Last letter from the MTC

Three more days and then I'll be in Oklahoma! Wow reading that aloud sounds so strange yet so exciting. It feels like we just got here! So this week a lot of stuff happened, from hosting new missionaries, to teaching our Nigerian friend, Indongesit, the gospel, to going to infield orientation yesterday and then going to the provo temple this morning. It has been a long but very fulfilling and spiritual week!

I've started to really grow accustomed to this place so the thought of leaving it in a couple of days is very strange to me. But I am very excited to get going on the Lord's work. Just think about it, next Sunday, I'll be giving my testimony in some foreign church in Oklahoma, getting to know the ward and it's members! The weird thing is that I do not feel intimidated. And sure the MTC has helped and I've learned a lot, but I'm starting to realize that teaching the gospel is something that just comes to us as members of the church. After growing up in the church, I already know the things to teach. Plus the Spirit helps testify and make the truth of the gospel real and powerful for both me and the investigator. D&C 84:88 has made the biggest impact though, stating that God will be with me as I go and do what he needs me to! Love you guys!

Love,
Elder Wold

"The Provo Temple was awesome! Very pretty inside! Lots of fun with all the other missionaries too!"

Elder Wold & Elder Hall

Fun times doing laundry!

And who might be photobombing this picture...?

Elder Wold's Week #2

Wolds,

Well hello there! This week at the MTC has been awesome! Our district of about 15 missionaries has really grown together in love! We are like a giant family now and I love it! Classes have pretty much taken up or week with about 6 hours a day but there has been so much I have learned. This week we have also started to teach investigators twice a day. Elder Hall and I got Kendra and Sofia and they are the best. They have asked really good questions and have just been excellent investigators, although I'm pretty sure they are just members playing investigators. We have learned so much in the power of questions (thanks Brother O'hare) and how important it is to teach people, not lessons. 

I think the biggest lesson I have learned at the MTC thus far is actually not really about missionary work directly. The first couple of days were hard and dragged on, and I kept thinking about myself and how I am not cut out from this. But then we watched a video from David A. Bednar on Sunday night titled characteristics of Christ that really hit home for me. It was given on Christmas day some years back at the MTC. In it, he talks about selflessness and how the Savior, who went through the most pain and agony ever experienced by man, turned outward instead of trying to gain sympathy from others. This really stuck with me and I decided to use this method to cope with my harsh thoughts against myself and all the things I thought I deserved sympathy for. As I did so this week, I found that my trials became easier to bear, and that my thoughts on my MTC experience had gone from negative to positive. Now I am not saying I have mastered the art of selflessness, I had hard moments this week. I only want to share this because I know it is a way to be closer to God, feel the spirit, and to easier endure to the end. I know this is short, but it's hard to write about everything here, a lot of it cannot be written about, it just needs to be experienced! Anyway, I love you guys! Keep doing the daily things that will help you build faith in Christ!

Love,

Elder Wold

Look who Adam ran into at the MTC...

...he ran into Brielle Hatch who is going to the Paris, France mission!

A quick text & picture...

Just got this from Elder Hall's (Adam's companion) great-aunt and uncle, Elder and Sister Mehew, who are serving in the Provo MTC on a mission. His great-aunt writes:

"Hello Sister Wold: my name is Sister Mehew and my husband and I are serving a full time mission at the Provo MTC. Your son is companion to our nephew's son, Elder Hall. We thought you might like a pic of your handsome Elder. He and Elder Hall seem to be getting along very well and he is very polite and very kind. Please know we will be watching over both of them."

This was such a tender mercy to get this sweet text and picture. Heavenly Father is definitely aware of us.

Here is Elder Wold, Elder Hall (who is from Kaysville, UT, and is the 2nd of 11 children) and Elder Mehew, who is Elder Hall's great-uncle.

Elder Wold's first letter home!

Here is the 39th branch. Adam is definitely easy to find!

Wolds,

Hi there! So Saturdays are my P day here at the MTC so I can write you today. Wow. That's all I have to say. Just wow. The first day I got here, I'll be honest, was very overwhelming and kind of intimidating. We were handed a lot of booklets and pamphlets and this and that and then taken right to our residence to drop off our stuff. After dropping everything off, we went straight to a fireside/meeting in which all the new MTC arrivals were present. What a powerful meeting! You could feel the Spirit as we sang together in one accord Hymn 256 "As Zion's Youth in Latter Days" with so much power. For that hour or so of the fireside, all feelings of fear and worry were no where to be found. Anyway, after the fireside and dinner, I got to meet up with my companion, Elder Hall, as well as meet my awesome room mates, Elder Wright, Elder Taylor and Elder Otten. We're all going to Oklahoma together and we've really started to bond! Thursday we got to meet up with the rest of our district which was awesome! All of us, including the sisters have grown comfortable with each other, which amazes me with how well we as missionaries can bond in just three days of knowing each other. I feel like I've known some of these guys for weeks! 

Now with class, we go with our district. There are three districts in our zone and we have done some stuff together, but for the majority of the time, we stick with our district. The classes are very long, to say the least. There is a lot to learn in three weeks so there was no waiting around. We are already role playing and we get to teach investigators next week. I have grown to love the classes and all the time we spend in the scriptures and preach my gospel. Of course, I struggle and can get discouraged every now and then and it is very exhausting. But it is the Lord's work and who am I to try and resist. I've learned that as long as I am willing to let the Lord change me and stay in tune with the spirit, the life of a missionary becomes a bit easier.

Our zone leaders are super awesome too! They have big hearts and are pretty hilarious. Their names are Elder Chidakee (I messed that up) and Elder Miwa. They have done a good job leading and making us feel welcome here! It is sad though because they leave for Washington early Tuesday morning. So guess who their replacements are? Yep, Elder Hall and Elder Wold, the two guys who got called to be zone leaders after being in the MTC for a day! Talk about overwhelming and scary! But our President of the 39th branch is also a very powerful man. He is very in tune with the Spirit and if he has faith and believes that we can do it, then I am more than willing to step up to the challenge! I am excited! there is so much more I wish to say but it cannot be expressed in merely an email! Just want to say I love you guys and hope you are staying true and worthy! D&C section 4 has helped me focus and get to work here. Read it, you too can be missionaries at home! Working hard! Always remembering President Hinckley's fathers quote to him when times got tough on the mission, "Forget yourself and go to work"!

Love you,

Elder Wold



Adam’s Address:
Elder Adam Jonathan Wold AUG01 OK-OKL 2005 N 900 E Unit 342 Provo, UT 84602
United States

Elder Wold is set apart as a missionary and leaves for the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah

Adam said all his goodbyes to family and friends.

    

                                            Adam said his goodbyes to all his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was hard but they are all so proud of him. He gave a wonderful talk a few weeks before leaving on his mission, and Grandpa Taylor's cousins, Bill Morgan & his wife Theresa, and Sue Morgan came to hear him speak. It was so nice to be with them! Grandpa & Grandma Wold came and so did Pai and Grandma Bethea and Uncle Scott. Aunt Julie & Uncle Jeremy, Uncle Jeff & Aunt Karen, Aunt Jamie & Uncle Devin, Uncle Mark & Aunt Cindy and all their families came as well. The Fisher, Bekker, and Jex families came as well as Will. Rex & Kaylynn Sorenson and their family came, our neighbors Laura & Charlie Bunde came, as well as Sis. Warner, Sis. Ratliff, and many others. It was a special day.

                                         

 6 days before Adam left on his mission, on July 6th, Dylan Bekker opened his mission call to the Nampa Idaho mission! It was wonderful to have these 6 good friends together, Will Bower, Ethan Fisher, Dylan Bekker, Adam, Daniel Krauser, and Adam Ratliff. These boys have been friends for a long time and this is the last picture they'll have together for a long while. (We also missed Conner Fitzgerald) The next day, July 7th, Adam was able to go with Dylan to help him as Dylan went to the temple for the first time. It was a day they will always remember.

On Sunday July 9th, we had a small open house for Adam's friends and for a few close families and family members. It was exciting to see everyone one last time.

On Tuesday, July 11th, the day before Adam left, he & his mom took his 96 year old, Great-Grandma Cooley out to brunch. It was nice to visit with her and spend a few hours with her. She is as sharp mentally as ever and loved seeing Adam right before he left. She said she was planning on being alive when he returned and even wants to live to see Adam's brother Nathan leave on his mission in 3 years! She said that if she isn't alive when Adam returns in 2 years, that she'll be with him in spirit. She is doing amazing for 96! Sure love Grandma Cooley and her positive attitude, as well as the wonderful example she is of living a Christ-like life.

Adam with his dad, Jon, and his brothers, Nathan & Ryan. All of them are priesthood holders and look dignified in their suits. Nathan talked Ryan into wearing a suit for the first time in many years.

On the night of Tuesday, July 11th, Adam Jonathan Wold was set apart as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by his stake president, President Welch. It was a night to always remember, with testimonies, thoughts, and feelings shared by each member of the Stake Presidency, as well as by each of Adam's siblings, parents, and by his Grandpa & Grandma Wold. Adam Wold was now Elder Wold, and his countenance shone as he was now an official missionary.

Adam with Grandma & Grandpa Wold

Adam with his family: Katie, Adam,

Allie, Dad, Ryan, Mom & Nathan

After Adam's setting apart, we went to Red Robin for dinner with our family, Grandma & Grandpa Wold, and with Adam's friend Jessica. It was nice to have one last dinner together before Adam leaves for 2 years.

                July 12, 2017! The big day has finally arrived! Adam was all packed and ready to go and had to leave at 4:15a.m. to be on time for his flight that left at 6:15a.m!!! It was hard to get up but all 7 of us did somehow.

Then came the time to say our goodbyes...Jamie & Devin and their girls came, as well as Miranda, and Grandma & Grandpa Wold. Everyone was emotional, especially Allie. We were all so excited for him, but sad since we'll miss him!

One last family picture, and of course Ryan shows his silly side!

One last father and son moment.

Saying goodbye to Mom and Dad.

Saying our final goodbyes was hard, but it was easier knowing he was so excited, and that Heavenly Father would protect him.  

There were 30 missionaries on his flight and there were missionaries with their families all over! It was an exciting day! Sue's visiting teacher who works in the MTC said that 900 missionaries were arriving there today!


                Adam is easy to find with being so tall!

Adam being his usual friendly self and visiting with
another missionary while waiting to go through security.

Yea! Adam made it through security!

Happy Adam! He is so ready to begin the next chapter of his life as a missionary!

His last wave before he flies to the MTC!

                                              

He arrived safely in Salt Lake City & was picked up by Sue! He had 5 hours before he had to be to the MTC, so Sue told him she'd take him wherever he wanted to go. He picked to go to Temple Square.

 

One last picture before checking into the MTC. Sue was amazing and not only picked Adam up and drove him around, and took pictures...she even let him use her cell phone to call his Mom, his Dad (who lost it in tears on the phone), and his grandmas, one in Arizona, and one in Florida, a few minutes before she dropped him off at the MTC. So grateful for Sue, and her willingness to do so much for Adam on this special day!