Chris’ Mission–The MTC

I said goodbye to everyone at the house as best I could.  All I could really do is hug them and cry.  I love my family so much.  I have never seen my Dad choked up, but he has been all tears lately.  They are all so awesome and I will miss them so much.  We came to the MTC and met Grandma and Grandpa Polson there.  We went through a brief orientation meeting, watched a short video, and parted for 2 years.  It was very hard but it was also very joyous and exciting.  I think Sister Grant (MTC President’s wife) said it best with the expression “miserable joy”.      

After we parted, I went through some long lines and got a lot of stuff and finally got to my room.  There I met my companion, Elder Lee, and my other two room mates, Elder Sullivan and Elder Turner.   Then we went to an orientation meeting and met our district.  There are 12 of us and everyone is really great.  We also met two of our teachers, Elder Jensen for nights and Elder Wallis for afternoons.  They are very cool and powerful men and examples.     Chris’ Journal Oct. 7, 1992

 

Today was awesome.  We woke up at 5:15am, got ready, ate breakfast and returned to our room.  We were there for about 15 minutes until we had to leave for our first class at 6:50.  The rest of the day I was only in our room once for about 10 minutes, until 9:40pm.  It was definitely a long, hard day but also a memorable and fun day.  We met met our morning teacher, Elder Evans, and he is so awesome that now it is a toss up over which teacher I like best.  I have felt so close to the Lord today and it feels so good.  One of the greatest things about the MTC is that we constantly have to share our feelings about the gospel and this builds my testimony so much.  Every time I bear my testimony, it seems to come right back at me, building it.  I love it here.     Chris’ Journal Oct 9, 1992

An awesome experience I had today was when we did a role play first discussion with bearing our testimony.  I paired up with Sister WIttig and I taught her first.  And the spirit was there so strong – it was a deep burning inside and I know Sister Wittig felt it too because she was bawling and she told me.  I also cried as well.  Experiences like this are so awesome.      Chris’ Journal Oct. 10, 1992

We all had an interview with our Branch President Abegg today before church.  In sacrament meeting, President Abegg got up and called me to be the district leader for my district.  That is way awesome.  I am really excited to serve my district.  I hope and pray that I can stay humble and remember that I am just an instrument in Gods hands.       Chris’ Journal Oct. 11, 1992

Today, we got back into our regular schedules.  Up at 5:15am, to bed at 10:45, with little or no breaks in between.  It was a cool day and we are really coming together as a district.  My district in companionships are: Elder Lee and I; Elders Turner and Sullivan; Elders King and Jacob; Elders Larsen and Leeds; Elder Christianson and Boyce; and Sisters Wittig and Berroa.  Everyone has an awesome spirit and we all get along very well.  We could easily be the best district in the MTC.     Chris’ Journal Oct. 12, 1992

Elder L. Tom Perry was our fireside speaker tonight.  He gave a really good talk and it was great to hear such a great and powerful man speak.  The best thing was that our paths just happened to cross right after dinner, and so I was able to shake his hand.  That was quite the experience, to shake the hand of an apostle.     Chris’ Journal Oct. 13, 1992

The weirdest thing about this place is that every day feels the same.  Today is Saturday, but it feels like Monday or every other day.  It is really hard to get used to going to classes all day on a Saturday, but today was a great day and I really enjoyed it.  Tonight was the best.  Elder Jensen started us off with Book of Mormon sharing.  We all had a positive experience and the spirit really joined us and stayed for the rest of the class.  Elder Jensen did a role play with me.  It was so cool.  The spirit was so strong and it was a sweet experience.  It showed me that we can even make the role plays feel real.  Today was a great testimony builder because I learned a lot about missionary work the commitment process, and about myself.     Chris’ Journal Oct. 17, 1992

Today was room inspection, and yes we got the “room of the week” award again.  That’s right, we are 2 for 2, undefeated champions of the MTC.  We helped ourselves out today by leaving a kiss-butt note and some cookies for the inspector.  It was sweet.  The inspector wrote, “Outstanding, Celestial, Marvelous, #1, You made your mom proud, and Room of the Week.”     Chris’ Journal Oct. 21, 1992

Elder Turner hit his head this morning and a few hours later, he had a total and complete memory loss.  I asked Elder Turner if he wanted a priesthood blessing.  He did and he asked his companion, Elder Sullivan, to give it.  So we reviewed what the process was and said a short prayer in which I asked for the spirit to be upon Elder Turner and especially upon Elder Sullivan so that he could be guided in his words.  Then I went and invited all the Elders to come in and participate.  I anointed him with consecrated oil and when I put my hands on his head, I was filled with the Holy Ghost.  It is an experience and a power and a spirit that I will never forget.  Then we all gathered around and Elder Sullivan sealed the anointing.  He did a wonderful job and the priesthood power gathered in that circle was just awesome.  Amazingly, Elder Turner quickly remembered everything.     Chris’ Journal Oct. 25, 1992

I have mixed emotions.  I feel I am ready to go teach, but I haven’t been fully prepared.  I feel very excited to go to Michigan, but I don’t want to leave the security and spirit of the MTC.  But overall, I am ready to go, and pretty prepared to go.     Chris’ Journal Oct. 27, 1992

Today was a long, busy day that was totally full.  We started out by waking up at 3:30 to get ready.  We finished packing and checked out of our rooms and said goodbye to Elder Turner, who has to stay for medical concerns.  The bus left at 5:45am and we got the airport at 6:40am.  I checked in and got to my terminal and my family showed up about 3 minutes later.  There were tons of people there to see me off.  It was awesome.  Grandma Johnson, Grandma and Grandpa Polson, Chad, Nate, Wes, Luke, Liz Marshall, Kali Spiers, Pat, Greg, Kim, Kristen and Jeff Barratt; Eileen Johnson, Dave Johnson, DeAnn Eves, and Hub were all there.  Hub sang me the Michigan fight song and Grandpa gave me some advice on humility, telling me to have pride in my strengths, work on my weaknesses, and to leave it at that.  It was hard to say goodbye to everyone.  Mom was pretty much crying the  whole time, and of course they all cried and made me cry at the end.  It was awesome to see them, but very hard to leave them again.  But somehow I did it an got on that plane.      Chris’ Journal Oct. 28, 1992

Chris’ Mission–The Night before the MTC

Today was an awesome day.  I got Nikole out of school and she came home and helped me get ready all day.  She is rad.  I am almost packed and almost all ready.  I am now a missionary, of course.  I got set apart by President John S. Kirkham at 9:00 PM.  My family and Grandma and Grandpa Polson were all there.  First, Pres. Kirkham gave them all a chance to say something to me and Dad, Mom, and Grandma and Grandpa all said some very nice things. He then gave me a spectacular blessing with the spirit.  He said some way cool things.  I then went through and hugged everyone.  I love my family so much.  They are so awesome.  We then went to Frontier Pies and when we got home, Ash and I played our final RBI Baseball game.  Then, Dad built a fire and we all just sat and stared at it in the dark in our Christmas sweatshirts.  Even Bojay had his sweatshirt on.  It was so awesome and so much fun, but I just sat and cried most of the time because I will miss them so much.  We also listened to Christmas music, of course, all night.  Well, it is now 1:20 am.  I will be in the MTC in 12 hours and 40 minutes.  Here is to the next two years.   Chris’ Journal Oct. 6, 1992

Chris’ Mission–Mission Farewell and final week at home

This was one of the greatest days ever. I wore my new suit, my new shoes and of course my Christmas socks. It was a sweet program. The Missionary farewell program order was: Lindsey, Ashlyn, Nikole, Geneses’ song “His Hands”, Mom, Dad, my piano song “I am a Child of God”, and then my talk. Everyone did an excellent job. The spirit was definitely there and I got many compliments on everything. I couldn’t have asked for a better turnout. The church was stacked all the way back to the gym and there were even people in the foyers because they couldn't fit in the chapel or cultural hall. And there were so many people in my house that I was stuck in there forever. It was great to see so many of my friends and family all gathered there together. Today was so awesome. I just hung out at home all day and tons of people rolled in and out all day. I had the best time. I am glad I don’t go into the MTC on this Wednesday so I have one more week to wrap everything up, but I am excited to get on my mission.

Right now I am in Nikole’s room listening to Christmas music. We are pulling off one of our last late nights together. It is very fun. Nikole is so awesome. I love her so much and our relationship is so special to me. I hope we can always be the best of friends. I am certainly going to miss her and all of my family. Ashlyn and I played RBI baseball together tonight and she started crying. She is awesome, too. I am going to miss nights like this. There were so many people here that I love. Everyone told me I was a great speaker and that I sounded more like a returned missionary than one just going out. And my piano piece turned out awesome. I only made one mistake and then I settled down and played it great.

I can’t believe how soon I am out of here. I will work on Monday and Tuesday and then I will have one week before I go in. I better make the most of it. “I’m dreaming of a White Christmas” is on. I will definitely have a white Christmas, but I won’t be with my family. It is going to be hard but I will deal with it.  Sunday, September 27

Well, this will be my last time writing in this journal for two years. Tomorrow is the day, but it hardly seems like it. After my farewell, I worked on Monday and Tuesday and then I went to the Jordan River Temple with Sharon for her endowments. It was way cool and it made a little more sense this time. I went golfing with Dad at Forest Dale on Wednesday, too. Thursday, I totally cleaned out my whole room, cleared out my desk, dresser, nightstand, closet, entertainment center, etc. It was a lot of fun to go through everything but I threw a lot away.

Friday was a big day. We drove down to Manti in the morning and attended Genene and Clay’s wedding. It was way cool to see an actual sealing for time and all eternity. And the Manti Temple is really neat. We stayed in Manti for the wedding breakfast and then we headed up to the BYU game vs. Utah State. Jennifer came with us so we got to talk a lot and she has turned her life around and will probably go on a mission herself. That is sweet. It was fun hanging out with her.  Friday, October 2

Saturday, I just lounged around, watched General Conference, continued cleaning my room, etc. Saturday night, I took Jen Briner out. She is way hot and really cool. Sunday was another lazy day. We watched conference and then played Hand and Foot. That was really fun. Monday, I gathered everything together and narrowed down my list of things to buy and to do. Me and Mom and Dad went to Fred Meyer and I spent $115 on stuff. We then went to KC Hooligans for ice cream. Me and Dad and Nikole and Grandpa went golfing at Mountain Dell. It was a long challenging course but very fun. Dave and Marianne Johnson came over and gave me a really nice book and a card with $25. They are so awesome. I will keep in touch with them for sure. They are taking my parents to the Neil Diamond concert on Friday to cheer them up after I leave.  Sunday, October 4