Mijn geliefde familie en vriends,
I LOVE the MTC! The gospel is so true, and Heavenly Father knows and loves each and every one of us. I think that I could just say that and never need to say anything for the rest of my mission. But don't worry, I'll continue writing anyway!
So my companion's name is Sister Fleming, from Minnesota. She is the sweetest, most encouraging person! She actually turned 19 over the summer and came straight out of high school, so this has been a bit overwhelming for her. But she is so positive and desirous to improve herself! She was assigned as the sister training leader for our district and I can see how much she loves the other sisters and wants to help them however she can,
I guess that leads me into our district! While there are more elders at the MTC than sisters, our district has 6 sisters and 2 elders! The sisters are from around the US, and the elders are from Portugal and Scotland, They are hilarious! Seriously, the first time I cried in the MTC was from laughing so hard. :) Our district works so well together, too. Everyone knows when it's time to focus and/or be spiritual and every missionary has great insights to share. As a district we have already memorized the missionary purpose in Dutch and have set a goal to memorize the first vision in Dutch by next week.
Also, I know that everyone told me this before I went out, but I can now add my testimony that the gift of tongues is real! Within an hour of entering the MTC we went to our first class, where our teacher, Sister Moses, was speaking only in Dutch! I had no idea what she was saying, as the other missionaries who had entered a couple hours earlier were asking me questions that I didn't understand at all. I was wondering if I'd accidentally been put in the class of people who already knew the language! It turns out that they'd just had a little more time to practice, though, and the next day I was able to pick up on what was happening. In fact, by this Sunday I could (using simple words) pray and bear my testimony in Dutch, and we have already taught 3 lessons to our investigator, Judith! Every type of learning is just so accelerated. Most of you know that I LOVE roller coasters- well, this is the craziest, best roller coaster I've ever been on in my life! So much happens throughout the days and week that I have already learned and worked on; it's hard to imagine how much more I will have learned over another 77 weeks! I've already seen the beginning of some of the promises from my setting apart being fulfilled, and it is amazing to behold.
Sunday in particular was incredibly spiritually satisfying. We saw the temple dedicated in the morning, and later sacrament meeting in which the talks were about the Atonement. Sis. Fleming and I went to the MTC choir practice, where we are singing "Joseph Smith's First Prayer." The choir director had amazing stories to tell about how Joseph Smith was prepared and protected so that he could become the prophet of the restoration; I would encourage all of you to study in depth the lives Joseph Smith and the other early saints. There is so much we can learn from them, and in learning my testimony of the truthfulness of the restoration is strengthened.
Sunday evening we had a devotional about being successful missionaries, which was great. Every Sunday night the missionaries get to watch a film; that night we saw a previous MTC devotional given by Elder Bednar, entitled "Characters of Christ." If you can find it, watch it. It is so good and so life-changing that they show it every week in the MTC; it gave me so much to think about and I wish I could share all my thoughts. The main point, though, is that we must develop not only testimonies but a deep conversion to Christ, so that we can follow His example by always turning outward in perfect selflessness and love for others. As we do this, we can come closer to Him. I hope that I can keep this as goal for my life from now on.
Last night we had another devotional, from Elder Ballard! He basically gave us several pieces of advice for missionaries. One thing that really stuck out to me was when he said that perhaps the most important attribute of a successful missionary is being able to set realistic goals and work to achieve them. He talked about how much more effective we will be as we strive to reach our goals each day and week, and how this will be a habit that can continue to produce success after our missions.
Another thought I loved from his devotional was when he said that now, even as an apostle, each morning he hears his alarm clock, gets up and says, "I'm just going to do the best I can today." Then, each night, he kneels in prayer and says, "Today, I did the best I could." He said that if we only do that, the best we can, we are successful missionaries and our labors will be accepted by Heavenly Father. I hope that I can follow his example in doing this, and that I will continue to upward trend I have seen in my learning and growth this week. Love you all!
I LOVE the MTC! The gospel is so true, and Heavenly Father knows and loves each and every one of us. I think that I could just say that and never need to say anything for the rest of my mission. But don't worry, I'll continue writing anyway!
So my companion's name is Sister Fleming, from Minnesota. She is the sweetest, most encouraging person! She actually turned 19 over the summer and came straight out of high school, so this has been a bit overwhelming for her. But she is so positive and desirous to improve herself! She was assigned as the sister training leader for our district and I can see how much she loves the other sisters and wants to help them however she can,
I guess that leads me into our district! While there are more elders at the MTC than sisters, our district has 6 sisters and 2 elders! The sisters are from around the US, and the elders are from Portugal and Scotland, They are hilarious! Seriously, the first time I cried in the MTC was from laughing so hard. :) Our district works so well together, too. Everyone knows when it's time to focus and/or be spiritual and every missionary has great insights to share. As a district we have already memorized the missionary purpose in Dutch and have set a goal to memorize the first vision in Dutch by next week.
Also, I know that everyone told me this before I went out, but I can now add my testimony that the gift of tongues is real! Within an hour of entering the MTC we went to our first class, where our teacher, Sister Moses, was speaking only in Dutch! I had no idea what she was saying, as the other missionaries who had entered a couple hours earlier were asking me questions that I didn't understand at all. I was wondering if I'd accidentally been put in the class of people who already knew the language! It turns out that they'd just had a little more time to practice, though, and the next day I was able to pick up on what was happening. In fact, by this Sunday I could (using simple words) pray and bear my testimony in Dutch, and we have already taught 3 lessons to our investigator, Judith! Every type of learning is just so accelerated. Most of you know that I LOVE roller coasters- well, this is the craziest, best roller coaster I've ever been on in my life! So much happens throughout the days and week that I have already learned and worked on; it's hard to imagine how much more I will have learned over another 77 weeks! I've already seen the beginning of some of the promises from my setting apart being fulfilled, and it is amazing to behold.
Sunday in particular was incredibly spiritually satisfying. We saw the temple dedicated in the morning, and later sacrament meeting in which the talks were about the Atonement. Sis. Fleming and I went to the MTC choir practice, where we are singing "Joseph Smith's First Prayer." The choir director had amazing stories to tell about how Joseph Smith was prepared and protected so that he could become the prophet of the restoration; I would encourage all of you to study in depth the lives Joseph Smith and the other early saints. There is so much we can learn from them, and in learning my testimony of the truthfulness of the restoration is strengthened.
Sunday evening we had a devotional about being successful missionaries, which was great. Every Sunday night the missionaries get to watch a film; that night we saw a previous MTC devotional given by Elder Bednar, entitled "Characters of Christ." If you can find it, watch it. It is so good and so life-changing that they show it every week in the MTC; it gave me so much to think about and I wish I could share all my thoughts. The main point, though, is that we must develop not only testimonies but a deep conversion to Christ, so that we can follow His example by always turning outward in perfect selflessness and love for others. As we do this, we can come closer to Him. I hope that I can keep this as goal for my life from now on.
Last night we had another devotional, from Elder Ballard! He basically gave us several pieces of advice for missionaries. One thing that really stuck out to me was when he said that perhaps the most important attribute of a successful missionary is being able to set realistic goals and work to achieve them. He talked about how much more effective we will be as we strive to reach our goals each day and week, and how this will be a habit that can continue to produce success after our missions.
Another thought I loved from his devotional was when he said that now, even as an apostle, each morning he hears his alarm clock, gets up and says, "I'm just going to do the best I can today." Then, each night, he kneels in prayer and says, "Today, I did the best I could." He said that if we only do that, the best we can, we are successful missionaries and our labors will be accepted by Heavenly Father. I hope that I can follow his example in doing this, and that I will continue to upward trend I have seen in my learning and growth this week. Love you all!
Tot ziens!
-Zuster Jensen :)
-Zuster Jensen :)
No comments:
Post a Comment