Leaving Monday!

Everyone,

I'm heading out to Singapore Monday afternoon! So if you're in the airport then, keep an eye out! I've loved the MTC, but I'm super extremely excited to get out into the field! I'll leave the first, and get there mid afternoon on the third. So that's a super long flight. We're stopping in Hong Kong, so that's exciting! And we're flying out with 13 other missionaries headed to Singapore! So that'll be cool to get to know them on our flight! I've been drinking at least 80 ounces of water a day, and Sister Fulton (our teacher) said I shouldn't have to go to the bathroom as often as I did the first few days, but it hasn't gotten any better. We went to teach one of our TRC investigators, and I went to the bathroom before, taught for 25 minutes, and then went again. Ridiculous. So I don't know how well my body is adapting. I think I'll sweat out most of it in Singapore though. Hopefully.

So I brought a ring making kit with me, and it's been super awesome. Elder Waite (going to Portland) wanted to make one super badly, and we didn't have anything to heat the quarters up, but we smashed the center out using a rock as a hammer, then used two irons to pinch the quarter between to heat it up. After taking some massive chunks out of my hammer, we got the ring pretty badly made. But the entire zone is obsessed with it. Too bad they don't have a good example of what the rings should look like. It was fun making it though.

If you're going to send me a letter while I'm in the MTC, it's cutting it pretty close even if you send it today! I COULD get it Monday, but if they don't sort it fast enough, I won't be able to get it. So they'l send it back. I'm Unit 66 if anyone wanted to know. Elder Fogth's mom sent him 16 packages in 15 days, so that's pretty impressive. He got this stuff called Kickapoo Joyjuice. It's not very good, but the name is cool! And, he's making the room look awful. There's unopened food everywhere because we don't have anywhere to store it. It's the best until we get our cleaning check. We've done pretty good in everything except for how unopened food bags and strewn across the entire room.

Just a random thought. I told Elder Fogth that I didn't like milk, so he asked why, and I said "because it doesn't taste good." So he said that wasn't a reason. So I asked him why it wasn't a reason. And he said because it isn't. So I kept saying it was gross and stuff, so he kept asking my why I didn't like it. So finally, I said something along the lines of "I just don't like how the amino acids in the protein combine." Then he finally dropped it because he knew I wouldn't give a 'good' answer. So I asked him why he doesn't like rotten eggs, and he said "Because my taste pallet doesn't mix well with that." So I don't understand why saying it's gross is any worse. Hahaha, it was way funny though.

I saw tons of people I knew this week! It's been awesome! I saw Christian Kamalu, Ryker Brian, Conner Blackham, Cameron Cooper, and then a ton of other people. But those were the ones that just came in that I saw. They're all doing great. I don't know about Conner, but Christian and Ryker wont be able to email until probably Thursday next week, so if someone could let one of their parent's know, that'd be cool. I'll try to take a picture with all of them before I leave, but I won't be able to send them until the 8th.

We've been learning how to more effectively follow the Spirit as we teach, and it's been so awesome learning about it. Because the Spirit is so strong when we teach. It's great to be able to feel how well you're teaching. I enjoy it. I wish I had more time to study. Out in the field I'll have more time to study, so that'll be awesome. Since Elder Fogth is district leader and I'm a zone leader, it's been busy. Which is good. The new groups that came in are going to Kennawick Washington (no idea how to spell that), Toronto Canada, and then some Utah missions. It's kinda fun to listen to the missionaries going to Utah, because they can't believe Zion has people to convert. That's what they all say at least.

Today, we went to the temple, then came back and did laundry, and it was PACKED. It took like 25 minutes before we found washers to use. The MTC has wayyyyy too many dryers though. They have like 2x as many dryers as they have washing machines. Then we got haircuts and then did more laundry and just chilled in our dorms. Earlier this week, Elder Hymas and I were taking a break from studying. So we were talking, and he mentioned his name was Kelly, but he went by Ace, and the first day at the MTC he said he went to Tooele High (don't know how to spell that either), so I asked him where he went to elementary. North Lake, just like I did when I lived there. So I asked which teacher he had in kindergarten, and WE TOTALLY WERE IN THE SAME CLASS. He doesn't look anything like he did in kindergarten, but we were really good friends! So that's been cool getting to know him again. My mom sent a picture of us when we were in kindergarten, so I can't wait to find him and show him.

I got asked a few random questions, so I'll just answer them here... The food isn't bad, but I had the worst lasagna I've ever eaten in my entire life. I dunno. It was gross. Our district is made up of 12 people, and we're all in the same classroom. My zone is made up of 6 districts of 12, and that's who Elder Richens, Hymas, Pickett, and I are in charge of. I was on the bottom bunk for the first half of the MTC, and now I'm on the top. Our bed doesn't have a ladder (don't know where it went, we just never had one), so it's difficult to be on the top. My favorite thing about the MTC is teaching our TRC investigators.

Every Tuesday, we do service. Elder Fogth and I have decided we're gonna be the MTC's dusters, because we literally dusted for 90 minutes this Tuesday and last Tuesday. The entire gym. It was super awesome. Service is fun, because you can mess around a bit and still help people out! And everyone says thanks.

I've been getting all your letters, packages, and dear elders. They've been awesome! I love getting them! If you're gonna send one, it'll probably have to be today. I wish I had more time to email and tell you everything, but I just have to hit some of the highlights so I can figure out how to steal some pictures off of Elder Fogth's camera. Oh, and Elder Fogth and I are getting along awesomely. Same with the rest of the district with us and their companions. If you wanna see how funny Elder Fogth is, check out his Mormon.org profile. Erik Fogth.

I love you all! Thanks for all your support! I'll probably send an email saying I made it once I get there, but I don't know if I'll be able to email until the 8th! So I guess this is bye bye for a little over a week! Hopefully my clothes last long enough...

Love,

Elder Ben Mullins


This photo was taken before Ben left the MTC.  They are young men from our ward.  I love this photo!

Ryker Brian, Christian Kamalu, and Ben Mullins

8 Days Before I Finally Got a P Day!

Everyone,

First, I can confirm, that it's called the Empty Sea, not the MTC. (Just kidding.) The MTC computers don't have spell checkers, so if I can't figure out how to spell something correctly, I'll just leave it spelled wrong. So, the MTC. I've learned so much. It's insane. I've felt like every day flies by! I feel like I don't have enough time to do everything, but somehow, I always do get everything done. We had a devotional Tuesday, and Elder Clarke of the 70 talked to us about being 9:30 missionaries instead of 9:00 missionaries. Missionaries are allowed to head back to their house/dorm/room at 9:00, but you can stay out until 9:30 at the latest. Anyway, he's just saying we need to work hard enough to always stay out until 9:30. I've been staying out until 9:30 every single night. So that was nice to know that I was staying out so late because I was doing it right!

I guess I should talk about everyone around me. I'll start with my companion, Elder Fogth. It's like saying folks with a lisp. The G makes more of a K sound. He's from Orem, and he's super awesome. He's so weird, but he's seriously such a great guy! He doesn't really care what other people think. He's bold and super nice and a people person. He only listens to vinyl records (like hippies) because they have better sound quality and it's exactly what the artist wanted you to hear. He follows this super weird movement in Iceland where they basically sing rock lullabies. Pretty weird. Anyway, he's hilarious. Our entire zone is OBSESSED with him. It's actually pretty nice, because so many people will just come and talk to us and try to get to know us instead of us having to get to know other people. He's heading to Singapore, English speaking with me, so I'll definitely be seeing more of him. Our district is made up of 8 Elders and 4 Sisters. Elder Fogth, Child, and I are heading to Singapore and we're heading out August 1. I don't have flight plans, but that's what our branch president told us. It's a 27-hour flight plus a 14 hour time difference.  Elder Fogth likes to tell everyone that it's the longest flight in the world. Someone might have to fact check that for me. Elder Child plays violin and I feel like I know him from somewhere... But I don't. He reminds me so much of my first seminary teacher, Brother Crawford too. Then we have Elders Nielson, Otero, and Richins who are all going to Perth Australia, and Elders Fata and Jensen are going to Micronesia and Guam. So the Elders all have pretty neat missions. The Sisters are all going to Oregon. I think Portland. Not sure. Like I said, entire zone is obsessed with Elder Fogth, so I meet so many people every day it's crazy.

Ok, first day in the MTC. I said by to family after eating a super good lunch at Olive Garden.  I went through everything and get my nametag. It has an orange dot, and when you have an orange dot on your tag, everyone says "WELCOME TO THE MTC!!!" Really happily. So I kept that dot on the back of my tag after Wednesday and put it on yesterday so everyone would welcome to me again. Best decision I've made on my mission yet. We got to eat dinner, then kinda went wherever they pointed us, and met the zone. The zone meeting was pretty awesome.  We figured out that we had 7 more days until we had a P Day. So we went EIGHT DAYS without a P Day. But it was still awesome.

Thursday we went to class and met our teacher, got to know the other elders and sisters, and basically just had our first lesson. I felt like it was super-fast, but everyone else says it went super slow. I met tons of people I knew, and keep meeting new ones every day. At night we met with our branch presidency and their wives, and they're all super cool. Especially President Durfy. Elder Fogth is our District Leader, and he's in charge of the 12 of us that stick together and have class together (the district). I'm a zone leader along with Elder Richins. There's at least one zone leader in each group of people, so I think there are currently 6 zone leaders in our zone. It was pretty hard at first, because the senior zone leaders (the ones that had been there for two weeks) weren't helpful at all. Elder Richins and I asked them for help a lot and they said not to worry about anything because we didn't even do anything. So we didn't worry about anything! That'll come up later. Just remember they told us not to worry about anything because we didn't have to do anything.

Wednesday, I noticed that our teacher prays super awesomely. She prays just like she's talking to us, and it's so personal.  I set a goal to be able to pray like that by the end of my MTC stay, and I'd say it's going pretty well. My faith has grown so much. It's awesome. We had two 3 hour lessons that day, and it was awesome! I never thought I'd enjoy having 6 hours of lessons on the same exact thing and love it. We learned about the Gospel of Christ for 21 hours by Saturday night I think.  We finally started learning the missionary discussions, but that knowledge of the Gospel of Christ is so important to what we actually teach, and the underlying message in every lesson is the Gospel of Christ. So that was super cool just to have the lessons transform like that just from learning something so simple but so complex. We learned that the district that left Monday had an elder that had to leave after day two because he was so stressed, so that kinda worried some of the elders in our district, but we're all great! So it's cool! We've all been loving the MTC and bond so well together. We're probably the best district ever. On Wednesday I felt like I knew everything about Elder Child, and it was super weird. I'm pretty sure I know him from somewhere, but I don't really know where I would have known him. I think it was Friday that I just felt like we're gonna be companions sometime.  So if I'm his companion in Singapore sometime, just know that I called it while I was in the MTC!

Friday, we kinda roamed around during lunch and had to figure out our mailbox since Elder Fogth is District Leader. We figured that out, and went to class, so the day went by fast since we were so busy, but it was just a bunch of class and learning. It was fun though. Saturday we learned a ton, I got a package, we exercised, and set 10 goals that we're keeping really well. Elder Otero told us the first day that some of the dorm rooms have hidden stashes behind the light switch things and other places, so we tore apart our room the first day.  We didn't find anything, but we DID find places to stash a bunch of stuff, so we'll have to use that before we leave for other elders. Spread the rumor.

Sunday night, we had a devotional where we watched Elder Bednar's talk, 'The Character of Christ'.  It was super awesome. You can only watch it in the MTC. Anyway, he talked about turning outward and serving others. If you lose yourself, you find yourself. There was so much in there, and I just wrote down what I heard from the Spirit more than what was actually said. I don't remember that well what was actually said. It's something you just have to go watch. Sorry Dad, I guess you're just gonna have to go on a mission to learn more about it. Once we finished the talk, everyone started standing up, and ELDER BEDNAR WALKED IN. It was awesome! Then we had this huge Q&A where missionaries asked questions. One of the favorite things I heard Elder Bednar say was "A sister does 10 things, and makes a minor mistake on 1.  The other 9 are perfect, and the mistake is all she remembers. An Elder does 10 things and does awful on 9, and just mediocre on 1, and says (as Elder Bednar pounds his chest with his hands) 'YEAH'" So I guess we just need to raise our standards as Elders. It was pretty funny. He also said the Spirit isn't limited to one way of communication.  We should always be able to recognize the patterns of the Spirit. Earlier that week, our teacher challenged us to drink 64 ounces of water a day, since some of the elders (not me) hadn't had a cup of water since they got to the MTC (only juice.) That day, I ended up drinking 90 ounces of water…because overachievement! I drank the 64 ounces of water before lunch just so I could tell her I did it before she left. Also, during lunch, there was a little girl (probably 4 years old) hiding from us around a pole.  She'd run around it, then peek at us, then when we waved, she'd run back around and peek again. So I hid on the other side of the pole, and when she peaked around the corner, I jumped out and scared her. She started laughing. It was pretty funny.

So remember how I said that the zone leaders said I didn't have to worry about anything as a zone leader? Sunday, we went to priesthood meeting.  They decided it was a good time to tell me I had to teach a lesson for priesthood meeting that was supposed to be 50 minutes. So I taught a 50-minute lesson on the spot! And it was actually really good! Luckily the two districts of elders in there participated a lot and made tons of comments, so it was pretty easy to make it 50 minutes/  I learned that I needed to talk to the other zone leaders that weren't actually in charge if I want to know what I am supposed to do. During lunch, I was talking with some elders, and met an Elder Bagley. I knew that I was related to quite a few Bagleys, so I asked him if he had any family in Richfield.  He did.  Then I asked if it was actually in Koosharem. And it was. And then we figured out we're third cousins! So that was SUPER AWESOME. He's Elder Aaron Bagley, and he's going to Ohio in a week. He said his dad's name was Greg Bagley or something. I can't remember. I left my planner in the room. Anyway, I got a picture with him. And I see him all the time now!

Monday, Elder Fogth and I taught 3 lessons and prepared 4. One fell through. We have what's called TRC, and you just get fake investigators and teach them. It seems pretty real sometimes, so that's good. I love teaching. It's my favorite thing to do in the MTC. Oh, and I forgot to say, but the entire district thinks that I look like a teacher. So that was pretty funny. We were guessing occupations, and literally everyone at the same time said that I'm gonna be a teacher. A few of them even specified math teacher. So I thought that was funny. I do like math! The second day we were in the MTC, Elder Fogth lost his MTC Id card, so we looked for it, and finally found it on Monday when we were going to replace it. We ended up giving some blessings to some of the elders, and the next day we gave a few to the sisters. It was cool.

Elder Nielson has this workout that we do every night. I only do it because he's kinda the odd one out in our district, and he needed someone to get close with. Anyway, it's been fun. My arms are always exhausted. I definitely am not going to do this once I leave the MTC; totally not worth it! Yesterday, the fresh meat came in. I saw Elder Caleb Tinsley today. Oh, and I wore my sticker I saved from my first day yesterday. So everyone was welcoming me. It was pretty awesome. And this morning we all got to go to the temple! So that was super, duper awesome! I love the temple. It's the best. Then we did laundry and between loads wrote emails. So that was my 8 days! My next emails probably won't be this long, but Elder Fogth took forever to figure out the picture stuff, so I had lots of time to write. I decided I had so many pictures I should just upload them for everyone to see since I can only send like 5 at a time. So pictures are here! And feel free to send letters through Dear Elder to unit 66! I've been loving the MTC, I love my district, my companion, and my zone! I seriously love it here. My companion is super awesome. Couldn't ask for a better one.

Love you all!

Elder Ben Mullins

The picture with me making a heart with an elder is my third cousin, Elder Bagley.  The other pictures with just one elder is my companion, Elder Fogth. I'll try to limit my picture taking to 5 next week so it's easier to get to them all. I don't know if it'll even work. I guess we'll see!

Elder Aaron Bagley--We are 3rd cousins!

Elder Fogth

Elder Fogth

Class time

Stretching?

My first care package from Alexis

 *Note from Mom:  We were so surprised to see that he met his third cousin, Elder Bagley.  His dad, Greg, actually baptized me when I was 8.  My dad didn't have the priesthood so we asked Greg to do it.  He was a priest and was preparing to go on a mission.  I was his first baptism.  I am so excited to send Ben a photo of Greg and me on my baptism day.  I sent one to him to give to Elder Bagley and another for him to send to his family.    Greg has always held a special place in my heart, because he baptized me.  Here we are now 36 years later with our sons meeting in the MTC for the first time.  Pretty cool!

Greg Bagley and Dahlene Curtis on her baptism day, March 22, 1980