First Week!

Hi Everyone! I made it to the MTC despite the terrible weather in Chicago. There is just so much to say and there is a big red timer in the upper corner of the screen.

One of the things that has surprised me the most about the MTC is how much I love it. I thought I'd like it, but I didn't know that I'd like it this much! We have class every day and we learn how to be a better missionary and how to help our investigators come unto Christ more effectively. We also have personal study time, companionship study time and Missionary Directed Time (MDT), and time to eat. In this past week I've grown so much more than I thought I could grow in one short (but felt very long) week. Sister DeBoer (my amazing companion) and I, have been doing our best to prepare lessons to teach to our "investigators". We do a lot of role playing at the MTC which helps you to gauge how well you can help people feel the Spirit. This past Monday we taught three lessons (all the first lesson about the Restoration of the Gospel, but to three different groups of people). We had a major break through when we were teaching our third and final lesson of the day. The first two lessons we taught were a little less effective than we would have liked. Both times we forgot to pray before we started the lesson with our investigators and it felt like we were just almost lecturing them. So when we were trying to prepare ourselves for our third lesson we were really humbled and we didn't know anything about our "investigators" (that turned out to be our roommates). We prayed before we went to teach that we could have the spirit and know those things that we should say. When we started the lesson we finally remembered to start with a prayer and that made such a huge difference in our effectiveness as missionaries. Heavenly Father heard our prayers and we were able to help our investigators feel the spirit stronger than we had ever done before. It was the first time that I've felt like the Spirit was speaking through me to tell me what those sisters needed to know both as investigators and as the people that they really are. It was a really special experience.

Let me tell you a little about my companion! Her name is Sister DeBoer, she's from Irvine, CA, and she's also going to Temple Square. She's shorter than me (believe it or not), but she's really cute. She welcomed me the first night I got there and I knew that I had been blessed with a really special companion. She just got baptized a little over a year ago and has been going to BYU for about the last year. She is the only member in her family. I'm just amazed every day at here courage and the brightness of her testimony. She has been such a support to me, not just by helping me be where I need to be when I need to be there, but also a great example of a missionary.

Sister DeBoer and I are the only sisters in our district (a group of about five companionships that go to class and other meetings together). The elders in our district are just great. They work so hard and really want to be good missionaries. Eight of them are going to Hawaii and two of them are going to Calgary Canada. They are so respectful of me and Sister DeBoer and are quite entertaining, when it's appropriate. Today is laundry day and some of them are still learning how to do laundry so they were asking Sister DeBoer and I what buttons to push and what they should and shouldn't put in the dryer. I'm glad I know how to do laundry 

I really love the MTC and this chance I have to share my testimony of the the restored gospel. I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father. He watches over us and he is more aware of our struggles and concerns than we'll ever know. He has provided a way to communicate with Him, and that is through prayer. I know that He hears our prayers and the desires of our hearts. He wants us to talk with Him and He will answer. I have experienced that every day.