Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Still smiling!

Hey y'all! Sorry, I think I'll just begin every post with that because I think it's the greatest thing ever. Another awesome week at the MTC! I can' t believe I'm down to 6 days before I head out to Florida, leaving here at 3:30 am, hahaha! Last Tuesday Elder Bednar came and gave a world-wide MTC devotional that was amazing! He talked about how Christ ministered one by one, truly loving and serving individuals. Sometimes I think about serving people on a large scale, but esp. in missionary work it's so important to remember to focus on the individual. I sang with the MTC choir that night singing a song Eld. Bednar wrote with Paul Cardall called "One By One." An awesome experience!

There's something called TRC where each companionship is assigned to teach an investigator, who's either a real investigator (that's what we call someone learning about the church from the missionaries) or a convert (baptized into the church after 8) who is already baptized, but acting with their own story so the missionaries can practice teaching. Anywho, Sister Wall and I taught Olivia all last week, invited her to baptism, and she accepted!!! And she's a real investigator!!!! It brought me so much joy to know I played a part in her coming unto Christ. So since she's a real investigator, she'll go to the Provo missionaries to continue being taught before her baptism! I wish that Sis. Wall and I could keep teaching her, but we get new TRC investigators each week. But we got Olivia's email to stay in touch. I love the new investigators we're teaching, too! Brooke and Shannon, who are both so sweet, and get this- Shannon is from Tallahassee and just recently moved here with her husband. That's no coincidence! 

Haha, to juxtapose our success, Sister Wall and I had quite an interesting lesson with our teacher-investigator role play. We invited him to baptism, but it didn't go smoothly after that... But I learned a lot from that lesson! Teaching exposes my strengths and weaknesses like nothing else. :) But on a positive note, in class we were just role playing teaching in companionships, and one of the teachers was listening as I taught. He told me afterward that one of my strengths is being able to teach the doctrine simply and clearly, especially considering I'm a new missionary. That made me happy! I'm learning so much! 

I love my district so much! We laugh so much  together and we're all great friends. I wish I had time to write about all our silly experiences. 

Jack Tingey, one of my friends from high school, came to the MTC last week and I see him around a lot. I see lots of other kids from high school and USU too, which is fun. Last Wednesday, Sister Wall and I got to meet the new missionaries in our branch, get to know them, and take them on a tour. They're a fun group! On Sunday, I taught a lesson in Relief Society, which went well. 

I've had a cold the past few days, which hasn't been fun, but I'm still smiling! I went to the temple today for the last time for 18 months, which is sad, but it was wonderful experience. I went with questions in mind, and the Spirit answered all of them while I was there! There is so much power in asking questions when we go to church, the temple, devotionals, etc. and writing down the answers we receive to act on them. 

Every Sunday, the missionaries can choose from several filmed MTC devotionals. My district watched a talk by Elder Holland about being a missionary, and WOW was it humbling and uplifting and encouraging all at once! He talked about how many missionaries think so much about "when I get home" or "back to real life," but he reminded us that this is real life, and to live every minute to the fullest. He said being a full-time missionary is as close to being an ordained Apostle of the Jesus Christ as we can ever be, and that we are apostles with a lower-case a. :) How cool! My mission is truly what I make it, and I want to make every part of it, good, bad, difficult, and everything in between, a part of who I am. How can we expect to become like Christ, who experienced every difficulty, pain, sorrow, and challenge imaginable, without experiencing some difficulties, pains, sorrows, and challenges ourselves? A mission definitely has those things, but there are so many joys that make all the difference. Love you all!
 
 Sister Wall and Sister Jamison (companions)




Tallahasse lassies
 



The district
 
 


 Some branch Sisters

 


Missionary laundry day
 

Elder Tingey and Sister Jamison

 

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