Hey fam! First off, I LOVE being a missionary! The MTC is such a special place with such a special spirit (whoever told me it's like a prison was wrong). There's no greater happiness and joy than being surrounded and able to share the gospel of Jesus Christ constantly.
My email apparently didn't send last week and I apologize! So this email is going to be a little extra long.
My companion is Sister Hutchings from Farmington, Utah. When we met, we immediately bonded over the fact that we both love volleyball and even more importantly, BYU men's volleyball. (: We've become the best of friends and have definitely had some good laughs and very spiritual moments. When we got here, she couldn't get her suitcase open because she put a lock on it and brought the wrong key. So on our 2nd day here, we went around asking different places in the MTC if they could break a lock. Eventually the security people told us they could, but told us to bring the suitcase to them. Poor Sister Hutchings had to do the "walk of shame" rolling her suitcase all the way across campus back to the main building and everyone thought that she was permanently leaving. Our friends kept trying to convince her not to leave. Good news guys! The security guards broke the lock with some gnarly pliers and she's still here loving the MTC😉
We're part of a Pilot district which means that we basically have no curriculum. Everyday, we come with questions and topics that we would like to know more about and then our teachers coach us on how to find the answers. It's also so nice because our schedule is a lot more flexible for teaching investigators.
My district is hands down the best district! All the Elders in our district are going to Wichita, Kansas and there's 4 of us sisters going to Tacoma! Everyone is so unique and hilarious and they've seriously become a family to me. My roommates are Sister Hutchings, Sister Nelson, and Sister Phelps. Sister Nelson grew up in California, but has recently lived in Draper, UT. She's so sweet and says the funniest things. Sister Phelps is from Newton, UT and has been a lifesaver to me! She is honestly the most knowledgeable person and has studied the gospel more than any person I know (besides maybe the Prophet and apostles). Her testimony amazes me and I'm constantly asking her questions about scriptures, gospel terms, and anything gospel related. We have a tradition every night that we call "Late night deep talks with Sister Phelps." We ask her super deep questions about deep doctrine and discuss it for at least an hour every night. Last night we talked about the Second coming. It's honestly my favorite thing ever.
Sister Hutchings and I have been able to teach quite a few different investigators and I've absolutely loved it! We usually teach about 2-3 lessons a day. It amazes me how as a missionary, I'm able to love everyone just as Christ would and see them through Christ's eyes. One of my absolute favorite investigators is named Olivia. When we first met with her, she was very closed off and didn't really have a big desire to meet with us. She's Catholic and from New York, but has a Mormon friend that referred her to us. Our first lesson with her was rough. She would not communicate to us about anything and we didn't know what she was feeling. After that lesson, Sister Hutchings and I prayed very hard for her and studied a lot to know how to best teach her. The next lesson was amazing! We truly focused everything on her and the spirit was able to speak through us. THE GIFT OF TONGUES IS SO REAL! We spent the entire lesson teaching her about God's tender mercies and how God plays a role in every aspect of our lives. She really opened up to us and told us how she felt so much love and peace and how it really opened up her eyes. We've been able to teach her several times since and she's going to Church on Sunday and reading the Book of Mormon faithfully! Yay!
Here are some highlights from the week:
-Volleyball during exercise time. The Elders nicknamed Sister Hutchings and I "Thunder and Lightning"
-Pizza Night every Friday
-Sister Hutchings and I received a new calling as Zone online coordinators.
-We got to walk around the Temple and approach random people to testify of Christ.
-Seeing SO many missionaries that I know here! I feel so at home!
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