Ola familia e amigos! Eu amo voces and I miss you a ton. I don't know how to say that verb yet. This week has gone by really fast, which is good because it's been super hard. You guys, being a missionary is hard, and that's just my perspective being in the MTC. I have no idea how I'm going to make it in the field. Cheesy as it may sound, Satan is very real here. You don't just walk into the gates of the MTC and the spirit is so strong that Satan can't touch you. Because he is. A lot. He's trying to discourage us and tell us we can't do it and this week I was definitely feeling the effects of that. I've had a really hard time staying focused and missing home a lot. I've just been wanting my old life back. I got a blessing from the Elders in our district. Elder Platamone and Elder Tucci blessed me, and it really helped.
I absolutely love my district. We are like a family. We always have so much fun together. Our entire zone is really awesome. Oh, and speaking of our zone, almost half of them left today! Some left for Cape Verde and some for Portugal. I was so so so sad to see them go because they've all been such a huge help to me but I'm really excited to know people in Portugal and get their emails and know what it's like. Because they all left, that means that except for one solo sister, my district and I are the oldest sisters in the zone. I am so not ready to be the one people ask for advice! I still don't know what I'm doing!
I'll tell you one awesome thing about last week. At our Tuesday night devotional, Dallin H. Oaks came to speak to us and the spirit was tangible the minute he walked in the room. We all stood up. It was such an amazing feeling. His talk was wonderful. Another great thing about last week; we got a new district with 8 Elders and 1 sister and they are all so fun! Also, in our classes, we did this activity where it's just group reading of the Book of Mormon and we go verse by verse and discuss our understanding or impressions we get. Let me just say, I will never think of 1 Nephi Chapter 1 the same way ever again. EVERYONE GO REREAD THAT CHAPTER WITH A GROUP AND TAKE A MUCH DEEPER LOOK AT THE CHAPTER WE ALL TAKE FOR GRANTED.
I really don't even know what to write really because the days are so confusing. There is no sense of time in here. I can never remember what day of the week it is or what we did the day before. Overall, it's been hard but there have been so many blessings here too. The Lord has blessed me with such a strong sense of purpose here and has given me so much more understanding about myself and why I'm here and how to cope with being on a mission. Also, I kind of can't remember what life was like before being in the MTC. I feel like I'm in weird never-land that I can't comprehend life before or after. I certainly can't comprehend leaving here to go into the field.
Oh, hey! This is awesome you guys. GUESS WHAT?! There will be an MTC choir singing in the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference and I'm in it! We have some awesome songs planned and I'm so excited because I've never been to the Conference Center. This is seriously a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I can't even believe it! I am so excited! So, everyone look for me! And Katie, post it on Facebook! Use it as a missionary opportunity and post a link to lds.org. Ha ha, yay missionary work!
In general, this is the hardest thing I've done in my life but the blessings are amazing. The teachers are all so wonderful and help us so much. There is something so special about Elders, you guys. Tell all the young men at church I said they have to serve missions because they will become such better versions of themselves. There is nothing more awesome to us Sisters than an Elder willing to use his priesthood for our benefit. There have been a lot of blessings given this week if you couldn't tell.
Thank you all so much for the DearElder.com letters. They are the best part of my day and help me so much to know that I have people thinking of me back home. I miss you all so much so please, please keep them coming!
I'll just end by telling you guys that I know what I'm doing is right. I know with everything in me that the Church is true and despite fighting that knowledge for a while back in the day, I can't deny it. It has been the biggest blessing in all my life; and they just continue to pour out. God loves us so much and I know he is sitting there waiting for the chance to bless us more if we rely on Him and we obey Him. I know that I need to be here learning and growing and that this will be the greatest decision I've made in life. If you've thought about a mission or if you're a young man in this church, pray earnestly about serving. I promise you that even though I'm a whiner, the good exponentially outweighs the bad. Always.
I love you all and please, please, please for my sanity keep writing and sending those Dear Elders. I love you all so much!
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