I survived the first week at the MTC
and honestly it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Yes, it has been hard.
But the Spirit here is unlike any other. It's amazing how much I have grown in
the short week I have been here.
So! My companion is Sister O'Grady
and she went to Lone Peak!! She is going to the London South mission and London
Temple Visitors' Centre. I love her so much!! We get along SO well and I am
honestly blessed to have her has a companion. There are only eight people in my
district. We are pretty small. The other two sisters are Sister Biernesser
(Beer-nesser) and Sister Rawlins. Us four are pretty crazy. We are in the same
room and man, it's so much fun! Last night Sister Rawlins and I hung from the
beds like monkeys. We all have become the best of friends and it's
amazing. The elders are Elder Lambert and Elder Beard and then Elder Smith and
Elder Dixon. They are so fun. They all also have a very unique reason why they
are here. It's so fantastic to be surround by so many worthy priesthood
holders. :) We have a lot of fun together!! Probably the funniest moment
this week was when we freaked out our teacher Brother Gleason. Sister O'Grady
and I have an emergency cell phone to contact the branch president since we
sister training leaders. During class it fell out of Sister O'Grady's bag and
he turned around, saw it, thought it was hers, freaked out, and yelled SIN!!
SIN!! We tried to explain but we were laughing too hard. He then told her it
was the most ghetto peace of sin he had ever seen. (It's an old flip phone)
So basically we have so much study
time and the first few days were really hard to focus and concentrate. But it's
been amazing to see how the Spirit really has intervened as long as we are
being exactly obedient. Okay, so having an iPad is so nice but can be so hard
as well. It's easier for pictures, but can also become quite a distraction. But
hey! Today I can email all the way until six soooooo!!! But we can send and
receive letters all week and letters and packages are like Christmas so feel
free to send all of those!! :)
I HAVE SEEN SO MANY PEOPLE I KNOW.
First. Elder Schwanke!! I see him quite often. We had a nice 15 minute chat
yesterday. Familiar faces are nice. AND HE WAS NOT THE ONE WHO CLOTHES-PINNED
THE PRESIDENT. It was someone in his district. But now they are banned...and he
did get this sandwich punching game banned...and stacking cups...the Poland
missionaries are a little crazy. I have also seen Sister Kofford!! And Elder
Ferguson. I didn't think he would know who I was but he does and we did a
little street contacting with him and now we say hi to them and such. Crazy.
Also for Alan, I see Sister Bentley too. She ran up to me at a devotional,
thinking I was someone else, but then realized who I was and freaked out. It
was so funny but so nice to see another familiar face!! And I see Elder Lewis
literally ALL THE TIME. It is so great. :)
One of our sister training leader,
Sister Gearheart, is going to the St. George visitors center! She is amazing. I
love her so so much. Our Zone is made up of two districts. 67A left on Tuesday
to Boise Idaho and we miss them so much. They were amazing. We got our new
district 67A yesterday and we love them! Four elders and six sisters. One is
going to England! She came to this MTC because of visa stuff. :) the other
sisters are going to the Independence visitors center. VC sisters rock. And the
elders are going to St. Louis. And they. Are. So. Tall. And. Samoan. I'll try
and get a picture next to them. It's crazy! But we love them. :)
I'm wearing jeans right now and it
feels so fantastic.
The food is....food. Good!! But you
get tired of it fast. Uhm.. Some people explain it by using Jeremiah 4:19.
But I haven't experienced that....
Yesterday I ran over my foot with a
chair, ran into the wall, and the door, and stabbed my foot on a metal thing.
If I wasn't doing the Lords work, I'm pretty sure I would have seriously
injured myself while being here haha. :)
I feel like I have so much to tell
you but don't even know where to begin so sorry if this seems a little random
and jumbled. :)
Mom!! Thank you so much for that
hymn. I love it. Actually, last night Sister Gearheart sang it for us told us
about it and then I saw you had sent it to me it really touched my heart. Thank
you.
Sunday was amazing. The devotional
was given by Wendy Nelson (Elder Nelsons wife) and it was AMAZING. Then we
watched a talk by Elder Bednar. It's called Characters of Christ and you can
only hear it in the MTC. It is LIFE CHANGING. He talks about how when we all
would have turned in the natural man, Christ turned it out. That a testimony is
knowledge but conversion is being. I have really been studying the Atonement
this week, and I realized that if Christ would have done anything different,
any little thing, the plan would not have been fulfilled. We often think of
Christ as never facing temptation except for the few accounts we have in the
scriptures, but I think he faced it everyday. How could you not when you
literally have the weight of the world on your shoulders? He felt forsaken. He
felt alone in the garden. But he turned out what we would have turned in. The
Atonement was a sacrifice, and He was the best lamb. The Atonement is really
and powerful and I bear you my personal witness that I have felt it this week
stronger than I ever felt it in my entire life.
Tuesday we were able to walk to the
BYU devotional and it was amazing. He talked about Tenacity. I STRONGLY
recommend you listen to it if you still can get it on the website. Then we had
an MTC devotional from Elder Christoffel Golden and his wife. Just...ah it was
so great!!! Devotional are so great and I appreciate them so much more as a
missionary.
We have two types of investigators.
PI with are our teachers taking on the role of a nonmember friend or an
investigator they taught and TRC which are actual people who come into the MTC
and you set up appointments with. Some are members telling their conversion
story through the role play, some are inactive members, and some are nonmembers
but we never know until after we leave the MTC of we get their email. Our two
PI's are Emilia (Sister Cole) and Mina (Sister Wiser) and our TRC is Rachel. We
taught all three yesterday and they were the most AMAZING lessons of my life.
We taught Rachel about the Restoration (SIDE NOTE FOR ALL FUTURE MISSIONARIES
READING THIS: Memorize the first vision. Trust me, you will use it so much and
it is so powerful if you can recite it. I'm the only one in the district with it
memorized and so I have given that lesson so so so so so many times. It invites
the Spirit so much when you can speak with Joseph's words.) The Spirit was so
strong and she is so interested!! She had no previous religion and the only
things she really knew about Christ was Christmas, Easter, and that he was a
good man. So we showed her a Bible video (Thou Art the Christ. WATCH IT!!) and
that set the tone for the rest of the lesson. Then we taught Emilia about the
Atonement and the lesson was completely led my the Spirit. She opened up to us
and told us every little concern she had and every little fear and insecurity.
Then we were able to testify of the Atonement personally. The Spirit was
completely tangible. Then we taught Mina about eternal families and the
pre-mortal life. She has two little boys and her boyfriend isn't very
interested in the Church. The Spirit was also so strong. At the end we invited
her to be baptized and she looked at us with tears in her eyes and gave us a
firm yes. Which is amazing because she started out so hesitant. So we have
committed all three to baptism and to preparing for baptism!! Although they are
just role plays, we treat them and pray for them like they are really
investigators. It's so humbling and I have really learned to love them. It's so
amazing the pure love I feel for them, and that I can feel Christ's love for
them. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. Yes, it is hard. There are feelings of
inadequacy and homesickness, but the Spirit is stronger than ever and this is
where the Lord needs me. I feel that everyday and there is no where else I
would rather be.
Okay so I have probably overwhelmed
you with all of my crazy ramblings so I love you all so much. Thank you for
your prayers and support. Missionary work is hard, but it is amazing. Write me
letters!! We are also going to the temple around 2:30 so that rocks.
:) I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. :)
Love always,
Sister Moody
And here's some pictures!
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