gym time sucks. We don't get to do anything that is fun."

"Anyway, day 2 is almost over. It has been the longest day ever!"

Happy Birthday Jon!

Jon turns 19 today in the MTC! We sent him a DearElder.com care package with cinnamon rolls, chips/salsa, beef jerky and lots of candy! Do you think he will share it with his companion? Hopefully he will send us some pictures!

MTC Check in...

Early this rainy morning, we got up to take Michael to school so he could leave on his Yellowstone National Park Trip. He was excited for this fun time with his friends, but sad that Jonathan wouldn't be home when he gets back. After Jonathan gave Michael his cell phone to use, the brothers said their goodbyes and it was home again to get hurry and get ready to leave for the MTC.




Amanda came over to say goodbye. She was not able to go with us to the MTC because of her classes and work.







Jonathan found enough time for a few last minutes with his favorite hockey stick. Sometimes I think he will miss hockey more than us!







Jonathan spent some of the drive to Provo writing thank-you notes and visiting with Great-grandma Larson on the phone. We stopped for lunch at the Panda Express (Jonathan wanted Chinese). We drove past the Provo Temple and into the MTC entrance.



The line of cars with missionaries unloading their suitcases was huge. Jonathan and I took his luggage to a holding area while Shane parked the car. We were told to make sure Jonathan had his immunization record in his pocket and realized we left it home. We called Amanda and she was able to find it and mail it to him!





Jonathan checked in and got his official Missionary Name Tag with a bright orange dot on it. Brady told him it was unofficially called a "Dork Dot"! Pres. Boone called it a "Celestial Dot" and said it entiled him to a few extra hugs during his first few days as a missionary.


After a brief orientation meeting it was quick hugs and goodbyes. With a grin on his face, Jonathan headed for the door marked Missionary Exit and we left through the exit for families. It was definitely a day of mixed emotions. Jonathan was fine, we were not!