June 7th, 2013 - MTC

Hello to all,

So last Sunday was Fast Sunday which started out way good. We had sacrament at 7:30 A.M. (and I thought 9:00 was bad :)). Then we had some personal study time and headed over to Mission Conference which is kind of like Stake Conference. The MTC presidency and their wives spoke. It was amazing. The music was so beautiful, and the message was great. There were some powerful talks on Jesus Christ, mission work, and the usual. Then we had some more personal study time and a meeting. Then we spent like 2 hours outside studying and at first the sun felt really good but then I got way some burned and a little heat exhaustion. On Sundays they give all the missionaries an hour to take a walk around the temple and take pictures. I loved it but by that point it had 22 hours since I had last eaten and I admit I have never done a full 24 hour fast! We didn't have dinner until 6:20 so the last hour and a half before dinner just about killed me. I had a headache and I was so tired.

    After dinner I felt great, and then we had a devotional where the President of the Seventy came to speak to us. His talk was so powerful. He was talking about how as members we have the tendency to bring Christ to our level when trying to draw near to Him. People spend too much time humanizing Christ and yes He is like us ut He is still a God and He is our Savior and Redeemer. No ordinary man could have done what He did and I am so eternally grateful for His sacrifice and The Sacrifice of the Father to send Him down just for us. After the devotional we went to watch Legacy and some of the elders had never seen it! I could practically quote the entire movie! So Monday was good but pretty much the same as all the other days.      

    I also found out that I have a little admirer I guess you could call it? His name is Elder Thompson and we met him while playing volleyball up in the sand pits. He remembered me right off the bat and now everytime he ses anyone from our district he doesnt really acknowledge them but he always shows up and talks to me. I swear he is stalking me or something! I'm kidding but it is kind of annoying because the elders are constantly teasing me about it. They are worse than any of my brothers were to me about boys. 

    Anyway so we have had the opportunity to teach some mock investigators and it is still so scary each time but it is getting easier. We have gotten used to organizing our thoughts and preparing our lessons. We have learned and are still transitioning from teaching lessons and worrying about our teaching skills to teaching the investigators and worrying all about how they are doing and what they are feeling. My companion and I have gotten better at inviting the Spirit into the room and helping the investigators acknowledge the thoughts and feelings they get when having an experience.

    So the food here is amazing, maybe a little too amazing because I eat so much for not really exercising much and sitting around in a classroom and I am pretty sure I have gained weight. It is hard when they have fruit, meals, sides and desserts every single meal especially when I don't really know how I am going to be eating in the field so I want to take advantage of this food right now.

    Yesterday we had In-Field Orientation which is basically 9 hours of straight learning, training and studying. I thought it would be hard but it really wasn't. It was all so interesting and I was amazied and the amount of information I was able to retain during that amount of time! It was so great tho because they focused all on what it will be like in the mission field and how to more fully prepare us as we get ready to leave next week. I am kind of bummed about leaving tho because it is so fun here. My district is like a big family and I get along so well with everyone. It is so great here at the MTC and I just know it is going to be hard in the mission field but at the same time I am ready for it and I know I can do it!! It'll be great.

     So this morning I had a blessing. Two of the elders in our district, Elders Nelson and Erickson, gave it to me. Elder Nelson was the one asked to do it and it was actually his first blessing. He did so well and it was such an amazing experience and I felt the Spirit so strong. Elder Nelson thanked me for the experience because he was grateful for the practice and the power he felt. It was so great. And then on the way back from the temple, he shared a story with me that was prompted by the Spirit. He told me about his mom and the situations she grew up with and althought alot of it is different, some of it is the same and she felt alot of the same things that I feel right now. It was really nice because then he listened to me talk for a little bit and just told me about how much he loves his mom and how great she is and that I remind him of his mom. It was such a good experience and it really helped, I am so glad that he listened to that prompting of the Spirit because it helped me so much.

       So next Wednesday is when we fly out to Ohio, we leave the MTC here at 4 AM and fly out from the SLC airport around 7:10 am. I can make a call from the airport at 1:00 P.M. during our layover in Atlanta but that is atlanta time so I don't know what time it would be in UT. You guys can look it up!Anyways, I am almost out of time, I love you and miss you all so much and I love being a missionary!!!! The Church is true!!!

Love always, Sister Johnson