Week 5

Week 5
January 22, 2018

 Hey everyone! It's been a great week and I have one more left here at the MTC... Then I'm off to Portugal! So weird to think. Also today marks a month of me being 19, so it's kinda funny to think how fast it's gone.

So my week started with January 16th, which was the day President Nelson became the Prophet of our church! It was awesome, they stopped our language classes and we all got to go watch the announcement and the press conference following it. All of us Portuguese speakers felt a strong feeling that Russell M Nelson is 100% a man sent from God. Later that day, Elder Webb and I got to teach a native Portuguese speaker a lesson over Skype which was nerve racking but in the end, really cool because I actually understood her! Ending that day, we had a devotional from Elder Clayton of the 70, and I sat in the very back corner for it... at least I thought I was until the guy who is in charge of seating at the MTC devotionals moved me and Elder Taylor to the very front row, right in the middle! That was pretty cool to be right up close listening to Elder Clayton speak. Alright I gotta take a second to explain the MTC seating guy... Everyone calls him Trump, because he looks JUST like Trump, just balding a little bit more, but I swear they could be brothers. But he takes his job very seriously and makes sure all seats possible are sat in. That was Tuesday. 

The next day (Wednesday) we got 9 new Elders and 1 new Sister, so that was pretty cool! One of the new Elders looks SO similar to Childish Gambino/Donald Glover... it's crazy!!! I'll add a picture of him and I in my email and it will be put up on my blog thingy as well! 

The next day I found out my VISA is in and that I'm good to go to Portugal on January 29th! I'm so excited for that, and as of right now, I'm one of two guys that have their VISA. That was great news because I've been anxiously waiting to get there and serve the people. I know there is a reason I was called to Portugal and I'm so blessed all my stuff has went through so I can get to Portugal soon and get to work, and get to helping the people who live there right away. So that was definitely the highlight of my day for sure, but something that was interesting also happened that day! Right before dinner time a mass email was sent to every missionary in the MTC saying, "Attention Missionaries, Ecclesiastical Leaders, and all employees: Effective immediately, please do not shake hands, hug, do fist bumps or elbow bumps. This no contact policy is in effect until further notice. Thank you for helping us to deter the spread of influenza. MTC Presidency". There has been an Influenza flu outbreak here and they don't want it spread. Except an Elder in our District got the virus and was taken to quarantine and they told him he'd be there 2-4 weeks..... but he actually got out today hahah. 

Then came Friday! I went to the wrong gym time but it ended up being a the best mistake I've made so far! It was the best bball I've played at the MTC by far. 3v3 and everyone could ball, honestly so great and every game came down to a final shot... I'm tempted to go to the wrong gym time from now on but I won't do that cause I gotta follow the rules aha. Other than ball being great, I really did not do much besides one thing... I WENT OFF on the Book of Mormon and read through like 6 different books within the Book of Mormon! And that night it also was snowing super big fluffy snow flakes, which was awesome. We took a bunch of pics outside cause it was sweet! And the guys made me do a Spider-Man/ Tobey Maguire pose for one of them hahah. You'll see it in my pics I sent.

As I said for Friday, it snowed big fluffy flakes the whole day for Saturday. It was pretty normal for me, but it was funny to see other people freaking out about it because they'd never seen snow before! Elder Angeles, who is in my room, is from the Dominican Republic, and he liked the snow at first... but by the end of the day he kept saying how he hated the snow and loved the sun hahah. It's hilarious when he says it because his accent is the best! Nothing else really happened besides the snow. There were snowmen everywhere, and people slipping everywhere so that made for a funny day.

Yesterday I got to give the closing prayer in our branch sacrament meeting, and that was sweet because all the prayers and talks are given in Portuguese. So I prayed in Portuguese in front of the zone. For a Zone activity later in that day, we walked to the temple but didn't go in which was kinda funny because the whole walk Elder Angeles kept on complaining about how cold it was to me. Following that walk, me and the 9 other guys in my Portuguese class all played Uno, and it got heated... I guess Uno is life or death for some people buuut it was still really fun. We went to a Devotional that night, and after Sunday Devotionals you always get to see a movie. I went to the movie I saw the week before, but this time I saw it in Portuguese. Closing that night I said bye to Sister Kern who was the only missionary that was here longer than me, so now I've been here the longest because I came one day early on the mish aha. Our zone also said bye to three missionaries leaving to the Brazil MTC. They were awesome, and the one elder (Elder Hansen) and I got along so great. They all got blessings of comfort that night, and after that one of our now acting Zone-Leaders asked if I could give him a blessing and that was really great. 

Today I just went to the temple and did laundry so yeah.. what an amazing day.. but really it was great because it's the last time I'll get to go to a temple for 2 years. 

Thanks everyone for all the emails and everything! I'm glad to have you all here for me. I'm really not sure when I'll next get to email because I leave for Portugal next Monday which is my P-Day, so I might send two weekly emails in two weeks. I'll try to find a way to send it though. If you have any questions just email me and I'll answer them! I'd also like to challenge anyone who read this email to focus on mental toughness this week and fight through whatever may be going on! One of my teachers had a lesson on mental toughness this week and I have set a goal for when I go out to Portugal no matter what trial may come my way. If it's the language or whatever it is for me, I'm gonna keep grindin and make sure to stay mentally tough.

IF MY PICS DON'T WORK through this email, CLICK ON THIS LINK and as soon as my mom updates the blog you can see them!
​​
Elder Out

Mamba Out



After January 29, 2018

Elder Parks Stewart Layton
Portugal Porto Mission
Rua de Amália de Luazes, No 23, Sala 1
4200-052 Porto
Portugal 


Elder Layton / Spider-Man / Tobey Maguire




Elder Layton & Elder Hansen (who is leaving for the Brazil MTC)





Elder Layton & the Elder who looks like Childish Gambino/Donald Glover




Snowy Day - Saturday, September 20, 2018





Elder Webb & Elder Layton
Elder Layton blessin up













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