LIFE IN THE MTC

As for life at the MTC...it's actually been a pretty exciting week. Exciting in the sense of things not being routine and boring because of very odd circumstances. My companion has some health problems that she is always having to deal with. Apparently her problems got worse this week and she has been having really bad headaches. She doesn't like conventional medicine, though, and has a bunch of specialists she has to work with. So, we spent about 3 of our mornings wandering around from the health center to the front office to meetings with our branch president, etc. trying to get permission for her to go see them. It was a glorious day when we finally convinced them to give her a "phone permission slip" yesterday so she could call her mom and have her mom figure out things with her specialists.

We also had a new sister randomly show up on Friday. She was supposed to arrive six weeks ago but thought she was going to marry a guy she had been dating out here at BYU. So she moved out to DC for a month or so and postponed her mission. Obviously she didn't get married because she is here now. But everything is really confusing because now we have 2 "single sisters" who my companion and I have to coordinate with and teach at the TRC with. It is really neat to be able to teach twice in the TRC though. And I am super glad the new sister is here because she is pretty athletic and will run and stuff with me during gym. She is also really laid back and funny...reminds me a lot of Kristen.

As for spiritual experiences here...we went to the Referral Center for the first time last Wednesday. I started by making call backs (calling people to make sure that they received their free videos they had asked for etc., then trying to invite them to have the missionaries over). After a few answering machines, an older gentleman from the heart of Detroit answered and I had an AWESOME discussion with him. He had gotten one of our videos to "learn more about Christ" but didn't think he had learned much from our video. So I told him about the Book of Mormon and how it had a lot more information about Christ. He was excited until I told him the missionaries had to bring it over and I couldn't just mail it to him. He was super worried about that and asked if maybe just one missionary could come. He explained he lives in a rough neighborhood and doesn't trust people coming into his house. If only one of them was there he could probably "take him on" if anything happened, but two was dangerous. Somehow from that I was able to take the conversation to modern day prophets, the priesthood and revelation restored to the earth, etc, and by the end of the conversation he was all pumped to meet with the missionaries and invite 10or so of his neighbors. Then, at the end of the conversation he wanted me to pray with him. So we said a prayer together (literally together, after almost everything I said he had a comment like..."oh yeah", "good idea", "I need lots of peace in my life - can we ask for more of that?") Then I called him the next day and talked to him again. The last time I called, though, he didn't answer, so hopefully the missionaries will take the reigns and get in touch with him!!

On Sunday we had a devotional which brought a big realization. He was mostly talking about why we shouldn't be depressed and hate the MTC - which I don't at all -so I was kind of getting bored. But then the speaker called my row of the bleachers to come up to the mike and say what the biggest sacrifice we had made to come on a mission was. The only two things I could think of were time with my family and flying benefits. Really, nothing else has really seemed like a sacrifice. I have it so easy and am getting so much more out of this experience than I was required to put in. I know I am so lucky to be here and really appreciate all of your love, support, and advice in the process of me making this decision to come on a mission. I definitely would have regretted it if I hadn't.

Mom- as for suggestions of what to read...get yourself a "Preach My Gospel" and work your way through the lessons. Look up the scriptures, etc. One of my favorite sections I have read this week was 3rd Nephi 17, focusing on how much our Heavenly Father loves ALL of us and wants to heal everyone! Also, read the bible dictionary explanation of prayer.