Alaska!

I made it to Alaska. We got picked up by the Presidency and went straight to the mission home. It was a super long flight, and I had to reset my watch to 8 o'clock three times today.  So, technically I was going back in time.  Anyways, I love you all and will keep you updated on how it goes. 

The Final MTC Evening

It's my last night in the MTC, I'll call in the morning, anytime between 4 am and noon.  Also, this is my teacher from my first priest retreat when I was 16 and he has been my MTC instructor for the last three weeks.  It was super cool. 

Anyways, I'll talk to you tomorrow.  Love you

-- 

Party on, 

Elder Cody Poppleton

Cody sent me this email last night.  I believe he left for the SL airport at 3 AM this morning.  I had his flight itinerary thanks to a secret weapon we have at the church office buildings!  

I knew when his flights would be coming and going so I could guess about when I might hear from him.  I kind of tricked Bella and asked if she had heard from him so I knew he called her first!  It had to be the Portland layover.  I anxiously awaited the call and just when I thought all was lost and he wasn't going to call I realized that there was a time difference!  Phew!  The emotions that came when I saw a number calling from Portland OR were very unexpected.  It was wonderful to hear his voice.  He is doing fantastic.  He is full of excitement and energy to teach the gospel and I am not sure there could be a more proud mother!   I could have used more time to visit with him and to hear about his experiences so far, but his flight was calling. He did say that he ran into so many friends from school and of course they couldn't hug if they were opposite gender so it looks like they finger touch instead. Snagged this picture from Shonee's Facebook page!   Until Christmas Elder Poppleton!

Last Days of the MTC

Hello friends and family, and Happy (late) Thanksgiving! 

This is my last week here at the MTC, because I fly out Tuesday morning. I leave for the airport at 3:30 am.
Then, I'm off to Alaska. 

We got to hear from Neil L. Anderson on Thanksgiving morning.  He talked about how even in our hardest trials we still need to give thanks. It was super cool!

I also wanted to give him a hug, ya know because I love hugs, but I figured a handshake would suffice. 

My companion and I have two investigators this week. Josh Christensen and Jessica Parrot. They are amazing people! Josh is having some struggles, but Jessica committed to baptism on the first lesson! The Lord has been preparing her and she is ready!  It's awesome! 

Also, today the district decided to do a split for the day so for today Elder Nordgran is my companion and he is so legit! He is the one I get along with the most in the district. As a district, we have come a long way. We have had many trials and experiences that have brought us closer together and closer to our Heavenly Father.  It's going to be super sad to see them leave.

All of the Elders are now committed Missionaries/bodybuilders. When it's time to they ask a lot of question on what to lift and how to lift it, but it's super fun! We always need showers afterwards. 

I might not be learning a language, but I have definitely seen the work of the gift of tongues. My teaching has improved drastically over the last 2 1/2 weeks, and I know that it wasn't just me. Watching and listening, as the spirit takes over and becomes the teacher is outstanding. 

I would highly encourage you all to open your Books of Mormon, and read 2 Nephi chapter 31. It's a powerful chapter and one I've read a lot this week. 

I love you all, and have a wonderful weekend. 

-Elder Poppleton 

The First Week

I have successfully made it through my first week here in the MTC. 

The first day was super easy, it was just an information overload. We got our companions, and we got to see everyone who was in our district. We have 6 elders including myself and 4 sisters. We also have a district leader. You'd think that there would be district leaders as a companionship. but no, there is just one district leader, and his companion isn't. 

Fortunately, and also unfortunately, that district leader is myself. I was called as the district leader the second night in the MTC after we met our branch presidency. 

It is so much fun, and so stressful at the same time. but I love it. 

I was super worried about the food, because everyone says its disgusting. I dont know if it's some kind of sick joke, but the food is AWESOME!

Three meals a day, and you can have as much as you want. It's great. The only mistake they made is one night they served Taco Bell to everyone.....some people cant stomach that. I could, but the rest of district was a mess. (super funny) 

I can testify of the importance of missionary work. It can change lives. I may have only been here a week. but in the MTC they bring in actual investigators for us to teach. It. Is. AMAZING. We have an investigator named Kristen, and she married a man who is LDS, and she knows the doctrine very well. She didn't agree with a lot of the church policies, and she was missing the spirit. We've been able to teach her this past week, and yesterday, she committed to baptism. We told the staff after the lesson, and they told us that she has been taking these lessons for over a year. and they were ecstatic to hear she committed. The spirit has the conversion power, and its amazing to see it in action. she gets baptized on December 17. AAHHH its makes me cry every time I talk about it. 

The scripture I've really been relying on is D&C 121:7-9

7.  My son, peace be unto they soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

8.  And then, if though endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.  

9.  Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

Its a good one. 

My companion is a stud, Elder Gerber. The way his mind works is amazing. Our second day, he took a bunch of napkins from the cafeteria and he turned them into a rope. Like, what the deuce?  A rope!  We hung it over the pull up bar and I hung from it, out of napkins. That is just an example of how creative he is and his testimony is strong. I really like him a lot. 

The mission is an incredible experience and I'm looking forward to the next two years. 

--

Party on,

Elder Poppleton

MTC

Wednesday morning, he slept better than expected which he was excited about!  Up and out the door by 9 with a quick stop at Wal-Mart for a razor, conditioner and a camera.  Grammy came along and we met Poppy and Justin in the Wal-Mart parking lot, ate a Carl's Jr breakfast (Cody's choice), and Cody said goodbye to Grammy and Poppy before the rest of us hit the road for Provo. I should mention that Cody didn't really eat anything for breakfast but made a trip to the bathroom to relieve some nerves with a little throwing up.

It was a nice ride with more communicating than usual since Cody was phone-less!  We stopped at the Provo City Center Temple for a few pictures, went across the street to Los Hermanos (won't go there again) for lunch, and then a FaceTime call with Aly on the 7 min ride to the MTC.

It was a busy day at the MTC with about 300 missionaries delivered that day per the nice lady that chatted with us while we were waiting our turn.  We pulled to the side of the curb, said our goodbyes which was as emotional as I expected and watched him walk off to serve our Heavenly Father and Savior for TWO years!

The drive home was still quite emotional, but 55 min after leaving the MTC (per Rylee) I got an EMAIL!  I was quite a bit giddy and then burst into tears!  Best email ever, or so it seemed at the time!