MTC Week 4:
The days (and weeks) are starting to blur together here. It seriously seems like we just got here, but it was more than 4 weeks ago! I can't even believe it! Because we do a lot of the same stuff every day, the days go by so fast.
This has been another good week here at the MTC. I'm still having so much fun with my district and zone as I get to know them more. I love them so much and I'm grateful these are the people I'm sharing this experience with.
This week, a couple of random things happened. The MTC came out with a rule that we can't have Christmas trees, which is kinda sad, but makes sense because they're a fire hazard and all that. So we got rid of our little tree. :( But it's in a better place. And we took a string of Christmas lights Hermana Jacob got from her family and taped it to our apartment wall in the shape of a tree. It's a decent substitute. So whenever we get Christmas gifts, we still have a tree to stick them under!
Also, I had an interesting experience of being a solo Hermana missionary for a day. The three other Hermanas (and 2 elders) in my district got their visas approved, but they had to go to the Las Vegas Consolate to get them. They were just gone for a day, but it seemed like forever and it was SO weird and different being by myself. The night before, I actually slept with a different apartment of Hermanas in our zone because my Hermanas had to leave at 4:30 in the morning and I couldn't be alone. I stayed with these other Hermanas for meals and gym and other stuff, but for class and study time, it was just the 4 of us left with our teacher. It was actually a really helpful day in class because the learning was just for our benefit. We had the opportunity to ask the teachers any questions we had about Spanish and get things cleared up. It was really relaxed, which was nice. But the whole time during class and study, us 4 had to stick together because there was no way 1 of us could leave without it breaking the rules. Anyways, it was a random day and I got to know the elders who were here a lot better. They're pretty cool.
A joke that we came up with this week was about the Spanish. It's super dorky and you'll get it if you know a bit about Spanish. It's called "missionary flirting." Because we're missionaries, we use the "usted" form of verbs to be more formal. One day, us Hermanas were just commenting on how some of the new missionaries say "Como estaS?" instead of "Como esta?" because that's what they may have been taught in school and wherever. Because the "tu" form is more intimate and informal, we joked that as missionaries, if you wanted to flirt while not reaaally flirting, you'd just ask people "Como estas?!" Ooo "Y tuuu?" Anyways. It was a dorky Spanish joke that we laughed super hard about. I'm talkin' tears. Flowing tears.
On Tuesday, the devotional was by Ronald A. Rasband (I think the president of the 70?). It was seriously amazing. I feel like so many talks, especially the ones I don't expect to be that amazing truly are exactly what I need to hear and uplift me so much! With the Christmas season in our midst, he decided to take a different route and talk about SPIRITUAL gifts. I thought that was really cool. And really special for each of us individually. He told us to meet with our districts and share our spiritual gifts, which we did after the devotional. That was a truly humbling and gratifying experience. To know that Heavenly Father knows each of us so well and loves us enough to bless us each with special gifts is really cool. A supreme being pays attention to us individually. How amazing is that? Ronald A. Rasband also challenged us to turn our gifts outward. Sharing what we have and serving those around us, even in just the littlest ways, makes a world of difference. I hope that we all remember what we've been blessed with and do our best to bless the lives of those we come in contact with. Because that's exactly what Jesus Christ did. His whole life was about others. At exactly the times He was in need, he turned outward. Amazing, huh?
I know Jesus Christ is our savior and through Him, we can be truly clean. To have all the guilt in our lives erased. Wow. I know He died for us and was sent to this earth because of a loving Heavenly Father who wants us to return to Him. He wants us to BECOME. Become the best we can be and become like Him. That's what this life is about. I know this gospel is absolutely true and I know it with all my heart because of how I have seen it change lives already, including my own. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. With the Bible, men can come closer to Christ. The feeling I get from the Spirit when I read testifies to me of its truth. I know it blesses lives in so many different ways.
Thank you all for your support and love! Remember to be happy and choose to do what's right this week. Love you all!
Con amor,
Hermana Shirley
PHOTOS
1. Us with our tree! Right before the funeral.
2. Self explanatory. Things like this show up on our classroom board all the time.
3. We found an elder that looks just like Cato! So obviously Katniss and Cato had to take a picture.
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