December 27, 2013

Yellow!!! This week has been great! Elder Bednar came and spoke to us on Christmas!! It was wonderful being in the presence of an apostle of the Lord. The spirit became so much stronger by him just walking into the room. He did something really cool with us! He passed out around 200 cell phones and gave us the opportunity to ask him any questions we wanted. Of course, he didn't have time to answer all of them because there were so many of us and the international MTC's were emailing in questions. 

The first question he answered was, "Why do I feel so inadequate?" His answer was along the lines of, "Because you have at least some idea of what you have been called to do." It really made an impact on how I see this work. I am a representative of Jesus Christ. The Saviour of the world. I feel inadequate, because I am. Elder Bednar went on to say, "I know that I do not have what it takes to be one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ. But, with His help, I can." We are not able to this work by ourselves. And that is where the atonement comes in. The atonement not only has the power to cleanse us, but it has the power to strengthen us. I have learned this week that Christ died for all of us, but if it was just me He needed to die for, He would have. And I know that He would do the same for each of you and I promise that if you seek His divine help, you will find it and you will be blessed. 

I hear so many languages here at the MTC! The floor that my classroom is on (where I spend all of my time) is all Portuguese....go figure. So I hear people speak it ALL the time. The elders and sisters speak to us in whatever language they are learning. I have heard some pretty cool languages.

I got my travel itinerary for when we fly to Seattle. It made it a little more real that in a week and a half, I LEAVE THE MTC. What am I supposed to do without Sister Simmons and Sister Copen? lol. They are so great. I learn so much from them everyday. Their testimonies are so strong and they help me to be a better disciple of Christ. We have gotten a lot closer this past week. It is so great. One day we were walking to class after eating and Sister Simmons said, "I'm unusually large right now." to which I replied, "I'm usually large." and we all just started cracking up. I know it's not funny to you guys, but it was hilarious in the moment.