week 2

I am loving my companion Elder Brown. He is a convert, and the only member in his family. He is really good at magic tricks, so all of us missionaries love him doing them.I love it here, but I cannot believe that I am going to be leaving in a week and a half. Elder Mariana hurt his knee playing volleyball, so he might be staying here a couple extra weeks. so now I am going to be extra careful about playing sports during gym. I am learning so much, and still have so much to learn. I do have a greater understanding of the Gospel, but mostly I am learning how to teach it to others. I still have a hard time tailoring it to other peoples needs, but I am getting better.Also something that is cool here is that the Church released a mini Preach My Gospel. I guess it is common for missionaries to make their own small ones, but it is technically illegal, so the Church just released a small one, so now everyone is buying them because they are only $3. I am going to get one after I send this to you. I also saw Nigel which was really cool. it was at dinner when he first got here, so I didn't have time to really talk with him, so I hope that I run into him again. While I have been here I have really discovered why I decided to come on a mission. I have realized just how much the Gospel and the Atonement has blessed my life, and I just really want to have it bless others lives as well. In Preach My Gospel there is a quote in the first chapter about the more that you learn about the Atonement, the more your desire to share the Gospel increases. The Atonement is always something that I enjoy teaching, and sharing with others the peace that it brings into my life. Well I think that is it, hope you have a great week

-Elder Cook

week1

 during Alex's first week in the MTC he wrote us a letter instead of an email, so it took a while for us to get, but here it is! and remember, Alex would love to hear from anyone, and its really easy to write to him with dearelder.com

 My companion is Elder Brown.  He is really cool.  He is pretty quiet and relaxed and we get along really well.  My whole district is cool.  There are 12 of us, 4 Elder companions and 2 Sister companions.  Half of us are going to Australia with 2 Elders and a Sister going to Melbourne and 3 Elders going to Perth.  I'm not sure if we are the only ones going to Australia or not.  There were 467 of us who entered the MTC together and 2700 missionaries here now.  My roommate said that earlier in the summer it hit 3100 which was the record.  I have 3 other roommates, two are companions and are learning Spanish.  This is their 7th week.  The other elder has also been here around the same time, but he is learning English but is having some back problems.  He finds out next week if he needs surgery.

I have seen lots of elders I know from BYU.  Actually I saw my Elders Quorum President at the Salt Lake airport.  I have seen both Elder Mariana and Elder Campbell, just not at the same time.

So here is an overview of my schedule.  I wake up at 6:30 and eat at 7:00.  Then I have class and personal study time until lunch.  Then more class and study time until dinner at 4:30 (yes really early dinner).  Then we have more class, or some type of workshop.  We get back to our room and have personal time until we go to bed at 10:30.  I like the classes.  They are great and do not seem that long.  The studying can go on, especially if you have it for a couple hours straight.  So far it has been great.  I am learning so much.  I have taught two lessons, one day apart.  It was amazing how much that one day was.  The first one I was worried about how well I was teaching and it didn't go well.  The second one we were focused on the investigator's (our teacher's) needs.  I am also really surprised how well you can feel the Spirit in these fake appointments.  I am also so impressed by my teachers' acting ability to create a character so well that you can forget that you are teaching your teacher.

I was really excited that they had BYU chocolate milk, and Creamery ice cream on Wednesday and Sunday.  The food has been pretty good and was a nice surprise.

Well tomorrow is Sunday and everyone said once you get to Sunday you will be good.  I haven't really been homesick so I guess that is a good sign.  There is also a saying that the days are like months and the months are like days.  I can attest to the days being like months, and just hoping the weeks go by quickly because I just want to get to Australia, but I realize I have so much to learn.  I leave in 15 days though, so that is exciting (I'm not counting Monday since I leave in the morning)!  Also, my clergy card expires August 20, 2014, so I'm guessing I will be released around then.  Well I think that is it, and you thought I wasn't going to write that much.  And I hope you don't freak out too much since you will probably get this letter the same time you get my next email.

I know that this church is true, and I can see the influence it can have just on my these last couple of days.  I cannot wait and be there to watch it completely change other people's lives.  I know that is why I am here, to help others receive the joy that I have had in my life.  I love you guys so much, and thank you for all you have done.  I know I haven't said thank you as much as I should have, but know that I love you so much for everything you have given me, especially the gospel in my life.

Love,

Elder Cook

we knew this day was coming for 19 years

well guys, yesterday morning we dropped Alex off at the airport. his flight from the Sacramento Airport left at 6:20 am so we had to get there pretty early. there were actually two other missionaries who were on his same flight that he ended up meeting up and going through security with. together they flew to salt lake and entered the missionary training center in Provo, Utah. for the next 3 weeks Alex is going to be living there, learning all he can about being a missionary before he flies to Australia. for right now, if you want to write him a letter you can send it to this address:

Elder Alexander Cook 
MTC Mailbox #235
AST-PER 0905
2005 N 900 E
Provo UT 84604-1793

another great way to write to him is to go to dearelder.com this is a great website where you can type in a letter to any missionary, and they will get it to the missionaries in the MTC on the same day if you send it in before noon in utah. click on write a letter,  then select "Provo MTC" and click write a missionary. then you just have to put in Alex's information, type your letter, and send it to him. the best part of this site is that its totally free to write letters to missionaries in the MTC, so go ahead and send Alex a letter! he would love to hear form everyone.

so for the most part this blog isnt going to have many posts like this with me writing a post to all of you, for the most part I will just be posting the letters that alex writes home, but if you have any questions about what alex is up to, or how to contact him just ask me! and if you have any questions you want me to ask him, or anything in particular you want to hear about in his letters, just leave a comment or let me know and ill make sure to pass along the message!