Goodbye Provo, Hello Sacramento

Hi pretty people,

This week was excellent. I'm ready to be wrapping things up in the MTC and am excited put everything I've learned to good use in the field.

So last night we had a great fireside--Elder F. Melvin Hammond and his wife spoke. Before the devotional we sang a few songs that they taped for a video they're making for an African documentary--or something to that effect. They also took a panoramic picture of all of us missionaries in the huge meeting--they take the picture once every 10 years, so if you go to the MTC, look for me in the picture. :) I had to sit on a binder and stand on a few books so I could make it in the photo.

Yesterday we played sand volleyball and the sand was so hot that we couldn't stand in one place for two seconds without being in extreme pain. After volleyball I took off my tennis shoes and had burn blisters on the bottom of my big toes. Ouch--it really hurt. I also injured my foot when I kicked the volleyball into the ground, so I'm hobbling everywhere. I'll be fine.

I played in sacrament meeting on Sunday. I played the piano for a special musical number during our branch presidency counselor's talk. I know this seems minor to some people, but it was a tender mercy when I was feeling nervous and I knew that my companion was praying for me. I felt that and then I felt really peaceful for the rest of the song and it turned out really well.

So I'm not tooting my horn but I want to share some things that made me happy this week. I met with my teacher and he started off by thanking me (in Spanish, so maybe I'm making some of this up) for teaching my companion (helping her learn Spanish and everything), for learning Spanish myself and participating in class and for helping the missionaries in my district. He told me that I'm really good at reading people and analyzing them and realizing that they are children of God and how to help them. He asked what I've learned the most in the MTC and I said losing my pride and following the Spirit. He said if I teach the people what I want them to hear, I'm being prideful because I'm not being humble to what the Spirit wants to teach them.

I met with my branch president as well on Sunday and he told me that I'm ready to go into the field. He told me that I have power--that I have a wonderful nature or Spirit about myself and that I have a powerful testimony. He asked me to teach him a principle of the gospel in Spanish, so I started with number one--God is our loving father in heaven and we are his children. He said that he could feel the Spirit when I taught, that he knew I had a testimony of this principle. He said that my eye contact was such that I could look into his soul and know and understand how he was responding/taking in what he was learning. When he walked me back to the classroom he told the other sisters he wishes that he were my investigator in the field--I was really flattered by this compliment but also kind of hesitant because he told the sister missionaries that. I'm grateful he's confident in my ability and says that I'm ready to go and will be a powerful influence. I feel like I've accomplished my goal in the MTC and have grown leaps and bounds since I first got here.

As I mentioned last night was the devotional and they Elder and Sister Hammond talked about the Book of Mormon. It was GREAT. He's read it over 100 times and you could sense the deep love they have for it and missionary work. They quoted President Benson--there's a power in the book that will flow into your life the moment you start to seriously study it. You will have power to resist temptation, avoid deception, power to stay on the path. The Book of Mormon conatins the words of life. You will begin to enjoy life with greater and great abundance.

They said even if investigators can't read, have them hold the book to their hearts. They will feel the power of the book--"that's a promise." I'm grateful for that promise and for their testimony. The book can break the hardest of hearts--it is that powerful.

In the fireside on Sunday my comp gave the closing prayer so we sat in front of 2,500 missionaries on the stand. It was absolutely amazing seeing all the missionaries in the MTC and being able to do that.

Love you,

kates

Temple Cleaning!

Hi family,

We just finished cleaning the temple for 3.5 hours. It was a great, and really different, experience. They're painting in there, so all the walls are covered and the floor has paper and plastic and everything just seems really uprooted. They gave us white scrubs to wear while we cleaned. The sisters (from our district and a sister going to Hungary and one going to Estonia) cleaned the chandelier in the Celestial room. It was really neat. We also cleaned the wall sconces. We took out all the crystal and cleaned the rods and everything with rags soaked in vinegar, so now our hands are going to smell like that for a while. My guess is that there are over 2,500 individual pieces in the chandelier alone--I'm probably way off, but it was a lot. The elders cleaned chairs and woodwork in the endowment rooms.

I met a guy who served in the Fort Worth mission who remembers y'all. Elder Emery? He was there from 2006 to 2007 I believe and he helped Brother Hoff be baptized--however you word that. He was working in the temple so we talked for just a little bit. There's also a REALLY cute sister missionary going to Fort Worth soon--she has a dark complexion, with dark hair and olive skin. She's really pretty.

This past week was good--can't believe it's flying by this quickly. I feel like I'm working every day but at the end of the day I feel like I could have done so much more. I can't believe how quickly the weeks are coming--I need to learn more Spanish, learn the lessons, learn how to teach by the Spirit. It's somewhat stressful when I think about it, but most of the time I don't think about it. It'll come.

A little explanation about how we're learning here. Two weeks before we got here they changed it up a little bit in the classrooms. Our teachers take on another personality (of an investigator they had in their missions), and we teach them every day (switching off between companionships). So that means that the TRC used to be the most stressful part of the MTC. Now we're teaching progressing investigators every day. Right now we're teaching Jose, Laura, and we'll meet Zarahay tomorrow. We've also taught Cesar and Georgina. We committed a woman named EvaMarie to baptism but I think our teacher thought EvaMarie was too complicated for everyone so she dropped all of us and we just met Laura last week. I hope that makes sense. Hna. Worthen and I extended the baptismal invitation to Jose so now we're working on teaching him everything he needs to know before he can be baptized--chastity, tithing, Word of Wisdom, Sabbath day, the works. So basically every day is stressful because we're teaching in Spanish to all of our investigators and we have to juggle three at a time (at one point we had four investigators). That's the story with our teaching. The brethren were worried that missionaries weren't good teachers, so they're really trying to focus on following the Spirit during lessons and we have to act everything out all the time. I think they've really revamped the program--our teacher (who's highly involved with all the MTC changes) says this is huge. They're also adding an extra hour of personal/language/companionship study time in the morning on our missions for the first three months we are in the field. That should be a really big help.

We had a wonderful fireside on Sunday from an MTC director Richard Heaton. He talked about how we will come to feel great joy in repenting daily. It was a really positive fireside. He said repentance should be a way of life; it's not an event. We should want to repent--it's a wonderful thing. He said it's a privilege, positive, blessing. Repentance allows us to change, to grow, to turn into the arms of safety Alma 34: 15-16. And I also liked Alma 26:22 because it says that he that repents among other things--unto such is given to know the mysteries of God.

Love you all,

kates

Week 6 -- 3 Weeks to go!

Hi beautiful family,

This past week was obviously the 4th of July. Barbeque chicken salad was an option on the dinner menu on Monday (that seemed like the most festive food on the menu). I imagined eating it by the pool with lots of kiddos around. We had an Independence Day devotional on Saturday night that was spectacular. We started out singing Yankee Doodle (slightly odd) and an elder from our zone sang God Bless America like an angel. We then had a branch president, President Stoddard I believe, speak to us. He's been an advisor to three presidents of the United States and is within feet of them every day. He told stories of soldiers who so valiantly fought for our country (within the past few years) and how we need to be as dedicated in being representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ. There was a little parade of flags from all over the world and they had people playing the bagpipes and drum come into the room--it was awesome! I love the bagpipes--they were playing to the tune of Praise to the Man. The celebration was about the freedoms we enjoy in America and how it opened the way for the restoration of the gospel. At the end of the devotional they gave us Haagen Dazs ice-cream bars and we got to watch the fireworks from Stadium of Fire. We didn't hear any of the music but the fireworks were wonderful! David Archuleta performed at Stadium of Fire. Yeah...

So anyway, the 4th was great. Our fireside on Sunday was with Jenny Oaks Baker. She's Dallin H. Oaks' daughter who plays the violin. You know I was in a trance the whole time. Grandma Linnell gave me her CD for my birthday one time so there's also special meaning to me because of that. Jenny Oaks Baker went to Julliard and played for the National Symphony (a really big deal I guess) but was prompted to be a stay-at-home mom after 7 years in the orchestra. She tied in her pieces to her testimony and it was very inspiring. She played Amazing Grace and This is the Christ, among other things. I loved that whole fireside. Her children (9, 8, and 6) played the piano, cello, and violin--I Am a Child of God.

This past week we were asked to write out our conversion story in Spanish. That made me think a lot about why I'm a member of the Church and when I truly felt the Spirit. We all know I have a really bad memory of my childhood (meaning I can't remember, not that it was bad) so I was racking my brain a little with this one. But then yesterday we were asked to write out our gospel timeline of life, what led up to our missions. That was really neat to see God's hand in my life--how I was pushed this way or that in making my final decision to go on a mission. This can be a powerful thing to share when teaching investigators, friends about the gospel.

Another neat thing I learned (was reminded of) that I need to work on is being a student of the General Conference issue of the Ensign. In a devotional given last week, the speaker talked about how we need to treasure the scriptures and love them. Part of doing that is reading the General Conference Ensign, for he said that those talks should be the "walk and talk of our lives for the next six months." We teach people that we have a living prophet on the earth today, which is a shock to everyone who's not a member of our church. What has the prophet taught us recently? What are the things we need to hear from God? That's the reason for a prophet right? To hold the priesthood keys, to admonish the world, to speak the words of God. I read everything Pres. Monson said in this last conference and it was wonderful, of course. I need to be better at making all the talks part of my walk and talk every day.

Mom, money situation is good.

Love you all,

kates