MTC Week 3

Okay, life just gets better and better here. Seriously, I love it. Let's get down to business.

Funny things: ever since we got here, the Hermanas in our room have been talking about this "enhancement" class where they give you free makeup. So, we went to sign up for it in this office with a candy bowl that's famous for containing extremely delicious candy. This sweet old woman who was directing new missionaries around (it was Wednesday) pointed us into the office, and when we got in, we found that there was no one at the desk. So, while Hermana Nielson signed us up, I scoped out the candy and really liked what I found. I didn't have pockets or my bag with me, so I just slipped a few pieces into the most convenient place I could find, which may or may not have been down my shirt. It was a little sheer, but I was wearing an undershirt and thought it would be okay, since we were just planning on booking it out of there. Unfortunately, that same sweet old woman caught us on the way out and started talking to us about where we were going on our missions. We couldn't just run away, but the closer she got to me and the more she started looking around, the more nervous I was that she was going to notice that I had a few strange bulges coming from my chest area. Luckily she was probably partially blind so we escaped home free.

Next, Thursday mornings we have a service assignment, and this week H. Nielson and I were supposed to vacuum out the toilet paper and paper towel dispensers of dust. My vacuum was kind of broken, one of the wheels was missing so I was just dragging it along anyway, but all of a sudden it started making this screeching noise and smelling awful. I recruited H. Nielson to help and we determined there was something stuck in there but we couldn't get it out. I went out into the hall and asked this sister if we could borrow a pen. She accepted, but seemed kind of suspicious because I was obviously doing my service assignment in the bathroom... Anyway, the pen was too big so we took it apart and stuck just the ink part down. Unfortunately, it escaped into the LONG hose. H. Nielson reacted quickly and turned the entire vacuum upside down, including making sure the whole huge, long hose was upside down and tried to perform the Heimlich maneuver to get it out. Luckily, it worked. But the thing was still stuck. So we saw some other sisters in the hall, made them give us a wire hanger, and got the plastic battery case with Chinese writing on it out. Ridiculous.

Next, H. Nielson and I have come up with a plan. Mostly, we're never not working out. Unfortunately, in reality that only means that while we're standing up to sign hymns, we do calf raises. 100 or so. Everyone thinks it's really ridiculous but hey, my calves are looking great. Also, mom, thank you SO MUCH for the luau. I just shared it with the Hermanas in my room but we had a GREAT time and it was perfect on Thursday night because we have half an hour extra to get ready for bed since it's after gym. I took some funny pictures that I'll send home soon.

Spiritual things: So, I did join the choir and tonight we're singing Come Thou Fount for the GA devotional. It sounds SO good and I'm way excited. Also, this past Sunday we had a fireside about the dignity of our calling as missionaries and it was so great. Brother Allen of the Missionary Department talked a lot about the stupid things missionaries do, but he also talked about how much fun missions can be when you have the Spirit with you and you're following it. Perfect. Also, twice a week we go to the RC and call people to talk to them about the gospel. I've been soooo nervous to do it because I'm just afraid I won't know what to say. Also, for the first few times I just got answering machines everytime and I was so grateful because I was so scared. Anyway, I finally realized that I needed to have more faith, that the Spirit would guide me and I would know what to say. So on Saturday I prayed to have faith and to be able to talk to someone. And practically the first person I called answered the phone and her name was Tammy Bolen and she was GOLDEN. She had watched the DVD we sent her, I think it was Finding Faith in Christ, and she said she had the most wonderful feeling and wanted to read the Book of Mormon and have the missionaries come over and she was so happy and I was so happy to talk to her! And it was such an obvious, clear, direct answer to the prayer I had uttered about two minutes before. It was amazing that Heavenly Father gave me faith and then blessed me for that faith. I'm still really nervous to talk to people but it's so great to know that I can have the Spirit and that her life has been blessed because of that too. And I'm going to call her again on Saturday :)

Also, last night we had a testimony meeting in my class because one of the Elders left today for the Madrid MTC and it was EXCELLENT. I realized that since I've come to the MTC, the tiny little flame that my testimony was before has grown ROARING. I'm so glad that that little flame was enough to get me on my mission, because fueling it everyday here has done wonders for it and I never want to be without this feeling again.

The MTC is hard, and I'm sure the mission will be hard, but it is the best feeling I have ever experienced. I love it here. Like I said at the beginning, it gets better every day. Well, specifically every week. Some days are still hard. But by the end of every week, I can tell that I am just getting happier and happier about serving a mission. Highly recommend it.

Other stuff: in my first e-mail I mentioned that one of our teachers, Hermano Ammons, is kind of weird/nerdy. Well, good news is that we now all love him soooooo much. Saturday night we had a sub and it was AWFUL and we had no idea how much we appreciated Hermano Ammons and how awful other teachers could be. Plus, he shares the coolest things with us and he's making us good at Spanish. So, he's the bomb.

We also still love our other teacher, Hermana Decena. Ps, she served her mission in Boston, I forget if I said that ever. And she's from Dallas (born in Mexico though) and she's getting married in the Dallas temple this summer! She's the opposite of McKay, sweet.

And lastly, about my district: we are besties now, so don't worry about the Elder-Hermana relationship. Sunday for district meeting we had a "ring of fire" where each person took a turn in the middle and everyone went around and said two nice things about them. It was a little awkward to sit in the middle, and took forever because there were eight of us, but it was definitely a necessary experience. We love each other now and everyone's self-esteem was just through the roof that day. Which was nice, because obviously we don't get mail on Sundays, so we all needed a little "someone cares about you" boost.

Really lastly, with Fast Sunday coming up, we talked about some scriptures about fasting in class that I want all of you to read so you can have a good attitude about fasting this week! D&C 59:13-14, Helaman 3:35, and Isaiah 58, the whole chapter.

I love you guys, I miss you guys, and thanks so so so much for your letters (except Chase and Tagg, you should write me). Have a good week!

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