MTC Week 6

This week has been the best, most bittersweet week ever. So much has happened. I'll start with this past weekend.

 

SO, on Friday night, our teacher, Brother Kofoed, announced at the end of class that he was leaving us. He'd been getting the feeling like he should quit the MTC for a while now (but didn't know why) and that Friday night was his last night. It was a huge blow to the whole district. He's the best teacher in the world. He's SO intense, to the point where you kind of just have to laugh at some of the things he does, but he's SO sincere about everything. He doesn't just bear his testimony, he embodies his testimony. It's great. Anywho, the next day, we taught his "character" their last lesson (and "committed" them to baptism) and then we had a goodbye pow-wow with Brother Kofoed. He almost broke my no-crying streak. Almost. Now, whenever anyone says anything about Brother Kofoed, we all start fake crying. BUT, the good news is that our regular teacher, Brother Sorenson, is back from his eternal vacation. It's great having him back. He's like the father of the district. Brother Kofoed is like Nephi, Brother Sorenson is like Jesus. It would make total sense if you met them. Just trust me.

 

Next highlight: I SAW CAITIE AT THE TEMPLE! I was sitting with my district on the edge of the temple grounds and I hear, "Sister Sine....SISTER SINE!" whispered from the bushes. I looked over and saw heads peeking through some leaves, and it was CAITIE AND SCOTT METTS! I couldn't believe it. We ended up talking for about 20 minutes about everything, which is much longer than I should have, but whatever. It kind of felt like a prison visit, since we were meeting through the bars. It was amazing, though. It made my heart 98340292349723984 times happier and lighter. I made her send some teaxt to Lark and Mary Alice. I loved how Mary Alice sent paragraphs back, and all I heard form Lark was, "Wait. What?" Haha. I was so happy. And I can't wait to maybe see her on a completely random day that I have no clue about sometime before I leave the MTC, maybe.

 

Also on Sunday, I was the first person from the younger zone to give a talk in Russian in sacrament meeting. The first! Woohoo! Everyone prepares a talk every week, and the presidency announces who will speak about 10 minuts into sacrament. It's such a rush. I met with President Harrison that morning and we talked about how the mission was going, yada yada, then he asked what the district was working on back in the room. I told him we were all translating our talks for sacrament. Then he said, "Well, I guess that means one of you will be speking, doesn't it!" From that moment on, I knew. The talk went really well. I had to read the scriptures in Russian, though, which I'm terrible at, so that slowed things down. But everyone said I sounded like I was a native Russian, though, so good things, good things all around.

 

And now to today. Wednesdays are the best days of the week in general because of P-day. BUT today we get to have P-day, we got to go to the temple, AND we get new Russian missonaries today. We've been SO excited for them to get here ever since the older district left.They should be getting here right about now, actually. We have 12 new sisters moving into our zone, all living next-door to us on our floor. It's so crazy to think that I've been here long enough to be part of the "older district." We only have about a month left here before we ship out, which is nuts. I think we're all pretty ready, though.

 

This morning, as we were getting breakfast at the temple, a member of the temple presidency stopped us and asked if we'd like to eat breakfast with him in a seperate room. I don't know how often that happens, but the room was decorated REALLY nicely, so I'm guessing not a lot of missionaries get to eat in there. Anywho, we ate breakfast and he told us we could ask him any question about the temple, ANY question. I asked him about a few of the symbols and he gave us the coolest explanation of temple ordinances I've ever heard. He made things sooo clear. The spirit was probably the strongest I'd ever felt it; I even started tearing up a little bit. At one point, I asked him about a temple in Russia, and all he said was, "It'll come. Very soon. It'll come." It was so special. SO special. I'll never go to the temple the same way ever again. One of these days, I'll tell you guys more about it. Gah! It was just the best. It's been the best day ever.

 

Now to the low part of the week. I got super sick on Monday. I woke up and my throat felt like it was closing in on itself. It kept getting worse throughout the day, to the point where I just slept during every free moment we had. My body was freezing, my throat hurt like it used to when I would get strep all the time, and my head was in a lot of pain. I felt like the biggest baby; I just couldn't do anything. BUT. I did take some oils, Mom, and they did help (I'm assuming) because the nurse I met with said I'd probably be sick for the next 5-6 days, but I woke up the next morning feeling fine. There it is, your DoTerra testimony for the day.

 

And now for the actual testimony. This week's been the greatest. I've learned so, so, so much.We've been focusing on teaching through the Holy Ghost in class this week, which, if you didn't alread know, is on the most crucial thing ever to missionary work. haha. I used to get so hung up on having to know whether or not "promptings" I got were from me or from the spirit, and this week I learned that it doesn't matter. You would think I would've that figured out sometime before my last month of being 22, but whatever. The point is, if you're doing the things you're supposed to- keeping the commandments (that includes the the big one, "love one another"), remembering your covenants, and trying to be a good boy/girl (according to Elder Bednar in his story about the "20 Mark Note," which you shoudl all look up on YouTube or something), then it won't matter who it's "from," because you'll have the Holy Ghost as your constant companion. It seems like such a simple concept, but it's SO important. That's why exact obedience is stressed so much. The rules we have in the church aren't to put us in a cage, they're there to enable us to make better choices in the future, to be worthy to make more covenants and more good choices. So remember (this goes double for Lark, Mary Alice, and Kate, since you have more time to practice this) to love each other. If you're not loving everyone, and I mean everyone, then you're missingsomething. And it's up to you to find out what that something is. There's a story we heard last night about an Elder in Japan who, almost single-handedly, baptized enough members to form 3 whole wards in his area. The only thing that set him apart from everyone else, according to his mission president, was his ability to love. And the last thing you have to remember is that part of that commandment to love is "love your neighbor as thyself." That means that you have to love yourself. It's a commandment. Straight from the man himself. He loves you, He created you, and there's no reason any of his creations would be unworthy of love.

 

So, there you go. This thing is super long. I love you all! I miss you every day. I'm still waiting to hear from you, Mary Alice. If I don't get someting from you in the next 7 days, you're not my sister anymore! I mean it! AND you, Sister Morgan. (Just kidding. But seriously.)

 

You're all in my prayers. Every night. I hope you can feel them. Keep reading, keep praying, keep doing the little things. I wasted so much time not doing them and I regret is so much now that I'm here.

 

 

Ya lyooblyoo vac mnohguh!