Week 2: Getting Cozy at the MTC

I can't believe that I only have 10 days left at the MTC. So much has changed in the last week! I love teaching and learning, and I absolutely love being a missionary. But this past week has been so hard. Not because I'm homesick or having problems with companions. My district and zone have been through so much heartache this past week, starting on Monday. One of the sisters had to go home because of medical problems. I felt a lot of peace about this, but I definitely have missed her sweet spirit being here. This means that I am now in a trio with Sister Scott and Ward, who are both amazing! It has been a great experience learning to teach with both of them and learning new teaching styles. 

On Tuesday, our district leader decided he was going home as well. This was a huge surprise to all of us, but he said he didn't feel ready. I don't know what was going on with him, but this was hard on all of us, especially since a sister had just left the day before. Here at the MTC, my district has become my family. We spend so much time together (8+ hours a day). I never knew I could grow to love them all so much in such a short time, especially the elders! I don't know why two people left from our district, which I heard is rare, but I feel a lot of peace and know the Lord is preparing me for something great. I know this will enable me to help others. So we officially have two trios in our district.

Wednesday was exciting because a new district arrived in our zone! We have four new elders and sisters! I love them already and had fun talking at meals and getting to know them. The new elders are so sweet and will take our trays after meals for us to the dish-room. That night, something crazy happened in the boys’ dorm. Two of them thought that the third had been "possessed" and were freaking out. That elder has just had a hard time sleeping here and was just acting out his dreams (night terror), but the other two started spreading rumors and freaking everyone out. Seriously though, the MTC is a very safe place and I have felt the presence of angels here protecting me. God truly does watch out for His missionaries! It also snowed today, which was a weird thing to have happen in May!

Thursday, Elder Zoolakis got called as our district leader. He is very silly and sweet, and I'm glad he was called as our district leader.

On Friday, we got a new elder in our district, Elder Hughes. He was assigned to serve in Japan and has been at the MTC for 9 weeks learning Japanese. Due to health issues, he was recently reassigned to serve state-side and was put in our district since we had a missing elder. He has a crazy backstory, and apparently he used to be inactive and worked at a bar, so he knows how to mix drinks. This lead to him showing us how to mix drinks in the cafeteria by density. It was so fun, and we called them "rainbow" drinks. Additionally, we found out that a sister in the new district had her mind set on going home after being here for three days. I felt prompted to share what had happened in my district about the sister and elder who left, and how hard it was for us. I shared that she should really pray about it and that we were all here for her and loved her so much. She was very grateful, but I think her mind is still set. She says she feels like she just really needs to go home and has prayed about it. I don't know what will happen yet, but I trust her and the Lord. I don't know why the Lord would prompt someone to serve a mission, and then a week into the MTC, prompt them to leave, but I know everything happens for a reason.

Making rainbow drinks in the cafeteria

Today, the power all over the MTC went out for over an hour around 11am. We had just gotten back from a temple trip. It was scary at first because I was in the dorms with my companions and suddenly the entire building goes pitch black. Fortunately, Sister Ward had a head-light, so we used that to get around. We ended up just taking a nap until the power went back on. Because of this, we had to wait to do emails (no wifi) and laundry, and lunch became sandwiches and chips in the lobby of the MTC because they couldn't cook any food. I also am singing in church tomorrow with my two companions! There are so many opportunities here to share and develop your talents.

With Sisters Ward and Scott

Overall, I have learned how easy it is to love others, and how hard it is to lose them. I know I will be experiencing a lot of this on my mission with investigators and the Lord is preparing me. As a result of these hardships, though, our district has become so close. I have more respect for everyone. I feel like my companions are life-long friends, and we all work so hard to reach out to each other and make sure we are all doing okay. There are so many moments of laughter and jokes I can think of. I've cried a lot this week, but I've also laughed so much. If this is the start to my mission, I am so excited because I have so much to learn and a lot of fun to look forward to even if times are hard. I know the Lord loves all of us and is constantly stretching us so that we can become even better!

With Leila, her fake investigator