Elder Levi Kovacs' Mission Independence, Missouri Spanish-Speaking: 8/27/22 Week 2 - Home MTC

Hola everyone!

It has been another great week of being a missionary! This was my last week of online MTC training and I will fly to the Mexico City MTC on Tuesday! I have learned so much in these first couple weeks and I am so excited for the opportunity to be immersed in the culture as I continue learn as much as I can.

I have been getting the most out of my home MTC “cafeteria” before I am at the full mercy of my own cooking skills. This week we had some family friends over for sushi night and Liz made homemade blueberry pie. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Another night, my dad made Pad Thai which was delicious. I think I might have to take a copy of that recipe.

My MTC classes have been awesome! We finished up learning how to give a 5-10 minute lesson. We have had the chance to practice teaching a lot this week. Usually we practice teaching another missionary from the class but on Tuesday we had a chance to teach a REAL LIFE PERSON. They put us in breakout rooms and then a Hispanic person joined the room and acted as someone we might have met in the real world. I was slightly traumatized but my companion, Elder Hanks and I did a great job and we know we will continue to get better.

Today I went tracting with the Elders from my ward. It was great and I got to see what it’s really like to be out there talking to people about the gospel! We met a Hispanic woman who was struggling to understand us because English is her second language. I began to realize that I had an opportunity to use some of the Spanish I had been learning for the last two weeks. I told her that we are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. At that point one of the Elders had called a Spanish speaking missionary who took over the conversation, for which I am grateful because I completely froze and didn’t know what to say next. The woman was happy to listen and set up a time for Spanish speaking missionaries to come by.

After tracting we went to the Kent Stake Center for a BIG devotional for youth and missionaries. The meeting had several special guests including Area Seventy Brother Naumann, General Authority Seventy Elder Sabin, Presiding Bishop of the church Bishop Causse, and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Jeffrey R. Holland! Each of them gave amazing remarks with a specific emphasis on missionary work. Elder Holland focused especially on missionary work. It was such an amazing experience to see an apostle of the Lord and hear his remarks about missions and his mission especially right at the beginning on my own mission! I can’t wait to tell my MTC district about it!

My next email will be sent from Mexico so stay tuned for all of that.

“Hope of Israel, rise in might

With the sword of truth and right;

Sound the war-cry, “Watch and pray!”

Vanquish ev’ry foe today.”

- Hymn 259, Hope of Israel

Elder Kovacs