Hardest 5 Days of My Life

HELLO EVERYONE!!!

The title to this email is so true! These past 5 days have easily been the hardest days of my life. BUT!! They have been the HAPPIEST days too! The MTC is the only place that is happier than Disneyland :) Everyone walks around saying "Hi Sisters!" "Good morning, Elders!" and it makes me SOOO happy!!

The first two days were the hardest. I couldn't even talk without starting to cry. It was a mix of overwhelmed and home sick and nervous and excitement and feeling the spirit. But each day has gotten significantly better! The spirit is ALWAYS here. It's so crazy but so awesome! 

My district is so awesome! I love them so much! We have 6 sisters and 6 elders. And we were told this is really rare, but all 12 of us are going to Independence! So that has been a really awesome way we have all bonded together. We are all so different and I think that is what makes us really close. We have 3 elders who were in high school literally two weeks ago! And then one elder is 23 and he fell away from the church when he was 18 and has been active for the past 9 months and is now serving! He's so awesome. My companion is so sweet! She is a convert to the church and she has such a sweet spirit about her! Her name is Sister Soto and she is from Pleasant Grove. (Everyone in our district except for 3 people are from Utah). She was baptized when she was 16 and is now 20. It really helps her to connect with the investigator because she knows how they feel. We get along super well and I am really grateful for that! 

Elder Marsden, an elder from my district, shared with us a story that gives me chills everytime I hear it! He said a lady in his ward served in Independence back in the 80s and she told him when she was there an apostle came for a conference for the missionaries. She said the apostle told them that every missionary who is called to the Missouri Independence mission was hand picked by Joseph Smith and when the second coming happens, we have to report our mission to him! HOW CRAZY COOL IS THAT?!?!?

One of the reasons why this is so hard is because I'm tired all the time! By the time it's 10:30, I'm already asleep! I've fallen asleep at 10 every night! Not only does this work make you physically and mentally tired, but it makes you spiritually tired as well. 8 hours of sleep isn't enough!!! 

Class is awesome! I have learned more in these past 5 days than I have in my life. We have two 3 hour classes where we learn more about the lessons and specific principles in them. We already have two investigators, Andy and Jeremy, who we have taught once. Teaching is scary!!! I didn't realize it! We meet our third investigator tonight, who we are really excited to teach. Her name is Sierra and she just had a baby and is now interested in the church, so we are going to teach about families and I am SO excited! Sister Soto and I have been looking forward to it all week! 

Sunday has been the best day so far here at the MTC. Sister Soto and I are the music coordinators for our branch and so we started planning a musical number for next week's meeting with our district and I'm really excited about it! Sunday is a day where we don't have to focus on the lessons or learning everything that needs to be taught- it's a day where we can focus on the spirit for ourselves and receive that edification that comes from it. I loved it! I branched out and went to choir! There were like 800 people there... But it was really neat, and we sung Jesus, once of Humble Birth. That song is beautiful! 

Our Sunday night devotional was given by Brother Heaton, the administrative director here. He talked about prayer and the importance of it in our lives as well as in our investigators lives. And I realized that I can always better my prayers and make them more meaningful. He also said the funniest thing ever: "The Missouri Independence mission is the only mission with a future". HA! It was really funny. 

Then we had the opportunity to watch an MTC devotional by Elder Bednar on Christmas a few years ago. It was called "The Character of Christ". And holy cow, it was amazing. My mind is still trying to process it. It honestly changed my life! It was about how Christ always turns out in love and service whereas the natural man would turn in. Everything he said was so powerful and I want to develop that character! (Tanner, when you go to the MTC you HAVE to watch it.)

This morning we went to the temple and we did some initatories. It was so awesome. And the Provo temple is so pretty! I can't wait to do a session next week and see the Celestial room! 

So, Sister Chatlin and I live just two rooms down from each other! It's so fun to see her every night! And I've seen Sister Walker and Sister Dunn and so many missionaries from BYU. It's so fun to see familiar faces! 

I'm trying to figure out how to upload pictures, but I don't know how to do it yet... So if I figure it out I will send some pictures later! I love you all so much!!

Sister Chatlin and Sister Moss

                                                   

MTC companion Sister Soto