Week One Down

So, Week 1 of the MTC is gone and over with! It has gone by SO FAST!!! But it's been great and I've been loving it. I have already grown so much and learned a ton!

General Conference was AMAZING. Most of my district and I fasted all day Saturday so that we could have questions answered at General Conference, so that was great.  It's not very hard to keep myself from eating MTC food... I am SO sick of it.

Anyways, I really REALLY loved the talk by Elder Bednar. I loved the story he told about his friend taking his new truck up into the mountains and getting it stuck in the snow, and how he decided instead of just sitting there he would go cut his firewood anyway. And then when he loaded all the firewood up, he was able to get out of the snowbank! So when Elder Bednar said, IT'S THE LOAD... that part hit me with the spirit SOOOOO hard! Like BAM! "Is the load I am carrying providing the spiritual traction I need to stay on the pathway to Christ, and keep me from getting 'stuck?'" I loved how it said a heavy load was necessary to provide traction to get back to his family and move forward... just like in this life, getting out of your comfort zone, being challenged and maybe even going through trials is what helps us progress and learn, and get back to our eternal family in heaven.  My FAVORITE thing about watching General Conference at the MTC was the MUSIC. I loved when they had the whole congregation join the MoTab in singing, and all the missionaries voices just filled the gym. It was very powerful 

Sister Casey and I taught our first investigators this week! The first one was one named Ludmilla, and let me tell ya, our first time teaching her was the most AWKWARD thing I may have ever experienced. Haha I may be exaggerating a bit, but still  We were feeling very discouraged. The second time (a different investigator) was a bit better, but not much. I was very disappointed in myself and my teaching abilities. I was fasting and praying that I could improve. It wasn't until this last Monday that we taught Ludmilla again and WE ROCKED IT! It was an amazing feeling. And then the next day, we taught our second investigator, Kenzie, and it was even more AMAZING! I felt so grateful to my Heavenly Father for helping me improve... I feel so much better about teaching now. I was able to rely on the spirit to really feel what the investigators needed to hear.

I've made a ton of new friends here at the MTC! You know Mom, how you always say that I get along best with foreign people? Well that's true here! I have a lot of friends from New Zealand. Sister Ezekiela in my district is from New Zealand and we've come to be really good friends. She's 21 and she loves to sing as well! So we were sitting in the hall outside our classroom singing hymns (she sang melody and I harmonized) and after singing like 5 songs, five Elders from New Zealand came and sat down and started singing with us! They all harmonized and it was beautiful and it made me SO HAPPY!! So the New Zealanders are like my best friends now haha  I seriously could have stayed there and sung with them for hours, but my comp. and Sister Ezekiela's comp. were anxious to go get ready for bed, so we had to leave  The next day I played volleyball with all the New Zealanders and got smacked in the face with the ball... it was hilarious haha. But I got a few good shots in, and the rest were just funny attempts to hit the ball 

Elder Winterton (an elder in my district) and I rewrote "part of your world" From the little mermaid to make it gospel related and it's AWESOME! But we haven't finished it yet so I'll send you the lyrics when it's done haha. My district is SO GREAT! We all went to the temple this morning and I FINALLY got to see the 2nd newest video... since I've only seen the newest one so far. I'm glad I got to see the new one my first time when I received my own endowments because the one I saw today is good but doesn't have the best acting.  But I'm glad I got to go to the temple one last time before I leave for Pennsylvania!

On Sunday night we had a devotional, and guess who put it on? VOCAL POINT!!! They are amazing. They spoke to us and sang to us and I loved every minute of it. When they sang Nearer My God to Thee, I felt the spirit so strong and I've never felt the chills that much before. Oh and guess what, DAVID ARCHULETA WAS HERE FOR A DEVOTIONAL A WEEK BEFORE I GOT HERE! So that's really really sad. I just barely missed him 

I love the MTC and I know I'm going to love my mission! I'm excited to leave for Pennsylvania, and there's a lot of things that make me excited to leave the MTC (such as the food and having a better shower and apartment and trivial things like that) but I'll be sad to leave the MTC. I'm gonna miss my district and the other people I've met here.

All the days pretty much blend together here, and guess what, I LOST MY JOURNAL last night. So hopefully I haven't forgotten anything else important in this email. But I'm trying to find my journal because that has the personal stuff in there!

We're gonna be zone leaders for a new district that just got here today, and they are all going to Eugene Oregon on their mission. Seriously, it's hard to leave home and go to a new place and live by new rules and all that... but it is seriously great! Taylor should be excited! I have had a lot of fun here at the MTC... partly because of the people in my district. We're allowed to have a bit of fun here. Elder Morris, Elder Winterton and Sister Ezekiela get me through the day... they are SO FUNNY.  But Taylor will make a ton of friends here and learn a lot.

Well I love you all and thank you for your support!

With my companion (below) and others in my district.