My
first day of the MTC...NAILED IT! Haha but seriously it was great. The
whole getting sick thing from being so nervous was not the best but the
minute I entered the MTC, everything was calm. (PS Lisa, sorry I broke
away so fast. I knew that if I stayed any longer I would never make it
so I had to get out of there ASAP quick! I still love you). It was very
comforting to know that there were 700 other missionaries that were in
the same position as me. I have already felt so many blessings from God
and I know now more than ever that this is the place I am supposed to be. And to make things better, I saw Elder Richards aka Luke on my
first day here. That brightened my day so much. He looks great. I actually know so many people here its kind of
ridiculous.
First off I just want to say that I love my
district. They are all so amazing and great examples to me. My first
companion is Sister Carroll. She is pretty cool. We seem to get along
fine but I know that there is definitely a reason why she is my
companion. And I'm grateful for that. She is awesome. The other Sisters
in our district are really awesome too. We all get along really well and
just have the best time together. There are two sets of Sisters and
three sets of Elders so we are all pretty great friends already. Also
Sister Carroll is really good at waking up on time so she helps me get
up too. Huge blessing there!! The Elders in my district are all awesome
too. We have two Elder Olsens and they are companions with each other.
They are also our zone leaders. We have a great laugh about that. Half
of us are going to Denver North and the other half are going to Gilbert
Arizona. And we have the best teachers ever. So wonderful!
Anyway
the first day was so amazing. All the new missionaries separated into
big groups and we got to see some interactions with investigators. That
was actually really hard. But I know that I wasn't the only one that
thought that. So it was definitely a growing experience. But the last
man we talked to was this Italian and he just melted my heart. He was
just so ready to hear what we believed and how he can be happy. He liked
to call the Plan of Salvation the Happy Plan, or the Hugs and Kisses
plan. He grew up Catholic and so they always just told him about a
"Handshake" plan, where you could only shake hands when you die. And he
just wanted to hug and kiss his wife and son that had passed away. It
was seriously so touching. When we told him that his son was with our
Heavenly Father, his face just said it all. He was so happy. He
definitely likes the happy plan!
The second day was even
better. I cant believe it has only been two days! I feel like it has
been much longer than that. And I only have ten more days here. But
yesterday was such an amazing experience. During our classes we talked
about how to invite people to turn outward and so we went and practiced
on other missionaries in the MTC. Usually when I have to do things like
that, I just get so nervous. But when we went out to talk to other
missionaries about our purpose, I just went for it. I cannot express how
much of a blessing that is!! Then we were practiced inviting people to
be baptized and that was such a wonderful experience. We all just went
around the room trying to practice inviting each other and I was with
Elder Olsen. I can't even really describe it but when we were asking
each other, the spirit was just so strong and I could tell that we both
knew that what we were doing and what we were saying was true. And I
have never really felt that strongly about what I was saying was true
until that moment I bore my testimony of baptism to Elder Olsen.
Explaining it doesn't really do it justice but it was great.
So
our zone has two districts in it that are speaking sign language and it
is really cool to see them sign. Its actually kind of distracting cause
I find myself just watching them sign but I just love it. The people
here are so amazing and just wonderful. Also my companion and I are the
branch music coordinators. So that is pretty fun.
I cannot
even begin to explain my happiness right now. This gospel is so true and
I am so excited to get out there and share it with Denver. I love being
here. It's really amazing cause the minute I got settled in and got my
name tag, I just forgot about all the worries and all the things that I
had been thinking about before I came here. There is no time really to
think about anything else except Jesus Christ and the good word, and I
love that. I have already been so blessed since being here, I just can't
even describe it. Sigh... :)
But mom a few
things. One, I forgot my bandages for my heels and oh baby they hurt.
But only with my one pair of shoes. But don't worry, my teenage mutant
ninja turtle bandaids are protecting me. Also I found out that I won't be
getting home till January 30, 2017 so yeah. I'm leaving the MTC on August 3rd.. yikes. Hopefully I find Brian before then. Also here is the address for me while I am in the MTC if you want to share that:
Sister Ellen Richards
AUG03 CO-DENN2005 N 900 E Unit 242
Provo UT 84602
Other
than that I don't think I have anything else to say and my time is
running out. I love you guys and I wish you all the best!
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